Qin Official

After watching Yang Huan leave, Heifu and Zhang Han put down their hands and looked at each other with complicated expressions.

"What do Shaorong think the king's edict is for?" Heifu asked Zhang Han on the way back.

"It's because of the land. There are not enough unowned acres in the inner county."

Zhang Han is from Guanzhong, and as Sikong in charge of civil engineering, he had more or less contact with some land and household registration information when he was in Jiujiang County, so he can see it more clearly.

"Since the eleventh year of the king's reign, when General Wang ordered General Wang to attack Yanhe, Qin Wusui has not sent troops to the east. For fourteen years now, there have been battles every year. Every year, soldiers have been beheaded and captured the city, and have been rewarded for their meritorious service. There is no master in Guanzhong. The fields were all divided a few years ago, and even the corners of the forest were opened up for the wealthy and powerful people from the five countries to move there. Since the battle to destroy Wei, the land rewarded by the soldiers of Guanzhong has been They started to be assigned to border counties. For example, I am obviously from Xiayang in Neishi, but my land was assigned to Ji County in Longxi."

"This is even worse in the counties of Shandong. Counties such as Yingchuan, Sanchuan, Hedong, Hanoi, and Nanyang already have a large number of people and a small amount of land. Now the soldiers who are from those places even have to open up new fields from Taiyuan, Yanmen, and Shanggu. "

Nan County is not much better. There are millions of people in the county, but the farmland is just over 10 million acres. The three counties of Jiangling, Ying, and Yan have the largest population, accounting for one-third of Nan County. There is no spare farmland anymore, so they can only Think of ways from farther away counties such as Yiling.

Heifu secretly calculated the accounts. These days, China's population is about 30 million people, and the country's cultivated land area is about 300 million acres (Qinmu). It stands to reason that a household of five people and one hundred acres is enough for each household. But don’t forget that most of the land is concentrated in the hands of a few noble ministers.

Moreover, Qin’s military merit system, while devouring the six kingdoms, was also devouring Qin’s own land, creating an endless gap!

Although new land is opened every year, there are more emerging military landowners, and demand far exceeds supply. As a result, the Central Plains, which was already a little nervous about land, became even more stretched, and many counties even had no land to reward meritorious soldiers.

Trust is a national treasure, and the government’s credibility is more important than Jiuding. The land promised by the government must not break its promise, otherwise, the two foundations of a strong country, including military merit and fame, will collapse overnight.

In this case, Qin Wangzheng had three options.

The first is to increase the development of the inner county, turning all the forest lands and mountain hunting grounds into cultivated land, so that meritorious soldiers can open up wasteland in their original places.

In the past ten years, the King of Qin had also done the same thing. He repeatedly reiterated Shang Yang's order to cultivate grass and open up wasteland, and ordered all counties to continue to open up land. Unfortunately, productivity is limited these days, and reclamation is concentrated in plain areas. A large amount of land in mountain forests cannot be used temporarily, and the balance between supply and demand of acres can only be maintained.

This situation was completely broken with the victory of the second battle to destroy Chu.

Not counting Heifu and other military officials who added several hectares or dozens of hectares of land in one go. Just for the 600,000 people who participated in the war, each of them would be awarded an average first-class title, and 60 million acres of land would be distributed!

It was not enough to open up wasteland. In order to appease the meritorious soldiers who were waiting for food, King Qin could only make plans elsewhere.

The second method is to seize the fields of the people of the Five Kingdoms in the counties and counties that were the original homelands of the Five Kingdoms, or to massively attack the nobles and nobles, seize their land, and let the Qin army soldiers immigrate and occupy it.

It sounds like a tempting choice. The conquerors are most fond of imposing tyranny on the conquered, such as the Qing Dynasty's land enclosure order.

But what surprised Heifu was that King Qin didn't take this step!

Although the King of Qin moved some nobles to Guanzhong for close monitoring, he did not take away their land. Instead, he acquiesced to the land occupation situation before the Qin army entered.

