The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 253 The Emperor's Outing
Inside the Grand Commandant's residence, Cheng Miao said, "At this time of year, the first sip of bitter wine is the best."

Wang Ben smiled and said, "These wines were sent over last winter solstice after you went to Yongcheng. You don't usually drink, so they were delivered to my residence."

In his words, Grand Commandant Wang seemed to be saying how good Prince Fusu's family had been to him.

That makes sense, as Prince Fusu's father-in-law, it's certainly something that Grand Commandant Wang would be proud of.

If he doesn't show off, it would make the father-in-law seem bad.

In other words, whatever Prince Fusu gave him, Grand Commandant Wang should flaunt it.

This shows that Prince Fusu and the Wang family were on good terms.

Actually, things should have been quite harmonious to begin with.

After the winter solstice, Prince Fusu and his family went to Yongcheng, just like in previous years.

Today, Zhang Han led a troop of soldiers to the imperial palace in the northern suburbs.

Li Si was already waiting in front of the palace, standing in the cold wind, his beard and hair moving with the wind.

Zhang Han arrived with his troops and bowed, saying, "Prime Minister."

Li Si looked back at the detached palace and said, "I'll trouble you to escort the emperor on his journey."

Zhang Han said, "It is my duty as a subordinate general, and I dare not say that I have done any favors."

Li Si smiled and said in a low voice, "You've done a great job in the Northwest these past few years."

Zhang Han continued to bow with his head down.

Compared to Meng Tian, ​​Li Si preferred General Zhang Han, especially since Zhang Han was promoted by the prince himself.

Zhang Han was in charge of the escorting team here. The emperor's trip was just to visit various places in Guanzhong. In the past, Wang Ben had always been the one to escort him.

Now Zhang Han is the Inner Governor and Commandant of Guanzhong, in charge of the Guanzhong troops and the important position of escorting the emperor on his travels. Naturally, this position has fallen to Zhang Han.

Li Si glanced at the sky. The weather was clear today, and the emperor had not yet come out of the detached palace. For now, he could only continue to wait.

Feeling a bit tired from standing, Li Si sat on the stone steps in front of the palace, gazing at the scenery before him.

Li Si watched Zhang Han bustling about, and felt that this man was different from Wang Ben.

Wang Ben mostly instructed his subordinates to do things, while Zhang Han did everything personally and was much more meticulous.

After the eunuchs in the main hall of Lin Guang Palace came out, Li Si stood up at the right time and stood by the stone steps.

Before long, the emperor walked out of Linguang Palace.

Ying Zheng walked to Li Si's side, stopped and looked at Zhang Han, who was waiting beside the carriage, and then glanced at the Qin cavalry standing on both sides.

"Come for a walk with me to relax."

Li Si nodded in greeting.

Once the emperor boarded the carriage, Zhang Han spurred his horse and gave orders to the entire army. One team patrolled ahead, informing the villages and counties along the way.

A detachment provided support from a distance behind, while a large contingent of cavalry escorted the emperor's carriage on both sides in the middle.

The procession moved slowly. Li Si sat on the carriage shaft, talking to the emperor inside, while keeping an eye on Zhang Han's expression out of the corner of his eye.

Li Si was reporting recent state affairs to the emperor, which Zhang Han could clearly hear, but Zhang Han kept his eyes fixed ahead, expressionless.

This made Li Si feel that Zhang Han was an even better person.

This Zhang Han is indeed no ordinary man. Back then, Shangyan Mountain was just a dilapidated village, and it was he who helped Prince Fusu rebuild it.

Li Si had also heard rumors in the army that Zhang Han was a strict commander who would punish his soldiers at the drop of a hat.

A general who only knows how to punish people cannot win people's hearts. Zhang Han's clear distinction between rewards and punishments is what enabled him to build a powerful Western Army.

Only a ruthless general can train a strong soldier.

Li Si believed that it was precisely because of Zhang Han's spirit that the barren and desolate Hexi Corridor was able to be transformed into two counties and three cities.

Over the years, the Hexi Corridor transformed from a pastureland for the Western Rong people into a frontier that the Xiongnu dared not set foot on.

Regardless of the circumstances, Zhang Han's contribution was significant.

The emperor showed restraint in bestowing rewards upon Zhang Han, and Li Si believed that the future Prince Fusu would certainly continue to rely on Zhang Han, and that Zhang Han's future status would likely be comparable to that of Meng Tian.

Sometimes, Li Si would also be wary of Meng Tian, ​​as the hundreds of thousands of border troops in the north were a cause for concern.

But now that Zhang Han is here, Li Si feels much more at ease. At least the prince has a great general who can keep Meng Tian in check.

It wasn't that Li Si thought Meng Tian would be disloyal, but rather that Li Si didn't have much faith in people's hearts.

The carriage moved slowly and arrived at the Baiqu Canal in the north of the Wei River.

"Where are we?" Upon hearing the emperor's question, Li Si replied, "We've arrived at Jingyang County."

"Jingyang..." The emperor's voice came from inside the carriage again.

Li Si hurriedly bowed and entered the carriage, helping the emperor to pull back the curtain.

Looking around, one could see laborers repairing the canals in the cold winter; there were only a dozen or so of them.

Ying Zheng looked into the distance and said, "In this cold weather, are we still making laborers come out to repair the canal?"

Li Si replied, "Your Highness once said that canals cannot be neglected once they are repaired. Take the Jingye Canal, for example. Although it has been repaired, its maintenance and upkeep are the long-term solutions. Canals are the lifeblood of irrigation fields. The entire Qin Plain relies on these canals for irrigation. We cannot be negligent in maintaining the canals. I believe the magistrate of this county has done a very good job."

