When I was in Qin Dynasty, I really didn't want to make progress

When necessary, Xun Kuang would do things that would offend people, but he would never do anything that would offend most of the Qi officialdom.

"Regarding the issue of law, I have some understandings of my own, Mr. Xun, you can listen to them." Yang Chong ignored Xun Kuang's firm attitude and just said what he wanted to say.

Xunzi ignored Yang Chong.

"In the distant past, there was no concept of law among our ancestors, but people at that time also needed to maintain the existing order. In order to achieve this goal, rules emerged in conventions. Later, people found that these conventions were easily tampered with, so some people wrote these rules into specific words and made them public, so that no one could arbitrarily tamper with the rules." Yang Chong said.

"Your Majesty is talking about the incident in which Zichan, the Prime Minister of Zheng, cast the Criminal Tripod." Xunzi was ultimately unable to control his restless tongue.

Yang Chong ignored Xun Kuang and continued, "The best country in developing written laws is Qin. The Qin laws are the most rigorous among the seven countries. But because they are too rigorous, they are also suspected of being too harsh."

"It can even be said to be rigid. No one can exhaust the changes in this world, so how can it be fully covered by a volume of law?" After Xunzi finished speaking, he wanted to slap himself in the face. How come this mouth didn't sound like his?

"So I thought of another way of thinking, maybe I can change this situation." Yang Chong said.

"What idea?" Xun Kuang really wanted to leave here at this time, but his reason could no longer control his actions.

"Integrate the traditional customs of various places into the law. Take these test papers as an example. I asked officials from various places to summarize the verdicts of various cases in recent years. From them, we can roughly see the laws and social customs of Qi. We will summarize the reasonable case verdicts. If similar cases occur in the future, we will use them as the standard..."

"Your Majesty, are you talking about taking the law as the core and the customs as the yardstick?" Xunzi said in shock and great surprise.

Chapter 252 Famous throughout the world

In Yang Chong's understanding, law is a very important thing. If any country wants to continue, it cannot do without law, even in the world in his memory.

In the history of law, although each place is different, it ultimately follows two types of changes: one is to compile it into a code and enforce the law according to the code; the other is to use it as a regulation for law enforcement based on the judgments of previous people.

Later generations defined these two changes as written law and customary law.

From Yang Chong's perspective, of course, written law is more rigorous than customary law, but Yang Chong also knows that many things are not better the more perfect they are. Perfection also means huge operational difficulty. If this perfection cannot be well implemented, it will only have a counterproductive effect.

This is the Qin law.

The Qin law was so strict that even Yang Chong, with the vision of later generations, had to admire it. However, the Qin law succeeded because of its strictness, but it also failed because of its strictness. The strictness of the Qin law placed too high demands on law enforcers, so that the execution process was too rigid, and because of its rigidity, it was extremely harsh, which became an important reason for the tyranny of the Qin law.

Although customary law has various drawbacks, it is highly adaptable. Such laws and regulations based on local customs and habits can effectively adapt to different places, and the same is true for Qi State.

Although Yang Chong was determined to establish an effective ruling system in Qi, thereby mobilizing Qi's huge resources to tilt towards military, and thus make Qi his biggest reliance in his struggle for hegemony over the world.

More importantly, Yang Chong believed that Xunzi would definitely be interested in the laws and regulations that Yang Chong was planning to implement, which were compiled based on the customs and habits of Qi. In this way, he was not afraid that Xunzi would not fall into his trap.

Sure enough, as Yang Chong explained the concept of customary law to Xunzi, Xunzi could not help himself. Everything he had learned throughout his life was directed towards one goal, which was to integrate the Legalist law with the Confucian ritual and then form a new rule that had both the order of law and the humanity of ritual.

However, although Xunzi's theory was based on this, he could not think of a way to turn it into reality. Nowadays, all countries only think about war and want to put all their national strength into the farming and warfare system. They would never do such a thankless task.

Xun Kuang, who had no place to put his knowledge into practice and could only teach students in the Jixia Academy, saw an opportunity in Yang Chong, an opportunity to turn what he had learned into reality.

Faced with such temptation, Xun Kuang couldn't resist!

