The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 20 Old Qin People

Tian An stood outside the Censorate, waiting for the young master to come out.

Moreover, the sun was shining brightly today. Tian An looked up at the sun and felt that it was much warmer. The snow left over from the previous two days was melting and the melted snow formed a curtain of water under the eaves.

Prince Fusu really had been in the Censorate the entire time, patiently reading the documents exchanged between officials. Even if it was a document from a local minor official or even a county magistrate, the prince would read it over and over again.

Cheng Miao fell asleep at some point, and when he woke up, the young master was no longer in the Censorate.

He stood up, holding his lower back with one hand, watching the sky getting dark. He planned to leave, but then he remembered the letter from the young master. He picked up a scroll of bamboo slips beside him, and took another look... the calligraphy that was originally on the table was gone.

"Then he was probably taken away by the young master."

Thinking this, Cheng Miao left Xianyang Palace before nightfall.

The next day, because the court was in recess, the court meeting would not continue until the beginning of spring next year, but the Censorate could not be left unattended, and the correspondence still needed to be kept under control.

For this reason, Cheng Miao arrived at the Censorate early in the morning and continued writing.

The First Emperor praised his official script, so he continued to write.

Today, occasionally there are three or two officials coming here, all of whom are here to submit documents from various places.

A few officials were still discussing in low voices, and Cheng Miao was listening quietly with a pen in his hand.

Why did Zhang Cang visit the Prime Minister's residence so late at night? Why did the young master remain silent all night after returning to the palace?

Cheng Miao thought of the cake from yesterday again. The young master’s cake was really delicious. It would be great if he could eat it again in his life.

The West Wei River is located in the south of Xianyang. Fusu was walking along the river and was still thinking about the Xianyang Bridge. Now both sides of the river are still empty.

From a geographical point of view, if a bridge is built here, people on both sides of the Wei River can travel several miles less.

"I heard that you went to the Imperial Censorate yesterday?"

The person who came was the teacher.

When Fusu saw his teacher get off the carriage, he stepped forward and saluted, saying, "Teacher."

Li Si walked to the riverside, looked out at the Wei River, and said, "Last night I saw the letter that the prince wrote to Zhang Cang. Zhang Cang was deeply moved and visited me late at night. I gave him some advice."

After saying this, Li Si took out a scroll and presented it with both hands, "This is Zhang Cang's answer."

Fusu took the bamboo slips, but did not open them immediately. Instead, he handed them to Tian An beside him.

Li Si stood next to the young master and seemed to say very little today.

"I will take my leave now."

Fusu looked at the Wei River, then came back to his senses and said, "Tian An, see the teacher off."

Tian An smiled and said, "This old servant will escort the Prime Minister."

Before getting back on the carriage, Li Si looked back at the young master's back, and felt that the young master had something on his mind, but was unwilling to tell his teacher.

Sitting back in the carriage, Li Si glanced out the window.

The coachman drove the carriage, and Li Si took another look at the smile on Tian An's face.

The carriage went farther and farther away, but Fusu was still looking at the Wei River.

Tian An stood behind the young master, wondering if the young master wanted to eat fish or whether he wanted someone to go down to the river to catch fish.

Yesterday, Fusu was in the Censorate looking at the correspondence documents from various places, and he did not gain nothing.

Among them was a document that talked about restoring the feudal system among the six kingdoms, appeasing the old nobles of the six kingdoms, and reducing the land tax. In this way, the world could be stabilized and people's hearts could be settled.

At first glance, this document does appear to be for the sake of world stability, but that is only at first glance. Upon closer inspection, it is actually full of selfish motives.

First, they wanted to restore the feudal system, second, to appease the old nobles of the six countries, and third, to reduce the land tax.

But... once the feudal system is restored, a large amount of land will return to the hands of princes and nobles, while the common people will still have little land to cultivate. How can the few acres of land that the common people have be affected by the increase or decrease of land tax?

If the advice in this document could really be implemented and the land tax was truly reduced, the princes and nobles who owned large amounts of land would be the first to benefit.

It was clearly a move to stabilize the country, but by reducing land taxes, it actually enriched a few people.

So, after returning from the Censorate yesterday, Fusu threw the document into the stove and burned it.

It turns out that not all officials of the Qin Dynasty are as lovable as Zhang Cang, Cheng Miao, and Zhang Han, nor as loyal as Meng Tian and Wang Ben.

There are still bad people among the officials of the Qin Dynasty.

"Tian An..."

"The old slave is here."

