Chapter 32: Ideals Are Built Through Labor

It was the season of a bountiful harvest in Guanzhong, and the vast majority of the people in every county of Guanzhong were out in the fields.

Conversely, Xianyang City appeared somewhat desolate during this season, because the people had all left the city to go to the fields in the countryside to harvest grain.

Li You walked into Xianyang City with long strides; he was wearing a hemp garment stained with quite a bit of mud, barely managing to wear a pair of straw sandals, and there were brown mud spots on his feet.

Those who didn't know better would have thought this was the child of some farming family; who could have imagined that such a young man would be the son of the Prime Minister.

When Li You arrived at the gate of his home, the servants of the Prime Minister's residence did not recognize him at first, but after confirming his identity several times, they ushered him in with great respect.

Before Li You had even walked into the main hall of the residence, a servant hurried over and whispered, "Prime Minister, this..."

As he spoke, his eyes gestured toward Li You, who was walking over.

Li Si's expression was calm as he looked at a document and said, "What? Just because he changed his clothes, he is no longer my, Li Si's, son?"

The servant nodded and stepped aside.

Li You walked into the hall, his gaze scanning the surroundings.

Seeing his son standing right before him, neither offering a salute nor speaking.

Li Si raised his eyes slightly and glared.

The originally quite spirited Li You, having been glared at like this, immediately wilted quite a bit, lowering his head as he sat down to the side.

The elderly servant watched this scene, feeling much more at ease in his heart, and smiled quietly.

No matter what his son had become outside, upon returning home and being glared at by his father, he had become the way he was when he was a child again.

The current Li You was just like he was as a child; glared at by his father like this, he felt aggrieved, seemingly realizing he had made a mistake, yet not knowing where he had gone wrong.

"How is the digging of the canal coming along?"

Li You said, "Why ask such a question."

Li Si said in a deep voice, "Assist the Prince well; in these coming days, there will be military mobilization documents from Shu sent over, and someone will deliver them into your hands."

Li You nodded slowly.

Li Si said with a straight face, "Go."

After hesitating for a long time, seeing that his father still had a straight face, Li You stood up aggrieved and just left like that.

Li You's spirit and energy were indeed different from before, but in front of the Prime Minister, he was still a child, just a child with better spirit and energy.

In the past, Li You always wore silk garments, and in Xianyang City, he was as spirited as could be.

Now, Li You wore straw sandals and a coarse hemp garment, yet he still looked very spirited.

Of course, compared to back then, looking at the present.

Li You walked with long strides through Xianyang City, his gaze falling upon people wearing all sorts of clothes; although he was now wearing straw sandals, he had a feeling in his heart he had never had before—this feeling was roughly that these people had not dug earth and had not endured hardship.

But now, Li You felt that no matter how bitter the situation he encountered, he had the confidence to face it.

At the foot of Shangyan Mountain, Zhang Han was watering these mulberry saplings, with three children holding torches to the side.

Occasionally, when bitten by mosquitoes, the children would wave their torches left and right to drive the mosquitoes away.

It was almost the ninth month, yet Guanzhong was still this hot; taking advantage of the night, Zhang Han still had to water these saplings.

"General Zhang Han, it is so late, why are you still watering?"

Zhang Han looked up, seeing the visitor by the light of the torches, wiped the sweat flowing to his chin, and replied, "Several plants withered one after another this summer."

Looking at the green buds that had just grown under the firelight, Zhang Han added, "Mulberry trees that have grown leaves are not as easy to die; after raising them for another year, there will be no need to water them every day."

Li You nodded and said, "Mm, thank you for your trouble, General Zhang Han."

"It is no trouble; I just come over to take a look during my leisure time."

The village at night was exceptionally quiet, even the chickens and ducks raised in each household were lying down to rest; in this sweltering weather, only at night was there such coolness.

Zhang Han led the three children all the way into the village and added, "Once the sweltering heat passes, we must plant more radishes and celery on the mountain."

Li You nodded, "Yes, last year there was not enough to eat; this year we must plant more."

While speaking, Li You wore a smile; in fact, after the sweltering heat passed, there was another happy event, which was that General Zhang Han was to be married.

When the night breeze blew, Li You added, "Starting tomorrow, I must dig a few more vertical wells."

Zhang Han nodded without saying more.

Li You stood before the door of the house, thinking again of his father's words; perhaps he was going to leave this place for a long journey.

Military mobilization documents from Shu? What troops were being mobilized in Shu?

Recently, there were only two major affairs in the imperial court: one was the great harvest in Guanzhong, and the other was the Hundred Yue.

Li You lay on the large rock in front of the house; now that troops were to be mobilized in Shu, then perhaps there really was going to be a war.

Generally, those who could read those documents were the accompanying officials and generals.

Li You slowly closed his eyes; since his father had said so, then he was one of the people who would be heading to the Hundred Yue.

