The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 60 The Nightmare of the King of Chu

In recent days, every evening, you can see groups of two or three people walking along the edge of the fields, observing the crops they have grown.

When the wheat ears began to show signs of ripening, many officials came to Weinan. Most of them came from Xianyang to see if Weinan had really grown so much grain.

When people actually come to this place and see the vast fields full of crops, they are all amazed, realizing that such fertile land can be created simply by digging a canal.

For Fusu, Guanzhong still has great development potential, and its potential is far more than what is currently visible.

At this moment, Fusu is eating mulberries brought from Jingye County, as well as grapes presented as tribute from the Western Regions.

Fusu watched his younger brother, Gongzi Gao, catching fish on the riverbank.

On the riverbank, the younger sister, Yinman, was pointing to the water where fish were swimming.

Gongzi Gao bent down and tried to grab the fish, but instead of catching it, he stirred up a patch of mud and sand from the riverbed, making it even harder to find in the murky water.

While eating mulberries, Fusu said, "I've heard that the mulberries from the Western Rong and Western Regions are bigger and tastier, and there are also endless grapes."

Xin Sheng ate grapes and said, "What you say makes sense, young master. The Western Regions are indeed a rich and prosperous land."

Fusu said, "Has someone already gone to the Western Regions to see this?"

Xin Sheng said, "As early as the time of Duke Xiao, someone went to the Western Regions to investigate. I heard that they did not go very far. At that time, the states were vying to reform, and Qin was focused on competing with the six states for hegemony. Naturally, it had no time to pay attention to the Western Regions."

After speaking, Xin Sheng saw that Prince Fusu had a thoughtful expression. It seemed that the prince had some plans for the Western Regions. However, the vast country was still unstable, and the old nobles of the six kingdoms who were hiding everywhere and plotting to restore their kingdoms were still there. How easy was it to do so?
Fusu smiled as he looked at his younger siblings, continuing to eat grapes.

The grapes were a gift from the Western Rong to the First Emperor, and were sent by Prince Gao.

Tian An was mending a burlap sack. Prince Fusu was the First Emperor's most beloved child and the one he relied on most. Perhaps the First Emperor allowed the prince to build Weinan in order to train him.

Before long, Gongzi Gao had caught no more fish, and he returned dejectedly carrying a large river clam.

Looking at his disheveled younger brother, Fusu was surprised; there were indeed many river clams here.

It's possible that the Qin army protected this section of the river, preventing the villagers of Tongguan from catching river delicacies nearby. They instead went to the more distant upstream or downstream areas, which led to a more prosperous ecosystem in this section of the river.

After changing into dry clothes, Gao ate some grapes and asked, "When will my brother return to Xianyang?"

Upon hearing this, Fusu looked at his younger sister Yinman, who was also looking at him, and replied, "When the harvest here is plentiful, I will return to Xianyang to visit."

With a sly smile, she said, "By the time my brother returns, all the fish in Gaoquan Palace will have been fattened up."

Gao said again, "These documents were sent by Father Emperor. Your Majesty must see them."

Fusu nodded and said, "Alright."

After speaking, Prince Gao and Princess Yinman boarded the carriage and returned to Xianyang Palace.

Fusu shared the remaining grapes with the two elderly people and then went to see the documents his younger brother had brought.

Fusu first read a few volumes. These documents recorded the situation in various places and counties. Guanzhong ushered in the flood season in July.

However, the situation was different in other parts of the Central Plains. The Chu region suffered from flooding, while the Zhao region was experiencing drought.

Looking at these documents, Fusu felt as if he were looking at a very fragile civilization, where if it didn't rain for a month, the river would dry up and the crops would fail.

The documents that the First Emperor sent through his son, Prince Gao, were like heavy burdens, telling Fusu that the civilization born from the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers was still very fragile.

This agricultural society was still very primitive. These documents were not stamped. They should have had the seal of the Prime Minister's Office. The fact that they were not stamped means that they were all copies. These copies were to be collected and put into the archives.

Even into the night, Fusu was still looking at these documents, and he selected a few volumes to make some annotations, which he then had Tian An send back to Xianyang.

In the remaining days, many more documents were sent from Xianyang. Fusu even discovered that some of the documents were originals, so he simply wrote annotations on them as well.

After that, the number of memorials sent did not decrease, but almost all of them were originals.

It wasn't until late July that Fusu finished dealing with the documents that had been delivered the day before and had them sent back to Xianyang.

After finishing all that, Fusu walked out of the courtyard and saw Qingbi and his craftsmen carrying frames one by one.

"I've made some changes according to your request, young master."

This is actually a later style of scaffolding. Originally, Qingbi also made scaffolding, but the scaffolding they made was not high and the style was simple.

