The fact that Fuqiu was forced to return home and inherit the family business was simply unbelievable in the eyes of the Qin people.
What parent would be so stupid as not to let their child follow Duke Zhu Xiang and build a career, and instead let their child become a businessman
But in this era, the transmission of information was not smooth, and the village on this side of the mountain might not know that there was a village on the other side of the mountain. Although the Fuqiu family was engaged in business, they were only in Yue and had been to Chu at most, so they did not know Zhu Xiang's reputation.
People in many places didn't even know about the change of dynasties, let alone Zhuxiang.
Fuqiu's parents didn't know how powerful Qin was, they only knew that Chu was the largest. When the Qin invaded Wu and Yue, they thought Chu would attack them soon, and if their son followed Qin to serve as an official, he might be killed, so they forced Fuqiu to go home with the excuse of filial piety.
What's more, their family is very wealthy, and their son is just a minor official who wears coarse cloth and straw sandals and actually goes to the fields to farm. No matter how you look at it, he is suffering.
Later, when they learned that Chu was not as strong as Qin and that Duke Xiang of Zhu was a descendant of a great sage, they wept bitterly for their own ignorance and for ruining their son's future. It was too late to regret.
Such foolish parents have existed throughout history and are not worth mentioning.
Although Fuqiu was forced to return home, he seized the opportunity to join Lu Buwei's "merchant army", made a lot of efforts in the trade war, and expanded his family business.
The parents, who were already filled with regret, handed over all their family business to Fuqiu and no longer asked about worldly affairs.
Fuqiu's visit to Wucheng this time was to send the children of his clan to study, and to catch up with his classmates and prepare for his "comeback".
Although he was too ashamed to face his mentor again, Lu Buwei could recommend him. After he passed the burden of the family business to his cousin, he could still get an official position.
Zhu Xiang joked, "Your family business is so huge, are you willing to hand it over to others?"
Fuqiu said: "Shang is just a minor figure, and the family members already know about it."
Zhu Xiang sighed, "Yes."
The people of the Fuqiu family must have understood that if they wanted to keep this family business, they had to rely on an official. Is there a more suitable candidate than relying on their own family
The so-called hereditary aristocratic families in later generations were mostly families where the capable people would study and become officials, while the slightly mediocre side branches would engage in business, thus becoming both rich and noble.
The same will probably happen to the Fuqiu family in the future.
Zhu Xiang just sighed in his heart, and then continued to ask Fuqiu with a smile about what he had learned, to see if Fuqiu really had not neglected his studies.
He just guessed that Fuqiu had not disappeared from the favorability list, and that Fuqiu had never slacked off in his studies and would return to the court sooner or later. Now, after the test, he knew Fuqiu's true ability.
Fu Qiu is indeed worthy of being the first stranger student to appear on Zhu Xiang's favorability list. He is indeed both talented and hardworking.
Fuqiu was also a bookworm when he was doing business. Not only has his academic performance not declined, but with more experience in business, he has a more thorough understanding of the knowledge in the books and his temperament has become more mellow and mature. The immaturity of the past has faded away, and he has become smooth, restrained, and gentler.
Zhu Xiang was very satisfied with Fuqiu.
"Since you have taken care of the affairs at home, please come back to me for a while and help me with some chores." Zhu Xiang believed in fate. Since he met him by chance, he would help him.
Fuqiu was just a "commoner", so it was appropriate for him to stay with Zhu Xiang and there wouldn't be too many problems.
Now Zhu Xiang has more and more things on hand, and he also needs a "secretary". In the past, these things were handled by Han Fei and Li Si, but these two people have been recognized by Zheng'er, so it is better for them to continue to stay with Zheng'er.
Fuqiu immediately stood up in surprise, then covered his head and groaned.
Zhu Xiang laughed at Li Mu's carriage for being too low, but Li Mu was too lazy to pay attention to Zhu Xiang.
