The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 219 Return to Yongcheng
In the dead of winter, Zhang Cang, who rarely went out, was hurriedly invited to the Prime Minister's house.

The Prime Minister's house is not as deserted as before, and the Prime Minister's grandson has grown quite a bit taller.

The prime minister sat by the pond, silent.

As the cold wind blew, the prime minister's white beard and the white hair at his temples swayed in the wind.

Zhang Cang walked up behind the Prime Minister, bowed, and said, "Prime Minister."

The pond was still frozen over, and there wasn't much to see in the cold winter. Li Si probably just wanted to sit there, feel the cold wind, and breathe in the fresh air.

After a moment of silence, Li Si pointed to a scroll beside him and said, "This was sent by the young master."

Zhang Cang reached out and took the scroll, then opened it and began to read.

Li Si said, "Your Highness has repeatedly mentioned taxes in this book, but the taxes in the world are still not enough."

Looking at the summary book, Zhang Cang indeed saw that the young master mentioned taxes several times, and that the land taxes sent by various counties and prefectures across the country were actually sufficient.

Rather than saying that taxes are not enough, it's more accurate to say that current taxes are insufficient to keep the country running, and that's what the young master cares about.

Zhang Cang looked at the thick volume of summaries and said, "Prime Minister, the young master has mentioned something more than once."

Li Si asked, "Change the land tax?"

"Exactly."

Zhang Cang continued, “If taxes are insufficient, the officials and soldiers of the country cannot be supported. The more officials and soldiers there are, the more taxes are needed. Taxes, like national laws, are the foundation.”

Li Si nodded slightly.

Although the prime minister had a full head of white hair, his eyes still held a spirit and brightness.

Li Si's eyes were thoughtful as he said, "To increase tax revenue, we need both population and land."

Zhang Cang replied, "Many fields in the Central Plains have been developed and there is still a surplus, and many counties still have barren fields that no one cultivates."

Li Si continued, "How many more years will it take to meet the taxes required by the young master?"

Zhang Cang thought for a moment and said, "I'm afraid it will take another ten years, and the next generation may have an even larger population."

The southern and northern expeditions are over, but the population in the Central Plains is still insufficient. The population decline is a fact, and it will take time.

After bidding farewell to Li Si and leaving the Prime Minister's residence, Zhang Cang quickly left the bustling streets and walked down the alleyway on his way home.

Every method of governing a country comes with its burdens: sending sons to teach, issuing examinations and promotion orders, and increasing the number of officials.

This would mean that the number of officials in the future would be several times that of now, requiring more taxes to support the government officials.

This burden may not seem obvious now, but the future prince will need more taxes and more officials to govern the country.

Yes, this country is really too big.

Zhang Cang recalled what Prince Fusu had said years ago: this country was larger than the combined size of the six kingdoms of that time.

In the past, the various states that tried to reform their systems failed to govern their own countries well, so it would be very difficult for the Qin Dynasty to govern this country well.

When the emperor abolished the enfeoffment system and re-established prefectures and counties, there was no longer a vassal king to manage the fiefdoms, so more officials were needed to govern them.

Moreover, this will certainly be a long and arduous road.

It's no wonder the Prime Minister is so worried.

Zhang Cang walked into his home and looked at the gloomy sky. He thought that a person who loves the people must think about the country and its people when he comes to power.

Even if the prince didn't care so much about the people, even if Prince Fusu could relax a little, it probably wouldn't be this difficult.

But Prince Fusu has been able to persevere until now, and the results of his governance in various places have repeatedly demonstrated that his governance strategies are correct.

The only downside is that the world is too big.

When Zhang Cang returned home, he was still holding the scroll he had brought from the Prime Minister's residence.

After paying respects to his ancestors at the Temple of the Supreme Harmony, Fusu led his family away from Xianyang to Yongcheng for another ancestral worship. The journey would take three to five days, during which they could enjoy the winter scenery of Guanzhong and Northwest China. Afterwards, they would perform the agricultural ritual.

This is something that is done almost every year. The emperor rarely comes here in person anymore. In recent years, it has been Prince Fusu who has come here to preside over the sacrificial rites.

Prince Fusu's carriage entered Yongcheng under the escort of Grand Commandant Wang Ben.

Yongcheng City remained desolate; its population was already small, and now it looked even more bleak.

The two children didn't notice the change; they were simply curious about Yongcheng.

Once the carriage entered the Qinian Palace in Yongcheng, Fusu first let his family rest, while he himself needed to preside over the sacrificial rites with the local Qin people.

Development in Guanzhong remains uneven; some areas have developed very well, while others have remained unchanged.

Yongcheng has hardly changed. Fusu still remembers what it was like the year he came of age, and it is still the same now.

It's even more depressed than before.

After her great-grandfather passed away, Qinian Palace had been uninhabited. The palace was not very big to begin with, and Wang Tang'er was cleaning the place where they would stay for the next half month with the children and the palace servants.

While I was cleaning, I could hear the laughter of two children. Even while cleaning, these two children were playing around.

Upon arriving in a new place, their energy almost doubled, and they were practically ready to explore and search for treasures everywhere.

