Huang Xie and others stopped five miles away from Guancheng and sent two people holding festival talismans to negotiate. After a long time, Wu Guanwei led the two people out of the city and saluted everyone: "Who is Mr. Chu resting with?"
Huang Xie came out to meet Guan Wei. Guan Weidao said: "Shang Wei invites the young master to come to the pass for a brief explanation."
Huang Xie asked: "Why is Shang Wei here?"
Guan Weidao said: "Wuguan is located in the place where merchants are located. The merchants' orders are stationed in Shang County, and the merchants' lieutenants are stationed in Wuguan."
Huang Xie saluted and said: "Here you go!" He greeted the ten retainers around him, and took Mang Shen and three others with him to follow the Guan guards into Wuguan. Not long after the group entered Wuguan, a group of Qin soldiers came out and said to everyone: "Sir, enter the pass."
A businessman asked: "Where is the young master?"
The soldier said: "I'm just sitting behind the closed door."
Under the guidance of the soldiers, everyone slowly came towards Guancheng.
Huang Xie was led to a military camp, and the guards reported: "Young Master Xie has arrived!"
A voice came from inside: "Please!"
Then, people in the military camp shouted loudly: "Please!" "Please!" "Please!"...
The guards led Huang Xie into the military camp and headed towards a barracks in the middle. The guard in front of the barracks stopped the entourage behind Huang Xie and said, "But I'll leave you alone, sir!"
Huang Xie had no choice but to let everyone stay outside the door, and he followed the guard inside. After passing through a small courtyard, Huang Xie stopped at the foot of the steps, raised his hand and reported: "Master Xie of Chu would like to see Shang Wei!" There was no movement in the hall. The guard went up the steps, came out when he was young, bowed to Huang Xie, and then led Huang Xie into the hall.
Although the sun was shining brightly outside, the hall was still dark, but as my eyes adapted, I could still distinguish people's faces. The man in the hall was sitting behind the case, with swords and halberds standing in front of the screen behind him. As soon as Guan Wei faced him, he saluted and said, "This is Lord Chu Xie." He saluted Huang Xie again and said, "This is Qin Shang Wei Mo."
Shang Wei pointed to a seat next to him and said, "Master, please take a seat!"
Huang Xie was not used to this kind of etiquette, but he could only do as the Romans did, thanked him, and sat down at the table. The guard retreated outside the door.
Shang Wei did not need Huang Xie to report his family status and asked: "Why did the young master come to Qin?"
Huang Xie said: "Qin and Chu had a common marriage, and now Xie is sent to Qin by the king's order, hoping to regain the good relationship between Qin and Chu."
Shang Wei said: "Dare you follow Princess Chu into Qin?"
Huang Xie said: "This is what I wish for. I haven't received the king's order, so I don't dare to offer it to the Jin Dynasty."
Shang Wei said: "In this case, I must come to propose marriage."
Huang Xie said: "The Queen Mother of Qin is also the daughter of Chu; I, the Queen Mother, am also the daughter of Qin. The marriages of all the generations are not only today!"
Wei Shang scratched his head and said: "This is a sincere World Friend. What is the purpose of entering the country now?"
Huang Xie said: "The relatives of Chu and Qin have specially prepared fifty times as gifts to invite each other and ask each other to solidify their affection."
Shang Wei said: "Why are there so many followers?"
Huang Xie said: "From Chu to Qin, the mountains are high and the rivers are long, lingering for thousands of miles. There are poisonous insects, wild beasts, bandits and thieves, not just one. It is common to have fifty chariots and ten people."
Shang Wei said: "There are fifty cars, what is they carrying?"
Huang Xie said: "Ten leather chariots are used for transportation. Thirty baggage chariots are used to carry the king's contributions. Ten auxiliary chariots are used to carry the needs of ministers and others."
Shang Wei said: "After leaving Wuguan, where did you pass?"
Huang Xie said: "If you take the great road all the way to Xianyang, how can you find him?"
