Chronicles of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 301 300. Distinguish the land and decide the place
The lady felt a great sense of panic.

Looking at the servant again, I saw that his expression was not good either, and I guessed that what he hadn't said yet was the attitude of the palace eunuch.

If there is an intention to appease, the other party will definitely be all smiles and polite.

But if they ignore me...

Just thinking about the King of Qin's reputation made the lady feel a chill run through her body.

At this moment, the mountain lord had already ordered his servants to hurriedly carry him, tidy himself up a bit, and straighten his miserable, sickly appearance. Then, his disciples served him attentively, and he was carried directly to the gate.

There, the young eunuch stood with his attendants, his posture upright and his expression indifferent.

The lady's heart sank.

Only the mountain lord was too excited to speak: "I am Yue Wu of the Wutong Academy, and I humbly await Your Majesty's reply..."

Before he could finish speaking, the other party impatiently interrupted him.

Just kidding, this guy insulted their queen right there in court!
Without the Queen, where would these eunuchs get their promotions? They were just ordinary scraps before, and they still will be.

Now, everyone in Ganquan Palace is full of high spirits, isn't it all for the future that everyone can have?
He now knows over a hundred characters and can write more than fifty, which is why he has the opportunity to get this messenger job!
At this moment, the young and arrogant eunuch raised his chin and said coldly, "His Majesty has sent an edict from Xianyang Palace—"

"The Wutong Academy has neglected its duty to the country, slandered the emperor, cursed the imperial carriage, and shown no respect for the queen. All personnel of the academy shall never be employed again!"

Boom!

It was like a thunderclap, exploding loudly in everyone's ears!

In that instant, the headmaster, who had been supporting himself halfway up, went limp and collapsed back down. His disciples stood frozen in shock.

After speaking, he turned to leave, but among the group of people who looked utterly dejected and pale, there was also the elderly lady who seemed to have settled down, her heart filled with desolation and sighs.

Huang Men's heart skipped a beat.

He paused, then chuckled softly:
“Our Queen has always cherished talent and is open-minded, even giving opportunities to divorced widows with children. If you were not so absurd, how could you be dragging your families down like this?”

He turned and left, his attendants following in an orderly fashion, while the sound of the coachman gently cracking his whip came from ahead.

But this lash seemed to strike the lady's heart.

She suddenly turned her head and looked coldly at her husband and his apprentices whom he regarded as his own children.

……

Qin Shi had been at Su Su Village for five days.

Today, we are receiving a group from Shanxi Academy.

It is said that the headmaster of Shanxi Academy was originally just a woodcutter. Suddenly, a wise man came to the mountain where he often cut firewood and sat down with his disciples to discuss the Dao. He could not understand, but he came to listen every day.

Over time, he was taken in as an apprentice.

As time went on, he read more and more books and traveled more and more...

At the age of fifty, he established the Shanxi Academy.

Because of its lack of funds, Shanxi Academy was quite rudimentary and didn't really discriminate when recruiting disciples. Merchants, beggars, commoners, and wealthy families were all accepted (most of whom quickly moved on to other places).

However, he was not good at management, and with the rise of the Wutong Academy, he attracted the attention of wealthy and powerful families.

The Mountain Stream Academy is already struggling to make ends meet, so when it heard that the Queen was recruiting talented people, the Mountain Lord was overjoyed:
"I'm worried that you have no way to use all your knowledge and skills, and you don't know how you'll support your families in the future... Come on! Let's go to the Queen! Even if we can't recruit anyone right away, we can help write a recruitment notice and spread the word everywhere. We can always get a meal from the Queen, who is rich and loves to reward us!"

Thus, each of the more than twenty people in the entire academy wrote a thick bamboo slip to introduce themselves, and also lined up to get a large bowl of millet and hot salt water. Qin Shi was somewhat surprised when he heard the servant report the time.

She still thinks that today's scholars are either like Wen Xun or from Wutong Academy!
Upon seeing the newcomer, Qin Shi fell silent.

If she hadn't been told he was from an academy, she would have really thought he was some country farmer. After thinking for a moment, she could only offer her praise:
"Indeed simple and natural."

Upon hearing this, the dark-skinned, stocky, and short middle-aged man cupped his hands in greeting, his loud laughter echoing throughout the entire hall.

"Your Majesty is too kind. We are simply poor and cannot afford a complete set of fine clothes, which is why we are dressed rather disheveled! But we had all bathed and changed before we arrived, and we are now fragrant and clean!"

"I've heard that working here at the Queen's place not only provides ample food but also generous pay. I wonder if my disciples and I are up to the task?"

After he said this, some of the disciples behind him blushed and silently lowered their heads, awkwardly picking at their toes inside their straw sandals.

Others, too, had bright eyes and looked at her expectantly!
The maid and the eunuch, who had initially intended to reprimand the man for his rudeness and demand respect, were stunned by his words and remained speechless.

Qin Shi was left speechless, both amused and exasperated.

That's so direct!

Since she arrived here, she has never met such a direct person.

I was in a good mood at the moment and couldn't help but laugh:
"You're good at manual labor, but what are you good at? If you're literate and have no skills, isn't it a waste to assign you to farming and fertilizing?"

The headmaster laughed heartily, "What's so special about that? We grew our own vegetables and millet when we were at the academy, and our students are already quite skilled at it!"

He confidently promoted himself: "To be honest, Your Majesty, we are also well-read. The books contain methods of planting and farming such as 'discerning the soil,' 'judging the season,' and 'adapting to the land.' We have practiced them one by one, and we are in no way inferior to farmers in these matters!"

Qin Shi was overjoyed!

"Is this true?"

If that's true, she'll immediately arrange for these people to dig in the dirt!
During their time in Susu Village, the local chieftains who had been recruited were obedient and would do whatever they were told, but they mostly wouldn't do anything they weren't asked to do.

And when it comes to what they are asked to do, they just bury themselves in their work, knowing what to do but not why.

But explaining it from the beginning would be too much work. So for now, I'll just do it blindly and without really understanding what's going on.

But this group of people in front of me is different.

Having already learned various methods from agricultural books, they naturally had their own understanding of soil moisture and fertilizer management, which, combined with her arrangements...

Isn't this the chosen one from the Agricultural College?!
The mountain lord proudly raised his head, while among the various disciples following behind him, one boldly spoke up:
"Our academy is located on a barren mountain. Although it's called Shanxi (Mountain Stream), it's all mountains and no streams, and the land is infertile. But last year's millet harvest wasn't much worse than that of a medium-sized field at the foot of the mountain..."

"it is good!"

Qin Shi was overjoyed: "In that case, please come with me and see the farming methods used in the manor."

He paused, then instructed, "Call Mo here and see if there are any new farm tools. Let's study them together."

Looking down at the crowd below, he saw the short, dark-skinned, and stout headmaster beaming with joy:

"Your Majesty, when shall we have breakfast after we finish our land survey? My disciples and I lined up early this morning and haven't had our morning meal yet!"

　Those methods of "identifying soil" and "assigning land" are actually all found in the *Lüshi Chunqiu*. But this is a fictional story; there's no Lüshi who wrote the *Spring and Autumn Annals*, so I'll leave it vague...

　　Let's just take a vague look at it.

　　(End of this chapter)