The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 89 Military News

Chapter 89 Military News
When the First Emperor and Chancellor Li Si disagreed, the First Emperor's ideas always took precedence.

Afterwards, Li Si would give a fair and reasonable opinion on the First Emperor's proposal.

Next, it's up to Li Si to figure out how to fulfill this requirement.

Regardless of the initial strategy of heading south or the current proposal to build the Great Wall.

When faced with important matters, the First Emperor would always consult with two or three people first, and only after the general direction was determined would the matter be discussed in court.

The same principle applied when the southward expansion strategy was initially formulated.

The First Emperor first consulted with the veteran general Wang Jian to devise a strategy.

And it's the same now.

After finishing his meal, Fusu took out the dates he had brought with him and ate them silently.

Since getting married, I always carry some dates with me so I can take them out and eat them whenever I want. They're a kind of snack, and I occasionally take them out and eat a couple.

Li Si did not oppose the First Emperor's request; instead, he explained to the First Emperor the process of achieving the goal and the advantages and disadvantages.

Therefore, Li Si was an extremely loyal prime minister. It is said that after Han Fei died, the First Emperor increasingly relied on Li Si.

Li Si, on the other hand, was utterly loyal to the Qin Dynasty.

Inside the main hall, Li Si continued to explain his ideas. Fu Su glanced at Wang Ben beside him, who was now silent and taciturn.

"I will return to Xianyang and send a letter to Meng Tian, in which we will discuss the construction of the Great Wall."

Ying Zheng nodded slowly.

Then Li Si stood up and bowed.

Fusu and Wang Ben also bid farewell to the First Emperor.

I thought I was just here to see the warhorses, but I didn't expect that Lin Guang Palace would also talk about the Great Wall.

Li Si returned to Xianyang first. Fusu and Wang Ben looked at the warhorses for a while, and then he also returned to Xianyang.

Fusu was still standing by the Wei River in the northern suburbs, walking along the riverbank as he said, "The teachers are probably going to be busy again."

Tian An said, "The Prime Minister is so devoted to the affairs of the country; the rest of the ministers should follow his example."

Fusu nodded in agreement, saying, "That's quite right."

The warhorses transported from the Western Rong tribes would be kept in the northern suburbs for a period of time before being transported to Shangjun.

After returning to Xianyang, Fusu did not receive any documents related to Shangjun for several days. It seemed that the matter had bypassed the Imperial Household Department and been sent directly to the Prime Minister.

Wang Ben has been away from the Prime Minister's residence for the past two days, so it seems he has other matters to assist with.

Xianyang City remained relatively calm during this sweltering summer. Five days passed peacefully, and the herd of warhorses in the northern suburbs was sent to Shangjun. The First Emperor kept two hundred warhorses and sent the rest to Shangjun.

Today, on the west side of Xianyang Bridge, in a newly built county government office, Zhang Cang is sitting here, looking at the various documents sent by the three counties.

"Imperial Censor Zhang, we have a guest."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cang frowned slightly and said, "Please come here."

The relocation of the three counties had just been finalized, and Zhang Cang had a lot of files to organize. Being disturbed at this moment was quite unpleasant.

It turned out that Cheng Miao was leading Mao Heng, along with Lou Jingren and Sima Xin.

Zhang Cang looked at the group of people in front of him. Cheng Miao and Mao Heng were clearly close friends.

However, he was not familiar with Lou Jing and Sima Xin.

If we really have to summarize why these people are able to be together, we can only say that they are all working for Prince Fusu.

As Zhang Cang observed the visitors, Sima Xin was also observing Zhang Cang. In Sima Xin's understanding, Zhang Cang was an imperial censor. The imperial censors of the Qin court were mostly selected from those who were well-versed in Qin law. This was precisely the way of being an official that the Qin court had always advocated. Imperial censors were mostly appointed by legal officials of various ranks, and they were also subject to supervision by the Prime Minister's Office and the Court of Justice.

Cheng Miao introduced, "This is Lou Jing."

Among the four, the eldest, Lou Jing, bowed and said, "Lou Jing greets you all."

Lou Jing bowed very humbly.

Zhang Cang had read Lou Jing's policy essays. This man did have knowledge and insight, and he was quite learned, but compared with the Prime Minister, Prince Fusu, or others, Lou Jing was indeed somewhat lacking.

Lou Jing's knowledge seems to be neither the best nor the worst, enough to be of use to the young master, but at present he is only teaching in Tongguan.

Cheng Miao enthusiastically arranged the wine and meat, saying, "This wine and meat were all given by Sima Xin."

Sima Xin bowed and said, "Recently, Huayin County has grown a lot of scallions, and I didn't expect them to sell so well."

The group sat down and poured wine into their bowls.

Lou Jing looked at the group of people before him, lowered his head in shame, and said, "At first, I relied on my knowledge, but after hearing Brother Sima's explanation, I realized it was all just my ignorant opinion. Each of you has your own strengths working under the young master, but as for me, alas..."

