The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 137 Li Si's Midlife Crisis

Prime Minister Li Si's decree to ban private schools had been in the works for many years. According to Prime Minister Li Si's initial idea, private schools should be banned, Confucian robes should be abolished, and a decree on changing professions or the "Wei Law" should be formulated.

But in Fusu’s view, all of this was too complicated. Which school to learn from, which classics to read, what can be learned and what cannot be taught—it all had to be categorized, which was very complicated. Moreover, many of the views of Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi were quite similar. Would you dare say that there were no ideas of Confucius in Xunzi’s words?

This is actually a contradiction.

Did Mencius really oppose Legalism?

Burning books was indeed a good method, but in Fusu's view, it was not enough. He not only wanted to prohibit the dissemination of certain books, but also to stipulate who could teach and who could not.

To do some things well, you have to invest money and start building from the grassroots level. The scale of teaching support needs to be expanded, and teachers need to reshape their mindset.

We will distribute some books from Jingye County to a wider audience.

Inside Gaoquan Palace, things were still bustling. The lady was teaching the young master to speak, but he couldn't quite get it right. Some of his pronunciations were off, which was quite funny and made everyone in the palace laugh.

However, the child was very clever. From a young age, Gongzi Heng showed great talent and always liked to put his favorite objects and toys in a corner.

Once hidden, the child will most likely forget about it.

Everyone in the palace was searching for the young master's hidden items, such as a pen, a shoe, or a piece of cloth.

The young master is currently following his wife in reciting words. Most of the time, he can only babble and say a few simple words.

It's normal for children to be slow to start speaking and learn to talk, so Grandma Wang was very relieved and always advised her daughter-in-law to be more patient.

In late autumn, the nights in Guanzhong are always cold. Fusu cooked hot pot in a copper pot and ate with his wife.

Wang Tang'er was somewhat worried about the old man's health. Perhaps he was just pretending to be old before, but now he was truly old.

Fusu said, "Tomorrow, come with me to see Duke Pinyang."

She nodded and said, "Thank you, young master. Actually, my father said that he would take good care of my grandfather and that I should not disturb him unless necessary. Going there would only make my grandfather more worried."

Fusu deeply agreed. Indeed, the Duke of Pinyang was of such character; he would not allow anyone to disturb him. The father and son had lived on thin ice for most of their lives, so it was best not to disturb them.

The next day, after the court meeting concluded, Li Si returned to the Prime Minister's residence.

Today, I didn't see the young master on duty at the Prime Minister's residence; only Cheng Miao was handling the affairs of the Junior Treasury.

Before the Prime Minister could ask any questions, Cheng Miao, who had noticed the other man's gaze, spoke first and replied, "Young Master went to Jingye County today to enjoy the autumn scenery with his wife."

Li Si withdrew his gaze and continued looking at the document in front of him.

The carriage escorting Prince Fusu traveled from Xianyang City to Jingye County. Whenever they went out, the young master was very active. Tian An carried the young master in his arms. It was clear that the young master had grown a lot in the past year, and the child seemed to gain weight almost every day.

After the carriage arrived in Jingye County, Shusun Tong personally came to greet it.

When Fusu saw that his hair and beard were already white, he said, "You've aged quite quickly these past two years."

Shusun Tong sighed, "I've been having some troubles lately."

"The people from Lu have sent a book?"

Knowing that this matter could not be kept from the young master, Shusun Tong had already prepared the letters. He handed them over with both hands and said, "Young master, these are letters from some famous scholars in Lu."

Fusu took the letter and continued walking forward.

Seeing that Shusun Tong was about to follow, Tian An also caught up and walked beside Shusun Tong, saying, "Is it because you, young master, have been collecting books from all over the world and sending cartloads of books to Xianyang?"

Shusun Tong nodded.

Tian An continued, "That's not right. This matter was supported by Prime Minister Li Si and was done by you, young master. Why would they make things difficult for you?"

Upon hearing this, Shusun Tong suddenly understood, and he bowed, saying, "What Attendant Tian said is very true."

Tian An added, "She looks easy to bully."

Shusun Tong gave an awkward smile, but no longer felt wronged.

After reading the book, Fusu found that it mostly advised Shusun Tong to return to Lu and stop working for Qin.

Yes... they will portray Shusun Tong's teaching and nurturing of students as something he did to be an accomplice of the Qin Dynasty.

You can't look too closely at people's hearts; the more you look, the less happy you'll feel.

Since Meng Tian launched his northern expedition, the entire Weinan Prefecture has been paying the price for the war, and now it's time to give back to the people here.

Fusu walked around but didn't see Zhang Cang, and asked, "Where is Zhang Cang?"

