The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 121 Eight Thousand Scrolls
Within half a month of climbing Mount Tai, the Qin army demolished one shrine after another. Even when hundreds of Qi and Lu scholars pleaded with the prime minister, their pleas went unanswered, and their words began to carry threats and curses.

Li Si remained unmoved, which was probably something he and the First Emperor had wanted to do for a long time.

For example, the farming practices in Qi should be based on Qin laws. The strict Qin laws would teach people how to farm, rather than having so-called speakers in temples preside over farming or other aspects of daily life.

Legalism is ruthless; this is another lesson Fusu learned from Li Si.

When autumn rain fell on Mount Tai once again, elderly people from Qi and Lu came to protect their shrine, but the Qin army ruthlessly pushed them away, knocking them to the ground in the mud, including arresting, driving away, and chasing them.

Fusu knew that under the unified ideal of standardizing writing and cart axles, those outdated interest groups would have to be eliminated.

Fusu picked up a scroll about the shrines of Qi and threw it into the fire, letting it burn.

This is something that happened in history. In order to unify the country, Qin wanted to reshape the world and also unify the rites and customs.

The First Emperor and Li Si never forgot their ideals, which was like breaking free from old constraints—an extremely arduous process.

The First Emperor, who unified the country, chose a ruthless and efficient method: he directly demolished and burned their shrines.

When the First Emperor was about to leave Mount Tai after the Fengshan ceremony, the famous scholars from all over Qi were extremely saddened, because Prince Fusu had brought eight thousand scrolls of books with him, and these eight thousand scrolls, along with the books he had previously borrowed, were taken away.

If Prince Fusu had stayed a few more days, the entire book collection in Qi would probably have been looted.

That Qin general named Li You, worthy of being the prime minister's son, showed no mercy to the scholars from Qi and Lu. Any books he could find to take away were confiscated by Li You.

The scholars of Qi harbored resentment towards Li You. Some said that since the First Emperor had collected all the weapons in the land, Prince Fusu might collect all the books in the land as well.

Today, the convoy moved slowly forward. Fusu sat in his father's carriage, handling state affairs with his father and looking at scrolls of documents.

Fusu knew that the First Emperor's ideals were correct and beautiful, precisely because they were so beautiful.

But how many people today understand the First Emperor's ideals?

Fusu looked at his father, the emperor, who was reviewing documents. His face was calm and his eyes were sharp.

The First Emperor must have considered how the Qi region would react, and even anticipated that no one would understand.

Even so, the First Emperor still insisted on doing so.

Unifying the south, implementing the prefecture-county system, standardizing cart axles, standardizing writing... these are things that the First Emperor probably felt he would not do if he did not do them.

Just like when he made his western tour, he is now on his eastern tour, and the First Emperor will not stop working.

After finishing dealing with all the documents in front of him, Fusu got out of the carriage and stood on the carriage shaft.

As the convoy moved further and further away from Mount Tai, one could see villagers kneeling on both sides of the imperial road, their eyes and faces filled with awe, reverence, or perhaps fear of the First Emperor.

Fusu returned to his carriage, while the Minister of Justice, Feng Jie, remained in Qi, as he needed to continue dealing with various old matters in Xue County and Qi-Lu.

The son woke up again, and Fusu picked him up. The child started grinning as soon as he opened his eyes.

Wang Tang'er laughed along with her.

Fusu said, "Today, while helping my father deal with documents, I came across another document concerning the prohibition of private schools."

"Wouldn't it be better to ban private schools?"

Upon hearing his wife's words, Fusu said, "Banning private schools is certainly a good thing, but I hope it can be done even better."

Wang Tang'er asked in confusion, "What else can be done?"

"I've returned all the teacher's documents to her. I'm sure she'll find them helpful after reading them. As for how much better they are..."

Fusu held his child and whispered, "This child will know in the future that it will be a grand plan for the Qin Dynasty for centuries to come."

Upon hearing the young master's words, Tian An sat on the carriage shaft, urging the horse along while smiling silently. "A plan that will last for a hundred years," he thought, "it would probably take three generations to complete."

The First Emperor did not return after visiting Mount Tai, but continued eastward to Langya County.

On this day, even though it was not yet winter and it was still late autumn, heavy snow fell in Qi County, east of Mount Tai.

Qi County was famous for its Fu Island and Langya Terrace in the Central Plains.

The entire Qi Commandery is like the bow of a ship, with the momentum to break out of the sea. This place is adjacent to the East China Sea and is rich in fish and salt.

Xu Fu has been staying in Qi County these days, and today he received a scroll of letters.

