Chapter 378: What are you going to do? I haven't violated Qin law!
"Wang Jian destroyed three kingdoms, and his son Wang Ben destroyed two kingdoms. Your Majesty has now conferred the title of Marquis of Wucheng on him.
"Dun Ruo was willing to sacrifice his life for the sake of the world, and was willing to let the Zongheng School disappear. He stood in front of all the court officials, facing the criticism of thousands of people with a cold brow, and refuted all the scholars. Your Majesty was overjoyed and made an exception to confer him the title of Che Hou, using his Zongheng School as his title.
"Qin State has talented people like the stars in the sky, countless. Wang Wan has been in charge of domestic affairs for ten years without any mistakes. Li Si wrote "Remonstrance against Expelling Foreigners " to bring back court officials, and also advised Your Majesty to unify the six kingdoms... Their contributions to Qin State are like the surging East Sea, the bottom of which is unfathomable.
“But the only people who were granted the title of Marquis of Che were Wang Jian and Dun Ruo. This shows how difficult it is to be granted the title of Marquis of Che!
"However, Meng Ao, who had not been on the battlefield for several years and had not made any military achievements against the Qin State, died of illness. Chang'an Jun wanted to make Meng Ao a marquis and gave him the title of champion. Forever champion of the whole army, this title is more respected than the most respected words "Wu An", and it surpasses all the famous generals in ancient and modern times.
"Your Majesty agreed to such an unreasonable request. Your Majesty accepted this advice because Chang'an Jun was very famous in the court. This was to shut Chang'an Jun up with the title of Chehou. Since Chang'an Jun wanted to eliminate the nobles, why did the king make an exception and ask for the title of Chehou?
"Your Majesty has long seen what Chang'an Jun and the teacher are thinking. This is definitely not a random move, but a deliberate one. Even without the incident of Meng Ao, Your Majesty would still push Chang'an Jun to the highest point second only to the throne. With Your Majesty's power, this is not difficult to do. Just announce it in court and no one will dare to object.
"Teacher, don't look up to Chang'an Jun too much, and don't look down on Your Majesty too much. Your Majesty is on the throne, and you perform divine things as a human being. You want the world to either respect you or fear you as a god. This is not because of the blood of the Ying family. It is because of your clear distinction between rewards and punishments, your military exploits in destroying the six kingdoms, your cruelty in leaving corpses for thousands of miles, your efforts in reforming the country, changing the fiefdoms into counties, and your fearlessness in issuing the decrees of the same writing system, the same wheel gauge, and the same ethics.
"Teacher, please stop making things difficult for His Majesty with Chang'an Jun. The aristocracy you want to break is the very privilege you rely on. It is absurd to use the power given by heaven to go against heaven.
"Mencius said: 'If you are poor, you should improve yourself; if you are rich, you should improve the world.' I am not a disciple of Mencius, but a disciple of Xunzi. I do not believe what Mencius said. So I beg you, teacher, to persuade the Lord of Chang'an to stop.
"You two have talents that ten Zhang Cangs cannot match. But please use these talents to benefit yourselves alone, and not to benefit the whole world. The world will be better off without you."
After saying everything in his mind in one breath, Zhang Cang anxiously waited for the teacher's response.
In the past, he was always the student. This was his first time discussing philosophy with his teacher Xunzi. He did not expect it to be in such a fierce manner.
"Well said, very well said."
Xunzi's joy was beyond words, but Zhang Cang, who was praised by his teacher for the first time in his life, felt uncomfortable.
He gave a dry laugh.
"Teacher, don't scare Cang."
He completely denied his teacher's actions in the Qin State incident and strongly criticized and condemned his teacher's actions. Not only did the teacher not get angry, but he also praised what he said.
He was terrified, fearing that the teacher's next sentence would be "You have surpassed me, so there is no need for you to learn from me," and would naturally expel him from the teacher.
"Blue comes from indigo, but it is bluer than indigo. Ice is made of water, but it is colder than water. You..."
"Teacher, please beat Cang! Cang was just talking nonsense! He deserves to be beaten!"
Zhang Cang hurriedly interrupted Xunzi and stretched out his two chubby hands. Just like when he made a mistake in class at the Jixia Academy, he closed his eyes tightly, his eyelids trembling constantly, waiting to be beaten.
Instead of feeling the burning sensation in my palms, I felt the warmth on top of my head.
Zhang Cang opened his eyes and saw his teacher stroking his head lovingly. The warmth went from the top of his head to his heart, warmer than the flame of a brazier in winter.
"If you talk nonsense, you will be beaten, but you are not talking nonsense, you have thought deeply about it, you don't deserve to be beaten.
"A blue dragon does not swim with fish and shrimps, and a fierce tiger does not walk with cattle and sheep. Han Fei and Li Si are both talented people. Although they appear gentle and elegant, they are arrogant and aloof inside. Yet, they have a close relationship with a lazy person like you who dreams of becoming a god every day. I was wondering how you could make them treat you differently. It turns out that you are also a talented person.
