The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

"It's really hot. This place in Yuzhang, Jiangnan, is much hotter than Shouchun."

When the ship passed Hukoushu, Zhang Han immediately regretted wearing a wide robe with big sleeves. It was June, and the sun was extremely scorching. Even if he hid in the cabin, he was sweating all over. He wanted to go up to the deck to get some fresh air, but it felt like the whole Pengli Lake was boiling...

"Is the county magistrate from Guanzhong?"

Zhao Tuo, an official who had already adapted to the climate here, smiled and said, "I am also from Hengshan County. When I first came to Yuzhang, I was not used to the hot and humid climate here. Does the magistrate want to change into a short skirt?"

Although Zhang Han wanted to take into account his status as a public official, he couldn't bear it, so he asked Zhao Tuo to find him a light short skirt, which made him feel better.

Standing at the bow of the boat to enjoy the breeze, he pointed to the simple wooden barracks at the mouth of the lake and asked, "Is this the newly established outpost?"

Zhao Tuo said, "Yes, half a year ago, I went to Pengli Lake with another Sima and saw that this place was the throat of Pengli Lake and the place of surrender, so I sent a garrison commander to set up an outpost here to control the entry and exit of ships."

"Good vision."

Zhang Han nodded and asked, "Where will we land tomorrow?"

"Fuqianyuan." Zhao Tuo reported an interesting place name.

Zhang Han said: "Yu Gong says that the south of Minshan Mountain reaches Hengshan Mountain. After Jiujiang River, it reaches Fuqianyuan. Could it be this place?"

"Sikong is really knowledgeable."

Zhao Tuo did not hesitate to compliment him and explained: "Fuqianyuan is a dock, and next to it is Luyi, where there is Lushan Mountain, and the scenery is wonderful and beautiful."

Zhang Han did not take it seriously until they landed at Fuqianyuan and looked from afar, and then found that Zhao Tuo's praise of "wonderful scenery" was too light.

From a distance, this mountain has seven layers of ridges, where the wind and clouds blow, and the rivers and lakes carry, the high cliffs are reversed, and the steep cliffs are thousands of feet. At this time, it was about to rain, and there was white mist gathering on the ridge, which suddenly gathered and hit the rocks and spit out clouds. With the green pines and cypresses on the mountain, people couldn't help but want to climb the mountain to have a look.

Seeing Zhang Han staring at the distant view of Lushan Mountain, Zhao Tuo told an interesting story.

"Last month, after returning from the southern expedition to Shanggan, the Sima of the other army visited the various towns under the jurisdiction of Fanyang County and invited me to Fuqianyuan to climb its peak and look out over the Three Lakes to the south and Jiujiang to the north."

Although Heifu insisted that Zhao Tuo address him as his brother, except when the two of them were together in private, Zhao Tuo still respectfully addressed Heifu by his official name.

Zhang Han and Heifu were also acquaintances, and he immediately said happily: "This Heifu is really pleasant."

"Sima also made a special trip to ask the locals to take him to the Xianglu Peak in the southeast. There is a solitary peak here, and the air is shrouded above it, like purple smoke. There is also a thousand-foot waterfall rushing down below, which is extremely spectacular."

Zhao Tuo recalled: "I saw Sima looking at the Lushan Waterfall at that time, thinking about something, as if he wanted to recite something, but he opened his mouth several times but stopped. In the end, he just sighed and said that the boy had no talent in his belly and was not worthy of this poem, and then he went down the mountain in a bad mood."

In Zhang Han's impression, Heifu was of humble origin and was never known for his literary talent. He just thought that he wanted to express something when he saw the beautiful scenery, but he was too eloquent to write anything, so he didn't care.

…

The group rested in Luyi for one night. The next day, Zhao Tuo said goodbye to Zhang Han. The person who came to greet Zhang Han was a local named "Xu Shu". He was now Hei Fu's staff member and was appointed as a doctor by Jiujiang County for his merits. After meeting Zhang Han, he said that Hei Fu had gone south for inspection and asked him to come and greet him.

"I know."

Zhang Han did not take it as an offense and smiled: "The Fanyang County under his jurisdiction is the largest county in the world. It is called a county and the population is not large, but the area is as wide as a county in the Central Plains."

