The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 217 New Year's Day (Bonus Chapter)
The old man was always smiling. Some people said that he had killed many people while fighting in wars, but in Heng's memory, the old man was always kind and amiable.

After the class at the academy ended, and seeing that Brother Zhang Jing was nowhere to be seen, Heng went to the prefectural governor's residence alone.

The former residence of the Prefectural Magistrate has been renovated and is now the residence of the Prefectural Governor.

The facade looks like it was just changed today.

Upon entering the mansion, one sees Sima Xin flipping through files.

Seeing that it was the young master who came alone, Sima Xin, who was used to the young master coming and going, said, "I still have many important matters to attend to. Please make yourself at home, young master."

Heng sat down to the side. This was originally the seat for the clerks of the prefectural governor's office, but since no one was sitting there, he naturally sat down and started flipping through the books.

Sima Xin glanced at the young master from time to time while reviewing the case file, and asked, "Young master, can you understand this?"

Heng said, "There are some parts I don't understand. I usually hear more stories than documents. When I do look at them, it's usually Brother Zhang Jing who teaches me."

Sima Xin nodded without saying a word.

Heng then recalled the old master's evaluation of Sima Xin, who believed that a person's wisdom lay in their ability to solve problems.

Sima Xin is good at keeping to his post, but not good at solving problems.

As the old master said, the reason why someone like Zhang Cang could become his father's right-hand man is because Zhang Cang is good at solving problems, while his father is good at identifying problems.

Furthermore, Zhang Han is also capable of solving the problem, but Zhang Han is one of the generals my father trusts most and needs to lead troops in the field.

Furthermore, Prime Minister Li Si was also a skilled problem solver.

Therefore, Sima Xin's achievements were limited.

The old master actually admired Sima Xin. He felt that while ordinary people like Sima Xin represented the majority, talents like Zhang Cang were extremely rare.

However, among ordinary people, there are actually not many people with qualities like Sima Xin.

Now, Heng also thinks that Xiao He must have been a good problem solver.

Voices came from outside the mansion, and then a person entered the mansion. He first reported to Sima Xin, and then Heng noticed that the figure was walking towards him.

Heng looked up and saw someone who looked somewhat familiar.

As Heng was trying to remember who this familiar face was, he realized that the other person was also looking at him.

"Young master."

The person in front of him bowed first, and Heng then remembered and said, "You are Li Zuoche."

Li Zuoche bowed and said, "Young master, this is my seat."

Upon hearing this, Heng moved to the side.

Li Zuoche sat down in his seat and looked at the documents that had been rummaged through for a long time. He could only reorganize them.

Sima Xin had already left. Seeing that there was no one else around, Heng asked, "Is your grandfather more powerful, or my great-grandfather?"

Upon hearing this, Li Zuoche suddenly stopped holding his pen.

“Your grandfather was Li Mu, and my great-grandfather was Wang Jian,” Heng continued.

Li Zuochedao: "My grandfather passed away many years ago, and I have never heard anyone in my family mention this matter."

Heng said, "It's a pity, they're all gone."

Li Zuoche then continued writing the document.

"I've never seen you work here before?"

Li Zuoche had a short beard and looked to be in his early thirties. He said, "I have received a promotion order and will serve as the Commandant of the Prefect, in charge of the defense of Tongguan City."

After saying that, he continued to look at the documents in front of him.

The young master seemed to find it uninteresting and left the prefectural governor's mansion.

Li Zuoche sat alone in the prefectural governor's mansion. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the young master had really left.

That is the emperor's grandson, and also the son of the current prince, Fusu.

Recalling the young master's words, Li Zuoche felt a sense of resentment, but this resentment was not directed at Qin; he knew all too well how his grandfather had died.

Despite coming from a military family, Li Zuoche had no complaints about Qin and Wang Jian.

Back then, my grandfather fought against the Qin army. The two sides were adversaries, and everything depended on skill.

But my grandfather did not die at the hands of the Qin army.

Li Zuoche harbored even greater hatred for certain people from the Zhao state back then.

It wasn't until nearly dusk that Li Zuoche finished his shift. He talked with several captains, arranged the patrol duties for the night, and then prepared to leave.

The troops stationed at Tongguan were actually not many, only about six hundred in total.

Li Zuoche could manage to set up a team of 600 people, with rotations and rest periods.

Although Tongguan City had few troops, this was to reduce the burden on Tongguan. In reality, Hangu Pass, which was not far from Tongguan, was still heavily guarded by Qin troops.

However, the emperor had not reinforced the passes in the Central Plains for several years, and in fact, there were not many troops stationed at the passes in the Central Plains.

The emperor deployed the vast majority of his troops to the north, and it was rumored that Meng Tian commanded an army of 300,000.

Li Zuoche thought of a person named Han Xin.

Han Xin once said that as long as Hangu Pass is abandoned and only Tong Pass is defended, a thousand men can hold off an army of tens of thousands.

Li Zuoche had only recently taken office as the Commandant of the Commandery when Han Xin said that he had traveled through Hangu Pass again and that Tong Pass was the first pass to enter the pass.

Now Li Zuoche also wants to see if what he said is true.

"Li, the Commandant of the County."

Hearing the captain calling him again, Li Zuoche turned around and asked, "What is it?"

