The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 210 Southern Rumors
Ju often said that there were peers in Guanzhong who were more outstanding than him. He failed the exam last year because he didn't do well on the test.

Nevertheless, Ju still has something to do; he can participate in teaching in rural areas.

The others also have a chance; Prince Fusu said that there would be an opportunity every two years.

Hearing these words, Zhang Liang frowned and pondered. If everyone knew about this opportunity, then countless people would flock to Tongguan for it, and Tongguan's academic city would continue to prosper.

Looking at the fine rain falling all around, Ju said in a low voice, "I heard that Prince Fusu's child is studying in Tongguan, but unfortunately I have never met that young prince."

"Didn't you see that young master?"

“I may have seen him before.” Ju pondered and said, “I heard that the young master studied in Tongguan City like any other child, but I don’t know which one. There are just too many children in Tongguan, and the young master must be one of them.”

After saying that, Ju felt that Xiongmao smelled bad, so he took it out to wash in the rain.

The summer heat hasn't subsided yet, and it's also the rainy season in Sichuan, so people tend to smell bad.

Ju, who came from the Hexi Corridor, also liked cleanliness.

In fact, whether it was Ju or the other disciples of Prince Fusu, they were all like this. They were very particular about cleanliness in both their diet and lifestyle, and even the water they drank had to be boiled before they could drink it.

Zhang Liang had met many volunteer teachers and had dealings with many of them, such as Lang and Wang Yu... Their lifestyles were all the same.

After taking on his new identity, Zhang Liang dedicated himself to teaching for a year and often read books sent from Guanzhong.

The books in Guanzhong also contain discussions of the various schools of thought, but Prince Fusu separated them.

The knowledge of the various schools of thought still exists, but those who expound on that knowledge are no longer the inheritors of those schools.

Rather, it's these volunteer teachers.

Zhang Liang is writing the article for tomorrow's lecture.

When it got dark, Zhang Liang lit an oil lamp and continued writing.

The panda slept inside the house, its fur rising and falling with each breath, and you could faintly hear it snoring.

Zhang Liang didn't go to sleep until it was late at night.

The next day, the rain had not yet stopped, and the distant mountains of Sichuan and Chongqing were shrouded in mist.

Zhang Liang carried his book bag out of the house and took Ju with him to teach.

The children were already in the study early on. When Zhang Liang led Ju into the study, the group of children quieted down.

An elderly township head arrived with a group of people. The township head bowed respectfully and said, "Master Han?"

Zhang Liang stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Old Township Chief."

The village head, leaning on his cane, looked at the group of people behind him and said, "They are from Guilin County, here to study in Sichuan. They brought their children with them."

Zhang Liang looked at the group of children. They were dressed simply, but their eyes were bright.

The old village head added, "Master Han, they want to ask about tuition fees."

Zhang Liang said, "No need for tuition fees, keep the child."

The village head nodded with a smile.

Zhang Liang led the children into the study, where he was about to begin his lesson for the day, which was still the Analects.

The children read the Analects, and their voices echoed through the mountains of Sichuan and Chongqing.

Every time Zhang Liang taught, he did his best. After class today, Zhang Liang went to the river to catch fish. As a volunteer teacher, he did not own any land here, but the township head would send him rice every month.

That was enough for him. Zhang Liang caught a fish by the Min River, put it in a bamboo basket, and went home.

Living in Sichuan for a long time makes one much calmer.

With this false identity, Zhang Liang no longer had to live a life of hiding and running away.

Besides teaching, there's nothing else to do every day.

On his way home carrying the fish, Zhang Liang would also go to the county government of Jiangyuan County to ask for some documents that had recently been sent from Guanzhong. By looking at the contents of the documents, he could learn about the recent events that had occurred in Guanzhong.

Zhang Liang could always discern the deeper meaning of government orders from documents sent from the Prime Minister's office in Xianyang.

The magistrate stood in front of the county government building, handed the documents to Zhang Liang, and said, "Master Han, many members of the Wang family have been arrested because of the tax issue, and they have all been sent to Guanzhong. What should be done with the iron mines and salt wells that were left behind?"

Zhang Liang hesitated and asked, "Didn't the Prime Minister's office mention this?"

The magistrate said awkwardly, "I haven't written the document yet. I wonder if Master Han could help me?"

Zhang Liang entered the county government office, first took the county's tax ledgers, looked at the records, and after a while began to write down the methods for disposing of salt and iron.

These salt and iron resources were naturally to be handed over to Guanzhong and managed by the county government, while waiting for Guanzhong to send someone down.

During his year in Shu, Zhang Liang provided the county magistrate with considerable assistance, addressing everything from conflicts between villages to matters of accounts and taxes.

"Master Han is such a good man. It's fortunate that you've helped me this past year."

Zhang Liang helped him write a document and said, "Take a look and see if it's appropriate."

The magistrate glanced at it and said, "Suitable, very suitable."

Zhang Liang was about to leave again, carrying his bamboo basket, when the county magistrate stepped forward and said, "Master Han?"

"Any thing else?"

The magistrate took his hand and said, "Master Han, you have helped the county with so many things, and the people in the county all trust you. Would you like to stay and work in the county in the future?"

"I did not participate in the exam, nor am I qualified."

