Thirty-two years of Qin Shi Huang.

For the Qin State, which ruled the world, it was worth remembering and was called an eventful year.

This year, just entering the October New Year, the right prime minister Kui wrote a letter to complain of illness and begged to return to his hometown.

"The minister is old and decrepit, his body is often sick, he often lies in bed, and occasionally has amnesia. The minister felt that he was in a high position, and he was unable to serve His Majesty, so he specially asked to resign from His Majesty and give way to the virtuous man. ”

The white-haired Kui lay on the ground and begged the First Emperor to give up the position of the right prime minister of the empire.

In this regard, the secretaries of the DPRK and the Central Committee have many expectations.

Because Kui is already over 70 years old.

He is the oldest courtier who is still standing in the court of the Qin State.

Fifteen years have passed since the seventeenth year of the reign of King Qin, when Kui Xiang served as prime minister and assisted the political state of King Qin with Changping.

Before the reunification of the world, Kui Zheng made great contributions to this country. The reason why Qin was able to annex the Six Kingdoms was inseparable from the assistance of this old prime minister.

However, after the unification of the Qin state, Kui changed his previous style, and any decision made by the king was submissive.

Whether Qin Shi Huang wants to build a palace or start a war in all directions, Kui Xiang, as the right prime minister, does not express too many opinions.

For all kinds of government affairs in the Prime Minister's Mansion, Kui Zheng also relied on old age as an excuse to throw all the things to Prime Minister Wang Juan.

Zhao Tuo thought that this old prime minister was just a corpse vegetarian at first, but after a long time of contact, he found that this person was very politically sensitive.

In the face of any request of the emperor, Kui was submissive, so that the first emperor, who had an inflated mentality after unification, looked at him very pleasing to the eye, and there would be no conflict between the monarch and the minister.

As for Wang Juan, a rather ambitious subordinate, Kui handed over all the real power in his hands, so that Wang Juan was named Zuo Xiang, but in fact he controlled the rights of the entire Xiangbang. Wang Juan is in power, and he naturally respects him, the right minister who has been set aside.

It is actually true to say that Kui is a corpse vegetarian meal.

But if you think about it from another angle, you will find that he is the one who can live safely to the end and retire with honor.

"Probably it was Changping-kun's affair that stimulated him."

Zhao Tuo sighed secretly.

In that year, the Battle of Chu and the rebellion of Changping Jun, the court of Qin was cleaned up by the angry Qin Wang Zhengda.

From Chang Wenjun to hundreds of courtiers related to the Chu family, they were either killed or degraded and exiled, which is not far behind compared with the things of Chang Yu in the past.

With such a big change, it is normal for Kui to change his appearance.

And now, it was time for him to retire in glory.

Sure enough, in the face of Kui's resignation, the First Emperor happily agreed.

For this retired old prime minister, the first emperor not only had a lot of land and money rewards, but also gave him the title of the head of the carriage to show his praise.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness."

Kui smiled and kowtowed in thanks.

From the Warring States Period when the heroes competed for hegemony to today's great unification and prosperity, there have been countless famous generals who have appeared in the world, and they can be called handsome.

But there are not many people like Kui who can live to be more than 70 years old and return home safely with honor and wealth.

At the same time, the eyes of some people in the court lit up.

The Imperial Historian Feng Zheng.

In the Qin State, it was customary for the imperial historian to be the prime minister's reserve, and once the prime minister retired, the imperial historian was usually filled in by the imperial historian.

Therefore, there is a high probability that Wang Juan will be promoted to the right prime minister, and Feng Zhengbu will be the left prime minister.

"If I am the prime minister of Zuo, my brother Feng Quji will be the secretary of Qin, and Feng Wuxuan will be the commander of the army to conquer South Vietnam. I, the Feng family, will take off completely in the Qin Kingdom! ”

Just when Feng Zheng was in a reverie in his heart.

