Chapter 11: The Prince's Reflection

This autumn, the autumn rain in Western China fell endlessly; neither on Shangyan Mountain nor below it had the Prince's residence been built yet, and after two people died beside the vertical shaft currently being excavated, this place seemed even quieter.

Everyone just kept their heads down and worked, and not a single person dared to speak loudly.

A small pavilion had been built on Shangyan Mountain, and the Prince often came here; just like today, the autumn rain had been falling all day, and the Prince watched the hazy rainy scenery for the entire day.

Li You arrived wearing a coir raincoat and a bamboo hat, and he bowed, saying, "Prince, a letter from my father."

Fusu set his hot tea aside and took the Bamboo Slip to read it carefully.

Li You's expression was somewhat troubled, and he said in a low voice, "My father says that if the Prince does not like these prisoners, they can be sent to repair the Great Wall in the Yan region."

The matter written by the teacher in the letter was indeed only this one thing.

Fusu said, "Sit for a while."

Seeing that the Prince did not reply immediately, Li You sat down at once upon hearing this and said, "Is the Prince troubled by something?"

The pottery pot to the side was still on the clay stove, the water had boiled, and one could still hear the sound of the boiling water rolling inside the pot.

Fusu took some tea leaves from a cloth bag and poured them into a pottery bowl.

Tian An immediately picked up the water pot and poured a bowl of boiling water, and Fusu added, "Let it cool for a while before drinking."

Li You said, "Thank you, Prince, for the gift."

The Qin people mostly drank wine, and brewing tea was likely something only scholars and famous gentlemen in the Qi and Lu regions would do.

Li You had never been out of Guanzhong, but he had generally heard of it.

Fusu explained, "This was offered as tribute from various places in Bashu."

Tian An explained, "It was the Prince who asked this old servant to look for it; I had heard of it before, and since someone happened to offer it as tribute this year, it was given to the Prince."

After the tea cooled a little, Li You drank it in one gulp and let out a long breath.

Fusu added, "Actually, it is quite good that Zhang Han beat those two ringleading fugitives to death; look at how these people are working more diligently than before now. If those two fugitives had been released, it would have caused trouble in this newly developing Shangshan Township, but killing them will make this place more orderly."

"People must die with value; since they wanted to escape, it is better that they died, as it is more valuable for the progress of excavating the canal, is it not?"

Li You nodded and said, "What the Prince says is absolutely correct."

Not far away, there was some dispute; it was likely some people wanting to pay respects to the Prince but being blocked by the guards. Seeing that the Prince was still talking with Li You, Tian An went over to inquire.

Inside the pavilion, the drizzling autumn rain would drift into the pavilion a little.

Fusu said, "Zhang Han is, after all, from a military background; Zhang Han governs people as if he were governing an army—without rules, there will be chaos. He wants to establish rules; even in the army, those who desert will disturb the morale of the troops, and they must be killed to stabilize the army's heart."

Li You nodded again.

This man Zhang Han was very simple, and his actions and words were also very plain; he was crystal clear about who should be killed and who should be rewarded.

Therefore, the entire Shangyan Mountain was like being in the army; daily life had strict rules.

A mile away from the pavilion was the small path up the mountain, which was paved with gravel. Seeing that the visitor was the court Doctor Chunyu Yue, Tian An bowed and said, "Are you Doctors here to see the Prince?"

"We are naturally here to pay respects to the Prince."

Tian An looked back at the pavilion, then faced the group and said, "The Prince is currently reflecting on himself; he is not seeing guests today."

Chunyu Yue looked at the pavilion with some unwillingness and then left.

Inside the pavilion, Fusu said, "Tell the teacher that everything here is well."

Li You nodded and bowed.

Fusu was indeed reflecting, feeling that he should get to know what kind of people the people of this era were.

This place became quiet again, and no one knew what the Prince was thinking at this moment; the Prince just looked into the distance without speaking.

The excavation of Shangyan Mountain continued; the three thousand household servants were the most loyal, and these three thousand servants were divided into various squad leaders, managing the two thousand prisoners.

Whatever the army was like, this place was likely the same, perhaps even more so than the army.

The autumn rain fell for another three days; the longer this autumn rain in Western China fell, the stronger the cold wind from the northwest became, and the weather grew colder.

Fusu dressed more thickly than usual and personally inspected the canal after it had been repaired.

The Minister of the Imperial Treasury, Wang Bi, had been very busy these days, as this autumn rain in Western China had caused flash floods; several places in Hedong were flooded, and some unrest had broken out in Nanjun, so the Qin Army was dispatched to suppress it.

