Chapter 42: Auspicious Harvest [Jinjiang Authentic Edition Exclusive Release. Midsummer July]...
By July, the hottest time of the year, some autumn crops have begun to mature and enter the harvest season.
More than sixty Confucian officials were forced to take on the task. They gritted their teeth, wiped their tears, and left Xianyang with their envoys, heading towards the small countries in the Western Regions and Nanyue.
In order to seize the good opportunity to "promote Confucianism", most of the Confucian officials in the court left in an instant. The court, which was originally in chaos due to the "Confucianism-Legalism dispute" and often quarreled over a government decree, not only improved the efficiency of daily political discussions a lot with the departure of a group of young and strong Confucian officials, but also the atmosphere of political discussions became visibly peaceful.
The annoying sour scholars were sent far away, and His Majesty the Emperor felt that his ears had become quieter, and his mood became much better when handling daily government affairs.
There were several heavy downpours accompanied by rumbling thunder. After the rain stopped and the sky cleared up, the temperature in Xianyang became even higher.
The bright sun hung high above the azure sky, and the scorching, golden sunlight scorched the vast land of Qindu.
Qin Ying, who is more than nine months old, is too young to use too much ice due to her mother's strict restrictions.
But the baby has a strong internal heat, so in order to keep cool, the little fat boy's daily clothing has become more and more sloppy.
Most of the time during the day, he only wears a black bellyband and a diaper, crawling around on the smooth wooden floor. When he crawls to a big pillar or a wall, he will touch the pillar or wall and slowly learn to stand. After standing for a few times, he will continue to crawl on the wooden floor to exercise.
The little guy not only loves to crawl, but also crawls very fast. Often, when the wet nurses turn around, they see the little grandson using his hands and feet to crawl to the high threshold, full of yearning for freedom and eager to rush out.
During the long summer, the little fat boy fought wits and courage with the wet nurses in the mansion, trying to climb out every second.
Outside the capital, in small towns in the countryside.
The old Qin people in black short coats also held plows and bent over to plow the fields. Beads of sweat as big as beans slid down their wrinkled foreheads and fell on the dry yellow soil, making a light "zizi" sound, and then immediately disappeared without a trace.
Millet and beans are ripe, and the common people are busy harvesting the new season's millet and beans.
Under the strict Qin laws, the books in the homes of the fallen nobles and wealthy families were almost all confiscated.
"Collecting books" was only the first step in "controlling books". Following the advice of the emperor's eldest grandson, Li Si, who had mastered the new skills of "contradiction transfer and internal differentiation" to control public opinion, immediately took the second step after receiving the collection documents sent to Xianyang by the county governors of all counties in the world. He conveyed the news that the court wanted to compile the "Great Qin Knowledge Collection".
He also emphasized that the "Great Qin Knowledge Collection" was not just one book, but a whole series of books! It included not only the history books of the Seven Heroes but also a wide variety of opinions from various schools of thought, taking the essence and discarding the dross. Once successfully compiled, it would become the greatest masterpiece of all time, both in China and abroad!
With such a grand goal of compiling books, the then ruling Emperor Qin Shi Huang was immediately given a beautiful filter of "valuing culture" in the eyes of hundreds of scholars, and even made the "Qin State", which was known as a barbarian country, appear a bit more elegant. After all, the Zhou Dynasty, which designed the Zhou Li, did not set such a grand "ambition to compile books"!
Since the advent of writing, countless ancient books have been handed down. If Your Majesty the Emperor wanted to integrate all these complex books and compile a set of masterpieces that would be passed down through the ages, the difficulty would be no less than connecting the Great Walls of the former kingdoms of Yan, Zhao, and Qin! Build a Great Wall of Classics!
The overly ambitious goal also meant that compiling the "Daqin Knowledge Encyclopedia" would be an extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive project.
