Chapter 22: Liu Bang and Liu Ying Receive Rewards

Every day, the routine of farming, studying, practicing martial arts, and playing made time fly by, and before they knew it, half the year had passed.

Last winter was bitterly cold, and this summer was equally scorching.

At this time, the water and heat conditions in Pei County were favorable, and some fertile lands near the water could even grow rice.

Most of Liu Bang's fields had harvested millet, and beans were planted, which would yield another harvest before winter.

The Granary Official, a minor official, was not granted land, but after Liu Bang became the Granary Official, the Pei County Magistrate and the local gentry generously exchanged some of their good lands for Liu Bang's poor lands.

Thus, Liu Bang gained some well-irrigated fields.

At Liu Ying's strong insistence, these irrigated fields were planted with rice in the spring, and after the harvest, winter wheat would be sown.

If the taxes of the Qin Dynasty were collected according to the Qin Law, they were not heavy; what was burdensome were the corvée labor duties.

Liu Bang had become a true Qin official, so the taxes on his family's lands were collected according to the Qin Law, without any additional local levies. Similarly, according to the Qin Law, corvée labor could be redeemed with money. The fields growing millet and beans were enough to cover the taxes and corvée labor, so Liu Bang let Liu Ying do as he pleased.

Unexpectedly, Liu Ying was not just fooling around this time. He dragged his two elder brothers to visit farmers who knew how to grow rice and wheat, and their first rice harvest was bountiful.

Liu Ying also visited the renowned weaver Zhou Bo and had Zhou Bo take him to meet carpenters and stonemasons.

After some tinkering, they created a rice huller using the principle of leverage.

The rice huller involved digging a large stone mortar in the ground and using hand and foot power to pound the rice.

According to Liu Ying's plan, this would save a lot of labor. However, contrary to expectations, with the current technology and materials, the rice huller was too large.

Previously, pounding rice with a stone pestle was tiring for the hands and back, but a strong woman could manage it alone.

This rice huller, ha, required at least two or three people to operate.

Liu Ying, after working so hard, had created something useless, and he was very upset.

Liu Bang patted his son's big head and said, "Useless? Watch this."

Liu Bang called out to the neighbors, and under the leadership of the Neighborhood Chief, a dozen households claimed the rice huller.

Women and men who happened to be free took turns operating the rice huller, which "whooshed' as it pounded, and the millet of a dozen households was hulled in just three days.

Some wealthy families, seeing the usefulness of the rice huller, invited Zhou Bo to their homes to build one as well.

Zhou Bo, laughing, picked up Liu Ying and said that the technology was Liu Ying's idea, and the business should be Liu Ying's.

Liu Ying, with his arms crossed and nose flaring, became boastful again.

Wealthy families grew a lot of millet and rice, especially the rice from the south, which was rare and valuable, making it a precious delicacy for entertaining guests.

The rice huller could hull both millet and rice. In fact, Liu Ying had thought of the rice huller just to eat rice.

After doing a round of business, Liu Ying's family had several baskets of hulled rice.

Although it was all brown rice, the family enjoyed it immensely.

Rice was commonly grown in the Huai River basin and was not a rarity. Han Xin occasionally got to eat it when he came over for meals.

Today, eating rice again, Han Xin felt the taste was quite different from what he remembered.

Liu Ying said, "Maybe the soil and water are different in the north and south?"

Liu Fei said, "Naturally, because this is the rice Yinger worked hard to earn, it must be better than ordinary rice!"

Liu Ying scratched his head, his smile stretching to his ears: "Don't praise me so much, it's embarrassing."

Liu Fei said, "It's not praise, it's the truth."

Han Xin also agreed: "It's the truth."

Liu Ying twisted and turned, becoming like a vine.

Proud, very proud!

Under the strict household registration system of the Qin Dynasty, the rice huller was indeed very practical.

With a call from the Neighborhood Chief, the villagers could gather enough labor to hull rice for the entire neighborhood, saving a lot of manpower.

