Chapter 56: Replacing Disaster Relief with National Projects (Version 56)
Zheng Guo was still reminiscing about everything he had seen that day. Seeing that he couldn't get any substantial guarantees, he changed his approach and set a simple and easy-to-achieve wish.
"Could Prime Minister Lü please give me that dictionary?"
Zheng Guo no longer cared about this shameless act of actively asking for gifts; as long as he could get that dictionary, he would still have a chance to see Guo Ling.
Lü Buwei thought that he only had one dictionary in his residence, and the other one belonged to the King of Qin. It wasn't that he couldn't get a new one, but he took the opportunity to feign a troubled expression and said, "You'd better think it over. Once you take the things, you can't leave the Qin territory."
Actually, there's no such claim. As far as he knows, this dictionary is quite popular abroad. People who can afford it are curious about what the world's first dictionary looks like, and they unconsciously buy a copy to keep as a collectible. Anyway, the price is about the same as a book.
It was much cheaper than other books that often had more than ten volumes. However, even though it was cheap, it wasn't something that everyone could afford, so it was normal that Zheng Guo didn't know about it.
Furthermore, having just learned that he could see the character 'Qin' by holding this dictionary, he was easily persuaded by Lü Buwei to agree.
Anyway, the King of Han sent him here to persuade Qin to repair the irrigation canal, so it wouldn't be a big problem for him to become a guest minister directly, right?
Zheng Guo walked away with a dictionary in his arms and a silly grin on his face.
Lu Buwei smiled, having fooled another one. His previous defeat was indeed not his fault.
****
Both were very satisfied with the result. Zheng Guo took the dictionary back to his courtyard and went to bed. He didn't let go of it even when he was lying in bed, and he tossed and turned all night, too nervous to fall asleep.
Lu Buwei, accustomed to the ups and downs of life, had already prepared a draft in his mind: how to explain himself if he was discovered while returning the dictionary today; it would be even better if King Zheng of Qin didn't notice, and he could simply pretend nothing had happened.
After getting up, he had breakfast with his wife and chatted gently with her about recent interesting events before setting off for the palace.
Because King Zheng of Qin is still young, apart from the regular grand court assembly, the court assemblies are not always held. Today is not a day for a court assembly, and there has been no news of the King of Qin leaving the palace. Therefore, if we enter the palace now, we will definitely be able to see the King of Qin at Xianyang Palace.
But what Lü Buwei didn't expect was that he also saw 'Qin' next to King Zheng of Qin.
He instantly understood that secretly returning the book was impossible, but he also wondered if 'Qin' was by the King of Qin's side every day.
Is 'Qin' so free?
An offensive thought suddenly popped into his head, but he quickly dismissed it. Guo Ling must have her reasons for doing this; he just hadn't guessed the truth.
Lu Buwei first bowed to Ying Zheng, then took out a dictionary from his sleeve and presented it to Ying Zheng with both hands, saying, "Yesterday, I was in a hurry and had no choice but to borrow Your Majesty's dictionary."
Ying Zheng raised his hand to take the dictionary, but Lü Buwei did not let go, hesitatingly looking in the direction of 'Qin'.
Ying Zheng's lips twitched slightly. He released his grip and casually straightened his sleeves, saying, "Never mind, Uncle, you can keep it."
He also asked, "Uncle, don't you have a dictionary in your household? I remember that dictionaries aren't expensive, and if a Qin person comes to buy one, you might even get a discount."
“No,” Lü Buwei pulled out a stack of papers from his sleeve again to cover his embarrassment, and said, “My copy was taken by Zheng Guo. I was in a hurry to enter the palace and didn’t have time to ask the Left Prime Minister for a copy.”
'Qin': 'Since you say so, you must have successfully persuaded the State of Zheng to stay with me.'
Such words, coming from a human being, inevitably seem strange, but considering that the person in front of him is actually from the country, they suddenly make sense.
Lü Buwei smiled modestly: "You flatter me. I merely used a small trick."
In his view, those were not means, but simply going with the flow.
Qin chuckled softly, refusing to say anything that wasn't a compliment, taking it as a tacit agreement.
She waved her hand, causing the stack of papers to be quickly spread on the table. She made the key pieces emit a faint golden light, which was very eye-catching.
The regions mentioned in the plan gradually emerged in mid-air, becoming three-dimensional compared to the previous flat maps, with golden lines winding through the mountains and rivers.
A ditch extends downwards from the high place, giving a clear view of what the irrigation canal would look like when it was finally completed.
"How was it? When I looked at it yesterday, I thought it was quite suitable."
After inspecting the irrigation canal, both the emperor and his minister had high hopes for it and raised no objections. Lü Buwei even said, "If it can really be built, then..." He was about to blurt out "[My Great Qin]", but seeing the Great Qin right across from him, he swallowed it back and instead flattered, "You will be even more invincible."
Qin smiled slightly, not responding to Lü Buwei's words, and then asked, "Then what do you think is the best way to conscript people to build the irrigation canal?"
Of course, it's forced labor...
Such an answer would come to mind without needing to think about it, but if it were really that simple, 'Qin' wouldn't have needed to ask.
Therefore, after much deliberation, Lü Buwei decided: "Should I hire them?"
He frowned, constantly calculating in his mind, "How much is that?!"
