The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 191 Joy and Sorrow

Every autumn is the season when food is most abundant in Guanzhong.

Inside a restaurant in Tongguan City, Li Mi ordered two bowls of noodles and two bowls of mutton soup.

Li Mixi mixed the meat sauce with the noodles, took a bite of noodles, then a sip of mutton soup, letting the noodles and mutton soup go down together.

In fact, Han Xin was not hungry; he was just eating noodles and garlic bites at a time.

He rarely came to restaurants like this because he had no money. Anyway, he worked as a handyman in Tongguan City, where he was provided with food and lodging. Although he didn't get paid, it was a stable job.

Seeing Li Mi wolfing down his food, Han Xin served him his own mutton soup as well.

After the other party finally finished the noodles in the bowl and ate the two bowls of mutton soup, Han Xin still chewed garlic in his mouth and didn't say anything more.

Li Mi wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Master Li, you don't need to pay."

Upon hearing this, Li Mi smiled and said, "I still have to give it to you."

After saying this, he put down a few copper coins and asked the shopkeeper, "How is your son's schooling going?"

The shopkeeper said, "My son is slow; he just can't learn anything."

Li Mi added, "There are many stupid children in Guanzhong, and they are all the same in every family."

The shopkeeper smiled and, having finally received the money, went to attend to other customers.

Li Mi was also a teacher in Guanzhong who volunteered to teach in Guanzhong. He must have taught in Guanzhong a long time ago, but later went to Huaiyin to volunteer as a teacher.

Han Xin asked, "Will the young master personally review our examination papers?"

Li Mi nodded.

"Watch them all?"

Hearing Han Xin's somewhat incredulous tone, Li Mi said, "Young Master has to go out to handle heavy state affairs every day, and he also has to personally review those examination papers. It is truly rare."

Han Xin nodded, chewing garlic in his mouth.

Li Mi added, "Your test results will be available in two or three days."

Upon hearing this, Han Xin remained calm, eating garlic and gazing into the distance, as if the outcome of the exam was irrelevant to him.

Li Mi continued, "I recently heard another story. During the court discussion in Xianyang, the topic of an eastern tour was brought up again, but Prime Minister Li Si persuaded the emperor not to make another eastern tour."

Han Xin listened to these things that had nothing to do with him, his gaze fixed on the children playing in the distance.

Five days after the White Dew solar term, just as dawn broke, a troop of cavalry arrived at Tongguan City. After the city gates opened, they entered the city.

Sima Xin rushed over to greet him.

The man who brought this cavalry was Cheng Miao. He had just dismounted and entered the city when he said with a smile, "It's been a long time."

Sima Xin bowed and said, "Imperial Censor Cheng."

Cheng Miao said, "The young master asked me to come and collect the documents on my way."

Sima Xin took out a scroll from his sleeve and handed it to him, then asked, "I heard that the court is talking about the Eastern Tour again."

Cheng Miao sighed, "Originally, we were supposed to make an eastern tour, but the Prime Minister suddenly said he was unwell. If we were to make the eastern tour, he might not be able to accompany the Emperor. The Prime Minister is also your teacher, so you have to take care of him. That's why we didn't continue the discussion."

Xiao He stood to one side, listening to their conversation in silence.

Cheng Miao added, "Zhang Cang has been too busy lately, and originally, Zhang Cang was the one who arranged things here."

Sima Xin nodded. He understood that Cheng Miao had always been helping Prince Fusu handle state affairs at the Prime Minister's residence. The fact that Cheng Miao had made a trip to Tongguan meant that the prince was indeed short of people.

Cheng Miao added, "The results of this grand examination will be distributed to the various counties. They have been sent to Weinan and Weibei, and I have personally delivered them to Tongguan."

After saying this, Cheng Miao had several cavalrymen carry a scroll of paper to the city wall, then unfolded the scroll and pasted it on the city wall.

Xiao He looked up and saw a series of names.

The names of all those who passed the major test were written on the paper. Because he was standing quite far away, Xiao He couldn't see the names clearly. Cao Jian, seeing this, hurriedly went forward to look.

Xiao He also had to accompany Sima Xin and Cheng Miao for breakfast.

Cheng Miao ordered a bowl of tofu pudding and a pancake.

While eating, Cheng Miao was still talking to Sima Xin about future construction. Tongguan would continue to be expanded, and this time the river embankment of Tongguan would be built.

Sima Xin said, "Now is the off-season for farming, so we can conscript some laborers to do corvée labor."

Cheng Miao said, "The waterways that need to be repaired are not only those in Tongguan, but also those in Huayin and Dali counties along the way."

Sima Xin frowned in thought.

"The Jingye Canal has been under construction for so many years. We can't just leave it unattended after it's been built. This year, we will not only repair the canal, but also clean up the riverbed."

"May I ask how much corvée labor is required?"

Cheng Miao said, "We need a thousand laborers, but the young master said he would pay them."

"Hmm." Sima Xin stroked his beard and said, "Then it's not corvée labor, and even if it's employment, it doesn't necessarily have to be people from Guanzhong."

Cheng Miao said, "The river in front of Tongguan is the deepest and longest; this matter should still be entrusted to you."

"Please tell the young master that he can rest assured about this matter."

