The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 140 Another Expedition to the East

After meeting with Shusun Tong, Lang left home and went to Tongguan.

On the way to Tongguan, following the Jingye Canal southward, you will arrive at the present-day new Dali County. Dali County is divided into east and west sections, and the original Dali County is now separated from the new Dali County. The 200,000 new residents who moved here have long since become villages and towns.

On a winter's day, children, undeterred by the cold, played and frolicked in the snow.

Lang remembers that before the Jingye Canal was dug, this was an extremely poor place, but now people have built houses here, raised children, and have food to eat.

Compared to when they were guarding the Great Wall in the north, facing the Xiongnu people.

I truly feel how wonderful this land is. People only need a house and a piece of arable land to feed themselves, and with further development, this land can become so beautiful.

How can such a wonderful home be left unprotected?

That's why General Meng Tian launched a northern expedition, captured the Hetao region, and stationed himself at Helan Mountain.

Without traveling thousands of miles, one cannot know the true nature of the world; only by guarding the frontier can one realize how wonderful this homeland will be in the future.

Lang passed through Dali County, the most bustling county in Weinan, and then through Huayin County before arriving at Tongguan City.

The walls of Tongguan were very high. Lang saw people coming and going in the city. He stepped into the city. The city was newly built, and it was said that the Prefectural Magistrate Sima Xin was in charge of its construction.

After asking around among the locals, Lang found Zhui's place.

There are several academies in Tongguan City. Walk towards a group of buildings facing east, and there are people teaching in each academy.

This scene greatly surprised Lang, as these bookstores occupied almost half of Tongguan City.

This makes one wonder if Tongguan City was to be established as a city specifically for teaching.

Lang continued walking into the street and saw a group of children holding a scroll of ink sutra.

These are Mozi's books. The other children are all reading in the study, but these children are sitting outside.

Why don't you go to the study hall to read?

The child replied, "We can't afford the tuition, but the teacher said we can listen from outside."

Hearing the child's obedient reply, Lang asked again, "Are you all children from Tongguan?"

The child shook his head again and said, "We came from the east. Our parents are building a house in the city."

As he spoke, the child pointed to the south of Tongguan City, where it was indeed very open, with many people working and many half-finished houses.

Lang stood up, not wanting to disturb the child's lesson. The children's words came from the east, so they must be from the area east of Xiaoshan, near Luoyang.

It seems that the bird is indeed very powerful.

With a firm conviction in his heart, he walked all the way to the westernmost house in the city. The house was very simple, with only a small door, barely big enough for a person to live in.

Lang walked to the door and saw his younger brother, Zhui, whom he hadn't seen for many years.

Zhui also looked up and saw his older brother standing in front of the door. He grinned and said, "Brother!"

Although they are not blood brothers, they grew up together and are closer than blood brothers.

Zhuo hurriedly grabbed Lang's hand and said, "Brother! It's been so many years! I heard you went north?"

"Yes."

Lang responded, but seeing the envious look in his younger brother's eyes, he realized that he should be envying his younger brother, who was far more capable than him, the older brother.

Now, Zhui was dressed in a grayish-brown cloth robe, looking quite respectable. Even in this attire, he was better dressed than the county official's family.

The two walked out of Tongguan City together, having so much to talk about.

There's a restaurant by the river outside Tongguan City, so I invited Lang to eat some river delicacies.

Regarding the teaching support order, Lang told him everything that Shusun Tong had said.

Zhui replied, "I know all this. My teacher told me about it a long time ago. On the day the news of victory from the north arrived, Prince Fusu had someone deliver a scroll to my teacher."

Lang hesitated and asked, "Did the teacher tell you the same thing?"

He nodded.

The restaurant brought over two bowls of noodles and a plate of grilled fish.

Zhui picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of the best meat from the fish belly, and put it into his brother's bowl. He then put down his chopsticks and said in a low voice, "You have traveled farther than me and met more people than I have. What do you think people outside are like?"

After pondering for a moment, Lang replied, "The same?"

Zhui shook his head and said, "It's different. The people of Weinan know how to live better because everything here is fair. But the people outside once lived under the rule of kings and nobles. They were servants, and their children were servants. The children of kings and nobles were still kings and nobles."

Lang didn't touch his chopsticks. He looked at his younger brother in front of him and gestured for him to continue.

Zhui said, "My teacher told me that next year, Prince Fusu will make him the Grand Master of Guanzhong, in charge of all matters related to the education support order."

This was something the teacher hadn't told him, but for the teacher, it wasn't anything special; he didn't care much about his reputation.

Zhui thought Kong Fu was a weak person. When the emperor visited Qi and Lu, Kong Fu only hid. A so-called great sage was nothing more than this. The two sat there for a long time, until all the other customers of the shop had left, and even the shopkeeper himself had fallen asleep sitting at the entrance of the restaurant. The two were still talking in hushed tones.

