Chapter 45. Ahe carried her daughter home, and her aunt...
Ahe carried her daughter home. The aunt rubbed her face, looked at the sky, told the young child to stay at home, closed the door, and went to the fields.
The heavy snow in the sky, like goose feathers, drifted and fell to earth.
The aunt tightened her raincoat, watching her husband use a rake to compact the snow amidst the swirling snowflakes. He wasn't the only one working; countless villagers silently repeated the same actions on the land.
"What brings you here?" the man asked when he saw her.
The aunt quickly picked up the farm tools from the ridge and continued working: "Ahe has taken the child back, and I was thinking of coming to see you."
The man couldn't say anything sweet; he just silently wiped the sweat from his face and went back to work.
"What did the agricultural official say? With such heavy snow, I'm afraid these rice seedlings will freeze to death."
The man carefully pulled a piece of paper from his pocket: "Take another look, I don't think I made a mistake. The agricultural official said that the snow should be compacted so that the roots of the wheat will not be damaged by frost, and it can melt into water to nourish the wheat next spring."
The image of being summoned by the three elders that day flashed before the man's eyes once again.
The three elders said that, according to His Majesty's decree, if they were willing to try planting winter wheat this year, they could be exempted from a year's land rent and poll tax. If they took good care of it and had a good harvest, they could also be promoted one rank.
The government can provide wheat seeds and farming tools.
The Qin royal family still enjoyed credibility among the people.
The man agreed.
The man didn't understand why winter wheat was being planted at the time, but later he learned that high-ranking officials and nobles preferred to eat wheat-based dishes. He was initially puzzled as to why anyone would like to eat wheat-based food.
It wasn't until I saw the wheat noodles at the old man's place that I realized the stone millstone at the street corner was there as preparation for wheat cultivation.
Wheat prices in Shiting, Xianyang remain high.
As a result, some short-sighted people sold wheat seeds at high prices and were subsequently punished accordingly.
Later, he met more and more agricultural officials, who used the simplest language to tell him how to use the improved straight-shaft plow, how to use the seed drill, and what depth the wheat seeds should be placed at. Fearing that they might not remember, they gave each of them a piece of paper.
Yes, a piece of "paper".
Lighter than bamboo slips and cloth, they are easier to carry.
What's written on it isn't words, but rather a series of pictures about planting wheat.
The man carefully kept the piece of paper.
The wheat began to sprout, and the men saw more and more high-ranking officials.
Why were they so sure it was a high-ranking official? The agricultural officials were extremely respectful, and the three elders remained silent. They surrounded the high-ranking official, who, disregarding the muddy fields, went to the man working in the fields and asked him many questions.
The man still remembered what the high-ranking official had told him that day, and he repeated it to his wife many times without getting tired of it.
He heard the agricultural officials calling the high-ranking official, Fusu, who was dressed in brocade.
The man pondered the name, "Young Master Fusu."
Then it dawned on him that he was His Majesty's eldest son.
He overheard the agricultural officials reporting to Prince Fusu that the work was progressing well, and Prince Fusu also remarked on the officials' hard work.
In the end, it always comes down to two people.
One is His Majesty.
Prince Fusu often said, "Your Majesty is always worried about the people's food supply. Your diligent farming is how you repay the country."
Prince Fusu said that His Majesty is virtuous and that His Majesty has bestowed crops.
All the rights he fought for for the common people were granted by His Majesty.
After hearing this many times, the man gradually changed his opinion of His Majesty.
The prolonged war led to the devastation of the people's livelihood. Although Xianyang was the capital of the Qin Dynasty, ordinary people also felt some aversion and fear towards the war.
The Qin Dynasty ended the war, and the people of the land began to look forward to a peaceful and war-free life.
However, Qin law imposed severe punishments for minor offenses, with collective punishment and imprisonment leading many commoners, unfamiliar with the law, to frequently break it. The heavy corvée labor also left many struggling to make ends meet.
The people were shocked to realize that even after unification, life was still miserable. The Guanzhong Plain of Qin was relatively better off, as it was the core territory of the Qin people. The remnants of the six former states were the most fiercely rebellious group, not only because of the hatred of their lost kingdoms, but also because Qin had not offered them any appeasement.
As the living conditions of the lower classes deteriorated, discontent began to spread.
Men often heard complaints from the 126,000 powerful families who had moved to Xianyang.
At first, the man was furious; he even considered having the authorities arrest them, but he was afraid of implicating himself. Later, the pressure of life increased. The First Emperor had unified the six kingdoms, and life for the Qin people was becoming increasingly difficult.
