At the end of the second year of the First Emperor's reign
The new system has been fully announced, and titles have begun to be changed in various places. Previous titles will no longer be awarded, but those who originally had titles have also retained their titles and have not been abolished. Zhao Kuo's reforms directly changed the Qin Dynasty
Due to the nature of the country, the people of Qin can no longer participate in wars and can no longer obtain military titles from the battlefield. Well, in other words, they must first become a standing army before they can obtain military titles.
But now, if they want to obtain a title, they can only use other methods, such as farming, becoming a craftsman, or studying to become an official. Zhao Kuo broke the occupational restrictions. In the former Qin Dynasty,
There is a column on the country and place of residence to indicate what household registration the family belongs to. For example, if your household registration is a craftsman's household, then you can do craftsmanship with peace of mind. If you dare to do business or farm, you will be punished. Different occupations cannot be combined with each other.
of.
Zhao Kuo felt that this was not conducive to development. The reason why the Qin State had such regulations in the past was to allow everyone to perform their own duties and to allow the Qin State to develop as a whole. But now that the world is peaceful and there is no war, Zhao Kuo wants to do more for it.
What the common people think about is that they do some small business after farming, make a few farm tools, or sell the silk at home. Is there any problem with this?
Anyway, Zhao Kuo felt that there was no big problem and he should just let the people develop slowly without depriving them of their livelihood, as long as they did not do anything illegal or disorderly.
The next step, of course, is to rectify the laws. Zhao Kuo is determined to abolish those laws that are only suitable for wartime. When talking about laws, Han Fei cannot be avoided. Now Han Feigui is the right prime minister.
Among the officials, his status was only lower than that of Li Si. Well, if you don't count Zhao Kuo, the ninth minister, he should be like this. Zhao Kuo and Han Fei were sitting in the courtyard, and Zhao Kuo once again talked about the revision of the law.
Han Fei was silent for a long time. Han Fei is a very complicated person.
Judging from the original historical line, he was an extremely complex and contradictory person. First of all, he was a firm supporter of the Legalist school. He firmly believed that only serious laws could govern the country. Historical experience told Zhao Kuo
, Han Fei’s insistence is correct. Law is indeed indispensable to a country and is also the most important. Morality is only encouragement, but law must be implemented.
However, there are some theories of Shen Buhai in Han Fei's thoughts. Shen Buhai can also be regarded as a figure in Legalism. Moreover, this person has indeed had a great influence on the Korean people, which makes Han Fei become good at kingship.
How to put it this way, Han Fei not only hopes that everything will be executed under the law, but also hopes that the king can be wary of the people around him and not believe them. If necessary, he can even go beyond the law to execute these ministers.
This is somewhat contradictory, because the king's behavior is trampling on the law. Does the law serve the king, or does the king serve the law?
The second point of contradiction comes from Han Fei's attitude towards the common people. Han Fei firmly believes that he cannot be too good to the common people, cannot spoil them, cannot let them know too much, cannot let them think for themselves, and must be firmly tied.
They wanted them to obey completely. However, Han Fei thought that taxes should be very low, corvee should be reduced, the people should not be tired, but they should be well fed, drunk, and well clothed.
This is also very contradictory. Is the system formulated to make the people live a better life, or is it to implement the system to make the people live a better life?
The third point of contradiction comes from Han Fei's attitude towards South Korea. First of all, Han Fei is a firm supporter of the theory of unification. He believes that the world is suffering from war and should be unified. However, Han Fei never forgets South Korea in his heart and even told the King of Qin about unification.
During the reign of Emperor Qin, there was no plan to conquer South Korea. This eventually led to him being jealous of the King of Qin, and he died in prison because of the frame-up.
If Xunzi's charm comes from his self-confidence, Han Fei's charm must come from his complexity. This is a person who is always struggling with contradictions.
Meeting Zhao Kuo amplified his contradictions and made Han Fei more complicated. However, it also allowed Han Fei to find some answers. Zhao Kuo had explained several questions he had asked before.
