The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 76 Farming Rituals and Heavy Snow

Fusu turned around and walked towards the carriages and escort team not far away, saying, "Going east is such a wonderful thing, how can we stop it?"

Tian An said in a low voice, "What you say makes sense, young master."

In fact, Tian An had no idea about governing a country.

Fusu came to the carriage and instructed, "Let's go back."

Li You nodded and ordered his troops to turn around and return to Xianyang.

Tian An sat in the carriage, driving for Prince Fusu.

Winter was not yet over and the weather was still cold. After returning to Xianyang, Fusu did not stay outside for long and went straight back to Gaoquan Palace.

Fusu cleaned his fishpond, wiping away all the algae at the bottom, and the entire fishpond needed to be dried for a day.

The sun was shining brightly today. After finishing her work, Fusu made a few baked buns.

Tian An placed charcoal at the bottom of the food box, covered it with a ceramic bowl, and then placed the baked buns on top. This way, the baked buns could be kept warm inside the food box. This was a clever way he came up with to keep the food warm.

After cleaning the fishpond, Fusu instructed the people there, "Find some fish fry and raise them."

Upon hearing this, everyone bowed in greeting.

The fact that the young master was personally cleaning the fishpond already terrified the palace servants.

Fusu changed into clean clothes, put on a cloak, and went outside the palace.

The two plum trees outside the hall still hadn't blossomed, and these two rather unusual plum trees stood proudly in the cold wind.

Every time Tian An saw them, he felt an urge to chop them up.

Fusu, carrying a food box, said, "Let's plant more bamboo next year."

Tian An said, "Then let's plant a bamboo grove in Gaoquan Palace. Maybe we can eat bamboo shoots in the future."

"Okay, that's the arrangement."

Fusu immediately agreed.

Tian An resisted the urge to cut down the two plum trees and allowed them to stand in front of Gaoquan Palace.

Behind Xianyang Palace, there is a river that runs through the palace. The river is not deep, and the water level is only about knee-deep.

The First Emperor sat here.

Fusu arrived carrying a food box and saw the winter scenery that he had seen every day. There were fifteen deer of different sizes by the river. The deer were very beautiful, especially the way they walked with their heads held high on the white snow.

Ying Zheng asked, "You're back?"

Fusu opened the food box and took out a plate of baked buns and a bowl of tofu pudding.

Douhua (tofu pudding) is a product of soy milk. Although it is not yet made into tofu, it is still a very good food.

Ying Zheng took a bite of tofu pudding, his gaze still fixed on the deer, and asked in a low voice, "How is Weinan?"

Fusu took the empty bowl from his father, scooped some tofu pudding into the earthenware pot, and filled it up for his father again, replying, "Everything went smoothly. Zhang Han is indeed a capable man."

Zhang Han is indeed a very capable person, like planting radishes on a mountain, but he planted a little too many.

As for other matters in Jingye County, I don't need to say much. My father already knows, so there's no need to hide anything. They're all perfectly normal things.

Ying Zheng ate a baked bun and finished his tofu pudding, his gaze still fixed on the deer.

Fusu was also observing them. They must have been kept in the palace, because these deer did not avoid people and would even come forward to greet them.

There was also a deer that had recently given birth to a fawn and was lying wearily on the ground, with a hungry fawn beside it.

Ying Zheng said, "During the ceremony for the First Farmer, you will accompany me."

Fusu said, "Your subject obeys."

This year's winter in Guanzhong is very long. When the northwest is cold enough, it will definitely snow in Guanzhong. When the climate becomes warm south of the Qinling Mountains, it will still snow in Guanzhong.

Grandpa once said that Qin Li was not complicated, and that's actually true.

From the Legalist perspective, the complexity of the Zhou rites contradicted the Legalist pursuit of high productivity. Therefore, the Qin people's festivals mainly consisted of sacrifices and banquets, with little singing and dancing entertainment.

Therefore, the Qin people had far fewer festivals in winter compared to the other states that followed the Zhou rites.

After the Laba Festival sacrifice, the following year would begin, and the First Emperor would perform the First Farmer Ceremony in the first month of the following year.

A month passed, and the world remained bitterly cold. In the second month of the Qin calendar new year, the First Emperor personally conducted the sacrifice, while the county officials in each prefecture presided over the sacrifice.

Qin consistently strengthened its national policy of prioritizing agriculture, maintaining the stability of this agricultural civilization. Before planting, people needed to offer sacrifices to the God of Agriculture.

Subsequently, the First Emperor's carriage left Xianyang.

Fusu sat in the carriage at the back, accompanied by the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers of the court, as well as many other officials.

The cold wind continued to howl across the Guanzhong Plain as the long procession headed towards Shanglin Garden.

Fusu sat in the carriage, looking at the bamboo slips in his hand, and asked, "How many families got married this year?"

Li You replied, "There are more than sixty households in Weinan alone, and there will be more after the spring next year."

