The war in the southwest has since turned into a siege and suppression war, but Qin did not suffer much influence. Qin itself is very rich. The wealth collected from Qi and Housheng alone can support three such wars without any effort. Moreover, Qin has continuously increased its national strength through various new policies over the years. A brand new empire has not been able to shake the fundamentals in its peak period.

After several generations of struggle, the Qin State, or the Great Qin Empire, came to its peak period. Whether in terms of household registration or grain production and military preparation, the Great Qin State is now at its peak and stands at an unprecedented top. The ministers and officials of the Qin State know about this, and it is precisely because of this that the officials of the Great Qin seem a little arrogant and arrogant.

After all, there was never such a powerful regime in China during the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. This was the first time that a unified centralized empire appeared in China. Zhao Kuo's arrival made this empire countless times stronger than before. Zhao Kuo had been thinking about what his arrival brought to the world over the years. Zhao Kuo always felt that what he had done was not enough and felt that he was insignificant, so he still wanted to do something more and do more.

Over the years, Zhao Kuo's actions have finally created this arrogant Qin that is far beyond the original appearance. Zhao Kuo's behavior seems to combine two completely different empires together. The rigorous and brutal Qin plus the relaxed and rational Han Han, the two empires were forcibly merged together by Zhao Kuo. In terms of local systems, there were both the filial piety and brotherhood system of the Han Dynasty and the stern Qin officials, both the permanent armed forces such as the Han Dynasty's Northern Army, and the border guards did not lose.

A huge empire with equally powerful internal affairs and high inclusion in the interior is gradually taking shape. Zhao Kuo did not think that this had too much to do with him. After all, he was just an old farmer who farmed outside Xianyang.

The war in the southwest was just after dinner among the people of the Qin Dynasty. It was wrong. There was no tea available for drinking now. It should be just a topic of conversation after dinner. Even if this war used hundreds of thousands of people in Chu, it was nothing. Because of Zhao Kuo's existence, even if Li Si intentionally allowed these Chu people to serve the labor service in the southwest for several years, it would not be possible, because he knew that if he did this, Zhao Kuo would definitely raise a crutch to knock on his head.

Therefore, the Qin State's corvee service this time was divided into batches, and it could not delay the farming and sericulture, or paid. Yes, the Qin State provided food and some additional subsidies to the people involved in the corvee service. In this way, the people in the Chu State would not have such great resistance to corvee service. When the King of Chu used corvee service, they were all free. Although such batch-based behavior would make Li Si even busier, he had no other way.

No one in the temple dared to provoke Zhao Kuo. When they formulated the Southwest strategy, Zhang Cang once proposed that the enemies in the southwest could be eliminated by polluting water sources, but they were almost beaten to death by Zhao Kuo... Not to mention whether this would affect the people of Chu around them, even the people in the southwest could not be treated like this... Not only were there enemies, but also many innocent people.

Han Fei had heard Zhang Cang complain that Zhao Kuo was too pedantic many times. He just smiled but did not stop it. Perhaps it was because of this unique pedantic that he was the Ma Fujun that everyone respected.

Today, Zhao Kuo is busy with the Western Regions on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is about this university. Zhao Kuo’s three-step education strategy has been implemented all the time. The primary school responsible for enlightenment, the middle school responsible for training officials, and the universities in academic research institutions. Elementary schools have been basically decided. At the first primary school in Xianyang, many young people have been trained, and these young people have received some basic teachings.

After they completed their studies, the changes in their bodies were huge... In all aspects, they have become the core forces at the grassroots level. They know words, the law, and the mathematics. They are like the contacts between the temple and the local government, breaking the possible monopoly forces in the local area. And if officials do anything illegal or disorderly, these people who have received enlightenment education will not let him go and solve problems through the law.

Zhao Kuo's middle school is even more useful. Although the middle school has only trained the first batch of graduates so that these graduates have gone to various places to serve as officials. It can be said that the middle school will continuously provide the Qin State with fresh blood and let the official machinery run. The university has just built a building. Under the supervision of Li Si, this institution is quite luxurious, almost a brand new city.

The scholars invited by Zhao Kuo from all over the place also gathered here. Under the guidance of Zhao Kuo, they began academic research. Of course, the happiest thing was Lu Buwei. The "Lüshi Chunqiu" summarized by Lu Buwei originally included works by hundreds of schools. Now that hundreds of schools gather, Lu Buwei believes that this is an opportunity to improve his works. He distributed his works and said that whoever can change a word in the book can receive a thousand gold from him.

As the first book written by the official organization, "Lüshi Chunqiu" can be said to have gathered the wisdom of thousands of people. It is very difficult to change it. Even if someone can change it, he probably wouldn't choose to take action due to Lu Buwei's face. Lu Buwei sat among the scholars, raised his head, and looked at them proudly. When he saw the scholars of a hundred schools of thought, he felt proud.

He finally completed a "perfect" book. These scholars had paper and pen around them. If they thought they could modify it, they could start writing at any time. However, everyone was just watching, and no one really made changes. Zhao Kuo sat opposite Lu Buwei. After he looked for a moment, he suddenly looked at Bimo on the side. At this moment, Lu Buwei trembled all over, but he didn't say much. Zhao Kuo looked at Bimo and looked at the books in his hand. Lu Buwei breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked at Zhao Kuo thoughtfully, as if he understood something in his heart.

After a brief discussion, everyone went to work on their own affairs, while Lu Buwei went to his study in the university town with Zhao Kuo. They collected a lot of books here and lent them to others for free to watch. Walking on the road, Lu Buwei suddenly asked, "I heard that Gan Luo has been staying in your mansion recently?" Zhao Kuo nodded and said, "I want him to go on a mission outside the border..."

