Chapter 64: The Young Meng Tian [Jinjiang Authentic Edition Only Released · Prince of Yuezhi? ...
The night is deep and the snow is light.
With the introduction of high tables, high chairs, solar eye protection lamps and paper, the busy Qin Shi Huang truly felt the major changes in his life.
The lacquer table, seats, support stools, and golden lamp stands originally placed in the study were all removed one by one by the palace servants, and the Xuanniao table and chairs, and the Xuanniao "Star Lamp" that the emperor's eldest grandson presented to His Majesty when he came to the palace were carefully moved in by the palace servants.
The old study room, which was surrounded by bookshelves, has been rearranged. The moment the solar eye protection lamp lights up with soft white light, it adds a touch of modern technology to this quaint and spacious study room.
Qin Ying, who didn't have any blind box coins and didn't know her grandfather's size, couldn't get any pure cotton boxer briefs for her grandfather for the time being.
Fortunately, the First Emperor did not know about this "conservative leg guard" yet and did not care about it.
After a brief awkward period of ten days, His Majesty the Emperor can now sit calmly beside the large table and chairs in the study, working diligently and busily under the soft light of the solar-powered eye-protection lamps on the table and beside the table.
The emergence of paper brought great innovation to the writing tools of the Qin Dynasty.
At present, the Qin paper produced every month in the Shaofu is sent to special people to deliver 300 sheets of paper and 300 special envelopes to each senior official in the counties of the world who can submit memorials to Xianyang. They are asked to copy all the memorials originally written on bamboo slips onto the paper, put them into the envelopes, seal them with wax, and send them to Xianyang.
Originally, due to the size of bamboo slips and the weight of transporting them, officials in remote areas could not write freely on them and clearly report the specific situation in their counties to the emperor in the imperial capital.
Now, a single sheet of Qin paper could easily hold the contents of three scrolls of bamboo slips, a fact that delighted the officials from distant lands who had nowhere to vent their pent-up desires. Upon receiving the fine paper sent by His Majesty, each official from the imperial capital hurriedly spread it out on their desks, grasping their brushes and rapidly writing row after row of inky characters.
If the Qin Dynasty had not emphasized "pragmatism" and if the Emperor's concise and clear personality had not been too prominent, a large number of officials far away from the imperial capital would have, like the ministers of later dynasties, mixed many meaningless letters of greeting in their memorials, such as "Your Majesty, how are you?", "Your Majesty, it's cold, please remember to put on more clothes.", "Your Majesty, it's hot, please don't get a heat stroke" in order to make their presence felt in front of the Emperor.
When the First Emperor saw the thick envelopes sent from distant counties to the Zhangtai Palace, he would immediately use a small blade to pick open the lacquer and mud printed on the seals. Through more written explanations, he was able to better understand the real situation of other counties.
However, considering the fragility of paper, many important memorials and government decrees were written on paper. After arriving in Xianyang, a special palace doctor would copy the manuscript in full on bamboo slips and place it in a special palace for safekeeping.
The emergence of paper did not replace bamboo slips. Among the nobles of the Qin Dynasty today, paper and bamboo slips are used at the same time.
His Majesty the Emperor's daily workload was unwavering: 120 kilograms—the minimum workload of four large baskets of bamboo slips. After paper was mass-produced, this was replaced by a minimum workload of one basket of bamboo slips and one basket of thick envelopes. To some extent, although the First Emperor's workload increased rather than decreased after the advent of paper, the benefits were also very obvious.
Compared to the heavy bamboo slips that needed to be frequently flipped, memorials written on paper were not only time-saving and labor-saving, but also very convenient! The First Emperor could also easily add his imperial comments on them with his red brush!
After getting used to the light from the eye-protection lamp and the height of the desk and chair, Qin Shihuang moved his office from the lacquer table at the top of the inner hall to the study.
At the end of the year, it was two quarters past midnight and it was very late at night.
On a dark and chilly winter night, the wind howled and snowflakes swirled outside the carved wooden window.
The entire Xianyang Palace complex was quiet and dim.
Only the study in Zhangtai Palace was still brightly lit.
The red charcoal brazier placed in the corner of the study occasionally emitted a few bright sparks.
Wearing a black bathrobe, the First Emperor sat in a massage chair in high spirits, looking down at the memorials from all over the world on the large desk.
There is a small eye protection lamp on the upper left corner of the table, and a medium-sized eye protection lamp is placed on the wooden shelf in front of the table. The soft light emitted from the lamp tubes on the top of the two lamps illuminates the entire study as if it were daytime.
Seeing that the time on the clepsydra was getting later and later, Meng Yi and Zhao Gao could not help but take turns to urge the emperor to go to bed.
