The villain system of Mingyue in Qin Dynasty

During the Grain Rain season, it rains heavily.

After several years of reclamation, the area of ​​cultivated land in Yunzhong County has greatly increased.

The seedlings were first planted. Under the command of the three elders in the village, the whole county completed the farming work before the rain came.

There is no war at the border of the Great Wall, and the border county of Yunzhong is Antai.

Taking advantage of the leisure time of the past few days, the heads of Guizhou from various counties and townships gathered with relatives and friends in their homes, drinking privately brewed Yiliang Liquor and happily discussing village affairs.

Yunzhong County is remote, and compared to large counties like Hedong and Sanchuan, the population is even sparse.

However, places such as Yanmen in Yunzhong originally belonged to Zhao, and the people were brave. In addition to the constant battles with Beihu, even ordinary people are skilled in swords and bows.

Deep in the green mountains, there are hundreds of tents.

Ying Ziyi took more than a thousand guards and went into the mountains for spring hunting for some time.

At this time, outside Ying Ziyi's tent. Wearing black light armor, he opened his bow and nocked an arrow. His thumb with a white jade finger pulled the bow string. With a whoosh, the arrow hit the target fifty steps away in the open space outside the camp, hitting the bull's-eye.

"Your Highness, there were 2,450 hectares of newly cultivated land in Yunzhong County last year, and the existing land is 24,000 hectares. The war has calmed down a bit in the past two years, and there is a surplus of grain. There are 30,000 shi of grain in the warehouse of Yunzhong City."

Cao Shen was beside him, reporting on everything in Yunzhong County. It's just that when he talks about food storage, his tone is a little weak.

If calculated based on population, Yunzhong County is only a small county, not even comparable to some large counties in densely populated areas in Guanzhong and Guandong.

But no matter how small it is, it is still a county with tens of thousands of households and a population of nearly 200,000. Yunzhong City is also governed by a county, but there are only 30,000 stones of grain reserves in the granary, which is really not much.

But this cannot be blamed on Cao Shen. In the past few years, he has built the Great Wall, relocated refugees, trained war horses, stationed cavalry, and launched a large-scale attack on Beihu. Being able to save so much food is considered a blessing. Very good.

Ying Ziyi nodded, and Cao Shen continued: "The Huns have fled far away, and the war has calmed down a bit. If this year goes well, by the end of the year, Yunzhong County will be able to retain 200,000 shi of food and grass."

After several years of war, Ying Ziyi finally understood that it would take a whole country to completely eliminate and subjugate the Xiongnu. It becomes more clear why various countries built the Great Wall one after another to resist Beihu.

This is really not worthwhile!

Even though Ying Ziyi has the blessing of tax revenue from the Western Region fiefdom, the consumption of 20,000 riders out of the fortress is almost unsustainable. The most important thing is that food and grass can only barely keep up. As for fighting against the Xiongnu, small-scale combat power was of no use in the vast northern part of the country. If we raise an army and mobilize hundreds of thousands of soldiers, the gains and losses will be out of proportion.

There is no way, Hu people are poor!

But it won't work without fighting. Once the barbarians are allowed to rest for decades and there are millions of people again, controlling hundreds of thousands, it will be a serious problem for the Central Plains dynasty.

In contrast, building the Great Wall to defend against barbarians is the most reliable and effective defense method.

Ying Ziyi looked at the lush green mountains and rivers in the distance and had to sigh.

It’s no wonder that with the talents of the Han Dynasty, after two generations of Wenjing, they launched the Northern Expedition against the Xiongnu, but in the end, the Han Empire was still exhausted.

However, compared to that time, the Huns faced by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had a vast territory, starting from Liaodong in the east and ending at Congling in the west. In a land of thousands of miles, Donghu, Yueshi, and other countries in the Western Regions were all ministers and livestock. From the Shanyu court below, there are virtuous kings on the left and right, kings of Guli on the left and right, captains on the left and right, great households on the left and right, as for thousands of lengths, hundreds of lengths, very long, one layer after another, controlling three hundred thousand strings, it is really worthy of the name. giant.

At this moment, during the battle in Henan, the Xiongnu were expelled from the fertile Hetao area by the empire and huddled in the desert south, with only a few hundred thousand people and only 50,000 or 60,000 fighting men.

The difficulty of beating the Boss is really much smaller.

"What about the domestication of the war horses?" Ying Ziyi asked.

In the era of cold weapons, war horses were the most important criterion for measuring a country's military strength.

The rise of the Han and Tang Dynasties began with Ma Zheng. During the Song Dynasty, he was beaten so miserably by the Liao, Jin and Mongolia, and the big reason was Shaoma. On the vast North China Plain, the Song army used heavy infantry to fight other people's cavalry. Victory was futile, and defeat was a disastrous defeat. Those who were bullied!

