King Ji of Qin died and was posthumously named King Zhaoxiang of Qin.
The sick Qin Wangzhu, who was still grieving, had to get up from his bed immediately and face countless problems.
Qin Wangzhu has been the King of Qin for several months, but his work difficulty is at two levels before and after the old King of Qin's death.
He even had the illusion that even the workload was completely different.
In the past, after finishing his paperwork every day, he would still have time to chat with his father and the emperor. Now, he has to deal with government affairs as soon as he opens his eyes, and has to open them soon after closing them.
There were no major events in Qin State, and the slightly complicated matters had been handled by his father and king before he passed away. He still seemed to be in a mess.
If the government affairs were complicated, Qin Wangzhu could sort them out with some time. However, the different attitudes of the court officials, especially the royal family and relatives, towards him before and after the death of the monarch and father made it difficult for Qin Wangzhu, who was known for his gentle temperament, to suppress his murderous intentions.
Before the coffin of King Zhaoxiang of Qin was placed in the mausoleum, members of the royal family and relatives by marriage came to his rescue, asking him to "correct" his harsh attitude towards them and issue an edict to treat them leniently.
Qin Wangzhu originally intended to appease the royal family and relatives, and had already thought about the content of the edict. But he was now distracted by the heavy workload and missed Qin Zhaoxiang the most. When someone forced him to do so, and used the wording "correction", Qin Wangzhu immediately developed a rebellious mentality.
At this time, the elder sister was crowned queen, which led to the somewhat arrogant Yangquan Jun being pushed out as the first to take action, and even Zhu Xiang was implicated by him.
He suggested that Zhu Xiang was only the brother of the Crown Prince's wife, and the king was too lenient with him. If he did not reward these royal relatives generously, the people would not be reassured.
What Yangquan Jun meant was that when he was the Crown Prince's wife's younger brother, he didn't receive such good treatment as Zhu Xiang. How come the younger brother of the Crown Prince's wife now has a higher status than him, the younger brother of the Queen of Qin
His title of Lord Yangquan was not a real title like Zhu Xiang’s Lord Changping, and Zhu Xiang also received many rewards!
Qin Wangzhu stared at Lord Yangquan for a long time, and sneered, "Qin has its own laws. Prince Qin is a commoner if he has no merit. Lord Yangquan, do you want to say that your merit is greater than Lord Changping's, or do you want to say that you, the queen's brother, have a higher status than Prince Qin, and you should be the first person in Qin to make an exception?"
Yangquan Jun’s face turned pale.
Lady Huayang was extremely favored, and when Qin Wangzhu was still the crown prince, he was very close to Yangquan Jun. Yangquan Jun did not expect that the first time he offered advice in the court, he would receive such heart-breaking words from Qin Wangzhu.
He immediately said, "I have absolutely no such intention!"
Qin Wangzhu said: "How dare you compare yourself with Lord Changping? Zichu! Lord Changping's status comes from the fact that he is your brother-in-law?"
Prince Zichu said respectfully: "When the former king used the city of Handan to exchange for Lord Changping from Zhao, I was just a hostage who had just returned to Qin from Zhao."
Qin Wangzhu took a deep breath to suppress his anger and said coldly: "Before my father passed away, he was worried that I was too kind-hearted. It seems that I am indeed too kind-hearted as my father said."
He simply ended the court meeting, leaving the ministers looking at each other in bewilderment, and then he walked away.
Yangquan Jun stood at the steps of the throne for a long time, not daring to move.
The other ministers looked at Crown Prince Zichu.
The King of Qin has left. Should they leave or stay? Prince, can you please say something
Zichu said nothing, with his head slightly lowered, like a sculpture.
All the ministers had no choice but to turn their attention to the two prime ministers in the front.
"Prime Minister, are we still waiting?" they asked in a low voice.
Xunzi had his eyes closed, as if he was dozing off.
Cai Ze said: "The Lord will naturally send someone to order us to leave."
The crown prince and the left and right prime ministers all wanted to wait, so they had no choice but to wait. It was not until half an hour later that Qin Wangzhu sent a palace servant to inform them to disperse.
The ministers looked at Crown Prince Zichu and the left and right prime ministers with complicated expressions.
During the reign of King Wu of Qin, the State of Qin added left and right prime ministers as deputies to the prime minister in order to weaken the power of the prime minister and increase the power of the emperor.
