The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 255 The Emperor's Second Western Tour

The emperor's carriage passed by the imperial road east of Weinan. It could have gone all the way to Tongguan along the Jingye Canal, since all the roads in Guanzhong lead to Xianyang, and there are many roads from the northern suburbs of Xianyang that can also lead to Tongguan.

Zhang Han led his troops on horseback, escorting the emperor toward Tongguan. The road had been recently repaired, and the carriages were moving very smoothly.

Listening to Li Si and the emperor's conversation, Zhang Han learned that two years ago, all the counties had conscripted laborers to repair the roads.

The roads in Guanzhong are repaired every three years, and each county is responsible for maintaining its section of the road. If the road is damaged, the county officials are responsible.

During the off-season for farming each year, counties in Guanzhong would conscript laborers to repair roads, bridges, or canals.

"parking."

Upon hearing the emperor's words, Zhang Han pulled on the reins of his warhorse, and the army came to a halt.

Li Si helped the emperor down from the carriage and walked towards the fields. Zhang Han dared not delay and led a troop of soldiers to follow on both sides.

"To ensure a tree grows tall, its roots must be firmly established..."

The sound of children reciting reached Ying Zheng's ears, and he looked up to see several children walking in the fields.

A slightly older child was leading several younger children in reading aloud. He would read a sentence, and the children behind him would repeat it.

"If you want a river to flow far, you must dredge its source..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the child behind him repeated the sentence.

"To fail to be mindful of potential dangers even in times of peace, and to practice frugality and restraint, is also..."

The children had walked away, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to hear what they were reciting. Ying Zheng asked, "What books were they reading?"

Li Si hurriedly replied, "It is a book that you and Shusun Tong have recently compiled. I have read it and it contains teachings. The saying 'To make a tree grow tall, one must strengthen its roots' means that for a tree to grow, it needs a solid foundation. You advocate that the governance of each county should focus on the root, which is the people of the county. Teaching children these things is firstly to cultivate their thinking and secondly to warn the county officials."

Guanzhong was the foundation of Qin. Just as a tree must have strong roots to grow tall, Guanzhong had to be strong for Qin to become powerful.

Ying Zheng walked back to his carriage and said in a low voice, "I haven't read a book in a long time."

Li Si replied, "We'll be at Tongguan soon. There are many books there."

The group set off again and traveled for another day. By nightfall, they were almost at Tongguan.

Sima Xin and his men had been waiting by the Wei River for a long time. When the emperor's carriage arrived, he immediately bowed.

The carriage remained stationary for a long time before the emperor finally alighted.

"You are Sima Xin?"

Upon hearing the emperor's question, Sima Xin bowed and said, "Your subject, Sima Xin, Prefect of Weinan, pays his respects to the Emperor."

Ying Zheng did not say much, but instead, under the escort of Zhang Han, he and Li Si entered Tongguan City.

Tongguan City was quiet at this moment. It was the curfew time in the city, and there weren't many people living in Tongguan City.

The emperor walked towards the prefectural governor's residence, with Sima Xin following behind.

Suddenly, the emperor stopped and looked at a house in the city that resembled an official residence. According to the construction regulations, if this house was not an official residence, it would exceed the permitted size.

Li Si explained, "This is the Imperial Academy that the prince ordered Tongguan to build."

Ying Zheng nodded and strode towards the Imperial Academy.

Several eunuchs stepped forward first and saw the three characters on the plaque above the gate: Imperial Academy.

The Imperial Academy was, of course, the official residence. However, Prince Fusu had Sima Xin build this place so that Shusun Tong could oversee the teaching. But Shusun Tong still lives in Shangyan Mountain and seems unwilling to come to Tongguan.

The heavy doors were pushed open by the eunuchs, and the lights inside the Imperial Academy were lit.

Li Zuoche, the garrison general of Tongguan City, stood on the city wall. As far as the eye could see, Tongguan City, which had returned to silence due to the curfew, was now illuminated by the arrival of the emperor, and the Imperial Academy was lit up.

Inside the Imperial Academy, Ying Zheng looked up and saw rows of bookshelves, filled with books on both bamboo slips and paper, arranged in a neat row.

Ying Zheng picked up a scroll and looked at it; the contents of the scroll were the same books that children read today.

Li Si stood aside and handed the emperor several more scrolls of books.

Li Si had read all the books written by Prince Fusu. They contained only the necessary content and contained no talk of restoring the six states. Instead, they were intended to educate the people, maintain unity, and safeguard the country.

These are the very ideas that the people of the former lands of the six states lack most today.

The emperor read one volume after another.

It's unclear what time it was at night, but Li Si ordered Zhang Han to close the gates of the Imperial Academy and forbid anyone from approaching it for the next few days.

