The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 295 The Significance of Military Settlements
After saying this, Li stood up and left the prefectural governor's residence, adding, "I'm going back."

Sima Xin was still looking at his documents when he said, "General Li, escort the young master back."

"The last general takes orders."

Li Zuoche bowed and then led the young master out of the prefectural governor's mansion.

Tongguan City was quiet at night. Walking on the street, I saw a group of young people dressed in expensive clothes, accompanied by servants.

Li Zuoche explained, "That is General Zhao Tuo's child, brought by Chen Ping, the Chief Justice."

Li withdrew his gaze and said, "Chen Ping is a bad person."

This is his understanding of propriety. He had heard Xia Wuqie and his grandfather talk about it, and he knew that Chen Ping was not a good person.

Li Zuoche said, “This humble general believes that whether Chen Ping is a good person or not is not important. What is important is that he serves the Qin Dynasty and helps to govern the world.”

Li nodded in agreement.

While the Central Plains have warmed up, the north remains cold at this time of year.

Heng, still dressed in leather armor and carrying a bow and sword, walked with Zhang Jing on the Great Wall.

Gongzi Heng wanted to walk all the way to the easternmost point of the Great Wall, and then from the easternmost point of the Great Wall, walk all the way to the westernmost point of the Great Wall.

The two walked along, Heng reading his father's letter as he went, lost in thought.

Zhang Jing knew that Gongzi Heng had a skill: multitasking. Even when he was grinding tofu, the young master could still think about the old master's questions.

Right now, Gongzi Heng is reading a book while thinking.

In that letter, Heng wrote about his understanding of the theory of nourishing the people. According to Mencius, if the people are prosperous, how can the ruler be lacking? This means that the prosperity of the people is the foundation of a strong country. Mencius emphasized that production should follow the laws of nature and that farming should not go against the agricultural season.

However, Xunzi also said that one should control and utilize the mandate of heaven, which means advocating for changing the advantages of the land and that farming and development should not be restricted by nature.

This reminded Heng of the time when Du Shui Changlu reclaimed wasteland in Longxi, and at that time tens of thousands of hectares of land were indeed reclaimed. Therefore, Heng felt that Xunzi's ideas were correct.

However, in his reply, the emperor also said that while farming should seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, it should not abandon reverence for heaven and protection of the people.

Human effort can compensate for the shortcomings of nature's work, and Longxi is indeed a typical example.

But three liters of wheat seeds, five baskets of manure, three irrigations, and one bushel of wheat in autumn—this is indeed an immutable law of production.

However, agriculture is extremely fragile now, and we cannot lose our vigilance because of temporary success.

In the letter, Heng also mentioned that his father, the emperor, said that by improving agricultural techniques, the grain yield of the fields would be increased.

"I think production in Guanzhong is coming to an end."

Zhang Jing said, "Does the young master believe that land is limited, and the number of people that can be supported by a certain amount of land is fixed?"

Heng shook his head and said, "At first I thought so too, but my father said that people don't stay in one place forever. The population will move around. So even though the land in Guanzhong is limited, people will continue to pour into Guanzhong, and food will also pour into Guanzhong."

That's right.

Heng then said, “The people of Qi and Lu hope that the country can respect Heaven and protect the people. The Legalists believe in rewarding and punishing, and the farmers seek profit and avoid harm. These are all things that the country needs. However, land is limited, and food is also limited. Guanzhong is already very wealthy. So how can Guanzhong become even wealthier?”

Zhang Jing also muttered something in a low voice, "Even richer?"

Speaking of this, Zhang Jing suddenly thought of something. He took out a stone, which was entirely black with holes and many particles on its surface.

"Does the young master recognize this item?"

Heng glanced at it and said, "Isn't this the coal you put into the fire?"

Zhang Jingdao said, "We cannot live without fire for heating and cooking; this is our future wealth."

Heng fell silent once again, and the two walked in silence for a while.

The Great Wall is indeed very long. Although they came to guard the border, the two of them were free to move around on the Great Wall.

Looking at the scenery inside and outside the Great Wall, Heng suddenly said, "Just looking at this piece of coal, I can't see where the wealth is. Are we just going to get more people to mine coal?"

Zhang Jing lowered his head again, unable to offer any explanation.

The two walked a long way from Yunzhong County to Chifeng, taking nearly a month.

The Great Wall in Chifeng was built by the Yan people. At that time, this place was often garrisoned by troops due to the war between Yan and Zhao. The Yan Great Wall was built to defend against the Donghu. It connects with the Great Wall of Zhao in the west and runs eastward through Songshan Mountain in Chifeng.

The beacon towers and passes along the way look like they were recently repaired, and along the Mulun River, you can see Qin soldiers walking along the riverbank.

This was probably because the Qin army in this area had become somewhat lazy after the Donghu people fled north.

The cold winter has just passed, and the sun has finally brought some warmth, so people have naturally become a bit lazy.

Heng has been thinking a lot about the governing philosophy left by his father, the emperor, and exploring how the country should be governed in the future.

This is like a problem; every problem has an answer. Once Heng finds the answer, he will know how to help his father govern the world.

Perhaps even his father didn't know how to govern the country in the future. Suddenly having this idea, Heng felt that he was being a bit arrogant. There was nothing in the world that could stump his father.

