The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 148 Book

After finishing his meal, Tian An left in a hurry.

My two-year-old son ate and then fell asleep. I expect he'll be quite fussy when he wakes up. But there are many people in the palace, and the child is a bit shy. He'll cry and fuss if no one close to him holds him.

In Grandma Wang's words, this child is quite clever.

Fusu didn't know much about childcare, but he had people from all walks of life in the palace taking care of the child, so he could concentrate on handling state affairs.

Seeing the pile of bamboo slips in front of her husband, Wang Tang'er went over to help tidy them up. She sat quietly to the side and even helped classify the files.

Fusu noticed that his wife's gaze fell on the paper several times, and he also saw a deer walking over and sniffing the paper.

Fusu put down his pen, pushed away the deer that had come closer, and said in a low voice, "These deer have been living in our palace for so long that they're really starting to act like guests."

Upon hearing this, Wang Tang'er covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

The deer seemed to understand its owner's words, raising its head and its antlers high as it walked away.

After it had gone far away, Fusu continued to observe the affairs of state.

Before, Wang Tang'er didn't know what would happen after marrying Prince Fusu. Now she has a child and is a mother.

The husband is someone who wants to build the country, and many things in the country are changing little by little under his leadership.

She thought about what the couple had said back then, and now she understood that some things can never be finished in a lifetime.

Fusu picked up a piece of paper, spread it on the table, and handed the pen to his wife, saying, "Try writing something."

Wang Tang'er picked up her pen, and hesitated for a moment before writing the character "衡" (heng) on ​​the paper.

Fusu also wrote a character, but it was always the character "衡".

However, Wang Tang'er wrote in small seal script, while Fusu wrote in clerical script.

Wang Tang'er nodded and said, "Indeed, neat clerical script is more pleasing to the eye."

The next day, Fusu woke up early to prepare for today's court meeting. He still hadn't received any news from the northern suburbs, so it seemed that his father was still in the northern suburbs to escape the summer heat.

After having breakfast, Fusu went to Zhangtai Palace.

As the morning sun shone on the eaves of Zhangtai Palace, Fusu, dressed in a black robe, walked up the steps in front of the palace.

As we walked toward the main hall of Zhangtai Palace, the Qin court's civil and military officials still stood on both sides of the hall.

Fusu walked past the civil and military officials standing on both sides, until he reached the front of the crowd, and then stood up to begin presiding over state affairs.

Before the Nine Ministers could report on state affairs in turn, Right Chancellor Feng Quji stepped forward holding the Emperor's edict and said, "By imperial decree, Prince Fusu is appointed concurrently as Grand Master of the Imperial Stud, in charge of horse administration."

Inside the main hall, some people whispered among themselves.

Fusu took the imperial edict from the other party and then bowed to his father's position, even though his father was not present.

Then, the affairs of state proceeded as normal.

In fact, it is Prince Fusu who is in charge of state affairs now. When the emperor was still the King of Qin, he was extremely cautious about military power and entrusted it to the Meng family or the Wang family, who were extremely loyal.

Especially the horse administration, which concerns the dispatch of warhorses, was previously entrusted by the emperor to the Grand Commandant, but now it has been unusually entrusted to Prince Fusu.

This made the court officials feel that even if the emperor returned to Xianyang, the affairs of state would probably be decided by the emperor and Prince Fusu.

The reason why the ministers thought this way was because Prince Fusu's governance of Guanzhong was so effective.

After the court meeting concluded, everyone left Zhangtai Palace in turn. Seeing that his teacher was also leaving, Fusu stepped forward and said, "Teacher."

Upon hearing the word "teacher," Li Si stopped and turned to look at the young master behind him.

Fusu said, "Knowing that you haven't been sleeping well lately, I had some medicine prepared and sent it to your residence this morning."

Li Si bowed and said, "You've gone to so much trouble, young master."

Fusu said, "It's alright, it's all what I should do."

Seeing that Li Si was about to walk out of the hall, Fusu took out a leather case from his sleeve, inside which was a roll of silk. "Teacher, this is a letter from Li You."

Li Si took his son's letter and read it carefully.

Fusu stood aside, waiting for his teacher to finish reading the letter.

"We'll let Li You try to make it in the army."

Fusu thought that his teacher didn't actually want Li You to risk his life in the army.

Li Si said, "My lord, there's no need to worry. It doesn't matter whether Li You lives or dies out there. It's not because of this kid that I've been having trouble sleeping lately."

Fusu nodded. Li Si now has a grandson. Sure enough, once you have a grandson, you don't need a son anymore.

Accompanying his teacher all the way to the Prime Minister's residence, Fusu explained to his teacher the many recent state affairs.

The news about paper was only known to himself and the craftsmen of Jingye County. Even if a piece of paper were placed in front of the teacher at this moment, the teacher probably wouldn't think that it was for writing.

Once the paper is actually turned into a book, there's no need for further explanation. A political expert like the teacher naturally knows how important paper is when combined with the teaching support order.

Today, the Prime Minister's office is discussing matters north of the Wei River.

Water management and land reclamation have always been the main themes of Qin's governance of the state. Water management is also something that every wise ruler should do. At this moment, Fusu encountered the problem of water management again.

