Chapter 493: The School of Agriculture

"Thanks to Lord Xu, the people of Jiaodong can finally set their doubts aside."

At noon that day, Heifu hosted a welcome banquet for Xu Sheng and several disciples of the School of Agriculture at the Commandery Governor's residence.

In all his time in the lands east of the Pass, Heifu had met scholars of every school. Though none of these intellectuals were fabulously wealthy, they never skimped on their appearance: every one of them wore a cap and carried a sword, their bearing immaculate. Even Chen Ping was no exception — back in the day, his family was poor, yet he dressed so cleanly and decently that the villagers mocked him for it.

Confucian scholars would go so far as to acquire towering, imposing Confucian caps, while yin-yang fangshi adepts needed a touch of elegant, transcendent flair — all just to make the right impression when lobbying kings and nobles.

But the disciples of the School of Agriculture that Xu Sheng brought today were exceptionally different. They all wore coarse hempen short robes, with straw sandals on their feet of the kind common among farmers in Qi and Chu. It was said that every single item on their bodies had been exchanged for grain they had grown with their own hands. They were in their thirties, yet looked forty; their hands were crisscrossed with thick calluses. You could tell at a glance that they had truly worked the fields and swung farming tools, and their faces were tanned nearly as dark as Heifu's own.

Even their manner when meeting a high official like Heifu was no different from that of ordinary farmers — reserved, honest, fidgeting uneasily at the banquet. Only the eldest among them, Xu Sheng, was widely traveled and experienced enough to converse with Heifu freely and at ease.

Xu Sheng first asked Heifu to have the lacquerware and bronze vessels removed; the simple earthenware they had brought themselves would suffice. Heifu granted every request. Xu Sheng also declined Heifu's toast, declaring that we folk of the School of Agriculture do not drink wine that wastes grain. He merely took a sip of broth, then said with a smile:

"Commandery Governor, you give me too much credit. After this old man left Qin all those years ago, I did travel through Linzi and Jiaodong with my disciples and stayed in this region for a time, teaching the farmers how to till. The locals called me Xu Goumang. I never imagined that ten years later, they would still remember me…"

Xu Sheng spoke fluent Guanzhong speech, which was nothing surprising. Heifu had heard that this old rustic of the School of Agriculture had once been a colleague of Chancellor Li Si — both had been retainers of Lü Buwei in Xianyang, compiling the Lüshi Chunqiu together!

The School of Agriculture was an outlier among the Hundred Schools of Thought. Somewhat akin to the Mohists, they lived with extreme frugality, wearing ordinary coarse cloth garments. Though they championed plowing and sericulture, they did not own a single inch of land themselves, living a life of wandering from state to state. Nor did they chase high office and rich emoluments like the Confucian scholars; all they hoped for was a hundred mu of farmland and a few mu for a house, to settle down and lead the local people in the study of farming techniques.

They traced their lineage to Shennong, carried on the legacy of Houji, and devoted themselves to sowing the hundred grains and encouraging plowing and sericulture, so as to provide enough clothing and food for the common people. When the five grains are sufficient, the people are sufficient; when the people are sufficient, all under Heaven is sufficient — this was their unwavering conviction…

Having professionals come to help develop production in one's own kingdom or fief should have been something kings and enfeoffed lords would applaud. Yet the School of Agriculture had long suffered from having no place to set down roots. Because a hundred years ago, their leader Xu Xing stole a student from Mencius, gravely offending that academic tyrant. Mencius was extremely prejudiced in his sectarian and regional views, so the School of Agriculture found it hard to develop in the Jixia Academy or in Qi and Lu.

In the end, the School of Agriculture could only seek a foothold in the tiny state of Teng, up in the Si River region. During the reign of Duke Wen of Teng, the school opened up land there and farmed together with the local people in happy harmony. But after Teng was destroyed by Song, they had no choice but to leave…

In those years, the feudal lords formed their vertical and horizontal alliances, pledging allegiance to Qin in the morning and Qi in the evening; the east was chaos. Song destroyed Teng, then was itself conquered by Qi; Qi in turn was attacked by a coalition of five states and nearly perished. War raged everywhere — it was truly no good time for the School of Agriculture to develop productive forces.

Thus the School of Agriculture drifted destitute and declined for a very long time, until the era of Xu Sheng, grandson of Xu Xing, when a rare opportunity arose: the Qin Chancellor Lü Buwei, wishing to emulate the Four Great Lords by gathering scholars and keeping retainers, specifically invited the School of Agriculture to Qin!

