In just one month, the road has been built to the foot of the mountain. Although it has not yet gone up the mountain, its strategic value has been clearly revealed. Bai Qi personally ran a car on the road, and immediately ordered Sima Jin to lead five thousand garrison soldiers, put down their weapons, pick up farm tools, and build the road! Duke Sima Jin could only lead a thousand men, but Bai Qi asked Sima Jin to serve as his assistant and lead an army of five thousand, which was equivalent to a public troop.
Although Sima Jin is young, he is very good at doing things. He first reported to Mi Rong, who told him that the person specifically responsible for this matter was Gong Cao Zhang Lu. Zhang Lu met Sima Jin for the first time. Seeing that he was young, he couldn't help thinking that he was a noble young master and it was difficult to get along with him. But after talking with each other, they suddenly became forgetful. Zhang Lu and the craftsmen of Zaozuo Mansion calculated the project budget based on 5,000 people. Sima Jin didn't understand it at all. He only understood what he needed to do, so he sealed it with his own seal and forwarded it to Bai Qi, who approved it directly. The King of Qin gave military talismans and allocated 5,000 men from the Wu'an camp to build roads. So under Sima Jin's personal coordination, five thousand people began to mobilize. Before this, one hundred engineers transferred from the engineering camp had followed Zhang Lu to the construction site.
After crossing the mountain pass of Jingshui River in Gukou County, you will reach the altar where Qin State used to worship heaven. Going up the mountain from here is Bin, the earliest residence of the Zhou Kingdom. It was from here that Gu Gongdanfu led the Zhou people down the mountain and entered Zhouyuan, establishing the 800-year rule of the Zhou Dynasty. Now the Qin army also went up the mountain from here, entered Bin, and reached Yiqu. The rammed earth road that Zhang Lu and others planned to build would also go up the mountain from here.
According to Zhang Lu's calculations, it would be difficult for five hundred people to deal with the high mountains and deep ravines. Building a road outside Xianyang City was equivalent to advertising. The first batch of 5,000 people is the first batch of venture capital received, which is the official launch of the project. Although this is a mountainous area, fortunately it is not steep, and there is Jingshui for transportation, so there will be no shortage of food, fodder, and tools.
Zhang Lu introduced the construction methods to the engineers in the engineering camp. These people all have experience in marching, building roads and bridges, but this time the project volume is larger, the construction period is longer, and the standards are higher. After understanding the situation of the project, the engineers drew up the project requirements. Unlike the prisoners in Yunyang who used coax, they directly applied for iron coax from the treasury. When Sima Jin brought 5,000 people to the foot of Longshan Mountain, 1,000 iron harpoons mobilized by Mi Rong also arrived by ship.
Unlike the 500 people in the plains who use vehicles to transport supplies, the 5000 people at the foot of the mountains mainly use boats and water to transport supplies. Sima Jin set up his camp by the Jingshui River and first mobilized a thousand of his most elite men to dig on the ridge. Because mountains are different from plains, the amount of work is larger. To clear a three-step road, more earthwork needs to be excavated. When making project estimates, Zhang Lu and others calculated the amount of work based on twenty steps per person per day. But they still underestimated the difficulty of mountain construction and the complexity of large-scale operations: among other things, each person excavates twenty steps, which means that from beginning to end, the excavation team will have to move 20,000 steps, and there is still more than sixty miles. , when the person at the starting point has finished work, the last worker may not have reached the end point yet.
Zhang Lu had to urgently adjust the construction plan. Thousands of people were divided into two camps. After each person dug out an area three steps wide and six steps long every day, the construction was completed. Then we pass the previous battalion and establish another camp; the previous camp is entered by the garrison responsible for sifting the soil; after the garrison sifting the soil completes the task and moves forward, each battalion of ramming the soil enters the camp in turn until the road construction is completed. Except for the first five days, it is still extending forward at a speed of ten miles per day.
The road-building army had just gone up the mountain, and when the project preparations were about to be completed, the second batch of rotating garrison soldiers entered the mountain; when the first group of garrison soldiers were welcomed back twenty days later. The road has gone over mountains and ridges, extending hundreds of miles away. When the third group of garrison soldiers entered, most of the roads had been repaired. At this time, people in Yiqu were panicked. It was rumored that once the road was opened, the Qin army would kill all the people in Yiqu and transport away all their property, including women and children. Prince Yiqu, Lord Jingyang, and Lord Gaoling tried their best to explain, but to no avail.
The third batch of garrison troops and roads entered Yiqu territory, but the expected disaster did not come.
The engineering team and the expired garrison left Yiqu on the newly repaired road.
Lord Wu'an led his 20-carriage entourage and drove quickly from Xianyang to Yiqu, bringing with him the King of Qin's decree: Yiqu County was established in Yiqu.
The engineering team of 5,500 people returned to Xianyang. The prisoners were all exempted for meritorious service, and the garrison soldiers were each given a knighthood. They also enjoy a privilege: on both sides of the roads they build, they can take their families, including parents, wives, children, and brothers, to first select places with rich land, live in them, settle down, and cultivate them, and they are exempted from paying taxes for three years.
For three or four months, Zhang Lu was in the wild, eating and living with the soldiers. When the garrison completed the day's construction, he, the Zaozuofu craftsmen and the engineers would pull out the flags of each group and insert them correctly at the next construction location to guide the garrison into the construction site. They have to supervise the quality of the project and rework any unqualified ones.
