The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 315 The Early Snow

Ying Zheng had three bronze pots brought in; these three pots were hot pots.

Each person had their own table and a copper pot, and they sat down to eat.

Inside the main hall of the imperial palace, the broth in the hot pot was boiling. This method of scalding food in the broth was indeed quite interesting.

Li Si thoroughly enjoyed the meal.

Wang Ben took the wine bowl, offered a toast, and then drank it all in one gulp, feeling quite pleased with himself.

Seeing this, Li Si smiled and offered Wang Ben another bowl.

There were no beautiful women dancing inside the hall, but there were chimes ringing.

The three of them were having a great time, and Wang Ben let out another long, satisfying breath of alcohol.

When Ying Zheng personally came to Wang Ben's side, he personally poured him wine.

As Wang Ben watched the emperor hold the wine pot and the wine flow into the bowl, his vision began to blur until tears fell from his eyes.

Since Wang Jian returned from his campaign against the State of Chu, the entire Wang family has lived in extreme caution.

Even now, seeing this bowl of wine in front of me...

Ying Zheng said, "Drink it."

Wang Ben picked up the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp. This life has been worth it, truly worth it...

Li Si watched with a smile as he said, "Drink up."

In another sense, it actually means "enough."

Your Wang family has done enough for the Qin royal family; you can rest easy from now on.

Ying Zheng then spoke with Li Si about Langya County and a man named Xu Fu.

While they were still discussing whether they could really find the immortal, Li Si felt that regardless of whether they found the immortal, Xu Fu would definitely not return.

Li Si also provided evidence that the ships must have broken down once they reached overseas.

Even when they reached overseas islands, ship repair was a problem, as was food supplies, not to mention winning hearts and minds.

Xu Fu would not return unless he was extremely determined to die in Langya County.

Wang Ben chuckled and said, "If the fairy island had beautiful women and fine wine, I wouldn't want to come back."

Ying Zheng also laughed.

Li Si smiled and said, "We also need an endless supply of meat and grain."

Wang Ben said, "That's right."

Laughter filled the main hall of the palace, and even the guards standing outside smiled.

As they were talking, it started snowing heavily outside, and snowflakes drifted into the main hall with the wind. A thin layer of snow had already accumulated under the eaves in front of the hall.

It's still autumn, but the snow in Guanzhong is getting heavier and heavier.

This year's snow came early; the persimmons were still hanging on the branches when they were hit by the snow.

In the distant villages, people were calling their children back from playing outside and bringing in the grains or dates that had been drying outside.

People returned home, still complaining that winter had come so early this year.

Zhang Cang, the Junior Steward, stood in front of the bronze armillary sphere, holding an abacus in his hand, repeatedly calculating and recording his findings.

Writing the season on the paper, Zhang Cang said in a low voice, "How can there be such heavy snow before the White Dew season?"

"Prefect Zhang, this was sent by the Imperial Academy."

Zhang Cang took a scroll from the clerk behind him and looked at its contents. It was actually a mathematical problem about taxation.

Looking at the solution to the numerology problem, Zhang Cang asked, "Who solved this?"

"It was a teacher at the Imperial Academy named Liu Fei."

"Master?" "Yes."

Liu Fei was a person with a talent for numerology, but in Zhang Cang's opinion, he was not particularly amazing.

The heavy autumn snow lasted for three days before stopping, and all the counties were worried about the early snowfall this year, but all they could do was worry, since no one knows what the weather is like.

In the following days, the Guanzhong Plain returned to sunny skies.

After the snow, Guanzhong felt like a crisp autumn day.

Zhang Cang came to Zhangtai Palace again and handed over a scroll, saying, "These are the newly designated fields this year."

Looking at the map, Fusu said, "Let's keep the land for the sacrificial ceremony in Shanglin Garden, and distribute the rest of the land to the people of the surrounding counties."

Zhang Cang said, "Your subject obeys."

Although this land was left by the Qin royal family, few Qin kings throughout history personally cultivated it.

Fusu felt that distributing these hundreds of acres of land to the county residents would increase tax revenue, so why not?

Zhang Cang hurriedly walked out of Zhangtai Palace.

The Prime Minister's residence remains the same as before, with the Nine Ministers busy at work and a constant stream of clerks coming and going.

However, the seat at the very head of the table has always been empty; it was the seat where the prime minister once sat.

The other empty seat was where Prince Fusu had sat before. After ascending the throne, the emperor naturally sat in Zhangtai Palace.

If the emperor himself came to the Prime Minister's residence, not to mention the nine ministers, even the lower-ranking officials would be terrified.

If the emperor himself came to the prime minister's residence, does it mean that the Qin Dynasty is about to perish?

Cheng Miao ate a pancake, looked at the document in front of him, and wrote on it with a pen in one hand.

Upon seeing that it was Zhang Cang, Cheng Miao asked, "How did it go?"

"I want to go to Shanglin Garden in person."

"What's the matter?"

Zhang Cang took his cloak and explained, "The emperor has decreed that only the land for sacrificial rites in Shanglin Garden be preserved, and the rest of the land be distributed to the people of each county."

Cheng Miao put down his pen and said, "I wonder if we will be able to take a day off after the winter solstice this year?"

The Prime Minister's office always has endless tasks to complete each year.

After Zhang Cang left, Cheng Miao remained seated, reviewing documents.

As night fell, candlesticks were lit, and Cheng Miao used the candlelight to read the documents.

The night wind was still howling over Xianyang City when he heard voices outside. Cheng Miao looked up and saw Tian An. He bowed and said, "Greetings, Grand Attendant."

Tian An took out a bowl of noodles from the food box. The noodles were still steaming hot and sprinkled with scallions and mutton. "This is for you. The emperor has ordered that no matter how busy you are, you must eat well."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Miao bowed towards Zhangtai Palace and said, "Your subject obeys."

Tian An left, and Cheng Miao looked at the bowl of noodles in front of him, feeling that after all these years, the young master was still the same as before and now.

After Cheng Miao finished eating the noodles and drinking the soup, he felt a warmth spreading from his internal organs to his entire body.

After finishing reviewing the last volume of documents and neatly arranging them, Cheng Miao walked to the Prime Minister's residence, closed the heavy door, and went home in the cold wind.

In the second year of the new emperor's reign, when winter officially arrived in Guanzhong, Prince Heng was still inspecting various counties with Chen Ping.

The more people there are in Guanzhong, the more county officials there are, and the more arduous the work of censors like Chen Ping becomes. Today, as soon as he arrived in Lantian County, some county residents came forward to report how unfair their county magistrate was in his work. An old woman cried and pleaded with the censor to uphold justice.

Gongzi Heng noticed that whenever Chen Ping encountered such a situation, he would listen carefully to the other party's account, then have someone write it down before personally going to the county government to inquire.

In Chen Ping's words, if he, as the censor, did not take action, these people would report to Xianyang.

Now that Chen Ping is helping these county magistrates handle these miscellaneous matters, he is doing them a favor, and they should thank this imperial censor properly.

There's no way to be so grateful. Gongzi Heng has learned shamelessness from Chen Ping once again.

(End of this chapter)