Zhao Kuo himself did not expect that Lu Buwei actually convinced him.
He persuaded Zhao Kuo through his three systems, the first one is righteous soldiers, the second one is benevolent government, and the third one is promoting talents... The first and second items are both easy to understand, and
The third item is actually not difficult. After Lu Buwei saw the imperial examination system from the Mafu book, he combined it with the academic system currently implemented in the Qin State to come up with a new system. The academic institutions in the Qin State are still different from the imperial examination system.
Too same.
The Qin State set up schools in various counties. If their descendants wanted to be officials, they had to enter the schools to study, and then pass a simple legal examination. After graduation, they could serve as officials.
Officials not only need military merit, but also need to be educated and understand the law. Otherwise, you cannot become an official just by fighting to obtain a title. Titles and officials are separate. Although there are no detailed regulations, the corresponding official positions also require certain
title.
Lu Buwei wanted to expand the influence of the school and no longer be bound by laws, but to cultivate officials' talents in other aspects, expand the scope of examinations, and cultivate more talents. After cultivating these talents, they could no longer be like
Instead of giving official positions directly as usual, assessments will be conducted again for different official positions. These disciples who have graduated from the school can participate in these examinations, and those who pass can serve.
The Qin State's local school system, the imperial examination, and the civil service examination of later generations formed such a set of things.
Zhao Kuo was still very interested in this.
The deal proposed by Lu Buwei is that Zhao Kuo supports Lu Buwei to stabilize his position, and Lu Buwei will implement the policies he proposed, avoid massacres, and benefit the people. In this regard, Zhao Kuo can be said to have studied for a long time.
During these days, Zhao Kuo was thinking about how to improve the Qin State's system and how to avoid another civil strife after the unification. In the second civil strife, many people died.
Troubled times like this are what many heroes pursue. Only in such an era can they establish their fame and achieve great achievements. But Zhao Kuo didn't see it that way. All he saw was a group of people who had just come out of the war.
The common people who took a breath were once again thrown into the furnace of war and suffered yet again. He was not a hero, and he was probably not a hero.
He just hopes that the good people living in this land can survive and survive as a human being.
Zhao Kuo and Lu Buwei talked a lot. They started with the military merit system. The military merit system was the foundation of Qin's strength and a way for the people to climb up. However, this system was a double-edged sword, which shaped the Qin Dynasty.
The country's powerful army allowed Qin to have a large number of talents who had climbed up from the bottom, allowing Qin to defeat its opponents. However, this system, because of its excessive pursuit of killing, made all countries hate Qin extremely.
After losing its war goal, Qin had no way to continue to maintain such a system. It probably had no choice but to seek expansion again. However, expansion could only be towards barren lands, and Qin could not provide land to reward these soldiers.
They can only use the conquered barren land as a reward. By then... Qin will be finished. If you want to change the shortcomings of this empire and avoid civil strife, you must improve Qin's system.
When Shang Yang introduced the reform, the Qin State was not a strong country. The goal was to survive and defeat the enemy, so his system was national service and war. No matter what profession it was, service and war were required. This made the Qin State look like
It is an army disguised as a country, but now, Qin's goal is unification, and the goal is no longer the same, so Qin cannot continue to use the previous system.
Scholars such as Zhao Kuo, Xunzi, and Gongsun Long once proposed four methods of change.
Xunzi believed that the system of the Qin State was very good, and the only thing lacking was benevolent government. As long as benevolent government can be carried out on the basis of today, that is, treating the people well, increasing the relief system, lax corvee and low taxes, etc., it will be fine. Gongsun Long, on the other hand,
It is believed that the system of the Qin State needs to be completely changed. It is best to abolish the beheading system, reduce the differences in titles, and change the way of promotion of titles from focusing on the head to focusing on production activities such as farming and textiles.
Han Fei came up with two methods. The first method is to completely retain the current military merit system and change the land that will be rewarded in the future into other forms of honor, such as exemption from taxes and more salary.
, so as not to create a situation where rewards cannot be given, the second method is to completely abolish the military merit system, let the common people have enough land through reclamation, and then use the imperial examination system mentioned by the teacher to replace promotions.
