The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 83 The Man Who Will Return from the South

After Sima Xin finished speaking, he looked quite uneasy.

Li Si pondered these words and then said, "As you said, the old nobles of the six states will keep increasing their demands on various conditions."

Sima Xin bowed and said, "This is precisely where the worry lies; the human heart can never be satisfied."

With one hand behind his back and a solemn expression, Li Si gazed into the distance and asked, "Besides Lou Jing's method, do you have a better strategy?"

Upon hearing this, Sima Xin fell silent, his expression growing increasingly uneasy. He certainly wanted to say that there must be a better way, but after thinking it over, he fell silent again, for he truly had not considered a better method.

Li Si was not surprised and walked straight towards Tongguan City.

Sima Xin was still standing there, somewhat at a loss. He turned to look at Li Si, but could only see his back.

But in front of Li Si, Sima Xin had a feeling that Li Si could see right through him and knew exactly what he was capable of.

Standing there, Sima Xin felt lost and even more ashamed.

After Li Si had walked away, Sima Xin returned to the county office and closed the door.

Later, some people said that Sima Xin had been studying diligently behind closed doors.

This year, Meng Tian sent another flock of sheep from the north, and these sheep were brought into Xianyang City through trade.

At a camp outside Xianyang, the procession carrying sheep into the pass was taking place.

Several soldiers gathered outside the city to consolidate their supplies before transporting them north.

The troops stationed in Shangjun require a large amount of food and supplies every month, and this year is no exception.

This year, the baggage train arrived early, and since the First Emperor was enjoying the summer heat in the northern suburbs, these tasks fell to Fusu.

Cheng Miao was holding a scroll of bamboo slips and a pen in one hand, checking the goods being transported.

Fusu borrowed a bow from a soldier nearby and was getting used to the strength to draw it. This kind of bow was used for mounted archery, and it was said that it would be easy to draw the bowstring.

However, it is not easy to exert enough force to cause injury.

An arrow was released and landed on the target ten paces away, but it did not hit the bullseye.

The captain standing beside the young master asked, "Has the young master been taught archery?"

Fusu replied, "General Xin taught me, but I haven't practiced for a while now, so I've gotten rusty."

After saying that, another arrow was released, the bowstring still vibrating, and the arrow landed on the target.

Li Si walked out of the bustling city gate and came up behind the young master, saying, "Young master, Dongting County has sent a document."

Fusu glanced at the target in the distance, drew his bow, and released another arrow. This time, the arrow did not land on the target but on the ground.

Li Si added, "In March of this year, the Commandant of Dongting Commandery dispatched 3,000 crossbowmen to aid Zhao Tuo."

"Oh, I see."

This is something we only know about; troops have already been dispatched to provide assistance, and it's enough for Xianyang to know the news.

Li Si said, "I went to Weinan yesterday."

Now that the First Emperor is enjoying the summer in the northern suburbs, the affairs of the Qin Dynasty fall on the shoulders of two people: Li Si and Prince Fusu.

However, the affairs of state are still mainly managed by Prime Minister Li Si, while Prince Fusu mostly just inquires about them.

As instructed by the First Emperor, Prince Fusu was only to supervise state affairs, while the real power lay with Chancellor Li Si.

Perhaps feeling that Prince Fusu was too young, the First Emperor hoped that Prince Fusu would learn more from Li Si before he was able to handle state affairs on his own.

Fusu handed the bow in his hand to a soldier beside him and asked, "Do the Xiongnu have many bows like this?"

"Replying to Young Master, almost everyone has one."

Did Meng Tian have many?

"That should be enough."

Fusu added, "This year there are many more wheat and beans than usual, and I've also prepared a lot of salt."

As they spoke, Fusu opened a wooden bucket containing salt, which was sent from Sichuan.

"Don't worry, young master, we're used to the food."

"Okay, is there anything else you need? I'll go and prepare it."

The young general continued, "According to military law, men are registered at the age of seventeen and take turns guarding the border. This year is no exception. General Meng Tian has ordered us to take men to Shangjun to replace the guards."

Qin military law did indeed include a provision that men aged seventeen were required to join the army to guard the border, and each batch of men took turns guarding the border.

In the past, any man randomly selected from Guanzhong would have fought in battles.
Li Si asked, "How many people does Shangjun need?"

"Reporting to the Prime Minister, we need three thousand men, but General Meng Tian said we can wait until after the summer harvest before heading north. Once the three thousand men arrive in Shangjun, the replacements can return."

"This matter cannot be delayed." Fusu added, "I thank you, Prime Minister."

