The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 103 Legend of Longshang
This year seems peaceful, but it is precisely during the winter season when nothing should happen that the topic of the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai has come up.

Fusu knew that when the Qilu scholar mentioned the Zhou emperor's Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai, Li Si would surely petition the First Emperor to perform the same ceremony.

In other words, if the world wanted to know that the Mandate of Heaven had changed and that the era of the Zhou emperor had ended, Li Si would certainly have supported the First Emperor's trip to Mount Tai for the Fengshan ceremony.

Furthermore, there must have been a struggle between Li Si and the Qi Lu Doctor.

In Fusu's view, the Qi-Lu scholars have been in Qin for so many years, and the First Emperor and Li Si's patience with them may be running out.

This winter has been eventful, and in this eventful winter, Xu Fu was discovered. His original name was Xu Shi. However, the records of Xu Shi's astronomical and tidal patterns did not attract the attention of Prime Minister Li Si.

In Fusu's view, if he directly said that there were immortal mountains overseas, immortals on those mountains, and that the immortals could grant immortality, he might directly attract the Prime Minister's attention.

As Fusu was pondering this, someone came to report that the First Emperor wanted to visit Yongcheng and return before the agricultural ceremony next year. He requested that the prince guard Xianyang and that the prime minister Li Si and the prince Fusu jointly manage state affairs.

After delivering the emperor's decree, the messenger left.

Two days later, the Emperor did indeed leave Xianyang, accompanied by Wang Ben and Feng Quji, to visit Yongcheng.

Fusu and Li Si saw off the escorting team outside Xianyang City.

Li Si said, "Young Master sent Du Shuichang to Longxi County. Last night at Zhangtai Palace, he mentioned wanting to visit the Northwest border."

"So, Father Emperor will be a few days late in returning?"

Li Si said, "It will only take three to five days longer, and it won't affect next year's agricultural ceremony."

The prince of Qin and the current prime minister walked back to Xianyang City.

The street in front of us has been cleared, and now armored soldiers stand on both sides of the street, making it seem much wider.

Fusu could also sense that many people in the houses on both sides were looking out, as if they were observing him, the young master.

According to Li Si, the emperor's trip to Yongcheng was mostly for this year's ancestral worship ceremony, and he also took the opportunity to visit the northwest border. This new behavior was more like a western tour, especially since he was escorted by tens of thousands of troops.

"teacher."

"The minister is here."

Fusu said, "You said that Father Emperor's western tour was to check whether the northwest border defense was secure and to personally inspect the border defense. Is it because the war between the Western Rong and the Xiongnu is escalating, or has Father Emperor decided to launch a northern expedition against the Xiongnu in the future?"

"Your subject dares not speculate."

Li Si certainly dared not speculate, but Fusu knew that after the First Emperor's western tour, he would go to Mount Tai to perform the Fengshan ceremony.

Fusu smiled and said, "It's alright, teacher, don't be nervous. I was just guessing."

Prince Fusu also admitted that he was also guessing the First Emperor's intentions.

Li Si was moved by the prince's frankness and sincerity, and smiled. He breathed a sigh of relief and replied, "Let's discuss it again after the agricultural ceremony next year."

Fusu nodded.

After entering the Prime Minister's residence, Li You ordered the armored soldiers on both sides of the street to disperse, and Xianyang City returned to its bustling state, with the streets becoming crowded again.

Fusu entered the Prime Minister's residence and began to deal with the day's affairs.

Li Si and Zhang Cang are reviewing the documents sent from various places.

The old Grand Commandant was still handling military affairs at the Grand Commandant's residence.

As for myself, after Wang Ben's passing, as the Vice Minister of the Imperial Household Department, I had to oversee the affairs of the Imperial Household Department, such as when my father went to the northwest to inspect the border defenses.

As the young master of Qin and the Vice Minister of the Imperial Treasury, I have the crucial task of ensuring the supply of provisions along the way.

Cheng Miao is currently serving as the Imperial Household Officer in the Ministry of Works, so he can help out.

When the Emperor travels, he is escorted by tens of thousands of soldiers. Fusu checked the granaries in various counties and was certain that the Emperor would be paying homage to his ancestors in Yongcheng and would stay there for a few days.

In these few days, Fusu would have time to arrange the provisions. As the saying goes, "An army marches on its stomach," so provisions were arranged along the route of the First Emperor's journey.

Furthermore, the daily provisions should be arranged in advance according to the route. The storage location does not need to be too precise; a difference of three to five miles is acceptable. The provisions do not need to be transported too far in advance; it is sufficient to prepare provisions for three to five days later.

They were just waiting for their father to travel for a day and arrive at a certain location, where the provisions would be prepared.

As for the route and destination, the good thing is that the general escorting them is their father-in-law, so they can find out in advance by sending a letter.

Fusu felt he could manage, and besides, with the Xianyang Bridge, transporting grain and supplies would be much more convenient.

