The younger brother of the First Emperor

Chapter 342: The Qin nobles were arrogant at first but respectful later. The Jianghu is not about fighting and killing, but about human relationships and worldly wisdom.
"I have done everything according to the law." The young man shook his robe, his anger evident in his words: "I have investigated everything clearly, and I sealed his mouth because I don't want him to see you and make random accusations! How dare you insult me ​​like this! Fine! Since you want to listen, then listen to it! Come on! Let him speak!"

Meng An had a warm look on his face and wanted to laugh. He was not frightened at all by what Chang'an Jun said.

He knew that Baili Sheng was biting people, but that was not Baili Sheng's fault, but the fault of the Chu clan.

As for the torture in our country, let alone the elderly Baili Sheng, even if it was the rebirth of Yu Rang who painted his body with lacquer and swallowed charcoal, he would be forced to say whatever he wanted.

There are many people who are not afraid of a knife cutting their necks, but Meng An has never seen anyone who is not afraid of torture and can endure it.

Ever since Baili Sheng was taken away from the two prime ministers by Chang'an Jun, he has been imprisoned in the Supreme Court and has been under the sight of the old Qin nobles.

As a representative of the Qin nobility, Meng An even secretly met with Baili Sheng. If it is legal to neglect government affairs, you still need to check the laws, but if it is illegal to abuse private power, just do it directly.

Meng An's gaze followed the officer who came forward to untie the women, and finally he met Baili Sheng's gaze and smiled slightly.

The time has come to overturn the verdict and give a big surprise to the gentleman from Qin State who is rarely seen in a century and the crazy woman from Zhao State.

Just when Langguan was three steps away from Baili Sheng.

"Wait a minute!" A shout suddenly rang out, clear and loud.

Lin Yi, who had been resting with his eyes closed since the court session, opened his eyes, holding the golden abacus he had been playing with in his palm. The father of the Queen Mother Zhao and the Minister of the Qin State since the rebellion of the thief Lu, stepped firmly on the ground and stood up naturally.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Lin Yi, but he ignored them, cupped his hands, and lowered his proud head slightly towards his biological daughter:
"Queen Mother, I have something important to report to you.

"It's just a small matter. It won't be too late to discuss it later."

The old Qin nobles were somewhat unhappy. You call the affairs of us, the old Qin nobles, trivial matters?

Xishan showed his displeasure on his face, showing no cunning at all. He could be a little more unbridled today, because his father Xidi did not come to leave room for maneuver, and the same was true for the Meng family.

The military generals were equally unhappy and they included Lin Yi in their list of people they cursed.

The Imperial Censor Wei Zhuang and the Nine Ministers, high-ranking officials of the Qin State, perked up. They were good at scheming and political affairs and smelled a familiar smell.

Why fight and kill? This is the way it should be!
Lin Yi did not give his colleagues a chance to interrupt him. There was not much time between his next sentence and the previous one. At over fifty years old, his voice was louder than many young people:
"Recently, the government has seen frequent changes in personnel, and it is common for officials to not know their staff, and for staff to not know their officials.

"Take the Imperial Household Supervisor as an example.

"As an old official in the inner court, I see new faces every day when I go to the roll, but I always miss some old faces.

“And I, the old minister, knew nothing about this beforehand.

“I don’t know if I have done anything wrong to deserve such punishment.

“As the head of a government, I don’t know my subordinates. I think it’s not those old people who are used to it who are derelict in their duties, but me.

"I dare to ask, what mistakes have I made, and how long will I be punished? What mistakes have the officials of the court made, and how long will they be punished?"

Lin Yi didn't say everything clearly, but he was almost there.

He was expressing his dissatisfaction with the Qin State's frequent replacement of officials and the infringement of his own power.

His words and actions were consistent in meaning.

The highest official in a prefecture can't appoint or dismiss officials in the prefecture, but at least you should let me know who you take down and who you promote, right? How can you do things this way?

Lin Yi finished speaking.

The unhappy generals were still unhappy, because this time the officials replaced were civil servants instead of military generals.

The unhappy old Qin nobles were very happy. Although Shaofu Lin Yi was fighting for his own power, he was also speaking for them. Most of the people who had been replaced were from the old Qin nobles.

Meng An was no longer in a hurry to make Baili Sheng change his confession. Xishan's expression also became better, and the emotions in the eyes of the old Qin nobles all changed from negative to positive.

Compared with this incident, that case is indeed a trivial matter!
Look at the high and mighty slut again. No! She is not a slut at all. She is the queen mother of my Qin State! The queen mother who should hold the power!
lewd?

Do not!
That's romantic!

That's natural!

That's temperament!

The king has not yet come of age and is still too young. How can he take power?
Lin Yi's words reversed the Queen Mother Zhao's reputation and won her the love of all the old Qin nobles in the court today.

"Mr. Lin has a lot of complaints." King Zheng of Qin said in a bad tone.

On the throne, Qin Wangzheng leaned forward, feeling a little more oppressive:
"Officials and clerks who are not competent for their duties should be dismissed and replaced by virtuous people. Mr. Lin, do you think what I said is wrong?"

