Qin Official

In the twelfth lunar month of the 28th year of Qin Shihuang (the twelfth month of the lunar calendar), snow began to fall in the north. At first it was just sporadic light snow. Although it was a bit cold, the residents of Yiqu City could easily cope with it, but it continued to snow the next day, and on the third day It rained on the fourth day. It was completely white inside and outside Yiqu City. The snow covered the roof tiles. The cold wind blew, carrying and rolling the snowflakes...

The temperature dropped sharply, and the poor shivered in coarse linen brown clothes that were thick but not warm, relying on the residual warmth of stove ashes to survive the cold night. The rich wore all kinds of animal furs and burned charcoal and drank wine to keep warm, but they still couldn't escape the severe cold.

But in the county captain's house, it was a different story.

When Chen Ping's wife Zhang was invited by the hostess and brought her son Chen Mai into the inner room, she was shocked as soon as she entered the room!

Unlike the severe cold outside, it was actually extremely warm indoors! Entering here, the snowflakes on her hair immediately melted away, and her son Chen Maai's little face, which was red from the cold, quickly became warm...

"Madam, why is it so warm in this room?"

Zhang looked around, but didn't see anything like the charcoal basin, and was even more surprised.

However, Ye Zijin smiled and did not answer. He invited mother and son to sit on the couch and have some snacks.

This couch is different from ordinary wooden low couches. It is made of bricks and is several feet above the ground. You have to climb up. Zhang also comes from a wealthy family. She received Confucian education since she was a child, and she pays attention to women's appearance for fear of being disrespectful.

But Ye didn't care. She couldn't help but hugged Xiao Chen Mai first to the couch.

Chen Mai was only one year old and could not speak yet. He could only make babbling sounds. But after getting on the bed, he was extremely happy. Mrs. Zhang was afraid that her son would crawl around and break the utensils on the bed and table, so she could only Then get on the bed.

As soon as her butt touched the couch, she suddenly felt a warmth. She lowered her head in surprise and touched it with her hands. She found that the couch was extremely hot, as if... there was a stream of hot air rolling inside!

"It's a fire kang. The house is surrounded by an earthen bed, with a blazing fire underneath, and sleeping, eating, and living on it. It's called a kang. In this severe winter, it's the only way to keep warm."

Ye Zijin clarified her doubts. It turned out that not only was the bottom of the brick couch hollow, but also the walls of the new house were hollow "walls". There is a fire channel dug under the wall, and the charcoal port for lighting the fire is placed under the eaves of the adjacent house. The charcoal fire is burned in the charcoal port, and the heat can be warmed along the wall to the main house next door, especially the kang couch. Ye Zijin can curl up on the kang to rest and take a nap like a cat, instead of shivering by the charcoal basin like other housewives.

In order to avoid waste, she also had the cooking area moved from the east kitchen to the next door, killing two birds with one stone.

After explaining the principle of the fire kang, Ye Zijin told Mrs. Zhang another interesting story: "Did you know that the county lieutenant is the most afraid of the cold..."

Heifu, who was born in the south in his past and present life, is indeed very afraid of the cold. It only snowed a few times last month, and he complained that he couldn't stand it anymore. After entering the twelfth lunar month, he shivered even more. Because he was afraid of the cold, he racked his brains and began to think of ways to keep himself and his family warm, and finally came up with something called a "fire kang".

Heifu had never eaten pork and had seen pigs running away. Heifu suggested that he ask craftsmen who specialized in building houses and repairing stoves to perfect it for him. He referred to the semi-underground cave dwellings that are common in the Loess Plateau and built it before the heavy snow fell. This new house.

"With this house, we can have a warm winter in the Northland this year."

Heifu was very satisfied with this. He lit a fire in the charcoal mouth and found that the smoke would not pour back into the main house and cause danger. He then asked Ye Zijin to build a small room with a balcony in Chen Ping's courtyard after the snow stopped. A house with a heated kang...

"The county lieutenant and his wife really love my family!"

Mrs. Zhang quickly paid homage to Mrs. Ye. Last winter, Chen Ping left her eight months pregnant and went to Xianyang alone to attend Hei Husband's wedding banquet. Although she understood her husband, she still complained in her heart.

This autumn, Chen Ping, as Hei Fu's retainer, went to the north to take office with him. Although her husband rose from a rural official to a county captain, the Zhang family was also delighted, but the Huarong people in the north were mixed, and she was very happy. Not used to it, and Chen Ping was busy all day long, taking care of government affairs for Hei Fu, so he could only see him once at night. When he woke up the next day, he was gone again. Although he didn't say it, Zhang was still a little depressed. .