The captain said, "Lieutenant Li is probably unaware that today a scholar named Heng accompanied the prefect on his inspection of the city's defenses. That scholar named Heng was pointing out and criticizing the defenses that the prefect had reorganized."

“Yes, that kid was incredibly rude.” Li Zuoche took a deep breath and said, “If there’s nothing else, go and rest.”

"Yes." The captains saluted and took their leave.

Li Zuoche gazed at the high city walls of Tongguan and thought of the young master. He was clearly just a child not even ten years old; what did he know about defense? And yet he was looking through my documents…

After thinking it over and over, Li Zuoche stopped caring. After all, he was the son of Prince Fusu and the grandson of the emperor.

At this moment, in Sima Xin's home, the young master is having a meal.

A large copper pot was placed on the table, and Heng was scooping meat out of it.

Sima Xin personally cut the meat on the side and placed the cut meat on a plate in front of the young master's pot.

"Prefect, please don't tell the old scholar about my hot pot meal here."

Sima Xin, who was cutting meat, stopped what he was doing. He wondered what was wrong with this.

Sima Xin was happy to have the young master come to his house for meals every day.

Before long, a figure appeared at the doorway at just the right moment.

Heng picked up a piece of mutton with his chopsticks, blew on it to cool it down, and then put it in his mouth with great enjoyment. While eating the piping hot meat, he waved to the door.

Zhang Jing entered the courtyard, bowed, and said, "Prefect."

"Please sit down and have a meal with me, young master."

"Thank you, Prefect," Zhang Jing said with a smile. "I haven't eaten meat in a long time."

Sima Xin looked at the large piece of mutton left and said, "It's alright, there's plenty of meat here."

Heng said, "I think Li Zuoche of Tongguan is quite good."

Zhang Jing said, "I have seen the defense arrangements he made. The handover of personnel is orderly and the patrols are very thorough. It is quite good."

The young master and Zhang Jing were the most outstanding children in the entire Weinan. Sima Xin also hoped that his mediocre son could also benefit from their wisdom, so he continued cutting the meat.

It was snowing heavily in the morning.

By dusk, the snow had stopped, but the cold wind still blew.

The young master and Zhang Jing were eating.

As a native of Weinan, Sima Xin was suddenly moved. He recalled the scene when Prince Fusu, Zhang Han, Zhang Cang, and he himself had a meal together.

If the young master grows a few years older, he will look exactly like Prince Fusu when he was young.

There's also Zhang Jing, who is a young version of Zhang Han.

Sima Xin felt a lump in his throat as he recalled the days when he guarded the Jingye Canal construction site through wind and rain.

Now, Prince Fusu is in charge of state affairs at the Prime Minister's residence.

Zhang Han also became a general who led troops and guarded the northwest.

Sima Xin became the prefect, and he did not disappoint the people of Liyang.

Whenever he thought of these things, how could Sima Xin not feel moved?

Zhang Jing ate meat while constantly putting garlic in his mouth, and talked to the young master about what he had learned that day.

In fact, the young master is too young to understand documents or city defenses.

But when the young master looked at Tongguan City, his eyes always had a strange look in them, as if he were examining his own family's property.

Half an hour later, the young master was full, but Zhang Jing was still eating, and the mutton soup in the pot had been added several times.

After nightfall, the two, having finished their meal, left.

Looking at the messy dining table, Sima Xin suddenly remembered what the young master had said: never tell the old master that he was here to eat hot pot.

Zhang Jing also said that he hadn't eaten meat in a long time.

Sima Xin smiled wryly, then belatedly realized that the young master's insistence on not telling the old master was because Zhang Jing would also be coming to eat.

Zhang Jing said he hadn't eaten meat for a long time because he had a large appetite and needed to eat a lot of meat.

He not only ate all the meat, but also five flatbreads and a bowl of noodles.

Fortunately, Sima Xin was usually frugal and had a lot of food stored at home. Just as the young master said, we must not tell the old master, otherwise ordinary people would really be eaten into poverty by them.

Uncle Sun Tong had good intentions.

Will eating more make you more alert?

Hearing his youngest son's innocent words, Sima Xin said, "No."

On the winter solstice, young master Heng returned to Xianyang Palace. While feeding the deer kept there, he talked about how he had eaten and drunk his fill at Sima Xin's house.

Tian An listened quietly with a smile on his face.

Tian An was overjoyed that the young master was back.

After reading the letter in his hand, Fusu learned that his younger brother, Gao, was too busy compiling historical records to come to Xianyang again this year.

After putting down the letter and taking a sip of hot tea, Fusu was informed by a palace servant, "Young Master, it's time to go to the Temple of the Supreme Lord."

Upon hearing this, Wang Tang'er immediately draped a black outer robe over her husband's shoulders. She helped him straighten his clothes and said, "This is a new one made this year, and it fits perfectly."

Fusu took his wife's hand and said to his two sons, "Let's go pay respects to our ancestors."

Even today, Qin still maintains the customs of Zhou rituals, and Qin inherited the calendar from the Zhou emperor's time, which continues to this day.

Although he wrote down the twenty-four solar terms, Fusu did not want to change this custom.

According to the Zhou Dynasty's rites, people regarded the winter solstice as the beginning of the year.

On this day, people need to offer sacrifices to heaven and worship the gods. All officials, soldiers, and people can refrain from working and pray for blessings in the new year.

(End of this chapter)