He looked at Fuqiu for a few times and decided to investigate the affairs of Fuqiu's family in private.
Zhu Xiang was very good at judging people. Fuqiu himself should be fine, but not everyone in Fuqiu's family might be sober.
He didn't want Fuqiu's family to use Zhu Xiang's fame to do bad things and tarnish Zhu Xiang's reputation just because Fuqiu was promoted by Zhu Xiang.
Fu Qiu, holding his head, was also thinking about this.
He had to remind his family to be cautious and low-key, and remember not to do anything wrong and bring discredit to the teacher who promoted him.
Only Zhu Xiang didn't care about this.
He was not the kind of person who would hide the truth for his relatives. If someone in Fuqiu's family or even Fuqiu himself committed a crime, he would sentence them accordingly and would never cover up for them, so Zhu Xiang did not care about other people's families.
Zhu Xiang continued to test Fuqiu, and became happier the more he tested him.
With Fuqiu's talent, his fame has not been passed down to later generations. Could it be that he really became a businessman
In fact, Zhu Xiang was just ignorant.
Although Fuqiu does not have a separate biography, his name has appeared in other people's biographies, and there are also legends about him among the people.
At that time, he was already honored as "Fuqiu Bo" and "Fuqiu Gong".
Fuqiubo was a disciple of Xunzi and was good at the Book of Songs. He was the younger brother of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, and the teacher of King Liu Jiao of Chu.
There are many misunderstandings about Liu Bang's origin in later generations. In fact, Liu Bang was recognized as a "commoner" by people at that time, not an ordinary peasant. Their family was what later generations called a "poor family."
Liu Bang's great-grandfather was a doctor of the State of Wei; his father, Liu Taigong, was a farmer, but most of the land in Pei and Feng counties belonged to his family; his fourth brother, Liu Jiao, studied under the great Confucian scholar Fuqiu Bo, and was a second-generation disciple of Xunzi; Liu Bang himself was once a retainer of Zhang Er, a famous scholar of the State of Wei.
Because Wei was destroyed by Qin, they became "commoners". But even so, seeing that Liu Bang's childhood friends were either local officials or local butchers, we know that the Liu family was actually a local tyrant, so Liu Bang dared to mess around at the county magistrate's banquet.
The reason why Liu Taigong scolded Liu Bang for being incompetent was that his family made Liu Bang capable, but Liu Bang was too dissolute.
A prodigal son is one whose family is ruined. If Liu Bang really came from a poor family, his father would not have scolded him for being useless.
There are not many records about Fuqiubo in historical materials. Later generations can only speculate based on folk rumors about him that Fuqiubo should be from Zhejiang and later retired to Zhejiang.
So although Fuqiu Bo himself did not have any works handed down to later generations, he had a disciple, Liu Jiao, the King of Chu, who started the trend of studying the Book of Songs in Chu, and should have had some influence on history. So his appearance in Zhu Xiang's list is not necessarily Zhu Xiang's teaching achievement.
But Zhu Xiang didn't know, so he was "shameless" and thought it was because he was a good teacher.
Fuqiu originally went to Xianyang to become Xunzi's disciple, but once he met Zhu Xiang, he "ruined his whole life" and wholeheartedly regarded himself as Zhu Xiang's disciple, even though Zhu Xiang only recognized Ying Xiaozheng as his disciple and all the others were students.
Now that he had finally been recognized by Zhu Xiang and could serve Zhu Xiang, Fu Qiu wanted to sing Chu songs and dance Chu dances to express his joy.
The Yue people are also Chu people, and the scholars of Chu are all good at singing and dancing.
Zhu Xiang looked at Fu Qiu's sparkling eyes and remembered that Fu Qiu liked to dance and sing whenever he was happy. He laughed and said, "Don't sing and dance in the carriage. Wait until we get back. I'll make a small courtyard for you and you can live next to Han Fei and Li Si. When you finish your family affairs, come and live here."
