The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 8 Beginning of Summer Rain
The young master loved to study, so there were many books in Gaoquan Palace. The huge bookshelves were filled with bamboo slips. If these bamboo slips were piled up, they would form a hill higher than Gaoquan Palace.

The young master said that the bamboo slips were inconvenient to store and were too heavy, so the number of books piled up was actually not that many.

The people in the palace didn't quite understand why the young master hung his clothes on a wooden rack with many legs, saying that it could be used to hang some outer clothes.

I don’t know which country this custom comes from. Maybe it’s the custom of the Qi people who live a very particular life.

When the young master left today, the palace servants discovered that his favorite pair of shoes no longer fit him.

This shows that the prince of Qin has grown taller.

After Fusu left Gaoquan Palace, the palace servants began to work silently. Some took out the prince's bamboo slips to dry in the sun, and others cleaned the candlesticks and oil lamps. The entire Gaoquan Palace had to be cleaned spotlessly.

Tian An is in charge of arranging many matters in Gaoquan Palace. As for those palace servants who were lazy in the past, they were all driven out by Tian An. Now the palace servants who remain here are extremely diligent.

When the sun sets and the young master comes back, he will be very happy to see the clean palace and the bamboo slips that have been dried in the sun and are still warm.

There is always a lot of wind in Guanzhong in spring. This is the climate of Guanzhong. It is windy in spring, rainy in autumn, and the winter and summer are especially long.

The Guanzhong Plain is surrounded by the Qinling Mountains to the south and a plateau to the north. The terrain of Guanzhong, with high mountains on the north and south sides and a slightly lower plain in the middle, and the Yellow River to the east, makes it easy to defend and difficult to attack in military terms.

Therefore, the ancients are sincere and cannot be deceived. Our ancestors’ vision in choosing a place to live was not wrong. The place where our ancestors lived must be a blessed land. This is another simple life experience gained by human civilization in the process of life construction.

In terms of climate, the Guanzhong Plain is located between the temperate zone and the subtropical monsoon climate south of the Qinling Mountains. Therefore, Guanzhong is now truly a blessed land, where both northern and southern crops can be grown.

Fusu watched as groups of three or two farmers were pulling plow carts to sow seeds.

Lu Buwei left behind a lot of inheritance, and these hundreds of hectares of land alone were enough to make him busy.

The teacher generously gave a thousand prisoners of war to help with land reclamation, which means a thousand people, plus the food reserves in the servants' homes, plus the current consumption.

Fusu found that he did not have enough food and could not even support his servants.

Who would have thought that the cost of maintaining a servant would be so high? Moreover, including the inheritance left by Lu Buwei, Fusu found that he had more than 3,000 servants.

It is easy to support yourself, and you don’t have to take care of yourself when living in the palace.

At present, the three thousand servants kept outside are a huge burden, especially the extra thousand people.

Tian An looked at the young master sitting beside the grain cart, counting the grain.

Fusu suddenly asked, "How did Lü Buwei support those three thousand retainers?"

Tian An replied, "With food and servants, we can naturally support three thousand guests."

Fusu put down his pen, picked up a bowl of cooled water, drank a sip, and frowned, saying, "If Lü Buwei were still alive, I should ask him for advice."

The crops are still being planted and the Longshou Canal is still being dug, but there is no sign of a harvest.

The main crops grown are wheat, followed by beans and millet.

How could the prince of Qin be short of money and food? In fact, the teacher had already arranged it. Lu Buwei's residence was in Xianyang City, and as long as the prince went there, those who wanted to curry favor with him would rush to give him gold, silver, beauties and food.

In fact, as long as you follow the teacher's arrangements, everything will come naturally.

Fusu picked up the bamboo slips in front of him. This was his account book and also his family property.

The next day, Li Si heard that the prince was short of food, so he quickly opened his own warehouse and pulled more than a hundred carts of food to the foot of Shangyan Mountain.

Fusu ate the freshly cooked noodles and looked at the food that his teacher had sent him.

While eating, Fusu heard the sound of noodles being slurped, and it was very loud.

Looking again, it was Zhang Han who was eating voraciously. He even sniffed hard. This was probably the first time he had eaten such delicious food, stewed noodles with pickles.

After finishing his meal, Fusu put down his bowl and chopsticks and said to Tian An, "Give the rest to Zhang Han."

Tian An went to get more dough without saying a word.

Eating has always been a major event in life. It is of great significance in the development of human civilization, especially because eating can bring people a sense of happiness.

