A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 85 Wei Yang entered Qin and initiated reforms

The 412th year of the Bai Kingdom

Qin Xiaogong's order to recruit talents spread throughout the world, and knowledgeable people flocked to the Qin State. For a time, many people from the six eastern countries appeared in Yongcheng, the capital of Qin. Qin Xiaogong was very happy when he saw this, and ordered the construction of a Talent Recruiting Pavilion to receive them. The talented people from the six countries announced that after being certified, all knowledgeable and talented people can stay in the Zhaoxian Pavilion with free food and lodging, waiting for the Duke of Qin to select officials based on their talents.

Here, there is a talented person named Wei Yang in the state of Wei. He was originally from the imperial family. He studied at the Bai Family Academy. He especially loved the "Bai Family Law" to the point where he could not let go of the scroll. He could recite the "Bai Family Law" backwards and forwards. Due to this talent, he was appointed as the judge of Puyang's court.

Although Puyang was the city of Wei Jun, it was taken over by the Bai Kingdom ten years ago. The Bai Kingdom sent officials and military officers, and Wei Jun was only the nominal lord.

Originally, Judge Wei Yang was a good judge and believed that Puyang could be governed by the "Bai Family Law". So he tried the cases diligently and conscientiously every day, handling trivial matters for the common people and major matters for the noble officials.

The cases decided by Wei Yang were once presented to the judicial officials of the Bai Kingdom. As a model, the people of Puyang also believed in Wei Yang's judgments because Wei Yang's judgments were always fair and impartial without deviation.

Until one day, Wei Yang encountered a husband and wife case. The wife accused her husband of gambling. Not only did she consume a lot of family property, but she also rarely cared about her family. The wife hoped that the judge would sentence her husband to a few days in prison to make him repent and return to the family. , because she knows that her husband is just playful and does not mean that he does not love his family.

Wei Yang dealt with the matter according to family law and sent law officials to search for clues. In the end, in addition to gambling and prostitution, he also found out that the husband had an affair and had a son. According to the "Bai Family Law", if gambling and prostitution are discovered by family members and reported to the police, they will be sentenced to ten days in prison and swear an oath to never do it again.
If he commits the crime again next time, the punishment will be doubled, up to life imprisonment, and his family will need to pay for daily board and lodging. If no one can pay, he will be sent to a labor camp to do hard labor. He will only be released if he performs meritorious service.

As for the foster home, the judge needs to decide whether reconciliation is necessary and how the family property will be distributed after divorce.

When the wife heard that her husband was keeping a concubine, she decided that she could accept the concubine and asked not to divorce her. However, according to family law, both parties must reconcile and divorce one party. The husband said in court that he did not want to give up the child from the other wife, which meant that he could not give up the other wife.

In the end, Wei Yang decided to divorce his wife, got half of the family property, and the husband married his wife. The wife was desperate and refused to accept it. She even said that she would withdraw the lawsuit and bear the losses herself. But Wei Yang rejected it on the grounds that the law was ruthless. Wei Yang firmly believed that law should not be confused with emotion.

However, in the end, the supervisor rejected Wei Yang's judgment and handed it over to other judges for trial. This move made Wei Yang greatly humiliated and believed that the supervisor was completely undermining the legal system. After the people of Puyang heard about Wei Yang's verdict, they stopped saying good things to him. They all looked askance at him when they saw him on the road.

Wei Yang believed that the supervisor dismissed his case, which caused a blow to his authority. He believed that the establishment of supervisors in the "Bai Family Law" to restrict judges was completely unreasonable. Soon, Wei Yang couldn't stand the practice of mixing human feelings into the legal system. , submitted his resignation, the chief judge of Puyang repeatedly tried to retain him, but failed to retain him. In the end, he was reluctant to let this great talent go.

When Wei Yang heard that Qin Gong issued an order to recruit talents, he believed that the Qin State had not experienced political reforms and was located in a remote area. It was a blank piece of paper where he could freely display his talents, so he embarked on the journey to Qin State without hesitation. distance.

When he arrived in the State of Qin, he relied on his talents to easily move into the Zhaoxian Pavilion. He also made a big statement that he would never serve as an official unless the Duke of Qin came to invite him in person. This made other talents from the Six Nations angry, and they all came to compete with him.