Li Si replied, "Don't worry, young master. Every year, there are records of all the men in each county and each village. Even if some are not at home, we know where they are. Every year, the county asks each village to check the population. If any family has a child who is seventeen years old, they are all on file. We can just have the county government send them away."

Qinfa's advantages become apparent in terms of efficiency and execution.

Under the strict and meticulous Qin law, the county would register and record every year a man grew older, and even whether he had traveled far away. Even if he had traveled far away, he could not escape being assigned to guard the border in shifts.

However, all the men in Guanzhong knew that turning seventeen meant that any registered man would wait at home to go to the frontier with his fellow villagers of the same age.

However, the level of execution varies across different parts of the Central Plains. In Guanzhong, the execution rate is 100%, but in more remote areas, it may only be 20%.

Fusu then asked, "Did the Prime Minister gain anything from his trip to Weinan?"

Li Si said, "I have written down what I saw and heard in Weinan and have had it presented to Your Majesty."

Noticing the other person's smile, Fusu hesitated and looked away, then suddenly wondered if the Prime Minister was deliberately exaggerating the merits of Weinan.

Fusu only thought about it briefly.

Li Si exchanged a few more words with the soldiers beside him and then hurriedly returned.

As he watched the supplies being loaded onto the carts, Fusu felt that Guanzhong was the foundation of the Qin Dynasty.

Guanzhong needs to be more prosperous. Only more prosperous land can support a larger population, and only then will more people be able to maintain this prosperity.

After all the supplies were loaded, the wagons carrying the supplies set off for Shangjun, and Fusu finally returned to Xianyang.

At night, Cheng Miao was still checking the day's grain and fodder transportation arrangements. By the time he finished, it was already dark.

The next day, Cheng Miao arrived at Xianyang Bridge with some food.

His gaze swept around the bridge and landed on Zhang Cang, who was now sitting by the West Wei River, grilling meat.

Several bamboo scrolls lay at Zhang Cang's feet, suggesting that he had taken a break from his busy schedule to come here for a barbecue.

Cheng Miao stepped forward and asked, "How is it?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cang looked up impatiently, intending to ask who was disturbing the elegant atmosphere. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Cheng Miao with a smile on his face. Before Zhang Cang could speak, Cheng Miao sat down. The two plump men sat by the fire, talking as they took out two flatbreads and placed them by the fire.

Cheng Miao took out a bamboo tube and handed it to him, saying, "This was given to you by the young master. He asked me to get you a jar as well."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cang opened the bamboo tube and asked curiously, "What's this?"

"The meat sauce made by the young master is best used to mix with noodles, or it can be spread on pancakes."

Zhang Cang dipped his finger in the mixture and tasted it. But as soon as he looked up, he saw a woman. This woman from Guanzhong had rosy cheeks, not from shyness, but because she was naturally red.

She ran forward, put down a small basket, and then quickly ran away.

Zhang Cang lifted the cloth covering the basket, revealing pieces of millet cake.

In fact, Zhang Cang had no shortage of food here; he had even gained some weight.

That woman had a very good figure; she looked like she was good at bearing children.

As Cheng Miao ate his pancake, he suddenly realized something. He had been quite worried about him, but now he realized that he had been overthinking it.

His life here was incredibly good; just looking at that woman's eyes, it was as if she wanted to devour Zhang Cang.

Cheng Miao said in a low voice, "It's getting late, I should go back."

Zhang Cang said, "It's not even noon yet."

"Alas, there are still many matters to attend to in the court, so I must return first. The documents that you instructed me to prepare are still pending."

As he spoke, Cheng Miao stood up and walked towards Xianyang Bridge.

The grains in Guanzhong are about to ripen again, and this is Weinan at this moment.

The fields were full of grain, but Zhang Han showed no joy at the moment. Instead, he was filled with worry, which stemmed from the pressure he was under.

Standing to the side, Shusun Tong felt that Prince Fusu... had not put much pressure on him at all; in fact, Zhang Han had given him free rein.

For Zhang Han, building up Weinan and making Weinan prosperous were two major tasks that felt like two mountains, and he felt that he had not done enough.

In fact, within just two months of arriving in Jingye County, Zhang Han had already "eliminated" all the idlers in the county and made all the men dig canals.

And now, in the past four or five years, Zhang Han has indeed "eliminated" all the idle men in Weinan, making every man work.

This resulted in the construction of Tongguan City proceeding at an exceptionally rapid pace, with a very thick city wall being built in just six months.

The weaving workshops in Jingye County have indeed improved, and almost every woman in Jingye County knows how to weave. Even if Jingye County stopped farming, it could feed the entire county just by exchanging cloth for food.

