warring states careerist

Chapter 723 Before Linwu Pass
Four years later.

At the southern end of Chu State, near Wuyi, near Wuguan.

A convoy of more than a hundred horse-drawn carriages is at the pass, and the carts are full of various goods.

Si Guan Yin, who was guarding the pass, was inspecting a bronze plate that looked like a bamboo joint, with finely detailed text written on it with gold amalgam.

"The soldiers of Xia will meet at the age of Heze, the month of Xiachen, and the day of Yihai. The king will meet in Heze, and the people of Wei will return to Yuguan. Master Yinxi takes the order of the king and orders Yinni to cast gold for the Sishang Mohists. Che One hundred and fifty times. No muskets, gunpowder, or books. Since Fulou, Geng Linwu, Geng Cenyang, Geng Chengyi, Geng Changsha. If you see the golden festival, don’t sign it. If you don’t see the golden festival, you will sign it.”

This kind of craft of gold and silver is monopolized by the royal family, and it is difficult for ordinary people to imitate, but it is not difficult for the craftsmen on Sishang, but they always abide by the law when they pass the customs.

Four years ago at the Heze League, the princes seemed to be fighting for reason, but in fact they were speaking according to their strength.

The state of Wei was weak, and the Sishang Mohists used the excuse of interfering with the state of Wei to return Yuguan to the king of Chu at the price of continuing the tax exemption for five years. For this reason, the king of Chu ordered Dagong Yin to cast several sets of tax-free copper festivals.

People all over the world couldn't help laughing, saying that the king of Chu bought Yuguan back with tariffs. When the king of Chu heard the rumors in the court hall, he laughed aloud: "If no one dies, and no swords are used, the people of Chu can get Chuguan. How can you laugh?"

In fact, it was because the Mohists expressed their attitude that they did not want the war to continue, and they clearly expressed their attitude towards the situation in the Central Plains. They neither wanted Wei to be strong, nor did they want Chu to recapture Daliang, making Daliang City a bridge between Wei and Chu. A thorn that cannot be swallowed.

The second is that the internal changes of the Chu State are in an extremely intense period. A large number of princes have been relocated to the newly opened border areas such as Cangwu and Dongting. Dissatisfied, the king of Chu continued to borrow a large amount of money to buy weapons and armaments.

Although Si Guan Yin, who was stationed here, was not qualified to follow the king to participate in the alliance, and did not know the various intrigues and secret fights during the alliance that day, but he still knows the bright side of the copper festival that was cast four years ago.

Linwu is the fiefdom of Lord Linwu, but Linwu Pass belongs to the Neifu. It is the southernmost important trade border of Chu State and the southernmost point of Chu State's rule.

Back then, the King of Chu used the Mohists to help train the new army. Before attacking Prince Ding, he first attacked Baiyue, Cangwu and other places.

Now the South China Sea Chamber of Commerce in Sishang has wiped out Yangyu and Fulou. As an important transit point, Linwu is far from being a gathering place for merchants, but it also brings huge income to the King of Chu every year.

Goods outside the duty-free period are subject to tax.

Si Guan Yin checked this tax-free festival, which is just a formality.

The leader of the opposite caravan habitually took out a few betel nuts and handed them over. Si Guan Yin thanked them and put them in his mouth to chew.

This is a custom that came from Fulou Yangyu. It is said that it can prevent miasma, and it is very popular in places where Xia and Yi live together in the south of Chu State.

"These people in your chamber of commerce earn a lot of money a year, right? Just bring some of your own private goods with you, and you can make a lot of money."

The leader of the caravan was a man in his 40s, missing two fingers, an officer who should have retired from the volunteer army.

Hearing what Linwuguan Siguan said, he hurriedly said: "This can't be said. Public is public and private is private. The internal investigation of the chamber of commerce is not strict. If you use your own money to buy and sell goods during the Chamber of Commerce’s tax-free festival, you will be punished. Because of this, I was thrown to the southernmost port of Juli to do hard labor..."

"This is the reason for restraint. I don't carry private goods, and I can get a lot of salary every year, and my life is good. But if I carry private goods, although I get more money, I have to serve many years of hard labor. , the original blessing turned into a disaster because of unrestrained greed... The words of Taoism still make sense."

The conversation between the two is in Chusi dialect, which can be understood, but it is not authentic Chuyin or Siyan.

Si Guan Yin laughed and said, "I'm afraid it won't work just by self-cultivation. Aren't you afraid of being caught by the inspection department..."

While talking, several small officials in charge of counting replied: "Siguan, there are a total of 190 vehicles, of which twelve vehicles cost [-] yuan, and the rest are the vehicles, horses, entourage and food needed along the way. "

Si Guan Yin signaled that he knew, and didn't bother to check it out. He couldn't afford to offend people from the Mohist Chamber of Commerce, and the internal relationship was complicated. It was said that some nobles from the Chu Kingdom bought shares in it. If they wanted to bribe, they usually went to those private businessmen.

So he asked formally: "Is there no musket, gunpowder and books in the car?"

"No, no, absolutely not. But there are four carts of matchlock guns, which belong to Lord Linwu. We just help carry them. I wonder if Lord Linwu told you?"