From then on, the positions of prime minister and left and right prime ministers were often vacant and not necessarily filled at the same time.
For example, when Fan Ju was the prime minister, the left and right prime ministers were not fully staffed; after Fan Ju stepped down as prime minister, the position of prime minister of Qin remained vacant.
Before Qin Zhaoxiang abdicated, he appointed the left and right prime ministers for Qin Wangzhu - Xun Kuang was old and highly respected, while Cai Ze was young and smart. Together, they could deal with most of the problems facing the Qin State.
Both of these prime ministers were on good terms with Lord Changping Zhu Xiang, so rumors had already spread in Xianyang that although Lord Changping Zhu Xiang did not have the title of prime minister, he already had the power of prime minister.
What's worse, there was a terrible rumor that Zhu Xiang was the actual ruler of Qin and King Zhu of Qin was just a puppet with a stamp of authority.
Perhaps it was too far-fetched to say that Zhu Xiang, who never even went to court, was the "king behind the scenes" of Qin, so the rumor turned into that the real powerful figure in Qin was Crown Prince Zichu, and that Crown Prince Zichu had sidelined King Zhu of Qin.
King Zhaoxiang of Qin's body was still placed in the Xianyang Palace waiting for the funeral. Originally, rumors would only spread in Xianyang at the instruction of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, but now all kinds of monsters and demons have emerged.
King Zhu of Qin was busy with government affairs and had not heard the rumors.
He was in a bad mood today, so he left his government affairs behind and went to the villa to have a meal with Zhu Xiang. It was only on the way that he heard the rumors.
Zhu Xiang, wearing a headscarf and carrying a bucket of milk, greeted Qin Wangzhu. Hearing this, he was extremely surprised: "How could the person who spread the rumor be so loud that His Majesty in the carriage could hear it?!"
Qin Wangzhu was originally in a state of rage, but after hearing Zhu Xiang's surprise, he suddenly lost his temper for some reason.
He changed the subject and asked, "Why are you carrying a bucket of milk?"
Zhu Xiang said, "Isn't Xunzi clamoring for a few more years of mourning? I'm worried that the final rule of mourning and eating vegetarian food will be too long, which will affect the health of the Lord, Xia Tong, and Zheng'er. I'm thinking of making some dairy products to deal with it."
Although the Book of Rites states that one should mourn for three years after the death of one's father, it was not common in the pre-Qin period, otherwise Confucius and Zai Yu would not have argued about whether to mourn for three years or one year.
Later Confucian scholars such as Kong Yingda often claimed that the three-year mourning period began during the time of Yao and Shun. However, later historians have proven that the "Yaodian" and "Shundian" they researched were written by Confucian disciples after Confucius, and are not real history.
The oracle bones unearthed from the Shang Dynasty prove that the Shang Dynasty had "infinite mourning periods". The Spring and Autumn Annals and Zuo Zhuan also record that the Zhou royal family and the vassal states did not practice three years of mourning. This shows that three years of mourning was not popular in the pre-Qin period.
From a practical point of view, the rulers of the Shang and Zhou dynasties could not implement a three-year mourning period for the nobles. Because the three-year mourning period stipulated in the Book of Rites that the crown prince and the heir apparent should not only wear mourning clothes and abstain from alcohol and eat vegetarian food for three years, but also should not interfere in government affairs for three years, and the prime minister or family servants should take over the affairs.
When Zhu Xiang read this in the Book of Rites, he almost laughed out loud.
Isn't this pure nonsense? If the prime minister or retainer is allowed to serve as regent for three years, the successor will most likely have to shed blood when seizing power, causing social unrest in vain.
Look at the purges carried out by those princes who did not even have the chance to come of age before ascending the throne. The lessons from the past are there.
However, Zhu Xiang could also understand why the Confucians said this, because the Confucian philosophy of governing a country is that the king should rule without doing anything.
Confucianism clearly sees that the prosperity and decline of a country now depends on the monarch, so in order to maintain long-term stability in the country, the monarch must be "impartial and selfless."
Since selfishness is inevitable, it is better to let the literati govern the country and let the monarch "rule by doing nothing". In this way, the country will not have problems due to the monarch's selfishness; and if there are problems with the literati in power, the monarch can replace them at any time.
In this idealized Confucian system of governing a country, a monarch does not need to be very wise, he only needs to be able to recognize people, or the country can establish a selection system that can recognize people, in order to achieve long-term stability.
