The harvests and New Year celebrations in various places gave the people of Shu County a break, and the public security in Chengdu improved a lot.
Zhu Xiang did not need to spend much thought on the harvest. He had a rare moment of free time, so he took Ying Xiaozheng to a hot spring villa that had been prepared long ago but he had never had time to visit for a vacation, and checked Ying Xiaozheng's homework at the same time.
The hot spring villa is located in Mount Emei.
Zhu Xiang only knew that the hot springs in Mount Emei came from geothermal water about 3,000 meters deep, but he didn't know that these geothermal springs had long since gushed out from the fault at the mouth of the two rivers and were called sacred springs by the locals. However, the custom of taking hot spring baths had not yet been formed at that time, so there were few records.
However, dignitaries and local tyrants have long set their sights on natural heat sources as their winter shelters.
At this time, Mount Emei was also called Mount Emei. Although there were not so many temples on the mountain, it was also a mountain with very beautiful scenery and was famous far and wide.
Although Li Bing was a pragmatic and good official, he still deserved the benefits.
After he selected this hot spring villa closest to Chengdu City for Zhu Xiang, he paid for Zhu Xiang to renovate the villa according to his own aesthetic taste.
The gurgling hot spring water flows along a small channel paved with pebbles, is filtered through dense nets woven with thin bamboo strips, flows into a hot spring pool paved with bluestone slabs, and then flows away along another small channel.
When people lived there, servants would clean the channels and pools and replace the nets every day to ensure the cleanliness of the pool water.
These servants were all recruited by Li Bing for Zhu Xiang.
Compared with ordinary aristocratic officials, Zhu Xiang's life was really too "rough".
Li Bing heard from Zhu Xiang that his life in Xianyang was all supported by the servants given by the King of Qin. He also brought a lot of servants with him when he entered Shu. Li Bing thought Zhu Xiang could raise Prince Zheng as well as he did in Xianyang.
Later he found out that he was totally wrong.
Gongzi Zheng can actually dress himself, comb his hair and wash himself. Zhu Xiang, is this how you raise Gongzi Qin? You are treating him harshly!
Zhu Xiang was stunned by Li Bing's scolding, while Li Mu nodded while eating an orange.
He had wanted to scold him a long time ago, but he was tongue-tied and couldn't scold Zhu Xiang's crooked logic.
When Li Bing went to Ba County, he entrusted the care of Zhu Xiang's life to his wife Wang.
In the pre-Qin period, women were called by their surnames and men by their clan names, but by this time surnames and clan names had basically become one.
When Liu Bang founded the Western Han Dynasty, the unification of surnames was already a common phenomenon among the people. Even the records of literati could not understand the surname studies of the pre-Qin period. A social consensus cannot be achieved in 10 or 20 years. Liu Bang was only three years younger than Qin Shihuang, which shows that this was the case when the Qin Dynasty was founded.
This can also be seen in the records of celebrities in the pre-Qin period that were later excavated. Except for some great nobles related to the royal family, such as Lian Po, most names no longer mention the surname separately.
The same is true for Li Bing and Wang Shi. However, the old nobles of the Six Kingdoms also called these scholars "poor people", and they were considered the first "poor noble scholars".
Lady Wang first gifted Zhu Xiang and Ying Xiaozheng many beautiful maids. When Ying Xiaozheng saw a pretty maid trying to seduce Zhu Xiang (but his uncle was completely unaware that he was being seduced), he went to Lady Wang himself and replaced all the maids with strong, muscular middle-aged women.
Although Zhu Xiang didn't know why he changed people, he was very satisfied. He was originally planning to return them when he was free, because he was really embarrassed to order those delicate maids to work. Zhu Xiang suspected that they couldn't even hold Zheng'er.
My own nephew is really a heavy heart.
After Li Bing returned to Chengdu, Mrs. Wang told Li Bing about this matter with trepidation.
Li Bing didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Zhu Xiang has just come of age and his wife is not around. If he were an ordinary person, he would definitely keep some attractive maids. What his wife did was not wrong. Since Zhu Xiang didn't tell me about this, it means he didn't take it to heart."
Li Bing paused, then said with a strange smile, "No, he did complain, saying that the maid Madam gave him couldn't even hold Zheng'er. Madam gave the families of those women along with the deeds to Zhu Xiang, so that he can use them at his will. Zhu Xiang is my friend, and Zheng'er is my nephew. Madam doesn't have to treat him like a noble in the court."
