The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 75 A Different Higashide
Will you discuss this with the Grand Commandant?

Grand Commandant Meng Wu was in charge of the deployment of troops throughout the empire. Even though he was old, he still helped the First Emperor to control the military. The old Grand Commandant was the First Emperor's most trusted person.

Fusu believed that he had not had much contact with the old Grand Commandant, and sometimes he would only greet him politely in the main hall of Zhangtai Palace.

But upon hearing these words, Fusu had a different feeling. For the First Emperor, state affairs were state affairs, and private affairs were private affairs.

Since it is a matter of state, it should be decided in court discussions or through consultations between the emperor and his ministers.

Don't think that you'll become different after you've gone through the coming-of-age ceremony.

In reality, the First Emperor was still the First Emperor, and Li Si was still Li Si.

After pondering for a moment, Fusu stopped talking about the matter and continued to assist his father in handling state affairs.

Since the Laba Festival had passed and it was the dead of winter, the court had already suspended its court sessions.

The next morning, Fusu listened to Tian An's story and helped Gongzi Gao and Yin Man pack their luggage, as they were going to send the siblings to Weinan that day.

Tian An was still talking about the old Grand Commandant and his youth.

After the final battle with the State of Chu, General Meng Wu returned and became the Grand Commandant of Qin, while General Wang Jian received the most generous reward and returned to his hometown of Pinyang.

The old Grand Commandant's life in his youth was actually quite simple. According to Tian An's account, the old Grand Commandant went out to fight in his youth, returned to receive a reward, and then went out to fight again, and returned to receive another reward.

His life was very simple.

After Tian An finished speaking, Fu Su packed his younger siblings' luggage.

He held a stack of bamboo slips high, while Yinman held a chessboard.

Fusu asked, "Is there anything else you need to bring?"

"When I want to read more profound books, I will come to my brother to get them."

Seeing the two nod, Fusu led them to the carriage, and the sound of guards' footsteps immediately came from all around, with Li You riding ahead as a guard.

After leaving Xianyang, the group headed towards Weinan. Fusu sat on the carriage shaft, holding a horsewhip in one hand, and said, "Unless you resign from your military post, you will not be able to move freely."

Li You said, "Your official position is not something you can simply resign from."

Tian An said, "What Commander Li said is correct. The old Qin army is still the old Qin army. If there is a war in the future, the old Qin army can also charge into battle."

Fusu recalled the old Qin soldiers with gray hair at Hangu Pass, a scene he still remembered vividly.

The carriage traveled smoothly on the straight road, because people had already hidden far away by the roadside upon seeing that it was an army procession.

Along the way, Gongzi Gao recounted the situation in Jingye County, as well as recent events related to...

In winter, Guanzhong is generally desolate, and this feeling becomes more and more obvious the farther I am from Xianyang.

Far from the bustling city of Xianyang, the Guanzhong Plain was so vast and empty, with unmelted snow still on the ground, and carriages would kick up mud as they passed by.

Fusu sat on the carriage shaft, gazing at the vast Guanzhong Plain before him. In people's eyes, having such a vast plain, and one that was filled with grain, was the best sight in the world.

In Fusu's view, this scenery is still too empty. There should be more people here; land without people has no vitality.

After noon, the group arrived in Weinan.

Zhang Han and Shusun Tong had been there for a long time to welcome Prince Fusu.

As Fusu entered Jingye County, right at the village entrance, six large dogs were sitting at Zhang Han's feet.

Tian An realized that these dogs clearly remembered Prince Fusu.

As the group entered the village, the villagers were still very busy. More than ten spinning wheels were being pushed around with a creaking sound. In addition to farming, weaving has become an important industry in Jingye County.

As far as Fusu knew, the vast majority of the cloth produced here was traded for grain, with only a small amount of silk being able to be exchanged for some valuables in Xianyang.

Everything here remains simple, and food is still a very important resource.

But this is enough to make Jingye County a wealthy county in Weinan.

Shusun Tong added, "This year people need clothes to keep warm, and the women here are busy from morning till night."

"Can we exchange them all for grain?"

Shusun Tong shook his head and said, "That's not true. Although the laborers who moved into Guanzhong had food, their food had to last until the summer harvest of the following year. Many people did not dare to exchange their food for hemp cloth, but instead wrapped themselves in dry grass and stayed at home to hibernate."