Early the next morning, Li You went early to dig the canal, carrying a wooden hoe and a basket.

Shusun Tong had long since begun teaching the children.

The imperial court had debated the Hundred Yue, but the First Emperor had never expressed his stance, so no one discussed this matter anymore.

As for the First Emperor's true scheme, I fear only a few people knew, and these few people were not hard to guess; they were likely Meng Wu, Li Si, Feng Quji, and Wang Bi.

Today, Censor Zhang Cang came to Zhangtai Palace to attend the Court Discussion.

Seeing Prime Minister Li Si coming with a smile, Zhang Cang bowed slightly and said, "Prime Minister."

Li Si looked him over and said, "You've tanned."

Zhang Cang nodded.

"Is the Prince still by the bridge?"

Zhang Cang explained, "The Prince has been guarding the riverside; Xianyang Bridge is about to be completed."

Li Si reached out and patted the outer side of his shoulder, whispering, "There has been quite a bit of talk in the court recently regarding the Prince's conscription of laborers."

"Cang has heard."

Li Si asked in a low voice again: "Regarding the previous policy on selecting officials..."

Zhang Cang lowered his posture slightly and whispered: "Prime Minister, I have recently heard that many Doctors in the court have had much to say about the Prince managing laborers and enslaving domestic servants."

Li Si's gaze first swept over the people entering the great hall one after another, and he gave a light hum: "Do not pay it any mind."

The implication was that the Prime Minister seemed to be saying he would deal with them sooner or later.

Zhang Cang said again: "Prime Minister, I have followed the Prince for nearly a year; whether it is digging canals or building the Xianyang Bridge, I have realized a principle from it."

"Oh? What principle?" Li Si remained standing.

People occasionally looked toward the Prime Minister in the front row; in the quiet and orderly great hall, Li Si was responding to their gazes with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

In Li Si's ears were the words of Zhang Cang once more.

"Prime Minister, the Prince had people dig canals to irrigate the fields, and in just over a year, he turned hundreds of acres of wasteland into fertile soil; the harvested grain made Shangyan Mountain the wealthiest village east of the Luo River."

"Back then, in order to build the Zheng Guo Canal and for Qin to be able to march east, how many members of the Qin royal clan were killed, how many people were killed."

In his heart, Zhang Cang had always believed and was certain that both Li Si and the First Emperor were men with great ideals.

For the sake of great ideals, killing a few people who stood in the way... to Li Si and the First Emperor, it counted for nothing at all.

To the Prince, this might not even necessarily be a bad thing; it might even be a good thing.

How many years have passed since the Zheng Guo Canal was built, even for those who were killed because of its construction.

If you were to dig them up now, they might still be intact, their clothes not even rotted.

Until the Court Discussion began, Zhang Cang, after paying respects to the First Emperor along with the others, stood in the court ranks like a statue.

Thinking further, Zhang Cang recalled the words of Shusun Tong; the Prince had promised back then that he would let three hundred children go to war, and once they had Military Merit, he would give them household registration.

Once he thought of this, Zhang Cang's heart became much clearer.

At the Court Discussion, Li Si and the Confucian Scholars argued again over the matters of Standardization of Writing and Carriage Same Track.

Inside the great hall, Li Si waved his large sleeves and argued with the crowd, and the result of such Court Discussions was often that the unyielding Prime Minister made the Confucian Scholars retreat again and again.

Li Si stood in the hall and said loudly: "Standardization of Writing and Carriage Same Track are the first great tasks after Qin's unification!"

After today's Court Discussion ended, following nearly three years of debate, Great Qin officially began the Standardization of Writing and Carriage Same Track.

Fast horses left Xianyang one after another, rushing to all parts of the world to proclaim the Emperor's decree; Great Qin announced to the world that from now on, the scripts of the Six States could only exist on the few remaining scrolls, and whatever was learned or written henceforth must use the script of Qin.

Fusu was sitting by the river roasting meat, and he was especially happy to hear this news from Tian An.

People from the Western Regions brought many good things; Fusu had Tian An buy some pepper, and after grinding the pepper and mixing it with salt, he sprinkled it on the roasted meat, which was exceptionally delicious.

At dusk, Fusu was fanning himself with one hand and roasting meat skewers with the other, already covered in sweat.

Tian An smiled and took a skewer of meat handed over by the Prince; the old man had poor teeth and could only eat more of the fatty meat.

At the West Wei Bridge, there were people with hemp ropes tied around their bodies, hanging by the side of the bridge, chiseling the bridge surface; the three characters "Xianyang Bridge" were chiseled out one by one.

Fusu was very satisfied with these three Small Seal Script characters; waiting for the people to climb back onto the bridge surface, he said: "This brother, your craftsmanship is good."

The middle-aged man smiled and bowed: "In reply to the Prince, it is a family craft."

Hearing the other person's accent, Fusu asked again: "Where are you from?"

