At the end of April, the weather finally warmed up.
Zhu Xiang sheathed his sword and switched back to a hoe.
Li Mu continued to stay in the Jianghuai Plain and served as the boss and backer of the local officials sent by King Zheng of Qin; Zhu Xiang repaired the irrigation and water conservancy projects that had been abandoned during the war in various places and guided farmers in farming.
Because of the severe cold disaster in Chu, Xue Ji did not dare to come to Chu in order to raise little Fusu. However, all the cold-resistant materials used in Chu were prepared by her, and cotton and cotton cloth were continuously transported to Chu, saving many lives.
Because of the previous "Cotton War", the nobles in Chu put all the blame on cotton, saying that cotton was the "seed of disaster" and that it was the planting of cotton that caused the famine in Chu, so most of the cotton in Chu was pulled out. The people of Chu were prejudiced against cotton.
When faced with a cold disaster, some poor scholars and overly superstitious Chu people would rather freeze to death than use cotton cloth.
For these people, Zhu Xiang could only give up his desire to help others.
King Zheng of Qin wrote to Zhu Xiang, saying that after he ascended the throne, he would issue a decree to seek talents for three consecutive years, inviting scholars from all over the world to come to Xianyang to take the exam and become officials.
Before these scholars came to Xianyang, they had to go through the local county examinations, review and recommendation. The three-level assessment and recommendation system of "college-university-school" was to be implemented throughout the country through the Qin King's three-year order to seek talents.
King Zheng of Qin established two counties in the Jianghuai Plain. Zhu Xiang happened to be repairing the agricultural infrastructure of Chu in the Jianghuai Plain, and the assessment of the school level of the two counties was given to Zhu Xiang.
Based on the fact that poor scholars in the State of Chu would rather freeze to death than use cotton or cotton cloth, Zhu Xiang came up with the last policy essay topic - "Based on the fact that the Chu nobles forced the Chu people to grow cotton in order to make money, which caused famine, and finally put all the blame on the cotton, causing the Chu people to freeze to death rather than use cotton cloth, write an policy essay to advise the monarch from the perspective of 'natural disasters and man-made disasters'."
Zhu Xiang sent this topic to Qin Wangzheng by the way, urging Qin Wangzheng to write an article as well. He wanted to check whether Qin Wangzheng had neglected his studies.
After reading the letter, Qin Wangzheng crossed his hands and rested his chin on the back of his hands: "I am about to become the first emperor of Qin, why do I still need to do homework?"
Zhang Liang and Meng Yi each did their own thing and ignored the grumbling King of Qin.
Despite his grumblings, King Zheng of Qin still picked up the book and prepared to write his policy paper seriously.
Give yourself some advice.jpg.
King Zheng of Qin also gained inspiration from the homework assigned to him by Zhu Xiang, and thought of the topic for his essay for the selection of officials in the Xianyang Palace - "The Way of Heaven Has Its Constant Movements."
"Qin and the other six states were in the same area and experienced the same natural disasters. Why did Qin grow stronger while the other six states grew weaker?"
This was not a matter of simply praising the Qin State. What the King of Qin wanted to assess was the scholars' understanding of the specific measures taken by the Qin State to relieve the disaster, and whether they could innovate and provide practical suggestions.
There is also a deeper political reason for using this title.
"The way of heaven is constant" is Xunzi's main political view. When Qin Shihuang first recruited officials after the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, he used Xunzi's view, which was equivalent to recognizing that the Confucian school dominated by Xunzi was the "orthodoxy" of governing the country in the Qin Dynasty.
The Qin Dynasty would certainly accept all schools of thought in the future, but it could not say so to the outside world. It had to come up with a "unified thought".
According to Zhu Xiang's "spoiler", the main reason why Confucianism has been able to permeate Chinese civilization for more than two thousand years is that its "all-encompassing" nature is the most important reason.
With Confucius's "When three people walk together, one of them can be my teacher" setting the tone, the thoughts of the Hundred Schools of Thought that were suitable for the Qin Dynasty could be incorporated into the Qin Dynasty's official "New Confucianism".
Even if it is the traditional legalist thought of the Qin Dynasty, who is the leader of the legalist school now? It is Han Fei and Li Si, who are both disciples of Xunzi.
As long as Xunzi is still around, Confucianism and Legalism will not dare to fall out.
This is also the reason why Xunzi gritted his teeth and lived on even though he was old and sick and living might be more painful than death.
He can't die now.
