Daqin: The beginning of the collapse of the sky, sweeping across the Western Regions

"Sir! In the past, the ancestor of the Qin State, Ying Feizi, was awarded a title for his contribution in raising horses for the King of Zhou. However, because the location of his fiefdom was remote, other countries believed that the Qin State would soon be wiped out by the barbarians of the Western Rong."

"But who would have thought that the Qin State would not be destroyed, and would develop to the present day, and become a behemoth that cannot be underestimated."

"It is not only because of the successive kings of Qin that we have been able to achieve this, but also because of the laws of Shang Yang."

"So I think if we want to govern the Western Regions and the lands we conquer in the future, we should implement Shang Yang's policies."

"Those without military merit cannot be granted a title, and those without a title cannot become officials, laying the foundation for farming and warfare."

"The whole country is based on farming and warfare. Everything, big or small, must give way to the army!"

"Well said!"

As soon as Xiao He finished speaking, he aroused strong support from the military generals.

After all, if farming and warfare were implemented, the status of their generals would be greatly improved. No matter which general heard his proposal, even if he had a grudge against him, he would support him for his own interests.

When Ying Tian heard Xiao He's words, he closed his eyes, tapped the table lightly, and began to ponder.

Xiao He was one of the founding heroes of the Western Han Dynasty. After Liu Bang captured Xianyang, when other generals were grabbing gold, silver and jewelry, Xiao He reported a large number of documents to the Censorate, Xianyang Palace and the Imperial Astronomical Office.

These documents record the history of the Qin Dynasty and a large amount of information, so Xiao He was one of the people who knew the Qin Dynasty best, which is why he proposed a national policy based on farming and warfare.

Indeed, what Xiao He said made a lot of sense. Now that they were in a foreign country, if they wanted to consolidate this new regime, they had to share the benefits with the people.

After all, as the saying goes, if you want the horse to run, you must give it more grass to eat.

Therefore, implementing Shang Yang's method of farming and warfare now is indeed a good choice.

"Anyone else have any other opinions?"

After thinking for a while, Ying Tian slowly opened his eyes and asked.

"Sir! Xiao He and I have different opinions!"

As soon as Ying Tian finished speaking, Bao Zheng stood up and bowed to Ying Tian.

"I think that although the farming and warfare method proposed by Xiao He does sound reasonable, it is not enough to govern the place we are in now."

"We are located in the 36 countries of the Western Regions. These countries are always at odds with each other and wars are constant. The people have suffered from wars for a long time!"

"So I think we should provide farming equipment and grain to the people to restore productivity in the Western Region."

"This will help consolidate our current politics. When the time comes, the horses will be strong and the food and grass will be plentiful! We can recruit new soldiers from the people and then expand our territory! In this way, your great cause will be accomplished!"

At this time, Bao Zheng put forward an idea that was completely different from Xiao He's. When he put forward this idea, it immediately aroused heated discussion among everyone present.

Although Bao Zheng said that the Western Regions had been in constant war for years and it was not suitable to use the method of farming and warfare.

But the most important point is that he was afraid! If the national policy of farming and warfare was set, the power of the generals would become greater and greater, which would in turn affect the royal power.

As a person from the Song Dynasty, Bao Zheng understood this very well.

At that time, Emperor Taizu of Song Dynasty took the military power back into his own hands by drinking wine, and then he set up several military institutions to divide the power in the hands of generals. Later, he implemented the policy of emphasizing civil over military, with the purpose of limiting the power of military generals and preventing them from becoming too powerful.

So this is why Bao Zheng came out so anxiously when Xiao He proposed this idea.

The reason why he didn't mention this just now was because he was afraid that when he was walking at night, he would be put in a sack and beaten severely by those angry generals.

After hearing what he said, Ying Tian also understood the meaning of his words.

At this time, the entire conference hall had been divided into two factions, one faction agreed with Xiao He's point of view, and the other faction agreed with Bao Zheng.

These people had a heated discussion on these two ideas. Because they were too excited, the entire meeting hall became like a vegetable market.

Seeing this scene, Ying Tian's mouth corners slightly curled up.

After all, if there is only one voice around a person, this person will gradually become confused and will only believe in himself, no matter whether he is right or wrong.

But if there are other opinions, then this person will think about whether what he is doing is right and make the right choice.

So Ying Tian didn't mind their quarrels, as long as they didn't cross his bottom line.

While they were discussing, Ying Tian also closed his eyes and thought quietly.

Suddenly, something seemed to flash through Yingtian’s mind, making him remember something, so he slowly opened his eyes.

"Knock knock..."

Ying Tian stretched out his fingers and tapped lightly on the table a few times. Although the tapping sound seemed very small amid the noise of everyone's quarrel, it seemed to have magic and penetrated into everyone's ears.

Everyone who was originally involved in the quarrel stopped and turned their eyes to Ying Tian who was sitting in the main seat.

"Everyone, I think Xiao He's method of farming and warfare is indeed conducive to consolidating our current rule."

When hearing Ying Tian's words, those who supported Xiao He's idea showed joy on their faces, thinking that Ying Tian was going to adopt this as a national policy. However, they had not yet grasped the essence of Chinese culture, and what Ying Tian said next stunned them all.

"But the disadvantages of the farming and warfare method are also very great."

"What's more, Shang Yang's system of twenty ranks of military merit meant that only those without military merit could be granted a rank, and only those without a rank could be an official."

"I would like to ask everyone present here, are the soldiers the only ones who have merit in the country who fight on the battlefield? Don't the ministers who work hard to govern the country have any merit? Don't those who have made contributions in special fields have any merit?"

"To judge based solely on military merit is too narrow-minded."

"And twenty ranks are too many, so I plan to modify the twenty-rank duke system. No matter military or civilian, anyone who has made great contributions will be rewarded!"

After hearing Ying Tian’s words, everyone present widened their eyes and looked at him in disbelief.

Just as Ying Tian said, if the twenty-level duke system is adopted, it will be extremely unfair to those except soldiers. After all, not everyone will go to the battlefield, which means that if you do not go to the battlefield, you will miss the opportunity to be granted a title.

"First-class duke, second-class marquis, third-class earl, fourth-class son, fifth-class baron, sixth-class great minister, seventh-class great minister, eighth-class right official, ninth-class senior official, tenth-class no official, eleventh-class hairpin, twelfth-class official."

"Those who have not made contributions to expanding the country's territory cannot be considered meritorious! Those who have made contributions to the country can all be given titles! Those who have been given titles will be given priority when promotions are made!"

Ying Tian expressed his thoughts word by word.