The emperor's study.
After dealing with the affairs of Zhao Gao and Meng Yi, Ying Zheng was making final arrangements before the eastward patrol.
Although it has been decided that Wang Wan will stay in Xianyang to supervise state affairs, major matters still need to be decided by Ying Zheng himself.
Especially now that the national treasury is gradually filling up, the construction of Lingcan and official roads has also been put on the agenda.
"Your Majesty, I have brought you a person who is responsible for the construction of Lingqu Canal!"
Zheng Guo walked into the study and immediately reported to Ying Zheng.
Ying Zheng stopped his discussion with Li Si and asked happily: "Who is it?"
"Shilu!"
"I've never heard of him. Are you a disciple of Lao Ling?"
"He is not a disciple of an old minister, but a censor!" Zheng Guo smiled and shook his head.
Ying Zheng was slightly surprised, then frowned: "Is the imperial censor worthy of water affairs?"
"Everyone in the world knows that the Mohists are knowledgeable in all kinds of scholarship, and this Shi Lu is a member of Qin Mo!" Zheng Guo said, stroking his beard.
Ying Zheng narrowed his eyes and said, "Then why did he become the censor?"
"In the old days when the old minister was controlling floods, he once called him to work as a water engineer. Later, because of his meritorious service, he went to Chencang to work as a field servant. Once when the old minister was passing by Chencang, he saw him discussing water affairs with his disciples. He also saw that he was outstanding in writing and calligraphy, so he recommended him. Gave it to the prime minister and became a censor..."
"Oh—it's him!"
Wang Wan suddenly sighed, and then quickly explained to Ying Zheng: "Your Majesty, I have remembered this person. His real name is Wu Lu. He is from Dongting County and a scholar of Qin Mo!"
Ying Zheng was puzzled: "Since he is a disciple of the Mohist family, why is he just a minor official? There are many officials in the Shaofu!"
"The children of the Mohist family are all different. They are all more pragmatic. The old minister only talks about the water in Lingnan, and he knows it very well!" Zheng Guo shook his head and smiled.
Ying Zheng pondered for a few times and then asked: "Where is the wise minister?"
"come in!"
Zheng Guo called out the door, and soon a man with dark skin, wide mouth and big eyes walked in.
I saw him wearing coarse linen clothes and holding a water dipstick in his hand, just like a farmer in the mountains.
No one would have thought that such a person would be the imperial censor.
"How long have you been in Xianyang?" Li Si asked cautiously.
"I made an urgent appointment with Lao Ling. I have been in Xianyang for half a month. During this half month, I have been alone in Lao Ling's mansion to discuss the water affairs, and I have not left even half a step!"
"Is there no official business going to Xianyang?"
"What Tingwei doesn't know is that the censor is different from other censors. Back then, the old prime minister assigned me a specific mission to inspect the rivers. Later, every time the Qin Kingdom came to another country, I would set foot on the rivers of that country, survey the water affairs, and report to the prime minister. !」
"Then, the last water battle that destroyed Wei..."
"The water battle to destroy Wei was a matter of discussion between me and Lao Ling, and we agreed with General Wang Ben..."
"Hey, you believe it now, this guy is really capable!" Zheng Guo smiled proudly at Li Si.
Wang Wan also nodded and smiled: "Everything you said is true, I can vouch for it!"
Ying Zheng nodded slightly, without saying much, and went straight to the point: "Old Ling recommends that we build the Ling Canal. How confident is it..."
"Your Majesty's plan coincides with that of me, and I am 90% sure of it!"
"oh?"
Ying Zheng narrowed his eyes, but there was no interface.
There was silence in the study for a moment, and Li Si and others were all moved. At this moment, Zheng Guo quickly interrupted: "What Shi Lu means is that he has already planned to connect the two waters!"
….
Ying Zheng nodded: "Well, please tell me more specifically!"
"promise!"
Shi Lu agreed, and then introduced his strategy in detail. Ying Zheng and others were surprised when they heard it, and finally they were convinced.
"Okay! I will ask you to supervise the construction of Lingqu Canal and complete it as soon as possible!"
Ying Zheng made a decision.
Soon, the matter of Lingqu was finalized.
After Shi Lu left, Zheng Guo handed over to Ying Zheng again: "Your Majesty, I have already completed the survey of the old road. Please start the road construction after March!"
"Okay! What a good thing!"
even! "
Ying Zheng clapped his hands and laughed: "If Lao Ling says we can start work, then it will definitely happen!"
With the Lingqu incident, he was quite satisfied with Zheng Guona.
