Diqin Designer

Chapter 71: Suspended sentence, light taxation

Wang Wan, Li Si, Feng Jie and others were working in the office. After receiving Ying Zheng's order, they immediately went to Zhangtai Palace. Once they entered the palace, they found that almost all the important officials of the Qin Dynasty gathered there, and they realized that there must be a major problem.

Ying Zheng didn't waste any words. After all the ministers arrived, he directly asked the eunuchs to distribute the bamboo slips.

Looking at bamboo slips again?

Wang Wan and others who had read the bamboo slips of "The First Emperor's Version of Li Nian's Lectures" were wondering in their hearts, is this another brilliant theory written by "that person" mentioned by the king?

It seems that the king is very fond of that person!

But when the bamboo slips were opened, they were found not to contain any advice or lofty opinions, but some records of some words.

Not only was what was said recorded, but also the speaker's age, whether he was a man or a woman, his appearance, where he was, and what day he said it.

Soon, the ministers found problems from the records on the bamboo slips. Some seemed to be thinking about something, some were surprised, and some frowned, looking unhappy.

Ying Zheng said: "After you have read the bamboo slips in your hands, you can exchange them with others!"

Immediately, a minister exchanged the bamboo slips. When they were opened, they found that the words recorded were also the same, with almost the same content, except that the speakers were different.

Could it be that all these bamboo slips are of this type?

Did someone specially collect these bamboo slips from the people and send them to the king?

Thinking of this, the ministers also felt heavy. If the contents recorded on the bamboo slips were true, then the problem would be very serious and would have a great impact on the Qin Dynasty, especially on...

A minister glanced at Li Si and found that although Li Si's expression was not good, he was not shocked or confused.

It is also very interesting to say that Qin mainly governed the country with the Legalist thought, but in the Qin court, the Legalist ministers did not dominate, but there were all kinds of gods.

After all the officials had read the bamboo slips, Ying Zheng said, "Now that you have read the bamboo slips, you must have understood the problem. I will not hide it from you. These bamboo slips were obtained by my people during the investigation. They are only the words of the elders of the Qin Dynasty. The bamboo slips of the six kingdoms have not yet been sent back."

Yes, it is impossible for the king to only send people to investigate the Guanzhong Lao Qin area. He will definitely send people to the six countries, which will make the problem even more troublesome.

Even though this matter seems easy to handle, since the elders in Guanzhong want to live a good life, why not just satisfy them? But governing a country is not that easy.

I thought I was driving, but then I realized I was going in the wrong direction. So I just turned the steering wheel?

Considering the size of the Qin Dynasty, even the slightest change would cause earth-shattering disasters!

It must be considered carefully, not just issuing a decree casually. For example, how to define good days, how to amend the laws, and how to evaluate the impact.

Especially the revision of laws...

Most of the contents recorded on the bamboo slips were the wishes of the elders in Guanzhong for a better life. Although it was not explicitly pointed out, all the ministers saw one thing: the Legalist idea of ​​governing the people with harsh laws and severe punishments had its shortcomings and was not perfect.

Otherwise, according to the Qin Legalists' theory of "Therefore, to prevent treachery, the best is to prevent his heart, the next best is to prevent his words, and the next best is to prevent his deeds", the elders in Guanzhong should not and dared not to have the idea of ​​"The war is over, we should be able to live a good life, right?"

Everyone thought that Prime Minister Wang Wan would be the first to speak, but unexpectedly, Court Justice Li Si said first: "I ask the king to suspend punishments, reduce taxes, and win the hearts of the people!" Ying Zheng glanced at Li Si, and he felt that he finally understood what kind of person Li Si was - Li Si was a smart man who cared about himself!
Confucianism and Legalism are just hats on Li Si's head, and are tools used by Li Si to achieve his goals.

In Li Si's mind, there should be three categories: he himself is one category, the Legalists are one category, and the others are one category.

When his interests are not affected, Legalism is superior to others, and he will practice and apply Legalist thought, which is also what Li Si showed most of the time; but when his interests are affected, even Legalism can be flexibly thrown aside by him, just like at this time.

Li Si believed in the Legalist thought, but he believed more in his own interests, so he participated in Hu Hai and Zhao Gao's tampering with the imperial edict.

Some people say that Li Si was forced to get involved by Hu Hai and Zhao Gao. Then Hu Hai and Zhao Gao were really amazing, as they could force a prime minister with real power.

It is more likely that Li Si thought Fusu's ascension to the throne would be detrimental to him, and was persuaded by Hu Hai and Zhao Gao to participate voluntarily. However, he did not expect that Hu Hai and Zhao Gao were so cruel that they would not even let him, their partner, go. He missed the target by one step, and ended up with the five punishments, beheading, and the extermination of his entire clan.

If he supported Fusu to succeed to the throne, given Fusu's temperament, even if Fusu disliked him, he would not let him continue to stay in the Qin court, and in nine out of ten cases he would have a good ending.

But Li Si was too greedy. He wanted to gain credit for following the emperor and was too attached to power to leave.

"Li Si neither believes in the Legalists nor is he loyal to the king. He is only loyal to power," Ying Zheng commented in his heart.

Prime Minister Wang Wan said: "What the court official said is very true. It is indeed necessary to suspend punishment and reduce taxes. The elders in Guanzhong all have this idea, which is what the people want. If you go against it, it will surely bring disaster. On the contrary, if you go with the flow, Your Majesty will surely win the hearts of the elders in Guanzhong and benefit the country!"

"It's just that we need to discuss which punishments to relax and how much to reduce taxes. We can't just rush and issue it to the whole country. We also need to consider Qi, Chu, Yan, Zhao, Han, Wei and other places."

Having said this, Wang Wan stopped talking. He knew some things, but he couldn't say them directly without the king's approval.

Seeing Wang Wan stop talking, Ying Zheng said: "Since Prime Minister has gained something, why don't you tell me in detail? I will not be punished for speaking!"

Wang Wan bowed to Ying Zheng and then said, "Your Majesty has said that he has sent people to various places in the six former kingdoms to investigate. The bamboo slips have not been sent back yet, but why not guess what the people in various places in the six kingdoms think?"

"Among the six countries, Daqin is known as the 'tiger wolf'. You can imagine that in the minds of the people of the six countries, Daqin is quite vicious. They are afraid of Daqin and worry about how Daqin will deal with them. If the people of the six countries are treated too harshly, they will feel resentment and even hatred."

If it were in the past, Wang Wan probably would not have said this, because he knew the character of his king. To put it nicely, he was confident and strong, but to put it bluntly, he was stubborn and conceited.

Tell him to be nicer to the people of the six countries and not be so harsh, otherwise the people of the six countries will feel resentful. He will only think that under his rule, who dares to feel resentful?
Then Li Si would also come out to refute: The old Qin people in the past were able to accept Qin laws. It was not that Qin laws were harsh. Instead, they allowed Qin to unify the world. Why can't the people of these six countries accept it?

It was only because she saw some changes in the king recently that Wang Wan dared to say more.

Hearing Wang Wan's words, Li Si raised his eyebrows but said nothing. If possible, he still hoped to implement the original Qin law in the six countries because that would be beneficial to him.

But he could also see that the Legalist approach really had problems this time. Before finding a solution, it would be better to wait and see and not speak rashly.

Wang Wan continued, "Therefore, when governing the original six kingdoms, we cannot just use the existing Qin laws, but must make some changes."

　At present, the manuscript is published, not written and published immediately, so sometimes when the experts raise certain issues, I cannot make changes immediately. My personal writing ability is limited, so it is definitely not as perfect as the experts think. Thank you for your support!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)