Chapter 8: The Rain of Early Summer

The Prince is fond of learning, so there are many book scrolls within Gaoquan Palace; giant bookshelves are filled with Bamboo Slips, and if these Bamboo Slips were piled up, they would form a small hill taller than Gaoquan Palace itself.

The Prince says that because Bamboo Slips are inconvenient to store and too heavy, these piled-up books do not actually count as many.

The people in the palace do not quite understand why the Prince insists on hanging his clothes on a wooden rack; that wooden rack has many legs, and it is said it can be used to hang outer garments.

It is unknown which state's custom this is; perhaps it is the custom of the Qi people, who are very particular about their living.

Today, when the Prince left, the palace servants discovered that the pair of shoes the Prince likes most could no longer be worn.

This shows that the Prince of Qin has grown taller again.

Once Fusu left Gaoquan Palace, the palace servants of Gaoquan Palace began to busy themselves in silence; some took out all the Prince's Bamboo Slips to air them, while others cleaned the candle stands and oil lamps, as the entire Gaoquan Palace had to be cleaned thoroughly.

Many matters in Gaoquan Palace are arranged by Tian An; as for those previously rather lazy palace servants, they have all been driven away by Tian An, and the palace servants remaining here now are extremely diligent.

When the sun sets and the Prince returns, seeing the clean palace and the Bamboo Slips that have been aired and still retain some warmth, the Prince will surely be very happy.

In spring, Guanzhong is always windy; the climate of Guanzhong is just like this: windy in spring, rainy in autumn, and the winter and summer seasons are especially long.

The south of the Guanzhong Plain is the Qinling Mountains, and the north is a plateau; this Guanzhong terrain, high on both the north and south sides with a slightly lower plain in the middle, and leaning against the Yellow River in the east, forms a terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack in terms of military affairs.

Therefore, the ancients truly cannot be deceived; the ancestors' vision in choosing territory could not be wrong, and the places where the ancestors gathered must be blessed land; this is a kind of simple life experience gained by human civilization in the process of life construction.

In terms of climate, the Guanzhong Plain lies between the temperate zone and the subtropical monsoon climate south of the Qinling Mountains, so the current Guanzhong is truly a blessed land; it can grow both northern crops and southern crops.

Fusu watches as groups of two or three farmers pull a Seed Drill to sow seeds.

The legacy left behind by Lv Buwei is vast; these few hundred qing of land alone are enough to keep one busy.

The teacher was very generous and gave one thousand prisoners of war for land reclamation; these are also one thousand mouths to feed, added to the existing grain stores of the household servants, plus the current consumption.

Fusu discovered that his own grain was not enough; he was actually unable to support his household servants.

Who could have imagined that the cost of supporting a household servant would be so great, let alone counting the legacy left by Lv Buwei, Fusu discovered that he had over three thousand household servants in his hands.

Supporting oneself is very simple; living in the palace, one does not need to manage anything at all.

At present, the three thousand household servants kept outside are a great burden, especially the extra one thousand people.

Tian An watches the Prince sitting by the grain cart, calculating the grain.

Fusu suddenly asked, "How did Lv Buwei support those three thousand retainers back then?"

Tian An replied, "With grain, one can naturally support three thousand retainers if one has household servants."

Fusu set down the brush in his hand, picked up a bowl of boiled water that had already cooled, took a sip, and frowned, "If Lv Buwei were still alive, I should ask him for advice."

The grain is still being sown, the Longshou Canal is still being dug, and there is no grain harvest to be seen yet.

The grain planted is also mainly wheat, followed by beans and millet.

How could a Prince of Qin be short of money and grain? In fact, the teacher had already arranged everything; Lv Buwei's residence is in Xianyang City, and as long as he, this Prince, pays a visit, those people who want to curry favor with the Prince would rush to send gold, silver, beauties, and grain.

In fact, as long as one follows the teacher's arrangements, all of this will naturally fall into place.

Fusu picked up the Bamboo Slip before him; this is his account book, and also his family's property.

The next day, Li Si heard that the Prince was short of grain, and he quickly opened his own warehouse, pulling over a hundred carts of grain to deliver to the foot of Shangyan Mountain.

Fusu eats the freshly boiled noodles, looking at the grain the teacher had sent over.

While eating, Fusu heard the sound of slurping noodles; the sound was very loud.

Looking again, it was Zhang Han eating ravenously; he even sniffed hard, as this was probably the first time he had eaten something so delicious: noodles stewed with pickled vegetables.

After eating, Fusu set down his bowl and chopsticks and said to Tian An, "Give the rest to Zhang Han to eat."

Tian An silently went to serve more noodles.

Eating has always been a major event in life; the act of eating has extremely important significance in the development stages of human civilization, especially since eating can bring people a sense of happiness.