Right now, Father Emperor has just left Xianyang, so there's still time.

Fusu then wondered who should escort the grain supplies.
The Chief of the Imperial Household Department could choose the generals to transport the provisions, but since the Chief of the Imperial Household Department was not present, this task rightfully fell to Fusu, the Assistant Chief of the Imperial Household Department, and Fusu felt that no one would object.

Although Zhang Han is loyal, he is a prefect and currently only controls the troops in Weinan, which number only a hundred or so.

Li You stayed in Shu for three years. Although he had started a family elsewhere, he was still hardworking, persevering, and loyal.

Fusu still had his own selfish motives; he wanted to cultivate a few trusted generals.

So, Fusu felt that what he needed to do next was very simple: have Cheng Miao write documents to allocate grain to various counties, and have Li You take the transfer orders to various counties to mobilize troops and county officials to deliver the grain to the designated locations.

Fusu checked the current grain reserves in each county and found that, fortunately, there had been a bumper harvest in recent years, which was enough to cover this western tour.

By dusk, Fusu had written more than ten documents for grain allocation and handed them to Cheng Miao.

The following morning, Cheng Miao arrived at the army camp with more than ten scrolls of documents.

Li You was on duty at the east gate of Xianyang City.

After exchanging a few words, Li You saw the documents brought by Cheng Miao and said, "The granaries in Xianyang are full; we can mobilize them first."

Cheng Miao replied, "I am traveling with Commander Li."

Li You and Cheng Miao first transferred 30,000 shi of grain from Xianyang City according to the document. After giving these instructions, they went to various counties to collect grain and fodder.

Lao Chu was an old Qin soldier from Pinyang County. He followed Wang Jian to fight when he was young, and later his son and grandson also followed Wang Jian to fight.

Lao Chu's real name is Chu, but as he got older, the local young people jokingly called him Lao Chu.

Chu originally meant a reliable horse.

Whether it was during the military campaigns when he followed the army to various places or now, he is a very reliable person.

Back in the army, he was often by Wang Jian's side, risking his life for many years.

Now that he's old, he's returned to the county and become an old man.

The old man, over sixty years old, was still one of the better able-bodied men in the county. After retiring from the army, Lao Chu worked as a potter in the pottery workshop of Pinyang County.

Many Qin soldiers never had the chance to return after marching east. The Qin army suffered greatly. Lao Chu started fighting at the age of seventeen, and it wasn't until he returned to Guanzhong from Chu with Wang Jian that Lao Chu felt his hard days as a Qin soldier were finally over.

Looking back now, Lao Chu felt quite happy, working in the pottery workshop every day, telling jokes that weren't exactly pleasant to hear with the local old women, or watching his playful grandchildren grow up day by day. When he learned that a transfer order had arrived from Xianyang to collect grain from Pinyang, Lao Chu heard about it from several old women. He put down his pottery jar and hurried towards the village entrance.

Several old women behind were muttering to themselves, wondering what the old man's transfer order from Xianyang had to do with him at his age.

Besides the county magistrate, the allocation of grain and fodder would definitely also require the assistance of the Duke of Pinyang.

When Wang Jian, whose hair and beard were all white, came out of the mansion, he saw Lao Chu.

Old Chu stood ramrod straight, his belt always tied in a very tight knot, and he wore old cloth shoes.

Wang Jian said, "Old brother, there's no more fighting, you don't need to come."

Old Chu still said, "If there's anything I can do, General, I can lend you a hand."

Old Chu still addressed Wang Jian as "General." Wang Jian considered himself to have fought battles his whole life, but when he heard his old comrade call him "General," his eyes still couldn't help but redden.

When Wang Jian arrived at the village entrance, a group of Qin soldiers were loading grain onto carts.

Li You stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Lord Pinyang."

Wang Jian chuckled and said, "I didn't expect you to have grown so much."

Adhering to a serious and official attitude, Li You said, "According to military orders, I need to allocate three thousand shi of grain from Pingyang County."

Wang Jian said, "These past two years have seen bumper harvests, and the official granaries are almost overflowing. Take some more with you."

Li You nodded, but only had his men take three thousand shi (a unit of grain) before heading to the next county.

No sooner had the First Emperor left than the troops in Xianyang began moving between the various counties.

Inside the Prime Minister's residence, Li Si naturally knew the immense damage the three-year southern campaign had inflicted on the Central Plains. If it weren't for the 20,000 hectares of fertile land south of the Wei River, the First Emperor probably wouldn't have continued to send troops north.

After a bumper harvest this year, the counties and prefectures in the Central Plains finally felt relieved.

Li Si was quite satisfied with the arrangements for the western expedition provisions handed over by Prince Fusu.

Moreover, Weinan received the largest amount of grain.

Fusu, standing to the side, explained, "The grain yield in Weinan Prefecture is very high."

In just three days, Prince Fusu had prepared provisions for the First Emperor's journey, which saved Li Si a lot of trouble.

