Qin Official

Tug-of-war is an old custom in Nan County. This is not just a boast, it is a real thing.

When he asked the charioteer Sang Mu to lead the officials to explain the rules to the military commander, Hei Fu also said to Wang Wei, Zhai Chong and others: "Have you ever heard of Lu Ban?"

Wang Wei was young and had never left the north, so he shook his head. Zhai Chong was older and had fought in the Central Plains, so he arrived.

"Lu Ban lived two hundred years ago and was a skilled craftsman of the State of Lu. At that time, the King of Chu was competing with the King of Yue for hegemony in the Jianghuai River, so he hired Lu Ban to join Chu and make weapons for boat warfare for the Chu State."

"So Lu Ban made instruments called 'hook' and 'reject'. When the enemy was at a disadvantage, the hook could catch the enemy ship, and the soldiers pulled it back hard to prevent it from escaping; when the enemy was at a disadvantage, When it is advantageous, it can resist the enemy's ships and prevent them from pursuing them. With the hook and the enemy's rear, the Chu army is invincible. They defeat the Yue Kingdom and invade eastward, covering a wide area as far as Sishang..."

Wang Wei listened with rapt attention and praised: "What an amazing craftsman!"

From that time on, the people of Jianghan, who often served as Chulou boatmen, also practiced the art of pulling hooks whenever their lords called for martial arts, so that they could be used in water battles. Slowly, it evolved into a folk "drama of pulling the hook". Although the Chu State perished, the custom was passed down. This is the origin of tug-of-war.

And now, Heif has brought the movement to the North.

While they were talking, the ten warriors from the Ox Killing Tribe and the Tiger Falling Tribe had listened to the rules, arrived on the field, and looked at each other with wide eyes. The two tribes already had a grudge, and the fight a few days ago started from them.

The people of the Rong tribe from ten miles and eight villages also heard about the new things that happened in Pengyang City. They helped the old and the young, rode horses and drove cars. There were actually as many as two to three thousand people, surrounding not far away to give their respective tribes The warriors are encouraged.

They saw a long hemp rope more than ten feet long in the open space. Ten people from each of the Sha Niu and Hu Luo tribes lined up on both sides. They picked up the rope and stood still. In addition to the shallow ditch that separated them, the officials also erected a red flag in the middle of the hemp rope as a boundary and beat drums as a signal for the two teams to pull the rope from each other.

With the sound of drums, the warriors from the two groups, Sha Niu and Hu Luo, gritted their teeth, leaned back, and used all their strength to pull the rope. Dust was raised under their feet. The number and strength of both sides were about the same, so they were locked in a stalemate. The red silk ribbon tied at the middle point of the rope moved to the left and to the right. The rope was pulled violently and was about to break, as if it was crawling and not turning back.

Not only was the field anxious, but the onlookers were also nervous. Ten people were pulling, thousands of people were shouting, and the ground was moved by the noise.

But in the end, it was the Killing Niu family that became the final winner. Everyone in the Killing Niu family suddenly burst into loud cheers, and rushed up to lift the ten warriors high, treating them as heroes, pushing them onto their horses, and letting the ten men show off their power.

The strong man of the Huluo family got up from the ground in embarrassment, with some dissatisfaction on his face, but Gongsun Bailu, who was ordered by Hei Fu to judge both sides, said with a gloomy face:

"I have sworn before that there is no hidden evil in defeat, there is no concealment in strength, and there is no chance of defeat. Do you want to go back on it?"

"I don't dare. It's true that the Sha Niu family is strong and the Hu Luo family lost."

Hu Luo Luo glared at his own children, and let them return to the tribe in despair. They inevitably received a lot of scolding from the tribe, but this tug of war was in front of thousands of people, and there were officials as witnesses. If you lose, you lose. , and there is no excuse.

So, this winter, a water source and a mountain top were used by the cattle-killing family.

Next came the other three families. Whenever there was a territorial dispute, they would compete in a tug-of-war. They all sent out their strongest disciples to win or lose. The last time, just when the winner was about to be decided, the hemp rope made a "snap" sound. It broke, and all the contestants fell to the ground, causing thousands of people watching to laugh.

By the time it was getting dark, the intricate territorial disputes among the five tribes had all been resolved through tug-of-war. Compared with the previous seven or eight tribal warriors who died every time they resolved disputes, in today's fight, at least a few people used too much force to get past their waists. It was really friendly and harmonious...

Sha Niuli, Hu Luoluo and other five people were also considered wise and happily accepted the result. Afterwards, Hei Fu asked thousands of people from the five tribes to gather outside Pengyang City and said loudly:

"While you were doing the tug of war, I visited the old men in each department, and they told me a story."

"In ancient times, tribes competed for pasture water. They fought to the death with short blades. Every time they fought, hundreds of people were often killed or injured. The coldest winter and the worst famine only caused so much damage to the tribe."

"So decades ago, the five monarchs gathered in Pengyang and made an agreement. From now on, only ten people will be sent to fight. The winner can use water and grass for a year."

"But even so, more than ten warriors die every year, so why bother?"

"It is better to die than ten people to die, and it is better to die ten people than to die at all. From now on, whenever there is a dispute among the five tribes, ten people from each will send out a tug of war to fight instead. How about that?"