Mrs. Wang was uneasy: "But Duke Zhu Xiang is a feudal lord, and Gongzi Zheng is a prince of Qin."
Li Bing said, "Zhu Xiang treated me with sincerity. If I had taken his and Zheng'er's identities into consideration, I would have insulted his sincerity towards me. It was my fault for not explaining this to Madam."
Li Bing realized that his wife's behavior was because she regarded Zhu Xiang and Gongzi Zheng as nobles who needed to be currying favor with and they had misunderstood his intentions, so he carefully selected beautiful women to serve them.
Li Bing was able to become the governor of a county when he was thirty years old. In addition to being pragmatic, he was also tactful in his ways. Being on good terms with nobles was also the most important ability for an official.
Most of the time, Li Bing was not in a position to make friends with nobles in person, so his wife would do it in the name of interacting with the women in the backyard.
Although Li Bing was smooth in dealing with people, he was not a flatterer at heart. He would flatter the nobles who needed his flattery, and he would also be sincere to those who made friends with him sincerely, such as Zhu Xiang and Li Mu.
After listening to Li Bing's explanation, although Mrs. Wang was afraid of Zhu Xiang's status as a relative and a feudal lord, she agreed.
She sighed and said, "If that's the case... Alas, will Duke Zhu Xiang and Prince Zheng blame me?"
Li Bing said: "Zhu Xiang probably didn't realize what you were thinking, Madam. As for Zheng'er... Zheng'er is very proud and won't blame others easily."
After spending some time together, Li Bing has discovered that behind Ying Xiaozheng's mask of a well-behaved nephew, his heart is a little too cold and hard.
He even suspected that although Ying Xiaozheng hugged Li Mu's legs and called him teacher every day, his teacher-student relationship with Li Mu was not as deep as he showed, except in front of Zhu Xiang.
During the chat with Ying Xiaozheng, Li Bing also guessed that apart from his uncle and aunt, the next closest people in Ying Xiaozheng's heart were "Mr. Lin" and "Uncle Lin", followed by "Mr. Lian" and "Mr. Xun", and then it was "Teacher" and "Uncle Cai".
As for myself, I probably haven't caught the eye of this arrogant Master Qin yet.
"Don't try to please Gongzi Zheng. Although Gongzi Zheng is young, his intelligence is probably not worse than that of an adult." Li Bing warned, "Gongzi Zheng is born with supernatural powers. If you treat him like a child and tease him, he will definitely hate it."
Mrs. Wang smiled bitterly, "How dare I cheat? When Master Zheng came to me to replace the maid, I was so scared that I couldn't sleep for several days."
A little child who is so rational, intelligent, and even a little cold-hearted gives people a strong sense of inhumanity and is creepy.
Li Bing thought of Ying Xiaozheng's two unconcealed personalities as his uncle and uncle, and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
It's really scary.
With the servants and family members sent by Li Bing, Zhu Xiang's home finally became a little more lively.
Most of the people sent by the King of Qin served as guards, and they were still lacking in terms of serving people.
Zhu Xiang was soaking in the hot spring pool and sighed that it was really comfortable to be served as a noble, but it was still far worse than the modern times.
As he was sighing with emotion, Ying Xiaozheng, who was holding a leather swimming ring, swam past and splashed hot spring water all over his head.
Zhu Xiang had just wiped the water off his face when Ying Xiaozheng swam over and splashed water all over his head.
Zhu Xiang: "...Zheng'er, did you do this on purpose?"
Ying Xiaozheng treaded hard on the water to get away from Zhu Xiang.
Zhu Xiang sneered, chased after Ying Xiaozheng, and started a water fight with his nephew.
Ying Xiaozheng laughed happily like a little hen.
After the two had enough fun, Ying Xiaozheng said, "It would be great if Uncle Lin was here. Uncle Lin and I would definitely be able to beat him together."
Zhu Xiang said unhappily, "He can beat me by himself, and with you, it's a tie between us."
Ying Xiaozheng was stunned for a moment before he realized that his uncle was mocking him for holding Uncle Lin back. He was so angry that he grabbed Zhu Xiang's arm and gritted his teeth.
