17 Chapter 17

◎Unhappy. ◎

The Qin State has many important things to do now.

Papermaking and printing were confidential matters, and Meng Yi recruited craftsmen to take charge.

New agricultural tools are being made one by one. The first ones that are made have been tested and are indeed hundreds of times better than the current ones. Now someone has to be responsible for promoting them in various places.

The Daitian system also needs to be implemented in all counties, and it will not be achieved overnight. It will take at least two or three years to see results.

Water trucks are being built to make it easier to irrigate farmland, and composting is also being done, but it will take time to see the results.

There is something more important than the important things, that is iron smelting, which is related to the combat effectiveness of the Qin army. Not only Ying Zheng, but also the court officials attach great importance to this matter. After all, the Qin State conferred titles based on military merit. How could the court officials be promoted and rewarded without fighting?

However, some ministers also had doubts about the above.

While paper is truly miraculous, agricultural tools are incredibly useful, and the volumes of Qin laws are truly impressive, how can one prove that the waterwheel and other devices are entirely valid? How can one prove that building a new iron smelting furnace will definitely increase iron production?

Ever since the paper and woodblocks were successfully made, Ying Zheng no longer had any doubts about the things Fusu took out from his dream. He just wanted to implement them one by one as soon as possible, to make the Qin State stronger and stronger and conquer the world as soon as possible. He didn't want to waste time proving it to his ministers.

At this time, the advantages of a feudal ruler who holds all power are fully demonstrated. When he wants to do something, he can act arbitrarily.

Thus, with a small number of court officials half-believing and half-doubting, the construction of a new type of iron smelting plant in Qin State began.

After arranging everything, Ying Zheng did some calculations and found that his ministers were not very busy after all, and he could give them more work.

After Ying Zheng finished reviewing the bamboo slips in the morning, the "unbusy" important ministers were called to a meeting.

There were two themes in the meeting. One was that the autumn harvest season was coming and all regions had to do a good job of statistics. The other was that after the grain was harvested it was time to go to war and they had to discuss which country to attack first and who to send.

While everyone was discussing heatedly, Ying Zheng felt hungry. Being a kind-hearted boss, he immediately ordered people to prepare food.

Given the intensity of Qin's work, being given a banquet by the king was not a rare thing, and all the ministers accepted it well. However, when they washed their hands and sat at the table in order, they were all stunned.

Each one of them looked beautiful and smelled delicious. There were pieces of meat and chicken, but the steaming food, made of something unknown, clearly caught the ministers' attention. What were these things? How did they eat them? They looked at each other in bewilderment, a bit overwhelmed.

My king, has he come up with something new?

The ministers only received meals, but Ying Zheng was different. He also received a note from his eldest son, which contained instructions and methods for cooking stir-fried dishes, noodles, buns and steamed buns.

This kid said he wanted to do something on his own, and it turns out he'd been doing just that this morning. A smile appeared in Ying Zheng's eyes.

Ying Zheng nodded, and everyone looked at him. Then he calmly introduced the food on the table to everyone.

Although time was tight, Fusu still ordered the chef to prepare three staple foods and four stir-fried dishes. In view of the high mental workload, the stir-fried dishes were mainly meat dishes, namely fried chicken, fried meat and fried eggs, plus a dish of stir-fried vegetables.

The variety of seasonings at that time was certainly not as complete as in later generations, but even the nobles at that time could not be said to have tasted real delicacies, and stir-frying quickly conquered the taste buds of the Qin emperor and his ministers.

After the meal, everyone was eager to try it and wanted to ask Ying Zheng how the food was made so that they could cook it themselves when they got home.

But Ying Zheng pretended to be deaf and dumb and kept his mouth shut. He just concluded the two things with everyone and let them leave.

After all the ministers left, Ying Zheng immediately ordered the eunuchs, "Go and invite the eldest son."

Soon, Meng Yi arrived.

"Reporting to the king, the eldest son is in the greenhouse and will take a while to come over." Meng Yi explained after bowing.

Ying Zheng asked, "Housing?"

Meng Yi answered in detail, demonstrating his careful obedience to the king's instructions. "The hothouse is where the eldest son experiments with artificial incubation. He ordered a kang (a heated bed) to be built in a secluded room at the back. The eldest son said that when the chickens and ducks are incubating, they must remain quiet, maintain heat and humidity, and turn the eggs daily. After seven days, you'll know which eggs have hatched successfully. After twenty-one days, the chickens and ducks will hatch."

After listening to this, Ying Zheng nodded calmly. Since Fusu had taken the responsibility for the matter from the beginning, he did not ask any further questions.

After hearing what Meng Yi said, Ying Zheng finally realized that hatching eggs was a rather troublesome and time-consuming task. However, compared to the traditional method of using hens to hatch eggs, artificial incubation was still faster.

Meng Yi believed his guess was correct. The king must have told the eldest son about the artificial incubation method. Otherwise, how could a child like him know such things? The same could be said about the millstones, iron pots, and other kitchen matters. The king couldn't solemnly order the court officials to handle these trivial matters, so he handed them over to the eldest son.