"You are not blindly following others, but you know how to question and think. This is very good. The King of Qin did not give you a high position or generous salary, but you are willing to speak for him. From the perspective of personal charm, the King of Qin is higher than the monarch.
"You said that you looked down on the King of Qin, which is true, but did you look down on the Lord? You often met the Lord on the tower and did absurd things with him. Do you think the Lord is only capable of absurd things?"
Zhang Cang hesitated and smiled awkwardly.
Although going to the tower was not prohibited by Qin law and did not violate morality , he still felt very uncomfortable in front of his mentor, feeling ashamed of having no clothes on.
"The Lord in the Tower is only one side of the Lord, not all of him. The facts you stated are correct, but the conclusion you draw from them is not. You are prejudiced against the Lord, and while your prejudice persists, you will not listen to anything that involves the Lord, no matter how correct it is."
Xunzi extinguished the flame in the brazier and saw through the gaps in the firewood that the bottom was black charcoal. Firewood burns for a short time, and the warmth in the winter house mainly depends on the charcoal at the bottom.
Xunzi threw firewood into the brazier to make the fire in the brazier burn more vigorously. Old people like to warm themselves by the fire.
Turning his head to look at the fine snow falling outside the window, Xunzi said:
"Will you be cold this winter if you don't have charcoal?"
Zhang Cang nodded.
"Of course it's cold."
Xunzi pointed out the window.
"What about them? These ordinary people without official titles and no rank, who can't buy charcoal, how are they going to survive this cold winter? Just burning firewood, without a lasting flame to keep warm, this cold winter will kill many people. Do you think they want to live this kind of life?"
The heating conditions in the Qin Dynasty were not particularly good. In addition to sticking cotton strips on windows and doorways and hanging thick blankets inside the house, burning charcoal fire was also an indispensable part of the Qin people's heating method.
However, in the Qin Dynasty, it was not easy to obtain charcoal. Charcoal was considered a precious commodity in the Qin Dynasty, and only royal nobles could afford it.
Unlike the nobles, ordinary people could not buy charcoal with money, so they could only think of ways to make clothes and fire.
When it comes to choosing materials for clothes, these ordinary people usually choose animal fur. Some people will go into the mountains to hunt before winter comes, and the fur of the prey will be used as material for sewing clothes.
In addition to animal fur, they would also find some thick leaves and firewood and evenly place them inside their clothes. Although the thickness of the clothes increased, it could not keep them warm, and many people still relied on their willpower to get through the winter.
In other words, in the cold winter, ordinary people can only rely on picking dry branches and chopping firewood to get materials for making fire. Most people can only survive the winter and gamble their lives.
What Teacher Zhang Cang Mingwu wanted to say was in response to what he had just said: "The people have been tired of war for a long time and are already satisfied with being able to live a stable life."
So he did not answer the teacher's question, but skipped the surface and went straight to the inside.
"I know what you mean, teacher. Charcoal is made by burning a lot of firewood, and it is not easy to make. Even if Chang'an Jun succeeds in his reforms, he cannot expect every household in the world to have access to charcoal in winter."
Xunzi smiled, dusted himself off, stood up, opened the door, and the cold air blew in his face, making Zhang Cang shiver and his fat flesh swell.
"Come with you."
Xunzi put on his warm leather jacket and walked out of the room.
"Come if you want."
Zhang Cang muttered and stood up reluctantly.
If it weren't for Xun Zi's call, he would not want to leave the warmth of the room and plunge into the cold outdoors.
He put on a sheepskin coat, his fat body looking like it would burst the skin at any time, and followed the teacher out, closing the door casually.
…
The walls were rough and wood stumps were visible everywhere.
The bulging bedding was stained with black stains of unknown origin and looked dirty.
A child was sitting quietly beside a clay pot.
There were no pots in the Qin Dynasty. The rich and powerful used cauldrons to cook food, while ordinary people who could not afford cauldrons used clay pots.
There was nothing in the clay pot, and it was not time for dinner yet. The reason why the child squatted here was not to eat, but because a fire was lit here an hour ago to cook.
The remaining black ashes under the clay pot had long been cold, but the child stubbornly believed that these cold ashes could still bring him warmth.
This is the scene that Zhang Cang saw with his teacher Xunzi.
Zhang Cang, who was still a little cold in his sheepskin coat , looked at the child squatting on the ground with his legs hugged. He tilted his head and said dryly to the owner who brought them in:
"Why don't you cover yourself with a blanket?"
Although the quilt on the simple stone bed is dirty, it can still keep you warm.
"Hey! Are you still being lazy? Go chop wood!"
The host, who was outside with a numb look and no smile on his face, suddenly roared.
