The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 312 Climbing the Great Wall

When Fan Zeng saw Xiang Yu again, the young man was even darker-skinned and had some sunburn.

Xiang Yu placed a piece of cloth in front of Fan Zeng and said, "This is a letter from Huan Chu."

Fan Zeng had a young boy apply medicine to Xiang Yu's sunburn, and then he opened the cloth to look at the letter. The letter described Huan Chu's life of hard labor on the border this year, as well as the whereabouts of many former Chu nobles who had been exiled to the border for hard labor.

After reading the letter, Fan Zeng placed it in front of Xiang Yu and instructed him, "You shall handle this matter."

Seeing that Xiang Yu still didn't understand, Fan Zeng realized that Xiang Yu wasn't actually that clever. He sighed and said, "I don't know where he found the ink and wrote this letter. I suppose he remembered the whereabouts of those former Chu nobles who had suffered hardship."

"After keeping them in his heart, he wrote them down. On such a small piece of coarse cloth, he wrote densely packed words. I wonder how carefully he wrote them. What do you think Huan Chu wrote down about these old nobles of Chu?"

Xiang Yu remained silent.

Fan Zeng said, “Although Qin has unified the world, the new emperor allows the culture of Chu to be preserved. They allow me to teach Chu studies here. Although our Chu state is gone and the nobles of Chu are gone, the Chu people are still here. The Chu people of the future will be Qin people, but their ancestors will still be Chu people.”

“Take this piece of cloth and go find those Chu people who were exiled to hard labor and then released. Escort them home. For those who have lost their homes, help them rebuild. They may still hate Xiang Liang, but whether you, Xiang Yu, want to make amends for the consequences left by Xiang Liang is also up to you.”

Xiang Yu took the cloth, bowed, and said, "Xiang Ji understands."

Fan Zeng nodded knowingly.

That night, Xiang Yu rewrote the letter that Huan Chu had left behind, noting down the whereabouts of everyone.

The following day, Xiang Yu left Guanzhong to find the Chu nobles who had been scattered in various places. Whether he wanted to apologize or bring them back to Chu, it was up to Xiang Yu.

Every morning, Fan Zeng would sit in front of Tongguan City.

Lang came to teach and saw the old gentleman sitting in front of the city gate, so he sat down and asked, "Where is Xiang Ji?"

Fan Zeng took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, and replied, "He's gone, and he'll never come back."

Lang said, "It's such a pity, I don't even know what Xiang Ji looks like."

Fan Zeng continued, "You knew he had entered the city all along, yet you let it go until now. Did you bribe the prefect here long ago?"

“Sir, I did not bribe the prefect here; this was arranged by the prefect.”

Fan Zeng was speechless again. For some reason, when faced with the cunning Master Lang, he missed the simple-minded Xiang Yu.

However, it seems unlikely that Xiang Yu will ever return.

Lang said, "The new policies issued by the new emperor have been in effect for three months, and they are being implemented very well in all the counties of Guanzhong. Look at how many people can read now?"

Fan Zeng glanced at him and said, "Well, if people support the new emperor, they will naturally support his decrees."

Lang said, “Our emperor often said that one should love oneself first, then love others, and then love all people in the world. Reading and learning to read is to strengthen oneself, and strengthening oneself is also a way of loving oneself.”

Fan Zeng sneered, "Heh, your emperor doesn't like Xunzi, but loves reading Mozi."

"Old sir, you're wrong again!"

Lang's tone rose a few decibels.

Fan Zeng, annoyed, stroked his beard with one hand and said, "Why aren't you going to teach? You're driving this old man crazy."

Lang went to teach, and Fan Zeng's surroundings became quiet again, with only occasional voices coming from the city gate of Tongguan.

Until the sunlight shone on the entire Tongguan city, Fan Zeng, sitting outside the city wall, heard the sound of reading aloud.

Even if he appeared relaxed in front of Lang or others, Fan Zeng, living in Guanzhong, still felt out of place here.

Fan Zeng had always thought that Qin was no different from the other six states before. Only after visiting in person did he understand why people loved this emperor so much.

Hearing the clear voices of students reading aloud in the city, even the passing vendors stopped hawking their wares and sat quietly to the side, waiting for customers to come and buy food.

It was probably only because everything around him was beautiful that Fan Zeng himself was so different from this warm Guanzhong region.

I'm getting old, and I hardly recognize this world anymore. The worldly views here are different from what Fan Zeng knew before.

The other side of Weinan.

In Jingye County, Zhang Han and Shusun Tong were still worried about the land needed to build a workshop for brewing soy sauce. The beans needed to be dried, which required a lot of land to dry them, and this drying process would continue from early autumn until late autumn.

The counties have already received their first batch of beans, and the counties are soon overflowing with beans. With so many beans, they don't know what to do with them.

Just when everyone was troubled by this.

The young master had people dry the beans on the rooftops of each house and spread burlap sacks on the uneven ground.

Lang then said, "Young master, many more beans will be sent from various counties. Now that we've arranged these, what should we do with the rest?"

"No, we won't accommodate them." Li said, "We only accept the dried beans, not the uncooked ones. We'll use their land to dry the beans for us."

Lang asked, "What if each household wants to raise their price?"

