Seeing that the two of them were still trying to persuade me, I waved my hand to change the subject and looked at Feng Quji.
"Prime Minister Feng, General Meng is here for the Huns. Why did Prime Minister Feng come with him?"
Feng Quji originally wanted to continue persuading me, but when he saw me asking him, he had to put it down temporarily.
"Your Majesty, I am now on my last breath and can no longer advise you. I once again request your Majesty to allow me to resign and return home!"
Seeing Feng Quji's increasingly older face, I couldn't help but sigh.
"Don't blame me, Prime Minister Feng, for being cruel. When I was the crown prince, I stayed in Xianyang. Thanks to Prime Minister Feng, I was able to spend that time in peace. Later, when the late emperor passed away, it was Prime Minister Feng and Prime Minister Li who helped me secure the throne. Not to mention it was all in vain. Prime Minister Feng has contributed a lot to me and to the Qin Dynasty. If Prime Minister Feng resigns, I don’t know what I will do!"
Feng Quji is still very important to me. Unlike Li Si, he was a capable minister and official, but his status in the court was something few could shake. When the dynasty is stable, his qualifications may seem mediocre, or even a little incompetent, but once the world is in turmoil, he can at least ensure that the government is not in chaos.
And there is no doubt about this person's loyalty to Da Qin. Historical records record that after Hu Hai ascended the throne, he carried out extensive construction projects, increased corvee labor, and increased taxes. Feng Quji never stopped admonishing Hu Hai, and was eventually killed by Zhao Gao's slander. When he and Feng Jie were imprisoned, they committed suicide together because "the general will not be humiliated".
If not, how could Ying Zheng have made Li Si, who was easy to use, the prime minister of the left, and made Feng Quji the prime minister of the right? It would not be an exaggeration to call him the Dinghai Shenzhen of the Qin Dynasty.
Feng Quji's eyes moistened when he heard the words, and he said: "Old minister, thank you Your Majesty. My Feng family has been favored by Qin, and all the kings of Qin have never had any suspicion because my Feng family came from the Shangdang. I have followed the emperor all my life, and now I meet him again. Holy Lord Mingjun, if it were not for my old age and frailty, I would be willing to serve your Majesty for another hundred years!"
I sighed softly: "Prime Minister Feng has worked hard for the Qin Dynasty all his life, and it's time to take a rest."
No matter how reluctant I am, Feng Quji is getting old after all.
"Qi Wan, please pass on my order: Prime Minister Feng Quji of the right will resign and return to his hometown. He will be granted the title of Huyi, and he will be granted the title of Marquis of Huyi."
When Feng Quji heard this, he stood up and bowed deeply: "Your Majesty allows this veteran to return home, which is already a great favor. I am worthy of the title of Marquis Che."
I responded: "No need to be polite, sit down. Feng Xiang is worthy of this title. But Prime Minister Feng resigned. Who can take up the post of Prime Minister?"
After Feng Quji sat down, he paused and replied: "I think Prime Minister Li has an important responsibility."
In fact, he and I both understand that apart from Li Si, no one can be the Right Prime Minister, even if there is someone, he can't.
With Li Si's character, if Feng Quji resigns as Prime Minister and I let someone else take the position of Prime Minister, I'm afraid I will hold a grudge in the future. It's not that he is afraid of committing regicide and treason, but his ability to do things is really satisfactory. The entire Da Qin is in its current situation, absolutely inseparable from his talents.
"It coincides with what I thought. In that case, I will let Li Si be the right prime minister and Feng Jie the left prime minister. As for the post of imperial censor, I will let the censor Yuhe take over."
Feng Quji cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty is wise."
Speaking of which, I remembered that the position of Captain of the Guards was still vacant, but there really wasn't a suitable candidate right now.
Thinking about those famous generals in the late Qin Dynasty, Cao Shen refused to be humiliated and died on a hunger strike on the way back to Xianyang; I didn't send anyone to look for Han Xin, not because I didn't like this soldier, but because I was worried that if he joined the Qin army, After gaining fame, he asked me to grant him a king and a fiefdom, but it would be troublesome if he didn't lose it at the end. Fan Kuai was in the Xianyang Forbidden Garden, but he had a good relationship with Liu Bang. Liu Bang was a tycoon, so I didn't dare to use the people around him easily.
Thinking of this, I can only let it go for the time being.