Fusu said slowly, "Do you think people would like to live a better life?"

Tian An whispered, "That's for sure."

"After Shang Yang's reforms, did the people of Qin live well?"

"My Lord, of course it is good." Tian An paused for a moment, then continued, "But before Shang Yang came to Qin, the people of Qin suffered so much. They had to go through so much hardship, step by step, from the danger of national destruction. When I was young, I still remember large groups of people going to pay homage to Qin Xiaogong."

"When I was little, I always heard my grandfathers say that the Qin people had a very hard life. They suffered a lot. The present Qin Dynasty was built step by step from that time. My grandfathers told me not to forget the suffering of the Qin people."

Fusu looked at the thin ice still floating on the river bank, and looked up at the sky in the distance. There were dark clouds overhead and no wind.

It was a sunny day yesterday, but now the weather in Guanzhong looks like it’s going to snow again.

Fusu was planning to return to the palace, but before leaving, he stopped by Shangyan Mountain to take a look. He saw Shusun Tong riding a donkey and holding a book.

Shusun Tong was riding on a donkey, reading the contents of a book, with a large group of children following behind him.

Every time he recited a sentence, the group of children followed suit.

Fusu did not intend to stop the carriage, but passed by Shangyan Mountain and returned to Xianyang. On the road, he could still see people working hard to dig vertical wells.

There is also Zhang Han, who stands at the key intersection and performs his duties conscientiously.

Looking at these scenery, I felt much better.

Fusu returned to the palace, looked at Zhang Cang's answer, and then wrote an article and questions and asked Tian An to send someone to give it to him.

It snowed heavily again this cold winter, and it continued to snow for several days.

Cheng Miao stood in front of the Censorate's Mansion. With nothing to do, he put his hands in his sleeves and stood under the eaves looking at the heavy snow.

The snow was so heavy that I could hardly see the road ahead.

The young master hasn't been here for three days. Cheng Miao sighed in the cold wind, thinking that he might never be able to eat such delicious cakes again in his life.

Just as he was thinking, Cheng Miao suddenly heard the sound of footsteps on the snow. He turned around and saw a figure walking in the snow. He thought it was someone who came to submit documents in this snowy day. When the person came closer, Cheng Miao saw the tall and thin Tian An and the son Fusu carrying a food box.

"Your servant, Cheng Miao, greets you, sir."

"No need to be so polite." Fusu said and walked into the Censorate, saying, "I heard that your handwriting is good."

Speaking of calligraphy, Cheng Miao regained his confidence. He explained, "If you like, I can write a few more words."

Fusu waved his hand and said, "Let's eat."

Cheng Miao bowed deeply once again, took the cake handed to him by the young master with both hands, and tasted the delicious food again, with a smile on his face and still chewing in his mouth. This was enough for his life.

Tian An ground up the ice fragments on the inkstone, then ground the ink and placed it on the young master's desk.

Cheng Miao was eating when Fusu sat beside him and began to write. This time, the questions to be written were still handed over by Cheng Miao to Zhang Cang.

"Sir, Zhang Cang usually stays at home and rarely goes out, just like me."

Fusu wrote an article and instructed, "Please give it to my teacher Zhang Cang."

Cheng Miao put the bamboo slips into his sleeve with great satisfaction, and then stood aside, waiting for the young master's instructions.

Just like that day, Prince Fusu was concentrating on reading the documents coming in and out of various places without saying a word.

The stove was burning brightly, and the house was warm and quiet. In addition, Cheng Miao had just eaten some warm food, and he felt sleepy, so he fell asleep again.

When he woke up again, the young master was no longer there, and it was almost night.

Fusu spent his life like this for several days in a row, spending most of his time in the Censorate, and he and his teacher Zhang Cang communicated through letters to impart knowledge.

Although he had only met Zhang Cang once, Fusu felt that he and Zhang Cang had almost become pen pals, rather than just a master-disciple relationship.

Cheng Miao was the important link in delivering correspondence between the two.

This heavy snow continued intermittently for another five days. The winter in Guanzhong is very long, and it often rains and snows in March of the following year.

Fusu was sitting in the bedroom, writing on bamboo slips. What he was writing was the stories of the old Qin people. Tian An was an old Qin person, and he knew many stories of the old Qin people.

When Fusu heard these stories of hard struggle, a power was awakened in his heart.

It is a memory hidden deep in the soul that will never be erased. These memories of blood and war appear in the mind like pictures.