Fusu asked, "How many laborers are there now?"

Qingbi replied, "Young master, it is currently the busy farming season, and we can only find sixty laborers, and those are the men provided by the magistrate of Huayin County."

"After the summer harvest, there will be even more laborers after the busy farming season."

He nodded with his blue arms.

Inside the courtyard, Tian An was humming a lullaby and pulling noodles again.

Recently, many people have started living in the fields; they really do live and sleep in the fields.

The grain in the fields was probably all these newly arrived laborers had.

When they first arrived in Guanzhong, they had nothing but their families and clothes to cover their bodies.

When Zhang Cang selected these people, the vast majority of them were penniless.

Even at night, when people go to walk in the fields, they can still hear the sounds of snoring rising and falling in the wheat fields. The wheat is almost ripe, and people guard the grain as if they were guarding their own property.

The moonlight was perfect tonight, and there was no rain. Fusu walked along the Yellow River, watching the moonlight spill over the endless fields. It was still sweltering, and the night didn't feel particularly cool.

Fusu felt fortunate, fortunately because the Prime Minister had given him three thousand servants and several hundred acres of land.

In this era, as long as you have food and manpower, there really is nothing that can stump you anymore.

With this wealth as his private property, Fusu believed that the Prime Minister was indeed more farsighted and understood better what the prince of Qin needed, what difficulties he might encounter in the future, and what resources the prince would need to solve those problems.

Fortunately, he can still rely on his three thousand servants and the land for what he does now.

"And what about the future?" Fusu gazed at the bright moon in the night sky, and fell silent once more.

We can't just turn around and blame the Prime Minister for not giving us more initially, can we?
After returning to the small courtyard by the river, Fusu tidied the bookshelf and found the bronze seal of the Grand Master of the Imperial Stud. Before the construction of Xianyang Bridge, his father had given him this seal, but he still did not know its purpose and had not taken it back.

Could it be that Father has forgotten about this?
Or perhaps he should remind his father to return the bronze seal?
However, Fusu quickly dismissed the idea. The Grand Master of the Imperial Stud was in charge of the horse administration of the Qin Dynasty. Since he hadn't taken it back, it was still in his hands and might be useful in the future, just like knowledge.

Fusu was not afraid of overthinking knowledge; the same applied to power—the more power the better.

The following day, just after noon, after the court meeting at Zhangtai Palace ended, Ying Zheng went to Gaoquan Palace.

Prince Gao has been staying here temporarily. He knew early on that his father was on his way to Gaoquan Palace, so he waited outside the palace.

Dressed in black, Ying Zheng looked at Gaoquan Palace and said in a low voice, "Gao, you've been managing all of this?" The prince bowed and replied, "This is what your subject should do."

Before Ying Zheng even entered the palace, he saw two plum trees outside the palace, but these two plum trees were not growing well.

“Father, my elder brother has been taking care of these two trees.”

Ying Zheng nodded and entered the hall. Upon entering, he saw rows of bookshelves, which made the originally spacious hall seem much more crowded.

On the table to the side were scattered scrolls of bamboo slips, which were probably the books Gao had been reading. Ying Zheng picked up one of the scrolls and saw that he was reading the Spring and Autumn Annals.

However, Ying Zheng felt that Fusu was a fast reader and understood the knowledge in the books very quickly, unlike Gao who would leave his books scattered on the table.

Fusu was actually a very humble child. He respected knowledge, valued books, and treated each book with care.

In terms of learning ability, Gongzi Gao could never catch up with Fusu in his entire life.

In terms of humility and thoughtful consideration, even Prince Gao was no match for Fusu.

Upon seeing his father looking through his book, Prince Gao said happily, "Father, I also want to learn more, just like my elder brother."

Ying Zheng's expression remained serious as he slowly said, "Li Si once said that Fusu always thinks about autumn in spring, and is already considering the summer harvest during the spring planting season. This child thinks very far ahead."

Gao asked with an adoring look, "Father, when will my brother be able to return?"

Ying Zheng put down the scroll and said in a low voice, "It will be soon."

According to the eunuchs who accompanied the First Emperor, this was the only answer the First Emperor could give: Prince Fusu was currently building up Weinan and might return soon, though it was impossible to say when.

Ying Zheng walked to the rear hall of Gaoquan Palace, where there was a memorial tablet, the memorial tablet of Empress Dowager Huayang.

According to the guesses of the eunuchs and palace maids in Gaoquan Palace, the First Emperor had come to offer sacrifices to Empress Dowager Huayang.

The memorial tablet of Empress Dowager Huayang was very clean. This was not because Fusu was ignorant or because Prince Gao acted on his own initiative, but because Empress Dowager Huayang had given instructions before her death.