He had to live to see the establishment of the Qin Dynasty and lay the foundation for the integration of Confucianism and Legalism before he could pass this important responsibility to Zhu Xiang.
When Zhu Xiang was over forty and his age and qualifications were impeccable, and with the help of a pioneer like himself who took on the pressure of being the first, Zhu Xiang was able to stand out and suppress the hundreds of schools of thought, thus achieving complete integration.
When people get too old, they can’t eat, drink or sleep well, and their bones are so brittle that even a sneeze hurts. A happy funeral is a relief.
But Xunzi could not yet be liberated. He could only hold on until he was shattered to pieces and could not hold on any longer.
King Zheng of Qin knew the resentment in Xunzi's heart and that Xunzi was having a hard time now, but there was nothing he could do.
In his dream, he once wished for immortality, but his uncle told him that those who wish for immortality will have a short life.
Everyone will die one day, even my magical uncle.
As he grows up, his elders will grow old; as he grows old, his elders will pass away.
This is how the world is. The birth and separation of generations are to pass on the torch.
Even though King Zheng of Qin was unwilling, he had no choice.
He can only think more, do more, and reassure his elderly elders.
The Jianghuai Plain had a good foundation. Zhu Xiang led his people to repair the water conservancy projects and introduced good varieties from Qin State. The cold weather in April killed many pests in the soil. In late autumn, the Jianghuai Plain had a good harvest.
Zhu Xiang sat on the ridge of the field, staring at the golden wheat field in a daze.
Xue Ji, Xiao Fusu and Cheng Jiao all wanted to attend the enthronement ceremony of Qin Shi Huang in the first month of the year. They went north to join Zhu Xiang in advance and just arrived in Xiangcheng today.
Tired from the journey, Xue Ji, Xiao Fusu and Cheng Jiao rested in the mansion first, while Li Mu rode on horseback to look for Zhu Xiang.
Seeing Zhu Xiang in a daze, Li Mu deliberately let his horse approach slowly, commanded the horse to lower its head and hit Zhu Xiang, which scared Zhu Xiang.
Zhu Xiang was so frightened that he nearly rolled into the field. Turning back, he saw Li Mu riding on horseback, laughing and jumping up and down and cursing.
Li Mu smiled and dismounted: "Xue Ji is here. Why don't you go back quickly? Why are you standing here in a daze?"
Zhu Xiang asked, "Are we there yet?"
He quickly packed up, stole Li Mu's horse and went home, then gave his donkey to Li Mu.
Donkeys are a specialty of the Beihu people.
After King Zheng of Qin learned from Zhu Xiang about the Silk Road in the Western Regions in later generations, he sent envoys to the west to inquire about the situation in the Western Regions.
This donkey was the "tribute" brought back by the envoys from the Western Regions. After Qin Wang Zheng gave one to Xunzi, who had already found it difficult to ride a horse, he only gave it to his uncle and aunt.
His aunt was in Southern Qin, a long way to go, and the donkey he had given her was still in Xianyang. Zhu Xiang rode there first.
Although the donkey was a rare animal, it was much smaller than a horse. Zhu Xiang rode a tall horse, and Li Mu rode a donkey side by side. The scene looked particularly funny.
Li Mu was quite shameless at this time. He rode on the donkey and looked up at Zhu Xiang with a contented expression.
"You looked so gloomy just now. What difficulties did you encounter?" Li Mu asked.
Zhu Xiang said: "It's not difficult."
He hesitated for a moment, but still told Li Mu what he had just thought.
Others may not understand what he is thinking, but even if Li Mu does not understand, he will listen quietly.
While Zhu Xiang was providing disaster relief, suppressing bandits, and guiding farming in the Jianghuai Plain, he also recompiled the household registration data of Chu.
So he knew exactly how many people died in this drought—the number of people who died of freezing and starvation that could be counted was in the five digits. If we count the hidden households that died during the suppression of bandits and those that were not counted, the number would be even greater.
The Chu State had just been defeated in the war and was hit by a famine. The land of Chu was devastated and full of suffering.
At this time, the Qin State organized a disaster relief operation. Zhu Xiang used superstition to counter superstition and carried out the "destroying gods" campaign. The thaw in April was Zhu Xiang's credit, and the bumper harvest in Chu made the Qin State famous for its benevolence.
Originally, the Chu State had the highest anti-Qin sentiment among the six states due to the death of King Qi of Chu and the rebellion of Xiang Yan.
After experiencing this cold disaster, the common people of Chu were the first to return to Qin, and the rebellious sentiment of the scholars was also reduced.
