Zhu Xiang told Zichu in detail what he had seen during the inspection and included suggestions for improvement.
The cruelty of Qin law lies in being too detailed.
If even the number of feet of plowed land is regulated, and failure to do so is punishable by fines or forced labor, then almost everyone will commit a crime. As long as the grassroots officials are not humane, the farmers will be tortured to death.
Whether it is the economic system or the law, the country must match it according to its own administrative capabilities. Detailed matters can be done through teaching and rewards, but they cannot be written into the law, and even more so, they cannot be punished for failure to achieve them.
Zhu Xiang had been in Qin for so many years, and he finally knew how the prisoners who accounted for one-fifth of the population during the Qin Shihuang period came about.
The Qin Dynasty rose because of its laws and also fell because of its laws.
Even without Hu Hai's step on the accelerator, Qin would have perished quickly.
Zichu listened very seriously, and forgot that he was a weakling.
People in poor health can only soak in a hot spring for half an hour at most. They need to sit up and rest, enjoy the cool breeze to dissipate the heat, or directly put a towel dipped in cold water on their head, otherwise they will feel dizzy.
Zichu was busy listening to Zhu Xiang spitting excitedly for two hours.
But when he felt something was wrong, he was already a little dizzy.
Li Mu was the first to notice something was wrong. He quickly supported Zichu who fell into the water and dragged him to shore.
Zhu Xiang was so scared that he wanted to press Zichu's chest to perform CPR, but was pushed away by Li Mu.
"Go get some cool water." Li Mu said calmly.
Zhu Xiang brought some cold water and asked, "Did he faint from the hot spring bath? So weak?"
Zichu, who had just caught his breath, was so angry that he punched Zhu Xiang. Zhu Xiang dodged Zichu's inaccurate punch by leaning his body. Zichu fainted again because of his anger.
Li Mu scolded, "Go find the imperial physician! Stop making trouble!"
Zhu Xiang first fed Zichu a glass of water, then wrapped himself in his robe and went to find the imperial physician.
The imperial physician was nearby and arrived soon.
After his judgment, Zichu was indeed fainted from soaking in the hot spring and just needed to rest and drink more water.
The imperial physician Wenwan told Zichu, “Your Majesty, I told you that you can only soak for half an hour at most.”
Zichu waved his hands vigorously to let the imperial physician go.
Zhu Xiang said, "Next time you take a hot spring bath, I'll put an hourglass next to you."
Zichu was very angry: "Can't you say something nice?"
Zhu Xiang said, "I care about you so much, how can I not say nice things? I'll go to the kitchen to see if there are any fresh fruits and vegetables, and make you something light. It is said that you can grow off-season vegetables and fruits near the hot springs, have you planted any?"
Zichu said: "No."
Zhu Xiang said disdainfully: "What a waste."
He fed Zichu another glass of water and watched him drink it before going to the kitchen.
After Zhu Xiang left, Zichu said to Li Mu, who was fanning him, "Look at this Zhu Xiang. Doesn't he have any respect for me, the King of Qin?"
Li Mu said: "Yes."
Zichu was surprised: "You won't speak up for him?"
Li Mu said helplessly, "I can't say anything against my will. Your Majesty, you shouldn't indulge him like this. He will become even more aggressive. For example, you should allow him to cross the State of Chu."
Originally, Li Mu disagreed with Zhu Xiang's plan to cross the State of Chu, and Zhu Xiang also gave up this ridiculous idea. However, Zichu foresaw Zhu Xiang's intention in advance, issued a secret edict to agree to Zhu Xiang's trip, and prepared Lian Po to meet him.
Seeing Li Mu's complaints, Zichu coughed and said, "I am tired, I will take a nap."
He closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
Li Mu: “…”
Li Mu continued to fan Zichu and continued to persuade him: "Your Majesty..."
Zi Chu interrupted with his eyes closed: "I am asleep, don't make any noise."
Li Mu sighed deeply and stopped talking.
A smile appeared on his lips.
Without refrigerators and cold chain transportation, even the King of Qin’s kitchen would not have many fresh fruits and vegetables.
Zichu had an ice cellar in the hot spring palace, in which he froze some oranges from the south. But those fruits were basically wilted, and could only be said to be edible, but definitely not delicious.
As for vegetables, cabbage and radish can also grow in winter, which finally adds some freshness picked from the fields to the Qin King's kitchen.
After soaking in the hot spring, Zhu Xiang couldn't stand the smell of greasy things for a while. Zhu Xiang selected some mushrooms and used the chicken soup prepared in the kitchen to make clear soup for Zichu.
