Qin Official

Heifu was sure that Xi would be famous all over the world from now on, which was too optimistic. As an official who had offended the emperor, Xi had to suffer more blank looks and indifference along the way.

Fortunately, thanks to the two people arranged by Ye Zijin to take care of him, his food and clothing were guaranteed. The guards who escorted him knew that the criminal had a close friendship with the Marquis of Changnan, so they did not dare to treat him harshly. After entering Longxi County, Xi was actually able to sit in the car without having to do anything. Endure the trek.

In mid-August, a group of people came to a small town called "Jincheng" by the clear river.

"Xi Jun, after passing this place, we will reach Zhangye County." The jailer named "Chi" told Xi. He was the official responsible for the escort. He had been to Zhangye twice and was familiar with the roads.

Xi nodded. He had heard that in the twenty-seventh year, His Majesty visited the West and listened to Wu Zhu's talk about the Queen Mother of the West. He wanted to expand westward, so Hei Fu and Li Xin made sacrifices to the source of the river for her.

After the two men, the black dog and the white horse, offered two prisons at Jishi Mountain, they ran to this area. Here, Hei Fu saw the wool-pulling technique of the Xiqiang people and grafted it to Beidi County. Unexpectedly, wool has become a pillar industry in the counties on the northern frontier of the empire. Thick, rough, and slightly smelly woolen coats not only protect the garrison soldiers from the cold, but also make their way into thousands of homes. Households have become a necessary winter item for northerners.

Li Xin was an enterprising general. He saw that the West Qiang had the advantage of controlling the upper reaches of the river and was close to the Yuezhi. It was a battleground for military strategists, so he ordered his soldiers to dig earth and build a city here. I don’t know when and who buried the gold, so it was named Jincheng.

Now, after several years of development, Jincheng has become very prosperous, especially at the ferry crossing the river. Every day, corvees and garrison soldiers from Xianyang queue up to cross the river. They are ordered to build thousands of miles of galloping roads and hundreds of A pavilion barrier.

On the opposite side, ships kept coming, carrying exotic products from the Western Regions, caravans with camel bells, and even envoys from small foreign countries...

What passed by Xi and the others was an envoy looking around under the leadership of Qin soldiers. They saw that their hair was curly and dark, their noses were straight, their beards were thick, and their clothes were draped in a piece of cloth. All the way down from the shoulders to the knees.

The people of the Central Plains and the barbarians Rongdi have different clothing customs: the people in the east are called Yi, and they are tattooed with hair and tattoos; the people in the east are called barbarians, and they have carved inscriptions on the fingers and toes; the people in the west are Rong, and they are covered in hair and clothing; the people in the north are called Di, and they wear feathers and live in caves...

However, this was the first time I saw the foreigner in front of me, and he was different from the traditional barbarians Rongdi.

"They should be the barbarians from the Western Regions. Those barbarians have all kinds of strange clothes and words."

The jailer Chi said so. When they asked later, they found out that they were indeed visitors from the Western Regions, a delegation from a country named "Daxia" who wanted to enter Xianyang to meet Emperor Qin Shihuang.

"Daxia? Isn't it another name for Taiyuan? Your Majesty also calls the territory of Daqin 'Northern Daxia'. Why is it also in the west?"

Xi was a little confused, but he didn't go into details. It was only then that the group of people really went deep into the border.

But the Zhangye in Hexi in front of us is far different from the barren desert that Xi imagined was full of dry rocks and no water or grass.

What appeared in front of him was a land rich in water and grass under the snow-capped mountains. In the forest, red deer and deer were flying by, and on the grassland, there were herds of cattle and sheep. They were the main source of livestock in Guanzhong.

Under the irrigation of the river originating from the snow-capped mountains, there are many farms on both sides of the river. The millet is ripe now, and 10,000 immigrants from the Central Plains are completing the harvest.

However, most of the workers were women and children, while men on horseback, holding spears and halberds, patrolled around the immigrant villages that had just been established a few years ago. The shadows of men and horses appearing on the hills in the distance would make them nervous, and they would immediately sound the gong to warn them. In an instant, all the people, men, women, old and young, were armed and making a lot of noise, and then the riders in the distant mountains disappeared. …

After asking why, Xicai learned that it was not safe here. Qiang people from Huangzhong appeared from time to time and plundered the wealth accumulated by the farmers throughout the year. Those Qiang people each have their own rulers, and there is no unified restraint. They roar towards each other on horseback, and then sweep away after winning. It is difficult to stop them. Now they have become a serious problem in the southeast of Zhangye...

"General Li also sent people to protect them, and even went deep into Huangzhong several times to annihilate the Qiang tribe. However, these damn Qiang people were like wild wolves that smelled blood. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't kill them all."

A border immigrant whose wife and children were taken away by the Qiang people told Xi with some sadness and anger that they could only organize themselves and fight against them with all the people as soldiers.

Xi is just a relegated official, what can he do? I only hope that the beacon towers built along Chidao and the garrisons constantly dispatched from the Central Plains can protect these Guizhou leaders.

The journey continued forward. After crossing the Heishui River, the security improved slightly. Due to the obstruction of the remaining Qilian Mountains, the Western Qiang people could no longer penetrate this far. However, Zhuyeze, one of the five tribes of the Yuezhi, still occupied the lower reaches of the Blackwater. "Ministry of Secrets".

