The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

"The Xia Emperor was called the Queen, the Shang Emperor was called the Emperor, and the Zhou Emperor was called the King. This was the case for the three dynasties. Now that the Qin Emperor has conquered the six kingdoms, he should also change his title to show his success!"

"What the King's Counsellor said makes sense. Your Majesty ordered the Prime Minister, the Censor and the Counsellors to discuss the title. We should do our best!"

In a hall of the Langzhongling official office, Hei Fu sat with more than ten Counsellors, listening to them talking and spitting, but he was wandering in his mind.

Qin Wangzheng really didn't play by the rules. Hei Fu didn't expect that as soon as he entered Xianyang, he was neither summoned by the King of Qin nor appointed to the military position he expected, but was thrown a sinecure of "Counsellor".

Langguan was in charge of guarding the gates, staying at home as guards, and serving as charioteers when going out. There were Counsellors, Zhonglang, Shilang, Langzhong, etc., as many as a thousand people. Among them, the rank of Yilang is equivalent to six hundred stones. As the name suggests, the special feature of this kind of Langguan is that it is not only like a doctor to answer questions and serve as an advisor, but also responsible for speaking and discussing state affairs.

The one who sent him the appointment letter was Yang Qiu (liáo), a Langguan envoy who met him once last year. He said to Heifu: "Your Majesty, although Heifu was born in the countryside, he is eloquent and often comes up with amazing strategies. Now that there is no shortage of military positions, let him try to be a Yilang first!"

The so-called "eloquent" is probably the impression left on Qin Wangzheng by Heifu's proposals such as building public toilets and composting, as well as the sentence "A soldier who does not want to be a general is not a good soldier."

It is also possible that after hearing about some of his deeds from Neishiteng and Li You, Qin Wang deliberately put him in this position to see what else Heifu can do.

"The emperor's heart is really hard to figure out. Ye Teng also told me that I should listen more, watch more and talk less when I first arrived..."

Heifu secretly complained, but it was impossible for him not to speak when he was given such a position.

But what should he say? It was a good day when the six kings were all guilty and the world was settled. Of course, it would not work to jump out and say something that disobeyed the King of Qin and spoiled his mood.

But if you want to flatter someone, you have to know how to flatter him and grasp the priorities. Otherwise, it would be fun to flatter him.

For example, although the edict just issued is not long, it is meaningful. Political titles are an important part of the ancient Chinese political system. They are valued because they carry the functions of declaring the orthodoxy of the dynasty and conveying beautiful meanings. Isn't there a saying that if the name is not established, the words will not flow, and if the words are not flow, the things will not be accomplished.

The title was the beginning of the Qin Dynasty's new policy. As far as Heifu knew, this would also be the beginning of the two thousand years of imperial system.

"Zuo Shuzhang seemed to be thinking about something. Could it be that he had an idea?"

Just when Heifu was considering whether to fill in the answer and how to fill it in, a councilor named Wang Wu called Heifu twice and called him back to his senses.

Wang Wu was a relative of Prime Minister Wang Wan. He was a fifth-rank official and had more than ten councilors. They were all scattered officials and no one was in charge of them. The doctor-in-chief did not care about them much, but this person often claimed to be the head of the councilors.

After Heifu came, his title was higher than Wang Wu's. Wang Wu felt a little uncomfortable and looked down on this crude soldier who came from the common people and did not even have a surname to become a councilor.

But he did not dare to confront Heifu openly on weekdays. When the King of Qin ordered the councilors to discuss the title of the emperor, he deliberately directed his attention to Heifu because he expected that Heifu would never be able to think of it.

Sure enough, when Hei Fu found that everyone in the room was looking at him, he smiled like a country bumpkin:

"I come from the military, I don't know many words, how can I have any idea about these things quoting classics."

Wang Wu's mouth curled up slightly, looking at other councilors, the meaning was very clear: See, I was right, this country bumpkin can't say anything!

Hei Fu knew that he couldn't integrate into the councilors in a short time, and said: "You guys discuss here, I'll go to the censor's room to look through the books, maybe I can think of it!"

After that, he stood up, bowed, and said goodbye.

After he left the hall, Wang Wu said contemptuously: "Soldiers, ordinary people, usually uneducated, isn't it a little late to look through books now?"

The person next to him coughed softly, reminding the prime minister's relative from Shandong to be careful with his words. Qin State attached the most importance to military merit, so even if everyone looked down on Hei Fu's background, they didn't dare to look down on him.

