The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 77 Jujube

The wind outside continued to blow, rattling the doors and windows, and a little wind blew into the house, causing the oil lamp flame to flicker.

Fusu kept his gaze fixed on the map and asked, "Since it resembles a corridor, shouldn't we give this place a name?"

Li You took a pancake from Tian An and nodded as he ate it.

Tian An sat to the side, placing the kettle on the stove before tidying up the bamboo slips.

Fusu then asked, "This place is located west of the Yellow River, with mountains on the north and south sides. What do we Qin people call the area west of the Yellow River?"

Li You replied, "The Hexi region."

Fusu said, "From now on, this area will be called the Hexi Corridor."

Li You nodded repeatedly, as if whatever the young master said was the truth.

When the room quieted down again, and Fusu continued drawing the map, Li You went to check on his armored soldiers.

Fusu sat by the oil lamp, listening to the wind outside, and asked, "Do you think the people of Qin in the future will accept the name Hexi Corridor?"

Tian An neatly arranged the bamboo slips on the table and replied, "As long as you conquer this land, whatever you say it will be called, that's what it will be called."

Fusu asked, "How long have Qin and the Western Rong been coexisting so amicably?"

Tian An sighed, "It's been on and off for who knows how long. The Western Rong and the Qin people haven't fought for a long time."

Fusu looked at the map again and asked, "Where are the Xiongnu gathered now?"

Tian An shook his head again.

The next day, the snowstorm had just stopped, and Fusu struggled to open the door because it was covered in snow.

A cold wind blew in his face, and the sky remained gloomy. Fusu exhaled a breath of warm air, put on his cloak, and went outside.

With one step, the snow just reached my ankles.

There were voices not far away. Looking up, I saw Li You and his men clearing the snow.

Fusu walked towards the field. There was no soil to be seen now, covered by such a thick layer of snow that the grains planted during the agricultural ceremony would not sprout.

But this was grain planted by the First Emperor; if it didn't sprout, it would inevitably become the subject of gossip.

Fusu took two steps forward. The snow-covered ground made it impossible to distinguish between the ridges and the fields. Fusu dug through the snow and saw the soil covered with a thin layer of ice.

I picked up some soil, looked at it carefully, and dug deeper, only to find that the soil wasn't so bad.

Tian An was clearing the snow in front of the house. As he was shoveling snow with a wooden shovel, he saw the young master walking back.

The young master walked very fast, and it was unclear what he was going to do.

After Tian An cleared away all the snow in front of the house, he saw the young master digging up a lot of soil from the field.

Tian An went to prepare breakfast again. When the noodles were being cooked, he looked up and saw that the young master and Li You were pulling two carts, which were filled with sieves, probably used by ordinary people to sieve beans and grains.

Seeing that the noodles in the pot were almost cooked, Tian An said, "Young Master, you can have breakfast now."

Fusu said, "Li You, why don't you eat something too?"

Li You bowed and said, "This humble general will eat with the brothers in the army."

Li You is now more composed and knows how to get along with people. He gets along very well with the armored soldiers. Li You has learned to unite his subordinates. The more united his subordinates are, the safer he, Prince Fusu, will be.

Fusu stopped trying to persuade him and said, "After you finish eating, come and help me plant beans."

Li You smiled and nodded, then bowed and left.

Upon hearing that the young master intended to plant beans in the dead of winter, Tian An looked at the sieves with surprise.

After Li You and his subordinates had finished their meal, he returned to the place and saw that the young master was already filling a sieve with soil.

After filling the sieve with soil, Fusu placed the beans one by one into the soil and then sprinkled some water.

The remaining sieves are all like this.

Of all the grains, only beans are so easy to grow.

Li You deftly filled the sieve with soil, then placed the sieve aside.

Fusu casually picked up the sieve, first using a chopstick to poke holes of suitable depth in the soil within it, then watered it, and placed it aside.

As Tian An was clearing away the dishes, she saw the young master and Li You working together, one in front of the other, and they were moving quite quickly.

When he saw that there wasn't enough soil, Li You went to dig more. When he ran out of sieves, he asked someone to borrow some from outside.

After that, they couldn't even find a sieve, so Fusu could only use some rattan and hemp rope to make bowl-shaped pieces.

Li You called in more people to help, and soon a warehouse shelf was filled with layers of soil, with beans planted in the soil. All they needed to do was water them every day.

Three days later, bean sprouts had already emerged. Fusu had all the bean sprouts pulled out, and since it was a rare sunny day, he let the bean sprouts bask in the sun.

A small warehouse became a makeshift greenhouse.

