"When I was here, the laws of Qin were not like this." Lu Buwei sighed with emotion.
When Lu Buwei, who governed the world with a mixed approach, was in power, Xianyang's merchants, traffickers, pawns, dignitaries, and ordinary people all gathered in Xianyang. Xianyang was a prosperous place that was one of the best in the world.
For example, those who raise ashes must have their hands chopped off, and those who walk on the road must not speak loudly. Such laws have been deleted.
Although the Great Qin Dynasty still governed the country by Legalism and Qin Law at that time, this law was the law established by Lu Buwei, not the law of Shang Jun.
Lu Buwei's voice was not deliberately low, Li Si heard it clearly.
This person served as an official in Qin State. Since Wei Yang entered the Qin Dynasty, the Qin State has been governed by legalism. This person's words are old-fashioned but his travels are smooth, so he will not go against Qin before Wei Yang.
Lu Buwei only served for a few years, and the fact that Lu Buwei rebelled and died caused too much noise and was known all over the world. Li Siwei, who was well-informed and well-remembered, did not think that way.
"Are you just relying on your lies to become a guest of the Chang'an lord?"
Li Si was the prime minister of Zuo at a young age, and his official and noble titles were not achieved through hard work, but based on his courage to speak and act, and he was always polite to those who opposed him.
While Li Si was speaking, Lu Buwei put his hands on both sides of the mask on his face.
After Li Si finished speaking, half of the mask covering Lu Buwei's true face had been removed.
Li Si waited nonchalantly for Lu Buwei to reveal his true face, and so did Wang Wan.
Since they don't want to delegate power, they naturally don't care about this matter.
One of the two was an old prime minister in internal affairs who had assisted the First Emperor since his early days, and the other was a popular official in front of the First Emperor recently. They all thought that no matter who was under the mask, they could not suppress themselves.
"It was indeed because of your nonsense that I accepted you as my guest."
The mask was taken off, and Lu Buwei's true face was exposed in front of Li Si and Wang Wan.
Although the long black hair ten years ago has now turned into weathered weather, there are also many wrinkles with deep grooves on the face.
But Lu Buwei's facial contour and overall appearance have not changed much.
The old man smiled slightly, looking at Li Si's expression of emotion that he couldn't hide.
He said softly: "We haven't seen each other for ten years. I don't think you can even recognize my voice. I said that the law of Qin was not like this when I was in power, but are you lying?"
Li Si smiled bitterly, raised his hands, lowered his head, bowed slightly at the waist, and said, "Li Si has met the Lord."
More than ten years ago, Li Si traveled thousands of miles from Qi to Qin. He had a lot of knowledge in his chest and wanted to sell it to the King of Qin at a good price.
But what kind of status is King Qin? Is it possible that a lowly student from Jixia Academy can see him whenever he wants?
Even though Li Si held the title of Xunzi's direct descendant, even though Li Si gained a great reputation by debating in Jixia Academy.
But the momentum he finally built became thinner as he traveled westward after being contaminated by the sea breeze from the East China Sea.
When they passed Hangu Pass, they were swept away by the blood energy of the Qin people who rushed straight into the sky, and disappeared without a trace.
Li Si, who has no one in the court and no hope in the opposition, wants to meet the King of Qin. This road is more difficult than the long march from Qi to Qin.
Li Si lingered in front of the Xianyang Palace for several days, and was almost taken away as an assassin by the Tingwei Mansion.
He also spent all his money to woo the nobles of the day, but the gifts he bought with a lot of money were not even appreciated by the stewards of the nobles. When the gift was thrown away casually, it was said impatiently, "Chu Shu An dares to live in Xianyang."
Desperate, Li Si smiled bitterly and prepared to go all the way back to Jixia Academy. He had the six arts and was full of knowledge. Even though he had countless holes in his chest, he couldn't even enter the gate of Xianyang Palace and couldn't use it.
