On the other carriage, Zichu finally let go of Ying Xiaozheng's pitiful soft cheek.
Ying Xiaozheng held his red face and gave his father a defiant look.
Zichu reached out and knocked on Ying Xiaozheng's head, making a loud clanging sound.
Lin Zhi stopped him and said, "Be gentle."
Zichu said: "If you don't hit the point, it will be useless to him."
Lin Zhi said, "It will be useless if you hit him hard. Zheng'er is not someone who can be beaten into submission."
Zichu asked, "Then how can we convince him?"
Lin Zhi said, "Zhu Xiang wrote in the letter that if Zheng'er doesn't obey, he will only be allowed to eat boiled meat with salt and no other seasonings, and he will not be allowed to eat cakes. He will admit his mistake. But the premise is that Zheng'er is really wrong. If Zheng'er is not wrong, he will admit his mistake verbally, but he will do it again next time."
Ying Xiaozheng glared angrily: "Uncle!"
Zichu originally wanted to say, what a joke, is being the crown prince still a child
Hearing Ying Xiaozheng's heartfelt roar, Zichu was speechless.
Is it really useful
Zichu held his forehead and suddenly lost the mood to discipline the prince.
The dignified Prince Qin actually admitted his fault for a few bites of food. Is this the same Prince Zheng who hit himself with a vase
"How did Zhu Xiang defend the city?" Zichu was too lazy to discipline Ying Xiaozheng and started to talk about business. "Can he really withstand the attack of Xiang Yan's 100,000-man army?"
Ying Xiaozheng breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his father's scolding had ended in a whimper.
He was really worried that his father would listen to his uncle's slander and withhold his food.
After leaving his uncle, Ying Xiaozheng felt that the food was not to his liking. His uncle even encouraged his father to do something worse.
Ying Xiaozheng replied: "It was not resistance, it was defeat. He only observed Xiang Yan for one day, and on the second day he defeated Xiang Yan's army of 100,000 in broad daylight!"
The young man showed a bright smile on his face, which was full of pride and boasting, and it was almost as if "My uncle is so awesome!" was written directly on his face.
Ying Xiaozheng once again displayed his talent for storytelling inherited from Zhu Xiang, narrating the entire battle to defend the city from preparation to follow-up, as if he had seen it with his own eyes.
Zichu and Lin Zhi listened with shining eyes and smiles on their faces. They interrupted Ying Xiaozheng from time to time to ask about the details they cared about.
For example, how Jiao Yun discovered Xiang Yan's use of the Fire Bull Formation in advance, what trash talk Meng Tian said, and how Zhu Xiang fell off the chariot...
Lin Zhi smiled and said, "If Xiang Yan's Fire Bull Formation could be used, it would probably deal a big blow to Zhu Xiang. Unfortunately, Lord Lian and Lord Tian are friends. Lord Lian has told us about the Fire Bull Formation many times, and Zhu Xiang must have heard about it so many times that his ears are callused."
Zichu recalled the way Lian Gong started to talk when he was drunk, and showed a headache expression: "When Lian Gong gets drunk, he likes to repeat the same thing over and over again dozens of times. Only Zhu Xiang has the patience to listen."
He and Lin Zhi would find excuses to slip away, leaving Zhu Xiang alone to take care of old man Lian, whose temper became even worse after he got drunk. Even Mr. Lin couldn't stand it.
So when Zhu Xiang discovered that most of the city defense equipment was flammable and guessed that the enemy would use fire attack, what immediately came to his mind was, of course, the fire bull formation.
"It's also thanks to the telescope." Ying Xiaozheng said, "If Jiao Yun hadn't brought the telescope, we wouldn't have been able to detect the enemy's movements from a distance and make timely decisions. Regarding the telescope, I have a book to write."
Zichu waved his hand and said, "Let's talk about it after you have rested for a day or two. There is no rush. Let's continue talking about your uncle defending the city."
Ying Xiaozheng felt helpless. Father Jun and Uncle Lin were urging him to come back and were waiting at the dock early. Perhaps they were not concerned about him, but wanted to hear about his uncle
He moistened his throat with the warm water soaked with red dates handed to him by Lin Zhi, and continued his story, boasting about his bravery in chasing the enemy.
Zichu was very envious when he heard this: "My son has made military achievements. I also want to go to the battlefield."
