The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 16: Guarding the Border
After reading the bamboo slips handed to him by Tian An, Fusu left Gaoquan Palace.

There are countless palaces in the Xianyang Palace, but fortunately there are also several libraries here, which are used to store classics collected by the Qin State, including classics related to agriculture, sericulture and water conservancy. Whether it is Zhengguo Canal or Dujiangyan, their excavation process has been recorded in detail.

The Qin kings of all generations would preserve these files and place them in the Xianyang Palace, where they became valuable intellectual treasures.

Fusu felt that it was extremely rare to see these precious records in this era.

Whether it is digging the Longshou Canal or building a bridge over the Xiwei River, knowledge of water conservancy is required.

The bookshelves in the library were neatly arranged. Fusu picked up one of the bamboo slips. There was still a lot of dust on his hands. The sunlight shone in from the window, and he could see dust floating in the air.

Only after Tian An opened all the windows did the air here become much better.

Fusu was reading the scroll in his hand when a eunuch came hurriedly and whispered a few words in Tian An's ear.

After saying this, the eunuch saw that the young master was reading here, so he didn't dare to disturb him any further and bowed and took his leave.

Fusu asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Tian An replied, "Today the Emperor entertained many prominent officials from Qi and Lu. Confucian scholars, led by Chunyu Yue, all made suggestions, urging the Emperor to follow the Zhou rituals. The Prime Minister flew into a rage upon hearing this."

Fusu said: "Recently, the teacher has been in a bad mood."

Tian An nodded.

The conflict between Chunyu Yue and his teacher had been going on for a long time. Chunyu Yue had even given several warnings to his teacher, who was once a prince of Qin.

In terms of opinions on state affairs, Chunyu Yue also hoped that the princes of Qin would interact more with famous officials from various families.

Governing a country is no easy task, and this debate will probably continue for a long time.

"Has the letter to Meng Tian been delivered?"

"My lord, I sent someone to the north early this morning."

People always need to learn more. Fifteen or sixteen years old is the best age to learn. Of course, people should keep learning throughout their lives.

When they talked about Zhou Li, they simply hoped that the First Emperor would become the monarch in their minds, and that this monarch would follow Zhou Li.

For teachers, they have to abide by the previous etiquette, but they have to return to the feudal system.

So, is this the etiquette that the teacher and Chunyu Yue and others were fighting against?

Fundamentally, they were still arguing over the feudal system and the county system.

The quarrel goes on and on, and it never ends.

Fusu looked at the book in his hand. Near noon, he asked someone to pack all the books related to water conservancy into boxes and send them to Gaoquan Palace.

At noon, Fusu fried another fish and boiled the fish head and bones into soup.

Tian An has prepared the food box. The lower part of the food box is made of copper, and the bottom can store burned charcoal. In this way, the food can continue to be heated in the box and will not get cold halfway.

"Sir, someone has been sent to inquire. The emperor is in Zhangtai Palace."

Fusu packed up and hurriedly left Gaoquan Palace and headed for Zhangtai Palace.

It was freezing cold, and even though the fish and fish soup in the box were heated by the charcoal at the bottom of the box, they were still likely to go cold in the cold wind. Fusu could only quicken his pace.

It started snowing heavily again. Perhaps in future records, Prince Fusu braved the snow to bring warm fish soup to the First Emperor to show his filial piety. This may also be a great story that people talk about.

In front of Zhangtai Palace stood guards in armor and eunuchs in black.

After reporting, Fusu walked into the hall carrying the fish soup.

As soon as I entered the hall, I felt much warmer.

Looking up, I saw my father writing a reply on a bamboo slip, his long beard almost touching the desk.

"Bring it here."

Upon hearing this, Fusu opened the food box and placed a bowl of fried fish and a bowl of fish soup in front of his father's desk.

Ying Zheng took a bite of the fish, stroked his beard with satisfaction and said, "Very good."

Fusu brought the warm fish soup again.

Ying Zheng took the fish soup and took another sip.

In the warm Zhangtai Palace, father and son sat opposite each other, and Prince Fusu handed the bowl and spoon to the First Emperor.

The First Emperor patiently tasted the fish and drank the fish soup.

Inside and outside the palace, the eunuchs and guards were all solemn and silent. Perhaps this was the best father-son relationship in the world.

The First Emperor's expression was still serious and he didn't say much. He was so envious of having such a son.

After his father finished drinking the fish soup and eating the fish, Fusu sat by and cleaned up the dishes.

Ying Zheng's eyes first fell on the documents in front of him, then looked at his son who was busy packing up, and then looked at his son's hair crown, and whispered: "I should have someone make you a better hair crown."

