Qin Official

In February of the fifth year of Chu's reign, in Zhongyangli, Fengyi, Pei County, in a small courtyard with two entrances, there was a large mulberry tree like a patio cover. Under the shade of the tree, a father and son were confronting each other, and the atmosphere was quite tense.

Liu Ji, a thirty-three-year-old bachelor with a bun and a thick beard, first looked at Pi Ju on the ground who had been disemboweled by a copper cone, and then looked up at his angry old father. Taigong Liu smiled.

"My father, if you are angry, just hit me. Why bother venting your anger on this Ju? After all, I bought it for thirty dollars in the city market. What a pity..."

Liu Taigong looks somewhat similar to Liu Ji. They both have a prominent forehead and a high nose bridge. He was a talented person when he was young. Now that he is old, his beard and hair are gray, but he is not old enough to use a cane yet. When the weather is nice, he can still talk to him. His son Liu Zhong went to work in the fields together.

The old Liu family used to be officials of the Wei State. They moved to Fengyi just forty years ago. Although they are no longer the home of Zhongming Dingshi, they still have two hectares of fertile land and a house of five acres. They raise dogs and pigs and hunt them carefully. If things go well, food and clothing for the family will not be a problem, and Taigong Liu can even marry a concubine.

But now, at the age where he should be teasing his grandson, he can't stop, all because of his incompetent third son Liu Ji...

"Unworthy!"

Taigong Liu was so angry that he sat on the threshold. He had just returned home from planting rice with his second son, but found that Liu Ji, who had disappeared while working, was playing Cuju with a boy from the same village.

Cuju is the favorite game of Qi Chu Qingxia. Liu Ji has superb skills and plays Cuju so beautifully that those teenagers who are more than ten years younger than him can only kick blindly with brute force. One kick flew up and knocked down the altar in the yard. The cans were smashed!

When the teenagers saw that they were in trouble, they dispersed in a hurry. Liu Lao in the room scolded these brats and came out to clean them up distressedly. Only Liu Ji didn't take it seriously and laughed.

Taigong Liu was so angry that he pierced Liu Ji's skin and cursed: "Liu Ji, are you my biological child? You are idle all day long, and you are nothing like me!"

Liu Ji couldn't help laughing and looked at his mother.

Liu Lao didn't like hearing these words. She stood up, put her hands on her hips, and scolded Taigong Liu: "Liu Ang, when you were young, didn't you spend all your time fighting cocks and playing Cuju in Zhongyang? I think you look most like you. Yes, just a few seasons!"

Taigong Liu was exposed and his voice became a little lower: "That was when I was young. When I was more than 20 years old, I also worked in farming. Who is like this unworthy man, who is thirty-three years old, and still has sex with me? He was hanging out with a boy who was ten years younger than him. The year before last, he shamelessly asked me for thousands of dollars, saying that he was going to Wei to do big things. But what happened? When he left, he was empty-handed, and when he came back, he was empty-handed, even the scabbard was lost! This is What big deal did you say!?”

"Forget it, forget it." Seeing her husband bringing up old matters again, Mrs. Liu quickly reconciled and invited them to dinner.

There were four people at the dinner table. Because the eldest brother Liu Bo died early, the second brother Liu Zhong had separated and lived alone, and the younger brother Liu Jiao went out to study. Now there are only Liu Taigong's wife and concubine in the house, and Liu Ji, a shameless old man, is here. .

"It's still no meat today."

Liu Ji looked at the simple meals with some fussiness. Since Qin and Chu started the war in Huaibei a few months ago, Fengpeng, as a border town, has become nervous. The Chu government asked them to hand over more grain than in previous years. Double.

Taigong Liu was still angry and turned away, too lazy to look at Liu Ji. Lady Liu doted on her son and refilled his meal, and advised him earnestly:

"Ji'er, what your father said is not unreasonable. I asked someone to be a matchmaker for you. I heard that you are still idle and unwilling to marry your daughter. If this continues, is it possible that you will not marry? Why don't you learn from your brother Zhong and help Is your family involved in farming?"

Liu Ji's face didn't turn red and his heart didn't beat: "Ji is born with an unconventional nature and doesn't like farming."

To be honest, he actually looked down on his second brother who was stingy and fearless, and only knew how to dig food in the soil.

"Then do you want to follow your brother's example and go on a study tour?"

