The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 281 Meng Tian's Return

Upon hearing the eunuch's loud announcement, everyone had no choice but to stop in front of the palace gates before dispersing.

Since the young master took charge of state affairs, he has rarely relaxed his court meetings. No matter how busy he is, he will not delay the court meetings. For several years, he has held court meetings on time every day without any slackening.

Some people say that when the young master is unwell, the court meeting will be suspended for a day.

But Prince Fusu never seemed to have been ill.

Now, it was the emperor who made Prince Fusu stop the court discussion.

The officials were unaware of what had happened at the detached palace in the northern suburbs. Upon hearing the emperor's decree, they dispersed, taking it as a rare day of rest.

The officials in the Prime Minister's office were indeed on leave, but the officials in the other offices were on duty as usual.

The weather gradually cleared up after noon.

At the detached palace in the northern suburbs of Xianyang, Prime Minister Li Si stood at the foot of the steps in front of the main hall. Looking up from there, he saw the emperor standing on the second floor of the Lingguang Palace, gazing at the distant fields and rivers, talking to Prince Fusu.

Although he couldn't hear the emperor's words, Li Si was in a good mood.

Before long, seeing Meng Tian walking towards them, Li Si said, "General Meng."

Having not returned to Guanzhong for many years, Meng Tian stood before the palace and said, "The defenses for today have all been arranged."

Li Si nodded and said, "Those former nobles of the six kingdoms who wanted to restore their kingdoms have almost all been killed by you, my lord."

Now, Meng Tian is fifty-one years old, and both his age and career are at their peak.

In the eyes of the guards standing nearby, the general, who had not returned for many years, was more majestic than before, and his face had many more wrinkles, mostly from the northern winds. The general also had more white hair at his temples.

Meng Tian said, "So many years have passed, I've almost forgotten what Guanzhong looks like."

Li Si laughed and said, "Coming from the imperial road, General, do you think you've misjudged the scenery of Guanzhong?"

Meng Tian stood silently to the side.

Li Si added, "Guanzhong has changed a lot. There are more people and more food in Guanzhong."

Meng Tian lowered his head slightly, his expression seemingly thoughtful.

Do you remember when Meng Tian went to the north to build the Great Wall? At that time, Qin had only recently conquered Chu. Guanzhong was desolate, and the population of Guanzhong counties was very low.

Coming from the northern highways, before even seeing the entire Guanzhong region, Meng Tian could tell from the few counties north of the Wei River that there were many more people.

There weren't so many houses on the south bank of the Zheng Guo Canal originally; it seemed to be a newly built county.

Li Si said, "If I have some free time, I can take the General to see this Guanzhong region."

Meng Tian said, "Okay."

Meng Tian did not refuse Li Si's suggestion.

When Meng Tian was leading troops in the north, Li Si was somewhat wary. After all, with hundreds of thousands of troops, if he marched south, Meng Tian could besiege Xianyang in just two days, and even bring disaster to the entire Guanzhong region.

Li Si once doubted Meng Tian's loyalty. As the prime minister, he had doubted anyone for the sake of the country's future.

Fortunately, Meng Tian returned, and military power in the north will be handed over to someone else.

Only when such a great general returned to Xianyang did Li Si feel at ease, and only then could he invite General Meng Tian to travel.

On the third day of Prince Fusu's stay at the detached palace in the northern suburbs, he continued to recount recent state affairs to the emperor.

Today, Xia Wuqie also came to the detached palace in the northern suburbs.

Meng Tian entrusted the defense of the northern suburban palace to Zhang Han, while he and Li Si went on a trip to see the Guanzhong region.

Traveling south from the northern suburbs, after passing Pinyang, Meng Tian saw vast fields of wheat stretching as far as the eye could see, and groups of children running around in the fields.

Because it is summer, the wheat in the fields is slowly beginning to smell sweet.

Meng Tian rode his horse along the road. A warm breeze blew by, and he could see the wheat in the fields undulating like waves. The scenery was so beautiful that he almost forgot where he was.

When Meng Tian arrived in Weinan, he looked at the vast fields and was almost moved to tears.

I remember it was winter when Meng Tian was ordered by the emperor to go to the north to build the Great Wall. After saying goodbye to his seriously ill father, he also wanted to say goodbye to Prince Fusu.

But military orders could not be delayed, so he left in a hurry.

But now, Meng Tian remembers that it was a vast wasteland, but now it is full of grain. It seems that Guanzhong has been transformed, and it no longer resembles Guanzhong.

Li Si said, "I've heard that Longxi is quite nice now. If it weren't for the fact that you, General, have such an important post, you could go and take a look."

Meng Tian knew that Guanzhong had been supplying grain to the north in recent years, and he thought that Guanzhong was also in great difficulty. As a general, he lived frugally in the north and did his best to be self-sufficient.

Li Si said no more and instead cooperated with Meng Tian to leave first.

Meng Tian saw the beautiful Tongguan city, the children in the city and groups of craftsmen coming and going. The Wei River was still the Wei River, but the people here had changed.

The land in Guanzhong remains the same, but the places where people live have changed.

I learned from the Prime Minister that the former Ningqin County no longer exists, and after the Jingye Canal was built, Tongguan and Huayin counties have rarely been flooded.

