Before the Shang Dynasty reformed the law, the Qin State was just a border country, the land was barren, the country was weak, and it almost reached the border of the dead country under the pressure of the strong Wei step by step. At that time, the other six countries in the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period all regarded the backward Qin people as barbarians, and the Central Plains did not invite the Qin State several times, and even Zhou Tianzi, whose rights were completely hollowed out, looked down on the lowly Qin State.

It was in this situation that Qin Xiaogong, who had just succeeded to the throne, shouted angrily; "The princes are humble and ugly", carved the monument of national shame, painted words with blood, stood at the palace gate, and swore to change the law to strengthen the country. Ignoring the strong resistance of the conservatives, Xiaogong fully supported Shang Ying's reform to improve himself, and a series of new policies such as abandoning well fields, emphasizing agriculture and mulberry, awarding military merits, and implementing a unified measurement and county system made the dying Kuqin the head of the Seven Kingdoms, laying a strong foundation for the unification of later generations.

However, after all, the Shang Dynasty reform law was only built for the barren Qin State at that time, and the law was used to forcibly gather the Qin people who liked private fighting and scattered sand under the battle banner of the word "Qin". Although the caustic and unkind Cool Law can mobilize the power of a country to the greatest extent possible in troubled times, it has become out of place after reunification.

The series of changes brought by Shang Ying to the Qin State only allowed the Qin people to do two things in their lives, that is, fighting wars and farming. In order to worry about the influence of the scholarship of the hundred schools of thought of the Qin people, as early as before the first emperor burned books and pit Confucianism, Shang Ying had already burned all the books in the Qin State except for the Legalists, the soldiers, and the Zongheng families.

Foolish people to rule is the cornerstone of the Shang Dynasty's reform, to kill the enemy's head in exchange for military merit as an important criterion for the evaluation of officials, so the most direct evil result is that after Qin unified the six countries, most of the officials sent to various places are vulgar, will only go into battle to kill the enemy, but will not dismount to govern the country. In addition, the mean and unkind Qin law is very different from the old law of the Six Kingdoms, which caused the people of the Six Kingdoms of Kwantung to suffer for a long time, and the first emperor died less than a year before he was revealed.

Moreover, Qin's highly centralized system did not apply to the unified Qin state. Before the unification of the Qin State, the territory was not very large, and it was all centered on Xianyang, and it was appropriate to have a high degree of centralization. After the reunification, the territory expanded rapidly, and the border pass was far away from Xianyang, and it took several months to go back and forth. According to Qin law, the emperor was consulted for all transfers of more than 50 soldiers in the local area, and in the event of a major event, the local officials did nothing because they did not have the right to self-determination.

The main reason why Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were able to develop and grow rapidly back then was that the local county guards and county captains of the Qin State had no right to transfer the garrison privately. Just like Li You, who was stationed in Xingyang at that time and held the troops of the Central Plains, he could only sit back and watch the rebel army sit big, and finally became an inextinguishable trend.

The biggest dependence of this highly centralized system is a wise monarch, so the Qin people are lucky, and the six generations of monarchs after the filial piety are not only mediocre masters, but British masters. By the second emperor Hu Hai succeeded to the throne, although the army of Qin was still there, and the county system was still in order, its upper echelons had been completely eroded.

Moreover, today's Qin State is no longer the Qin State when Shang Ying changed the law, most of the Qin people have opened their minds, and they also have ideas and opinions, if they still force the Qin people to accept harsh laws as before, it is no longer appropriate. The extreme Legalist techniques advocated by Shang Ying also began to be rejected by this era.

Therefore, as Gongsun Hong said, the Qin State not only needs to organize its troops to conquer the world, but also needs to carry out a reform in the system, remove the drawbacks, and create a new system. One hundred and sixty years have passed since the Shang Dynasty reformed, and many of the old systems are no longer suitable for the current situation of the Qin State. If you don't think about changing, even if you reunify the world, what can you do, it is just a repetition of the old path of the first emperor.

In fact, since Han Xin took charge of the Qin State, the system of the Qin State has found many subtle changes. For example, Meng Jian and Gongsun Hong were not non-believers, on the contrary, they were quite appreciative of Huang Lao's inaction.

