Ever since Meng Wu cleared away the fine works of several foreign countries in Wenlei Center, there have been sergeants guarding Wenlei Center. The mouths of all the scribes have also become much stricter. Most of them only discuss knowledge and rarely discuss state affairs.
Although Ying Zheng was still wearing casual clothes this time, because he was going with Lu Buwei, he did not hide his identity as before.
In terms of timing, it was also time for Ying Zheng to appear openly in the center of Wen Lei.
Lu Buwei's two followers drove their horses to Wenleiju in advance, notified Sima Jie to pick them up, and arranged for the sergeant major in Wenleiju to maintain order.
When Ying Zheng and Lu Buwei arrived at Wenleiju, Sima Jie was already waiting at the gate, followed by dozens of scribes. Needless to say, these scribes were all selected by Sima Jie to compile "General History of Sima".
Sima Jie saluted and paid homage: "I respectfully welcome your Majesty, Lu Xiangbang and Li Tingwei."
All the scribes at the back also came to pay homage.
Ying Zheng raised his hand and said, "Excuse me. I haven't been here for a long time, so today I came here with Lu Xiangbang to visit."
Sima Jie stood up, moved aside, and made a gesture of invitation: "Your Majesty, Lu Xiangbang, please come inside."
Ying Zheng and others dismounted, and Lu Buwei's two guards led the horses. The scribes lined up on both sides, and Ying Zheng and Lu Buwei took the lead in entering the gate of Wenleiju.
Since it was opened, Lu Buwei has rarely been to Wenleiju, because Ying Zheng proposed to open this place, and Ying Zheng didn't invite him, so he really couldn't come here directly to investigate. What's more, there are many bachelors and guests in his house who often come in and out of Wenlei Residence. In order to avoid suspicion, they can't come here without reason.
But not coming does not mean that you don't pay attention. Lu Buwei inquires about Wenleiju's trends and situation from the bachelors who come to Wenleiju almost every day. Lu Buwei has already known about Sima Jie compiling "General History of Sima" under the orders of Ying Zheng.
Ying Zheng has also been looking for an opportunity to ask Lu Buwei to come to Wenleiju, but he didn't find the opportunity until today.
Sima Jie took Ying Zheng and Lu Buwei to a house in the inner courtyard.
This place was once visited by Ying Zheng, and it was where Sima Jie handled official business. However, after being renovated and decorated, it felt like a royal residence.
Ying Zheng sat on the upper seat, and Lu Buwei sat next to Ying Zheng. He glanced at the furnishings in the room with a different meaning in his eyes.
Sima Jie did not sit down, but stood there in a dignified manner.
Ying Zheng looked at Lu Buwei and said first, "Father Zhong, are you satisfied with Wen Lei Ju?"
"Very good." Lu Buwei's eyes returned to Ying Zheng, "Being able to manage Wen Lei Ju in an orderly manner in just two or three months shows that the king has a unique vision and chose the right person."
After saying that, Lu Buwei looked at Sima Jie again, with some approval in his eyes.
Ying Zheng also looked at Sima Jie and said, "Sima Jie, it's rare that Lu Xiangbang comes to Wenleiju. Please briefly explain the situation in Wenleiju to Lu Xiangbang."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Sima Jie said with his hands raised, and then looked at Lu Buwei with a sincere look.
Lu Buwei made a gesture of invitation with a smile.
Sima Jie bowed his hand to Lu Buwei again and said: "Although Wenleiju does not provide food, accommodation or salary for its guests like other mansions, it breaks the original inherent restrictions and makes the scribes no longer bound by each mansion. I was able to communicate with scholars from other mansions, so there was an endless stream of scribes from various mansions and even countries every day. During the exchanges between the scholars, wonderful remarks and profound insights emerged one after another. There were many insights about the Qin Dynasty and even the world. , are all extremely useful, and the official himself has benefited a lot."
"Have you written down the useful things you mentioned?" Ying Zheng asked.
Sima Jie nodded, then turned sideways and raised his hand to gently point to the wooden frame beside the wall. The wooden frame was divided into several layers and was filled with bamboo slips, basically blocking the wall and making it invisible.
"Your Majesty, please see, these are the opinions of the scribes who have been screened three times by the lower officials and selected the best. Most of them focus on state governance, and there are also some classic discussions from various schools of thought." Sima Jie said.