Ying Zheng then asked, "What did Fusu do today?"

Meng Yi answered every question in detail. Fusu ground the flour and orally taught people how to make bread, buns, and noodles, as well as how to cook. When he returned home to eat, he discussed with his study companions about the date of his future vacation.

There is also what Meng Hua said. During the meal, the child saw his uncle chattering about Fusu. He told Meng Yi about the house and servants Fusu arranged for him, in order to express his gratitude to Fusu.

Meng Yi said, "My father, my brother, and I have already told Meng Hua not to talk about the eldest son's affairs or the palace's affairs."

Meng Hua had a very good impression of Fusu and said many good things about him when he returned home. For example, he said that the eldest prince let them live in the palace because he was afraid that they would be tired. This greatly alleviated Meng Hua's sadness of leaving home.

Meng Yi also told Ying Zheng about the matters at home.

After hearing this, Ying Zheng said, "Meng Hua is young, and your father and brothers are too strict with him. This is just a small matter, so it's nothing serious. He will talk to you about Fusu later, and you just listen."

Meng Yi said: "Yes."

Ying Zheng asked again: "What's the matter with vacation?"

Meng Yi said, "The eldest son has ordered the four young men to take three days off every two weeks, three days in the middle of the month and three days at the end of the month. During these days, they are allowed to leave the palace and stay at home."

Ying Zheng's face turned cold, and he seemed very dissatisfied with this.

Fusu's study companions always included his own sons and nephews, so Meng Yi explained, "Your Majesty, the eldest son originally intended to give them two days off every seven days, but it was Li You and Mi Qing who argued for it, and the eldest son finally relented and allowed them three days off every two weeks."

This matter really has to be blamed on your son, Your Majesty!

Ying Zheng was not angry about this, but he deliberately made Meng Yi misunderstand.

"Go and see if the eldest young master has finished his work and ask him to come over." Ying Zheng ordered.

Speaking of Cao Cao, Cao Cao has arrived. As soon as Ying Zheng finished speaking, a eunuch came back with a report: "Your Majesty, the eldest son requests an audience."

Ying Zheng said: "Let him in. You go down first." The latter sentence was said to Meng Yi.

When Meng Yi was leaving, he happened to pass by Fusu. He helped Fusu up and whispered to him, "The king is unhappy about taking a vacation."

Fusu was stunned, Meng Yi...

No matter when, he was the one who tried hard to eliminate the rift between father and son and never doubt each other.

After Fusu sat down, Ying Zheng pinched his face and asked directly, "What did Meng Yi say to you?"

Fusu answered honestly, "Meng Qing said that my father is unhappy about the vacation."

"You are so honest, you have wasted Meng Yi's efforts." Ying Zheng snorted.

Fusu looked up at his father and said, "Meng Qing knows that my father has given his permission, so he said this to me. Moreover, I know that my father is not unhappy."

In terms of loyalty to their father, the Meng brothers should rank first.

Meng Yi reminded Fusu in front of Ying Zheng to let Ying Zheng know that he reminded Fusu. He was not trying to curry favor with Fusu, but was loyal to the king.

Meng Yi understood what he meant from the conversation with Ying Zheng. Ying Zheng was not angry with Fusu. On the contrary, this was a manifestation of his appreciation for Fusu.

But in terms of the father-son relationship, Ying Zheng was unintentionally unfamiliar. Meng Yi was afraid that Fusu would misunderstand his father's meaning, so he used words to remind Fusu to tactfully advise the king that your son is still a child, don't treat him like the thick-skinned courtiers, otherwise it will be too late for you to regret it.

Those words of advice from the previous life were not without reason. Fusu suddenly understood.

Meng Yi has been following his father since he was young. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is the person who knows his father best in the world.

His words in an attempt to ease the relationship between Fusu and his father may have been because he saw how much his father valued Fusu as a son.

But Meng Yi would not reveal the emperor's thoughts. He could only remind Fusu again and again to admit his mistakes to his father and ask for peace.

But at that time, Fusu... he could not understand Meng Yi's intentions, nor could he understand his father's heart.

Ying Zheng had no idea of ​​his son's complex thoughts. He said with a fierce face, "Who said that? I'm angry."

Fusu was not afraid. He leaned on his father's arm and looked up, saying, "Father loves me, so he won't be angry with me."

The eldest son's eyes were full of trust and admiration, which made Ying Zheng unable to pretend anymore. He raised his hand, and Fusu, who was hanging on his arm, shook his little head.

Ying Zheng ruffled his hair and couldn't help but smile. He said, "Father is not angry with you, but father wants to teach you. Do you want to learn?"

"Learn!" Fusu agreed immediately, maintaining his dependent attitude. "Please teach me, Father."

Ying Zheng straightened his face again and said, "Sit down."

Studying must be taken seriously. Fusu stopped acting like a spoiled child and sat up straight, tidying up his clothes.

Ying Zheng said, "Your teachers are indeed good, but they can only teach you the principles of being a human being and the principles of being a minister. I will teach you the principles of being a king and the way to rule people."