My son, Fusu, please abdicate the first emperor!

Chapter 639 Small Harvest

When the autumn wind blows across the Central Plains, the fields on all sides are filled with scenes of harvest.

The branches are full of fruits, the bright persimmon trees are filled with birds, and the sweet pears are picked one by one and fall into the baskets.

The threshing ground was littered with harvested rice. The farmers, their skin tanned and shiny, pushed stone rollers to crush the rice, letting the grains fall down.

Chinese people have loved life and their pursuit of delicious food since ancient times. Although the process of making food is complicated, people still repeat these processes year after year without any effort.

On the other hand, the harvest from the countryside was also brought to the county town. The streets and alleys were full of people carrying bamboo baskets to sell fruits.

The empire was immersed in the scene of harvest.

Fusu was waiting for Ji Bu and Liu Ji in Xinzheng City. Looking at the bumper harvest in Xinzheng, Fusu felt rare relief.

This place is much better than the situation he had in Dongjun.

In fact, the administration in Fusu's fiefdom was much better than in other places. Not only that, the crime rate was also the lowest.

Fusu was here to welcome back his loyal ministers, who had been waiting for him. First, he wanted to hear how they were doing, and second, he wanted to see if they still remembered him, the prince who had led them for less than a year in total.
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A few days ago, Ji Bu was still directing the craftsmen in the mine.

The craftsmen under him only worked four hours a day.

Ji Bu firmly believed that being a man should be reasonable. Then being an official should be more reasonable!
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After Qin unified the world, in order to strengthen central power, Qin Shi Huang set up iron officials wherever mines were set up.

Ji Bu was an official in Yiyang, while Liu Ji was an official in Yangcheng.

These two people were Fusu's confidants. Being an iron official in these two places was not a very high position in Qin.

But after Fusu sent soldiers from the Chu Kingdom to the mines to dig, the situation changed immediately. The status and position of the iron officials in Yingchuan and Sanchuan counties immediately increased.

With at least 10,000 people under their command, these iron-clad officers immediately found the feeling of being generals on the battlefield.

However, among all living beings, humans have the greatest blessings.

People have long been able to easily satisfy their desires for food and drink, and then they began to differentiate. Some people pursue beauty, some pursue power, some pursue excitement, some pursue sex, and some pursue happiness.

In these messy pursuits, we must distinguish between impact and results. Then let's use China's goodness as a criterion! If there is no standard, what is the point of distinguishing and defining?

The original definition of goodness in China is rationality.

Good is reasonable.

Some pursuits are reasonable, while others are unreasonable.

In the Qin State where military meritocracy prevailed and the hierarchy of the Qin Empire was strictly defined, the iron officials were all influenced by the old Qin culture and system, which led to their vicious way of governance.

Almost every iron official is thinking about finding something from his job, such as the dignity of being an iron official, enjoying the convenience brought by power, and making personal gains for himself from his position.

Such things happened frequently. The only difference between the evil officials was whether they were exposed and punished by the supervisory officials at all levels set up by the Qin State.

There are few people like Ji Bu and Liu Ji.

Ji Bu firmly believed that being a man should be reasonable. Being an iron official should also be reasonable.

He did not withhold food and drink from the craftsmen, and gave them what they were told; he did not send craftsmen working under the government to do work for him personally; he did not deliberately be kind to those people just because they were kind to him, which would make the minor officials under him feel unfair.

Ji Bu thought that he was the iron official here, and these craftsmen were handed over to him, so he had to do two things well.

First, we must do our work well. Second, we must manage these Chu surrendered soldiers well.

So when Ji Bu first arrived at the mine, he did not put on airs and ask the minor officials under him to come one by one to flatter and praise him.

Ji Bu simply told his officials very clearly that he knew nothing about smelting iron or making weapons, and hoped that they could assist him with their professional knowledge and help him manage the mine together.

Ji Bu also said, "I hope you can focus on your job. I also hope you won't cheat me. I heard that the iron official is a lucrative job because sometimes you can mine gold, silver and copper, but the prince said that this ore mining is for the country and for the people."

"Since it is for the public, no one can take it privately!"

"I also heard that you, the mine leaders, all have unique skills. If you have any new discoveries or inventions, tell me directly. I will present your names to the current emperor."

Ji Bu said this to a group of officials at the Yiyang Mine. The officials were all afraid of this young iron official.

Because he is like the sun.

Ji Bu suddenly descended from the sky and landed on the evil source where the powerful and wealthy were fighting for interests. The light shining from his body was like lightning, as if it was going to split all the evil.

It is because of people like Ji Bu. In the three years since he took over the Yiyang Mine, the surrendered soldiers have been able to work from sunrise to sunset. Sufficient rest makes them feel their dignity as human beings, rather than slaves without dignity.

This also boosted their work efficiency for a time.

