People in the Qin Dynasty sought good fortune and avoided misfortune.

Chapter 565, Famous Ministers Ranked Like Hemp
Xianyang, inside the Prime Minister's residence.

A dozen or so minor officials carried scrolls of bamboo slips to the table in front of Xu Qing. The clerk in charge of documents and archives stood respectfully in front of Xu Qing, reporting.

"Prime Minister, these bamboo slips record the life stories and official positions of officials in our Great Qin Dynasty. As per your request, only the files of court officials and local prefects have been sent. The rest are all stored in the warehouse. If you need them, you can send someone to retrieve them at any time!"

The chief clerk of the Prime Minister's office presented Xu Qing with a set of keys and the Prime Minister's personal seal.

Xu Qing glanced at the chief clerk, who was originally a retainer of Lü Buwei. He was cautious and reliable, and had never made a mistake in any document-related task since becoming the chief clerk of the Prime Minister's office. He was someone who could be kept and used.

Although he wanted to cultivate his own team, the Prime Minister's Office was such a large department that, apart from the main Left and Right Prime Ministers and the Grand Ministers, the rest were all minor officials handling various miscellaneous tasks, so it was best not to touch them if possible.

"Yes, I will send someone to notify you if there is any need."

Xu Qing retrieved his personal seal and addressed the registrar.

Seeing that Xu Qing hadn't taken the key, the registrar understood what Xu Qing meant. He bowed respectfully to him and stood aside silently waiting for Xu Qing to ask him questions.

"You may all leave now. I will call you if I need anything."

Xu Qing waved his hand at the other minor officials and said.

"promise."

After the group of minor officials put down the bamboo slips, they walked out of the room and waited outside.

"You have served as the chief clerk of the prime minister for many years and are also in charge of the document storehouse. You should have a good understanding of the Nine Ministers and the local prefects, right?" Xu Qing asked the chief clerk.

"I dare not say that I know all of you superiors very well, but I can still remember most of your names."

The registrar made no attempt to conceal his true intentions in front of Xu Qing, his new lord, and spoke frankly and directly.

When Lü Buwei entrusted these retainers and officials to Xu Qing, it was tantamount to making Xu Qing their new lord. Such entrustment of retainers was quite common. The most famous example is when Lord Pingyuan, Zhao Sheng, died, he had his retainers transfer to Lord Xinling's service.

Since he was the new ruler, the chief clerk naturally had to treat Xu Qing as if he were Lü Buwei, and dared not conceal anything from him.

"Find me a few people, Wei Zhuang and Wang Wan."

Xu Qing mentioned several names in a row. The scholars in the Imperial Academy still need training. Apart from Yao Jia, Xu Qing was not familiar with the backgrounds of the other scholars. He could only try his best to get the few historical figures he remembered to his side to assist him.

Although Wei Zhuang is not well-known, he was a truly capable minister, and the famous Qin Great Wall was built under his supervision.

After the Qin state unified the world, he and Wang Wan served as prime ministers. Together they were responsible for standardizing weights and measures, as well as for the construction of Ying Zheng's mausoleum at Mount Li. Finally, they were sent to the border to build the Great Wall.

Its ability to ensure the timely construction of the Great Wall, which stretches for thousands of miles, while simultaneously managing hundreds of thousands of laborers without disorder, is sufficient proof of its capabilities.

As for Wang Wan, a veteran of four Qin dynasties, he was a well-known conservative and wise prime minister in history. His abilities were beyond question, but he was a conservative in his thinking and a true conservative. He was also the one who suggested and promoted the enfeoffment system after Qin unified the world.

However, the other party did not intend to grant fiefdoms to the entire state, but rather to grant fiefdoms to the states of Yan, Qi, and Chu, which were beyond Qin's actual control.

This was essentially the prototype of the parallel system of prefectures and kingdoms in the early Han Dynasty. Unfortunately, Ying Zheng ultimately adopted Li Si's suggestion and implemented a complete system of prefectures and counties.

