Chapter 13: Possessing the Style of Zhang Yi from Back Then

In late October in Guanzhong, Fusu, who had not slept all night, stood by the newly constructed canal, waiting for Fu Sheng, who had taken his notes, to return to this place.

Guanzhong had likely officially entered winter; otherwise, the northwest wind would not be this cold.

Seeing the Prince frowning at the sky, Tian An, who stood to the side, said, "Prince, I fear it is going to snow."

Fusu said, "What makes you say that?"

"It has been this way in years past; when the northwest wind is at its strongest, if the sky in Guanzhong is clear, there will surely be snow tonight."

Tian An recounted his simple life experience, which he had gained from observing the weather for the better part of his life in Qin.

Another group of people came riding over, and the person arriving was none other than Meng Tian.

After the Great General Meng Wu returned, Meng Tian would appear and disappear from time to time.

Now that the Grand General Meng Wu was about to step down, this year-end... was likely the busiest time for Meng Tian.

The man arrived close by, dismounted, and saluted, saying, "Prince, the Emperor summons you."

Fusu tilted his head slightly and took a deep breath, boarded the carriage prepared by Tian An, and headed toward the west of the Wei River under the escort of Meng Tian.

The carriage moved very quickly; to keep up with Meng Tian's warhorse, Tian An drove the carriage, waving his whip again and again to make the carriage go as fast as possible.

Fusu wondered to himself, could it be that those two Confucian Doctors had shown his notes to his Imperial Father?

Upon further thought, he felt that was not right; they should not have shown them to his Imperial Father.

The notes only recorded trivial matters concerning the people's livelihood; the greatest impact would be making people think that Prince Fusu valued agriculture.

Because the carriage was moving very fast, the carriage curtains were rolled up by the wind, and between the rising and falling, one could see the scenery on both sides of the straight road.

Fusu could roughly imagine some of the experiences his Imperial Father had in his childhood, up until the various changes that occurred later in Xianyang Palace.

These experiences made his Imperial Father very cold, and in terms of family affection, he felt very distant.

Xianyang Palace was too large, and as the eldest son of the First Emperor, he was rarely able to see his Imperial Father.

Nor had he seen any of his Imperial Father's other children being particularly active in front of his Imperial Father.

And before this, after Qin Zhao Xiang Wang passed away, King Xiaowen of Qin reigned for only three days, and Qin Zhuangxiang Wang for only three years; that period was the most chaotic time for Qin, and it was also in this chaotic period that his Imperial Father, Qin Wang Zheng, ascended the throne, leading up to the present.

Perhaps his Imperial Father was a person with an extremely strong inner heart, able to send troops to conquer the Six States, depose Lv Buwei, seize great power, pacify the royal clan, and destroy the Six States; just how strong a person must one be to have such achievements.

Fusu could only guess this way, pondering in his heart how to face his Imperial Father, or the interrogation he was about to face.

When the carriage arrived at the bank of the Wei River, Fusu had already thought through both the worst-case scenario and the best arrangements.

Fusu stepped off the carriage with composure and saw the honor guard by the river.

The soldiers and horses guarding the surroundings numbered roughly several thousand, and walking toward the riverbank, one could see many palace maids and Attendants.

Tian An remained guarding the carriage, as quiet as a wooden carving standing in the wind.

Fusu followed Meng Tian all the way to the wooden fishing platform.

This fishing platform was very large, likely able to hold dozens of people.

As Fusu stepped on the wooden stairs, he could still hear the creaking sound emitted between the timbers.

Walking to his Imperial Father's side with Meng Tian, Fusu saluted and said, "Imperial Father."

Ying Zheng was eating a jujube, one hand supporting his temple, sitting sideways with his eyes closed, breathing quietly.

When the wind blew, the temples of this First Emperor would also flutter along with it.

At the very front of the fishing platform, there were more than ten Attendants holding fishing rods to fish for the First Emperor.

"I hear you love eating fish?"

"Your son has been eating less meat lately and more fish."

Ying Zheng opened his eyes slightly, glanced at this son, waved his wide sleeves, rested one hand on the armrest, and said, "You have grown taller."

"I have caused Imperial Father to worry."

Ying Zheng took a deep breath, exhaled slowly through his nose, closed his eyes again, and said in a deep voice, "Have you met those two Qin Doctors?"

"I have."

"That day..."

His words paused, Ying Zheng swallowed a mouthful of saliva and continued in a deep voice, "Chunyu Yue said in Zhangtai Palace that you are a Prince of Qin, and a Prince of Qin needs teachers to instruct him; how can you only listen to the words of Li Si's school?"

Hearing this, Fusu subconsciously looked around but did not see his teacher.

"What do you think of what Chunyu Yue said?"

"Your son's study of the writings of the various schools is still shallow, and I cannot discuss the scholarship of others. My teacher is the Prime Minister; I once thought that if Han Fei were still alive, my teacher should have been Han Fei."