Perhaps if someone else did it, they could achieve the same result.

However, Li Si still felt that the success was mainly due to Prince Fusu's high popularity in Guanzhong.

After securing the provisions, the only remaining task was to determine the transportation route. Li You was tasked with making arrangements along the route with his troops. The rest was a matter of execution. Cheng Miao would have messengers deliver documents daily, inquiring about the First Emperor's whereabouts.

Having finished his current tasks, Fusu could finally take a good look at the reports from Longxi.

During the Tang Dynasty, Longxi Road was also known as the Tribute Wheat Region. Du Fu once wrote a poem: "In spring, trees grow north of the Wei River, and wheat and grain are plentiful in Longyou."

This refers to the abundant wheat harvest in Longxi. Later archaeological discoveries of Han Dynasty bamboo slips from Dunhuang show records of winter wheat cultivation during the Western Han Dynasty, which was then called "Su Mai" (宿麦).

This led to later records stating that they obtained over a million bushels of wheat and grain, forcing the Qiang people to surrender.

Including the later Hehuang Valley, the Hehuang Plateau was also a major wheat-producing area back then.

The agricultural book of the Western Han Dynasty, "Fan Shengzhi Shu", contains relevant records: After the winter rain and snow stop, use something to cover the snow on the wheat and bulrushes... After the beginning of spring, the soil clods will loosen... and the wheat roots will flourish.

This is a record of winter wheat in Longxi from the Western Han Dynasty.

Therefore, Fusu always thought that his ancestors were amazing.

Eighty years after Emperor Wu of Han established the four commanderies of Hexi, there are records of large-scale winter wheat cultivation in various parts of Longxi.

When Du Shuichanglu arrived in Longxi County, he investigated the relevant records. In the county annals of Shanggui County, there was a record of a type of wheat, similar to winter wheat, during the time when King Zhaoxiang of Qin inspected the Great Wall. At that time, it was just a record, and there were no other records of related events.

It wasn't until Du Shuizhang read through the county records that Fusu belatedly realized that it was no wonder that Emperor Wu of Han only began large-scale cultivation of winter wheat eighty years later after opening up the four prefectures of the Hexi Corridor. It turns out that the earliest record of winter wheat cultivation came from the Western Regions.

Planting winter wheat requires special farm tools, and the cultivated land needs to be plowed deeper than ordinary fields. If winter wheat is introduced now, it may be harvested in time for the spring harvest next year.

Fusu believed that to achieve increased grain production, given the existing conditions of the Qin Dynasty and the relevant evidence recorded in the records, it was necessary to have a bold approach to conjecture and experimentation, as well as a style of reasonable verification and careful summarization.

Fusu always remembered that Shanggui was rumored to have the reputation of being a "Little Jiangnan of Longshang".

Shanggui should be even better now, as it can support a large population and strengthen the region west of Guanzhong.

Guanzhong needed a ballast stone for grain storage. After the Dujiangyan Irrigation System was built, the people of Qin believed that rice from Shu (Sichuan) was the ballast stone for Guanzhong's grain supply.

Now, with the opening of the Longshou Canal, those 20,000 hectares of farmland have added another ballast stone to Guanzhong.

Now Fusu wants to try harder in Shanggui, even if the results are less, he should still try more. Who would complain about not having enough food?

Fusu thought that he was only eighty years older than Emperor Wu of Han, and the difference in age was only a few years, so the difference in climate should not be too great.

Fusu wrote a document and had it sent to Shanggui County.

Inside the Prime Minister's residence, Zhang Cang continued to handle state affairs for Prime Minister Li Si, while Fusu whispered, "Teacher?"

Zhang Cang replied, "Your subject is here."

"How's the teacher's research on the solar terms and calendar coming along?"

Zhang Cang calmly wrote a character in the blank space of the silk scroll. The character was 俟.

俟 means to wait.

Fusu understood and said no more.

The teacher didn't know how long the wait would be, and it seemed that this matter had really stumped the teacher. Fusu planned to ask more questions later, and with his attitude and method of self-study, he remained very calm.

Receiving the report from Shanggui County was an extremely gratifying and celebratory event for Fusu. At noon, after the officials of the Prime Minister's office had left in twos and threes...

The Prime Minister's residence became quiet. After the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice left, only Prince Fusu, Cheng Miao, and Zhang Cang remained.

Fusu asked Tian An to bring lunch. Today's lunch included not only flatbread but also noodles and a bowl of sliced ​​mutton.

The mutton was cut very thickly. After Tian An had arranged the food, he sat down and ate as well.

The four ate in silence. Fusu asked, "Are there many people in the Western Rong?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Miao and Zhang Cang were both taken aback.

Fusu then said, "Longxi desperately needs people. In addition to plundering land and treasure, war also requires plundering people."

Zhang Cang and Cheng Miao were eating their pancakes with furrowed brows, their expressions becoming even more serious.

(End of this chapter)