After testing it with a few familiar families, Liu Bang had Xiao He draft a report and submit it.

The County Magistrate, knowing that Liu Bang had connections above, and that anything good coming out of Pei County would count as his political achievement, immediately sent someone to report it to Xianyang.

Halfway through the year, Liu Bang had already been designated as an excellent Qin official by the Pei County Magistrate, to compete in the year-end evaluation with officials from other counties.

The Great Qin considered October as the start of the year. In the 37th year of Qin Shi Huang, October, Qin Shi Huang set out on another tour.

Besides bringing his most trusted Meng Yi, Li Si, and Zhao Gao, his youngest son Hu Hai had been pestering him for a long time, so he brought the newly crowned Hu Hai along.

In November, Qin Shi Huang arrived at Lake Yunmeng again, climbed Mount Jiuyi, and paid homage to Yu Shun.

He boarded a giant ship, sailed down the Yangtze River, climbed Mount Kuaiji, and paid homage to Yu the Great.

Qin Shi Huang went east to Jieshi, gazed at the sea, and ordered a stone inscription to be carved praising the virtues of Great Qin, expressing the wish that "the common people would be pure and happy, and peace would be preserved."

Looking at the words "common people' on the inscription, he seemed lost in thought, then boarded the giant ship again, sailing north along the coastline, stopping at Langya to handle documents sent from the world.

Even on his tour, Qin Shi Huang had to deal with documents every day.

The Qin Dynasty valued agriculture, so even a small Pei County Granary Official making a contribution to agricultural production would have his report reach Qin Shi Huang's desk.

Such documents were numerous, and Qin Shi Huang would not pay special attention, instructing Meng Yi to handle it as usual.

Meng Yi glanced at the document from Pei County, noticed the name, and smiled: "Your Majesty, this Granary Official's son is the filial child from the tavern that day."

Qin Shi Huang reached out, and Meng Yi handed the bamboo scroll back to him.

Qin Shi Huang unfolded the scroll and read it carefully.

The handwriting was barely neat, but the writing was very organized, without the verbose language Qin Shi Huang detested.

In the document polished by Xiao He, the background of the rice huller's creation was not mentioned, only starting from Liu Bang testing it with a few familiar families, then describing how Liu Bang had the wealthy families use it first, gradually promoting it to the Neighborhood Chief, saving how much manpower and time.

Every word was filled with data and examples.

Qin Shi Huang's stern face relaxed for a moment.

After reading so many eye-straining documents, occasionally seeing such a concise one was a pleasure.

At the end of the document, Liu Bang proposed using the same method to promote the sharing of stone mills.

Before the Qin Dynasty was established, the nobility already had stone mills in their homes to grind millet into flour.

Liu Bang introduced that stone mills could also grind wheat, turning the hard-to-swallow wheat grains into flour. Fields with good irrigation conditions could yield more wheat than millet. This would increase farmers' enthusiasm for planting wheat.

This point was added by Liu Ying.

He firmly believed that farmers did not plant wheat because wheat porridge was too unpalatable. Even he, who was not picky, found wheat porridge hard to swallow, let alone others.

"Craftsmen have tried grinding wheat with stone mills. There is some loss when wheat is ground into flour, so it's not as good as eating wheat porridge directly," Meng Yi answered after Qin Shi Huang inquired. "For the common people, filling their stomachs is more important, so stone mills were not promoted. However, this official's proposal could be implemented in Xianyang."

Officials had stone mills, but the common people did not. However, those in Xianyang who were not wealthy but had enough food might need stone mills.

"Not an urgent matter," Qin Shi Huang ignored Liu Bang's final proposal, only acknowledging Liu Bang's idea of saving labor with the rice huller. "The rice huller can be rewarded."

Meng Yi, seeing the emperor was in a good mood, smiled and replied, "Yes."

If Liu Bang made no mistakes this year and ranked first in the evaluation, he would be transferred to Xianyang.