"The reason why the Jingye Canal is called Jingye is to praise General Meng."

Other things can be believed, but Meng Tian clearly did not believe what the Prime Minister said.

They walked from north of the Wei River to south of it, and then returned from south of the Wei River. The Prime Minister and the General returned to the northern suburbs late at night, and Xia Wuqie stayed until now after he arrived.

After hearing Zhang Han's report, Li Si entered the main hall of the detached palace.

Inside the main hall were many books and a huge map. Prince Fusu pointed to the map and explained it to the emperor.

Li Si and Meng Tian sat to one side, listening to Prince Fusu's account. In the prince's words, Qin still had much to do. Qin wanted to conquer the entire Western Regions and control the plateau behind the Western Regions, making the country bigger. Before that, the country needed to accumulate strength.

Accumulate strength and unleash it later—this was Prince Fusu's plan.

As Li Si listened to the young master's story, he began to laugh.

But as he listened, a hint of disappointment appeared in Li Si's eyes.

They stayed until the young master and Meng Tian left to rest.

Li Si sat in the main hall, accompanying the emperor.

Ying Zheng looked at a scroll and slowly approached the candlestick to make out the words written on it: "Li Si".

Upon hearing the emperor's call, Li Si quickly straightened up, stepped forward, and bowed, saying, "Your subject is here."

"What do you think Fusu's decree is for?"

Li Si stepped forward, glanced at it, and replied, "This is to promote good character, encourage people to help each other, and to be united and sincere."

Ying Zheng put down the scroll, his graying beard and hair hanging down naturally, and sighed, "Tell me, how long is a person's life?"

When the emperor asked him this question, Li Si would never have dared to answer casually in the past, but now that he was old, he could finally speak.

“Sometimes I feel that life is very long, and sometimes I feel that life is very short.” Li Si stood aside, looking at the dim light of the candlestick, and said, “At that time, I thought about governing this world, but now I think about it, I am old, and the world is still not well governed.”

Ying Zheng looked at the empty darkness outside the palace and remained silent.

Li Si tidied up the files in front of him.

Then, Li Si intended to take his leave, but then he heard the emperor's words.

"I remember it was more than thirty years ago when you first came to Xianyang. At that time, after Wang Wan left, you had just become the prime minister. I knew that you and I shared the same ideals. But more than thirty years have passed. We have pacified the six states, won the southern expedition, and won the northern expedition. We have standardized the written language and the width of carts. We have invited scholars from Qi and Lu to Qin and invited the former nobles of the six states to Qin. I have given the descendants of the six states enough respect, but the former nobles of the six states still want to rebel against Qin!"

At this point, Ying Zheng looked at Li Si and asked, "What were you thinking back then?"

Li Si replied, "At that time, I felt especially guilty."

Ying Zheng continued, "After that, Fusu told me that governing the world is very difficult. What we are doing is something that no one before us has done, and our ideals are something that no one before us has."

Li Si said, "Back then, I believed that even if we failed, future generations would know the emperor's ideals and that he would accomplish what his predecessors had not. Only those who expand the territory and unify the world can be called emperors."

Ying Zheng suddenly smiled.

Since returning from the north, Li Si had not seen the emperor smile for a long time.

But now, the emperor finally smiled.

"You may leave; I am tired."

"My minister retire."

Inside the main hall of Lin Guang Palace, the light from the candlesticks was not actually very bright, and after Li Si left the hall, it became quiet.

Ying Zheng could even hear his own breathing. He looked at the scrolls in front of him for a long time before leaving the hall to rest.

Standing outside the detached palace in the northern suburbs, one can look up and see the clear night sky. The starry sky tonight is especially beautiful, and one can even see a few wisps of clouds under the moonlight.

Li Si approached and bowed, saying, "Young Master."

Upon hearing this, Fusu turned around and saw the Prime Minister. Looking further into the distance, he saw that the lights in the main hall of Duke Lin Guang had also been turned off. Only then did he say, "Father, are you resting?"

Li Si said, "The emperor is tired."

Fusu said, "The Imperial Physician said that Father Emperor's health is very good."

Li Si nodded and said in a low voice, "The emperor asked me whether a person's life is long or short."

Fusu said, “I think my father’s life was very bitter, so bitter that I don’t know how to think about it. It was also very heavy and long. From the time a person can remember anything in his childhood, he always encounters the most difficult things in the world.”

The following day, Prince Fusu returned to Xianyang and presided over today's court meeting.

In fact, Fusu didn't sleep a wink all night after returning from the northern suburbs.

After returning to Takasen Palace and sleeping for a while, he was summoned again to the detached palace in the northern suburbs.

Today, Fusu accompanied his father, the Emperor, on a trip, gazing upon the summer scenery of Guanzhong.

The procession wasn't large, but young master Li was also present.

Ying Zheng said, "Li looks a bit thinner than Heng."

Li Si said, "I think the young master is still young. In two more years, when he is sixteen or seventeen years old, he will grow taller every day."

Looking at the wheat in the fields that was almost ripe, Ying Zheng said, "There is so much grain in Guanzhong. Li Si, look... If we had this much grain back then, our Qin army wouldn't have been able to eat it all."

(End of this chapter)