However, due to Wei Yang's peerless ability, he was defeated unsurprisingly. Gradually, everyone recognized that Wei Yang was a great talent, but they did not think that he was a great sage.

Here, Qin Xiaogong was very curious when he first heard that a crazy talent had come to Zhaoxian Pavilion, but he did not come forward, hoping that other talents in Zhaoxian Pavilion would dispel Wei Yang's arrogance. However, things went against his wishes. Instead of suppressing Wei Yang's arrogance, Wei Yang was asked to attack the Xianzhao Pavilion. Even the local talents of the Qin State couldn't listen and competed with him and lost.

Duke Xiao of Qin knew that Wei Yang was really a great talent, so he happily went out to visit Wei Yang overnight.

Wei Yang was undressing and getting ready to go to sleep. The candles were blown out. He heard someone knocking on the door, and he suddenly felt angry, "Who is it? Don't you know I'm asleep?"

The person outside the door replied softly: "I am the king of Qin State. I heard that sir is a great talent, so I took the liberty to come and disturb you. Please forgive me."

When Wei Yang heard that it was Duke Qin, he quickly put on his clothes again, lit the candle, carefully arranged his clothes in front of the bronze mirror, then opened the door and welcomed Duke Qin in.

The two sat opposite each other and greeted each other. The guards brought by Duke Qin lit a few candles in the room, making the room as bright as day.

"I heard about Sir's great talent and knew that our Qin country had hope of becoming stronger. So I was so excited that I couldn't sleep, so I set off immediately, so I came to visit Sir overnight. Please don't blame me!"

Wei Yang bowed to express his understanding, but did not answer. He just looked at Qin Gong quietly.

When the Duke of Qin saw that Wei Yang did not answer, he had to say: "The Qin State is barren and remote. It is located on the border of various states. It urgently needs talents like Mr. Qin to revive the Qin State and restore the great achievements of Duke Mu and Duke Xian."

Wei Yang still didn't speak. Qin Gong became a little unhappy and said: "I begged you so much, but you didn't say anything. Do you look down on Qin or me? What do you think? Please tell me clearly."

Wei Yang then said, "I wonder what the monarch's ideal is?"

Qin Xiaogong said excitedly: "Restore the hegemony of Duke Mu and Duke Xian!" After hearing this, Wei Yang sighed and said, "Please come back, my lord!"

Duke Xiao of Qin asked in astonishment: "Why?"

Wei Yang said: "The king just wants to restore the hegemony of his ancestors. Does such an ambition require my intervention? The talents in this attic can do it. I don't think my ambition can be realized!"

Duke Xiao of Qin asked in confusion: "What is your ambition, sir?"

Wei Yang longed for it: "The world!"

Qin Xiaogong said: "The world? Isn't my ambition to dominate the world?"

Wei Yang shook his head and said: "It is not to dominate the world, but to dominate the world, to let the world be in one's own hands, and to own all the rights in the world."

Duke Xiao of Qin opened his mouth and said, "Like the Emperor of Zhou?"

Wei Yang said: "No, he is more powerful than the Emperor of Zhou. Just as King Zhou Li said, 'The whole world is not the king's land, and the shore of the land is not the king's ministers'."

Qin Xiaogong looked forward to the blueprint drawn by Wei Yang for him, and couldn't help but said: "Is it possible for our Qin country?"

Wei Yang said confidently: "As long as the king uses my method, it will definitely work!"

Qin Xiaogong looked at the confident man in front of him, full of infinite vitality, and immediately felt that what he said would definitely come true, so he stood up and saluted: "I hope you will help me, Qin, to dominate the world. I am willing to support your reform unconditionally."

Wei Yang also stood up and saluted: "The king values ​​me so much, how dare I fail to do my best?"

Later, Wei Yang told Qin Xiaogong about his measures. Wei Yang proposed to attach importance to agricultural production; inhibit commercial development; reshape social values ​​and improve the social awareness of agriculture;
At the same time, the privileges of the nobility and officials were weakened, allowing the domestic nobility to join in agricultural production; reform strategies such as a unified tax and rent system were implemented, and the military merit system was changed, so that soldiers wanted to fight without fear of death.

