Qin Gong

Chapter 485 Heavy Armor, Yao Jia's Shock
January passed, early February, the coldest season of the year passed quietly.

In the county guard's mansion, Bai Yan and Yang Duanhe knelt in the study room, looking at the bamboo slips presented by various cities in Yanmen County. The number of people who froze to death during the winter.

It is not uncommon for people to freeze to death. Every year after winter, people freeze to death in many places. After these are presented to Xianyang, Xianyang can have a general understanding of the situation in the local counties.

It is not the second time that Bai Yan counts such things, but compared to the situation after last year's cold winter, the situation in Yanmen this year is many times better.

When Bai Yan took over Yanmen, the people of Yanmen had no food at all, and they all relied on relief to survive. During Bingdong, food and millet were difficult, and countless people gnawed on the bark. After Bingdong passed, they were frozen to death The number of people here made Bai Yan tremble with fear.

Looking at the bamboo slips at this time, in terms of the number of people, it is already many times better.

but
There are still many people who were frozen to death.

"General!"

A trusted soldier held a bamboo slip and then came to Bai Yan's side.

Bai Yan took the bamboo slips, opened them and looked at them, and handed the bamboo slips to Elder Yang after reading.

"Although there was a severe drought in Zhao land in the past, the country of Yan was also affected. Now that the country of Yan has been besieged for several months, the city's food storage must have been exhausted!"

Bai Yan said to Old Yang.

Although Qin State attacked Yan State, the most important thing to pay attention to was the Qin army stationed in Gaotang, but Wang Jian also sent a letter to Bai Yan in private, worrying that if there was a change in the attack on Yan State, Bai Yan could lead the side cavalry to rescue Yanmen Qin's army.

Bai Yan naturally understood what Wang Jian meant, the North Donghu!

"I heard that some time ago, there were Confucian scholars from the Yan Kingdom who yelled at the King of Qi in front of the gate of the Linzi Palace. Speaking of which, the King of Qi was also wronged."

Bai Yan said.

Bai Yan doesn't know the specifics about other matters, but King Qi really can't be blamed here in Yan Kingdom.

After the Five Kingdoms conquered Qi, the generals of the Chu Kingdom outside the Five Kingdoms killed the King of Chu. Although the Qi State was restored, the Qi State after the restoration had a grudge in its heart. Send troops to the east to capture the land of Gaotang in Qi State, and put dozens of cities with the most fertile land into the territory of Zhao State. This move also completely cut off the border area between Qi State and Yan State.

Not to mention the king of Qi, even those gentry clans in the Qi state who intend to resist the Qin state have no way to stop them from being blocked by Gaotang, who has the Qin army stationed there.

However, those Confucian scholars in Qi State have short mouths, so naturally they would not scold those gentry in Qi State, so they could only look at King Qi with complaints, resenting Qi State for willing to send troops to attack Qin State.

"If there are no accidents, Yan Kingdom will be destroyed in a short time."

After reading the bamboo slips, Yang Duanhe also nodded in agreement with Bai Yan's words.

After finishing speaking, Yang Duanhe and Bai Yan discussed the situation at Donghu. The most important thing to be wary of right now is Donghu. After all, no one knows what will happen to Yan Guo in the battle of trapped beasts.

After a while, seeing another soldier coming to Bai Yan's ear to say something, Old Yang asked Bai Yan to go back to deal with important matters beforehand.

Bai Yan nodded.

After taking his farewell and leaving the governor's mansion, Bai Yan took a carriage and came to Lu's Restaurant.

"Sheriff!"

A servant had been waiting outside the restaurant for a long time, when he saw Bai Yan, he immediately saluted.

After entering the restaurant, because Bai Yan came earlier, there were not many guests in the restaurant, and several waiters were cleaning the wooden tables and the delicate wall panels in the aisle.

"pity!"

As Bai Yan was walking, he saw Cen Qing protecting a stumbling child, so he stopped.