History has proven that Wang Wan's suggestion was actually the most appropriate. However, given the circumstances at the time, Li Si's comprehensive county system was also imperative. There was no right or wrong between the two sides; they simply had different approaches.

After hearing Xu Qing's words, the registrar pondered for a moment and then drew out a few bamboo slips from the dozen or so scrolls.

"Prime Minister, the people you want are all listed above. However, most of the people you mentioned were either demoted to local areas to gain experience when they were Marquis Wenxin, or served as deputies and handled miscellaneous tasks under the Nine Ministers."

The registrar cautiously offered this reminder.

Xu Qing glanced at the registrar and felt that there was no need to be so subtle about it. He could simply say that he had lost to Lü Buwei in the power struggle at court and had been demoted.

As for why these people had conflicts with Lü Buwei, it was simply because they belonged to different factions. Wei Zhuang and Wang Wan were both native Qin people.

"Are you worried that they will hold a grudge against Marquis Wenxin and refuse to serve in the Prime Minister's office again?"

Xu Qing chuckled and asked.

Is he worried that by employing too many old Qin people, some people might develop inappropriate ideas, thereby exacerbating the conflict between the scholar faction and the royal family?
"I dare not presume to criticize the court's personnel decisions. However, Marquis Wenxin once said that although these two men are exceptionally talented, they are overly cautious in their actions, more inclined to maintain the status quo than to make progress."

The registrar spoke slowly.

Compared to Lü Buwei, he certainly lacked ambition.

Xu Qing may have complained inwardly, but he had to admire Lü Buwei's eye for talent. Otherwise, Lü Buwei wouldn't have been able to recruit thousands of retainers, and in terms of quality, only Lord Xinling could rival him.

What he needs now is someone capable, loyal to the Qin state, and whose identity is not too conspicuous to assist him in handling government affairs, and these two are the most suitable.

"I have my own plans." Xu Qing said calmly, then opened the bamboo slip and began to read it. He quickly found the name Kui Zhuang.

Kui Zhuang, Prefect of Sanchuan Commandery, formerly the Junior Steward of the Imperial Household Department, one of the Nine Ministers.
After reading about Wei Zhuang's life, Xu Qing picked up a brush and wrote Wei Zhuang's name and the words "Shangqing" on a bamboo slip.

Xu Qing then began to look through the other people's and other bamboo slips, preparing to select suitable people to supplement the Prime Minister's Office.

In the Qin state, the Prime Minister's office was led by the Prime Minister, with the Left and Right Chancellors as his deputies. However, it was impossible for these three people to handle all the affairs of the Qin state. Therefore, the position of Shangqing, which was both a noble title and an official position, was created to serve as an assistant to the Prime Minister.

Generally speaking, the position of Senior Minister is held by one of the Nine Ministers, who take turns handling their respective areas of expertise in the Prime Minister's Office.

However, there were also those who were specially promoted to fill positions in the Prime Minister's office and share the power of the Prime Minister, such as Gan Luo, who was assassinated by Lü Buwei's men.

As Xu Qing flipped through the list of officials, he discovered many ministers who would become famous in the future. The Qin state was now truly a place with both civil and military talents.

The literary figures included Lü Buwei, who had temporarily retired, Li Si, Wang Wan, Wei Zhuang, Changwen Jun, and a group of others, including half of Xiong Qi. As for the younger, still-developing figures, Meng Yi, Zhang Cang, Yao Jia, and Dong Yi, they were all included.
The military generals include Meng Ao, Meng Wu, Meng Tian, ​​Wang Jian, Wang Ben, Li Yao, Li Xin, and the veteran general Yang Duanhe. Currently, the guards are Ren Xiao, Zhang Han, and Su Jiao.
With such a combination of civil and military officials, what could the six states possibly use to fight against Qin?
. . . . . . . . . . .