Ying Zheng nodded upon hearing this, and then asked, "Who is the magistrate of this place?"

Li Si replied, "Xiao He."

"Xiao He?"

Li Si continued, "Xiao He is a native of Chu. He was originally a county official in Zhongyangli. Later, he passed the examination and became a county official in Guanzhong. He rose from county assistant to county magistrate."

Ying Zheng withdrew his gaze and slowly said, "Fusu once said that the country is governed by the prefecture and county system. The country is made up of individual counties. Only by governing the counties well can the country be governed well."

Li Si nodded.

Ying Zheng added, "Fusu is a child who thinks a lot about the common people, which is why he expressed such insights."

Li Si said, “Since I completed my studies at the Jixia Academy, I have often listened to the words of various schools of thought and discussed the methods of governing the country. Since I began to teach you, my lord, I have often felt ashamed. You are a studious person and often read the words of various schools of thought. You like Mencius’s saying that the people are the most important, and you also like Xunzi’s saying that the ruler is the boat and the people are the water. You also advocate the Mohist saying that universal love is the best policy.”

“But these are not things that I taught you, my lord. I am often ashamed and I often reflect on myself, but I have never taught you anything.”

Ying Zheng said in a low voice, "You don't need to blame yourself. Fusu has been precocious since he was a child. He can learn anything very quickly."

Li Si asked, "Should we summon the magistrate of this place?"

As the carriage slowly passed by, Ying Zheng's gaze fell upon the commoners kneeling at the village entrance. The person at the head, dressed in official robes, must be the local magistrate.

Even before the imperial carriage arrived in Jingyang, a messenger on horseback delivered a message to the local magistrate.

Ying Zheng withdrew his gaze and said, "Let's go."

Li Si nodded and gave Zhang Han a look.

Zhang Han understood, and the troops continued their advance.

The scenery in the distance was still covered with snow. The emperor looked into the distance, and Li Si also looked into the distance. The two men, both over fifty years old, could not take in all the changes in the Wei River Basin at a glance.

I remember that back then, the area north of the Wei River was just a barren wasteland. This place should have been a river beach, but now it has been paved with stones and a boardwalk has been built.

“I remember when I came here last year, this wooden bridge wasn’t here.”

Li Si glanced at it and said, "This bridge was just built this year. The magistrate of Jingyang County reported to the Prime Minister's Office that laborers needed to be conscripted to build it, saying it was for the convenience of transportation. However, it has increased the travel between the northern plateau and Jingyang. This Magistrate Xiao is very clever. Two neighboring counties are quite dissatisfied, but I approved Xiao He's document first. Sanyuan and Gaoling counties can only watch as Jingyang takes advantage of this bridge to occupy the main road, and merchants will all travel through Jingyang."

"Because of this bridge, Jingyang looks better every day. Your Highness named this bridge Yunyang Bridge and established Yunyang Village. The construction of the bridge was Xiao He's idea, which Your Highness approved. I reviewed the documents, but naming this bridge and establishing Yunyang Village were Your Highness's ideas."

Hearing Li Si's words, Ying Zheng's eyes showed more approval.

After today, the emperor will surely remember the name Xiao He.

The procession slowly passed through Jingyang County, and the Baiqu Canal came into view. The Baiqu Canal was almost parallel to the Zheng Guo Canal and was located to the south of the Zheng Guo Canal. It expanded the irrigation area, while the fields in the distance stretched out in a vast expanse.

It's winter now, and at first glance it's a barren wasteland, but in spring and summer it would be full of crops.

This clearly demonstrates the people of Guanzhong's strong desire for food, as food is extremely important to Guanzhong and even more important to the country.

Only with enough food can the country's officials and army be fed, and only with enough food can a larger population be supported.

Li Si said, "The Qi royal family did not value grain production in the past because they had a uniquely advantageous fiefdom. They could live off the sea for a lifetime. But Guanzhong is different from other parts of the Central Plains. To support the population, they can only dig canals and cultivate fields."

In other words, Li Si believed that the only thing in Guanzhong was the 800-li Qin River Plain, and the most precious thing about this land was the grain that grew from the fields.

Seeing that the emperor's gaze was still fixed on the distant fields, Li Si said, "After the Bai Canal was opened, it irrigated 6,000 hectares of land. If the land behind it is properly cultivated, it may be expanded to 10,000 hectares. The construction of the Bai Canal is far from over. At present, the Confucian school is only half of the irrigation yield of the Zheng Guo Canal in the past."

Ying Zheng asked, "How did Fusu govern this place?"

The emperor's concept of governance was not simply about having people farm and pay taxes; similarly, a prince's governance of a region would not be so simple, and it certainly involved many ingenious strategies.

Li Si said, "Most of the farmers here are poor people from the Central Plains who have migrated here. After the Baiqu Canal was built, the first thing you did was to allocate water. The farmers who were registered in the household were allocated water according to the number of males and the amount of water allocated. The power of the powerful and noble to control water was abolished. You said that water and land are the foundation for feeding millions of people. Anyone who dares to touch the water is going against the people of Guanzhong and also against the country."

"When the Baiqu Canal was first built, the young master determined its shape: the high canal would irrigate the fields, and the low canal would drain the bitter water. The water from this canal would wash away 300,000 mu of barren land north of the Wei River, turning it into fertile land. This was the young master's water diversion strategy. In the future, we will also set up a canal-field market and relocate another 70,000 households. The annual harvest of millet and wheat will be 3 million shi, with a yield of 4 shi per mu, which can feed a million people for a year."

The Qin people of that time lived in Guanzhong and often fought fiercely over water. As a result, private fights became rampant. If the upstream used an extra bucket of water, the downstream would have one less bucket.

Therefore, water management is extremely important for Guanzhong.

(End of this chapter)