Lin Zhi said unhappily, "Will you go to the battlefield and fall off your chariot like Zhu Xiang? If you want to be as disgraced as Zhu Xiang, I will help you convince all the ministers in the court."
Zichu was a little angry: "How can you compare me with Zhu Xiang!"
Lin Zhi said, "Oh, yes, you can't compare them. Zhu Xiang is stronger than you. Although he got bruises all over his body on the battlefield, it didn't stop him from going to work the next day. You will probably stay in bed for two or three months. As Zhu Xiang said, it takes a hundred days to heal a broken bone."
Zichu pretended to hit Lin Zhi.
Lin Zhi chose to resist without hesitation and did not give the King of Qin any face at all.
Ying Xiaozheng secretly covered his mouth and laughed.
Why are father Jun and uncle still fighting and quarreling? They are not mature at all.
Although the carriage was spacious, it was not large enough for two adults to perform. Zichu and Lin Zhi exchanged a few moves before stopping and scolding Ying Xiaozheng, scolding Li Mu for letting Ying Xiaozheng take risks.
Although the prince had made great military achievements, as elders, Zichu and Lin Zhi did not want Ying Xiaozheng to encounter any accidents.
This time, Ying Xiaozheng listened obediently and did not rebel. He also vowed never to do it again.
As for the oath, it is enough to say "ancestors and gods". Do we need to make a substantive promise again? Ying Xiaozheng is not stupid.
Seeing that Ying Xiaozheng accepted the reprimand so calmly, Zichu and Lin Zhi knew that Ying Xiaozheng had probably received a deep lesson from Zhu Xiang and Xue Ji.
Zichu and Lin Zhi immediately became curious and kept asking questions.
Although Ying Xiaozheng wanted to conceal it, Zichu had already used the Qin King's imperial edict to pressure Ying Xiaozheng. Ying Xiaozheng could only painfully tell his tragic experience to make it a laughing stock for his king, father, and uncle.
Zichu and Lin Zhi laughed so hard that the carriage seemed to shake.
Whether it was swearing on the osmanthus cake or Ying Xiaozheng trying to change the name of the osmanthus cake to circumvent the oath, it was so funny.
Lin Zhi winked at Zichu: You see, I said that Zhu Xiang’s diary of raising Zheng’er was very interesting, but you insisted that it was boring.
Zichu nodded to Lin Zhi. He didn't expect it to be so interesting. When Zhu Xiang comes back, he will borrow Zhu Xiang's diary of raising Zheng'er. Yun raised a son, it was so happy.
Ying Xiaozheng had a bitter face as he listened to his father and uncle constantly teasing him. The laughter was so loud that people outside the carriage might have heard it.
He sighed in his heart. The status of this prince was too low. He really wanted to be the King of Qin as soon as possible. If anyone laughed at him, he would issue an edict to shut him up. Even his uncle could not disobey the King of Qin's edict.
Xue Ji was holding Cheng Jiao and communicating with him in sweet words when she heard hearty laughter coming from the carriage in front.
Cheng Jiao was curious: "My father and the prime minister seem very happy?"
Xue Ji keenly detected a hint of gloating from the hearty laughter and said, "The Lord and my brother may be very happy, but Zheng'er may not be happy."
Cheng Jiao was puzzled: "Why?"
Xue Ji sighed: "They are probably making fun of your brother, the prince."
Cheng Jiao was incredulous: "Brother is so powerful, how could the king and the prime minister laugh at you?!"
Xue Ji rubbed Cheng Jiao's little head and sighed in her heart. Now Zheng'er's hair is tied up, so it's hard to rub it. "No matter how powerful Zheng'er is, he is still a junior. If the elders want to laugh at and bully the juniors, what can he do?"
Xue Ji was a little worried. Zhu Xiang was not here, and she could not argue with the emperor and her brother directly to defend Zheng'er like her husband did. How could she protect Zheng'er? Talk to the Queen Mother Huayang? Ask Xunzi for help? Or could she only comfort Zheng'er in private
Xue Ji thought about it for a long time but couldn't come up with a good solution. She could only write the matter down and write a letter to her lover.
Cheng Jiao leaned in Xue Ji's arms, holding his round head, which was proportionally larger than his body, with both hands, looking completely dumbfounded.