But Mrs. Ye was very kind to their mother and son, giving them clothes and food. Although she knew that this was probably the wife's way of controlling the county captain, she was very touched that she could do this, so she He said movingly:

"Madam treats my mother and son better than close relatives and distant relatives!"

Then, she began to talk about the life of their family in Yangwu County every winter.

Although the Zhang family was rich, Chen Ping also wanted to save face and could not spend his wife's money all the time, so he still couldn't afford to burn charcoal in the winter. Chen Ping was eager to learn, borrowed books from the Zhang family and copied them, and he was trustworthy. The days are coming back, it's snowing, the inkstone is frozen, and I can't bend my fingers, but I don't dare to slack off at all.

"With this heated kang, my beloved family doesn't have to do this anymore."

However, while the women were chatting on the kang, Heifu and Chen Ping could not enjoy the warmth. At this moment, they were braving the wind and snow to go to the county soldiers' barracks to reward the soldiers...

…

There are five hundred county soldiers and five hundred garrison soldiers in Yiqu City. The county soldiers are a standing army, while the garrison soldiers are recruited from all over the Kansai region to serve. In this weather, except for a few people who have to stand guard at the top of the city, the rest of them are Hiding in the house.

In the county army barracks, in a large room that can accommodate ten people, ten people were neatly gathered in a small circle. The daily quota of firewood has been burned, so they can only wrap themselves in blankets, stretch their hands over the pit ashes that are not yet completely cold, huddle together to keep warm, and keep talking, as if this can heat up the house. point.

"I really want a pot of hot wine."

Lao Shichang, whose nose was red from the cold, sighed.

"It's better to have a warm woman." The thin team leader laughed.

"There is a female slave in the market, can you afford it?" The county soldiers began to boo.

At this time, the garrison soldier from Weinan swallowed his saliva: "I want to eat hot soup cakes more."

"What are soup cakes?" Several garrison soldiers from the North and Longxi looked at him and asked curiously.

"It's food brought by those immigrants from Shandong who can only eat wheat." The Guanzhong garrison didn't know that this thing came out of the kitchen of their county captain's house, so they just thought it was a custom in Guandong.

"You know wheat noodles, first mix them with cold broth, then knead them into large pieces, cut them into pieces with a foot, and cut them as thin as leek leaves with a knife, then add them to the soup and boil them until they are boiling, then take them out of the cauldron , according to personal preference, add some green onions, leeks, mallow, and if you are rich, you can also pour a layer of minced meat... This food is most suitable for eating in snowy days. One bowl of it will eliminate the coldness!"

When the garrison said this, the other nine people all licked their lips and felt a sense of hunger in their stomachs. Their bodies seemed to be getting colder, so they could only squeeze more, wishing they could get into each other's clothes...

At this time, the door of the living room was pushed open! The wind mixed with snowflakes poured into the house, and the house that had been warmed by ten human bodies was once again filled with severe cold.

"who is it!?"

Shi Chang stood up with a curse and was about to curse. When he took a closer look, he was shocked.

A man was standing at the door, dressed a little strangely: he was wearing a crimson official uniform and a dog-skin hat, and underneath he was wearing Qiang Rong black woolen clothes. He had a sword at his waist and his face was dark. After he opened the door, he swept Taking a look at the trembling soldiers inside, he smiled:

"I heard that the second and third sons wanted to drink hot wine and eat soup cakes, so I brought them to you!"

…

The snow has stopped, and in the military camp kitchen, the stove is burning brightly, and the aroma of broth is overflowing. Each of the county soldiers and garrison soldiers brought their own pottery cauldrons and put them directly on the stove. The chef Hei Fu invited from Guanzhong made soup cakes for them. After it's cooked, just take the cauldron away and find a flat ground for everyone to share the food with their bowls.

In the military camp, there was the sound of wolfing down food, and from time to time someone burned his mouth because he ate too hard.

"Eat the second and third pieces slowly, don't get burnt, it's enough for today!" There was a bumper wheat harvest this year, so Hei Fu had people send a lot of them over.

"Thank you, Lieutenant!"

The officer's words were spread throughout the military camp, and there was a burst of cheers.

In addition to soup cakes, there was also rice wine that they had been craving for a long time. After it was warmed by the stove, everyone was able to get a cup. After drinking it, they immediately felt warm in their stomachs.

Everyone was very satisfied, and some even shed tears while drinking.

"After serving as a county soldier for so many years, this is the only county captain who cares about our well-being!"

Looking at the garrison soldiers who were burping and patting their stomachs contentedly, and listening to the words of gratitude from the county soldiers, Heifu looked at Chen Ping aside: "You have a good idea."

