The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 227 White Dew Harvest
During the White Dew season, temperatures in Sichuan plummet.

It seems like summer turned into autumn overnight.

After hearing Ju's words, Zhang Liang didn't say much and went to the study to teach the children.

As for what Ju said, there was really nothing to say.

Some things take time to prove, and who knows what the future holds?

Zhang Liang felt that if he didn't consider restoring his kingdom, teaching was the best way for him to spend the rest of his life.

Watching children grow from infancy to adolescence.

Three years ago, they were all illiterate children.

Now Zhang Liang teaches older teenagers, while Ju teaches younger children.

After today's class, Zhang Liang looked at the group of children and said, "You don't need to come to the school tomorrow. Go and harvest your rice, then come to class."

"Yes."

A group of children responded.

Seeing that the children were already looking out the door, most of them probably wanted to rush out.

Zhang Liang added, "Remember to wear more clothes in the mornings and evenings, as it's getting colder lately."

After saying that, he raised his chin and gestured towards the door.

A group of children rushed out of the school.

A moment later, only three or five children remained in the study.

Zhang Liang coughed twice and said, "Pack up and go home early."

After saying this, he left the study.

There were children who stayed behind to clean outside the bookstore, but even while they were cleaning, they seemed to be playing around.

But none of that matters; just let them get into the habit of cleaning their reading rooms.

After Ju Cheng got married, he started a new family, while Zhang Liang continued to live alone.

Zhang Liang sat by the Minjiang River, watching the edicts issued by the magistrate of Jiangyuan County.

The White Dew season is also the harvest season in Shu. The learned prince Fusu chose White Dew as one of the twenty solar terms, which must have been taken from the Qin law.

It is also said in Lüshi Chunqiu, compiled by Qin's three thousand retainers, that when the white dew falls, the farmers will harvest grain.

The twenty-four solar terms established by the young master, drawing on the knowledge of various schools of thought, did not come out of thin air; traces of them can be found in various classic texts.

In accordance with the local government's decrees.

Rice must be harvested as soon as possible during this season, otherwise it will get sick if it rains.

Diseased rice yields poor harvests.

According to the Qin Dynasty's agricultural laws, the crops must be harvested within three days of the White Dew solar term; those who violate this rule will be fined.

During this period, marriage is prohibited, all corvée labor is suspended for ten days, and logging in the mountains is prohibited.

This is to inform people to harvest their grain as early as possible in these three days and not to do anything else that might delay the rice harvest.

The decree for harvesting rice during the White Dew season came from Laoguanshan in Chengdu.

In fact, there was no need for documents from Chengdu Prefecture; the various counties had already begun their work.

The next day, Chenshi.

People went out early to work in the fields.

Zhang Liang got up early and saw people busy in the fields.

At this time, Qin soldiers were guarding the fields with crossbows in hand.

An elderly village headman walked up to Zhang Liang and whispered, "When Prefect Li was still alive, he would send Qin troops to guard the fields. At that time, Shu was still in chaos, and the fields are still surrounded like this now."

When the old village chief was a child, Prefect Li Bing was still alive.

The old village chief is a native of Sichuan who experienced the most difficult period in Sichuan.

Having lived to this day, life has improved considerably for this village head.

Zhang Liang asked, "The rice is growing very well this year."

Yes, yes.

The village head nodded with a smile.

At noon, the village tax collector would come to the fields to check the grain tax.

A small seal script character is engraved on the measuring instrument for weighing rice.

This small seal script character is "衡".

The character 衡 (héng) means to weigh or balance.

Generally speaking, a weight is a scale weight.

A balance is a measuring instrument.

It also aimed to ensure that the emperor standardized weights and measures, and that his actions were fair and just.

Zhang Liang did not deny that the King of Qin, who is now the emperor, was a very ambitious emperor who abolished the old laws of the six states and standardized weights and measures.

This was something many people wouldn't have dared to even imagine, yet the emperor actually did it.

While the village tax collector was checking the grain tax, the family was still sitting in the field eating their meal.

Zhang Liang accompanied the village head on a walk around the fields of Jiangyuan County, where they also saw Ju working there.

Ju did not own any land in Shu, but after he got married, he could help his wife's family harvest rice.

By the time of You Shi (5-7 PM), fog had returned to Guanzhong, and after two days, the rice harvest in Jiangyuan County was complete.

All that was left in the fields were rice stubble, and some children were searching for the scattered rice ears in small groups.

This is the busiest time of year in Sichuan, when the city is reclaimed for the first time.

What Zhang Liang saw was only Jiangyuan County, but the scenery was mostly the same in most counties and prefectures of Shu. After nightfall, the weather turned cool, and Zhang Liang returned home to find an extra scroll of books.

These are all books that Ju brought from Guanzhong.

Zhang Liang hadn't read any new books from Guanzhong for some time; in the past, the county magistrate had always asked someone to bring them from Guanzhong.

I initially thought that the new books had been disseminated because Guanzhong was holding examinations to select officials this year.

Fortunately, new books are still being released this year.

I heard that Weinan in Guanzhong harvests a large amount of bamboo and various types of timber every spring.

In summer, workshops in Weinan begin making paper, and printing begins in the second half of the summer season.

It wasn't until autumn that a large number of the completed books were dried and sent to various places.

This is the production pattern in Weinan, Guanzhong.