Everything he had been pursuing for his whole life was here. He now saw hope for something he had originally given up on.

When Yang Chong stopped talking, Xunzi looked at Yang Chong eagerly. Yang Chong had tried to recruit him before, but he refused at that time. Now he wanted to work for Yang Chong and take on this job.

But as the saying goes, times have changed. As resolute as Xunzi was in his refusal then, as embarrassed he is now.

Moreover, Yang Chong's silence made Xunzi understand that Yang Chong wanted him to ask for help actively.

Xun Kuang had lived to such an old age, but when had he ever asked anyone for help? Even though Yang Chong was now the King of Qi, he did not want to ask for help. But faced with the possibility of missing an opportunity that he would never have again, which was more important, face or ideals?

Xun Kuang had made a decision while struggling.

Just when Xun Kuang was about to ask for help, Yang Chong took the initiative to speak: "Mr. Xun, are you willing to take over this task?"

"Thanks to the king for not abandoning me, I am willing to take over this task." Yang Chong took the initiative to extend an olive branch, giving Xun Kuang a way out. How could Xun Kuang not take it? At this time, he was even a little grateful to Yang Chong.

But such gratitude was only a moment. The shrewd Xunkuang immediately realized that he had fallen into Yang Chong's trap. Then he felt a little amused and helpless. He had lived to a ripe old age and considered himself knowledgeable, but he did not expect that he would still be tricked by a young man like Yang Chong when he was old.

However, compared to his schemes, what is more terrifying is his vision. He was able to rule the State of Qi in less than three years, and it was not just luck.

Now that Xunzi had entered the court of Qi, the next thing was to screen officials.

Yang Chong could not use all of Qi's former officials, but he also could not use none of them, so his plan was to keep half of them in office to maintain Qi's stability, and at the same time open up the imperial examination system and select officials from the Jixia Academy to supplement the other half.

In this process, a group of people were even killed. After all, there is no pure land in the officialdom, and the same is true in the officialdom of Qi. Among those officials, there are certainly capable officials, but there are also many corrupt officials. Qi has raised these people for many years and has long been raised into fat pigs. If Yang Chong forgets these people at this time, it would be too wrong.

When King Chong of Qi came, the blue sky of Qi came. Yang Chong was very interested in doing such things.

After all, if he wanted to rely on Qi to implement the military system, the resources invested would be huge. Qi's tax revenue alone would not be enough. If he increased the people's taxes for the sake of resources, it would not only ruin his reputation, but also not get many resources. After all, only the poor can get much oil and water. In the face of plundering the people and merchants, killing officials is a better choice. Not only can he get a good reputation, but he can also get more resources.

Just as Yang Chong was preparing to make drastic changes in Qi, news of what was happening in Qi gradually spread from Qi to the six kingdoms.

The first to receive the news was naturally the State of Zhao.

"He actually won?" Queen Mother Zhao looked at the intelligence sent back by the spy stationed in Qi by Zhao State and was confused for a moment. How long had this war started? Was Qi State taken down just like that?

When did the State of Qi become so unbearable?

If Qi was really so easy to conquer, Zhao would have taken action long ago. Why would it have to wait for Yang Chong to take action?

Over the years, even though Qi had long since fallen into decline and even became very cowardly, it still had the confidence of a great power and was by no means comparable to inferior countries like Han and Yan. It was precisely because of this that over the years, Zhao only dared to nibble at Qi instead of launching a war of annihilation against it.

However, such a big country that Zhao State could only nibble at was conquered by Yang Chong in such a short time. This fact made the Queen Mother Zhao have an illusion that perhaps Qi State was really vulnerable, and the caution of three generations of Zhao kings in the past few decades was probably wrong.

"King Chong of Qi?" Queen Mother Zhao muttered to herself. The last time they met appeared in her mind, and the words they had spoken were still echoing in her mind.

"That man!" In Queen Mother Zhao's mind, a man's gentle voice had turned into thunder. It was the voice of the king. The existence of a king was unique in this world.

While thinking, Queen Mother Zhao's face turned red, and an uncontrollable impulse arose from her body. She seemed to have cultivated the aura belonging to Yang Chong, but the current Yang Chong was not here at all. Everything was just her psychological illusion. No, to be more precise, it was just a psychological illusion caused by the physical impulse.