Farmers were sitting in groups of three or four in the fields eating. The children were smiling happily while eating, and when the children smiled, the adults also smiled.

Happiness is such a simple thing.

And the thousand prisoners of war, since they had enough food, their eyes were glowing green, and they looked like starving wolves.

With their eyes full of green light, they stuffed food into their mouths desperately, and then worked desperately.

Recently, Fusu likes to sit by the edge of the field and watch the farmers sitting in the fields and eating, so that he can live more like a real old Qin person.

Two months later, Fusu saw wheat seedlings with new sprouts.

Today, Meng Tian, ​​who has not been seen for a long time, finally came.

Fusu ate a cake and handed him one, saying, "It's freshly baked. It's delicious while it's hot."

After saying this, Fusu asked Tian An, "Have you sent it to the emperor and the prime minister?"

"Sir, it has been delivered."

A few sparrows flew through the air and then landed in front of people.
Fusu chewed the cake and asked Meng Tian, ​​"I heard you went to the north?"

Meng Tian sat upright and replied, "My father said the Great Wall needs repairs. I have reported this to the emperor. Let's see what the emperor decides."

Fusu waved the palm-leaf fan in his hand, handed him a peach, and continued, "Your father is going to repair the Great Wall."

Meng Tian held a peach in his hand and said, "My father is old. If he is unable to oversee the repair of the Great Wall, I will take my wife and children and the army to guard the Great Wall and repair it."

Upon hearing this, Fusu patted Meng Tian's shoulder heavily.

"Sir, I am a general of the Qin State. I should be guarding the Great Wall."

Several generations of the Meng family were very loyal to the Qin Dynasty. Meng Tian's grandfather Meng Ao was originally from Qi, and later gained the trust of King Zhaoxiang of Qin. In fact, when talking about Meng Tian's grandfather, we have to mention a man named Fan Ju.

But that was all a long time ago. The Meng family had served as generals in the Qin State for generations, and had experienced four generations of Qin kings. The fate of their family had long been tied to the Qin State.

"Do you have any food at home?"

"what……"

When asked this question suddenly, Meng Tian's previous feeling of loss disappeared immediately, and he said hesitantly: "Food... yes."

Zhang Han was alone, had no family, and no food reserves. He relied on the money from the army to survive, and he really could not afford food.

Afterwards, Tian An took out ten stones of grain, and even Meng Tian asked people to bring out a hundred carts of grain.

It was difficult to support three thousand servants, but we had to get by day by day and just get through the next six months. This year's Grain Rain season hadn't provided much rain, and the little amount of rain God had given Guanzhong was just enough.

Meng Tian's father Meng Wu was about to retire, so the First Emperor gave Meng Tian a military position, and now Meng Tian could also participate in the morning court meetings.

In the morning, the court meeting was going on in Zhangtai Palace.

Fusu left Xianyang City and came to Shangyan Mountain.

This is what the young master does almost every day, to see how the crops are growing.
He looked at the newly dug well angrily. Then he looked up at the clear sky and said angrily, "It's almost the beginning of summer."

Tian An said, "After April, it will be the beginning of summer."

"It's time for the rain to start in summer."

Tian An, who always had a blank expression in the palace, has recently started to smile more often.

Hearing the young master's words, Tian An smiled and said, "It's time to rain."

The crops had just been planted and it was almost the beginning of summer, so the fields were already lush and green. Fusu saw Zhang Han working in the fields. He had his feet in the paddy field, bent over, and was scooping up the mud from the field to use to build higher ridges.

Fusu asked, "What is he doing?"

Tian An glanced at him and whispered back, "The Prime Minister and General Meng Tian brought a lot of food to the young master. Zhang Han said that he was alone and had nothing to offer the young master, and he felt guilty."

"Guarding is his job, he has no need to feel guilty."

Tian An added, "Zhang Han knew that the young master needed people to reclaim wasteland, so he helped the young master farm."

Fusu understood and nodded.

April passed in Guanzhong, and when May came, rumbling thunder was heard in the sky.

Fusu sat in Gaoquan Palace, looking at the rain all over the sky.

Tian An laughed again and said, "Young Master said there would be rain on the beginning of summer, and now the rain has really come. The crops in the wasteland of Shangyan Mountain can now be grown."

This is definitely a great event. The rain came at the right time. Once the newly built water cellar is filled with water, the three thousand servants at the foot of Shangyan Mountain will be able to solve their water problem.

Fusu lamented, "As a prince of Qin, I have only solved the water problem for my servants."

Tian An didn’t know the meaning of the four words “water use problem”. He only knew that the young master needed God to give him a heavy rain, and God really gave him a heavy rain.

