Siheyuan: I decide the fate of the world with my medical skills

Despite this, the position of prime minister was very powerful. In addition to assuming the functions of the national administrative organ, it also had the right to assess and appoint county officials throughout the country and the power to punish and sanction them! However, it must be noted that the emperor's close relatives, some core agency officials such as the Nine Ministers, and the Internal History (similar to the current role of the Governor-General of Zhili) were not within the scope of assessment.

From another perspective, apart from these key officials, all government affairs across the country were under the jurisdiction of the prime minister. For this reason, the First Emperor set up the left and right prime ministers to prevent the emergence of a situation where one party dominated.

When the First Emperor was in power, he could easily use this political structure to attack his political enemies while overriding all regulations with his will, relying on the prestige accumulated from conquering the six kingdoms. Fusu, who succeeded him, was faced with the First Emperor's rules that had been in place for many years. It should be noted that the so-called "ancestral system" of the Qin Empire, although not as sacred and inviolable as it was in later generations, actually violated the will of the previous kings to a certain extent since Shang Yang's reforms, in order to adapt to the needs of the times.

What Fusu was thinking about was that since the current situation in the court was like stagnant water, with connections running in all directions and entangled with each other - could he make a decision that challenged the ancestral rules and opened up a new situation?

For the First Emperor, the system he designed was to last for thousands of years, not just two or three generations. It was a model of entrusted management, where the emperor entrusted the power of the state to his ministers, and government affairs were jointly managed by the prime minister and the three dukes and nine ministers. The overconfident fat man believed that since the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, no one could surpass their historical achievements, so the system he created would be perfect and suitable for thousands of years.

Therefore, he firmly believed that the policies formulated would be flawless, would be applicable for countless times, and would always guide future generations on how to move forward.

For Fusu, the real obstacles were not only the senior government officials represented by the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, but their powerful hands in policy making.

Since we are shackled by the political structure of the Qin Emperor's era, why not learn from Emperor Wu's wisdom and try to get rid of the current system of three dukes and nine ministers!

Driven by this, Fusu took a piece of bamboo slips from the side and began to draft an edict on adjusting the positions of officials:

The organizational model of the Secretariat was adjusted, with the guidance, reception and ceremonial activities of the inner palace being led by eunuchs; the powers of the Shangyi Bureau and the Shangxi Bureau were reorganized so that they could directly discuss political affairs, rather than just serving as document drafting agencies.

After writing down a series of edicts, Fusu prepared several more bamboo slips and continued writing:

Appoint Li Cheng, the assistant minister, as the minister of state, a rank equivalent to eight hundred taels of silver;

Xiao He of Hongwen Pavilion was appointed as the right deputy general of the Shangshu, and his salary was calculated at 500 degrees.

Appoint Li Shiqi, a doctor, as the left deputy general of the Shangshu, with the same rank as Xiao He, and each of them was paid 500 taels of silver coins;

Ordered Xiao He of Hongwen Pavilion to be the right lord of the Shangshu, with a rank equivalent to five hundred taels of silver coins;

Zhou Chang was appointed as the Left Lord of the Shangshu, and his rank was also 500 taels of silver coins;

Appoint soldier Chen Ying as the commander of the inner court, with a rank of eight hundred taels of silver coins;

Zhou Ke was appointed as the Right Prime Minister of the Imperial Household, and he enjoyed the same treatment of 500 taels of silver coins;

The soldier Chen Ping was also arranged to be the internal official Zuo Cheng, and all the characters with the same treatment were entitled to 500 taels of silver coins.

In order to strengthen the functions of the eunuch department, Taizhong Daifu Shusun Tongyong was given the ability to enter and exit the imperial capital with a waist badge and was granted special authority to reflect his trust and support for the emperor.

Afterwards, several soldiers who were familiar with official affairs were selected from the Shiguan to serve as assistants to the Shangshu and eunuchs. Although their positions were relatively low, with a salary of less than 800 taels, they were all responsible for assisting the emperor in the palace, so they did not need to go through the appointment process of the Prime Minister's Office.

After completing this series of decrees, he blew away the remaining wet marks on the paper with his mouth, and looked at the densely packed names below, his heart filled with pride.

This kind of secretarial team is unique in ancient and modern times, right? Emperor Wu of Han used similar means to gradually eliminate the influence of the ministers of the old dynasty, turning them from policy creators into professional politicians who only knew how to obey and did not ask for reasons. The strategy of power division and functional distinction was like the prototype of the cabinet system and the Grand Council, which gave decision-making power while maintaining execution effectiveness.

This manipulation of the bureaucratic structure and the division of powers and responsibilities is not only groundbreaking in history, but also provides a new mode of thinking for future generations in power management: finding the best possible solution between maintaining stability and promoting reform, while maintaining a delicate balance of power. The practical value of this historical reference in real politics cannot be underestimated, especially in the pursuit of political modernization and institutional reform. Drawing on the wisdom of the ancients to achieve a more fair and efficient political mechanism is an indispensable part.

The inner court is responsible for decision-making, while the external administrative agencies are responsible for implementing policies. If the external officials oppose a decision, in theory, they can even choose to resign and go home to help their children raise more children. In the situation a few years ago, Ying Zheng might not have the courage and influence to do such a move. However, after the great success of the Longxi Campaign and the feat of opening up thousands of miles, his confidence and power reached an unprecedented height!

