The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 124 Beautiful Seashells

Sitting indoors, you can still hear the sound of snowflakes hitting the window. The cold, continuous snowfall at ground level is a unique type of weather. This kind of heavy snow comes very quickly and in huge quantities.

After finishing a volume, he went to look at the child in his arms, who was asleep again.

Fusu then put the child back in the cradle, and picked up another scroll to continue writing.

I don't know how much time passed, but the wind and snow outside the window continued, and the oil in the lamp in front of me was almost burned out, and the light was getting dimmer and dimmer.

After watching his son for a while and seeing that he was still sleeping soundly, Fusu finally went to sleep.

The next day, Fusu woke up early, collected the bamboo slips he had written on the night before, and labeled them.

Wang Tang'er got off the bed and draped an outer robe over the young master.

Fusu put on his outer garment, pushed open the door, and saw a thick layer of snow in front of the palace.

The snow was deep; one step buried halfway up to my calf.

Tian An and many eunuchs had already begun clearing the snow early in the morning. Fu Su remembered that Tian An had said that it had snowed in Yan more than a month ago.

Fusu asked, "Did Guanzhong also experience such heavy snow this year?"

Tian An said, "Young master, the snow in Guanzhong comes in bursts."

The old man exhaled a breath of warm air and said, "The winter and summer seasons are the longest in Guanzhong. When we get back, it might still be snowing heavily there."

As they were talking, Tian An had someone bring him breakfast.

Fusu took the bowl of porridge and the flatbread, talking to his wife as he asked, "Have you sent them to Father Emperor?"

"It was delivered first thing this morning."

Fusu nodded while eating his breakfast, and then said, "There are six scrolls of bamboo slips on the table. Take them to Zhang Cang first."

Tian An put all the bamboo slips into a bag and then left with them.

Below Langya Terrace lies a heavily guarded military camp.

Li You, hunched over in the cold wind, hurried past the camp entrance and saw Tian An carrying a cloth bag.

Upon seeing Tian An, one knew that the young master had given instructions.

Li You stopped and turned to greet him, "Attendant Tian."

Tian Anping was usually very amiable, and said again, "Li Shiwei, you've worked hard."

Li You bowed and said, "It is my duty. If I am on duty in the army, I must fulfill my responsibilities for that day."

Tian An understood the unspoken meaning: Li You was determined to break free from the control of his father, Prime Minister Li Si.

In fact, Prince Fusu had originally planned to send Li You to Longxi, but sometimes things don't go as planned.

Since the Prime Minister had made the arrangements first, and Li You was escorting the First Emperor on his western tour, the prince could only temporarily put the matter aside.

However, putting it off was not a bad thing. At the time, the young master felt it was too rash, so he made the arrangement to send Du Shuichang to Longxi first.

The young master believed that everything should be subject to change, and sometimes change is better than following the established order.

At this moment, the military camp was bustling with activity. It had snowed heavily all night, and now that it was morning, steam was rising from all parts of the camp as people were preparing meals.

Li You said, "Zhang Cang is a very capable man. He can always find food and supplies. Since the army began its eastern expedition, no one has gone hungry."

Tian An nodded and smiled, "His skills are indeed remarkable."

Zhang Cang arranged all the provisions along the way, and he was always able to get suitable provisions from various counties, so that the provisions were prepared well in advance without affecting the counties.

The army is still in Langya County, and Zhang Cang may already be preparing provisions for the First Emperor's return to Xianyang.

Zhang Cang never hoarded grain in one place. Long before the First Emperor's Fengshan ceremony, Zhang Cang had prepared enough grain for his 60,000-strong army before the end of winter.

In other words, the army will not have to worry about food supplies until the spring of next year.

The provisions were all arranged in advance by the various counties and prefectures along the route.

Led by Li You, Tian An arrived at Zhang Cang's house.

Inside the room, several oil lamps were lit. Zhang Cang was sitting there, looking at a map. The map was connected by lines that linked the counties. These connecting lines were Zhang Cang's grain transport routes, which were also the secret to his grain transport.

Tian An put down a bag of bamboo slips and said, "These were written by the young master last night."

Zhang Cang's gaze remained fixed on the bamboo slips in his hand as he slowly replied, "Please inform the young master that the land area of ​​Langya County and the preparations for each pavilion and township will be completed by tomorrow."

Tian An bowed and left the room.

A gust of cold wind blew outside, making Li You shrink his neck again. He said, "I always feel that the winters here are colder than those in Guanzhong."

Tian An looked at the icicles still hanging from the eaves, rubbed his hands together, and shivered from the cold, saying, "The wind here is really strong."