This year, the Weibei region is experiencing another drought. While the heatwave this year is normal, the lack of rainfall is particularly striking. Furthermore, the salinization of the land downstream of the Jing and Wei Rivers, a problem that should have only appeared during the Eastern Han Dynasty, still exists in the Qin Dynasty today.

For the land, these past hundred years or so are nothing.

This is how Fusu felt.

Since someone has raised a question, we should address it.

Although it's not so urgent, the population of Guanzhong has not experienced explosive growth.

The drought and the resulting barren land in the lower reaches of the Jing and Wei Rivers are actually related to the Zheng Guo Canal of that time. The Zheng Guo Canal only introduced water from the Jing River but did not discharge alkaline substances, resulting in the siltation and abandonment of the lower reaches of the Jing and Wei Rivers for nearly ten years.

This problem may be troublesome for the people in front of him, but for Fusu, who has received a refined education, it is no different from an open-book exam.

In other words, for Fusu, the problem of accumulated silt and waste would only emerge fifty years later.

For me now, it's just a matter of solving this problem ten years earlier.

This cannot be blamed on the State of Zheng back then. When the State of Zheng was digging the Zheng Guo Canal, it could not have imagined that it would be silted up and abandoned for more than ten years afterward.

Fusu sat in his seat, his ears automatically "blocking out" the surrounding chatter. This ability was a learning skill he developed in his previous life. When you are in an environment where dozens of people are reading and reciting together, your attention will be greatly trained.

Therefore, Fusu was able to concentrate for several hours at a time.

This was a difficult matter for the rest of the Prime Minister's household.

But for Fusu, it was like an innate skill.

In geographical knowledge, the problem of siltation and waste in the Jinghe River is so classic that it can be said to be the world's earliest siltation irrigation and soil improvement project.

This project is about to come into my own hands.

Fusu wrote on bamboo slips the structure of the project: "One stone of Jing River yields several bushels of mud. We will irrigate and fertilize it to grow our millet and sorghum."

This proverb refers to the miraculous siltation irrigation and soil improvement project.

This project not only solved the drought problem in the Weibei region, but also increased grain production.

Moreover, siltation irrigation can produce new fields, and another canal was dug below the Zheng Guo Canal. Fusu gave this canal a name, which is called the Bai Canal.

Construction is underway along the Bai Canal through the three counties of Jingyang, Sanyuan, and Gaoling.

When Fusu presented the plan to Prime Minister Li Si, Li Si remained silent for a long time.

Then, Li Si saw the young master bring him a bowl of tea, which came at just the right time.

Li Si took the tea, drank a sip, and swallowed it. The tea refreshed him, but he still frowned and asked in a low voice, "Young master, how did you know about this method?"

Fusu replied, "It's written in the book."

Prince Fusu was fond of reading, and after his eastern tour, he gained a reputation for collecting books from all over the country.

This is certainly a reputation for virtue; the whole world can see how wise and virtuous a young man who loves reading is.

Li Si will absolutely not be polite to anyone who dares to speak ill of the young master.

Li Si strongly suspected that the prince's strategy might not be what was written in the book. Having served as the prime minister of Qin for so many years, Li Si naturally knew the situation in Guanzhong.

One cannot conceive of such a strategy without living in Guanzhong for decades and traveling throughout its land.

Looking across Guanzhong, Li Si had never seen anyone write such a strategy before.

Looking at the young master before him, Li Si said, "Young master is the Minister of the Imperial Household Department, so this matter should be handled by you. I will escort him to the northern suburbs now."

When the prime minister went to the northern suburbs, that afternoon, an imperial edict was delivered from the northern suburbs, ordering the young master to take charge of the matter.

As the Minister of the Imperial Household, he needed the emperor's permission to mobilize national resources.

Fusu also knew that this project might exacerbate the rise in groundwater levels in future generations, leading to the localization of the Weibei region into marshland.

Just like when the State of Zheng dug the Zheng Guo Canal, and today's land improvement and income increase plan, the country needs to build, and people's production and labor cannot be separated from the current material needs, in the choice between civilization and time.

Faced with the food crisis affecting hundreds of thousands of people, Fusu stood on the side of humanity without hesitation.

Now, Fusu aims to create a miracle of increased agricultural production on the land north of the Wei River, establishing the earliest circular agriculture paradigm in history.

Two months later at Mount Li, the First Emperor awoke from his sleep in his carriage. He took the documents handed to him by the eunuch and glanced at them. They contained records of land in various counties.

Ying Zheng asked, "According to Fusu's description of the solar terms, what is today's solar term?"

Wang Ben, who was escorting her, said, "It's Xiaoman."

"Xiaoman..."

Wang Ben replied, "Your Highness has established twenty-four solar terms and also discussed each one. I have read them."

What argument?

"Your Highness said that the Lesser Fullness solar term coincides with the time of heaviest rainfall in the south, when the rivers and lakes are full and the wheat is ripe. I believe that this solar term also carries auspicious meaning, as Lesser Fullness is the time of harvest."

Hearing the words outside the carriage, Ying Zheng remained silent, and even Wang Ben beside him praised Fusu's wisdom.

(End of this chapter)