Chapter 36: A Tiny Return

Recently, Zhang Cang has been very busy.

Everyone in the Prime Minister's Mansion knows that this Censor Zhang has been restless of late.

It is also known throughout the court and the public that Zhang Cang is a man highly valued by Prime Minister Li Si.

Today, after Zhang Cang finished helping Prime Minister Li Si review a batch of documents, he paced in front of the Prime Minister's Mansion during his afternoon leisure, looking troubled from time to time.

The minor officials in front of the Prime Minister's Mansion were also somewhat anxious because of Zhang Cang's actions, not knowing why Censor Zhang was pacing back and forth, nor whether they should step forward to ask.

When Prime Minister Li Si arrived at the front of the Prime Minister's Mansion once again.

Zhang Cang hurried forward to greet him.

The minor official could not hear what the Prime Minister and Censor Zhang discussed at that moment, but later saw the Prime Minister say something with a solemn expression.

The Prime Minister and Censor Zhang walked into the Prime Minister's Mansion one after the other.

The interior of the mansion returned to its usual busyness; recently, Censor Zhang's movements had been quite strange, but in the eyes of others, it was merely strange.

Some even heard whispers between the Prime Minister and Censor Zhang from time to time, and these whispers concerned the Prince's private property.

As for the matter of the Prince's private property, it was actually nothing more than the three thousand servants the Prime Minister had originally handed over to the Prince.

These servants lived under Shangyan Mountain by the Luo River, digging a canal; that canal was called the Love Your Job and Dedicate Yourself Canal, and those servants never offered treasures to the Prince, but were instead digging the canal.

The discussions of the people in the Prime Minister's Mansion ended there, and then the officials were silenced by their heavy workload.

Not until nightfall, inside the Prime Minister's Mansion, did the crowd of officials disperse one after another.

Li Si kept Zhang Cang behind alone to drink wine.

A long table was placed under the eaves, and the two sat cross-legged facing each other, with wine and some meat placed in front of them, and even noodles sent from Gaoquan Palace.

Li Si lit a small stove, then set the clay pot in place and poured in water; as he tidied up and poured the noodles into the pot, he said, "In the past, I handed those servants over to the Prince, hoping the Prince would be able to support more retainers."

His words carried a tone of discouragement.

Zhang Cang took a sip of wine and picked up some mutton from the table to eat.

Li Si continued, "You need not worry about the Prince."

Zhang Cang's expression grew a bit more suspicious, and he said, "Some say the Prince is too harsh in enslaving his servants."

The bright moon hung high in the night sky; Li Si put the lid on the clay pot and added, "The Prince likes to cook; do you know what the Prince is best at?"

"Is the Prince good at asking, good at learning?"

Li Si shook his head and said, "I believe the thing the Prince is best at is patience. The Prince eats this way in Gaoquan Palace; you might as well try it—patiently preparing food, patiently waiting for the food to cook. This is the Prince's strength; the Prince is a very patient child."

While listening to Li Si, Zhang Cang reached out to take the bowl handed to him, and then began to eat the noodles.

Li Si said, "You and I must also have patience."

Zhang Cang quickly finished the noodles in his bowl and asked, "Mao Heng has left Shangyan Mountain."

Li Si poured a bowl of wine into his own bowl and smiled, "The Prince needs capable ministers who can command a region; such talent is nothing more than the talent for governance or the talent for leading troops."

As he spoke, Li Si scooped some more noodles from the pot into Zhang Cang's bowl and said, "This thing is called noodles."

Zhang Cang swallowed the noodles in his mouth and said, "I believe that before long, this thing will sweep the world."

Li Si looked at this fellow student who was even younger than himself, a smile on his face.

Zhang Cang said, "I am worried that the Prince will abandon the canal construction because of the remarks of those people."

Li Si remained sitting cross-legged, his hands resting on his knees, and said, "The Prince will not abandon the canal construction. It is correct to recuperate and build up strength, and it is correct for the common people of the world to recuperate, but should we just sit by and ignore the hidden dangers at the border? The Xiongnu are eyeing us covetously and are about to move south; should I just sit by and do nothing?"

"The First Emperor would not let the Xiongnu move south unchecked, which is why he and I jointly decided on this Migration and Border Defense Policy. The threat of the Xiongnu... concerns the peace of thousands upon thousands of commoners."

After downing the wine, Li Si said sternly, "Wait a few more years; when the troops are strong and the horses are sturdy, we will surely sweep the northern border!"

Having said this, Li Si slapped the table heavily, as if making a vow.

Zhang Cang whispered, "Once the canal is dug through, there will be ten thousand qing of fertile land. With ten thousand qing of fertile land about to be gained, how could the Prince abandon it?"

At this, Li Si nodded slowly.

In the days that followed, just as the Prime Minister had said, the Prince was not swayed by outside talk and continued to dig the canal.

Today's Court Discussion was especially smooth, and just when everyone thought the Court Discussion was about to end, Prince Fusu stood out.

