Qin Official

In late April of the twenty-sixth year of Qin Shihuang, Zhuo Tie stood by the turbid Wei River, holding his hoe, looking at his new home.

Their new home is located in the "Between Fenghao" east of Duting and west of Zhiyang. This was the old capital of the Zhou Dynasty. It was abandoned after the Lishan disaster. The former city palaces and palaces are gone. In the prosperity of the city, there is only a lush field of millet seedlings growing freely, where foxes live, jackals howl, and occasionally one or two wild pheasants are heard.

This land is the northern edge of "Shanglin Garden", one of the Five Gardens, and has not been developed until more than ten years ago, when Qin Shihuang's grandmother, the Queen Mother Xia, chose this place as her mausoleum.

The Queen Mother of Xia was not the royal family, so she could not be buried with King Xiaowen of Qin in Shouling to the west of Duting, so she chose a piece of wasteland between Shouling and the tomb of her son, King Zhuangxiang Zhiyang, and left her last words: "Look east for my son, look west My husband. In the next hundred years, there will be thousands of towns nearby."

Qin Shihuang obviously took the old queen mother's last words to heart. There is no need to wait for a hundred years. With the arrival of immigrants, a simple house has been built here for the immigrants to live. Strictly divided the lilu and wu, and selected li dian, wu lao, and the three rural elders. A local mistress was also sent to take charge, and everyone was asked to register their household registration, name, and write down their age.

Outside the residential area, fences and walls are slowly being built up to prevent wild animals in the garden from attacking people and livestock. The woods and grasslands are burned to white ground by fire, presumably to open up acres of land after they have completely settled down.

Although the long journey was over, Zhuo Tie and other Yanzhao immigrants were still worried because the spring plowing had already passed and it was too late to plant millet. They were not allowed to buy grain from other places. Will the Qin officials and officials support them until next autumn in vain? ?

There are more than a thousand families resettled in Dudong alone. There are at least ten resettlement settlements like this in the entire area around Shanglinyuan in Weinan. Tens of thousands of people have to eat more than one million shi of food, which is not a small amount, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of immigrants scattered in 40 counties in the inner history. In one year, they need at least 5 million shi of food.

On this day, the Tianzuo officials and Cangzuo officials in black clothes and hats gathered people from each household to dispel their anxieties.

"According to Qin law, men are given one and a half dan of grain per month, young men and women less than six feet five are given one dan of grain per month, and children are given one and a half dan of grain."

According to the previously registered household registration book, each family will receive this month's rations on the first day of May. Zhuo Tie's family has a total of three shi of food, so they can at least eat enough.

But when the immigrants received the food and opened the sacks, they were dumbfounded.

It turned out that what was distributed was not millet but wheat!

"Sir, there is only wheat?"

It doesn't matter to Zhuo Tie himself, but his wife is in poor health and his son is young. If he eats nothing but wheat, he will definitely get sick. He didn't know that this was because the human body lacked wheat starch digestive enzymes, and eating wheat rice would cause indigestion and other uncomfortable symptoms.

"From now until April next year, your rations will only be wheat!"

The Qin official glanced at these Shandong prisoners who dared to express their anger but did not dare to speak, and smiled: "If you don't want to eat wheat rice, you can go to the water mill by the Wei River. For thirty coins per stone, you can grind the wheat into wheat flour. Shi will also send chefs to various cities to teach how to make wheat cakes!"

Wheat is slightly cheaper than millet, costing less than 30 yuan per stone, but it costs the same price to grind flour. Anyone with a discerning eye will know that they are ripping people off.

Ordinary farmers would definitely be reluctant to part with it, and would rather chew unpalatable wheat rice than pay this unjust amount of money.

However, the immigrants from Shandong were originally wealthy locals. Before being relocated, all their belongings were exchanged for gold, silver, money and silk. They did not lack money, but what they lacked was a life of pampering and pampering.

From Baqiao to Duxian, they were lucky enough to eat several meals of food called "naan", which is said to be made of wheat flour. Although everyone is not used to eating it, it is still delicious. The rich man Wang who clamored to die for not eating wheat has become addicted to it, saying that the taste of wheat cakes is stronger than that of corn.

