Chapter 3: Li Si, Who Must Make Progress

It has been two months since my great-grandmother passed away, and I have not seen my father, the Emperor, for two months either.

My father is very busy... busy with governing the world, unifying the Six States, abolishing the Feudal System, and undertaking this unprecedented, earth-shattering great cause.

Over the past decade or so, Great Qin has annexed the Six States; now, Great Qin must govern the world and face all sorts of problems never encountered before.

Another month has passed, and the northwest wind remains; the bustling Xianyang City looks like a black-gray city as a whole, with most people wearing black-gray clothes, and even the ground and rooftops are primarily black-gray.

Having observed mourning for two months, Fusu received permission from his father, the Emperor, to leave the palace and move about.

Going out at this time of year, one can see people digging for wild vegetables that have just sprouted in the fields, and others busy turning the soil in the fields in preparation for planting.

The thirty-something-year-old Meng Tian stood to the side, watching Prince Fusu step down from his carriage to converse with a few idle farmers.

The Prince was chatting very happily with this farmer, while only Meng Tian stood to the side with a straight face, vigilant of the surroundings and protecting the Prince's safety.

Fusu used a Bamboo Slip to trade for some millet with the old farmer before him, and also asked for some experience in growing crops.

A minor official ran over quickly, arrived before the team escorting Prince Fusu, and handed over a scroll of the Classic of History.

Not letting this minor official get close, Meng Tian personally brought the scroll over, "Prince, this was sent by the Commandant of Justice, Li Si."

Seeing that the old farmer had walked far away, Fusu picked up the scroll and read it; this scroll detailed the current progress in the imperial court, such as the implementation of the County System and how to redistribute land.

Li Si is a very enterprising person; perhaps... he might also be a person who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

As a teacher to a Prince of Qin, Li Si would not let any opportunity for progress slip by, and every time there was a government decree that needed to be implemented, he would write an extra copy and send it to the Prince.

The strategies recorded in the scroll were not much different from the many measures Shang Yang had taken for Qin's legalist reforms back then; they were all about involving the entire population of Qin in the construction of the state.

There were, however, two or three sentences mentioning the Great Wall, regarding the repair of the Great Wall to the north of Yan and Zhao.

In the Guanzhong region, where it was still cold despite the arrival of spring, a gust of northwest wind whistled past, blowing people's robes until they rustled.

Fusu gazed at the vast Guanzhong Plain; in this strictly hierarchical Guanzhong, every plot of land had someone farming it. He was lost in thought for a moment looking at the beautiful scenery, and it was not until the sunset fell at the end of the Yellow River that Fusu returned to Xianyang Palace.

After nightfall, Fusu ate a bowl of millet rice, and after filling his stomach, he intended to take a short nap.

In truth, I am still not familiar with Meng Tian, and I have only had a few conversations with Li Si; I still have not truly integrated into this era, nor have I completely become a part of this era.

But what else can I do? Be cautious in speech and action, learn slowly, and then become a true Qin person, become Prince Fusu of Great Qin.

And then build up the Great Northwest; as long as I achieve something, it will be worth this status and responsibility.

In his sleep, Fusu dreamed again of the forest of reinforced concrete; at that time, he was still a university student named Zhao Qin, walking in the noisy corridor of an apartment building, and while walking in the corridor, he could hear the troubles of each household through their doors, or the quarrels between husbands and wives, or even the laughter of children.

Following the corridor, he arrived at the old professor's home.

As soon as he sat down, the tipsy old professor spoke up.

He said: "Little Zhao, I saw a Terracotta Warrior among the artifacts from the old site of Xianyang City. That Terracotta Warrior does not look like an ordinary Qin soldier. I was the first to see it unearthed, and the first to see what it looked like before it was oxidized; it looks very much like you."

"Professor Chen, you've had too much to drink."

The old professor continued: "Little Zhao, I have read your thesis; the history of the Feudal System you analyzed is still not profound enough, not sharp enough."

Zhao Qin poured more wine for this old professor and asked in return: "Isn't it bad to be too sharp?"

"Heh heh..." Professor Chen snorted coldly: "Why did the abolition of the Feudal System starting from Qin cause the old nobility of the Six States to resist? That is because the First Emperor wanted to abolish the Feudal System, wanted to select officials from the common people, and wanted to redistribute land. In doing so, the First Emperor had already made an enemy of all the middle-class people and above among the old nobility of the Six States."

Professor Chen let out a hiccup from the alcohol and continued: "These people who already possessed the status of old nobility and possessed the means of production—once they lost all of this, they would fight you to the death."

Zhao Qin wiped the sweat from his forehead; after the alcohol hit him, he seemed to feel a bit hot.

"Qin, it's such a pity..."

Then just... be demoted to Shangjun to supervise Meng Tian's army in building the Great Wall; there are three hundred thousand border troops there, and with the military power of these three hundred thousand troops, even conquering the world again would be enough.

Zhao Qin watched the old professor's hand land on his shoulder, listening to his words slowly falling into his ears.

"You kid, you have to know that getting the masses to participate in the construction of the state is a very difficult thing in the feudal era. You have to know that rather than watching the world fall into chaos, it is better to be a person who overturns the world."

"Since you want to be a person who can sit down and eat at the table, you must even more be a person who can flip the table. Acting hesitantly is not the style of us Qin people... rather than waiting for the old nobility of the Six States to rebel, it is better to wipe out the nobility of the Six States and let Shang Yang laugh wildly in hell."

Professor Chen's voice became increasingly blurred, and the environment before his eyes became increasingly blurred. Feeling himself breathing air once again, he opened his eyes abruptly and found that he was still in the palace of Gaoquan Palace; the palace with its wood and brick structure was completely silent.

It turned out that the heater on the side was still burning, making him sweat; wiping away the sweat, he painfully held his forehead. Fusu could no longer remember if Professor Chen had really said to let Shang Yang laugh wildly in hell before he got drunk that day; such words...

"Prince, the Commandant of Justice has sent someone to deliver a scroll."

Only then did Fusu let his expression return to calm; he let out a breath and nodded, saying: "Bring it here."

After their last conversation, Li Si rarely came to Gaoquan Palace to move about, likely to avoid suspicion.

Every day, he would have people send over various matters of state.

Fusu, with an attitude of learning, looked at Li Si's explanations for every government decree; the first thing to do was to establish the Three Councillors and Nine Ministers, the implication being that Wang Wan, as Prime Minister, had truly reached his end.

(End of this chapter)