Chapter 202: Although Qin Wang Ying Zheng and Zhao Ji were in politics...

Although Zhao Ji had no political talent, she had some thoughts after being the queen for so many years.

She had previously considered using the marriages of the court ladies around her to build connections within the previous dynasty. However, she wasn't the heartless type, and when Dai Xuan and Zheng Cuo expressed their refusal, she didn't force it.

Now hearing that the two of them were going to the former dynasty, Zhao Ji was very happy and immediately agreed, asking them to quickly bring the sisters into the palace to learn the rules.

The two girls sent by Dai were Dai Xuan’s cousin and a sister from the same clan. The cousin was named Dai Ying and the sister from the same clan was named Dai Chang.

The two sent by Zheng were Zheng Zhi, Zheng Cuo's cousin, and Zheng Yu, her cousin in name only, but actually the younger sister of the current King of Shu.

It turned out that the foolish King of Shu had died. The newly-appointed Zheng Jin saw the situation clearly and realized that the Zheng family was powerless to turn the tide. It was time for a new dynasty to change in Shu.

Although the Shu Kingdom had gone through the Dai, Sha and Zheng dynasties since the Holy King, and had never seen a new dynasty liquidate the royal family of the old dynasty, whenever a new dynasty was established, the royal family of the old dynasty would voluntarily retire for three generations, only holding titles but not official positions, to prevent being exploited by those with ulterior motives.

Zheng Jin was the eldest daughter, and Shu Kingdom was her unavoidable responsibility. Even though she knew clearly that once she came to power, Shu Kingdom would inevitably perish in her hands, she never thought of escaping.

This was her life, and she wasn't going to struggle any more. But her younger sister, Zheng Yu, was even more talented than her, and she really shouldn't fade away along with the Zheng Dynasty.

Therefore, when Zheng Jin learned that Zheng Cuo had sent people back to look for two sisters from the same clan to go to Qin, he immediately brought Zheng Yu to visit him in person and repeatedly begged him to bring his sister along.

Zheng Cuo's mother did not refuse, but only put forward a condition, which was to bring Zheng Jincai's adult brother Zheng Wei along.

It turned out that in the letter Zheng Cuo wrote to his mother, he used the family code to write that the King of Qin would not live long and the Queen was in her prime, and he also specifically pointed out that the men of Shu were gentle and affectionate.

Going the harem route was also a common tactic used by aristocratic families. However, in Shu, they served the monarch, while in the Central Plains, they served the future empress dowager.

The only thing that made Zheng's mother feel difficult was that there was no suitable man within the third degree of mourning in her family.

Either he is too young, or he is already married, or he is not strong enough, or he is not handsome enough.

This was the first time that Shu Kingdom sent people to the Central Plains, and it also concerned the future of her own daughter, so Zheng's mother was naturally very cautious in choosing the person.

Just when she was at a loss, Zheng Jin bumped into her. Zheng's mother immediately thought of Zheng Wei, who was only 18 years old and still unmarried.

Zheng Wei was tall, with fair skin and handsome features. He had an air of nobility about him, but he had a very gentle temper and never spoke loudly to anyone.

There couldn't be a better choice!

After learning the purpose of Zheng's mother wanting Zheng Wei, Zheng Jin was naturally happy.

She had been a little worried about letting Zheng Yu go to Qin alone, but now that Zheng Wei was with her, the two siblings could look after each other.

However, sending Zheng Wei to Qin was not a proper marriage, but rather to serve as a concubine to the future queen mother. No matter how good-tempered Zheng Wei was, she was still a princess of a country. If she harbored resentment and secretly caused trouble, it would be troublesome.

Mother Zheng said, "I know the current situation in Shu, and Your Majesty knows it too. We never know when our whole family will be forced to become idle and wealthy.

When the Sha family destroyed the Dai family, all the men of the Dai family who were of marriageable age entered the new queen's harem; when my Zheng family destroyed the Sha family, all the men of the Sha family who were of marriageable age also entered the new queen's harem.