Zhu Xiang said happily: "Just grind it. I guess you will have to change your teeth next year, and you won't be able to keep these little teeth."
Ying Xiaozheng held Zhu Xiang's arm and asked in confusion: "Changing teeth?"
Zhu Xiang smiled gloatingly and said, "My teeth are falling out one by one, and I can't even speak properly."
Ying Xiaozheng opened his mouth into an "O" shape.
Will the teeth fall out? He had never seen this in his dreams! Why didn’t he see such a scary thing in his dreams
Zhu Xiang joked, "It's not just the teeth that fall out. When new teeth grow, your gums... the roots of your teeth will itch very, very hard. It's very uncomfortable."
Ying Xiaozheng screamed: "I don't want to change my teeth!"
Zhu Xiang laughed: "It's up to you whether you want to or not. Hahahaha, if you bite something hard to relieve the itch, your teeth will grow crooked and ugly."
Ying Xiaozheng immediately covered his mouth and looked at Zhu Xiang in horror.
"Uncle, are you lying to Zheng'er?" Ying Xiaozheng covered his mouth and said in fear.
Zhu Xiang smiled evilly: "Uncle never lies to Zheng'er."
Ying Xiaozheng pouted: "No, this must be my uncle who lied to Zheng'er!"
Li Mu came to the hot spring with a basket of pumpkin blossoms and pumpkin tips, and while he was taking a break, Ying Xiaozheng almost knocked his basket over with his head.
Li Mu protected the basket and frowned, "Zhu Xiang, how did you bully Zheng'er again?"
Zhu Xiang took the basket from Li Mu and said, "When have I ever bullied him?"
Ying Xiaozheng said aggrievedly: "Teacher, my uncle said that I will have new teeth next year."
Li Mu thought about Ying Xiaozheng's age and said, "Indeed, Zheng'er should also change his teeth next year. If he doesn't change them next year, he should change them the year after that."
Ying Xiaozheng: "No, I don't want to change my teeth. Changing teeth is uncomfortable."
Li Mu had a headache: "This... There's no way I can't change this."
Zhu Xiang happily walked to the kitchen with the basket in his arms, and threw his nephew, who had been teased by him, to Li Mu to coax him: "I said I didn't bully him. Telling the truth is bullying?"
Looking at Zhu Xiang's happy back, Li Mu clenched his fists and had an urge to beat Zhu Xiang up.
But given Zhu Xiang's physique, he was afraid that if he punched him, Zhu Xiang would kneel down and beg for mercy, so he had to resist the urge to beat him.
"Zheng'er, it's a good thing to change your teeth. Don't you want to grow up quickly? Changing your teeth means you're growing up." Li Mu picked up Ying Xiaozheng and coaxed him softly, "After changing your teeth, you should also grow taller, just like a bamboo shoot growing into a bamboo, your height will grow rapidly."
Hearing Li Mu's words to coax the child, Ying Xiaozheng turned his face away and said expressionlessly: "I want to grow up, but I don't want to change my teeth. I will grow taller even if I don't change my teeth."
Zhu Xiang, who had already walked a few meters away, looked back and said, "Oh, by the way, when your height grows rapidly, you will have growing pains. Your leg bones will ache and you will have cramps at night. It's really uncomfortable."
After saying that, Zhu Xiang left quickly, leaving his little nephew screaming in anger.
Li Mu covered his buzzing ears with one hand. Zhu Xiang really deserved a beating for being able to make the precocious Zheng'er scream like a normal child.
He really missed Lian Gong and Xun Gong. At this time, only by using Lian Gong and Xun Gong's rulers could he control Zhu Xiang.
"Don't be angry, Zheng'er, write a letter to Lord Lian and Lord Xun and ask them to teach your uncle a lesson." Li Mu suggested.
Ying Xiaozheng held his breath and said, "I'm not a child, I won't complain. When I grow up, I will take revenge for this matter!"
Li Mu was curious: "How do I find it?"
Ying Xiaozheng said: "When uncle gets sick, only allow him to drink meat and vegetable porridge with a little salt, and don't eat anything else! I will also ask the imperial physician to add more coptis root to the medicine!"
Li Mu: "...It's a good way to get revenge."
No, he had to hold it in and not laugh, otherwise Zheng'er would get even angrier.
After a while, Li Bing came with a plate of lamb to eat.