Speaking of it at the banquet, Xu Sheng still could not stop praising what he had seen and heard upon entering Qin:

"Its common people were simple and honest; its music was not licentious or corrupt; its dress was plain and unostentatious. The farmers rose at dawn and toiled diligently until dusk before returning home. I have traveled the whole world, yet never have I seen such unspoiled, guileless people."

The government of Qin was also quite admirable. From the lowliest clerk to the Chancellor, the core principle of official operations was: Do not delay the people's farming! Anything that might affect agriculture — such as itinerant scholars or merchants — was suppressed and banned. To encourage production, the entire state of Qin left no stone unturned.

Seeing this state of affairs, Xu Sheng nearly wept. Had the School of Agriculture not roamed the world and searched bitterly for decades precisely to find a government like this?

Qin governance and the School of Agriculture coincided without prior consultation, and so the school settled wholeheartedly in Qin. Xu Sheng also gained considerable appreciation from Lü Buwei. Drawing on the school's experience accumulated over many years, he contributed the chapters "Shang Nong," "Ren Di," "Bian Tu," "Shen Shi," and several pieces of the "Twelve Almanacs" to the Lüshi Chunqiu.

Heifu said with a smile: "When I was in Xianyang, I had the honor of reading those chapters. I cannot speak for the others, but the ones handled by the School of Agriculture — though their language is plain and unadorned — truly live up to the name of 'a single word worth a thousand gold!'"

After the flattery was done, Heifu raised his own question: "After Lord Xu and the School of Agriculture entered Qin, you enabled Qin to adopt iron farming tools and improved its plowing techniques. You ought to have been promoted in rank and title — why then did you leave Qin?"

Quite a few members of the School of Agriculture who had entered Qin back then did stay, mostly serving as field officials in the central government or the provinces. Only Xu Sheng had fled.

Xu Sheng's reply was somewhat hesitant and evasive: "After Chancellor Lü was dismissed from his position as Chancellor of State, I followed him to Henan. Later, when Chancellor Lü passed away, and word came that His Majesty intended to expel all guests from the Six States en masse and relocate Chancellor Lü's retainers to Ba-Shu, this old man was timid, so I took my disciples and returned to Teng County…"

This was half truth and half falsehood. Despite his ever-smiling face, Xu Sheng was a man who placed great weight on gratitude and loyalty. Lü Buwei had recognized and elevated his talent back then, and he was deeply grateful — as was evident from the various honorifics he used for Lü Buwei.

After Lü Buwei fell from power, all his achievements of the previous decade were utterly repudiated by Qin Shi Huang. Xu Sheng's heart turned cold at once, and he left Qin.

That was already twenty years ago. Over these twenty years, the School of Agriculture had taken another great detour, traveling through states like Qi and Chu. But no matter which state, the government did not prioritize agriculture like Qin's, nor were the common people as simple and honest as Qin's. They were either too indolent, muddling along without ambition, or their minds were too restless, their energies all poured into commerce or scholarly travel, unwilling to honestly and steadfastly farm the land.

After making a circuit through Linzi and Jiaodong, Xu Sheng could not help but sigh with emotion.

"No wonder all the feudal lords are weak, and only Qin stands strong. A state that can prioritize agriculture will be perpetually strong!"

Just as they had wasted twenty years achieving nothing, Qin unified all under Heaven. But Xu Sheng was already old and had no wish to return to the Guanzhong region. He was living and farming in places like Teng County, never expecting that Heifu would send someone to seek him out…

As ill luck would have it, when Heifu went in person to Teng County to find Xu Sheng, the latter was in a neighboring county. Heifu's time was tight, so he left behind a letter in his own hand, instructing his retainer to wait. A month later, he dispatched Chen Ping to go and invite Xu Sheng over.

"Even if you had not sent Chief Clerk Chen to invite this old man in person, for the sake of those two lines the Commandery Governor left behind, this old man would have had to come to Jimo himself."

Noticing the puzzled expressions on the faces of Xiao He, Cao Shen, and the others present, Xu Sheng smiled faintly. He neatly set aside his earthenware plate, licked completely clean without a single grain of rice remaining, then raised the bamboo chopsticks — also brought by himself — and tapped them against the plate as he chanted:

"Hoeing the grain under the midday sun, sweat drips down onto the soil beneath the shoots. Who knows that every grain on the plate is born of bitter, bitter toil!"

"These were the parting words the Commandery Governor had someone leave in writing for me. Though only a few short lines, they capture completely the hardship of farming!"