Cen Qing also saw Bai Yan at this time, she quickly got up and stood on the spot, clasped her hands together, and the child who was obviously not very proficient in walking also slowly came to Bai Yan's feet.

Looking at Cen Qing who bowed her head and was speechless, Bai Yan squatted down and looked at this exceptionally cute child in front of her.

Seriously speaking, Bai Yan is still her uncle.

Seeing that the child seemed to like him very much, Bai Yan squatted down and teased the child for a while, then got up and followed the servant towards the private room.

In the private room, a man in his twenties and two men in their thirties had already been admiring the graceful dancing posture of Zhao Guo women in the private room, listening to Zhao Guo's tunes, seeing the door of the private room being pushed open, The three of them turned their heads to look.

When they saw five or six Qin soldiers following Bai Yan who was wearing Qin official uniforms, the three of them were immediately taken aback. Then they quickly got up and raised their hands to salute Bai Yan. The women who were dancing also stopped. down.

"Zhuo Zicheng pays his respects to Captain Bai!"

"Fu Zhi pays his respects to Commander Bai!"

"Tai Gao pays homage to Commander Bai!"

When the three of them saw Bai Yan, their expressions were full of nervousness, no matter what they said or how they behaved, they dared not show any disrespect.

"Bai Yan has seen three of them!"

Bai Yan raised his hand to return the salute, and then stretched out his hand to signal to continue to sit down: "Please!"

Seeing this, the three of them bowed their hands to Bai Yan again, but they didn't really sit down, but waited for Bai Yan to take a seat before they sat down.

Inside the room.

The girl who had just danced had already given way, Bai Yan walked through it, came to the wooden table that had been left at the top of the private room, knelt and sat down slowly, and several cronies stood in each corner of the private room.

Looking at the table in front of him with good wine and good food, there are more than six or seven kinds of meat alone. It is rare for Bai Yan to be so extravagant in a restaurant. Recalling that not long ago, he saw people who died of freezing or starving in other parts of the county, The huge contrast made Bai Yan sigh in his heart.

"Go down first!"

Bai Yan raised his head to look at the dancing restaurant girls, and said softly.

Soon, all the women in the private room, including the piano master, left the private room one after another. Cen Qing just came to the private room at this time, and after seeing those women leave, she slowly came to Bai Yan's side, and fell in love with Bai Yan. liquor.

Seeing that Bai Yan didn't let her go out, Cen Qing breathed a sigh of relief.

"The three of you have worked tirelessly to come to Yanmen from thousands of miles away. Bai Yan offers a cup to all of you as an expression of apology!"

Bai Yan picked up the wine jug that had just been filled on the wooden table with both hands, and toasted the three of them.

Facing Bai Yan's toast, Zhuo Zicheng, Fu Zhi, and Tai Gao naturally did not dare to neglect, and raised their wine cups to return the salute.

"There is no such thing as hard work!"

Following the politeness, after drinking a glass of fine wine, the three of them sat down and looked at Bai Yan.

Among the three, Fu Zhi was a child of the Fu family in Zhongren City, Tai Gao was a member of the Tai Jing family in Shu, and Zhuo Zicheng, the youngest, was the son of Zhao Guofu's Jia Zhuo family.

In the state of Zhao, no one can compare to Guo Zong in terms of rich merchants. After Guo Zong, there is the Zhuo family. The Zhuo family is also the same as Guo Zong. After several generations of continuous exploration, he has already possessed a cast iron technology far superior to that of Guo Zong, which is difficult for Guo Zong to match.

Before that, when the Qin State besieged Handan, the State of Zhao, during the "Handan War" that lasted for three years, the Zhuo family dispersed all their wealth to help the State of Zhao defend Handan to the death.

Then, for decades, he continued to help the Zhao State to resist the Qin State. This behavior also caused the Zhuo family to be completely reduced to sinners after Handan was captured by the Qin State. According to the Qin Law, they were sent to the remote Shu.

Zhuo Zicheng is the heir of the couple.

"I don't know if Commander Bai summoned Zicheng this time, but do you have something to ask?"