Ying Zheng looked at the memorial tablet and said in a low voice, "Grandmother, Fusu is twenty years old."

When the First Emperor began to address the spirit tablet, Prince Gao and a group of eunuchs withdrew from the rear hall.

Inside the inner palace, Ying Zheng said, "Back then, Grandmother said that Fusu was precocious, and you always warned him not to show off his precociousness in public. You were worried that someone would stifle this precocious child. Now he is twenty years old..."

“Grandmother, you used to worry that someone would harm the precocious Fusu, so you always protected this child. Now Fusu is very resourceful. He knows what he should and shouldn't do. He actually knew how to protect himself a long time ago…”

The group remained seated at the entrance of the rear hall for about half an hour before the First Emperor emerged from the rear hall.

Just as they were about to leave Gaoquan Palace, Ying Zheng saw the fish pond inside the hall and whispered, "Gao, you must take good care of this place."

Prince Gao stood in front of Gaoquan Palace to see off the First Emperor.

When leaving Gaoquan Palace, Ying Zheng asked about the captured King Fuchu of Chu.

The eunuch beside him replied, "King Fuchu of Chu lives in the eastern part of Xianyang City. He spends all his time having fun and is said to have gone mad."

Out of respect for Empress Dowager Huayang, Ying Zheng spared the life of King Fuchu of Chu.

Ying Zheng walked toward Zhangtai Palace with a stern face and asked, "Why has he gone mad?"

"King Fu Chu was worried that the Xiang clan of Chu would come to kill him. The people of the Xiang clan believed that it was Fu Chu who killed Xiang Yan, the great general of Chu."

Ying Zheng ordered, "Summon Li Si."

Immediately, a palace attendant went to deliver the message.

Ying Zheng walked step by step up to Zhangtai Palace, and upon arriving at the main hall, he instructed, "Have today's documents been sent to Fusu?"

"The Prime Minister sent someone to deliver it."

"Ah."

Ying Zheng responded and entered the main hall.

Before long, Li Si strode into Zhangtai Palace.

Ying Zheng told Li Si about King Fu Chu's affair.

Li Si bowed and said, "In my opinion, this matter is not worth worrying about."

After Qin unified the Central Plains, the grudges between the six states and Qin were endless, and the grievances among the former nobles of the six states were even more numerous. The troubles among the nobles of the six states themselves were countless.

Li Si said, "The nobles of the six states from back then are indeed still alive, and among them... quite a few are even plotting to restore their kingdoms."

Ying Zheng's expression darkened further.

Li Si stood straight, showing no fear. He continued, “People need to eat. The former nobles of the six states have been plotting to restore their kingdoms for many years. They have been traveling around to unite their so-called ‘patriots.’ In reality, very few of them are truly capable. Most of them are just using their former noble status to make a living. In fact, they are destitute.”

"How many people can the harvest from one acre of land support in a year? If they do not work for many years, they will have no food to eat..."

As Ying Zheng listened to Li Si's eloquent speech, Li Si skillfully applied his Legalist knowledge. Therefore, when Li Si spoke about this matter, he combined the concepts of land, grain, people, and aspirations.

Li Si believed that since they did not have sufficient reserves, the rebels could only worry about whether they had enough food to eat in the short term, and could not think about the long term.

After hearing Li Si's words, Ying Zheng sent the question to Weinan and asked Fusu to take a look at it.

At Tongguan, Fusu helped Qingbi solidify the foundation of the city wall while learning civil engineering knowledge and various construction techniques of the era from Qingbi.

The daily gains made Fusu feel that every day was a rewarding day.

As soon as they finished their work for the day, Fusu and a group of craftsmen jumped into the river to bathe, and the heat dissipated completely after soaking in the water.

In the future, these craftsmen can proudly say that they swam in the same river as Prince Fusu.

Fusu returned to the courtyard, still wet, and changed into clean clothes. He then washed the clothes he had taken off. At that moment, Tian An was cooking, and judging from the smell, there would most likely be pancakes to eat today.

Fusu hung the washed clothes in the yard to dry.

“Young master, you don’t need to do these things.” Tian An said as he brought over a bowl of mutton soup and a freshly baked flatbread.

The freshly baked cakes smelled delicious, and just as Fusu was about to eat one, he saw someone come to the courtyard.

Upon seeing this, Fusu took a bite of the cake first, noting that the person who had come was about the same age as him.

He was Lord Wu from the Prime Minister's residence. Fusu had heard Tian An say that Lord Wu was a fellow townsman of Prime Minister Li Si and was also Prime Minister Li Si's disciple.

(End of this chapter)