He and Li Mu both bought villas in this hot spring area, next to Zhu Xiang, so they could have meals there at any time.
When Li Bing heard Ying Xiaozheng clamoring to take revenge on Zhu Xiang in the future, he did not know whether to laugh or cry.
He had just said bad things about Ying Xiaozheng behind his back, and now seeing Ying Xiaozheng's childish side, he felt a little guilty.
In fact, Zheng'er is still quite childlike and not too cold.
Zhu Xiang came out and took the mutton from Li Bing's hand, and scratched Ying Xiaozheng's nose by the way, which made his fat nephew so angry that he looked like a puffer fish.
Fortunately, the food soothed Ying Xiaozheng’s wounded heart.
Freshly harvested soybeans and potatoes were added to the braised lamb, the pumpkin tips were blanched in boiling water and then directly poured with soybean oil and garlic sauce, the bitter stamens of the pumpkin flowers were removed and then coated with egg and flour paste and fried... Zhu Xiang prepared a table of seasonal delicacies, which made everyone salivate.
"What, what is this taste like?" Li Bing wondered after tasting the braised lamb. "It tastes like the spiciness of ginger and garlic, but also has a light fragrance."
Li Mu said: "It's a bit like dogwood oil, but the taste is better."
Zhu Xiang said, "It's the taste of green peppers. I planted peppers in my courtyard in Chengdu, I told you about it."
They then remembered that Zhu Xiang had dug up the flowerbed in the Chengdu house and planted all of it with strange plants. Because the plants were so diverse, they didn't pay much attention to what they were planting.
"Both are spicy, but peppers are more delicious than dogwood oil, and easier to grow." Zhu Xiang said, "Shu County is hot and humid, and the people will like one more spicy vegetable. But food is the most important thing, so I only grow it at home and don't promote it. If you like it, I'll give you some pepper seeds."
After Li Mu and Li Bing entered Shu, they were each allocated a lot of land according to their respective positions and bought many slaves to farm for them. When Zhu Xiang said he would give them seeds, they naturally accepted it with pleasure.
"I still have some wheat and rice seeds that can be planted in winter and harvested next summer. But because I don't know the soil and water conditions in Shu County, and the people just experienced a flood, I'm afraid they won't rashly switch to other crops, so I don't plan to promote them now. Can you lend me your fields?"
Zhu Xiang waited until the two men finished their meal before revealing his true intentions. He smiled and asked them to "pay for the meal."
Li Mu sighed and said, "I knew that you were lazy for a long time and suddenly offered to treat me to a meal. There must be something wrong."
Li Bing said with a wooden face: "The meat and dishes for his dinner were paid for by the two of us."
Zhu Xiang said: "Just tell me whether you will give it or not."
He rubbed his hands like a rogue: "You have to be grateful to the person who made you the meal. You have to exchange my land for the food I cooked. It won't take much land, so don't be so stingy."
Li Bing said, "I'm not stingy. Just go and enclose as much land as you need. But isn't the land I gave you enough for planting?"
Zhu Xiang came all the way to Shu County. Even though he did not have a stable job, Li Bing took the initiative to allocate a lot of fertile and high-quality land to Zhu Xiang.
Zhu Xiang said: "I used it all to grow beans."
Li Bing was puzzled at first, but then he figured out that Zhu Xiang planted beans on his own land in order to distribute the grain to the common people. Maybe Zhu Xiang even rented his own land directly to the common people without land.
"You..." Li Bing frowned, "Why didn't you tell me?"
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "I decide what to plant on my own land. Why do I need to inform you? I don't have space to try growing new crops now. Hand over your land. The wheat and rice varieties I brought taste especially good, and the yield should be higher than the existing varieties. I am bringing you a good life, and you still don't thank me."
Li Mu said, "Okay, thank you, Lord Changping. After the harvest, I will take you to pick the land and teach Zheng'er how to ride a horse. After the first month of the year, Zheng'er will be one year older and can ride a pony."
The newly harvested land is perfect for horse racing.
Li Bing also said: "If you need as many oxen as you want, just go to the government office and get them."
The Qin State set up officials in various places to specifically manage oxen, and Li Bing had just added a batch of oxen to Shu County.
Ying Xiaozheng was crunching the fried pumpkin flowers sprinkled with white sugar, his eyes rolling around.