Zhuo Zicheng looked at Bai Yan with a somewhat disturbed expression. Before Qin State broke Handan, Zhuo Zicheng was a well-known son in Handan City. Not to mention eating and drinking, he just went to restaurants. That time, not all beauties were in his arms. When you are friends, you don't hesitate to spend money.

It was the same, Zhuo Zicheng, who had never been to a battlefield, let alone killed anyone, did not dare to meet Bai Yan's eyes when he saw the same young Bai Yan.

Zhuo Zicheng always felt that Bai Yan's eyes were terrifying.

"Yes! Lieutenant Bai, if you need anything, just ask, the three of us will definitely die!"

Tai Gao glanced at Zhuo Zicheng, then echoed with a smile, and raised his hand to salute Bai Yan.

Speaking of it, Tai Gao couldn't help but be thankful, if it wasn't for Bai Yan's secret letter before, they Tai would never have noticed the Zhuo and his wife, and thanks to Bai Yan's secret letter, now with Zhuo's finding the iron mine again Shan, their Tai family also made a fortune.

Who would have thought that Zhuo, who seems to be kind-hearted, is a person who does not show his mountains and dews. Although Zhuo does not say anything, but according to the current situation, I am afraid that the Qin State has not yet perished long, long ago. The family already had a premonition of his fate, so he noticed the place where Qin was exiled very early, and finally learned that there are many mines in a remote and wild place in Shu, where even King Qin can't reach.

People in the world are rumoring that Zhuo and his wife knew their fate early in the morning, so they dispersed the clan and all the servants and maidservants, leaving only the couple in the mansion.

In fact, this incident is just an illusion. The Zhuo clan has already arranged the place to go. As for the Zhuo couple bribing officials and dreaming of immortals when they went to Shu, they are all deceitful. The Zhuo family, which was confiscated by the state of Qin, could still give two or three hundred gold when they arrived in Shu.

Inside the room.

Bai Yan glanced at Tai Gao, then looked at Fu Zhi and Zhuo Zicheng, thinking for a while.

"To tell you the truth, Bai Yan wants to buy iron ore from the three of you this time, to produce iron armor!"

When Bai Yan said this, he looked at the three people in front of him calmly.

Heavy cavalry, iron pawns, these big killers Bai Yan had plans very early on, and Bai Yan not only wrote a letter to inform Ying Zheng of this matter, but also talked with Ying Zheng personally during Xianyang, telling Ying Zheng that his The purpose is to fight against Chu.

Looking around the world, there is only Qiang Zhao in iron ore smelting.With Zhao Zhiqiang, attacking Chu Zhidun, the momentum is also~!

After getting Yingzheng's consent, Bai Yan secretly ordered people to speed up the construction of iron armor and iron cavalry, while hiding the matter. Let the iron cavalry take them away, and when the Xiongnu army went south, they fought fiercely in the clouds, but Bai Yan didn't even use the iron armor.

Bai Yan doesn't know much about the state of Chu, but the only thing that is certain is that the state of Chu can pull out at least 60 troops of the state of Chu, and the state of Chu with its vast territory, as long as it has a little time to live, will never be short of troops .

It was like this when Qin and Chu fought, it was like this when Chu was destroyed, and it was also like this in later generations.

Therefore, if there is a real war with Chu State, apart from Chu State's national power, the most important thing to pay attention to is Chu State's continuous military superiority.

Bai Yan is not Wang Jian, Bai Yan is not sure that there will be no accidents, not to mention that even just in case, Bai Yan needs heavy riding and iron armor.

What is helpless is that the speed of forging iron armor has been very slow all along. After more than a year, the number of iron armor still cannot meet Bai Yan's requirements.

"armor!!!"

Let alone Zhuo Zicheng and Fu Zhi, even Tai Gao widened his eyes when he heard Bai Yan's words, and looked at Bai Yan in disbelief.

You must know that not to mention the iron armor, even the privately produced iron sword is a violation of Qin Law.