He got drunk in a Xianyang wine shop, laughed wildly, and said, "I originally thought that the Qin State was showing signs of unification, and that the King of Qin had the potential to swallow up the whole world. How is it different from the six countries now? They are all withered bones on the throne."
At this time, Lu Buwei was in power, and Qin's laws were not strict.
But he openly despised the state of Qin and the king of Qin. If it is not controlled and everyone follows suit, where is the majesty of the country? Where is the majesty of the king? No matter how loose the laws are, such people will not be allowed to wander.
Li Si was convicted for his words and was caught and thrown into Tingwei Prison.
If Lu Buwei hadn't found out during the trial that he was a disciple of Xunzi, and had an interest in meeting him, he would have known that he was a man of real talent and learning, not a person who was just trying to gain fame.
By accepting him as a disciple and absolving him of his crimes, Lishan will have one more outstanding prisoner.
Until Lu Buwei's death, the relationship between the master and his disciples had not been interrupted.
When Wang Wan saw Lu Buwei's appearance and heard Li Si's name, he stood up in shock and anger.
He had to shout loudly to summon the soldiers of Xiangbang Mansion to come in and arrest Lu Buwei and send him to Xianyang Prison.
The old prime minister's beard and hair were all open, his eyes were full of anger, and he had strong hostility towards Lu Buwei.
But he has a calm character and a calm mind. Looking at the Chang'an Junfu clothes that Lu Buwei is wearing, the bag in his hand looks like a fake.
As soon as the words came out, they turned from shaking people to yelling.
"Rebellious ministers and traitors should really be killed!"
Lu Buwei smiled and placed the prime minister's seal in front of Wang Wan. He pointed his finger at the big characters engraved by the young master on it and looked at Wang Wan's clothes with his eyes.
"This official uniform is much better than that Sheren's uniform. You have worked hard to get to this position after working with His Majesty for so long. I don't care how much resentment you have against me or how deep your hatred is. The seal of the state is placed in front of you. If you listen to what I say, can you do it?"
Although Wang Wan often said that he had not made any contributions to the Qin State and could only do trivial domestic affairs because of unknown foreign affairs, everyone knew that this was a self-effacing statement.
Anyone who takes these words seriously is either stupid or wrong.
Lu Buwei's words were almost the same as Wang Wan's self-effacing words, but Wang Wan's face was extremely ugly, and no one wanted to be belittled.
His chin was full of forsythia, his mouth was like the muzzle of a machine gun, and his words were like bullets that were being fired continuously.
"Wan listens to your words? Listens to the words of a dead man like you? Committing rebellion and plotting to rebel against the three tribes of Gaiyi! Do you still think that this is the past? Are all your followers, relatives and friends in the court? Then Wan entered the palace to report to His Majesty what he wanted. Your body is separated. If your head rolling on the ground can still speak, Wan Ke will fulfill your dying wish!"
Wang Wan pushed Lu Buwei away and angrily rushed out of the door and ran towards Xianyang Palace. When he went out, he threw the door down with such force that the door frame was cracked.
Lu Buwei looked at the closed door and smiled knowingly, secretly thinking that in addition to the overall planning ability mentioned by the king, Wang Wan's rise to power should also have the exquisite mind to assess the situation.
How many people can remember to close the door to prevent Lu Buwei's identity from being leaked when their brains are filled with rage and anger.
It is of little use to observe people and listen to their words. Only by observing their actions and the results of their actions can we analyze something.
"Aren't you going to Xianyang Palace?" Lu Buwei sat on the chair covered with embroidered tiger cushions that Wang Wan had just stood up from. He looked at Li Si with a smile and said, "If you don't go, you will lose the opportunity."
Li Si's mood has calmed down a lot. Although there is still a lot of horror in his heart at the sight of Lu Buwei who was supposed to be dead, there is no trace of it on his face.
He shook his head, sat next to Lu Buwei, and said, "I won't go."
Lu Buwei smiled and said: "Although your Majesty knows that I am not dead, it will not be beautiful if you don't go to Xianyang Palace."