Fuqiu said: "Yes, Master!"
Zhu Xiang said: "When I am in the officialdom, I will not address you as Master or Teacher. You can address me as Lord Changping or Duke Zhu Xiang."
Fuqiu felt sad. He knew that his teacher was "drawing a line" with him. But being able to serve his teacher was something he had never dared to think about before, so this sadness only lasted for a moment, and he immediately regained his positive attitude: "Yes, Duke Zhu Xiang."
Zhu Xiang said, "Now that you are back, Zheng'er will have someone to read the Book of Songs with."
Fu Qiu was curious: "Brother Li and Brother Han should also be good at poetry."
Zhu Xiang sighed, "Now they are both complete disciples of the Legalist school. Xunzi would draw his sword when he saw them."
Fuqiu: “…”
When Fuqiu thought about living next door to two "traitors", he felt a lot of pressure. He was afraid that he would be targeted by the two "traitors".
Li Mu couldn't help but laugh when he saw Zhu Xiang unconsciously starting to "sow discord".
Zhu Xiang really likes to watch the fun and creates it unconsciously.
Zhu Xiang went out for a stroll and when he came back he not only brought back pickled fish and silk as gifts, but also brought back a person.
Ying Xiaozheng, with red and swollen eyes, pretended to be very calm and indifferent: "Who did uncle bring back?"
Zhu Xiang pinched Ying Xiaozheng's hand which was hidden in his sleeve.
Ying Xiaozheng jumped up with an "ow".
Zhu Xiang said, "It's impolite to call you that."
Xue Ji, whose eyes were even more red and swollen than Ying Xiaozheng's, scolded, "Zheng'er!"
Ying Xiaozheng immediately behaved himself and greeted Zhu Xiang's guests obediently.
Li Mu sighed, "Xue Ji, don't be misled by Zhu Xiang. Zheng'er's behavior is not wrong in terms of etiquette. He is now the crown prince of Qin."
Xue Ji said, "So what if he is the Crown Prince of Qin? Xia Tong was once the Crown Prince of Qin! Xia Tong is very polite."
Li Mu: “…”
Whatever, just pretend he didn't say anything. Why should he butt in when his mother is educating her son
"Qin, Prince Qin?!" Fuqiu was so shocked that his legs almost went weak and he fell to his knees. Fortunately, his strict etiquette education prevented him from losing his composure.
He hurriedly bowed to Ying Xiaozheng and said, "I, Fuqiu, greet the Crown Prince."
Ying Xiaozheng waved his hand: "No need to be polite... I remember you! The Confucian scholar who was taken back by his stupid parents to be a businessman!"
Xue Ji stared at Ying Xiaozheng silently with cold eyes.
Ying Xiaozheng: “…”
"Ahem." Ying Xiaozheng said kindly, "Have you resolved your family affairs? You've worked hard. I look forward to the day when you can realize your ambitions."
Xue Ji's eyes softened.
Ying Xiaozheng breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhu Xiang almost laughed out loud. I called you a rebellious person! With your aunt around, I wonder if you dare to be a rebellious person again!
Li Mu said: "Fuqiu followed Lü Buwei in business in Chu State and made great contributions. Zhu Xiang plans to bring Fuqiu with him to train. Li Si and Han Fei will be entrusted with important tasks by you, Zheng'er, and Zhu Xiang will also need a new and capable clerk by his side."
Ying Xiaozheng immediately understood the hidden meaning of Li Mu's words.
"I'll leave my uncle in your care." Ying Xiaozheng said with a straight face, "I hope you can be cautious and live up to my uncle's trust."
"Yes!" Fuqiu said quickly.
The ice on Ying Xiaozheng's face melted, and he said gently: "Since you are going to be a clerk beside your uncle, you don't need to be so polite in front of me. We will meet often in the future, and being polite is troublesome. You should learn more from Han Fei and Li Si."