“You have one.” The magistrate took out another scroll from his desk and said, “This is the Prime Minister’s decree. Each county needs to select teachers to support local education. Teacher Han does not need to take the exam. Our county has one spot, so we can recommend Teacher Han for a minor official position. He can stay in the county as an official in the future.” Zhang Liang took a step back, bowed, and said, “I appreciate the magistrate’s kindness. I only want to stay here and teach. Teaching is all I know.”

"Ugh……"

The magistrate shook his head and sighed, "I shouldn't have said these things. I know that you teachers only want to teach and have never thought about becoming officials."

Zhang Liang left with the bamboo basket.

At home, Ju was reading a book while he lay on a wooden board with the panda, his head resting on the panda's thick back.

After Zhang Liang returned, he killed the fish and took out a piece of tofu from the water tank.

Because there was never a door in the house, anyone could enter his bamboo house. Sometimes when Zhang Liang returned home, he would find a pile of meat and vegetables on the table, or that the house had been cleaned.

Only the books on the bookshelf are always neatly arranged.

There were no valuables in the house, only books.

This tofu was probably sent by the village head; Zhang Liang cut the tofu to use in stewing fish.

Tofu must have come from young people who went to Guanzhong to find work, and they would bring back some things that were not available in Sichuan.

Zhang Liang had eaten tofu several times in Shu, but he had never eaten douhua (a type of tofu pudding) in Shu. The only time he ate douhua was in Tongguan.

More than a year has passed, but Zhang Liang still remembers the taste of that bowl of tofu pudding.

The people in Sichuan don't know how to make tofu yet; they can only see the old tofu that's been transported here.

"We should be content with having some tofu to eat," Zhang Liang said, while cooking fish soup. "Those children from Guilin County live there."

Ju replied, "I live by the river."

After saying this, Ju asked again, "This is the first time I've heard of a family from Guilin Prefecture. Were there many people from Guilin Prefecture who came to Sichuan in the past?"

"not much."

Zhang Liang replied with a brief sentence.

Ju nodded and said nothing more.

Actually, at this moment, Zhang Liang was still thinking about what the county magistrate had said: to become an official.
Originally, helping the county magistrate was already a very risky thing. Zhang Liang didn't think his fake identity was flawless, but taking over someone else's life was inherently a very risky thing.

Some lies, once told, become painful.

That's a lifetime.

Zhang Liang stared at the burning fire, realizing he had taken over someone else's life, a lifelong commitment once taken over.

I will have to live with this name for the rest of my life.

Of course, he could have simply left and continued his life of hiding from the Qin army, but Zhang Liang had grown accustomed to this tranquility and to the name he was given.

Whenever the people here call out "Master Han," Zhang Liang will instinctively turn around.

This is almost an instinctive reaction.

Another month passed, and autumn was approaching in Sichuan. The giant pandas at home brought back a litter of red pandas.

It was as if the giant panda was telling them that there was a wealthy family here, and that they could eat at his house without being driven away.

As a result, Zhang Liang now has five more pandas.

Ju Gang had just returned with a cartload of bamboo, and said wearily, "Master Han, why are there three more?"

Zhang Liang counted them and found that there were indeed three more bears. While he was correcting his children's recitation of the Analects, he didn't know when three more bears had appeared in his house.

However, Zhang Liang didn't care. His eyes were on the children's homework. He said, "Go and cut some more bamboo."

Ju unloaded the entire cartload of bamboo, let out a painful wail, and knew he had to go back into the mountains to cut bamboo again.

Ju liked Sichuan very much, but he disliked the bamboo there. There was just too much bamboo in the mountains of Sichuan; it was impossible to cut it all down, and it seemed like the more you cut, the more bamboo there was.

Two months later, Lü Matong returned. He walked into Zhang Liang's house, picked up a panda cub, and laughed, "How did you end up raising these animals?"

Zhang Liang said, "They don't eat grain, so just give them bamboo shoots and bamboo."

Lu Matong said, "General Tuju has been ordered by the Prime Minister's Office to relocate 50,000 households from Guilin County to Sichuan."

Zhang Liang nodded again, his gaze fixed on the Analects the children were reciting from memory. He frowned slightly, thinking to himself that the more he interacted with officials and the longer he associated with a captain like Lü Matong, the sooner his false identity would be exposed.

Lu Matong then asked, "Master Han, who is this?"

Ju grinned, his smile somewhat naive, and said, "I am Ju, a volunteer teacher from the Hexi Corridor."

Lu Matong nodded and said, "I have seen the transfer documents, and there is one for you."

Ju then asked, "Is the general currently in the south?"

Lu Matong sat down and said, "I went to Guilin County and spent the whole summer feeding on mosquitoes. It was truly a torment."

Zhang Liang sneered, "So you don't feed mosquitoes when you're in Shu?"

Lu Matong said, "You've never been to the South, so you don't know how poisonous the mosquitoes in Guilin are. They swarm and cover the sky in swarms."

Ju, out of curiosity, asked about Guilin County.

Seeing the child's adoring gaze, Lü Matong began to recount the beautiful scenery he had seen in Guilin County.

Zhang Liang put down the paper. He thought of how the emperor had launched the southern expedition at any cost back then. He hadn't expected that more than ten years had passed, and the pain and costs left by the southern expedition had slowly recovered in the past ten years.

(End of this chapter)