Qin Official

The Shaofu is one of the important central agencies of the Qin State, responsible for the income of mountains and seas and the government's handicraft manufacturing. Among them, the "Examination Office" in the Shaofu is responsible for leading the work officials of various counties and counties in the Qin State. There are offices in Xianyang and other places. There are several handicraft workshops and countless officials.

At this time, Zhang Han was in his early twenties. He was just a minor official under Ling Cheng of the Examination Office. Due to his father's meritorious service, he was promoted to an official as a "Renzi", but he only did small work of welcoming people and sending them off.

In fact, his real interest was in the military and battlefields. Zhang Han often discussed with his colleagues the fierce battle between Qin and Yan north of Yishui. Now the capital of Yan Shang, Jicheng, has been besieged for two months by an army of more than 100,000 soldiers led by veteran general Wang Jian. The state of Yan is in danger. However, the Qin army was also unable to keep up due to the long journey and lack of food due to the long stay at the city in the winter, so many people died of cold and starvation.

The timely supply of food and grass to the front is also one of the responsibilities of Shaofu and Zhi Su Neishi.

On this day, Zhang Han was making a bet with his colleagues on how long the Yan State could last. Suddenly, an urgent letter from Nanjun came outside, as well as the wooden equipment on the conveyor, which was sent by a grumpy Nanjun. Escort by messenger.

Zhang Han led the envoy to the examination room of the Shaofu. He did not have enough title and position, so he was not qualified to enter the room, so he continued to wait outside. After a while, he called a few more ministers and concubines in. Another hour passed, but he heard a burst of admiration and exclamation from the engineers and craftsmen inside...

Then someone came out and called him to go to the Su Nei History Office and ask some warehouse officials and agricultural officials to be sent there.

Zhang Han felt that something was fishy, ​​but he didn't ask any more questions and just followed the instructions silently. He didn't know that in the next few days, the entire Shaofu Examination Office and the core officials in charge of Su Neishi and Xianyangcang would be there. Desperately discussing the effect of "stepping on the dirt".

Regarding the usefulness of the "Treading Turret", after listening to the explanation by the Nanjun envoy and asking several concubines to verify it on the spot, Xianyang officials did not have any doubts. And this thing is not complicated, it is just a simple wooden pole for stepping on, which is a commonly used technology in this era, but people have been following it for a long time and have not thought of creating a substitute for the pestle and mortar.

Once they saw it at this moment, the minds of the craftsmen in the examination room were as simple as a layer of gauze being pierced, and they immediately understood: It turns out that this can still be done!

So the craftsmen in the examination room did as they were told, copying the gourd and drawing the scoop. After working for a few hours, they successfully copied the exact same treadmill. Let people pound the rice again, and the results are almost the same. A treadmill can indeed nearly double the rice pounding efficiency, and the rice pounder will not be so tired.

"This thing can be made by a craftsman at a glance, and the materials required are simple. Compared with the stone mills that originated from Qilu, the Xianyang palace has already installed stone mills, making it easier to spread to counties across the country..."

This is what the engineers in the examination room thought. Stone mills have appeared in the Central Plains for some time. It is said that they were made by Lu Ban, a man with incredible craftsmanship more than a hundred years ago. However, it is not widely spread at present and is only used in some wealthy communities. Used at home. After all, it is easier to use a mill to crush food than to shell it. At this moment, wheat has not yet replaced millet as the staple food in the north, and northerners do not have the habit of eating pasta.

"Whether it's north or south, whether it's millet, wheat or rice, it can be used for hulling." The agricultural officer who was responsible for the internal history of millet rubbed his chin and thought.

"If I can replace the pestle and mortar with this thing in my warehouse, the rice that can be chewed by the more than 100,000 people in Xianyang every day will be at least twice as much. If the soldiers on the front line can have this thing, they don't have to spend hours every day. It's time to pound the grain..." The warehouseman in Xianyangcang thought this way.

Now the Qin State is conquering Yan and besieging Jicheng. The biggest difficulty is not the fierce resistance of the Yan people, but the weather in the north and the food supply. The king has repeatedly ordered many soldiers to rush to the front line, not for fighting, but for Transport food.

