Qin State started the most important thing of the year again, farming.
In the matter of farming, everything must make way for it. The Qin State does not encourage wars and corvee labor during spring planting, and does not allow anything to affect this year's harvest. Zhao Kuo was fortunate enough to see the Qin people farming.
Because most of the cultivated land in the Qin State is private land, the people who work on the cultivated land are also very active. However, generally speaking, the most active ones are only the first- and second-level title holders.
They are very attentive to their land and work hard to cultivate it. Those with higher-level titles have their own retainers. Starting from the third-level title, the Qin State will arrange retainers to help them farm, similar to the later tenants.
, No, it cannot be said that they are tenants, they should be long-term workers. These servants farm for the family owner, and the family owner pays them a salary. The family owner cannot punish or harm them privately, let alone kill them.
Being able to "hire" or "enslave" others to farm for you is the benefit of a high level. The higher the level, the more land, and the government will give you more servants. In the end, you will enjoy a piece of land.
This food town must pay part of the tax to the prince and the rest to the country. This seems to be the same as other countries, but there are differences. The difference is that the prince of Qin does not have the ability to collect taxes.
, only a part can be withdrawn from taxes, and this part is fixed.
There are detailed regulations on how much a county must pay, and it will not change depending on the county's wealth or poverty. The more food towns there are, the more food can be obtained every year.
Most of these ministers who serve high-level officials are criminals, and a few are prisoners of war. The Qin State rarely kept prisoners of war in the past. After all, the military merits on their necks can be upgraded by cutting them off. The Qin State rarely kept prisoners of war.
Most of the laws of the People's Republic of China impose a penalty of one shield and one armor, which means that you must pay the country a shield, or an armor, or the same amount of money needed to make the shield or armor.
If there is no way to pay, then you can only become a vassal. Of course, there are several penalties for being a vassal in the law. For example, if you don't cultivate well and reduce food production in the absence of natural disasters, then the cultivated land will
Farmers will be punished and become vassals. If they don't cultivate their own land well, they will farm it for others. Some of them are orphans. The orphans have no way to support themselves, so the government will reward them as vassals to meritorious soldiers.
, firstly to save their lives, and secondly so that they can serve Qin.
Zhao Kuo rode an ox cart to see the farming conditions of Qin. He saw the tireless people on the farmland and the officials who were supervising them. He could see almost everything Zhao Kuo could see.
In terms of people and cultivated land, Qin's land development is indeed ahead of other countries. It is basically difficult to see some wastelands and open spaces. There are also Zhan who followed Zhao Kuo.
Nongjia Zhan is now working in the Qin State, and Han Fei can't follow him. Recently, he is trying to help revise some Qin laws. He is very busy at work. Basically, he is constantly reading through the past laws of the Qin State every day.
laws, including those that were abolished, and then tried to combine them with the laws of various countries. When he was in Zhao State, he helped Dong Chengzi revise the laws of Zhao State. Although it was not completed in the end, Han Fei accumulated a lot of experience.
experience of.
When Dong Chengzi revised the laws in the State of Zhao, he based them on the laws of Qin and then revised them. However, after Han Fei came to the State of Qin, he discovered that the speed of improvement of the laws of the State of Qin was astonishingly fast. The temples would issue numerous laws every year.
A few new laws were made, and the original laws were abolished. In addition, the officials of Qin State, including the most basic pavilion chiefs, would promptly tell the people in the territory about the revised laws.
Han Fei collected the previously abolished laws and began to compile them. The systems and knowledge he heard around Zhao Kuo all burst out at this moment, and he and Zhao Kuo
The contradictions between the various schools of thought were also formally reflected. Han Fei met with the King of Qin several times, and when he met the King of Qin for the first time, he talked about the relationship between the monarch and his ministers.
He said: "If a favored minister is too close, it will definitely endanger the king. If the minister's status is too high, he will definitely take the throne. If wives and concubines are not classified, they will definitely endanger the legitimate son. If the monarch's brothers are disobedient, they will definitely endanger the country." At first glance, it seems to be some Confucianism.
However, he changed the subject and immediately told the King of Qin: "A wise monarch maintains his ministers, acts completely in accordance with the law, and is based on precautions. Therefore, he does not pardon the condemned prisoners and does not forgive the criminals. He pardons the condemned prisoners and forgives the criminals. This is called the loss of power."