The Legalists actually had similar ideas. The only difference was that the Confucians wanted to use morality to restrain the king, while the Legalists wanted to use laws to restrain the king.
The ideal governing philosophy of all the ancient Chinese sages was basically to restrict the power of the king in order to limit the damage to the country caused by the king's selfishness.
It’s just that their ideals didn’t fit the reality, or were too advanced. So the Legalists and Confucians who were accepted by the monarchs all made changes to adapt to the times.
At the current stage of economic and cultural development, what is needed is centralization and monarchy. It is precisely because Qin was more centralized than the six states that it was able to reach its current position as the hegemon.
Xunzi was a very pragmatic person. Looking at the entire history of China, he was probably the most realistic Confucian scholar.
However, "three years of mourning" is the most basic principle of Confucian etiquette, and Xunzi also supports it. But support is support, and reality is also important.
You want the King of Qin to observe mourning for three years and ignore state affairs? I'm afraid the coalition forces of the six countries will regroup immediately.
Xunzi considered whether to observe mourning for three years but only abstain from alcohol, meat, and sex, and handle government affairs as usual; or simply follow the ridiculous suggestion of Zhu Xiang, who was beaten by him, and observe mourning for three years in days instead of months, just to publicize filial piety.
Xunzi's change of the ritual system also has its reasons. The three-year mourning period is to promote the importance of filial piety. The will of King Zhaoxiang of Qin hoped that King Zhu of Qin would not mourn and put Qin first. A true filial son should obey the wishes of his elders.
On the basis of obeying the wishes of his elders, King Qin Zhu stated to the outside world that "Although I have listened to the wishes of the previous king, I still have to observe filial piety. I can do both." This not only weakened the degree of mourning, but also gave King Qin a good reputation.
Now Xunzi was arguing with disciples of other Confucian schools and Qin's ritual officials every day, trying to make the matter of King Zhu of Qin's mourning clear before the princes came to pay homage to King Zhaoxiang of Qin.
Regardless of the method of mourning, Zhu Xiang had to accompany Qin Wangzhu and others to eat vegetarian food for a period of time.
Fortunately, the vegetarian diet is not very strict during this period. Not only can you eat meat and eggs when you are invited to a banquet or when you are sick, but dairy products are not considered as meat. In some places, you can only avoid the five pungent vegetables, such as ginger, garlic, leeks, etc.
Moreover, if someone secretly eats meat and eggs behind closed doors while observing mourning, most people will not mind as long as they do not indulge in drinking, music or banqueting.
With Xunzi watching, Qin Wangzhu, Zichu and Ying Xiaozheng were indeed grieving the death of Qin Zhaoxiang, so they would not skip the vegetarian part. It was not good to always eat soy products to supplement protein, so Zhu Xiang thought of dairy products.
He didn't know much about dairy products. He had only seen people in the hospital make them and knew some of the principles. He needed to try more before he could make them himself.
Speaking of mourning, Qin Wangzhu could not help but complain: "The Confucians of Lu are so noisy. The Confucians led by Xunzi are so good, can't they stay in the East? If you enter Qin, you must abide by Qin's rules!"
Zhu Xiang said, "Fundamentalists are hated everywhere. They are different from Xunzi. They themselves are incapable of adapting to the trend of the times, so they don't allow others to make progress. What's the Zhou ritual? Even the Zhou king is gone. Confucius reflected on whether he was doing the right thing every day and warned his disciples that learning is endless and that if you don't make progress, you will regress. But that group of people are different. Confucius is perfect and does not allow any changes. Wouldn't the disciples taught by this be worse than the previous generation? Tsk."
Qin Wangzhu's depressed mood improved with Zhu Xiang's continuous complaints. He smiled and said, "You are so talkative, why don't you join Xunzi in talking to those people?"
Zhu Xiang looked aggrieved: "I went there once, but they couldn't win the argument and chased me and beat me. I couldn't beat them, so Xunzi didn't let me go."
Qin Wangzhu's smile froze, and he sighed, "Why are you fighting again?"
Zhu Xiang sighed, "Xunzi said that we don't have to fight, but at least we can protect ourselves. But if we have to fight to protect ourselves, how can I fight a group of old people?"
Qin Wangzhu laughed: "You have too good a temper and are not suitable for debate. You should stay at home and raise Zheng'er."