Furthermore, the cold weather caused severe food shortages in all parts of Chu, and the resistance forces were also short of food. They either starved to death or froze to death in the cold weather, or robbed the supplies of the Chu civilians and were then wiped out by Zhu Xiang, becoming a stepping stone for Zhu Xiang's reputation and also a stepping stone for Qin's reputation.
This cold weather was a disaster for the Chu people, but it was good for the Qin State.
As long as there is another good harvest next year, the Chu people will have surplus food at home, and Qin's rule in Chu will become smooth.
Zhu Xiang was originally thinking about what would happen in Chu, and felt that this was actually an opportunity for the Qin State.
Then he woke up with a startle in a cold autumn wind that made him shiver.
He actually calculated the benefits of this disaster indifferently and was happy about it.
"When I was in Southern Qin, I would cry for the famine suffered by the Chu people." Zhu Xiang said calmly, "Now that I have seen the disaster of the Chu people with my own eyes, they have become just a string of numbers in a document in my heart. Although I am still doing disaster relief work, my heart seems to have changed."
Just as Zhu Xiang expected, Li Mu just listened quietly without saying anything to comfort him.
Zhu Xiang said: "Perhaps it's because I've been in a high position for too long, or perhaps it's because I've controlled the lives of too many people. Although I reflect on myself all the time, it's inevitable that I've changed."
He took a deep breath and said self-deprecatingly, "Although it is said that a gentleman judges by deeds and not by heart, if we only judge by deeds, I am still the same person. But that is how others see it. For me, when I used 'judging by deeds and not by heart' to excuse myself, I went astray."
Li Mu then asked: "Then how do you want to change?"
Zhu Xiang shook his head: "I don't know. At least, even if my heart has changed, my behavior cannot change. After Zheng'er becomes the first emperor of Qin, I will continue to walk among the people, with farmland and farmers. Maybe I will yearn for wealth and leisure in my heart, but I must suppress my yearning in my heart."
Li Mu shook his head: "Why? This world doesn't belong to just you."
Zhu Xiang said: "There are things in this world that only I can do. In these things, this world belongs to me and I am responsible for it."
Li Mu said: "Zhu Xiang, you are so arrogant."
Zhu Xiang laughed and said, "Don't blame me. You could have cooperated with others to destroy Chu, but you insisted on doing it yourself. Aren't you arrogant?"
Li Mu shook his head again: "I am different from you."
Zhu Xiang said, "It is no different. You are so relaxed just because you have Wang Jian, Lord Lian, and others who can do what you can do now. If only you can accomplish something, then you will stick to it even if you disobey the king's order."
Li Mu did not answer.
He wanted to say maybe not, but maybe Zhu Xiang knew him better than he knew himself.
Zhu Xiang indeed knew him better than he knew himself.
Isn’t this the reason why Li Mu, the Wu’an Jun of Zhao State, was killed
The Zhao army and the Qin army had been confronting each other for several days, but the King of Zhao wanted to change his generals before the battle. Li Mu knew the situation in the court, but he disobeyed the order and died.
Li Mu fought hard for the tiny hope of persuading King Zhao because he knew that apart from him, no one in Zhao had the hope of repelling the Qin army.
"Only I can do this" means my responsibility alone.
This is the "arrogance" of talented people.
Zhu Xiang said: "I will persuade her if I can, but if Xue Ji thinks she would rather walk outside, then I will..."
Zhu Xiang loosened the reins, spread his hands and shrugged: "What can I do?"
Li Mu asked: "Aren't you afraid that Xue Ji will die of illness?"
Zhu Xiang said: "I am very afraid that the people around me will leave me. But I have experienced many separations and know that they all have their own pursuits. I cannot stop their pursuits because of my fear."
Li Mu could only sigh and stop talking about it.
Now Zhu Xiang and Xue Ji are still in good health, and what he is worried about is still far away. For the sake of his mood, he simply stops thinking about it.
Zhu Xiang and Li Mu returned to the city while chatting.
Xue Ji came over holding little Fusu, and Cheng Jiao followed behind Xue Ji.
"Hey, why are you so dirty? Go change your clothes quickly."
Zhu Xiang was originally very happy and wanted to give Xue Ji a hug after a long separation, but Xue Ji's face changed. She first blocked little Fusu who wanted to jump into Zhu Xiang's arms, and then waved her hand in disgust to drive Zhu Xiang away.
Zhu Xiang's face fell: "Xue Ji, I haven't seen you for so long, why do you dislike me? You were not like this before."
