The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 27 Reward
It was particularly lively in front of the city gate. Under the gaze of the people of Xianyang City, Prime Minister Li Si and General Wang Jian entered Xianyang City.

Fusu looked back and saw the group of old Qin soldiers with gray hair and beards.

These old Qin soldiers took the money and salaries issued by the commander and left. The person who issued the money was the commander of the army, Li You, the son of the prime minister.

Li You wanted to get rid of this official position, but he would probably spend most of his youth under the supervision and control of the prime minister.

Compared with the great general who was warmly welcomed by the people of Xianyang, this group of old Qin soldiers left in obscurity. They took their share and turned around to go home.

Fusu dismounted, looked at the backs of the old Qin soldiers, and bowed deeply.

The prince's salute was seen by the imperial censor Cheng Miao who was standing on the city wall. He then wrote down this scene and recorded the prince's behavior in the history book of Qin with a single stroke of his brush.

In Xianyang City, all the ministers and generals walked into the Xianyang Palace together.

As they walked along, Chunyu Yue spoke to Fu Nian, who was walking beside him. As they walked towards Zhangtai Palace, he whispered quickly, "I said in the court that when teaching Prince Fusu, we cannot just listen to the advice of Li Si and his family. Who would have thought that Li Si would ask the prince to take Zhang Cang as his teacher? How absurd..."

Chunyu Yue spoke faster and faster, afraid that he would not finish his words until they reached Zhangtai Palace. "Everyone in the world knows that Zhang Cang and Li Si were from the same school."

Fu Sheng whispered, "Li Si was a disciple of the Legalists, but Xunzi and Zhang Cang were not Legalists."

Chunyu Yue's expression was filled with anger as he added, "Then we can't employ him either."

Shusun Tong, who was following behind, frowned as he listened. He said, "Actually, the Prime Minister is busy with state affairs, so how could he have the time to teach you? You spend most of your time interacting with Zhang Cang."

Fusheng nodded slowly.

Now it was Chunyu Yue's turn to be speechless.

Shusun Tong sighed secretly and said, "This matter involves Prince Fusu, it is a matter of state, don't use personal grudges to deal with it."

Chunyu Yue wanted to say that he and Li Si only had differences in governing the country and had no personal grudges.

Everyone walked into the hall, and when Prime Minister Li Si and General Wang Jian entered the hall, today's court meeting began.

Zhang Cang was standing in Zhangtai Palace. Seeing the young master arrive, he hurried forward and said, "Young master, the court meeting has begun."

Fusu said: "So I am late."

Zhang Cang explained, "The Prime Minister said that the young master is only attending government affairs, so it's okay if he doesn't go. If you're worried about being summoned, why not wait here?"

Fusu stood by obediently and sensibly.

Since you are late, it’s okay to just stand at the door as punishment.

The steps in front of Zhangtai Palace were too high. Fusu could not hear the discussions in the hall, nor could he see the people in the hall.

After standing here for half an hour, there was no sign of summoning the King of Chu. It seemed as if the captured King of Chu had been forgotten by the First Emperor and his ministers.

A eunuch came hurriedly and whispered a few words to Zhang Cang.

Hearing this, Zhang Cang said, "The Prime Minister has instructed me to take you to see someone."

"who?"

Zhang Cang said again, "Sir, please come this way."

Fusu looked at the hall again and followed Zhang Cang's footsteps.

From the front of Zhangtai Palace, walking all the way south, when passing by the Censorate, Fusu smiled at Cheng Miao who was saluting, and he also smiled at everyone else who saluted.

As Zhang Cang walked along, he said, "Young Master, you have accomplished a great feat by bringing the old general here. The whole court and the people should congratulate you."

Fusu whispered, "I picked it up for free."

Zhang Cang said, "You are too modest, sir."

The Doctoral Mansion is a new construction. In recent years, more and more doctors from the Six Kingdoms have come to Xianyang, in addition to Shusun Tong, Zhang Cang, Chunyu Yue and others.

There were many more, but Fusu didn't know most of them.

Fusu followed Zhang Cang into the Doctor's Mansion.

At this moment, there was no one else here, and it seemed empty. Probably most people went to Xianyang City to watch the excitement, or went to Zhangtai Palace to attend the court meeting.

In the doctor's house in front of me, there was an old man sitting there. There was a little boy in cloth clothes taking care of the old man, who was grinding ink.

Zhang Cang introduced, "Sir, this is Mr. Luli."

The old man stood up and said, "This old minister greets you, young master."

Fusu hurriedly bowed. Mr. Luli was a scholar of the same time as Xunzi. He had a great reputation during the Warring States Period and was later one of the Four Haos of Shangshan.

The old man's hair and beard are not very neat, and his clothes and long hair seem to be carelessly groomed. He has more white hair than black hair, and it looks like the black hair is mixed in with the white hair.