Zhu Xiang continued to sigh: "Although I promised the first lord to stay in Xianyang to assist the king, I always feel that I can't do anything. It's better to go south to help the king to farm and produce more food."
Qin Wangzhu joked: "How can I not do anything? With you in Xianyang, I can eat a few more bowls of food every day."
Zhu Xiang couldn't help laughing: "That's right, I am still very useful!"
Zhu Xiang and Qin Wangzhu returned to the courtyard. Ying Xiaozheng was learning sword. When he saw Qin Wangzhu coming, he gave Qin Wangzhu a sweaty hug and wiped the sweat off his face with Qin Wangzhu's sleeve before continuing to study.
King Zhu of Qin gave Ying Xiaozheng a brain-destroying blow.
"Your Majesty, please wait a moment. I will make you the milk drink I just learned." Zhu Xiang returned to the kitchen with the milk.
King Zhu of Qin sat in the shade watching Ying Xiaozheng learn swordplay, while a servant waved a hand-cranked fan with ice cubes in front of it to bring cool breeze to King Zhu of Qin.
Zhu Xiang went to the kitchen, boiled the milk and immediately turned down the heat, keeping an eye on the boiling of the milk and keeping the high temperature for a quarter of an hour before turning off the fire.
Drinking raw milk can easily cause brucellosis. Milk is prone to false boiling and foaming, and the temperature is far from the speed of sterilization when it boils and foams. Therefore, Zhu Xiang kept the heat low and boiled the milk for about a quarter of an hour to ensure that the milk was sterilized.
Although this will reduce the flavor of the milk a lot, health and safety are the top priority, and the taste can be adjusted by seasoning.
When milk is heated, milk skin will form. Zhu Xiang crushes the milk skin and continues to cook it with milk.
After a quarter of an hour, the milk became viscous. Zhu Xiang let the milk cool naturally, put fresh peach fruit puree and green tea water in the cup as the base, slowly poured in the milk and stirred evenly. The hot milk fruit drink was ready.
Zhu Xiang took out saltpeter to cool down the milk and fruit drink. When the milk and fruit drink was slightly cooler than normal temperature, Zhu Xiang served the milk and fruit drink.
Qin Wangzhu is old and Ying Xiaozheng is young, their spleen and stomach are weak, so they can't eat too much ice. This temperature is just right.
"Your Majesty, please try it." Zhu Xiang handed the milk fruit drink to Qin Wangzhu, "This year's peaches are very sweet, and they are delicious even without adding sugar."
Without Zhu Xiang's invitation, Ying Xiaozheng came over and took a sip of the milk fruit drink, saying disdainfully, "I still want to add honey."
Zhu Xiang reached out and poked Ying Xiaozheng's bulging cheeks: "You are already eight years old and still have baby fat. Reflect on yourself, why are you eating honey!"
Ying Xiaozheng straightened his back and said, "I only have a fat face. I don't have any flesh on my waist anymore. I have less flesh than my uncle's waist!"
Zhu Xiang stayed in Xianyang for a year and gained weight due to idleness. Ying Xiaozheng took great pleasure in mocking his uncle.
In the past, his uncle always called him Little Fatty. When his uncle grew a little fatter, he started to mock him and called him Big Fatty.
Of course, Zhu Xiang is far from being a fat man. He just has a thin layer of soft flesh covering his abdominal muscles developed from farm work.
Qin Wangzhu drank a milk and fruit drink while watching the uncle and nephew playing with a smile on his face, feeling very happy.
Although the issue of Xianyang Palace had not been resolved, every time Qin Wangzhu came here, he felt a sense of relief as if he could take a break.
Zhu Xiang didn't need to do anything special. As long as he was in Xianyang, King Qin Zhu felt that Zhu Xiang had made great contributions.
After drinking milk and fruit drinks and enjoying the family happiness, King Qin Zhu waited for Zhu Xiang to start dinner.
Today, Zhu Xiang plans to make "fake meat" with dried tofu, flour and rice noodles to satisfy his family's cravings.
Fortunately, chili peppers are not popular nowadays, so although chili peppers are stronger than the five pungent vegetables, they are not banned as vegetarian condiments. Add cumin and other spices, and the meals at home are still very tasty.
Qin Wangzhu praised Zhu Xiang, saying that the vegetarian meat on the table was almost indistinguishable from the real meat.