She was just a little widow after all.

"He really succeeded!" In the same city, Guo Kai also received news from Qi. The shrewd prime minister of Zhao didn't know what to say at this time.

Guo Kai couldn't help but think of the young man who had to bribe him not long ago. Who would have thought that in just a few years, the relationship between the two had changed drastically. He was still the prime minister of Zhao, but Yang Chong had become the King of Qi, the King of Qi who was equal to the King of Zhao, the person who could influence the direction of the world situation, and one of the only seven kings in the world.

"But this is a pleasant surprise. In addition to the route to Zhao State, I now have the route to Qi State. It's just..." Guo Kai pondered and felt that it was indeed a good thing for him that Yang Chong could become the King of Qi. He still understood the principle that a cunning rabbit has three burrows.

Although he was the Prime Minister of Zhao State over the years, he secretly accepted a lot of bribes from Qin State. He was not stupid and naturally knew that the Qin people gave him the money in the hope of getting a greater return from him. So what could he give them in return?

Naturally, it is the national interest of Zhao State.

How could Guo Kai not be clear about this? On the one hand, the reason why he accepted the gift from the Qin people was because he was greedy for money, but on the other hand, wasn't he also leaving some favors with the Qin State just in case?

"But should I return the money that Yang Chong gave me before, or even add some more to it? After all, I don't know what his mood was when he gave me the money." Guo Kai hesitated while thinking about it.

He was absolutely unwilling to return the money to Yang Chong, but now Yang Chong had become the new King of Qi, and the status between the two had reversed. From now on, he would need more things from Yang Chong, but on the contrary, Yang Chong no longer needed anything from him.

Thinking about this, Guo Kai couldn't help but reveal a heartbroken expression, he still couldn't bear to let go.

While Guo Kai was struggling, the same news had already reached South Korea.

"It seems that I made the right bet this time." Han Yu put away the information in his hand. Although he was the one who facilitated the bet between him and Yang Chong, Han Yu was actually very pessimistic about the possibility of its success.

After all, if state affairs were really that easy, South Korea would not have deteriorated over the years and fallen to its current state.

"I should go to the palace first, lest Honglian gets impatient. She may be more anxious than me during this period." Han Yu muttered to himself as he walked out of the hall, where his adopted son and confidant Han Qiancheng was already waiting there.

Although the law and order in Xinzheng had been greatly improved as Yang Chong killed and took away people at night, Han Yu was still cautious enough when traveling. After all, he had planned to get rid of his brother the crown prince several times. With such an idea in mind, how could he not be on guard against others having the same idea as him?

"Master, did he win?" Honglian looked at the information sent by her fourth brother and for a moment she couldn't believe her eyes.

Although she is naive by nature, she is not completely ignorant of state affairs. She is a princess who grew up with King Han An. She knows a little about state affairs through the influence of her father. This is the insight of a princess.

"Don't call him Master anymore." Han Yu looked at Honglian in front of him, with a loving look but still with calculation in his eyes. He knew that the life of the Han family would almost certainly depend on Honglian in the future. If Han State was destroyed, Honglian would be their last way of retreat.

"I know." After being reminded by Han Yu, Honglian also reacted, and two faint blushes appeared on her round cheeks.

Yang Chong once promised them that as long as he conquered Qi, he would propose to Han State in the name of King of Qi and marry Honglian as his wife. At this time, Yang Chong had become King of Qi and could fulfill his previous promise.

"Give me the thing." Han Yu stretched out his hand. He only needed to tell Honglian about this matter. There were still many things he needed to do afterwards, such as reporting to his father. Honglian's marriage was still an important matter that had to be handled by the elders, and he, as an elder brother, could not interfere.

"No." Honglian instinctively tightened the note in her hand. The note was nothing precious, but the information on it belonged to Yang Chong, so the note had a special meaning to her.

"Then just take it. But in this case, I can't report this matter to my father. Without my father's intervention, it's probably impossible for you to get married." Han Yu said indifferently.

"Then..." Honglian was speechless. She realized that she was so impulsive that she actually forgot about this.