Xiao He was also a capable official and should be transferred to Xianyang. As for supporting their parents, he would buy houses in Xianyang for Xiao He and Liu Bang, allowing them to bring their parents to Xianyang, thus fulfilling both loyalty and filial piety.

Such a small matter was easy for him.

Liu Bang's ability might not match that of the senior officials in Xianyang, but every time he and his son appeared before the emperor, the emperor's mood improved, which was enough for Meng Yi to treat them with respect.

Qin Shi Huang still did not think much of it, only slightly interested in a person, then forgetting after a nap.

He had too many worries every day.

Meng Yi again remembered Liu Bang for Qin Shi Huang, looking forward to the emperor's smile the next time he heard news of Liu Bang.

When the document reached Qin Shi Huang's desk, Liu Bang was already promoting stone mills in his hometown of Feng City.

Not only Wang Ling, but even Yong Chi, who usually did not get along with Liu Bang, stood by Liu Bang's side, voluntarily funding the installation of stone mills in villages.

Liu Ying also proposed the idea of windmills and waterwheels, and Wang Ling and Yong Chi sent their craftsmen to work on them.

Pei County did not have much wind, but there were several rivers, making the waterwheel idea feasible.

Liu Bang said that once the waterwheel was developed, the credit would go to Wang Ling and Yong Chi, allowing his brothers to rise in rank.

Wang Ling and Yong Chi were in complete agreement this time.

They hoped Liu Bang would continue to rise, to the position of County Magistrate, or even higher, so he could pull them up with him.

After stone mills were promoted in Feng Yi village, Liu Ying took his brothers to the countryside to deliver recipes, teaching them how to use flour.

There were already dishes made with millet flour, and Liu Ying simply replaced millet flour with wheat flour.

Wang Ling and Yong Chi funded the purchase of wheat grains to be ground into flour, helping Liu Ying make flatbreads. After distributing the flatbreads, the villagers accepted the new way of eating wheat.

Some farmers with limited land quickly switched half of their bean fields to wheat.

"Wheat yields more, but wheat porridge is really hard to swallow," a farmer said, stuffing freshly laid eggs from his hen into Liu Ying's small basket.

Liu Ying gave them flatbreads, and these farmers, as long as they had something, would give it to Liu Ying, saying it was "payment."

Even the poorest families, with a good harvest this year, had some wild vegetables from their yards.

Usually, farmers were not so honest; they would take advantage of any opportunity without hesitation.

But Liu Bang and his brothers had spread Liu Ying's fame in Pei County, saying the rice huller and stone mills were Liu Ying's ideas—which was true. Liu Ying also went door to door teaching them how to eat flour.

Farmers could be cunning, but they were also sincere in their gratitude.

Liu Ying had brought them benefits, and they would not begrudge a word of thanks or a handful of grain, a few eggs.

When the additional rewards Meng Yi had specially arranged for Liu Bang arrived, the county official also reported the name of "child prodigy Liu Ying'.

Qin Shi Huang liked auspicious signs, and child prodigies were part of that.

The great emperor had once appointed the twelve-year-old Gan Luo as a minister, so now the eight-year-old Liu Ying could naturally be the child prodigy who thought of the rice huller and wanted to promote stone mills.

Meng Yi had instructed his subordinates to prioritize any documents from Pei County to him.

When he saw that Liu Bang's achievements were also related to Liu Ying, Meng Yi felt "not at all surprised."

Li Si was discussing matters with Meng Yi and was accustomed to local officials creating child prodigies, scoffing at it.

Meng Yi shook his head: "Other child prodigies might be fake, but this one is real. I've seen him."

Li Si eagerly asked for details.

Regarding the emperor's whereabouts, Meng Yi only smiled mysteriously and did not elaborate.

Seeing Meng Yi's expression, Li Si knew the emperor had probably gone on another private tour with Meng Yi, and he couldn't help but feel jealous.