Upon hearing this, Li You also realized the problem: the cold wind here was indeed stronger than in Guanzhong.

The people of Qin in Guanzhong have a custom of staying indoors during winter and do not go out casually. However, for the people of Langya County, winter does not necessarily mean staying at home.

Xu Fu, a native of Qi, knew with the people of Langya County that winter was also a season of abundant fishing, and that one could even find very plump shellfish on the beach.

Xu Fu grew up by the sea and was very familiar with the habits of the ocean.

Now, he walked around the beach, picked up half a bucket of seafood, and carried the bucket back to Lang's place.

Lang lived with these Yue people. The old chieftain's old illness relapsed. Lang treated the old chieftain first, and then he also had to treat the rest of the people here. This cold winter froze many people.

After Lang finished his work, Xu Fu had already cooked the meal.

The clams had all opened up, the crabs had all ripped open, and inside were plenty of crab meat, oyster soup, and rice cooked in a clay pot.

The Yue people here eat a lot of rice, which is a custom of the former Wu Kingdom and is somewhat different from the people of Langya County today.

Lang walked into his house with his head down. He wasn't surprised to see Xu Fu there, especially since the other party had prepared a sumptuous meal.

Xu Fu saw that Lang had placed a pottery pot on the fire and was boiling water.

He explained, "This is a habit I developed since I was a child in Guanzhong; we only drink boiled water."

Xu Fu said, "Unboiled water is also drinkable."

"Of course we can drink it, but we've been taught by Prince Fusu since we were little, and it's become a habit. I've even developed a resistance to drinking unboiled water. If you meet someone who also doesn't drink unboiled water in the future, they're probably like me. We're students who came from Jingye County to teach in rural areas."

As he spoke, Lang didn't stand on ceremony and began eating the seafood cooked by Xu Fu.

Xu Fu asked, "Do you know medicine?"

Lang said, "I know a little. Young Master Fusu left some books in the county before. I often read his books when I was a child."

"Prince Fusu's books?" "Yes." Lang smiled with some pride. "For us, reading the prince's books is a very common thing. Although we are disciples of Shusun Tong, we often read the prince's books as well. Those books were all written by the prince. Our teacher said that the prince must have read the books of the Hundred Schools of Thought when he was young. The prince would write some notes and insights when he read these books. Our teacher said that if we read more of these books, we will become like the prince in the future."

Xu Fu asked curiously, "What's written in your book, sir?"

Lang picked through the meat inside the clam shells, saying, "They are all interpretations of the various schools of thought, such as Mencius, Xunzi, and Mohism. Your book teaches us how to understand these words."

"As for me... I'm rather slow-witted. I don't have much talent, so I can only work hard. Young Master didn't blame me for not bringing my disciples back to Guanzhong, but he praised me for my hard work in teaching in rural areas."

In this life, it is enough to meet someone worthy of your service and to whom you can entrust your life and fortune.

Xu Fu observed Lang's speech and still suspected that this young man possessed a different kind of spirit, perhaps a kind of courageous yet clear-headed feeling.

Then another fisherman's child came to inquire.

Lang replied in Vietnamese, and the other person quickly left.

Xu Fu understood their brief conversation; they were asking him if he would continue teaching.

Lang replied that he hadn't left and would continue teaching.

Lang is kind and wise, knowledgeable in medicine, and never arrogant. He teaches without expecting anything in return. How could anyone not like such a person? No wonder the old clan chief here wanted him to stay.

The cold wind was still howling outside, and it looked like it was going to snow again.

Xu Fu, with rice in his mouth, swallowed it and then asked, "How much older is the young master than you?"

Lang shook his head. He didn't know how old the young master was, but he was probably only a few years older than him, maybe two or three years.

The young master started building Jingye County eight years ago.

Lang also studied for more than seven years.

Xu Fu said in a low voice, "If that's the case, how come you, at a similar age, are able to read through all the classics?"

Lang frowned, as if recalling something, and said, "Mozi of the Mohist school, Han Fei of the Legalist school, Shang Yang, Shenzi, and also Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi, there are too many to count."

He learned so much in seven years, but Prince Fusu had a remarkable skill: his teacher said that he could blend and dissect the various schools of thought.

After Qin unified the six states, Xianyang collected books from all six states, so the prince naturally had an endless supply of books to read.

Lang did not tell Xu Fu these thoughts; he knew what he could and could not say.

Xu Fu asked, "Can you cure the fishermen's illnesses?"