Among the courtiers, many were also from Confucian backgrounds, and at the insistence of Han Xin and Meng Jian at the beginning, the Qin court selected officials based on ability as the first choice, and light on their origins and schools. With the acquiescence of the higher-ups, the doctrines of the hundred schools of thought have appeared in the court of the Qin State, instead of exalting the Legalists and deposing any doctrine as before.

Among them, the most rapid rise is the Confucian scholarship, which has been suppressed by the Legalists.

The Confucian school of the pre-Qin period was not the kind of Confucianism that was modified and passed down in many ways in later generations. It is just one of the more important doctrines among the hundreds of princes, advocating "etiquette" and "benevolence", and advocating the ways of "loyalty and forgiveness" and "moderation". He advocates "rule by virtue" and "benevolent government", and attaches importance to ethical relations, especially loyalty to the monarch, filial piety, and self-denial.

At this time, Confucianism was far from reaching the demonized and pathological doctrine of later generations, on the contrary, Confucianism, as the most active school of thought, far exceeded most schools of thought.

The hegemony advocated by the Legalists is to turn the whole country into a terrifying war machine, where the common people fear the law and work hard in peacetime, and in wartime they use the whole country as soldiers, exchanging the heads of the enemy for rich rewards. This system had a strong survivability during the Warring States period, feeding the war with war, relying on plunder to continuously strengthen itself and weaken the enemy, and also made the Qin state a country of tigers and wolves, and the six kingdoms trembled under its aggressive posture. But its drawbacks are also obvious, that is, once the world is calm, the Qin State that has lost its opponent will fall into a daze, and can only take the Xiongnu in the north and the barbarians in the south to vent their anger, and finally lose their national strength in a never-ending conquest.

Confucianism, on the other hand, advocated the royal way, in which scholars and doctors cultivated themselves, united their families, and ruled the world, requiring those in high positions to practice benevolent government, and courtiers improving their personal cultivation to be on par with the sages. Confucianism has a complete set of value systems, and the doctrine of the principle of kings, ministers, fathers, sons, and sons advocated by Confucianism is very conducive to the stability of the ruling class and the people's will, and is also very conducive to the centralization of power. This is also the reason why Confucianism is admired by later rulers, because its unique value system is indeed not suitable for the long-term stability of rulers.

But the shortcomings of Confucianism are also obvious, first of all, it advocates the rule of man and virtue, rather than the rule of law. It only tells you what you should do morally, but it doesn't tell you how you will be punished if you don't. Over time, a large number of privileged classes will inevitably be nourished and the whole country will be hollowed out. Legalism, on the other hand, emphasized the spirit of respecting the law, and the aristocracy and commoners were all equal before the law, so that everyone could fear the law, and in this way, the hatred of the common people against the ruling class could be appeased. Moreover, Confucianism advocates retro, conformism, and obedience, which will also corrode the martial spirit in the blood of the Qin people over time.

Therefore, the statecraft that Gongsun Hong wanted to adopt was a fusion of the essence of Confucianism and Legalism. The Qin State has been established by the art of Legalism for more than 160 years, and the spirit of the legal system has penetrated into the bones of every Qin person, allowing them to understand the law and fear the law, which also provides a strong cornerstone for Gongsun Hong's reform.

Legalism is pragmatic and pursues the concept of governing the country that can be rewarded immediately, while Confucianism is so vain that it tells you how to do it from the spiritual level, and over time forms a complete system of moral concepts. The two theories seem to be halfway through, but they are inextricably linked, and how to integrate the essence of the two schools well has become the most important thing in the success of this change.

Gongsun Hong's proposal aroused Han Xin's strong interest, in fact, he was not good at political governance, more often he handed over Wenzhi to others to govern, and he was able to concentrate on military affairs. This is not a sign that Han Shin is not politically minded, on the contrary, this is where his brilliance lies. The Qin State is different from any kind of system in any country, it advocates military merit, establishes the country by force, and politics has always served the army, and only by mastering the army can the Qin State be mastered. If you don't have military power, even if you are as powerful as Shang Ying and Lü Buwei, once you are jealous of the king, you can effortlessly send troops to capture you.