Tian An even planted some scallions, ginger, and garlic here.

However, they can only grow crops that are easy to raise.

Back then, Fusu often asked the old farmers in Guanzhong how to farm, and now he thinks he has benefited a lot from it, such as what kind of soil is suitable for what kind of grain.

"Son."

Fusu, who was observing the bean sprouts, heard Tian An's call and called out loudly, "What is it?"

Tian An hurried over and reported, "Young Master, the Wang family has sent a lot of food and firewood."

Fusu glanced back and saw that the donkey cart was indeed loaded with many things. He asked, "Is this donkey being delivered as well?"

"Ah..." The Wang family servant who delivered the goods was speechless for a moment, and then quickly said, "It's for the young master."

Tian An looked at the servant with pity; he was probably going to go back.

Without any further comment from Prince Fusu, the servant bowed, left the donkey and cart behind, and went back, even leaving the whip on the cart.

Fusu took a bundle from the carriage, and when he opened it, he found some dates and cakes inside.

The dates were bright red dried dates, and they weren't very big.

Most of the large dates were sent from the Western Regions, while these smaller dates were probably from Guanzhong, dried by the family themselves.

Fusu ate a date and said, "Hmm, this is a date from Pinyang County."

Having grown up in Guanzhong, Fusu could basically determine where the dates came from by their sweetness. In fact, it was easy to tell that Guanzhong was divided into north and south, with the dates from the north being sweeter and ripening later.

The dates in the south ripen earlier, but they are not as sweet as those north of Guanzhong.

Due to the sunshine and geographical location, the temperature difference between day and night in northern Guanzhong is greater, so fruits and dates are sweeter.

While eating dates and tidying up the cakes, a piece of cloth fell out of the bundle.

This is a piece of silk cloth with words written on it, written in a very archaic and classical tone. The general meaning is that I heard that you, my lord, are farming for the First Emperor in Shanglin Garden, and that you have seen heavy snow in Guanzhong. I also heard that you, my lord Fusu, are often handling state affairs. Therefore, I am sending you food and firewood, and I hope you will take care of your health.

The handwriting on this piece is clearly neither Wang Ben nor Wang Jian, and the tone is also different. Furthermore, the silk is of very high quality, and the tone is also inappropriate.

Would Wang Ben have done the same?

He certainly wouldn't. Just like when Wang Ben was building the Xianyang Bridge, if he knew that Prince Fusu was suffering outside, he would most likely have brought wine, meat, and beautiful women with him.

The last time the Xianyang Bridge was repaired, it was the same thing. The Wang family father and son have always been generous, and they didn't just send some cakes and dates.

Thinking of this, Fusu understood somewhat: it was a gift from the unmarried lady.

Tian An smiled and said, "Young master, the Wang family's youngest daughter is named Tang'er."

Fusu now understood: in the Book of Songs, the pear tree is used as a metaphor for jujubes, hence the name "sweet pear tree." The sweet pear tree symbolizes that the fruit will be sweet, and it is hoped that the child will have lasting blessings.

It was still the Wang family; they sent cakes along with some dates, and their intentions were quite clear.

This is her greeting to her future husband.

Noticing the young master's gaze, Tian An lowered his head guiltily.

Tian An did nothing wrong. People will naturally inquire about the future young master's wife's name. As the powerful eunuch in Gaoquan Palace, even if Tian An didn't ask, someone would tell him.

Fusu frowned and said, "Are all the girls in Guanzhong so reserved?"

Tian An was speechless for a moment, hesitated for a while, and then said, "People outside used to say that the women of Guanzhong are fierce."

"Hmm." Fusu nodded as well. In his impression, girls from Guanzhong were all straightforward and quick-witted, and indeed, they were also quite fierce.

"The women of Sichuan are also fierce," Li You said, sitting by the stove with a kettle in his hand.

The cart was full of firewood, enough to burn. Fusu ate dates and rummaged through the firewood for a while. It seemed that nothing was hidden in the firewood. He then instructed, "Li You."

"The end will be here."

"Put the firewood inside."

After saying this, Fusu walked into the house carrying a bundle of cakes, eating dates as he went.

Then, while eating dates, he wrote a reply to Wang Tang'er.

Fusu wrote about his own affairs, saying that he would stay here to look after the fields and prepare for the wedding after returning to Xianyang.

Compared to Tang'er's subtlety, Fusu was more direct, explaining why he was staying here and his promise to finish his business here.

Write it on the back of this piece of silk; one piece of silk is enough.

When Fusu came out of the house, he saw Tian An feeding the donkey some dried meat.