Xu Shu said: "Sikong is right. Sima is also troubled by the fact that Fanyang's governance area is too large. He has already advised Jiujiang County to divide it into several counties."

At present, Jiujiang County has only set up Fanyang County in Jiangxi. Jiujiang County has no hands to spare, so it simply throws it all to Hei Fu.

Heifu suggested to subdivide it: with Pengli Lake as the boundary, Jiujiang County was established in Xunyi, and the western shore of the lakes such as Lushan, Luyi, and Fuqianyuan were governed. With Daxi River as the boundary, Yugan Road was newly established in the southern area to allow the Wu family of Ganyue to maintain autonomy. Luling County (now Ji'an) was established in the vast area in the middle reaches of Ganshui. Shanggan and Limensai in the upper reaches were governed by Gan County.

Together with the retained Fanyang County, Jiangxi had five county governments.

But Heifu was still not satisfied. After returning from the distant Shanggan, he suggested to Jiujiang County that a new city composed solely of Qin immigrants should be built in the lower reaches of Ganshui, taking advantage of the rivers, lakes, mountains and rivers, and being able to command five counties and dominate Yuzhang.

His suggestion was recognized by the governor of Jiujiang County, so Zhang Han, who had stayed in Shouchun as the governor of the county after the expedition to Chu, was sent to assist Fan Ling Heifu in selecting the city site and planning the new city. This led to Zhang Han's journey to the south...

Under the guidance of Xu Shu, Zhang Han followed him through Aiyi, crossed Xiushui, walked on the muddy lakeside road for several days, and finally saw the green flowing Ganshui. After ten miles upstream, he saw a camp on the east bank.

Heifu asked Zhao Tuo to be responsible for the inspection between Xunyi and Pengze, and sent his 3,000 men to guard Fanyang, Shanggan, Luling and various small towns respectively, so there were only more than a thousand soldiers around him. The scale was not large, but it was well organized. You know, they had just gone deep into the south for thousands of miles in the hot climate, and they only rested for a month, and they no longer looked embarrassed and decadent. It was really not easy.

"Heifu is really good at leading troops."

Zhang Han couldn't help but sigh. Although he was in charge of civil engineering, he was also interested in leading troops. In the war against Chu, he learned a lot from Wang Jian and Meng Wu.

He felt that Heifu also had shining points that he could learn from. For example, the use of small details such as light salt water and leg wraps, and the love for the soldiers in his hometown as brothers. The soldiers also regarded him as a father and brother and were willing to die for him.

When Hei Fu heard that Zhang Han had arrived, he ran to the waterside to greet him. As soon as Zhang Han's boat reached the east bank, the black man with two sagittal moustaches on his lips came over with a big laugh and gave Zhang Han a warm hug...

"Shao Rong, it's been a long time since we last met!"

Zhang Han also laughed and said, "I was detained in Shouchun to draw maps and calculate Shang Gong, but you conquered a thousand miles of land in the south. I led my men to capture the passes and bridges in Huainan, but you are building a new city here. I envy you so much."

"What a thousand miles of land, it's all wild jungle. At present, in the entire jurisdiction, there are only a few thousand Qi people who can be registered, and the rest are Yangyue and Ganyue tribes, as well as Chu people who have fled to the mountains and forests."

Thinking of the eight characters "Even if there are only three households in Chu, Chu will destroy Qin" that he saw in Limen Pass a few months ago, Heifu couldn't help but sigh: "Some Chu people are really stubborn. Chu has been destroyed for a year, and Xiong Qi, who finally claimed to be the King of Jing, has also been dead for half a year, but they are still unwilling to submit. We can only capture them as slaves, but it's good, we have manpower to build a city for you and me."

During this southern expedition, Heifu captured a large number of stubborn Chu people, adding up to more than a thousand, most of whom were followers of Fanyang Jun, E Jun, and Pengze Jun. They were unruly and difficult to tame, just right for hard labor.

Zhang Han was not worried about manpower. Even if Heifu didn't have enough people, he could send them from Jiujiang County. After the destruction of Chu, countless Chu people became slaves, and the same was true for Jiangdong and Kuaiji, which Wang Jian and Meng Wu had just conquered.

He was more interested in why Heifu chose this place as the site of the new city.

"To be honest with you, I had already taken a fancy to this place when I passed through it during the southern expedition in February!"