As the only Yuezhi people to surrender to the Qin Dynasty, the Xiumi tribe was allowed to retain their territory, but now, their existence, like the Huangshui Xiqiang, poses a threat to Chidao. It is said that General Li Xin has brought them back again The meaning of migration.

Finally, in mid-September, Xi finally arrived at Zhaowu City, the capital of Zhangye County.

The jailer who escorted him came here for the third time. He told Xi that according to legend, there is another story about the construction of this city: the Yueshi tribe, who lived in pursuit of water and grass, came to this place with lush water and grass during a hunting trip. King Yuezhi rode on a tall horse and looked to the south. He saw the majestic Qilian Mountains covered with snow. Looking to the north, he saw the rolling green hills, the mist and mist, and the chirping of hundreds of birds. At the foot of the mountain, the waves were weak and the water gushed for thousands of miles. It made his heart flutter.

So King Yuezhi led his tribe to gallop wildly in the dense reeds. Suddenly, a pair of mating red deer jumped into his sight. When King Yuezhi saw the pair of tall red deer, he was so ecstatic that he led his men. He opened his bow like the moon, guided his arrow like it was flying, and shot at the two deer.

But then, the two red deer stepped on the auspicious clouds and floated into the sky, disappearing among the white clouds and blue sky...

Although the deer was not hunted, the place where the red deer disappeared became the place where the Yuezhi people settled. The Yuezhi king captured slaves from the city-states in the Western Regions. Under their labor, a city was built and named "Zhaowu". ".

Nowadays, the Yuezhi, who used to lead tens of thousands of bows and dominated Hexi, has been destroyed. The king of the Yuezhi was beheaded by Li Xin, and the tribe either fled or perished. Li Xin then occupied the magpie's nest, and the immigrants from Qin followed Chidao and slowly migrated here, completely changing the population structure of Zhaowu City. Today, half of the people in the city are Qin people.

Outside Zhaowu City, Xiye finally met the general who decided his future destiny, Dingyuan Marquis Li Xin.

The first meeting with Li Xin was at the safari tent by the weak water. Li Xin sat high on a tiger skin, flanked by two beautiful bearded women serving wine. They had high noses and deep eyes. When Xi entered, they were serving Li Xin. Put on the exquisite Khotan white jade cup, then open the cover of the cold goblet, use a golden spoon to take out the dark red liquid with sweet fragrance, slowly pour it into the cup, and then serve it with loving hands.

This is wine sent from the Western Regions. It is a very precious drink in Xianyang, but for Li Xin, it is almost like drinking water...

But this leisurely and enjoyable style made Xida, who advocates minimalism, frown.

In Xi's eyes, Li Xin is the complete opposite of Hei Fu. Hei Fu is thick and thick, while Li Xin is sharp; Hei Fu is cautious in everything, while Li Xin is informal; Hei Fu restrains his desires, while Li Xin enjoys himself in time; Hei Fu is timid in fighting. For example, Li Xin likes to build a stronghold and fight stupidly. Li Xin likes to use strange weapons. He himself is the tip of the sword used to pierce the enemy.

Also, Hei Fu’s face is dark, while Li Xin’s face is white; Hei Fu is called a black dog, while Li Xin is known as a white horse…

But Li Xin also has a kind of heroic straightforwardness that Hei Fu never had, like Lord Grim lying drunk on the battlefield!

"Hi? I've heard of it."

Li Xin gently shook the white jade cup, and Lady Hu on the side reached out to wipe the wine stains from the corners of his mouth. The wine juice was bright red, like human blood: "Your reputation comes faster than you yourself."

"Some people say that you slandered His Majesty? Others say that you were outspoken in admonition and dedicated to serving the public, so you were demoted. Who do you think I should believe?"

"It's all unbelievable."

He is neither humble nor arrogant: "If you are a legal official, you should check the evidence yourself and do not trust the words of the criminal. General, please save yourself."

"As expected, he is indeed a direct official."

Li Xin laughed: "Since you are proficient in the law, then join the army and become a military law official!"

Xi is a little dazed, military judge? That is a minor official from Baishi. Although it is nothing compared to Xi's previous position, he is now in a state of crime. Doesn't it matter if he is directly appointed as an official?

Li Xin's reasons made Xi dumbfounded, and he became even more convinced that the Marquis of Dingyuan was really drunk.

"I like your name, Xi, Xi Qi!"

Li Xin pointed out the joy, stood up, poured a glass of wine and handed it to him: "Just recently, there is a big happy event in Zhangye County! Did you meet the envoy of Daxia on the way here?"

"Messenger of Daxia?"

Xi refused the drink, but remembered a group of barbarians he met at Jincheng Ferry a month ago, wearing a piece of cloth hanging down from the knees as clothes.

"After years of searching, thousands of people died in the desert!"

Li Xin was in a very good mood today. He raised the wine in his hand high and sighed: "We searched all over Kunlun and Beishan, but could not find any trace of the West Queen Mother State. Until we visited Daxia west of Congling, they actually knew that, The whereabouts of the Western Queen Mother State!”

Accompanied by fine wines and beautiful women, making achievements in foreign lands, the knot that had been pent up for many years was finally loosened!

"This time, Li Xin finally lived up to His Majesty's high expectations!"