Qin Official

In the laws of Qin, there is a kind of "scourge's punishment", which is the exile and border garrison in later generations.

Generally speaking, for those who broke the law in the Qin Dynasty, prisoners in Guanzhong would be exiled to Shuofang, north of Saibei, or to the newly opened deserts of the Western Regions. People south of Huaihan and Han Dynasty would most likely go to the poisonous areas of Lingnan. People from Hebei and It corresponds to the bitter cold land of Liaodong.

But for people in Qidi, there are two places for Sikou Xing to go: Haidong, or some unknown island in the sea.

Shamen Island (Changdao County, Shandong Province) is a natural place of exile. It is located between Liaodong and Jiaodong, in the Shaohai Sea, dozens of miles northwest of the Jiaodong coast. There is fresh water and some wild animals on it, and some crops can even be grown. Several natural harbors suitable for anchoring.

In the past, the Qi State carried goods from nine barbarians, and ships traveling from Jiaodong to Liaodong and Korea would anchor here to take shelter. Over time, a small fishing port was formed. Some people who were avoiding taxes lived here, with a number of less than a hundred. After the fall of the Qi State, the fields Heng and others occupied this place and fought against the imperial court for seven or eight years.

When Heifu was the governor of Jiaodong, he put down the rebellion in Zhutian and eliminated the bandits on the island. This island was not abandoned. Instead, a trading post was built as a transfer station for merchant ships heading to Liaodong and Haidong. At Chen Ping's suggestion, it began to accept mainland criminals and let them do coolies here.

But starting from May, Salmon Island was completely cut off from Jiaodong County due to the "convict riot". Because the imperial envoys changed the government of Heifu, merchants from Qi were strictly prohibited from entering the sea, and ships from the mainland also stopped coming...

But on the first day of July, with the east wind blowing, a merchant ship that deliberately sailed in the open sea ignored the government ban and sailed openly on the blue sponge. It gradually approached Salmon Island from the east, pulled its hard sail, and skillfully sailed around Reef, sail into the bay, and slowly raise a flag.

"Tube!"

But he is the largest merchant in Langya County, a descendant of Qi Prime Minister Guan Zhong, and the Guan family.

"Just let the son do this. There is no need for the father to come in person."

Guan Tong is the eldest son of the family. He is in his thirties. After running at sea for several years, he has become a lot more capable. He comes to his father's side. The head of the Guan family, Guan Yan, who is over fifty years old, is standing on the side of the ship worriedly. .

Guan Tong put a seawater-proof cloak on Guan Yan, and Guan Yan sighed:

"The survival of the Guan family is at stake, how can I not come in person?"

Guan Yan knew very well that the merchants of the Qin Dynasty were the most despicable, ranking with the son-in-law. Once there was a corvee or war, the merchants were always the first to be expropriated. The Qin army even stipulated clearly that there is no need to pity the lives of merchants and their descendants. They must be sent to do any dirty, tiring, or dangerous work!

When Qin Shihuang visited the east, he even engraved "Shang Nong and Eliminate Momo" on Langye Platform as a national policy and announced it to the world!

The centuries-old prosperity of merchants in Qi was interrupted. In the first ten years of Qin's rule, their social status plummeted: merchants were prohibited from wearing clothes and riding cars, merchants and their descendants were not allowed to be officials, and they had to pay double property taxes. Many industries were The government forced annexation.

Not only that, but you also have to worry about being arrested and moved to a distant place if you are accused of any crime.

Fortunately, under the protection of Governor Heifu, he managed to hold up a stronghold in Jiaodong and persuaded the First Emperor of Qin to relax his policy and allow the restoration of the commodity and colonial trade in Qi based on local conditions. He also recruited thirteen businessmen from Qi to establish the Haidong Trading Company.

In this way, Guan could regain a lot of wealth by selling brown sugar, contracting salt farms, assisting in mining, and colonizing Haidong.

Guan Yan cherished it very much. As the elected leader of Haidong Trading Company, he often taught his son: "Of the forty-eight counties in the world, Jiaodong is the only one that treats merchants so kindly. Even Langya and Linzi are a little worse."