Xue Ji waved her hands to drive him away: "You are so dirty, you will dirty Fusu's clothes, go away."
Zhu Xiang: “…”
Cheng Jiao burst into laughter: "Uncle, your status has declined since Fusu came into being."
Zhu Xiang glanced at Cheng Jiao and couldn't help but smile.
"Okay, now Fusu has the highest status in our family." Zhu Xiang obediently went to take a shower and change clothes.
After he finished washing, Xue Ji hugged Zhu Xiang again and stuffed the chubby little Fusu into Zhu Xiang's arms.
Little Fusu frowned, his face full of dissatisfaction: "Who are you! How can you hug me!"
Zhu Xiang was puzzled: "I am your uncle. Didn't you want to jump on me before?"
Little Fusu asked, "Uncle?"
He tilted his head and said, "I thought you were a bad person, so I wanted to protect my aunt and beat you up!"
After saying that, he clenched his fists and punched Zhu Xiang twice on the shoulder.
Zhu Xiang: “…”
He looked at Xue Ji in disbelief: "Xue, have you taught Fusu a bad lesson? Why is Fusu so irritable? Even Zheng'er, at his age, doesn't like to beat people up."
Xue Ji said confidently: "Nonsense, didn't Zheng'er often hit your belly when he was his age?"
Zhu Xiang: “…” It seems to be true. But how can punching my uncle in the stomach for fun be the same as punching a stranger? !
Zhu Xiang began to have a headache. Could it be that Xue Ji had really spoiled Fusu
He had been living in the open air before and could not raise Fusu properly, so he gave Fusu to Xue Ji to take back to Southern Qin. Xue Ji was quite strict with Zheng Er, so Zhu Xiang thought it would be okay to give Fusu to Xue Ji.
Now it seems that grandsons are different from sons. It seems that he will have to educate Fusu himself.
Zhu Xiang was somewhat unconfident. He knew that he had spoiled Zheng'er too much. Fortunately, with Xue Ji, Zheng'er had a way to act. It was difficult for him to be cruel to Zheng'er before, and it would probably be difficult for him to be cruel to Fusu now. What would two indulgent elders teach Fusu to be like
In the past, Xunzi helped to reprimand Zheng'er, but now...
Zhu Xiang thought of Xunzi and his eyes dimmed.
"Fusu is actually very polite, but he is a little impatient." Seeing Zhu Xiang remained silent, Xue Ji's self-righteousness faded away, and she whispered, "Okay, I understand, I will teach him well in the future. He is still young now, it won't be too late to teach him when he is a few years older."
Zhu Xiang came back to his senses and said, "Okay."
Xue Ji breathed a sigh of relief.
She actually knew that she doted on Fusu too much. But Fusu was indeed very sensible and well-behaved in front of her, but he was a little impatient with others, so she didn't care much.
"Fusu, you can't be rude to strangers." Zhu Xiang rubbed Fusu's head, "Although you are still young, you may not understand what your uncle said to you."
Little Fusu shook his head vigorously: "Fusu is not young, at your father's age, he is already the housekeeper!"
Zhu Xiang didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Well, since you want to be the housekeeper, then you should memorize the multiplication table first. How much have you memorized now?"
Little Fusu was puzzled: "What is a calculation table?"
Zhu Xiang showed a fox-like smile: "So little Fusu didn't know yet. Alas, when your father was your age, he could use addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of five-digit numbers skillfully, not to mention the multiplication table. It seems that little Fusu still has a lot to learn. In order to catch up with your father as soon as possible, little Fusu and uncle should work hard together."
Xiao Fusu: "Effort?"
Zhu Xiang said: "My uncle is going to prepare a curriculum for Little Fusu to catch up with your father. Can Little Fusu learn it?"
Little Fusu puffed out his chest and said, "Of course! Fusu, the best!"
Zhu Xiang praised: "Good, you have great ambition! Uncle believes in you! We will start learning tomorrow!"
Little Fusu puffed out his chest and said, "Okay!"
Xue Ji wanted to say something but stopped herself.
She wanted to persuade him that Fusu was still young and it was too early to learn arithmetic.
But Zhu Xiang gave her a look, and she sighed and ignored it.
My husband has made his decision, so he should make the decision on family matters. My poor nephew will not be able to play happily every day from now on.
Cheng Jiao smiled so much that his eyes narrowed.
He still hated arithmetic, even though he had mastered it, so he was very happy to see people around him struggling with it.