In fact, Zhu Xiang's cooking skills were not as good as the real meat. On the contrary, the chefs in the Xianyang Palace had surpassed Zhu Xiang after they had the rich seasonings provided by Zhu Xiang. But Qin Wangzhu just felt that the food at Zhu Xiang's was more delicious.
Today, Zichu, Cai Ze, Xunzi and others did not come to disturb King Qin Zhu. They stayed in Xianyang City to handle official business.
After Qin Wangzhu had eaten and drunk his fill, he started talking and complaining to Zhu Xiang.
He talked about the royal family and relatives who were arrogant and aggressive, and the scholars who came from the east to study in the Xianyang Palace. As soon as King Zhaoxiang of Qin left, this group of people took advantage of his good temper and made noise, and even made up rumors that Zhu Xiang wanted to seize power.
Do you think we Qin people don’t know what the strategy of sowing discord is
"It's ridiculous to say that my uncle seized power. It's more accurate to say that my father did it." Ying Xiaozheng tried his best to discredit Zichu. "I think my father has had too many things to deal with recently. He should be allowed to take a rest."
Ying Xiaozheng said: "I feel bad for you. I will help you, Grandfather."
"You are growing up, so you should not be overworked." Zhu Xiang pressed Ying Xiaozheng's head. "Xia Tong has indeed been overworked recently, but not as much as Your Majesty. Alas, there are so many things going on now, and the princes of the six countries will come to Xianyang soon. Your Majesty and Xia Tong cannot and dare not be idle."
Qin Wangzhu sighed, "That's right. The more they criticize Xia Tong, the more I should use Xia Tong. This will let them know that alienation is useless to me."
Qin Wangzhu sighed again and said gloomily: "I am going to issue an edict to reward all the ministers generously, appease the royal family and relatives, and hope that they will stop while they are ahead."
Ying Xiaozheng pursed his lips: "They may not stop when they see the good results."
Qin Wangzhu said: "If any of the relatives of the emperor cause trouble again, I will send troops to attack that country; if it is the royal family that causes trouble, I will let them take their people to South Chu to reclaim wasteland."
Zhu Xiang immediately said, "Your Majesty, you are wrong. It is Nan Qin. What Nan Chu? It is Nan Qin!"
Qin Wangzhu immediately changed his words: "Yes, Southern Qin."
He stroked his beard and said, "General Li is worried about not having enough people to reclaim the wasteland. But that group of noisy scholars is really giving me a headache, and I haven't figured out how to deal with it. Zhu Xiang, what do you have in mind?"
When Ying Xiaozheng heard the word "Oriental scholar", his face immediately turned serious and his mood became very bad.
After he heard about the farce at the Xianyang Academy from Xunzi, he came to the dream room specifically to see if his other self had ever solved a similar problem.
You don’t know until you see it, and it makes you angry to death.
In the dream, I was already Qin Shi Huang, and all the six kingdoms had been incorporated into Qin's territory.
During the dozen years from when he took power to when he unified the country, Qin Shi Huang lived a very happy life. Even though there were some setbacks in the war of unification, the overall momentum of the Qin State was unstoppable, and it can be said that it swept through the six kingdoms with overwhelming force.
Unifying the world was not a difficult task for Qin Shihuang.
The real challenges facing Qin Shihuang began after unification.
Although Qin had already taken over the lands of the six states, the people of the six states were far from being submissive.
The Qin State originally ruled the country with the Legalist school of thought, but Qin Shihuang believed that in order to unify the hearts of the six states, he had to absorb the Central Plains culture.
So Qin Shihuang set up the position of doctor and summoned scholars from the East to Qin. Their status was higher than that of the scholars in the Jixia Academy because doctors could participate in state affairs.
Ying Xiaozheng remembered the word his uncle mentioned in the story he told. The "doctors" set up by Qin Shihuang was a "think tank."
During the Warring States Period, the various schools of thought were either Confucianism or Mohism. When Qin Shihuang unified the world, Mohism had already declined and almost did not get involved in politics. Qin Shihuang hoped to influence Eastern scholars, led by Lu Confucianism, to serve the Qin State by offering high positions, generous salaries and sufficient respect.
However, the Confucian scholars of Lu were very hostile to the Qin State. Even after they entered the Qin State, they still sneered at Qin Shi Huang and the Qin State and treated them coldly.
Qin Shihuang endured it.