Shusun Tong replied, "He went to Tongguan. I heard that Sima Xin has encountered some difficulties and has been there for three days."

The prefectural governor's office in Weinan Prefecture was still very small and there was no intention to expand it. It was located at the northernmost part of Weinan County and was also the entrance waterway for the Luo River and the Jingye Canal.

This is the first line of defense for protecting the Jingye Canal.

Fusu pushed open the gate of the Weinan Prefecture government office and said, "Compile household registers for everyone in Jingye County. From now on, they will all be residents of Jingye County."

Upon hearing this, Shusun Tong was stunned for a moment, and then quickly bowed and said, "Thank you, young master."

Fusu then said, "From now on, children from Weinan County who come to study here will not be charged grain."

"I accept your order."

Once this door is opened, it can't be closed again. If we want to collect grain again in the future, I'm afraid no one will come to study. Therefore, if we stop collecting tuition fees now, it's best not to collect them for the next few decades.

Now that the decision has been made, it's set in stone. If the decision is changed again, people might not allow the child to go to school.

Fusu planned to start with Weinan and gradually implement it in Guanzhong, so that all children in Guanzhong could receive elementary education without tuition fees. This was the best weapon to break down private schools.

In fact, private schools don't need to be banned. To eliminate them, all that's needed is to establish a teaching system.

Fusu had previously considered whether doing this was overkill, and even thought of other methods.

But after seeing Meng Tian's battle reports, one could see General Meng Tian's ruthless and merciless style of warfare.

There was also the determination of the Emperor and Prime Minister Li Si.

Fusu had seen far too much. Perhaps in the eyes of others, his father did not need to launch the southern expedition because it would come at a great cost. But for his father, if this was not done now, it would be difficult for anyone else to do it in the future.

Meng Tian's northern expedition nearly wiped out the Xiongnu people in the entire Hetao region. If he hadn't done so, the Xiongnu might have actually crossed the Great Wall.

Therefore, Fusu believed that one should use a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Even if something is not done well enough, or if it is flawed, or even if it goes too far, at least it has been done.

Besides, it's just a matter of teaching; I'm merely doing something for the greater cause of teaching.

So they did something when they owned a cluster of workshops and had power.

In the early stages of the war, all the construction in Weinan was based on the foundation laid for the war effort. Now it can be renovated and transformed into a new cluster of workshops.

Fusu arrived at a workshop and saw that the old armor had been repaired.

Although Zhang Cang was not here, Fusu still took out a few blueprints and handed them to Shusun Tong, instructing him to wait for Zhang Cang to return before making a decision.

Autumn in Guanzhong is particularly short. When Guanzhong was once again blanketed in heavy snow, Fusu came to Zhangtai Palace and placed a scroll before his father. This year, his father still seemed to be in good health. After the great victory in the Northern Expedition, his father had taken a very restful period of time.

For the Qin Dynasty, every task was extremely difficult, but they persevered through it all.

Having the power to interpret the calendar and the year and month actually has many benefits. Back then, there was an emperor named Emperor Huizong of Song who added four auspicious days every year. Why did he add four auspicious days? Of course, it was to promote marriage.

This clearly shows that the emperor was already encouraging marriage at that time.

They even resorted to using the Chinese almanac, probably because... they felt there was no other way to encourage marriage with preferential policies.

However, solving 151 simultaneous equations and finding the least common multiple would likely take several months due to the complex calculations alone.

Fusu thought back to when he had Zhang Cang calculate these formulas; Zhang Cang must have benefited greatly from it, hmm…

When Fusu went to Jingye County, Zhang Cang happened to be away. Fusu suspected that he might be afraid of those calculation formulas and was avoiding him.

Fusu believed that Zhang Cang's mathematical talent was extremely high, but whether he was present or not was not important. In any case, the order had been given and all that was needed was to wait for the result. This was the advantage of being in power.

It's all for the sake of the nation; we'll still need this teacher to calculate the celestial globe in the future.

Xu Fu was skilled at observing stars and discerning the seasons, but not at mathematics.

Mathematics is actually Zhang Cang's forte.

It's a mystery how Zhang Cang, a scholar of the Spring and Autumn Annals, could possess such extraordinary mathematical talent.

Even the Prime Minister was unaware of this matter.

Or perhaps Xunzi was biased after all.

Ying Zheng opened the bamboo scroll, and the twenty-four solar terms and twelve months came into view. He asked, "Qin's calendar has been used for hundreds of years. Do you intend to change it?"

Fusu said, "Your subject does not mean to replace them, but to use both together. This can be considered a minor calendar system."

"The minor calendar?"

"The previous calendar was too general. I have divided it into a more detailed calendar. I have been comparing it with my teacher Zhang Cang for five years. It should be correct."

