The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 142 Li Si, whose temples were already white

The person who is knowledgeable about the trade routes in the Western Regions does not necessarily have to be Wu Shi Luo. If the Qin Dynasty wants to obtain the Western Regions, it can find many people like him. The Qin Dynasty does not necessarily need him, and whether he is useful to the Qin Dynasty is another matter.

Generally speaking, Cheng Miao believed that even someone unwilling to serve the Qin Dynasty could be useful. As for what that usefulness would be, he thought that killing them and burying them in the ground would serve its purpose.

In Fusu's understanding, Cheng Miao roughly meant the same thing.

For some reason, Fusu suddenly remembered something from many years ago. Back then, there was a child in Jingye County who said he was a member of the Wu clan of the Western Rong people, and his name was Wu Sang.

Fusu still remembers what the dozens of children who lived at the foot of Shangyan Mountain looked like and what their names were.

That child should be from the same clan as Wu Shi Luo. Qin and the Western Rong people fought for hundreds of years in the past, and they also lived in harmony for a time.

However, over the past few centuries, more and more Western Rong people have been assimilated into the Qin people.

As dusk fell, Prince Fusu had already left the Prime Minister's residence, and many officials had also returned home, leaving only Cheng Miao in the residence.

After a busy day, the Prime Minister's residence was in complete disarray.

Cheng Miao stood up, picked up a scroll of bamboo slips that was lying on the ground, placed it on the table, and then noticed the messy floor. He rolled up his sleeves and began to tidy it up.

While tidying up the Prime Minister's residence, someone arrived.

The emperor is holding this year's agricultural ceremony, accompanied by many ministers. At this time, there should not be many people coming to the prime minister's residence.

Cheng Miao saw Zhang Cang, who had just arrived at the Prime Minister's residence, and asked, "Why are you only arriving now?"

Zhang Cang explained, "The county is busy."

“That’s right. The young master has entrusted so many things to you. You must be overwhelmed by the workload alone.” Cheng Miao sighed with understanding, and added, “The young master is understanding. You don’t need to worry.”

Seeing that Cheng Miao was tidying up the Prime Minister's residence, Zhang Cang sat outside and waited for him to finish.

"How are the preparations for the tasks the young master asked you to do coming along?"

"It went pretty well."

"As long as it goes smoothly, there's no need to go to great lengths. That's what the young master said."

Cheng Miao was always like that.

Zhang Cang asked himself honestly, he was just directing those craftsmen to do things. He only needed to sit in the county government office. If you say he was tired, he was indeed tired, but he wasn't this busy.

After Cheng Miao said that, Zhang Cang felt somewhat guilty.

"You probably won't be able to see the young master now. He's been presiding over court meetings recently, so you can report anything to him during those meetings."

Seeing Zhang Cang gazing silently at the setting sun, Cheng Miao, having already tidied up the Prime Minister's residence, brushed some dust off his clothes, picked up a scroll, walked to the door, and then closed the door of the Prime Minister's residence.

Cheng Miao handed over a scroll and said, "Young Master left this scroll behind, saying he would give it to you when you arrived."

Zhang Cang took the book and nodded.

"If you don't have anything special to tell the young master, you can go back now. I will tell the young master the truth at tomorrow's court meeting that the construction in Weinan cannot be stopped."

Zhang Cang stood up, holding a book in one hand, and asked, "Are you on duty again tonight?"

"Inappropriate value".

"Come drink with me."

"it is good."

As soon as the two stepped out of the palace gate, they started talking about Longxi again. Cheng Miao mentioned Li You, the military commander who was currently leading troops in Longxi, and that Longxi was undergoing a major construction project, with Zhang Han planning to build two fortified passes in the river valley of the Western Rong people.

Inside the restaurant, Cheng Miao said in a low voice, "Longxi is the busiest place right now. There's Du Shuichang, Zhang Han, and Li You. I heard that Zhang Han's younger brother is also in Longxi."

Zhang Cang took a sip of wine, then ate a piece of mutton, and hesitated before asking, "Do people in Xianyang like to cut mutton like this nowadays?"

Cheng Miao smiled and said, "Yes, I don't know when this habit came about, but people like to cut meat into such thin slices."

Zhang Cang was eating mutton noodles, but he still felt unsatisfied, so he asked the restaurant to add more mutton.

Knowing that Cheng Miao was usually quite poor, and that Zhang Cang usually hung out with Wang Ben, Zhang Cang had recently accumulated a lot of money.

Cheng Miao watched as Zhang Cang paid the shopkeeper and then advised, "You'd better drink less with Wang Ben."

Zhang Cang walked out of the restaurant, saying, "I like drinking tea, but I don't like drinking alcohol."

Cheng Miao nodded knowingly.

Zhang Cang sighed, "However, Wang Ben not only enjoys drinking, but also loves beautiful women."

As they talked, the two walked together to the gate of Xianyang City.

Cheng Miao added, "You must never be like Wang Ben, who easily becomes like the kind of person he associates with."

After saying this, Zhang Cang tossed the money bag in his hand to Cheng Miao, then got into his carriage and left.

Night had fallen, and Xianyang was not as bustling as before. Cheng Miao walked down the street, and curfew was approaching.

As the Qin army patrolled the streets, every household had already closed their doors.

When the Qin army saw Cheng Miao walking at night, they politely bowed and escorted him home.

When Cheng Miao returned home, he saw many calligraphy copybooks hanging on the walls. These copybooks were all in the clerical script. The young master said that the writing should be more neat and orderly in the future.

