Chapter 681

"These eight years, you have worked hard!"

Ying Zheng looked at Zhao Gao and said in a subtle tone.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Gao felt a chill in his heart and quickly said: "Being able to serve Your Majesty, Zhao Gao dares not speak of hardship!"

He is not Su Xuan, who dares to gladly accept Ying Zheng's praise.

Zhao Gao knows very well that the more humble he appears in front of Ying Zheng, the more Ying Zheng will trust him.

"I am prepared to reuse you!"

Ying Zheng stated the purpose of summoning Zhao Gao here.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Gao's body shook slightly: "Your Majesty..."

His attitude appeared even more humble.

Ying Zheng said lightly: "Although you are a eunuch, you have great talent; with your ability, it is truly too much of a pity to be stuck in this palace as a Prefect of the Central Carriage. You have the ability of a Commandery Governor, and according to the merits you have established over these years, you can barely afford the position of Commandery Governor."

"Zhao Gao, I am prepared to appoint you as Commandery Governor!"

"Your Majesty, I..."

Hearing this, Zhao Gao was genuinely excited; he originally thought that Ying Zheng summoned him here today to let the Luo Wang execute some task, but he did not expect that Ying Zheng was prepared to reuse him.

Commandery Governor, although not as good as the Three Excellencies and Nine Ministers in the court, is also the highest official in the local area; after Qin unified the world, a total of thirty-six commanderies were divided; in other words, there are only thirty-six Commandery Governors, and because Qin has only unified the world for a short time, many of these thirty-six Commandery Governors are in a vacant state.

It's just that I don't know which commandery Ying Zheng is prepared to let him be the governor of.

First of all, it's best not to be the nine northern commanderies—Jiuyuan, Yunzhong, Yanmen, Shanggu, Dai, Yuyang, Youbeiping, Liaoxi, and Liaodong; these nine commanderies are located in the north, all of which were the border territories of the former Yan and Zhao states, close to where the northern Hu tribes live, and the climate is cold, very far from the Central Plains; even Zhao Gao does not want to go there.

He prefers to go to other places; first of all, the nine western commanderies, closest to Xianyang; the nine southern commanderies, including Bashu, Hanzhong, etc., are also not bad; the nine eastern commanderies are where the former Qi state was, incomparably wealthy.

Only the nine northern commanderies are not a good place to go.

That's right, after Ying Zheng said he would let Zhao Gao serve as Commandery Governor, Zhao Gao was already a bit moved.

Even if he needs to leave Xianyang and leave Ying Zheng's side after serving as Commandery Governor, although this is not conducive to him brushing up his favorability in front of Ying Zheng and gaining Ying Zheng's trust, judging from Ying Zheng letting him serve as Commandery Governor, isn't it also a manifestation of trusting him?

Now, he is only serving as Commandery Governor; after tempering in the local area for a few years and accumulating some political achievements, and then being summoned back to the court by Ying Zheng, at that time, even serving as one of the Three Excellencies and Nine Ministers would be more than enough.

Even... serving as Chancellor!

Zhao Gao is very ambitious.

Originally, as a eunuch, he should not have harbored such ambition.

But he couldn't help it; as Lao Ai's follower back then, he witnessed with his own eyes how Lao Ai rose; although Lao Ai was a fake eunuch, except for a few people, others didn't know; he relied on the favor of the Empress Dowager Zhao Ji and was even enfeoffed as a marquis, once contending with the Chancellor Lu Buwei; at that time, how glorious he was, although he was killed later because the rebellion failed.

But Zhao Gao only remembers the scene when Lao Ai was glorious.

So after that, he made up his mind: since Lao Ai could do this, why couldn't he?

After Lao Ai died, he flattered Ying Zheng in every way, gained Ying Zheng's trust, and even took charge of the Luo Wang organization.

Now, with Ying Zheng appointing him as Commandery Governor, Zhao Gao finally has a feeling of seeing the clouds and seeing the moon.

He seems to have made it through.

Although he has no experience in serving as Commandery Governor, it doesn't matter; who told him to have the Luo Wang organization under his command? As long as he leverages the power of the Luo Wang, he can easily accumulate a large part of political achievements, which can prepare him early for returning to the Xianyang court to serve in important positions such as the Three Excellencies and Nine Ministers.

At the same time, because of the existence of the Luo Wang, even if he leaves Xianyang, he can leverage the Luo Wang to easily know everything in Xianyang and maintain a close relationship with Ying Zheng.

It must be said that Zhao Gao thought very well, but unfortunately, he ignored one thing.

"To take, one must first give!"

Ying Zheng letting him serve as Commandery Governor for no reason is clearly prepared to take something from his hands.

Ying Zheng said again: "The northern land is not very peaceful; since Li Mu of Zhao defeated the 200,000 Xiongnu army in Yanmen back then, the land of Yanmen has been stabilized, but the lands of Jiuyuan and Yunzhong are different; here, they are still frequently harassed by the Xiongnu and other Hu tribes. Now that the world has just been settled, I have no intention to settle accounts with these alien tribes, but our Qin will sooner or later have a battle with them!"

"Zhao Gao, you have been by my side for many years; I believe in your ability very much; go to Jiuyuan Commandery!"

"I need a capable person to serve as the Commandery Governor there, to prepare for our Qin's conquest of the northern border alien tribes!"

Ying Zheng stated the arrangement for Zhao Gao.

He intended to arrange for Zhao Gao to go to Jiuyuan Commandery to serve as Commandery Governor.

Jiuyuan Commandery, rather than saying it is a commandery, it is better to say it is a city; the territory here is extremely small, but the geographical location is extremely dangerous; it is the northernmost land of Qin, directly bordering the land where the alien tribes live; it originated from the Zhao state back then; after King Wuling of Zhao's "Hu clothing and riding and shooting," the cavalry was extremely powerful, once sweeping the Xiongnu and other alien tribes; many years ago, after driving the Xiongnu to the north of the Ula Mountains, they confronted them across the mountains and established Yunzhong Commandery on the land of the current Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region they occupied.

In order to guard against the Xiongnu's counterattack on Yunzhong Commandery from the north of the mountains, the Zhao state built a Great Wall along the Ula Mountains; at the same time, they built garrisons and defensive city barriers at every mountain pass communicating with the north of the mountains, and built a larger city in the southern area of the largest mountain pass, which is Jiuyuan City, with heavy troops stationed in the city, making it a military stronghold of the Zhao state in its northwest, effectively guaranteeing the peace of the northern area of Yunzhong Commandery.

A few years ago, Zhao was destroyed, and the land of Zhao fell into the hands of Qin.

After unifying the world, Qin divided thirty-six commanderies, taking Jiuyuan City as the center, plus a part of the land of the former Yunzhong Commandery, and divided out Jiuyuan Commandery.

Jiuyuan Commandery is not large, and the population is not large; it can be said to be an unprecedentedly barren land, but it is also exceptionally important.

Zhao Gao never expected that Ying Zheng would arrange him in Jiuyuan Commandery.

He had subconsciously rejected the nine northern commanderies earlier, but he did not expect that Ying Zheng not only arranged him in the nine northern commanderies but also in the most remote one among them.

After unifying the world, Qin implemented "cars with the same tracks" and then built straight roads from Xianyang to all parts of the country; the straight roads were not yet completed, but according to the plan, Jiuyuan Commandery would be the end of the straight roads.