The first time Meng Yi came, the First Emperor replied, "I understand."
The second time Zhao Gao came, the First Emperor just said "hmm" as a reply.
The third time Meng Yi came again, the First Emperor nodded but said nothing.
The fourth time Zhao Gao came again, the First Emperor, who was buried in the desk, did not even raise his head and pretended not to hear.
Meng Nei Shi and Zhao Zu Nei Shi looked at each other. They were completely helpless and could only stand silently at the door of the study without saying a word.
On a cold snowy night, Xiao An Guojun, who was sleeping soundly in his rosewood bed with his fists clenched, never imagined that he had diligently obtained the papermaking technique from the stingy system, and opened the system to sign in every day, and saved up blind box coins to buy a desk, massage chair and eye-protection lamps for his grandfather. He wanted to find ways to reduce the heavy workload for his grandfather and the number of times he stayed up late by upgrading the office tools, so that he could rush towards the goal of becoming a healthy centenarian!
But the result was just the opposite - after obtaining these useful office products, His Majesty the Emperor not only failed to live a healthier life, but instead became more likely to stay up late and became busier!
His Majesty the Emperor, who loves to drink tea to refresh himself, is like the workers in later generations who feel sleepy. When the workers are tired, they lower their heads to take a sip of coffee and continue working.
Sitting in the massage chair, Qin Shi Huang felt that his thinking was a little slow, so he lowered his head and took a sip of strong tea, and his mind became clear instantly.
Tea is such a wonderful thing! The office-loving Emperor Qin Shi Huang was very satisfied with this drink!
The lights are bright.
His Majesty the Emperor held a cinnabar pen, lowered his head, and read and annotated the memorials on the table.
When he turned to the last thick envelope, he saw the origin and the mark on the lacquer. The First Emperor raised his eyebrows and cut open the envelope with a small blade. The next moment, he saw the caring greetings that General Meng had sent to him every day for ten years:
[Your servant, Meng Tian, writes this to wish His Majesty the Emperor all the best in Xianyang!]
[Your Majesty, at the beginning of this winter, the border town has experienced three consecutive heavy snowfalls. The snow on the grasslands outside the city is already knee-deep, and countless young livestock have frozen to death.]
Fortunately, Your Majesty sent soldiers to deliver the dugout patterns in the autumn, which allowed all the soldiers and common people in the border town to have a warm and sheltered place to spend the winter.
"The Qin people, blessed by the black bird and protected by Your Majesty, have not suffered any casualties from this cold and heavy snow. However, violent conflict has broken out within the Hu tribes outside the Great Wall due to the snowstorm, putting the Confucian envoys Your Majesty sent to the Xiongnu and Hu tribes to educate them in a difficult situation."
[The hungry Xiongnu tribe tried to get food by surprise and attacked our army three times, but failed. They then turned their attention to the neighboring Yuezhi tribe.]
[In the early part of the year, the two tribes engaged in a fierce battle. The Yuezhi were defeated and the Xiongnu burned, killed, looted, and took away much of their food. The envoys our army had sent to the Yuezhi were also driven out.]
The envoys had no choice but to temporarily return to the border town for the winter. On their way back, they stumbled upon a young Hu man lying in the snow. He was injured and about thirteen or fourteen years old. After being rescued, he claimed to be a prince of the Yuezhi.
Considering the chaos currently erupting within the Yuezhi tribe, the envoys decided to wait until spring after winter to reenter the Yuezhi and begin educating them. They also took the young Hu man back to the border town.
I have carefully observed this young man. He is dressed in fur clothing and has slightly curly black hair, braided into numerous small braids. His features include a high nose, deep eyes, and a dark complexion. Judging from his appearance alone, he certainly resembles a noble from a Hu tribe. However, whether he is truly a Yuezhi prince remains highly doubtful.
"I, your humble servant, am unable to discern the true identity of this person at this time. I am also afraid that my actions will disrupt Your Majesty's educational plans beyond the Great Wall. Therefore, I am writing this memorial to Your Majesty to ask for your instructions on the appropriate treatment of this young Hu person."
【Meng Tian bows his head.】
"Yuezhi."
"prince?"
The First Emperor carefully read the memorial sent by Meng Tian from the Great Wall from beginning to end. He could not help but put down the paper in his hand, stood up from the massage chair, walked a few steps to the large globe next to the bookshelf, stretched out his slender fingers and gently moved the round sphere. Looking at the two fluorescent blocks of yellow and green that were very close to each other above, he could not help but squint his narrow and long phoenix eyes slightly, his lips moved, and he whispered softly.
Six days later.
The Qin Great Wall, the garrison, and the general's mansion in the border town.
Heavy snow fluttered down from the gloomy sky, swirling like torn cotton wool.