The letter was delivered by a caravan of merchants entrusted by Han Zhong. The letter stated that Han Zhong had now gone to the land of Chu. Han Zhong and his companions had made an agreement that if the First Emperor did not accept Han Zhong as a scholar, the Xiang clan of Chu would take them in.

Now Han Zhong has gone to the land of Chu, and said that he has been well taken care of in the land of Chu. However, the Xiang family is still in hiding and it is not easy to tell where they are. The current Xiang family are all descendants of General Xiang Yan.

This letter was written in the Chu script, even though Qin required all regions in the Central Plains to use the same script, and this had been in effect for many years.

However, in remote areas, a small number of people still use the languages ​​spoken in various countries back then.

Xu Fu was able to read articles written in Chu script, but he disliked Han Zhong's character.

Did Xu Fu not know who Xiang Yu was?

After Xiang Yan died in battle, the Xiang clan fled, and these people all wanted to rebel against Qin.

Xu Fu felt he had lost a friend, so he decided to give the scroll of letters to Prince Fusu.

Xu Fu now only wants to explore his own knowledge and has no intention of getting involved in Han Zhong's affairs or other anti-Qin forces.

As a member of the Qilu Doctors, he had heard some gossip in the past. The Qilu Doctors were not a monolithic group; they each had their own stance.

Xu Fu gazed out the window at the East China Sea, where heavy snow was falling and drifting into the sea with the wind.

"Sir, the First Emperor's carriage has arrived outside Qi County."

Xu Fu nodded, then turned to look behind him. Behind him was a row of bookshelves, filled with books related to navigation.

"Sir." Another student hurried in to report. He bowed and said, "Sir, the governor of Qi Commandery has sent word that the First Emperor has arrived at Langya Terrace."

Langya Terrace was built by the sea. King Goujian of Yue built Langya Terrace and later swore an oath of blood with Qin, Jin, Qi and Chu at Langya Terrace to jointly assist the Zhou royal family.

Unfortunately, the Zhou royal family is no longer around, and the First Emperor has already completed the Fengshan ceremony.

Another student brought a message, reporting: "Prince Fusu invites you, sir, to view the sea tomorrow."

Xu Fu nodded again and sat down again, looking at the letter sent by Han Zhong. He really wanted to understand why Han Zhong had contact with the Xiang family in Chu, and how many of the current scholars in Qi and Lu were related to the anti-Qin forces.

Xu Fu felt a lingering fear in his heart. He wondered if he had gotten even closer to Han Zhong, he might have become one of them.

When the First Emperor arrived at Langya Terrace, a document from Mount Tai was delivered to Li Si.

As Fusu walked with his father, the Emperor, up the steps of Langya Terrace, he casually took the document handed to him by the Prime Minister and opened it to read its contents. This document was sent by the Minister of Justice, Feng Jie.

The Court of Justice arrested many scholars in Qi, some of whom had connections with anti-Qin forces, including the Tian and Xiang families.

After the Fengshan ceremony, Chunyu Yue remained in Qi, supposedly due to a serious illness.

Before the First Emperor began burning books, Fusu felt that this was not the worst time for the Qi-Lu scholars. He believed that the Qin Dynasty's reforms in cultural unification would only begin after Li Si issued the decree banning private schools.

After reading it, Fusu calmly walked towards Langya Terrace.

In fact, even if the prime minister hadn't done it, Fusu would have done it anyway. If one is going to centralize power, then one should do it to the extreme. If one is going to unify rites and teachings, then one should also take over the power of teachings from the emperor.

Only by centralizing the power of teaching can we achieve, as far as possible, uniformity and fairness in education. At least, as far as possible.

Even if it comes at a great cost and with tremendous resistance.

The First Emperor, his prime minister, and Fusu, while having differing opinions on the details, shared a common general direction.

For some reason, Fusu always had a certain obsession with these things.

This obsession made him feel that he had no choice but to do it.

The Langya Terrace in front of us still looks somewhat dilapidated, as the former King of Qi had repaired it several times.

The entire Langya Terrace resembles a palace; to be precise, it should be described as an imperial palace, situated with its back to the mountains and facing the sea.

Li Si said, "This is the best place to view the sea."

Ying Zheng suddenly smiled, gazing at the vast sea where the sky met the water, with waves constantly crashing onto the shore, and said with a laugh, "It's a good place."

The sea breeze blew in my face, making my robes flutter.

Seeing his father, the prime minister, and a group of ministers enter Langya Terrace, Fusu was still standing on the platform in front of Langya Terrace, holding a document sent from Qi. The document from the Minister of Justice, Feng Jie, contained more than just information about Qi.