Zhang Cang said, "Young Master doesn't care about people's background, he only cares about their abilities."

Cheng Miao said, "It's alright, Brother Lou, don't worry about it. Look how mediocre Sima Xin was back then, but he studied hard for the past two years and finally became a county magistrate."

Sima Xin said, "I have indeed learned a lot, all thanks to your guidance, young master."

Zhang Cang looked at Mao Heng and asked, "How have you been lately?"

Mao Heng snorted coldly, "As long as the Prime Minister doesn't bother me, I'll be fine."

Zhang Cang knew that the Prime Minister had always wanted to help Mao Heng, even though Mao Heng had an uncle named Mao Sui, but Mao Sui had died many years ago.

Back then, several of them became disciples of Xunzi, and Zhang Cang knew that Mao Heng and Han Fei got along the best.

Although Lou Jing is supposed to be abstaining from alcohol, General Xin Sheng only allows him to drink at night and not during the day, and will gradually wean him off alcohol later.

As Cheng Miao distributed the meat to everyone, he said, "Zhang Cang, shouldn't you be heading back to Xianyang now?"

Zhang Cang said, "I will return to Xianyang after autumn."

Cheng Miao added, "Recently, news has come that the Prime Minister is planning to relocate people again."

Zhang Cang nodded, saying nothing more, showing indifference to the matter.

Afterwards, Lou Jing, Sima Xin, and Mao Heng began to discuss the matter, speculating about Li Si's intentions.

After several rounds of drinks, night fell outside, and Sima Xin helped the tipsy Lou Jing out of the county government office.

As Sima Xin helped Lou Jing into the carriage, they heard voices coming from inside the county government office. It was Zhang Cang, Cheng Miao, and Mao Heng discussing something.

Sima Xin drove the carriage towards Huayin County, and Lou Jing's occasional snores could be heard from inside the carriage.

As he drove the carriage, Sima Xin felt increasingly powerless, a feeling stemming from his comparison with Zhang Cang.

Zhang Cang now governs three counties, and thousands of people continue to work and produce in an orderly manner under his rule.

Sima Xin thought about how difficult it was for him to govern Huayin County.

Regardless of Zhang Cang's relationship with the Prime Minister, the reason Zhang Cang was able to gain the favor of Prince Fusu and the Prime Minister was because he was truly capable.

Moreover, he contributed significantly to the development of Zhangcang in Weinan.

It is not surprising that such a person could become a key minister of Prince Fusu.

Compared to this person, Sima Xin felt that his abilities were shallow.

When the carriage passed through Jingye County, it was already late at night.

Sima Xin had no choice but to stay overnight in Jingye County and return to Huayin early the next morning.

There were still many soldiers standing outside the prefectural governor's mansion in Jingye County. This mansion was newly built, and there was no county magistrate here yet. Everything was being managed by Zhang Han.

Sima Xin entered the prefectural governor's residence, bowed, and said, "Sima Xin greets the prefectural governor."

Zhang Han was still looking at the bamboo slips when he asked, "The summer grain has just been harvested, and the autumn crops still need to be planted. Weinan is different from other counties. The young master has instructed us that the right path is to make Weinan prosperous first." The so-called prosperity means making Weinan have more grain, and that is the direction Weinan is heading now.

Therefore, Sima Xin believed that Prince Fusu's reading of Xunzi showed that the prince valued the people's welfare.

Now, Prince Fusu can change the fate of all the people in Weinan.

Sima Xin gleaned some clues from this: if the First Emperor wanted to unify the six kingdoms, then what the prince sought was change.

After pondering for a moment, Sima Xin sighed deeply, lamenting how foolish those scholars from Qi and Lu who intended to restore the Zhou rites and the enfeoffment system were.

Zhang Han asked, "We need to plant more millet this early autumn. How is Huayin County preparing?"

Prefect Zhang's words brought Sima Xin's thoughts back to the present reality, and he replied, "Huayin County can cooperate with the Prefect."

"it is good."

Zhang Han simply nodded without saying anything more.

Zhang Han was a man who single-handedly cleared wasteland with a plow. If such a man were to become a prefect, he would likely overwhelm the rest of the counties.

A document came from Sichuan and was sent all the way to Xianyang.

This year, the rice harvest in Sichuan was bountiful. As the rice began to be dried in Sichuan, fog started to rise, and autumn was finally officially approaching in Guanzhong.

Before the autumn rains arrived, the autumn winds began to howl through Guanzhong.

Fusu stood outside Xianyang City with the Prime Minister to welcome the First Emperor back to Xianyang.

On the straight road in the northern suburbs, a convoy was heading towards Xianyang City. They were not moving very fast, but there were quite a few people escorting them.

Fusu thought of the current state of Qin, and a better and more stable state would further fuel the First Emperor's ambition.