Even the First Emperor, who had rarely shown any change in expression, saw Prince Fusu stand out and actually shifted his posture slightly, clearly surprised.

Fusu first bowed in salute, then said, "Father Emperor, autumn has arrived in Guanzhong. Recently, many commoners have come to Shangyan Mountain looking for work that can provide food. I wonder if Shangyan Mountain can recruit more laborers; I am willing to provide the grain."

In fact, Zhang Han had already recruited a portion of laborers last year, and many people had received grain last year; that was solid, good grain. With the guarantee of credibility from last year, plus the endorsement of Prince Fusu, even more people came looking for work this year.

Once there were many people, it would involve Qin Law, and General Wang Bi was not in the court now; Shangyan Mountain did not have General Wang Bi to back it up like last year.

In the great hall, the crowd immediately began to discuss.

Previously, some had said how the Prince enslaved his servants, and now the Prince wanted to recruit even more laborers.

Li Si was the first to stand out and ask, "May I ask the Prince, how much grain can you provide the laborers?"

Fusu said, "One person can receive two dou per day."

There was much discussion in the great hall, and Li Si added, "I believe what the Prince says is feasible. Looking at the world, what family would not want an extra dou of grain?"

Zhang Cang stood out from the court ranks, bowed, and said, "I second this."

The officials led by Li Si's faction stood out one after another to speak for this Prince.

Next were Feng Quji, Cheng Miao, Feng Jie, and others of the Right Prime Minister's faction; they also stood out to agree with the Prince.

The Prince remained standing in the great hall, maintaining his bowing posture.

Only the row of Doctors from Qi remained unmoved, and Chunyu Yue even frowned without a word.

Ying Zheng looked at this half-grown son, and suddenly, he actually smiled.

Looking back, when Li Si stood out from the court ranks to state his views, or when he debated with the sophists of Qi and Lu during a Court Discussion, at those times... Feng Quji would not stand out.

The Prime Minister and the Right Prime Minister in the court each performed their own duties.

Now, Feng Quji stood out immediately.

Matters concerning Prince Fusu concerned the Great Qin state; how could he sit by and do nothing? Feng Quji felt deeply how correct his decision was.

Looking at the main hall, the vast majority of people had stood up for Prince Fusu, so the Qilu Doctors, led by Chunyu Yue, naturally had nothing to say.

Chunyu Yue felt deeply that even facing Li Si, it was merely a matter of each holding their own views.

Yet facing Prince Fusu made Chunyu Yue feel a slight cold sweat on his back; it was as if the entire Qin court stood behind this Prince Fusu.

What did Li Si's threats amount to? This Prince Fusu's wings had not yet fully grown, yet he already possessed such power of appeal.

How could it not be startling?

Ying Zheng said, "The matter of digging the canal may be carried out; hand it over to Commandant Feng Jie to oversee."

Feng Jie bowed and said, "Your subject accepts the order."

The Court Discussion concluded smoothly, and Li Si was once again taken by an Attendant to meet the Emperor.

Inside the main hall, Fusu said to Feng Quji, "Many thanks for your assistance, Right Prime Minister."

Feng Quji said, "The Prince digging the canal is to obtain fertile land for Guanzhong; how could this subject not support the Prince?"

Fusu left Zhangtai Palace with the crowd, bid farewell to the Right Prime Minister, and returned to Gaoquan Palace.

Noodles were a very good food, and after this food went out from Gaoquan Palace, it soon spread within Xianyang City; within half a month, it became a novel food in Xianyang City through word of mouth.

Recently, Wang Jian had rarely appeared in public; it was said that Wang Jian had built an incomparably huge mansion in his hometown of Pinyang, and in that mansion were stored the spoils of war he, the old Grand General, had collected from all over the Six States.

Rumor had it that there was not only fine jade but also countless gold, silver, and beauties, and Wang Jian was living a life like an immortal.

And a rumor spread from Pinyang that when Wang Jian first saw Prince Fusu at Hangu Pass, it was Wang Jian who had given the secret recipe for noodles to Prince Fusu.

Now, Wang Jian was still having people constantly buy rice and flour, making many noodles in Pinyang, and eating noodles every day.

However, these were merely rumors; when many people say them, people will believe them to be true.

Hearing this news, Fusu smiled and did not send anyone out to clarify; letting the old Grand General be the founding master of noodles, what harm was there in that?

After autumn began, Gongzi Gao often came to Gaoquan Palace to visit.

Tian An was drying persimmons, and Gongzi Gao helped on the side, tidying up the baskets of persimmons.

"They say the persimmons in Shu are large."

Tian An said, "The persimmons in Guanzhong are small, but they are very sweet."

Hearing this, Gao divided the persimmons among the two younger sisters behind him; they were the daughters of the First Emperor.

Eating the sweet persimmons, the two princesses smiled very contentedly.

Tian An patiently urged Gongzi Gao to eat fewer persimmons, otherwise he would get a stomachache.

