The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 7 The Young Master Likes Planting Trees

Li Si said, "There are some things you don't need to do in person. Just have someone else do it. There are also some things that shouldn't be done in your name. If there are some things that are inconvenient, I can do it on your behalf."

Fusu nodded and said, "Well, thank you for your guidance, teacher."

Li Si smiled and nodded, then continued to sit upright.

Most of the people in the hall had people they could chat with freely, but the teacher was the only one sitting alone.

Probably, most people who study Legalism don’t have many friends.

The banquet did not end until nightfall. The teacher saw the generals off, and Fusu watched the palace maids and eunuchs clean up the place.

A group of eunuchs came out from the back hall. Fusu looked up and saw his father, who looked a little sleepy. He must have been taking a nap.

Fusu stood up and saluted, saying, "Father."

Ying Zheng nodded slightly, took the cloth and wiped his face, then sat down and asked, "You are very close to Li Si. Someone has advised me to arrange another teacher for you."

There was no trace of worry in my father's voice.

Seeing boxes of bamboo slips being carried up, it seemed that the government was about to deal with state affairs again.

Fusu replied, "Father, those who offer advice most likely have ulterior motives."

"What are their intentions?"

Ying Zheng's voice was low, his eyes fixed on the bamboo slips.

Fusu bowed and replied, "Father, the so-called teachings to me are actually those who advise me for other reasons. They worry that I will become like Li Si. They fear Li Si, and they fear even more that the prince of Qin will become the next Li Si."

"Are they scared of Li Si?"

Fusu nodded.

The hall was quiet for a while, and even the palace maids and eunuchs walking around in the hall moved more quietly.

Standing below, Fusu could even hear his father's occasional heavy breathing.

Facing his father, Fusu wanted to speak again, but he saw his father waving his hand, indicating that he wanted to leave.

"Your son will take his leave." Fusu bowed again and left the hall.

We couldn't exchange more than a few words when we met. I stood outside the hall and put on my shoes. The night sky outside was as dark as ink, with only twinkling stars.

Today is a new moon, and the slender moon hangs silently in the night sky.

As Fusu walked back to Gaoquan Palace, he was thinking in his heart that although he didn't know how his father got along with Li Si on a daily basis, he also didn't know how his father got along with Lu Buwei in the past.

It is the busiest spring plowing season in Guanzhong. I heard that there are a lot of things going on in the court recently, and all of these things need to be arranged by my father and teacher.

After not seeing his teacher for several days, Fusu would occasionally see the scrolls sent by his teacher and learn about some recent events in the court.

However, the prince of Daqin still has no power and cannot get involved in power.

Apart from being the son of the First Emperor, he could barely say a word or two in front of his father.

Recently, Prince Fusu has developed a new hobby, he actually likes to plant trees.

The weather was turning from cold to warm, and at noon, the sun still made people sweat. In the distant fields, there were farmers working.

After Fusu finished planting the tree, he stood up and looked up.
The saplings planted were water hyacinth and mountain white hyacinth. Fortunately, we also found a pear tree sapling in Shanglinyuan, so we transplanted it here.

Fusu washed his hands with the water from the ditch, looked up and saw some people having dinner in the fields in the distance.

Taking the bowl of bean rice handed to him by Tian An, Fusu also watched other families eating. The family sat in a circle, like several brothers and sisters. Each of them took out their own food, and then the family shared it.

The Qin people were very simple and their way of eating was also simple. They ate where they worked, and during the farming season, they had two meals a day in the fields.

And they spent their entire day in the fields.

Fusu ate bean rice and admired the scene of spring plowing. The strength of the Qin Dynasty was closely related to the land. In other words, the reason why the Qin Dynasty was able to become strong was because of the land. The Qin Dynasty distributed land to the lower class people. People exchanged military merits for land, which also brought invincible combat effectiveness to the Qin army.

The more books you read, the more you understand the true nature of the feudal system.

In the ancient feudal system, ordinary farmers could not occupy land privately, and they did not have ownership of land. At that time, land was only owned by kings, princes, and officials, and there was an extremely exaggerated gap between the rich and the poor.

The so-called feudal state means that a large territory is given to one person, and then this person becomes the king. A king owns the land within the territory and then distributes the land to his doctors.

So, there is no such thing as a special kind of king, prince, general or minister, but everyone wants to become a king, prince, general or minister who has everything.

Shang Yang gave the lower classes land, acres of land that they could use and grow crops, so that they had a home where they could take root.

So, is the Qin law today really harsh?