On the way to the military camp, the weather was terrible, the blizzard was coming fiercely, and the wind was like a whip, causing my face to hurt.

But Chen Ping urged Heifu: "It is this kind of weather that is suitable for winning people's hearts..."

It was Chen Ping's idea to go out today: "The Art of War says that you treat a soldier like a baby, so you can go to the deep stream with him; you treat a soldier like a beloved son, so you can die with him. If the commander wants to use troops against the Xiongnu next year, he must first get it." Soldier’s heart!”

In addition to delivering food and hot wine, Heifu also brought something to the county soldiers and garrison soldiers.

After everyone had had enough wine and food, Heifu asked the commander and the corps commander to come out and have carts covered with linen be driven in, and pieces of white, black, or black and white wool would be brought in. Clothes were distributed to the soldiers.

"Isn't this the woolen clothing worn by the Qiang people?"

People in Longxi are no stranger to this. The Qiang people there often wear this thing.

But the people in the North are a little confused. It turns out that although there are long-haired sheep in the North, there are not many such clothes in the North because the wool is too rough and not suitable for spinning.

"Although this clothes is warm, it also smells strong, smelling like sheep."

A garrison soldier from Longxi said this, but when he took the woolen sweater, he was surprised to find that although there was a peculiar smell, it was not as strong as he thought.

It turned out that Heifu went to Longxi Qiang in the spring and was impressed by the Qiang people's shearing of wool, so he wrote a book called "Shearing Wool for Clothing". This book was approved by Qin Shihuang. According to Heifu's suggestion, Wushiluo sent a caravan to Huang. During the period, he purchased a large number of long-haired Qiang sheep and rushed to Longxi to tame them. They also used many methods such as buying, cheating, and robbing dozens of Qiang women to enter the country and teach the weavers the art of reaming wool and spinning threads.

The East and West Weaving Rooms under the Shaofu, as well as the Mohists, brainstormed and discovered that the plant ash used in papermaking could also be used to degrease wool. So after the last sheep shearing in autumn, they rushed to make a batch of wool with lighter odor. The clothes were completed in November and sent to Beidi, Shangjun and Longxi respectively.

Because of the snowy weather and difficult roads, 500 woolen coats arrived in Yiqu City today. Chen Ping suggested to Hei Fu that he should send them to the county soldiers immediately without delaying for a day!

"The lieutenant once said that adding icing on the cake is not as good as giving charcoal when the weather is in need. Today's gift of clothes is like giving charcoal!"

The garrison and county soldiers who were shivering in the snow felt a little itchy after putting on these clothes, but at least they were not as cold as before.

In addition to woolen coats, there were even some dog-skin hats. Heifu personally put them on the five hundred masters. His ears, which were red from the cold, were also protected. He was so moved that he bowed down and put his head in the snow...

However, the problem arises again. There are more than a thousand county soldiers and garrison soldiers, but there are only 500 woolen coats and more than 20 dog-skin hats. How should they be divided?

Hei Fu didn't have to do this task himself, he left it to Chen Ping.

Chen Ping butchered the meat evenly, and it was no problem to divide the clothes and hats. He asked the generals and the village chiefs to go out and gave them dog-skin hats and the best woolen clothes. Then, he asked the chiefs and corps commanders to go out and divide the meat. Give me a sweater.

Afterwards, they were arranged in order according to their title and distributed one by one...

In this way, the rich people will basically have a woolen coat, and the remaining people will be arranged according to their age until the cart carrying clothes becomes empty.

The Qin army is inherently hierarchical, so divided that everyone has nothing to say.

"There are at least five pieces in every item. When it rains or snows, why not let people who go out on duty wear them?" As he spoke, Heifu took off his woolen sweater and handed it to a man who looked very old. Small, his face was frozen to the point of cracking in the hands of a young boy!

"How can I say that I have no clothes? I share the same robe with you!"

Led by Heifu, the county soldiers and garrison soldiers also followed suit. Just like they had huddled together for warmth before, everyone shared warm woolen clothes to protect them from the cold. The song "No Clothes" gradually became louder and spread throughout the military camp. , spread throughout Yiqu City!

"How can I say that I have no clothes? I am in the same boat as you!"

"How can I say that I have no clothes? I share the same clothes with you!"

"The king raised his troops and repaired my armor. Come with me!"

In the singing, it seems that the entire Yiqu City is surrounded by Huanzao. This warmth from the heart seems to melt the frost and snow all over the city...

…

The following month, after this incident was reported back to Xianyang, it was also praised by Qin Shihuang and ordered the officials of Guanxi prefectures and counties to follow suit. From this time on, it became a common practice for officers to give clothes and food to soldiers in winter. Later generations called it:

"Send warmth"!