Fusu felt that if every county in Guanzhong could be like Shangyan Mountain, then the people of Guanzhong would live even harder, much harder than they did now.

Shangyan Mountain was not large; Fusu wanted to set up a model of labor-led prosperity for the people.

To be wealthy, one needs to accumulate more material wealth, which is why Xunzi said that without wealth, one cannot nurture the people's sentiments, and without education, one cannot regulate the people's nature.

So, perhaps behind this statement of Xunzi lies labor and creation.

Sitting in front of Gaoquan Palace, Fusu felt that these were all just his own shallow views.

But he also felt that although he had not found the standard answer of the old master Xunzi, it should at least not be wrong.

For example, reading comprehension—this kind of question without a standard answer, as long as you write enough, you can always guess part of the answer correctly.

Xunzi was skilled at using metaphors, so Han Fei was also skilled at using metaphors.

"A tree breaks because of rot, a wall collapses because of cracks..." Han Fei's metaphors were very exquisite.

Therefore, there could be no concession; Fusu felt that regarding the construction of the canal, even if he conceded half a step, he would be failing his teacher Han Fei.

And as for why the teacher and Zhang Cang agreed... that was even easier to understand; everyone was a disciple of Xunzi.

As the saying goes, without accumulating small steps, one cannot reach a thousand miles.

Therefore, being a disciple of Xunzi was of great benefit.

Today, after the Court Discussion ended, the reason the Right Prime Minister stood up to speak was mostly because he was wavering.

If it were not for himself, this Prince of Great Qin, standing up to speak, if these words had been said by the Prime Minister, Feng Quji might not have stood up to second the motion.

Looking at the pruned pine tree before him, Fusu concluded in his heart that this man, Feng Quji, was definitely not easily won over.

It was said that Prince Fusu and Prime Minister Li Si were of one mind, but the power of the Right Prime Minister Feng Quji could not be underestimated; after all, the Right Prime Minister held the entire Imperial Censor Office, and the Censor-in-Chief of Great Qin had the power to supervise the Prime Minister.

"Brother," the two younger sisters walked up and said in unison.

These two sisters were even younger than Gao, and Fusu said, "If you want to study, follow Gao."

The two sisters left very happily.

Gongzi Gao stepped forward and said, "Brother, the two sisters are princesses after all; if they study in the countryside, I fear it is not appropriate."

"So you think the words of Master Shusun Tong are correct."

Gao nodded slowly, somewhat unconvinced.

At the time, the high-spirited Gongzi Gao felt he could study together with the village boys.

Shusun Tong agreed, and Gao was very proud.

Little did he know that after coming full circle and looking back at his two sisters, Gongzi Gao felt that his own self-righteousness had instead landed him in a dilemma.

Fusu placed the newly pruned pine tree into the hall and instructed, "Have someone open another schoolhouse by the canal and have Shusun Tong teach them separately; as for the many matters of going out, just have someone watch over them."

Gongzi Gao seemed to understand yet not understand, but still said, "Gao has noted it."

Afterwards, he walked to the two sisters and said, "Follow Gao."

Fusu took one more look outside the hall; Gao had already led the two sisters away.

An Attendant came in a hurry and whispered a few words into Tian An's ear.

Tian An walked quickly into the hall, "Prince, General Zhang Han has received the imperial edict and requested many able-bodied men, saying there are over a thousand."

Grain was limited; this year's harvest was used to recruit laborers to dig the canal and then irrigate the wasteland; if one could trade two dou of grain for one li of canal, even five dou for one li of canal, it would still be profitable.

What was traded out was grain, and what was gained was labor, but what was obtained was solid, real farmland.

However, Shangyan Mountain remained the harshest construction site in Guanzhong.

By the third day, Gaoquan Palace received the document sent by Shusun Tong, which detailed the recent changes in the canal excavation, noting that Commandant Feng Jie and Prime Minister Li Si had renamed Shangyan Mountain as Jingye County.

Because the amount of farmland had exceeded that of a township, it no longer resembled an ordinary village, and a new county had been established in Guanzhong.

Over three consecutive days, many of the laborers sent to work were replaced; six hundred out of the first day's one thousand men were swapped out, and among them, twenty were docked their rations by Zhang Han for being lazy and not working.

Yet these people whose rations were docked wanted to sue General Zhang Han and tried to take the matter before the Commandant, but fortunately, Shusun Tong had arranged for many soldiers to act as overseers, so there were witnesses.

In the document, Shusun Tong spoke incessantly about how useful the Prince's Post System was.

In the past, everyone in Jingye County worked together to dig the canal because the food belonged to everyone.

But now it is different; once the number of people increased, various groups with their own agendas also multiplied.

Those who wanted to counter-sue Zhang Han were punished by Shusun Tong with ten lashes each.

For such arduous labor and such harsh rules, the food earned from a day's work was not much, yet Shusun Tong believed it was more than enough.

(End of chapter)