Although Heifu left Jiaodong three years ago, he retained Chen Ping as the county magistrate and persuaded the new county governor to continue Heifu's policy.

But just when Guan's business was booming, drastic changes happened...

At first, no one knew what happened. Only the high officials of the imperial court came to Jiaodong with the edict of Qin Shihuang to arrest the county magistrate Chen Ping...

But before the envoy crossed Weishui, Chen Ping received the news. He was not panicked. After arranging all government affairs, he quietly left. By the time the envoy rushed into Jimo City, he had already disappeared.

After searching for Chen Ping's family again, I found out that as early as spring, Chen Ping heard that something big happened in Xianyang. The emperor was assassinated and Fu Su ran away. He sent his wife and son back on the pretext that his wife's family, Zhang family, was in mourning.

This person's sensitivity to the smell of danger is unparalleled in the world.

The emperor's envoys were furious and began to investigate the "black parties" in Jiaodong. They strengthened some of the officials promoted by Heifu and dismissed them all. When Cao Shen, who was training troops in Huang County, was withdrawn, Cao Shen ran away in anger. .

As a result, most of the middle-level officials were dismissed, Jiaodong County was almost paralyzed, and the people were panicked...

A few years ago, Heifu destroyed all the fields and distributed the land to the landless lüzuo. Now the lüzuo people are worried all day long whether the government will refuse to acknowledge the debt and take back the land they finally cultivated.

The life of the merchants was not easy either. Haidong Trading Co., Ltd. was founded by Heifu. The envoy was a traditional Qin people from Guanzhong. He was used to merchants wearing rags and being humble. How could he have seen merchants from Jiaodong so luxurious? Then he discussed with Jiaodong Shou, saying that this was the chaos caused by gangsters, and that starting from May, Haidong Trading Company would be disbanded! Commercial activities are completely prohibited! A sea ban is also implemented, and no pieces of board are allowed to enter the sea!

As for the salt fields and mines contracted by Heifu to merchants in Jiaodong, the government no longer recognizes them.

This made the thirteen merchants extremely anxious. Guan Yan initially thought that it was Heifu who had offended the emperor and brought trouble to Jiaodong. However, no matter whether the merchants handed over money or kowtowed to plead for mercy, the government remained indifferent.

At that time, the news of the death of the First Emperor spread wildly in Qi. Not only that, starting from June, rebellions broke out in Taishan, Yimeng and other places. There will be chaos again...

The rich are most afraid of chaos. Just when everyone in the thirteen merchants was in danger, Dao Jian, who was mainly engaged in the Lichen trade, secretly sent them a message:

"The chaos is not just on the ground, but on the whole world!"

Only then did the merchants learn that Heifu had raised troops in Wuchang, occupied Jiangling, and mobilized 100,000 people to stage the Northern Expedition...

Reports of the Chu bandits in Donghai County and Jingju in Pengcheng, Sishui County claiming to be the King of Chu were also reported one after another. The merchants in Qi suddenly felt chilly in their hearts.

The escape route was dead and the future was uncertain. Just when the Thirteen families were in a panic, another message came from Dao Jian:

"Second and Third Sons, a great chaos is coming. We cannot sit back and wait for death. On the first day of July, everyone from the Haidong Trading Company will gather on Shamen Island in Jiaodong to discuss the big plan!"

This is the reason why Guan Yan is here. Langya County is close to Donghai County, and there is only Tancheng between it and the bandits in Chu. How can we not be anxious? After receiving the news, Guan Yan personally took his eldest son and hurriedly rushed to Shamen Island. When he set off, he didn't know that the Donghai Commandery had been defeated and Tancheng had fallen.

Thanks to the sailing skills accumulated by going to Haidong in the past few years, Qidi merchant ships now dare to sail more than ten miles away from the ocean to avoid government spies.

While the father and son were talking, Salmon Island had arrived, and the mountains covered with grass could be vaguely seen in front of them. Below the sea, there was the "Wangfu Reef" that resembled a woman holding a baby in her arms and looking out at the sea. The first arriving ships were already lined up on the pier.

Masts stood like spears, and flat-bottomed cargo ships were docked in the deep water. Servants from each family, armed with weapons, bows and arrows, guarded the ship's side vigilantly.