Hei Fu asked Ji Ying to present the map, and the two talked about business: "First of all, this place takes advantage of the Gan River, and it is accessible by land and water."

"Build a wharf here, go downstream, and you can enter Pengli Lake in one day. And Luling and Shanggan can also come here from the upper reaches. Water transportation is several times more convenient than land transportation! If you go by land, whether you go to Xunyang or Fanyang and Yugan, the distance is suitable."

"Secondly, the land here is flat and wide, you can build a big city, open up good fields, and move criminals and civilians to fill it. Within ten years, it will be a fertile land of hundreds of miles. At that time, Jiujiang County will not have to govern it thousands of miles away, and this city can be used as the county seat of Xinjun!"

"Xinjun?"

Zhang Han's heart moved. Indeed, it took him nearly a month to get here from Shouchun, not to mention Shanggan in the south. If the population was not too small to form a county, the land of Yuzhang in the south of the Yangtze River would indeed be large enough to be a county. Heifu's idea is indeed feasible, so that any changes in the south can be dealt with easily.

Heifu pointed to the site of the city that had not yet been laid, and imagined: "Shaorong, what you and I are building today may only be a small city, but after two or three generations, perhaps this wild land will become a prosperous metropolis like Nanjun and Huainan. By then, there will no longer be a distinction between Qin people and Chu people. Yangyue, Ganyue, and barbarians will also flock to this city to learn Xia language and bathe in Chinese style."

"Well said, this is the real pioneering work!"

Zhang Han was a little excited, and felt that his time in Shouchun for a year was a waste of time.

He rubbed his hands excitedly and said, "What we have to do is like the princes who were ordered to build cities in the border areas during the Zhou Dynasty!"

Zhang Han was both civil and military, and he remembered a poem he had read, which told the story of how the Marquis of Han was ordered by the King of Zhou to build Hancheng in the north and open up territory hundreds of years ago.

The Hancheng was completed by the Yan army. The ancestors received the order and followed the barbarians.

The king gave the Marquis of Han to chase the Mo (mò). Yan received the northern country and followed his uncle.

Building new cities and cultivating and opening up in the border areas of barbarians and barbarians is what China has been doing for thousands of years. Eight hundred years ago, the descendants of the Zhou Dynasty, under the spur of the great Duke of Zhou, set out from the Zhou Dynasty, bringing their own businessmen and people to the vast east, south, and north where they did not speak the same language, and lived with the barbarians, barbarians, and Rongdi.

They began to build new cities along the banks of rivers and on hills. Hardworking farmers drained muddy swamps and burned dense forests to turn them into fertile farmland. Through the efforts of dozens of generations, the rule was gradually expanded from point-shaped cities to linear Zhoudao, and finally became a vast area.

The entire Central Plains was truly connected until the late Spring and Autumn Period. There were no more barbarians between the countries. They were either assimilated or eliminated. There was no longer a distinction between Chinese and barbarians. They were all registered as citizens. Only then could the more powerful Seven Kingdoms of Guandai come into being.

Today, Qin is about to complete the unification of China, but the development inherited from Yin, Zhou and even Chu will not stop...

All of a sudden, Hei Fu suddenly understood why Qin Shihuang would launch a war against Baiyue in a few years.

Perhaps it is not only the endless desire for conquest, but also the tradition that has continued for thousands of years?

China these days is not an old dynasty that has no interest in foreign lands and is content with itself. It is a young and vigorous rising sun that sees expansion and development as its destiny!

Although Heifu and Zhang Han are not princes, what they are doing is no different from the Marquis of Han and the Master of Yan hundreds of years ago.

"Real walls and valleys, real acres and real borrowing. Offer their pi skins, red leopards and yellow bears... I really hope that the foundation we lay today can really be like this!"

After Zhang Han sighed, he asked Heifu, "How do you plan to name this city?"

"When I came up with the idea of building a city in February, I had already drafted a name and asked Lieutenant Li to present it to Xianyang on my behalf. I just received the king's reply the day before yesterday."

As he spoke, he picked up a silk book that was respectfully placed on the table. After opening it, he saw Heifu's proposal for building a city and the words of the King of Qin's instructions.

"The king said: This name is very good. The establishment of the new city should be as you said, and it will prosper the southern border!"

Looking up, Zhang Han also saw the name of the new city that the King of Qin praised.

"Nanchang!"