The law is supreme, and the king should also obey the law. The people are the foundation of the country, and all systems are for the people. Unification must be implemented without hesitation.
Zhao Kuo agreed with the teacher's statement, but this did not stop Han Fei from thinking about himself. With such an answer, Han Fei debated himself and wrote many famous articles, including The Spirit of the Law, The Theory of Kings, and The Theory of Kingdoms.
According to the discussion with the people, these things were enough for Han Fei to surpass his original position in history, but because the things he studied were too complicated, only a few people could understand them, which also promoted Han Fei to the legal level.
In the position of family sage.
Zhao Kuo finally taught a Legalist disciple, but Zhao Kuo was not angry. Han Fei was just that kind of person, stubborn and stubborn. He knew how to learn knowledge, but he had his own opinions and it was difficult for his ideas to be influenced by others.
, as a young man who started thinking about governing South Korea in his early twenties and proposed a series of systems, no one can suppress his intelligence.
Xunzi was not good, and neither was Zhao Kuo. Han Fei only turned them into the source of his own knowledge, but he would not blindly follow their knowledge. He was a person who knew how to think for himself.
Many people could not understand Han Fei's actions and thought he was doing useless work. However, Zhao Kuo knew in his heart what Han Fei was doing. He was opening the door to China's rule of law society. All the things he wrote were a
A national treasure, imagine that hundreds of years later, when social productivity reaches a certain level, someone will hold up Han Fei's books and demand that power be returned to the people.
After Han Fei listened to Zhao Kuo's thoughts, he said: "The law is to restrain people's behavior. Now you want to relax the management of the people. Aren't you afraid that they will be unscrupulous and destroy the interests of Qin?", Zhao Kuo
He replied seriously: "I don't think that taking a walk in the countryside after farming can damage the interests of the Qin State. You said that laws should be used to restrain the people. I agree with this, but the content restricted by the laws is made by people."
of."
"Change the law according to the development of the times. You clearly know what the new saint says, but why can't you do it yourself?"
"It's not that I can't do it, I'm just worried that if we implement what you said, those moths will pounce on us, crawl into the holes of the law and bite the flesh and blood of Da Qin. They won't be satisfied. After we leave, they will follow the rules
The conventions you uphold continue to reduce the constraints of the law on the world. Worms like Confucians only know how to please the king blindly, and they will get the support of the king, and then the law becomes worthless in front of the powerful."
"After the great unification, the king has no rivals. He has no need to respect his ministers. The emperor has great power, so the ministers don't have to think of ways to do things. As long as they gain the favor of the king, even an incompetent villain can serve.
Prime Minister. I am just worried that one day, the king will act arbitrarily, nothing can restrict him, nothing can restrain him, and the ministers will do whatever they want based on the king's favor, and the king will make the ministers kneel down and listen to orders."
"The ministers do not want to build meritorious service, but only think about how to get the king's favor and speculate on the king's wishes. The wealthy people in the place insult the people and destroy the foundation of the country by making friends with these ministers. If they meet a wise king, the ministers cannot fight against them.
With his favor, local tycoons cannot rely on the power of ministers, and the country can still continue. If it is a mediocre king, there will be incomparable chaos from top to bottom, and the country will surely perish."
"The only way I can think of to restrain all this is to have strict laws and a perfect system. Now that you want to open up gaps in the law, I'm afraid that in the future, Legalism will completely decline, and those moths will take over, and the country will be weighed down.
Standards have become the king's personal preference, and this destructive power will become more and more powerful. Dynasties will continue to appear and be destroyed, going back and forth, and there will be countless disasters. This is essentially due to the problem of power."
"The law binds everyone, from the common people to the king. Today's emperor is overbearing and does not take the law seriously. He orders local officials to be dealt with privately and does not abide by the law. This is wrong. As the first
As a king, he should pay attention to the law, set an example, and even leave orders for future generations to follow. I always persuade him and go against him. Although he doesn't say it explicitly, he already feels a little disgusted with me in his heart."
