The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 106 The Determination to Launch the Northern Expedition
Upon learning that the First Emperor was about to reach the Great Wall, Meng Tian led a group of people to Didao. The army traveled all the way to the former site of the Qin Xichui Palace, which the Qin people called Xichui. The First Emperor renamed it Xixian.

Meng Tian dismounted and looked around at the Loess Plateau, which was the western end of the Qin Great Wall.

There are troops stationed there on weekdays, but not as many as in Shangjun.

Moreover, this place borders the former site of the Yiqu.

"General! The imperial carriage is more than ten li away from here,"

Upon hearing that the First Emperor's carriage was only ten li away, Meng Tian immediately said, "Dismount!"

Upon hearing this, everyone dismounted.

Before the First Emperor's carriage arrived, a troop of soldiers arrived with carts full of supplies.

The people escorting the grain were also a group of Qin soldiers. Meng Tian, ​​dressed in black, called out loudly, "Which army are you from?"

Li You, the leader, then rode forward from the rear and saw Meng Tian standing on the straight road. He dismounted and said, "This humble general is Li You! I am here to deliver provisions by order."

Meng Tian recognized Li You and said solemnly, "Thank you for your trouble."

Li You bowed and said, "It is my duty."

Upon approaching, Meng Tian discovered that Li You, who had once been a somewhat dissolute young man in Xianyang, now possessed a more resolute demeanor.

Meng Tian said, "Let's set up camp here and rest first."

The First Emperor would arrive in a day, so Li You would often deliver the grain a day or two in advance.

Li You explained to Meng Tian, ​​saying, "It was all arranged by you, young master."

Meng Tian placed one hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist, looked at the armored soldiers setting up camp, and said in a deep voice, "I have heard about your affairs over the years."

So many years have passed, but Meng Tian hasn't changed at all.

In fact, Meng Tian knew about the things that had happened in Xianyang in recent years.

Although he was stationed at the Great Wall and oversaw its construction, Meng Tian now commanded tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians on the border, and the scale of the Great Wall construction was much larger than when he first came to Shangjun.

Despite being in the north, Meng Tian was very clear about what was happening in Xianyang.

Prince Fusu had a wish: to obtain the river valley of the Western Rong people. Li You informed Meng Tian of this.

Of all the things that happened in Xianyang, this was the one thing that Meng Tian was truly unaware of.

A campfire was burning in the camp, and the soldiers sat in small groups around it. The winter on the Loess Plateau was even colder than that of Xianyang.

Li You ate a pancake and said, "Young Master said that the river valley of the Western Rong people has particularly good water and grass, which can raise a lot of warhorses. That place is like a corridor. Young Master gave that place a name called Hexi Corridor. When Young Master takes over that river valley in the future, he can make that place have that name."

Meng Tian chewed on a biscuit, his gaze fixed on the firelight, his expression resolute.

Several adjutant generals stood by, listening to Li You's words. In this army, Li You and Meng Tian held very high positions. Although Li You was only a junior officer, Meng Tian was the Inner Governor of Xianyang City and is now the Grand General of Shangjun.

The fathers of these two are the current Prime Minister and the former Grand Commandant of the Great Qin Dynasty, respectively.

The Prime Minister is in charge of state affairs, while the Grand Commandant is in charge of the mobilization of troops throughout the land.

After saying that, Li You whispered, "Young Master has never publicized this matter, saying that he was plotting something in the Hexi Corridor."

Meng Tian nodded thoughtfully.

The adjutant beside him looked away with perfect understanding.

The following day, at noon, the First Emperor arrived at Xixian.

Meng Tian led his troops to welcome the First Emperor.

Ying Zheng stepped down from the carriage and walked towards the construction site where the Great Wall was being built.

Meng Tian followed closely beside the First Emperor, walking at a brisk pace.

The Great Wall here is not large in scale, but as you go east along Xixian County, you can see more and more people building the Great Wall. Many of the Great Wall relics here have been left over from the time of the Qin rulers.

Li Si followed behind, listening to Meng Tian recount the progress of the Great Wall to the First Emperor.

In the past few years, the Xiongnu people had been causing trouble. In the last two years, Meng Tian often led troops into the grasslands to fight against the Xiongnu.

This was also one of Meng Tian's methods of training troops.

Li Si listened quietly and also learned the reason why Meng Tian trained the troops in this way: although the Qin people had experience fighting against the Yiqu people, they could also apply it to the Xiongnu people.

However, these skills were what the old Qin soldiers were good at. In recent years, the newly trained troops have been conquering cities and territories in various parts of the Central Plains and fighting against the Xiongnu. They also need to train cavalry again.

Cavalry requires human lives and weapons to be trained. It takes time to train a cavalry force, which requires not only men and horses, food, and weapons, but also opponents to train against.

The Xiongnu people, now scattered throughout the areas north of the Hetao region, are a good place to train their troops.

From his words, Li Si could tell that the First Emperor was quite worried about the north, and that Meng Tian also felt that the north would become a huge threat.