Shang Wei said: "Please let me stay in the residence for a while, and I will report to the Prime Minister for any advance or retreat."
Huang Xie said: "That's not wrong!"
Shang Wei said: "If you don't dare to make a mistake, there will be a reply in three to five days."
Guan Wei came in and bowed to Huang Xie. Huang Xie was really helpless and couldn't get angry, so he had to bow and say goodbye.
As soon as Huang Xie left, a scribe came out from behind the screen, holding up a slip of paper and saying: "Here's what I said, I will verify it." Shang Wei waved his hand and asked him to go down. When I was young, I reported back: "The verification is correct, there are ten leather chariots, thirty baggage chariots, and ten auxiliary chariots. There are 512 people in total. Their utensils are all bamboo, wood, lacquer horns, leather pearls, shells, etc. The auxiliary chariots are It contains rice, millet, salt and fish."
Shang Wei said: "I will prepare the documents carefully and send the ministers to the state overnight."
The scribe immediately retreated behind the screen, quickly wrote a brief paragraph, and gave it to Shang Wei to read. Shang Wei took out a thin rope, tied it up, glued it with sealing mud, and stamped it with the official seal. The clerk took the fire, fixed it with clay, took it to the hall, and ordered it to be sent urgently. Not long after, the sound of horse hooves was heard, heading west.
From Wuguan to Xianyang, the mountain road is 800 miles. This is an important military pass, and there are fast lanes for all messages. Chu Gongzi led a large group of people to visit, which was considered important news by Shang Wei, so he sent it in an urgent manner: the postmen from Wuguan rode to the next station, and then changed people and horses before going to the next station. One day and one night, the news spread to Xianyang.
Early the next morning, the documents from the Prime Minister's Office were sent out, and they went in the opposite direction to reach Wuguan all day and night. The same customs guard came to invite Huang Xie and said, "The Prime Minister of the state has arrived, please come to the customs to receive his teachings."
Huang Xie felt very unhappy. This was not in line with the way of hospitality. But he couldn't lose his temper with this soldier, so he had to go with him.
After entering the military camp, Shang Wei raised the document on the case and handed it to Huang Xie personally, saying: "I got the report this morning, and here is the teaching of the Prime Minister. I hope the prince will check it and see that the seal is correct."
Huang Xie took the document doubtfully and looked at Shang Wei in confusion. The scribe on the side pointed out: "It is sealed with clay. There is a seal on it. Please check it. The seal has not fallen off."
Huang Xie took a closer look and understood. The document is tied with a thin rope, and there is a clay seal outside the seal, with a seal on it and the words "Xiangbang's Seal" written on it. The seal is complete, the writing is intact, and the seal is firm. He nodded and said, "It's been verified correct!"
Shang Wei took the document, took off the ink pad, untied the string, opened the two slips, and handed them to the scribe. The scribe recited: "Shang Wei reported that Chu Gongzi came to Qin for a break and married. Teaching: Xu Xie's chariot and two rides. The followers who are fifty will enter Qin, and the officials will give them food and grass. The rest will be sent back."
Huang Xie was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then realized it. He couldn't help feeling sad, but he couldn't show it on his face. He forced a smile and said, "The Prime Minister is very calculating."
Shang Wei took the slips from the scribe's hand and handed them to Huang Xie, saying: "The teachings are correct, I hope you will follow them!" Huang Xie took the slips and looked at them himself. Although the Qin book was different from the Chu book , but it is still not difficult to identify, it is exactly the same as what the scribe said. Huang Xie wanted to throw the slip in Shang Wei's face and leave with the caravan, but when he thought of King Chu's expectation that he would strive for ten years of development opportunities for Chu no matter what, he had to suppress his desire. Excited, he mobilized the last of his rationality and said, "Thank you Shangwei!" He bowed his hands and said goodbye.
Returning to the library, Huang Xie called several prominent figures to his room and gave them the slips to read. Then he asked: "Either you can enter Qin through it, or you can abandon it and destroy Qin. I hope you will fight for me!"