The soldiers of the Great Plains were often recruited into the army. They also knew the laws of the country and the military, and had a certain degree of discipline. When the county captain spoke, the five rulers could only agree. As for the ordinary herdsmen, they also felt that there was nothing wrong with it.

After the people of the five tribes dispersed one after another, a huge bonfire was lit outside Pengyang City. Heifu had all the sheep sent by the princes of the five tribes be slaughtered and shared with the soldiers who came with him to stop the private fight. He even killed them himself. Cut the meat for them.

The county lieutenant's approach to the lower-level county soldiers naturally won the applause of Wang Wei and other soldiers. However, just when everyone was eating happily, Gongsun Bailu found Heifu and expressed his opinion to him.

"The commander-in-chief thinks that the five Ohara tribes will really abide by the rules set today?"

…

Heifu swallowed the roast mutton in his mouth, looked at Gongsun Bailu who was reflected red by the firelight, and said: "I'm afraid not. Let them tug of war today. It's just a temporary measure. At least let the five tribes live in peace for a year and don't cause chaos. .”

"This is also the case for subordinates."

Gongsun Bailu's accent was very serious. He said: "There are too many cattle and sheep in a small pen, and they will fight each other, let alone five warlike tribes?"

"What's your solution?" Heifu asked.

"There are two ways." Gongsun Bailu paused.

"tell me the story."

Gongsun Bailu glanced at the white wolf of Yiqu who was dancing happily with the soldiers not far away. He approached Heifu and whispered: "The first is to make the Dayuan soldiers abandon their herding and engage in farming!"

"Oh?" Hei Fu looked at Gongsun Bailu in surprise. This man's knowledge was quite impressive.

He knew that this was not the place to talk about things, so he excused himself to go to the toilet and asked Gongsun Bailu to leave the noisy bonfire with him, returned to the city, and sat across from each other. Hei Fu's words were a bit more polite.

"Please also ask Gongsun County Lieutenant to discuss it in detail."

Gongsun Bailu said: "The county captain should know that the identity of my grandfather is the son of Lord Yiqu and the Queen Mother Xuan. King Zhao was kind and knew that it was not easy for the Queen Mother. Therefore, after Yiqu was destroyed, his eldest father (grandfather) and eldest father Zhong were spared."

"My eldest father was ashamed of his Rong clan status, so he changed his household registration. He considered himself a son of Xia, wore Xia clothes, spoke Xia dialect, and changed his surname to Gongsun."

The same mother gave birth to an illegitimate child with a wild man, but King Qin Zhao and Qin Shihuang responded in completely opposite ways.

But think about it, Queen Mother Xuan dedicated herself to Lord Yiqu for state affairs. Empress Dowager Xuan sacrificed her appearance to win over Yiqu for many years, which enabled the Qin State to have no worries and free up its hands to strengthen the country's power. It also fought endlessly among the vassal states and made many gains. King Qin Zhao knew and even acquiesced in this matter. : "The matter of Yiqu is urgent, so I will invite the Queen Mother myself. Now that the matter of Yiqu is over, I can accept the order personally!"

However, Zhao Ji was purely motivated by her own lust and attempted to rebel against Lao Ai, so Qin Shihuang was not merciless at all.

Gongsun Bailu said again: "But my uncle Zhong is not like that. He just wants to be a Rong man. He will continue to take Yiqu as his surname, wear braided military uniforms, and wear his hair in left lapels. He will lead his people to move livestock, eat meat and drink cheese."

One stem bears two fruits, which also represents the two ways of life in Northland County.

Hei Fu knew it, so after three generations, the Gongsun family had reached the title of Duke. Gongsun Bailu even became the county captain of a neighboring county. By virtue of his family's status as a "distant relative of the clan", he had more official positions than ordinary Rong people. trust.

"Before my grandfather passed away, he warned my father and uncle to dig graves and bury them according to the customs of the Qin people, and not to imitate the customs of Yiqu and Qiang Rong and burn their ashes. He also said that if you want to gain a foothold in the north, You will definitely achieve meritorious service, win titles, and be granted more land, but the nomads will perish!"

Hei Fu was a little surprised by the knowledge of Grandpa Gongsun. After questioning, Gongsun Bailu told him the reason.

"My eldest father was once the supervisor of the pastoral garden. He discovered that a family whose livelihood depended on livestock production required five to ten hectares of woodland and pasture. In the event of rain or snow disasters, they might have to move to survive. And a family of five must manage the farmland. With a hundred acres, you can have enough food and clothing.”

"However, the number of immigrants from Guanzhong is increasing day by day, and they are all over Jingshui and Nishui. However, the land in Beidi County is limited. Although not many people move in every year, in the long run, where will there be so much open space for the Rong people to graze?"

"What your great father said is true!"

Hei Fu nodded and expressed his deep agreement. This is a simple economic question, and it is also a multiple-choice question faced by all the people in Beidi County, and even on the "Longmen-Jieshi" dividing line between agriculture and animal husbandry:

"To feed the same population, the land required for animal husbandry is dozens or even a hundred times larger than that for farming!"