After hearing this, Duke Xiao of Qin agreed very much, so he appointed Wei Yang as the chief of Zuo Shu on the spot to preside over Qin's reform. Wei Yang was ordered to compile the laws and measures he would implement overnight. After the basic compilation was completed, he told Qin Xiaogong that it was time to hold a court meeting.

At the Qin court, Qin Xiaogong announced that he appointed Wei Yang as the chief of Zuo Shu and presided over the reform. At first, everyone had no reaction, but when they heard that Wei Yang wanted to curb commercial development, limit the privileges of the nobility, encourage clan members to join the army and establish a military merit system, they couldn't sit still and said they disagreed.

Among them, ministers Qianlong, Du Zhi and others believed that Wei Yang's reforms were too extreme and detrimental to the Qin State, so they argued with Wei Yang.

At first, when Qin Xiaogong heard the harsh laws mentioned by Wei Yang, he couldn't help but ask Wei Yang if the laws were too strict. Wei Yang said that only strict laws can make the king gather all the interests in one body and control the Qin country as one. It uses the arm, and the arm uses the finger. Only then can all the potential of the Qin State be tapped, only then can it confront the six wealthy countries, and only then can the ideal of dominating the world be realized. For the sake of Qin's hegemony, Qin Xiaogong compromised.

Wei Yang's measures include imitating the household registration system implemented in the Bai Kingdom, and adding the joint sitting system, that is, according to the establishment, the people across the country are registered and compiled into household registrations, and mutual supervision is ordered. If one family is guilty, nine families must be reported together. If they do not report, ten families will be convicted together. Those who do not report the traitor will be cut in half, those who report the "treacherous" will be rewarded with the beheading of the enemy, and those who conceal the traitor will be punished with the same penalty as surrendering the enemy.

A system of twenty ranks of nobility is implemented in the army. From now on, titles will be awarded based on military merit, and officials will be selected from those with military merit. The 20th level of nobility: the first level is called Gongshi, the second level is called Shangzao... the 19th level is called Guanneihou, and the 20th level is called Chehou. It was ordered that "those who have achieved military merit will each receive a title based on their leadership, and those who fight for private interests will be punished according to their severity." It is stipulated that titles are awarded based on military merit, and clan members cannot be included in the public books unless they have military merit.

At the same time, it is stipulated that "the clan cannot be a member unless it has military merit. The rank of the nobles and the humbles is clear, and the fields and houses are named according to the difference. The clothes of the ministers and concubines are ranked according to the family. Those who have meritorious service will be honored, and those who have no meritorious service will be rich but have no glory." , that is, to eliminate the Shiqing Shilu system and encourage the clan to establish military merit.

Others abandoned well fields and opened roads, focusing on agriculture, suppressing business, and rewarding farming and weaving. In view of the chaos of measurement in various parts of the Qin State, the weights and measures of various parts of the Qin State were unified.

In order to better manage Qin's territory, Wei Yang decided to learn from the prefecture and county systems of the Six Kingdoms and divide Qin into prefectures and counties. Since Qin had few people and little land, he just implemented the county system and waited until later to establish the prefecture system. So Wei Yang ordered "to gather small capitals, villages and towns into counties" and to establish thirty-one counties across the country. The county has a magistrate to take charge of county administration, a county magistrate to assist the county magistrate, and a county lieutenant to take charge of the military. A county has jurisdiction over several capitals, townships, towns and villages.

At the same time, in order to unify the country's thoughts, he ordered "burning poems and writing down laws and regulations." That is to say, we abandon the Confucian idea of ​​governing the country with benevolence, adopt the Legalist idea, and govern the country with severe punishments. Those who have meritorious services will be heavily rewarded, and those who have made mistakes will be severely punished.

Although many ministers opposed some of Wei Yang's measures, with the support of Qin Xiaogong, these measures were forcibly rolled out across the country. Wei Yang summoned many scholars who were good at law and sent them to various parts of the country to implement the reform measures.

At this point, the steel chariot of Qin gradually took shape under the casting of Wei Yang.

(End of this chapter)