In October of the 30th year of the First Emperor of Qin, Xianyang, the capital of Qin, was decorated with lanterns and colorful lights to celebrate the New Year.
In just half a month, the good news from Hexi and Haidong came back to Xianyang one after another, making the Qin people in the city rejoice. When the first emperor of Qin Palace received these two good news, he even stroked his beard and laughed.
"Wang Li is a good boy. He is worthy of being Wang Jian's grandson. He did not disappoint me."
"Li Xin is also very good. He knew his shame and then became brave. He first restored Liaodong, defeated Donghu, and now he has destroyed North Korea and killed Canghai. This makes me feel very relieved."
"The west of the river and the east of the sea are all our land of the Qin Dynasty."
Looking at the map of the world in front of the case, the First Emperor's eyes lit up.
He personally wrote and included the two newly conquered lands into the territory of Qin.
"New counties should be established in the land west of Hexi."
The First Emperor looked at the terrain west of Hexi and the land further west known as the Western Regions.
He pondered for a while and said: "The west of the river is like my arm of the Qin Dynasty, stretching out to the land of Kunlun. Let's call it Zhangye, to take the arm of Zhang State and connect the Western Regions."
"The name Zhangye given by Your Majesty shows that our country, the Qin Dynasty, wants to raise its arms and seize the mighty and domineering power of the Western Land. How wonderful!"
Zhao Gao immediately flattered him.
The first emperor's mouth curled up slightly, and he turned to look at the east side of the map.
The land of Haidong has now been explored by Li Xin. Among the success reports he submitted to Xianyang, there was a simplified topographic map drawn by Qin officials in the army.
This is a long and narrow peninsula. Except for Jishi Korea, a country established by the survivors of the Yin Shang Dynasty, the island is full of indigenous barbarians. Now they have all been conquered by the Qin army.
The peninsula is not rich in products and the land is not fertile. According to Li Xin, most of the areas are mountains and hills, and there is not much development value.
"Although it is of little use, since it is defeated, it is my territory."
The First Emperor looked at the outline of the Haidong Peninsula. The land of Sanhan was not part of the Qin army's original plan, but Li Xin had defeated them all, so it was naturally impossible for him to spit out the meat he got.
"The land of the former Korea was established as Haidong County, which governed the barbarians in the north."
"The land of the original Three Hans is now the easternmost land of our Great Qin. Then we take the meaning of the sunrise rays, which shine here first, and set it as Rizhao County."
Zhangye, Haidong, Rizhao.
In the blink of an eye, the First Emperor added three counties to the territory of Qin.
Zhao Gao boasted: "Your Majesty has unified all the Xia, and now he has conquered the barbarians and built lands outside the territory. Today, within Liuhe, the emperor's land extends from the quicksand in the west to Beihu in the south, with sunshine in the east and Yinshan Mountain in the north."
"This is truly a great achievement that has never been seen in ancient times. I would like to ask Your Majesty to carve stones in various places in order to praise Your Majesty's achievements."
Engraving stone to praise merit!
Zhao Gao's proposal just touched the heart of the First Emperor.
He nodded and said: "In that case, I sent an order to Wang Li and Li Xin to carve stones for me in Zhangye when the sun shines on the day of his return to praise Qin's achievements. The governor of Jiuyuan County also carved stones on Yinshan Mountain. As for the south."
Speaking of this, the First Emperor's eyes narrowed.
He stared at the map.
There is a vast land in the south of Changsha County and Qianzhong County.
…
"Zhangye and Haidong counties are good, but what is the situation like in Rizhao?"
When the First Emperor's edict to establish new counties was issued, Zhao Tuo was a little confused.
Isn't Rizhao from Shandong? How come it ended up on the Korean Peninsula?
But after thinking about it, Zhao Tuo became happy again.
The emperor personally named and established the county, which has the claim of "since ancient times".
