The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 278 A Child Who Understands People's Hearts
Seeing the young master tidying up the teacups and diligently wiping the table.

I don't know if it was influenced by Zhang Jing, but despite being an extremely noble young master, he was quick and diligent when it came to cleaning.

Seeing the young master's sensible and well-behaved appearance, how could Shusun Tong bear to let the child learn those laws and power tactics? These were things that the child should not have to learn.

He's only twelve years old now, and he's actually a pretty good kid.

Shusun Tong asked, "Does the young master not want to learn?"

Li wiped the table clean, sat properly in front of the teacher, and replied, "I should learn. I need to learn how to be a virtuous person, but I also need to learn how to conduct myself in the world."

Shusun Tong nodded, looking satisfied.

Li continued, “All things in this world are about people, and conflicts between people are always inevitable. Even the closest people, like my mother and father, who love me so much, can punish me in the most severe way. This is what the Right Chancellor should teach me: how to handle conflicts and how to navigate between conflicts and interests between people.”

Shusun Tong became increasingly satisfied.

Li placed her hands on her knees and continued, "Father often said that conflicts between people are unavoidable, and we should observe these conflicts more closely."

Shusun Tong took the tea offered by the young master and drank a sip.

After tidying up the teacher's room, Li went outside and cleaned the area in front of the teacher's house.

This young master did not act arrogantly because of his noble status. On the contrary, he often played with his peers in the village and did these odd jobs.

After cleaning the house, Li returned to the study in the county.

Because Jingye County has a small population, the academies here are also very small.

When Li arrived at the study, he saw a group of children younger than himself playing together, some reading books, and others reciting aloud.

Looking at this scene, Li recalled that when he first came here to study, he often played with these children.

But now I'm studying in Tongguan, and when these children get older, they will also go to Tongguan.

After turning his gaze away, Li saw a carriage leave the county and head towards Xianyang.

Li knew that this carriage belonged to Aunt Li Nu'er, given to her by Grandpa Tian An for convenient travel to and from Xianyang. Li also knew that she helped her father and mother manage the workshops in Jingye County.

She has always been in charge of the county's grain and money. Given that this aunt would never let a single grain of wheat go to waste, it is best to have her oversee the workshops and the county.

Teachers rarely concern themselves with trivial matters in the county. As the cold wind blew, Li took a deep breath, feeling the chill of the wind.

Looking back, Li saw that Shang Yanshan was much better than before.

Li still remembers the scenery of Shangyan Mountain when he was a child. At that time, the mountain looked a bit barren. He heard that General Zhang Han wanted to plant celery all over the mountain. His teacher scolded General Zhang Han for this.

This was all told to me by Zhang Jing. Later, the celery planted on the mountain didn't grow very well, so the trees were replanted.

Mulberry trees planted at the foot of the mountain grow better.

It now appears that some pine trees were planted on the mountain, but pine trees grow slowly, so some other trees whose names I don't know were also planted.

Another gust of cold wind blew by, and the rain started again from the overcast sky.

"The weather isn't getting warmer, and it's always raining."

Li glanced to the side and saw Zhang Ye.

Zhang Ye is Zhang Jing's younger brother, and the two brothers look quite alike.

The ritual states: "Spring has not yet arrived in Guanzhong; it will only warm up after the agricultural rituals."

Zhang Ye said, "The old master has finished eating his tofu again, and I still need to grind soybeans for him."

Li said, "I heard that my elder brother and Brother Zhang Jing can grind a whole bucket of tofu in one night."

Zhang Ye relaxed his slightly sore arms and said, "This job is really inhuman."

Li nodded, suppressing a smile. He also tried grinding tofu, which was indeed tiring; he was exhausted after grinding for two hours.

Zhang Ye said, "I don't know how you ground the beans, brother. My arms ached for two or three days after I ground just one bowl."

Li replied, "Brother Zhang Jing wasn't born with great strength. He doesn't have any superhuman strength. He just gritted his teeth and lifted and put down the objects every time, which is how he developed his physique. What others don't know is that every time my brother returns to the palace, he brings Brother Zhang Jing some medicine to treat his injuries."

"Medicine for treating injuries."

Zhang Ye was about the same age as him. He had grown up in the Northwest and was still unfamiliar with the place.

Li explained, "Xia Wuqie, the chief physician in the palace, has a large collection of medicines in his imperial physician's residence."

Zhang Ye asked, "Does Young Master Heng also know medicine?"

"Hmm." Li added, "Actually, Father also knows some medicine, but he didn't teach us much. Most of it was from my elder brother reading some old books from Takasen-gyo."

"Old books from Takasen-no-miya?" "Yes, I have many, many books at home."