Zhao Kuo thought for a long time, but did not speak easily. He also did not express his thoughts. In his opinion, this was a major matter related to the survival of the country. No matter how he changed it, he must be very cautious and not put the future consequences at risk.
It's time for the unity to be gone....
And no matter what they say, it is just a theory, and it is not known whether it can be applied to practice. However, Lu Buwei now wants to start practice directly. Lu Buwei cannot be regarded as a scholar, but you can't say that he is not, he
Like a combination of a businessman and a scholar, a simple egoist, as long as it is useful to him, he can absorb it and make it part of his own system.
Zhao Kuo told Lu Buwei what everyone thought at the time. Lu Buwei was very happy. He hurriedly picked up the paper and pen and began to record what Zhao Kuo had explained. Lu Buwei believed that these things could be helpful to him. Both of them
They chatted until night, and when the curfew came, as the prime minister, of course Lu Buwei could not violate the law, so he could only stay for one night in Zhao Kuo's mansion.
In the early morning of the next day, Lu Buwei said goodbye to Zhao Kuo and left here.
After walking out of Zhao Kuo's mansion, Lu Buwei immediately felt relaxed. With Zhao Kuo's support, no one could shake his position in the Qin State. To him, Zhao Kuo was not a threat. If Zhao Kuo had any intention
Phase, then this position would not fall on his head at all. You must know that when King Zhaoxiang rewarded him, the reason was that he managed to bring Zhao Kuo back to Qin.
It is true that Lu Buwei is worried about his position. It is also true that he wants to do something beneficial to Qin.
After Lu Buwei returned to his mansion, he began to rethink his ideas. After talking with Wu Chengjun, he realized many flaws in his policies, and the ideas of Xunzi and others mentioned by Zhao Kuo also became material for Lu Buwei to learn from, so
Suddenly, after more than two months, Lu Buwei came to the palace and told King Qin about his improved ideas.
Ying Yiren really didn't expect that Lu Buwei could come up with such a set of things.
When he heard that Lu Buwei said that he wanted to correct the current shortcomings of the Qin State, he didn't care yet. He simply thought that Lu Buwei wanted to increase his prestige through some simple measures. Most of the ministers would do the same, and he was ready to accept it.
Lu Buwei's suggestion, but when Lu Buwei proposed to directly take action against military achievements, King Qin was still frightened and broke out in a cold sweat.
King Qin's eyes widened, and he said: "Before the reform, Qin was an insignificant country with a weak military and insufficient food. It was always deceived and bullied... But after the reform, because of the military merit system
As a result, Qin has become the most powerful country, but now you want to change this, won't such behavior make Qin return to its past?"
"Please summon the ministers. I want to explain my thoughts in front of them."
The King of Qin had no choice but to let Meng Ao, Wang Lu, Han Fei, Li Si, Zhang Tang, Hu Yang and others come to discuss important matters. These people came to the palace one after another and sat around the King of Qin. After everyone arrived, Lu Buwei then
He stood up and talked about his four major innovations. The first point was what he told Zhao Kuo, to raise the army of benevolence and righteousness. Of course, after "Ma Fu Shu" became popular, Qin's original beheading system changed.
Changes have occurred.
King Zhaoxiang had already begun to prohibit the massacre of innocent people and the killing of prisoners.
And Lu Buwei's benevolence and righteousness seems to be more thorough. Lu Buwei said that a proclamation must be issued when starting a war. In fact, he emphasizes that Qin is fighting for benevolence and righteousness, not a war of aggression. Therefore, Qin's soldiers cannot massacre the people and cannot kill.
Dead prisoners, no looting of supplies, no burning of buildings... Every time Lu Buwei said something, the faces of the soldiers present became more solemn.
"You are murdering Qin's soldiers." Wang Hao shook his head and said: "According to what you said, let the captives go and forgive the people. After these people return to their own country, they will resist Qin again. This
This will cause more Qin people to die in the war. Ying Hou said: If you want to conquer the world, you must not only occupy the land, but also kill the young and strong people on the land so that they truly lose the power to resist."
"You are wrong. When Yan State attacked Zhao State, my teacher released all the prisoners after defeating the enemy. After these prisoners returned, they began to publicize my teacher's benevolent and righteous actions. Yan State attacked Zhao State again.