It seems that as long as the affairs of the world are placed before the Emperor, he knows how to handle them, and he can usually handle them properly.

Heng had once heard some people in Tongguan talk about his father, saying that his father was not like a human being, and that he took pleasure in governing the country all day long.

This area falls under the jurisdiction of Guangyang County. Heng and Zhang Jing did not want to disturb the county governor, but unfortunately someone still tipped them off and informed the governor of Guangyang County.

This prefect looked to be over forty years old, which was relatively young among the many prefects.

Heng bowed very politely and said, "Greetings, Prefect."

"Young master, there's no need for such formalities." The prefect first invited the two to have a meal at the foot of the Great Wall, and then introduced his defense plan for the Great Wall in Yan. The beacon towers here are all built along the Heili River and the Laoha River. In the prefect's words, this is called using the river as a barrier.

In those days, the people of Yan and Zhao used the river as a barrier to defend against the Xiongnu and Donghu people.

The soldiers under the governor of Guangyang County were all extremely skilled archers.

The grasslands here are more beautiful and vast than those in the clouds, and many warhorses and oxen are raised under the Great Wall.

According to the imperial edict issued by the Prime Minister's Office to various regions, the military-agricultural system will be implemented in the border areas this year, so that the border areas will be fully planted with grain to support the border troops and reduce the pressure of grain transportation.

People cultivated land to defend the border, and the grain and fodder from the garrisoned fields ensured that the soldiers would not go hungry. Even in the face of a long war, they had enough resources. One hectare of land yielded 375 shi of wheat, which was the source of the border army's confidence.

Heng recalled his younger brother's letter. Li said that when he became the Prime Minister's student, he talked about their father's past. In order to fulfill the Prime Minister's ideals, their father vowed to make grain grow on the border.

Heng looked at the fields on the border and seemed to have an epiphany. He said in a low voice, "I understand my father's intentions now."

The prefect, standing to the side, hadn't heard him clearly at first, and asked again, "Young master?"

Heng then said, "Father said that we should let grain grow on the border of Great Qin. Our territory is not just built by the trampling of warhorses, but by making the border a land of ripe grain. The best border defense cannot rely solely on strong city walls, but on abundant granaries."

Upon hearing this, the Prefect of Guangyang exclaimed, "Young Master, you are truly wise."

Zhang Jing also bowed in greeting.

Seventeen-year-old Prince Heng has already grasped the essence of the military agricultural system, which makes the governor of Guangyang County sigh that with such an heir as the emperor, they, as his subjects, can rest assured.

Zhang Jing said, "I have heard the old master say that in order to govern the border, Prime Minister Li Si debated with the ministers in court many times. I think the Prime Minister should come to the border to see for himself."

Heng said, "The Prime Minister is getting old; I wonder if he can still travel far."

The governor of Guangyang said, "The prime minister has seen that Qin no longer needs to conscript large numbers of laborers to transport grain, nor does it need to transport large quantities of grain to the border. I suppose the prime minister will also know that the border has abundant grain supplies, and the prime minister's ideal emperor has been realized."

Everyone needs to eat, and only when the soldiers at the border are well-fed can they defend the border.

For some reason, Heng felt some tears in the corners of his eyes and quietly wiped them away.

The Prefect of Guangyang then said, "I have recently relocated many poor people to this area to cultivate the land, and the land I have given them has been registered and recorded..."

The prefect kept talking about his achievements, almost to the point of asking Prince Heng to send them to Xianyang to tell the emperor.

The two stayed in Guangyang County for two days before leaving.

Zhang Jingdao said, "The military farms on the border are all farmed by soldiers. If there is any suspicion in the future, I'm afraid some soldiers will encroach on the farms."

The military agricultural system had both advantages and disadvantages. People today only see the benefits brought by the new emperor's military agricultural system, but they haven't thought about the disadvantages.

Zhang Jing and Heng are both very realistic people. They are well aware that they cannot only look at the good side, but also need to guard against potential future problems.

That was the border troops. Whether the border troops were loyal or not was related to the safety of the garrison farming.

But those are all problems for the future. Back then, the soldiers on the border had trouble even getting enough to eat. Now that they can finally eat their fill, this achievement is hard-won.

Heng felt that Zhang Jing was right; military power was a long-standing and difficult problem, and it was indeed something to be wary of.

During the night, Heng spent the night at a beacon tower on the Great Wall and wrote a letter expressing his worries, which was then sent to his father, the Emperor.

Heng found his journey along the Great Wall very rewarding.

Not long after, when Gongzi Heng and Zhang Jing arrived at Hushan in Liaodong County, which is the easternmost point of the Great Wall, this place is also known as the Old Border Wall.

The easternmost city defenses are not very good; they are somewhat old and there aren't many soldiers.

It was expanded on the basis of the original Yan Great Wall to reach its current scale, controlling the entire territory of Liaodong. There is a stone tablet here, on which are engraved the three characters "Dongji An".

It was the beginning of summer in Northeast China when Gongzi Heng saw a field north of the Great Wall, and an old farmer was walking in the field. The man's figure looked familiar.

Heng rode his horse toward the field, and when he got closer, he shouted, "Du Shuichang!"

The elderly man, who had been walking somewhat hunched over in the field, finally looked up when he heard the sound and saw two riders coming towards him.

(End of this chapter)