When Li Si heard that the First Emperor wanted to continue sending troops to reinforce the Great Wall, he was filled with worry.

When the topic of military strength came up, Li Si bowed and said, "I believe that prisoners can be relocated to guard the border."

Meng Tian immediately agreed to the idea. Although it was difficult to manage criminals who were sent to guard the border, it was better than nothing.

The next day, the Qin army, who had stayed in Xixian for a day, felt that the weather had warmed up considerably.

Li Si greeted the First Emperor as he emerged from the main tent, while Meng Tian had already prepared his troops to return to Shangjun.

Looking at the clear morning sky, Ying Zheng said in a deep voice, "Pack up and go back to Xianyang."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ben led his men to tidy up the ranks.

Li Si said in a low voice, "It's the end of the year, and the weather is so warm today. I'm afraid there will be heavy snow next spring."

Ying Zheng nodded without saying a word and sat back in his carriage.

Li Si bowed and stood still. The First Emperor was not in a good mood. Meng Tian had told the First Emperor about the situation in the north.

Li Si only heard a few snippets of information throughout the night. The situation in the north only looked good, but the Northern Expedition was still a huge burden. Moreover, the grain stored for troops and farmland in the north was not enough, and supplies from Guanzhong were needed even more.

When the southern expedition to Dongting and Changsha counties was launched, the garrison of 5,000 soldiers required 1,500 shi of grain per month. Each regular soldier needed 18 shi of grain per year. The grain transport team and laborers in the rear of the army accounted for 30% of the army's manpower, and the cavalry needed even more.

In Meng Tian's words, if 300,000 troops were to be stationed along the Great Wall, at least 2 million shi of grain would be needed, and that is a conservative estimate, not even taking into account other losses.

At least two million bushels of grain are needed each year, and year after year.

Li Si could also tell that this was a huge burden.

The wounds from the southern expedition had not yet healed. Li Si looked at Meng Tian, ​​who was still arranging troops in the distance, bowed to him, and secretly thanked Meng Tian for persuading the First Emperor at this time, saying that the time for a northern expedition had not yet come.

At noon, after the group had rested, they set off again.

The First Emperor's entourage traveled along the straight road towards the Jing River, and then returned to Xianyang along the Jing River valley.

Just as Li Si had feared, the cold winter at the end of the year brought a few days of warmth. While the Qin people were still holding their year-end sacrifices, heavy snow began to fall again. The First Emperor's western tour entourage passed through villages along the Jing River, and the wind and snow kept falling on the armor of the soldiers. Before long, many of the men in the entourage had some snow on their shoulders.

Li You turned back and bowed to his father, saying, "Prime Minister, Chief of the Imperial Household Department, a shed has been prepared ahead where we can rest and take shelter from the snow."

Wang Ben asked in surprise, "You prepared this?"

Li You replied, "The news sent from Xianyang yesterday said that there might be heavy snow in the next two days. Prince Fusu sent a messenger to deliver the message. I have people build shelters on the spot, and there are also caves under the dry plateau ahead where we can take shelter from the snow and keep warm."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ben came to the First Emperor's carriage and began to report.

Li Si noticed that the armored soldiers around him were shivering from the cold.

Having received a reply from the First Emperor, Wang Ben instructed the generals of each unit to order the entire army to "go and seek shelter from the snow."

The army followed Li You eastward for several miles, and sure enough, there was a long row of sheds and quite a few houses on the dry plateau ahead. None of the houses were inhabited.

When asked why the village had been abandoned and was now uninhabited, Li You explained that the young master felt that the population of the three counties west of Xianyang Bridge was too small, so as early as last year, several villages north of the Jing River had been relocated there.

Back then, Li Si used the strategy of relocating people to guard the border when dealing with the Xiongnu. Now, Prince Fusu has also begun to relocate people to cultivate land.

The teacher and student are quite interesting; Prince Fusu can even learn his teacher's skills.

Noticing Wang Ben's smile, Li Si withdrew his gaze, lowered his head, and remained expressionless as he led the First Emperor into a cave at the foot of the dry plateau to take shelter from the snow.

This cave was probably originally used by the villagers to store grain, and Li Si found a lot of millet on the ground.

It got much warmer as soon as we entered the cave.

Firelight illuminated the cave, and a candlestick was lit, brightening the once dark depths of the cave. Under the candlelight, the First Emperor was still looking at the border defense documents submitted by Meng Tian.

There are two openings at the top of the cave, which allow for ventilation, suggesting that someone may have lived here in the past.

When Li You returned to the cave, the team outside had already settled in.

Along the way, Li Si was increasingly surprised by his son's performance; he was exceptionally good.

The snow outside was falling heavier and heavier. Li Si looked at the heavy snow outside, then glanced at his son sitting at the entrance of the cave, who was tending the fire for warmth, and asked, "What else does the young master want to tell you?"

Listening to his father's words, Li You said, "He gave a lot of instructions. I sent a message to you about the situation in the north half a month ago. We should receive news in a couple of days."

