The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

At nightfall, the prime minister, censors and other officials who had been busy all day turned off the lights, and the officials returned to their homes, and both sides of Zhangtai Street fell into darkness.

But in the Zhangtai Palace, separated by a wall, the bedroom of King Zheng of Qin was still brightly lit, and the light came from more than ten bronze lamp stands as tall as trees in the hall. The fine whale oil transported from the seaside of Qi was used as fuel to keep the lamp wicks burning.

Qin Wangzheng's work for the day was not yet completed. With the rapid expansion of the territory, the government affairs he needed to handle every day also increased rapidly:

He needed to approve the candidates for the new governors, lieutenants, and supervisors to be appointed in the newly established counties. The list of the wealthy people of the six countries who were expected to move to Xianyang was also drawn up and needed approval. There were also plans to collect weapons from all over the world, destroy the passes and bridges in various places, and implement Qin laws and Qin's weights and measures in Qi, Chu, and Yan...

What Qin did was not only to destroy the bronze shell of the old world, but also to forge the iron skeleton of the new order. There were too many things to build, and it was simply a myriad of things.

That's why Qin Wangzheng was so busy. He reviewed and judged cases during the day, sorted out memorials late at night, and got up at the crowing of the cock the next day. He personally handled the writing and writing, and reviewed the newly delivered memorials one by one and sent them to the prime minister and the censor.

He rose early and went to bed late, and there was no morning. This sentence is the most appropriate to describe the work of the Qin King. If he was not in his prime and energetic, ordinary people would have been overwhelmed or neglected their duties.

After finally finishing these things and having two tall and strong guards carry away the memorials weighing hundreds of kilograms, it was already late at night. Qin Wang Zheng, served by the palace maids, applied hot water to his face for a while, and then immediately asked people to send up the memorials on the title of emperor discussed by the ministers.

The first to be opened was the joint memorial of the prime ministers Wei Zhuang and Wang Wan, the imperial censor Feng Quji, and the court judge Li Si.

"Your ministers and the doctors have discussed that in ancient times there were the emperors of heaven, earth, and the emperor of Tai, and the emperor of Tai was the most noble."

"Therefore, your ministers are willing to die to give you the title of Tai, and the king is the emperor of Tai. The decree is called 'rule', the order is called 'edict', and the emperor calls himself 'I'."

There is also an appendix to the memorial written by the doctors, which explains this view in detail.

"Heaven and earth were born from Taiyi. Therefore, among the three emperors, Taihuang is the most precious."

After reading it, Qin Wangzheng tapped his fingers on the table and said secretly: "The decree, the edict, and the emperor calling me are all good, but the imperial title is Taihuang..."

Under his thick beard, he showed a smile that saw through everything, and said meaningfully: "The right prime minister and the court judge are both from Chu..."

The so-called Taiyi, which can also be called "Donghuang Taiyi", is the supreme god re-created by the Chu people. Among the three emperors, Taihuang is the most precious. This view of the Confucian scholars and scholars in Chu has gradually spread to the Central Plains in the past hundred years and has been generally recognized.

But Qin Wangzheng doesn't like it! He will not add anything with the color of Chu to his own achievements.

"It's OK for Wei Zhuang, Wang Wan, and Feng Quji, but Li Si is always smart, why is he so confused this time..."

The King of Qin threw the memorial aside without any hesitation and continued to read the suggestions of the doctors.

Most of the doctors were Confucian scholars, and Confucian scholars were divided into many factions. The Confucian scholars in Chu thought that the Taihuang was the most noble, but the Confucian scholars in Qi and Lu disagreed with them, believing that the Taihuang was not Taiyi, but the Human Emperor, and was not as noble as the Heavenly Emperor. Another group of people thought that the King of Qin was ultimately a monarch on earth, not a god, so it was appropriate to call him the Earth Emperor.

But both titles were rejected by the King of Qin.

As for the memorials of the counselors, they were even less popular. There were so many titles such as Xuandi, Baidi, and Gaodi, and the King of Qin was not satisfied with any of them.

In the minds of the King of Qin and the world, it is believed that the emperor is higher than the emperor, and the emperor is higher than the king. The older, the more respected. He was not even satisfied with the title of the Three Emperors, so how could he be satisfied with the emperor?

Then again, what kind of honorific title can match his great achievements of raising an army of righteousness, punishing the remnants of the enemy, pacifying the world, unifying the country into counties, and unifying the laws, which has never happened since ancient times and is beyond the reach of the Five Emperors. Doesn't the King of Qin have a clue in his mind?

The answer had already emerged in his mind. He just wanted to see what honorific titles the ministers would submit and whether they could understand his intentions...

But after reading a pile of letters, they were all extremely boring. Although the ministers expressed their own opinions, none of them could get close to the King of Qin's mind.

It was not until the assistant minister opened the memorial with "Yi Lang Hei Fu" written on it and handed it to him that the King of Qin's eyes lit up.

"I am a coarse and humble person, born in a county, I don't know how to write, nor do I know the classics. However, I have heard the historian Cang under the pillar talk about the affairs of the Three Sovereigns and the Five Emperors, so I risked my life to make suggestions."

The King of Qin knew about Hei Fu's background, and he deliberately arranged this boy to the position of Yi Lang, and he also had his intentions. Indeed, if Heifu had not been told by Zhang Cang, it would have been strange if he knew about the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.

However, Heifu continued to write: "Some say that the Three Sovereigns were the beginning of the creation and the beginning of the monarch and his subjects, but they lived in nests with fire and used stone and wood as weapons, which was really ignorant; it is also said that the Five Emperors had a territory of thousands of miles, but the princes outside were submissive to the barbarians and the princes sometimes came to the emperor or not, and the emperor could not control them. They were nominally the common rulers of the world, but in fact they were small countries with few people."