After all, both Lingqu and road projects are related to the development of Qin.
"It is an honor for me to be able to consolidate the land of China, so I am naturally very excited!"
Zheng Guo sighed with emotion, and then said solemnly: "As soon as your majesty makes a decision, we will make big plans immediately!"
"I asked Tingwei and the Prime Minister to come because I know that Lao Ling has something important to do. Now we can decide it together to avoid having to discuss it again in court!"
Ying Zheng said, raising his hand to signal the three scribes, they brought up a huge map of the Qin Kingdom.
"Good! What a map of the four seas and the great roads!" Zheng Guo saw the map of nine continents in the world last time, and now he looked at this map again. He couldn't help stroking his beard and praised it.
In fact, compared to the Nine Continents Map of the World, this kind of domestic map is more detailed and clearly marked. The Nine Continents Map of the World only shows the general outline and the outline. If you look carefully, you will feel that it is far inferior to the Four Seas Avenue Map.
Amidst Zheng Guo's admiration, Ying Zheng, Li Si, and Wang Wan stepped forward with smiles.
I saw old Zheng Guo taking out an iron ruler and introducing it to Ying Zheng and the others: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister, and Tingwei, please take a look. The Six Kingdoms had official ways before, but they were not integrated. The old minister took stock of the official ways in the world and classified them. Divided into four categories;
The first type is the official road within the county, the second type is the official road leading to other counties, the third type is the Chidao of the world, and the fourth type is the straight road of the world.
The four types of official roads are criss-crossed, and the veterans and more than a hundred subordinates repeatedly investigated and found them to be accurate..."
Seeing Zheng Guo introducing the road situation intermittently and breathing heavily, Ying Zheng interrupted him with a wave of his hand: "Old Ling, there is no need to explain in detail, just correct the problem..."
"only."
Zheng Guo nodded in response, and then waved to a middle-aged official, who quickly came to Ying Zheng and others and bowed respectfully.
"Your Majesty, this is the disciple of the old minister. He is serving as the prime minister. He will accompany the old minister throughout the investigation. Let him introduce it." Zheng Guodao.
"good!"
Ying Zheng smiled and agreed.
Soon, this middle-aged official introduced the world's officialdom in detail.
Zheng Guo would interject a word from time to time to make up for the shortcomings.
After Ying Zheng heard this, he only asked: "Have there been any changes to the twelve avenues that Old Ling just mentioned?"
"have."
Zheng Guo nodded: "Mainly small changes, no major changes."
When Ying Zheng heard this, he smiled: "As long as there are no major changes, Li Xin is planning to build the Longxi Great Wall, just let him do it!"
"Your Majesty, although the main road has not been significantly improved, the construction of the straight road will probably not start until three to five years later!"
"Why is this?"
Ying Zheng frowned in displeasure, he didn't like to wait.
….
Because once you wait, you will be constrained by many things, and eventually you will be unable to do what you want.
In this case, if he wants to develop national power and dominate the Nine Continents, it will be far away.
Seemingly seeing through Ying Zheng's thoughts, Zheng Guo reluctantly handed over his hand: "Your Majesty, the straight road is 1,800 miles long. It will be difficult to accomplish without millions of people. It requires comprehensive planning!"
Li Si echoed: "What the old order said is reasonable. The Qin State has decided to launch too many projects at once, which will harm the people's strength!"
"Not bad!" Wang Wan also expressed his approval and said: "When the world's great roads are sorted out and then straightened, the people's strength can be guaranteed!"
"this...."
Ying Zheng thought for a long time and was about to make a decision when he suddenly heard a report coming from outside.
"Your Majesty! There is a fire in Zhaoyang Palace!"
"Um?"
Ying Zheng was stunned and turned to look at Li Si and the others, only to see that the three of them were also surprised.
what happened? After Xin Palace is Zhaoyang Palace?
Did your Majesty commit any taboo? Why are there so many troubles happening in the palaces in Xianyang City?
It shouldn’t be! Zhaoyang Palace is heavily guarded, and there are forbidden troops outside arresting assassins. Who
With such great ability, he actually went to Zhaoyang Palace and set fire to it?
The three veterans of the empire looked at each other, feeling that this matter was a bit strange.
Naturally, they also knew about the assassination of Zhao Hao by the remnants of the Six Kingdoms. Even when the First Emperor gave the task of catching the assassin to Zhao Hao, they felt that there was no problem at all. After all, even they were convinced of Zhao Hao's ability, but they could capture the assassin. Why was your home robbed?
