The first county magistrate in history

At this moment, Qin Zheng bowed to the ministers and said sincerely, "My Lords, please give the gifts to Lord Guo! Lord Guo wants to build the South City and is short of money. How can we ignore it? No matter how poor we are, we can afford this little money!"

All the officials wanted to take off their boots and beat down this plague god, but you are good at doing favors. You say it so lightly!

But this time, with Guo Pingxi's face, no one dared to refuse.

And I dare not give less.

They all donated generously.

Guo Pingxi was completely confused.

But you can only passively accept it.

I thought to myself, okay, even though they are all several thousand taels, there are too many people!

At this moment, An Dehai returned, and with a mocking look on his face, he handed Qin Zheng two yellow jackets and announced, "Dismiss the court!"

Only then did everyone realize that the empress had left.

Xia Bitu pulled Xia Jinzhong away immediately.

Xia Jinzhong was still wondering why his adoptive father ran away?

However, although Xia Bitu's plan was very good, it still did not escape Qin Zheng's eyes.

"Uncle, uncle, don't run!" Qin Zheng chased me closely. After tricking me, you want to run away?

Want to eat shit?

Xia Bitu pretended not to hear.

Outside the palace gate, Xia Bitu just got on the carriage with his butt sticking out.

boom!

Qin Zheng also jumped onto his carriage and knocked Xia Bitu directly into it.

"You little monkey, are you trying to assassinate me?" Xia Bitu rubbed his head, feeling very angry.

Qin Zheng laughed: "Uncle, I'm calling you, why are you running?"

Xia Bitu said angrily: "I'm old and deaf!"

Qin Zheng: “…”

Outside, Xia Jinzhong listened enviously and thought to himself, why can't I communicate with my adoptive father like this?

"Gee!" Xia Jinzhong whipped the carriage and it moved forward.

When Sun Tiezhu saw his elder brother get on the prime minister's carriage, he quickly drove his carriage to catch up.

On the carriage.

Qin Zheng stretched out his hand in front of Xia Bitu.

Xia Bitu looked at a loss for words: "I don't have any money, and I wouldn't give it to you even if I did. You've been a good person, so why should I reimburse you?"

Qin Zheng chuckled, pointed at the carriage curtain, and whispered, "Do you really think he can build the central city? Aren't you afraid that all your money will be wasted?"

Xia Bitu was stunned.

Suddenly he sighed, his expression like a rooster that had been defeated in a fight. He pulled out a ten thousand tael silver note from his sleeve and handed it to Qin Zheng: "Monkey boy, you still need to support him more!"

Qin Zheng's face darkened. "Uncle, I haven't said anything about you yet. You're so shameless. With so many people here, you can still afford two hundred taels?"

Xia Bitu's face flushed, and he snorted coldly, "You're giving too much, and you're giving Guo Pingxi a bargain."

Qin Zheng smiled cunningly: "The entire court, civil and military officials, only have a few hundred thousand taels of silver in total. Do you think it's worth using these hundred thousand to hit him in the face? Besides, he will return the silver to me!"

Xia Bitu was startled: "Why?"

Qin Zheng was confident: "Because he wants to build the South City!"

Xia Bitu was convinced: "How can you be so good at cheating people?"

Qin Zheng said seriously, "Don't say so much useless things. If you give me five hundred thousand taels, we'll break up!"

Xia Bitu really wanted to use a needle to test how thick Qin Zheng's skin was.

But, he really needs Qin Zheng's help!

He had no choice but to take out a silver note of 500,000 taels and give it to Qin Zheng.

Qin Zheng took the banknote with a smile on his face and said, "Uncle, don't worry. Just do what I do in Beicheng. If he doesn't understand, let him ask me."

The corner of Xia Bitu's mouth twitched: "Thank you, Master Qin!"

Qin Zheng's face suddenly darkened. "Uncle, I've helped you so much, why are you still trying to trick me in the court? This is called being ungrateful, do you understand?"

Xia Bitu said embarrassedly, "Didn't I give you the silver? Just consider it my fault. I just thought it was fun to trick you. But instead of tricking you, I ended up tricking myself."

Qin Zheng smiled: "I'm glad to know. Since you're old, I won't bother with you this time!"

Looking at the clever Qin Zheng, Xia Bitu sighed, "If he had half the command of you, I would be at ease."

Qin Zheng said seriously: "Uncle, have you heard the story of the eagle forcing its nest?"

Xia Bitu was startled: "I haven't heard of it, tell me about it."

