ebookland Chapter 175 Ying Wuyou's Promotion to Nobility
Chapter 175 Ying Wuyou's Promotion to Nobility
The Zhangtai Hall was solemn and dignified. King Qin sat upright on his throne, his gaze fixed intently on the assembled officials below. He leaned forward slightly and asked, "Prime Minister, with the Kings of Qi, Chu, and Wei coming to our Great Qin, have all the necessary arrangements for their reception been made?"
Prime Minister Wang Wan, who was standing below the steps, quickly stepped forward and respectfully replied, "Your Majesty, everything is ready."
The King of Qin nodded in satisfaction, then asked, "How much longer will it take for the Kings of Qi, Chu, and Wei to arrive in Xianyang?"
After a moment's thought, Wang Wan replied, "According to the information I have, the King of Wei is expected to arrive tomorrow; the King of Chu will need about two more days; and the King of Qi will need about three days to arrive."
After listening, the King of Qin nodded again to indicate his approval, and instructed, "That's very good, but we still need to pay close attention to the follow-up matters and make sure there are no mistakes."
Wang Wan quickly replied, "Your subject will obey Your Majesty's command!"
After a brief pause, the King of Qin smiled and continued, "Recently, Jiayang has made another innovation and invented a novel item. My dear ministers, why don't you come and take a look?" With that, the King of Qin waved his hand gently behind him.
Fu De, who had been attending to him, understood immediately and quickly presented an exquisite object. The King of Qin took the object, showed it to everyone, and introduced it, saying, "This is an abacus, used for calculating accounts. It is easy to operate and extremely fast." Then, Fu De carefully placed the abacus before Prime Minister Wang Wan.
Wang Wan, full of curiosity, reached out and took the abacus, examining it closely. However, after fiddling with it for a few moments, he still had no idea how to use it. So he handed the abacus to Feng Quji beside him. Feng Quji also looked puzzled, completely baffled by this new gadget.
Upon seeing this, the King of Qin couldn't help but laugh out loud. He then personally began to explain in detail the specific uses and wonders of the abacus to several ministers. After listening, the ministers in the court all showed surprise and delight.
Li Si exclaimed in amazement, "This abacus may be a small object, but it can calculate all the numbers in the world. It is truly amazing! Princess Jiayang is indeed a rare genius!"
Wang Wan, standing nearby, quickly chimed in, "Li Tingwei is absolutely right! Princess Jiayang is not only intelligent but also incredibly skillful, able to create such a practical abacus. With it, handling all sorts of affairs in Qin will be so much easier from now on!"
At this moment, the King of Qin glanced at the two men before him and slowly said, "After careful consideration, I have decided to further elevate Jia Yang's rank to Zuo Geng. I wonder if any of you have any different opinions or objections to this?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Wan pondered for a moment, then stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, “Your Majesty is wise. This abacus may seem simple in construction, but it is actually a great tool that benefits the country and its people! In my humble opinion, merely raising Princess Jiayang’s title to the Left is far from enough; it would be more appropriate to raise it directly to the Middle.”
After hearing Wang Wan's words, Li Si turned to look at him, smiled slightly, and said, "I also agree with the Prime Minister's point of view and am willing to second this proposal."
When the other ministers in the hall saw that the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice had both expressed such views, they all shouted in unison, "We second that proposal!" In an instant, the atmosphere in the entire court was heated, and the voices of the crowd merged into a torrent.
The King of Qin nodded in satisfaction and said with a smile, "Since all the ministers agree that Princess Jiayang should be granted the title of Zhonggeng, then let us follow the Prime Minister's suggestion."
Seeing the King of Qin's pleased mood, everyone present understood perfectly well that this was exactly the result the King had hoped for. Perhaps the King had long intended to elevate Princess Jiayang's rank, but worried that doing so too quickly would cause discontent and criticism among the court officials. Now, with this opportunity, he could achieve his goal in a seemingly natural and efficient manner—a win-win situation.
Everyone couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "Indeed, the Prime Minister is the one who best understands the King's thoughts!" They all turned their gazes to Wang Wan, their faces filled with envy. The King of Qin sat upright on his high throne and slowly said, "If there are no other important matters, let's adjourn the court for today. My beloved ministers Wang Wan, Li Si, Feng Quji, Wei Liao, and Meng Yi, please remain for now."
As soon as he finished speaking, all the ministers shouted in unison, "We take our leave." Then, they left Zhangtai Hall in an orderly manner, leaving only the few who had been called out to look at each other.
After everyone else in the hall had left, the King of Qin said slowly, "I have kept you here because there is something I need to discuss with you all."
At this moment, Wang Wan hurriedly stepped forward, cupped his hands in a respectful bow, and earnestly declared, "Your Majesty, rest assured, we will do our utmost to relieve Your Majesty's worries and troubles."
The King of Qin nodded slightly, looked at Wang Wan with a hint of approval in his eyes, and then said, "I intend to establish an academy. I wonder what your opinions are on this?"
Upon hearing this, everyone present was taken aback. After a moment, Feng Quji broke the silence first, clasped his hands in a salute, and said, "Your Majesty, this is absolutely unacceptable! If the academy is truly established, then the foundation of our Great Qin's rule of law will be greatly impacted."
Wei Liao then spoke up, "Your Majesty, the knowledge taught in the academy is mostly the teachings of Confucius and Mencius. However, our Great Qin has always ruled by law, and the Qin laws and regulations are widely publicized throughout the Qin region every so often. Even without schools, the people of Qin are very familiar with the Qin laws and regulations!"
At this moment, Li Si cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, this humble subject truly does not know what kind of knowledge this academy intends to teach?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Wei Liao and Feng Quji both looked at Li Si with surprise, thinking to themselves: What this academy can teach is naturally the mainstream Confucian and Mencian doctrines, so could there be anything else?
The King of Qin said slowly, "My dear ministers, you must already know that before long, our Great Qin will join hands with the states of Qi, Chu, and Wei to build an economic zone. At that time, our Great Qin will certainly face a shortage of talent in all industries."
Wang Wan nodded thoughtfully and replied, "Could it be that Your Majesty intends to establish an academy that focuses on the transmission of skills?" The King of Qin smiled and nodded slightly, indicating his approval.
Feng Quji frowned, saying with concern, "Since ancient times, masters have meticulously taught their apprentices, and apprentices have been responsible for supporting their masters. This is how skills can be passed down from generation to generation. However, if we openly ask everyone to learn the unique skills passed down from generation to generation, I'm afraid it will be very difficult to achieve!"
Wang Wan immediately chimed in, "That's right. We've always revered our masters as fathers. Even though the Mo family's mechanical arts have split into three branches, they are still extremely strict when accepting disciples. I've never heard of anyone so easily accepting someone as their master and passing on their ancestral skills."
Li Si hurriedly bowed and advised, "Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance and must not be acted rashly. If we rashly establish an academy, it will surely cause discord and dissatisfaction among the various schools of thought, which may be detrimental to our Great Qin."
Meng Yi also looked worried and said, "Your Majesty, I also believe that this move is very inappropriate."