"Back then, Master often taught his disciples to 'seize opportunities'. Did I, Li Si, do something wrong?"
"Although Han Fei was the first to notice the changes in the world's situation, Li Si was the only one who really took action. As Han Fei said back then, the six countries were all weak, and the King of Chu could not succeed. Only the King of Qin wanted to conquer the world, and there was hope.
I am just a commoner who has served as emperors for thousands of years. My only goal is to control troubled times and bring peace to the world."
"There was nothing wrong with going west to Xianyang and lobbying the King of Qin."
"And the suggestions I made to His Majesty back then were all good strategies for the world."
"It's just that I learned the art of controlling chaos."
"But today it has been decided that that method may not work anymore."
"Your Majesty had trusted the eldest son earlier, and the eldest son's idea was to be a little more lenient and a little slow. But now your majesty agrees to the change of the tenth son's corvee recruitment, and then delays it step by step. In fact, I have reacted slowly."
"Your Majesty, please tell me."
"Maybe it's just that my ideas are too old-fashioned."
Think of this.
Li Si's expression softened slightly.
If corrections are made based on this overall evaluation, he really needs to think carefully about countermeasures.
The reason is also very simple.
He is not only one of the overall framers of the Great Qin New Deal, but also the actual implementer of the overall implementation. The most important person involved in any overall evaluation of the Great Qin New Deal by the emperors and ministers of the empire and the subjects of the world is, first, His Majesty, and the second must be
He Lisi.
Since ancient times, the emperor has never actually taken responsibility for shortcomings. The only person responsible is the prime minister.
No minister would openly criticize the king, let alone hold the king accountable for his crimes. However, due to his lack of political integrity, the first person to be criticized must be the prime minister.
The prime minister is certainly the leader of the ministers.
But he is a minister after all.
In other words, if His Majesty really wants to revise the New Deal, he, the Prime Minister, must immediately make changes in the overall implementation and move closer to leniency. Otherwise, the failure of the Qin New Deal will be destined to be borne by Li Si.
only......
Does Your Majesty really think the New Deal is wrong?
Li Si is not sure.
He didn't dare to ask more questions.
But Li Si also noticed that there was a growing distance between His Majesty and himself.
He didn't know when this estrangement started or what the reason was, but there was no doubt that His Majesty was a little more distrustful of him.
This distrust was fatal to Li Si.
He doesn't want to lose power.
He rose from humble beginnings, stayed in a humble position for a long time, and suffered from poverty, so he was extremely greedy for power.
It is precisely because of fear that he dares not lose it.
a long time.
Li Si raised his head.
A flash of madness flashed in his eyes.
Li Sidao:
"His Majesty did not deny the New Deal."
"I just think that in the past, I was too tolerant, which caused the six places to fall into corruption. This may not mean that the officials in the six places have neglected their duties, and the etiquette and justice I abandoned back then may not be useless now."
Think of this.
Li Si's expression completely calmed down.
He immediately ordered down and selected six capable scribes for himself. Two scribes were responsible for coordinating various affairs of various government offices, and the other four scribes assisted him in working in the study.
He even directly set the rules.
As soon as he leaves home on the tenth day, he spends a day and a night inspecting the affairs of all parties and making decisions about the backlog of pending documents.
During the rest of the day, no officials were seen.
Since then.
Li Si plunged into the political hall and began the most strenuous writing career in his life. He wrote, drew, and wandered day and night, thinking about how to deal with the six places and the direction of the Qin Dynasty's new policy.
...
the other side.
Ying Zheng returned to Xianyang Palace.
He went out of his way to warn and remind Li Si.
He believed that Li Si knew the key points of Da Qin's New Deal.
But Li Si remained silent, which made him very dissatisfied. He had worked with Li Si for so long, and he knew Li Si's character very well. He was a sharp and thorough person, and his conversation today may not have contained a temptation.
The results are not surprising.
As expected, Li Si already knew the situation of the Qin people in Guanzhong.
He also knows the true situation of the six places.
But even though Li Si knew so much, he did not speak up in time. Even if he said that he wanted to 'stop the New Deal', Li Si did not dissuade him. You must know that Li Si was fully involved in the launch of the New Deal. If he really denied the New Deal,
Li Si could hardly absolve himself of the blame, but even so, Li Si remained silent.
He knows Li Si.
Li Si is not a person who doesn't even have the planning awareness to nip problems in the bud and prepare for rainy days.
He is choosing his moment!
Li Si always likes to observe people's opinions and will only choose the best time to make suggestions.
This made Ying Zheng a little angry.
In the more than twenty years since Li Si took office, there have been few disagreements between the emperor and his ministers.
He used to feel very happy about this.
But now.
It's just wishful thinking. Li Si is too focused on mediation and too selfish.
Ying Zheng said coldly:
"When Li Si was an official in Shangcai, he saw rats in the toilets of the officials' houses without food, and they were close to people and dogs, and he was frightened. When he entered the warehouse, he saw the rats in the warehouse, eating and accumulating millet, living under the large veranda, but no people or dogs were seen.
Worried. So he sighed and said: 'The virtuous and unworthy people are like rats, it depends on where they are!'"
"But from the current point of view, if the rat in the toilet and the rat in the hamster are swapped, the former hamster has begun to 'eat without food, and is frightened by people and dogs', while the former toilet rat is now 'eating and accumulating millet, and living in the same place.
Under the vast veranda, there is no worry about humans or dogs."
