Daily Life In Qin Dynasty

Hanzhong County.

As Mo Jun's fiefdom, this place is only more than 200 kilometers away from Xianyang.

If a person rides a fast horse, he can reach Hanzhong from Xianyang in less than two days. If traveling by carriage, it would take almost two days and two nights. But if a caravan full of goods travels, it will take at least seven or eight days or even longer.

What causes this.

This is because Xianyang and Hanzhong are separated by the "Qinling Mountains" known as the Dragon Vein of the Central Plains.

The world of the Qin Dynasty was different from the world of official history. Nowadays, the famous "Shu Road" has been initially developed between Xianyang and Bashu.

But even so, this "Shu Road" can currently only support a small group of people. It is still very difficult for a large number of caravans to cross the Qinling Mountains.

But apart from transportation.

As a fiefdom, Hanzhong had almost no other shortcomings.

Hanzhong County is located in a basin, which runs through the middle of the Han River, forming a large alluvial plain suitable for the cultivation and growth of crops.

In this era where food means everything, such a large piece of land suitable for growing food is enough to turn Hanzhong into a first-class fiefdom.

Three days ago.

After Mo Jun solved the problem of military rations for Ying Zheng, he set out from Xianyang and came to Hanzhong.

Being an official in the State of Qin did not have as many court meetings as later generations. Under normal circumstances, unless something happened, the King of Qin would find officials from the corresponding department and hold a small meeting to discuss it.

As for the Qin King Yingzheng this time, he probably lost too much power when he was a child, resulting in no sense of security now.

Therefore, now he has to handle all the big and small affairs of Qin State with one hand, so that other officials of Qin State have nothing to do.

Just like Mr. Mo, the internal history of Zhi Su.

There are twelve months in a year, except for the annual spring planting and autumn harvest seasons, which may be a little busier.

For at least ten months, I was basically doing nothing. This official job makes me happy just thinking about it... ah no. Mainly that, that...poof!

Uh-huh ~ don’t get me wrong.

In fact, catching fish is not that exciting, otherwise Mo Jun would not come to Hanzhong leisurely now.

“Old man, do you know which direction ‘Huitou Mountain’ is?”

Three carriages stopped near a field ridge. At this time, Mo Jun was wearing a coarse linen clothes, sitting under a tree without any image, chatting with an old farmer who was thin and sallow. sky.

This time Mr. Mo came to Hanzhong for two purposes.

One is to build a house.

Hanzhong is different from Nanjun. Nanjun was once the capital of the Chu State. The local economy, commerce, and entertainment development have been quite complete. Therefore, after taking office in Nanjun, Mo Jun could directly enjoy most of the entertainment activities of this era there. .

But Hanzhong is different. Compared with the Central Plains area, Hanzhong County, which was once adjacent to the Qiang people and located among high mountains, used to be a barbaric land like the Qin Kingdom.

The population of Hanzhong is scattered. Let alone commercial and entertainment, there is not even a large-scale city. The largest population gathering place is only a 'county' level unit.

However, as Lord Mo is the 'Shengping Lord' and also the 'Lord' of Hanzhong County, it is naturally impossible for him not to have a mansion here.

But an ordinary mansion obviously cannot meet Mr. Mo's needs. After all, there are dozens of "spiritual medicines" that need to be planted in his mansion now. In addition to requiring "growth spiritual liquid", this thing also has extremely high environmental requirements. .

In addition, my own [Medicine Garden] and the [Beast Garden] that will be built soon have certain requirements for the terrain environment.

I also thought about the intersection of Hanzhong and Qinling Mountains. As the "Dragon Vein of the Central Plains", the Qinling Mountains have an extremely complex environment, but they are also extremely suitable for the growth of diverse plants.

Taking into account various factors.

Mr. Mo decided to simply find a geomantic treasure land and rebuild a "Mo Mansion".

As a result, just after Mo Jun mentioned this matter, Zhu Yeqing suddenly spoke and recommended a place to him.

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"Huitou Mountain? Why are you going to that place? It's not a kind place! There are a lot of poisonous insects, snakes, ants, and miasma and poisonous mist in there. Only a few people who went into that place came out alive!"