Thinking about it like this, the three empire veterans suddenly felt like they wanted to laugh but didn't dare to.
This Young Master Hao always makes people think that he is extremely smart, making everyone look like a fool. Now he is mistaken for being smart, let’s see how he will pretend to be smart in the future!
"Why did the Zhaoyang Palace catch fire...could it have been caused by the remnants of the Six Kingdoms?"
After a moment of silence, Ying Zheng raised his hand to his forehead and asked with a headache.
He now regrets leaving the task of catching the assassin to Zhao Hao. His house has been robbed, and he is still bluffing outside. It is simply embarrassing.
Unexpectedly, the person who reported the report shook his head tremblingly: "Reporting to your Majesty... it was not done by the remnants of the Six Kingdoms, but by the princes... the princes..."
"Um?"
Ying Zheng's eyes widened and he raised his head: "What did you say?!"
"Your Majesty, it was Young Master Gao and Young Master Ronglu who set fire to Zhaoyang Palace!"
"This...these two traitors!"
The First Emperor had never been so angry before. His chest could not help but rise and fall violently, and he said with trembling hands: "I am telling you to send those two traitors... no... let those two traitors get away from me quickly!"
"yes!"
In less than a quarter of an hour, Young Master Gao and Young Master Ronglu were kneeling in Ying Zheng's study.
They knew they would be caught after setting a fire, so they simply threw themselves into the trap and went to the palace to plead guilty.
When Ying Zheng saw them, he scolded them with his head in his face.
"Tell me, what can I expect from you?!"
"He is ignorant. Are you brothers also ignorant? If you catch an assassin, you will burn down the palace. So if you go to attack the city, won't you be digging a hole in the sky!"
"This is simply unreasonable!"
"Back to my father, Brother Hao said, it's just an old palace. The old ones won't go and the new ones won't come. It will be repaired in a month or two. It won't be a problem!"
….
Young Master Gao took courage and defended himself.
"You believe whatever he says! Are you a pig brain?!"
Ying Zheng was so angry that he raised his hand and was about to beat the traitor. Zheng Guo on the side quickly stepped forward to stop him and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down and let me say a few words!"
"Old Ling, there is no need to plead with them, I will deal with them in accordance with the laws of the country!"
Ying Zheng looked grim and shouted: "Li Si, according to our Daqin law, what is the crime of arson!"
Hearing this, Li Si looked at Wang Wan subconsciously.
Wang Wan gave him a meaningful look: Be harsh.
Seeing Li Si's delay in answering, Ying Zheng immediately shouted with a straight face: "Why are you still standing there in a daze? I ask you, what is your crime?"
"Back...back to Your Majesty..."
Li Si hurriedly saluted, then said bravely: "Arson is a capital crime!"
"ah?"
Young Master Gao and Young Master Ronglu were shocked, and their faces suddenly turned pale.
"Okay! I dragged them all out and chopped them down!"
Ying Zheng was furious and ordered immediately.
Wang Wan and Zheng Guo were startled and quickly stopped them: "Your Majesty, please calm down!"
After saying that, they all looked at Li Sidi: Be more cruel?
Li Si twitched the corner of his mouth and added helplessly: "Set the palace on fire and destroy the Yi tribe!"
"Yi...yi what?"
Ying Zheng was stunned for a moment, seemingly unable to react, and turned to look at Li Si.
Li Si nodded solemnly, then quickly lowered his head, not daring to look at Ying Zheng.
Wang Wan and Zheng Guo also looked up at the sky.
The atmosphere instantly became a little awkward, and the whole study was silent.
Inexplicably, most of Ying Zheng's anger disappeared, his lips moved slightly, and then he asked Zheng Guo coldly: "Old Ling, what did you want to say just now?"
"ah?"
Zheng Guo was stunned by Ying Zheng's question, and it took him a moment to react: "Oh, I want to ask the two young masters, are they really able to repair Zhaoyang Palace in one or two months?"
"My brother Hao said that there is a material called cement, which can solidify masonry in one day, and there is another material called concrete, which can be turned into a wall in half a month!" Young Master Gao replied sincerely.
"BS?"
Zheng Guo was confused and seemed to have never heard of this material.
Ying Zheng and Li Si couldn't help but be slightly startled.
Seeing that his father and the three imperial officials were silent, Young Master Gao added uncertainly: "Actually, I'm not very clear about what my brother Hao said..."
[In view of the general environment,
Ying Zheng's anger was rising again, and he couldn't help but slapping his arms: "How dare you do anything wrong with him if you don't understand! I, Qin Fa..."
"cough...."