Therefore, Han Xin rarely cares about government affairs, and he is very clever to use his limited energy on the army, which also makes his position in the Qin State solid and unshakeable.

However, Gongsun Hong's words made him realize the urgency of changing the law, and during the period when the Qin state almost collapsed, the concept of legalist governance on which the Qin state relied was also questioned. In addition, the Zhuzimen represented by Confucianism poured into the court of the Qin State one after another, and the original old system became the target of everyone's attack, and many strict laws and regulations on the Qin law were almost equivalent to empty words in the court, which also made Han Xin realize the importance of reaffirming the law.

In the final analysis, the Qin State must adhere to the concept of the legal system in its bones, so as to maintain the bloody nature of the Qin people, so that the future can not forget the soldiers, and not so that "although the country is big, it will be dangerous to forget the war". On the surface, it is also necessary to integrate the humanistic spirit of Confucianism, attach importance to the etiquette and music, so that everyone can find their own place in the empire, the farmer needs to cultivate and serve in the army, and the scholar strives for life to "cultivate oneself, work together, and rule the world".

This is the Confucian skin bone advocated by Gongsun Hong, the inner law and the outer Confucianism, which made Han Xin look at him with admiration.

He only listened to Meng Jian's recommendation and gave the position of prime minister of this illustrious "head of a hundred officials" to Gongsun Hong. Gongsun Hong has always been decent since he took office, there is no fault, and there is no big move, it seems that his only meaning is the balance between Han Xin and the old Qin family. It was precisely because of Gongsun Hong's inaction that he was ridiculed among the officials, calling him, the weakest prime minister in the history of the Qin State, "the prime minister of clay sculpture".

Although Han Xin maintained respect for him on his face, he actually didn't pay much attention to him in his heart, and the meaning of Gongsun Hong's existence was more for him to maintain the stability of the court.

It wasn't until today that Han Xin realized the deep meaning of Meng Jian's recommendation of him. Gongsun Hong is indeed a talent, and is a very rare talent, he is proficient in several academics, specializing in Legalism, Confucianism, Taoism, this is the only way to put forward a full roll of bamboo slips to change the draft, submitted to Han Xin for inspection.

Han Xin looked at it carefully, and the more he looked at it, the more he admired it in his heart. Although these articles are drafted, and the details in many places have not yet been enriched, it can be seen from the words that Gongsun Hong's intentions are so good. As long as Gongsun Hong's reform was aimed at the many shortcomings of the Qin legal system, it had already brought about the evil consequences of a high degree of centralization, such as the abolition of dozens of tortures, the abolition of many corporal punishments that caused people's disabilities, and the private collection of the doctrines of the hundred schools of thought.

The decentralization of the autonomy of the troops to the counties greatly strengthened the autonomy of the guards in the periphery. At the same time, in order to limit the emergence of local separatist forces, the logistical supply of the army was separated from the duties and powers of the county lieutenant and handed over to the county guard in charge of civil affairs.

The military system implemented by the Qin State before has always been a compulsory military system, that is, as long as war breaks out, the state conscripts all the young and strong people to enlist in the army. Although this military system can mobilize the greatest strength to meet the enemy, it is not suitable for maintaining the quality of the overall soldiers, because the soldiers spend more time farming, rather than training to kill the enemy, in the late period of the first emperor, like the Northern Army, the border army, in fact, has adopted a similar mercenary model in later generations, that is, to make the soldiers professional, a few years or even more than ten years in the army, so that they can accumulate rich combat experience, but also through batches of military service to hide the soldiers in the people, once the war breaks out, at any time can be conscripted in the army for many years veterans to enlist.

The official system of the Qin State is the place where Gongsun Hong has changed the least, in fact, the system of three princes and nine kings created by Li Si is already very reasonable in this era, far ahead of the old control of the Seven Kingdoms. So Gongsun Hong only made a few changes in some details, such as the names and permissions of some positions.

