Qin Official

Since they happened to meet him, Heifu and Lu Dang led Ba Zhong to the Yiling County Temple to meet the county governor.

The county temple is located at the highest point of the county town. There are uphill stone steps all the way up from the pier. It rained just yesterday, so the moss-covered steps are a bit slippery.

Heifu was careful not to let himself fall. While listening to the obscure language of Ba Zhong and the Ba people from behind, he thought about the deeds of the "Ba Widow Qing" he had heard after coming to this era.

He heard that although the Qin State was a peasant state and its merchants had a low status, there were two big merchants who were exceptions.

One is Wushiluo of Beidi County. It is said that he owns more than 100,000 cattle, sheep and horses! The second is Qing, a widow from Zhi County, Ba County, who made her fortune from the cinnabar cave passed down by her husband's family from generation to generation. In addition, she also mined Bashu gold, silver, copper, iron, and well salt, making her a proper mining boss.

The world puts these two together with Fan Li, Zigong, Bai Gui, Yidun, and Guo Zong since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The seven wealthy businessmen are listed on the Forbes wealth list of the Warring States Period.

In addition to their astonishing wealth, they also had a distinguished status.

The King of Qin made Wushiluo's status equal to that of the feudal lord, allowing him to enter the court to discuss affairs. Ba Widow Qing received slightly less courtesy than Wushi Luo. Her son was named a doctor, but the King of Qin personally issued an edict to commend her for her chastity and made her a chaste woman. All local officials in Ba County were exempted from paying homage. .

The reason why Widow Qing was treated so politely was not only that Widow Qing's family had a monopoly on the cinnabar mines, which were exclusively used by the Qin government, but also because Widow Qing's husband's family was a powerful family in Bazhong, and it is said that the lineage could be traced back to Lin Jun, the ancestor of the Ba people.

Lin Jun was later divided into five clans, namely the Ba family, the Fan family, the Xi family, the Xiang family, and the Zheng family, which constituted the ruling class of Ba. They were called the "Inner Five clans" and were located in the core area. Among them, the Ba clan The most expensive, second only to the royal family surnamed Ji. In addition, 訳(ong), Pu, Ju, Gong, Lu, 獽(ráng), Yi, and 蜑(dàn) are the "eight outer tribes", located in the surrounding areas of Ba.

Although the Ba Kingdom has been destroyed, the Five Clan and Eight Tribes have continued. Therefore, the widow Qing's husband's family is considered to be rich and noble among the Ba people, and she is good at running the business. Her mining estates are everywhere, her family's wealth is countless, and they have thousands of child servants and tens of thousands of mining slaves! Its influence even goes beyond Ba County. The footprints of fleets and caravans spread all over the territory of the original Ba Kingdom, and they have close contacts with the Ba tribes in Yiling, Yidao, Zigui and Wu counties in Nanjun.

Unlike the Shu people who rebelled repeatedly, the five powerful families of the Ba people obeyed the rule of the Qin State. Qin also reciprocated by allowing them to retain their industries, tribes and private armed forces, relying on them to rule the Ba people whose language and customs were very different from those of the Central Xia Dynasty.

Without the help of these powerful Ba people, the land of Ba would be in chaos, and Sima Cuo would not be able to raise so many Ba warriors to fight for Qin even if he attacked Chu.

Heifu thought to himself: "The Nanjun Gongcao people mentioned to me that the copper mines in the Jiangbei area of ​​Nanjun have been excavated by the Chu people for hundreds of years. There is not much left, and there is a lack of salt. Therefore, every year, we have to rely on the widow to clear the family from Ba." The ground transports copper, tin, and well salt to Jiangling through waterways.”

Because of this, when the son of the widow Qing came to visit the county governor Teng, Ye Teng could not neglect it and asked his elder to greet him.

Not long after, the county temple had arrived, and the county governor Teng was discussing matters with the Yiling County Magistrate. When he saw Ba Zhong coming, Ye Teng asked the Yiling County Magistrate to take all the officials down. Hei Fu was about to leave, but was called by Ye Teng. Living.