There isn't enough money in the country, and it's not feasible to use grain as wages. Although there is a lot of grain collected from taxes, it must be used to supply the army first.
He gasped, realizing what 'Qin' meant, and tentatively said, "But if that's the case, the army will inevitably be short-handed, and they'll probably have to bring their own rations when they go to war..."
The provisions used by their army have long been provided by the national treasury; if they were to revert to the old system, the consequences would be unpredictable.
Even if no one is bold enough to rebel, there will still be widespread resentment.
Lü Buwei didn't think Qin would be unaware of this, so there was only one possibility: she really didn't want to fight those six opponents anymore in the next few years.
"No need to test me, I can tell you the answer directly: since it's not enough, let's stop fighting for now."
"What's wrong with giving them a chance to catch their breath? They can beat me in a single night?"
She maintained her gentle and dignified demeanor, but her tone betrayed an undeniable arrogance.
Yes, how could 'Qin' be gentle and refined? It's just a disguise. The true nature is the ruthlessness that is inadvertently revealed.
Ying Zheng pondered the meaning behind the name 'Qin,' which he believed was not simply out of pity for those forced into labor.
He said, “There should still be many prisoners of war who have just been settled in the country. They come from various countries and have been scattered and exiled to various parts of Qin. They have no land in the local area and can only do some odd jobs. If the government recruits them and provides them with food, they will be grateful for the kindness.”
Qin nodded. This was similar to using national projects instead of disaster relief. Although these people didn't need such an extravagant disaster relief effort, who wouldn't be happy to have an extra job?
Paying wages normally or even more means you can recruit a lot of people, even for manual labor.
Lu Buwei thought that if he agreed so quickly, those fierce generals would surely ambush him on his way home.
So he said, “Your Majesty is wise! Your suggestion is excellent, but recruiting workers along the irrigation canal cannot cover the entire country. We need to think of other ways to appease the prisoners and win them over.”
Ying Zheng said directly, "I'll leave this to you, Uncle Zhong. With your intelligence and wisdom, I believe you can do it easily."
Lü Buwei: ...
How could he deny it? He smiled with gratitude, stood up and bowed, saying, "Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. I will certainly handle this matter well!"
I'm sorry, everyone, it's not that he wants to confiscate all the military rations used in the past few years of fighting, it's the king's order.
Qin is not afraid that the generals will cause trouble because there are no battles to fight. After all, the current army is all temporarily conscripted and they are usually farmers at home. It doesn't matter if the army's rations are withheld, and nothing uncontrollable will happen.
It's okay if you temporarily lose the path to advancement through military merit; growing high-yield crops still offers a lot of hope for the future.
With high grain yields, the Qin people seemed to be living in a dream. According to her statistics, their happiness index had risen significantly, which made her sigh once again that people are so easy to please.
She was so happy for them that she felt sorry for them.
Hope comes from the bountiful harvest. Even she feels a sense of accomplishment every time she sees Taishu Jiu's harvest. So much food! Farming is so good. She misses the farming games on Steam.
Her Stardew Valley, her Echoes of Merlin, her...
Most importantly, it's better to wait a few years. Too frequent wars are too much for the domestic population to handle. It would be best if those prisoners could return home. After some training, they could be sent back to their hometowns to manage those people.
We must give them opportunities to earn food and money, and we must give them opportunities to go to school and receive a minor official education.
Anyway, Ying Zheng is still young, so it doesn't matter if he waits a few more years.
Only by firmly holding onto the territory near your birth point and keeping your backyard safe can you dream of going further afield, right?
****
While Ying Zheng was striving to grow and the two prime ministers were working tirelessly for her, the turmoil in Xianyang City continued unabated.
Even though Lü Buwei was so busy that he didn't have the energy to send male lovers to the Queen Dowager, there were still other officials who wanted to please Zhao Ji. In the end, the man named Lao Ai still followed the same path as history.
Zhu Qing'ai noticed this, but didn't react much. Based on the momentum she had built for Ying Zheng before, she believed that Zhao Ji was smart enough not to do anything, at most she would just have another male concubine.
Unless Zhao Ji has lost her mind... and her favoritism has reached a certain level, she would not abandon her son, who is destined to rule, and instead try to support the son of her male favorite to ascend to the throne.
Zhu Qing'ai suddenly felt scared. Could Zhao Ji really have lost her mind? She usually seemed quite smart, so theoretically she shouldn't, but she was just afraid that it might be true.
It's hard for a person's thought process to stay consistent. She was afraid that Lao Ai would influence Zhao Ji, and that the child she had raised for so long would lose his happy family.
No, she can't allow that to happen.
But it would be strange for her to ask Ying Zheng to send her own mother's male favorites out of the palace, so she decided to take a roundabout approach.
****
She chose a day, actually a time when she wasn't busy monitoring the implementation of simplified characters in various regions, to go see Ying Zheng.
"Zheng'er, I have something to tell you."
Ying Zheng put down his brush and asked, "What does Mother want to say?"
Do you know about the Ganquan Palace incident?
He nodded: "I know, but it shouldn't have any impact."
It's normal for the Empress Dowager to have male favorites, as long as it doesn't affect him.
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Author's Note: My prediction was wrong, I'll update another 3,000 words later, sob sob.
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