Qin Official

It is said that more than two hundred years ago, Tian Chang, the founder of Tian Qi, selected more than 100 women with a height of more than seven feet to be his concubines, and guests were not allowed to come and go. So when Tian Chang died, his concubines gave birth to more than seventy sons.

Tian often let his disciples live in more than seventy cities in Qi, with one son in each city, named "Zhu Tian", and the Motian family was the descendant of one of these seventy sons. They were assigned to Jimo, and they have lived and thrived on this land for more than two hundred years. They have become the most prosperous nobles in Jiaodong, with thousands of hectares of fertile land, hundreds of guests, and thousands of vassals...

For the Jimo Tian family, January is a busy month, although five years ago, after the Qin people entered Jiaodong, they forced the powerful clans to separate their families and changed the first month to Mengdong. But even if they are separated, each small sect will still gather together every January to have a banquet, pay homage to the sect leader, and celebrate the New Year. For a time, the Tian family's mansion, located on the west bank of Mo Mo, was filled with melodious silk and bamboo and intoxicating wine.

"I only hope that the Jimo Tian family can continue forever and not lose the name of our ancestors."

After Tianjiao finished offering sacrifices to his ancestors, he sighed, turned around and said to the young sects gathered in the mansion: "Second and third sons, please feel free to speak your mind."

Although he was only about forty, he was not only a powerful man, but also a well-known local man.

In addition to asking each sect not to alienate each other, the most important thing about the January gathering is to be hosted by the sect leader to discuss how to distribute farm work, loan grain, and use cattle...

During the discussion, a clan member stood up excitedly and said: "Sect Master, Lin Ze in Tianshi Mountain was taken back to the government by the Qin officials. My family has lost a lot of financial resources and is not as wealthy as it used to be. From now on, we can no longer lend food on equal terms." , Collect evenly and don’t ask for interest!”

Others echoed: "Of course, the small bucket should be lent out and the big bucket should be taken back. The same goes for cattle and seeds. You can't borrow them in vain! Otherwise, in a few years, my family will be unable to make ends meet!"

However, Tian Jiao gestured with his hands and asked everyone to wait. He stood up and said: "Our ancestor Tian Chengzi borrowed grain with a big bucket and took it back with a small bucket. This was an act that benefited the people. Tian Chengzi loved the people like his parents, and the people returned to him. Like flowing water, there is a matter of Tian family replacing Qi."

"After that, the Jimo Tian family had another famous minister, Tian Zhongshou. He governed Jimo and made the fields open, the people provided for, the officials had nothing to do, and the east was peaceful. It became one of the five capitals of Qi, and the people still remember it."

After a pause, he said: "Nowadays, the official service of Qin is three times that of Qi, and the rent and tax are five times that of Qi. Jiaodong people like to have fun, and they have surplus food. They exchange more for literature, cloth, silk, fish and salt, and don't have much savings. . Nowadays, the people have paid taxes and taxes to save food, so there is no food in their homes, and the people are suffering from diseases. As a local powerful man, as a son of Tian Cheng, and a descendant of Tian Zhong, how can he not love the people? We should try our best to help them, How can we imitate the Qin government and seize it!"

"Then we can't always suffer losses. Why should my family make up for the holes caused by Qin officials' harsh administration?" The tribesmen were still puzzled, but Tian Jiao had made up his mind and did not dare to say anything more.

After everyone left, Tian Jiao had some calculations in his heart: "The great ancestor Tian Zhong, the leader of King Wei, ruled Jimo and was granted the title of ten thousand households. Before his death, he said something that his descendants should remember..."

"Then the king is like a fish, and the people are like water. If the people abandon me, I will be like a big fish without water, and my life will be short-lived!"

Especially when the Qin Dynasty ruled Jiaodong, it was as if the scorching sun was shining overhead and was about to dry up all the water in the ponds. That is to say, the Sumida clan had lost its position as king and could only live in a rut that was about to dry up.