Afterwards, Qin Shihuang unified people's hearts by offering sacrifices to the gods of the six kingdoms, and the first stop was Mount Tai.
He ordered the Lu Confucian scholars who were well versed in rituals to formulate the Fengshan procedure, but the Lu Confucian scholars used various means to delay time, implying that Qin Shihuang was not qualified to perform the Fengshan.
Qin Shihuang endured it again.
Qin Shi Huang abandoned the Confucian scholars of Lu and led his ministers to climb Mount Tai. On the way back, he encountered a rainstorm. When he returned to the foot of the mountain, he was ridiculed and mocked by the Confucian scholars of Lu.
Even so, the other self in Ying Xiaozheng's dream, the most honorable Qin Shihuang in the world, could actually endure it and did not severely punish those who dared to laugh at the emperor.
Ying Xiaozheng was full of questions.
He couldn't help but poke his own shadow in the dream. Hey, are you okay? Are you too good-tempered? Are you really me? Even my uncle, who has a temper as soft as cotton, can't be as patient as you!
Because it was too frustrating, Ying Xiaozheng couldn't bear it anymore and decided to slowly enter the dream room again to see what happened next.
The man in the dream was so patient, so the stone man should be influenced. If it really works, he will let his grandfather be patient too.
It is more enjoyable to pick the ripe fruits and eat them after others have endured the endurance than to endure it yourself.
Seeing his grandfather asking his uncle for strategy, Ying Xiaozheng looked at his uncle with sharp eyes, waiting for Zhu Xiang to say the word "endure".
Zhu Xiang found Ying Xiaozheng's wide-open eyes so adorable that he couldn't help but hug his eight-year-old nephew and rub him in his arms.
Rub it more quickly, I guess Zheng'er won't let you rub it next year.
Ying Xiaozheng sighed, then leaned obediently in Zhu Xiang's arms, letting his uncle play with him.
"Your Majesty, please don't tell Xunzi about the strategy I proposed." Zhu Xiang said in a low voice.
Qin Wangzhu also cooperated very well and lowered his voice: "Don't worry, I will never tell Xun Qing."
Zhu Xiang said: "The best way to treat those scholars at this time is not to take them seriously."
Ying Xiaozheng's eyelids twitched.
Qin Wangzhu said: "Qin State has finally attracted so many scholars. If we don't take it seriously, will it affect... affect my reputation?"
Zhu Xiang said: "As long as Your Majesty wants to unify the six kingdoms, Your Majesty's reputation will not be good if you do not give away the land to the old nobles of the six kingdoms after unification."
Ying Xiaozheng's eyelids twitched again.
Qin Wangzhu thought for a moment and sighed, "Divide, divide, why do they insist on dividing? Isn't Zhou's lesson enough?"
Zhu Xiang said: "First, the feudal system allowed the Zhou Dynasty to last for hundreds of years. It was a path they knew and had already practiced. Whether the county system can ensure long-term stability in a huge country is still unknown. Except for sages, no one dares to easily take a path that has not been taken by their predecessors, even if they see that another path is not feasible. And most people in the world are mediocre, and those noisy scholars are just mediocre."
Qin Wangzhu and Ying Xiaozheng nodded in agreement at the same time.
Zhu Xiang continued, "Moreover, the so-called celebrities who can read books, make a name for themselves, and come to Xianyang to study are more or less related to the nobles of the six kingdoms. Some are even the royal families of the six kingdoms or their retainers. The feudal system is related to their own interests. If Qin implements the county system after destroying the six kingdoms, then won't they go from being high and mighty nobles to being commoners?"
Qin Wangzhu and Ying Xiaozheng nodded like an old rooster and a young rooster pecking at rice.
Zhu Xiang said: "Your Majesty summoned scholars to Xianyang in order to find more talents who can assist you in governing Qin, not to let them influence Qin's national policy. Your Majesty needs to listen to their opinions. Only by listening to the opinions of different interest groups can your Majesty grasp more comprehensive information."
"After that, Your Majesty only needs to choose a path based on the result you want most. Once Your Majesty has made a choice, the rest of the voices are just noise, so don't pay too much attention to them. Otherwise, they will think they can really influence Your Majesty and become even more aggressive." Zhu Xiang said indifferently, "If they are too noisy, they must be too idle. Why don't Your Majesty write to them?"
Qin Wangzhu was stunned, not understanding why Zhu Xiang suddenly mentioned revising the book.