In the fields, farmers sit in twos and threes eating their meals; the happy smiles of the children while eating make the adults smile along with them.

How simple a thing happiness is.

And those one thousand prisoners of war; ever since they had sufficient grain, these prisoners' eyes have been glowing green, looking exactly like wolves that have been starved.

With eyes full of green light, they desperately stuffed food into their mouths, and then worked for their lives.

Recently, Fusu likes to sit by the edge of the field, watching the farmers eating in the fields, and he can also live more like a true Old Qin Person.

Two months later, Fusu saw the wheat seedlings that had already sprouted new shoots.

Today, Meng Tian, whom he had not seen for a long time, finally arrived.

Fusu is eating a flatbread and hands one to him, saying, "Freshly baked flatbread, eat it while it's hot, it's delicious."

After speaking, Fusu asked Tian An, "Has it been sent to the Emperor and the Prime Minister?"

"Replying to the Prince, it has been sent."

A few sparrows swept across the sky and then landed in front of them.

Fusu, chewing the flatbread, asked Meng Tian, "I heard you went to the north?"

Meng Tian sat upright and replied, "My father said the Great Wall needs repairs; it has already been reported to the Emperor, to see how the Emperor decides."

Fusu waved the palm-leaf fan in his hand, handed him a peach, and continued, "Your father is going to repair the Great Wall."

Meng Tian held the peach and said, "My father is already aged; if my father cannot oversee the repairs of the Great Wall, this general will have to take my wife and children, and lead the great army to garrison the Great Wall and repair the Great Wall."

Hearing this, Fusu patted Meng Tian's shoulder heavily.

"Prince, I am a general of Qin; I should go to garrison the Great Wall."

The Meng family has been loyal to Great Qin for generations; Meng Tian's grandfather, Meng Ao, was originally a man of Qi, and later won the deep trust of King Zhaoxiang of Qin; in fact, speaking of Meng Tian's grandfather, one must mention a man named Fan Ju.

But that was all a long time ago; the Meng family has served as generals in Qin for generations, experiencing four generations of Qin kings, and their family destiny has long been tied to Great Qin.

"Does your family have grain?"

"Ah..."

Suddenly asked this, Meng Tian's previously somewhat dejected mood vanished, and he hesitated, "Grain... I have some."

Zhang Han is all alone, without a family, and has no grain stores, living on his military pay; he truly cannot produce any grain.

Afterwards, Tian An brought out ten shi of grain, and even Meng Tian had people pull over one hundred carts of grain.

Supporting three thousand household servants is difficult, but one must get by day after day; if one can just make it through this half-year, it will be fine.

This year during the Grain Rain season, there was not much rainfall; the amount of rain the heavens granted to Guanzhong was simply a mere token.

Meng Tian's father, Meng Wu, is about to retire, and the First Emperor has granted Meng Tian a military post; now, Meng Tian can also attend the morning Court Discussion.

In the morning, the Court Discussion at Zhangtai Palace is underway.

Fusu leaves Xianyang City and arrives at Shangyan Mountain once again.

This is something the Prince does almost every day, checking on how the crops are growing.

He looks vexedly at the newly dug Well Canal, then looks up at the clear sky, sighing vexedly: "Summer Begins must be almost here, right?"

Tian An says: "After the fourth month, it will be Summer Begins."

"It should rain by Summer Begins, right?"

Tian An, who was always expressionless while in the palace, has recently begun to smile more.

Hearing the Prince's words, Tian An smiles and says: "It should rain."

The crops were planted not long ago, and as Summer Begins approaches, the fields are already lush and green; Fusu sees Zhang Han working in the fields, his feet deep in the paddy, bending over to scoop up the silt from the field to build up the ridges.

Fusu asks: "What is he doing?"

Tian An takes a look and replies in a low voice: "The Prime Minister and General Meng Tian brought the Prince a lot of grain; Zhang Han says he is all alone and has nothing to help the Prince with, so he feels guilty."

"Guarding is his primary duty; he has no need to feel guilty."

Tian An adds: "Zhang Han knows the Prince wants to open up wasteland, so he is helping the Prince farm."

Fusu nods in understanding.

The fourth month in Guanzhong passes, and just as the fifth month arrives, the sound of rumbling thunder comes from the horizon.

Fusu sits inside Gaoquan Palace, watching the rain filling the sky.

Tian An smiles again, saying: "The Prince said there would be rain at Summer Begins, and the rain has truly come; the crops on the wasteland of Shangyan Mountain can now survive."

This is absolutely a great joy; this rain came at the perfect time, and once the renovated water cellars are full, the three thousand household servants at the foot of Shangyan Mountain will have their water supply problem solved.

Fusu sighs with emotion: "As a Prince of Qin, I have only managed to solve the water supply problem for my own household servants until now."