When the man passed by the mansions of the powerful figures of the six kingdoms again, his state of mind was completely different.
Now, hope for a new life and reverence for His Majesty have been rekindled in his heart.
And their affection for another person mentioned by Prince Fusu and the others.
Divine messenger.
The man had heard of the divine messenger's formidable reputation.
When the First Emperor returned to Xianyang after his eastern tour, he saw the carriage of the divine envoy from afar. When the envoy stepped down from the carriage, he thought, "Isn't she just a young girl?"
He was about the same age as his children and was indeed a guest of honor of the First Emperor.
That's incredible!
From the moment she entered Xianyang, everyone around him changed because of her.
His neighbor, Ahe, whom he had divorced, entered the textile workshop that she had opened. Ahe said that the looms and other equipment inside produced cloth that was faster, longer, and wider than those in the original workshop.
The key point is that the price hasn't changed.
This year is a bumper harvest, and my aunt is willing to buy a bolt of cloth to make new clothes for the family.
Then came the sale of cheap iron farm tools. The new iron farm tools were very good, but the men's families weren't wealthy enough to afford them. Fortunately, because the new farm tools were cheap, they drove the prices of the older tools even lower.
He took his iron farm tools and harvested faster than ever before, and the harvest was plentiful. So it was a bumper year.
Prince Fusu said that the idea of planting winter wheat this time was proposed by the divine messenger.
To this end, she summoned disciples from the Mohist and Agricultural schools to create new farming tools suitable for cultivation and to inquire about and collect information on planting winter wheat. Fearing that some might forget, she specially created something called paper, and projected the images onto it for the common people to refer to.
The aunt reached out and gently touched the thin, soft paper: "Wow, this is incredible. I can understand it all."
A blank sheet of paper can fetch an astronomical price.
This is something that ordinary families like theirs can't afford.
After saying that, she slapped the man's arm again: "Hurry up and put it away, what if the snow melts on it? Be careful not to ruin it."
"The agricultural official who distributed the paper told me that the divine messenger said that next year she would recruit many people to make paper. She wants to drive down the price of paper. Do you think I could be selected to serve in the military?"
The aunt shook her head: "Anything related to the divine messenger is a good thing. We didn't know before, but now it's none of our business. The Chen family across the street serves in the Lishan army, and their food is much better now."
The man had also worked on the mausoleum at Mount Li a few years ago. He sighed and said, "It's alright, we can still grow the wheat well."
The two men huffed and puffed as they pressed the snow down.
"Have you seen that water-powered millstone and the water-powered spinning wheel?" the man asked again.
Auntie, panting, said, "I've already seen it. How many times do you have to tell me? Ah He is doing very well in Guanfang. If I had the skills, I would have gone there long ago. Why would I be here tilling the fields with you?"
"Some people can't stand to see us living a good life."
"What?"
The man looked around and, finding no one, said in a low voice, "A few days ago, I went to where Ahe works and saw the water-powered spinning wheel from afar. I heard someone saying something about men staying at home and women working outside, saying that women shouldn't be allowed to show their faces in public."
The aunt was furious and didn't forget to retort to the man: "Men are in charge of external affairs and women are in charge of internal affairs. What kind of bullshit is that? What did Ah He do to deserve this? Who is it? Tell me, I'll tear his mouth apart. Doesn't he even know if men can do spinning and weaving, handle fine silk, or distinguish dyes?"
The man said repeatedly, "Don't be angry, don't be angry. It wasn't me who said it."
The man quickly told her what happened next.
There were people keeping a close eye on the water-powered spinning wheels at the textile workshop, and they would immediately arrest anyone who seemed suspicious. The two men who were talking had waited for the female workers several times when they were leaving their shifts, and they had also gone to the water-powered spinning wheels specifically, making it hard not to suspect them.
The man only heard about what happened after he was arrested from others.
The two men claimed to be Confucian disciples and could not tolerate the idea of hens crowing at dawn. They even went directly to the female workers' quarters to persuade them to stop working in the government compound.
The auntie just found it absurd.
"Can't afford to live? You were conscripted by the government, why don't you go to the government? You're a coward who bullies the weak and fears the strong."
The man also found the two people to be quite mysterious.
Guanfang was certainly not a place they could come and go as they pleased.
The Qin laws were harsh; any act that obstructed the use of official workshops was a serious crime.
Two Confucian scholars, who were not very bright, incited women to refuse to work. They were identified as "disrupting the law" and "hiding their households," and were sentenced to "fining" (fining their property) and "labor in the city".
Their actions had little impact; otherwise, they could have been sentenced to death.