The teacher and Magistrate Li once again admired their uncle's character in their hearts, and he felt proud of them.
My uncle is such a person. He is strict with himself and lenient with others. He does good things and never asks others to follow him. He even finds various excuses to appease relatives and friends and enjoy life. Don't learn from him.
Being friends with my uncle, I won’t feel pressured just because he is a saint.
Crunch, crunch… Ying Xiaozheng picked up the bowl and said, “Uncle, I haven’t eaten enough. I want to eat some fried pumpkin flowers.”
Ying Xiaozheng put down the bowl obediently and said without any willfulness: "Okay."
Li Bing sighed, "Zheng'er is so well-behaved. When I think of my child... ah."
Zhu Xiang asked, "Are your other family members coming to Chengdu soon? Is your son coming too? Isn't he staying in his hometown?"
Li Bing entered Shu first, and Mrs. Wang arrived a little later. The servants set out from their hometown with other female family members and property, and walked even slower. They encountered heavy rain and were delayed for more than a month, and winter had not yet arrived.
Li Bing said, "My eldest son stayed at home to study and seek official positions. Erlang is naughty and it is difficult for his mother to discipline him, so I sent him to Shu County for me to teach."
When Li Bing mentioned Erlang at home, he couldn't help but hold his forehead.
"Erlang?" Zhu Xiang remembered that Li Bing and his son were enshrined in the Dujiangyan temple, and the "son" was Li Erlang.
Why does Li Bing say that Li Erlang seems like a naughty kid
Li Bing couldn't help sighing, "Well, my Erlang... How should I put it? He is not good at literature or martial arts. Although he has a lot of strength and is smart in reading, he doesn't want to make meritorious deeds on the battlefield, nor is he willing to be a retainer and seek an official position. Every day he yearns to be a ranger in Yanzhao. What is a ranger in Yanzhao? Isn't he just a ruffian! He wanders around with a sword all day long and has been caught by officials several times..."
"Cough cough cough." Li Mu and Zhu Xiang interrupted Li Bing with dry coughs at the same time.
Ying Xiaozheng held the water cup and reminded with a snicker, "Uncle Li Bing, the teacher and uncle are both from Zhao."
Li Bing was puzzled: "You have also been a ranger of Yanzhao?"
Li Mu said: "I have never been one, but many of my subordinates were once rangers."
"Not all knights-errant are... hooligans." Zhu Xiang said, "Yan and Zhao love martial arts. If common people want to become nobles, besides studying with famous teachers, they can only become knights-errant and become famous for their bravery. However, Li Erlang is not used to being a knight-errant in Qin."
Qin prohibited unemployed vagrants from wandering around with swords, and those caught would be sent to labor camps. It seemed that Li Erlang, who wanted to be a knight-errant, would indeed make Li Bing worry.
Li Bing smiled bitterly: "He really wants to go to Yanzhao to seek refuge with Lord Xinling and Lord Pingyuan. Don't you think he is going to die? And he will also bring trouble to his family!"
Zhu Xiang said: "If a young man from my family goes to another country to seek an official position, it shouldn't bring trouble to the family. But Yan and Zhao... I'm afraid Yan and Zhao are not as good as he imagined, and the same goes for Wei. He will be disappointed if he goes there."
Li Mu was silent.
Zhu Xiang poured Li Mu a cup of tea.
Although tea trees have been modified many times in later generations and their taste is different from that of ancient tea, ancient tea is still very delicious. There are ancient tea trees that have grown for one or two thousand years in modern times. The ancient tea leaves are very valuable. He was lucky enough to drink them several times in the name of research. After he arrived in Chengdu, he found tea trees to transplant and planned to plant some in his villa in Mount Emei.
Li Mu took a sip of tea and said in a low voice: "Yes, I will be disappointed."
Li Bing then remembered that Li Mu was "given" to Qin by Zhao, and Zhu Xiang was also persecuted by Zhao and entered Qin, so he quickly stood up and bowed to apologize.
Li Mu stopped him and said, "It's nothing, don't worry about it."
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "Let Li Mu hone your Erlang for a while. After spending some time with the real Yanzhao Rangers in the army, he will no longer want to be a Ranger. But you are only thirty, how old is your Erlang?"
Li Bing said: "Fourteen."
Zhu Xiang: "...Where's your Dalang?"
