Poverty Alleviation in Qin: A Sky-High Review of "I Am the Female Prime Minister of All Time&qu

Pei County, Feng Township.

Inside the cramped tavern, Liu Ji leaned against the earthen wall, one arm around Cao Shi's shoulder, the other holding a wine bowl, tilting his head back to drink deeply, letting out a long sigh: "A true man should be like this!"

"Look at the First Emperor. He suffered greatly as a hostage in the State of Zhao from a young age, yet in the end, he still managed to conquer the six states and unify the country. This is the kind of achievement a man should make!"

Cao was sitting beside him, tidying up a bundle of dried vegetables she had just bought. Hearing his words, she continued what she was doing, her tone indifferent: "He is the king of the world, you are just a village head in Fengxiang, you are far inferior."

Liu Ji choked for a moment, put down his wine bowl, and touched the tip of his nose: "Isn't a village head an official too? Although he does have some tricks up his sleeve..."

"Alright, drink less alcohol. When the child comes out, don't let him smell the alcohol on you."

"Okay, okay, okay—"

At the same time, in the county court courtyard.

Song Ye gazed at the emperor's silhouette frozen in the sky, his expression calm, revealing no trace of emotion.

Qin Shi Huang truly deserves the title of the greatest emperor of all time.

Having been held hostage in the State of Zhao since childhood, he suffered cold looks and humiliation every day, and witnessed the humiliation and suffering of his elders in the royal family. Such childhood experiences have long been etched into his bones.

This is precisely what shaped his contradictory nature.

He was both a great emperor who swept across the land and established a new regime, and a tyrant who was also known by the people of the former six kingdoms for his excessive killing.

Whether people love him or hate him, the root cause is the same thing; merits and demerits, advantages and disadvantages, have always gone hand in hand.

Xiao He stood up, brushed the dust off his knees, and strode forward, deliberately lowering his voice: "My lord, these people from later generations are far too arrogant, daring to address His Majesty by his name in public..."

Song glanced at him and said, "What's so scary? Qin Shi Huang can't just go through the internet and punish people."

"...But aren't people of later generations afraid of being punished and held accountable by the current emperor for openly referring to the late emperor by his name?"

How do you know there will be emperors in later generations?

"???"

No emperor?!

Xiao He dared not imagine what the world would be like without a ruler.

Wouldn't the country descend into chaos?!

Before delving into the details of Qin Shi Huang, Ying Zheng, the uploader would like to ask viewers a question.

Is Qin Shi Huang hailed as the greatest emperor of all time simply because he conquered the six warring states and unified China?

[In terms of conquest and expansion alone, Alexander the Great, a century before Qin Shi Huang, led his army to the Indus River Valley. Yet, after his death, the empire he had built crumbled instantly. Conquest by force alone is not a rare achievement in history.]

The key to Qin Shi Huang's position as the greatest emperor in Chinese history, surpassing countless later rulers, was never his battlefield exploits.

Rather, it lies in the fact that he accomplished something unprecedented in history, a feat that later emperors could hardly replicate.

The remnants of the six kingdoms all pricked up their ears: What?! Tell us quickly! (Sneaking in to learn)

That is, Emperor Qin Shi Huang (Ying Zheng) established a complete and functioning system for this fragmented and independent land. Even after his death and the collapse of the Qin Dynasty, this framework was able to sustain China for over two thousand years.

[What he established was not just the title and power of "Emperor," but more importantly, Qin Shi Huang was the first to establish the concept of an indivisible Chinese territory and a unified world, truly creating "China."]

The remnants of the six kingdoms: "......."

Oh, so this unprecedented and unparalleled feat is to annihilate us!

That's really difficult.

Hehehehe...

the other side.

"Someone, write down what Tianmu said," Ying Zheng ordered, frowning.

Who was Alexander the Great? And where is India?

Are there other barbarian states besides the Central Plains?

Upon realizing this possibility, Qin Shi Huang's face instantly turned cold.

