The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 242 Going North
A group of young people who had just arrived at the Great Wall helped Han Xin load the grain onto the carts. In between their busy work, the children would look up at the Great Wall and at the Qin soldiers standing on it.

Han Xin sat on the carriage shaft, looked at the children carrying grain and fodder, and said, "Do you still want to go and guard the Great Wall?"

Seeing the children nod blankly, Han Xin took out his water bag, took a sip of water, and said with a smile, "You will come with me to the grasslands."

The young men were stunned again. They had thought that after helping to transport the grain, they would be able to go to the Great Wall to guard it, but then they endured the torment day by day.

While everyone was still confused, they saw someone walking towards them.

The newcomer shouted, "Stand still!"

Another boy, carrying a bundle of grain, was so frightened that he immediately put it down and stood there with his head down.

Han Xin first glanced at Dong Yi who was walking over, then bowed and said, "General Dong, I will take care of these children."

Dong Yi was stationed in the north by Prime Minister Li Si, and many documents exchanged with Xianyang were only sent to Xianyang after Dong Yi's approval.

Although he didn't have a good impression of Dong Yi, Han Xin was polite to him as much as possible.

Dong Yi also knew that this Han Xin was the Grand Steward of Prince Fusu, and that he was helping General Meng Tian's army raise horses, so he could not be neglected.

Dong Yi looked at the children in front of him, then at Han Xin, and said, "Thank you for your trouble, Commandant Han."

Han Xin nodded and bowed once more.

After the menacing-looking General Dong left, the young men finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Han Xin said, "Now that you're under my command, don't follow others around randomly."

"Yes," the children responded in twos and threes.

Han Xin then said, "Follow me to the north. After we arrive at the camp, you will train on the grasslands for two months."

This was no joke; everyone could hear the seriousness in Han Xin's words.

After speaking, Han Xin ordered his men to move the remaining grain and fodder, and then led a Qin army of over a hundred men. Once they left the city gate, they crossed the Great Wall.

Looking back, the Great Wall, standing on the high slope, blocked the sunlight. But after walking for a while, we gradually left the shadow of the Great Wall and found ourselves in a vast grassland.

This was the first time these children had seen the Great Wall from the north, and the endless, unbroken Great Wall was truly amazing.

The Xiongnu people used to look at the Great Wall from afar in the same way. They once wanted to cross the Great Wall, but this time they were stopped here by General Meng Tian.

Now, the Qin army has captured a large area of ​​southern Gobi Desert, and the Qin army's main camp is located at the foot of Helan Mountain.

Han Xin said, "You'll see. Once you get to Helan Mountain, you'll have to train hard."

"General Han, where is Helan Mountain?"

Han Xin sat on the carriage shaft, still somewhat languid, and said, "To the north, the Helan Mountains weren't always called Helan Mountains. The Xiongnu called it Beiyi Mountain, the site of the wooden horse of Touman Chanyu's royal court. Long ago, the Xiongnu would bury their warhorses that died in battle at the foot of the Helan Mountains..."

At this point, Han Xin added, "The name Helan Mountain was given to it by Prince Fusu. Since it is territory conquered by the Qin army, it should be named by the Qin people, just like the Hexi Corridor. The Hexi Corridor west of Wushaoling was also named by Prince Fusu."

These children all know Prince Fusu. He is the wise and virtuous prince in the mouths of the teachers who went to teach in rural areas. This prince loves the people and loves all people under heaven.

Prince Fusu also hoped that people could love themselves, teach them to distinguish right from wrong, know honor and shame, and have good morals.

That is the person the children admire; they will surely respect and love Prince Fusu in the future.

There were simply too many rumors about Prince Fusu, some good and some bad.

But as long as people's lives get better and better, they will always respect and love that wise young man.

The old nobles of the six states were terrified of the emperor, who was the former King of Qin. This King of Qin had a very wise son.

If Prince Fusu were to become emperor in the future, people would think it would be only natural.

Apart from Prince Fusu, no one else could secure the throne.

“I have never met Yao and Shun. I think if there really were people like Yao and Shun in the world, it should be Prince Fusu.” “Prince Fusu let me study, and the teacher who taught in the rural area even cured my father’s illness.”

“The teacher in our county doesn’t know how to cure diseases, but he can teach us how to weave cloth.”

Another child said, "I come from Jiangyuan County in Sichuan. Our county's Master Han knows everything, and even the county magistrate relies on him a lot..."

……

Han Xin listened to the children discussing Prince Fusu, and he smiled without disturbing them.

In fact, it wasn't just these children who were like this; there were even more people in Guanzhong who supported Prince Fusu, and their support was even more fervent than that of these children.

Han Xin personally witnessed people placing bowls of grain at the place where Prince Fusu once lived, and the grain could be piled up into a small mountain in front of the house.

Whenever I hear those old farmers talk about Weinan back then, they always say that the new people of Weinan came to Guanzhong with nothing in the dead of winter, and Prince Fusu gave them everything he had promised them...

The grain transport team traveled for a while, and the closer they got to Helan Mountain, the faster the horses ran.

The group spent the night on the grassland.

The next day, before dawn, Han Xin woke up the sleeping boys and continued to escort the grain supplies.

Today was also the first time these children had eaten military rations—a large, rock-hard biscuit that everyone had to break open to share.

Han Xin had grown accustomed to this kind of dry rations, so he continued to let the young men curiously scramble for food on the grain cart.

At noon, the group finally arrived at the Helan Mountain camp.

The camps in Helan Mountain stretched out in a vast expanse, with the cowhide tents almost disappearing from view from the high slope.

Han Xin untied the reins of the horse, pulled the cart to the front of the camp, and explained his purpose to the garrison.

The other boys were left behind, but Han Xin had to leave alone.

"General Han, aren't we going with you?"

Han Xin mounted his horse, looked back at the children, and said, "Practice hard, and come back to me when you're good."

After saying this, Han Xin flicked his whip, and his warhorse neighed as it left the camp.

A group of young men were led into the camp by a soldier.

Han Xin did not disturb their enjoyment because the journey to the camp was their last period of happiness.

Han Xin's residence is still on the same pasture as before, where warhorses stand in herds, and the northernmost tent is his current home.

Han Xin rode up to the tent and saw his wife comforting their child. He put down his bundle, took the child from his wife, and asked, "Why are you crying again?"

"He stopped crying as soon as you hugged him."

Upon hearing his wife's words, Han Xin looked at the child again, and sure enough, the child stopped crying.

The family raised horses here. If the Xiongnu hadn't come, Han Xin could have lived here for the rest of his life, raising warhorses for his entire life, really.

After his wife gave birth, she didn't look well. The midwife said that this was because her body was weakened and she needed to drink some tonics. So Han Xin went to buy these medicines himself.

After placing the child inside the tent, Han Xin used cow dung to light a stove and started cooking herbal medicine.

Seeing his wife measuring the child, probably to make new clothes, Han Xin looked at the fire in the stove and said, "Recently, there have been frequent troop movements, and the Helan Mountain camp has sent many cavalrymen to the north."

"Are the Huns coming?"

Han Xin frowned and said, "When the document from the Prime Minister's office arrived last month, General Meng Tian sent out several teams of scouts to investigate the movements of the Xiongnu. It is most likely that it is not the Xiongnu who are coming, but the Qin army that is about to move north."

(End of this chapter)