Fusu handed over a section of bamboo tube and instructed, "This is my reply to her. Have someone send it back."

Tian An put down the dried meat in his hand, took the bamboo tube and said, "I'll find someone to make arrangements right away."

After finishing all that, seeing that night was approaching, Fusu pushed all the bean sprouts into the warehouse.

At night, Fusu continued to write down his plans for Weinan. In addition to planting wheat and other grains, he could also try to cultivate some crops, such as fruits, green onions, winter dates, and persimmons.

While ensuring arable land, we should also plant more other crops.

At this point, the experience of frequently asking the Qin people how to farm could be put to good use. By adapting to local conditions and changing the times, Weinan's development has gone far beyond this.

Outside, a group of armored soldiers who had just finished their shift happened to pass by.

At that moment, illuminated by the light of the oil lamp, Prince Fusu's figure, holding a brush and writing, was revealed.

Everyone says that Prince Fusu is diligent, whether in Xianyang or here.

The next day, Fusu returned to the warehouse and found that some bean sprouts had not sprouted, and some bean sprouts that had sprouted had been damaged by the frost.

Fusu picked through basket after basket, sifting out all the spoiled bean sprouts.

Even with Tian An and Li You's help, it still took almost half a day to sort through the bean sprouts.

After noon, we still need to go to the fields to turn over the soil and bring up the lower layers of soil.

Just those two things took up the whole day.

If it weren't for so many armored soldiers helping out, we might have been busy for ages. For an ordinary family, these kinds of things would take up almost their entire day.

After the first month of the year passed, Guanzhong welcomed several sunny days.

Now that the soil no longer needs to be turned over and the climate has warmed up considerably, Li Youzheng and his men are transplanting bean sprouts into the fields.

Tian An fed the donkey well every day.

Fusu looked at the donkey, which had become quite fat from being fed. When Tian An put the noose around its neck, its beautiful life came to an end.

Tian An cracked his whip, and the donkey moved forward, pulling the newly made millstone.

To make this millstone, Tian An polished the stone every night.

If the donkey were any smarter, it would know that when Tian An fed it its first bite, the old man had a purpose from beginning to end.

And now this poor donkey is going to pay the price for its gluttony.

Douhua (tofu pudding) and soy milk are among Tian An's favorite foods. He often says that when he gets too old to take care of his son, he will come here to live and spend the rest of his life here, raising a donkey and grinding douhua for him every day.

While saying these words, Tian An would feed the donkey radishes and dried meat.

The moonlight was bright tonight, and Fusu, sitting on the edge of the field, could still hear the braying of donkeys and the turning of the millstone.

Only after grinding enough tofu did Tian An release the donkey to rest, as it would have to continue grinding the grain the next day.

The next day, just as dawn broke, Fusu, holding a bowl of noodles, walked to the edge of the field and looked at the bean seedlings that had been transplanted the day before.

The situation is neither good nor too bad, but a small portion of the bean sprouts have spoiled.

Li You arrived early as well, and asked in confusion, "How could this be?"

The reason is actually quite simple: the soil becomes different once it leaves the field. In addition, when beans are first planted, they need to be watered every day, which more or less changes the pH of the potting soil.

When they are moved from potting soil to normal field soil, their root systems will definitely be affected.

A survival rate of around 70% is already quite good.

As long as the beans can grow, the First Emperor's ceremony for the farmers will be considered a success.

Fusu said, "It's pretty good, not too bad."

Li You pulled up all the bad bean sprouts and asked, "Young master, it's warm in Guanzhong now, can we plant them directly?"

"Yes, clean up all the bad bean sprouts and plant some more to avoid them looking sparse and uneven."

After speaking, Fusu frowned and pondered. There was still a very important hurdle ahead. He would wait a few more days until the cold snap of early spring arrived, and then he would feel at ease.

I'm afraid of encountering a cold snap like last year, which comes early and goes late.

Such a cold snap in spring has a huge impact on crops.

Fusu stayed here for another five days, watching the clouds and stars every day. According to the old farmers in Guanzhong, if the clouds in the sky move too fast, it is likely to rain. Once it rains in this season, there is a high chance of a cold snap in spring.

If the clouds in the sky are thick and there are cirrus clouds, be wary of cold air.

Of course, if you encounter cold winds and overcast skies, then you don't need to worry about it; you can directly judge it as a late spring cold snap.

Fortunately, nothing went wrong during the past two weeks. The weather was sunny all the time, and even at night the moon and stars were very bright. Heaven was looking out for the Great Qin.

When Wang Ben arrived, Fusu was also planning to return to Xianyang.

(End of this chapter)