A hundred years earlier than himself, which means that he was a contemporary of himself.

Judging from appearances, this barbarian kingdom is quite large...

Before discussing Qin Shi Huang, we need to go back to the time when the six kingdoms were unified, which was the first year that Song Ye was transferred to De'an County.

Only by clarifying the deep-rooted historical inertia of that time and understanding the enormous temptations facing Qin Shi Huang can we understand his subsequent series of seemingly radical measures.

Many people believe that Qin Shi Huang was arrogant and conceited after unifying China, but this is not the case; he was actually anxious.

This anxiety stems from historical inertia that has persisted for hundreds of years.

Let's consider what this land looked like for the eight hundred years before the Qin Dynasty was established.

Since the Zhou Dynasty implemented the enfeoffment system, the people have never had a unified understanding of "Chinese." Even though they lived on the same land, different states spoke different languages, had different scripts, and different currencies; even the gauge of their chariot wheels differed. This division was not merely at the political level, but was deeply ingrained in the cultural fabric of everyone.

In the prevailing perception among officials and nobles throughout the land at that time, the most perfect and stable model of governance was to replicate the Zhou dynasty's system.

Once the war has ended, the monarch should enfeoff his sons and meritorious officials in various regions to establish their own kingdoms.

When everyone reveres the emperor as the ruler of the world, this is what people perceive as a peaceful and prosperous era.

What else?

All the former inhabitants of the six kingdoms thought the same thing.

This old system was undoubtedly an irresistible temptation for Qin Shi Huang.

[The enfeoffment system seemed to have no downsides: distributing land to members of the royal family ensured that the Ying clan's bloodline was spread throughout the land, the empire could be passed down through generations, and he himself could gain a reputation for being a benevolent and magnanimous ruler. How convenient!]

Upon hearing this, the former nobles of the six kingdoms, hidden among the crowd, were all moved, and many nodded subconsciously, their faces full of self-righteousness.

In their understanding from childhood, enfeoffment is the eternal and unchanging right way. The world should be divided into states, and there is no reason to divide it all into counties and prefectures without distinguishing between kings and nobles.

On the other side, Liu Ji also stopped drinking and clicked his tongue: "To be honest, this kind of enfeoffment is indeed worry-free. Sending one's own relatives to guard various places, who would dare to rebel easily?"

The local officials whispered amongst themselves, their voices rising and falling.

"If it were me, I would have directly granted fiefdoms to my sons, earning a reputation as a benevolent ruler. Why bother with so much criticism from later generations?"

"Yes, to hold the entire land in one's hands, to divide it among one's own children and grandchildren, and to enjoy blessings for generations—what a wonderful thing that would be!"

"The prefecture-county system is too strict, and officials have to be dispatched back and forth every year. It's too troublesome. How can it compare to the freedom of being enfeoffed?"

Only the remnants of the six kingdoms, hidden among the crowd, remained silent, secretly plotting in their hearts.

If the First Emperor had chosen to enfeoff the former nobles of the six states, they could have seized the opportunity during the period of feudal fragmentation to rise again and restore their former territories. They would not be in such a predicament as they are now, with nowhere to stand.

They remained outwardly calm, but a hint of resentment lingered in their eyes, secretly regretting that the tyrant hadn't followed this "shortcut."

...

Xianyang, Zhangtai Palace.

Upon hearing Tianmu's words, the high-ranking officials, including Prime Minister Wang Wan, looked regretful.

He had always been a staunch supporter of the enfeoffment system, and had previously petitioned the First Emperor to enfeoff members of the imperial clan several times. At this moment, he felt that Tianmu's words had hit the nail on the head, and he really couldn't understand why His Majesty insisted on abandoning such a win-win solution.

Only Ying Zheng and his minister Li Si remained silent throughout.

The majority of people, officials, and old nobles across the land felt that enfeoffment was the best solution.

Why would the First Emperor, who held supreme power, choose to abandon the easy path and instead take a dangerous road that would be criticized by the whole country?