To accomplish this "great literary achievement," relying solely on the existing doctors in the court was clearly insufficient. Therefore, the imperial court created the position of "Zhi Dian Lang," a minor official position, seeking to recruit elite individuals from the common counties to work alongside the doctors in the court to compile the "Treasure of Knowledge." Those who contributed more books and higher-quality books were given priority for selection as "Zhi Dian Lang."
As soon as the position of "Zhi Dian Lang" was announced, the nobles and wealthy families of the fallen country, who were originally feeling heartbroken about being "forced" to donate their precious collections of books, immediately became extremely excited like a cat smelling fish. Although the position of this book editor looked insignificant, it allowed them to go to the imperial capital Xianyang and work together with the doctors in the court!
If the book is well compiled and the job is done well, if it catches the eye of the First Emperor, wouldn't the impoverished family that has fallen into a lower social class be able to seize the opportunity again and flourish?
For a while, some people who had kept their books in private endured the pain of cutting off their flesh and donated their precious collections that had been hidden in the bottom of their boxes.
Seeing that the position of "Zhi Dian Lang" had triggered a new wave of book donations from the people, Li Si, who was in charge of "controlling the books", felt happy but also felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.
Nowadays, even though books are extremely precious, the number of books collected by the public is astonishingly large! Think about how the nobles of a fallen country had accumulated wealth for hundreds of years by relying on the "hereditary nobility system" before their country was destroyed. Even if their motherland was destroyed and their class declined, these families still had the foundation they should have.
In the cool inner hall of Zhangtai Palace, a half-human-high Jijin Bingjian was emitting wisps of white steam.
The First Emperor, who was kneeling beside a black lacquer desk to handle government affairs, lowered his head and watched Li Si sorting out the documents submitted by him, and could not help but frowned.
Qin Ying, wearing only a loose little dress, crawled back and forth on the wooden floor of the inner hall, listening to her grandfather talking to Li Si.
"Well, the collection of books shows that these fallen nobles still have a lot of stamina. I think if the remnants of the fallen nation lurking among them see the slightest weakening of the imperial rule, they will immediately raise the banner of 'anti-Qin' and stir up trouble among the common people!"
"If we want to completely suppress these fallen nobles of the six kingdoms, it will probably take several decades and two generations. I will give you one hundred minor official positions as administrative officials. You must use this opportunity to help me accurately recruit a group of useful talents, and you must also divide and strike down the fallen nobles of the six kingdoms once again!"
Hearing the cold tone in His Majesty's words, Li Si hurriedly bowed respectfully and said:
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty. The prosecution is proceeding in an orderly manner according to plan. I, an old minister, will do my utmost to complete this task."
"good!"
The First Emperor smiled and nodded.
As the emperor and his minister were chatting, a eunuch in black with his head bowed hurried in from behind the screen at the entrance of the inner hall.
"Your Majesty, the Internal Secretary of the Grain Administration is outside requesting an audience."
Upon hearing the eunuch's words, the First Emperor's eyes lit up and he quickly said:
"Hurry up and announce it!"
"promise!"
Seeing his grandfather's delighted expression, Qin Ying, who was sitting on the wooden floor, realized belatedly that Zhi Su Nei Shi was the white-bearded old man who ran to the imperial farm to plant crops with a nylon bag of seeds.
What was the old man with the white beard's last name? And how many days had he stayed at the imperial farm? The little fat boy couldn't help but scratch his furry little head, realizing he couldn't quite remember.
"His Majesty!"
The little fat boy was trying hard to recall his memories of April when he saw a thin old man dressed in black with tanned skin hurried into the inner hall, accompanied by a gust of hot wind.
Seeing the man coming who was very dark and thin and looked like an ordinary old farmer, the First Emperor who was kneeling at the top and Li Si and Qin Ying who were sitting at the bottom could not help but open their eyes wide in shock.
The First Emperor hurriedly stood up from his seat and walked down the steps quickly. He looked at the darker, thinner, and much older Xu Wang and shook his hand with emotion, praising him:
"Xu Qing, you really suffered this time."