"Just keep it." Han Yu looked at his stunned sister and could hardly hide his smile.

"Brother, you should take it away." Honglian reluctantly stuffed the note back to Han Yu.

"You are going to get married soon, so you have to change your impetuous temper." Han Yu said earnestly. In his future plans, he still needs Honglian to play a huge role in Qi State, but the naive Honglian will not do the job.

"When will he come? This year or next year?" Honglian looked at her fourth brother Han Yu's departing back, her eyes filled with longing for the future.

"He actually defeated King Jian of Qi, conquered the State of Qi, and became the new King of Qi." King Han An was so shocked while listening to Han Yu's report that he muttered to himself in his subconscious.

The great general Yang Chong, who had once paid tribute to him in the court and made him fear him, had actually become the King of Qi? Such a thing was really like a fairy tale. After all, it seemed that it had not been long since Yang Chong paid tribute to him. It seemed that in just a blink of an eye, Yang Chong had become an equal to him.

No, strictly speaking, I am not as good as him. After all, Qi is not comparable to Han. King An of Han thought so.

Chapter 253 The world situation has changed since then

"Father, you know who King Chong of Qi is. He is a brilliant man in both strategy and martial arts. He is not like King Jian of Qi. The Qi State under his control will surely be able to reproduce the glory of Qi when King Wei of Qi was in power. Moreover, King Chong of Qi is also on good terms with the State of Zhao. If Qi and Zhao can work together, a force will emerge in the East to compete with the State of Qin. By then, the pressure on us, South Korea, will be much less."

Han Yu explained to Han Wangan that although he had reached a deal with Yang Chong, he still needed Han Wangan's nod in the end. More importantly, Han Yu could not tell Han Wangan his real purpose.

Although Han Yu already believed that Han State was truly beyond salvation, so he wanted to pave a way out for the Han family in Qi State and with Yang Chong, but he absolutely could not say these words to Han Wangan.

Han Yu only needs to know these things. If Han Wangan knows them, what will it mean? Is he cursing Han Guo for a short life?

If that were the case, even his own son would only have to face the furious Han Wangan, and Han Yu didn't want to face such a situation.

"What do you mean?" Han Wangan asked Han Yu in front of him. He knew that his son not only had talents similar to Han Fei, but also had a viciousness that Han Fei did not have. He could see and do things that ordinary people could not see or do. At this time, Han Yu sent the information about Qi, and he must have his own plans.

"When King Chong of Qi was in Han, my father never treated him badly. He promoted him a lot and made him a general. My ninth brother, Honglian and others also had a close relationship with King Chong of Qi." Han Yu narrated.

Listening to Han Yu's narration, Han Wangan's eyes twitched subconsciously. Yang Chong was not a good memory for Han Wangan.

Yang Chong killed his trusted lieutenant Yang Di, but was recruited by Ji Wuye under his command, which turned his wanted order for Yang Chong into a joke. The relationship between Yang Chong of Yang Di and Yang Chong of Xinzheng became a joke in Xinzheng and even in other countries. In this joke, he, King An of Han, was the one being laughed at.

As for the fact that Yang Chong later killed Ji Wuye and resolved the shadow that had been weighing on his head for many years, although Han Wangan felt that Yang Chong had done something beneficial to him, this thought was soon replaced by another kind of fear.

Ji Wuye alone has already suffocated him. If he is replaced by Yang Chong, who is even more ferocious than Ji Wuye, will he still have a chance to survive?

Just when King Han didn't know how to check and balance Yang Chong, Yang Chong suddenly left the Kingdom of Han. This made King Han feel relieved, but also a little angry. Is his Kingdom of Han so unbearable? Is the position of the general of the Kingdom of Han so cheap that Yang Chong could abandon it like a piece of trash?

Now, Yang Chong, who had been away for less than three years, had once again broken into his life in such a rude manner, and had changed from Yang Chong to Qi Wang Chong. The person who once had to worship him had now become the person he needed to look up to.

Although the King of Han and the King of Qi are both kings, these two kings are different. The King of Han is just trying to survive in the cracks of the chess game of the world, while the King of Qi can be a chess player.

