The First Emperor was digging the foundation of Qin himself!
This was the first thought in Zhao Tuo's mind.
And I believe he is not the only one who thinks so.
Didn’t you see that the expressions of Taiwei Wang Bi, General Meng Wu and others all changed?
Even in the Qin court, the generals belonging to the military merit group had livid faces.
As for the civil servants, there are also many people with ugly faces. Naturally, they can see the harm of this edict.
However, frightened by the increasingly strengthened emperor's authority after unification, no one spoke for the time being. All eyes fell on Zhao Tuo, the martial lord, and Wang Ben, the Taiwei, who were in the forefront of the military attachés.
After Wang Jian retired, Qin's generals relied on the martial arts lord Zhao Tuo as their support, and the Taiwei Wang Bi as their front man.
Zhao Tuo felt those expectant eyes, and he naturally had objections to the emperor's decision to grant him a title, but fortunately, he still had some sense, and Zhao Tuo was wise enough not to be the first to stand up and object.
As the saying goes, it is not a good thing to be the first to stand up and contradict someone.
He wants to look at the specific situation before talking.
Since Zhao Tuo failed to forcefully admonish Li Xin outside Pingyu City, he has become more and more cautious about admonitions.
Zhao Tuo's eyes fell on Wang Ben's resolute face.
It's a pity that Wang Ben's character is a bit like Wang Jian. His lips moved but he didn't speak.
The Wang family and his son are all about stability and never take the initiative to show off.
The two bosses, Marquis Wugong and Taiwei, did not speak.
The generals were also reluctant to say anything.
On the other side, the right prime minister, Wei Xiang, who was among the civil servants, was still looking at his nose and his nose, pretending that nothing had happened.
He is old, and it is better to do less than to do more. He occupies the position of right prime minister. As long as he can survive until retirement, he will be satisfied.
The Prime Minister of the Left, Wang Wan, was young and powerful, and he was aggressive in everything, but he narrowed his eyes and did not speak.
Although he had some conflicts with those Confucian scholars because of the previous enfeoffment and paper-making matters, he was close to Confucianism after all, and he had always been unfavorable to Qin's wolf-like military merit and title system. He felt that this was not the rule of a king. Today's emperor
He had no reason to stand up if he was messing around.
Feng Jie, the imperial censor's eyelids twitched, and when he saw that the prime ministers on the left and right did not move, he steadied his steps.
As for Tingwei Li Si, he frowned the most. He was the head of the Legalist School of Qin.
The binding of military honors and the Legalist system is the magic weapon for Qin to become bigger and stronger. If this aspect is touched, it will cause great damage. He should stand up and oppose it both emotionally and rationally.
But because his son was punished just now, he almost became a joke. It would be inappropriate to stand up at this time. Moreover, he had served the emperor for many years and knew the emperor's character very well, so Li Si also held back.
He believed that someone would speak up.
Li Si glanced to the side.
In the court, there is always no shortage of ministers who can give advice.
Sure enough, when faced with the emperor's words, a tall and burly man among the ministers stood up on the spot.
"My minister Zhao Haimei died to report to your majesty. Now that your majesty has merged into one house and suppressed the barbarians, it is indeed an eternal great achievement and deserves to be celebrated. However, your majesty has conquered the world and you can celebrate by giving the people oxen and wine. Why do you give them titles? Your majesty
This approach is contrary to the old system of filial piety and merit-based worship!"
Lord Lieutenant Zhao Hai was in his sixties, with white hair, tall and strong, and spoke with a strong voice. At this moment, he stood up and spoke loudly, questioning the emperor unceremoniously.
Zhao Tuo followed everyone and looked at Zhao Hai, nodding slightly.
As expected, we still have to rely on our veterans of the Qin State to issue remonstrances.
Zhao Hai was a minister in the era of King Zhaoxiang. He has been through King Zhaoxiang, King Xiaowen, King Zhuangxiang, and now the First Emperor. He is a veteran of the four dynasties. He has served the Qin King for nearly fifty years, and his titles have been accumulated to the rank of concubine. His qualifications
He is so old that no one in the court can surpass him.
