The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 36: Small Returns

Zhang Cang has been very busy recently.

Everyone in the Prime Minister's Mansion knew that Censor Zhang had been uneasy lately.

Everyone in the court and the country knew that Zhang Cang was a person highly valued by Prime Minister Li Si.

Today, Zhang Cang helped Prime Minister Li Si to review some documents. In the afternoon, during his free time, he wandered in front of the Prime Minister's Mansion, looking worried from time to time.

The clerk in front of the Prime Minister's Mansion was also a little anxious because of Zhang Cang's behavior. He didn't know why Censor Zhang was lingering in front of the door and didn't know whether he should go up and ask.

When Prime Minister Li Si once again came to the door of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

Zhang Cang quickly went forward to meet him.

The clerk could not hear what the Prime Minister and Censor Zhang talked about at this moment, but then he saw the Prime Minister say something with a serious expression.

The Prime Minister and Censor Zhang walked into the Prime Minister's Mansion one after another.

The palace returned to its usual busy state. Censor Zhang's behavior had been quite strange recently, but in the eyes of others, it was just strange.

Some people even heard the Prime Minister and Censor Zhang whispering to each other from time to time, and these whispers included information about the young master's private property.

It concerns the private property of the young master, which is actually nothing more than the 3,000 servants that the prime minister originally gave to the young master.

These servants lived at the foot of Shangyan Mountain beside the Luoshui River and built a canal. The canal was called the Love Your Work Canal. Moreover, the servants never presented treasures to the young master, but instead dug the canal.

The discussion among the people in the Prime Minister's Mansion ended here, and then the officials were silenced by the heavy workload.

Until night, all the officials in the Prime Minister's Mansion dispersed.

Li Si left Zhang Cang alone to drink.

A long table was placed under the eaves, and the two sat cross-legged facing each other, with wine, some meat, and even noodles sent from Gaoquan Palace in front of them.

Li Si lit the small stove, then placed the clay pot in place and poured water into it. As he prepared the noodles and poured them into the pot, he said, "Once upon a time, I gave those servants to you, young master, in the hope that you would be able to entertain more guests."

There was a discouraged tone in his words.

Zhang Cang took a sip of wine, then picked up the mutton on the table and put it into his mouth.

Li Si continued, "Don't worry about me, Master."

Zhang Cang's expression became even more suspicious. He said, "Some people say that you are enslaving your servants too much."

The bright moon hung high in the night sky. Li Si put the lid on the pottery pot and said, "Young Master, you like to cook. Do you know what you are best at?"

"Young Master, are you good at asking questions and learning?"

Li Si shook his head and said, "I think your greatest strength is patience. This is how you eat in Gaoquan Palace. You might as well try it. Patiently prepare food and patiently wait for it to be cooked. This is what you are good at. You are a very patient child."

While listening to Li Si, Zhang Cang reached out to take the bowl handed to him and then started eating noodles.

Li Si said: "You and I should also be patient."

Zhang Cang quickly finished the noodles in his bowl and asked, "Mao Heng left Shangyan Mountain."

Li Si poured a bowl of wine into his own bowl and said with a smile: "My lord, you need a capable official who can lead a region. Such talents are nothing more than the talent of governing and commanding troops."

As he spoke, Li Si scooped some noodles from the pot and poured them into Zhang Cang's bowl, saying, "This is called noodles."

Zhang Cang swallowed the noodles in his mouth and said, "Cang believes that this thing will soon become popular all over the world."

Li Si looked at this fellow disciple who was younger than himself with a smile on his face.

Zhang Cang said, "Cang is worried that the young master will give up on building the canal because of what those people said."

Li Si remained cross-legged, his hands on his knees, and spoke, "My lord, you will not give up on building the canal. It's true that we need to rest and recuperate, and it's also true that we need the people of the country to rest and recuperate, but are we going to sit back and watch the dangers at the borders disappear? The Xiongnu are about to march south, and am I going to sit back and do nothing?"

"The First Emperor would not allow the Xiongnu to move south, so he and Si jointly decided on the policy of relocating people to guard the border. The Xiongnu threat... is related to the peace and tranquility of millions of people."

After drinking the wine, Li Si said solemnly, "Wait a few more years, and when our army is strong and powerful, we will definitely clear the northern border!"

After saying this, Li Si slammed the table heavily, as if he was making an oath.

Zhang Cang whispered, "Once the canals are opened, we will have vast tracts of fertile farmland. Seeing that we are about to obtain vast tracts of fertile farmland, how could you give it up, young master?"

So, Li Si nodded slowly.

In the next few days, just as the prime minister had said, the young master was not shaken by the words from the outside world and continued to dig the canal.

