The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 87 Fields and Dates

Inside the Prime Minister's residence, Wang Ben was looking at the dossier his son had brought, and said with a smile, "Prime Minister."

Li Si stepped forward and said, "Young Master."

Fusu, still holding a pen in his hand, said, "There are many accounts here that I need you to review, teacher."

Li Si immediately sat down to the side and picked up the dossier next to him.

Wang Ben said, "The Lingqu Canal has been repaired, and Guilin Prefecture has added two thousand officials. I don't know how many more will be needed in the south in the future."

Li Si said, "Five thousand men."

Looking at the dossier in his hand, Fusu recalled the Prime Minister's strategy towards the south. In fact, allowing some Yue people to govern themselves was to save on governance costs.

Based on war merits and rosters, as well as various forms of compensation, it is necessary to redistribute land, increase grain production, exempt from corvée labor, and arrange various other matters.

Fusu said, "The more than 20,000 hectares of land in Weinan have been distributed, and the land in Weinan is almost at its limit. There is no other land to distribute."

Li Si did not speak immediately.

Fusu then asked, "Young Master Wang, there's still a lot of land in Luoyang that can be distributed, isn't there?"

Li Si nodded and said, "That's enough."

The current situation is that there is plenty of farmland but a small population, so there is definitely enough farmland to distribute east of Luoyang.

Fusu asked, "Is there enough land in Guanzhong to distribute?"

Wang Ben raised his head and sighed, "The land in Guanzhong is scarce, and it's not necessarily easy to divide it up."

Fusu put down the bamboo slips in his hand and his pen, looked at the two or three minor officials still there, and said in a low voice, "Teacher, Zhang Cang's matter is almost finished."

Upon hearing this, Li Shi immediately perked up. He had almost forgotten about Zhang Cang, who hadn't returned to the Prime Minister's residence for more than half a year and had been serving the young master by the Xianyang Bridge.

What Zhang Cang did was relocate people and rebuild villages and counties.

Fusu asked, "Do you have a map of the area west of Xianyang Bridge?"

Li Si gave the minor official beside him a look, and a map was handed over.

This map shows the three counties south of Qishan in the past. Now, all three counties are to be relocated south, following the straight road of Xianyang Bridge.

Previously, the three counties were located in different places and were far apart, making it difficult for people to travel between them.

Now, after the relocation of the three counties, a straight road runs through them on the west side of Xianyang Bridge. The three counties are all on the same road, close to each other, and the area of ​​the counties is also larger.

Wang Ben looked at the map and pondered, "Prime Minister, the young master's relocation will be of great benefit to the future mobilization of laborers and troops."

In fact, Wang Ben's words did not escape the scope of a general's thinking.

Li Si, however, saw more benefits. Previously, these three counties were far apart, but now, after the relocation, the population is more concentrated and easier to manage.

Fusu explained, "After the relocation, all three counties are located on the west side of Xianyang Bridge, making it more convenient for them to travel to and from Xianyang and strengthening the role of Xianyang Bridge."

Li Si and Wang Ben stood together, and both nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

Three people looked at one map and came up with three different opinions. Wang Ben's opinion was still about troop deployment, as he was a general.

Li Si was the prime minister, so he valued centralized power and the system.

Fusu felt that what he had previously noticed was the role of Xianyang Bridge in people's livelihood and productivity.

The three people have different positions and see different benefits.

However, there are benefits to both.

Throughout history, the prime ministers of the Qin Dynasty were not only prime ministers but also people in charge of production. The prime ministers of the Qin Dynasty after Shang Yang were basically all of this type.

Li Si was the prime minister, but he was also good at managing production. Fusu had also seen many files about Li Si in the Imperial Censorate. Compared with the previous prime ministers of Qin, Li Si was indeed unscrupulous and ambitious.

At that time, the clan elders of the three counties served as county magistrates and county assistants.

Even though the other party backed down, I thought we could still get along peacefully.

But Li Si still dismissed them from their official positions.

Fusu could particularly understand Li Si's behavior. These clan elders might back down now, but they might very well bite back in the future. This was not just a matter of face; it was a problem of ineffective governance. If Qin's decrees could not reach the counties, how could the government be governed?

If it were him, he would need to reward those who have made contributions and punish those who have made mistakes. Fusu felt that he was not as benevolent as Li Si, who had only dismissed them from their official posts.

Li Si was a competent prime minister of Qin, and he was also good at managing production.

However, Fusu believed that strict rules were necessary to manage production, and that production could not be controlled without rules and regulations.