The kitchen was always stocked with stews and other dishes, and the stove was never extinguished so that the King of Qin could use them at any time.
Such as chicken soup, duck soup, fish soup and various sweet and salty porridges, all of which have been boiled and are very delicious.
Zhu Xiang chose a pot of chicken soup, sifted it first with a bamboo sieve and then with cotton gauze. He then asked the cook to cut the chicken breast into minced meat and put it into the chicken soup that had been sifted twice. After the chicken minced meat was mature, he filtered it again, and got a pot of rich and clear soup, which made the cook's eyes widen.
This cook had served the King of Qin for many years, and had learned many cooking methods from Zhu Xiang when he was still living in Xianyang.
However, Zhu Xiang doesn't like overly complicated cooking methods. Complexity means wasting ingredients, so Zhu Xiang always cooks delicious home-cooked dishes.
Besides, he is not a great chef, and he can’t cook anything too exaggerated.
This was the first time Zhu Xiang showed him his "wasteful" cooking skills.
Use a casserole to boil a pot of rich chicken soup, and then make the chicken soup look like water. Is this what Changping Jun once jokingly called "eating chicken without seeing the chicken"
After Zhu Xiang finished, he told the cook: "Don't indulge in such wasteful cooking skills, otherwise you will end up like Yi Ya."
The chef was immediately awakened from his overjoyed state, sweating profusely: "Yes, yes, I will keep it in mind."
Zhu Xiang nodded, cut the mushrooms, cabbage and radish into strips and slices, put them into the clear soup one by one and cooked them, then served them to Zichu.
Seeing Zichu fall asleep, Li Mu fanned him, and Zhu Xiang said loudly, "Since Xia Tong has fallen asleep, let's drink his soup."
Zichu opened his eyes immediately.
Li Mu helped Zichu up and said, "Do you really want to anger the Lord?"
Zhu Xiang was puzzled: "Why did I make him angry? It's a little hot, wait a moment."
Zhu Xiang put the soup on the table: "Before the soup cools down, shall I tell you a story?"
Zichu laughed and scolded, "Do you treat me like a political man?"
Zhu Xiang said, "Just tell me whether you want to listen or not."
Zichu picked up the fan that Li Mu had placed on the bedside and fanned himself: "What's the story?"
Zhu Xiang said: "This story starts with Nuwa mending the sky. Once upon a time, there was a mountain, and on the mountain there was a grape vine..."
Zichu interrupted, "Wait, what does this have to do with Nuwa mending the sky?"
Zhu Xiang said, "I just made it up."
Zichu hit Zhu Xiang with a fan, and Li Mu held his forehead and sighed.
Are these two done yet? Why aren't Cai Ze and Lin Zhi here
No, Cai Ze had to be here. If Lin Zhi were here, it would be even more chaotic.
Zhu Xiang and Zichu finished telling the story of the seven gourd brothers while playing and fighting.
Zhu Xiang could no longer remember what the story of Calabash Brothers was, so he just made it up.
As the two of them were fighting, Li Mu resigned himself to picking up another fan and fanning Tang to cool him down.
When Zichu was with his friends, he didn't like to be served by others. Zhu Xiang, Li Mu and others were the same. So he did everything by himself.
After drinking the soup, Zichu felt like he was alive again.
After soaking in the hot spring, he recovered quickly. Zichu still had the energy to complain, why didn't they put some noodles or rice in the soup, it was like eating nothing, not full.
Zhu Xiang recounted the recipe for this carefully prepared soup, emphasizing that he put a lot of effort into it.
But Zichu also emphasized that he was not full.
Li Mu continued to hold his forehead.
Are they done yet? Weren't these two talking about serious matters before
He quickly changed the subject to business, but Zhu Xiang and Zichu, who had just seemed very anxious, said they would consider it tomorrow.
It's late now, I can't think of anything even if I think about it. I'll think about it slowly tomorrow.
Li Mu couldn't help asking, "Then why did you faint in the hot spring, Your Majesty?"
Zhu Xiang laughed.
This matter really cannot be rushed.
On the second day, Zichu first read Zhu Xiang's memorial, then revised and deleted some of it himself, asked Zhu Xiang to re-copy it, and then took Zhu Xiang's re-copied memorial and summoned the accompanying ministers in the palace to discuss it together.
Although Zichu left Xianyang, he would bring some important officials with him when he went to the temporary palace, and he did not completely let go.