Zhui then spoke of his opinion on the current ban on private schools, saying, "The reason why the education support order is only implemented in Guanzhong is because Prince Fusu felt that the population of Guanzhong was still insufficient. When more people know that their children can come to Guanzhong to study and become officials after studying, tens of thousands of people will enter Guanzhong."

He nodded.

Zhui then said, “When the scholars from Qi and Lu came to Qin, Prime Minister Li Si treated them well, but those scholars from Qi and Lu still did not respect Qin, and even looked down on Prime Minister Li Si. More than ten years have passed since they came to Qin, and these ten years are enough for Prime Minister Li Si to see what kind of people they are.”

"On the other hand, my lord, you will not think about changing the scholars of Qi and Lu, or even have any intention of changing the famous scholars and great sages left behind by the states in the past, because you know that no matter how much effort Qin makes, no matter how much sincerity Qin shows, it cannot change their mindset of restoring their country."

"Therefore, the young master will not be like Prime Minister Li Si, who paid a huge price to win people's hearts. Instead, he will change the children by teaching in rural areas. If he changes the children first, the next generation will always be different."

He sighed and said, "I think you, young master, understand how to govern this country better than Prime Minister Li Si."

Lang said, "I think so too."

"Promoting the standardization of writing, speech, and cart tracks is not something that can be accomplished with just a few documents from Prime Minister Li Si. In the books we saw at Shangyan Mountain, the young master often said that actions require a down-to-earth approach. Only by supporting education in rural areas can these things be carried out in a down-to-earth manner."

After hearing what the other person said, Lang smiled and asked, "Do you like doing these things?"

Zhui replied, "I can do this for the rest of my life."

Upon hearing this, Lang laughed even more heartily, picked up the wine pot, and the two drank a bowl together.

This winter, Lang also stayed in Tongguan City to teach.

The following spring, Lang was to leave Tongguan City. This time, he was to take a group of students with him to teach in various places.

This time, Lang himself led the way.

At Hangu Pass, the woman asked, "Your family has prepared a marriage for you, are you really not going?"

Lang laughed and said, "I'm still young. If I travel for another three years, I'll only be twenty-four when I come back."

"You want to see people from Langya County, don't you?"

Lang did not deny it, but just smiled, picked up his bag, waved and left.

Sima Xin also witnessed this scene, with hundreds of teenagers heading east to teach in various places.

Looking at Zhui beside him, Sima Xin said, "He is capable of serving in Guanzhong, so why is he so determined to leave?"

He frowned and said, "Most likely, she has someone she likes in Langya County."

"really?"

Zhui looked suspicious and whispered, "We'll know when he comes back next time."

Originally, Lang didn't need to go to teach in rural areas anymore. He was the first person who, after teaching in rural areas for three years and guarding the border for one year, was still willing to go to teach in distant places again.

Sima Xin was also puzzled as to why Prince Fusu was so insistent on teaching in rural areas.

This year, winter ended and spring has just arrived in Guanzhong.

It rained around midnight tonight.

Gaoquan Palace was still brightly lit at night. Fusu was looking at a scroll of documents. After General Meng Tian captured the Hetao region, Prime Minister Li Si sent an imperial edict to Meng Tian, ​​ordering him to develop the north.

In terms of the technology for building the northern border fortresses, General Meng Tian adopted the method of "city horse system," which basically involved warhorses pulling huge stones to compact the road surface and solidify the foundation.

Then they continued to cultivate the land. The fields in the Hetao region could produce millet, with a yield of 1.5 shi per mu, which should be no problem.

They also needed to relocate merchants and build military markets in the north, a system similar to border defense and trade. The military markets established by General Meng Tian were more like border trade markets.

Three hundred thousand warhorses were raised in the northern region, Jiuyuan and Yunyang were built, the northern highway was constructed, grain carts could travel eighty li a day, and beacon towers and watchtowers were built in parallel.

The salt lakes of the Hetao Plain produce tens of thousands of bushels of salt annually, which is one of the lifelines of salt production on the grasslands.

The farm had 500,000 head of cattle and sheep to feed the soldiers stationed along the imperial road. The meat was also dried and stored as military rations.

All these constructions were aimed at consolidating the northern border defenses.

After reading these documents, Fusu felt that if the construction could continue in this way, the north would not only be stable, but also very prosperous.

That's how the Qin people are; they either do nothing at all, or if they're going to do something, they do something big.

The First Emperor's ideal was for the country to become strong, even if he made some mistakes or did some things poorly in the process.

For two thousand years, people have shared the same ideal: that the country should become strong.

Fusu felt that this ideal also included himself. As the prince of Qin and the chief steward of the imperial household, he should take it as his responsibility to build the country.

When Fusu opened the remaining documents, he saw a name: a tribe that Meng Tian encountered while expanding horse farms in Beidi County by establishing a straight road.

The leader of this tribe was called Luo, a member of the Wushi Rong tribe, and the Xiongnu people called him Wushi Luo.

(End of this chapter)