Siguan Yin said in his heart that Lord Linwu still needs to talk to me?Lord Linwu's fiefdom is the southernmost, and there are a lot of barbarians around. He needs to fight all year round, so the king can only turn a blind eye to this matter.Besides, it's not that your Mo family needs "long-term workers" in Yangyu, Lord Linwu will benefit from this, so what do I care about your affairs?It's not good to offend you or Lord Linwu. As for the king, he is far away in Yingdu, but his words can be listened to last.

He murmured in his heart, and stopped asking these matters that had little to do with his own interests, and instead asked, "How are you doing with the repairing of the river in Lechang Gorge?"

The name of Linwu comes from its proximity to the upper reaches of the Wujiang River.

The Wujiang River is the upstream water system of the Pearl River, and the Lechang Gorge is the most difficult section of waterway to the south of Linwu. The Mohists began to build a pass and level the waterway in the Lechang Gorge two years ago.

The main labor force is still those "long-term workers", and the monthly salary is not too small, and they can be allocated land after work.

Lord Linwu’s main source of income is human trafficking, because the state of Chu in Linwu City has only been established for a few years, and there are not many people in Chu. , and opened a gold and silver mine in Linwu, the food town of the fief is not considered any income at all.

Linwu is not only the upper reaches of the Pearl River, but also the upper reaches of the Xiangjiang River. There is no canal here, and it is a very critical transfer station.

The Mohists already had several cities in the South China Sea, and the rebellion was basically stable.

Especially two years ago, the Sishang Mo family recovered from the Great War in the Central Plains and immediately dispatched regular troops along the coast of Yue to the South China Sea.

After a large number of local nobles, priests and other literate people with local culture were basically shot on the grounds that "it is a great crime for all the people to support one person, there are living sacrifices, and they are unwilling to hand over the land to the people", the rebellion has disappeared. , cut off from the root.

In addition, the Mohist policy here tends to build the local area, and the major shareholder of the Nanhai Chamber of Commerce is the Mohist themselves. On the one hand, immigration, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, at the one hand, improving people's livelihood. Local conscripts.

The special location of Linwu allows Linwu to enter the Yangtze River through the Xiangjiang River and the Pearl River through the Wujiang River; it is also an important passage in the Nanling area.

Guan Yin of Linwuguan knew that after the alliance four years ago, the Yue State had completely declined, and the Mohist fleet could berth at the Yue State's port on the Yangtze River at will, and all goods in the entire Yue State were tax-free and passed through the Yangtze River.

However, although the waters from the Yangtze River to Dongting to the Xiangjiang River are important waterways within Chu, they are all upstream.

The goods on Sishang are mainly from Sishui to Hangou, and enter the Yangtze River, some of them go along the Yangtze River, and some of them are transported to Yangyu along the Yueguo Haian Line, and then go northward from Yangyu and other places for sale.

After the land reform in Yangyu, the local productivity was liberated, the consumption level increased day by day, and more specialty goods began to be continuously imported into Chu State.

Once the section of the river in Lechang Gorge is repaired, Linwu will be an important passage connecting the north and the south, and his Linwuguan Siguan will also rise. This is a matter of his immediate interests.

As for the various things between princes and princes, they have nothing to do with him. This can be regarded as a standard bureaucrat after the centralization and reform of Chu State.

The construction of the Lechang Gorge's border and roads and waterways has not yet been completed, but it has a basic prototype. Otherwise, nearly two hundred horse-drawn carriages would not have come this time.

Under the tax-free policy, it is difficult for Chu’s local handicraft industry to compete with Sishang’s various goods. Although Chu’s centralization has increased income and power, the border areas such as Cangwu opened up in various river systems except for some dotted cities The two sides of the strait are outside the territory directly under the jurisdiction of Chu State, and other places have actually become dumping grounds for Sishang products.

The leader of the caravan answered Siguan's words at Linwuguan, and Siguan circled around the last few carriages symbolically to see if the goods inside were the same as on the list.

When he checked the last few cars, Si Guan pointed to the tightly sealed box on the car with some doubts, and asked, "What's inside? Can you open it and have a look?"

The leader of the caravan smiled and said: "Look at it freely. They are all tools for measuring mountains and rivers."

"Four years ago, the Heze League, didn't our giants say that? The Mohist regards Yu as holy, and now the world is in chaos, but the Kyushu mountains and rivers map is hidden in Luoyi and it is difficult to show the world. One is for future transshipment trade, and the other is to prevent recurrence. There are disasters of water and fire, and the three are also to make the mountains and rivers be governed."

"At that time, in the alliance, all the princes were asked to agree that the Mohist surveying team's people should not be obstructed when they travel to other countries, even if there is a war, they must not be driven away. They all asked for the alliance letter, and we also carried it with us, so it can be inspected. "

Si Guan opened the box and saw that there were some weird tools inside. He didn't recognize too many of them, but he also knew that many skills of the Mo family were beyond his knowledge, so he waved his hands and said, "Go."

When he was about to leave, Si Guan suddenly thought of something, and said: "In Linwu City, Wang Ziliang is patrolling the border on behalf of the king, and he may have to check when he enters the city."

(End of this chapter)