After three months of study, at the end of the autumn harvest, the five people finally passed the examination and were officially registered in the Qin register. This time it’s not just a name, height, appearance, but also a place of origin: farmers in Huaili, Haoqiu, one wife, two concubines, and two guests. Zheng Anping became a complete Qin citizen from then on. The family members remembered it in such detail, which meant that in one year, Zheng Anping not only had to pay rent for 300 acres of land, but also had to pay a head tax for six people. The land rent is okay. Wu Wang is a good farmer. With oxen and iron tools, he should be able to plant three hundred acres of land. The difficulty was the head tax, which had to be paid in cloth, and the slaves could not weave at all. However, the Qin laws did not stipulate the punishment for women who could not weave, and did not formulate detailed operating procedures for women to weave. . Interestingly, the Qin people made detailed regulations on the specifications of cloth: a piece of cloth is two feet five inches wide and eight feet long. Qin Law also stipulates that cloth and copper coins are both circulated as currency, and one cloth is worth eleven coins, and they are treated equally; if merchants or officials dare to choose money or cloth, "all are guilty." Zheng Anping looked at the little slave and was about to cry. He could only think that if he could make money with Zhang Lu, it shouldn't be a problem to pay several hundred dollars a year.
At the same time as the registration was completed, the construction of his residence was also completed. The beams, columns, rafters and various tools used for construction were obtained from the government, and the labor was arranged by the township. According to the specifications of the hairpin, the house is thirty steps wide and ninety steps long (three houses); the fence is three feet high, and the house foundation is no more than five inches above the ground. There are granaries and warehouses at the back. Although the specifications are not high, they are well constructed. There are no gorgeous painted pillars or carved beams, just plain logs and rammed earth, without color or decoration, but absolutely solid and durable. Zheng Anping didn't know how to express his gratitude, so he went to ask Zhang Lu. Zhang Lu said that building a house for someone with a title was deducted from the service period, which was equivalent to serving the country, so there was no need to thank him; someone in the countryside was promoted to a title in the future, and he wanted to expand his residence. , Zheng Anping also has to contribute to him.
In the last month of the Qin calendar, Ranghou completed the establishment of Beidi County and Longxi County and returned to Xianyang. The next day, he took over all the work of the Prime Minister's Office, and it was time for Zhang Lu to prepare to inspect the Shu Road Project. Zheng Anping, Mang Wei and Chen Si are all ex-officio members of the inspection team. After experiencing the hardships of the first Qin New Year, Zhang Lu asked Zheng Anping and others to buy new year goods early and prepare for the Xianyang city to be closed. Once the market in Xianyang is closed, it will be completely closed. All merchants and civil servants will go home, and all public services will be suspended. If there is no preparation, there will be no food to eat, no clothes to wear, and no shelter. All the expenses required for buying new year's goods will naturally be borne by Zhang Lu. ——His salary as a guest guest has arrived before the New Year, including millet, cloth and money. Wooden tablets, pens and ink are also distributed as usual. Zhang Lurang transported everything to Zheng Anping's residence in Huaili, Gaoqiu. The so-called New Year shopping means buying some meat, seasonings and the like. The necessary daily necessities had already been bought, but Zhang Lu asked them to buy some extra cauldrons, gui, dishes and other items.
Unlike Daliang, people in Qin prohibit private transactions. All transactions must go through the market and the price must be clearly marked, even in the countryside. Zheng Anping went to the market to do some shopping, and there was almost no such behavior as being short-changed, secretly increasing prices, and bullying outsiders. This made Zheng Anping have a better impression of Qin.
After Zhang Lu became a guest of the King of Qin, he openly became acquainted with Huang Xie and the Prince of Chu. Mang Wei has already connected with Huang Xie and met his younger brother Mang Shen, Mr. Menbusche and Mr. Hu; but his identity still cannot be revealed and can only be regarded as acquaintances. In order to build roads, Zhang Lu also invited his senior brother, Mr. Che You, to accompany him.
In the joy of autumn harvest, the Qin New Year comes in October. Zheng Anping's family was in the village and worshiped Sheji together with the villagers. Everyone gathered the harvest of the year and shared a pot of hot porridge.
Zhang Lu did not spend the New Year with them, but spent the first palace New Year in his life with the nobles and senior officials in the palace. The people of Qin completely broke the restrictions of Zhou rites. Every high-ranking official participating in the ceremony had seven cauldrons and eight guis. Only the king of Qin, who had nine cauldrons and ten guis, could not surpass them.
On the first day of October, Zhang Lu led Zheng Anping and others to visit the officials he had met, consolidated his contacts, and introduced Zheng Anping and his party to these officials. On the second day of the lunar month, Zhang Lu and others visited the Prince of Chu and Huang Xie and were warmly entertained. Starting from the third day of the lunar month, Zhang Lu successively held banquets in Zheng Anping's house to entertain some important officials until the fifth day of the lunar month.
The court resumes on the sixth day of the lunar month. Zhang Lu submitted the drafted inspection plan to Wei Ran for approval. Wei Ran approved Zhang Lu's plan after seeking opinions from the court. Zhang Lu set out on October 15th, leading an inspection team of 100 people to the depths of the Qinling Mountains. It took about half a year to complete the inspection mission of the Shu Road and propose a reconstruction plan.
Another task to be completed on the 15th was to send 50,000 Qin soldiers out of Taoyi eastward to attack Gangyi and Shouyi. This work was completed by another guest, Qing Zao.
During the time when Wei Ran was out of the capital, Keqing Zhang Lu was involved in the administrative work of the prime minister's office, while Keqing Zao had been in the military camp, assisting Zuo Gengcuo in training Qin soldiers. Although these two people are both guests of King Qin, they don't usually meet each other, and they don't even know what the other person is doing.