Then the two of them persuaded me not to go to Longxi to meet Dada. Finally, seeing that I had made up my mind, they said no more.
Meng Tian and I discussed the meeting. Meng Tian did not stay in Xianyang longer and rushed to the border immediately. Not only must I ensure my safety, but I must also be careful whether the Huns and barbarians take the opportunity to go south.
After the two left, I asked Qiwan to call Li Si and Feng Jie.
When he learned that Feng Quji had resigned and that he had succeeded him as Prime Minister, Li Si was overjoyed and quickly bowed to express his gratitude.
Feng Jie was not surprised. After all, Feng Quji was his father. He must have known that Feng Quji was resigning today. From the perspective of all the princes in the court today, he is the only one who is most suitable to succeed Zuo Prime Minister.
After Li Si left, I left Feng Jie alone.
"Feng Jie, how is the relationship between your Feng family and Meng family?"
I was a little curious when I thought that before Meng Tian returned to Xianyang, he first went to find Feng Quji, and this time he came hand in hand with Meng Tian. Logically speaking, with Feng Quji's caution, he would not get too close to the border generals.
Feng Jie did not hide anything.
"Your Majesty, the Feng family and the Meng family are family friends. My Feng family moved from Shangdang to Qin during the reign of King Huiwen. At that time, the six countries were eyeing Qin. King Huiwen was eager for talents, but he still wanted people from Shandong. I have some doubts, but the Feng family has not entered our Great Qin Court."
"At the time of King Zhaoxiang, General Meng Ao came from Qi State and won the trust of King Zhaoxiang. With General Meng Ao's recommendation, my Feng family gradually entered the court and was reused by successive Qin kings."
"Since then, the Feng family has been friends with the Meng family for generations. In the 32nd year of the First Emperor, General Meng Wu was accidentally hit by an arrow during the Northern Expedition against the Xiongnu. In addition, he had been in the battle for a long time, and a hidden disease broke out, so we were ruined. We were in trouble. The two families have been friends for generations, and now there are only two brothers left in the Meng family. My father treats them as his own children and takes great care of them."
After speaking, Feng Jie did not continue to state that the two families were not suspected of forming a party. To tell the truth now, saying too much would be superfluous.
I nodded, relieved. This kind of thing should be known to everyone, so there is no need for Feng Jie to lie to me.
I laughed: "That's it. I see that Feng Cangbang takes great care of Meng Tian, and I'm a little curious about him, but nothing else."
"Go and discuss the change of official position with Li Si."
Feng Jie bowed his hands and stepped back.
In a blink of an eye, it’s time to worship ancestors in Yongcheng.
I and other ministers set out from Xianyang, passed through Yi County to the west, and reached Yongcheng only eighty miles northwest.
Compared with the vast and densely populated city of Xianyang, Yongcheng is more like a fortress, with a circumference of only ten miles, and its palaces are simply incomparable to Xianyang. Most of the people living there were the Ying clan or its branches, and the chief official was Ying Xie, the magistrate of Yongcheng.
Although the Qin army stationed here was under the control of Nei Shi, Ying Zhi was in charge of the entire Nei Shi. Since he had been in Xianyang for a long time, it was naturally impossible for him to come here every day to supervise the army, so in fact it was still under the control of Ying Xie.
There is nothing much to say about the ancestor worship. It is just a smaller version of the great dynasty meeting to worship the heaven, but it also lasted for a whole day and did not end until the red sun hung in the west.
Then I informed the officials that because it was difficult to express my gratitude to my ancestors, I would pray for Daqin Sheji in the ancestral hall for ten days, and ordered the officials to accompany me in Yongcheng. If there was anything to do, I would deal with Li Si directly, and no one was allowed to disturb me.
He also warned Li Si and Ying Xie that except for the two of them, they must not reveal the news that I was not in Yongcheng to any third person. I just told the two of them that they had to leave Yongcheng for ten days for important matters. Even Li Si didn't know what I was going to do.
The reason why I dared to approach Liu Bang before was because there was Zhang Han's 30,000 troops nearby and they were within the territory of Da Qin. Now that we are about to meet the Qiang people at the border, the risk factor has increased exponentially, so we have to be careful.
The two of them naturally understood the importance and accepted the order solemnly.
After settling everything, I led Meng He and dozens of forbidden troops to Longxi at night under the cover of darkness.