."
"The country will be in danger and the monarch's power will fall. Therefore, even if the ministers have a lot of salary, they cannot rely on the city to establish their own power. Even if there are many party members, they cannot have private armed forces. Therefore, ministers are not allowed to have private meetings in the country, and they are not allowed to have private meetings in the army.
In private diplomacy, personal property cannot be lent to private individuals without permission."
He told the King of Qin that a set of strict laws should be adopted to manage the ministers, including prohibiting the ministers from making friends, forming party members, having retainers, and using private money to benefit the public.
King Qin expressed his agreement.
Han Fei came to meet the King of Qin for the second time, and talked about the ways in which the king might be deceived. He said: "There are eight ways for me to realize my treachery: one is to share the same bed, the second is to be by the side, the third is to be father and brother.
The fourth is to bring disaster, the fifth is to be popular among the people, the sixth is to be popular, the seventh is to be powerful, and the eighth is to be in all directions." Then, he proposed to the King of Qin to ban these eight ways:
The wife who is sleeping with him is prohibited from participating in political affairs, and those who violate the law will be punished with death. The dwarfs and other people who advocate excellence beside the king are not allowed to recommend, intercede for others, and those who violate the law are punished with death. The king's brothers and sisters are not allowed to intercede for others, and they are not allowed to interfere with government affairs in violation of the law.
Officials are not allowed to use their people's energy to decorate palaces and palaces to please the king. Anyone who wants to flatter the king should be put to death.
Officials are not allowed to distribute public property to please the people or do small favors to win over the people. Anyone who violates this rule should be executed. Lobbyists from other countries are strictly forbidden, because Han Fei feels that other countries send lobbyists just to realize their own interests, and the king stupidly listens.
These lobbyists are talking nonsense. This is a very stupid thing. All lobbyists sent by other countries should be driven away!
Officials are not allowed to keep followers to intimidate and threaten the people, otherwise they will be put to death. Officials are not allowed to communicate with other princes privately, otherwise they will be put to death.
These were the eight prohibitions proposed by Han Fei. Upon hearing this, King Qin suddenly jumped up from his position, bowed to Han Fei and saluted, and immediately implemented his prohibition.
The stuttering Korean youth finally burst out with amazing energy and became the respected Han Feizi. In the Qin State, no one dared to disrespect him. Ministers would avoid his carriage and stand on the roadside to pay tribute.
He bowed to him, and after Han Fei thought for a long time, he came to see the King of Qin again. At this time, the King of Qin, regardless of the age gap between the two, respectfully asked Han Fei to sit aside and lowered his head.
Come and listen to his teachings.
"Divinations by ghosts and gods are not enough to determine the outcome of a war, and changes in the orientation of stars are not enough to determine the outcome of a war! In this case, we still rely on them. There is nothing more stupid than this!" Han Fei directly proposed atheism, and he said sternly
He criticized the superstition of the Qin State and believed that relying on ghosts and gods to govern the country and rely on ghosts and gods to fight wars was very stupid behavior. How could wars and policies be carried out through divination?
He also said: "The king should believe in his own people, rather than believing that ministers like what the people like. The king's power comes from the people and he can treat people from all countries as his own people and be impartial. This is qualified.
The king and the wise king's principles of governing the country are in line with the legal system, and this legal system is suitable for the people. Therefore, if the legal system is implemented, the country will be well governed; if it is separated from the legal system, the people will miss it."
As a result, Han Fei successively introduced anti-superstition laws and anti-discrimination laws: officials were not allowed to treat people in occupied areas differently from people who migrated there.
When the king collects corvee services, he cannot treat the people in different regions differently.
At this time, the King of Qin already recognized Han Fei very much and agreed with Han Fei without hesitation. Then Han Fei expressed his idea of taking corvee lightly and degrading gifts, and persuaded the King of Qin to cherish the people's power, and the King of Qin naturally did not refuse.
Han Fei's reputation became more and more popular in the Qin State. Even Zhao Kuo, who went outside Xianyang to investigate the Qin State's farming situation, heard about his policies. Zhao Kuo was not surprised. Han Fei was a master of Legalism.
It can be said that his theory is the peak thought of Legalism at this moment. After absorbing Zhao Kuo's experience and theories, Han Fei, the master of all things, became the successor to the most successful one. There are even some later talents in his thoughts.
