Chapter 1226 Yi Xiaochuan: We are from the same hometown

Mid-December.

Han Xin brought good news again, winning nine battles in a row.

Just as the Chu army was losing ground, he used the information provided by the Jinxiu envoy to set up an ambush on the Chu army's retreat route in advance.

Xiang Yu, Fan Zeng, Yi Xiaochuan and other high-ranking officials of the Chu State were all captured in one fell swoop.

Now, these people are on their way to Xianyang.

In the court, all the ministers congratulated him.

Only after destroying the Chu army was the Han Dynasty able to inherit the complete territory of the Qin Dynasty.

The Minister of State Zhou Qingchen took the opportunity to submit a memorial, asking Su Mingzhe to be enthroned as emperor.

The ministers seconded the proposal.

Su Mingzhe declined three times before saying that he was willing to be crowned emperor but not to perform the Fengshan ritual.

Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms in a chaotic era, which is why he was qualified to perform Fengshan.

Su Mingzhe merely "seized" the Qin Dynasty's foundation by trickery and force. If he also took the opportunity to offer sacrifices to the gods, it would be a bit shameless.

After hearing this, the ministers did not continue to advise.

Although the ministers did not advise against the Fengshan ceremony, they began to submit various memorials.

Su Mingzhe took a look and found that these memorials basically called for reforms to the Qin Dynasty's military merit system, official system, laws, etc.

This is not to say that everyone thinks that the Qin system is bad.

After all, no matter how bad the Qin Dynasty's system was, it still unified the six kingdoms.

Therefore, the Qin system is definitely excellent.

The memorials submitted by everyone mainly proposed a certain degree of innovation and supplementation relative to the Qin system.

Faced with the excited ministers, Su Mingzhe thought for a moment, then agreed to their request and promised to discuss the matter.

After more than a month, the ministers continued to argue.

Finally, when Xiang Yu and others were escorted to Xianyang, the general content of the reform was determined.

First, the Han Dynasty implemented a combination of the county system and the feudal system.

For this purpose, Su Mingzhe personally decided on the four titles:

The son of King Su Da of Pei can inherit the title of King of Si Shui County and pass it down from generation to generation.

Han Xin, King of Huai, his son can inherit the title of King of Huaiyin County and pass it on to his descendants.

The son of Yan Feng, Prince of Lu, can inherit the title of Prince of Jiyang and pass it down from generation to generation.

The son of King Lu Gong of Qi can inherit the title of Prince of Donghai County and pass it down from generation to generation.

In addition to the four royal titles, there are three new titles: founding duke, founding marquis, and founding earl. The total number does not exceed thirty-two, and they are all hereditary.

These thirty-six meritorious officials not only inherited the throne without interruption, but also received a county as a fiefdom for their descendants.

Of course.

In order to control these heroes and prevent them from becoming powerful.

They only had ownership of the fiefdom, the right to collect taxes, and the right to command troops.

Powers such as salt and iron, official dispatch, currency issuance, education, and corvee all belonged to the Han Dynasty.

After reforming the system of conferring titles based on military merit, Su Mingzhe also cancelled various titles and benefits for the old officials of the previous dynasty.

Like Zhou Qingchen, the Minister of State, who was a great minister in the Qin Dynasty.

In the Han Dynasty, because he surrendered directly and had no military merit, he could only get a third-rank official position - Pushe.

At Su Mingzhe's suggestion, the official system of the Han Dynasty was changed to a system of three provinces, six ministries and nine ranks.

In the nine-rank official system, the first rank is the highest and the ninth rank is the lowest.

The prime minister of the current dynasty was only of the second rank.

From the first rank he is a prince.

The first rank is the king.

Judging from the grades and treatment of these titles, Su Mingzhe still respects the military merit title system for the time being.

The only pity is that most of the low-level military officers surrendered with their superiors and failed to obtain military merits. After "retiring", they could only go home and become ordinary people. Fortunately, Su Mingzhe also gave these people a decent treatment. As long as they joined the army, no matter how big or small, they would be rewarded with a "gongshi" title.

In addition to reforming the court, Su Mingzhe also began to carry out various reforms in the government and the opposition.

For example, the former Juxianzhuang was changed to Guozijian.