Li Si coughed next to him, interrupted Ying Zheng, and whispered: "Your Majesty, first ask about the reason for arson, and we will convict you later..."
"Um."
Ying Zheng cleared his throat in embarrassment and immediately returned to his majestic state. Obviously he didn't want to be beaten by the Yi tribe.
"Tell me, what's going on?"
Young Master Gao respectfully replied: "Returning to my father, Brother Hao wanted to catch all the remnants of the Six Kingdoms, so he planned a game of catching thieves. He first forced the assassins to a place, made them frightened and started internal strife, and then lured them away. Come out, look for your companions outside the city, and finally defeat them one by one!"
….
"Yes, Father, what Brother Hao means is that instead of dealing with them one by one, it is better to take this opportunity to strike hard!" Young Master Ronglu agreed.
"Cruel? Hmph! That's cruel enough! You even dare to burn down my palace! Where is that traitor now?" Ying Zheng snorted coldly.
"Now we should catch the Mohist assassin with my ninth brother..." Young Master Gao replied.
"Mo family assassin?"
Ying Zheng narrowed his eyes and looked at Li Si again: "What does Tingwei think?"
Li Si thought for a while and said: "Since the purpose is to capture the assassin, something will inevitably happen. It is reasonable for the young masters to accidentally destroy the palace, but..."
"Just what?"
"It's just that the assassin hasn't been caught yet, so he can't be convicted yet..."
"oh?"
Ying Zheng's eyes lit up, and he said to himself that you are more sensible than Zhao Gao. Meng Yi was much more worry-free. He turned to look at Young Master Gao and Young Master Ronglu, with a bit of seriousness: "Even if you capture the assassin, you can't act recklessly. I heard without?"
"heard it."
Young Master Gao and Young Master Ronglu said in unison.
Li Si and the other three looked at each other and rolled their eyes in their hearts. The words "acting recklessly" were basically considered illegal.
Ying Zheng pondered for a moment, then waved his sleeves and said, "Come here, put them in the prison of Tingwei Mansion and wait for trial later!"
"yes!"
Soon, Young Master Gao and Young Master Ronglu were taken out by Yu Linwei.
After they left, Zheng Guocai took a step forward and said to Ying Zheng: "If the cement mentioned by the young masters is really miraculous, I think it can greatly shorten the construction period and build a straight road!"
"Is this true?"
Ying Zheng was obviously a little excited.
Zheng Guo nodded and said: "The road construction is based on the ancient roads of the Six Kingdoms. We use effective road sections, add straight lines, widen and strengthen them. If there is such a material that can solidify quickly and is as strong as stone, then we can build a baggage lane without waiting for long. , rush to support the army!"
"That's great. If we deal with the Huns like this, our army will definitely win!" Li Si was also a little excited.
Wang Wan said thoughtfully: "During the Six Kingdoms period, there was a passage to the north in Guanzhong. At that time, Su Qin once said: Qin's attack on Yan would cover thousands of miles... King Zhao Wuling's attempt to attack Qin southward failed. , this is the old path, if our Qin army wants to continue attacking the Xiongnu
, this road must be repaired! "
"Yes, this road is not impassable, but difficult to walk. The old order was to build a large road, not a straight road, because of the people's strength. We understand that, but if there is a way to quickly build a straight road, this straight road should be built first." Li Si He nodded.
"Meng Tian came to retaliate before, and the food and grass he has hoarded now can be enough for a big battle. But if we lose the first battle, we may not be able to advance further. We can only stick to Jiuyuan and gather strength again!"
Ying Zheng frowned and said, "If that's the case, Meng Tian definitely can't give it a try..."
"Then what your Majesty means is..."
"Although our army is brave, it still pays attention to strong enemies. This is the case in attacking the Six Kingdoms. Our army never underestimates the enemy. This is true in the Changping War, the war to destroy Chu, and the Xiongnu. Only in this way can we fight Invincible!"
Ying Zheng said, sighed and said: "After listening to what Lao Ling said, I planned to have a long-term confrontation with the Huns..."
"But." As he said that, he changed the topic and said with a sudden smile: "Since that kid has a way, then I will ask him to build Zhaoyang Palace for me. If that is the case, then build the North Straight Road!"
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"
The three people from Zheng Guo were overjoyed and quickly handed over their hands.
Ying Zheng smiled noncommittally, and then looked out the window, his eyes gradually blurred.
...
ps: If you have a guaranteed monthly ticket, please vote. I’ll see if I can get 10,000 words tomorrow.
And don’t raise it!
Wang Shushu