When Cai Ze and Lin Zhi were guarding Xianyang, they would rush to send important matters to Zichu for his review before making any decisions, and would not make decisions on their own.
It's just a pity for the horse.
Zhu Xiang's rewritten memorial deleted a lot of specific content and only briefly stated his suggestions.
In this way, Zhu Xiang would not offend any specific person by not mentioning any name.
Although Zichu believed that it didn't matter if Zhu Xiang offended someone as long as he had his own protection, it would be better to have less trouble.
Similarly, some of Zhu Xiang's suggestions criticizing Qin Law were also deleted by Zichu. Qin Law had been rooted in Qin for many years. If it was brought to the court for discussion and revision, it would definitely cause a lot of trouble. So Zichu planned to return to Xianyang, discuss with Lin Zhi, Cai Ze, and Xunzi, and then quietly change it by issuing an edict.
Qin laws were revised every year. In order to avoid trouble, such minor matters were mixed in with the complex revision of laws and regulations and could be directly implemented.
The King of Qin had his own unique way of dealing with conflicts in the court—just bypass the court officials.
Zhu Xiang thought this was not a good idea, but when he remembered that this was a monarchy, he felt relieved.
Although there will definitely be trouble if we encounter a foolish ruler in the future, there will definitely be trouble if we encounter a foolish ruler, so this is not the worst.
The only thing Zichu discussed with the ministers was the planting structure.
Zhu Xiang went a little further and said that farming is like leading troops. It must be adjusted according to the weather, terrain, and the physical condition of the farmers. One cannot follow farming books rigidly, just like one cannot march and fight according to military books.
Lian Po interrupted: "Just don't become a person like Zhao Kuo."
The ministers were originally thinking about the truth in Zhu Xiang's words, but when Lian Po said this, they stopped thinking and nodded vigorously in agreement.
I understand, I understand. I will understand it once I give an example.
Zhu Xiang said, "If I hadn't been to that field, I wouldn't be able to tell you the details of how to farm it. I can only give you general instructions. It's the same as marching to war."
Lian Po interrupted again: "No matter how powerful I am, if I were to command the Qin army in Hanzhong to fight in Nanyue, I would be completely clueless. I don't even know what Nanyue looks like."
The ministers nodded vigorously again and gave General Lian a surprised look.
I didn't expect that General Lian is not only a top-notch general, but also a talented prime minister.
Xunzi glanced at Lian Po.
Lian Po might have the talent to assist the government, but Lian Po's current ability to speak was acquired when he pretended to be unwilling to lead the Qin army and taught students in the Xianyang Academy.
Ever since Bai Qi fell ill again and returned home, there have been almost no people coming to the Xianyang Academy to teach the art of war. He should have mentioned to the King of Qin that the art of war should continue to be taught and another school of thought should be introduced to calm down those who were starting to riot about the feudal system and the restoration of Zhou rituals.
Now is the era of the Qin State, and in the future it will be the era of the Qin Dynasty. Zhou rituals will develop into Qin rituals, and this is an irreversible trend.
Confucian disciples should strive to correct their direction in this trend and make it closer to the Confucian ideal, rather than trying to go against the trend.
Lian Po relied on his age and seniority. Even though he did not have much seniority in Qin, he could still use his seniority to make all the ministers of Qin listen to him quietly.
Li Mu was much more low-key and remained silent without saying a word.
Lian Po and Zhu Xiang sang the same tune, and King Zichu of Qin continued to express his approval, setting the tone for the matter.
After this harvest, Prince Chu of Qin will personally inspect the Guanzhong and Guandong areas and change some of the more rigid policies.
As for how to change it, it is up to the King of Qin and his ministers to figure it out themselves.
This is difficult.
They needed to give the farmers the autonomy of planting, but farmers were short-sighted and easily followed the trend, so the Qin State had to help farmers plan the planting structure.
The Qin State could use taxes to encourage farmers to grow wheat, rice, millet, and millet, thus protecting the basic staple food crops. The remaining grains could only be guided.
Zhu Xiang suggested that all parts of the Qin State should have their own manor gardens to support the King of Qin. Some grains could be grown in the manor gardens, and then a higher proportion of grains could be exchanged for a lower proportion of millet, rice, wheat, beans and other easy-to-store grains. For example, a ratio of three to one to five to one would be appropriate.
Farmers think it is a good deal, so they will exchange their staple food for these uncommon grains. After they have eaten them a few times and become accustomed to them, they may grow their own.
Compared with the Qin State's forced promotion, letting farmers get used to the taste of coarse grains and know how to eat them first may make it easier to increase farmers' enthusiasm for growing coarse grains.