The Imperial College was divided into four levels: the highest Imperial College of Taixue, the county-level Imperial College, the county-level Imperial College, and the lowest Imperial College of township-level primary schools.

The Imperial College's system of entrance examinations and the imperial examination system were both brought up.

……

In all dynasties, the reforms were simplest at the beginning of a new dynasty.

At this time, imperial power was concentrated in the hands of the founding monarch, and the power of the monarch and the power of the ministers were relatively unified.

At this time, whatever the emperor wanted to do, as long as it did not violate common sense or cause public outrage, he could basically accomplish it.

This day.

Su Mingzhe was still discussing some Han laws with the ministers.

Suddenly, a messenger from Jinxiu came to report that General Yi Xiaochuan of the State of Chu had written a letter in blood and insisted on presenting it.

After Su Mingzhe took the blood letter, he saw only four big words written on it: Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Seeing these four words, Su Mingzhe was immediately amused by Yi Xiaochuan's cleverness:
"Although Yi Xiaochuan is also a poor student, his parents are both professors. Under the influence of his parents, he must have discovered that he is a time traveler. But, so what?"

"This guy doesn't think that he can escape from me just because he has the identity of a fellow time traveler, right?"

Su Mingzhe had doubts in his mind. After thinking about it, he went to the imperial prison under the jurisdiction of the Jinxiu envoy and summoned Yi Xiaochuan.

As expected of someone who had taken the elixir of immortality, although Yi Xiaochuan hadn't taken care of his appearance for a month or two, his face did not look haggard at all. Instead, he had a beard and looked much more bold.

"Hehe, fellow countryman!"

Su Mingzhe looked at the smiling Yi Xiaochuan and was full of admiration.

There are really not many people who can remain calm and find joy in suffering while being a death row inmate.

As for this kind of psychological quality, even Su Mingzhe admits that he cannot compare with him.

At this moment, the Jinxiu envoy who brought Yi Xiaochuan into the hall was shocked to see Yi Xiaochuan casually waving and greeting the emperor. He raised the wind and fire stick and smashed it hard towards Yi Xiaochuan's leg:
"Your Majesty!"

"Forget it, all of you retreat!"

Seeing Yi Xiaochuan being hit but trying hard not to kneel, Su Mingzhe admired him even more and said with a smile:
"Yi Xiaochuan, since you are also a time traveler, you should know the outcome of the 'Chu-Han Contest'. Why do you still want to help Xiang Yu fight against the Han Dynasty?"

"When I first crossed over, Brother Yu saved my life..."

Yi Xiaochuan did not hide anything and directly recounted his experience, then shrugged his shoulders and said with a carefree expression:

"Tell me, should I help you or Brother Yu?"

After hearing this, Su Mingzhe simply asked the question he wanted to ask the most:
"Since you want to help Xiang Yu, why don't you try to assassinate me? Even if you don't do it yourself, at least tell Xiang Yu in advance and let him do it!"

After hearing Su Mingzhe's words, Yi Xiaochuan's face showed some struggle. After a long time, he lowered his head and said helplessly:

"I don't want to kill anyone!"

“He’s still a good kid.”

Su Mingzhe curled the corner of his mouth, wanting to ridicule Yi Xiaochuan's crappy saintly heart.

But then he thought of something and couldn't help but curl his lips:
"I forgot to ask you, what year did you travel through time?"

"What about you in 2010?"

“I am…2020.”

Su Mingzhe and Yi Xiaochuan chatted about family matters for a while. After confirming that they were all from the same hometown, the heavy expression on Yi Xiaochuan's face gradually eased, and he put on his playful and cynical look again, and pleaded:

"My fellow countryman, we are all time travelers. Can you please give me and Brother Yu a favor and let us go? I promise that we will never cause any trouble for the big man!"

"no!"

When faced with Yi Xiaochuan's request, Su Mingzhe's face instantly turned cold and he flatly rejected his request.

However, this cold expression did not last for a few seconds, Su Mingzhe immediately smiled and said:

"I definitely can't let you go. But I have a suggestion. If you can get Xiang Yu to surrender, become a vassal of the Han Dynasty, and expand the territory for the Han Dynasty, I'm willing to give you a chance to live!"

(End of this chapter)