"You are determined to help those people open the gaps in the law. You are my teacher, and I respect you very much. However, I don't understand what should be done in the future world. How can we do it?
How can we restrain everyone to maintain long-term peace?" Han Fei raised his head, his face full of worries about what would happen next, and his eyes full of sadness.
Han Fei kept talking more and more, but Zhao Kuo couldn't help but tremble. He looked at the man in front of him in fear.
For a long time, Zhao Kuo always regarded Han Fei as a feudal remnant, or an extremely feudal person, because he was the only one who would oppose Zhao Kuo's New Deal, and his ideas
In Zhao Kuo's opinion, he was so backward. However, after hearing Han Fei's words today, Zhao Kuo almost knelt down in front of him. When everyone was delving into the problem of slavery society and wanted to make society a step further.
, but this person has already begun to delve into the problems of feudal society
Zhao Kuo always thought that he was limited by the times, but now, Zhao Kuo felt that Han Fei was not limited by the times. He skipped this era directly. He seemed to have his eyes closed, staring at China a thousand years later.
Then I started thinking about how to help future generations. What kind of monster is this!!?
Zhao Kuo took a deep breath and asked: "Since you want to use laws to restrain the king, why do you advocate Shen Buhai's doctrine? Encourage the king to use power to increase his power? This does not conflict with your ideas.
?"
"No, I advocate Shen Buhai's theory, not to let the king increase his power, but to let the king not favor any minister, but to be wary of them, lest the ministers do anything wrong through the king's favor."
"Then you are against opening up people's wisdom because"
"I am afraid that there will be too many powerful people at the bottom. Once these people appear, they will become worms in the country. They will squeeze the blood from the people and drink it."
"No, I opened up the people's wisdom just to break the monopoly of knowledge. If I don't do this, it will create a situation where powerful people monopolize knowledge."
"No, on the basis of titles and unequal status among Chinese people, universal education cannot break the monopoly at all, but will create an even greater monopoly!"
"No, I set that people who study can get titles. This is the best way out for the people! Without this, the people will have no way to move forward in their lives."
"There is no way to become a powerful person in your life, right?"
"No, you will only be bullied by powerful men for the rest of your life."
"That's right, so I agreed with your idea."
The master and the apprentice sat quietly, and Zhao Kuo suddenly said: "There is no perfect system. In different eras, the system will continue to change. After us, there will be more people in this land, like
You, people like me, will find ways to solve these problems. What I am doing now is the most I can do. I have no other way. I have many ideas in my mind, but now
This is simply impossible to achieve.”
"Teacher, I understand the things you once told me. The older I get, the more surprised I am. There may be many Han Fei in this land, but there will never be another Wuchenghou.
.It will never appear again in the next two thousand years," Han Fei said seriously.
"No, you said it wrong. It will happen again. There are many people better than me."
"But there is only one of you. I can tell you with certainty that based on what you said to me today, I can confirm that in the next two thousand years, there will never be another Han Fei.
", Zhao Kuo looked at the proud disciple in front of him and said very seriously.
"Teacher, the reason why I tell you so much is to advise you not to break the binding force of the law." Han Fei said seriously. At this moment, he changed back from the saint who cared about the country and the people.
The old-fashioned Legalist sage, Zhao Kuo frowned, but was no longer as angry as usual. He said calmly: "Fei, the binding force of the law will not be destroyed. I will find a way. I will go to the emperor and tell him."
, I will make him obey the law.”
"But now, the scope of legal restrictions is too broad, and it has really affected the normal life of the people, especially for the people of the Six Kingdoms. They simply cannot bear such a life. The Six Kingdoms have just been destroyed. If someone is willing to take advantage of the dissatisfaction of the people,
If I come to stir up trouble, I'm afraid it will cause problems. The newly unified world must not experience war again. Otherwise, who will protect the people when I am gone."
Han Fei's eyes widened and he felt sad when he looked at the white-haired teacher in front of him.