"There are more than 50,000 war horses in Yunzhong, Yanmen, Dai, Taiyuan, Shangdang and other counties."

Ying Ziyi nodded and conquered the Western Regions. After the opening of the Silk Road, the horse breeding industry rose on a large scale in the empire. The empire formulated special stable laws to regulate the order of horse breeding. After the Xiongnu were expelled from the Hetao land, the excellent grassland horses injected fresh blood into the empire's military horse system.

The empire's horse farms are mainly concentrated in Beidi, Jiuyuan, Longxi, Neishi, and the Hexi Corridor. As for Yanzhao, there are also small-scale horse farms.

At this time, there were more than 300,000 garden and stable horses raised in the empire alone. Ying Ziyi felt that the time was almost ripe for military reform in the empire.

"How are the 20,000 cavalry stationed in various counties?" Ying Ziyi turned his head and looked at Han Xin beside him.

Han Xin lowered his head and said: "Since the 20,000 cavalry were stationed in Yuyang, Shanggu and other counties, there has been no resistance from the local county chiefs, and some troubles have been solved by the net."

Han Xin's handsome face was calm and calm. Over the years, he has become more profound and his military attainments have become more profound.

Like a famous sword hidden in a scabbard, although the sword energy is not overflowing, the edge of the sword is getting sharper.

Liaodong, Liaoxi, Youbeiping, Yuyang, Shanggu, Dai, Yanmen, Yunzhong, Jiuyuan.

There are Ying Ziyi's troops stationed in the border counties where the Great Wall is located, and Han Xin also knows very well why Ying Ziyi did this!

"Your Highness!"

With a shout, Chen Ping drove over from outside on horseback.

Zhang Liang and Chen Ping were all rushing to prepare the arms budget in Tiance Mansion at this moment. There must be something urgent coming here at this moment, and everyone's attention was attracted by it. I saw Chen Ping driving his horse and pulling the reins through the long mountains. When he reached a dozen steps outside Ying Ziyi's tent, he dismounted.

The guard who was traveling held the horse for him, and Chen Ping trotted over and said: "Your Highness, there is an urgent report from Guanzhong. Your Majesty is preparing to patrol eastward again!"

Chen Ping's face was filled with joy, but everyone present acted calmly.

Emperor Qin has visited the east several times over the years. Although this matter is important, does he need to rush here so out of breath?

"This time is different!" Chen Ping said: "The end point of His Majesty's eastward tour is Jiuyuan City."

"Huh?" When Chen Ping said this, everyone present, except for Ying Ziyi, their eyes lit up and they looked at Chen Ping, with expectations in their expressions.

The eastward patrol will pass through Jiuyuan and will probably pass through Yunzhong. Since Ying Ziyi was demoted to Yunzhong, he has not returned to Xianyang for several years.

However, Emperor Qin never summoned the prince back to his capital during all of his eastern tours. And this time, if they get to Yunzhong, they will probably bring the prince back to Xianyang.

In the eyes of the world, Yingzi wiped out the Yin and Yang family and found a lot of evidence. Emperor Qin was not happy, so he found a reason to demote him to Yunzhong.

From the perspective of the courtiers beside Ying Ziyi, even though Emperor Qin was unhappy, he had not deposed the crown prince over the years, nor had he deprived Ying Ziyi of his fiefdom in the Western Regions. Even if you are angry, it should have dissipated after so many years.

This eastward tour is likely to be a turning point.

Once the prince returns to Xianyang, there will no longer be any suspense in the battle for the throne. The ministers around them are naturally rising. Chen Ping nodded and said, "That's right."

Among those present, only Ying Ziyi sighed secretly, has this moment finally come?

…

Xianyang, the eldest son's mansion.

Fusu leaned on the railing and looked at the scenery in the water. The carp jumped on the railing and competed for the food that Fusu splashed down.

Fusu was dressed in rich and luxurious clothes, with loose robes and a relaxed attitude.

The lake is long, the pavilions and roads are winding, and beauties in plain clothes come gracefully.

Tian Yan walked behind Fusu, slowly bent his waist, and saluted, "Your Highness."

"Miss Tian Yan, it's been a long time since we last saw each other in Xianyang, and I can't remember exactly." Fusu did not turn around, his eyes were still fixed on the koi in the lake.

"There is a lot of trouble at the farm, and Tian Yan neglects to greet me. I hope your highness will forgive me."

Tian Yan answered very respectfully, but there was quite a gap in his words.

"Things are going on in the empire. This time, I hope you will come back to help me."