Although Zhang Liang was in Shu, he was still able to deduce patterns from the correspondence.

Of course, Zhang Liang didn't know how paper was made; he could only guess at the production rules and processes.

Thirty volumes of new books were sent to Sichuan each year; the quantity was small, but the books were extremely precious.

Zhang Liang opened one of the scrolls and looked at the ink marks and the extremely neat characters, which were still in the square and upright clerical script.

It seems that the young master greatly appreciates this kind of square and upright writing.

As night fell, the bear returned.

Zhang Liang didn't know where the bear had gone today. It disappeared into the mountains and would return on its own after nightfall, then lie down to rest, exhausted.

The next day, the people of Shu would spread the still-damp rice out on the ground to dry.

The whole county is filled with the fragrance of rice, and today is also the time for sacrificial rites in Sichuan.

Jiangyuan County is still very busy. No children came to class today, and it wasn't a day for class anyway.

The Qin laws were extremely harsh on agriculture. Everything had to give way to agricultural production, including major life events such as marriage, which could not be delayed. Even teaching in rural areas had to give way to agricultural production.

The Shu region followed Qin laws, but still retained the shamans who performed sacrificial rites. They collected dogwood, made sachets, and placed them in each household.

The sacrifice of sheep to the well irrigated the fields and enabled people to harvest grain. Even now, the people of Shu still worship Prefect Li.

Then he reported to Tian Zu, informing him of the bumper harvest.

Sacrifices were all led by the prefectures and counties, so people were not allowed to perform them too early or too late.

Zhang Liang also received more than ten dogwood sachets, all given to him by the children here.

The children left happily after giving the brocade pouches. For them, giving the teacher the brocade pouches was a very meaningful thing and a way to repay their teacher's kindness.

The children said that these dogwood sachets could ward off miasma and protect against cold.

Zhang Liang accepted the children's kindness.

Another peaceful day passed. Early that morning, the Min River beside Jiangyuan County was still flowing quietly, with a little mist on its surface.

Looking up, the entire distant mountain range was shrouded in mist.

Zhang Liang, carrying several scrolls of books, pushed open the bamboo door and saw a child holding two duck eggs in his hands.

He handed over the duck eggs with both hands, saying, "For the teacher."

Zhang Liang did not refuse and placed the duck eggs in the basket on the wall.

The child glanced at the giant panda that came out of the house with him and asked curiously, "Master, aren't we going to cut bamboo today?"

Zhang Liang wouldn't cut bamboo to feed the pandas; that's a matter for Ju, and he never does it.

Moreover, given how they're raising pandas, they'll eventually spoil this bear.

Now that it has finally regained its ability to find its own food, I don't want to cut bamboo to feed it anymore.

With the busy farming season over, Zhang Liang would soon be back to teaching.

On his way to the academy, Zhang Liang saw another group of people from Guilin County; they were another new group of people who had migrated to Shu.

However, Lü Matong did not return; he was most likely still in Guilin County overseeing the relocation of people.

Another migration is about to take place in Sichuan, this time it's the population of Guilin Prefecture moving to Sichuan.

Since Qin unified the six kingdoms, population migrations have occurred almost every year.

Zhang Liang walked into the study, where children were eating rice cakes. After the sacrificial ceremony, a lot of food was distributed to each family, and the children had eaten a lot these past two days.

In order not to delay the farming season and the drying of grain, Zhang Liang only taught for half a day.

Then he sat in front of the study, basking in the sun and looking at the rice fields.

Just as he was sitting there, the county magistrate came hurrying over with two clerks. Magistrate Chen had a smile on his face and was carrying two scrolls of documents. "Master Han."

Zhang Liang nodded with a smile.

The county magistrate sat down beside him and said, "I will be going to Chengdu Prefecture in a few days."

Zhang Liang never took the initiative to get involved in politics unless absolutely necessary.

Magistrate Chen continued, “Back then, Jiangyuan County started with slash-and-burn agriculture and water-based farming. The land here was originally good, but the surrounding villages did not have the irrigation system. People from different places fought each other for the land. Now, everything is fertile and can be cultivated.”

"After Prefect Li controlled the waters in Shu, he also taught a group of people how to build irrigation canals. The current Prefect of Chengdu, Yin, is a disciple of Prefect Li Bing back then."

Zhang Liang laughed and said, "I never expected there to be such a connection."

"Back then, Qin needed someone fluent in the Shu language to serve as a county magistrate. I pacified the southwestern barbarians and made meritorious contributions, which earned me the title of county magistrate. New county officials are replaced every three years, so I'm leaving."

Zhang Liang suddenly turned to look at him.

Magistrate Chen said, "Master Han, you are a good man. If you had agreed to let me recommend you, you would be the new magistrate here, or at the very least, a county assistant."

Zhang Liang withdrew his gaze. The officials of a new place were changed every three years. The magistrate of a new place usually rotated every three years.

This was his third year in Shu, and Magistrate Chen had also been here for three years, with only a six-month difference between them.

Magistrate Chen said, “Master Han, your talent is remarkable. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to find out the past taxes of Jiangyuan County. After I came to Jiangyuan County, I realized how bad things are here. The county’s money and goods are almost empty, so empty that rats can run around. The fields are indistinguishable, and the villages are constantly arguing. The county officials’ salaries have been delayed for half a year, and there are frequent private fights between the villages over land…”

(End of this chapter)