Qin Official

Chapter 951 An Empire without an Emperor

"My beloved was reluctant to let Fusu's son go to Qiongya, but he showed no pity to the three young masters and sent them directly to Lingnan."

Seeing that the New Year is getting closer and closer, the issue of establishing a king has become a hot topic of attention from both the government and the public, and Ye Zijin cannot help but care about it.

But what is shocking is that the three princes who are most likely to inherit the throne were deprived of their wealth and privileges by Heifu in accordance with the "Clan Law" established by Shang Yang during the time of Shang Yang. , was thrown directly to Lingnan, nominally to be the "lord of the city", but in fact it was exile.

"If the First Emperor had listened to my advice, he would have rushed to the frontier more than ten years ago. Now it is just a little late."

Heifu felt that he had been generous enough to the three young masters, so he let Ye Zijin sit next to him and talk about a past event.

"At that time, the world had just been unified, and the First Emperor ordered his ministers to discuss the pros and cons of feudalism and prefectures. One night I was on guard duty in the palace, so he asked me to talk about it."

At that time, Heifu told Qin Shihuang based on his experience of the southern expedition to Yuzhang:

"From Xianyang to Yuzhang and Changsha, there are many forests and swamps, and the roads are dangerous. It takes two months at least and three months at most. It is difficult to inform the court."

"Lingnan is further away, and another month has to be added. This is true for official documents, and private trade transactions go back and forth, and a year has passed."

How far the empire's borders can expand is determined by transportation distance. With the road conditions and the speed of horses and horses in this era, even with the bonus of Chi Road and Ling Canal, Lingnan is far beyond the scope of Qin's national radiation, whether it is conquest or Domination comes at a huge price.

"In addition to the long distance and the inability to transmit court decrees in a timely manner, the south is also dominated by Yue barbarians. There is a lack of household registration for the people, and there is no way to collect taxes. Even if there are nominal counties and counties, in fact there is no people to predict and no land to rely on. rule……"

"I suggested at the beginning that instead of leaving the counties empty, it would be better to make the princes control them. Confer them as border princes, let them lead the people to migrate, rule the barbarians and Yue people, slowly promote education, and transform the barbarians with Xia."

It was only rejected by the First Emperor.

"I meant my words well, but the First Emperor was not very happy after hearing them."

As Hei Fu spoke, he straightened his face, tugged on his beard, raised eyebrows, and said in a deep voice, imitating the tone of the First Emperor:

"Hei Fu, you want to use my young masters as border magistrates. You also wrote a letter saying that Jiangnan is hot and has water poisonous diseases. The young masters grew up in the north, and were well-dressed and well-fed. Suddenly, If you enter a wilderness, you may get sick and die before you even get there!"

Ye Zijin only found it funny: "My beloved only needs to paint his face, and then he can go to the stage and pretend to be the First Emperor..."

It turned out that after Heifu asked Shusun Tong to revise the history books and reveal the "truth" before and after the death of the First Emperor to the world, he really wanted to make this episode into a play and perform it for the people of Guanzhong. Unfortunately, they met a Big problem:

No one dares to play Qin Shi Huang.

In the minds of the people in Guanzhong, the First Emperor is still a god-like existence, although this god is not very close to the people or friendly, let alone acting, which is simply blasphemy.

So the scene was put on hold indefinitely...

"I can't pretend well."

Heifu continued: "I was submissive at the time and didn't dare to speak, but I secretly thought in my heart that your Majesty has more than ten sons, but there are only a few capable ones. Instead of raising them in Xianyang and eating the people's fat every day, it is better to use them to fill the frontier."

Let people also see that the princes of the First Emperor were sent to build the frontier, and the common people who were forcibly relocated had fewer complaints.

However, the First Emperor had made up his mind to implement the same system as the central government no matter where he was. As a result, the Qin system was not adapted to the conditions in Guandong, and when it was placed in the border areas, it seemed even more complicated and useless...

"Now Yuzhang and Changsha are gradually getting richer and better than in the past. But the land south of Lingnan is still a wilderness. Xiangjun and Minzhong are just vacant, just to collect the integer of 6 that the First Emperor likes. In fact, Only governing one or two cities is equivalent to one county."

"In the past two years, I have relied on Lingnan to banish and relocate people back to the Central Plains. I promised to take them back to their hometowns and transfer them to the north in batches. At present, there are less than 100,000 soldiers and civilians left in Lingnan, guarded by Gong Ao, except for Panyu, Most of the big cities such as Guilin and other small counties have given up and left their land vacant, and the Yue people have slowly returned to various places. If this continues, this battle will be in vain..."

Politics requires ideals, but we must also take reality into account. The population of the Central Plains is too small. There were 30 million during the time of the First Emperor, but now it is no longer enough. Forced immigration has failed. After reunification in the future, the empire needs to look inward, take care of the diseases in the heart, and completely unify all the Xia before it can expand outward.

This also means that it is basically impossible for Heifu to carry out large-scale immigration to Lingnan in his lifetime...

"Instead of letting the vacant land benefit the Manyue chieftains, it is better to grant it to the meritorious officials and establish border marquises in Guangshu, each commanding a county, imitating the story of the Zhou Dynasty, when the Xia king ruled the barbarians and eventually transformed the barbarians."

Even if it takes a hundred or two hundred years, it will be faster than in history.

