Xiang Shaolong sighed and said: "Your Majesty, I already regret coming up with this idea. The investment was huge and I can't even recoup the cost. But Qing'er is very enthusiastic and doesn't even consider making money. I'm afraid I will become a pauper in the end. "
King Qin laughed loudly and said: "Shaolong was so heroic when he gave the secret recipe of paper and salt to me. Why is he so stingy now?"
Xiang Shaolong said: "Your Majesty, give the paper and salt to your Majesty. Although I, Xiang Shaolong, have not made any money, this technology can make money, but this printing technology cannot make money in anyone's hands. The development of technology can Promote the progress of the times, but if you want people to delve into technology, you must make the technology profitable. Profit is the driving force for technological progress. Unprofitable technologies will be eliminated. Printing is of epoch-making significance for the spread of civilization, but reading now There are too few people who are literate. If everyone in the world was literate, not only would I not lose money, but I would also be able to make a fortune every day."
Xiang Shaolong secretly glanced at King Qin. The popularization of culture involves national policy and the bottom line of the nobility. He did not dare to bring it up blatantly, so he could only point it out.
People in this era don’t know how big the world is. There are people of different races from us in the West. When they develop, they will be a disaster for us. As the ruling class, they believe that the policy of obscuring the people can stabilize the regime. If the people are smarter than the nobles, how can such a small number of nobles manage the country? Wouldn't it lead to chaos in the world? As for national development, it is not within their scope of consideration at all, and the concept of nation has not yet been formed.
King Qin smiled and said: "How is it possible that everyone in the world can read and write? Just let Taifu Qin toss and toss. If the compensation is too great, then close it. With the wealth of Shaolong and Taifu Qin, they can't afford it." He is a man of knowledge. How can those with monopoly vested interests easily open knowledge to the people?
Xiang Shaolong really wanted to propose compulsory education and open schools. With paper and printing technology, it provided convenience for universal education. If the King of Qin can agree, it would be best to take over the printing factory. It is the government's responsibility to popularize education and inherit civilization. But it seems that King Qin is not even willing to talk in depth. It can be seen that there is a long way to go to change this era of nobles and aristocratic families fooling the people.
Lu Buwei heard about the printing house and came to Xiang Shaolong to publish his "Lu Spring and Autumn". Of course, he knew that Xiang Shaolong was losing money, so he didn't have the nerve to ask Xiang Shaolong to raise money for him. He paid for the labor and costs himself, and he was not short of money. All he wanted was fame.
Although Xiang Shaolong didn't deal with Lu Buwei, he didn't refuse.
Although the views of "Lu's Spring and Autumn" are incompatible with the current Qin State's rule of law, it is still a classic handed down from generation to generation. The current world is uncertain, and the legal system makes Qin strong. But after the world is unified, no matter how strict the laws are, it is probably the way to ruin the country.
The Qin State became powerful due to reforms, and it can be said that it has adapted to the times. Shang Yang was very talented, knowledgeable, and talented. However, after talking with Qin Xiaogong, he found that barbarians like Qin were not suitable for the "imperial way" and "kingly way", but were only suitable for "tyranny", so in order to cater to the Qin state With his own character, he formulated harsh laws and used evil people to rule good people. In the end, even he himself died under the laws he made and committed suicide by practicing law.
However, the Qin State used this to develop rapidly, achieved overtaking in a corner, and became the overlord of the world. On the road of unification, it passed through all the enemies and became invincible. But after unification, the situation in the world has changed, but the Qin Empire still clings to the cool laws. This powerful empire that defeated the four gentlemen of Li Mu, Lian Po, Le Yi, Tian Dan, Sun Bin, Wu Qi, and the Warring States Period was disturbed by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang. It is said in Du Mu's "A Fang Gong Fu" "The people who belong to Qin are Qin, not the world."
Just like the Soviet Union, the implementation of "war communism" during the war allowed it to win the war. But after the war, it still continued to do this. It only took half a century for this unprecedentedly powerful country to collapse and disappear. "Lu Shi Chun Qiu" also said: "Times have changed and the world has changed, so reforms are appropriate."
Xiang Shaolong does admire the rule of law, but opposes cruel laws. Although benevolence, justice and morality are only ideals, they are also the basic spirit behind the rule of law. He has always wanted to exert influence on the political prince and change his cruelty. So far, the effect seems to be average. Qin Jun's cruelty seems to be brought about by his genes. These nobles do not regard the common people as human beings at all.
Han Feizi was born in a royal family, studied under the great Confucian Xunzi, and was proficient in Taoist thought. He also integrated Shang Yang's "method", Shen Buhai's "technique" and Shen Dao's "shi" and became a famous scholar in the world. In "Han Feizi·Five Cockroaches", he mentioned five types of people who deserve to be killed even if they are not guilty: scholars (Confucianism uses literature to mess up the law), talkers (strategists), sword-bearers (chivalrous people use martial arts to violate prohibitions), and those who are sick of the emperor ( Noble retainers), industrial and commercial people (merchants, craftsmen). These five kinds of people are useless for farming and fighting, and are the worms of society. If they are all killed, only illiterate farmers will be left to farm and illiterate soldiers to fight, and the world will be at peace. Such an article was actually regarded as a classic by Qin Shihuang.
Xiang Shaolong comes from the 21st century. He considers himself not a good man or woman, but he can't care less about human life. He knows what "human rights" and "humanity" are. The original intention of the law should be to protect people's lives and property, but the law of this era is to maintain rule and oppress the people. They clearly distinguish between "officials" and "citizens". This is why Ji Yanran is so concerned about the legal system. Have doubts.