Therefore, the court and the military were very busy.

It could not be said that the Minister of the Imperial Treasury, Wang Bi, was incompetent, but rather that he was unable to be in two places at once.

Because of this autumn rain, there were disasters to varying degrees throughout Guanzhong; the servants under Shangyan Mountain were very nervous, and they arranged for people to guard the granaries day and night, holding sticks at every intersection.

The Old Qin People standing at the intersections stared with unfriendly eyes at every passerby on the road.

Being so nervous was also because of this autumn rain; the autumn rain watered the land of Guanzhong, bringing water, but also bringing bad things.

The war had only ended half a year ago, and people had just walked out of the chaos of war; people used their past experience to judge the current situation.

Whether before or after the war, or when disasters occurred, these were always the times when bandits and mountain thieves were most numerous.

Whenever this time came, the first thing every family thought of was protecting their food and protecting their own families.

When it was time for a meal, Fusu walked past the place where the servants lived, watching these servants gathered in twos and threes eating their food.

Their living quarters were not together with those of the prisoners.

And the vast majority of these servants had already started families; it should have been that way when Lv Buwei was still around, their families had been like this for generations, and now these people were the same.

Looking at these servants, Fusu could at least find some warmth in this cold era.

A single autumn rain had caused disasters in so many places; for the First Emperor, who was carrying out centralized rule, this was a piece of news as bad as it could get.

Fusu could even imagine his Imperial Father, because of this matter, perhaps pointing at the new team of the Three Councillors and Nine Ministers in Zhangtai Palace and cursing them roundly.

This era was still dominated by agriculture, and whenever a disaster occurred, food was the most precious thing.

And the agriculture of this era was extremely fragile; just a single, overly long autumn rain would cause disasters of varying sizes in various places.

The level of agriculture in this era appeared very fragile in the face of disaster.

This Great Qin was not so beautiful either.

Fusu saw carts of grain being transported out of Xianyang City, and teams of troops leaving Guanzhong.

The court was busy beyond measure, and the Qin Army and officials left Guanzhong one after another, rushing to various places.

Li You was transferred to Hedong, and Wang Bi had also not been seen for a long time.

And this Shangyan Mountain was briefly forgotten by them.

Two months later, in the deep autumn season, it was about to enter winter, and in the morning, there was still frost on the ground.

Fusu was eating breakfast; the old men who used to hold sticks and guard the entrance to the village were no longer there, and only then did he feel that the disaster of the autumn rains had passed.

Recently, the reports in the court mostly spoke of where some people had died, in what place rebellions and chaos were quelled and who was killed, and how the forces of the old Six States were stirring up trouble and were suppressed by the Qin Army.

Seeing that the Prince liked to eat celery, Zhang Han also picked up some celery, put it into an earthenware pot to boil, then fished it out to eat, chewing it in his mouth.

Zhang Han secretly had an idea in his heart: in the future, he would plant the mountain full of celery.

When the cold wind blew, Fusu drank a mouthful of hot tea and exhaled a puff of hot air, which turned into a mist in the cold air.

Although there was no need to worry about food in winter, the people on Shangyan Mountain were now controlling their diet; as long as they were not hungry, they would not eat more, because the limited food at hand had to last until the autumn of the coming year.

Seeing the pile of files on the desk, and then looking at the Prince's melancholy expression, Tian An wanted to curse in his heart.

Looking again at Zhang Han, who was wolfing down cakes and eating celery, Tian An felt eager to try; this simpleton Zhang Han only knew how to eat and did not know how to share the Prince's worries, and he really wanted to scold Zhang Han loudly.

Because this piece of land was the Prince's private property, from the land to the population, and then calculating the food.

If the Prince had to do all these things himself, then the Prince would be busy with these matters from morning till night and could not be distracted.

The Prince had not read the Classic of History for some time.

In the past, the Prince liked to read quietly, but now, he was troubled by these matters every day.

Looking again, the Prince was actually quite keen on these matters, tirelessly calculating how much food two thousand people needed to eat every day and what the daily construction progress was.

These things should not have been handled by the Prince.

Fusu felt that people always needed to learn; starting from managing his own territory and slowly sorting out how to solve the food, clothing, housing, and transportation for two thousand people, Fusu felt this process was very interesting.

He had to ensure that two thousand people would not freeze to death, that two thousand people would not starve to death, and also maintain production order.

In this Great Qin where materials were scarce, whose family had two thousand servants?

And in this winter, no one starved to death, and no one froze to death.

Then it was enough to show that the family's governance ability was very good.

At least until now, no one on Shangyan Mountain had starved to death or frozen to death.