Zhang Han also said: "When I was in Shouchun, the county governor ordered the people from all over the country to declare the land they owned to the county magistrate and the miserly men, and called it Zishitian. Except for those nobles who resisted the army, their land was taken as public land. In addition, none of the other common people's fields were occupied by the government..."

It is wise not to add fuel to the fire in the homeland of the Five Nations, where conflicts are acute. Most people can sit back and watch the country's demise and laugh at the fall of the princes, but if you want to touch their land, you will be their enemy. The usually honest farmers will also fight with you carrying their farm tools!

Therefore, the King of Qin had only the last option left: to open up new territories and open up new counties and fields on the land of the barbarians and Rongdi, regard this as a reward for the soldiers, and let them become the production and construction corps of Qin...

"But the officers and men did not regard this as a reward, but as a disgrace and let down."

Hei Fu shook his head. From King Qin's point of view, this choice was undoubtedly the right one. It could not only solve the urgent need, but also leave a lasting legacy. Just like Duke Zhou who drove all his relatives to remote areas to become princes thousands of years ago, future generations will only praise him for his foresight.

But everything involves sacrifice, and the three thousand Southern Expedition soldiers became the victims. Originally, he had worked hard in the war and only hoped to have more farmland at home and be respected by his fellow villagers. Unexpectedly, he was sent to a barbaric land far away from his homeland.

Wealth and honor do not return to their hometown, just like walking in brocade at night. In history, when Xiang Yu and Liu Bang became famous, they even had the idea of ​​​​abandoning Guanzhong and returning to their hometown, let alone the pawns in Nanchang.

When they are angry and dissatisfied, they will think about a question: "Is it worth it for me to work so hard to achieve merit?"

When he reached the military camp, Heifu could feel that the usual joy was gone. The soldiers were full of disappointment, and they felt weak in saluting him.

When he returned to Nanchang City and was about to say goodbye, Zhang Han asked: "When Hei Fu comforted the soldiers, he said that he wanted to write a letter to the king to ask for clarification?"

Heifu smiled bitterly and said: "Thunder and rain, could it be God's grace? How dare I, a little Zuo Shu Zhang, do such a thing. I am just reporting the situation of the soldiers to the king, so that the king knows how the people below view this matter. ,that is it……"

But at that time, Heifu had to say this. He had to make the soldiers feel that he was on their side, and everyone would suffer. In this way, their dissatisfaction and anger can be suppressed to avoid causing bigger troubles.

He didn't think that his feedback would make King Qin change his mind, because even Heifu himself believed that King Qin's measure was right in the overall situation!

"Without the hard work of the ancestors of the Qin people in the Western Frontier, I'm afraid it would still be the place of Rong and Di."

"Without the Chu people's ancestors, Jianghan would probably be a barbaric wilderness right now."

When Wu Qi reformed, he asked the Chu nobles to move to the border areas, but the nobles were unwilling. After the death of King Chu Mourning, they rose up to kill Wu Qi. Although most of them were tricked by Wu Qi and died together, Chu's reform was also abandoned halfway. More nobles happily ran back to Jiangling to continue living a good life, so more than a hundred years have passed, and the Chu Jiangnan land is still like this.

Which era has no victims? If everyone just stayed in their hometown, China's current area would still be just a small part of the Central Plains...

As a ruler, King Qin does not need to consider small personal sacrifices, he only needs to have a profound vision and great courage that surpasses the times!

At this point, Heifu is on the side of Qin Shihuang. The three thousand soldiers of the Southern Expedition are staying here, which can not only develop Jiangxi, but also consolidate the border defense. I think a larger scale of immigration is still to come.

"Let's be upset. People with families will settle down when their wives move here. Singles will also marry local women from Chu and Yue. By then, Nanchang will have almost the same development and construction. If we drive them back to Nanjun, I’m afraid they won’t be too lazy to do anything!”

