The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 80 Wang Ben's Teachings

There are many files left by the Shaofu (a government agency), including a number of complicated accounts.

Even when I was serving as the Vice Minister of the Imperial Household Department, I rarely had the opportunity to see these accounts.

Eunuchs kept bringing in scrolls, placing them one after another on Prince Fusu's desk.

These files almost completely buried Prince Fusu.

Even as night fell, Fusu continued writing, including many accounts he had never encountered before.

Wang Tang'er watched her husband flip through the bamboo slips one by one, his eyes moving extremely quickly. After reading one scroll, he would make a note and then immediately move on to the second scroll.

It wasn't until late at night, when she saw Fusu put down his pen, that Wang Tang'er brought forward a bowl of hot noodles.

She whispered, "So many bamboo slips, they're almost piled up like a mountain."

Fusu glanced back and said quietly, "I didn't expect there to be so many accounts left unresolved."

The following day, just two days after Prince Fusu's wedding, the Zhangtai Palace remained closed for court, and no one came to the court for discussion.

When Fusu arrived at the Shaofu government office, he found it empty. No officials were on duty there today.

However, after taking a few more steps, Fusu noticed a figure sitting inside the mansion, dozing off.

Taking two more steps forward, Fusu recognized the other person and whispered, "Cheng Miao."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Miao slightly opened his eyes, looked at the person in front of him with some confusion, and then quickly straightened up and bowed, saying, "Young Master."

Fusu placed several scrolls on the seat of honor, which was the seat where the Minister of the Imperial Household usually sat.

Then, Fusu began to look around the entire Shaofu (Minister's Residence). Coincidentally, the Prime Minister's Residence was right next to the Shaofu, and the two residences were connected, separated only by a wall.

Even when the court is closed, there are still many people walking around in the Prime Minister's residence next door. As long as the country continues to function, the Prime Minister's residence should not be closed.

Fusu asked, "What are you doing here?"

Cheng Miao replied, "Since the young master's marriage, the Right Chancellor has sent me here. Now I am the Imperial Household Officer, an official of the Imperial Household Department, and I obey the orders of the Imperial Household Officer and the Imperial Household Assistant."

Seeing that the young master was looking at the bookshelves, he added, "The Right Chancellor also said that if the young master needs anything, I can inform him."

Fusu said, "The Right Chancellor is very thoughtful."

Cheng Miao gave an awkward smile, then pointed to a seat closest to the Chief Steward of the Imperial Household Department and said, "Young Master, you will sit in this seat from now on. This is where the Assistant Chief Steward of the Imperial Household Department sits."

Then, he sat down on the other side, smiling, and said, "This is my seat."

He seemed to have the air of a newly appointed official, probably because Cheng Miao didn't have many friends and seemed to like this place, at least it was better than the Censorate.

Fusu thought of his great-grandfather Ying Xi again. It seemed that his great-grandfather really only wanted him, the young master, to undergo the coming-of-age ceremony. After the ceremony, his task would be completed.

Fusu realized another reality: he was not close to his great-grandfather and had only met him a few times since he was a child.

Moreover, if it weren't for the coming-of-age ceremony, my great-grandfather would most likely have stayed in Yongcheng and never cared about worldly affairs again.

It's likely that my great-grandfather no longer cares about worldly affairs.

The facts are the facts: the Qin royal family remains cold and emotionless. My great-grandfather is still living in the past, still living in the past when he was fighting against Lü Buwei. He has never thought of looking forward.

As they were pondering this, they heard footsteps coming from outside the mansion.

Wang Ben strode towards them, and Fusu bowed, saying, "Minister of the Imperial Household."

Cheng Miao also bowed.

Now that he has seen Prince Fusu again, Wang Ben no longer feels the same anxiety as before; it's as if his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, has finally been put down.

Wang Ben said, "This morning, someone brought a message saying that the young master spent the whole day yesterday reading documents, so I came to take a look."

"It's all sorted out. These are the accounts left over from the past two years."

"Is everything packed?"

Fusu nodded.

Wang Ben hesitated for a moment, but still sat in the seat of honor. He looked at the dossier the young master had brought, and the more he looked at it, the more suspicious he became. The accounts for two whole years had been sorted out.

Seeing that his father-in-law's expression was not good, Fusu asked, "Is there something wrong with it?"

“No mistake, there should be no mistake.” Wang Ben took a deep breath and said, “These things don’t need to be done by you, young master.”

Fusu said, "Since we've seen it, we can't just ignore it."