Lu Buwei's identity was a traitor, as long as the First Emperor did not openly appoint Lu Buwei. Even if you guess that Lu Buwei's trip is fine, you can't turn a blind eye - if you turn a blind eye to the rebels, do you also want to rebel?
He was in a hurry like Wang Wan, and rushed to Xianyang Palace to report to the First Emperor on an urgent matter eight hundred miles away. I learned from the First Emperor that Lu Buwei showed his loyalty without hindrance, which was the right thing to do.
Li Si said seriously: "Your Majesty does not value these things."
Lu Buwei smiled and said: "It doesn't matter whether he sees it or not, but it matters whether you do it or not. It only takes less than an hour to go to the palace to show your loyalty, and in exchange for a little time, you will make a lot of money in your career in the future. Why not do this kind of business?" Do?"
"Wang Wan entered the palace because he only had loyalty to show. There is no need for this." Li Si picked up a memorial, handed it to Lu Buwei with both hands, and said, "The past is over. Please take a look at it, Mr. Lu."
It is past time that you were my lord. Whether you can ask me to cooperate in the future depends on your ability.
"The past is over, but the three characters Lu Buwei can no longer be used. I am a descendant of Grand Duke Wang. I belong to the surname Jiang and am a businessman. From now on, you can call me Jiang Shang."
As Lu Buwei spoke, he took the memorial from Li Si's hand. He opened it all and saw the jade seal engraved with the eight characters "Ordered by heaven, and he will live forever", and stared at it for a moment.
"Your Majesty wants to cast the jade seal with He's beautiful jade. Now you have to review the memorial first and then see it again at the Prime Minister's Office. This is indeed different from Mr. Jiang's original review first before submitting the memorial to Your Majesty."
Wow~
Lu Buwei closed the entire volume of memorials.
Li Si's eyes flashed with strange color and he said, "Is there something wrong with the memorial?"
"Since Your Majesty has reviewed it, I will no longer look at it. It is not my specialty to check for omissions and fill in the gaps. In the future, these things will continue to be done as usual, and I will not care. Get the official list, and the chaos in Han Dynasty should be ended. "
"Han Di is not in a hurry." Li Si took out and pointed at a thick pile of memorials beside him and said, "This is a memorial that has not been approved by His Majesty. It is about to be presented to His Majesty for reading. Mr. Jiang should be interested in it."
"Oh? How did you know I would be interested?"
"Sixty-seven out of ten of these memorials are for impeachment of Lord Chang'an, and the remaining two or three are for impeachment of the true nature of the matter."
Li Si flicked the stacked memorials with his fingers. His strength was not too small, but the memorials did not slip at all. This shows that there are so many memorials and they are heavy.
He said nonchalantly: "Since Mr. Jiang is wearing this dress, even if he doesn't care about his true appearance, he should still share his worries and solve problems for Lord Chang'an."
If you can't settle this matter, let Si do it and hand the prime minister's seal into Si's hands.
Lu Buwei squinted his eyes and looked at Li Si. After taking three breaths, he said: "I am very pleased with what you have done in Tingwei's house, so I will tell you more. In a game of chess, don't put all your attention on the game. The winning and losing hands are mostly Off the board.”
Li Si was deep in thought upon hearing this, and Lu Buwei remained silent.
Suddenly, Prime Minister Zuo Li Si's body trembled and his left hand shook. The extremely tall impeachment bamboo slips placed in a pile on his left hand were knocked down with great force and scattered on the table and the ground with a crash.
Li Si was completely unaware of those noises. He stared at the old master with his eyes fixed on his old master, his blood boiling in his heart, and his rigid face obviously gained a lot of color.
He suppressed his voice, kept his voice steady, and said in a deep voice: "Chang'an Jun said it was not because he was young and frivolous because of his grievances, but because he did it intentionally."
Li Si always thought that Ying Cheng should not go to the altar on the day of the Dragon Wax Festival and say that he wanted to exterminate the nobles in the world.
If you want to carry out reforms to change the current situation of the world, you should do it secretly. The sooner the world knows about it, the better.