Fusu sighed. In fact, Qin law was not harsh, and was better than the laws of any of the six countries.

Qin law pays great attention to details, is rigorous but not tyrannical, and is very compassionate to the people. Qin law teaches people how to farm, and Qin law covers all matters of the country.

The reason why they said that Qin law was harsh was mostly because they were afraid of Qin law and did not dare to implement Qin law to harm their own interests.

For some reason, Fusu felt a little sad, and he didn't know whether the current situation in the world could bring comfort to Shang Yang.

Fusu had never met Shang Yang, but for some reason, he understood and admired Shang Yang very much.

After eating a bowl of bean rice, Fusu noticed an evasive gaze not far away. It was a girl in simple clothes. As if she noticed the gaze, she quickly dodged and lowered her head.

She was still wearing heavy black and gray clothes, sitting next to her parents, eating with her head down.

Fusu didn't care and handed the empty bowl to Tian An. Seeing that Zhang Han had brought more saplings with him, he continued planting trees.

Everyone in the entire Qin State was very busy. The First Emperor was busy with his earth-shaking cause, Li Si was busy fulfilling his ambitions and career, and the Qin officials were riding horses on the official road, delivering documents and dispatching officials.

There are also Qin people who are busy farming in time.

It seemed that everyone was very busy, and Fusu felt that he was the only one with the most free time.

Well, I'm probably the only one with nothing to do.

When Fusu heard that Wang Wan had left Xianyang, he traveled five hundred miles in three days, but he didn't know whether it was true or not.

He is such an old man, but he can still travel so fast. He is really gifted.

"Sir, the well has been dug."

Upon hearing this, Fusu washed the mud off his hands and followed Zhang Han to the bank of the Chanshui River. This place was originally a dry plateau and a wasteland with high terrain.

This place is a saline-alkali land, so it has been deserted.

A gust of wind blew, blowing up the sand on the ground. Fusu put on a hat to block the sun and came to the well.

Zhang Han said, "Sir, the wells and canals here are easy to dig. We dug them in three days."

According to Zhang Han's account, the excavation of the wells and canals was proceeding smoothly, with the exception of one well that fell far short of the standards of the Longshou Canal. This was unavoidable, as Zhang Han had limited manpower, and it was the spring plowing season, when farming and warfare were always the top priorities of the Qin State.

Now that the war has stopped, farming is the only priority, so naturally people dare not mobilize manpower to dig canals on a large scale.

Fusu looked back and saw the two county magistrates and five pavilion chiefs with smiling faces. The county magistrates looked middle-aged, and the pavilion chiefs looked only sixteen or seventeen years old.

Fusu asked, "Are all the guards here so young?"

They were quite far away, so the county magistrate and the headman naturally didn't dare to get close. The young master was surrounded by guards holding knives.

Even though the other party couldn't hear the conversation, Zhang Han still whispered back, "Sir, Guanzhong is different from other places. Back when we were fighting the six kingdoms, all the manpower in Guanzhong was sent out. Some village chiefs brought the men from their respective townships to fight, and often a village chief would bring all the men from his entire township with him."

"It's because their elders died in battle, and the position of pavilion chief was passed to their children, which is why they are so young."

Upon hearing this, Fusu stood there for a long time without saying a word.

Tian An had the head of the pavilion and several villagers at the rear given some gifts, and then handed over a roll of cloth, saying, "This is the picture that the young master asked me to draw."

Spreading the map on the ground, Fusu could hardly remember what the Longshou Canal looked like, but he knew exactly what Shangyan Mountain was.

Fortunately, Shangyan Mountain is still called Shangyan Mountain today.

The Longshou Canal has to pass through a mountain several miles away, and an underground ditch has to be dug from the foot of the mountain. The majority of the work will be completed when it connects to the Wei River downstream.

Fusu tied a hemp rope to a bucket, and then put the bucket down. The sound of water came from the well, and some turbid water was pulled out.

The water quality is actually very good. It will become clear after settling for some time.

Zhang Han said, "The villagers from upstream came to make trouble, but I drove them back."

Fusu said: "It's okay. If we can irrigate the fields, we can share some of it with the people upstream."

Tian An whispered, "Actually, many people want to visit you today, and they are all waiting in the mansion in Xianyang City."

"Who are they?"

"Some said they were disciples of Xunzi, or close friends of the Prime Minister. Others came to pay their respects after hearing of your reputation."

Fusu poured water on the wasteland nearby and said, "Zhang Han."

"The end will be here."

"Let someone plant some beans."

"The last general takes orders."