A lot of the grain transported was this year's new grain, and the soldiers had to pound it before eating. The quartermasters on the front line had complained many times, but the warehouse officials in Hengshan, Handan, and Hejian areas were helpless. It originally belonged to the State of Zhao, but it was a newly conquered territory. The situation was not stable. All the young men and strong men were forcibly recruited to the front line to transport grain and besieged the city. Only the old and weak women and children were left. With the busy farming season coming soon, how could there be time to pound the rice carefully?

If the three counties can be equipped with treadmills, doesn't it mean that more rice can be pounded out and sent to the front line in a shorter period of time with fewer manpower? If the front line is also equipped with treadmills, then the generals don't have to worry about eating.

As a result, after discussion, the chief officials of the Shaofu Kao Gongfu and Zhi Su Neishi Xianyangcang, in the official documents submitted to the Prime Minister's Office and the Yushi's Office, called the Tadi a "military weapon" and recommended that it be used immediately Send it to all counties and counties, and order the government to produce and promote it.

This suggestion was finally submitted to the king, and the ministers were ordered to discuss it.

At this time, there was a little discordant sound. Sikong, who was responsible for managing the prisoners, worriedly believed that if the treadmill was promoted, wouldn't "beating", the most serious punishment for female prisoners, be reduced? A lot? It may even exist in name only...

This question was widely discussed by the ministers. In the end, Li Si, who had just been promoted to Tingwei, gave an answer that left people speechless.

"Shang Jun said: If punishment is used to remove punishment, the country will be governed; if punishment is used to bring punishment, the country will be in chaos. The purpose of punishment is not to punish people, but to make the people understand that certain things cannot be done. If there is even the slightest sign of doing something, they should be punished with severe punishment. The eradication of such behaviors will make the whole country understand what things should not be done and what things can be done. In the end, because no one violates the corresponding provisions, severe punishments can become permanent decorations and no longer used. This is called using punishment to eliminate Punishment, this is the ideal of us Legalists..."

"Now, since stepping on the hammer can make grinding grain twice the result with half the effort, for our Qin country, it is like a soldier's sword is twice as fast and his armor is twice as thick. Our country has always put merit first, so we should implement it without hesitation. Now How can I stop eating because of choking because I am afraid that my concubine’s punishment will be reduced?”

Tingwei is Tingwei, and he is indeed a disciple of Xunzi. His words left everyone in the court speechless, so the king also approved the matter and said in the edict: "Yes"!

The Shaofu and Zhisu Neishi are fully responsible for this matter. Officials have said that if this product can be promoted across the country, Nan County will take the first place in this year's competition of engineers and engineers in various counties. In the internal competition of Nan County, Anlu County will also be the well-deserved number one. Both Gongcao and Cangcao in Anlu County can be given thirty days of hard work.

However, so far, the imperial court still has no intention of rewarding the inventors heavily, because Qin's rewards for craftsmen and merchants are indeed much stingier than those for soldiers and officials.

There are hundreds of people engaged in agricultural warfare, but there is only one skilled person. All the hundreds of people are idle in agricultural warfare. In the Qin State, the population ratio of craftsmen to farmers is about one to one hundred.

The State of Qin has always believed that if the people see people who rely on empty talk to lobby for their salary, the monarch can gain a noble status, businessmen can get rich, and craftsmen can support their families. When the people see that these three types of people have comfortable careers and can make money, they will definitely avoid farming and fighting...

It is human nature to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.

Therefore, for craftsmen who have performed well, it is enough for the craftsmen of the county to reward them. If they are promoted to one level and receive ten thousand yuan, then the country craftsmen must not be happy? Do you want the king and the court to commend you? Wouldn’t that mess up Qin’s laws?

At most, the name of the craftsman "Citron" who made this thing appeared many times in the Shaofu's wooden tablets, allowing the young official Zhang Han to remember this person, but he did not know that behind Citron, There is also a small pavilion chief named Heifu...

…

So, at the end of January, when the treadle was named "Anlu Pei" and was about to become popular in the Qin State, its inventor Heifu knew nothing about these things.

At this moment, he was standing barefoot in his field, arguing with his elder brother about what crops to plant this year...

"Brother, of my two hundred acres of land, I can allocate 150 acres to plant millet and rice, and the rest can be planted with beans."

Heifu pointed to a large piece of land that had just been plowed and complained: "But you have to leave me ten acres of land so that I can grow what I want!"

While talking, Heifu pointed to the field ridge, where there was a bundle of plants that looked like bamboo but not bamboo, with thick roots...