The son born to Liu Taigong's concubine Li was named Liu Jiao. He was good at reading and was well-known in his hometown. Last year, he was sent to Lu Difu Qiu Bo to study poetry and calligraphy.

Although Fengfei was called "Western Chu", he was very fond of Confucianism because he was close to Zou Lu. Learning Confucianism is also a way out for young people. The better ones will be invited by the county officials and county yin of Chu State to be their retainers. Even if they are not good enough, they can also organize funerals for others and get some spare money to spend. Liu Jinian had at least learned to read from the elders in the city when he was young. In the opinion of his mother, as long as his son worked hard, he would certainly be able to succeed, and he would not be worse than the concubine's son!

Unexpectedly, Liu Ji even showed disgust on his face. He hated Confucians and Confucianism the most. When he used to be a ranger when he was a child, he would see those poor Confucians in Peixian County. He would snatch off their tall Confucian crowns and urinate in them!

"Otherwise, do you want to be a merchant? Or slaughter dogs and make wine. If you need capital, I still have some money left..."

Fengfei, like Chendi, sells fish and salt, so there are many merchants among the people, and there is no excessive discrimination against people doing business, so it is also a way out.

Taigong Liu on the side spat: "If you ask him to make wine and butcher dogs, are you afraid he has to get drunk and eat enough first?"

Hearing this, Liu Ji couldn't help it anymore and handed the finished rice bowl to his mother: "Mom, wait until this period is over before you can think of a way out for me. I just have to hide at home now. If I show up rashly, I might be killed." If the government arrests the young man, I will be forced to defend the city like Ah Wan next door!"

Lu Wan was a neighbor of Liu Ji's family. They were born in the same year, month and day. The villagers held sheep wine to congratulate the two families and even coaxed the two to become brothers.

When the two grew up, they became brothers and sisters, and they even learned literacy from a master in the city. They became classmates and respected each other. Later, they also worked as rangers together, and Lu Wan often followed Liu Ji as his younger brother. When Liu Ji committed a crime, and Chu officials came looking for someone, they would often go to Lu Wan's house to take refuge.

But this time, Lu Wan was not clever enough. He was caught by the men who came to capture young men at the beginning of spring, tied to a straw rope, and taken to the Fengyi military camp, saying that they would be used as soldiers to defend the city. The old couple of the Lu family could only wash their faces with tears, fearing that he would not be able to come back after the war...

"What kind of enemy are you fighting? This small town of Fengyi can be easily captured with only five hundred Qin soldiers! If the Qin army comes with three thousand soldiers, they can sweep Pei County and march towards Surabaya..."

Although Liu Ji spoke Chu dialect and wore Chu clothes, he was not at all loyal to the King of Chu and Yin Xiao of Peixian County. He had seen the world and knew that when he saw the collapse of Wei State under the Qin army's offensive, , and the abundance of water in a strip of Wei land cannot be avoided.

So after he came back, he was lazy and didn't want to do anything else, study or do business? What's the use? The world is about to change! No matter what he did in the past two years, he would have to start over again sooner or later, and he was just waiting for the day when everything would turn upside down!

At this moment, a question came from outside.

"Is Liu Ji here?"

…

When he heard someone calling his name outside, Liu Ji got excited, put his uneaten rice bowl on the ground, and ran to the barn. Taigong Liu didn't care about being angry at this moment, and waited for his son to hide. , and then he slowly opened the door, only to see a little official in crimson clothes and a crimson crown outside...

Taigong Liu was considered a respectable person in the community, but when he saw that he was just the humblest young official, he refused with a straight face: "Liu Ji is not here, and I don't know where that unscrupulous man has gone. Whether he is dead or alive! Go!" Look elsewhere!”

The clerk at the door stretched his head in, glanced at Mrs. Liu and Mr. Li who looked a little nervous, and then looked at the four pairs of bowl daggers on the table. How could he still not know what was going on? Then he smiled and said: "Liu Gong, don't you remember me? I am Ren Ao from Peixian County! I am Liu Ji's good friend. I once had dinner with him at home. When he was drunk, you drove him away with a broom. …”

"Liu Ji told me personally that he was at home and asked me to come here to find him if I needed anything."

Liu Taigong hesitated for a moment. Seeing that the man was really kind, he let him in and shouted into the yard. Liu Ji immediately jumped out of the straw pile where he was hiding, and laughed loudly, regardless of the straw on his body and head. He came over and hugged the young official.

