Chapter 3: How to Cultivate a Ten-Thousand-Mile Empire for the Young Emperor Qin? Part 1

 

Chapter 3: Shepherd's Purse and Lean Pork Congee (1/2)

 

Archaeological findings reveal that during the Shang Dynasty, people took measures to make pork more delicious. They performed castration surgeries on both male and female pigs and even devoted time and effort to creating drawings with accompanying inscriptions specifically for this purpose.

 

However, there were a couple of reasons why this practice wasn't widespread. First, in ancient times, there were no antibiotics, so the wounds from castration were prone to infections, causing suffering for the pigs. Second, people faced a scarcity of meat, and the more pigs they could breed, the better. Just having meat to eat was a luxury, and people didn't have the luxury of being selective about the taste of the meat. Only the nobility and aristocrats, such as lords and officials, would consider castrating pigs.

 

Additionally, during this time, people often couldn't even get enough food to eat. Pigsties were often located near toilets, leading pigs to grow by consuming human waste. As a result, pork was plagued by both parasites and a foul odor, making it a less desirable food option. Even with castration techniques, the wealthy households didn't have a strong inclination to consume pork.

 

Over time, in the folk tradition, pork came to be regarded as "inferior meat."

 

However, Chinese people have always been practical; as long as it's delicious, they don't discriminate between food based on its status.

 

Zhu Xiang, leaning on the support of the Lin family and being a household of only two, could be considered half a wealthy family. They managed to raise a few pigs using a modern approach to satisfy their culinary desires.

 

After Lin Zhi tried the pork at Zhu Xiang's home, he specifically sent someone to learn pig farming under Zhu Xiang's guidance.

 

What did it matter if it cost a bit of grain? As long as the meat tasted good. Although Lin Xiangru didn't receive any noble titles due to his humble origins, the position of an upper official allowed the Lin family to afford food for themselves and feed castrated pigs with grains and pig fodder.

 

Therefore, Zhu Xiang didn't mind having this meat and lard to enjoy.

 

Watching the young Emperor eat steamed eggs with a flushed face, Zhu Xiang couldn't help but smile with contentment.

 

Thinking about their own humble food, Zhu Xiang couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

 

In his previous life, he loved reading novels related to farming and gourmet cuisine, primarily due to his profession. But as a professor of agriculture, he knew that reading those novels was just for entertainment. If he really crossed over into this world, he wouldn't get rich by using culinary skills. He needed to be realistic.

 

When you boiled it down, "delicious" meant having the best ingredients, along with oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and spices. But where would ordinary households get the best ingredients? For food to be delicious, oil and seasonings were indispensable.

 

Rare and precious spices were something ordinary families could never obtain. Even for salt, without the conditions to purify it using modern industrial methods until it had no bitterness, who knew how many times they would have to repeat the brining process? Such expenses would be unsustainable even for an average scholar's family.

 

As for oil, if one could afford to use animal fat to fry food, then their family would undoubtedly have meat every day. As for vegetable oil... not to mention the current variety of vegetable oils, even during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, families who could cultivate cash crops were either wealthy merchants or the tenant farmers of wealthy merchants. If their family was already poor, how could they afford to get vegetable oil every day?

 

In ancient times, it wasn't that great food couldn't be made; it was just that ordinary households couldn't create exquisite dishes. Those restaurants and eateries that could serve delicious food were never backed by ordinary families. Otherwise, even if they could obtain ingredients, they wouldn't be able to gather the necessary oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and spices.

 

Zhu Xiang didn't experience the taste of anything close to gourmet until he became Lin Xiangru's retainer, gaining control over all of the Lin family's fields and estates. Now, after years of effort, seeing the young Emperor, who used to cry, smile and momentarily forget the pain of being abandoned by his biological mother, Zhu Xiang felt a profound sense of satisfaction, as if all his hard work had been worth it.

 

‘My young Emperor is truly adorable.’

 

"Let's fill our stomachs first; there will be more delicious food tonight." Zhu Xiang handed his empty bowl to the old servant and said to Ying Zheng, who was carefully licking his lips, "Let's take a bath first, and I'll shave your head. Your hair has a lot of fleas."

 

Ying Zheng hesitated for a moment and asked, "If I don't call you father, will you still take care of me?"

 

Zhu Xiang nodded and replied, "Of course."

 

"??"

 

Xue, who was watching from the side, showed a surprised expression.

 

Zhu Xiang chuckled again, saying, "I'll call you Zheng'er, alright?"

 

Ying Zheng nodded gently.