Zhang Han said, "Young master, recently many people have moved into Guanzhong. The laborers from before have brought their families with them, and Dali has gained more than 10,000 people."

"I see."

Zhang Han nodded and said, "Tongguan City is under construction. Would you like to go and take a look, young master?"

"I'll go and see."

Seeing that Shusun Tong was about to go to teach, Fusu said, "General Zhang Han, I have something to tell you."

Zhang Han replied, "Please speak, sir."

How many children completed their studies in Jingye County?

"I wouldn't say I've finished learning; the oldest of the children I taught at the beginning were already nineteen years old."

Fusu said, "I hope that the children here can go out and see the world, go out and explore, so that in the future they can bring more children who share the same ideals as them."

Seeing Zhang Han's suspicious expression, Fusu said to him, "It's alright, if they want to stay here, they can stay here and teach younger children."

Zhang Han bowed and said, "This humble general obeys the order."

Fusu exhaled a long breath in the cold air, his warm breath turning into a cloud of mist, and said, "I'll go to Tongguan to take a look."

Zhang Han bowed and said, "This humble general will escort the young master."

"No need, with Li You here, you can take care of this place. My younger brothers and sisters are all in your care."

"You will finally understand."

Fusu said no more, got back into the carriage, and headed towards Tongguan.

In the winter, many people were still working under the newly built city wall of Tongguan. Fusu did not disturb others when he arrived, but Sima Xin was already waiting by the bridge leading to Tongguan.

Upon seeing Prince Fusu's carriage arrive, Sima Xin stood in the cold wind and bowed respectfully.

The cold wind along the Yellow River was strong, and you could see Sima Xin's robes billowing in the wind, revealing his thin frame beneath.

After crossing the bridge, the young master's carriage arrived at a small courtyard on the outskirts of Tongguan City.

Fusu got off the carriage, turned around and asked, "Didn't he follow us?"

Tian An replied, "Young Master, Sima Xin bowed by the bridge and then left."

Fusu nodded without saying anything more.

Tian An shook his head and smiled. This Sima Xin really wanted to make a good impression on the young master, but dared not disturb him.

Fusu walked to the small courtyard where they had met before. The courtyard was very clean, as if someone cleaned it every day. Tian An went first to push open the door and step into the courtyard. He saw the grain piled up in the courtyard, most of which was wheat.

Tian An explained, "These are all thanks to the people who moved to Guanzhong. Xin Sheng said he didn't dare to pile them up at the gate, so he put them in the courtyard."

Fusu picked up a small bag containing wheat and said, "Put it all away."

Tian An nodded and carried all the wheat into the empty house next to the courtyard.

The courtyard was very clean, probably because General Xin Sheng often came here to clean it. He would set off from Xianyang City in the morning and arrive at Tongguan at dusk, when the sun was about to sink into the distant horizon.

While Tian An was preparing dinner, Xin Sheng arrived.

Although General Xin's hair and beard were all white, he was still full of energy.

Fusu said, "General, it's been a long time."

Xin Sheng handed over a dagger and said, "This humble general congratulates you on your coming-of-age ceremony, young master."

Fusu took the dagger and said, "General, you are too kind."

"I have nothing to give you, but this dagger is something I got during the war."

Fusu weighed the dagger in his hand. What was remarkable was that the hilt of the dagger was inlaid with gold threads; the craftsmanship alone was extraordinary.

"Young master, Mao Heng and Lou Jing are teaching in Tongguan. Would you like to meet them?"

“It’s gone.” Fusu shook his head and said, “I came here to take a look, and I’ll return to Xianyang first thing tomorrow morning.”

Xin Sheng said, "Someone caught a lot of fish today, and I'll bring them to you right away. They're still live fish."

Tian An said, "That's really flattery."

Fortunately, General Xin did not hear this, otherwise the two old men would have argued for a long time.

Fusu entered the room and saw that the bamboo slips were divided into two large stacks. One stack should have been read by the old general, and the other stack should not have been read.

"Does the old general also teach children here?"

Xin Sheng happened to return carrying two fish. He replied, "This humble general has nothing much to teach, so I will simply pass on the knowledge and knowledge of the books here to the children."

Fusu said, "If the old general needs any more books in the future, he can tell me and I will teach them to the children."

Xin Sheng killed the fish without saying much, his face full of smiles.