"He must have agreed happily."

"He did agree, but he didn't know the language outside the Great Wall... He needed to go on a mission to solve the language barrier before he could go... I actually wanted to open up the connection with the Western Regions. You don't know, this is very important... and now is the best time." Zhao Kuo revealed his Western Regions strategy. Lu Buwei listened carefully for a moment and said, "I understand what you mean..."

"If you need someone who is proficient in languages ​​from foreign countries, I can introduce that I used to have a junior. His father was a businessman from the North. I had done business with his father. His father could speak fluent Lin Hu and Xiongnu. Under the influence of his father, he also mastered a lot of languages. When he grew up, he devoted himself to studying these things and proficient in a variety of languages..."

"Oh? Then where is he now?"

"It should be in the Northland, and I can send someone to bring him back. He is a good guide and a good translator."

Zhao Kuo agreed to him, and then the two fell silent again, without saying anything for a long time. When they arrived at the study, they sat down slowly. Lu Buwei rubbed his sore legs and sighed helplessly, "I'm old... old..." He looked at Zhao Kuo and said, "I heard that a general died in this expedition?"

"Yes, a general died in battle. The emperor was very angry. If I hadn't stopped him, he would have even wanted to organize soldiers to attack the southwest in many counties in Chudi County... The reason why the enemy in the southwest is difficult to deal with is because they are hiding in the mountains and forests. No matter how many soldiers there are, it is useless. They can only surround them little by little and block them by improving the inn and other facilities."

"If you went to the southwest, the war would have ended long ago."

"No, even if I am in the southwest, I can only slowly take down the enemy."

The two fell silent again.

"Marquis Wu Cheng... I'm afraid I can't survive this cold winter." Lu Buwei said suddenly, Zhao Kuo was stunned and looked at his old friend in front of him, "Why do you say that?" Lu Buwei looked ahead calmly and said in a daze: "I often feel suffocating... Sometimes, I can't breathe for a long time. I think I'm leaving, but I survived again, and this situation begins to become more frequent..."

"You don't know that during these days, I always wandered on the verge of death... At the beginning, I was very scared, but now I'm used to it. I even think that it wouldn't be a bad thing if I could leave earlier..." He smiled bitterly, pointed to his chest, and said, "It hurts so much here, it's stuffy... At night, I keep coughing and can't fall asleep... This is so tormenting."

If Zhao Kuo had been in the past, he might have comforted Lu Buwei or interrupted him. However, at this age, Zhao Kuo was out of sight for many things. He could feel the mood of Lu Buwei. People always hope that their relatives could be with them forever, and thus disgusted them about death and even prohibited them from leaving themselves. However, they would not know what the person involved really thought was.

Perhaps only Zhao Kuo can understand Lu Buwei. He was like Lu Buwei. He has been busy for most of his life. Now, only this tired and elderly body is left, just like a decayed machine, tremblingly running, making violent and unpleasant noises... They can always feel tired, exhausted from the heart, no matter what they are doing, sleeping or awake, the fatigue cannot be escaped.

Coupled with the illness caused by hard work when young, death sometimes becomes a good relief.

Zhao Kuo said deeply: "I know... I was shot in an arrow when I was young, and the injured areas are now starting to occur... It hurts. I didn't think so at the beginning, but I didn't expect that they started to bully me when I was old..." Zhao Kuo pulled his sleeves and looked at Lu Buwei's two arms. Lu Buwei's eyes were a little pity, it was really pity. Although his body was not good, the scars on his body were definitely not as many as Zhao Kuo.

Zhao Kuo was experienced and was covered in scars. When all these pains broke out, the illness that Zhao Kuo suffered was unbearable to Lu Buwei. This was also a common problem for military generals. When he was young, he fought on the battlefield without caring any scars. However, when he got older, these scars became death talismans and became the devils that tortured them... Later, those seemingly thin civil officials always lived longer than military generals, and there were very few veteran generals who fought from young to old age.

Most of the veteran generals are late for great success and do not experience much pain when they are young. Of course, there are also some generals who have gone from young to old age.

There was a Zhao Kuo who was covered in wounds. Lu Buwei's mood seemed not so heavy. Compared to Zhao Kuo, he was still very lucky. Zhao Kuo calmly told him that every wound he suffered in these days had a story. Behind these stories was an elderly and painful figure struggling at night. Zhao Kuo was never willing to show his pain. At this moment, he said it was definitely not to get the sympathy of Lu Buwei. He just used another way to comfort Lu Buwei.

"When I was young, I always wanted to be a saint... Now, I have given up... Xunzi once said that anyone can become a saint... But I have struggled for a long time and have not become a... Now, I no longer think about those things. The things I want to do have been done, and the books I want to write have been written..." Lu Buwei said, without much disappointment on his face.

He had completely let go of his obsession and no longer wanted to become a saint. He focused on the things he had done in the past and on his own books. In the past, he did these things just to become an ideal saint through them. Now, he is just a simple interest.

Zhao Kuo laughed, shook his head and said, "Actually, you have fulfilled your ambitions long ago, but you just haven't noticed it."

Lu Buwei was stunned, looked at Zhao Kuo in front of him, and was stunned for a moment, and suddenly laughed.

The cold winter of this year was as cold as usual, and Lu Buwei did not lie. In the cold winter of this year, Lu Buwei passed away. He left very calmly. He fell asleep quietly on the bed and did not get up again. When the retainers came to wake him up, they found that he had left. Lu Buwei's death made many people cry, and many people came to see the mourning to express their respect for the Qin prime minister. Of course, Zhao Kuo also came, but he did not cry.

He still remembered what Lu Buwei told him that day.

This is just a kind of relief.
Chapter completed!