A new king who can conquer the world will not be without a queen, and the princess cannot be the main wife. Instead of fighting with others in the harem, it is better to coax the Queen Mother Qin. "

Seeing that Zheng Jin was already interested, Zheng's mother added, "According to Cuo'er, Queen Zhao is a soft-hearted and sentimental person."

——In other words, he is easily influenced and can be manipulated.

Zheng Jin's eyes lit up. After returning to the palace, he immediately summoned Princess Mianyang Zheng Wei. The two siblings had a secret conversation for two hours.

Later, Zheng Wei changed his name to Li Yong and went to Xianyang with Zheng Cuo's father Li Weng under the name of Zheng family's cousin.

When Zhao Ji saw the gentle and handsome Li Yong, she immediately showed her love for him. However, since Zichu was still alive, she had no other thoughts and simply admired the beauty.

Li Yong only entered the palace once and never went there again, so Zhao Ji couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

Zheng Yu, Dai Ying, and others often used Li Yong as a breakthrough point and quickly established a firm foothold in Ganquan Palace. Zhao Ji was even more impatient than Dai Xuan and Zheng Cuo and directly asked Zichu to obtain the position of Zhong Daifu for them.

The powers and responsibilities of officials in the seven Central Plains countries were not clearly defined. When the monarchs employed people, they would only consider who was useful and would entrust them with important tasks.

At this time, it was not popular to be humble. Everyone was vying for the opportunity to be put into the cloth bag so that they could expose the tip of their cone as soon as possible, let the monarch see their ability, and gain more power.

Dai Xuan and Zheng Cuo have been exposed to how to be officials since childhood. After following Zhao Ji for more than a year, they have a clear understanding of how the Qin court operates.

Therefore, as soon as the two entered the court, they showed extraordinary abilities and quickly caught Zichu's attention.

More than a year later, Zichu was critically ill. For the sake of Fu Li and Dai Qu, in addition to Lu Buwei, Dai Xuan was also appointed as the minister to be entrusted with the care of the orphan.

Prince Chu of Qin died of illness and was posthumously named King Zhuangxiang.

In the same year, the thirteen-year-old Crown Prince Zheng succeeded to the throne, marking a new chapter for the Qin State and a new beginning for the world.

King Zheng of Qin was young and brilliant, and he already had many supporters in the court. However, he was still too young to rule the country himself.

In accordance with King Zhuangxiang's will, he handed over all state affairs to Lu Buwei and Dai Xuan, who both served as prime ministers, Lu Buwei as the right prime minister and Dai Xuan as the left prime minister.

The Seven Kingdoms of the Central Plains, in contrast to Shu, prioritized the right. Lü Buwei was a longtime minister of Zichu, and Dai Xuan was a loyal supporter of Ying Zheng during his time as crown prince. King Zheng of Qin appointed Lü Buwei as Right Prime Minister to appease the veteran officials.

As for the national seal, it was kept by Queen Mother Zhao Ji according to old rules.

Queen Dowager Huayang and Queen Dowager Xia were both dissatisfied with this, but neither raised any objections. They preferred Queen Dowager Zhao to keep the imperial seal.

The Qin State had been established for many years and had its own workable system. Even though the new king was young, the entire court was still well-organized.

Ying Zheng was not in a hurry. He listened to government affairs, read books, and practiced martial arts to strengthen his body every day.

He also accepted Fu Li's suggestion and invited disciples of various schools of thought to lecture him. His purpose was to understand the theories of the various schools of thought, use the good ones, and ignore the bad ones.

This point coincided with the view of Lü Buwei, who called himself a "polymath", and slightly alleviated Lü Buwei's vigilance towards the new king as a powerful official.

As a powerful official, his greatest fear was a ruler whose political philosophies did not align with his own. Zichu was the wise ruler he longed for, as he was obedient and compliant.

But as for King Zheng of Qin, he only knew that he was talented and had extensive connections in the court, and he knew very little else.