At that time, the Yan army collapsed at the first touch. This is because the Yan soldiers knew that they would not be killed if they surrendered. They hated the generals who recruited them, not the Zhao people."
"At first, Lord Wu'an of the Qin State attacked the Chu State. He fought for several months and massacred many cities, but failed to capture too many places. But later, he implemented a strategy of attacking the heart, no longer massacring the people, and appeased the Chu State everywhere.
People, distributed farmland, and released prisoners, which directly destroyed the fighting spirit of the Chu people, and they reached the capital of Chu in less than a month... This is what Xunzi said: The army of benevolence and righteousness has no enemies!
"
Han Fei stood up, but he stood on Lu Buwei's side.
Lu Buwei nodded and said: "Yes, this is the theory proposed by Wu Chengjun. I am just preparing to implement his theory."
As soon as these words came out, Wang Hao was speechless.
King Zhaoxiang once issued an order: If you oppose Zhao Kuo, you will oppose the King of Qin... And if you oppose the King of Qin, you will be punished by the clan.
But Meng Ao laughed and said: "I agree with the Prime Minister's policy. I have gone to Chu State many times, but none of them went as smoothly as before... because we did not massacre the city, release the prisoners, and open warehouses to stockpile grain along the way.
, there are many areas where the Chu people killed their own generals and opened their city gates to welcome the Qin army. This is something I have never seen before, and I very much agree with your view."
Lu Buwei smiled and hurriedly said his second policy, benevolent government. However, the benevolent government mentioned by Lu Buwei included a lot of content, such as paying attention to the production of the people, so that the promotion of titles can be more biased towards this production method.
, instead of cutting off heads, reducing taxes, and not indiscriminately launching corvee labor. He mixed a lot of Confucian and Mohist remarks here, and even some of Han Fei's... Han Fei frowned and hesitated for a long time.
But he still nodded to express his support.
The generals were a little dissatisfied when they heard that Lu Buwei seemed to want to stop military merit. The Qin people were accustomed to reform, but the military merit system was the foundation of the Qin State and could not be changed at will. However, Lu Buwei's volunteers had reduced killings, and passed
The content of conferring titles on the occupied land, and in his benevolent government, also included the content of attaching importance to production and promoting those who have made merit in production, which is already shaking the military merit system.
Later, Lu Buwei talked about his reclamation system...
The more Han Fei listened, the more confused he became. Why did this sound so familiar?
King Qin saw that some of the ministers supported Lu Buwei and some opposed him, and he already understood in his heart that Lu Buwei was not messing around, he really wanted to change, and his actions seemed to have been approved by Wu Chengjun, which made him
The King of Qin became serious. Lu Buwei successively proposed his own brand-new academic system, official assessment system, and a series of policies that were conducive to farming and reduced harsh laws.
Among the officials, many people opposed the reform.
Lu Buwei sneered and said: "Shang Jun said: etiquette and laws must be formulated according to the actual situation. Legal systems and orders must comply with the social affairs of the time. Weapons, armor, utensils, and equipment must be manufactured to facilitate use. Governance
The country does not have to follow the same method, and as long as it is beneficial to the country, it does not have to follow the ancient times. King Shang Tang and King Wu of Zhou became kings in the world, not because they followed ancient laws to prosper. The demise of the Yin Dynasty and the Xia Dynasty,
It’s not because they changed the old etiquette that they fell.”
"Those who violate the old laws do not necessarily deserve to be blamed; those who follow the old etiquette do not necessarily deserve recognition."
"Now, Lord Shang's system can no longer adapt to the Qin State, so why can't his system be changed?"
"Everyone has read Shang Jun's book. Shang Jun reprimanded those who abide by the existing system but refused to change. Now those who abide by his system but refuse to change are different from the people he reprimanded at the beginning.
what differences are there??"
"Do you want to be ministers like Qianlong and Du Zhi?"
After hearing Lu Buwei's question, everyone did not refute again.
King Qin thought for a moment and then said: "Just do what the prime minister said. Please don't object anymore."
ps: Chapter 3 will be posted later. I have guests at home and am a bit busy, but I will definitely post it.