Getting two children to clean quietly is really difficult for them.

Fortunately, the palace servants who came to Qinian Palace took care of the two children.

On his first day in Yongcheng, Fusu spent most of his time discussing the arrangements for the sacrificial ceremony with Uncle Hei. Uncle Hei was the clan head among the old Qin people, a clan head who had been passed down from the time of Duke Xiao of Qin to the present day. His ancestors were also called Uncle Hei.

Fusu learned most of the etiquette from his great-grandfather.

Now, Fusu discussed with Hei Bo all the preparations needed for the sacrificial ceremony.

This included preparing livestock for sacrifice, cleaning the altar, and preparing sacrificial vessels.

Uncle Hei agreed to everything and then led his men to make preparations.

At night, Fusu gave the two children, who had been playing all day, a good bath.

They're quite noisy during the day, but once they've eaten and washed up at night, they just fall asleep immediately.

"Young master, a military report has arrived from Longxi."

Tian An arrived with the military report, and he added, "Originally, this military report was to be sent to Xianyang, but the emperor has decreed that all military reports from Longxi can be handed over directly to you, young master."

Fusu took the military report, looked at its contents, and hesitated before asking, "Has the Grand Commandant read it?"

"The Grand Commandant said to give it to the young master first."

In fact, the Grand Commandant rarely read military reports; most of the military arrangements were simply made by the Prime Minister and the Emperor.

The military report was actually quite simple: Zhang Han was still cultivating land and stationing troops in the northwest.

In Zhang Han's eyes, this Maodun might not be that powerful; his mind was always on the Western Regions.

After reading the military report, Fusu said to Tian An, "Send it to Xianyang."

"Yes."

The following day, Fusu still had to arrange the sacrificial rites. Ritual and law are extremely important to a country, so as the heir of this country, he needed to personally participate in the rituals and law.

Yongcheng is a very ancient city. In the morning, Fusu and Heibo arranged matters related to the sacrificial ceremony, and then he walked around the city with his two sons and wife.

When the residents of Yongcheng saw Prince Fusu and his family, they all lined up on both sides of the road to pay their respects.

The couple each held their child's hand as they walked, and Fusu told them stories about the people of Qin.

Heng may have heard these stories of the old Qin people in Jingye County, but the ones the prince told were related to the Qin kings of past dynasties.

Those are all old stories from the Warring States period. In the context of the current world order, the stories of Zhang Yi, Fan Ju, or Bai Qi are just stories.

There will never be another Zhang Yi and Fan Ju in this world.

Under the watchful eyes of the people, Fusu led his children and wife out of the city and walked along the outskirts.

Horses and cattle were still kept outside Yongcheng, and Fusu was about to continue explaining the city's geographical location to his sons.

Their attention was no longer on this, so Fusu simply stopped talking and let them go off to play.

Seeing his wife's displeasure, Fusu said, "Don't put too much pressure on them. Just keep them safe and sound."

Wang Tang'er's expression calmed down, and she said, "These past two days they've just been playing around like crazy."

Fusu smiled and said, "They are at the age where they should be playing, so don't put too much pressure on them."

Wang Tang'er said in a low voice, "Let's put pressure on them when they're a few years older."

Fusu laughed and said, "I will send them to the army for a few years of training. To be honest, I have never been to the army before."

Tian An and Granny Wang stood to the side. In fact, the lady rarely dressed like this, dressed so elegantly and luxuriously.

She only dresses like this when she goes out to perform sacrifices. In fact, when she lives in Takasen-gyo, she always wears old clothes.

Despite being the granddaughter of General Wang Jian, Madam actually grew up in Pinyang County and lived a very simple life from a young age.

Everyone says that General Wang Jian was very wealthy, but in fact, his family was not particularly rich in the past.

From a young age, the lady lived a very simple life.

Despite the grandeur of Xianyang Palace, Gaoquan Palace also possessed an inexhaustible supply of gold and silver treasures.

Granny Wang approached and bowed, saying, "Young master, madam, Princess Yinman has arrived."

Upon hearing this, Wang Tang'er looked at the carriage that was heading this way and walked towards it. When the carriage arrived, she waited for it to come closer.

Yin Man got off the carriage and took Wang Tang'er's hand, and they had endless things to talk about.

Fusu stood by the river. The ice and snow had just begun to melt. The two children couldn't climb onto the horse's back, so they ran into the flock of sheep, rode on the sheep's backs, and held wooden sticks, striking a pose like generals.

Whose sheep is this?

Upon hearing the young master's question, Tian An stepped forward and replied, "It's from Uncle Hei's family."

Fusu then instructed, "Send some cloth and silk to Uncle Hei's family, and choose some of the more valuable pieces."

"Yes."

"For the remaining half month, let these two boys herd sheep." Fusu shook his head and sighed, saying, "Their new clothes and shoes got dirty in less than half an hour."

Tian An smiled helplessly and said, "I'll probably get scolded by my wife tonight."

As expected, at night, Wang Tang'er made the two children stand outside the Qinian Palace and forbade them from entering the palace until they had washed their shoes and clothes clean.

(End of this chapter)