Therefore, over the past three years, not only has the quantity of iron ore production in Yi Yang increased, but the quality has also improved rapidly.

In this era of lack of tools and experience, no matter how much we improve the technology of ore mining and the technology of refining iron, copper and steel, in the end it will still fall into human hands.

But the surrendered soldiers of Yiyang Iron Mine were no different. They were already Qin's craftsmen. In their hands, the quality of the complicatedly matched steel and new iron was improved every time.

Because they felt that Ji Bu treated them fairly and they were not treated unfairly. Compared with the environment they knew, they knew that it was their luck to meet Ji Bu in this life.

So, these people did things with the mentality of gratitude and repaying Ji Bu.

Some people also think that this is what Ji Bu should do. Although they have no intention of repaying him, they cannot feel resentful when they are doing things. They just finish and do well what they should do every day.

As a result, Yiyang Iron Mine became the mining area with the best steel quality in Qin within just a few years.

This made Ji Bu's name very famous in Yingchuan County of the Qin Empire.

In this era, people like Ji Bu are a light in themselves. And it is natural and reasonable for people like him to choose to follow Fusu.

In addition to Ji Bu, don't forget that our Great Qin Empire has another strong man joining us.

As an important official in Yangcheng, Liu Ji did not follow rules and regulations in his work, but he was a person who was very sympathetic and sympathetic to those who suffered.

After he first arrived in Yangcheng, the officials under him tried to curry favor with him. Liu Ji did not feel disgusted and accepted all the gold and silver they offered him.

However, there was a leader who was often caught sneaking into the city to drink and skip work, but when he saw many poor people in the city, he would not hesitate to take out the money to help them.

Liu Ji did not blame these surrendered soldiers who were forced to work because of the defeat in the war.

Firstly, they are all Chu people, and secondly, Liu Ji has always treated his brothers very well.

He always firmly believed that he was their adoptive father and that he had the responsibility and obligation to take good care of them in this life.

So when the craftsmen in Yangcheng finished their assigned tasks for that month, Liu Ji gave them a holiday.

Liu Ji especially liked to go down into the mine to have a look. Every time the work was completed ahead of schedule, Liu Ji would immediately order them to come out and rest, and would not force them to stay.

Gradually, everyone was infected by Liu Ji's relaxed, natural, casual and optimistic spirit.

So when Liu Ji was sleeping soundly in the house, the craftsmen were working quickly, and when Liu Ji woke up, they could also rest.

In order to pursue a better life, humans often organize themselves in groups. Therefore, in the process of civilization evolution, the quality of leaders has a great impact!
Liu Ji's every move had a great impact on the soldiers around him, the miners' leaders, and the surrendered soldiers.

Apart from missing their families, their lives of doing a lot of work every day are actually more fulfilling than before.

After all, in life at the mine, the space for desire is compressed to the extreme, the heavy work tortures everyone's body, and their energy is lost in sweat. A clear brain after a sufficient sleep always helps them feel the excitement and pleasure when working as a group.

Humans are always conceptual animals. After they have satisfied their needs for food and drink, they are destined to pursue higher things. When they determined that Liu Ji's behavior towards them was worthy of praise and significantly different from the way the Chu nobles had enslaved them in the past, they naturally began to follow Liu Ji wholeheartedly.

After all, most people can feel satisfied after working hard and sweating at this reasonable work intensity.

Although there are a few ambitious people who are unwilling to give up, they firmly believe that they are here to make a name for themselves, not to be driven and enslaved here. Although they are unwilling, there is no room for them to do harm here, so their harm is equal to zero!
When Liu Ji was a pavilion chief, he liked to wear a hat made of bamboo skin. He asked the officer in charge of catching thieves to go to Xue to have it made. He often wore it, and even when he became prominent, he still often wore it.

In the past, when working in the Xianyang Palace, one had to wear the clothes issued and the prescribed hat. But Liu Ji, who lived in Xianyang City, would wear this crown as soon as he returned home.

Later, when he arrived in Yangcheng, no one was watching over him, so he wore this bamboo hat every day.

Good-looking - and environmentally friendly.

Because he was an extremely charismatic leader, slowly his actions began to be loved as much as his hats.

The workers gave Liu Ji's bamboo hat a nice name - "Liu's Crown".

When Liu Ji arrived in Xinzheng, the Liu crown had already become popular in Yangcheng!

And his craftsmen, after finishing their work early and taking a rest, also made such hats themselves.

In the Yangcheng Mine, almost everyone wears this "Liu's Crown".
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Compared with the heavy harvests of fruits and rice, the talents that Fusu recruited for the Qin Empire were also playing their practical role, constantly resolving the conflicts between the common people of the six countries and the Qin State and eliminating the grudges between the two sides.

This autumn was a small harvest for Fusu.

There is even greater wealth ahead waiting for him to uncover.

(End of this chapter)