"Hi! We came here just for the 'poisonous insects, snakes and ants' there. I'm afraid the old man doesn't know that if these 'poisonous insects and poisonous flowers' can be concocted, they can all be sold as medicinal materials outside."

Mo Jun said loudly.

The old farmer under the tree looked Mo Jun up and down, then squinted his eyes and said: "From what you said, are you planning to come to Hanzhong to do business? If so, the old man still advises you to go back and forth from where you are. Bar!"

"Here, no one will sell you anything without the permission of the county magistrate."

Mo Jun's eyes flashed and he said in surprise: "Oh? Old man, how do you say this?"

The old farmer sighed and said: "Oh~~ Because as early as several years ago, the county magistrate of our Heishi County has issued a document. From now on, if every household wants to sell anything, it can only be sold to the government. If If you are caught selling it to others privately, you will be arrested, and at least you will get a beating, and at worst, all your family members will be imprisoned."

Mo Jun looked surprised, and then he tentatively said: "Is there such a thing? But if the government takes over, it doesn't seem to be a bad thing at all, right?"

Since the "Shang Yang Reform", the Qin State has always advocated a policy of "emphasis on agriculture and suppression of commerce".

However, Qin's policy of "emphasis on agriculture and suppression of commerce" is a little bit special, because it only suppresses its own business. Not only does it not object to merchants from other countries entering Qin to do business, it even has some policies that exempt them from tariffs.

The simplest example.

Qin's taxation is extremely complicated, but after an overall estimate, the commercial tax of its merchants is almost at the level of "two out of ten".

But when merchants from other countries do business in Qin, the commercial tax is only "one out of twelve."

Therefore, most of Qin's big businessmen would do business in other countries, including Lord Mo's own [Xiong Chumo Chamber of Commerce].

But even so.

In Qin, only a small number of high-ranking officials and nobles were qualified to engage in business.

The reason is very simple, because heavy taxes are only one aspect. The real suppression of Shang Yang's "emphasis on agriculture and suppression of business" method is not the high taxes, but that it fundamentally cuts off the possibility of ordinary people to engage in commercial activities. sex.

Merchants are of low status. If there is not enough background protection, once ordinary people go into business, not only will the tax be heavier, but also the subsequent "military conscription" will be given to merchants.

and a series of other laws that inhibit commercial activities, all have similar effects.

Therefore, in the current Qin State, most ordinary people in remote areas have no way to do so even if they sometimes want to buy or sell things.

This is why Mr. Mo said that it is not entirely a bad thing for the government to purchase goods uniformly.

"Huh? Don't mention it!"

Hearing Mr. Mo's words, the old farmer's face deepened with sadness, and he slowly said: "In the past, some businessmen from other places would come here to buy mountain products. At that time, although those businessmen from other places would lower the prices, they could still make a profit if they were busy. Thirty or fifty big coins can buy one or two stones of food for the family."

"But now that the government has started purchasing, they take advantage of the slack time for a year to go to the mountains to pick up some wild products. In the end, they sell them, and sometimes they don't even get ten big bucks."

"so little?"

Hearing the old farmer's words, even Mo Jun couldn't help but be shocked.

How much is ten bucks?

Even if Lord Mo had just traveled through time and served as a corvee in the Qin army, his daily wages would have been six taels of gold.

"Who says otherwise! Later, when some people saw that the price purchased by the government was so low, they simply stopped buying mountain products. As a result, the government simply issued a mandatory order that each household must sell enough mountain products every year, otherwise they would be jailed. Locked up inside.”

"There was a family in our village who was unwilling to obey, so the officials arrested him and imprisoned him for three days. When he came out three days later, he was completely humanoid, and he died at home not long after."

It seems that the grievances have been kept in his stomach for too long, so when Mr. Mo asked today, the old farmer also vomited a lot of bitterness.

After Mo Jun listened quietly, his eyes flickered slightly.

His first purpose in coming to Hanzhong this time was to build a house.

The second purpose is to inspect.

After all, Hanzhong is his own fiefdom, and Mo Jun should know something about this place both emotionally and rationally.

in addition.

A conversation with Ying Zheng late at night also made Mr. Mo understand that with his current ability, he is still unable to change the entire Qin State, or even the entire world.

But if he just creates a "Taoyuan Township" that he can enjoy, Mo Jun himself feels that he can still do it if he works hard.