In Jingye County, every child over ten years old can now read and write, something that would have been almost unthinkable in the past.

The scenery here is indeed beautiful. Shusun Tong picked a mulberry from a mulberry tree, chewed it a couple of times, and swallowed it.

The mulberries are dark black, indicating they were grown very well.

What put Zhang Han under immense pressure was not anything else, but the fact that, apart from Jingye County, which was making relatively good progress, the other counties were actually not making much progress.

The jujubes in Dali County have always grown very well, requiring almost no care, and yield a harvest every year.

They originally planned to plant persimmons in Xiagui, but the people of Xiagui didn't know how to grow them. They hired a few tree planters, planted a few trees, and they all died by the beginning of summer.

There's also the scallion harvest in Huayin County. The harvest is indeed good, but there isn't much land available for growing scallions. The ten-odd mu (approximately 1.65 acres) was acquired by Sima Xin after persuading many villagers and exchanging grain for the land. It's uncertain whether things will improve after autumn this year.

Not to mention Tongguan, the city of Tongguan would not have been completed in just two or three years.

Shusun Tong wanted to tell Zhang Han that it was not his fault that these things were not done well; there was human responsibility involved, as well as the influence of timing and location.

Furthermore, Weinan shouldn't get all the good things in the world.

It's normal to have some setbacks.

Shusun Tong also did not want Zhang Han to feel guilty for a long time because of his sense of responsibility.

At this point, it was useless to persuade Zhang Han. Shusun Tong stroked his beard and thought for a moment before saying, "Do you know that Prime Minister Li Si went to see Sima Xin?"

Zhang Han replied, "I know."

Shusun Tong picked another mulberry and whispered, "Back then, Lou Jing offered a strategy to Prince Fusu, and Prince Fusu invited Lou Jing to Guanzhong. Sima Xin was worried that Prince Fusu would actually accept Lou Jing's strategy. Then he met the Prime Minister and told him about it. Only now does Sima Xin realize that the prince didn't pay any attention to Lou Jing's strategy at all."

"Sima Xin wanted to advise the Prime Minister, but the Prime Minister asked him a question that left him speechless. What kind of person is Li Si? How could he not see the mistakes? With Li Si assisting Prince Fusu, why should he, Sima Xin, worry about him?"

While saying this, Shusun Tong was actually reminding Zhang Han to be careful of Sima Xin, who was determined to curry favor with Prince Fusu. He warned Zhang Han that his current position was hard-won and advised him to be cautious.

Zhang Han asked curiously, "How did you know that?"

"Hehe..." Shusun Tong said with a smile, "There are always some busybodies who like to ask about things that happen in the next village. The news will reach my ears the next day."

Then he noticed Zhang Han's puzzled look.

"I did not plant any spies around Sima Xin; I don't have that ability."

After speaking, Shusun Tong looked disappointed. He had said so much to Zhang Han, but the man really hadn't understood a thing. In fact, he was subtly pointing out Sima Xin's flaws.

"Zhang Han!"

Hearing the voice calling from behind, Zhang Han turned around.

The visitor was Li You. He saw the large mulberries on the tree and picked several in a row.

Shusun Tong's eye twitched at the sight; this man was truly impolite.

Zhang Han asked, "How is Xianyang?"

Li You said, "The First Emperor is away at the summer palace, and Prince Fusu is staying in Xianyang. He sent me to see you."

Zhang Han bowed towards Xianyang and said, "We must drink to our hearts' content tonight."

"No," Li You refused. "I have to patrol the city at night when I return to Xianyang, so I can't drink alcohol."

Zhang Han said, "What a pity."

Li You sat to the side, eating mulberries, and said, "This mulberry grove is really nice. When was it planted?"

Mulberry trees have now been planted in a large area on the south side of Shangyan Mountain. They look sparse now, but they will grow better and better in the future.

Zhang Han smiled but didn't say anything. Li You returned, and judging from the way he looked around, Shang Yanshan had really changed.

"I heard from my father that the troops from the south are coming back."

Zhang Han's expression hardened, and he asked, "Really?"

Li You said, "It's been three years, it's time to come back. Tu Ju doesn't plan to go south again, but this autumn he will likely send many officials to Guilin County, and he also plans to build Xiang County. I heard this from people in the Prime Minister's office, and there's more..."

Zhang Han thought of Du Shuichang Lu and asked, "Will Du Shuichang return? Jingye Canal needs repairs, and we hope to have someone to help."

Li You said, "They should be on their way back. The Lingqu Canal has been repaired, and they should reach Guanzhong in half a month at most."

(End of this chapter)