Fusu said, "After the relocation of the three counties, the fields south of Qishan will be vacant, with 30,000 hectares of land available."

Li Si nodded.

Land certainly doesn't appear out of thin air, and the same goes for these 30,000 hectares; they are land that was left over after the relocation and reorganization of the population.

It's like a bunch of messy parts crammed into a box. Once you sort and arrange the parts in the box, you'll find more free space inside.

"We have these 30,000 hectares of land because we asked the teacher for help when the three counties were relocated."

Li Si gave an awkward smile.

Wang Ben said, "With this land, we'll have enough military merits and farmland to go around."

At this point, he sighed and said, "It would be best if I were assigned to Guanzhong."

That's actually true. It's best to assign them to Guanzhong because these Qin soldiers are the youngest and most loyal in the army. This will help strengthen the forces in Guanzhong. A total of 8,000 people came back with Du Shuichang. These 8,000 armored soldiers are equivalent to 8,000 households. Even if each household only has three people, there are at least 20,000 people.

As noon approached, more and more officials came and went.

Wang Ben helped sort out the accounts and then asked, "Are those eight thousand armored soldiers still in Guanzhong? Have any of them gone to visit relatives elsewhere?"

The clerk replied, "Everyone's busy getting married. In the past six months, there have been weddings every day in every county and village in Guanzhong."

Wang Ben smiled in surprise and said, "Good, this is a good thing. Once you get married, you'll have a family, and once you have a family, you'll be able to settle down in Guanzhong."

Fusu said, "Teacher."

Li Si replied, "What is it, sir?"

"Now that the land issue is resolved, what's next?"

Li Si said, "If there isn't enough land in Guanzhong, then let's go to Luoyang."

“What you say is true, teacher. Luoyang is the first city east of Hangu Pass. A larger population in Luoyang will bring many benefits to Guanzhong. With a larger population in Luoyang, more people will travel along the Xiaohan Ancient Road. The more laborers come to Guanzhong from Luoyang, the better it will be for Guanzhong’s production, especially Tongguan.” Li Si nodded and said, “The first city they see when they enter Hangu Pass is Tongguan, which was initiated and overseen by you, sir.”

Wang Ben frowned as he listened, unable to join the conversation for a long time. He couldn't keep up with the thoughts of the young master and the prime minister. He could understand a little bit, but the more he listened, the more confused he became.

When noon arrived, Tian An brought the food. Fu Su looked at the people standing beside him: one was his father-in-law, and the other was his teacher.

The three of them each held a bowl of noodles and sat down in front of the documents in the Prime Minister's residence to eat.

Wang Ben glanced at the young master beside him and thought the young master was really amazing. After the wedding, he went to attend to state affairs.

While the First Emperor was enjoying the summer heat in the northern suburbs, the prince was still busy with state affairs.

It was summer, and Du Shuichang had returned from the south. There were indeed many state affairs to attend to lately, most of which were being handled by the young master.

The next day, Fusu discovered that Wang Ben had not come; instead, a servant from the Wang family had arrived first, saying that the young master was unwell and that many matters would be decided by the young master.

Fusu didn't think much of it and called Cheng Miao to come and help.

Three days later, a series of documents awarding military merits were sent to Xianyang City.

In late August, after the rain, it was a rare cloudy day, and the air still carried a chill. Fusu took his wife to the outskirts of Xianyang to relax.

She loved reading. She was always reading while at Takasen-gyu Palace, and she even carried a book with her when she went out for a walk.

Fusu looked at the distant fields, where all the grain had been harvested, leaving only stubble.

"Young Master is governing the country for the people here. You must be very tired."

Hearing his wife's considerate words, Fusu said, "If I make all the officials in the world so tired, then I won't have to be tired."

“Young master, that’s not right.” She shook her head and said, “Grandpa used to say that once the war was over, he would feel at ease, but when the war was over, he was still as cautious as ever.”

My wife is a brave person, and at the same time she is also kind and gentle. She is not scheming and does not harbor suspicions.

Fusu said, "Perhaps he is still worried about you."

A celebration is taking place in a village not far away; a family is getting married. This is Lianshao County, named after the abundance of lotus grass.

As people were joyfully celebrating, someone rode in on a fast horse, loudly reciting the family's military achievements and the land they had been allocated as a result.

Fusu watched from afar as people cheered and shouted.

Wang Tang'er said, "When I was a child, my grandfather and father were away from home for many years when we lived in Pinyang. My grandmother and I guarded our Wang family's old mansion. There were always rumors about which family's child had died in battle or which family's child had made meritorious contributions..."