In Tian An's view, Xin Sheng knew that the young master liked to eat river delicacies, so he brought them.

After eating, Fusu went to bed early.

At night, in Jingye County, twenty children stood before Zhang Han. These children, aged between seventeen and nineteen, were the most outstanding children that Shusun Tong had taught over the past four years.

Shusun Tong stood outside the house, listening to Zhang Han talking to the children.

During the conversation, Zhang Han mentioned his ideals, and Shusun Tong was also thinking about his ideals. Having lived to a ripe old age, he suddenly laughed when he heard this, a laugh tinged with self-deprecation.

Shusun Tong stood up and refused to listen to Zhang Han's words.

He, Shusun Tong, once had ideals, but what happened to them afterward? Where did they go? Haha, sometimes I feel like my life has been wasted.

Gongzi Gao was tidying up the house for Shusun Tong when he saw his teacher arrive. He quickly poured his teacher a bowl of hot water and said, "Teacher said that although not everyone can drink hot water, if you can, so can I."

Shusun Tong placed his hands on his knees, looked at the child who was organizing files, and asked in a low voice, "Did your elder brother ever talk about ideals?"

Prince Gao replied, "My ideal is to help my father and elder brother govern the country."

Shusun Tongdao: "So do you know what the ideals are for the children studying in Jingye County?"

Upon hearing this, he stopped tidying up the files and said, "I don't know, but I think my brother made the children in Jingye County study because he hoped they could do more things and do more right things. Isn't that what the teachers have been teaching them?"

Shusun Tong nodded slowly.

Gongzi Gao then explained, "So this is the ideal of the children of Jingye County."

Shusun Tong looked up at the starry sky outside and suddenly felt that the Jixia Academy of yesteryear was gone, but he also felt that something had been added to it.

Deep down, Shusun Tong was troubled by something new, and he silently gazed at the starry sky outside.

Lang is a child who grew up in Jingye County; Lang is his name.

Lang was originally a household servant, one of Prince Fusu's three thousand servants, but the prince always treated them very well and never let them suffer from cold or hunger.

The name "Lang" was given by Shusun Tong. Lang is a very resilient wild grass, also known as wolf's tail grass.

Giving a child this name is also a way of hoping that the child can be as resilient and tenacious as a foxtail grass.

Shusun Tong gave names to many of the children in the village.

Lang was nineteen years old, the oldest among the children here. He learned to write and read articles from Shusun Tong. He learned very quickly, and Shusun usually said he was very talented.

After studying for three years, Lang began teaching younger children in the village. He had dreamed of being able to teach children to read here, just like the old master, for a very long time.

However, today the prefect spoke to them, which touched Lang deeply.

Tonight, Lang talked with her parents all night long, and also talked a lot with her younger brother.

Although they left the village, the prefect would give them household registration, making them registered residents of Jingye County, and their family would no longer be servants.

The next morning, Lang carried a bundle containing a book, clothes, and dry rations. He bowed to his parents and said, "Father and Mother, your son will return in three years, bringing with him even more disciples."

Upon hearing this, Lang's mother immediately turned her face away, refusing to look at her child, and began to sob.

Lang's father nodded.

After kneeling and bowing, Lang bowed to Shusun Tong, then carried his bundle and walked out of the village with a determined look on his face.

Along with Lang, there were nineteen other teenagers who left. They were all dressed simply, with relaxed expressions and determined eyes.

Having just seen the children off, Shusun Tong asked, "Have all these children's household registrations been entered into the register?"

Zhang Han nodded and said, "Don't worry, they can travel freely in all the counties and prefectures of the Central Plains."

Shusun Tong sighed, "Back then, the Qin army marched east to conquer the other states, and now someone else is marching east again."

Zhang Han smiled and said, "Currently, there are only twenty people heading east, but in the future, there will be hundreds or even thousands."

The water in Jingye Canal was still flowing, but a thin layer of ice had formed on the banks. When Fusu arrived in the morning, he saw that the water in Jingye Canal was steaming.

"Young master, they've left."

Upon hearing this, Fusu shifted his gaze from the canal to a more distant view, where he saw a group of young people walking and chatting, heading east towards the rising sun.

Fusu stood there, silently watching them go. After these young people left Hangu Pass, they would see a wider world, and they would probably suffer a lot, or they might have great opportunities. But if they wanted to come back, they could do so anytime.

(End of this chapter)