Chapter 40: The Gathering of Ministers

  Actually, Hu Hai did not want to take all the problems that Qin had accumulated over a long period of time on himself from the heart, but the contradictions within the people are also present in ancient China, even in the era when the economy, culture and material life were highly developed in later generations.

  The only difference lies in the way of dealing with contradictions and the vision and breadth of mind of politicians. The current Qin, although ambitious and pioneering, has a series of policies that are unprecedented in ancient China, but they are still limited by the constraints of their time.

  If Emperor Qin Shi Huang were alive in a later era rather than ancient China, he would certainly be a great man of his time. Since it cannot be attributed to Qin Shi Huang himself, then Hu Hai can only blame himself.

  Meng Tian heard Hu Hai's series of rhetorical questions and looked at the map, speechless.

  "However, Your Majesty..."

  "I know you think these are just my speculations, and they may not necessarily come true. But what I can tell you is that the Xiongnu will definitely march south to attack our Great Qin, not to mention the Xiongnu seeing the internal strife of our Great Qin taking the initiative to send troops, let alone those six nations who want to destroy our Great Qin, would they ignore such strong reinforcements from the Xiongnu?"

  At least Huhai knew this point, at the end of Qin Dynasty, Xiongnu took advantage of the internal chaos of the Qin Dynasty and sent troops to retake the fertile land of the Yellow River valley, until Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty recaptured it.

  When Meng Tian heard Hu Hai's affirmative words, he fell silent.

  He fell silent, not just because there was really nothing more to say at this point, but also because Hu Hai's analysis of the overall situation today made him truly realize for the first time the changes in Hu Hai now. Not to mention his aura, just this gaze alone is probably no less than that of the First Emperor.

  Zhang Han, of course, had already seen through Huhai's tactics and was deeply disillusioned with him. So when he heard Huhai say things that he had never said before in front of Li Si and others, he could only look on with a mixture of respect and shock.

  However, Meng Yi was truly shocked. As a bystander and also the top civil servant of Qin, Meng Yi could think more comprehensively about Hu Hai's analysis from all aspects of Qin, not just militarily, so his feelings were even deeper. Similarly, his shock and excitement surpassed that of Meng Tian.

  "My dear, do you still think that with our Great Qin's hundred thousand troops, we can bring peace to the world?"

  Hu Hai saw Meng Tian staring blankly at the map and couldn't help but ask, "You can stun a generation of military gods, brother is also a talent, haha."

  "Your Majesty's vision is far-reaching, but I, your humble minister, am unable to match it."

  Meng Tianxin bowed deeply and sincerely to Hu Hai.

  Hu Hai turned his head to look at Meng Yi, and Meng Yi did not say a word, but simply knelt down on the ground with a very crisp movement.

  "Haha, Cui Niang, have someone go and invite Chancellor Yu and Wei Guo Wei, Feng Jie and a few others to the study to discuss matters. Hmm, wait."

  Hu Hai looked at Zhang Han and said: "Zhang Ai Qing, which other senior ministers are there?" As he spoke, he winked at Zhang Han.

  Zhang Han immediately understood Hu Hai's meaning, that His Majesty did not know how many other ministers were qualified to attend the meeting, and was looking for someone to bail him out.

  "I beg to report to Your Majesty, there are also Grand Judge Yao Jia, Weiwei Yang Rui and others, Zongzheng Ying Teng lao and others, Dianke Dun Ruo and others, Changshi Sima Xin and others, Fengchang Hu Wu Jing and others, Taipu Ma Xing and others who can be invited together."

  After the Qin state destroyed the six states and unified the world, a new official system was implemented. The emperor had supreme power, but the specific implementation of this power was not carried out by the emperor himself, but rather by a complete set of political systems centered on the emperor.

  The central administrative system of the Qin Dynasty was a three-chiefs and nine-ministers system with the Chancellor as its axis.