Li said, "This year's soybean harvest is abundant. Most counties can't even store all the soybeans in their warehouses. The price of soybeans will only go down, not up. As for the land tax we have to pay them, we can use the soybeans we collect to offset it. After going back and forth, we will still have a surplus."

Zhang Han looked at the young master from afar and said in a low voice, "This young master is becoming more and more like the new emperor." Shusun Tong said, "The young master has been resourceful since childhood."

After speaking, Shusun Tong looked Zhang Han up and down, seemingly with disdain.

After the immediate problem was solved, Li had a platform built at the county crossroads for collecting beans.

Busy until dusk, the afterglow of the setting sun spread across the entire Guanzhong Plain, and the fiery red sunlight shone on Li's face.

Li is holding a piece of paper.

Shusun Tong asked, "What did the eldest son say in his letter?"

Li handed the letter to the old master and explained, "My brother has walked from the easternmost end of the Great Wall to Wushaoling. He said he also wants to go to the Hexi Corridor and see Mazong Mountain, the westernmost point of the Qin Dynasty."

Shusun Tong said in a low voice, "How long is this Great Wall? It took this child a year to walk on it."

Li looked north and said, "I will also go and walk along the Great Wall."

The vitality that the young master displayed made Shusun Tong particularly envious. This was youthful spirit, a kind of courage that others could do, he was sure he could do too.

This young master still greatly admired his elder brother.

Because the eldest son Heng was able to lead several hundred men and charge into the Donghu royal court with Zhang Jing, killing all the Donghu Xiongnu people.

The rites say: "A good man should climb the Great Wall, look north to the Xiongnu, guard the frontier, and protect his country."

Hearing the young master's words, Shusun Tong fell silent. This time, he remained silent for a long time. The children were getting older and more sensible year by year.

As they grew up, Shusun Tong truly felt himself growing older year by year.

That night, Li told Shusun Tongdao, "Master Fusheng of Tongguan has accepted a disciple."

Fu Sheng was a scholar who entered Qin with Shusun Tong. In recent years, he has stayed in Tongguan City to compile books as his own responsibility. Most of the books on the various schools of thought that are now being sent to various places were compiled by Mr. Fu Sheng.

"Who did you take as your disciple?"

“He is my good friend, Chao Cuo.”

Shusun Tong shook his head and said, "I've never heard of this person. What has he accomplished?"

Li replied, "Chao Cuo is well-versed in the strategies of Lord Shang and knowledgeable in the classics of various schools of thought."

Shusun Tong chuckled and said, "Fu Sheng does have a successor. He's already so old, how can he still have the energy to teach disciples?"

Li then said, "Teacher isn't old either. When I grow up, I'll have my children taught by you."

Upon hearing this, Shusun Tong chuckled and said, "Now that I've taught you, I won't teach you anymore."

He greeted her with a pleading expression.

Shusun Tong shook his head again, saying, "I won't teach anymore, I won't teach anymore..."

The following day, news of Prince Heng of Qin's journey across the Great Wall spread throughout Tongguan City. After all, among his peers at that time, Prince Heng and Zhang Jing were the best of the best.

The two men's every word and action in Tongguan back then attracted much attention. Now, two years later, news of them has once again reached Tongguan, naturally causing a sensation.

It should be noted that Gongzi Heng and Zhang Jing were among the first group of students from Tongguan City to voluntarily join the army.

Moreover, Prince Heng is the emperor's son. Prince Qin dared to climb the Great Wall and travel thousands of miles. Isn't that setting an example?

I don't know who proposed it in Tongguan City, but that all students who go out of Tongguan City should climb the Great Wall.

The students began to take it upon themselves to join the army to defend the border and climb the Great Wall. Fifteen or sixteen-year-olds are always full of enthusiasm, and when they are moved by something, they often have a very firm belief.

At this moment, on Mazong Mountain in the northwest.

Heng is almost at Mazong Mountain from Wushaoling. There are large grasslands at the foot of the mountain, but looking north from here, there is a Gobi Desert in the distance, and when the wind blows, it will stir up a cloud of yellow sand.

Heng rode his camel to the foot of Mazong Mountain, dismounted, and looked at the many traces left here in the past.

Shejian personally escorted the young master to this place. As for why they came here, the young master said that his grandfather was able to personally tour the western border, and there were precedents of Qin kings making western tours throughout the ages. He also wanted to travel all over the borders of the Great Qin.

When he first heard this, Shejian was quite impressed with the young man. He had traveled all the way from the Great Wall to Wushaoling, and had indeed traversed the northern border of Qin. Moreover, this young man had fought against the Donghu and Xiongnu people and had guarded the Helan Mountains.

This young man has excellent perseverance. A young man with perseverance and determination is bound to be loved by his elders.

Heng said, "Was it here that Modu killed the Yuezhi king back then?"

Shejian replied, "Indeed, it's just a pity that I arrived too late and couldn't stop the Xiongnu king."

Heng looked westward and said, "Is this the territory of the Yuezhi people?"

Shejian said, "Not yet. Several key routes are controlled by the Western Regions states, and Han Xin, the Grand Master of the Palace, knows a great deal about these matters."

(End of this chapter)