A few days later, at another great court meeting, he was taken aback by the appointment of the emperor.

After being promoted to Wang Juan as the right prime minister, the first emperor announced the candidate for the left prime minister in public.

"Tingwei Li Si, who has made many suggestions for me and a single universe, and revised the Qin Law, has made great achievements, and is now the prime minister of Zuo."

"Minister, thank you for your kindness."

Li Si stepped forward and bowed his head in thanks.

He looked up and saw Feng Zheng next to him with a stunned face, and a smile flashed in his eyes.

"Feng Wuxue led an army of 200,000 to the south to conquer Baiyue, if you let Feng Zai be appointed as the prime minister in the court again, then you Feng will still have it?"

"I have to thank Feng Wuxuan for this phase."

Compared to Feng Zheng's consternation, Li Si's joy.

Zhao Tuo took it for granted that the first emperor appointed Li Si as the prime minister.

"Li Si really became the prime minister."

"I don't know if it's because I suppressed Confucianism in advance, Wang Juan was not implicated too much, and now he has been promoted to the right prime minister, and he has also pressed Li Si. Wang Juan seems to be only about fifty, more than ten years younger than Li Si. As long as he doesn't make a mess in the future, maybe he can survive Li Si with me. ”

Zhao Tuo thought to himself.

If he wants to drastically reform the system of the Qin State, Li Si is an absolute obstacle.

Wang Juan, who is close to Confucianism, is easier to cooperate with Zhao Tuo.

In the political arena, allies are needed.

According to Zhao Tuo's plan, when Li Si survives in the future, he can exchange interests with Wang Juan in exchange for the other party's support for his reform.

Wait until Fusu takes the throne.

From the king to the prime minister, they all supported the reform.

Then this Da Qin will completely change the sky under the leadership of his Zhao Tuo, and there is no need to have scruples everywhere like now.

Of course, imagination is just imagination, Zhao Tuo's eyes quickly retracted from this change of court officials, and he seriously did his engineering and academic affairs.

In the second half of the 31st year of Qin Shi Huang, his mind was basically on the matter of building engineering.

Compared with the simple science and technology of one or two, it is more important to develop engineering and create a systematic system for cultivating talents for the Qin State.

According to Zhao Tuo's design.

The children of this engineering school are mainly craftsmen.

There is no age limit, no knighthood limit.

As long as you are a craftsman, after passing the exam, you are eligible to become an engineering student.

When Zhao Tuo's concept of not restricting titles came out, it attracted some people's opposition.

For example, they said that the Qin State had always respected titles, and even the children of grammar officials had the requirements of their father's titles or official positions.

If engineering does not limit the title, wouldn't it be inconsistent with the national conditions and deviate from the principle of Shang Jun that "those who have merit are honored, and those who are not meritorious are rich and have nothing to do"?

Even Zhang Han, a young man, was worried.

He suggested that Zhao Tuo might as well let the craftsmen without titles need to take an exam to enter the school, and the children of craftsmen with titles could be exempted from the entrance examination, so as to retain the privileges of those with knighthoods.

Anyway, there aren't many knights among the craftsmen, so it doesn't matter in general.

Zhao Tuo scoffed at this.

The reason why he Zhao Tuo wanted to study engineering was precisely to start with this and slowly pry into the military merit system.

If a title is added to the limit, what is the difference between it and not changing?

This has nothing to do with the number of knighted craftsmen, it is purely a matter of principle.

"Fu said that it was lifted between the plates, the rubber was lifted in the fish and salt, Guan Yiwu was lifted in the scholar, Uncle Sun Ao was held in the sea, and the hundred miles were lifted in the city. I, Daqin, have always been meritocracy, not to mention the hundreds of workers who require professional skills. ”

"In my place, I only look at talent, not knighthood!"

Zhao Tuo had a tough attitude, relying on his own prestige and power in his hands to forcefully suppress all dissenting voices.