Ying Zheng remained sitting with his eyes closed, his breathing steady.

Fusu continued, "But now, your son feels that as for the inheritance of a school, whether it be the Prime Minister or Han Fei, and counting further back to the elder Xunzi, a person's learning is limited, and the knowledge your son can acquire is also limited."

"Your son can manage not to listen to only one school of thought, but your son also cannot blindly follow the words of others, just like when Qin was to march east in the past."

Ying Zheng slowly opened his eyes and looked at this son.

"In the past, my ancestor, Qin Hui Wang, if he had listened to the words of the old Grand Tutor, kept the old lands, and followed the old systems without implementing the laws of Shang Yang, then where would the subsequent Qin be, and where would the Great Qin of today be?"

The words were spoken with force; Ying Zheng was actually unable to respond for a moment.

Seeing that his Imperial Father's expression was as usual, Fusu could only bow and salute.

The Grand General Meng Wu on the side sighed secretly; what the Prince said was exactly what the First Emperor thought. Everyone said that Qin had conquered such a vast world, but as for how to govern this world, everyone wanted to have their say, and after hearing too much, one became annoyed.

Now, what the Prince said had spoken directly to the First Emperor's heart. I fear that from now on, whoever Prince Fusu wanted to study with, or which school of the various masters he wanted to study, the First Emperor would no longer inquire about it.

Yes, what else was there to inquire about? This Great Qin Prince was so wise, capable of making choices and distinguishing right from wrong; that was enough.

After this year, this Prince would be sixteen years old.

Ying Zheng said, "You should have taken Zhang Yi as your teacher, but it is a pity you are a hundred years too late."

Everyone on the fishing platform heard the First Emperor's words; the First Emperor was saying that Prince Fusu's defense had much of the style of Zhang Yi from back then.

Taking another look at this son, Ying Zheng said in a deep voice, "No need to salute."

Only then did Fusu lower his hands and ask, "Imperial Father, did Zhang Yi really beat Huizi back then?"

Hearing this, Meng Wu smiled knowingly.

Ying Zheng glanced at Meng Wu, who had almost laughed out loud, and still keeping a straight face, said in a deep voice, "Back then, Zhang Yi almost beat Huizi to death."

Fusu nodded in understanding.

It was just a casual question, because what was recorded in the books at Xianyang Palace deviated from his own understanding.

Ying Zheng gazed at the West Wei River before him and said in a low voice, "I intend to build a bridge over this West Wei River. Li Si said he could arrange it. Later, I asked him if my son could handle this task. Li Si originally wanted you to meet more of the famous scholars from the Six States, but I thought of the river canals you built, which were quite good, so this bridge shall be built by you as well."

Fusu looked up; the location here was likely the site of the Xianyang Bridge in later generations, but Fusu also remembered that the West Wei River should be very wide. Perhaps the riverbed of the Yellow River at present was not as high as it would be in later generations.

"This son accepts the order."

"Mm, you may return."

Fusu bowed in salute once more, took the token handed over by Grand General Meng Wu, and walked down from the fishing platform.

The token in his hand was made of bronze, with the two characters for "Grand Master of the Carriage" inscribed upon it.

Shouldn't the Grand Master of the Carriage be in charge of horse administration?

Fusu frowned as he walked to his carriage, holding the token in silence for a long time.

The feeling of having one's thoughts swayed by others was not good, especially when it came to who was teaching him; Fusu, in front of the First Emperor, was long past being the Fusu of before.

As for his direction of study, Fusu had already been learning for many years—or rather, for many, many years. The breadth of the knowledge he had acquired and the sheer number of points were so vast that even he himself could not count them.

Perhaps only when encountering certain problems one day would he recall that he had learned this knowledge point before, then pick up what he had learned, verify it again, and re-practice the relevant knowledge; that was generally how it went.

Seeing that the Prince's complexion was not good, Tian An wondered, could it be that the conversation with the First Emperor was unpleasant?

He hurriedly bowed, assuming a posture of awaiting instructions.

In fact, there was nothing unpleasant about this conversation; it should have been very pleasant indeed.

He had even obtained the major project of building the Xianyang Bridge over the West Wei River.

"Return to the palace."

Hearing the Prince's words from inside the carriage, Tian An hurriedly sat back on the carriage shaft and swung the horse whip to drive.

For several days in a row, Fusu did not see Li You or Wang Bi again, and as for Fu Sheng and Shusun Tong, they were nowhere to be seen; the old gentlemen had likely forgotten that they had borrowed a volume of the Classic of History from Prince Fusu and had yet to return it.

This Great Qin remained very busy. Fusu had not seen his teacher for a long time; ever since the disasters began after the autumn rains this year, his teacher had not come to Gaoquan Palace again.

And that Grand General Wang Jian had still not returned to Guanzhong.

The Emperor seemed to have an attitude of not caring about the Grand General, just short of saying outright, "Do you love to return or not?"

