Chapter 229 Eavesdropping
Han Fei was talented, but he was only willing to be in the State of Han.
If the King of Han was strong, there would still be room for him to display his abilities. Unfortunately, Han was only surviving in the cracks between the seven kingdoms. From top to bottom, the words "live in comfort" were written all over it. Even if Han Fei had extraordinary talent, what could he do?
Even a clay figure still has some spirit, let alone a gifted person like Han Fei.
He sneered, "Junior brother, if you are so sure that you will win the game, why do you have to play against me so many times?"
"You are so confident that you can win this chess game, relying only on the strength of Qin. Your confidence is confidence in Qin! But, you don't believe in yourself! You are afraid of me, afraid that I will replace your position in the heart of the King of Qin!"
Li Si stood up suddenly and clasped his hands on the chessboard, making a loud noise.
His eyes suddenly became fierce, but he quickly calmed down. He sat down again, forcing himself to continue putting the chess pieces back into the box. He said coldly, "You are wrong. The king likes you because you are useful, and the king values me because I will always stand by his side. You can't replace me."
Han Fei's surrender now was only forced by the situation. The King of Qin employed him, but he did not trust him completely.
"I will help the king establish a lasting legacy, something you will never be able to do."
Han Fei was stunned for a moment, then chuckled and said provocatively, "How do you know I can't do it?"
In fact, since he chose to return to Xianyang, he had already decided to serve the King of Qin. He was just waiting for the final judgment.
Li Si's face froze, and his face turned pale and blue.
Just as he was about to make a few more sarcastic remarks, he suddenly heard a cough behind him. He turned his head and his face turned pale. He hurriedly stood up from the couch and saluted, "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother, Prince Fusu, and Prince Ziying!"
Li Si felt as if he had been struck by lightning. When had the king and the queen mother arrived? How much had they heard?
Zhao Yuanxi didn't expect that eavesdropping on people's conversations would be so exciting!
She couldn't help but feel sorry for Li Si! This little face was even whiter than Yongzhi.
She was the one who knew the grudge between Han Fei and Li Si best, so she was not too surprised to hear this conversation. Instead, it was as if a huge wave was rising in Ying Zheng's heart at this moment.
Although he vaguely sensed that Li Si and Han Fei were not that close, he did not expect the two to be so at loggerheads with each other.
On one side was his trusted minister, and on the other side was the talented person he had been longing for. It was really difficult to make a decision, and Ying Zheng could only pretend that he had heard nothing for the time being.
"Get up! I am only here with the Queen Mother to visit Han Feizi today."
Zhao Yuanxi rolled his eyes inwardly when he saw Ying Zheng shift the topic to him, but he still had a smile on his face. "I heard Han Feizi had been ill for a long time, and I was really worried, so I came to visit him after returning to Xianyang."
"Thank you for your concern, Queen Mother. I am now much better." Han Fei did not expect that the King of Qin and the Queen Mother would come so suddenly, and his face was not very good.
Under the scrutiny of the crowd, Li Si and Han Fei became two brothers in trouble, standing there one in front and one behind, with their heads down and refusing to say much.
Zhao Yuanxi suppressed a laugh. "If that's the case, then I'm relieved! I went to Handan and met a talented man named Mao Heng. He also studied at the Jixia Academy in Qi and was a disciple of Xunzi. You may know him. I got a lot of good books from him. I'll have someone copy two copies and send them to you later."
Han Fei was not familiar with Mao Heng. He only knew that Mao Heng had a lot of books by his teacher Xunzi. Li Si knew him better.
Compared with Han Fei and his inclination towards Legalism, Mao Heng was a pure Confucian.
Li Si murmured in his heart, the Queen Mother mentioned Mao Heng, could it be that she was warning him that if there was discord among the Legalists, the Confucians would take advantage of the situation?
Heaven and earth can bear witness that Zhao Yuanxi really just wanted to show off that he had obtained many precious books and share his happiness with them.
Unfortunately, Zhao Yuanxi didn't know what Li Si was thinking, so he naturally had no way to explain it.
They both thanked him in unison.
Li Si couldn't help but ask, "I haven't seen Mao Heng for many years. I wonder how he is doing now?"
"That's good. He's now the magistrate of Yiyang County. But judging by his ambitions, I think his future is limitless!"
Hearing the Queen Mother's praise, Ying Zheng also became interested. "Oh? Zhao State actually has talents that I haven't found yet?"
Zhao Yuanxi snorted softly, "How many places have you been to, how many people have you met? There are so many talented people in this world who are not appreciated! How can you possibly find them all?"
Ying Zheng was not annoyed by the Queen Mother's challenge. What he lacked most was talent. If he could recruit these people to serve under him, he would have no worries about conquering the world.
"Then does the Queen Mother have a way to find them?"
Zhao Yuanxi was stunned, certain that Ying Zheng was asking her. She clasped her palms and fell into deep thought.
Since ancient times, selecting talents has been a major national issue.
The Qin State chose the military merit system in conjunction with the recommendation system to recruit talents from all over the world, but the military merit system could only be effective in wartime. When peace came to the world, it would eventually have to return to the normal talent selection system.
The current talent selection method is more like inheritance than selection. Most of them are still hereditary systems, which later gradually evolved into the recommendation system and the Nine-Rank System. It was not until the establishment of the imperial examination system in the Sui Dynasty that this new selection system gradually became the standard for selecting talents and was widely accepted.
If Zhao Yuanxi had to give a suggestion, it would naturally be to directly promote the imperial examination system, but this seemed a little too early for the Qin State.
"Isn't this something you, the King of Qin, should think about?" Although Zhao Yuanxi had an idea, he still asked back with some dissatisfaction.
Ying Zheng was stunned for a moment, then chuckled, "As the Queen Mother said, I haven't been to many places, haven't met many people, so naturally I can't come up with a better idea!"
Zhao Yuanxi was speechless after hearing what he said. He really deserved to be called the one who used the words she had used against him to criticize him.
She spread her hands. "I don't have any good ideas, but one thing is to select the best and the most capable. How to establish a fair standard to find these talented people is what you should consider!"
Zhao Yuanxi's eyes rolled, and he looked at Ying Zheng and reminded him, "You sent the vice-president of my Yuanxi Academy back to Korea. You must bring him back to me as soon as possible! Those students are still waiting for him!"
Along the way, Zhao Yuanxi had already learned about what had happened in the past few days. She had no objection to Ying Zheng's agreement to let Zhang Liang go back to persuade King Han to surrender.
It shouldn't be difficult for Zhang Liang to accomplish this task with his ability. What she was worried about was that Zhang Liang's rebellious nature would start to cause trouble and he would run away when he got the chance.
Then if she wanted to find him again, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
However, when Zhao Yuanxi heard that Zhang Liang was imprisoned by King Han, he couldn't help but worry about him. Although this man has a good brain, he can't stand up to the enemy's poor brain!
If Han Wangan killed Zhang Liang, where would she go to find her vice-president?
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