Fusu temporarily kept the Donghu envoys in the Libin Palace, saying that it was to make friends with the neighboring country, but in fact he was trying to obtain internal dynamic information about the Xiongnu and its surrounding tribes from them; at the same time, he also proposed the idea of ​​opening a market on the northern border to exchange Donghu-style goods.

Because Fusu was kind and could not bear to see others in trouble, he planned to exchange the salt produced in the Hedong area for ginseng, seal skins, cattle, horses and other local specialties that the Donghu did not need.

"Your Majesty, is this the newly built colored glaze manufacturing factory?" Meng Yi looked around curiously.

"To be exact, it's Liulichang," Fusu corrected, "but there's nothing wrong with calling it a Liuli Manufacturing Factory."

It is said that China mastered the technology of unlocking colored glaze as early as the Shang Dynasty, and the colored glaze produced at that time was actually a by-product of the bronze forging process.

Therefore, when deciding to prepare sacrificial vessels for the First Emperor's mausoleum, Fusu ignored the objections of the minor official Gongzi Yan and used many precious glass items in the palace to replace some sacrificial vessels that were originally planned to be made of bronze.

If he had not been worried about the large scale of the project, he might even have considered using concrete to replace the copper materials used in some parts of the imperial tomb. The purpose might have been just to ensure that there were enough gold and silver reserves as the basis of the monetary system.

As for colored glaze, its production process is relatively simple. First, a container that can withstand high temperatures (i.e. a furnace made of clay) is needed, which is not difficult in an era famous for its bronze manufacturing industry.

The raw materials mainly include three things: sand (quartz), limestone, and soda ash. These materials can be widely found in the Guanzhong area, so only collection and basic processing are required.

The trickiest part was getting soda ash—considering the coming winter and the fact that the natural pure sodium carbonate produced in the Shangjun Salt Lake was still on the way. Therefore, in order to get soda ash, Fusu had to use a more clumsy method: extracting it from the ashes of firewood.

Thanks to the prosperity of the region and the large number of residents at that time, people usually used firewood as the main cooking material. As a result, the amount of charcoal ash was almost endless.

Once they learned that the court would spend money to recycle the charcoal ash, all the citizens in the Neishi area were almost crazy! The resulting surge in public support allowed Fusu to collect enough soda ash as raw material for glass production.

When Fusu and Meng Yi arrived at the factory, the colored glaze products were about to be successfully fired. Meng Yi stared at a busy craftsman carrying a large amount of coarse salt in his hands, and turned back to ask Fusu: "My lord, do you need to use salt to make colored glaze?"

After thinking for a while, he found that he couldn't explain the reason in a short explanation, so he took Meng Yi forward and explained while observing. "After the glass is out of the furnace, the residual gas inside will cause it to be insufficient in hardness, which means it is not strong and easy to break."

“You’ll understand the process in this display of the finished product,” he added, pointing to the combustion chamber.

Hearing this, Meng Yi felt confused. All he cared about was seeing this strange building in front of him, and noticing that several craftsmen took turns pulling the manual air blower, and a large amount of warm current rolled in. He couldn't help but think of a proverb: "A fire on a windy day is only hot at one end and cold at the other end..."

Not long after, an engineer asked to open the furnace cover, and immediately a large amount of heat energy exploded, and the furnace was filled with boiling sticky substances.

"Protect His Majesty!" Meng Yi shouted in a deep voice and blocked Fusu with his body.

Several middle-level warriors following closely behind also stepped forward. They stood shoulder to shoulder to form a human barrier, completely covering the stove and Fusu.

Seeing this, Fusu couldn't help but smile. He patted Meng Yi gently and said, "Don't worry, everything is fine."

The engineer stepped forward in a panic to ask for blame. Fusu waved his hand and said, "It's my position that is too close. It has nothing to do with you! Go on."

"Okay..." The engineer bowed deeply. His face was red, as if it was caused by the heat or other factors. He ordered in a weak and trembling voice: "Immediately withdraw the heat source and pour a certain amount of solution into the mold to prevent overheating and burning the material."

About half of the glass solution was poured into the cooling channel to cool down. Next, a craftsman took out a mold - the surface of the iron mold was coated with a layer of tung oil to prevent the glass from sticking to the mold.

Another craftsman pours an appropriate amount of glass solution into the mold, and then uses a molding press to press the liquid glass into a solid shape.

The glass solidifies very quickly, taking only a few seconds to complete, forming a square glass plate about four feet long and wide.

"Slightly. It seems that it is because there are trace amounts of iron in it. How should this be dealt with... Oh, yes, manganese oxide or something may be needed. Although it is troublesome, I believe it can be solved." Fusu stroked his beard gently. Since he did not want to use these batches of glass to make other objects such as mirrors for the time being.

"Your Majesty, I have another question." Meng Yi asked after bowing again.

"You ask." Fusu nodded slightly.

"I see that these transparent products are so beautiful. I don't understand why they have to be made into thin sheets?" If Meng Yi was not the only monarch of the empire, Fusu really wanted to severely criticize this unreasonable behavior.

Fusu smiled again, and without any explanation, someone presented him with the carved glass that had been prepared earlier.