If he can't even suppress an engineering study, then what else is he talking about reforming Daqin?

Under Zhao Tuo's design, the craftsmen of the Qin State wanted to enter the engineering school and become engineering disciples, and they needed to pass three exams.

One is literacy, which is the most basic thing.

To enter the engineering school, you have to learn systematic physics and 100 engineering knowledge, and after graduation, you have to be an official in charge of 100 workers in various places, how can you be illiterate?

Therefore, literacy is a mandatory requirement, but fortunately, in the Qin state-owned property system, most craftsmen more or less know some words. In addition, paper is now popular in various government offices, and engraving printing is also used in daily life. Literacy textbooks such as "Cangjie Chapter" written by Li Si and Zhao Gao were printed and distributed to various industrial departments, so that it was not difficult for craftsmen to have the opportunity to learn words.

After literacy, the second test is numeracy.

Mathematics is a very important thing in physics and 100 crafts, and it is impossible to become an excellent craftsman without mathematics, so this exam is necessary.

As for the third exam, it is practical.

What Zhao Tuo wants is not a theoretical talent that is divorced from reality.

If you want to enter engineering, you must be able to make a certain number of tools. Whether it's stepping on the mill, stone grinding, iron smelting, or other utensils, these craftsmen always have real work in their hands anyway.

This kind of craftsman who can read, do good arithmetic, and can practice can participate in the engineering examination held by Shaofu after registering through the various industrial departments.

Once they pass the exam, they will be able to get out of their jobs and enter engineering to learn all kinds of knowledge inside.

It is said that one of the textbooks of engineering is the book "Physics", which is adapted from the sacred book "Gongyi Fragment", which makes countless craftsmen breathe faster when they hear it, and they are extremely eager to do so.

After passing the corresponding assessment in engineering, engineering students can be released to official positions such as engineers in various places.

These positions are not high, they belong to the level of small officials, but they have already got rid of the body of ordinary craftsmen and completed the class leap.

Even more attractive than military merit.

After all, you have made meritorious contributions on the battlefield and have been promoted, and you may not be able to be a minor official when you return to your hometown.

As soon as the engineering system came out, countless craftsmen flocked to it, and Zhao Tuo of Shaofu was regarded as a saint.

Of course, if the children of the school cannot pass the assessment within the corresponding time and limited number of times, they will be sent back to their original places of origin and beaten back to their original form.

In general, the engineering system is fair.

Zhao Tuo gave these craftsmen the opportunity to rise, but whether they can complete the class leap depends on their personal ability.

To some extent, this also falls under the category of meritocracy as officials.

So when Zhao Tuo's engineering system was reported to the emperor, and explained in detail. The First Emperor had no opinion on this, and even looked forward to the result of Zhao Tuo's attempt.

Until the spring of the thirty-second year of Qin Shi Huang.

After passing the examinations, the engineering school prepared by Zhao Tuo officially recruited the first batch of children.

It was at this time that the envoy from the southern Yue region brought great news to the Qin court.

The Qin general Feng Wuxue led a large army to raid Minyue successfully, chased the king of Minyue Wuzhu, and occupied the land of Minyue.

General Feng, another Yue country has been defeated!

The First Emperor received the news in the Qin Palace and laughed three times.

Although he was a little unhappy with the news that Feng Wuxue said in the letter that he was seriously ill. But the emperor still ordered people to pass it on and inform the whole country to encourage people.

At the same time, it shows the correctness of he, the emperor, in launching the Battle of Baiyue.

There is no war I want to fight, and there is no one who cannot be won!

In Feng's mansion, Feng Jing, who was at home today, also heard the good news that was rumored all over the city.

"My father broke the Yue people and occupied Minyue, which is a great achievement."

"Come on, go and invite Wang He Junzi and Li Yu Junzi to come, and then call my brother to accompany you!"

"To celebrate my father's victory, I will play cards today!"

(End of chapter)