Heh, of course the Emperor would not say that.

If Grand General Wang Jian were to truly return, he would certainly be welcomed with great ceremony.

The construction work for the Xianyang Bridge could not just be built on a whim; there was neither manpower nor money and grain.

The two characters for "Grand Master of the Carriage" engraved on the token bestowed by the Emperor were those belonging only to the Grand Master of the Carriage, one of the Nine Ministers.

"Prince, the Emperor has not yet decided on the candidate for the Grand Master of the Carriage."

Fusu looked at the tall bookshelves before him, wondering if there were many books on horse administration in Xianyang Palace.

With a thousand things to attend to, he still had to take it one step at a time. Fusu placed the token to the side and picked up a Bamboo Slip; it recorded the grain previously borrowed from various families.

Back when he was supporting three thousand household servants, the grain had been borrowed from Meng Tian and the others. Fusu wrote the amount of grain to be returned on two Bamboo Slips and ordered, "Return the grain to each family."

Tian An took the Bamboo Slips and hurried away to have people carry out the task.

After spending this half-year together, Fusu had also roughly understood the character of these few people around him.

They had all grown up in Guanzhong, but everyone's experiences were different.

Li You had transported many dead bodies in Hedong; this was likely the most indelible memory of his life.

As for Wang Bi, it went without saying; he was the same age as Meng Tian and equally loyal, but his personality was more forthright, and he spoke with a sense of proportion despite his boldness.

Wang Bi held a dismissive attitude toward life and death, mostly because he had been fighting on the battlefield with the Qin Army for years since he was Li You's age.

The things Li You had experienced were nothing to Wang Bi.

When Li You wept after drinking, recalling the plague in Hedong, Wang Bi would instead laugh it off.

Wang Bi was first and foremost a general of the Qin Army—the Qin Army was cruel and heartless—and only then was he Li You's elder brother or big brother.

The reason for this was that their respective fathers were, one, a Great General of Qin, and the other, the Prime Minister of Qin.

It was only natural for the descendants of both to move around Prince Fusu.

Wang Bi had killed many rebels in Nanjun, and after killing people, he could still happily bring back wine to drink heartily.

That was why Li You would say Wang Bi was cold and heartless after getting drunk.

Having mixed in the army, Wang Bi's character and way of dealing with the world had become typical of the Qin Army; whatever Wang Bi was like, the Qin Army was like.

If you want to know what a general of Qin is like, just go look at Wang Bi.

Fusu felt that Li You was, after all, his peer; the age of fifteen or sixteen was the age that valued emotions the most and was the most pure.

Therefore, he naturally became close with Li You; after all, peers... are the easiest to become heart-to-heart friends with.

That night, the drunken Li You was indeed speaking heart-to-heart.

It was hard to imagine that a person like the Prime Minister would have such a pure and kind child.

Zhang Han was also a very simple person; he was even simpler than Li You. If he was asked to do something, he would focus on doing it and complete it on time and in full.

Five days ago, Tian An said it was about to snow in Guanzhong, but the snow never came.

It was not until the sixth day that Guanzhong in winter finally welcomed its first snow.

The people of Qin all said that the current Prince was wise and virtuous; the Prince's fields had a bountiful harvest, and not only were the taxes paid, but he also intended to take sixty percent of the remaining grain to offer to the Qin Army.

Some said the Prince wanted every soldier in the Qin Army to be well-fed, because Prince Fusu was kind-hearted and wise.

Others said the Prince brought out the surplus grain to show loyalty to the First Emperor; after all, Prince Fusu's Shangyan Mountain had three thousand household servants and two thousand prisoners, and with such a force, if the Prince were to hoard grain, someone would report him for treason. Therefore, some said Prince Fusu's offering of grain to the Qin Army was an extremely brilliant move.

Even, some said Prince Fusu was buying people's hearts.

However, under the control of Prime Minister Li Si, these discussions about Prince Fusu quickly vanished from all public places in Xianyang City.

After the snow, Shangyan Mountain was covered in white, looking very beautiful.

This year in Xianyang, one could say it was busy, yet one could also say it was not; after the start of winter, the entire Guanzhong region became much quieter, and on the vast Guanzhong Plain, few people walked about, as most were spending the winter at home.

Shangyan Mountain was briefly forgotten by people again, and Fusu quite enjoyed this feeling of being forgotten, as he could build a small library at the foot of Shangyan Mountain and construct a pond for raising fish.

Then, by moving all the books from Xianyang Palace here, he would be able to read all the time, and in his leisure, eat fish; such a life would be enough.

If this winter could be spent just like this, that would be wonderful.

But that was merely an "if"...

Today, Fusu had originally planned to read books for the entire day and then return to the palace at nightfall, but as luck would have it... someone disturbed his mood.

Looking at Li You, whose eye bags were dark, Fusu once thought that perhaps this poor child had developed some kind of psychological problem.

(End of this chapter)