Now the Qin official only gave them two choices, so after a little tangle, most of them gritted their teeth and walked to the water mill carrying the sacks.

A folk song has also spread among Shandong immigrants:

"I would rather eat a bite of naan bread than a basket of wheat rice!"

…

At Heifu's house on Zhangtai Street, looking at the wheat-yellow, steaming naan pancakes with some meat fillings on the plate in front of him, Qin Mo and Cheng Shang smelled the fragrance and swallowed, but did not start.

He looked at Hei Fu, who was slowly eating a cake on the table opposite him, and sighed: "In the early days, Mohists had to wear short brown clothes and eat quinoa soup. Although Qin Mo is more than that, he also pays attention to simplicity. If Xiang Lige sees me being so extravagant, he might say that Qin Mo Shudian has forgotten his ancestors?"

Hei Fu was slightly startled when he heard the name "Xiangli Ge", and then remembered that it was the Chu Mo who ran to the Qin camp alone to persuade Li You to retreat during the battle to destroy Chu.

Later, the city of Ruyin was destroyed, and all three of his division commanders were killed in battle. Xianglige pulled the chariot with a hemp rope and carried away their bodies...

Since that day, Qin Mo and Cheng Shang's ideas have been greatly impacted. He always doubts whether what Qin Mo is doing is right, and he is almost suffering from depression.

When Heifu came to Xianyang to see him again, Cheng Shang had lost a lot of weight and his face became more and more miserable...

So Heifu put down the food in his hand and said while wiping his hands:

"Now that Chu State has been destroyed, the world is unified under Qin, and the strong take all. Chu Mo, who specializes in helping weak countries resist invasion, has completely lost its use."

"But Qin Mo is in the prime of his life, but Brother Cheng is worried all day long. Why is this?"

Cheng and Shang were silent, but Qin Mo mainly inherited Mozi's concept of "advocating unity". They believed that as long as there are many countries in the world, war will never disappear. If we want to realize world unity, we must first achieve political unity and let all voices speak from one voice to eliminate war.

Qin Mo chose to assist the Qin State to unify the world. After a hundred years of hard work and suffering many doubts from inside and outside the faction, he finally achieved his original intention.

Qin Mo also actively participated in the construction of the empire. In the dispute between feudalism and prefectures and counties, Mo Mo stood firmly on the side of prefectures and counties. Qin Shihuang said: "Today, we will fight hard and fight endlessly, so that there will be princes and kings." Laizong Temple , the world has been settled for the first time, and the country has been restored, it is to build soldiers, and it is not difficult to ask for its peaceful rest!" Qin Mo agreed very much with this statement.

But the current new dynasty is still far from Qin Mo's ideal country. Especially the recent series of emperor's policies have made Cheng Shang even more worried. He couldn't help but think of the prophecy made by Prime Minister Li Ge of Chu a few years ago.

"The King of Qin conquered the six kingdoms and slaughtered the world. People in the world will not love each other, the strong will oppress the weak, the masses will rob the widows, the rich will bully the poor, the nobles will be base, and the deceivers will deceive the fools!"

Although the world was unified, the hatred of Qin among the remnants of the Six Kingdoms did not disappear. In order to stabilize his rule, Qin Shihuang ordered 120,000 households to move into the Pass. In the eyes of Mohists, this move was a bit rough.

"More than 600,000 people are fed and clothed. If not handled properly, the consequences will be disastrous. Your Majesty is too eager."

Heifu doesn't think so. The rations of the Qin Company's 600,000 expeditionary troops can be supplied, let alone eating in the rich Guanzhong? The problem is nothing more than how to save costs, so he smiled and said:

"Mr. Cheng, are you worried too much? Now all the immigrants from Shandong have settled in their new homes. They are protected by cities and rations are provided by the government. Although there is only Sumai, I heard that the people of Shandong have already fallen in love with pasta, and men are rushing to go to the water mill. The house grinds noodles, and women learn how to knead dough and make pancakes from the government chefs. There is also a folk saying, 'I would rather eat a mouthful of naan bread than a basket of wheat rice'..."