"Now that the old general has returned, the First Emperor is relieved. From now on, the First Emperor should properly handle state affairs. The Great Qin still has a lot to do."

Fusu first looked at Zhang Cang beside him. The teacher closed his eyes and blinked, looking like he was not going to speak.

"That's the way it should be."

"How will you deal with the King of Chu?"

Mr. Luli's eyes were fixed on him. Fusu saluted and said, "Fusu doesn't know how he will deal with the King of Chu."

"It's rare for a young man to be so calm and composed."

"I just tell the truth, I dare not say anything nonsense."

Mr. Luli finally took his eyes off the young man in front of him. He whispered, "The battle is over. It's really over. Qin has truly unified the world."

Fusu listened to these words, and his subtly voice seemed a little unconvinced, but the fact was that the Warring States period was really over.

The reality is that the various countries really no longer exist, and Qin really unified the six kingdoms.

To the old man before him, it was probably like a dream.

The era of the Warring States was truly over. For the First Emperor and Prime Minister Li Si, it was time to take action on some state affairs.

Mr. Luli added, "Nations have been fighting for eight hundred years. During these eight hundred years of chaos, wars have occurred every three to five years, and every ten years or so, a national war has occurred. The people have suffered, soldiers have died in battle, countless families have been destroyed, countless nations have been broken, and the number of orphans and widows has increased."

Fusu saluted and said, "The war among the nations is truly over."

Mr. Luli suddenly said, "I hope Qin can cherish the world."

"Fusu will remember this."

"So, how do you think the world should be governed?"

Fusu said: "This is what I am thinking about. It is nothing more than doing the right things, doing the right things well, and correcting the wrong things."

"He, Li Si, wants me to stay and serve the Qin Dynasty and the First Emperor, but I haven't agreed yet. I was originally planning to leave Xianyang today."

Fusu stood there with a frown, listening quietly.

"But some say that Prince Fusu is wise, while others say that he studied under the Legalists and will eventually become the next Li Si. He was not in Xianyang a few days ago. I heard what Shusun Tong and Zhang Cang said about his recent behavior, so I stayed here today to meet him and to answer Li Si's question about whether he should stay or go."

By now, Fusu understood his teacher's intention.

Mr. Luli waved his wide sleeves, sat upright with his hands on his knees, and asked, "Sir, how do you think the world should be governed?"

Fusu hasn't spoken yet.

Zhang Cang, who had been silent the entire time, spoke first: "Sir, the young master once said that Xunzi said that the ruler is a boat, and the people are water..."

Fusu stepped aside, consciously handing the reins of speech to his teacher. There were certain things a young man from the Qin dynasty couldn't say casually; if he did, he could be exploited and misinterpreted.

At this time, Zhang Cang was able to stand up and speak. Fusu was grateful to this teacher for answering his questions and protecting his disciples at critical moments. He was a good teacher.

Next, Fusu remained silent and handed the conversation over to the teacher, who was talking with Mr. Luli.

Zhang Cang looked to be only in his early thirties, but he looked like he was ready to debate with Mr. Luli.

His academic and argumentative level is no worse than Mr. Lu Li's.

Then they talked about the system of selecting and employing officials. Fusu remembered that this was a doubt he had raised with the teacher before.

That was last winter, and the master and disciple only exchanged letters.

Everything is difficult at the beginning, even if it takes more than ten years and requires the deaths of many people.

Fusu felt that he was still young and had plenty of time.

The teacher and Mr. Luli also talked about population, how many people the feudal system could support, how many people the county system could support, and why the population of Qin State increased so much in the past hundred years.

By the time the court meeting was over, more and more officials were walking around outside, and it was already dusk.

Mr. Luli nodded with great satisfaction and said with a smile, "Young Master, you have found a good teacher."

Fusu said, "Excuse me, old sir."

Afterwards, Zhang Cang and Mr. Luli walked out of the doctor's house, and the two sides parted ways in the dusk.

Fusu looked at the old man's departing figure and whispered, "Will he stay?"

Zhang Cang slowly shook his head.

Mr. Luli didn't say whether he would stay, and of course he didn't know.

The First Emperor wanted to keep all the doctors of the six kingdoms in Xianyang. Prime Minister Li Si showed some favoritism to him, and Zhang Cang and Shusun Tong tried to persuade him several times. All necessary efforts had been made, and even if they could not be kept, they could not be forced.

Zhang Cang continued, "The Prime Minister said that if the old gentleman wishes to leave, he will be given a troop escort and a reward of one hundred gold coins."

Fusu said: "How generous."

Zhang Cang said, "This is what the Prime Minister advised the First Emperor, and the First Emperor agreed."

No one really cared about the life or death of the King of Chu. He was taken away from the Xianyang Palace by several guards. He might die of old age or illness in obscurity in Xianyang.