Although he was the Prime Minister and the emperor valued him in major matters, in terms of favor, he was far behind Meng Yi and Meng Tian.

Meng Yi did not notice Li Si's jealousy.

In his view, he and Meng Tian were third-generation Qin people, with three generations of their family having made great contributions to Great Qin, but their positions in the court were still below that of Li Si, who came from a guest minister background. It should be him and Meng Tian who were jealous of Li Si, how could Li Si be jealous of them?

But Meng Yi was not jealous of Li Si at all, only admiring him.

He and Meng Tian not only had excellent backgrounds but had also been the First Emperor's attendants in their youth, the emperor's closest ministers. As long as they had ability, the First Emperor would not be stingy with rewards.

Their starting point was much higher than Li Si's, yet now Li Si stood higher than them, which was due to Li Si's own great ability. He and Meng Tian were not jealous of Li Si but were very willing to befriend him.

Meng Yi truly believed that he and Li Si were friends, which was why he privately revealed to Li Si that the emperor had taken notice of Liu Bang and his son.

Li Si completely missed Meng Yi's implication and did not pay attention to the small child prodigy from Pei County.

He was just once again consumed by jealousy, lamenting that the emperor went on private tours without him.

Hmph, Meng Yi was showing off again!

Meng Yi took the County Magistrate's report on the child prodigy Liu Ying to see Qin Shi Huang, and as expected, Qin Shi Huang's furrowed brow relaxed again.

"If this person does not die young, he can be given to the second generation."

Qin Shi Huang, who was very taboo about death and the matter of succession, mentioned "the Second Emperor of Qin' for the first time in front of Meng Yi.

Although Qin Shi Huang still did not say who he had in mind as the Second Emperor of Qin, Meng Yi was happy enough.

As long as the emperor was thinking about it, the future of Great Qin was secure. The emperor's judgment was absolutely correct.

"The child's nature is not yet settled, easily becoming frivolous, so there is no need to pay attention for now," Qin Shi Huang gave his first active instruction regarding the father and son from Pei County. "Promote his father, but wait until next year's official evaluation to decide."

Meng Yi kowtowed: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Qin Shi Huang thought for a moment, then added, "You go to Pei County."

Qin Shi Huang did not say why, but Meng Yi understood his emperor's meaning.

The emperor wanted him to personally go to Pei County to verify the truth of the child prodigy.

Qin Shi Huang placed great importance on supernatural matters.

Last year, Great Qin experienced two prophetic events: a meteorite and a jade disk, both predicting "the death of the ancestral dragon and the division of the land." Qin Shi Huang was deeply troubled by this.

Also last year, Qin Shi Huang, troubled by the prophecies, went on a private tour to a tavern and happened to meet a child prodigy, who, along with his father, was very active in serving Great Qin, showing great loyalty.

In Qin Shi Huang's view, this might be a solution to the prophecy, a sign from heaven.

Meng Yi sensed the emperor's thoughts, his expression serious, and replied again, "Yes."

Next year, Liu Bang would probably rise rapidly.

Qin Shi Huang stroked his beard, even if he had not recalled it before, his memory was excellent, and he remembered the cute face of the filial child.

He also thought of Fusu.

He wondered if Fusu had reflected and grown on the northern frontier.

The old scholars of the Six States could not be appeased with kindness. Had he not shown enough kindness to the old scholars of the Six States?

After the tour, he would call Fusu back to Xianyang and scold him thoroughly.

...

The rewards arrived again.

Liu Ying saw paper from this era for the first time.

In a moment of inattention from Liu Bang, Liu Ying folded the paper into a paper airplane.

"Whoosh... fly... huh?" Liu Ying was picked up by Liu Bang, placed on his knee, and spanked.

Liu Ying, after being spanked, did not cry but shouted for someone to judge the matter.

"This is the paper the emperor rewarded me! I can do whatever I want with it! Even if I use it to wipe my face or hands, so what! Father, why are you hitting me!"