The local government did not take action against the Jimo Tian family. Is it because they were afraid of their family's wealth, reputation, and followers? Maybe, but the most fearful thing is that Mr. Tian won the hearts of Jimo people, so he didn't dare to make any mistakes.

There are only a few dozen officials in the Qin Dynasty in Jimo, and most of the thousand county soldiers are locals. They have been favored by the Tian family for generations. If the government is really determined to attack the Tian family in Jimo and force his family into danger, the county soldiers and the people inside and outside the city will It’s hard to say who the common people will help...

Yes, Qin officials can demote the status of the Tian Qi feudal lord of the Jimo Tian family to "the head of Guizhou", and can also deprive his family of the benefits of mountains, rivers and sea salt, but they cannot take away the hearts and minds of the Jimo Tian family that has been in business for hundreds of years!

The officials of Qin did not understand the local language and did not know how to pay taxes on the land. After leaving the county, their eyesight went dark and they became blind and deaf!

If you want to issue laws and collect taxes, you need the help of people from the Tian family. Although Tian Jiao and his younger brother Tian Jian are not officials, there are many people from the Tian family and their retainers who are minor officials.

After five years, a tacit understanding has been formed: the government governs the inside of the city, while the Tian family and the big and small nobles still manage the outside. The originally rigid Qin officials, after eating seafood in Jiaodong for several years, many of them became fattened, took advantage of the Tian family, and turned a blind eye to some of their affairs.

How Tian Jiao hopes that by maintaining the family in this way, one day when heavy rain pours and Jiaodong becomes a vast ocean again, he will be able to swim in the sea with his tail wagging to his heart's content.

It's a pity that after five years of keeping things in check, the old county governor left office, and the new county governor just arrived and did two things that shocked the whole county.

This tells Tianjiao a message: The sky in Jiaodong has changed!

…

Tianjiao heard that the new county governor's name was Heifu, Wei's family. As soon as he entered Chunyu, he was assassinated in the name of being assassinated. He killed dozens of people from the three tribes of Yi and other tribes, and all of them died with five punishments. Chunyu County Magistrate and Lieutenant were dismissed from their posts, and the whole county was shrouded in black terror.

After Heifu arrived in Gaomi, he seemed to be a different person. He was extremely friendly to the local officials. He paid homage to the Yanzi Temple and frankly expressed his admiration for Yan Ying. They had a banquet all night and threw out the slogan "Tian Qi won the country unfairly". , wanting to support the old Jiang Qi clan and allow their children to become officials...

This incident made Tian Jiao feel that the person who came here was evil. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that this was an attempt to instigate the Jiaodong rich and powerful to fight among themselves, but he knew it was a trick and had to guard against it.

One hand was hard and the other was soft, and the vicious name arrived before anyone arrived. This combination of punches dazzled the Jiaodong nobles, and they were all on guard with fear. They didn't know what big thing the new governor would do after arriving in Jimo.

But in Tian Jiao's opinion, Heifu looked down upon them too much if he wanted to gain a foothold in Jimo by relying on this method.

The people of Jimo were extremely supportive of Tian Qi in the past. There is not only the past where Tian Dan led tens of thousands of people to resist the Yan army for five years and finally restored Qi. Before the fall of Qi, Dr. Jimo was also the toughest anti-Qin faction. He urged the king of Qi to build it, but it was a pity that he didn't listen!

Without taking advantage of the Tianjiao brothers, trying to take root in the local area and rule the more than 100,000 Jimo people who are hostile to the Qin people is nothing more than a dream!

So after the new county guard Wei arrived in Jimo City, Tian Jiao asked his younger brother Tian Jian to constantly travel between the city and the mansion to inquire about Qi's movements.

After a day-long meeting with the county captain, the county magistrate, and the censor, the county governor Heifu finally took action again. What people didn't expect was that the first decree he issued after arriving in the county was: It's actually...