Seeing Xu Wang's appearance, Li Si guessed that it must be early summer when the bag of alien seeds that Xu Wang took away had a great harvest. He also stood up from his seat and walked over.
In order to live up to His Majesty's expectations, Xu Wang, a high-ranking official, stayed at the imperial farm for nearly three months, and his food, drink, and shelter were all contributed to the loess land.
Listening to His Majesty's sincere praise of him, and seeing the little baby crawling to His Majesty's legs with his hands and feet, sitting down on the wooden floor, and curiously looking up at his little grandson, Xu Wang's eyes lit up. He quickly took a step back, bowed to the little baby sitting on the floor, and then said excitedly to the royal grandfather and grandson with his eyes shining:
"Your Majesty! Your Highness!"
"Thanks to the blessing of the Black Bird and the emperor's great grace! In April, the bag of seeds I brought from the palace to the imperial farm to cultivate, with the exception of a few seeds that were not in season and still remain in the basement, all the other seeds I tried to plant—tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, pumpkins, winter melons, alfalfa, and sesame seeds—all yielded a bountiful harvest! Peanuts, sweet potatoes, and potatoes, while not yet mature, are all growing lushly. The sweet potato rhizomes have already covered three acres of land!"
"Because you need to save seeds, I can't guess your majesty's intention. These abundant fruits and grasses are still growing lushly in the fields and have not been picked. Today, I hurried to the palace to ask your majesty what you plan to do with them."
Xu Wang had always been very serious about his farmland. Even though the First Emperor had guessed the alien seeds on the imperial farm would be growing well just by seeing his dark and thin appearance, when he heard the news of the bumper harvest, which was like announcing the names of the vegetables, his narrow and long phoenix eyes instantly brightened. This was all the blessing brought by the Xuanniao brought by his grandson! His Majesty smiled and looked down at his grandson sitting beside his legs.
Qin Ying felt relieved when she heard the news that the imperial farm had a great harvest. After seeing her grandfather's happy eyes, she grinned and waved her hands. She thought that with the blessing of this happy event, she could try her luck after returning home tonight and use up the number of blind box draws in July!
Seeing his grandson's actions, the first emperor's eyes curved even wider, and he smiled and praised Xu Wang:
"Xu Qing, you have truly made great contributions to the Great Qin this summer! Now that the alien seeds have yielded a bountiful harvest, there's no need to hide it any longer. Tomorrow morning, I will take all the officials to the imperial farm to witness the harvest. This will also allow them to see the significant contributions Xu Qing has made to the Great Qin during his three months of absence, through his diligent work in the fields."
There is no one who doesn't want the results of his or her hard work to be seen and praised by others.
When Xu Wang heard that His Majesty was going to lead his colleagues to the imperial farm to inspect their summer achievements, he thought, wouldn't this be recorded in history books?
He immediately grinned, and the wrinkles on his dark forehead were clearly squeezed together. He bowed to the First Emperor again with joy and said:
"I, Your Majesty, thank you for your recognition of me! Tomorrow, I will respectfully welcome Your Majesty and my colleagues to the Imperial Manor!"
"His Majesty!"
"Um?"
"Actually, this summer, there were two major happy events at the Imperial Farm. Not only did we have a bumper harvest of extraterrestrial seeds, but the beast garden also gained two auspicious animals."
"Oh, really."
"This summer is truly a double blessing! Tomorrow I will take all the officials to the imperial farm to take a closer look!"
The First Emperor clapped his hands in admiration and laughed heartily.
This made the little fat boy Ying, who was sitting next to the Emperor's legs, feel a little curious.
Even though he had never seen the scene of a bumper harvest of tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, alfalfa, sesame seeds, winter melons, and pumpkins in his previous life, he could still imagine it.
But what are the auspicious animals in the menagerie?
After all, it's not a giant panda, a flying monkey, or a nest of black swallows, right?!
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