Fu Qiu's face turned pale, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Yes!"
Ying Xiaozheng noticed that Fuqiu's expression was not right, and looked at Zhu Xiang with confusion.
Zhu Xiang gave Ying Xiaozheng a look that said "I'll tell you later", and then took Fuqiu to meet Li Si and Han Fei.
The three of them seemed very friendly when they met, but they were actually a little embarrassed in their hearts.
Although Fuqiu secretly called himself a disciple of Zhu Xiang, in the eyes of outsiders, Fuqiu was also a disciple of Xunzi and a fellow student of Li Si and Han Fei.
Now that Li Si and Han Fei had given up pretending and held high the banner of Legalism, it was inevitable that they would be embarrassed when the three met.
Fortunately, Fuqiu had given up being a scholar to do business before, and he lacked confidence, so the three of them were able to maintain superficial peace and not start a fight as soon as they met.
Zhu Xiang knew that Fuqiu would have "conflicts" with Li Si and Han Fei, but he still left Fuqiu to Li Si and Han Fei and left it alone. Li Mu sighed helplessly again.
He really didn't know whether Zhu Xiang did it on purpose.
Zhu Xiang told Ying Xiaozheng about the possible "conflict" between Fuqiu and Li Si and Han Fei, and Ying Xiaozheng laughed out loud.
Hearing Ying Xiaozheng's duck-voiced laughter, Zhu Xiang also laughed uncontrollably.
Ying Xiaozheng knew that Zhu Xiang was mocking him, and he was determined to fight his uncle even in front of his aunt.
This time, Xue Ji did not educate Ying Xiaozheng.
In front of outsiders, Ying Xiaozheng needs to maintain thorough etiquette. In front of family members, Ying Xiaozheng should be more lively.
If you still act pretentiously in front of your family, what kind of family is that
While they were playing, Zhu Xiang saw Ying Xiaozheng's red and swollen palms and felt heartbroken.
He didn't want to show his distress in front of Xue Ji, so as not to weaken her authority in front of the child, so he took Ying Xiaozheng to the study to apply medicine under the pretext of dealing with paperwork.
Ying Xiaozheng said helplessly: "My aunt has already applied medicine to me once, and she cried while applying it. I will never take the risk again. My aunt cried so terribly."
Describing snow's tears as terrible? Zheng'er should perhaps re-learn his writing. After Zhu Xiang complained in his heart, he got down to business: "There is not much I can do in Wujun anymore. I am going to Guangling. Wujun is left to you."
Ying Xiaozheng took a deep breath and said, "Uncle, I just said I would never take risks again. Why did you take risks? Guangling is on the north bank of the river. The chariots of the Chu State can approach the city directly!"
Zhu Xiang said: "Guangling is on the bank of the river. If the Chu State really sends a large army to attack, I will return by boat. It is not dangerous."
Ying Xiaozheng didn't care about the medicinal oil on his hands, and shook Zhu Xiang's shoulders vigorously: "Uncle, why do you have to go to Guangling! What's so good about Guangling! You are not allowed to go!"
Zhu Xiang said, "The land in Guangling is still barren. We should plant it now while it's only July. We can harvest it at the end of the year. There are many refugees pouring in from Southern Qin waiting to reclaim the barren land. It would be better to use the cultivated land near Guangling so that the yield will be higher."
Ying Xiaozheng held his head and shook his head like a big tumbler.
Ah, what a headache! My uncle has already said he wants to farm, and I can’t persuade him at all!
Aunt, help!
Ying Xiaozheng immediately ran to his aunt to dissuade his uncle, but Xue Ji said, "I'll go too. Building a textile workshop in Guangling can also absorb many refugees and provide them with cheap cloth to keep warm."
Ying Xiaozheng: "... I'll go too."
Zhu Xiang and Xue Ji: "You are not allowed to go."
Ying Xiaozheng: “!” I’m going to make a scene!
(End of this chapter)