"Zuo Bing Cao Shi, you also stay."

Ye Teng looked serious, and Heifu thought something must be wrong, so he agreed to sit aside.

"Ba Zhong of Ba County has met Governor Ye."

Bazhong bowed down. The widow could see the county guard and not bow down, but he did not get this preferential treatment. Although he spoke Xia Yan with a thick accent, he was fluent.

"No courtesy." Ye Teng didn't waste any time and asked straight to the point: "You sent a small boat messenger to tell me that you have something important to report to me. What is it? Is it worth the risk to come here in person?"

Ba Zhong paid his respects again: "This is a big deal. My family recently learned that the leader of the Yi tribe in Yi Dao of Nanjun intends to rebel against Qin and annex Chu!"

…

"The Yidao Lord wants to rebel against Qin and annex Chu!?"

After hearing this, Chang Shi Ludang lost his voice first, and then realized that he had lost his composure.

Ye Teng glared at him and continued: "It is common for the Yi tribe to rebel and surrender. In which year has there not been one or two incidents of tribesmen resisting the corvee? In the end, they were put down by the local officials. Furthermore, the Yidao County Magistrate also Why did Zhi County, Ba County, hundreds of miles away, know about it first without notifying me?"

Bazhong smiled and said: "Sir, although Qin's governance in the inland counties is very strict, it is different in the way of barbarians. Their tribes live in the streams and forests without officials to manage them. If something happens, it will often take more than a month to find out." I know. It happened that my family's salt transport horse team was operating in that area. According to what they saw, last month, the leader of the Yi tribe received the Chu envoy, entertained him with good wine and meat, and finally drank chicken blood and swore an oath with him..."

"This matter is absolutely true. My mother thought it was unusual. She didn't even have time to go to Bajun City to report it, so she asked me to take a boat east. I wanted to go to Jiangling for an audience. I happened to hear that the county governor of Xingxian County had arrived in Yiling. My mother and I Bazhong is very loyal, and I hope the county governor will not be suspicious!"

Qin's rule over the barbarian rulers was relatively loose. It did not require the people to be organized into households, nor did they pay ordinary taxes. It only needed to deliver local specialties and send people to serve as corvees. However, after receiving the Chu envoy and making an oath to him, which was strictly prohibited, Ye Teng frowned and looked at Hei Fu.

"Cao Shi, Zuo Bing, is in charge of the troops. It is your duty to know the passes, terrain, and barbarian sentiments in the county. What do you think?"

During their conversation, Heifu's mind began to spin rapidly. As Cao Shi, Zuo Bing, he was in charge of military affairs. He must be familiar with the mountains, rivers, geography, roads and pavilions of Nanjun, and of course he was no stranger to the situation of Yi Dao. .

Yidao (now Changyang and Yidu, Hubei Province) is not far from Yiling, just seventy or eighty miles downstream, but it is in the south of the river, at the junction of the Yishui River. The indigenous people there are called "Yi tribe". In fact, It is also one of the "eight foreign tribes" of the Ba people.

So he considered the words and said: "The official believes that this matter is of great importance and must be verified immediately."

"Oh, go on."

Heifu said: "Qin was defeated by Chu last year and suffered a lot of losses. Even seven captains were killed in the battle. This matter cannot be concealed. Yi Dao is located in the south of the Yangtze River, close to Chu and far from Qin. It is inevitable that Desire of separation. Last year, a certain Yidao ruler was captured and beheaded for escaping from the garrison. There must be resentment in the hearts of the local barbarians. If the Chu people used this matter to lobby for it, and then lured them with benefits..."

The implication is that what Ba Zhong reported is still very likely to happen. While Qin was preparing for war, Chu was not idle either, trying to harass Qin from the corners so that Qin could not concentrate its forces.

Chief Shi Ludang also said: "Your Majesty, the land of Xiangyuan in the Chu Kingdom is the territory of the Qu family. The Qu family lived in Zigui and Yiling before the Chu Kingdom moved eastward, and also had contacts with various tribes of the Ba people. Qu Yuan died Later, the Qu family had been enemies of Qin for generations. Last year, Qin and Chu had already made peace, but it was the Qu family who was unwilling to hand over Qingyang and even counterattacked Nanjun's Jiling, Yidao and other places, which triggered the war. Now they are sending When people talk to the Yi Daoba people, they are trying to do the same thing again!"