Lin Yi raised his head, looked up at Qin Wangzheng, cupped his hands, and said loudly with an expressionless face:
“Your Majesty is absolutely right, and I fully agree with you.

"Inferior goods are exchanged for superior goods, and beans are replaced by meat and wine. What is wrong with this?
“But if we dismiss the best products and replace them with inferior ones, and exchange wine and meat for a handful of beans, I think this is totally inappropriate.

"Does your Majesty agree?"

The old Qin nobles all looked at King Zheng of Qin. They all cheered for Lin Yi in their hearts and followed Lin Yi to ask loudly, "Do you agree?"

You, King Zheng of Qin, said that the purpose of dismissing officials was to eliminate those lazy officials, replace them with smart and capable officials, and improve the efficiency of the Qin State.

Oh, Your Majesty, those officials you replaced are not as good as our people. Not to mention improvement, they can't even maintain stability!

King Zheng of Qin's face turned pale and he did not answer for a long time.

Lin Yi glanced around:

"Left Prime Minister, Right Prime Minister, Imperial Censor, Mi Dianke..."

He named the two prime ministers, one censor, and all the nine ministers in the court except him and Huayang Bufei, and asked in unison:

"Don't you share the same confusion as me?"

"Cough, cough, it's okay, it's okay." The Imperial Censor Wei Zhuang coughed twice and was the first to respond.

Now that the matter has come to light, it must be resolved. There is no need for him to wade into this muddy water.

Xiong Wen and Xiong Qi, the two brothers in distress, looked at each other.

Speaking of miserable, who could be more miserable than these two prime ministers? The top officials of other government offices just didn’t have the power over personnel, but the power of these two prime ministers in the prime minister’s office was taken away by that group of cheap scholars.

If we have to complain, they should be the ones complaining the most.

Xiong Wen stood up and said to Lin Yi:

"What Lin Shaofu said is something I have never experienced or heard of. Perhaps only the Shaofu Supervisor is like this."

Xiong Qi didn't even stand up, he sat sideways on the chair and glared at Lin Yi, sneering:
"My lies are deceiving the public!"

They knew that the king had deliberately made their power fall into the hands of others. But they also knew that the Zhao clan would never consider them as their own people, and the old Qin nobles looked down on them the most.

They have long been labeled as Qin Shi Huang, and they can only stand with Qin Shi Huang.

Even without talking about their positions, based on their personal judgment, they also support Qin Wangzheng. Xiong Wen and Xiong Qi, who grew up with Qin Wangzheng, are very confident in Qin Wangzheng's methods.

The two prime ministers answered like this.

The guest Mi Chen stood up, shook his head and said:
"Nothing."

Mi Chen's face was calm, and his whole body exuded a sense of calmness and tranquility.

This legendary figure, who had been active in the Qin court since she was Empress Dowager Huayang or Lady Huayang, no longer had the vigor and vitality she had in her youth. The era that belonged to Mi Chen was over.

It passed away with the death of Queen Dowager Huayang and the death of Lu Buwei.

After he finished speaking, he sat down and watched the situation develop.

Like an NPC whose voice will be unlocked only after certain conditions are met.

Even though he is over 40, he still has many doubts.

How did Queen Dowager Huayang die?

Did my old friend Lu Buwei really commit suicide out of fear of punishment?
Based on his understanding of his old friend, if there was really a rebellion, it would never be quelled so easily. So what happened that night?
He couldn't get answers to all these questions, but it didn't matter.

Mi Chen didn't know how the person who proposed the idea of ​​"no confusion" explained the word "no confusion". Anyway, he believed that "no confusion" does not mean no doubts, but that doubts are useless.

At this age, he could no longer lead the Chu clan to continue moving forward. The two brothers, who had achieved the highest position in the Qin State's civil service at a young age, only had superficial respect for him.

He sat and looked up at Lin Yi, who was standing not far away. He was older and more ambitious than him.

Perhaps, when he reaches the age of knowing the destiny, he can also have a second spring of life?
He thought and watched.

The response of the historian Shikura was also very concise:
"Nothing happened."

After Lu Buwei's rebellion, more than half of the nine ministers of Qin were replaced, and Shi Cang was one of the very few who remained.

This old Internal Secretary Zhisu has always been Qin Xi's man.

Qin Qi, who was sensible about the overall situation, unconditionally supported the royal family. From King Zhuangxiang of Qin to King Zheng of Qin, he himself also achieved the position of Zongzheng.

Shi Cang also always supported the Qin royal family. After the gods descended on Qin, he offered taxes to support the royal family, but was rejected by King Zheng of Qin.

The denials from the important ministers made King Zheng of Qin look much better. The bad look did not disappear, but moved to Queen Mother Zhao's face.

Queen Mother Zhao did not wait for the next nine ministers to respond, and her eyes widened:

"Hua Long! Do you know about this?"

Ying Chengjiao bowed his head and said:
"I know, it is true."

Hearing the second son's words, Queen Mother Zhao sneered and ridiculed the ministers who had spoken earlier:
"I have only heard of making something out of nothing, but this is the first time I have seen something that is completely false. Do people in the court of Qin State never tell the truth?"