Fusu held the bamboo slip in his hand and looked at it. In the present Qin Dynasty, marriages had to be reported to the government and registered. The two families of the man and woman had to establish a new household register for the marriage, and it had to be done under the supervision of the government. The dowry and witnesses were to be recorded. If any disputes arose, the government would make a ruling.

This means that the details of a man and woman's marriage, including the amount of the dowry and the money spent on betrothal, must be registered with the government beforehand.

Extravagance and luxury are prohibited, as are people who compete with each other. Local officials are responsible for ensuring that people in certain areas maintain a simple lifestyle when getting married.

This is a lesson learned from Shang Yang's reforms, in which Shang Yang almost offended the entire Qin nobility in his attempt to curb extravagant celebrations.

It was because of that bloody lesson that even after Shang Yang died, Qin law continued to follow Shang Yang's laws, insisting on curbing extravagance and waste, and advocating frugality.

According to the Qin laws implemented after Shang Yang's reforms, extravagance was prohibited.

The Qin legal code explicitly states that "people are not allowed to prepare food and drink."

Therefore, extravagance and luxury were not allowed in Qin weddings, and alcohol was also prohibited.

Following Shang Yang's reforms, Qin law stipulated that banquets for guests in Qin were generally not elaborate or extravagant.

In typical Qin weddings, the man usually brings cloth, while the woman gives shoes.

The reason why there were so many weddings in Weinan this winter is that the government was able to intervene in and encourage marriage.

Qin law was always based on Legalism. In order to improve the country's productivity, the Qin law also made detailed provisions for marriage in order to improve productivity.

In this respect, Qin rituals and Zhou rituals were clearly distinguishable.

Compared to the Qin laws, the Zhou rites were much more complex.

Fusu thought of the three chariots that Wang Jian had sent. People only knew that they were three chariots without animals, but they didn't know that they were golden chariots.
From some perspectives, Wang Jian exploited a loophole in the Qin law. If anyone were to investigate, the old man would probably be even happier, because the Wang family's contribution was truly immense.

Weinan County needed people, and Zhang Han spent the entire month presiding over various marriages, allowing widows aged thirty to forty, whether they had children or not, to remarry.

Fusu could even imagine whether Zhang Han had hosted a matchmaking event.

But this also has its advantages: the more births a county has, the more prosperous its population is.

While pondering, they arrived at Shanglin Garden. Before entering Shanglin Garden, the First Emperor went to the altar to begin the sacrifice, offering cattle, sheep and pigs as sacrifices, and performing the Tai Lao ritual.

The ceremony lasted for more than an hour, after which groups of officials left.

The emperor ordered them to offer sacrifices to the mountains and rivers of the world.

Afterwards, the First Emperor and his ministers walked towards the Shanglin Garden.

The group can rest here for one night on the first day.

The next day, as the sun rose in the east.

The weather was still cold. The First Emperor and his son led an ox to turn over the soil in a field.

As usual, Tian An prepared a meal for the First Emperor and his son, Prince Fusu. The noodles were not yet cooked, so Fusu ate a piece of millet cake to fill his stomach.

Li Si arrived carrying a scroll. He walked up to Prince Fusu, bowed, and said, "My lord, this is a letter from General Wang Jian."

Fusu took the letter, opened the bamboo slip, looked at its contents, and then handed it to his father, the emperor, who was standing to the side.

Ying Zheng took the letter, read it, and suddenly smiled.

Fusu first took a bowl of noodles from Tian An and presented it to his father, the emperor. Then he took a second bowl of noodles from Tian An.

After his father started eating, Fusu picked up the chopsticks from the bowl and began to eat.

Wang Jian's letter was placed on the table. The purpose of his letter was to hope that Prince Fusu would get married as soon as possible.

With the wedding imminent, Fusu could only imagine that Wang Ben was probably having many sleepless nights.

The ceremony for the first farmer lasted for nine days. Every morning, Fusu would accompany his father, the emperor, to lead oxen to plow the fields. On the remaining two days, the grain would be planted in the ground.

The Emperor was taking a nap in a bamboo chair to the side.

Fusu sat on the edge of the field, intending to rest for a while before going to sow seeds. The weather was fine today, and there was hardly any wind, so he could sit on the edge of the field and bask in the sun.

Actually, the cold of winter is not over yet. After this warm wind passes, it will probably snow again in Guanzhong.

Li You stood guard beside him, and the sound of leather armor rubbing against each other could be heard as he moved around.

Fusu said, "Could you please stop walking around here?"

Upon hearing this, Li You suddenly stopped a few steps.

Fusu said, "Well, you should just stand by like a candle."

Li You stepped forward and said, "Young master, there has been an interesting incident recently."

Fusu asked, "What is it?"

Li You lowered his voice and said, "My father was scolded."

"Who dares to insult my teacher?"

"It was Mao Heng in Tongguan."

When Mao Heng was mentioned, Fusu was no longer surprised.

Mao Heng was my teacher's classmate, both of them were disciples of Xunzi, and they were of the same generation. This matter has nothing to do with me, Prince Fusu; it is their grudge as fellow disciples.