Wang Wu knew that he had made a mistake and could only sigh secretly. Qin was full of warriors, but even if it could conquer the world, could it always be like this? He continued to discuss the title of emperor with everyone...

…

Hei Fu was not panicked with the correct answer in his hand, and he was not in a hurry to come forward. After leaving the Langzhongling official office, he walked slowly to the Yushi Mansion next door.

The Qin system was not established in one day. Before unification, the prime minister, the censor, and the nine officials of Fengchang, Langzhongling, Weiwei, Zongzheng, Taipu, Tingwei, Dianke, Zhisu Neishi, and Shaofu were all in place.

These official offices were not located in the traditional "Xianyang City" on the north bank of the Wei River, but in Weinan, and the area of Xi'an in later generations.

This is not surprising. Although during the reign of Qin Xiaogong, Shang Yang was ordered to build Weicheng and Jique on the Xianyang Plateau in the north of Wei River as the new capital, after more than a hundred years of changes, Xianyang is no longer isolated, but has expanded at a rapid speed like the territory of Qin!

It is said that after King Huiwen of Qin became king, he took huge materials from Qi and Yong to build new palaces, making the scale of Xianyang City "facing the Wei River in the south and exceeding the Jing River in the north", which has begun to take on the scale of a capital city of a great country.

During the reign of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, it was even more amazing. The market crossed the Wei River and expanded to the south bank. A cross bridge was built on the Wei River, and the Zhangtai Palace and other palaces were also built one after another.

"Xianyang is no longer a city." Heifu remembered the words of the new friend he met after arriving in Xianyang.

Heifu thought to himself: "If we use the words of later generations to describe Xianyang now, it should be the capital circle, which is accurate enough..."

You can also think that Weinan is the Xiong'an New Area of Xianyang.

Government agencies also gradually moved here. Compared with the slightly small Beigong, the newly built Zhangtai Palace was more majestic and tall, so it replaced Xianyang Palace and became the political center of Qin. The famous "Returning the Jade to Zhao" took place here.

Qin Wang Zheng also disliked Beigong and preferred this place. He handled government affairs here most of the year.

In order to improve administrative efficiency, except for the Weiwei who guarded Xianyang and Fengchang who was in charge of the ancestral temple sacrifices, the other seven ministers' offices, as well as the Prime Minister's Office and the Censor's Office were concentrated near Zhangtai Palace, on both sides of Zhangtai Street.

Now he looked back and could see that the walls of Zhangtai Palace were high and the gates were majestic. It looked as tall and majestic as the Forbidden City in later generations. But the color of black tiles and yellow walls, coupled with the open and clear sky, the birds perched, the Mingshan towering, and the lush Jique connected to the sky, added a bit of heaviness and was more in line with Heifu's aesthetics.

But outside the palace wall, on both sides of Zhangtai Street, there are some low and ordinary buildings. The buildings are not new. Although people often come and go, the black-clad officials walk hurriedly, but they are light and light, and almost no extra noise is made.

If you don't know, you might think it is an ordinary rich family. However, if you go into these small alleys, you can run into the heavily guarded soldiers. When you look up, you will find that the plaque says the Prime Minister's Mansion and the Censor's Mansion!

Hei Fu couldn't help but think of a joke he had heard in his previous life: "The central government hidden in the alleys of Zhongnanhai is not as impressive as a county government in a fourth- or fifth-tier small county..."

So here, what Hei Fu saw was not the prosperity and bustle of the Xianyang market in Weibei, but the steady and orderly beating of the heart of the empire, and all the officials in the capital were solemn!

Although he had only been in office for two days, he was lucky enough to see on his way to work that just after the cockcrow, hundreds of stones of documents and bamboo slips sent from various counties were pulled by more than ten carriages and passed through Zhangtai Street. They were first sorted in the Prime Minister's Mansion and the Censor's Mansion, and some were distributed to various government offices. The most important ones were handed over to the Zhangtai guards, and then presented to Qin Wang Zheng who had eaten breakfast for personal inspection.

Seeing that the seal was intact and had not been secretly opened and read by the traitors, Qin Wang would have people knock off the seal and send it to him for his personal inspection...

It is said that Qin Wang was a workaholic. He "personally handled writing, judged cases during the day, and handled books at night." He had to review 120 kilograms of memorials every day!

Qin Wang was so diligent in his work, and Qin law also advocated that daily official business should not be delayed overnight, so the major government offices beside Zhangtai Street were also busy under the quiet appearance.