Compared with the family conditions of the other princes of the six kingdoms at that time, the prince of Qin who unified the world had only three thousand servants, which was really too frugal.

Fusu did not look at the heavy rain outside the palace, but instead listened to the explanation of the decree sent by his teacher. The First Emperor and his teacher wanted to redivide the world into 36 counties.

After reading one volume and picking up another, Fusu still didn't see the sentence "Even if there are only three households in Chu, Chu will be the one to destroy Qin."

Since Xiang Yan supported Changping Jun as the King of Chu and wanted to restore the State of Chu, he was wiped out by Wang Jian's army. After Xiang Yan died in battle, Xiang Liang disappeared and has not been found to this day.

There is also Zhang Liang. To this day, no one knows where this Zhang Liang who was plotting against Qin is.

Some words can be used as a warning. If the Qin State does not govern the world well, then the Chu State will really be the one to destroy the Qin State.

People always need to have some sense of crisis. Li Si has also felt a strong sense of crisis these days. Today, he redivided the counties and ordered that all documents in the world should be written in small seal script. However, this matter was opposed by Chunyu Yue again.

Li Si sat in the swaying carriage, anger rising in his heart again. He wanted to behead Chunyu Yue and other doctors of the six countries in the market.

Last night, I even dreamed of Chunyu Yue being beheaded in the market. In the dream, the blood dyed the city of Xianyang red. When I woke up, I was smiling.

But this morning during the court meeting, Chunyu Yue stood in front of him alive again.

The carriage left Xianyang City and headed southeast. Li Si's body swayed with the shaking of the carriage frame. Fortunately, the First Emperor had issued an edict that all future correspondence must be written in small seal script, which was a crucial step towards the unification of writing systems.

The carriage slowly stopped, and the driver said, "Prime Minister, we're here."

Li Si looked out of the carriage window, frowning as he looked into the distance through the rain. There was a wheat field, with thriving wheat growing.

I didn't expect that the young master could actually grow crops on this wasteland.

Looking into the distance, Li Si saw a man wearing a straw raincoat digging the ridge of the field in the rain.

Li Si looked at it for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said, "Go back."

"Prime Minister, won't you take another look? I heard there is a well canal to the north of Shangyan Mountain."

Li Si's mood improved a lot, and he was determined to have Chunyu Yue beheaded in public one day.

Now, the First Emperor still needs them to win people's hearts, so it is better to endure it for the time being.

Seeing the young master's fields, Li Si was in a particularly good mood, and even put aside his personal grudges for the time being.

He withdrew his gaze, looked at the scroll in his hand, listened to the sound of raindrops hitting the carriage, and whispered, "Sir, you have such a servant, but you don't use him for your own amusement. Such a servant is a good thing for the Qin State. Go back."

The coachman then drove the carriage all the way back to Xianyang City.

It was Zhang Han who was working in the fields wearing a straw raincoat. He looked up at the strange carriage. The other party came in a hurry and left in a hurry. No one knew who it was.

Zhang Han looked alert until the other party's carriage had gone far away, then he continued to lower his head and continue to grow all the crops for the young master.

The heavy rain lasted for a whole day and night and only stopped at noon the next day.

After the rain, the water of the Wei River was very turbid. When the sunlight broke through the dark clouds and shone on the land, it was like several golden rays piercing through the dark clouds.

In just a short moment, the wet Guanzhong suddenly welcomed the scorching midday sun.

Because there was no wind today, the temperature rose quickly.

Fusu had only been standing by the river for half an hour when he began to sweat. He watched the turbulent water flow southeastward and asked, "Is Meng Tian heading north?"

Tian An replied, "This matter was not mentioned in today's court meeting."

When Meng Tian would go to guard the Great Wall was just a matter of a word from his father. The Great Wall had to be built eventually, and this matter was very important to the Qin Dynasty.

Recently, the court has been discussing the idea of ​​unified writing system, and the world will eventually become a country with centralized power among the emperors.

The Zhou Dynasty, which had implemented the feudal system for hundreds of years, was finally about to usher in the first true centralization of power after the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

In some ways, Fusu felt that his teacher and father were not cruel enough. The system of three dukes and nine ministers was to complement the local team of the county system, and the unified writing system was to ensure the effective transmission of documents from all over the country, so the standards of the Qin Dynasty had to be highly unified.

The First Emperor still had humanitarian concerns. In fact, Fusu felt that there was no need to be too humane when dealing with those who opposed him.

(End of this chapter)