That's why Mo Jun specially changed his clothes when he came to Hanzhong this time, in order to first conduct an on-the-spot inspection of the customs and customs of Hanzhong.

Then plan and plan.

The result was unexpected.

Not long after I arrived in Hanzhong, I had already gotten so much information from an old farmer.

"These local nobles are really like birds, they haven't changed at all!"

Mo Jun was also a little helpless.

Before coming here, Mo Jun was still holding on to a sense of luck. Maybe Hanzhong was relatively close to Xianyang and might be a little different from Nanjun.

However, the reality told him that the various local counties and counties in Qin State are really like birds.

This was the case in Nan County before.

The same is true for Hanzhong County now.

It’s no wonder that after the late unification, the Qin Dynasty collapsed so quickly. Now these local nobles are just like landmines buried within the Qin State!

After having a bitter conversation with Mr. Mo, it was almost time to eat at Sishi. Nowadays, ordinary families usually only eat two meals, and Sishi is the time for the first meal.

Mo Jun watched the old farmer take out a cloth bag from the side. After opening it, there was only a rice ball less than the size of an adult's fist. It was made of rice mixed with a small amount of rice husk and kneaded with some dark green vegetables.

Nothing else.

"Old man, do you eat this much for your first meal?"

Mo Jun couldn't help but ask.

Naturally, he would not find the food to be unpalatable. After all, even in most aristocratic homes, the taste of food is quite bland.

The main reason is that the portion of this rice ball is too small. The total amount of one rice ball is probably only about two taels.

"yes!"

The old farmer nodded, and then subconsciously protected him, as if he was afraid that Mr. Mo would steal his meal.

"I remember that the grain harvest in Hanzhong last year was quite good. Why do we only eat so little?"

"Alas~~"

Mentioning this, the old farmer sighed again and said: "No matter how high the harvest is, it is useless, the food has been handed over."

Mo Jun frowned and said: "Hand it in? Even if you pay the food tax, there should be a lot of food left!"

The Qin State's grain tax was indeed very heavy. In a normal year, an average of 30% of the grain would be harvested from one acre of land. And if there are special circumstances, such as war emergencies and food shortages, Qin may even receive 50% to 60% of the food tax.

But in the past two years, because Mr. Mo has taken care of everything and helped Qin make a lot of extra money, the whole country has collected grain taxes at the standard of 30% in the past two years.

Therefore, even if the current grain yield is not high, ordinary people will not only have such a small harvest.

The old farmer shook his head and said, "Not only is it food tax, but it's also land rent!"

"Rent?"

The old farmer said bitterly: "Old man, these acres of land are now rented from the owner's family. In addition to 30% of the grain tax every year, another 30% of the grain must be handed over to the owner's family as land rent."

Mo Jun frowned deeper and asked, "Doesn't the old man have a field at home?"

"There used to be some, but five years ago, all the more than ten acres of land in the old man's family were bought. One acre of land gave the old man's family a lot of money."

At the end of the sentence, the old farmer also showed a trace of sadness on his face.

Feudal era.

Land is the lifeblood of a family.

But now, someone actually bought the land from an old farmer for the price of one big buck per acre. You can imagine what methods the other party used.

Mo Jun squinted his eyes and continued: "Are there many people like this old man who have sold their fields?"

The old farmer nodded and said, "Most of the people in Heishi County have sold their fields."

Mr. Mo nodded and didn't say much. He just smiled and comforted: "It's okay, old man. The rice you planted this year is the "new rice seed" improved by Mr. Shengping of Qin State. As long as you follow the instructions According to the government’s instructions, it will not be a problem to double the harvest next year.”

"Even if you pay the grain tax and land rent by then, you won't have to go hungry like you are now."

However, as soon as Mo Jun finished speaking, he saw that the old farmer's face was not only not happy at all, but smiled bitterly: "Old man, I just hope that the harvest of these rice seeds forcibly distributed by the government this year will not be worse than last year in the autumn." alright."

"After all, there is no "new rice seed" in the world that can double grain production! I have never heard of it in all my years of life."

"If someone can really improve such rice seeds, I will definitely set up a special longevity tablet for that person at home, and the incense will continue day and night..."

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