Sometimes history repeats itself. If you fall behind, you will be beaten. Therefore, we must enrich our country and strengthen our military, and work hard.

When Shang Yang wrote about the Qin people eating grass, the Qin people at that time would even dig up grass to fill their stomachs in order to protect their homes, because they knew that if they failed to protect their homes, their wives and children would be sold as slaves.

Fusu continued to write with the pen in his hand. People should not forget that difficult story. If the Qin people want to enrich the country and strengthen the army, they need to reform.

Even if many vested interests will be harmed during this reform process, even if a class will disappear, this process is cruel and ruthless, but we still have to grit our teeth and move forward.

Just like what Xunzi said, the king is the boat and the people are the water.

So, now the Qin Dynasty seems to be carrying out its second reform.

The next day, Cheng Miao stood at the door of the Censorate waiting for Prince Fusu as usual.

No matter it was windy or snowy, the young master would arrive at the gate of the Censorate on time.

Cheng Miao bowed and said, "Sir."

Fusu was surprised and asked, "How come you've always been the one guarding this place?"

Cheng Miao explained, "It turns out that we were taking turns guarding the place. Those people all had accidents at home, so when one of us was free, Vice Prime Minister Feng asked me to guard the Imperial Censorate. My family... wasn't in trouble either."

Fusu handed him the food box.

Tian An placed half a box of bamboo slips on the table and said, "These are to be handed over to Censor Zhang. Thank you for your help."

Cheng Miao wolfed down a bowl of noodle soup, nodding his head.

And Fusu began to look through the files here as he did before.

No matter how strong the wind and snow were, Prince Fusu came here every day to check the documents, and he did this day after day.

When the wind and snow stop again this year, the year will be over.

In January of the following year, Guanzhong was still gloomy, with the wind and snow still blowing. I got used to the sound of the wind after listening to it for a long time.

Zhang Cang came to the foot of Shangyan Mountain carrying a bag. He looked up at the newly built village, paused for a moment, and looked as if searching. When he didn't find the person he wanted to see, he walked into the village again.

He had just taken two steps when a Qin military officer came running over and stopped him, asking, "Who are you?"

Zhang Cang took out his official token and explained, "I'm here to look for Master Shusun Tong."

The schoolmaster made way when he saw the token and said, "Follow me."

Zhang Cang lifted the heavy bag on his shoulders again and finally arrived in front of a house where several children had just run out.

At the same time, Zhang Han also came here.

Zhang Cang turned his head and saw that as soon as the general arrived, a group of black puppies charged towards the tall general, like an army of puppies rushing towards the target.

Along the way, several puppies fell to the ground. They twisted their bodies a few times and ran away again. Then a large group of puppies surrounded Zhang Han and tried to climb up.

Zhang Han pushed the puppies aside with his foot, listened to the school commander's report, and said in a deep voice, "Prepare some ginger soup for the young master's teacher to ward off the cold."

Zhang Cang bowed to express his gratitude and walked into Shusun Tong's house.

Inside the house, Shusun Tong saw the newcomer and said, "Zhang Cang? He studied under Xunzi, is a good friend of Prime Minister Li Si, and is now the teacher of Prince Fusu."

Zhang Cang walked into the house and put down his bag without saying anything.

The bundle fell on the table with a heavy thud, accompanied by the distinctive clanging sound of bamboo slips.

"Although I have only been in Qin for half a year, I have a good memory for people. I will never forget anyone I have met once."

Shusun Tong continued, "Prince Fusu and the Prime Minister have a brilliant plan. They've sent some of the Qi and Lu scholars north to garrison the border. And you've given me three hundred disciples, but in reality, it's to get me out of the court. This whole process is truly a brilliant plan."

At this point, Shusun Tong sighed again, "Alas... Li Si is truly too powerful. I only now realize that we have all fallen into the trap set by Prince Fusu and Li Si."

As he was speaking, Shusun Tong walked to a corner of the room, sat down and began to grind beans. He said, "There is something called soy milk on Shangyan Mountain. It is really delicious, but drinking a mouthful of soy milk is too tiring, hmm..."

As he spoke, Shusun Tong turned the millstone, and his beard trembled a little from the force he used.

Zhang Cang said, "Beans are meant to fill our stomachs, why do you have to do this?"

Shusun Tong was a little tired of pushing the millstone, and he held his waist with his hand, and asked again: "Zhang Yushi, what brings you here?"

Zhang Cang explained, "The young master asked me to bring these books to you, hoping you can teach them to the children here. They were all written by the young master himself."

(End of this chapter)