Ying Zheng smiled: "Okay, okay, your hard work has not been in vain during this period of time. Thank you for your hard work."
"Doing your best for the king is the job of a lower official." Sima Jie said.
Lu Buwei walked to the wooden frame and turned over the bamboo slips. I opened one and looked at it generally, then put it back, opened another one and looked at it, and nodded from time to time.
"Approximately how many guests are coming and going here?" Lu Buwei asked while turning the bamboo slips.
"Back to Xiangbang, everyone who has been to Wenleiju will basically be registered. The number of people counted currently exceeds 20,000, and those who frequent it are basically maintained at around 2,000 every day."
"Twenty thousand people?" Lu Buwei grinned. He obviously didn't expect that the number of scribes who came to Wenlei Residence would actually reach this number. In his Lu Mansion, there were just under 3,000 people who were provided with food, shelter, and salaries.
"Yes, but some of them are tourists from various countries, and not many of them stay in Qin." Sima Jie said.
"How are the scribes from Lu Mansion doing?" Lu Buwei asked. Obviously, the level of Lu Mansion's disciples represented his reputation.
Sima Jie smiled lightly and admittedly said: "The disciples from Lu Mansion are considered to be superior in terms of knowledge and knowledge. Many scribes from other mansions often come to Lu Mansion just to discuss matters with the disciples of Lu Mansion. Come to Wen Lei Ju."
Sima Jie didn't mean to flatter him, that was indeed the case.
After hearing this, Lu Buwei smiled knowingly and felt happy. He stopped asking any more questions and continued to flip the bamboo slips. Obviously, Lu Buwei was extremely interested in the records of these eloquent talks.
Ying Zheng also walked to the front of the bookshelf and asked softly: "Sima Jie, do you mean that with so many books, you just screened them three times and collected the best ones? Then before screening, wouldn't it be that those books would fill this room room."
Sima Jie took a few steps forward, came to Ying Zheng's side, and said, "Your Majesty, this is the case. At first, I mobilized many scribes and asked them to record everything they saw, heard and felt. After all, , this process was also a process for these scribes to apply what they learned, so the scribes were all happy with this trip. During the day, they recorded what they heard, and at night, they screened and recorded their own opinions. As time went by, more people joined in one after another. Come in, so as time goes by, the number of these tablets becomes more and more."
"Are the scribes outside the door the ones who recorded these letters?" Ying Zheng asked.
"Back to the king, not entirely, but these people are the core." After Sima Jie finished speaking, he glanced at Lu Buwei.
Sima Jie's own team has been formed, and those who greeted Ying Zheng and Lu Buwei were obviously selected by Sima Jie to edit "General History of Sima". However, without Ying Zheng's consent, Sima Jie was obviously inconvenient to take this matter seriously. Say it in front of Lu Buwei.
Of course Ying Zheng knew what Sima Jie meant, so he turned around and said to Lu Buwei: "Father Zhong, I have other motives for ordering Sima Jie to sort out the opinions of the world's bachelors."
Lu Buwei finally put down the bamboo slips in his hand, turned around and said, "I just turned over these bamboo slips and found that the insights in these records are indeed extraordinary. I wonder what the king's intention is?"
Ying Zheng smiled slightly: "Last time I was in Zhongfu's house, I saw that all the disciples in Lu's house were busy compiling "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals", so I felt inspired and wanted to use the help of everyone in Wen Leiju to compile it. A history book, on the one hand, details the life achievements of the Qin lords of the past dynasties, and on the other hand, it collects some ancient stories and legends, as well as the process of conferring kings and marquises during the Great Zhou Dynasty, so as to know ourselves and the enemy, and prepare for war."
Ying Zheng's purpose in compiling "General History of Sima" was reasonable and reasonable, and it did not seem unnecessary. However, its real purpose was certainly not easy to tell Lu Buwei, so he had to find a reasonable excuse.
Lu Buwei raised the corners of his mouth, smiled and cupped his hands and said: "Since the king cares about the world, it is necessary to sing praises to the ancestors when he is unified in the future. As for wanting to use history to understand the countries in depth, although it is desirable, But you also need to be careful not to make other countries suspicious."