"only."
The child sat up, stamped his feet and rubbed his hands, then ran out wearing his thick coat which was far less warm than Zhang Cang's cotton-padded jacket.
"What did you ask just now? I didn't hear it clearly."
The owner of the typical Qin face said humbly.
Zhang Cang opened his mouth but couldn't say anything. He didn't want to ask anymore.
Although he had not become a high-ranking official or joined the ranks of the top nobles after living in Qin for more than ten years, he had never worried about his life.
There is plenty of charcoal in winter, and you can have meat with your meals if you want. The fat on your body is a symbol of wealth.
He knew what life was like for the lower classes, but he had never seen it with his own eyes. Zhang Cang, who claimed to be an immortal, wanted to become a god and fly to heaven, and to live a long and healthy life.
Seeing that the old man and the fat man were silent, the master felt a little anxious because his work was not finished yet.
To be precise, his work is never done.
"If you two adults don't say anything, I'll go and do my work."
His tone was a little urgent.
These two men were brought by the city defense forces and found him and said they wanted to see his house. It was very sudden.
He just didn't know what was so nice about his shabby house. Aren't there most houses like this in Xianyang?
Delaying his work and not paying him is like trying to kill his whole family!
Xunzi walked to the bed, pulled the quilt down a little, revealing an old face.
Zhang Cang immediately understood why the child was not covered with the quilt, because there was another person in the quilt, an old man who wanted to survive by relying on this quilt.
"What are you going to do? I have not violated any Qin law!"
The host hurried forward, snatched the quilt from Xunzi's hand, and covered the old man with it again.
There was unspeakable anger and heartache on his face.
Once the quilt was opened, the heat would dissipate a little and the temperature inside the quilt would drop. Once the temperature dropped, his father would die.
"The teacher is giving the elderly some fresh air. If they keep the blanket on for a long time, they will suffocate if there is no air circulation."
Zhang Cang defended his teacher.
The master looked at Zhang Cang strangely, said nothing, and tucked the quilt tightly around his father.
"People have the ability to seek good fortune and avoid misfortune. If they really reach the point where they can't breathe as you said, Fatty, they will naturally lift up the quilt to breathe. As long as they are not unable to move on their own, a living person will not be suffocated to death by the quilt. You can't read to death."
The door opened, and the wind and snow poured in, making the already cold room even colder, and the owner's face became even more unfriendly.
Ying Chengjiao, wearing a thick snow-white fox fur and a pair of black rhinoceros leather boots, stood at the door with a bright smile.
The snow fell on the white fox coat, almost invisible. The strong wind was blocked by the white fox fur and could not penetrate.
Ying Chengjiao's long hair was wet by the snowflakes, and some of the slightly wet hair fell randomly on his broad shoulders. There was a teasing smile on his extremely handsome face, which completely washed away his majesty.
She is dressed in white as snow and as graceful as jade, like a banished immortal.
The owner, who wanted to say something bad, held back.
Although the Qin Dynasty respected black, one could tell at a glance that this snow-white fox fur coat was very expensive, and he could not afford to offend anyone who wore such clothes.
"Oh, my father-in-law is here too. I just heard a voice that sounded like Fatty's. I didn't expect it was really you two."
Ying Chengjiao looked at Xunzi and said something with a smile.
Turning his head to look at the host who was wearing the thinnest clothes and whose face couldn't hide his unfriendly expression, his expression also became a little unfriendly.
"What are you standing there for? Come and give me a hand. Your Highness doesn't owe you anything! The government is only giving it to you for free this time. Go pick it up next month with your ID card. Bring the money with you!"
[Why don’t you close the door ? It’s cold! ]
The master gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, took a deep breath, walked over, took the silk bag from Ying Chengjiao's hand, and closed the door.
When I opened it, it was pitch black inside with holes, like a piece of stone.
"Is this for me?"
The master hesitated.
From what Ying Chengjiao had just said, he could tell that Ying Chengjiao was a government official, and he could also tell that this was something brought to him.
But the government had never offered to send anything, and the owner was afraid that he might have misunderstood it and was a little hesitant to believe it.
“Of course it’s for you.
"This is called honeycomb coal. His Majesty made it for you because he was afraid you would freeze to death. Bring me a brazier and I'll teach you how to use it. It's quite simple, almost the same as charcoal.
"Don't just stand there, hurry up, I'm going to the next store!"
Freezing to death, brazier, charcoal.
These two words made the owner's eyes suddenly brighten, like a blind man suddenly seeing the light.
"Ohhh! Yui!"
The host responded hastily, with anxiety in his eyes.
There was no brazier in his house, so he had no use for it.
I was afraid that this bad-tempered adult in a white fox coat would not know how to use the charcoal-like things in the silk bag after he left.
He thought quickly and took down the clay pot used for cooking.
"Sir, this is fine!"