"Now your majesty has succeeded to the throne, and has inspired the remaining power of the six generations. He has revved up the long strategy and ruled the world, swallowed the two Zhous and destroyed the princes, and ruled the world with the supreme power. He is so powerful and powerful that he can shake the world!"

"Therefore, I think that your majesty has surpassed the Three Sovereigns in merit and the Five Emperors in virtue. Regardless of whether it is the emperor or the emperor, it cannot cover your majesty's achievements. The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors combined may be..."

At this point, the title that the King of Qin had already determined in his heart was about to come out!

However, Heifu stopped talking at this point, and instead complained.

"I know that I am uneducated and incompetent, so I have been reading books in the censor's office recently. However, I still can't find a suitable title, so I dare not make any rash comments. I respectfully submit this memorial to Your Majesty."

Xiao was like this, but this was the most satisfactory memorial that Qin Wangzheng had seen tonight. He could not help but nod slightly: "I never thought that the one who suits me best is actually a small councilor!"

The sum of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors is naturally "Emperor"!

This is the title that Qin Wangzheng has decided on, but as a superior, it is interesting to watch the ministers arguing for his title, and then overturn it all in the end, giving an answer that makes them dumbfounded, shocked, and then praise.

Han Fei wrote well in the book. The principle of the monarch is that he cannot be seen through by his ministers. If you want to do something, but you don't know the whole situation, you will reveal your thoughts. Doing so will not only do no good, but will definitely hurt you.

So, release a little information, and then let the ministers guess what the king is thinking.

Let them argue. Once the edict is issued, no one dares to remain silent, and can only speak out. In the dispute, some thoughts and political views that are usually hidden will be exposed.

This is the king's art of sitting in the south, and everything is under the control of King Qin Zheng.

However, if someone guesses what he thinks impartially and says it proudly, King Qin Zheng will frown again.

So King Qin thought that what Heifu said in the memorial was just right, his ideas coincided with his, and he stopped at the right place.

He placed Heifu's memorial on the right side of the table, which was clearly separated from the piles of rejected memorials on the left side.

"It is indeed a waste of talent to let this boy be a small councilor with a salary of 600 shi."

Although he found the memorial that suited his heart the most, Qin Wangzheng's purpose was to consider the ministers, so even though he was a little sleepy, he still insisted on reading all the memorials.

When he opened the memorial of Zhao Gao, the Minister of the Imperial Chariot House, who was also granted permission to write a letter to discuss the title of emperor, Qin Wangzheng's sleepiness disappeared all of a sudden.

"Your Majesty has surpassed the Three Sovereigns in merit and the Five Emperors in virtue. No matter whether it is the emperor or the emperor, it cannot cover your Majesty's achievements... Therefore, I, Zhao Gao, dare not make any rash comments."

Except for the difference in the previous part, the final conclusion is exactly the same as Heifu's!

Qin Wangzheng touched his thick beard and was a little surprised. Zhao Gao, the Minister of the Imperial Chariot House, was born in a hidden official family. His mother was punished, so his family was humble for generations.

However, Zhao Gao was quite self-reliant. Not only was he strong, but he also gained freedom through military merit. During a tiger hunting in Shanglin, he attracted the attention of the King of Qin with his superb chariot and horse riding skills, and was selected to be the military charioteer of the Central Chariot House.

In April of the ninth year, Lao Ai launched a mutiny when King Zheng of Qin went to Yong for the ceremony of coming of age. He used the Queen Mother's seal to mobilize the Lieutenant Army and the soldiers of the Internal History County to attack the Qinian Palace. At the most dangerous moment, the King of Qin was surrounded by only the Langzhong Lingjun and the military charioteers of the Central Chariot House. Zhao Gao fought to the death to defend the King of Qin and helped him to quell the rebellion. He made great contributions and became the most trusted person of the King of Qin. More than ten years ago, people around the King of Qin came and went, but Zhao Gao always firmly occupied the side of the king.

Zhao Gao also worked hard. Although he won the title by force, he taught himself prison law and could write well, so he was gradually promoted to the position of the Central Charioteer.

He and the counselor Heifu only met once in Chen County and exchanged a few words. Logically, these two people should never have any intersection. Why did they write almost the same memorial?

After thinking for a while, Qin Wangzheng felt sleepy and stopped thinking about it. He just shook his head and said, "This is a real coincidence!"

...

The next day, Hu Wujing, who was once a prison guard and was promoted to a historian because of his good calligraphy, came to the Qin Wang's office with trepidation. He saw dozens of volumes of memorials on the left side of the table, and only two silk books on the right side...

"Hu Wujing, draft an edict for me."

Qin Wang had taken a nap for two hours. While eating breakfast, he began to work non-stop on government affairs.

Hu Wujing respectfully spread out the silk and wrote seriously according to Qin Wang's dictation.

"The king said: I have read the title proposed by the ministers. The prime minister, the censorate, and the court judge proposed the title of Taihuang, and removed the "Tai" and kept the "Huang". Then adopt the ancient title of "Emperor" and call it "Emperor". He will do as he wishes..."

Hu Wujing quickly held his trembling hands. He felt that he was witnessing a great moment.

From then on, when he drafted an edict, he had to write "The emperor said"!

However, after he insisted on writing this edict, the emperor ordered him to write two more appointment letters.

"Zhao Gao, the commander of the Central Chariot House, your proposal for the title is very much in line with my heart. He has been serving as a guard for many years and has made great contributions, so I will increase his rank to You Shuchang."

"Heifu, the counselor, your proposal for the title is quite in line with my heart. I will change your position to Zhonglang Hujiang! The rank is equivalent to Qianshi! Let him guard the palace!"