"It turns out that Ren Ao is here!"

Ren Ao also met Liu Ji when he was working as a light knight with Wang Ling in Peixian County. He worked as a minor official in the Yin Mansion of the county. Although he was an official, he was very loyal and liked Liu Ji very much. The two became sworn friends. , this time the county wanted to arrest Ding Zhuang, it was Ren Ao who told Liu Ji in advance and asked him to go out to avoid the limelight.

He invited Ren Ao to sit down for a meal, and said habitually: "Good wine and good meat..."

After saying this, I remembered that this was home, not a wine shop, so I had to touch my beard awkwardly and ask my mother to pour some water.

Ren Ao was not like Liu Ji's group of young knights in Fengyi who came here to eat and drink. He said to Liu Ji quite seriously: "I am here in Fengyi on official business."

"Oh?" Liu Ji was alert and responded: "Is it possible that the county wants to collect grain again?"

"Of course! Each household in Luzuo has to pay two shi of grain! The price of a house in Luyou ranges from five to ten shi!"

When Taigong Liu heard this, he immediately jumped up: "Five stones? If you hand over these grains, my family will eat dirt!"

This is of course an exaggeration. Their family is considered a small landowner. No matter how difficult the situation is, they still have dozens of dan of grain stored in the family. However, this is the third time since October last year that grain has been requisitioned, and each time the amount is more. I wish I could dig out every extra grain of food in people's homes! Liu Ji's family is struggling to live a tight life, and those poor households in the city may really have to eat dirt like they did in disaster years.

"It seems that the military rations on the front line are in short supply and they can no longer hold on."

"Yes, I heard that almost every household in Huaibei and Huainan has to send one or two men to the front line, either as soldiers or to transport food, because the Qin State has gathered hundreds of thousands of troops."

As a result, the Chu State brought almost one-tenth of its population to the front line. Five hundred thousand people, including livestock, had to eat nearly one million dan of grain every month. Although the Chu State was rich, it also had limited resources. The king of Chu became increasingly empty. He first asked for food from the feudal lord, but it was still not enough. Now he could only find a solution from the common people.

But it was also difficult for the people. Almost all the men of the right age at home were pulled to the front line, or served as soldiers to guard the city nearby. Farming was busy in February, and only the elderly and women had to work in the fields. It was already miserable. Now the King of Chu ordered The food search in various counties really made matters worse.

Spring planting has been delayed, and summer harvest is still far away. How should we survive these lean months?

"I think this great Chu country is going to end!"

Liu Ji did not gnash his teeth and feel sad like most people, but smiled.

From two years ago, he knew that such a day would definitely come!

In turn, he advised Ren Ao to stop working for the county magistrate and go home early to hide. Ren Ao had already had this idea. The people of Fengfei have changed their nationality three times between Song, Wei and Chu in the past hundred years, almost every generation, so the concept of nationality is very weak.

Just when Liu Ji and Ren Ao were discussing the current situation, there was a knock on the door of Liu Ji's house again!

And this time, the knocking was particularly rapid! It really looks a bit like an official coming to arrest someone!

Liu Ji hurriedly went to hide in the barn again, while Liu Taigong impatiently opened the door.

"Who is it again?"

As soon as the door opened, there was a Chu soldier wearing armor but missing his weapon, with an anxious face. He knocked on the door and looked inside and outside. It seemed that there was chaos over there.

Liu Taigong was shocked: "Ah Wan? Aren't you supposed to be a soldier guarding the city?"

"Mr. Liu! Why are you still defending the city?"

Lu Wan's face was filled with anxiety and he shouted: "The Qin army came in. It was so dark that it was impossible to stop it. They only fired a wave of arrows from the top of the city, and then the doctor Yi took the lead and ran away. We also followed suit. Fortunately, I listened. Brother Ji told me before, if the situation is bad, run away! Otherwise, I will become a Qin prisoner and I will never see Liu Gong and Brother Ji again!"

…

In mid-February, Xiang Yan, who was in the Huaibei camp, also received news that the Qin army had invaded, Fengfei had fallen, and Lu and Pengcheng were in danger. His expression changed.

"Could it be that Wang Jian deliberately lured the main force of my army to wait here? Instead, he defended from the south and attacked from the north, hoping to sweep across the east?"