Today's court meeting went particularly smoothly. Just when everyone thought it was about to end, Prince Fusu stood up.

Even the First Emperor, who had rarely shown any emotion, moved slightly when he saw Prince Fusu stand out, and was obviously surprised.

Fusu bowed and saluted, then said, "Father, autumn has arrived in Guanzhong. Recently, many people have come to Shangyan Mountain in search of work that can earn them food. I wonder if Shangyan Mountain can recruit more laborers. I am willing to provide them with food."

In fact, Zhang Han recruited some laborers last year, and many of them received food last year, which was all real good food. With the reputation guarantee of last year and the endorsement of Prince Fusu, more people came looking for work this year.

Once there are more people, it will involve Qin law, and General Wang Ben is not in the court now, so Shang Yanshan does not have General Wang Ben's support like last year.

Inside the hall, everyone immediately started discussing.

Some people have previously said that the young master enslaved his servants, and now he wants to recruit more laborers.

Li Si was the first to step forward and asked, "Sir, may I ask how much food can you provide for the people?"

Fusu said: "One person can get two dou a day."

There was a lot of discussion in the hall. Li Si said, "I think what you said is feasible. Looking around the world, who wouldn't want an extra bucket of grain?"

Zhang Cang stepped out of the court, bowed, and said, "I second the motion."

Officials, mainly from Li Si's faction, stood up one after another and spoke for the young master.

Then came Feng Quji, Cheng Miao, Feng Jie and other right prime ministers, who also stood up to support the prince.

The young master was still standing in the hall, bowing and saluting.

Only the doctors from Qi State remained unmoved, and Chunyu Yue even frowned and remained silent.

Ying Zheng looked at his half-grown son and suddenly smiled.

Looking back in the past, when Li Si stood up in the court to express his opinions, or argued with the debaters from Qi and Lu in the court, at those times... Feng Quji did not stand up.

The prime minister and the right prime minister in the court each have their own duties.

Now, Feng Quji immediately stood up.

This matter concerns Prince Fusu and the Qin Dynasty. How can he sit idly by? Feng Quji deeply feels that his decision is correct.

Looking around the hall, most people stood up for Prince Fusu, and the Qilu doctors headed by Chunyu Yue naturally had nothing to say.

Chunyu Yue felt deeply that even when facing Li Si, they just had different opinions.

However, facing Prince Fusu, Chunyu Yue felt a little cold sweat on his back. It seemed as if the entire Qin court was standing behind Prince Fusu.

What was the threat from Li Si? Prince Fusu's wings had not yet grown, but he already had such appeal.

How can it not be shocking?

Ying Zheng said, "The canal digging may be carried out. I will place it under the supervision of the Court Judge Feng Jie." Feng Jie bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I obey your command."

The court meeting ended successfully, and Li Si was once again taken by the eunuch to meet the emperor.

In the hall, Fusu said to Feng Quji, "Thank you for your help, Right Prime Minister."

Feng Quji said, "Your Excellency is digging the canal to obtain fertile farmland in Guanzhong. How can I not support you?"

Fusu followed everyone out of Zhangtai Palace, said goodbye to the right prime minister and returned to Gaoquan Palace.

Noodles are a very delicious food, and after this food came out of Gaoquan Palace, it quickly spread throughout Xianyang City. Within less than half a month, it became a novel food in Xianyang City through word of mouth.

Recently, Wang Jian rarely appeared in public. It was said that Wang Jian built an extremely huge mansion in his hometown of Pinyang, where the spoils he collected from all over the six countries were stored.

Rumor has it that Wang Jian not only had beautiful jade but also countless gold, silver and beauties, and lived a life like a god.

There is a rumor that came from Pinyang, which said that when Wang Jian met Prince Fusu at Hangu Pass, it was Wang Jian who gave the secret recipe of noodles to Prince Fusu.

Now, Wang Jian still asked people to buy rice and flour, and made a lot of noodles in Pinyang, and ate noodles every day.

But these are just rumors. If more people say it, they will believe it.

When Fusu heard the news, he smiled and did not ask anyone to go out to explain. He just let the old general be the ancestor of noodles. What's wrong with that?

After the beginning of autumn, Master Gao often came to Gaoquan Palace.

Tian An was drying persimmon cakes, and Gongzi Gao was helping him by collecting baskets of persimmons.

"They say the persimmons in Shuzhong are big."

Tian An said: "Although the persimmons in Guanzhong are small, they are very sweet."

Upon hearing this, Gao distributed the persimmons to his two sisters behind him, who were the daughters of the First Emperor.

The two princesses smiled contentedly while eating the sweet persimmons.

Tian An patiently advised Gongzi Gao to eat less persimmons, otherwise he would get an upset stomach.