Liu Ying was relentless, saying he would go to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor.

Liu Bang was frightened by Liu Ying, and since spanking did not work, he had to use his heroic flexibility to apologize to Liu Ying.

The family drama made Han Xin sigh repeatedly.

He had been at home for almost a year. During this time, he found that his adoptive father was too indulgent with Yinger.

What do you mean spanking doesn't work? Isn't it because you, adoptive father, can't bear to hit hard? He had never seen a father argue with a young child about what was right or wrong. Shouldn't the father always be right, and even if he was wrong, as a son, you couldn't say he was wrong?

Han Xin said to Liu Fei, "Adoptive father is like this, Yinger will be even harder to manage?"

Liu Fei was puzzled: "Yinger is right, why manage Yinger?"

Han Xin then went to subtly persuade his adoptive mother, hoping she would subtly persuade his adoptive father.

Lu E'xu, before Han Xin could speak, pulled him aside to complain: "Your adoptive father is really wrong, why is he so excited about the paper the emperor rewarded Yinger?"

Han Xin: "..."

Alright, he understood that no one in this family would discipline Liu Ying.

In the end, it was Han Xin who patiently persuaded Liu Ying: "Paper is very precious, even if it was rewarded to you by the emperor, you shouldn't waste it."

Liu Ying unfolded the paper airplane: "Isn't this still usable? I didn't waste it. Sigh, this paper is too soft, the paper airplane can't fly at all, it's useless."

What is a "flying chicken'? A wild chicken that can fly in the mountains?

Han Xin thought Liu Ying just wanted to eat chicken, so he and Liu Fei went to the mountains to hunt wild chickens for Liu Ying to barbecue.

Liu Ying didn't know why his brother and Liu Fei were catching chickens for him, but whatever, eat!

The ink, brush, paper, and inkstone sent from Xianyang were too valuable. Although Liu Ying shouted "it was rewarded to me, I can use it however I want," he eventually let Liu Bang and Lu E'xu lock them away.

Liu Ying muttered, what's the use of sending these things that can't be converted into cash? Why not send him a thousand gold, so when the Second Emperor of Qin ascends the throne, he can raise an army to overthrow the tyrannical Qin.

But for others in Pei County, sending ink, brush, paper, and inkstone was much more meaningful than sending a thousand gold.

Such a reward from above meant they believed Liu Ying was indeed a child prodigy, encouraging him to study hard and continue to grow.

Liu Ying's future was now on the record, and Liu Bang's name was surely on the benefactor's desk. This family was about to rise rapidly.

The County Magistrate stroked his beard with satisfaction.

He had always said Liu Bang had connections above. If he didn't, how could the rewards come so quickly? How could they immediately believe Liu Ying was a real child prodigy?

The clan had previously refused to send a daughter to marry Liu Ying, now they knew they were wrong, right?

Fortunately, Liu Ying was still young, and it was not too late.

The County Magistrate had decided that once the clan selected a suitable girl, he would have his son adopt her as a goddaughter. Then his son's career would also be secure.

Not just the County Magistrate, but all the gentry in Pei County were paying attention to Liu Ying's marriage prospects.

Liu Ying was taller than the average child and would surely reach marriageable height in a couple of years. While Liu Bang was still just an ordinary Granary Official, they had a chance to marry their daughters to Liu Ying.

Even if Liu Bang had high standards, sending some clan girls to be Liu Ying's maids would not be bad.

Upon hearing this, Liu Ying cursed, "Crazy, my Liu family doesn't keep idle people."

Liu Bang and Lu E'xu were even more displeased.

"Yinger is still so young! What are they thinking!" Lu E'xu was furious.

Liu Bang was also unhappy: "Yinger hasn't established himself yet, what's the rush to marry? Ridiculous."

Liu Bang went door to door to the familiar gentry, telling them not to corrupt his child, which finally quieted them down.

They completely gave up on sending little maids to Liu Ying, thanks to Liu Ying's own efforts.