He always thought that the Crown Prince was omnipotent, but it turns out that the Crown Prince would still be laughed at by his father, the emperor, and the prime minister
It turns out that his father-in-law is not only laughing at him, but even his super super powerful brother, the Crown Prince, cannot escape his father-in-law's ridicule
Then why am I still working so hard? Even my brother the Crown Prince can't escape!
For the first time, Cheng Jiao planted the seed of "starting" in his heart.
Zhu Xiang didn't know that his rebellious nephew had already kept many grudges against him in his mind.
He keeps a diary of Zaizai's dark history, and Zaizai holds a grudge, which is reasonable.
In the blink of an eye, May is here again.
At this time last year, farmers around Guangling City cut down the rice that was about to be harvested in tears and fled with their families in panic.
This year, Guangling City has enjoyed good weather and a bumper rice harvest.
The farmer stood on the ridge of the field, looking at the rice fields that were more vast than last year, and couldn't help wiping away tears.
Chen Qi is still the magistrate of Guangling County.
The King of Qin sent an imperial edict, saying that he had been promoted to a regular official.
He stood beside Zhu Xiang, looking at the farmer's dark brown face full of wrinkles and tears streaming down his face. It was ugly, yet very moving.
Chen Qi choked up and said, "Another good harvest."
Zhu Xiang was very calm: "It's not certain that there will be a good harvest now. It all depends on whether God is willing. If there is a heavy rain when the rice is harvested, the rice will rot in the field."
Even in modern times, with many technological advances, farming is still a job that depends on God's gift.
If there is continuous heavy rain when rice and wheat are filling, they will most likely face a total harvest failure.
It’s just that in modern times we have better disaster relief mechanisms, and we can harvest ripe crops more quickly, and we can also send the crops that have been wet by rain for drying in time, so a food crisis will not break out.
But this is only for the whole country, and a temporary bad wind and rain will not have a big impact on the grain harvest. But for each household, a loss is a loss, and there is nothing they can do about it.
During the Warring States Period, even if one worked hard for an entire growing season and saw the rice fields turn into a golden ocean, just one or two days of untimely rain could destroy everything.
He looked up at the sky and said anxiously, "Should I offer a sacrifice to the heavens and ask God to open his eyes?"
Zhu Xiang said coldly: "If God can open his eyes, the chaotic times will not come. Instead of counting on God's mercy, it is better to be prepared. I have ordered people to quickly build new harvesting tools and granaries. You lead people to build kilns. If it rains during the harvest, use it to dry the grain, and then use it to make bricks."
Chen Qi said: "There may not be enough firewood."
Zhu Xiang pondered for a long time and said, "The straw can be used for burning. As for the missing parts, Li Mu will transport trees from the south."
There are many trees in the mountains of Nanyue. As long as Li Mu gives them a little food and cloth, the Baiyue tribes will order their slaves to cut down trees and sell them for money.
Cutting down too many Baiyue trees would exacerbate soil erosion, causing mudslides and river blockages. But Zhu Xiang could only take care of the land in front of him, and he could only say sorry for the people in other places.
The mess caused to Baiyue will be left to future generations to remedy. Now that there are few Baiyue people, it should not cause much impact.
Zhu Xiang is becoming more and more "free and easy" now.
Chen Qi breathed a sigh of relief, but still felt uneasy: "Are you really not going to worship God?"
Zhu Xiang looked at Chen Qi's anxious expression, sighed in his heart, and said: "Sacrificing to the heaven to calm the people's hearts may also be useful. I don't know much about sacrifices, Fuqiu."
"Yes." Fuqiu replied respectfully.
"You discuss with County Magistrate Chen how to offer sacrifices to the heavens. Keep it simple. Guangling is short of everything right now. Just be sincere. I don't think the gods will mind some empty ceremonies." Zhu Xiang said, "After you decide, I will offer sacrifices to the heavens myself."
Fu Qiu immediately said excitedly: "Student obeys your command!"
As a Confucian scholar, who wouldn't want to preside over a major ceremony? Fuqiu was eager to try.
Zhu Xiang asked Fuqiu and Chen Qi to discuss the matter while he himself went to busy himself with the summer harvest and planting.
Autumn rice must be planted immediately after the rice is harvested, without any delay for a single day.
Rice can feed hundreds of millions of people in China, relying on the continuous hard work of farmers. In the words of later generations, rice planting is the most typical labor-intensive industry. Only the most hardworking people can grow the highest yield of rice.