As the most idle person in Guanzhong now, Fusu has plenty of time to do meaningless things. In the opinion of Tian An and others, the prince of Qin should take advantage of now to make more connections.

Tian An's meaning was most likely the same as his father's and Prime Minister Li Si's.

But this world is so beautiful, it would be such a waste to spend our precious time dealing with those people.

After Fusu walked away, he looked back and saw a group of children gathered around him, vying to look at the well.

Fusu suddenly thought, in the teacher's eyes... haha, I am also a child.

Shangyan Mountain is located on the bank of Luo River. The mountain stretches across the river, resulting in wasteland on both sides of the mountain, making irrigation difficult.

I really want to see this beautiful world everywhere, to see the Yellow River before it changed its course, to see the beautiful Hangu Pass today, or to look at the vast ocean from Jieshi in the east.

Zhang Han was a very hardworking person. As long as he was given some care and attention, he could do the work of ten people.

When they arrived at the foot of Shangyan Mountain, Zhang Han had hunted two rabbits on the mountain without knowing when.

In the afternoon, the two rabbits were roasted by Zhang Han.

From hunting, killing rabbits, roasting rabbits, to accompanying the young master for a walk, and never delaying the protection of the young master, this man probably has something to do every moment, and is loyal to his duties for the Qin Dynasty every moment.

Fusu was eating rabbit meat when he saw a flock of birds landing in a meadow. When the wind blew, ripples appeared on the meadow, and the flock of birds took off again and flew away into the distance.

Guanzhong is very beautiful now. The Yellow River has not yet submerged the fields due to the rising riverbed, and Guanzhong has not been hit by sandstorms due to the loess plateau.

Maybe you can even see herds of rhinos in the south.

Hearing that even the Xiongnu in the north had more sheep than they could eat, Fusu sighed and said, "Guanzhong is so beautiful! We should plant more trees to make it even more beautiful."

Zhang Han stood aside in silence.

News of the young master's affairs soon reached the palace. Li Si, who was discussing with the emperor how to deal with the Chu territory, spoke up and said, "Emperor, a number of prisoners of war have been brought in from Chu recently. Since both sides of Shangyan Mountain are barren, why not let them cultivate the land?"

Ying Zheng nodded slightly.

Li Si continued, "Your Majesty, I will take care of this matter."

"I've heard that quite a few people have been wanting to pay a visit to Fusu recently." Ying Zheng pulled out one of the bamboo scrolls and dropped it in front of Li Si's desk. "This was given to me by Chunyu Yue," he said. "He said that prominent figures from the six kingdoms came to pay a visit to Prince Fusu, but he refused to see them. This disappointed the officials, who also said that Fusu was too self-righteous."

Ying Zheng said in a deep voice: "I know you and Chunyu Yue have always been at odds, but!"

As soon as the emperor stopped speaking, Li Si stood up and bowed.

"But no matter what you teach Fusu, the prince of Qin cannot be caught between you and the famous officials of the six kingdoms, even if he is Chunyu Yue."

Li Si walked quickly after leaving Zhangtai Palace. He really wanted to behead Chunyu Yue in public.

The First Emperor was right. The prince could not become a condition for his secret fight with Chunyu Yue.

In other words, even if Chunyu Yue and I were fighting to the death, it would have nothing to do with the young master.

In other words, something like what happened to Wang Wan can only happen once, and no one can take advantage of the young master.

Even if the prince made a mistake, only the First Emperor could blame him.

After walking out of the Xianyang Palace, Li Si frowned and gave up the idea of ​​beheading Chunyu Yue. He waved to the servants waiting there, gave them a few instructions and left.

Recently, a turtle appeared in the fish pond of Gaoquan Palace. It was also presented by Zhang Han. Fusu threw it into the pond and ignored it.

Meng Tian usually speaks little, but is very majestic. He is also the son of Meng Wu and has great prestige in the army. He has a bright future without having to be attentive to anyone.

But Zhang Han was different. Although he also came from a prominent family, he had no one to rely on in Xianyang. Without any backing, he finally got an opportunity, so he would naturally work hard.

There have been two pieces of not-so-happy news recently. A man named Zhang Liang is gathering various old nobles to prepare for a rebellion against Qin, and another man named Xiang Liang is still missing.

"Sir, the Prime Minister has sent a thousand men to General Zhang Han, who is leading them in digging wells and canals."

"Where does the teacher get the manpower?"

"They say they are prisoners of war from various countries."

Fusu sipped his tea and said with emotion, "Teacher, you are really helpful."

(End of this chapter)