Li Bing said: "Sixteen."
Zhu Xiang: "It seems you got married very early."
Li Bing was puzzled: "My age for marriage is normal."
Zhu Xiang, who insisted on getting married at the age of 18, and Li Mu, who was busy with military affairs and not only got married late but also had no children: "… "
Ying Xiaozheng: “Puchi.”
Zhu Xiang immediately pulled Ying Xiaozheng into his arms and rubbed him. Ying Xiaozheng almost knocked over the water cup.
"Zheng'er, getting married too early is bad for your health, and you will have to move out after you get married." Zhu Xiang said, "How about getting married after you turn 18?"
Ying Xiaozheng rolled his eyes and didn't bother to pay attention to his inexplicable uncle. Even if he got married, he could live with his uncle and aunt. Even if he moved to the palace, his uncle and aunt could live in together.
He will not appoint a queen, so the harem will have to be managed by his aunt.
In the dream, Qin Shi Huang did not appoint a queen because of his mother's influence and his fear of the power of his relatives. Now Ying Xiaozheng has no plans to appoint a queen either, for the same reason as himself in the dream.
He doesn't trust others.
"Zheng'er is so young, don't teach him bad things." Li Mu held his forehead, "Besides, Zheng'er's marriage is decided by the King of Qin."
Zhu Xiang's mind flashed back to Zichu's sickly appearance, and he couldn't help but look worried: "I wonder how Xia Tong is doing now, whether he has rested well and eaten on time. Did he secretly pour out the medicine again?"
Ying Xiaozheng said: "Father will definitely pour out the medicine secretly!"
Zhu Xiang rubbed Ying Xiaozheng's head and sighed, "Should we ask the emperor for an imperial decree to send someone to supervise him eating and taking medicine?"
Li Bing joked, "I am about to deliver a document to the king. Do you want to take it?" It seems that the relationship between Prince Zichu and Zhu Xiang is as close as the rumors say.
Zhu Xiang said: "Okay."
Li Bing's expression froze.
Li Mu put down his teacup: "Don't joke with him like that, he's really capable of doing that."
But Li Mu's reminder was too late. Zhu Xiangzhen wrote a long letter, asking the King of Qin to send someone to supervise Xia Tong's eating and drinking.
This letter was sent to Xianyang together with Li Bing's document requesting the construction of a large-scale water conservancy project for Shu County.
Li Bing's writings describe in detail the suffering caused by the flood in Shu County.
He knew that the suffering of the common people might not necessarily move the King of Qin, so he requested to dredge the rivers in Shu County on the grounds of grain and water transportation.
The Chengdu Plain is densely covered with water networks, but few of them are connected and are all "broken rivers".
In the document, Li Bing said that he wanted to connect the rivers of all sizes in the Chengdu Plain with the Minjiang River, so that water transportation could go directly from Chengdu City to the Yangtze River, which would be very convenient for the Qin State to transport troops and food to the Chu and Yue areas.
At the same time, when there is a flood, the peak of the Minjiang River will be weakened by the water network of the Chengdu Plain; when there is a drought, the Minjiang River can provide irrigation water for the Chengdu Plain. The Chengdu Plain will be able to maintain a stable harvest regardless of drought or flood, and grain production will surely increase more steadily than before, providing military food security for Qin to pacify the six states.
It was a very risky thing for Li Bing to write this letter.
Just as he said when he entered Shu, county magistrates do nothing but comfort the people and collect taxes, and most of them can enjoy wealth and luxury; the more they do, the greater the danger.
One can imagine the amount of engineering work required to tame the Minjiang River and even make it an irrigation source for the Chengdu Plain.
A dam or a bridge on a river is fine, and the local officials can solve it by themselves. But the big project that Li Bing mentioned is difficult for Shu County to support alone, and the King of Qin needs to order the conscription of laborers to support it.
The Qin State was different from later feudal dynasties. Not only was the court atmosphere utilitarian, the King of Qin only cared about results, and the laws were very strict. If the irrigation project built by Li Bing failed to meet expectations, Li Bing might be beheaded for abusing the manpower and financial resources of the people.
When Li Bing wrote this document, he was signing a military order to the King of Qin and threw his life behind his back.
Li Bing was not a naive person, as he could become the governor of a county at the age of 30. But at this moment, he decided to use his life to exchange hope for Shu County.