Tian An does not know the meaning of the four words "water supply problem"; he only knows that the Prince needed the heavens to grant a heavy rain, and the heavens truly granted a heavy rain.

Compared to the family conditions of the other princes of the Six States back then, the Prince of Qin, which has unified the world, possessing only three thousand household servants is truly too frugal.

Fusu does not look at the heavy rain outside the hall, but instead looks at the explanation of the government decrees sent by his teacher; the First Emperor and his teacher intend to re-divide the world into thirty-six commanderies.

After finishing one scroll and picking up another, Fusu still does not see the phrase "Though Chu has but three households, it is Chu that will surely destroy Qin."

Since Xiang Yan supported Changping Jun as the King of Chu and attempted to restore the state of Chu, only to be wiped out by Wang Jian's great army, and after Xiang Yan died in battle, Xiang Liang's whereabouts became unknown, and he has not been found to this day.

There is also that Zhang Liang; to this day, no one knows where this Zhang Liang, who is plotting against Qin, is.

Some words can serve as a warning; if Qin does not govern the world well, then it will truly be that Chu will surely destroy Qin.

People always need to have some sense of crisis; these days, Li Si also has quite a sense of crisis. Today, the re-division of commanderies and counties, along with the order for all documents in the world to be written in Small Seal Script, has been opposed by Chunyu Yue again.

Sitting inside the swaying carriage, anger rises in Li Si's heart once more; he very much wants to have Chunyu Yue and the other Doctors of the Six States executed at the marketplace.

He even dreamt last night of the scene of Chunyu Yue being executed at the marketplace; in the dream, blood stained Xianyang City red, and he was wearing a smile when he woke up.

Yet, at this morning's Court Discussion, Chunyu Yue was standing right before him, alive and well.

The carriage leaves Xianyang City and heads southeast; Li Si's body sways with the movement of the carriage. Fortunately, the First Emperor has already issued the decree that all future document exchanges must be written in Small Seal Script; the Standardization of Writing has taken a very crucial step.

The carriage stops slowly, and the coachman says: "Prime Minister, we have arrived."

Li Si looks out from the carriage window, frowning as he looks at the distance in the rain; there is a wheat field, and the vibrant wheat has grown up.

He did not expect that the Prince would actually manage to grow crops on this wasteland.

Gazing into the distance, Li Si sees another person in the rain, wearing a straw raincoat and digging a field ridge.

Li Si watches for a moment, then suddenly smiles and says: "Let's go back."

"Does the Prime Minister not want to take another look? I heard there is also a Well Canal on the north side of Shangyan Mountain."

Li Si's mood is much better; one day, he will have Chunyu Yue executed at the marketplace.

For now, the First Emperor still needs them to win over the hearts of the people, so it is better to endure it for the time being.

Seeing the Prince's fields, Li Si is in an exceptionally good mood, to the point where even personal grudges can be put aside for now.

He withdraws his gaze, looks at the scroll in his hand, listens to the sound of the rain constantly hitting the carriage, and says in a low voice: "The Prince possesses such household servants, yet does not use them for his own amusement; such a Prince is a good thing for Qin. Let's go back."

Only then does the coachman drive the carriage all the way back to Xianyang City.

The one working in the fields wearing a straw raincoat is none other than Zhang Han; he looks up at the strange carriage, which came in a hurry and left in a hurry, not knowing who the visitor was.

Zhang Han's gaze is wary; not until the other party's carriage is far away does he lower his head again to finish planting these crops for the Prince.

This heavy rain falls for a day and a night, not stopping until noon the next day.

After the rain, the water of the Wei River is very muddy; when the sunlight breaks through the dark clouds and shines upon this land, it is as if several golden rays are piercing through the clouds.

In just a brief moment, the wet Guanzhong suddenly welcomes the scorching sun of noon.

Because there is no wind today, the temperature rises very quickly.

Fusu stands by the river for only half an hour before breaking into a light sweat; watching the rushing current heading southeast, he asks: "Is Meng Tian going to the north?"

Tian An replies: "Today's Court Discussion did not mention this matter."

When Meng Tian goes to guard the Great Wall is merely a matter of a single word from the Emperor; the Great Wall must be built after all, and this matter is very important to Great Qin.

Recently, the Court Discussion has spoken of the Standardization of Writing; the world is ultimately destined to become a model of imperial centralization.

The Zhou Dynasty, which practiced the Feudal System for hundreds of years, is finally about to welcome its first true centralization after the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.

From certain aspects, Fusu feels his teacher and his father are not cold-blooded enough; the Three Councillors and Nine Ministers system is the supporting local staff for the County System, and the Standardization of Writing is to ensure the effective transmission of documents across all regions, so the standards of Great Qin must be highly unified.

The First Emperor still has humanitarian concerns; in fact, regarding those who oppose him, Fusu feels there is no need to be too humanitarian.

(End of chapter)