Daqin: My weak and virtuous minister

Zhangtai Palace

"Fusu, I met Zhang Qing today. Your father intends to make Zhang Qing your master. What do you think?"

The six-year-old boy was polite and gentle, and he said happily, "Father, I am willing."

Seeing the admiration in his child's eyes when he talked about Zhang Qing, Ying Zheng was a little puzzled.

Could it be that Zhang Qing's charm was so great that Fusu admired him so much after just one meeting?

At this time, Ying Zheng didn't know that he had someone to assist him.

If he knew, he would probably angrily call you a traitor!

"Zhang Qing has a unique vision, profound knowledge, and a broad mind. Although he is a little frail, he is a rare genius. If you can study under Zhang Qing, you will definitely benefit greatly."

"Father, I want to become Master Zhang's disciple. I will definitely go to Master Zhang more often in the future and ask him to accept me."

Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng laughed heartily: "Hahaha, my son has a keen eye. Zhang Qing deserves your treatment. Go ahead. If you go out in the future, just bring your attendants with you."

After getting permission, Fusu left happily.

Ying Zheng glanced at the memorial on the table and sighed, "Come, summon Meng Yi and Meng Tian."

"promise."

"See you, Your Majesty."

The two brothers Meng Yi and Meng Tian were still teenagers. They walked into the hall and saluted Ying Zheng, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

"Stand up." Ying Zheng raised his head from the memorial, looked at the two tall brothers, and nodded with satisfaction.

He was very confident in the loyalty of the Meng family.

"I called you here because I had something for you to do."

"Your Majesty, please give your instructions."*2

"Go gather the alchemists in Xianyang now and have them refine large quantities of the elixir. Also, capture some small animals like chickens, ducks, and rabbits, and feed them the elixir daily. Carefully record the animals' conditions until they die. This must be done in front of the people of Xianyang, so they can all see the harmful effects of this elixir."

"promise."

After the two brothers left Zhangtai Palace, they gathered the alchemists in Xianyang and asked them to start refining elixirs in large quantities.

"What! The king asked the alchemist to make the elixir?"

The prime minister was convinced. Wei Zhuang quickly received the news and stood up from his chair in surprise.

This shouldn't be the case. How could the king, who is so young, think of taking elixirs?

Could it be that the king has some hidden illness?

In an instant, Wei Zhuang had already thought of how to persuade the king tomorrow not to be afraid of medical treatment.

"Prime Minister, please don't be anxious. The king is in good health. Why does he need to take elixirs? It must be for other purposes." Li Si put down the brush in his hand and persuaded.

Moreover, in Li Si's heart, he also did not believe in the elixirs of those alchemists.

"That makes sense. I'll ask the king tomorrow."

"promise."

After feeling a little relieved, they began to improve their laws.

"Li Si, I think both of these two points can be slightly modified."

Wei Zhuang handed Li Si the bamboo slips, which bore the horrifying punishments of nose picking, eye gouging, and quartering. Thinking back to those days, Wei Zhuang had witnessed the cruelty of these punishments firsthand, and even now, he shuddered at the thought. However, since the reign of Duke Xiao, Qin's laws had been harsh, and no one had dared to propose amending them. Now, with this opportunity, Wei Zhuang was eager to make some changes.

"Prime Minister, I have discussed this matter with Lord Zhang. Lord Zhang said something that I did not support at first, but after seeing the person being executed with my own eyes, I now agree with him."

Li Si did not answer, but talked about the day when Zhang Yuanqing asked him to go to the prison to watch the execution.

He was a disciple of the Legalists and originally did not support the amendment of the law. However, after actually watching the process of Qin law, he could not sleep well for several nights after returning home. His dreams were filled with the screams of those people. Li Si changed his mind.

"Oh? What did Master Zhang say?"

Wei Zhuang also admired Zhang Yuanqing, but they had little contact.

"Lord Zhang said that the law can't be completely cold; it should also have warmth. The law doesn't exist to punish people, but to restrain human greed and regulate human behavior. Therefore, the law must be strict but not harsh, fair but not biased. Today, the laws of my Qin State are fair and strict, but they are also harsh. Our laws are cold and without warmth, just like a person. Therefore, everyone can only fear them, not respect them. What we need to do now is to eliminate those harsh and harsh aspects and make the law warm. In this way, the people will not fear the Qin laws, but respect them. This is the highest state of law."

"Make Qin Lu warmer?"

After hearing this, Wei Zhuang fell into deep thought.

After a long time, it was as if the fog in my mind was suddenly peeled away, and then I burst into laughter.

"I have learned a lesson."

As he spoke, Wei Zhuang bowed to thank Li Si, and Li Si hurriedly stepped forward to help Wei Zhuang up.

"Prime Minister, please don't do this. I can't bear this."

Wei Zhuang waved Li Si away carelessly, "Then consider it as you taking the blame on behalf of Lord Zhang." He didn't even give Li Si a chance to speak, "As expected of someone the king admires. Lord Zhang is truly a man of great talent, far superior to me. You, Li Si, are no ordinary person either. The king truly knows how to use his talents."

"Alright, let's get started. Before, I only had some rough ideas in my mind, but now I know exactly what to do. We are responsible for revising the Qin Law this time, and we must not let the king down."

"promise."

Jixia Academy

After Zhao Ping returned to his residence, he received a letter.

It was sent by his good friend Li Si.

Thinking that Li Si had gone to Qin State and that there had been constant reports of situation in Qin State recently, Zhao Ping curiously opened the letter and began to read it.

"Brother Zhao, what are you doing?"

As soon as he opened the letter, a man in his thirties walked in and sat casually on the chair opposite Zhao Ping.

This chair was also introduced from the Qin State. At the beginning, people were proud of their status and thought that this chair was disrespectful to society. However, after using it for a long time, they understood the beauty of it, and everyone who saw it accepted it. Now many people have discarded their saw chairs and replaced them with this table and chair.

"It's Brother Yu Zhi. Brother Li Si sent me a letter, and I was just about to read it."

Zhao Ping smiled and didn't care about Tian Yuzhi's casualness.

"Then Brother Zhao Ping, you can watch first. I won't disturb you."

As he spoke, Tian Yuzhi picked up the bamboo slips and began to read them.

Zhao Ping smiled and began to read the contents of the letter.

Brother Zhao Ping, I've recently made a friend whose talent rivals that of Guiguzi, and I admire him greatly. Recently, the King of Qin intended to amend Qin's laws. I disagreed, but I didn't voice my opinion. However, a close friend of mine supported him, and I argued with him...

The several long pages detailed Zhang Yuanqing's views on the Legalist doctrine and the process of Li Si being persuaded. Zhao Ping sometimes frowned and sometimes looked serious as he read. Finally, Li Si invited Zhang Ping to go to the Qin State to serve the King of Qin and jointly improve the Qin law.

"Brother Zhao Ping, is there anything difficult?"

Seeing that Zhao Ping looked worried after reading the letter, Tian Yuzhi asked after a while.

Zhao Ping did not answer, but stood up and walked around a few times, then walked out laughing.