After Zhu Xiang left, Chen Qi asked Fuqiu in a low voice, "Changping Jun seems not very willing to worship the gods. Is it because we are worshipping the gods of Chu?"
Chen Qi was a little worried. Although Guangling had now completely surrendered to Qin, the deep-rooted folk tradition of worshipping ghosts and gods would not be able to be transformed into the unfamiliar gods of Qin in a short period of time. Was Changping Jun dissatisfied with this
Fuqiu said: "How can Duke Zhu Xiang be such a narrow-minded person? Saints in the world all respect ghosts and gods but keep them at a distance, and Duke Zhu Xiang is the same. When Duke Zhu Xiang was in Xianyang City, he once challenged a Taoist priest to a duel. In Yunmengze, he personally led a large army to destroy mountains and temples, and beheaded the ghosts and gods who killed people."
Fuqiu's face showed a look of nostalgia and admiration, and he said, "For saints, they respect the gods who love and care for the common people, and kill the gods who harm the common people. The gods may be powerful, but in their hearts, they are far less important than the common people. So Zhu Xianggong will offer sacrifices to the heavens and gods, but he will not care too much about what the gods will do. He only believes in the common people themselves."
Fuqiu was in the mood to talk, and he talked about how Zhu Xiang and Li Bing, the governor of Shu, controlled the water in the Chengdu Plain, blocking the flow of water, moving mountains, and digging canals... These feats that only appear in myths were realized one by one on the Chengdu Plain.
"Speaking of which, the land of Wu and Yue is the hometown of Emperor Yu, and Mount Kuaiji is the tomb of Emperor Yu. When Emperor Yu controlled the floods, he relied on the people instead of God." said Fuqiu.
The information blockade in this era was too serious. Only the upper-class scholars of the six kingdoms could find out a little about Zhu Xiang's heroic deeds, but local scholars like Chen Qi did not know much.
Even the affairs of Qianzhong County might not be known to the scholars who had stayed in Guangling County all their lives.
As Chen Qi listened to Zhu Xiang's heroic deeds, his face showed a mixture of fear and admiration, and his thoughts were in a state of confusion.
But when Fuqiu talked about Dayu's flood control, Chen Qi's fear suddenly faded.
Yes, wasn't Emperor Yu, the ancestor of Wu Yue, also such a person? Flood control was all the work of people. If they met gods who could help them on the way, they would be grateful, and if they met gods who made trouble, they would be killed. Worshipping ghosts and gods is just to ask them not to make trouble, which is a kind of advance notice, but it does not mean to pin all hopes on them.
"Yes, all the sages of the past dynasties have done so." Chen Qi suddenly felt courageous. "Sacrifices to heaven must be made, but what's more important is myself."
He looked at the thin dark clouds in the sky and thought about Duke Zhu Xiang's instructions. His old body seemed to be filled with endless energy.
There is still a lot to do to ensure a good harvest.
Zhu Xiang was surrounded by many Confucian scholars. Under Zhu Xiang's leadership, some of these scholars picked up hoes and some picked up swords. But after putting down their hoes and swords, they were still able to quote classics in a refined manner and arrange a small ceremony of offering sacrifices to the heavens.
Zhu Xiang, wearing the crown and clothes of a Qin feudal monarch, worshipped heaven and earth for the first time.
After finishing the prayer, Zhu Xiang added a paragraph of his own words, the main meaning of which was that he hoped God could help. If God did not help, humans would overcome difficulties and overcome the hardships of God.
No matter what gods or deities there are, humans will not place all their hopes on them and will always be self-reliant.
This is to say, respect God but do not fear Him.
When Zhu Xiang walked down from the altar, most of the scholars in Guangling looked a little dazed.
On the contrary, the scholars who inherited the teachings of hundreds of schools of thought had very calm expressions, as if this was a very normal thing.
Even for the disciples of the Hundred Schools who specialized in divination, their attitude towards ghosts and gods was just "warning". No one would compromise because of the anger of ghosts and gods.
This is probably the pride of scholars in this era.
The story of Zhu Xiang offering sacrifices to heaven reached the ears of the farmers, and at the same time, the story of Zhu Xiang beheading the gods also spread by word of mouth and became a household name as a particularly miraculous story.