"What Father Zhong said is absolutely true," Ying Zheng said, "That's why I ordered Sima Jie to operate in secret. Didn't even Father Zhong find out about it today?"
When Ying Zheng said this, it made sense why he had to hide things from Lu Buwei.
Lu Buwei still smiled and said: "The king is so thoughtful, the old city is very pleased, but I don't know how this matter is progressing?"
"I haven't often asked about the progress of this matter. I still need to ask Sima Jie." After saying that, Ying Zheng looked at Sima Jie, and the message in his eyes was to tell Lu Buwei truthfully.
Sima Jie nodded slightly, raised his hands and said: "Reporting to the king and Lu Xiangbang, I have selected some scribes, all of them are reliable people, and are responsible for the compilation of history books. We are still in the stage of collecting historical materials. Since it is done in secret, there is no progress. Not very quickly.”
After hearing this, Lu Buwei rolled his eyes and said to Ying Zheng: "Since the old minister has not heard about this, there must be no people from the Lu family among these scribes."
Ying Zheng smiled and said: "I know that the people in Zhongfu's house are busy compiling "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" and it is inconvenient to disturb them, so I specifically ordered Sima Jie not to trouble the people in Lu's house."
Ying Zheng's performance was so natural that he had no intention of guarding against Lu Buwei.
Lu Buwei raised his hand and said: "Your Majesty is overthinking it. The compilation of "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" is coming to an end, and there are not so many people needed anymore. If the King doesn't mind, I will immediately send some disciples to help the King. Compile history books."
"Then there is Lao Zhongfu." Ying Zheng happily accepted.
Obviously, it is inappropriate to refuse Lu Buwei at this time, but it is he who has the final say on how these Lu family disciples will be used after they participate.
"Why are the king and the old minister so polite?" Lu Buwei said, "By the way, I still don't know what the king named this history book."
Ying Zheng said sincerely: "I ordered Sima Jie to run this matter, so I named it "General History of Sima" for the time being. After it is completed, we will discuss what the name should be."
"Oh? Sima General History..." Lu Buwei was slightly surprised. He did not expect that Ying Zheng would be named after Sima Jie. This naming method was obviously imitating his "Lu Spring and Autumn Annals".
Sima Jie is young and his official position is not high. For Ying Zheng to make this decision, it must be Ying Zheng and someone he trusts.
"Sima Jie." Lu Buwei looked at Sima Jie a little differently, "I have a question, I hope you answer it truthfully."
Sima Jie raised his hands and said, "Excuse me, Lu Xiangbang. Sima Jie will tell you everything he knows."
Lu Buwei nodded and asked: "A few years ago, in the Great Qin Dynasty, Senior Sima Cuo, who single-handedly promoted General Bai Qi, who is your senior?"
"This..." Sima Jie looked shocked, never expecting Lu Buwei to ask such a question.
Who was Sima Cuo? Bai Qi's mentor and three generations of kings who had served the Qin Dynasty. He disagreed with Zhang Yi at the time and proposed that Bashu should be destroyed first. King Qin Huiwen adopted Sima Cuo's suggestion. Later, Sima Cuo led his troops to destroy Bashu, and only then did Da Qin have its current territory. After he retired after success, his son Sima Jin was implicated in the Bai Qi incident. Except for Sima Jin, the Sima family had long since disappeared and their whereabouts were unknown.
The reason why Lu Buwei asked this was because when Ying Zheng appointed Sima Jie, he secretly conducted an investigation.
Ying Zheng looked at Lu Buwei doubtfully and then at Sima Jie, but when he saw Sima Jie's expression, it was definitely not a reaction that had nothing to do with Sima Cuo.
The three of them were silent for a while, and Ying Zheng was the first to speak: "There are no outsiders here. Please answer Lu Xiangbang's question truthfully. I also want to know the answer."
Sima Jie steadied his breathing, looked at Ying Zheng's firm eyes, and said sincerely: "Don't call your ancestor by his name. He is my great-grandfather. After he retired, he ordered our descendants to do good deeds in order to repay the king." Well, it's a pity that I have never seen my great-grandfather, and all I know are what my father said."
Although he had some vague guesses, Ying Zheng was still so shocked that his mouth opened wide.
Sima Hong and his son were indeed queens of a famous family.