At this moment, in the northern suburbs of Xianyang, Prime Minister Li Si stood on the banks of the Wei River outside the palace, with Right Prime Minister Feng Quji standing beside him.

It was the dead of night, and the only sound was the gentle murmur of water.

Li Si, who was suffering from insomnia late at night, came here to sit for a while and met Feng Quji, who was also somewhat troubled.

Feng Quji scooped up river water to wash his face and asked, "Does the Prime Minister also have trouble sleeping?" Li Si sat on a rock with his hands on his knees and said in a low voice, "As people get older, they always have trouble sleeping. Everyone is like this when they reach this age, and it happens once they approach fifty."

Feng Quji felt that the emperor was actually doing quite well lately, eating well and sleeping well.

Even when living in a detached palace in the northern suburbs, Prince Fusu would still have his daily meals delivered to the emperor.

"Has something been on your mind lately?"

Upon hearing this, Li Si gazed at the starry sky for a long time, speechless.

Feng Quji continued, "Prince Fusu is a very good child. He can help the emperor govern the country and is also very filial. He can also carry on your ideals, Li Si. Isn't that good?"

Seeing that Li Si remained silent, Feng Quji continued, "Logically speaking, you should be at your most complacent right now. If I were you, I would wake up smiling every day."

Li Si said in a low voice, "Young master is learning too fast, there's no need to teach him anymore."

These words sounded utterly powerless, and Feng Quji even felt a strange sense of sorrow. His disciple was too talented, and his teacher had no skills left to teach him. He felt ashamed.

It is something to be proud of that Prime Minister Li Si taught such a capable disciple.

Feng Quji smiled and said, "Now, young master, is there anything you can't do?"

Li Si slowly shook his head.

"Do you think that the young master is not yet capable of being a crown prince, or how he should be an emperor in the future? Actually, you can teach the young master these things."

Li Si grew annoyed by Feng Quji's repeated attempts to comfort him.

Especially when you hear these kinds of words of advice too often, you won't feel comforted; instead, you'll feel even worse.

"I just can't sleep, I don't have that many worries on my mind."

Li Si's words revealed a hint of displeasure.

Feng Quji wisely left.

Li Si was left alone by the river. The next morning, just as dawn broke, Feng Quji arrived early to meet the emperor.

Today, the agricultural ritual is to be performed, and Feng Quji has come to inform the emperor of the preparations to be made.

The annual agricultural ceremony is the same every year, but we still have to repeat the rituals according to the rules.

Upon entering the main hall, Feng Quji saw the emperor, who had already changed his clothes.

Because it was just dawn, the candlesticks in the main hall were still lit, having been lit all night.

Ying Zheng said, "I heard that Li Si did not sleep all night."

Feng Quji said, "Now the Prime Minister's temples are gray, and he is quite old."

"Is he old?"

"The Prime Minister feels he is getting old," Feng Quji said, taking a step back to salute before adding another sentence.

Ying Zheng added, "Sometimes I also feel that I am getting old."

The current emperor is only forty-two years old, in the prime of a man's life, and does not look old at present.

Even in the countryside, a man who is sixty years old is still a very important labor force in the family and can still work in the fields to support his family.

What is the situation in Longxi?

Feng Quji was about to report the situation in Longxi to His Majesty when he handed over a scroll and said, "This is a report sent by the Chief of Water Conservancy."

Du Shuichanglu was recommended by Feng Quji, and afterwards he went to the south to dig the Lingqu Canal.

Although he was now in Longxi, Feng Quji was still the superior of the Chief of Water Conservancy, so all the reports were delivered to Feng Quji.

Prime Minister Li Si was quite high-profile in the Qin court, while Right Prime Minister Feng Quji was much more low-profile, though his power was not much less than that of the Prime Minister.

Feng Quji was also keeping an eye on many things in Longxi, and he knew exactly what the young master was going to do in Longxi.

Then another eunuch hurried over.

The eunuch was about to speak, but upon seeing that someone was there, he swallowed his words.

Ying Zheng said in a deep voice, "Speak."

The eunuch bowed and said, "The young master has instructed Grand Commandant Wang to escort that Rong merchant out of Xianyang."

Ying Zheng knew of Wu Shi Luo; he had known about the dealings between Chancellor Lü Buwei and this Rong merchant since he was still the King of Qin.

In the past, Lü Buwei had traded with Wushi Luo several times, buying a lot of warhorses for the Qin Dynasty, as well as a lot of gold, silver and silk for this Rong merchant.

These events became secrets in Xianyang after Lü Buwei's death.

Many bamboo and wooden slips records were also destroyed. When Lü Buwei died, he fled to the Western Regions.

Ying Zheng didn't care whether Wu Shi Luo had hidden some of Lü Buwei's family property; he only wanted to know what Fusu wanted to do with this person. In fact, killing him wouldn't have mattered.

Now, this merchant from the Rong region has come to Xianyang once again, and someone is secretly watching him.

As the eunuch recounted the events, Wu Shi Luo only spoke of the Western Regions and did not mention anything about his past relationship with Lü Buwei.

After the eunuch finished reporting, Feng Quji said, "Young Master's idea of ​​sending this man to persuade the Western Rong people to submit is indeed a brilliant one."

Once the officials outside the hall were ready, Ying Zheng tidied his clothes and walked outside with Feng Quji to begin today's agricultural ceremony.

(End of this chapter)