Especially since Fusu had snatched away his share of "indulge" from his aunt, he was waiting to see Fusu get into "bad luck".
Cheng Jiao fanned the flames: "Fusu, you have agreed now, but don't say you can't do it later."
Little Fusu puffed up his cheeks and said, "No way! Fusu is the best! Auntie, is Fusu the best?"
Xue Ji smiled helplessly and said, "Of course, Fusu is the most powerful."
"Hmph." He proudly puffed out his chest and put his hands on his hips.
Li Mu watched from the side, not knowing whether to laugh or hold his forehead.
Zhu Xiang, you can teach the child, why do you have to trick him first? Fusu is just a child, don't teach him like Zheng'er, he doesn't have as many ideas as Zheng'er.
Zhu Xiang was as good at raising children as he was at farming. In just one day, he coaxed little Fusu into hugging him again and refused to let go, saying "Uncle is long" and "Uncle is short" in a sweet tone, turning him into a fat baby made of candy.
Zhu Xiang finally understood why Xue Ji couldn't bear to be cruel to Fusu.
Compared to Zheng'er's cunning mind, little Fusu is extremely naive and will believe any tricks. He is just like a big doll.
Think about Zheng'er, who has been very opinionated since he was a child and would ask ten "why" questions for every sentence he was taught, and little Fusu, who believed everything others said. Although he was a little stupid, he was really fun.
Besides, Fusu is actually a smart kid, much better than Cheng Jiao was back then, but he can't compare with Zheng'er.
But in this world, no one can compare to Zheng'er.
Not to mention Zhu Xiang, even Li Mu was melted by the sweet voice of "Li Weng" from little Fusu, and competed with Zhu Xiang to become little Fusu's exclusive mount.
Zhu Xiang complained to Li Mu: "You have a son, and he's married. I'll give you a grandson soon. Why did you abandon your son to Xianyang and play with my grandson? Go play with your grandson instead?"
Li Mu said: "Not as smart as your grandson."
Zhu Xiang directly called Li Mu an irresponsible and bad father.
Li Mu didn't feel that he had done anything wrong. In this era, students who can inherit one's ambitions are closer to you than one's own children. When did Xunzi mention his family
Xunzi had many children and grandchildren, but he only let his students serve him. In the future, he passed on his legacy to Zhu Xiang, making it seem like he never married in his life.
Moreover, Li Mu had already given his family enough resources, and Qin Wang Zheng also promised that his son could inherit the title at a lower level, which was much higher than other noble children. Li Mu felt that he had paid a lot for his family.
Well, a lot.
Zhu Xiang was speechless: "You really don't want to let me teach your son for a while?"
Li Mu said: "I have already given him a high enough starting point. If he has talent, he should go to the Imperial Palace or go to the frontier to make achievements on his own. If he has the ability, he will appear before you. If he has no ability, it is useless to force him to grow."
Zhu Xiang failed to persuade her again and sighed helplessly.
It's not just Li Mu, his other friends are the same.
Although Zhu Xiang understood that his friend hoped that the friendship of the previous generation would not become an inducement for the next generation to be lazy, he still felt sorry that he could not play with his friend's children.
Li Mu said: "If I have an outstanding child, I will bring him to you to see."
Zhu Xiang was helpless: "Mr. Bai said the same thing."
Li Mu said: "Mr. Bai said this to inspire future generations."
Zhu Xiang sighed: "Okay, okay, I won't say any more... Put Fusu down from your shoulders, he has undone your hair!"
Li Mu, with disheveled hair, said he didn't care and continued to carry Fusu Feifei like a male ghost.
Zhu Xiang held his forehead. Li Mu had never treated Zheng'er like this before! He was almost like Lin Li back then!
Zhu Xiang was once again worried about the future education of Fusu.
I wonder if Lin Li and Cai Ze can keep a straight face towards Fusu. They can't fight alone. How about letting Zheng'er play the villain
With a heavy heart, Zhu Xiang waited for Li Si and Han Fei and returned to Xianyang with them.
Then Zhu Xiang was once again disappointed to find that Li Si and Han Fei also carried Fusu on their shoulders and flew away when the carriage stopped to rest every day.
Han Fei quietly told Zhu Xiang: "The prince looks similar to the King of Qin. When I saw him, it was as if I saw the King of Qin in his childhood."
Zhu Xiang understood. These two people did not play with Zheng'er until he was a child, but went to play with Zheng'er's son.
I'll complain when I get back!
(End of this chapter)