Fusu nodded in response.

Ying Zheng picked up the brush placed aside and continued to look at the document.

In the quiet hall, there was only some smoke rising from the incense burner and the heater was burning.

Ying Zheng then asked, "How is the repair of the Luo River canal going?"

"Your Majesty, this is only the first year. I think it will be completed in three years at the earliest."

"Three years..." Ying Zheng frowned and asked, "When will the bridge over the West Wei River be built?"

Tian An stood aside. There was no trace of blame in the words of the First Emperor, but more of concern.

For some reason, Tian An suddenly felt his nose getting sore and his eyes getting wet.

Yes... Even if the old nobles of the six kingdoms wanted to rebel against the First Emperor, even if those famous officials from Qi and Lu accused the First Emperor so much, fortunately, the First Emperor still had Prince Fusu by his side to support him, and the father and son relied on each other and understood each other.

Fusu replied, "I don't know how to build it yet. There are so many things to do, I don't know where to start."

Ying Zheng said, "I still remember that when Zheng State dug the canal, they left behind a few people. I asked them to help you."

Fusu nodded in response and continued, "I heard that the teacher was very angry today. He quarreled with those famous people from Qi and Lu again."

"Hehehe..." Ying Zheng laughed and said, "They said I should follow the Zhou rituals. Li Si didn't agree with that and made a few rebuttals..."

No one knew why Fusu brought up this matter. Ying Zheng looked at his son in front of him, who was about to turn sixteen, and suddenly realized that this child wanted to learn politics.

It was indeed time for him to learn these things. Ying Zheng smiled knowingly and whispered, "From now on, you will attend court meetings and listen to government affairs."

"Thank you, Father."

Now that the six kingdoms have been destroyed by the Qin State, it is a critical stage for the Qin State to reshape the world. These people naturally hope that the world will remain the same as before.

What? Could they find another "King Wuling of Zhao" to fight against the Qin Dynasty?
How many King Wuling of Zhao can there be in this world?

Seeing that his father's emotions had stabilized, Fusu said no more, stood up, bowed and left.

When I walked out of Zhangtai Palace, a cold wind blew towards me.

When he returned to Gaoquan Palace, Fusu heard that the 50,000 troops who had just returned to Guanzhong were also sent to the north to build the Great Wall to resist the Huns, and these people were led by Meng Tian.

The man named Maodun in the Xiongnu tribe might become a hidden danger in the north.

The letter reminded me again and again, but I don’t know what Meng Tian would think when he saw it.

It was so cold that the ground was covered with thin ice after a snowfall.

Today was an important day for the prince to attend the government affairs at Zhangtai Palace, which also meant that Prince Fusu of the Qin Dynasty could participate in state affairs. Generally speaking, being able to say a few words in front of the First Emperor at Zhangtai Palace was considered participating in state affairs.

Fusu put on his clothes and left Gaoquan Palace walking in the cold wind. There were not many people walking around in Xianyang Palace in the morning. Only when he was about to reach Zhangtai Palace did he see ministers in groups of three or four. They were talking as they walked towards the main hall.

Fusu walked behind calmly, and the people around him also noticed the young man walking among the court officials.

Not everyone knew the prince of Qin, but when someone recognized that the young man was Prince Fusu, many people bowed in fear.

There were many people attending the court meeting. When Fusu walked to the gate of Zhangtai Palace, he saw that everyone was about to salute him, so he bowed in return.

After half an hour, Fusu felt that if there were more people, he might be exhausted to death just from performing the formalities.

Soon, Fusu met his teacher Li Si and an old man with gray hair and beard.

Li Si quickly stepped forward and saluted, "Sir."

"teacher."

Li Si then introduced: "This is General Meng."

"It turned out to be General Meng Wu."

Meng Wu smiled and said, "Haha, I met you before. You were still a little kid at that time."

Fusu smiled awkwardly.

As more and more people came to attend the morning court meeting.

Chunyu Yue, dressed in a black and blue court robe, was walking quickly. Behind him were quite a few people, all wearing the same clothes, more than ten in total.

The steps in front of the main hall of Zhangtai Palace are very high and numerous, and some elderly people need to support each other to climb up.

Seeing that everyone in front of the hall was almost gathered, another eunuch inside the hall loudly announced, "Enter the hall!"

Everyone then took off their shoes.

Walking into the hall, Fusu felt a little cool again, and followed his teacher Li Si to find a seat in the front row.

Another half a minute later, the eunuch shouted loudly.

The First Emperor wore a black robe and walked into the hall with a serious expression.

Everyone saluted.

Only after the First Emperor sat down did everyone relax.