 

Zhu Xiang continued, "Zheng'er, you're very smart. Let me test you. Why did Lü Buwei need to convince your father by saying 'an opportunity too good to miss' (opportunities are rare) when offering financial support to your father?"

 

Ying Xiaozheng's little mouth slightly opened, "Huh?"

 

Zhu Xiang smiled and explained, "Think about it. If we replace Lü Buwei with your father's uncle, in other words, your uncle. Your uncle finds your father and wants to provide financial help for your father's return to the state of Qin. Does your uncle need to use the phrase ‘an opportunity too good to miss’ to gain your father's trust?"

 

Ying Xiaozheng furrowed his small brow and said, "No, he doesn't."

 

Zhu Xiang explained, "To Lü Buwei, your father was an 'opportunity' because they were originally strangers. If they were to cooperate, their interests needed to connect them. I'm your uncle, your biological mother's only full brother. Even if I found you after you became the King of Qin, you would grant me a position. And, to make up for Qin's Empress Dowager abandoning her own brother, you would treat me very well."

 

Zhu Xiang sighed and mocked, "As for Chunhua, she has never felt guilty for her wrongdoings, so she wouldn't have you kill me to cover up her past misdeeds. She would only condescendingly give me things and expect me to be grateful. Just like the letter she wrote, handing you, Zheng'er, over to us for care and expecting us to thank her."

 

"So, Zheng'er, even if you don't call me 'father,' I'm still your uncle, your family. But now that you have the status of a member of the Qin royal family, I wouldn't dare to let anyone else raise you, in case you grow up and seek revenge on us."

 

With that, Zhu Xiang playfully flicked Ying Zheng's nose.

 

While Emperor Zheng was still just a young emperor, why not have some fun!

 

Ying Zheng covered his nose and defended himself, "I won't."

 

"Good, Zheng'er won't. Let's go take a bath now. Seeing all those fleas on your head makes me itch all over." Zhu Xiang picked up Ying Zheng and walked away, saying to Xue, "Don't forget to spray insect repellent in the places where Zheng'er has been. Don't let those fleas survive!"

 

 

Xue replied, "Understood."

 

Ying Zheng shrunk his neck, sensing his uncle and aunt's aversion towards him.

 

In the bathroom, Zhu Xiang first gave Ying Zheng a short haircut, leaving only a small tuft of hair on the temples, and then he set all the hair on fire.

 

Die, fleas!

 

Next, he used two buckets of water to vigorously scrub Ying Zheng’s body, turning him from a dirty yellow to a rosy pink.

 

Ying Zheng looked at the cloth bag that produced bubbles in surprise and asked, "What is this? Soapberries?"

 

Zhu Xiang replied, "It's a soap pouch, and it contains saponified fats. If you're curious, I can teach you how to make it."

 

Zhu Xiang had once tried making soap but couldn't find strong enough alkali. He had burned limestone to make quicklime, and the alkali solution he obtained by filtering lime and wood ash could only turn animal fats into a semi-solid state.

 

Zhu Xiang fashioned a net from cloth strips to hold the semi-solid soap, essentially making a soap pouch for bathing.

 

He had once considered selling soap pouches to make some money but realized that without sufficient protection, dealing in such novel goods would only bring trouble. For now, he was living a relatively peaceful life, so he only used them personally or gave them as gifts to the Lin family and friends.

 

Ying Zheng poked one of the bubbles, and it popped.

 

He poked another one, but this time it stuck to his fingertip.

 

Surprised, he widened his eyes and poked the bubble again. Some bubbles popped, while others clung to his hand.

 

He blew on his hand, and the bubbles floated into the air.

 

Then, puffing out his cheeks, he blew hard, and a bubble landed right on Zhu Xiang's face.

 

Zhu Xiang: "..."

 

Ying Zheng, who had suddenly acted impulsively, muttered, "..."

 

Zhu Xiang chuckled and said, "Haha, do you find bubbles fun?"

 

Ying Zheng's face turned bright red, and he stuttered for a while before covering his face with both hands.

 

How embarrassing!

 

Just a moment ago, he was questioning his uncle if he was raising him because of "'an opportunity too good to miss’, and now he was playing with bubbles. Where was his mind?!

 

"Alright, don't cover your face; we haven't finished washing yet." Zhu Xiang poured hot water into the narrow bathing tub, which was roughly the size of a modern-day bathtub. He took off his clothes, picked up Ying Zheng, and both of them got into the tub together to continue the bath. Zhu Xiang continued to scrub Ying Zheng. "Zheng'er, you're really dirty."

 

Ying Xiaozheng: "..."

 

He curled up his little toes.

 

Zhu Xiang gently touched Ying Zheng's bony back. "You're quite skinny too."