Fusu felt that if all the counties in Guanzhong could be like Shang Yanshan, then the people in Guanzhong would live a harder life, much harder than they do now.

Shangyan Mountain is not big, and Fusu wanted to set an example for people of getting rich through hard work.

If you want to be rich, you need to accumulate more material wealth, so Xunzi said that without wealth, you cannot cultivate the people's sentiments, and without education, you cannot regulate the people's nature.

So, perhaps labor and creation are behind Xunzi's words.

Sitting in front of Gaoquan Palace, Fusu felt that these were just his own shallow views.

But I also feel that although I haven’t found the standard answer from Xunzi, it should be correct.

For example, for reading comprehension questions that don’t have standard answers, as long as you write enough, you can always guess some of the answers.

Xunzi was good at using metaphors, so Han Fei was also good at using metaphors.

When a piece of wood is broken, it will be infested with termites; when a wall is damaged, it will be cracked...Han Fei's metaphors are very clever.

Therefore, there can be no compromise. Fusu felt that if he gave in even a little bit on the matter of building the canal, he would be letting down his teacher Han Fei.

The reason why the teacher and Zhang Cang agreed... is easier to understand, because they are all disciples of Xunzi.

As the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Therefore, being a disciple of Xunzi is of great benefit.

Today's court meeting ended, and the reason why the right prime minister stood up and spoke was probably because he was wavering.

If it wasn't for him, the prince of the Qin Dynasty, who stood up to speak, if the prime minister had said this, Feng Quji might not have stood up to support it.

Fusu looked at the trimmed pine tree in front of him and concluded in his heart that Feng Quji was not someone who could be easily won over.

It is said that Prince Fusu and Prime Minister Li Si are of the same mind, but the power of Right Prime Minister Feng Quji is not easy to underestimate. After all, the Right Prime Minister controls the entire Censorate, and the Chief Censor of the Qin Dynasty is able to monitor the Prime Minister.

"Brother." The two sisters came up and said in unison.

The two sisters were even younger than Gao, so Fusu said, "If you want to study, follow Gao."

The two sisters left happily.

Gongzi Gao stepped forward and said, "Brother, the two sisters are princesses after all. It would be inappropriate for them to study in the countryside."

"So you think Master Shusun Tong is right."

Gao nodded slowly, somewhat unconvinced.

At that time, Gongzi Gao, who was full of high aspirations, thought that he could study with the country boys.

Shusun Tong agreed, and Gao was very proud.

Little did he know that after going around in a circle and looking back at his two sisters, Gongzi Gao felt that his self-righteousness had put him in a dilemma.

Fusu placed the newly trimmed pine tree in the hall and instructed, "Have someone build another schoolhouse by the canal and have Shusun Tong teach them separately. As for the many things they do outside, have someone else supervise them."

Gongzi Gao seemed to understand, but still said, "I'll make a note of it."

Then, he walked up to his two sisters and said, "Follow Gao."

Fusu looked outside the palace again and saw that Gao had already left with his two sisters.

A eunuch came hurriedly and whispered a few words in Tian An's ear.

Tian An walked quickly into the hall again, "Sir, General Zhang Han received an imperial edict and requested a large number of militiamen, more than a thousand men."

Food is limited. This year's bumper harvest will be used to recruit laborers, dig canals, and then irrigate the wasteland. If two dou of rice can be exchanged for one mile of canal, or even five dou of rice for one mile of canal, it is a profit.

What was exchanged was food, what was gained was labor, but what was gained was real land.

However, Shangyan Mountain remains the harshest construction site in Guanzhong.

On the third day, Gaoquan Palace received a document sent by Shusun Tong. The document stated that due to the recent changes in canal digging, the Chief Justice Feng Jie and the Prime Minister Li Si changed the name of Shangyan Mountain to Jingye County.

Because the amount of farmland has exceeded that of a township, it is no longer like an ordinary village, but a newly established county in Guanzhong.

For three consecutive days, many laborers who went to work were replaced. The one thousand people on the first day were replaced by six hundred people. Twenty of them were lazy and did not work, so Zhang Han withheld their food.

However, those whose food was withheld wanted to sue General Zhang Han and bring the case to the Supreme Court. Fortunately, Shusun Tong arranged a lot of supervising soldiers, so they had people to testify.

In the document, Shusun Tong kept talking about how useful the prince's position system was.

In the past, everyone in Jingye County worked together to dig canals because the food belonged to everyone.

But now it’s different. Once there are more people, there are also more people with different kinds of people.

Those who wanted to sue Zhang Han were punished by Shusun Tong with ten lashes.

With such hard work and such harsh rules, the food earned in return for a day's work was not much, but Shusun Tong thought it was enough.

(End of this chapter)