"How ironic?!"
"Even though Li Si made many suggestions, there is still a hint of Han Fei in them."
"Li Si, you used your cleverness in the wrong place after all."
"The reason why I mentioned Xunzi this time."
"I just want to give you another chance. If you can find your way back, I can still entrust you with important tasks. If you still only want to protect Mingzhe, even if I can tolerate you, the court will not be able to tolerate you!"
"I want you to solve the problem!!!"
Ying Zheng snorted coldly and gradually forgot about Li Si.
He didn't have much dissatisfaction with Li Si at first, especially when Li Si changed his black hair for white hair for Da Qin and was even more diligent in these years. However, he had been working hard in recent years and suffered from frequent hidden illnesses, and his physical ailments would affect his mood from time to time.
Right and wrong, when seeing things and thinking about emotions, he couldn't help but sigh a few times. However, as Li Si got older, he had no intention of retreating, which made Ying Zheng feel wary.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Li Si's prestige in the court is very high.
Especially among the other old ministers who died and retreated, Li Si was even more unique.
Although Li Si's hair and beard are all white now, his body is still strong.
He is already at the top of a hundred officials, and he is still so greedy for power. Does he want to go further?
In fact, he was not worried about Li Si's rebellion.
Even if an important minister with a counselor background wants to rebel, it will be difficult for him to succeed.
It's just that his health was deteriorating. If he died suddenly, Ying Sinian's control over the court was not that strong at that time, and he would be easily controlled by Li Si. Especially many of the new policies of Da Qin came from Li Si, which made Li Si
The prestige in the court cannot be underestimated. Li Siben was born in the Chu region. Although he has not formed a clique in these years, if he wanted to, he would definitely have a lot of followers.
And this is definitely not what Ying Zheng wants to see.
Therefore, during this visit to the Prime Minister's Mansion, he actually secretly revealed his idea of letting Li Si retire.
But not only did Li Si not understand, but he continued to show his loyalty.
Later, he took the initiative to propose that Da Qin's New Deal might have gone astray and should be changed or even abolished, so that Li Si could retreat. However, Li Si did not express his position.
He later mentioned Xunzi because he wanted Li Si to reflect on himself. Why did he come to Qin in the first place? It was precisely because of Xunzi's saying of "no slack when the time comes". Now he gave Li Si a chance to escape unscathed. If
Li Si still doesn't cherish it. If something goes wrong in the future, he may not remember the decades-long relationship between emperor and minister.
A cold light flashed in Ying Zheng's eyes.
at this time.
Ying Zheng only felt his throat was a little itchy.
Coughed several times violently.
Then he drank a few sips of ice water. He originally wanted to take pills to relieve the discomfort in his throat, but thinking of Qin Luoheng's reminder, he finally gave up.
He lowered his head and read the memorial.
But what Li Si said came to mind.
The ‘lost people’ in the six places are serious!
In fact, he was not aware of this problem before, because in his eyes, the documents submitted by hundreds of officials were just numbers, and the situation of 'lost people' had been going on for more than ten years, and the numbers reported by each county every year were different.
It was different, and it was really difficult for him to notice the difference in the changes in the numbers.
Ying Zheng said calmly:
"According to what Li Si said, there are indeed 'lost people' in the Qin Dynasty, but the number is far less than reported. A large part of these lost people have actually become black households and become local slaves. These slaves will not be registered, but only
They will become local private slaves, and the number of people lost in the Qin Dynasty is currently as high as hundreds of thousands."
"I don't know how many of them are strong and strong."
"But I think it's quite a lot."
"If these young men are used by the remnants of the Six Kingdoms, they can gather hundreds of thousands of young soldiers in an instant. If they are supplemented with weapons, they can be hundreds of thousands of soldiers. This is enough to shake the stability of the six lands."
"Here comes someone."
"Go and summon Tao She from Tianwang."
Not long after.
Tao She then arrived at Xianyang Palace.
Ying Zheng looked at Tao She and asked: "Since you are the order of Tianwang, you should know that Tianwang's function is to monitor the world for me. Now I heard that the local people's loss of people is serious, please go down and investigate
First of all, I want to know the specific situation of the lost people in each county in the six places, and also the specific reasons for the lost people in the six places, and I also need to know where these 'lost people' are and who is using them!"
Hear the words.
Tao She said quickly: "I obey the order."
Ying Zheng slightly raised his forehead.
Said: "What's going on in the six places recently?"
Tao She said calmly:
"Return to Your Majesty."
"There is indeed an undercurrent surging in the six places of Shandong recently."
"Since the news that the Tenth Young Master will go to Chu, the remnants of the Six Kingdoms in Shandong have reacted very strongly. There are faint signs of collusion among the nobles in various places. I am also paying close attention at all times. If there is any change among the remnants of the Six Kingdoms, I will definitely meet
Let your Majesty know as soon as possible."
Hear the words.
Ying Zheng frowned slightly.
He probably figured out the reason. He was afraid that the remnants of the Six Kingdoms were unwilling to be slaughtered by the Qin at will, so they wanted to consolidate their forces as much as possible and make a final desperate fight.
Ying Zheng's expression returned to normal, his eyes full of disdain.
At this moment, a eunuch ran in and said, "Your Majesty, the tenth young master is asking for an audience outside the palace."
Ying Zheng glanced at Tao She, and seemed to have thought of something. A flash of determination flashed in his eyes, and he nodded and said, "Let him come in, and Tao She, you stay too."