Heifu also said: "If the Yi road is lost, all the tribes of the Ba people in the upper reaches of the Yi River will not be owned by the Qin. The tunnel is extremely dangerous and the barbarians are mixed. It will not be of great benefit. However, if the local Ba people are encouraged by the Chu people, they will help If they attack Qin, Jialing County will be isolated in the south of the Yangtze River and will be difficult to defend. When several counties in the south of the Yangtze River are lost, the Ba people will use wooden boats to go out of Yi River and go down the river to help the Chu army cross the river to invade Jiangling. The trouble will be immeasurable. also……"

The two analyzed it together and both believed that this matter must be verified immediately. If it is true, it must be nipped in the bud. Otherwise, if Yidao rebels against Qin, the Qu family of Chu State will have the ability to directly threaten Jiangling. Nanjun's military strength The general will be dragged back to the local area, and not a single soldier can be sent abroad.

"If we lose two counties in a row, then the achievements I have made through hard work in Nan County this year will probably be greatly reduced..."

Thinking like this, Ye Teng made up his mind.

But before appointing people, he first looked at Bazhong and asked with a smile: "Bazhong, your mother was right to name you Zhong. Coming all the way to tell you this shows how much you care about the Qin State." Loyal, it would be great if every Ba people could be like you."

Ba Zhong said modestly: "The Ba family has been favored by the Qin State and has been able to preserve their property. How dare they be disloyal to the king and the Qin State? Furthermore, Yishui is the place where the Ba people originated. Thousands of years ago, Lin Jun came from Yi. The westward flow of water made the Ba people stronger, and the Wuluo Zhongli Mountain in Yi Dao is still the place where the Ba people return to their souls. How could the Wuluo Zhongli Mountain suffer a military disaster because of the momentary confusion of the Yi tribe leader? This is also very detrimental to my family’s ability to collect salt and sell cloth.”

Regarding these scene words, Ye Teng just smiled and said nothing. Ba Zhong was young after all, and being stared at by the old treacherous man, he suddenly felt guilty and simply revealed another purpose of his trip.

"Besides, my mother has something else to ask for! I heard that Nan County has recently made a device that can pound ore day and night without manpower... I wonder if the county governor can send skilled craftsmen to Badi to teach this skill to my family?"

After hearing what he said, Hei Fu also thought to himself: "It is indeed so."

For mine bosses like Ba Widow Qingjia, the water bucket is also an artifact that saves manpower and costs. I came to report this matter in exchange for it.

Seeing that he had guessed what Bazhong was planning, Ye Teng couldn't help laughing: "Bazhong, your family has always had prestige among the Ba people. Moreover, the salt transport cavalry team is familiar with the terrain of the Yi Road and knows the strongholds of each ministry. If it can be used as a Envoy, please assist the government to quell this matter. I will report your merits to the king on behalf of your family! I can also entrust you with the technique of Nanjun Shuizu!"

This old slick guy is really good at business!

Ba Zhong hesitated for a moment and then agreed.

Ye Teng ordered again: "Zuo Bing Cao Shi!"

Heifu promised: "Yi!"

"This matter is related to the safety of the two counties, and may even endanger Jiangling and the entire county. It is of great importance. I will first send people to mobilize the troops in Yiling and Zhijiang, so that they can cross the river south in the future. You first hold my tiger talisman, and fight with Bazhong We took a boat and rushed to Yidao at night, informed the county magistrate and county lieutenant of the situation, and immediately started a thorough investigation, and at the same time, we tried to find ways to stabilize the local Ba people."

Heifu took the silver-plated tiger talisman and asked: "May I ask the county governor, if it is true and the situation is critical, why can't we wait for reinforcements to arrive?"

Ye Teng didn't hesitate at all, and said murderously: "You can act cheaply!"