Lang smiled kindly and said, "Most of them are chronic illnesses of fishermen. As for those that cannot be cured, I can only say that I am powerless to help them after examining them. I can only treat some colds and other ailments, which are still manageable."

"It can't be cured..."

"The fishermen here are very kind; it's not their fault if we can't cure them."

After saying that, Lang finished eating the last crab and quickly left the house.

Lang was a kind person, and also a very mysterious person, as if nothing in this world could deceive him.

How many such people does Prince Fusu have under his command? These young men must be quite remarkable.

Fishermen have thick calluses on the soles of their feet. They often walk barefoot on the reefs, which forms thick calluses on their soles. However, once these calluses crack, it is a very painful thing.

Xu Fu saw Lang treating a fisherman's heel, peeling off the necrotic skin.

However, Xu Fu saw that Lang had poured alum water on the wound and then wrapped it with a clean cloth.

"Don't let it get wet or touch the ground for the next few days. Come back and check on it in a couple of days," Lang instructed as he tidied up his earthenware jar.

The fisherman only winced slightly from the pain, thanked him gratefully, and even had his child hand him some pretty seashells.

Lang had many seashells; there was a huge pile of seashells in front of his house, and he even covered the ground in front of his house with seashells.

Xu Fu stood there, stunned and speechless. Fishermen would collect the seashells and use them as building materials. Beautiful seashells could be used to make jewelry and home decorations, and even traded for the catch.

To Xu Fu's astonishment... he discovered that there were countless seashells in front of Lang's house, piled up to a height of one person. If each person had given him a string of seashells, just how much had he helped these fishermen?

Three days later, Langya Terrace was hit by another heavy snowfall. Fusu carried a string of beautiful seashells, a gift from the fishermen.

Inside the main hall of Langya Terrace, Ying Zheng asked, "Is there anything special about this seashell?"

Fusu put away the string of seashells and said, "Father, I think these seashells are more precious than pearls."

Li Si quickly added, "I believe that the Yue people sent seashells instead of pearls because they trust you, my lord."

Before the First Emperor could ask a question, the prime minister added, "Back then, the Yue people had to pay tribute to the Qi royal family with pearls every year, and the Yue people were deceived by the Qi royal family."

"Besides pearls, these beautiful seashells are also the most beloved items of the Yue people. They know that the young master is of noble status, but the reason they do not give pearls is not because the Yue people disrespect the young master, but because the Yue people believe that the young master is not the Qi royal family of the past, and will not treat them like the Qi royal family of the past."

"Your subject congratulates the young master on winning the hearts of the people of Yue."

After speaking, Li Si bowed again.

Ying Zheng took a sip of wine, smiling but not speaking.

Fusu said, "I would like to leave Xu Fu here and appoint him as the magistrate of Langya County."

Li Si said, "I also recommend Xu Fu to serve as the magistrate of this county."

Wang Ben hesitated and said, "He is a scholar, so it is probably not appropriate for him to serve as a county magistrate."

Seeing Li Si looking at him, Fusu replied, "Langya County will be a very special county, and I think he will accept it gladly."

Wang Ben's concerns were not unreasonable. It wasn't about demoting Xu Fu, but rather his distrust of Dr. Qi Lu, especially since Xu Fu had previously associated with Chunyu Yue and his group.

Li Si said, "I will arrange for officials to serve in Langya County and oversee Xu Fu's actions. The governor of Qi Commandery will also have the responsibility to supervise him."

He turned to Wang Ben and advised, "Grand Commandant Wang, he is just a scholar. Whether Xu Fu does well or not is irrelevant to the overall situation. He is not a threat. Your Highness appointed him as a county magistrate simply to take advantage of his connection with the Yue people, nothing more."

Li Si always had a hundred reasons to dispel the doubts of the First Emperor and Grand Commandant Wang, and to support Prince Fusu.

The four people inside the main hall were the core of the Qin state.

Prince Fusu unknowingly became one of them, participating in the important matter of national construction.

When those... dissenting words left by Dr. Qi Lu are wiped away.

Only then did I see the inner workings of this state apparatus, which were already extremely united.

Outside the main hall, the snow fell like goose feathers, carried by the strong wind. In the Qi region's unique blizzard, the snow fell like waves, layer upon layer, leaving only a white expanse within five steps.

Inside the main hall of Langya Terrace, several braziers were lit, and the First Emperor, Chancellor Li Si, Grand Commandant Wang Ben, and Prince Fusu were discussing the grand plan for building the country.

There was no discussion among the courtiers, nor were there any agreement or opposition; only the four people inside the hall were talking calmly.

(End of this chapter)