  The Three Excellencies refer to the Grand Chancellor, the Marshal of State and the Imperial Censor. The term "Three Excellencies" originated from the Zhou dynasty's official system, referring to the Grand Preceptor, the Grand Mentor and the Grand Guardian, who were the three most revered officials in ancient times. These titles of Grand Preceptor, Grand Mentor and Grand Guardian were reused in various dynasties after Qin.

  During the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, the Three Dukes did not actually exist, but only the title of the Three Dukes was retained. Most of them were a kind of respectful term for the powerful ministers who held high positions.

  The Qin dynasty's official system clearly established the three dukes, namely the Chancellor, the Grand Commandant and the Imperial Censor, as the central axis of the central government system, which is fundamentally different from the virtual affairs of the Three Dukes of the Zhou Dynasty, such as "coordinating yin and yang".

  The three dukes of the Qin Empire, each representing a system. The comprehensive system, led by the Chancellor, is in charge of national affairs and has two Chancellors, also known as Prime Ministers, with subordinate officials. Lü Buwei and Wang Ji were both Chancellors of Qin, while the current Chancellors under Hu Hai are Li Si on the left and Feng Quji on the right, with the left being more prestigious in Qin.

  The military and political system headed by the Grand Commandant, with the establishment of the General's Office to oversee military affairs, was expanded from the original Qin State Commandery. From the time of Qin Shi Huang to Hu Hai today, there has only been one Grand Commandant in the Great Qin Empire, Wang Ba. After Wang Ba's death, the position of Grand Commandant has remained vacant.

  The supervisory system headed by the Imperial Censor-in-Chief, which supervised all officials and prefectures throughout the country, was established on the basis of the original Qin dynasty's Imperial Censorate and the National Regularity Office. Feng Jie was the Imperial Censor-in-Chief during Hu Hai's time, and he had originally been unable to persuade Hu Hai together with his father, Right Chancellor Feng Quji, and in the end, humiliated, took his own life.

  Below the Three Dukes are the Nine Ministers. The Nine Ministers, respectively in charge of nine major areas of governance. The reason for placing the Nine Ministers below the Three Dukes is to clarify the hierarchical power, with the Nine Ministers governing under the leadership of the Three Dukes (mainly the Chancellor) to prevent multiple sources of policy.

  Among the nine ministers, five ministers belonged to the imperial system and four ministers belonged to the three dukes' system.

  The four senior officials under the Three Dukes are: Tingwei (law enforcement agency, with three offices of Left Monitor, Right Monitor and Prison Governor, focusing on receiving orders from the Grand Master's Office), Minister of Grain and Internal Affairs (established by expanding the original Da Tianling Office, in charge of economic and people's livelihood affairs, under the Chancellor system), Guest Administrator (established by merging and expanding the original Xingren Office and Bangzhong Office, in charge of foreign affairs and border ethnic minority affairs, under the Chancellor's Office), and Junior Guardian (established by merging and expanding the original Guanshi, Bangsiliu and other offices, in charge of national taxation, with six junior officials, under the Chancellor's Office).

  The five cabinet members directly under the emperor's leadership are: Weiwei (in charge of palace security), Langzhongling (in charge of the emperor's guard army), Taipu (in charge of palace carriages and horses), Fengchang (in charge of imperial ancestral temple rituals), Zongzheng (in charge of internal affairs of the imperial family).

  Outside of the nine ministers, the empire also had several loose official institutions, some belonging to the imperial system and others to the three public systems.

  The main central scattered official institutions are: Guest Qing (virtual position of talented scholars, can be heard in national affairs, mostly for trial use, appointed by the imperial system, and responsible to the Chancellor system), Doctor's Academy (with doctoral attendants as the main officials, setting up more than 70 doctors, in charge of teaching rituals and being familiar with ancient and modern times, consulting national policies, appointed by the imperial system, and mainly affiliated with the imperial system), Zhongwei (in charge of the capital's security, setting up two lieutenants, governing the three offices of Xiagou, Sima, and Qianren, affiliated with the Taishou system), Neishi (in charge of the capital's government affairs, listed as central officials, affiliated with the Chancellor system).