His eyes fell on the young man, and his tone softened:

"Hualong, you are the crown prince of Qin State. What do you think should be done about this matter?"

"What about you, my Lord? How can one person decide on national affairs?" Ying Chengjiao was a little dissatisfied and said in a deep voice: "The appointment and dismissal of officials should all be determined by laws. The capable ones should be promoted and the mediocre ones should be demoted. This is reasonable. But how capable is it? How mediocre is it? This should be determined by laws. As the saying goes, even if you die, you should die with a clear understanding. At present, the laws in this regard in our country are still too rough, and the laws should be revised. I have invited Han Feizi, who has unique insights on laws, and Shang Yang cannot compare with him even if he were alive again. Han Feizi has agreed to compile new laws for our country, and it will take ten years. Before that, everything should be done according to the old rules."

"Great!" Queen Mother Zhao clapped her hands and was overjoyed. She praised him, "I have also heard of Han Feizi's great name. It is a pleasant surprise that my son can invite Han Feizi! Only my son Hualong can solve the country's problems. In my opinion, we should do this according to what my son said!"

King Zheng of Qin was shocked, turned his head stiffly, and trembled with his lips.

Queen Mother Zhao smiled sweetly:
"What does your Majesty have to say? Are you dissatisfied with the way I handled the matter?"

Qin Wangzheng was stunned for a while, then turned his head back:

"What the Queen Mother said is absolutely true."

These six words were not loud, but their weight was extremely heavy, creating waves in the hearts of the civil servants, especially the old Qin nobles.

They finally understood why Queen Mother Zhao had called them here. It turned out that she was here to win them over! It turned out that Queen Mother Zhao had been looking for an opportunity to return after not attending court!

They were made miserable by the new policies of King Zheng of Qin, and the Queen Mother Zhao also had her power taken away by the rising King Zheng of Qin.

The Queen Mother of Zhao took advantage of the rebellion of these old Qin nobles, which paralyzed the Qin state's political affairs, to convene a court meeting to solve the national difficulties that King Zheng of Qin could not solve, and to re-establish her prestige and regain power.

However, the old Qin nobles maintained their status quo and still firmly controlled the middle-level officials of the Qin State. This was a win-win situation.

Most of the old Qin nobles had never even heard of Han Feizi, whom Chang'an Jun was talking about, and didn't care about him.

A law that takes ten years to revise, even if it is actually revised, who knows what will happen ten years later? Let's solve the current big problem first.

Furthermore, since only Han Fei could revise the law, wouldn't it be better to kill Han Fei? Can't we kill one person in ten years?
"The Queen Mother is sage!"

"The Queen Mother is sage!"

"The Queen Mother is sage!"

"..."

There was an endless stream of compliments.

There are a few discordant sounds of "women bring chaos to the country" and "roosters crowing at dawn" in between, but they are harmless.

After the noise died down, the Queen Mother Zhao named the ministers who were still shouting indignantly, "The people of Zhao cannot be trusted." She ordered the eunuchs to drag them away, and sneered at the struggling ministers:
"I am not the former king, I will save your face.

"Why are you being so gentle to these traitors? Drag them out like dead dogs!
"Twenty strokes of the cane!
"Dismissal from office and stripping of title!
“Never hire!”

King Zheng of Qin lowered his eyes, as if he couldn't bear to look any longer.

Ying Chengjiao lowered his eyes and told himself in his heart that these were necessary sacrifices.

These people may be loyal officials, but since they cannot see the situation clearly, they deserve to be eliminated.

Their mistake is not loyalty, but stupidity.

The boy thought of his teacher.

These things, which he considered dirty and unwilling to do, were handled for him by his teachers in the past.

As soon as I thought of this, the resistance in my consciousness was pushed to the bottom of the abyss.

If you want to accomplish something big, someone has to do it.

Now he has no choice but to shoulder the responsibility.

He remembered what the old marshal Zhang Zuolin said in the TV series "The Young Marshal": The world of Jianghu is not about fighting and killing, but about human relationships and worldly wisdom.

The high-spirited and high-spirited person belongs to Li Yi, a university student majoring in history, not to Ying Chengjiao, the Lord of Chang'an of the Qin State.

"Someone come!" the young man shouted, his voice breaking, as if he wanted to shout out all the bloody and disgusting things in his heart.

"The big thing is done, let's move on to the small things." Ying Chengjiao spoke each word, pointing at Baili Sheng, whose mouth was still stuffed with rags used to tighten the rope, and said, "Untie me! I want to clear my name!"

The official raised his leg and just as he landed on the ground.

"Slow down!" Meng An shouted and ran to the official in charge.

Standing in front of the official, with a dignified look on his face:
"Who doesn't know your name? How could you commit a false case?
"Why do we need to rectify the name? There is no need to rectify the name!"

Arrogant at first but respectful later.

The righteous Chang'an Jun might not know about this, but the Queen Mother Zhao must have known about it, because Lin Yi was the Queen Mother Zhao's father.

This is an exchange, a political exchange.

(End of this chapter)