Moreover, grains are not easy to store. Wangzhuang Villa grows a lot of grains, which are also difficult to store. A large number of farmers come to exchange for grains that are difficult to store, which can also solve the storage problem.
Zhu Xiang said: "There are two issues that need to be noted in this suggestion. First, some farmers may think it is a good deal and exchange large amounts of grains, which will eventually rot. Therefore, we should limit the amount each farmer can exchange, which can be regarded as a gift from the monarch to the common people. Second, some wealthy households will see business opportunities and use a lower proportion of grains to exchange for the staple food in the hands of farmers, and even force them to buy and sell."
Qin Wang Zichu said: "I have stipulated in the imperial edict that if you exchange coarse grains for staple grains, you must use the same or lower ratio as the grain exchanged at my Wangzhuang Villa."
Zhu Xiang bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise."
Prince Chu of Qin glanced at all the ministers and said, "You all must have more food than you can eat. I hope you won't take advantage of this little advantage."
All the ministers and officials hurriedly said they dared not.
Qin Wang Zichu said: "If your family members do such things, I will kill them and then hold you responsible for your failure to discipline them."
All the ministers and officials were busy promising that they would keep their families and clansmen under control.
Later, Prince Chu of Qin issued an edict to entrust the task of growing miscellaneous grains on the Qin royal land in exchange for staple food to Xu Ming, who was teaching students and writing books at the Xianyang Academy.
Farmers value farmers the most. Xu Ming is mature and steady, and he has followed Zhu Xiang for many years, so he is the most suitable person to do this.
He also appointed a member of the Qin royal family to supervise the Qin market together with Shangqing Meng Ao to prevent wealthy households from interfering and turning good things into bad ones.
Everyone knows that Prince Chu of Qin and Lord Changping Zhu Xiang were talking about the wealthy families, but in fact they were targeting the nobles and scholars of Qin.
After Lian Po and Li Mu entered Qin and Wang Jian emerged, Meng Ao no longer led troops. Instead, he focused on writing letters to urge his son and grandson to make progress.
After Meng Tian made great military achievements, Meng Ao knocked on the doors of almost every acquaintance he had in Xianyang City, using all kinds of excuses to show off his grandson.
Meng Ao's best friend was called Wei Zhuang, a very low-key and gentle person.
After Meng Ao showed off a few times, this low-key, gentle and honest man, Wei Zhuang, actually beat Meng Ao out with a broom.
Looking at Wei Zhuang wielding the broom with great force, you can tell that he must have been a good fighter on the battlefield when he was young.
Now that Meng Ao was in an important position, he recommended his honest friends to supervise the officials together.
Not only did Wei Zhuang not thank Meng Ao, he was also extremely angry.
He just wanted to keep a low profile and serve as a minister until his death, and he didn't want to go against the ministers at all. This friend can't be kept anymore!
After hearing Wei Zhuang's name, Zhu Xiang looked at Wei Zhuang for a second longer.
Wei Zhuang was originally unknown in history, but later when cultural relics were unearthed, it was discovered that he was one of the prime ministers during the Qin Shihuang period.
The Qin State had a prime minister (i.e. Xiangbang), under whom there were left and right chancellors. After the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, the position of prime minister was abolished, but the left and right chancellors were retained. Lü Buwei was once the prime minister, and Li Si was once the prime minister. In fact, there were other prime ministers from the reign of Qin Wangzheng to the reign of Qin Shihuang.
When Li Si was the Minister of Justice, the Prime Ministers of Qin Shi Huang were Wei Zhuang and Wang Wan. They both wrote to the emperor to enfeoff the princes of Qin, and their political views were different from Li Si's.
Although they disagreed with Li Si, after Qin Shi Huang made his decision, the two actively supported him. Wei Zhuang and Wang Wan first proposed to deify Qin Shi Huang's achievements and strengthen the emperor's autocratic centralization; then Wei Zhuang focused on economic unification, and he was the one who implemented the unification of currency and weights and measures; Wang Wan toured the country and carried out reforms to the county system.
So although it was Li Si who summarized and proposed the unification of writing, weights and measures, wheel tracks, currency, etc., most of the things were not done by Li Si. Li Si was just the proposer. The two old prime ministers were the implementers.
It was only after Wei Zhuang's death that Li Si took over Wei Zhuang's position as prime minister; after Wang Wan's death, Feng Quji became the prime minister of Qin.