In addition, Zhao Hai has a loyal and upright character and an excellent reputation. For so many years as Lord Lieutenant, no one has ever said that he is unfair. As long as Zhao Hai does not engage in rebellion or anything, even if he blows his nose and glares at the emperor, the emperor will generally
I'll just laugh it off and won't blame it too much.
Not to mention that Zhao Hai is still the lieutenant of the Lord, and he is in charge of the matter of awarding titles. The emperor's decrees are his responsibility. Once the matter of granting titles is implemented, the entire process will be under Zhao Hai's control.
So he is indeed the person in the court who is most qualified to say "no".
He is the most suitable for this early bird.
At this moment, facing Zhao Hai's question.
The First Emperor sat high on the imperial couch with a calm expression.
He was well prepared for his subordinates' remonstrances and objections, and he also had his own logic and corresponding considerations for his actions.
The emperor spoke calmly.
"In the past, our late king, King Zhaoxiang, had a precedent of conferring titles for non-military merit."
As soon as the words came out, everyone's expressions changed slightly.
After Zhao Tuo thought for a moment, he knew what the emperor was talking about.
Since the Shang Dynasty's reform, the Qin Dynasty has always been based on military merit. Even if a civilian advisor is awarded a title, he must have performed meritorious service or come up with a major plan for governing the country that is useful to the country.
It has never happened before that large-scale non-military merit awards have been given to ordinary people in Guizhou.
Until the era of King Zhaoxiang, there were two large-scale non-military merit conferments.
The first time was in the 21st year of King Zhaoxiang (286 BC), when Qin general Sima mistakenly attacked Hanoi.
Wei was afraid and offered Anyi to Qin. Qin expelled the residents of the city, leaving only an empty city. Qin then recruited people from the local area and pardoned criminals to move to Anyi. Among the conditions given by the government, except
In addition to the exemption of criminals, the head of Guizhou who is willing to move to Anyi can also be given a first-level title.
The second large-scale grant of nobility occurred in the forty-seventh year of King Zhaoxiang (260 BC), when Qin general Bai Qi attacked Changping.
At that time, the entire Changping War reached its most intense period. In order to boost morale, King Qin Zhaoxiang came to Hanoi in person and granted first-class titles to all the Guizhou leaders in Hanoi. At the same time, he recruited young men over fifteen years old to go to the Changping battlefield.
.
These were the two large-scale non-military titles granted to civilians during the reign of King Qin Zhaoxiang.
There are reasons for these two large-scale knighthoods.
The first time was to recruit people to the newly occupied Anyi and strengthen Qin's control there. In order for the head of Guizhou to willingly leave his hometown and settle in a foreign land, the Qin government naturally had to pay some price.
The second time was to boost morale at the most critical moment of the Battle of Changping and recruit young men to support the battlefield.
King Qin Zhaoxiang granted two large-scale titles to the people. Although they were not awarded for military merit, they were related to the war situation and did not have much side effects.
But after all, this violates the principle of conferring titles only for those who have meritorious service, and it also grants titles to people on a large scale, setting a very bad precedent, and it has now become an example cited by the First Emperor.
If King Zhaoxiang hadn't started this way, the First Emperor wouldn't have been so confident.
Zhao Hai was a veteran from the era of King Zhaoxiang. He personally experienced the second large-scale granting of titles. Now that the First Emperor used this example, he immediately puffed up his beard and glared.
He raised his head and said: "Your Majesty said that King Zhaoxiang granted titles to the people. This was for the sake of the war situation and was a matter of benefit to the country. Moreover, the original grant of titles to the people was limited to the people in Qianshou who moved to Anyi and the people in Hanoi.
The number of nobles is actually limited. How can you do something like your majesty granting the world a first-class civil peerage today? I think there is something wrong with this matter, and I would like to ask your majesty to consider it again!"
The First Emperor smiled coldly.
consider?
His eyes swept across the hall. He didn't believe that no one in the entire court was flattering the Holy Will.