"Lieutenant Bai, things with iron armor are strictly forbidden"

Tai Gao swallowed his saliva, looked at Bai Yan and began to smile, but after being panicked, the smile didn't last for two breaths, and then he returned to his frightened expression again.

"I don't mention you, but the clansmen behind you have offended the officials of Qin in the past, how little?"

When Bai Yan heard Tai Gao's words, he inadvertently glanced at the three of them.

Bai Yan didn't say what Ying Zheng agreed to. Bai Yan would keep this matter from everyone. If someone betrayed him on the way, Bai Yan would know who it was. From now on, the gentry have nothing to fear, and Bai Yan hopes to cooperate with each other with benefits, so that these three gentry are full of fear, and they think that if they catch Bai Yan, they will all be in the same boat in the future.

Tai Jing had already sent a letter of the scale of Zhuo's smelting, Bai Yan knew how many iron armors Zhuo's could produce every month, not to mention Fu's in Zhongren City.

As long as the three agree, Bai Yan will benefit the three gentry.

But if they don't agree, those three gentry will regret it. Bai Yan has enough ability and confidence to make these three gentry lose everything in front of them and become nothing in an instant.

"This!"

Tai Gao, Zhuo Zicheng, and Fu Zhi looked at each other, but couldn't understand Bai Yan's meaning. Looking at Bai Yan's calm appearance, the three of them were so nervous that they couldn't breathe, and their eyes were full of worry.

This is no small matter!

The most important thing is that none of them knew why Bai Yan wanted to forge iron armor in private, what exactly did Bai Yan want to do?
Thinking of this, the three of them looked at the sword-wielding soldiers standing in the corner in the private room with some fear.

At this time, even Zhuo Zicheng couldn't help but secretly looked at Bai Yan who was pouring wine with Cen Qing, who seemed to be thinking about something, his eyes were full of doubts.

Xianyang, Qin State.

In the palace, with the end of the dynasty, Ying Zheng returned to the study day after day, dealing with bamboo slips weighing two stones.

Meng Yi was still on the sidelines, presenting the bamboo slips to Ying Zheng, and after Ying Zheng dealt with them, they put them on a wooden stand.

"Your Majesty, Shangqing Yao Jia has returned to Xianyang and is waiting outside the palace gate."

An eunuch rushed to Ying Zheng to report.

Hearing the words, Ying Zheng quickly asked the eunuch to bring Yao Jia in. Thinking of something, Ying Zheng turned his head and glanced at Meng Yi. This time Ying Zheng did not let Meng Yi leave, but asked Meng Yi to go to the wooden frame and take it at will. After a period of time, the bamboo slips sent by Qi State.

"Kings!"

After a while, the hurried figure of Yao Jia came to the study and saluted Ying Zheng.

"Yao Shangqing is finally back, and I look forward to it day and night!"

When Ying Zheng saw Yao Jia, he sighed with emotion. After waiting for so long, he could count on Yao Jia's return.

When Yao Jia heard Ying Zheng's words, a smile appeared on his slightly chubby cheeks, and he saluted Ying Zheng.

"It's my honor to make the king miss you so much!"

Yao Jia said gratefully, as a subject, it is a happy thing to be able to serve the king and get the king's approval.

"Yao Shangqing, do you know why the widow hastily let Shangqing return to Qin?"

Ying Zheng had already put down the bamboo slips at this time, asked the maid to come over with the seat, and then looked at Yao Jia.

Seeing this, Yao Jia saluted Ying Zheng gratefully, then came to Ying Zheng's wooden table, knelt down slowly, looked at Ying Zheng, and then glanced at Meng Yi standing behind Ying Zheng.

"Your Majesty wants to find the old man riding the bull?"

Yao Jia turned his gaze back, looked at Ying Zheng and asked.

When he was in Chu State, Yao Jia heard about the news from Qi State, and even because it happened in Tianfu, there happened to be many nobles present, Yao Jia even knew about it earlier than Ying Zheng.