This is probably the humanity that the First Emperor showed to the rulers of the six kingdoms.

Few of the rulers of the six kingdoms back then were as obedient as the current King of Chu.

For example, the King of Qi who starved to death, the King of Han who rebelled, and the one who sent Jing Ke to assassinate the King of Qin, all had a bad end. Probably... they didn't want to live like a commoner, maybe not even like the head of a commoner.

Fusu returned to Gaoquan Palace, and the court was adjourned the next morning. The First Emperor had a banquet with his ministers last night, so it was reasonable for him to adjourn the court today.

Tian An came hurriedly and reported, "Sir, the King of Chu has been handed over to a family in Xianyang City for care."

It seems that the First Emperor did not want to be distracted by the King of Chu at all. At least he did not have to worry about the King of Chu's food, clothing, housing and transportation, so he could just let him live in obscurity in Xianyang.

"Sir, the reward has been granted."

Fusu felt a little disappointed. He did not participate in the court meeting and did not see the smiles on their faces. After Wang Jian defeated Chu, he transferred the military power to the First Emperor on his way back.

As they marched along, they dispersed their troops and horses, leaving only two thousand old Qin soldiers with them.

After hearing Tian An's words, Fusu realized that General Wang Jian had received unprecedented rewards.

The First Emperor granted Wang Jian the title of Marquis of Che and Marquis of Wucheng, which was one level higher than the title of Marquis of Wu'an that Bai Qi had held.

He was granted the fief of Pinyang, which was Wang Jian's hometown and the place where he grew up. It was inherited by his descendants.

Not only that, he also gave Wu County in Chu a fiefdom of 300 households. Wu County... is one of the richest lands in the core of Chu.

He was specially granted a sword and shoes to enter the palace, and an annual salary of ten thousand stones.

Wang Jian became the most shining person in Xianyang.

Fusu also thought that this was a very interesting old man. After receiving the reward, the old man retired.

I heard that the old man was crying in Zhangtai Palace, telling about his difficulties.

In fact, this is somewhat outdated.

Fusu wanted to say something on behalf of his father. "You are leading an army of 600,000 out there. Do you think my father is eating well and sleeping well?"

"Sir, someone wants to see you."

Fusu drank the hot water from the bowl and asked, "Who?"

"My lord, it's the Right Prime Minister."

It is said that the Censorate is the territory of the Deputy Prime Minister, and the Qin people have to stay there during the winter.

Last year, during the court recess, I, a young master, had been staying in the Censorate for more than two months, and had not yet greeted the Deputy Prime Minister, who was the Right Prime Minister and was often called the Right Prime Minister in the court.

Feng Quji was about the same age as Li Si, but he looked tall and thin, a few inches taller than Li Si.

The man was ushered into the palace, and Fusu bowed and said, "Fusu, I meet the Right Prime Minister."

Feng Quji also bowed and said, "Sir."

"When I was reviewing documents in the Censorate, I never told the Right Prime Minister about it."

"That's all right, you can go anytime you want. I won't bother you." Feng Quji waved his hand and took out a scroll of bamboo slips from his sleeve. He said, "His Majesty has also given you a reward."

Fusu saluted again.

Feng Quji handed over the bamboo slips and cleared his throat before saying, "Young Master, for your meritorious service in escorting Marquis Wucheng back to Xianyang, His Majesty has granted you the title of Dushuichang."

It was not uncommon for a prince of a country to be granted an official position. Throughout history, there were countries where the sons of their own monarchs were appointed as prime ministers.

Feng Quji added, "Your Majesty and the Prime Minister, mindful of your youth, have appointed Zhang Cang as the Palace Warden to assist you. We hope you will quickly complete the bridge over the West Wei River and the canal at Shangyan Mountain."

"Fusu obeys your orders."

Feng Quji smiled and nodded, then said, "There is one more thing. The Prime Minister asked me to tell you, young master."

Fusu looked up at him.

"The Prime Minister said that Wang Li has been sent to Shangjun to guard the border."

After saying this, Feng Quji bowed and said, "I will take my leave."

After the Right Prime Minister left Gaoquan Palace, Fusu was still thinking, searching for what he had seen and learned recently in the Censorate. The Chief of Water Resources was in charge of building bridges and roads, as well as construction.

Suddenly, Fusu thought of his and Zhang Cang's official positions, both of which were under the jurisdiction of Shaofu, one of the Nine Ministers.

Who is the Shaofu, one of the Nine Ministers in the court now? Isn’t it Wang Ben?
Wang Ben is the superior of Zhang Cang and me.

Then Wang Ben’s superior was Feng Quji.

This time, General Wang Jian has returned, and my father has begun to arrange the positions of the Nine Ministers. Most likely... there are many people in the court who will be promoted.

"Sir, sir," another man came running over. "Sir, someone has brought word that Mr. Luli has decided to stay."

(End of this chapter)