With the name of Rizhao in front of it, the Korean Peninsula has been marked as the Great Qin, which is a good thing for future generations.
"It seems that General Li will leave some soldiers to guard the peninsula and wait for the officials to be assigned by the court. He himself should lead the army back to Xianyang to present prisoners to the emperor. Wait until the second half of the year to meet him."
Zhao Tuo smiled. He and Li Xin had not seen each other for almost four years since they separated on the road during the Battle of Qi. Naturally, he missed them.
He hoped that after Li Xin's successive victories, he could truly relieve his knot and no longer be bothered by the defeat of Chu.
As the emperor's edict to establish counties and command the two armies was issued, Zhao Tuo's mind was taken back from the two battlefields and his eyes returned to the court.
It is now October of the 30th year of Qin Shihuang. The imperial court has completed last year's accounting work, promoted appointments and dismissed people based on the assessment results of various official offices, and started a new round of personnel changes.
At the New Year's dynasty meeting, the First Emperor announced an appointment concerning the Nine Ministers.
The emperor announced that he would be appointed as the Shaofu on the grounds that the martial arts prince Zhao Tuo had mastered the method of public transport and had produced a number of artifacts that were beneficial to the country.
No one raised any objection to the appointment of Marquis Wugong as the Shaofu again.
Fertilizer, plow, papermaking, three treasures of cavalry, telescope, water hammer...
Zhao Tuo entered the Qin Dynasty for ten years and created these things that greatly improved the national power of the Qin State. His achievements were outstanding and he could be called the most capable one since the establishment of the Shaofu. Everyone expressed their admiration.
Some people even praised and criticized: "I think in the world, only martial arts princes are worthy of the position of Shaofu. Others occupy this position. In a year, they can't even invent anything useful. They are simply occupied by mediocrity."
A high position is a waste of the country’s money and food.”
The former Shaofu Bai Gan was Zhao Tuo's subordinate when he served in the Shaofu. He served as the Shaofu Gongcheng. Because he followed Zhao Tuo in making inventions, he earned a lot of credit. In addition, he was the Bai family of Xi County.
Born into a well-known family.
After Zhao Tuo led his troops on the expedition, the First Emperor promoted him to Shaofu and asked Bai Gan to continue to take charge of several projects left by Zhao Tuo.
Bai Gan is actually a capable official, and he was born as a Gongcheng in the Shaofu, so he is familiar with the situation in the Shaofu.
During his tenure, he implemented several projects left by Zhao Tuo very well, and he was considered a good official.
But unfortunately, when everyone compared him with the martial arts lord, he immediately seemed very incompetent and mediocre.
If you can't invent good things, do you still deserve to be a young man?
Under the instigation of Zhao Tuo, the First Emperor was very dissatisfied with Bai Gan who could not invent and create.
A young man who cannot invent is not a good young man.
When he appointed Zhao Tuo as the new Shaofu, he conveniently made Bai Gan the governor of a county.
But this county is a bit far away. It is the newly established Rizhao County on the Haidong Peninsula.
I was transferred to be the governor of Rizhao County, and I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to keep company with the local Sanhan barbarians.
Such an appointment made Zhao Tuo a little stunned.
If he remembered correctly, when he first became the Shaofu, the then former Shaofu was transferred to Kuaiji County by the emperor to serve as the county guard.
"This position is poisonous. If you don't do well, you will have to keep company with the barbarians."
Zhao Tuo muttered.
At the same time, he was also very happy that the position of Shaofu was more to his liking than that of Prime Minister.
"It's time for another big fight!"
Zhao Tuo's eyes were bright. He thought of the First Emperor calling him to the palace after his appointment and dismissal at the court meeting, and encouraged him: "Work hard, I'm waiting for you to give me a surprise."
A bold idea suddenly came to Zhao Tuo's mind.
"Maybe you can try researching gunpowder."
"Watch me gather the strength of the entire Qin Dynasty to create a big thing for him!"