At the same time, the farmers also learned about Dayu's flood control.
The story of Dayu controlling the flood should be a widely spread legend. However, for farmers working in the fields, they may not even know which country their land may belong to. They just give the land to whoever collects taxes. Naturally, few people know the legend of Dayu controlling the flood.
Now, during the slack season waiting for the harvest, they listen to stories told for free by storytellers who claim to be novelists. They learn that they had a powerful ancestor named Dayu, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors in ancient times.
Originally, both Wu and Yue and Chu belonged to Zhou, Shang, and Xia. Wu and Yue were once the birthplace of the dragon, not barbarians.
We are the same people as the Qin people and the people of Wei, Han, Zhao, Qi and Yan in the Central Plains. There is no difference between us.
It was only because the Zhou emperor declined and the Zhou dynasty collapsed, and now the princes of various countries are fighting for the throne again, that they were temporarily separated from other places.
Yeah, short-lived.
The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period lasted more than 500 years, which can be said to be short when considering the entire historical dimension of China.
Chen Qi was puzzled: "Duke Zhu Xiang, why did you send people to tell stories to the farmers?"
Zhu Xiang said: "Farmers are also human beings. They should know how glorious their ancestors were, that they are not barbarians, that the seven countries have the same roots, and that the world should be unified. They should also know that after the world is unified, there will be no more wars in this world."
Chen Qi was still puzzled: "What if they knew?"
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "Maybe it's nothing, it just makes them have more hope for the future, more expectations for life, and more smiles on their faces. That's all."
Zhu Xiang explained it very clearly, but those who were confused remained confused.
Zhu Xiang didn't intend to let everyone know his thoughts, he just wanted to do it, so he did it.
Zhu Xiang's purpose is to let these people who have no time to think about anything except survival think about things that have nothing to do with survival, let them have more fantasies, and get a little happiness from their fantasies.
Although human needs are divided into many levels, it is not necessary to satisfy the lowest level in order to reach the higher levels.
Even in the most difficult times, you can listen to some stories, sing some songs, play some games, and find some comfort in your soul that is exhausted by survival.
Zhu Xiangrang created a legend, and many novelists flocked to him and changed their careers to become storytellers just for this reason.
I don’t know if it was because God was frightened by Zhu Xiang’s somewhat indifferent sacrifice to heaven, but during the summer harvest this year, God was quite considerate and only gave a few light rains at the end to express his dissatisfaction with Zhu Xiang’s lack of respect.
The straw was ready, and the moist rice was placed in the repaired kiln for drying, with little loss.
This year is still a year of bumper harvest that can be praised.
When the summer harvest is successful, these light rains are just right for farmers.
The rice seeds they planted immediately needed just such a small rain to help them germinate better.
Before the farmers had time to enjoy the joy of the harvest, Zhu Xiang led the farmers in the busy summer planting.
The seeds are first planted on dry land, and then the seedlings are transplanted. New tools for transplanting rice are also used.
The primitive rice transplanter developed by Zhu Xiang together with his disciples from the Mohist and Agricultural schools was called Yangma.
The use of seedling horses became widespread in the Northern Song Dynasty, and the name first appeared in the poems of Su Shi. Because scholars did not know much about the details of farming, the role of seedling horses was unknown. Until the 1980s, the agricultural community believed that seedling horses were only used for pulling seedlings.
Later, with more archaeological discoveries, the agricultural community corrected their understanding and determined that rice seedling horses were used for both transplanting and pulling out rice seedlings.
Although Zhu Xiang had seen the restored picture of Yangma, his memory of it was not very clear.
He and his students studied for a long time before they invented a rice seedling horse that was cheap and could be popularized. As for whether this rice seedling horse was the popular rice seedling horse during the Northern Song Dynasty in his previous life, Zhu Xiang didn't know. Anyway, it was good to use.
The rice seedling horse is shaped like a small boat. Farmers sit on the rice seedling horse and use their feet to slide the "boat" to take the seedlings from the bow to plant them, or pull out the seedlings and place them in the stern cabin, which can save a lot of effort.
Seeing this, Chen Qi couldn't help but compose a Chu song to praise the rice seedlings.
The system made a ding sound, and Zhu Xiang saw Chen Qi's avatar pop up. He gave Xiaosong a handful of his favorability points and couldn't help laughing.
(End of this chapter)