"Dharma teachings?"

When his younger brother Tian Jian came back to tell him the news, Tian Jiao was stunned.

The so-called law is law, and teaching is education. They are easy to understand separately, but once they are connected together, they are difficult to figure out.

"Have you copied the political document?" Tian Jiao asked hurriedly.

"It was copied."

Tian Jian presented the slips in his hands to Jiaodong bamboo wood, paper with the color of the Qin government, which was not liked by powerful Confucian scholars.

But I saw that the first line of this slip said: "The Dharma is the order of the world. Therefore, it is the ability to resolve doubts and clarify right from wrong, and the lives of the people depend on it."

Tian Jian Yongwu Shaowen didn't know the reason for this, but Tian Jiao, who had experienced Jixia, thought for a moment and said, "It's Guan Yiwu's words..."

This is rare. A Qin official would actually start a government order with the words of Guan Zhong, a native of Qi? However, Tian Jiao thought of the "Jingbian Temple" built in Linzi a few years ago, in which Guan Zhong was the priest. He heard that Jimo was also about to open a temple.

"We worship Yan Ying and offer sacrifices to Guan Zhong. This Heifu County Sheriff is really a bad person." Tian Jiao shook his head.

He continued to look down: "Guanzi also said that among the herdsmen, the soldiers should not do evil things, and the women should not engage in sexual intercourse. If the scholars do not do evil things, they should teach; if the women do not engage in adultery, they should train them. The teachings become commonplace, and the criminal law is provincial. Count!"

"When I first arrived in Jiaodong, I heard that many of the Jiaodong scholars were evil and often imprisoned. The powerful officials did not know the laws and the children did not know your majesty. However, they slandered Qin's harsh laws. The ancients said that killing without teaching is cruelty. This is If the officials do not want to kill without permission, they must first follow Guan Zi's advice, take the Qin officials as their teachers, teach the scholars with the law, and spread it to the common people, so as to make the people's country more popular and save punishment."

The above is to use Guan Zhong's words to reduce the rejection mentality of the Qidi scholars, and at the same time hypocritically declare that he is a kind person, believes in the power of education, and will not indiscriminately impose punishments. The following is the main body of this decree:

Heifu announced that starting from January, two schools, an official school and a primary school, will be opened in Jimo!

The official school selectively recruits the eldest sons of wealthy officials who are over 16 years old to enter the school, and they are divided into two classes.

Class B studies Qin Yan and Qin Seal. Those who pass the Qin Yan and Qin Seal exams in half a year will be promoted to Class A. Those who fail will continue to repeat the grade to make up the exam. Class A has studied the laws of Qin for half a year, and those who have a thorough understanding of the laws and regulations can serve as officials in the government.

The official school is actually a crash course for young cadres. Whoever the government chooses will send their children. It is obviously a back door for the old Jiangqi clans such as Yan, Guo, Gao, Bao, and Lu. It is hoped that in a year and a half, they can become assistant officials and assist the government in controlling the countryside.

But the primary school is different. All wealthy families and nobles in Jimo must send boys over eight years old to school to learn Qin characters and Qin dialects. Those who disobey the order will be severely punished!

Regardless of whether it is a primary school or an official school, in addition to law and language classes, there is also a public class. Classes are held on the first and fifteenth day of each month in the newly built Jingbian Temple in front of the statue of Guan Zhong. This class is open to the whole society and is based on the Qin and Dong Qi. Preach bilingually.

Sheriff Heifu personally took action, compiled teaching materials, and asked his officials to preach some important things to the children:

For example, Jiang Qi has a long history, friendly relations with Qin, several generations of marriages, sympathy for each other, and the tragic experience of being usurped by Tian Qi and having his emperor and ministers tortured, killed and exiled.

There are also core values ​​that every Jiaodong person should keep in mind:

"All Xia have the same ancestors, Qin and Qi are one family, and the East and the West prosper together!!"