Wang Ben added, "There are quite a few people here. There are more than ten of them who look at these accounts every day, reading two or three volumes and writing three or three volumes each day."

The more Fusu listened, the more he felt something was wrong. The gist of it was that this was originally someone else's job, something that someone else did every day, which would be slower, but that was someone else's responsibility.

You're doing in a day what other people do in months. What are you expecting others to do?

The father-in-law's words were very tactful.

But Fusu understood and wanted to explain that he really didn't mean it.

Wang Ben put down the dossier in his hand and said, "Thank you for your trouble, young master."

Fusu then said, "It's no trouble at all."

"I have delivered the message that the young master asked me to convey to Lou Jing. He is still hesitant to give a reply. It may take him a few more days to write down the strategy and hand it over to the young master."

Fusu said, "I'm not in a hurry."

Wang Ben then looked at Cheng Miao behind him and said, "I still have clan matters to attend to, Cheng Miao, please assist the young master."

Cheng Miao bowed once more.

Fusu said, "I don't know..."

Seeing that the young master was about to ask, Wang Ben explained, "It's about my hometown of Pinyang. I'm going there to deal with some relatives."

Fusu saw Wang Ben off, frowning as he stood there, still thinking about his father-in-law's advice. People should listen to advice after all; you, Prince Fusu, can't do everything that others should do.

When Fusu was working in the Qin court, he received his first lesson from his father-in-law: do your own job well, don't meddle in other people's affairs, and don't help others unnecessarily when you have nothing to do.

Although Wang Ben was a military general, Fusu was able to sense the meaning conveyed by him.

Standing inside the mansion, Fusu thought about his duties, being responsible for the daily administrative scheduling of the Qin court.

On a national level, success means producing more food and cultivating more land.

For the rest of the time, Fusu looked through the documents here, which even included records of troop deployments.

When it was already dusk outside, Fusu looked at Cheng Miao beside him and said, "Let's go."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Miao snapped out of his daze and realized it was time to finish his shift. After the young master left, he helped close the door and also left.

Legend has it that there was a palace in Xianyang Palace specifically for storing the spoils of war from the six states. Whenever Qin conquered a state in the east, it would set up a palace in the palace to store the spoils.

Inside a dimly lit palace, a brazier burns, and a pile of rocks and bones lies side by side.

Ying Zheng entered the area, his gaze fixed on the skeletal remains embedded in the rock. He could even see a massive skull embedded within a huge stone slab. A palace attendant reported, "The young master went to submit the documents today and met with the Minister of the Imperial Household."

Ying Zheng looked at the skeletons before him, remaining silent.

Another eunuch came to report on recent events, and how Prince Fusu began handling state affairs the day after his marriage.

Ying Zheng glanced at the skeletons again, walked outside the palace, and said, "Lock this place up. There's no need to send anyone to guard it anymore."

The guards did as instructed.

It seems that the First Emperor had completely lost interest in these remains and would no longer concern himself with them.

Half a month after Prince Fusu's marriage, Xianyang returned to normal.

People are mostly busy during this season, and a family can often work in the fields all day long.

In Dali County, Weinan, Zhang Han reached into the Jingye Canal, scooped up some water, and splashed it on his sweat-covered face.

Behind him was a group of equally busy laborers who had reinforced the culvert during the dry season and were only now finishing up and emerging from the culvert.

This culvert almost always collapses whenever there is a flood, and it needs to be reinforced several times a year.

Taking advantage of the fact that the underground canal's supporting structure was weak this year, Zhang Han added a lot of stone to reinforce the bottom and support the edges, which should make it much more stable.

Seeing that more than ten laborers were still standing behind him, Zhang Han waved his hand and said, "Go back and go to the prefectural magistrate to collect your grain."

The county official stepped forward, greeted them briefly, and then led the group to Jingye County.

Zhang Han was still standing by the canal, wiping the water off his face.

Just as he turned his head, he caught a glimpse of a person standing to the side, dressed in coarse black cloth.

Zhang Han turned around and saw that it was Sima Xin. The other party was not wearing official robes, and it was rare to see him in such a simple appearance.

Zhang Han then asked, "What brings you here?"

Sima Xin bowed and said, "Huayin County is under the jurisdiction of Weinan Prefecture. As the county magistrate, I have come to report to the prefect."

Zhang Han stepped across the pier over the canal and arrived at the edge of the field on the opposite bank, then asked, "What is it?"

Sima Xin bowed and said, "I don't know why the prefect wants Huayin County to use its surplus land to grow scallions."