The water mill was also a new thing, an idea proposed by Heifu to Nei Stern. Maishi in Guanzhong already had an animal-powered stone mill, and Nanjun's machine-operated water mill was also a very mature technology. Combining the two, replacing the rice mill with a flour-grinding stone mill, a water mill could be made.

So starting last month, Nei Shi invited craftsmen from Nanjun to cooperate with Qin Mo to build dozens of water mills in various immigration settlements in Weishui, Fengshui, and Bashui.

The people in Guanzhong were amazed when they saw this kind of machine that could operate on its own without the help of humans or animals for the first time. But after seeing the excitement, no one from the local Lao Qin people went into the water mill to grind noodles.

The stubbornness of food habits is extremely profound. Take Heifu himself as an example. He can eat wheat cakes once in a while, but he can't bear to eat them all the time. He still prefers the rice that has been with him for decades in his past and present lives. , Southerners even have a saying that "eating steamed buns is not a good meal".

Therefore, the local people in Guanzhong would rather eat their own millet than the delicious-smelling wheat cakes, but the immigrants from Shandong have no choice but to eat cakes...

"The promotion of wheat and pasta in the north should start with the hundreds of thousands of Shandong immigrants. Let them get used to eating wheat cakes first, and then in July and August, let everyone grow wheat in the fields. This will form a virtuous cycle. , and slowly expand the sowing area of ​​Sumai in Guanzhong."

Wheat is more productive than millet, and it will be replaced sooner or later. But historically, this process began in the Han Dynasty and was not initially completed until the Tang and Song Dynasties. For a thousand years, wheat was a miscellaneous grain in the north.

Heifu also comforted Cheng Shang and said: "Using Feng River and Wei River for milling and milling, and turning five wheels, each mill can grind three hundred dendrobiums of wheat per day. Cheng Jun and Qin Mo have contributed a lot to being able to do this!"

But Mohist's Madonna disease relapsed, and Cheng Shang hesitated and said that he thought the money Shuimo charged for grinding flour was too expensive, and that he was robbing the people of their food, clothing, and use...

“It doesn’t require the help of humans and animals anyway, so why not let the people use it for free?”

The Mohists were too idealistic, and Heifu couldn't laugh or cry: "Building a mill costs a lot of money and labor, and the officials who guard the mill also need salaries. If the mill cannot make a profit, the government will have no motivation to build it, and I'm afraid it will be abandoned soon."

Cheng Shang didn't know that this idea was given to Nei Shi by Heifu.

Charging thirty yuan per stone for grinding flour is equivalent to selling millions of wheat to wealthy households in Shandong. When the time comes next year, Nei Shiteng has not only stabilized the price of millet in Guanzhong, but also earned back wheat money through the mill. Such an eye-catching political achievement will definitely be praised by the emperor...

It can be considered as a bonus from Heifu to Nei Shiteng.

"This means that the wool comes from the sheep. Anyway, the rich households in Shandong are not short of money." He thought to himself.

But then again, the Qin Dynasty government even considered the rations for small officials on business trips to be extremely meticulous. If you are not allowed to eat one more meal, how can it be possible to feed hundreds of thousands of people for a year in vain? As far as Heifu knows, these hundreds of thousands of immigrants still have a big project waiting for them before planting wheat in autumn.

This was also the reason why Cheng Shang came to Heifu. He said with a grimace: "Qin Mo once advised His Majesty that after King Wu of Zhou destroyed Zhou, he would practice martial arts and cultivate literature and return to Mount Hua. Although the world is stable today, the world is still at war. Countless, they should collect the soldiers from all over the world and enter the pass, and forge swords into plowshares..."

This was Qin Mo's original intention, but Qin Shihuang was a man who liked to make his own decisions. When the edict was announced the day before yesterday, the Moists discovered that their suggestions had gone astray.

The emperor collected the soldiers from all over the world and gathered them in Xianyang, but he was not willing to cast them into farm tools. Instead, he ordered that the mountains of weapons from the six countries be used to do a great thing comparable to Yu's casting of Jiuding...

"Sold Feng Dy and cast it into the Twelve Golden Figures!"