Faced with such a major event, the merchants did not dare to respond and stared at several retainers. A retainer said: "The people of Qin have insulted me so much. If there is no other reason, I would like to return."
One of the retainers said: "No way. I have ordered the king to make peace with Qin. Now Qin has not made peace and to cut it off is to cut off the king's order."
One of the retainers said: "I also think it is not possible. Although Qin has humiliated me, I will enter here just to show my sincerity to my relatives and not to do any harm."
One of the retainers said: "No, no! Qin has insulted me and yet it still advances. This will make it easy for me."
A retainer said: "If we defeat it, how can we advance again? We will have to fight Qin?"
The last sentence stopped everyone. If you turn around and leave now, the next step will be to prepare to fight Qin, and it will probably not be Qin alone, but a coalition of multiple countries!
Huang Xie looked towards Mang Shen again, and Mr. Cheyou said: "I think it is appropriate to advance. If we can lead Qin to the north, what a small insult is it!"
Huang Xie had no choice but to bow to all the merchants and said: "Mr. Cheng has traveled far across the mountains and rivers to follow you here. I am incompetent and cannot enter Xianyang with you. I would like to hear what Mr. Cheng wishes!"
A merchant said: "I am willing to go directly to Xianyang with my father. If I dare not tell him, I am willing to provide food and drink!"
A merchant said: "I've heard that from Danxi to the north, you can go to business, and across Yaoshan to the west, even to Lantian. There are many jade in Lantian, and I would like to visit it. I hope that I can get through the business festival of the young master."
Among the several big families present here, several people are willing to follow Huang Xie into Xianyang as followers; a few people ask Huang Xie to give them trade talismans, and they plan to enter Qinguan again through other ways; most of them think that it is useless to persist, and they are willing to Returned to Nanyang to make a farewell plan.
So everyone prepared a leather chariot for Huang Xie to ride in, a baggage chariot to bring the tribute, and the rest of the chariots returned to Nanyang. If anyone wanted to enter by a different route, Huang Xie picked up an ordinary Chu State Trade Festival Talisman, It is only said that these merchants were ordered by the King of Chu to trade with the world, but I don't know if it will work.
After discussion, fifty followers were selected, including three people from the Mang family and five merchants. The rest were retainers and soldiers of the Huang family, and then informed Shang Wei. Wei Shang didn't say much, and immediately sent ten Qin soldiers, led by the guard of the pass, to follow the guard into the pass.
After a lot of work, the people who left were the first to leave, and the cart rumbled up the winding mountain road again; the people who stayed behind arrived at the pass and waved goodbye.
That night, Guanyi prepared food for fifty people. Although it was not rich, it was not stingy. The guard came to tell him that because of the long journey, he would have dinner tomorrow and set off during lunch time. Huang Xie agreed one by one.
The next day, taking advantage of the cool weather, the car crew set off. A postman set off first and went to the front to take care of things. Guan Wei led the Qin soldiers, sandwiched Huang Xie and others, and moved forward. Huang Xie wanted to get close to Guan Wei and come up with some words, but Guan Wei either gave short answers or didn't know anything about the questions. Huang Xie was bored and had to give up.
Along the way, Huang Xie saw the strictness of the Qin system: one pavilion in ten miles and one post in thirty miles. This was only an approximate number in the Central Plains countries, and it was only roughly around the capital. In Qin, this was implemented almost mechanically. . Even if there are only a dozen or so households around, there should be a post and a pavilion. There is no ambiguity.
The guards led the people and rested for a moment when they saw the pavilion and half a hour when they saw the post. They could replenish water but had no food. From morning to night, spend the night at the second inn. Only then did Huang Xie realize that Xiangbang's teaching was the certificate for Guanyi to prepare food. The postman at the front station was very competent. When everyone entered the post, the house had been cleaned and the corresponding main and non-staple food were prepared.
After two more journeys the next day, we entered Shang County, with the majestic Mount Aoshan standing in front of us.