Although Li Si ranked after Feng Quji, the government affairs were mainly handled by Li Si, and Feng Quji's status was only similar to that of Xunzi today.
Then, Li Si governed the Qin State in a mess, and conflicts arose everywhere.
Zhu Xiang was distracted while looking at Wei Zhuang, and complained in his heart that Li Si in history might be very capable, but his ability might not be in governing a country to end war.
Prince Chu of Qin noticed Zhu Xiang's gaze and immediately praised Wei Zhuang.
After changing into the King of Qin's clothes, Zichu asked curiously, "Do you know Wei Zhuang? I barely know him."
Zhu Xiang said: "I've heard of him. He is a man with some economic knowledge."
Zichu said, "Since you are praising him, he must have some ability."
Zhu Xiang didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Not necessarily. I don't know much either."
There are not many records of Wei Zhuang in history books, and even his name in "Records of the Grand Historian" is wrong. It was not until the cultural relics were unearthed in later generations that we knew that his name was Wei Zhuang, not Wei Lin. So Zhu Xiang really didn't know how capable he was.
But to be able to become prime minister during the Qin Shi Huang period, his abilities must have been greater than those of ordinary ministers.
Zichu said, "I will observe him for a while. If he is really capable, when Cai Ze threatens me to resign from the position of prime minister again, I will send Wei Zhuang to help Cai Ze."
The specific position can be thought of later, it is to help the prime minister. The Qin kings of all dynasties have their own way of exploiting people.
Zhu Xiang said, "I think you might as well promote Li Mu directly to be the prime minister. Qin has plenty of generals anyway, so anyone can go to Nanyue."
Li Mu said: "Zhu Xiang, don't force me."
Zhu Xiang asked curiously, "What will happen if I force you?"
Li Mu said, "I will tell Xunzi everything you did in Nanyue."
Zhu Xiang: “…”
Zichu burst into laughter: "Sue, hurry up and sue, I support you!"
Zhu Xiang gnashed his teeth. He wanted to say that Li Mu could just sue him, and he hadn't done anything bad in Nanyue that would make Xunzi beat him up.
But he thought about it again, feeling unsure whether he had done anything bad that would cause Xunzi to beat him, and he couldn't help but hesitate.
"I don't care about you. I'll go serve Xunzi and Lian Gong. Xia Tong, Li Mu, you two will take care of yourselves."
Zichu and Li Mu looked at each other and followed Zhu Xiang's footsteps.
When Zhu Xiang could cook, it was impossible for them to prepare meals by themselves. Xunzi and Lian Gong had their own pair of chopsticks, so of course they went to eat together.
As for the King of Qin running to the Prime Minister and the General to eat for free, at that time, there was no King of Qin, Prime Minister, or General, they were just elders and juniors.
Xunzi saw Zhu Xiang and Zichu, two people who gave him a headache, walking towards him together. Li Mu, who was standing beside him, looked apologetic and couldn't help but sigh deeply.
Xunzi asked, "Zhu Xiang, have you rested enough?"
Zhu Xiang was confused: "Rest? Ah, I've rested enough."
Xunzi said, "Come here."
Zhu Xiang walked over.
Xunzi asked, "Have you studied hard during these years of absence? Let me test you."
He pulled a ruler from his sleeve.
Zhu Xiang: “…” Wait, why are you suddenly testing me on my homework
Lian Po quickly pulled Zichu and Li Mu aside, gave them two handfuls of roasted pumpkin seeds, and watched Zhu Xiang being tested with great interest.
After Zhu Xiang left Wujun with Ying Xiaozheng, he had not studied properly due to his busy schedule; and on the way to see off Chunshen Jun, he had even less time to study.
Zhu Xiang originally wanted to rely on his memory and knowledge to fool around, but who was Xunzi? He always caught Zhu Xiang's mistakes.
Xunzi raised the ruler, and Zhu Xiang stretched out his hand, with a calm expression...
Li Mu sighed, "Zheng'er and Zhu Xiang have completely learned bad things."
Zichu nodded vigorously. That's right. That's what Zheng'er did when he admitted his mistakes.
Lian Po shook his head. Zheng'er is much better than Zhu Xiang.
In the distant Wu County, Ying Xiaozheng, who had already arrived at the county governor's mansion and began to deal with a mountain of official business, sneezed loudly.
He angrily threw the pen to the ground and yelled, "What on earth is uncle doing? Why hasn't he come back yet?"
It is simple to handle government affairs, but Ying Xiaozheng can’t bear it any longer as his aunt asked him to teach Cheng Jiao to read!
(End of this chapter)