Half a month later, when the first snow fell in Guanzhong, Shangyan Mountain still had no changes; the houses here were still the same, and the mountains here, whether high or low, were the same.

It was just that the Longshou Canal was still being excavated, and there was an extra vertical shaft every three li, and this Longshou Canal had already been completed by one-fifth.

Fusu spent an entire autumn learning how to organize manpower and re-dividing the two thousand people, dividing them into job types and teams to more effectively excavate the Longshou Canal.

And he continued to let Zhang Han use the military's methods to supervise these prisoners.

Fusu would come here at noon every day and would not return to Xianyang City until the evening.

Today was the same as usual, and Tian An led a person to the foot of the mountain.

This person was Li You, who had not been seen for an entire autumn.

Fusu saw that he was still wearing his black official uniform, there were still many mud stains on his shoes from the mud, his complexion was sallow, and he had lost a great deal of weight.

Fusu frowned and said, "How did you become so thin after this trip to Hedong?"

The gaunt Li You sat cross-legged, took the water handed over by Tian An, and without saying a word, picked up the water pot and poured it into his mouth.

Listening to the gulping sounds of the other party, Fusu brought over a basin of cakes from the side, then handed over a bowl of pickled vegetables and some raw celery.

Li You's face was thin, and he ate the food in large mouthfuls.

Tian An brought over a hand warmer and placed it right by the table.

The pickled vegetables were made by the Prince; they were made with soybean paste, and they tasted better when spread on the cakes.

Tian An was just about to remind him that these pickled vegetables were very salty and could not be eaten too much at once.

But Li You held the earthenware bowl and swallowed a large mouthful.

Noticing that this person only frowned slightly because of the saltiness and then swallowed it, Tian An said no more.

However, Tian An also felt a bit uncomfortable in his heart; Li You was eating too much, and the food on Shangyan Mountain was rationed, and the stored grain was not much to begin with, so every extra bite eaten was one bite less.

Therefore, the residents of Shangshan Township never welcomed outside guests, and would even drive people away, killing off anyone who wanted to sponge off their food.

On the stance of protecting food, the three thousand servants and two thousand prisoners here all had a common bottom line.

The Prince's family assets were not much; besides several hundred qing of land, only these people were left.

After Li You was full, he let out a very satisfying burp.

Fusu was holding a Bamboo Slip in his hands, reading it.

First looking around, Li You saw that there was nothing left to eat, and then he said, "Prince, it has been a long time."

Fusu said, "You went to Hedong, how did you become like this?"

Li You replied, "Hedong had floods and mountain torrents."

"Mm, I heard."

"After the mountain torrents and floods, there was an epidemic there, and many, many people died."

Hearing this, Fusu finally put down the Bamboo Slip in his hand; the incoming documents had records of the situation in various places, but they were all cold words—how many people died, how much grain was used, and how many troops and horses were involved.

Li You had truly gone to the disaster area himself.

Li You's words continued; it was a place where the living did not want to live, and the dead had nowhere to be buried.

In the face of disaster, human power was very small.

Li You even buried people himself; he said the dead were very heavy, really very heavy, and could not be lifted at all.

To bury them, it required two people dragging them to throw them into the pit.

And seeing with his own eyes a person who was fine go from a healthy state to falling ill, then to being terminally ill, until they died, it was only a matter of half a month or so, and some people even lived for a shorter time.

No matter what, while he was there, Li You could not sleep well, let alone eat.

Fusu felt that it was a miracle that Li You could even return alive.

If Li You had also caught the illness, he would have been killed too.

In fact, Li You could have returned long ago; he stayed in Hedong for half a month, and only after confirming he had not caught the illness did those soldiers let him pass, and after another month of traveling, he finally returned to Guanzhong.

Li You said in a daze, his expression muddled: "Dead people are really heavy; I couldn't move them."

Fusu said: "Prepare some hot water and let him have a good wash."

Tian An nodded and ordered a few servants to make the arrangements.

After Li You washed clean and put on thick clothes, he then said: "Wang Bi, who is suppressing the rebellion in Nanjun, is no better off than I am, hehe... He is killing people, while I am saving them."

Not seen for an autumn, Li You's gaze had become much more resolute.

Fusu said: "Humans are truly insignificant."

Li You covered his face in pain and said: "Prince, I never want to move dead people again in my life."

Soon, the Prime Minister's men arrived at the foot of the mountain and took away the somewhat soul-shaken Li You.

Fusu said: "Actually, Li You is still a very good person."

Tian An said: "The Prime Minister's son is naturally extraordinary."

(End of chapter)