Qin Shi Huang had been aware of the drawbacks of the 'complete prefecture and county system' that Zhao Lang had mentioned over the years. In such a huge empire, he was stationed in Xianyang, the capital, and wanted to control everything in the world. However, he felt that he was unable to do so. There were often 'unexpected happenings' that would leave him with no room to turn things around when the local officials sent the reports to him!
If a few dukedom kings with the same surname were set up in sensitive areas such as the old territories of the six states and the borders, they could indeed deal with emergencies in a timely manner. However, after the implementation of the enfeoffment, how would the Zhou Dynasty deal with the fatal disaster of being divided and annexed by the dukedom?
Qin Shi Huang had worked hard for six generations to destroy the vassals and establish a unified dynasty. Now, he was enfeoffing a bunch of vassals and waiting for Great Qin to be divided and annexed. Was there something wrong with his brain?
Zhao Lang looked at Qin Shi Huang with disdain." Old Zhao, why are you so stubborn?!" The enfeoffment of a few feudal lords was only to deal with the special situation at the beginning of the establishment of the dynasty. After a few years, when the foundation was stable and all the unstable factors were removed, the enfeoffed feudal lords could naturally be removed and a pure county system could be implemented to achieve the goal of long-term stability.”
Qin Shi Huang frowned." It's easy to enfeoffment the princes, but how can it be so easy to remove them? If it was forcefully abolished, even if it could achieve its goal, it would also cause a huge commotion and shake the foundation of the country!”
Back then, the Zhou Dynasty had conferred titles to various dukes. Not long after, some dukes had second thoughts. The royal family would have to spend a lot of effort to deal with them, let alone the abolition of the dukedom kings that Zhao Lang had mentioned.
The little wimp revealed an unfathomable smile." Old Zhao, you ancient people are just running down a dark path. It's not easy to get rid of the dukedom kings, but can't you think of a way? For example, a 'token of gratitude' or something like that would solve the problem in an instant.”
"A token of gratitude? Tell me in detail." Shi Huang's eyes flashed as he asked.
"The Decree of Grace is to issue an imperial edict to the world. After the princes die, their descendants have the right to inherit the property of the country.”The little wimp said with a smile.
The First Emperor raised his eyebrows." You mean…to divide and weaken the power of the dukes?”
The Ancestral Dragon immediately understood the key point of Zhao Lang's words. From ancient times until now, after a vassal king died of illness, the chosen 'prince' would inherit the vassal kingdom. This way, when the vassal kingdom was divided, how much power did it have? In theory, it should still be large after a few generations. However, according to Zhao Lang's words, other than the 'prince,' the other sons also had the right to inherit. This would immediately split the vassal kingdom. After a few generations, The large vassal states were split into a few scattered small forces, and they no longer posed a threat to the royal family.
Zhao Lang nodded approvingly." Old Zhao, you're good. You hit the nail on the head!"”
However, the First Emperor immediately frowned and said,""What if the princes don't obey the Decree of Grace?”
The princes weren't stupid. They knew that the 'Proclamation of Grace' was to weaken their vassal states, so how could they obediently obey it?
Zhao Lang grinned, revealing his pearly white teeth." What's the use if they don't obey? What do you think the heirs of the princes would do in order to gain wealth and glory?”
Shi Huang's dragon eyes lit up.
Wang Jian, who was following behind from a distance, even involuntarily shuddered! He could completely imagine that once the Proclamation of Grace was issued, no matter how the princes opposed it, their sons would definitely support this decree for their own selfish reasons! At that time, it was even possible for father and son to kill each other!
Wang Jian looked at the little wimp's figure as if he was looking at a little devil. The Badge of Grace was such a ruthless move, and this little fellow was actually able to think of it. How many more terrifying thoughts were in that little head of his?
Actually, Zhao Lang was not the one who came up with this idea. It was clearly this fellow who had plagiarized the 'Decree of Grace' from the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's Zhufuyan.
When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty first ascended the throne, the feudal lords were divided and had great power. If they were directly eliminated, the royal family would probably be wiped out. However, when the 'Proclamation of Grace' was issued, although the feudal lords tried their best to resist, they were soon restrained by their sons and soon fell apart. Thus, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's central rule reached an unprecedented level of strength.
The Emperor's dragon eyes flashed with a bright light. He had never thought that Zhao Lang would come up with such a brilliant plan. With his many years of experience, he could use this plan in Great Qin! At that time, he would no longer have to fear the enfeoffment system!
Then, he could confer a few dukedom kings in the old lands of the six dynasties and the border fortresses. The border problem that had troubled him for many years could be perfectly resolved!
The more Shi Huang looked at the little wimp, the more he liked him. This little fellow was simply my lucky star!
In the next moment, an idea flashed through Shi Huang's mind, and he thought of something else. He couldn't help but ask," Little fellow, what do you think of the scholarly faction?”
The Confucians were another sore spot for the First Emperor. He did not have any good feelings towards these people who only knew how to talk big. His eldest son, Fu Su, was completely on the side of Chunyu Yue and the Confucians. Because of the burning of books and burying the Confucians, the father and son were at loggerheads. In a fit of anger, the First Emperor sent Fu Su to Shangjun to guard the Great Wall with Meng Tian!
The Ancestral Dragon wanted to see what the mischievous Zhao Lang would think of this bunch of people from the scholarly faction who gave him a headache.
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