If Shang Yang had told these nobles before his reform, I would kill you all, the reform would never have succeeded.
In Li Si's eyes, Ying Chengyu has always been a scheming person who takes every step in vain.
Enfeoffment and the dispute between counties were originally unsolvable problems in Li Si's eyes. Selecting enfeoffments means repeating the old path, while selecting prefectures and counties will cause resentment among the officials.
Ying Chengyu used the system of merging counties and counties with the state system and added the grace order to perfectly resolve it, and took the enfeoffment. The beauty of the counties and counties was enfeoffed, and the harm to the counties was caused. Li Si was shocked by this.
Li Sibai couldn't understand why Ying Chengyu said such words during the wax sacrifice. In the end, he could only attribute it to Ying Chengyu who liked to show his holiness in front of others and had a proud temperament.
Lu Buwei replied: "Your Majesty has been young and mature since he was a child. He has endured infamy for ten years for your Majesty's success as king. He has never been obsessed with false fame."
He casually picked up a bamboo slip scattered on the desk, unfolded it, glanced at it, and threw it back.
"All these items are given to Your Majesty. The more of these items you have, the higher your chance of winning."
Si then said that Chang'an Jun's behavior was very strange, and sure enough there was another way to it!
Li Si stood up, bowed sincerely to Lu Buwei, and said excitedly: "My lord, can you explain it in more detail?"
In order to get the answer in his heart, Li Si didn't care that he had just talked about the past, and even called out the word "lord".
Lu Buwei glanced at Li Si with a half-smile, without even mentioning the word "lord", and raised a finger.
Said: "Your Majesty has never regarded nobles as enemies. Your Majesty has always had only one goal. Reform and reform. If you want to maintain social order, you need to change laws. Your Majesty is the only one who can change the laws of Qin. Those nobles, Your Majesty. If you want to deal with it, you can do it a long time ago, but it’s just left for later use.”
Thinking of this, Lu Buwei smiled bitterly and praised: "I finally understand why the king did not establish himself as king but gave up the throne to His Majesty.
"From ancient times, there were three emperors and five emperors, from Yu of Xia to Tang and Zhou Wu, to Huan of Qi, Wen of Jin, Mu of Qin, Xiang of Song, Zhuang of Chu, Helu of Wu, Goujian of Yue, and then to the Warring States period when all the kings attacked each other.
"The wise kings and overlords of the past generations have all led an era. However, the only one who can suppress the entire world with the power of one person and dare not raise his head is our majesty.
"Your Majesty is a person who has never been seen in ancient times, and your Majesty is also a person who has not been seen in ancient times. Your Majesty appears to be a man without any thoughts, but in reality you have the kindness of a woman. Your Majesty combines the ways of a king, domineering, and emperor. He is a born emperor.
"With your Majesty, but without your Majesty, even if the reform can be accomplished, China will sink to the ground, and there will be another thirty years of war. With your Majesty, but without your Majesty, the reform will not be seen for thousands of years, and no one has the foresight to do so.
"Only when your Majesty uses your wisdom to present what you see to your Majesty, and then uses your Majesty's prestige to make the world bow down and do something small, can you implement reforms safely and bring peace to the world."
Li Si listened silently and said nothing about the treacherous remarks made by both Lu Buwei and the First Emperor, General Ying Cheng.
"My lord, please wait a moment. I'm going to get your name list."
"You still call me Lord?" Lu Buwei said in surprise: "You call me Lord, and I will tell you something. Now that I have finished speaking, the matter is over, and the money and property are clear, why do you call me evil again?"
"I don't want to take the position of prime minister. The Lord of Chang'an asked the Lord to come, but I think he feels that his ability is not worthy of the position of the Prime Minister. I still need the Lord to correct his thoughts and not miss the mission of Lord Chang'an."
Lu Buwei nodded in understanding and said with a smile: "If you still want me to say something in the future, this is a long-term deal, and I can call you Lord."
(End of chapter)