Within Kyushu, prefectures and counties were unified and unified. Outside Kyushu, it was difficult for the imperial court to reach out to the Lingnan, Haidong, and Western Regions, and it could not bear to abandon them, so it carried out small-scale enfeoffments to save administrative costs. This was what Heifu proposed back then. of “one country, two systems”.

"Are the heroes willing?" Ye Zijin was worried about this.

But Hei Fu was not only worried: "Within Kyushu, the title of Chehou is only a virtual title, but if you want to be a border prince, it is a real title. You can make your own decisions about your own fiefdom, and you don't need to pay taxes to the court, just a small amount of tribute." After the battle is over, after calculating the merits, I will grant him dozens or hundreds of titles in one breath. There will always be people here who are willing to go..."

As for what can be achieved, whether it is to die at the hands of the barbarians or to grow stronger and expand outward, it depends on each person's ability.

And these three young masters are just the first batch of experiments in Heifu's plan.

When the First Emperor was alive, he was reluctant to let his son fill in the border, but Hei Fu was willing to do so!

Jiang Lu, Jiang Chen, and Jiang Ye, one from Fujian, one from Guangdong, and one from Guangxi, were all abandoned on the edge of the tropical rain forest in a small empty town after the Southern Expeditionary Army retreated.

They have to endure the hot climate, rampant diseases, deal with the Yue people, and will be surrounded by the territory of the border princes in the future. Even if they don't get sick and die, they will be attacked and killed by the Yue people. They will be trapped there for generations and never be able to return. coming.

So the question comes back again:

"If the three young masters all go, then who can become the emperor?"

"It can't be Ziying, right?" Ye Zijin joked.

"Ziying has no chance." Hei Fu was still very wary of this person:

"I was oppressed by the First Emperor for more than ten years. Although I occasionally listened to my advice, most of the time, I still ignored him and had to follow his preferences."

He is the hunter, Heihu is just a hound.

"Now, it's my turn to be a hunter and command the dogs to hunt."

"Moreover, I only discovered it after raising troops in Nanjun."

“It feels like there’s no one above your head to tell you what to do, and everything you want to do can be implemented one by one.”

It's so comfortable!

Why does he want to put an uncle on his head?

"Besides, the Six Kingdoms still have fresh memories of the First Emperor's brutal conquests, and they may not accept another Qin Jun with the surname Ying..."

Ye Zijin understood and asked in a low voice: "Then, my beloved wants to take it for himself?"

Heifu shook his head:

"The pig shoulder is not yet ripe."

"In the next period of time, the world will usher in a period without an emperor."

An empire without an emperor.

Like Franco's Spain, a kingdom without a king.

"Those who rule by law only have one lifelong regent left!"

He remembered that many years ago, when he saw Emperor Qin Shi Huang driving in Huaiyang, Heifu said something at that time.

"If you want to wear his crown, you must first bear his weight!"

The words came true, and now, the weight of half the world has been carried on Heifu's shoulders.

Heifu smiled:

"An uncrowned king! Su Wang!"

The reign of Emperor Qin Shihuang finally came to an end in thirty-eight years.

"The Duke of Zhou was afraid that the world would hear about the death of King Wu, so he took over the government as regent for King Cheng. He served as regent for seven years, and the world was under great rule."

"Since King Zhou Li died, Gong Bohe was appointed as regent to carry out the affairs of the emperor. After fourteen years of regency, the world was restored to peace."

"The First Emperor died, his rebellious sons plotted to usurp the country, and everyone in Guandong rebelled. Fortunately, Marquis Wu Zhong was able to put an end to the rebellion. Now the former emperor's sons are unfilial and disloyal, and it is difficult to carry on the great cause and rule the world again. Therefore, the throne of the Qin Dynasty will be empty, and Marquis Wuzhong will be promoted to Duke. Follow the example of Yi Yin, Zhou Gong Dan, and Gong Bo Heshi, and practice the affairs of the country!"

"Next year will be the first year of the Regency!"

Politics is the art of compromise, and this unique political system is the product of compromise after taking into account the acceptance of the new and old Qin people.

The Censor's Mansion, temporarily represented by Zhou Qingchen, announced the news that shocked the world. The Shaofu Zhang Cang, Zhisu Neishi Xiao He, Fengchang Lu Jia, Taishi Shusuntong, etc. brought hundreds of staff and Confucian scholars. , requesting Heifu to be honored.

"The Emperor's important ministers are called Dukes! Marquis Wu Zhong has made great contributions to the dynasty and should be promoted to Dukes!"

Hei Fu gave in three times, and then he accepted the offer.

In order to show respect for the other Chehous, one "gong" title was added to the twenty-rank titles. This was the first among the five ranks of the Zhou Dynasty in the old days. In fact, only the Song Dynasty and the emperor's ministers could get this honor. Lu, Great states such as Wei and Qi were all feudal lords, and Qin was only a mere lord at first.

As for the official title, it usually depends on the chosen fiefdom. Lu Jia and others proposed that Heifu directly cede a county as a fiefdom, but Heifu rejected it and only chose one county as a fiefdom.

Some people suggested that the fiefdom should be set in "Deng", while others suggested that Luoyang County should be directly used as the fiefdom, and just call it Zhou Gong.

"Deng can't do it." Mr. Hei shook his head like a rattle, Zhou Yi was wrong.

He squinted and searched the map for a long time. Looking at each county, he couldn't help complaining:

"Our Daqin has such a vast territory, but we can't find a place called 'Bao'!?"

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