As for the rumor, Yao Jia couldn't say for sure. After all, Yao Jia had never seen the rumored bamboo slips with his own eyes, and secondly, he didn't know whether the old man riding the bull really existed.

"Yes!"

Thinking of the rumors about Qi, Ying Zheng's eyes were full of fire, and his longing eyes were not hidden at all.

But just as Ying Zheng was speaking, the Han visitor outside the study suddenly came hurriedly holding a scroll of bamboo slips.

"Your Majesty, the bamboo slips sent by the State of Qi!"

Under Yao Jia's gaze, Han Yezhe held the bamboo slips in both hands, came to the wooden table, and handed the bamboo slips to Ying Zheng.

When Ying Zheng heard that the bamboo slips were sent by Qi Guo again, he quickly picked them up seriously, opened them and looked at the contents. Even Yao Jia was not as important as the bamboo slips. It can be seen that in Ying Zheng's heart, the status of the old man riding a bull is really high. How important.

"Your Majesty, as far as I am concerned, rumors are rumors after all. Your Majesty must not have high hopes!"

When Yao Jia didn't come to the palace, he passed Yingzheng's edict and had a premonition that Yingzheng was eager to see the rumored old man. However, when he saw Yingzheng's appearance, Yao Jia knew what Yingzheng expected. It also exceeded his expectations.

Because of this, Yao Jiafang frowned slightly, and reminded Ying Zheng with some concern, in case this is a false rumor
"Wonderful~! Cai, Da Cai!!! Cai!!!!"

Suddenly, under Yao Jia's watchful eyes, Ying Zheng looked at the bamboo slips, shouted again and again, and even stood up excitedly.

Yao Jia was very surprised by this behavior, and even Meng Yi was a little caught off guard, looking at Ying Zheng with a dazed expression, not knowing what was in the bamboo slips that could make Ying Zheng so excited.

"Cai! Mister is so talented!! I must see this old gentleman!"

Ying Zheng walked back and forth, holding the bamboo slips and looking at them fondly, his hands trembling slightly under the excitement.

"Yao Jia! I must see that old man riding a bull!"

After reading it, Ying Zheng stopped and stared at Yao Jia with an unprecedented seriousness in his tone.

"No! I will do my best to find this person for the king!"

Although Yao Jia didn't understand why, he still saluted Ying Zheng.

"My lord! I was in the state of Chu, and I heard the story of the old man who was praised by the world. It is said that the old man is an expert in the world, and now I finally see the bamboo and silk of the old man on the king."

Yao Jia thought for a while, looked at Ying Zheng with some doubts, and then stretched out his hand to the bamboo slip in Ying Zheng's hand after cupping his hands.

"My humble minister, may your majesty let me see the old gentleman's bamboo silk?"

Yao Jia asked.

Yao Jia really didn't understand why the old gentleman was praised so much in the rumors, why the world said that the old gentleman had the ability to govern the world, and even Ying Zheng was so obsessed with it, even to the point of madness.

"Can!"

Seeing Yao Jia's curiosity, Ying Zheng smiled on his excited and excited face, and then handed the bamboo slips to Yao Jia.

This move undoubtedly revealed Ying Zheng's trust in Yao Jia.

wooden table.

Yao Jia took the bamboo slips from Ying Zheng with both hands, opened them slowly, and looked at them slowly. At first, he was expecting and curious, but as he read on, Yao Jia's eyes gradually became serious and dignified. became panicked.

"Kings!"

After Yao Jia finished reading the bamboo slips, his face turned pale, and he looked at Ying Zheng helplessly, his eyes full of shock.

He finally understood why people all over the world complimented the old gentleman so much that Ying Zhenghui was so excited just now.

Although there is a story in this scroll of bamboo slips, in many places, it reveals a system that has never existed in today's world.

Filial and honest inspection system! ! !
Every year, some scholars are elected by the county or county to the court of the royal palace, which is the center of power.