Some advanced legal thoughts.
In a short period of time, Han Fei put forward many prohibitions, which even involved the king, including limiting some of the king's powers. On the one hand, Han Fei emphasized that the king should concentrate all power in his own hands, and on the other hand,
, but it imposes shackles on the king through laws, including not allowing the king to abuse the power of the people, not allowing the king to vigorously build palaces and mausoleums, and not allowing the king to violate the law and kill ministers.
What was even more surprising was that King Qin actually agreed.
What makes Zhao Kuo happy the most is that Han Fei's system for treating the people is probably due to Zhao Kuo's influence, or Han Fei himself has the essence of such thoughts. He proposed many systems that are beneficial to the people, including the government
To control market prices, cherish people's power, avoid complicated taxes, pay attention to people's lives, not treat people differently, and the system and laws must comply with objective laws and so on.
Zhan was sitting on the bullock cart, looking at the people working hard with Zhao Kuo. He suddenly said, "Your disciple Han Fei is really a unique person."
Zhao Kuo looked at him with some confusion, and then said: "The theories I know all advise the king to pay attention to talented ministers and govern the country through ministers. I have never heard of Han Fei, who asked the king to be on guard against his ministers and get close to them.
For the common people. His teachings were created for the king and were not beneficial to the ministers, but were beneficial to the common people. The ministers of Qin respected him on the surface, but were very angry with the prohibitions he set."
"Although the people of Qin don't know the situation, they will definitely live a good life because of these systems."
Zhao Kuo chuckled, shook his head and said, "Han Fei is a talented person. He knows how to make the country strong."
Zhan said seriously: "He is more suitable to govern the country than you. You have no talent to govern the country."
Zhao Kuo was not angry. He nodded and said, "I really don't have such a talent."
Zhan then said: "The policies you formulated and the decisions you advocated were not for the strength of the country, but for the lives of the people. Zhao Sheng was rectifying the officialdom in Wei, and you were also rectifying it in Zhao. But
The achievements of the State of Zhao are not as good as those of the State of Wei. This is because Zhao Sheng rectified the state for the purpose of revitalizing the State of Wei, but you rectified it so that the officials would no longer bully the people."
"All the systems you have proposed and everything you have done so far are not for the purpose of strengthening the country, but for the benefit of the people. This is the difference between you and everyone else. Han Fei originally had the purpose of strengthening the country.
It is you who came to enforce the law and instilled in him the idea of benefiting the people. He combined the two and he has the current doctrine. It can be said that Han Fei will implement your doctrine to govern the country, but you cannot do it.
."
"After you came to the Qin State, others thought that you wanted to train the people of the Qin State and increase their ability to resist and cooperate with the Taju you proposed to promote. In fact, you never thought about it this way at all. You just wanted to
Let them live a happier life, and there is only one reason that the king can accept, right?"
Zhao Kuo grinned and said, "That's it."
"The ministers are still speculating on your intentions, and the Taiwei is praising your training methods, hahaha. If a king wants to use you as the prime minister, then his country may not be able to become stronger." Zhan said with a smile.
Zhao Kuo heard this, shook his head, and said seriously: "You are wrong. If you let me govern the country, I would like to exempt those people from paying taxes so that they can live a prosperous life. Then the country will not be strong."
If you don’t get up, you will perish immediately!”
Zhan laughed loudly, shook his head and asked: "I really don't understand. You are obviously from a noble family and are a horseman, but you are so devoted to the people. The generals want to gain wealth and get the attention of the king.
, fight to save your own country, but you have to fight to save the people. Others put forward their own suggestions to the king in order to strengthen the country and gain a distinguished status, but you have to make suggestions to the king for the sake of the common people at the grassroots level. This is
Why exactly?”
"I don't know. At the beginning, I just wanted to enjoy happiness and spend my life peacefully. Later, I met a lot of good people. I didn't want to save these people, so I went to fight. And then later
, I found that winning or losing the war actually doesn’t matter, their lives are still very miserable. I just want those people to live a better life and not live in such despair."
"When I came here, the people I met were all very good people. They were simple, kind, and sincere. Such good people really did not deserve to suffer such pain."
Zhan was silent for a long time and did not speak.
"Wu Chengjun?"
"Um?"
"You are a good man."
ps: There is still another chapter, I don’t know when it will be finished. Let’s have something to eat and then start writing.