The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 298 The Emperor's Dissatisfaction

The harvest wasn't finished until nightfall. There were still large fields of wheat left to harvest, so it looks like we'll have to move them for another two days.

Upon returning to the county government, Cao Shen immediately sat down and rubbed his feet.

Xiao He returned two hours after nightfall.

The three sat together eating and talking about recent events.

Cao Shen wolfed down his noodles, saying, "Wheat should be planted in the north of the Wei River. This year's wheat is growing very well."

Xiao He ate his noodles without saying much.

Liu Fei said, "I saw the Right Chancellor meeting with Master Wang a few days ago."

Cao Can took a sip of mutton soup and asked, "Did the Right Chancellor go to your Imperial Academy?"

Liu Fei nodded and said, "Yes, I heard that the emperor is very dissatisfied with the teaching support program, so Master Wang has increased the number of teaching support positions this year."

Upon hearing this, Cao Shen glanced at Xiao He's expression.

Under normal circumstances, Cao Shen would have spoken at length, but in front of Xiao He, he dared not say much.

Xiao He picked up a piece of mutton and put it into Liu Fei's bowl, then said, "Eat."

Liu Fei nodded and continued eating his flatbread and mutton.

But Liu Fei knew that Xiao He must know where the emperor's and the Imperial Academy's dissatisfaction came from, but if he said it directly, it wouldn't be like Uncle Xiao He.

At night, Liu Fei and Uncle Cao took a bath with cold water and went to bed early, as it had been another busy day.

The situation in Weibei is the same as in Weinan; the fields are simply too vast, and it's impossible to harvest all the grain in a single day.

The granary officials in each county would hand over the land tax to the local people, and then to the prefectural granary. After deducting 20% ​​for losses, the tax would then be transferred to the local granaries.

By late August, the fields in all the counties of Guanzhong had been harvested. This was also Zhang Cang's busiest time of year. Currently, Zhang Cang was the Minister of the Imperial Household Department, and under his command were more than ten civil officials who worked together to calculate the taxes for each household.

There are still no taxes from Pinyang County this year. Since the emperor granted the entire fief of Pinyang County to the Duke of Pinyang, very little tax can be collected from Pinyang.

But in the end, every single tax from Pinyang County was sent to Xianyang.

Although it was said to be a fief, the royal family accepted the reward but still paid the full amount of taxes every year. This was a tacit understanding between the imperial family and Pinyang, an understanding that had lasted for many years.

This has been the case ever since Wang Jian returned from Chu.

The taxes from the counties in Guanzhong had just been collected when the taxes from the Hexi Corridor and Longxi were also delivered.

Zhang Cang stood up and stretched his back, then sat down again to continue calculating the accounts. He would straighten his back every now and then. In the eyes of others, the young master of the imperial household was so hardworking that he would surely suffer from chronic illnesses in the future.

That makes sense. Everyone in the Prime Minister's residence thinks the same way. With so many affairs of state to attend to, let alone Zhang Cang, who is any better off than anyone else?

At the Prime Minister's residence, Zhang Cang was usually quite quiet. Like Cheng Miao, he had almost no friends there and never interfered in other people's affairs.

Zhang Cang was highly skilled. It is said that he and the emperor, who was still a prince at the time, jointly calculated the twenty-four solar terms, which are now commonly used in various counties.

Zhang Cang could do calculations for an entire afternoon without getting confused, and he would still calculate very clearly.

An ordinary person, after looking at the accounts for half a day, would probably be confused and not know where they were in the calculations, but Zhang Cang was not.

Immediately following, taxes from the southern part of Chu, the old pass of Shu, and Luoyi of the Sanchuan region were sent to Xianyang in rolls.

Once Zhang Cang finished calculating today's tax accounts, he had to send them to the emperor that same day.

This is what Zhang Cang has been busy with all day. Since the emperor redefined the powers of the Nine Ministers, the reserves of the Great Qin and the reserves of salt and iron materials have also fallen under Zhang Cang's responsibilities.

These are things we need to stockpile; they will provide us with confidence should anything change in the future.

Today, the tax on military farms is two shi per qing. After deducting losses, a considerable amount remains. This tax system once again demonstrates the low cost and high return of the military farm system.

After leaving Xianyang Palace, Zhang Cang planned to buy some food and go home. While buying cakes, he overheard several clerks who had just finished their shift at the Prime Minister's residence discussing the issue of supporting education in rural areas.

Some people say that teaching in rural areas is a thankless and arduous task, and that the emperor even ordered the Imperial Academy to send more teachers to rural areas, which was actually unnecessary.

Zhang Cang bought the cakes and left without participating in their discussion, because he felt that these clerks were wrong; they thought that supporting education in rural areas was a high-cost, low-return endeavor.

But for Zhang Cang, the cost of achieving a unified written language and ideology through teaching in rural areas is actually very low, and the return is very high.

After Qin unified the world, it is easy to imagine how difficult it would be to educate the people of the six states. If this education could be accomplished through rural education instead of war, mass arrests, and torture, it would be the best thing in the world.

After the emperor ascended the throne, he never mentioned changing the tax system again.

Just as Zhang Cang was thinking this, he arrived at his doorstep and saw someone he didn't want to see: Chen Ping.

Every time this person comes, nothing good comes of it.

Chen Ping smiled and bowed, saying, "Prefect Zhang."

Zhang Cang pushed open the door, stepped inside, and asked, "What is it?"