"Five years?"

Fusu nodded.

Ying Zheng put down the scroll in his hand and said, "It's clear that you've put your heart into it."

Fusu said, “The calendar is of great importance and cannot be easily changed. When I was looking at the county annals of Guanzhong, I did find that some of the weather and solar terms did not match. It is probably because the calendar currently in use is not clear enough. I wondered why this happened. At first, I thought that the county annals were wrong.”

Ying Zheng nodded, seemingly accepting Fusu's explanation.

"But just three years ago, the same error appeared again in the county annals of several counties. So I checked the county annals from ten years ago and went back ten years. I found that the problem was that the number of days in each year was different. Then I found some clues from the lunar cycle. In fact, our calendar is not wrong, and the county officials did not make any mistakes."

Ying Zheng squinted at the scroll before him and said, "The calendar is correct, the county officials are correct, so where is the error?"

Fusu replied, "Your subject sent a letter to Xu Fu in Langya County. He deduced a basis for this: a year does not only have 365 days. Your subject repeatedly compared and recorded the shadow of the sun on the winter solstice each year and found the precession of the equinoxes this year."

Then, Fusu had Tian An bring in a roll of cloth. This roll of cloth was so large that it required three people—one in front, one in back, and one in the middle—to carry it in. When the cloth was unfurled, it was a huge star map.

Ying Zheng walked on this map, his gaze sweeping over the position of each star.

This is the culmination of Xu Fu's efforts over the past few years. He painted the starry sky all over this black cloth. He looked at the starry sky in Langya County and painted several star maps throughout the four seasons.

Xu Fu found a total of 1,200 stars. Although he had not yet marked the ecliptic coordinates on the ground, he was only missing an armillary sphere.

To establish celestial phenomena and calendars, an armillary sphere was indispensable.

After all, only the results that people can put into practice are the truth, and only the calendar that people understand through the armillary sphere is the answer that people can accept.

Sometimes the most advanced system may not be suitable for a particular era. Only the system that is best suited to the local conditions and the era itself may be the right one.

Fusu believed that the first armillary sphere of the Qin Dynasty should be built in Guanzhong, and that this armillary sphere should be huge enough, and that one should also be built on Langya Terrace.

The best place to see it is on the shore of Langya Terrace. People can see a huge armillary sphere when they look towards Langya Terrace from the sea.

Fusu then said, "This was presented to Father Emperor by Xu Fu."

Ying Zheng said, "I have heard that some sorcerers are also obsessed with this practice."

"Your subject will only use it for the calendar, not for any other purpose, and will not associate with outside magicians. The twenty-four solar terms that your subject has established will only be used for teaching in Jingye County."

"Alright, you can arrange whatever you need yourself."

As the Minister of the Imperial Household Department, he had to inform the emperor before he could build cities or repair roads, and the same applied to repairing the armillary sphere.

Snow began to fall again outside Zhangtai Palace. The father and son were still inside the palace when a palace guard hurried over and reported: "Urgent report from Wushaoling."

Ying Zheng gestured for the eunuch general to report it.

Tian An consciously had the star map put away again.

Ying Zheng took the military report, opened it, and read its contents.

Before long, Prime Minister Li Si, who had received the military report from Longxi, also rushed over.

Fusu faced the Prime Minister with a smile.

Li Si nodded, took off his shoes, and entered the hall.

Lately, the Prime Minister has always had a worried look on his face, probably because even a powerful person like Prime Minister Li Si can have a mid-life crisis.

Fusu felt that he was already twenty-three years old, so shouldn't he help the Prime Minister share some of the burden, for example, by serving as the Deputy Prime Minister of Qin?

However, the Prime Minister is currently experiencing a midlife crisis and has begun to distrust Meng Tian.

The prime minister certainly wouldn't suspect his son, but he also wouldn't give him the position of vice prime minister.

He probably felt that it was inappropriate for me, a young master, to ask for the position of deputy prime minister. What the prime minister most hoped for was for his son, Fusu, to become the crown prince of Qin.

This thought was practically written all over the Prime Minister's face.

Only by establishing a crown prince can Prime Minister Li Si's worries be dispelled, and he will likely... no longer be suspicious of Meng Tian.

Fusu asked in a low voice, "Teacher, how have you been lately?"

After the winter break from court, Fusu hadn't seen the prime minister for several days, so he casually asked him about it.

Li Si replied, "I am perfectly fine."

After his father finished reading the battle report, Fusu lowered his voice and said, "General Tuju from the south has sent five hundred carts of rhinoceros hides. They are on their way and will arrive in Xianyang soon."

The young master's voice wasn't loud, but Zhangtai Palace was very quiet, and everyone inside could hear him clearly.

(End of this chapter)