Yang Chong has a complicated meaning to Han Wangan. Of course, this is before he knew that Yang Chong had stolen his harem. If he knew, he probably wouldn't care too much, right?

After all, as the saying goes, if you want to live a decent life, you're bound to have some cheating on you. Han Wangan should be able to let go of such things, after all, Yang Chong didn't steal the queen.

Of course, these words were far-fetched. After listening to Han Yu's story, Han Wangan also understood it, but still asked: "What do you mean?"

"We can make friends with Qi, so that Qin will be cautious." Han Yu said.

"How to make friends?" Han Wangan asked.

"When Yang Chong was in Xinzheng, Honglian learned martial arts from him. Yang Chong did not hide anything from Honglian, which shows that they had a good relationship. Moreover, they were of similar age." Han Yu said.

He did not say that Honglian had fallen in love with Yang Chongren when he was in Xinzheng, because saying so might not have any effect, but might instead arouse Han Wangan's suspicion. After all, Han Wangan is not only a king, but also a father. In the absence of any interests, he still cares about his daughter Honglian very much.

"What do you mean?" Han Wangan also reacted after hearing this. Seeing that Honglian was about to grow up, it was time for him, as a father, to consider Honglian's marriage. There were not many people a princess of a country could marry. She could either marry into a wealthy family in her own country, or marry into another country and become the lady or queen of that country.

As a result, Honglian has few choices. Domestic wealthy families, unless they are top wealthy families, are not qualified to marry a princess like Honglian. As for the kings of other countries, there are only a few of them in the world, and their ages may not be suitable.

If Honglian is betrothed to a large family in Korea, King Han will not look down on ordinary large families. If it is a top-level dignitary, such as Ji Wuye in the past or the Zhang family now, although there are suitable candidates, King Han is worried that it will further enhance the power of the Zhang family, so he is still not very willing.

As for other countries, the sons of King Xi of Yan were older than Honglian, King Zhao and King Chu were just children, King Wei was out of the question, and the only one left who was of the right age was King Zheng of Qin. However, Qin was a behemoth that Han had to look up to, and King Zheng of Qin might not necessarily look down on Honglian. Neither Han nor King An of Han had the face to allow Qin or King Zheng of Qin to marry Honglian.

During his analysis, Han Wangan discovered that among the tens of millions of people in the world, Yang Chong was the most suitable candidate for Honglian to marry.

"Although there are many women around Yang Chong, they are all of humble origins. We might as well marry one of them. Honglian will definitely have a wife. In this way, we can not only make friends with Qi State, but also find a good home for Honglian." Han Yu said.

Han Wangan nodded after hearing this. He was already tempted. However, at this moment, he remembered something else and asked, "The last time you went to Dong'e City, Honglian followed you. Was that when you had this idea in mind?"

"Father, I absolutely do not have such an intention. Last time it was indeed Honglian who followed secretly. When I found out, the delegation had already reached the territory of Wei State, so I could only make the best of it. After all, I couldn't feel at ease letting Honglian come back alone. But I can guarantee that when we were in Dong'a City, there was absolutely no transgression between Honglian and Yang Chong." Han Yu was shocked, but his good psychological quality allowed him to calm down quickly. Han Wangan's question was within his consideration. As long as something is done, some clues will always be left behind.

"Qi is a big country. Yang Chong conquered Qi in one war. It seems that he has occupied Qi, but there is still a long way to go if he wants to truly rule Qi. Back then, Yan occupied 70 of Qi's 72 cities and occupied them for three years, but in the end, weren't they driven out of Qi by the people of Qi?" After listening to Han Yu's explanation, King Han An did not continue to pursue him, but what he said was hesitant.

"Father, do you think Yang Chong may not be able to truly rule Qi?" Han Yu asked tentatively. He had already heard the evasion in Han Wangan's mouth.

Yes, Yang Chong rose to prominence too quickly, so quickly that it was unbelievable.

He was able to capture Linzi, but whether he could rule Qi was a question.

If Yang Chong cannot effectively rule Qi and is defeated outside the battlefield, Han State will only be embarrassed and become a laughing stock if it sends Honglian to Qi State.