Zhu Xiang said: "Eastern scholars are mainly Lu Confucianists. Lu Confucianists regard Mencius as their first teacher. Although he is opposed to my teacher Xunzi, the teachings of Confucius and Mencius have one thing in common, which is to educate the world. As the land of Qin State increases, if the county system is implemented, the court will need to send many officials to the local areas. Li Mu said that the officials in Southern Qin are slightly insufficient. After the unification of the six kingdoms, the shortage of officials will be even greater."
Qin Wangzhu and Ying Xiaozheng both looked thoughtful at the same time.
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "If there are not enough officials loyal to Qin, won't we have to let the old officials of the six kingdoms manage the country? Qin is their enemy, they will not only not manage it with all their heart, but will also deliberately stir up public anger, right? Cultivating talents is like planting trees. It takes at least ten years to cultivate a qualified talent. If we don't start now, it will be too late to prepare after Qin unifies the world."
"Qin needs to train common people to become Qin scholars, and Confucianism hopes to educate the people. The two hit it off. But how to educate? Just teaching laws and regulations is probably not enough to train talents to govern the country. The king ordered scholars to compile and repair the books in the world, copy and print them, so that more books can be obtained and more talents can be taught."
"Your Majesty, compiling a book is a great undertaking that will benefit the present and future generations. I think the great scholars who take it as their mission to educate the world will definitely fight for it." Zhu Xiang coughed dryly, "But there are so many books, it may take more than ten years or even decades to compile them all..."
Qin Wangzhu and Ying Xiaozheng, the grandfather and grandson, looked at each other.
I understand. I understand completely.
This is not editing a book, this is "house arrest" in the name of editing a book.
Under the pretext that Qin needed more scholars, it coincided with the Confucian education, and then it was natural to let Confucianists compile books.
Confucians must take this "bait", otherwise the Qin State will follow the convention and promote Legalist thought to the new scholars, or even directly instill Qin law, regardless of morality.
What is education without moral enlightenment
Once the Confucians took this "bait", their energy would be dispersed and they would have no time to plan for the six countries and be hostile to the King of Qin. The King of Qin only needed to send the Confucian disciples who opposed him to compile books and put the Confucian disciples who supported him in the court.
"But do we really need to let Confucianism interfere in the education of officials?" Ying Xiaozheng frowned.
Zhu Xiang said: "Zheng'er, laws are the bottom line, and morality is the upper line. To govern a country, we need both law and Confucianism. We should take education as the most important task, correct the laws and regulations, and then mix them with the hegemony and the kingly way, so that we can govern a country well. How to do it specifically is up to you to figure it out."
Qin Wangzhu pointed at his nose and said, "Do I think about it myself?"
Zhu Xiang nodded: "Your Majesty, think for yourself. The king is the one who decides how to follow the king's way. I am just a minister who provides advice to the king. Your Majesty cannot listen to one side only."
Qin Wangzhu sighed: "You, others are eager to instill their own ideas into the king, but you are the only one who says to the king, 'Think for yourself'!"
Ying Xiaozheng covered his mouth and laughed.
Zhu Xiang said complacently: "This is me, a different scenery."
"If you keep talking nonsense, I will tell Xunzi what you just said." Qin Wangzhu threatened.
Zhu Xiang immediately said anxiously: "Your Majesty, you are the king, your words are as good as gold, how can you break your promise!"
Qin Wangzhu laughed heartily, feeling completely refreshed.
Qin Wangzhu said with a smile: "Zhu Xiang, you see others say that you are already the de facto prime minister, why don't you just serve me as prime minister?"
Zhu Xiang shook his head quickly: "No, no, I'm going to be the prime minister. Who will take care of the fields and your lives? There are many people in the court who can be prime ministers, but there is no one who can take my place to farm and take care of you."
Ying Xiaozheng hugged Zhu Xiang's arm and said, "Yes, uncle will not be the prime minister! Uncle will only be the prime minister for Zheng'er!"
"Okay, okay, I'll just let you be the prime minister." Qin Wangzhu was helpless.
Since Zhu Xiang was unwilling, he stopped persuading him.
There are too many rumors in Xianyang City now, and King Qin Zhu is also worried. He plans to wait until his father is buried, and let Zhu Xiang continue to farm in other places.