Now that he knew that Ying Zheng was not partial to any of the hundreds of schools of thought, but, like himself, believed that they should be inclusive, taking the essence and discarding the dross, his heart was immediately relieved.

A more intuitive manifestation is that no matter whether he is facing Ying Zheng or Dai Xuan in the court, he is less sharp and has returned to his former smooth and calm self.

At first, Ying Zheng found it strange, but when Lu Buwei told him that he wanted to gather students from various schools of thought to compile an encyclopedia, Ying Zheng understood everything.

——Right Prime Minister, Right Prime Minister, you just realized it!

In fact, when Ying Zheng was the crown prince, he had already learned about Lu Buwei's political views, and he felt that they were quite similar to those of his teacher.

This is also why he didn't react for a while when Lu Buwei's attitude changed.

——The two people’s information gap was crossed.

Ying Zheng certainly agreed with the idea of ​​gathering students from all over the world to compile an encyclopedia, as this move was intended to seize cultural heritage.

However, he also had a question: "Should I compile this book in the name of the Qin State or in the name of the Prime Minister?"

"This..." Lu Buwei hesitated.

He was born into a merchant family, and even after becoming the Prime Minister, some people still looked down on him. Over the years, he has been dedicated to proving himself to the world.

Originally, he wanted to compile an encyclopedia just to make a name for himself and let the nobles of the world see that even though he came from a merchant family, he, Lu Buwei, was no worse than anyone else!

But he didn't expect that the young King of Qin would ask it directly.

On the one hand, he felt relieved because the king was so frank in front of him; on the other hand, he felt quite embarrassed.

Ying Zheng smiled slightly and asked, "Is the Prime Minister's dedication to compiling books intended to open up a cultural context for the world, or is he trying to prove himself to those noble children?"

Lu Buwei's face changed. He looked at Ying Zheng in almost horror. He never expected that the King of Qin, who was only thirteen years old, could see through his thoughts.

Ying Zheng still smiled faintly, completely ignoring Lü Buwei's constantly changing expression, and said bluntly: "If I am not mistaken, the Prime Minister's actions are the latter, right?"

Lü Buwei gave a wry smile, "Does Your Majesty think that even if I could create the greatest book of all time, I still wouldn't be able to compare to those hereditary nobles?"

"Why do you think so?" Ying Zheng was very surprised. "In my opinion, the Prime Minister's talent is unparalleled and he doesn't need to prove it to anyone."

Lü Buwei was stunned and looked at him in surprise: "Does the king really think so?"

Ying Zheng didn't answer him directly, but instead asked another question: "When I was young, the Prime Minister gave me a copy of the Laws of the Sage Kings of Shu. Have you ever been to Shu? What do you know about its political situation?"

"I've been to Shu," Lü Buwei said with longing. "Shu is different from the Seven Kingdoms of the Central Plains. It's a haven for talented people. Unfortunately, I was born at the wrong time. The Zheng Dynasty was in its final years, and the world was in turmoil. It wasn't suitable for a long-term residence."

He said this to save his own face.

He is a businessman, and a businessman who dares to take risks, just like investing in Zichu who is still a hostage.

When he was in Shu Kingdom, he was full of confidence and wanted to enter the officialdom through the imperial examination.

But reality dealt him a heavy blow.

Since the time of the Holy King, the Shu Kingdom has attached great importance to basic education. For thousands of years, almost every village has a village school, and above the village schools there are township schools, which admit students from the village schools on a merit basis.

Above the township schools there are county schools, above the county schools there are prefectural schools, and even in Jinguan City there is the Imperial College...

With such gradual progress, the talents accumulated over the past thousand years have become as numerous as crucian carp crossing the river.

The imperial examination in Shu Kingdom was a battle between true geniuses, and mediocre people were not qualified to enter at all.

Although Lu Buwei was a genius, he was defeated again and again in such a Shura field, which made him doubt his life.

In order to avoid completely losing his fighting spirit, he decisively left Shu and went to the Central Plains to look for opportunities.