The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 2 My Teacher Li Si
For example, Han Fei's knowledge has deeply integrated materialism and the practicality of imperial centralization. A person who can learn from the feudal era actually mastered this kind of forward-looking knowledge that transcends the times. Is he really a human being?
This is not to say that the Legalists are bad. Looking at the foundation laid by several generations of the Qin State, and considering that perhaps you will be the future heir, you must learn what you should learn.

Li Si and Han Fei were from the same school, so he was able to better implement the "legacy" left by Han Fei.

Therefore, Li Si was an important official of the Qin State who was very useful.

In other words, if an empire wants to be strong and survive, it cannot do without politicians.

"I heard that the Chief Justice and the Prime Minister were arguing in the hall yesterday?"

Li Si smiled awkwardly, bowed again, and said, "The Prime Minister and I have different strategies for governing the country, which is why we are arguing in front of the emperor."

Fusu looked at the flames burning in the brazier and said with a smile, "In fact, continuing to divide the land may not be a good thing."

Li Si nodded and said, "Your Excellency is right, but Wang Wan is, after all, the Prime Minister of Qin, and he has many people in the court who support him."

At present, Li Si was still just a Tingwei, an official position lower than that of the prime minister, but the Tingwei was in charge of laws and punishments, similar to the Ministry of Justice.

"Wang Wan is a conservative man, including his retainers, his colleagues in Qin, and those old officials who joined Wang Wan in opposing you."

Li Si lowered his head again, his expression even more respectful.

Fusu added, "Qin became powerful through reforms. Having already tried the old path of enfeoffment once, why repeat it? The current emperor should be more inclined toward the county system. The Supreme Court Justice can hold fast to his own ideas. This is also my teacher's last wish."

Li Si bowed and saluted.

In the eyes of the palace servants outside Gaoquan Palace, Prince Fusu and the Chief Justice Li Si talked all night long, and Li Si left only when Queen Mother Huayang was about to be buried at dawn.

Three months after Empress Dowager Huayang was buried, it was already spring of the following year, but the climate in Guanzhong was still freezing cold.

Li Si, the chief justice of Qin, walked out of his house and headed towards the Xianyang Palace.

Li Si instructed the guests around him, "Everyone in the world knows that Prince Fusu is quite virtuous."

The guest replied, "Many people have heard that Prince Fusu enjoyed reading the books of Han Fei, the former prince of Han. Perhaps even the famous Korean officials who are still in the old land of Han have heard of it."

The famous official that the guest was referring to was probably someone like Zhang Liang.

Wang Wan had not attended court at Zhangtai Palace for a month, and the First Emperor tacitly accepted the fact that the prime minister did not attend court. Instead, he began to use Li Si even more.

In fact, as early as a few years ago, the new-school forces in the court headed by Li Si and the old-school forces led by Wang Wan had been fighting fiercely.

Wang Wan believed that the previous feudal system should still be used to govern the country today, with the first emperor's sons being enfeoffed in various places and various vassal states being set up to govern them.

Because of this incident, people from Li Si's faction always stood up to oppose Prime Minister Wang Wan, and there was a lot of quarrel in the court.

However, in the end, the First Emperor chose Li Si's suggestion and chose the county system instead of feudal fiefdom.

Recently, Prince Fusu liked to raise fish, and the First Emperor, thinking of his filial piety, gave Gaoquan Palace to him to live in and mourn for Queen Dowager Huayang.

During the period of mourning, the young master usually just raised fish or read books. He did not associate with famous officials like Wang Wan, nor did he associate with the old nobles of the six countries. He just lived in Gaoquan Palace and seldom went out.

Li Si walked to Gaoquan Palace and explained his purpose to the palace servants there. After the person at the gate reported, he was allowed to enter.

Led by two eunuchs, he came to the backyard of Gaoquan Palace, where there was a rockery. Water flowed down from the rockery and flowed into the pond through a bamboo pipe.

The pond doesn't seem too deep, and you can vaguely see fish swimming around.

Li Si spotted the young man reading by the pool and approached to pay his respects. Fusu smiled and had some cakes passed to him. He then asked, "I heard Wang Wan is seriously ill and can't attend the morning court. I also heard many people went to visit him."

"Prime Minister Wang is highly respected. If he says he's ill, he's probably really ill, just not seriously."

Seeing Li Si standing upright and answering, Fusu continued, "I also heard from others that the emperor has adopted the advice of the Supreme Court and that the Qin Dynasty will implement the county system in the future."

Li Si replied, "I would also like to thank you for your advice two months ago. It gave me the confidence to make my recommendations to the Emperor."

Li Si was extremely supportive of the Legalist thought, and the First Emperor would eventually adopt Li Si's suggestions.

Since it was Li Si's advice, then the next step is to reuse Li Si. It remains to be seen whether Wang Wan can keep his position as prime minister.

To outsiders, it seemed that Prince Fusu and the Chief Justice Li Si were working together to overthrow the then Prime Minister of Qin, Wang Wan.

I wonder what the First Emperor would think when he heard this rumor?
"When will General Wang Jian's troops return?"

"I don't know."

Li Si lowered his posture and said that he could tell the prince other things, but he could not tell the matter about General Wang Jian even if he knew it.

Seeing that the young master remained silent, Li Si continued, "The emperor has issued an edict ordering me to teach you in the future."

Fusu looked at the fish in the pond and said, "Well, I have also received the imperial edict from my father. I will trouble you in the future."

Li Si smiled knowingly and bowed quickly.

Li Si felt warm in his heart and even more delighted to be addressed as teacher by the young master. It was certainly not a bad thing for Qin to have a studious young master.

The new teacher was indeed in a hurry when he left, which is normal. The next few years will be the peak period of his life when he can realize his ambitions.

The pond behind Gaoquan Palace was filled with ordinary fish. The prince would also order people to catch one or two and kill them for food. Prince Fusu loved eating fish and also loved raising fish.

Fusu sat down again and continued reading. There were endless books in the Xianyang Palace. Some of these books were confiscated from the six countries, and some were written by Qin's ministers.

If we count the capable ministers who made contributions to the Qin State...in fact, most of them did not have a good ending.

For example, Zhang Yi, Shang Yang, and Bai Qi.

Generally speaking, the Qin kings in power had a veto over everything and the power to make the final decision. Anything that the Qin king opposed could not be implemented.

And it continues to this day, just like Wei Ran who held power in Qin for more than 40 years. The King of Qin deposed him at will, and Wei Ran did not dare to complain.

Back then, Bai Qi was the one who would kill without hesitation, and he didn't even try to escape.

Whether he wants to work for the Qin State depends on whether he is strong enough.

According to historical records, even Li Si himself did not have a good end.

The great Qin Empire now seems unprecedentedly powerful, but looking around, people's livelihood is in decline. The rich Guanzhong region still needs to be developed, although the Zhengguo Canal is good.

But it is still not enough, and the entire Northwest and Central Plains have yet to be developed.

(End of this chapter)