As a result, some respected elders in Qi gathered private soldiers to fight against the Qin army in order to protect their shrines, and many people died in the process.

……

Tian An prepared a spacious hall at Langya Terrace. This place should be considered a side hall, except that the door faces south, not the sea.

Grandma Wang, holding the young master, advised, "Madam, it's not good for the door to face the sea; the wind is too strong."

Wang Tang'er gazed at the sea; it was the first time in her life she had ever seen the ocean.

After a long and arduous journey from Mount Tai to Langya Terrace, the whole family finally settled down and went to sleep.

The next day, before dawn, Fusu woke up.

Tian An was chopping wood early in the morning; he was always an early riser.

As the sea breeze blew in his face, Fusu said, "I have invited Xu Fu to come and watch the sea with me today."

Tian An asked, "Young master, what food should we prepare today?"

Fusu laughed and said, "We'll eat seafood when we get to the seaside."

Tian An smiled and nodded.

In the early morning, there was no political business at Langya Terrace, so Fusu and Tian An arrived at the beach early.

Just as dawn broke, the fishermen returned from their voyages.

As Tian An examined the quality of the seafood they had brought, he explained to the young master, "The fishermen here go out to sea before dawn and return at daybreak, where they can sell the seafood in the early morning."

After browsing through the many stalls along the beach, Tian An selected some of the freshest items.

When they returned, Fusu and Tian An were frying seafood at the palace gate.

Fusu put the shrimp into the copper pot to fry first, and Tian An also cleaned the clams and three beautiful flounders.

Inside Langya Terrace, Ying Zheng had just woken up when he saw a lot of food on the table in the hall, including fried fish and shrimp, which were steaming hot and oil was bubbling up.

There was also a bowl of white porridge on the table.

The eunuch replied, "The young master and Attendant Tian went to prepare these things at dawn."

Looking at the food on the table, Ying Zheng thought that one person couldn't finish it all, so he asked, "Where are Li Si and Wang Ben?"

"They are already waiting outside the hall to be summoned, saying they have important matters to report."

Ying Zheng naturally knew what they were going to report. It all concerned the policy of relocating people from Yue, a matter that had been discussed in front of Langya Terrace, as well as the ban on education that Li Si had been delaying in finalizing.

"Let them both in."

The eunuchs invited the two men into Langya Terrace.

The three ate while discussing current political affairs. Upon learning that the dishes were all personally prepared by Prince Fusu, Wang Ben ate with peace of mind.

Li Si was naturally at ease, as he was still the young master's teacher.

After breakfast, Ying Zheng, accompanied by Li Si and Wang Ben, walked down Langya Terrace and asked, "How many Yue people do you plan to relocate?"

Li Si replied, "Thirty thousand households."

"Thirty thousand households moved to Langya?"

"Yes."

Ying Zheng suddenly stopped.

Li Si and Wang Ben, who were following behind, also stopped.

How many households are there in Yue now?

Upon hearing the First Emperor's question, Li Si replied, "Thirty thousand households."

Speaking of the Yue region, Ying Zheng said in a low voice, "I am reminded of Qu Yuan, the prime minister of Chu."

Qu Yuan, a Yue native, became Qu Yuan, the prime minister of Chu.

Li Si said, "The people of Chu have almost forgotten who the kings of Chu were, but they have always remembered the prime minister Qu Yuan."

As they were talking, Ying Zheng stood on the hilltop beside Langya Terrace, looked down at the beach, and saw a family on the beach.

Wang Ben saw his daughter Tang'er holding a child, sitting on the beach, with Wang's mother-in-law standing beside her.

Prince Fusu, Tian An, and another person were sitting in a small boat not far away.

Who is the other person on the boat?

The eunuch beside him replied, "Yesterday, the young master sent someone to invite the scholar Xu Fu. Xu Fu arrived at noon today and took a boat trip with the young master to enjoy the sea view."

"Lee Si."

"I am here"

Did Fusu really bring a lot of books from Qi?

Thinking of Li You's actions, Li Si said, "My lord... he did indeed confiscate all the books in Xue County, saying he wanted to understand the people of Qi."

"Did Fusu read those books?"

"I haven't seen it. It's just piled up under Langya Terrace right now," Li Si answered truthfully. After a moment's pause, he added, "The prefect of Qi Commandery came to ask if the young master wanted any books from Qi Commandery. He could present them to the young master Fusu, but I haven't mentioned it to him yet."

After speaking, seeing that the First Emperor remained silent, Li Si and Wang Ben, unsure whether the emperor was pleased or angry, could only bow and stand behind him, also remaining silent.

(End of this chapter)