The next day, at daybreak, people who came into the city saw that the Imperial Academy was closed and surrounded by Qin troops.

The people of Tongguan City naturally dared not approach, and the students were informed that those who usually frequented the Imperial Academy were also not allowed to come to the Imperial Academy, and all matters were to be carried out in the study rooms.

After the emperor arrived, Prefect Sima Xin was very uneasy. How could he not be uneasy? He even closed his eyes and took short naps while sleeping, worried that the emperor's summons would delay things.

For three consecutive days, Sima Xin spent his time in this manner, while the emperor remained at the Imperial Academy without leaving or giving any instructions.

During these three days, only Li Si occasionally came out to get some food and water, and gave no other instructions.

Today, upon seeing the Prime Minister emerge from the Imperial Academy, Sima Xin, who was waiting outside the academy gate, stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Prime Minister."

Li Si laughed and said, "Why has the Prefect come?"

Sima Xin asked, "Is there anything else you need?"

Li Si said, "Just make sure no one comes to disturb us."

Sima Xin nodded in response, and did not say anything more. He could only watch as the Prime Minister walked into the Imperial Academy again.

After returning to the prefectural governor's mansion, Sima Xin still had to deal with many matters in the prefecture. A scroll of documents lay before him, announcing that another group of teachers had arrived in Tongguan this year to provide educational support.

"Bring me last year's list of tutors."

A scroll of documents was placed in front of him, and Sima Xin looked up and saw the young master Heng.

Heng said, "Seeing that the prefect is busy with official duties, I dare not disturb him."

Sima Xin took the documents handed to him and looked at them without saying anything.

Every volunteer teacher goes to a place and teaches there. Each county keeps a record of where the teacher goes and where the teacher teaches, and the records are sent to Tongguan.

Sima Xin naturally dared not trouble the young master, so he stood up and went to get the map from the bookshelf.

The map shows the locations of various counties in the Central Plains, and each county has a piece of paper indicating the teachers assigned to support education in that county.

Heng stood to the side, his eyes fixed on the map. If the various counties on the map were connected, one could know the routes these scholars had taken and where their footprints had been.

In this way, based on the documents from each county and the whereabouts of the teachers, Sima Xin could determine whether the teachers' identities were genuine.

This is a record accumulated over many years. If the other party is impersonating someone, checking past documents will reveal the truth.

However, there are no records of the earliest teachers. Fortunately, the earliest teachers who volunteered to teach in Guanzhong, such as Master Shusun Tong, knew almost all of them. Teachers who volunteered to teach in Guanzhong in the past, such as Master Lang, Master Jing, or Master Heiyuan, would send letters or come to visit.

However, there was one teacher who had not returned to Guanzhong for a long time. That teacher was named Han Yuan. After his birth mother passed away, he came to Tongguan once, but then hurriedly left Tongguan to teach in Sichuan.

What's strange is that Han Yuan is different from the other teachers; since his mother passed away, he has never written a letter to Shusun Tong again.

Perhaps it was after his mother passed away that Master Han Yuan developed a desire to escape the world, which led him to go to Sichuan to teach.

This was arranged by Master Zizhui, who is now the ceremonial director of the Imperial Academy. He always helps the teachers who go to teach in rural areas. When the teachers are teaching in rural areas, Master Zizhui will also help take care of their elders.

Recently, Sima Xin heard that some students from Sichuan said that Master Han was a very good volunteer teacher and had even helped the county magistrate with many things.

Suddenly remembering this, Sima Xin flipped to the first page of the roster, where one thing was recorded.

A few years ago, Wu Sang was also sent to Jiangyuan County to serve as the county magistrate. Judging from their age and years of teaching in rural areas, they should have studied together in Tongguan. With the two of them looking out for each other, Sima Xin felt at ease.

As for those who would be concerned, such as Master Lang and Master Jing, they were the first group of students to go east, and these children were considered very precious.

Sima Xin stood on the banks of the Wei River, watching them leave; the scene from that year remains unforgettable to this day.

The emperor stayed at Tongguan for five days, and was about to leave that night.

Sima Xin and Li Zuoche stood guard at the city gate to see the emperor off.

This was the first time Li Zuoche had seen the emperor. Although it was night, the emperor's expression and face could still be vaguely seen in the firelight.

Li Zuoche felt that the King of Zhao back then truly had no intention of unifying the six kingdoms. Recalling his grandfather's words from back then, he now understood a bit more.

Under Zhang Han's escort, the imperial carriage slowly departed.

Sima Xin turned and walked into the city. He was about to return to the prefect's mansion, accompanied only by two clerks, when he saw that the Imperial Academy was still lit up.

After speaking, Sima Xin stepped into the room and saw the teacher, Zhui, who was at the Imperial Academy.

He smiled and said, "The emperor has left?"