This is not a world that one person can change. After all, Xiang Shaolong still lacks the courage to directly challenge the entire aristocratic class. Then just be subtle and take whatever step you can take.
Qin Qing not only had Ji Yanran as her assistant, she also roped in Wu Tingfang and Shu Er to help. Maybe it was because they had never done anything before and were tired of playing, but Wu Tingfang and Shu Er also liked this kind of fulfilling life and devoted themselves with great enthusiasm. In the end, Xiang Shaolong was left alone in the General's Mansion. In broad daylight, the General's Mansion seemed deserted. There were no longer the usual scenes of singing and dancing, with laughter and laughter.
Xiang Shaolong felt like he was eating soft food. The women were busy with their careers and the men were idle all day long. In desperation, Xiang Shaolong began to care about his work. During the day, I would also go to Li Si to learn how he worked. I would also teach the prince. When I had time, I would take the prince to exchange experiences with Li Si and Han Fei. Occasionally, I would go to the military camp to care about the training of the soldiers. Things have never been so serious since I returned to Xianyang.
Qin Qing and Ji Yanran were both top-notch talented women. They systematically organized the collected pre-Qin literature and published them with their strong financial resources. The power of capital was fully demonstrated.
Xiang Shaolong looked at this prodigal woman and didn't regard money as money. Although Qin Qing spent his family's money and not his money, he had already regarded Qin Qing's property as his own. It made him feel distressed. Afraid of hurting himself to death, he repeatedly explained the profit model of the publishing industry to Qin Qing. Seeing that they still couldn't understand how to turn knowledge into money, he showed up and gave it to them, copying a copy of "The Romance of the Gods" for them to publish, and took it out Sell for money.
As soon as this book came out, I was immediately shocked. It turns out there is such a fascinating read. The feeling of being worshiped by beautiful women was so good that Xiang Shaolong was so excited that he almost wanted to publish a Qiong Yao work, but that was not to be praised by the beauties.
After Xiang Shaolong had an in-depth understanding of Li Si's work, he found that his work was not easy and had many constraints.
Li Sidao: "The powers of the left and right prime ministers overlap and it is difficult to distinguish them. Since I am exercising the power of the left prime minister on behalf of Brother Xiang, I will naturally be made difficult by Lu Buwei."
Xiang Shaolong asked: "How should these two prime ministers operate?"
Li Sidao: "This started with Shang Yang's reform during the reign of Duke Xiao, when the king established a concubine chief and a concubine named Daliang Zao. As for King Huiwen, at that time, Shang Yang's Daliang Zao and concubine chief combined military and political affairs, and his achievements shocked the king. King Huiwen To avoid this, he split Shang Yang's chariot in the market. From then on, the power was centralized in the king, and the prime minister was replaced by the chief minister, and the general was replaced by Daliang. The government and the army were separated. The prime minister was the head of the officials. Later, because the prime minister's duties were too heavy, he was divided into the right prime minister and the left prime minister. Generally speaking, the right prime minister was in charge of government and the left prime minister was in charge of the military. Therefore, the former was like the former chief of the common people, while the latter was created by Daliang. It is difficult to separate military and political affairs. Later, since the left and right prime ministers directly assisted the monarch, they naturally had to consult their opinions on everything decided by the monarch. The left and right prime ministers governed the country through the four houses, which were military affairs, justice, taxation, and public works. It is divided into four ministers: Sima, Sikou, Situ and Sikong. Currently, the left prime minister is in charge of military affairs and public works, and the right prime minister is in charge of justice and taxation."
Xiang Shaolong: "That is, even if I exercise the power of the left prime minister, I will inevitably compete with Lu Buwei for power. There are many orders, the source of trouble. Is there any way to change this situation?"
Li Sidao: "Change is inevitable."
Xiang Shaolong asked: "Brother Li, what do you think?"
Li Sidao: "I have been studying Shang Yang's reforms for the past six months and found that there are still many flaws and loopholes in the official system, so I have put some effort into drafting a more ideal system. If it can be implemented, it will definitely lead to great governance." . Even if we unify the world in the future, we can still cope with it. My method is simple and easy to implement, which is to establish a system of three ministers and nine ministers. The so-called three ministers mean that only one prime minister is left to be the leader of hundreds of officials and in charge of government affairs. Then change to the left The prime minister is the Taiwei, who is responsible for military affairs. In addition to these two positions, he sets up a censor, who is responsible for the king's correspondence and supervision of his ministers. The prime minister, Taiwei, and censors are not subordinate to each other. They are only responsible to the king. The final decision-making power belongs to the king. King."
Li Si continued: "Most of the so-called Nine Ministers are the original official positions of our Great Qin, but the functions and powers are more clearly divided. The three ministers are only responsible for assisting King Zheng in managing state affairs, and various aspects of specific work are divided between the ministers. For example, giving rewards is in charge of the ancestral temple etiquette, and there are also officials such as Taile, Taizhu, Dazai, Taishi, Taipu, Taiyi, Tailingcheng, etc.; other officials such as Langzhongling, Weiwei, Taipu, Tingwei, and Dianke , Zongzheng, Zhisu Neishi, Shaofu and other eight ministers are no better than this. For example, the current three systems of Imperial Guard, Duwei and Duqi will all be under the command and control of the Weiwei after the restructuring, avoiding the current conflicts between the various systems. It’s covered up.”