Xu Sheng was deeply moved. These lines were exceedingly plain, yet at the same time incomparably vivid and precise — the kind of words that could only be spoken by someone who had truly experienced farm work and held pity in his heart for the peasant.

When he first read them, he was struck with awe, as if they were divine. Reading them again, thinking of his own decades of searching, thinking of the School of Agriculture's century of wandering, and thinking further back, since the time of Shennong, of the farmers' thousands of years of bitter toil — he could not help but shed tears down his aged cheeks…

A man who could write such a poem must be a good official who holds farming close to his heart!

"The Commandery Governor says that our works like 'Ren Di' are worth a thousand gold a word?"

Xu Sheng waved his hand dismissively, then raised his thumb toward Heifu: "These twenty words of the Commandery Governor's are worth twenty thousand in gold!"

Everyone at the banquet was full of praise. Xiao He was also greatly astonished. He leaned his head toward Chen Ping beside him and said: "I had no idea the Commandery Governor could compose poetry?"

Chen Ping gave a mysterious smile: "Though the Commandery Governor was poor in his youth, he was naturally gifted, intelligent, and tirelessly fond of learning. What is so strange about it?"

Heifu, however, said modestly to everyone: "A thousand gold for a single word? I cannot live up to that. I, too, come from commoner stock. In my youth, I farmed alongside my elder brother, hence I know of it."

In front of the Mohists and the School of Agriculture, Heifu's impoverished background could earn him quite a few points. To entice the School of Agriculture to come to Jiaodong and lend him their support, he could hardly avoid setting aside his scruples. Xu Sheng had been willing to leave the state of Qin for Lü Buwei's recognition and patronage; to get him to come help, Heifu had to make sure this old man found him agreeable.

A poem pitying the peasants moved his heart; then Chen Ping persuaded him with reason. When Xu Sheng further heard that Heifu intended to promote in Jiaodong the recently quite novel methods of composting and retting fertilizer — something the School of Agriculture also wished to do — he came gladly!

After this mutual commercial flattery ended, Heifu and Xu Sheng got down to serious business. Xu Sheng had already agreed to bring his disciples of the School of Agriculture to settle in Jiaodong, farm the several hundred mu of land provided by the government, and further delve into more advanced agricultural techniques.

Only, Xu Sheng furrowed his brow again and sighed: "It's a pity that Jiaodong's public latrines have just been built, and night soil fertilizer is insufficient. Those who can use the composting and retting methods number only a hundred households."

After so many wasted years, having finally met someone he saw eye to eye with, Old Xu was itching to stretch his limbs and make up for lost time immediately.

Heifu, however, consoled him: "Night soil fertilizer requires years and months of accumulation. If too little is applied, the effect is not apparent; it can only be promoted gradually. But do not worry, Lord Xu. There is one matter we can set about at once — before the spring plowing ends, it can spread throughout the entire commandery!"

Xu Sheng asked curiously: "What matter could be so swift?"

Heifu rose and pointed at an object in the courtyard of the Commandery Governor's residence. "Lord Xu should know — what is this?"

Xu Sheng glanced at it. It was an upright wooden pole set upon a stone base. He said: "Is that not a clay gnomon for measuring the sun's shadow?"

Heifu nodded: "Indeed. The ancients used the clay gnomon to measure the sun's shadow. The longest shadow marks the winter solstice, the shortest the summer solstice. In spring and autumn, there is one day each when the lengths of day and night are equal — these were designated the spring equinox and autumn equinox. These are the four solar terms that have existed since the Three Dynasties."

"By the Zhou dynasty, the solar terms had become eight, with the addition of the Start of Spring, Start of Summer, Start of Autumn, and Start of Winter. And in the Lüshi Chunqiu, which Lord Xu helped compile, they became the twelve monthly almanacs…"

Solar terms are a supplementary calendar used to guide farming activities. In daily life, the common people could foresee cold, warmth, rain, and snow, and know what to do in each solar term.

Heifu said: "But in my humble opinion, the solar terms are still not detailed enough and can be further divided. They should be divided into twenty-four solar terms. Let the disciples of the School of Agriculture compile the essentials and farming tasks for each term. The government will copy them onto paper and distribute them to the field officials in every county and township, to be used as a farming almanac. Then have someone compose them into ballads, using the local dialect and slang that even old grannies can understand, and spread them through song until every household knows them by heart!"

PS: Only one chapter tonight.

(End of chapter)