Before reaching the shore, Guan Tong's sharp eyes began to count the familiar flags:

"Dao, Pan, Wu, Lu, Ye, Pang, Fan...Father, almost all the other members of the trading company are here."

Each company's main business direction was different. For example, the Guan family relied on contracting saltworks, supplemented by Haidong leather goods. The Dao family relied on selling Koreans to Jiaodong to serve as concubines, and also opened female concubines for the Haidong and Liaodong garrison. They provide special services, and others such as fishing and medicine sellers. With policy support, the rich have accumulated thousands of gold, and the poorest have hundreds of gold.

"I see that there are still soldiers on this island and order is in order. Why are there rumors that it is a prisoner riot?"

When the ship docked, Guan Tong saw other merchants waiting on the shore. Daojian was in the center, as if he was the head of the crowd, so he lowered his voice and said, "Is it Daojian's fault? I heard that he secretly raised thousands of people in Haidong. The Yi people were subordinated to their ministers, given weapons, and taught how to attack and fight day and night."

"Does Dao Jian have the guts to gather a crowd to rebel?"

Guan Yan glanced at his son and thought that he was right to come. His son still hasn't figured out who the "big man" was who gave Dao Jian gold, ordered him to train the barbarians, and secretly provided weapons, crossbows and other forbidden items. who!

This meeting on Salmon Island was probably arranged by that person.

After saying that, he didn’t explain much to his son and just said:

"Put out a boat, I want to go ashore."

After the boat docked, Tobirama, who had grown a thick beard but still couldn't conceal his deer-headed and rat-eyed look, came over to help him personally.

"Guan Jun, why is it so late?"

Guan Yan said with a smile: "I am different from you, but I come from Langya, so I have to avoid the government's spies. I also encountered a storm on the way and almost lost my life."

Behind Dao Jian, Pang's merchant, who made his fortune by fishing, muttered: "It is better to die in the sea than to be grounded and wait on land to be plundered by bandits."

Pan, who was doing fur goods business in Haidong, also shouted loudly: "I heard that the Chu region is getting more and more chaotic, and the Qi region is not much better. There are giant bandits in Linzi, Langya, and Jibei who are causing trouble and fighting with the government." They formed a group, and all the trading stations my family set up there were closed down. If it weren’t for Daojian’s invitation, I would still be thinking about taking my whole family and fleeing to Haidong or Liaodong to avoid the chaos..."

Everyone nodded, which was why they were willing to come here to discuss it together.

Although the oppression by the government is hateful, what these people fear most is chaos in order. Bandits with open arms will break into the home and take away everything that generations of people have worked hard to accumulate...

They all looked at Dao Jian: "Master Dao, if you have any ideas, just tell me!"

Dao Jian shook his head: "I am just a small slave trader, how can I have any ideas?"

Fan, a druggist who was digging ginseng in Liaodong, was anxious: "You have no idea. You have tricked everyone here just to entertain us?"

Without waiting for Daojian to answer, Guan Yan, who had guessed everything, burst into laughter: "Second and third sons, don't worry, the real master is here!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the steward's finger and saw three recent ships approaching Salmon Island. Different from the flat-bottomed and wide-bellied merchant ships, the ships were well-protected sterns with a newly-fluttered flag hanging on the mast. .

"It's a warship..."

Those with keen eyes could clearly see the flags flying on the three ships.

"Wu...Wu Zhong?"

To everyone's surprise, the boat had docked, and a group of soldiers disembarked from it, lined up in a row, holding spears. They were obviously well-trained county soldiers. Someone on the boat slowly climbed down from the rope ladder, and they were actually dressed as scribes...

"Meet Chen Juncheng!"

Dao Jian was the first to bow down, followed closely by Guan Yan. The other eleven merchants looked at each other with surprise in their eyes, but they still prostrated themselves on the beach one after another, and then raised their heads to take a peek. They had a thin but handsome face and a drooping beard. , and a pair of eyes that seem to be able to see through people's hearts...

Isn't it Chen Ping who is rumored to be "dead"!

"it's me."

Chen Ping stopped, glanced at everyone, and smiled: "Gentlemen, it's been a long time!"

…

PS: Chapter 2 is at night