Sima Jin is a qualified chief of staff. He can always accurately guide the ministries to find suitable camps and deliver supplies to the camps in a timely manner. Only 5,000 people are retained on the construction site for construction, and the other 500 are responsible for logistics support. Damaged iron tools were promptly recovered and replaced; the recovered iron tools were sent back to the government, where Qin craftsmen refurbished them and remade them into new agricultural tools. After the project was completed, Sima Jin Gongcheng's title could no longer be lost.
From the start of construction in November to the end of spring in March, during the coldest season, the garrison soldiers overcame numerous difficulties and weathered wind, frost, rain and snow to complete the construction. More than a hundred people died of illness during the construction process, and dozens of people were executed for various mistakes, ranging from fights to substandard construction quality, usually by smashing their heads with large rocks or pushing them directly off cliffs.
The craftsmen of Zaozuofu proved to be very competent. They completed the measurement and design of the construction route using only their hands and eyes without any instruments. They are well protected on the construction site. After returning to Xianyang, they were praised for their merits, and it seemed that they would be promoted across levels.
The physical work in construction management is basically undertaken by engineers. In addition to the general promotion to the first level of title, Lord Wu An will also receive special rewards.
As a worker, Zhang Lu cannot escape any mental and physical load. During the four-month construction period, Zhang Lu was very excited. He ran forward and backward, jumped up and down, and appeared almost everywhere on the construction site. When the project was completed and they entered Yiqu, Zhang Lu fell to the ground and fainted.
He was left in Yiqu to recuperate and did not return to Xianyang with the team. Lord Wu An conveyed the edict of King Qin and stayed for three days before leaving. Sima Jin and Wu Anjun both introduced that Zhang Lu was Huayang Jun's engineer and the main person in charge of the entire construction. Lord Jingyang, Lord Gaoling, and Hu Yang had not seen Zhang Lu in person and were unaware of Zhang Lu's efforts; but for the sake of Lord Huayang, they agreed to provide treatment and recuperation for Zhang Lu. But the situation in Yiqu is still tense. Although the antagonism between Qin and Yiqu has not broken out, it has not been eliminated either. Their thoughts were completely focused on how to stabilize the situation in Yiqu and ensure that after Yiqu was established as a county again, there would be no rebellion like fifty years ago. This time, they were determined to completely implement Qin laws in Yiqu and transform the social structure of Yiqu according to the Qin system. This is very tiring!
However, due to the smooth roads, officials from all levels of Xianyang came one after another. Lord Jingyang and Lord Gaoling left soon after, leaving only Hu Yang, who not only commanded the garrison but was also responsible for civil affairs.
After strict household registration, there are about 40,000 households in Yiqu. According to the order of the King of Qin, all heads of households were given a rank of nobility and became public servants. The Qin people measured the land for them and allocated 150 acres to each person. He taught them step by step to turn over the soil and sow seeds according to strict procedures and standards: to plant hemp, use two and two-thirds of a bushel of seeds per acre; to plant millet or For wheat, one bushel of seeds per acre; for adzuki beans, two-thirds of a bushel per acre; for soybeans, half a bushel per acre.
In spring, it is not allowed to cut down forests, block waterways, burn grass as fertilizer, collect newly sprouted plants, capture young animals or bird eggs, and set traps and traps to capture birds and animals. The ban will be lifted by July. But if it is for making coffins, there is no seasonal restriction. During the hunting ban, if the common people's dogs enter the forbidden park but are not chasing wild animals, they are not allowed to be killed; if they are chasing wild animals, they must be beaten to death. If a dog is killed in a protected area, it must be turned over to the government; if a dog is killed in other areas, the dog meat can be eaten and only the dog skin must be turned over.
Each household paid a tax based on the land granted, regardless of whether it was cultivated or not. In addition to fifteen shi for grain, two shi for straw and three shi for fodder per 100 acres.
Yiqu selected people who were proficient in Qin language and went to Xianyang to study law. They were taken to Xianyang by bus from the King of Qin, where they studied for three months and copied a complete copy of the Qin Code. Then they returned to Yiqu and became legal commissioners of Yiqu County, that is, officials at all levels of "Lingcao" who were responsible for the law. Popularization and enforcement. In addition, Yiqu County also established a series of officials such as Licao, Hucao, Jinbucao, Sikongcao, and Cangcao, and established county-level administrative agencies according to the Qin system.
According to the Qin system, Yiqu County was divided into townships and pavilions in the countryside. Township officials and pavilion chiefs were appointed, and thatched pavilions and post offices were also built. Various systems have been initially established.
When the establishment of the institution was generally completed, it was time for King Yiqu to be buried. Lord Jingyang and Lord Gaoling, who had been away for two or three months, came back, and with them came Wei Ran, the Marquis of Rang. He had already completed the work of establishing Nanyang County and returned to Xianyang.
Under the organization of the chiefs of various townships and pavilions, the Yiqu people quickly gathered together and held a grand cremation ceremony according to the Yiqu ceremony with unprecedented momentum. All the required sacrifices were gathered from Xianyang. The only difference is that King Yiqu was cremated in the coffin instead of directly on the pile of firewood. ——No one thinks there is anything wrong with doing this!
We are currently in a lean period. Grain is sown, but harvest is still months away. Wei Ran reduced the number of garrison soldiers left behind to a thousand, and at the same time recruited as many officials and county soldiers as possible so that they could be given rations according to law. Others opened up channels for military service: as long as they were willing to send troops, the state would provide them with food.