Fortunately, Heifu, the councillor, was a leisurely job with not much to do, and he had a legitimate reason to "check the information", so he was not considered to be skipping work. He passed an alley, but did not enter the gate of the Censorate, which was crowded with a group of doctoral students and chattering, but went around to the side and back, outside a courtyard surrounded by a well.

On the gate of the courtyard, there were several large seal characters "Censorate's House Collection Room".

This is the Censorate's House Collection Room, which is also the Qin State's National Library and National Archives. The documents of all parties, that is, the memorials, archives, books of the central government, and the materials reported by local governments, are all concentrated here.

Heifu showed his copper seal and black ribbon of the councillor, as well as the bamboo slips that allowed him to enter and exit, and was asked to leave the flint that everyone would carry in those days, before he was allowed to enter under the guidance of the clerk.

"What book does the councillor want to read?"

This was Hei Fu's second visit. The clerk in the storage room had some impression of the councillor who went to the storage room to flip through books and ended up falling asleep.

"I'm not looking for books today. I'm looking for people. Is the historian here?" Hei Fu said with a smile.

"There are four historians in the storage room: Mingtang, Shishi, Jinkui, and Yuban. I wonder who the councillor is looking for?"

The National Library of the Qin Dynasty belonged to the Imperial Censorate, but it was further divided into Mingtang, Shishi, Jinkui, and Yuban. Mingtang contained Qin's own historical books, Jinkui contained Qin laws and decrees, and Yuban contained household maps.

Only the Stone Chamber was newly built, and it contained the historical books and books looted from the six kingdoms.

The historian in the Stone Chamber was what Hei Fu was looking for.

The clerk led him through the corridors at the edge. When he passed through the halls, he could hear the rustling sound. It was the Qin clerks who were copying documents. From time to time, he could see clerks carrying boxes of bamboo slips in and out. Reading was also a physical job these days, not easier than moving bricks.

A thought flashed through Heifu's mind: "If light paper could be invented, it wouldn't be so tiring. Moreover, with the unification of the world, the affairs of the counties were heavy, and the backward writing medium began to be difficult to adapt to the extremely sophisticated administration of Qin..."

While thinking, they arrived at the stone chamber.

The Qin State plundered the classics of the six countries, more out of the mentality of a victor. There were not many people who were really interested in the classics of the six countries, so there were few people who came here to read books. The door was slightly open, and there was no one around.

"Zhuxiashi? Zhuxiashi?"

The clerk in the storage room came to the door and called softly, but no one answered for a long time.

He had to increase the volume, and at this time, an impatient voice finally sounded inside.

"Who is shouting and disturbing outside?"

The clerk shrank his head: "Zhuxiashi, a councilor has something to ask, so he came to find you!"

"Councilor?" The voice inside was lost in thought, and after a while he said: "Wait a moment, I'll come out."

However, half a minute passed, and no one came out, only a dull sound of falling to the ground was heard!

Hei Fu and the clerk were startled, and walked in to take a look, only to see that a bookshelf with bamboo slips had collapsed, and the bamboo slips and scrolls on it fell to the ground, just pressing a figure underneath!

"Quick... pull me out!"

The man was huge and clumsy, and he was pressed down by several stone bamboo slips and couldn't move...

Hei Fu was strong, and he walked over and pulled him out.

A closer look revealed that he was a rare fat man these days, with full cheeks like soft steamed buns, and a pair of eyes deeply sunken in the flesh, but his skin was very good, as fat and white as a gourd...

The fat man was still crying out in pain just now, but after being pulled out, he didn't bother to check the pain, but threw himself on the old bamboo slips, sighing with heartache.

"This is the only copy of "Shi Zi". I haven't copied it yet. What should I do if it is damaged?"

He hurriedly picked up the book on the ground, but unexpectedly his lower body was unstable and he stepped on a bamboo slip. He fell again and fell on his back, and was buried in the bamboo slips again...

If this man's brain was stupid, it would be a big loss. Hei Fu could only help him again. Seeing that he was not injured, he said with a smile: "Brother Zihu, I know you love books, but you don't have to use books as a coffin?"

The tall and fat guy in front of him was Zhang Cang, who had made Hei Fu famous in the past few years. He was a descendant of the Yangwu Zhang family, a disciple of Xunzi, a junior of Li Si, a learned celebrity, and a future great mathematician and scientist.

However, when Hei Fu really met this man, he found out that his true identity was...

Fat otaku!