In a county, the county guards, county officials and other officials are all appointed by the court, and the appointed officials cannot be from the local county or county, while the rest of the officials under the county and county officials must all be appointed by the court. Call the locals who served, and those who served.

Selection and recommendation like this should be done once a year.

Inside the study.

Yao Jia held the bamboo slips and stared at them blankly, with a dull expression.

From the enfeoffment of princes by the Zhou royal family, after the princes there were ministers and husbands. So far, in addition to the king, the son of Shangqing inherited the position of minister, and the son of a doctor inherited the position of husband. This system of blood inheritance has continued until now. This kind of system is an extremely serious threat to the king, and the powerful Jin State in the past has perished because of it.

Then it was not until the Qin State completely derived another system, the military merit title system, that the Qin State was completely powerful, and the military merit title system also broke and replaced the original blood inheritance.

The benefits of this system of military titles, apart from bringing hope to the people of the Qin State, are also constantly weakening the rights of the gentry. After all, in the State of Qin, except for the title of marquis of the king, the other titles, even generals and ministers, In the future, his son will only be the Duke's public vehicle, and the second son's words can only be changed, and the rest of the heirs will all be hairpins, and the title is the heir of the Duke, and they will be ranked lower and lower.

For the king, this system is far better than the blood inheritance of the gentry. Shang Yang, who formulated the military merit title system, offended countless old gentry because of this, and was eventually torn apart.

However, this system of military merit titles is not without its disadvantages, that is, the court of Qin State has become a court extended from the military merit system. There are many military meritorious families such as the Meng family and the Meng family.

In the state of Qin, apart from the king of Qin, the military elites firmly held all the rights of the state of Qin, whether it was inside or outside the court.

The vast majority of people also have the only way to go is the military title system.

But right now.

The bamboo slips in Yao Jia's hands vaguely revealed another system, a system that once again broke the monopoly of military meritorious gentry.

Just like how Shang Yang broke the monopoly of the old gentry's blood inheritance in the past, it will definitely destroy the interests of the military gentry. The most direct thing is that the officials in the court in the past are no longer all the children of the military gentry.

"Your Majesty, this matter must not be carried out in Qin State!"

Yao Jia thought of something, his face was pale, his eyes still in shock, suddenly looked at Ying Zheng full of worry.

Now that the state of Qin is attacking the Six Kingdoms, Yao Jia knows that this brand new system must not be hastily implemented, otherwise the foundation of the entire state of Qin will be shaken.

Although Yao Jia knew that once the Qin State implemented this system, it would be a transformation, a brand new transformation, for both the king and the community.

"Yao Shangqing, I know the pros and cons of it, Shangqing can rest assured!"

Ying Zheng looked at Yao Jia and said with a smile, his eyes were full of enthusiasm.

Yingzheng is not stupid. Yingzheng at this time naturally cannot destabilize the state of Qin, but this does not hinder Yingzheng's desire for the old man. The more he knows the old man riding a bull, the more frightened Yingzheng is Longing to see the old man.

"Mao Jiao has already gone to Qi State, Yao Shangqing, this time you will find the old gentleman for me! No matter what, I will see the old gentleman with my own eyes!"

Ying Zheng looked straight at Yao Jia, his words expressed unprecedented expectations, and he did not hide the desire in his heart.

At the beginning, he had said that the Qin State in the future would definitely have that old gentleman.

After reading this volume of bamboo slips now, although it is not suitable for the current state of Qin, it makes Yingzheng more certain that he must get that old gentleman, he must!

Even if he searched all over the world, every place in the world, he, Ying Zheng, would still find it.

　This is a system that has been continuously multiplied after the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty after checking the information with a knife. This is the most important and significant change in the political system in history, and it is of great significance.

　　This is also the beginning and starting point of the future transformation of Qin State.

　　The system is not written in too much detail, it is nothing more than breaking the monopoly of military merit groups and weakening the rights of military merit groups.

　　This system must never be proposed by Bai Yan, at least before the change, the world must never know that it was created by Bai Yan.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)