Seeing that the notices on the city wall had been posted, Cheng Miao got up and handed Sima Xin a scroll, saying, "I need to return to Xianyang before noon. The arrangements for those who passed the imperial examination are all written in this scroll. Please make the arrangements, Prefect."

Sima Xin rose to see Cheng Miao off. Xiao He stood there, watching as Cao Can returned from checking the roster.

The sky was still overcast, and there weren't many people moving around in the city.

Seeing the smile on Cao Can's face, Xiao He asked, "How is it?"

Cao Can nodded emphatically, "We have all passed the major test."

As Sima Xin saw Cheng Miao off, Xiao He also looked towards the city wall. There were more than 1,300 people participating in the grand examination this time.

When Sima Xin was compiling the roster, Xiao He glanced at it hastily, but it was only a fleeting glance that revealed the exact number of people.

Of the more than 1,300 people, only 300 passed.

Xiao He knew that the people who came to participate in the examination were of varying quality, and some of them could only read and write articles.

Moreover, Xiao He was well aware of Cao Can's abilities. Cao Can was most knowledgeable about Qin's laws and taxes, as well as matters concerning fields and land, and the transmission of documents.

Because Xiao He knew Cao Can's abilities, he was able to roughly determine the selection criteria for this examination.

It seems that Prince Fusu and Prime Minister Li Si did not set the standards too high, but rather lowered them quite low, because Prince Fusu was short of manpower.
Xiao He immediately rejected the idea, looking at the huge notice posted on the wall and the names on it, even Li Zuoche was selected.

The sons of several famous scholars whom Xiao He knew were not on the list.

On the contrary, Cao Can, whose small seal script was somewhat crooked, was selected.

It seems that the young master has indeed abandoned the pursuit of fame and fortune.

Among them were some famous scholars from the Jixia Academy in those days, or famous officials from all over Qi and Lu. Back then, those who came to take the exam submitted their household registration records, and even their ancestors were investigated.

As expected, Prince Fusu kept his word; none of the descendants of great sages or famous scholars were selected.

The exam was fair, but Prince Fusu was biased, favoring the common people, and his motives and purposes were not concealed at all.

When Sima Xin returned, Xiao He stepped forward and said, "Prefect."

"I need to go back and write a document for each county. After that, someone will bring the exam papers here. If anyone has any objections, their exam paper will be posted on the city wall for everyone to judge."

"It turns out that the Prefect had already come up with a countermeasure."

"This is not my idea, but the Prime Minister's order."

Xiao He kept his head down, maintaining the bowing posture.

As Sima Xin walked, he added, "Someone will come to pick you up in a month. Where you are transferred to serve as officials after that is entirely up to Xianyang."

"Yes."

After saying this, Sima Xin headed towards the Prefectural Magistrate's residence.

The prefect's words contained neither congratulations nor any advice for the future; he simply said a few words.

Over the course of six months, Cao Shen came to understand the other man's temperament. He was indeed not the type to offer congratulations; it was already quite good that he didn't immediately assign tasks to you.

Xiao He then said, "I would like to help this prefect one last time before I leave."

Cao Shen never objected to Xiao He's decisions. The two then had breakfast and discussed the remaining matters.

When the sun was fully up, Han Xin woke up. It was time for breakfast, but he patted his rumbling stomach and planned to eat breakfast before going to his post at the library.

As soon as he pushed open the door, Han Xin was stunned. He saw some people crying loudly and others laughing loudly.

Just then, a person walked by with a delighted expression. Han Xin asked, "What's wrong with them?"

The man said, "Don't you know? There's a notice on the city wall that the results of the major test are out."

Han Xin then asked, "Really?"

"Huh?" The other person thought for a moment and said, "Your name is Han Xin, right? You've been selected too, so we'll be officials together from now on, haha!"

The person who was speaking quickly left.

Han Xin was still somewhat surprised. He had originally thought it would take half a year to get the result, but he didn't expect it to come so quickly.

He ran quickly toward the city gate, where a crowd had gathered. Han Xin squeezed his way through the crowd for a while before finally getting close. He looked up at the names, searching through the rows and rows of names.

Han Xin rubbed his eyes and, sure enough, found his name on the notice. He suddenly smiled and happily squeezed out of the crowd again.

Tongguan City is in a state of chaos today; some are happy, some are worried, and some are indignant.

On the first day, some people felt that the exam was unfair.

But the Prefectural Magistrate Sima Xin ignored them.

The next day, some people even went to the prefectural governor's office in Tongguan City to make a scene.

Sima Xin originally didn't want to argue with them. When Xianyang sent the copied papers, he read the contents and found that what those who were shouting the most were writing was indeed bad.

Seeing that the other party was still shouting, Sima Xin picked out a few of the worst papers from their papers and had them posted on the city wall, with their names and hometowns on the outside, along with a large handprint.

Subsequently, amidst sighs and murmurs, the clamoring man left Tongguan City in shame.

Han Xin has been in a good mood lately. Every day after his shift, he goes to listen to lectures and plays with a group of children.

When Sima Xin was preparing to build a river embankment, Xiao He felt obligated to assist the prefect.

Xiao He sent Cao Can with Sima Xin's minor official from the prefectural governor's office to Hangu Pass to find manpower, since manpower outside was cheaper.

(End of this chapter)