Zhu Xiang didn't know whether the Li Bing in history saw the people's miserable lives in the flood, faced the powerlessness of people in the face of natural disasters, and then decided to declare war on God.
But this is the Li Bing he knows now.
"I'll help you." Zhu Xiang didn't say much, just briefly, as Li Bing had been cautious for half his life and suddenly became reckless and impulsive at the age of thirty.
Li Mu patted Li Bing on the shoulder and said self-deprecatingly: "Birds of a feather flock together. Birds with the same wings live together, and beasts with the same feet walk together. Together."
They were close friends, and they had done the same impulsive thing. It was unknown which happened first, or which was the cause and which was the result.
Maybe they are causally related.
Even though Li Bing had made up his mind, he still felt uneasy. His friends' unwavering support gave him some peace of mind.
It is hard to find a true friend. It does not matter how long you have been together, but only the heart.
He has two close friends, what is there to fear? !
Li Bing said, "I want to cast three bronze men to measure the water level. How about casting statues of the three of us?"
Zhu Xiang looked strange: "Good brothers are going to sink into the river together? I don't know what your evil taste is. Okay."
Li Mu: “…Okay.” I’ll sacrifice my life for you.
The letter was delivered by express post and it took two months to reach Xianyang. Fortunately, it did not snow, otherwise it would have been delayed for another month or two.
The King of Qin opened Li Bing's documents first, then his personal matters.
After reading Li Bing's document, the King of Qin was silent for a long time and handed Li Bing's document to Prince Zhu.
After reading it quickly, Prince Zhu said, "My Lord and Father, I think this is feasible."
The King of Qin said: "This will cost a huge amount of manpower and material resources. Aren't you worried that he will fail?"
Prince Zhu smiled naively and said, "I don't trust him, but I trust Zhu Xiang. Zhu Xiang cares about the people's strength. If this matter cannot be done, he will definitely dissuade them. Li Bing said that if he cannot do this, he will sacrifice his life. Everyone cherishes his life. If Zhu Xiang has sufficient reasons, he will definitely be able to persuade him not to take such a risk."
The King of Qin nodded and said, "That is true. But I do not think he really wants to make a contribution so he would take such a risk. I will come and see what Zhu Xiang wrote."
The King of Qin opened Zhu Xiang's letter, then immediately held his forehead with his hand, laughing and sighing.
Prince Zhu was very anxious: "What did Zhu Xiang write?"
The King of Qin waved to Prince Zhu, who stood up and walked happily to the King of Qin to read the letter together.
"Pfft... Order Xia Tong to eat and take medicine on time. This, this letter should be shown to Xia Tong." Prince Zhu covered his mouth and laughed so hard that tears came out. "What is Zhu Xiang thinking about every day? Does he treat Xia Tong as a political child?"
The King of Qin laughed and said, "In Zhu Xiang's eyes, Xia Tong is probably not as sensible as Zheng'er. At least Zheng'er doesn't need anyone to supervise him when he eats and takes medicine."
Prince Zhu came up with a bad idea: "Since Zhu Xiang is worried about this matter even though he is thousands of miles away in Shu County, why don't you agree?"
The King of Qin said, "Okay, I will give Xia Tong an imperial edict, ordering him... hahahaha, order him to eat and take medicine properly, not to be picky about food, and not to throw away the medicine. Xia Tong, you are even worse than Zheng'er."
Since Zhu Xiang left, the father and son had not laughed together for a long time. Their relationship was restored to that of monarch and subject. The King of Qin was still as strict as before, and the Crown Prince Zhu was still as respectful and cautious as before.
After seeing Zhu Xiang's letter, they finally briefly became father and son again.
"It turns out that just after they entered Shu, Shu County suffered a flood that almost submerged Chengdu City. In addition, Shu County also suffered a flood the year before. If Li Bing and Li Mu had not guarded the two important dams, Shu County would have almost lost everything." After reading the hilarious content, the King of Qin saw the truth that Li Bing was willing to risk his life to build a large-scale water conservancy project this time, "Zhu Xiang actually ordered the killing. Alas, why did he go to Shu County? He suffered again."
Prince Zhu said, "If Zhu Xiang and Li Mu had not gone to Shu County, I'm afraid Li Bing's entry into Shu would have been even more difficult. Judging from Zhu Xiang's letters, he and Li Bing should have become friends. People who can become friends with Zhu Xiang have the same personality as Zhu Xiang in their bones."