Because they claimed to be disciples of Confucianism, someone reported this to Chunyu Yue, the leader of the Confucian school in Xianyang.
Chunyu Yue felt like the sky had fallen.
He had originally planned that the First Emperor would have Fusu begin to accomplish practical tasks, and that the Confucian school should try to win over this eldest son who was both a potential heir to the throne and leaned towards Confucianism. The Confucian school had already offended the First Emperor, and they couldn't afford to be left without a foothold in the political arena.
Although Confucianism was heavily suppressed, the number of Confucian disciples was actually not small.
Today, Legalism reigns supreme, and the Qin Dynasty practices the principle of taking officials as teachers; almost all officials, both in and out of the court, are of Legalist origin. Confucianism is not as prominent as Legalism, but it is far better than Mohism, which was once a prominent school of thought.
After all, the Mohist school had even broken apart organizationally. It split into three, and the Xiangli Mohist school was absorbed by the Qin Dynasty, making it difficult to continue its lineage. Although it currently holds a place with the backing of the Divine Envoy, its future is uncertain.
Chunyu Yue finally managed to get some disciples into Fusu's agricultural work. He was exchanging friendly greetings with the three elders of Guanzhong and discussing wheat planting matters, while secretly building up Fusu's reputation through propaganda.
The saying goes, "A plant that survives the winter yields a good harvest, just as a virtuous person who upholds his principles will eventually meet a bright future."
What does "the young master implemented benevolent policies at the well and the roadside" mean?
There is simply no end to what Confucianism and the Three Elders could say.
First, the Three Elders were grassroots educational officials appointed by the Qin dynasty at the county and township levels, primarily responsible for persuading the local people and fostering good morals. The Three Elders were generally respected elders of high moral character and good standing in the area.
That's no coincidence.
The essence of Confucianism lies in "moral education." Confucius advocated "guiding people with virtue and regulating them with propriety," while Mencius emphasized "carefully managing the education in schools and schools, and reinforcing it with the principles of filial piety and brotherly love." Confucianism believes that moral education, especially ethical norms such as filial piety, brotherly love, benevolence, righteousness, loyalty, and trustworthiness, is the fundamental way to achieve social harmony and stability.
The three elders, as local moral exemplars and respected elders, perfectly embody the Confucian ideal of "gentlemen" and "virtuous people" participating in social governance.
There is a hidden and profound connection between Confucianism and the Three Elders.
Chunyu Yue seized this opportunity to infiltrate the grassroots of Guanzhong. He was sending his disciples to garrison villages one by one to contribute to Prince Fusu's grand plan, but unexpectedly, a Confucian scholar dared to do such a thing right under the First Emperor's nose.
"Utterly foolish!" Chunyu Yue exclaimed angrily.
The First Emperor was an extremely utilitarian and pragmatic person.
The Qin Dynasty implemented a system of "half the tax," forcing men and women to share the economic burden. Qin law also explicitly stipulated that in delicate crafts such as embroidery, "one woman is equivalent to one man," thus granting women the same recognition of productive value as men.
The Qin law offered exceptional protection for women's property and marriage, despite all of this stemming from the exploitation of women's labor.
Did the Legalists and Mohists not approve of women managing the household and men managing external affairs? Of course they did.
But in the eyes of the First Emperor, a woman was someone who continuously provided labor and produced wealth.
If he had really been locked up at home, the First Emperor would have been utterly disgusted.
Chunyu Yue pinched his nose, grabbed the two idiots, and then packed them up and took them back to his hometown.
The man added, "This Dr. Chunyu is also very strange. I heard he bought a lot of hens to raise at home, but I don't know what he's doing with them."
The aunt shook the snow off her raincoat: "Who cares? He's gone to rescue people, what good could he be?"
"The three elders respected him greatly."
“We have a daughter. If what he said about women staying at home is true, then our daughter’s life will be difficult. I was thinking of letting her learn embroidery from Ahe when she’s a little older, and then she can go to the government office.”
"Is Guanfang still hiring?"
“Ahe said her superior said that the official workshops will be expanded from Xianyang to other places. We should prepare early, it won’t hurt.”
"Yes, yes." The man responded hesitantly, then said, "Let's go home after we finish this dish."
Despite the heavy snow and the biting wind, the two were filled with hope for life.
Behind them, on the rammed earth official road, a fast horse galloped towards Xianyang Palace.
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Author's Note: My dears, I'm going on a trip with friends on Thursday. I'll be traveling for the next week, so updates will be a bit difficult. [Please][Please]
There will be another chapter tonight, and another one tomorrow.
I'll give out some red envelopes in the next chapter. [Please][Please][Please][Please]
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