Having said that, when Heifu returned to the camp, he asked his soldiers to light the anointing oil, etc., and write a letter to the Jiujiang County Governor with a pen. He decided to do one last thing for his men before leaving...

…

In the first month (October) of the twenty-sixth year of the Qin Dynasty, Heifu's subordinates stationed in various places received a letter of appointment, which was about the establishment of new counties in various places in Jiangxi and the appointment of county officials... …

Zhao Tuo was pleasantly surprised to find that he would become the "Jiujiang Lieutenant". In addition to being responsible for the security of "Jiujiang County" located in Xunyang, he would also be responsible for the defense of the entire Penglize.

Li Xian was also excited to learn that his false lieutenant had come to an end. He was appointed as the Prime Minister of Fanyang County by Jiujiang County and became the second-in-command of the county.

Dongmen Bao and Xiao Tao also received the official seals of Luling County Lieutenant and Gan County County Lieutenant.

These appointments all stemmed from the advice Heifu submitted to the Jiujiang County Sheriff:

"If the governor wants to keep everyone in the local area for garrison, he should let them use their talents to their best ability. If the officials are safe, the soldiers will also be safe."

Since the people of Nanjun are to stay here, they need to respect their position and authority. Only in this way can the military officers put aside their dissatisfaction, restrain their soldiers well, and prevent them from being confused and escaping back to their hometowns.

After everyone was surprised, what followed was gratitude to Hei Fu.

Dongmen Bao, Xiao Tao, and Li Xian all regretted that they could not see Hei Fu in person for the last time, so they could only bid farewell to the north or west.

"We know that Sima has not abandoned everyone!"

In Nanchang City, Nanchang County was also officially established. Xu Shu, who had just been promoted to Nanchang's chief official, Nanchang County Lieutenant Gong Ao, and Nanchang County Postmaster Ji Ying, surprised Shi. The four of them worked as Heifu in Zhanglin in the north of the city. Send off.

Xu Shu promised that he would take good care of the promotion of local officials, and when the Nanchang County Magistrate arrived, he would recommend Heifu's meritorious old subordinates to him.

Ji Ying burst into tears. He had the earliest friendship with Hei Fu, but now that Hei Fu was leaving him to go north, it was inevitable that he would be a little sad.

Heifu's younger brother was also shocked, but he also knew that where his brother was going, he was determined not to be able to keep up...

Only Gong Ao, although he got the job of a county captain, he was still a little angry at the King of Qin for forcing them to stay in Nanchang. He bowed to Hei Fu and said: "Sima is going to Xianyang now. I hope to say a word to the soldiers. Even if he can't use it, When he returns home, he should at least let his family members and wives move here as soon as possible."

Heifu looked at the place where he had been fighting for a year, and at the bank of the Gan River, thousands of old troops who were reluctant to leave him. This farewell parade was really spectacular. Fortunately, the new Nanchang County Magistrate hadn't arrived yet, otherwise he would have been extremely jealous.

He nodded, got on the carriage, looked back and bowed to everyone, and said loudly:

"Although he is in the north, Hei Fu's heart will still be with the three thousand soldiers! Any matter related to the second and third sons, Hei Fu will also treat it as his own business and argue vigorously in the court!"

More than a thousand township party members stationed in Nanchang bowed to Heifu and said in unison: "Send Sima to the capital!"

When Lang Guan Yang Zhen left, he gave Heifu an order that was different from other soldiers.

The King of Qin agreed to the administrative planning for Jiangxi, but ordered Heifu to step down as the Order of Fanyang, and asked him to come to Xianyang to have an audience before the second month of spring!

Zhang Han analyzed that he should be retained as an official when he left.

This little fish from Nanjun, after struggling for six years, finally relied on its own efforts to leap into the dragon gate...

The carriage slowly traveled north, and what was waiting for Hei Fu was the center of the world, where there was an even more turbulent wave of the times!