Chen Ping followed and entered the mansion. He then closed the door behind him and said in a low voice, "I have recently investigated some matters and found them suspicious, so I came to inquire."

Zhang Cang sat down, eating a pancake and taking a sip of wine. Chen Ping continued, "Back then, a teacher who volunteered to teach in Zhuo County passed away. But after inquiring, I learned that he was buried hastily. He was a teacher from Sanchuan County, but in the records of Sanchuan County, he was not listed as having passed away, but as a teacher volunteering in Sichuan."

Zhang Cang said, "Investigate if you want, what does it have to do with me?"

Seeing that the other party looked somewhat displeased, Chen Ping continued his explanation and shared his conjecture.

It wasn't until Chen Ping voiced his suspicions and mentioned a person—Zhang Liang, an anti-Qin figure whom the Qin army had pursued for many years without success—that things came to a head.

"May I ask Prefect Zhang, has the Emperor mentioned this person recently?"

Zhang Cang said, "It was never mentioned."

Chen Ping then asked, "I suspect that Zhang Liang wasn't actually in Dongjun back then, but in Shu, but..."

But when the meteorite fell to earth, the emperor was still a prince, and it was said that Zhang Liang appeared in Shangjun.

This doesn't add up. Upon Chen Ping's investigation, he discovered that the files related to Zhang Liang were all broken after the meteorite fell. He had previously asked the Court of Justice, who assumed the files were lost.

Previously, there were reports of investigating Zhang Liang, but now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, he hasn't mentioned it at all.

That's why Chen Ping made contributions in the Hexi Corridor and came to Xianyang as an official. He was indeed clever, too clever.

This man was too clever; clever enough that he could figure out that the Minister of Justice was unaware of the matter, and only the officials who were close to the emperor knew about it.

Although he was a bad person, especially in his methods of dealing with Zhao Tuo and Tu Ju, the court officials commented that his methods were too wicked, even using children to blackmail them.

The discussions are just that—discussions. Besides Chen Ping's method, who could come up with a better one? It may be flawed, but it works.

Zhang Cang said in a low voice, "Have you told anyone else about this?"

"I have not told anyone else, not even the Court of Justice."

"Alright, that's the end of it. You don't need to investigate any further."

"Yes."

Chen Ping responded immediately without hesitation.

Zhang Cang nodded and said, "Let's go back."

Chen Ping bowed and hurriedly took his leave.

In the first year of the new emperor's reign, in October, it was autumn again in Guanzhong. The autumn rain fell incessantly, and the surface of Xianyang Bridge was wet. At this moment, the pedestrians on the bridge had been dispersed.

Several craftsmen are on their way to maintain the bridge before the autumn floods arrive, in order to prevent the Xianyang Bridge from being washed away by the floodwaters.

This bridge has long been a vital passage between Xianyang and its surrounding counties, and people's lives and work are inseparable from it.

A carriage, escorted by a group of more than ten Qin soldiers, arrived at the Xianyang Bridge. At that moment, a group of craftsmen were working on the bridge or suspended below it.

The car stopped for a moment, and an elderly man got out.

This old man was none other than Prime Minister Li Si.

Li followed the prime minister, walking along the river.

The rain was light, light enough that there was no need to wear a raincoat. Li Si came to a small house on the banks of the West Wei River. This was the upper reaches of the West Wei River, and from here one could see the Xianyang Bridge downstream.

This small house has been preserved to this day. It was built by Prince Fusu when he was supervising the construction of the Xianyang Bridge. At that time, the prince lived here to supervise the construction of the bridge and stayed here for half a year until the Xianyang Bridge was completed.

Li took out a key and unlocked the door of the small house. He said, "This key was given to me by Grandpa Tian."

After saying that, the old wooden door was pushed open, and a musty smell came from inside. When the light shone in, cobwebs could be seen all over the corners of the walls.

Li Si had his men go inside to tidy up and move the items out.

Actually, there were no other objects in the room, only rolls of bamboo slips. These bamboo slips have been preserved to this day, and the ink marks on them are still relatively intact.

Li picked up a scroll and said, "This is the book my father left behind."

Li Si also picked up one of the scrolls, brushed off the dust from the bamboo slips, and saw small seal characters. He didn't know what he was talking about until he saw them, and his eyebrows twitched.

This book does not contain the doctrines of the various schools of thought, nor is it a record of bridge construction. Rather, it is Prince Fusu's evaluation of Guanzhong. He wrote that the land distribution in Guanzhong's counties was disorderly, and the population was not concentrated enough to make it difficult to exert more productivity. He said that sending scholars from Qi and Lu to Guanzhong would not do any good except to give advice on governance.

Li Si's expression grew increasingly solemn, as if in the eyes of the young master back then, the situation in Guanzhong was particularly bad.

Li, on the other hand, was engrossed in watching the ceremony, completely absorbed until the autumn rain gradually intensified.

"Young master, the rain is getting heavier. Please return to the carriage and take a look."

Li said, "Yes, I will also take all the books here with me. After I finish reading them, I will show them to my brother."

Li Si smiled and nodded, then ordered his men to take all the bamboo slips away.

Back in the carriage, listening to the sound of raindrops falling on the wooden frame, Li Si asked, "Young master, what are you looking for with these books?"

Li said, "When Father was teaching my elder brother, he read a book and said it was very important, but it can't be found now. However, he said we could go to the places where Father used to travel, where books were left behind, and maybe we could find it there."

(End of this chapter)