After Fusu finished scattering the fish food in his hand, he turned around and looked at Tian Yan with a strong look of expectation in his eyes.

"Your Highness! Tian Yan has something important to do, I..."

"I know!" Fusu interrupted her and said, "I know you are investigating the mastermind behind the wedding banquet that night. And this time you came to Xianyang for this matter."

"Sir, I..."

A gentle smile appeared on his face, like the warm spring breeze. Fusu looked at Tian Yan and said, "I have found the person you are looking for."

"What!"

Tian Yan was shocked that Fusu actually knew his situation very well.

Fusu turned around and left, "Follow me!"

Tian Yan quietly followed him through the spring in the back garden, and Fusu took him to a side house in the backyard.

The door was opened by the maids on both sides, and inside was a woman with a depressed expression. This room is just the most ordinary maid's residence, with extremely simple decoration.

The woman was curled up on the bed and saw Fu Su and Tian Yan walking in with a look of horror on their faces.

"who are you?"

The woman didn't seem to know where she was at this moment. She didn't know who the person in front of her was. She saw a majestic man walking in, but her behavior became even more panicked.

"Are you here to kill me too?"

The woman's voice was extremely weak, as if she had been severely frightened. Tian Yan frowned and asked, "Who wants to kill you?"

"I do not know I do not know!"

The woman shook her head, her eyes blurred, she fell into some kind of panic, and her body began to tremble.

Tian Yan walked over, sat next to the woman, and gently touched her hand.

"Don't worry, you're safe."

Tian Yan's voice was very soft, and the woman gradually calmed down after hearing it.

Tian Yan took out the brocade handkerchief from his sleeve, handed it to the woman, and asked softly: "Do you still remember this?"

The woman's eyes gradually became moist as she looked at the brocade handkerchief. She grabbed Tian Yan's hand and asked excitedly: "What's wrong with Yang Kai?"

"he died!"

"What!"

When the woman heard this, her face suddenly turned pale and she fainted.

Knowing the situation in the room, the maids on both sides immediately came in and took care of the sick woman.

Tian Yan stood aside, looked at Fusu who had not spoken a word from beginning to end, and asked, "Master, who is she?"

"The daughter of the clan of the Yan Kingdom. After the fall of the Yan Kingdom, she and the other princesses and concubines of the Yan Kingdom were brought to Xianyang and filled in various palaces."

"How did the young master know that I was looking for her?" Tian Yan asked angrily.

"Yang Kai's position is not high, but he is also a general of the empire. Although he committed suicide, the traces of being broken into the house are indelible. There are not many forces that have the ability to do all this, and you just chose to do it at that time Over there!"

"Then what is the relationship between Yang Kai and this woman?" Tian Yan asked.

"She and Yang Kai are lovers. Although I don't know how she escaped from the weaving room, when I found her, she was being hunted."

The woman woke up leisurely, looked at the brocade handkerchief in her hand, tears overflowed, and murmured: "The order of Zhongche Mansion, after all, still refuses to let you and me go!"

"What did you say!"

Tian Yan's tone was filled with surprise, and his expression had never been more serious.

"It's an order from the Zhongche Mansion. He used me as a bait to threaten Yang Kai to do things for him. He told us that after the incident was completed, he would take me out of his slave status and let me marry Yang Kai. But we didn't expect that he would We have been gone for many years, but seeing you again is the moment of farewell."

The woman is the daughter of the clan of Yan State, and her conversational skills are good. In the words, the narrative is clear.

Tian Yan knew that after Qin destroyed the six kingdoms, these clan girls were all taken captive to Xianyang. Either they were given to heroes, generals, clan members or relatives, or they were filled in palaces and used as slaves.

They are all daughters of the clans of the Six Kingdoms. They are different from ordinary slaves and have sensitive identities.

They have a noble status, but it is precisely because of this noble status that they are bound. If they want to be lifted out of slavery, they must go through a very strict and complicated procedure, which even officials in the empire find difficult to do.

When Tian Yan thought of this, he felt no pity for the woman in front of him.

"Don't worry! You'll be safe here."

Tian Yan watched the woman fall asleep under his comfort, and then left sadly.

Closing the door gently, Fusu was already standing outside the door.

Tian Yan's face was not as relaxed as it was in the room just now, but was filled with sorrow.

"I don't understand. Although Zhao Gao has an important position as the commander of the CRRC, he is not qualified to mobilize tens of thousands of troops. How did he do that night banquet? Or is there something else behind him? Someone."

Fusu said softly: "Whether it was Zhao Gao who did it or not, I hope you won't do anything to him for the time being. First, his cultivation is unfathomable, which is not good for you. Second, I need to use his Power. Can you promise me?"

Tian Yan looked at such young master Fusu and finally nodded.