Gongsun Hong looked at Han Xin, who was looking down at Han Xin who was reading a little nervously, and saw that his gaze had swept to the last line, and couldn't help but ask, "How?" ”

After all, these things were made up by his years of painstaking efforts, just like a student handing over his homework to his teacher, with great anticipation and faint fear.

Fortunately, he saw the long-awaited smile on Han Xin's face, and Han Xin clapped his hands and laughed; "The prime minister is really a great talent in governing the world, and with this achievement alone, he will not lose to the king of Shang."

Gongsun Hong's face was overjoyed, and he hurriedly said modestly; "The general praised it falsely, and he learned shallow in the lower grades, how can he be compared with Shang Jun."

"Now that the general has approved it, can it be implemented?"

"Yes." Han Xin nodded and said again; "However, it is still too early to reform the military system, and now the Qin State is still a great enemy, and it is not appropriate to make more changes in the army, and in the past 160 years, Shang Jun's military system has been proven to be the most efficient, since this is the case, naturally why not do it. If you really want to change, it will also be after the unification of the world. ”

Gongsun Hong thought for a while and said frankly: "What I said is indeed right, I am too anxious, so let's slow down this first."

Han Xin looked at it carefully, and said after a long silence; "I said how I always felt that something was missing just now, and now I think about it. Don't you feel that our Qin State has always lacked a system for selecting talents? ”

Gongsun Hong was stunned for a moment, and looked at Han Xin a little strangely. He is indeed a little strange, whether it is the era of filial piety or the era of the first emperor, most of the selection of talents are the children of the family or the people recommended by them, and the selection from the common people is simply unheard of.

This can't be blamed on Han Xin, what he is familiar with in later generations is naturally a set of imperial examination system, although the imperial examination system has many drawbacks, but it has been circulated in the feudal dynasty for more than a thousand years, and has never been interrupted.

Gongsun Hong groaned; "Since the general wants to select talents for my Great Qin, then you can follow the old system, let the nobles and relatives raise talents in captivity, and then recommend those who have special skills.

Han Xin shook his head; "I don't think that's appropriate.

"Oh?" Gongsun Hong asked puzzled;

"Most of the doormen rely on the owner to be appreciated, so the human factor is very strong."

"And what can you do?"

Han Xin thought for a long time before he spoke: "Why don't we set up a second academic examination of civil and military affairs every year, and the literary examination will test the talents of governing the country, and combine the investigation of Qin law and Confucianism; Wu Ze inspected the talents of archery, horseback and archery, and marching and arranging. Taking the county as a unit, the county order recommends talented people in the county to go to the county for the examination, and the winners are paid by the government to go to Xianyang for the examination, and the outstanding ones are hired. Is that possible? ”

Gongsun Hong looked at the line and said with a smile; "That's an easy thing to do, I think it's okay."

"So, it's decided for the time being, and I'll read it out in the court tomorrow, how about it?"

"Very good."

……

In May of the first year of King Qin, above the court meeting.

Because the King of Qin was young, and the power was represented by the courtiers, the court meeting also became dispensable, from the daily morning court to the perfunctory once every ten days.

According to the usual practice, it was still the Prime Minister Sun Hong who yawned at the King of Qin Yingyi.

Gongsun Hong just lowered his head and just read the relevant information aloud. Xiao Yingyi couldn't sit still, his little eyes were spinning around, and he couldn't understand the meaning of Gongsun Hong's words.

Ying Ke, who was sitting next to Ying Yi, glared at Ying Yi fiercely and reached out to pinch his waist. Yingyi was in pain, so frightened that he quickly straightened up, and honestly did not move. Win Ke nodded with satisfaction, and his face showed an imperceptible smug smile.

This Yingyi is the age when he is active and naughty, but he is the king of Qin, where do the palace people dare to talk about him. But Ying Ke is not worried about this, she is the elder of Ying Yi herself, and she is the princess of the prison country, so she naturally has the right to scold him, and she has not even done anything less to beat the board.

After reading for half a year, Gongsun Hong finally finished reading the thick bamboo slips in his hand, Yingyi stretched his waist and asked with joy; "This grandson's family, is it time to retire?"

Gongsun Hong shook his head, but took a step forward and said solemnly; "Your Majesty, the minister has a book to play."