Now, the First Emperor could finally think about dealing with the Xiongnu.

As the escorting procession approached, Fusu and Li Si made way for the First Emperor's carriage to enter Xianyang City.

Fusu and Li Si bowed together until the entire procession had entered before Fusu followed.

After the First Emperor entered the Zhangtai Palace, Xianyang City remained unchanged.

The courtiers originally wanted to pay their respects to the First Emperor, but the First Emperor only summoned Fusu and Li Si.

Prince Fusu was only the Assistant Minister of the Imperial Household Department, but in the eyes of the officials, he would eventually replace Wang Ben as the Minister of the Imperial Household Department.

Standing before Zhangtai Palace, Wang Ben, one of the Nine Ministers, ignored the discussions around him. In his view, it was only right for the young master to become the Minister of the Imperial Household Department. Even if the First Emperor hadn't said anything, he would have taken the initiative to hand it over to the young master.

The reasons are actually quite simple. First, the young master has married his youngest daughter, and the Wang family will now be one with the young master Fusu. Second, Wang Ben and the Wang family will definitely do everything they can to help the young master. Third, Wang Ben thought to himself that his hair was already white at the temples.

Inside the main hall of Zhangtai Palace, it was very quiet at the moment.

Fusu, dressed in a black robe, and Li Si, dressed in court attire, stood before the First Emperor.

Ying Zheng slowly sat down, had five scrolls of bamboo slips handed to him, and said, "Sit down and take a good look."

Fusu responded and sat down with Li Si.

Seeing that the teacher had picked up a scroll to look at it, Fusu also picked up one of the scrolls.

Summoned by his father, Fusu naturally did not feel that he was on par with Li Si in terms of national governance, but rather felt that he still had many aspects to learn from the prime minister.

Before long, a eunuch stepped forward and whispered a few words.

The voices were low, but Fusu could still hear them clearly inside the hall. They were talking about the court officials waiting outside, who were requesting an audience.

Ying Zheng said, "Let them all go back. We'll discuss this again tomorrow."

The eunuch hurried out to report.

Upon receiving a message from the eunuch in front of Zhangtai Palace, the crowd dispersed.

Just as Wang Ben was about to turn and leave, he saw a figure behind him who was also about to leave, and immediately called out, "Zhang Cang?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cang turned around, bowed, and said, "Minister of the Imperial Household."

Wang Ben asked, "Is the matter in Xingping finished?"

"It's done. I'm just about to report to the Minister of the Imperial Household Department."

Wang Ben looked back at Zhangtai Palace and said, "Let's report this after the young master and the prime minister return to the prime minister's residence."

Zhang Cang also looked up at Zhangtai Palace and said, "Cang will go to the Censorate first, submit the case file, and then come to the Prime Minister's residence."

Wang Ben nodded and said no more.

At this moment, inside Zhangtai Palace, Li Si's expression grew increasingly grim as he looked at these military reports.

Fusu was also shocked by what he saw in the military report. The report described how fierce the battle in the south had been.

The entire southward campaign involved nearly 200,000 troops and consumed as much as 2.4 million shi of grain annually.

According to the battle report sent by Zhao Tuo, most of the soldiers and many migrants died of disease. The troops and population of Changsha Commandery and Dongting Commandery were almost exhausted, and cannibalism even occurred in the depths of the south.

Even after Zhao Tuo conquered various parts of the south, the Yue people continued to resist, with various small-scale uprisings and frequent conflicts.

Zhao Tuo requested permission to stay in Nanhai Commandery and govern it together with Ren Xiao.

Fusu put down the bamboo slips in his hand, lowered his head and thought about it. Qin had indeed unified the south in three years and implemented education.

Qin did indeed unify the south, but at a huge cost, with the Dongting and Changsha commanderies being the most affected.

But Fusu also understood that even at a great cost, the First Emperor was still determined to unify the south, because he was the First Emperor, not someone else.

In the quiet hall, Fusu could even hear Li Si's heavy breathing as he read the military report.

After reading it, Li Si put down the bamboo slip in his hand and hurriedly bowed, saying, "Your subject requests permission to provide relief to the families of the soldiers who led the southern expedition."

Ying Zheng said, "You and Fusu go and handle this matter."

Li Si bowed once more.

Fusu and Li Si walked out of Zhangtai Palace together.

As they descended the steps, the two were silent for a moment.

While it was called a relief payment, Li Si believed it should actually involve redistributing land across various regions.

Fusu said, "Teacher, the South has finally been captured."

Li Si nodded.

When Fusu returned to the Prime Minister's residence, many people were already busy there. He met the Right Prime Minister, Feng Quji.

Feng Quji bowed and said, "Young Master."

Fusu said, "It's been a long time since I've seen the Right Chancellor."

"I recently went to Luoyang and only returned to Xianyang today."

Fusu said, "It just so happens that there is something I need the Right Chancellor's help with."