"Your servant was originally from Wei, and now I serve in the Workshop."

Fusu said: "Give him two more bags of wheat."

Tian An took two more Bamboo Slips from the side, and after having people load the wheat onto a cart, he handed it to the craftsman the Prince had just praised.

The so-called building of the state requires Standardization of Writing and Carriage Same Track as the most necessary foundational architecture.

As for building a homeland, Fusu felt that developing the Great Northwest was building, cultural development was even more so, and humanistic development was something that could not be missing.

Building a bridge here could benefit the people on both sides of the West Wei River, and it could also allow the troops of Guanzhong to pass over the bridge, with their military edge pointing directly at the Xiongnu and the Western Regions.

For this reason, Fusu never intended from the beginning to build a bridge decorated in a very ornate fashion.

No matter how ornate the decoration, it could not withstand the baptism of time; now, as long as this bridge was stable, simple, and practical, it would suffice.

In the region within the passes, by the tenth month, the autumn rain of Huaxi could always arrive punctually at this time of year.

The pattering rain hit the surface of the Xianyang Bridge.

This was the first time Prince Fusu stepped onto the newly built bridge.

Although the craftsmen had already walked back and forth on this new bridge many times.

In the eyes of the crowd, Prince Fusu being able to walk on this bridge was of great significance to them; even if they walked it thousands of times, it could not compare to Prince Fusu walking it once.

Fusu's feet stepped onto the sturdy bridge surface, and then he walked forward with large strides.

Behind Prince Fusu, there was a large group of craftsmen, as well as several officials and several soldiers following.

The crowd followed the Prince's footsteps from one end of the bridge to the other.

As they walked, the Prince's footsteps would suddenly stop to look at the carvings on the bridge surface or look at the river water under the bridge.

The dense autumn rain fell on them, but it did not feel too cold; the Prince's pace remained the same, and the people behind him also kept the same pace.

Until they reached the opposite bank of the West Wei River, Fusu turned around again and led the crowd back.

Zhang Cang arrived leading a troop of cavalry: "Prince, your servant borrowed cavalry from General Wang, there are only these ten or so riders."

The road by the bridge was still a bit muddy; Fusu walked under the eaves and said again: "Let the cavalry run back and forth."

Zhang Cang nodded upon hearing this and gave a few instructions to the cavalry beside him.

The neighing of warhorses rang out; a troop of cavalry rode their horses onto the bridge, and after running back and forth a few times, they headed west, running further and further away, with no intention of returning.

Fusu asked in confusion: "Do they have urgent business?"

Zhang Cang replied: "The Prime Minister learned that the Xianyang Bridge was finished; his original intention was to have them go west to mobilize warhorses."

"The Prime Minister... he really is doing it as a convenience," Fusu sighed.

"Prince, the Prime Minister also said one more thing."

"What else is there?"

Zhang Cang bowed and said: "The Prime Minister said that since the Xianyang Bridge is finished, the army can cross the bridge and charge directly at the Western Rong; there is a piece of land in the Western Rong, a river valley surrounded by high mountains on both sides, which is said to be an excellent place for raising horses."

Fusu naturally knew where that was; that place actually had another name, called the Hexi Corridor.

On the other side of Guanzhong, at the foot of Shangyan Mountain by the Luo River, a joyous event was being held; General Zhang Han was to be married today.

At the foot of the mountain stood a residence, a residence that Zhang Han had built with his own two hands over the past half year.

Today was the big day, and for once, Zhang Han was dressed neatly, having brought out his finest clothes from the bottom of his chest to welcome his wife.

There were no guests at this wedding, and Zhang Han was all alone, with only the villagers there to liven things up.

Li You arrived leading a warhorse; he had already donned the armor of the Qin Army, and walking up close, he said, "General Zhang Han, I have come to bid you farewell."

"Why?" Zhang Han stepped forward and asked in confusion.

Li You patted the warhorse at his side and, standing in the light rain, said, "It seems we really are going to campaign against the Hundred Yue; I have received military orders to rush to Shu to mobilize troops."

Over this past year, Li You had truly changed; he had less playfulness and more maturity.

Perhaps hardship really can make a person mature.

Li You vaulted onto the horse, sat in the saddle, and added, "General Zhang Han, military orders cannot be delayed; I am heading to Shu now, and when I return to Guanzhong, we shall drink together!"

Zhang Han asked again, "Are you going all by yourself?"

Li You said, "I have military orders to mobilize the troops, one person is enough; I'm off!"

Having said this, he flicked his horse whip, and the warhorse neighed as it galloped into the curtain of rain.

Zhang Han was also a general in the army; he clenched his fists, as if infected by Li You's passion, and watching the figure that was already obscured and invisible in the rain, he thought to himself, "When you return to Guanzhong, Shangyan Mountain will surely have a new look."

(End of chapter)