On the same day that Keqing Zhang Lu submitted his inspection plan, Keqing Zao also submitted a confidential report, suggesting using Taoyi as a base to attack Qi. The Qin State's army is huge, with hundreds of thousands of prisoners committed every year. If this army has no place to use, it will become a burden to the country. However, Han, Zhao, Wei, and even Chu that bordered Qin have all become allies of Qin and cannot use troops against them. Now the only country that can still send troops is Qi, which borders Tao! The State of Yan is far away in Youbei and cannot be reached by the State of Qin.
This incident made Qin Ting a little embarrassed. Tao is the fiefdom of Ranghou, which is far away from Qin. Although it is nominally considered the land of Qin, it is a commercial city. It is located at the intersection of Jishui and Heze. Qin usually has no influence on it. The city is not high and the terrain is uneven. It is dangerous and easy to attack but difficult to defend. Although it is rich in wealth, it is hard to say whether it can be used as a base for Qin's military offensive.
Wei Ran, Mi Rong, Bai Qi, Hu Yang, Zuo Gengcuo and Ke Qingzao discussed repeatedly, but they all felt unsure. If you stoke a hornet's nest, it will end badly. But on the other hand, no troops were sent out last year because of the Yiqu problem. If we don't send out troops to fight this year, those who are counting on military merit to save themselves or their families may be greatly disappointed, and the public will even boil with resentment. Therefore, no matter what, we have to find a country to fight this year, and there is no one else in this country except Qi.
After the general direction is set, it is time to determine the strategy and person in charge. In fact, the people of Qin were not very clear about the geographical situation around Taoyi. The person who knew the details was Ke Qingzao from Qi State. His suggestion was to go more than two hundred miles northeast from Tao along the Jishui River to Gangheshou, the border city of Qi. Although the distance between Gang, Shou and Tao is somewhat far, they are connected by Jishui River, and the transportation is convenient and they can support each other at any time. The land that can be developed on both sides of the strait is vast. If managed well, tens of thousands of households can settle here, forming a A strategic fulcrum that can operate independently. Moreover, expanding from Tao to the north for more than 200 miles, Linzi is to the east and Handan to the west. There are many strategic choices for the next step.
After repeated discussions, no one had any better opinions and could only agree to Ke Qingzao's suggestion. Since sending troops to Tao would have to pass through Wei, everyone began to debate whether to notify Wei in advance. After listening to the opinions of all parties, Wei Ran made a decision and said: "Under Huayang City, I have informed the Wei envoy, Tao, that I have granted you a city. If there is a shipment that cannot be notified in time, I am willing to get it through! He has already responded. This is the military's fault. , but if the Wei army blocks us while walking along the main road, we will charge him with betraying the alliance and raise his troops to attack him! If Han doesn’t sue, how can he sue Wei!"
Considering that although Taoyi was rich, there were many merchants and not many grain growers, so it could not raise many soldiers; and Gang and Shou were not big towns, so we decided to take only 30,000 people to the expedition, of which 10,000 were from Yiqu. The troops were recruited, 20,000 of them were prisoners; then noble men were recruited from each county to lead the ministries, and they were promoted to one level. More importantly, he will be a general with a hundred people. Officers from the rank of senior official to government officials are appointed by Zuo Geng and Zhong Geng (the right squadron is vacant), and officials above the fifth official are appointed by Daliang Zao.
Obviously, the commander of the entire army was naturally Ke Qingzao. He not only understood Tao and its surrounding geographical environment, but was also the main planner of this military operation. The army's gathering place was chosen in Shaanxi County outside Hangu Pass. Dianke Mansion will send travelers to station in the army. If Han and Wei send troops to block it, they will attack if they can. If they cannot win, they will choose a place to defend, and Qin will send another army to support it.
The military symbols for mobilizing troops were passed to the internal history and counties by envoys. After each county inspected the military symbols, they selected the prisoners according to the troop deployment documents, distributed weapons, dispatched local officials as military officers, prepared fried millet, and marched to Shaanxi County according to the date and location on the document. For a time, prisoners from all counties and townships, led by local officials, hurried across the 800-mile Qinchuan River to the assembly area.
On October 15th, guest Qing Zhang Lu also took his inspection team and headed in the opposite direction towards Xi County, where the Golden Bull Road of the former king's expedition to Shu was located. Although it has been in disrepair and has been abandoned for a long time, traces of the ancient road should still be found, which can provide reference for entering Sichuan.
Keqing Zao was a native of Shou in Qi State. The eldest member of his clan, Shou Zhu, had been Keqing of Qin and later became prime minister for a short time. Shouzao followed the footsteps of his predecessors and had passed from Qi to Qin for many years. When he entered Qin, Shou Zhu had been dead for many years. The King of Qin had been a guest for a long time, but he never used him again. It was not until the guest Qing Hu Yang was appointed to lead the army on the expedition that he was promoted to the guest Qing by the King of Qin. He envied Hu Yang's outstanding military achievements and was determined to do something like Hu Yang in the Qin State and not to disgrace Shouzhu's reputation.
This is his first time leading the team. Before sending troops, Bai Qi personally summoned officers above the public rank and introduced Keqing Zao to them. Since Ranghou set up a county, Keqing Zao has been assisting in military training in the military camp. Most of these officers know the newly appointed Keqing and know that he is from Qi. He is very familiar with the geography of Qi and his army training is quite satisfactory. In particular, Zuo Gengcuo was getting older and had difficulty moving. Ke Qingzao ran back and forth and shouldered a lot of administrative work.