Li Si gazed at the snow scene and fell silent again.

The heavy snow continued to fall, and by the next morning, it showed no signs of abating.

The First Emperor's western tour entourage was temporarily stranded here. Fortunately, it was not far from Xianyang, and they could reach it in three to five days, so there was no need to worry about food supplies.

A swift horse arrived through the snow, and the rider handed over a scroll of bamboo slips, saying, "A letter from the young master."

Li You took the bamboo slip and was just about to open it when he noticed someone staring at him.

Seeing this, Li You looked up and saw that it was his father looking at him, so he handed over the bamboo slip first.

Li Si took the bamboo slip, opened it, and began to look at it. He frowned and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

"You asked about the transportation of grain supplies, young master?"

"No, not at all," Li You shook his head and said, "I only reported the situation in the north to you, young master."

"Did the young master send you to report this?"

"The young master said that any situation must be reported to Xianyang, otherwise where did my son get the food along the way?"

Seeing that his father was looking at the bamboo slips, Li You added as if it were the most natural thing in the world: "The grain was of course transported from Xianyang."

Li Si frowned as he looked at the contents of the bamboo slips. The Great Wall was used as a granary, with a beacon tower every ten li. Each beacon tower stored three months' worth of provisions. During the off-season, the garrison soldiers could carry provisions into the beacon towers for future needs.

During wartime, grain was distributed through various beacon towers, reducing the need for long-distance conscription of laborers...

In Prince Fusu's argument, long-distance grain transport requires the mobilization of laborers and is extremely costly, so it is best to avoid using this method of grain transport.

And the young master's many words, in the end... the sentence he wrote with the most emphasis, was: Let the grain grow on the border.

Upon seeing this sentence, Li Si's hands visibly trembled. Indeed, if the grain were grown along the border, there would be no need for so many people to transport it.

Li You stood aside and read aloud, "Let the grain grow on the border."

It's a very simple sentence, yet it carries such a heavy weight.

Li Si slowly raised his head. Wasn't this exactly what he sought by relocating people to guard the border?
To store grain and cultivate land on the border—what the young master sought was precisely Li Si's ideal of relocating people to defend the frontier.

If someone else had written these words, Li Si probably wouldn't have even given them a second glance.
However, this was written by Prince Fusu. Back then, Weinan, which had tens of thousands of acres of dry land, was created by Prince Fusu having people carve through Shangyan Mountain, which gave Weinan more than 20,000 acres of farmland and fed 200,000 people.

If you say that you want grain to grow on the border, then... I, Li Si, will do everything in my power to help you accomplish this.

Li Si recalled how, back in Zhangtai Palace, he had overseen the relocation of people to defend the northern border, which had drawn opposition from the scholars of Qi and Lu.

So it turns out... all along, the young master has always supported this national policy.

"Even if Si loses his position as prime minister, even if Si has to go to the north to cultivate the land himself, he will still help the young master, just as the young master said, to ensure that our grain grows on the border."

Li Youzheng wanted to ask how to grow grain on the border, but he saw his father walking quickly toward the First Emperor.

Afterwards, Li You also met with Right Chancellor Feng Quji and Wang Ben, as well as Court Minister Feng Jie, all of whom were summoned.

The snow stopped and started again, falling for two or three days and then stopping again. Half a month later, Fusu, wearing a cloak, stood under the city of Xianyang, thinking to himself that his father's western tour had lasted for more than two months. He had left before the end of last year, and in the blink of an eye, the first month of the new year was almost over.

Fusu looked towards the direction of Xianyang Bridge. There were many laborers and merchants coming from that direction. Fusu saw people eating garlic and meat by the roadside, and a man drinking a mouthful of wine and shouting that it was refreshing.

Fusu remained standing below the city walls, awaiting news.

Lord Wu rode up and reported, "My lord, the entourage has entered the city from the northern suburbs of Xianyang."

Fusu mounted his horse again and, together with Zhang Cang, led the troops to the northern suburbs.

The emperor came along the valley of the Jing River, and then followed the straight road to the northern suburbs, as this was the starting point of the Qin Straight Road leading to Shangjun.

From here, take the straight road northwards, and you'll reach the Great Wall to the north.

In the Emperor's heart, this place symbolized the starting point of the Qin Dynasty's northern expedition.

It seems that the western tour has strengthened the Emperor's resolve to launch a northern expedition against the Xiongnu.

The snow today wasn't heavy, and the snowflakes were small, but it still felt like it would never stop falling, which was quite annoying.

Fusu rode his horse to the Linguang Palace in the northern suburbs and asked, "How many miles is Father Emperor's carriage from here?"

A cavalryman rode up at full speed and reported, "Reporting to the young master, it's six li away."

The journey of six li to Lin Guang Palace took about half a day. Fusu instructed Zhang Cang, "Have all the officials of Xianyang come to welcome Father Emperor."

Another team, having received the young master's orders, rode off to Xianyang to deliver a message.

(End of this chapter)