Fusu listened quietly.

Now I understand why Wang Jian doted on this little granddaughter. Back then, Wang Jian often went to war, and she was the one who always guarded the old Wang family mansion.

Looking back now, among Wang Ben's many children, Tang'er must have been raised by Wang Jian.

Who would have thought that an old general who had fought on the battlefield for many years, destroyed several countries, helped the First Emperor unify the six kingdoms, and fought on the battlefield for many years could raise such a kind-hearted granddaughter?

Fusu continued walking, just as he had heard in the Prime Minister's residence. People were indeed rushing to get married, and after they were married, they would become new families and could be registered in the household register.

Lianshao County is located in the eastern part of the Weibei Plain. Fusu thought that a prefecture should also be set up here, and the remaining counties would be merged to form the Heshang Prefecture of later generations.

Heading south from here leads to Jingye County, which is also known as Weinan Prefecture.

But people have just finished the summer harvest, and the busy people haven't had a chance to rest yet, so it's not the time for a major undertaking.

Sometimes Fusu felt that he should be the emperor now, and ideally he could freely transform Guanzhong.

Ideally, no one objected during this transformation process.

If anyone objects, have Prime Minister Li Si kill him.

After the renovation of the three counties west of Xianyang Bridge was completed, Fusu planned to develop Longxi. Once Longxi was stabilized, he could then plan for the Hexi Corridor.

Wang Tang'er took out a few dates and handed them to her husband. She frowned as she looked at his expression and asked, "Young Master seems to have something on your mind?"

Fusu took the dates his wife offered, and while eating the sweet dates, he smiled and said, "I do have some things on my mind."

She walked along, eating dates as she went.

The couple walked quietly, followed by a long procession of more than 500 people, including palace servants from Gaoquan Palace. Some of them led horses, some drove carriages, some carried clothes, some carried stoves, and some carried bundles full of rice, flour, and cakes.

Fusu and Tang'er tacitly ignored the long line behind them.

"Young master must be very tired with so many worries on his mind."

She said with great certainty.

Fusu put another date into his mouth, the pit of which had already been removed, and said, “I spent five years transforming Weinan, making it a major grain-producing area in Guanzhong. Five years is neither a long nor a short time. Human resources are limited. After that… I want to spend another four or five years planning for the Hexi Corridor. In this way, when I have transformed the Hexi Corridor, I will only be twenty-five or twenty-six years old. I will still be young then, and I will be able to do many, many things. I can create something good that will make Father Emperor and the people of the world happy.”

She exclaimed in surprise, "Will it take this long?"

Upon hearing her words, Fusu laughed, unable to stop himself from laughing out loud.

After returning to Gaoquan Palace, Wang Tang'er wrote another letter to her grandfather and had it sent to Pinyang.

Then she looked at the dates on the table and hesitated. Thinking of her husband's busy affairs of state and his endless work every day, she said, "The young master should eat more."

Granny Wang, who was taking care of the lady's health, smiled. Her face was full of wrinkles and her hair was all white. Granny Wang said with a smile, "Madam, there are more dates in Pinyang than we can eat. You can eat them as food."

But she still saved the dates for her husband.
Looking back, I saw the young master washing the deer.

Seeing his wife approach, Fusu wiped the deer and said, "Two more deer came today; Tian An sent them."

As night fell, Tian An had people renovate the backyard of Gaoquan Palace. There were already fish in the pond outside the rear hall, and now that there was a pond, he planted a pine tree and a ginkgo tree there.

That day, Fusu had just returned from handling state affairs at Zhangtai Palace when he discovered a new sapling in the backyard of Gaoquan Palace, a jujube tree.

Tian An was leisurely feeding the deer.

"Tomorrow, Prefect Wang and I will go to see the warhorses sent by the Western Rong."

Tian An continued feeding the deer, saying, "There's also a horse farm outside Yongcheng, where quite a few horses are kept."

He continued, "The Qin people of the past were skilled at raising horses. Eight hundred years ago, the Qin people would raid the Western Rong people for their warhorses and present them to the Zhou emperor. Alas... The Qin people of the past were skilled at raising horses, and the prince of today raises deer. Isn't this a wonderful story?"

Looking at the fish in the pond, Fusu said calmly, "I will go outside the city to check on the warhorses first thing tomorrow morning."

"Okay." Tian An nodded hurriedly and said, "I'll go prepare tomorrow's food right away."

(End of this chapter)