  These are the central administrative systems of the Qin Empire, and the composition of the first-level county officials and the lowest level of township officials will be introduced later in this article.

  Actually, among the people mentioned by Zhang Han, Sima Xin and Zhang Han himself had both betrayed the Qin Dynasty in the original history and surrendered to Xiang Yu. The relationship between Sima Xin and Zhang Han was very close, and they assisted each other in fighting against the anti-Qin forces at the end of the Qin Dynasty.

  Zhang Han was defeated by Xiang Yu at the Battle of Julu and again at the Battle of Canpu, after which he surrendered. He followed Xiang Yu into Guanzhong and was enfeoffed as King of Yong. During the Chu-Han Contention, Zhang Han fought several battles against Liu Bang's forces in August 206 BC but was defeated and retreated to Feiqiu (present-day Xingping, Shaanxi). In June 205 BC, his city fell and he killed himself.

  After the Battle of Xin'an, Sima Xin followed Zhang Han in surrendering to Xiang Yu and was appointed as the King of Sai. He ruled over the region from Xianyang eastward to the Yellow River, with his capital at Lanyang; later he was defeated by the Han army at Chenggao and committed suicide together with Cao Jiu on the banks of the Si River.

  But since Huhai has already changed into a different person, history has undergone changes, and the fate of each person will also be different.

  Hu Hai was dizzy from the long string of titles and names by Zhang Han, and hastily said: "Let Zhang Ai go and pass on the edict to have these Ai also come together." He actually had no idea what each of these official titles did, the only one that made some sense was the Zong Zheng.

  "Your Majesty..." Zhang Han had just taken a few steps when he suddenly seemed to think of something, turned around and saluted hesitantly.

  "What?"

  "Your Majesty, many senior officials have gathered for discussion. Your study is too cramped. May we request that you move to the Administrative Hall?"

  "Oh. Well, let's take you gentlemen directly to the council hall then."

  Hu Hai also thought that it was evening now, but he didn't know if these high-ranking officials were asleep or not. He didn't know what time it was at the moment, only knowing that zi hour was late at night and wu hour was noon.

  These people must have had a hard time sleeping after coming back and messing around, since they can't sleep well anyway, might as well come out and chat with me.

  Then Hu Hai continued to fool around with Meng Tian and Meng Yi, although he didn't have much actual experience, but talking on paper and how to govern was easy for Hu Hai from modern times, the two military god brothers were stunned.

  Until the empress came in to report that all the senior officials had arrived, the Marquis of Rang and his brother were rescued from the continuous shock of Hu Hai. However, at this time, the Marquis of Rang and his brother were already respectful of the young Emperor as if he were a god.

  Hu Hai raised his teacup and took a big gulp to moisten his throat, which had been smoking from speaking. He looked at the Meng brothers, who were still in a state of excitement, and said with a tone of reluctance: "My dear princes, since the prime minister and others have all arrived, let's stop here for today. Next time I'll continue to talk to you about this broken assault tactic."

  "Your Majesty..."

  Meng Tian hastily said, wanting to let Hu Hai continue speaking. Meng Yi was fine, but as the god of war, Meng Tian had only spoken half of his words on breaking through the siege when he was interrupted, which was heart-wrenching. However, just as he opened his mouth, he thought that he couldn't let many important ministers wait there because of himself.

  "Meng Ai Qing, after we meet with the Prime Minister and others, how shall we proceed?" Hu Hai smiled and said, unexpectedly Meng Tian also has a gossiping heart. However, as the God of War, he is obsessed with a brand new combat method, which is to be expected.

  "Thank you, Your Majesty!" Meng Tian said gratefully.

  When Hu Hai and the Meng brothers walked into the council hall, the high-ranking officials of the Qin Empire who were in the midst of a heated discussion immediately stopped talking and prostrated themselves on the ground.

  "We humbly welcome Your Majesty!"