Just as Xu Qing was carefully selecting his future team, the royal family, led by Lord Jingyang, gathered once again at Lord Weiyang's residence.

Lord Weiyang sat in the head seat, looking down at the gloomy-faced and somewhat dejected members of the royal family below, and felt a pang of unease in his heart.

“Brother, you also heard the edict read by Lord Zhaoming today. Both Lord Zhaoming and the King still have illusions about these outsiders, the scholars of the six states, believing that they are truly loyal to our Qin state.”

Lord Jingyang said indignantly.

"After all, Lü Buwei has controlled the government for many years. If all his people are expelled from the court at once, it may shake the court and even affect the Qin Dynasty."

"I think we should wait and see what the King and Lord Zhaoming will do next."

Lord Weiyang looked at the dissatisfied Lord Jingyang and the other members of the royal family, and said with a somewhat serious expression.

"What are we waiting for? Are we just going to wait for Zheng to continue to drain Qin's national strength and leak Qin's military and political information to Han and the other five states?"

"These scholars are wolves in sheep's clothing, ungrateful wretches. As long as they remain in my Qin state, my Qin state will never have peace!"

Lord Jingyang looked furious and said angrily.

In the original plan of the royal family, since the scholars from the six states in Lü Buwei's faction did not hold great power, they would turn a blind eye, since Xu Qing still needed these scholars.

But yesterday they discovered that Zheng Guo was a spy sent by Han, and that changed everything.

When Zheng Guo entered Qin, he proposed to help Qin build the Guanzhong Canal, which could turn thousands of miles of land into fertile soil. However, building this canal would require a lot of national resources and would take a long time.

At the time, most people in Qin were against it, but Ying Zheng alone strongly supported it, resisting the pressure from the court, and issued an edict agreeing to the matter.

As a result, the Qin state halted its eastward expansion, placing full trust in Zheng and allocating substantial manpower and resources to construct the canal. However, it turned out that Zheng was a spy, using the canal construction merely to deplete Qin's national strength and to gather intelligence on Qin.

The thought that Qin had been tricked by Zheng for more than ten years filled them with rage. As members of the Qin royal family, how could they not be furious? This completely destroyed any remaining goodwill they had towards the scholars of the six states.

Zheng Guo, who caused the young Ying Zheng to break with the court, not only showed no gratitude but also betrayed the interests of Qin.

Such people could not win the loyalty of the Qin state, and apart from Xu Qing, the scholars of the other six states dared not trust anyone else.

"For the sake of Qin, we must expel the scholars from the six states!" the members of the royal family said in a deep voice.

"This"

Lord Weiyang looked at everyone, a conflicted look flashing in his eyes, his heart filled with anxiety.

Originally, after Ying Zheng assumed power, he and the royal family repeatedly targeted scholars and led the opposition against Xu Qing's appointment as prime minister. These were all part of Xu Qing and Ying Zheng's plan to indirectly promote Xu Qing to the position of prime minister and resolve the conflict between scholars and the royal family.

But now that something like this has happened in Zheng, and he hasn't had time to explain the situation to Xu Qing and Ying Zheng, he doesn't know what to do for a while.

If the royal family were to cause a huge uproar and expel all the scholars from outside Qin, then the scholars from the various schools of thought in the Imperial Academy would certainly not be allowed to remain either.

This would further damage Qin's interests. At the same time, the Zheng incident also made him somewhat distrustful of scholars.

This is how to do?
Lord Weiyang was anxious. He urgently needed to discuss things with Xu Qing, but Lord Jingyang and the other members of the royal family seemed ready to force him to abdicate again, making it impossible for him to leave.

"We must not allow scholars to harm our Qin state any longer. Brother, today we will enter the palace again to see the king and request that he expel the scholars from the six states."

"If Your Majesty does not agree, we will threaten to kill ourselves and set ourselves on fire in front of Zhangtai Palace!"

Lord Jingyang said in a deep voice.

(End of this chapter)