Li You explained, “My father told Mao Heng that he could recommend Mao Heng to the young master so that he could sing a poem at the young master’s wedding.”

"Mao Heng agreed?"

“Hehehe…” Li You said, “Mao Heng gave my father a severe scolding and even brought up Han Fei from back then. My father was scolded so badly that he returned to Xianyang in disgrace.”

Fusu sighed with emotion.

Li Youdao said, "Very few people know about this. I only learned about it from my servant."

Fusu whispered, "The Prime Minister has been insulted, how can you still be so interested?"

“What you say makes sense, young master. I might even have to go and thank Mao Heng.”

Fusu rubbed his forehead with a slightly pained expression. The prime minister's son was indeed an anomaly.

No matter how viciously Mao Heng insulted Li Si, Li Si would not harm Mao Heng. If he wanted to kill Mao Heng, he would not have kept him alive until now.

This matter concerns Han Fei, whose cause of death remains unknown to this day. Mao Heng used this incident to criticize Li Si.

Li Si wouldn't even retaliate.

If it were anyone else who dared to speak to Li Si like that, their bones would probably already be thrown into the Wei River to feed the fish.

Seeing that his father, who was lying on the recliner, seemed to have woken up and was about to sit up.

Li You was so frightened that he immediately stood up straight.

Fortunately, the First Emperor only turned over once. Fusu picked up a bag of beans and continued to sow them in the field.

The next day, after the five acres of land were planted, the emperor led a large army back to Xianyang.

Fusu stayed behind to look after the crops. Only after they sprouted could the ritual of the First Farmer be completed, and only then could he return to Xianyang.

I don't know where Tian An found the tea leaves. The tea leaves weren't of very good quality, but they were enough to make some tea eggs in the cold winter.

With the First Emperor and Chancellor Li Si absent, Li You, as the general guarding Prince Fusu, felt much more relaxed. He and Prince Fusu ate stewed tea eggs together.

When the young master lifted the lid of the earthenware pot, the aroma of tea wafted out, the soup was boiling in the pot, and eggs were bobbing in the soup.

Fusu scooped up an egg and placed it in Li You's bowl.

Li You looked at the tea egg in the bowl with great curiosity. Then, imitating the young master, he placed the egg on the table, pressed it down with one hand, and rolled it on the flat surface. After the eggshell cracked, it could be easily peeled off.

Li You took a bite of the egg; the yolk and white were still steaming. As he chewed, he said, "So tea leaves have such wonderful uses."

Fusu said, "The quality of this tea is not good, but it's perfect for stewing eggs."

Li You ate three in a row and felt unusually full.

Seeing that the young master was no longer eating the tea eggs, Tian An distributed the remaining tea eggs to the soldiers guarding Shanglin Garden.

During the Farmer's Day ceremony this year, the weather was still very cold. On the night the tea eggs were boiled, a heavy snow fell in Guanzhong.

The sound of horses snorting impatiently and making messy footsteps came from outside the door. It was Tian An and his soldiers leading their warhorses into the stables to let them take shelter from the snow.

The soldiers also went into Shanglin Garden to take shelter from the snow, where there were not many houses.

Fortunately, there are three huge granaries and a large stable here.

It can accommodate a thousand armored guards.

The beans were planted too early this year, and Fusu is worried that they won't sprout. So she will have to wait until the weather gets warmer before replanting.

When he had some free time, Fusu continued to draw maps of Guanzhong. This time, he not only drew the appearance of various places in Longxi Prefecture, but also the terrain of the Hexi Corridor.

The door was opened, and Tian An led Li You into the house.

Li Youbing reported: "Young master, everything is settled."

The strong wind outside swept down the heavy snow, which seemed to come in layers as the wind swirled it around.

Fusu asked Tian An to pour Li You a bowl of hot water.

"Young master, are the valleys of the Western Rong people truly so rich?"

Li You saw the map on the wall.

Fusu explained, "Don't you think this place looks like a corridor?"

Li You looked at the drawing and nodded: "It looks just like it!"

……

Note: Modern archaeological records confirm that the Qin bamboo slips from Shuihudi state that marriages had to be reported to the government and registered in the household register; otherwise, they were considered illegal.

Both parties need to sign a "marriage contract" which specifies the betrothal gifts and witnesses. In case of disputes, the government will make a ruling based on the contract.

Eliminating the superfluous and retaining the essential: The Qin Dynasty abandoned the cumbersome "Six Rites" of the Zhou Dynasty (betrothal, asking the name, etc.), retaining only the core steps.

The Qin law prohibited extravagance. The Book of Lord Shang's "Reclamation Order" stipulated that "people are not allowed to prepare wine and food." Therefore, wedding banquets only included millet porridge and meat soup, and alcohol was prohibited.

Property: Qin bamboo slips record that "if the husband is guilty, the wife should report him first, and the wife, concubines, servants, clothing and utensils will not be confiscated," meaning that the wife can retain her personal property.

Divorce: Both parties may propose to "abandon the wife" or "leave the husband", but it requires the approval of the government ("abandoning the wife must be recorded").

(End of this chapter)