The King of Qin said, "Yes, they are all the same. Lin Qing, Lian Qing, Li Mu, Cai Ze, all are the same. Even Lin Zhi may seem to behave dissolutely, but perhaps he is similar to Zhu Xiang in his inner qualities."
The King of Qin closed his eyes and thought for a long time.
Prince Zhu stood aside solemnly, not daring to disturb him.
After a while, the King of Qin closed his eyes and said, "I agree."
Prince Zhu breathed a sigh of relief.
But after he heaved a sigh of relief, he quickly got angry again: "Father, will Zhu Xiang also go to build the dam and canal? To achieve the effect described in Li Bing's document, it will take at least ten years, and at most twenty to thirty years. He doesn't want to stay in Shu County for more than ten or twenty years?"
The King of Qin opened his eyes and said unhappily, "Don't even think about it. Give him three years at most, and then he'll just roll back here!"
Only then did Prince Zhu feel completely relieved.
Judging from the letters, life in Shu County was too hard. Zhu Xiang was a saint who felt uncomfortable when he saw the common people suffering, and he definitely couldn't sit still. Repairing water conservancy was also a hard job, and I don't know if Zhu Xiang's body could bear it.
Xianyang is still the best. The king and father have regretted it now, and they will not test Zhu Xiang again in the future, making him embarrassed.
After Zhu Xiang left, the King of Qin realized how relaxed he felt when Zhu Xiang was in Xianyang. He was not used to life without Zhu Xiang, a junior who "disrespected the emperor", around him.
The King of Qin was shocked to realize that he was also an old man, not a complete king.
Maybe people become soft-hearted as they get older.
"Zhu Xiang really can't stay idle anywhere." said the King of Qin.
Prince Zhu nodded. Yes, it was really worrying.
Without mentioning that Zichu was horrified when he received the order from the King of Qin asking him to eat well and take medicine, his attention returned to Shu County.
In November, there is a bumper harvest of pumpkins.
Zhu Xiang took Ying Xiaozheng by the hand and inspected the melon field with Li Mu and Li Bing.
Seeing the bumper harvest of pumpkins, Li Bing's expression was so surprised that his facial features almost popped out.
Li Mu watched the pumpkin grow. Although he had already accepted the shock, he still sighed: "Is this really edible? If it is really edible, then the yield is too high."
Zhu Xiang said calmly: "The seeds will deteriorate, and the yield will gradually decrease in the future. But it is still enough for famine relief."
Zhu Xiang squatted down and knocked on a big pumpkin: "Pick one to taste first? I'll make you a feast."
Li Mu was waiting for Zhu Xiang to say this. He didn't dare to let anyone try to cook this food that no one had ever eaten before, and now he hadn't picked a single pumpkin.
"How do you eat pumpkin?" Ying Xiaozheng squatted on the ground and poked the pumpkin. "Just eat it directly?"
Zhu Xiang didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Of course I cut it up and eat it." Why is Zheng'er so stupid
Ying Xiaozheng said: "Of course I know how to cut it up and eat it. I mean, can we eat it even if it's this big?"
He stretched out his chubby little hand and knocked on the pumpkin hard: "It's so big." If I saw this in a dream, I would definitely think it was a fairy fruit or an auspicious sign.
Zhu Xiang said: "Indeed, both can be eaten, but the flesh doesn't taste good. If you are not short of food, you can discard the pumpkin flesh."
Zhu Xiang picked the largest pumpkin, washed off the dirt, and built a stove next to the field to cook.
Cut the pumpkin, remove the pulp, cut into pieces, and steam it.
"Eat it." Zhu Xiang made a bowl out of leaves and handed it to Ying Xiaozheng.
Ying Xiaozheng sniffed the pumpkin like a puppy, and out of trust in his uncle, he carefully took a bite of the golden pumpkin flesh.
"Ahh! So hot! So pink and sweet!" Ying Xiaozheng's eyes lit up, "Uncle, I like this!"
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "Is it delicious?" Is it the pink pumpkin variety? It is very suitable for use as food.
Li Bing and Li Mu immediately rushed to grab the pumpkin.
Wow, it’s really sweet! There is actually a sweet food!
(End of this chapter)