Zhang Han continued walking along the edge of the field.

Sima Xin followed.

“Huayin County can grow beans, wheat, and some vegetables, but other counties can also grow these.”

Upon hearing this, Sima Xin nodded.

Zhang Han said, "Dali County grows jujubes, and Pinyang County also grows a lot of jujubes. The soil and water in the two places are different, so the jujubes grown are also different."

Sima Xin listened quietly.

"If Huayin County can grow more scallions and exchange them for grain with other counties in Guanzhong, then Huayin County will become rich."

Sima Xin bowed again and said, "Thank you for informing me, Prefect."

Zhang Han said to him, "It's not that I favor one over the other. Different counties have different geographical advantages. Some counties may be richer, while your county may be poor. It all depends on the ability to govern."

"Sima Xin has learned a lot."

After saying this, Sima Xin left the place and headed towards Huayin County.

Zhang Han stood there. Ever since the Jingye Canal was completed, Prince Fusu had rarely come to inquire about it personally, while he himself would write down the construction progress almost every day and send it to Xianyang.

Occasionally, Prince Fusu would send someone with documents, which were usually just a few words of advice or corrections to any mistakes in the decisions made.

The young master is someone who dares to try and is able to correct his mistakes.

For example, in Jingye County, land was initially allocated according to families. However, families varied in size and included the elderly and children, which caused problems with labor force and land output.

Zhang Han submitted documents to Xianyang several times, and the prince corrected the mistake. After that, the land was distributed according to the land rent system. The more people a family had, the more land they would receive. However, the more land a family had, the more land rent they would have to pay, which would be more than double that of other families.

For example, a family with three mu of land only needs to pay three dou of wheat as rent, but a family with four mu of land has to pay five dou, and a family with six mu of land has to pay ten dou.

Shusun Tong's view on this is that the prince is distributing land rent equally, not based on the increase or decrease in population. If land is considered as household property, then the prince is collecting land rent according to the property of each household servant.

The amount of land rent has nothing to do with the number of people, but only with the family's property.

However, these measures were limited to Jingye County, and Shusun Tong was very curious about them.

Jingye County will pilot this this year, and he plans to carefully examine whether it is feasible.

After all, the people of Jingye County are all the young master's servants. How they are settled, how they are arranged, and how much the servants receive are all up to the young master. Even the servants' lives are in the young master's hands.

Looking at the people working in the fields, Zhang Han felt that there would definitely be problems again with the distribution of land rent this time.

But Jingye County is not afraid of problems now. The young master will correct the mistakes. In his words, governing a country is never a matter of a few words, and governing a county is even more so. It requires patience and the courage to correct mistakes. Even if there are stumbles along the way, there is no need to be afraid.

It seems that deep down, the young master firmly believes that everything will be alright, even if what we are doing now is wrong.

Zhang Han returned to Jingye County and saw his son sleeping in the cart, with a large dog sitting on the ground beside him.

Upon seeing Zhang Han arrive, the large dog barked twice, signaling Zhang Han to take his son away.

Meanwhile, his wife was overseeing the event, directing many women to weave cloth.

Zhang Han picked up his son and continued walking towards the village. After a few steps, when he was almost at Shangyan Mountain, there were quite a few children there.

Shusun Tong had just finished his classes for the day and was sitting in his study reading a book.

Zhang Han entered the house and said, "Sima Xin has been here."

Shusun Tong asked, "What brings him here?"

Zhang Han picked up the kettle beside him, poured out a bowl of cold water and drank it down his throat. After taking a deep breath, he explained, "He is somewhat confused about farming."

Shusun Tong said in a low voice, "If the people in Guanzhong want to eat scallions, there aren't enough scallions in Guanzhong right now."

At this point, Shusun Tong added, "I have read your land rent policy several times."

Zhang Han held his son in his arms, and seeing his son smiling, he smiled too.

"In my opinion, if you were to use this land rent policy in Pinyang, I wonder what the current Duke of Pinyang would think. He owns the most land in Guanzhong, and no other family in Guanzhong is as wealthy as the Duke of Pinyang."

Seeing that Zhang Han was only trying to coax the child, he was probably not listening.

Shusun Tong sighed and continued looking at the bamboo slips in his hand.

As night falls in Guanzhong, Tongguan Pass has grown to a considerable size. Construction began last winter and the city walls are now quite impressive.

Sima Xin passed through Tongguan and returned to Huayin County.

(End of this chapter)