Chapter 55: Ying Zheng Wants to Take Korea
When Li Si returned to Xianyang, the sun had already set.
Two rows of servants from the mansion filed out, ready to greet him.
The curtain of the sedan chair was opened, and Li Si stepped down on the stool, with a look of fatigue between his brows.
The head of the mansion hurriedly said, "The master has returned. Do you need to serve the meal now?"
"No need. I need to go to the palace later. Please have someone unload the things from the carriage first, and then feed the horses."
Li Si went straight into the mansion, changed into new clothes, took the written documents, and entered the palace.
In the Zhengyang Palace, Ying Zheng was meeting with Wei Liao. When he heard that Li Si wanted to see him, he let him in first.
Wei Liao was originally from Wei. Because he was not valued in Wei, he chose to come to Qin. Ying Zheng admired his talents very much and appointed him as the national commander.
The reason why Wei Liao was summoned this time to discuss matters was naturally about attacking the six countries.
The Qin State has always adopted the strategy of making friends with distant countries and attacking nearby ones.
Ying Zheng now has to choose one of the six countries as the first target of attack.
Wei Liao said, "Han is located in the center of the six kingdoms. It is easiest to attack Han first. It will also intimidate Wei and Zhao, and at the same time cut off the six kingdoms' path to unite and resist Qin."
Ying Zheng deeply agreed. Not only that, Han was also the weakest of the six countries. He should take Han first and then Zhao, Wei and other places.
"In your opinion, Captain, when is the best time for me to raise my troops?"
When Li Si came in, he heard them discussing attacking South Korea. He frowned slightly and stood quietly aside.
"Although Han is weak, it still has an army of over 100,000. Your Majesty might as well bribe Han's important officials with a large sum of money first, stirring up the situation in Han and causing civil unrest. Then, it will be easy to capture it."
"Everything is just as the captain said."
…
After Ying Zheng finished discussing with Wei Liao, he turned to look at Li Si and asked, "Is it done?"
Li Si bowed and said, "I have handled everything according to Qin law. Here is the case file. Please review it, Your Majesty."
Lu Le took the file from Li Si and presented it to Ying Zheng.
Ying Zheng looked at the unfolded paper on the desk and raised his eyebrows slightly. Although he had asked people in the court to start copying memorials on paper, the paper was not enough to supply the entire Qin court for the time being.
Most of the ministers are still using bamboo slips. Li Si's memorial today was also written on bamboo slips, but after returning from Yongcheng, he changed to Yong paper!
I think it was probably given to him by that woman.
Ying Zheng was a little dissatisfied. When he went back, the man didn't give him anything, but just gave him a preferential price?
He was the King of Qin, but he still had to buy paper himself.
Ying Zheng hummed softly and roughly read the contents of the file.
When Li Si heard Ying Zheng's dissatisfied voice, he thought that he had not done well, and his brows furrowed. He looked up cautiously, and when he saw that there was no displeasure on the king's face, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"What did she give you?" Ying Zheng closed the file and said lightly.
Li Si was stunned and met Ying Zheng's gaze. She realized that the king was talking about the queen mother.
Isn't the king at odds with the queen mother? Why is the king still concerned about the queen mother's affairs? And what did the queen mother give him? Is it important? Is it more important than this case?
Li Si thought of Prince Fusu who was beside the Queen Mother, and a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes. Perhaps the Queen Mother was more important than he thought.
So, he could only confess honestly, "The Queen Mother gave me ten bundles of Yong paper, three pots of fine wine, and a wine recipe. I also promised the Queen Mother that I would send someone over soon to guide those Legalist students in writing books."
Ying Zheng was amused and jokingly said, "Ten bundles of paper, three pots of wine, and a wine recipe, and you can get someone from Li Qing?"
After all, he gave the reward on his own initiative. Does Li Si know how to do business?
Li Si smiled awkwardly and explained, "The Queen Mother asked someone to write a book about Qin law. It will help our Great Qin legal studies become more advanced. This is good for the country and the people, so I am willing to do it."
"Mr. Li is indeed a loyal minister of the Great Qin. I heard that you studied under Xunzi. Do you know Han Fei?" Ying Zheng changed the subject and asked about something that interested him recently.
He recently read Han Fei's books such as "Five Vermin" and "Solitary Wrath", which benefited him a lot. Naturally, he also developed a liking for the authors of the books.
Han Fei studied under Xunzi, and his Li Qing was also a disciple of Xunzi. It seems that the two knew each other, so he wanted to ask Li Si what kind of person Han Fei was.
When Li Si heard the name Han Fei, there was both surprise and displeasure in his eyes.
As students of Xunzi, they studied together at the Jixia Academy. Han Fei was born into the royal family of Han and had a noble status, which made him more favored by others. On the other hand, he was obviously as talented as Han Fei, but because of his humble background, he was not taken seriously.
It was for this reason that he came to the State of Qin, and with great difficulty was favored by the King of Qin and took the position of Chief Justice.
How could Han Fei come here and take it away easily?
Li Si lowered his eyes. "Han Fei is my senior brother. He is extremely talented and very much loved by our teacher. However, he is a descendant of the Korean royal family and is an enemy of our Great Qin."
Ying Zheng didn't care. How could he let the person he liked run away?
What does the Korean royal family mean? Korea will be destroyed by him. When Korea is gone, he will naturally come and submit to him.
"Since you know him, please write to him on my behalf. If you can invite him to Qin, it will be a great achievement for you, Li Qing."
Li Si was quite dissatisfied and helpless.
The King of Qin was very respectful to the Legalists, which was a good thing for him, but the King of Qin only valued the Legalists, not himself, which made Li Si feel a deep sense of crisis.
But he had no right to refuse and could only accept this job that was not pleasing to him in any way.
"I have some works by Han Fei here. If Li Qing is interested, you can take a copy back."
Ying Zheng felt that he was very close to her. Since they were brothers in the same school, their thoughts probably had something in common.
Han Fei's ideas are very consistent with Ying Zheng's ideas.
As the Legalist whom he now values most, Li Si should naturally follow his ideas so that he can better help him govern the Qin State.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Li Si bowed in thanks.
Returning to his residence, Li Si looked at the neatly arranged books on the desk, his eyes full of sarcasm. No matter how much he hated Han Fei, as long as the king valued him, he still had to learn his thoughts and ideas.
Li Si clenched his fists, and a raging fire burned in his heart.
The chief came forward to remind him, "Master, Master Wei has arrived."
Only then did Li Si suppress the coldness in his eyes and return to normal.
Master Wei was a retainer of Li Si. He usually helped Li Si organize the complicated files and was an all-round talent.
Li Si originally planned to find someone who was proficient in Qin law and send him to the Queen Mother, but now he changed his mind.
Since the Queen Mother's status in the King's heart has not declined, it would naturally be beneficial for him to be closer to the Queen Mother.
If the people under his control could help the Queen Mother finish the book, then the Queen Mother would have some friendship with him.
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