Qin Zheng said, "In order for the eaglet to learn to fly independently, the eagle will drive the eaglet out of the nest when it is very young, forcing it to spread its wings and fly. The eagle is not cruel, but this is the law of survival. The eagle will protect the eaglet in secret, but it will not keep it under its wings forever!"

Xia Bitu was silent.

After a long while, Xia Bitu sighed, "Thank you, nephew, for the reminder!"

Qin Zheng laughed and said, "It's just that those involved are confused."

Xia Bitu suddenly asked seriously, "Do you know Ji Wenjian?"

Qin Zheng knew that he couldn't hide it from the old fox.

He did not hide anything and simply told him what had happened.

Xia Bitu nodded: "No wonder!"

He reminded her, "He knows the ins and outs of Hongtong County, so you must be more serious about your work. Even if he can't match you, if he succeeds, His Majesty will certainly use him. It's not that he trusts him too much, but that he can be used to compete with you and prevent you from becoming the sole ruler. Have you heard that one person is strong, a hundred people are weak. One family is strong, a hundred families are weak?"

These words came from the heart, and Qin Zheng understood them.

He sighed, "These are all methods used by emperors. Almost everyone does this. However, there are pros and cons. If all officials were truly united, this emperor wouldn't last long."

Xia Bitu looked at Qin Zheng in surprise: "You think so too?"

Qin Zheng said: "Although a hundred schools of thought contend with each other, only then can a hundred flowers bloom. However, only healthy competition can play a motivating role. Malicious competition will only lead to chaos."

Xia Bitu nodded in agreement: "I hope Your Majesty can distinguish between good and evil, understand beauty and ugliness, and be tolerant of others."

"Thank you, uncle!" Qin Zheng knew that Xia Bitu was really worried about him, afraid that his achievements would overshadow his master and he would not have a good end!

Xia Bitu suddenly stared at Qin Zheng and asked in a low voice, "If you were the emperor, what would you do?"

Qin Zheng looked at him.

Xia Bitu quickly said, "I have no other intentions, I'm just curious."

Qin Zheng looked into Xia Bitu's eyes and said, "Don't use me as an analogy, use you!"

Xia Bitu scratched his head and smiled bitterly, "I admit, I was trying to trick you, but I really want to know."

Qin Zheng looked away and looked out the window, his eyes deep as he said:

"The downfall of a nation is due to rifts; the downfall of a man is due to rifts. Laws are what the king uses; power is what the king enforces.

A wise ruler governs his country by making the defenders numerous and the powerful few small. A sage has no permanent teacher; he takes his superiors as his model, and regards benevolence and righteousness as his due. When superiors and subordinates are of one mind, their strength is unbreakable; when superiors and subordinates are of different minds, their strength is unbreakable.

Qin Zheng paused, his eyes deep, and continued, "People are not suitable for me, and politics are not suitable for me. Only you can correct the mistakes of the king. If the king is benevolent, everyone will be benevolent; if the king is righteous, everyone will be righteous; if the king is upright, everyone will be upright. If the king is upright, the country will be stable..."

Xia Bitu also looked out the window, without saying a word, as if he was frozen in time.

Shao Shi Mansion.

Even after Qin Zheng got out of the car and left, Xia Bitu was still in a daze...

Prime Minister's House.

Xia Jinzhong opened the car curtain, but found that his adoptive father was sitting upright, in a daze.

Xia Jinzhong knew that his adoptive father was thinking about something and didn't dare to disturb him.

Sit in the car and wait.

But he was extremely puzzled. What did Qin Zheng say to his adoptive father that caused him to act like this?

An hour later, Xia Jinzhong felt something was wrong.

What could have made my godfather think about it for so long?

"Adoptive father?"

"Adoptive father?"

Xia Jinzhong called out twice, but Xia Bitu did not respond.

Xia Jinzhong was shocked and quickly lifted the curtain of the sedan chair, only to see his adoptive father still in the old monk's meditation.

"Godfather..." Xia Jinzhong called again.

Xia Bi Tu did not react.

Xia Jinzhong's face changed. Why did he look like he was dead?

He hurriedly reached out to check Xia Jinzhong's breath.

Xia Jinzhong breathed a sigh of relief, he was still breathing!

But what happened?

Xia Jinzhong was stunned and at a loss.

Just as he was about to call the doctor, he suddenly remembered something.

Last time, Qin Zheng almost talked him to death...

"Gee!" Xia Jinzhong drove hurriedly to find Qin Zheng.

The guards at the gate of the Prime Minister's Mansion were all confused. What happened today? The Prime Minister and the young master came back, but not only did they not come in, they suddenly left again?