As the ceremonial officer of the Imperial Academy, Zhui naturally had the authority to enter and leave this place.

It was a bit cold tonight. Sima Xin walked into the Imperial Academy, wanting to know what books the emperor had read while he was there. He looked left and right but couldn't figure out which books had been read.

Before long, Wang Yu also arrived in a hurry and greeted the prefect.

Wang Yu was the Vice Director of the Imperial Academy, and together with Zhui, he oversaw matters related to the Imperial Academy and rural education support programs.

Looking at the two young men, Sima Xin, as a native of Weinan, had watched the two children grow up under the tutelage of Shusun Tong.

Sima Xin said, "The emperor just left, and you're still organizing files in the middle of the night?"

Wang Yu took a bundle from the clerk behind him. As he opened the bundle, he said, "The books printed by Shang Yanshan this year have just been distributed, and I haven't recorded them yet."

Zhui also said, "There are a lot of things piling up this year."

Only these two teachers were busy in the entire Imperial Academy. Sima Xin shook his head and sighed, "Shusun Tong really should have given you more manpower."

He smiled and said, "He's a very old-fashioned person, and he always says he's not used to our teaching methods."

Wang Yu also said, "The old master's teaching method is still stuck in the way of the Jixia Academy back then."

Sima gave them a few more instructions before leaving to attend to matters in the prefecture.

Officials in Guanzhong were always busy. Every year, the Prime Minister's office would issue a series of decrees, and most of the time they could only rest for two or three days around the winter solstice.
Even if it's not the winter solstice, Sima Xin can't slack off. Even after becoming the prefect, he would still sometimes ask a few more questions about the affairs of Huayin County.

The next day, just as dawn broke, Sima Xin hurriedly went to Huayin County to check on the scallions there.

The scallions grown in the county are getting better and better, and people's lives are becoming much more prosperous.

This year, Huayin County is undergoing expansion, and several families have lost their elders. In addition, there is a shortage of laborers to conscript, which has left Sima Xin extremely busy.

I used to be able to manage just one county, Huayin, but now I have to manage six counties in Weinan, which is much more tiring.

Fortunately, Jingye County and Liyi were quiet, while the affairs of the other counties were becoming increasingly heavy.

The people of Liyang were still hoping that Sima Xin would one day make their Liyang better.

But he couldn't care less about Liyang; the current situation was enough to give him a headache.

Sima Xin said to the county magistrate in front of him, "The expansion is for the future development of Linwei. Is it possible that the entire Weinan region will be delayed for a year because of this?"

The newly appointed Magistrate Xu lowered his head after being reprimanded by Sima Xin.

Sima Xin said, "When an elder in the family passes away, more than twenty laborers are needed to see him off? Is his family's business more important than the affairs of the Qin state?"

After saying this, Sima Xin forcefully ordered the county magistrate to stop the funeral.

The people of Huayin County trust Sima Xin, who had improved their lives when he was the magistrate of Huayin County.

That is why Sima Xin now has enough confidence to face the people of Huayin County when he comes here again.

The matter was quickly arranged.

This year, the eastern part of Guanzhong was sunny with no clouds. Sima Xin stared at the construction work in Huayin County. This place was originally overgrown with weeds, but now the land was to be compacted and Huashan and Huaxi were to be built to expand the entire county and then move in more people.

After arranging things here, Sima Xin left Li Zuoche to oversee things and went to Xianyang.

It was during a day off, and Cheng Miao sat alone in the Prime Minister's residence after everyone else had left. The young master's family had gone to Yongcheng, the emperor was traveling, and Xianyang was being guarded by Grand Commandant Wang.

A small stove sat beside Cheng Miao, with a kettle boiling on it and tea eggs inside.

He had just fished a tea egg out of the pot when he saw Sima Xin arriving in a formal official robe.

Cheng Miao scooped up another tea egg and handed it to Sima Xin.

Sima Xin first handed over the document and said, "The construction of Linwei this year will probably be delayed for some time."

Cheng Miao peeled a tea egg and said, "No rush. The emperor was in Tongguan for five days, and you took care of him for five days. The young master will understand."

In fact, what the young master dislikes most is officials delaying their work. Officials should finish their work on the same day. If they delay today, tomorrow's work will also be delayed by a day. This is not good.

Sima Xin then asked, "Could you borrow manpower from the various counties?"

Cheng Miao took a bite of the tea egg and said, "Okay, you can negotiate with the various counties. There's no need to report this matter."

"Thank you."

Sima Xin responded calmly, then got up and left.

Cheng Miao continued eating his tea eggs. It was his day off, and he was on duty today. Since there was nothing to do, he started eating tea eggs.

However, he will be on duty tomorrow and the day after tomorrow as well; he has gotten used to being on duty ever since he joined the Censorate.

(End of this chapter)