The two boys stood under the eaves, watching the rain fall like a beaded curtain. Li said in a low voice, "Don't be surprised. My father has a lot of books in his collection, and many of them are rare scrolls left by a certain country during the Warring States period. They are very precious. Because my mother is very strict, my brother and I have to read books every day. But even we, who grew up in the palace, can't read all the books there."

Zhang Ye asked, "Are there really so many books?"

“Yes.” Li nodded and said, “Ever since Grandpa bestowed the West Garden of Xianyang Palace to Father, Father has reserved three palaces to store books. I usually only read what I want to read, so my brother must have read more books than me. He might even be looking at the medical books that Father left behind.”

When talking about his father, he only admired him when he was a child.

But as Li grew older, he felt a huge gap between himself and his father, a gap that stemmed from some things his grandfather, Tian An, had said.

If what Grandpa Tian An said is true, that my father could read through the classics of various schools of thought and recognize the characters of six different states when he was five years old, then my father's talent is absolutely rare in the world, and it would be difficult to find another like him.

Li also felt that most people in this world, no... it should be the vast majority, almost everyone, were ordinary people like him.

Now that I'm older, my admiration for my father has turned into a feeling that he holds many secrets, and since I haven't finished reading all the books he left behind, I feel that his books contain even more valuable knowledge.

Those valuable lessons will surely benefit me for life, and they will be different from the virtues taught by the old master or the skills that Feng Quji will teach me.

The knowledge my father possessed must have been different from that of the various schools of thought during the Warring States period.

At least in terms of governing philosophy, Li Zong felt that his father's philosophy seemed to be in line with the ideas of the other philosophers, but at a deeper level it was somewhat contrary to their knowledge.

Li felt that if his father disliked the learning of Qilu, he wouldn't have asked the teacher to stay.

However, my father continued to use the harsh methods of Legalism in governing the country, without any slackening. He relocated people and carried out construction projects, almost repeatedly using the people's labor to build the country.

After the relocation of the counties in Guanzhong is completed, military service and corvée labor will become more frequent, and it will be more convenient for officials to carry them out.

Zhang Ye asked, "Young Master, you came from Yongcheng, why don't you go home?"

Li said, "My parents find me annoying."

"Why?" Zhang Ye asked again, "My parents love me very much."

Li then said, “My father and mother naturally love me, but they don’t like me staying in the palace for too long. They hope I grow up outside so that I can see what people are like and see a wider world. Only in this way can I broaden my horizons and learn how to govern a country.”

Zhang Ye was somewhat dazed as he listened. His attention had long since shifted away from the young master's words, as the young master's manner of speaking was becoming more and more like that of an old scholar, making him sleepy as he listened.

A moment later, seeing that the rain showed no signs of letting up, Zhang Ye covered his head with his hands and ran away quickly.

Li remained standing under the eaves. He felt that his grandfather was a stranger, having seen him only a handful of times throughout his life. His father, on the other hand, was both close and distant.

Whether this sense of distance stemmed from talent or from his own stupidity, Li always felt that if he didn't learn enough, he wouldn't understand his father's ideals.

But if he wanted to learn more, Li felt that he probably wouldn't be able to learn it all in this lifetime.

Finally, the light rain stopped. Li sat under the eaves looking at a scroll he had brought from Yongcheng. This scroll was from the time of King Huiwen of Qin, and it recorded the deeds left behind by Zhang Zi.

These stories are somewhat different, and some are the same.

There are also some things about Huizi and the King of Wei.

Sometimes reading about these things can be quite interesting, but behind these interesting stories lie countless wars, and war is a matter of life and death.

If the six kingdoms were unified, it would be hoped that internal wars would cease and external wars of expansion would increase.

"People need to go out and explore," was something their father often told them.

This northern expedition against the Xiongnu brought great benefits. The Qin army obtained countless cattle, sheep, warhorses, and people, all of which were wealth for Qin.

And this wealth would then become the wealth of the Qin soldiers.

After the rain stopped, Li was hungry, so he cooked a bowl of noodles for himself and his teacher, and the two of them sat inside and ate.

"Are you going to Tongguan to study again tomorrow morning?"

"Mmm," Li replied while eating his noodles.

"Your brother makes better noodles."

Hearing the Master say this, Li said, "Teacher only said this because he misses his elder brother. Actually, I did a better job than his elder brother. When his elder brother comes back and cooks for you for a few days, you will think that his cooking is not good."

Shusun Tong liked both of the young masters very much, but the younger one was better at understanding people's feelings than the older one.

Gongzi Heng is cheerful and quick-witted, while the young master understands people's hearts even better.

If you feel that you get along well with the young master, it means that he has already seen through your thoughts. After he sees through you, he will leave room for maneuver and will not expose you.

To get along with a child like this, you need to be honest with him, otherwise he will keep his distance from you.

(End of this chapter)