Although his father asked Zhu Xiang to stay in Xianyang to assist him, Qin Wangzhu was more concerned about the lives of Zhu Xiang and Ying Xiaozheng. He could handle government affairs by himself, and while he was protecting them, Zhu Xiang and Zheng'er could enjoy themselves for a few more years.
He couldn't let Zhu Xiang and Zheng'er live a more miserable life than when his father was in power.
Qin Wangzhu slept in the villa for one night and left the next day after eating the cream-filled steamed buns prepared by Zhu Xiang.
Zhu Xiang originally planned to bake butter bread, but he couldn't control the temperature of the earthen kiln oven well. After the bread was baked, it could only be used to crack walnuts, so he could only steam butter buns for the King of Qin to eat.
When Qin Wangzhu left, Zhu Xiang grumbled. Being a vegetarian is really anti-human. When Qin Wang, Xia Tong and Zheng'er were in urgent need of nutrition, they couldn't even eat eggs.
Zhu Xiang stroked his chin, with a bad idea in mind.
What foods are high in protein and can be eaten as a vegetarian without having to observe the mourning period? Is seafood okay
Xunzi is watching you.jpg.
Zhu Xiang shuddered and suppressed the bad idea in his mind.
When Qin Wangzhu returned to Xianyang Palace, Lady Huayang immediately came to apologize.
She cried bitterly and begged King Qin Zhu to make Yangquan Jun reflect on his mistakes in seclusion and not let him attend court.
When Lady Huayang learned that Lord Yangquan was being instigated to attack Zhu Xiang, she was terrified.
She is Qin Wangzhu's bedmate and the most favored woman around him, so she knows Qin Wangzhu very well.
As Qin Wang Zhu was gradually given up power by Qin Zhaoxiang, his temperament became closer to that of the old Qin Wang, and he gradually became a qualified Qin Wang. Her pillow man was not weak at all, and he trusted Zhu Xianggong very much, believing that Zhu Xianggong was his confidant and important minister.
What on earth has confused your mind that you went to the King of Qin to criticize Zhu Xiang? You still want to be better than Zhu Xiang, why don't you look in the mirror to see if you are worthy!
Seeing that Lady Huayang was very sensible, Qin Wangzhu comforted her with a warm smile. According to Lady Huayang's words, he asked Lord Yangquan to reflect on himself behind closed doors and said that the matter should be put aside for the time being and he hoped that Lady Huayang would discipline Lord Yangquan well.
Lord Yangquan actually listened to Madam Huayang's words. Moreover, after he came to his senses, he knew his own limitations and stayed indoors to avoid the spotlight.
King Zhu of Qin did not deal with the rumors. He simply handed over more government affairs to Zichu on the grounds of excessive grief, and lived in a side hall next to the mourning hall to mourn for King Zhaoxiang of Qin.
Qin Wangzhu said that he was very sad and believed that nothing was more important than the funeral of his king and father.
He also summoned Zhu Xiang and Zheng Er to the mourning hall to mourn together, saying that King Zhaoxiang of Qin loved and respected these two younger generations the most during his lifetime. Zichu should have come as well, but government affairs still needed to be handled, and Crown Prince Zichu should focus on state affairs.
Qin Wangzhu didn't even mention the rumors, and they died down.
The rumormongers saw from Qin Wangzhu's actual actions that he was not easily deceived by the rumormongering scheme. If they continued to spread the rumormongering, Qin Wangzhu might be able to find out who was behind it, and they would not be able to hide.
When the rumors died down, the debate in the Xianyang Academy about the King of Qin's mourning became more and more intense, and the princes were about to arrive in Xianyang without any conclusion.
Qin Wangzhu was in a good mood, but Ying Xiaozheng's face became increasingly gloomy.
This scene reminded him of the tricks used by the group of Confucian scholars when they were discussing his Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai.
At this moment, it was just like the scene in his dream.
However, what was different from his dream was that there was a Xunzi who was able to overpower all the other Confucian scholars and stood on the side of King Qin Zhu.
Seeing that the time for the commotion was almost over, Xunzi directly presented the funeral rituals he had prepared.
"The king is the father of the common people. The common people should mourn for the king as if they were their own father. Not mourning for three years is against filial piety. If we abstain from alcohol, meat, weddings and banquets for three years, it will be too much of a burden for the common people."
"I would like to ask that the days replace the months, and the common people of Qin mourn for the late king for three years! This will both demonstrate that Qin governs the country with filial piety and will not harm the people!"
(End of this chapter)