Some unscrupulous people had their clan girls dress up beautifully to "accidentally' meet Liu Ying, but Liu Ying mistook it for someone trying to take over their territory.

The delicate little girl looked down on Liu Ying and his friends playing in the mud, sneering a few words. The arrogant young man beside her also spoke rudely.

After all, their clan members only told them to play with Liu Ying, not revealing too much about the utilitarian motives. Children couldn't hide their thoughts, and their disdain showed on their faces.

Liu Ying and his little brothers, at their age, didn't realize any gender differences and just rushed in to fight, even pulling the little girl's hair bow askew.

The local gentry gave up.

Liu Ying was just a naive child, what did he know about beauty? It would be better to wait a few more years.

Liu Ying was completely unaware of the implications of these chance encounters.

He thought that he stood out like a tree in a forest, and that some ill winds were coming to challenge him.

Xiao Zhuang Zhuang stood behind Liu Ying with her arms crossed, her head held high. To her left was the left protector Fan Kang, and to her right was the right protector Xiahou Zao.

Whoever dares to challenge the boss will have their nose smashed!

Liu Ying's little group once again made a name for themselves, and their reputation spread to other towns in Pei County.

Because Liu Ying and his little brothers were exceptionally skilled, the challengers fled in disarray and disappeared.

Liu Ying ended the "wartime alert state' and continued to take his friends to promote flour.

When Liu Ying received his reward, the response to Liu Bang's report also arrived.

The rice huller was to be promoted, but the stone mill was not necessary.

Liu Ying was very puzzled.

Although the current wheat yield was much lower than in later generations, and even after ripening, the grains would fall off, making it exhausting to collect them, it still yielded more than millet and soybeans.

If wheat was planted in well-irrigated fields, one field of wheat could equal two or three fields of millet and soybeans.

With Qin Shi Huang's vision, he would surely see the benefits.

Liu Bang had long known that the higher-ups would not agree, but because Liu Ying insisted, he added this section at the end.

As Liu Bang had expected, he sighed, finally having the opportunity to teach his son.

He patted Liu Ying's head: "Can you think of why the emperor doesn't approve of expending manpower and resources to promote the stone mill?"

Liu Ying said: "Father, what nonsense are you talking? If I could guess, would I have asked you to report it to Xianyang?"

Liu Bang: "..." Don't get angry, he's my own flesh and blood.

Liu Bang said: "Because the First Emperor has no officials around him who consider themselves common people."

He sighed, took out a leaf-wrapped package from his pocket, and handed a small piece of wheat flour cake to Liu Ying.

"Grinding wheat into flour consumes resources. Since wheat porridge is edible and yields more than flour, in the eyes of the Benefactor, common people who struggle to even have enough to eat would surely prefer wheat porridge."

"But we common people, when we have millet, don't want to eat beans; when we have beans, don't want to eat wheat porridge; when we have wheat porridge, don't want to eat wild vegetables; and when we have wild vegetables, don't want to eat tree bark and roots."

"Wheat porridge can fill the stomach, but it's really hard to eat, so hard that even when the stomach is empty, it's difficult to swallow."

"After grinding wheat into flour, it's not only easier to eat but also yields more than millet and soybeans. This is what would make common people choose to plant wheat."

Liu Bang shook his head: "The First Emperor is also human, not born with knowledge. If no one ever told him these things, how would he know?"

Liu Ying extrapolated: "One piece of fine linen can be exchanged for two or three pieces of coarse linen, but common people prefer to cover themselves with leaves and rags on ordinary days and exchange for a piece of fine linen clothing to wear during festivals; a piece of meat can be exchanged for several pounds of grain, but common people prefer to go hungry for a few days and exchange for a piece of meat during festivals, so the whole family can have a taste of meat."

Liu Bang smiled as usual: "Yes."

Han Xin and Liu Fei stood behind Liu Bang and Liu Ying, one deep in thought, the other looking proud.