Li Si first stood up from the court and talked about the things that needed to be discussed in court today.

Fusu stood in his position and listened to the court discussion with a learning attitude.

Many other things went smoothly. As long as the Prime Minister Li Si and the Deputy Prime Minister Feng Quji talked about political affairs, everyone passed the resolution.

The First Emperor sat in the hall, still silent.

Fusu was just thinking about whether to invite his teacher to visit Shangyan Mountain today, when one incident caused everyone in the hall to talk about it.

The Zhangtai Palace is very tall and large. Even with more than two hundred court officials standing in the hall, it still seems empty. The voices of the people keep echoing in the hall, like a kind of low-frequency noise formed by countless mosquitoes.

This kind of sound was already uncomfortable to hear, and as the court officials continued to discuss it, the noise gradually grew louder.
Until now, Prime Minister Li Si's expression was particularly ugly.

In order to build the northern Great Wall, the villagers of five counties needed to be relocated to the north.

Once the issue of immigration to guard the border was brought to light, it caused such a big discussion, and there were more and more voices of opposition in the discussion.

A man was seen standing out of the train, and that man was Chunyu Yue, a doctor from Qilu.

"May I ask, Prime Minister, how many households do you want to relocate?"

Li Si stared at the other party and said in a deep voice, "Three thousand households."

As soon as these words were spoken, a burst of discussion broke out in the hall.

Chunyu Yue asked again, "Prime Minister, are you relocating people to build the Great Wall?"

Li Si said: "Defend against the Xiongnu in the north."

"I have heard that the Xiongnu offered tens of thousands of sheep to the Qin State."

Li Si took a deep breath, as if to calm his emotions, and continued, "As soon as Meng Tian arrived in the north, he drove out the Xiongnu both inside and outside the Yanzhao Great Wall. The Xiongnu sent such generous gifts in an attempt to bribe him, but Meng Tian refused their offer and seized their sheep."

Chunyu Yue added, "Such migrations will cause the people of the northern counties to suffer. Who will cultivate the land?"

"South of the Great Wall there are naturally fields for them to cultivate."

“How to live in peace.”

Li Si replied, "With a large army guarding the border, we can naturally live in peace."

Another civil official stepped forward and said, "May I ask, Prime Minister, are you worried that the people of the six kingdoms will rise up in rebellion?"

Fusu noticed that the teacher was so angry that he didn't know how to respond.

The teacher even swallowed hard, staring at every Dr. Qi Lu who stood up to question.

Now, Fusu understood a little after seeing this scene.

Judging from the identities of the people, this seems like a confrontation between Qi and Lu and the Legalists.

What made the teacher most angry was that some people actually said that the Qin Dynasty was afraid that the people in the old territories of the six kingdoms would rise up in rebellion, so it launched the campaign to relocate people to guard the border.

How can this not make people angry? The teacher made the decision to relocate people to guard the border out of public interest in order to resist the Huns and protect the north.

But in the eyes of some people, it was actually seen as a cowardly act out of fear that the old people of the six countries would rebel.

Li Si breathed heavily at the sight of such speculation. Standing in the hall, he shouted to the crowd, "You should all go to the north and see for yourself what the north is like now!"

"You are talking like this here, have you ever considered that if the north is lost, the disaster caused by the Xiongnu will affect most of the Central Plains?"

Li Si's voice grew louder, his tone tinged with anger as he added, "If we don't hold on to the north, the Xiongnu will march south! They'll seize our food, our land, and our wives and children!"

The voices stopped and silence returned to the hall.

Li Si's words sounded like a roar, and still echoed slightly in the hall.

There was only the sound of the Prime Minister's breathing and his angry eyes looking at everyone who had just stood up to oppose him.

Fusu felt emotional, is the teacher's daily life so wonderful?

Ying Zheng said, "The matter of emigrating and garrisoning the border cannot be delayed. This matter will be overseen by Li Si and Meng Wu. Everyone, please disperse."

The First Emperor spoke with a tired tone, and then he stood up and left the hall.

Everyone saluted, and when most people had left, they saw that the teacher was still here giving instructions to a few people, and Fusu was standing aside.

Another eunuch came quickly and bowed, saying, "The Emperor orders the young master and the Prime Minister to stay for dinner."

After giving the order for the matter at hand, Li Si turned around and saluted, saying, "Sir."

Fusu stood still and bowed, saying, "Teacher, facing dozens of people questioning you, you never backed down. I admire you."

"This is a matter of peace in the north, and I dare not yield an inch."

The eunuch bowed and said, "Sir, Prime Minister, come this way."

Fusu followed the eunuch and his teacher to the rear hall of Zhangtai Palace.

(End of this chapter)