A handsome middle-aged man in black armor rode a black warhorse and rushed to the gate of the mansion, pulling the reins. He then dismounted swiftly, holding a whip in his hand, a long sword at his waist, and walked quickly into the mansion on the white snow under his feet.
The man was tall and had a tough face. He exuded an elegant and sharp temperament, like a civil servant holding a pen or a military general leading troops.
The servants who were busy in the mansion stopped their work as soon as they saw the arrival of the person, bowed respectfully and said, "Your servants greet the general."
Meng Tian just raised his hand slightly and strode into the hall with his thin lips pursed. He skillfully took off the black armor covered with snow, put on a black winter robe and knelt beside the charcoal basin. The servant immediately brought a cup of fragrant milk tea with white steam and malt sugar in it in a ceramic cup.
Braving the heavy snow, Meng Tian, who had just returned home after inspecting the military camp, held the warm ceramic cup and took a sip of the sweet milk tea. His thick black eyebrows instantly relaxed, and he quickly tilted his head back and gulped down the whole ceramic cup of hot milk tea in a few gulps.
When the deputy general hurried over with the envelope, he saw his general lying like a sated black panther, with his eyes closed, drinking one cup of hot drink after another from a clay pot. From the rich sweet smell of milk in the air, he could tell that the pot contained not hot wine, but milk tea.
In the past, when Shang Yang was carrying out reforms, in order to encourage the common people to farm more and preserve more precious grain, the Qin State had a "prohibition order", which strictly restricted the Qin people from privately brewing, drinking and selling alcohol.
Now that the Qin Dynasty has unified China, people from the six states outside the Great Wall have poured into Qin like the sea. Among the people of Yan and Zhao, there are many knights-errant and they all love to drink.
The "prohibition of alcohol" in the Qin Dynasty has been relaxed a lot compared to a hundred years ago.
The climate in the border town is harsh, and when the weather gets cold, drinking becomes one of the few ways for officers to keep warm.
Among the drinking officers, General Meng, who was in charge of 300,000 Qin troops, seemed fresh and unworldly.
Those close to him knew that General Meng did not like to drink alcohol, but only liked to drink honey water and sweet goat's milk. Since the summer and autumn, when the method of making milk tea was introduced from the imperial capital, General Meng opened the door to a new world.
I spent the whole day drinking milk tea with maltose and honey from a clay pot.
It seemed that General Meng felt that letting others know about his hobby would damage his image as a dignified commander. He was very sensible. He only drank milk tea secretly in his tent and openly in his general's residence.
Because he hid well, for a moment, the 300,000 Qin soldiers thought that General Meng, who had led them to repel the Huns' attacks many times, was a generous man who drank and ate meat with big gulps!
"Great General!"
As soon as the deputy general entered the hall, he bowed to General Meng who was sitting at a seat drinking milk tea.
Meng Tian opened his eyes upon hearing the voice, and upon seeing his capable assistant, he quickly raised his hand and smiled, inviting him:
"Lu Zhu is here, come and sit down, the milk tea that the chef just made is hot, come and have a full cup with me."
When Lu Zhu heard this greeting, which had almost become the general's catchphrase, he could not help but sit down at the seat next to him with a mixture of helplessness and amusement.
Meng Tian had just picked up the pottery pot on the table, flipped a clean pottery cup from the saucer and poured a full cup of sweet milk tea for the deputy general when he saw the deputy general take out a thick envelope from his arms and handed it to him with both hands with a serious expression.
"General, this is the imperial edict sent urgently over eight hundred miles from Xianyang."
"Eight hundred miles express?"
Meng Tian was a little surprised when he heard the speed.
Lu Zhu nodded quickly.
Meng Tian's expression also became serious. He hurriedly took the handkerchief beside him to wipe his hands, and carefully used the small blade brought by the servant to pick out the black lacquer mud at the mouth of the letter. He pulled out a stack of things inside and saw the emperor's red-ink comments on his memorial.
[Meng Tian, I am fine. Send the Yuezhi prince to Xianyang as quickly as possible.]
[The parchment scroll in the envelope depicts the detailed distribution of the tribes of the Hu people outside the border town. Keep it carefully.]
After reading this, Meng Tian quickly unfolded the parchment scroll and was stunned by the lines drawn on it! Where did His Majesty get such a detailed map of the land beyond the Great Wall?
Lu Zhu, who was sitting next to him, saw the change in the expression on his general's face and asked curiously:
"General, could it be that something big happened in the imperial capital?"
Meng Tian shook his head, rolled up the thing in his hand and stuffed it into the envelope. After thinking for a moment, he rubbed his fingers and looked at his deputy general with a frown and asked:
"Lu Zhu, how is the injury of that Hu boy recovering now?"
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