 

Ying Xiaozheng: "..."

 

He curled up his little hands.

 

Zhu Xiang lifted Ying Zheng's little hand and remarked, "Your fingernails look like they've been chewed on by a dog. Have you never trimmed them before?"

 

Ying Zheng bit his lip, puffing out his cheeks.

 

"Trim your fingernails and toenails, change into clean clothes, and put on a little weight; then you'll look like my child." Zhu Xiang pinched Ying Zheng's all-skin cheek. "You  cannot tell people about your identity, you should just say you're my nephew? Remember that, okay?"

 

Ying Zheng nodded, saying, "Yes... I understand."

 

He bit his lip again and added with a downcast tone, "I can't go back to the state of Qin, can I?"

 

Finally, he remembered what he had been crying about in his dream.

 

"You'll definitely be able to go back," Zhu Xiang reassured him. "Your father left Zhao secretly, and I'm sure the King of Zhao used you as a hostage in place of your father and kept tabs on your whereabouts. Once your father is declared the Crown Prince, Zhao will certainly send you back to Qin."

 

While the "Records of the Grand Historian"  recorded that Queen Zhao Ji hid Emperor Qin Shi Huang's son to save him from being killed, it was evident that, after the death of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, Queen Zhao Ji and Young Emperor Qin Shi Huang (Ying Zheng) were eventually returned to Qin. This indicated that Zhao had been monitoring their whereabouts all along.

 

Finally, Zhu Xiang had cleaned up the dirty Ying Zheng and sighed while holding the clean and rosy Young Emperor Qin Shi Huang in the bath.

 

"Marriage alliances between vassal states, though they often involve conflicts, are generally closer than non-allied states. Since the reign of Queen Dowager Xuan, the high-ranking positions in the Qin harem have been mainly filled by people from Chu, allowing Chu to gain many benefits in Qin. The nobility of Zhao isn't foolish. Originally, Qin and Zhao were frequently at war and had no chance for marriage alliances. If there was an opportunity for a Zhao woman to become the Queen Dowager of Qin, they would definitely seize it."

 

"The Queen Dowager has the power to participate in politics. If Chunhua wants to make a difference in the court, she must seek the help of Zhao. At that time, Zhao might be able to interfere in Qin's former court, similar to how Chu did through the harem."

Ying Zheng quietly turned his head, surprised at how astonishing his uncle's words were, and yet he hadn't noticed.

 

Zhu Xiang, lost in thought, was unaware of Ying Xiaozheng's surprise and continued, "During the reign of King Wu of Zhao, when King Wu of Qin suddenly passed away, Qin fell into chaos, and Zhao grew powerful. King Wu of Zhao once forcefully intervened in the succession of the Qin throne and sent an army to escort the present King of Qin, who was then a hostage in Yan, back to Qin, attempting to disrupt Qin's stability."

 

"Unfortunately, he didn't anticipate that the hostage, who had never received education on how to be an heir, would turn out to be a wise and strong ruler. His plan failed."

 

"Now, although the current King of Zhao is inexperienced in statecraft, his ministers are wise, and they will likely use King Wu of Zhao's scheme again to interfere and disrupt the succession of the Qin throne. Lü Buwei, in his pursuit of more power, will also work hard to facilitate this."

 

 

The water had cooled down a bit, so Zhu Xiang stood up in the bath and wrapped a dry cloth around Ying Zheng to dry him off.

 

"You don't have to worry about not seeing your mother in the future. When your father becomes the Crown Prince, she will definitely return to Qin with you and become your loving mother again."

 

Zhu Xiang thought to himself, it's all so strange.

 

When Sima Qian wrote the "Records of the Grand Historian", it was already quite distant from the pre-Qin period. Many historical records were collected from the common people, so he included many contradictory folk legends in the "Records of the Grand Historian" for future generations to ponder.

 

For example, the story of Qin Shi Huang's mother, Lady Zhao, is full of contradictions. Some say she abandoned her son, while others claim she tried to save him. Sima Qian left these discrepancies for later generations to interpret.

 

For instance, the identity of Qin Shi Huang's birth mother, "Lady Zhao," has two conflicting theories—one suggesting she was a court entertainer and the other suggesting she was the daughter of a wealthy merchant.

 

Obtaining research funding for academic work at the school was challenging, and most professors who conducted fieldwork often traveled in groups to save on expenses. Zhu Xiang frequently went on trips with colleagues from archaeology, as well as those studying flora and fauna. These fields often had areas of mutual assistance.

 

After experiencing dizziness once, Zhu Xiang recalled something a professor of archaeology had mentioned.

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