The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

"I dare to tell you, Wuguan is ten miles ahead!"

The head of the small pavilion was respectful. Heifu nodded and asked him to boil some water to wash his face. He looked at the bronze mirror he was carrying and finally looked less dusty.

It was the early January of the 26th year of Qin Wangzheng. After more than half a month of trekking, Heifu and his group of more than ten people and six carriages finally left Nanjun and Nanyangjun and arrived at the last pavilion before entering the Pass.

The so-called Guanzhong refers to the "four passes", namely Hangu Pass, Sanguan, Wuguan, and Xiaoguan. Although Hangu Pass is the main passage from Shandong to the Pass, Wuguan is more convenient from Nanjun. If Heifu remembers correctly, Liu Bang also took this route to enter the Pass in history.

Heifu asked his driver Sangmu to feed the horses, and asked his cousin Yanze to check the inspection and transmission of the customs again. In addition to the luggage, several of the carriages were carrying two thousand kilograms of brown sugar...

Yan took out all the necessary things and checked them again, and laughed: "With the official seal of Zuo Shuchang, do the military officers guarding the customs dare to stop us?"

Heifu frowned and said seriously: "Not to mention that I, Zuo Shuchang, am a high-ranking official in Nanjun, and it is nothing after entering the customs. Besides, entering the customs is not a trivial matter. The customs guards will check strictly later. If there are any mistakes, I will not care about you!"

"What should I do?"

Frightened by Heifu, Yan's face turned pale in an instant. He just did a small business in Anlu and was eloquent in front of his fellow villagers, but he had never left Anlu, let alone entered the customs to Xianyang.

Heifu patted him on the shoulder and said, "You are not transporting prohibited items such as gold, iron, and weapons. What are you afraid of? Just tell the truth later."

After a short rest, the group set off again. They took the "Wuguan East Road". This is a road opened along the Danshui River Valley, connecting to the Xiong'er Mountains in the east. From the Nanyang Basin to here, the road becomes narrower as you go west. Within hundreds of miles, there are generally mountains and valleys, which are narrow and difficult to walk.

Not long after, after crossing a mountain pass, Wuguan appeared in front of everyone.

However, this pass was built on a relatively flat high ground in the canyon, with the steep Shaoxi Mountain in the north and the Danshui River in the south. The pass was built with earth and bricks and stones as the foundation. The wall was two miles long and wound along the mountainside, almost completely blocking the road to the pass!

In order to control this place, the Qin State also set up a "Wuguan Duwei" to guard it, with 5,000 soldiers.

Looking up at Wuguan Pass, Heifu couldn't help but secretly praise: "It strangles the junction of Qin and Chu, and occupies the dangerous mountains and rivers. If you pass through Nanyang, you will be in danger in the east, and if you enter Lantian, you will be in danger on the right side of the pass. Wuguan Pass has great defenses, and it can make a difference in the light and heavy at one stroke. This is true!"

They were not alone. The road ahead, nearly a mile long, was full of merchants and officials waiting to pass through the pass, sweating like clouds and rain, and the carriages and horses raised dust.

The left side of the road was a civilian road, the right side was an official road, and the middle passage was reserved for the postal officials to enter and exit. Just standing on the side of the official road waiting, Heifu had seen more than ten riders galloping in and out continuously, probably delivering documents and military information from various counties.

Guanzhong is equivalent to the lungs of Qin, and these roads are like blood vessels.

Although Heifu looked like he didn't care whether Yan lived or died, he still let him enter the pass at the same time as himself. When it was finally their turn, Heifu stepped forward and showed the seal, verification, and biography issued to him by Nanjun, as well as the edict of the King of Qin ordering him to enter Xianyang.

Although he had the title of Zuo Shuchang and the King of Qin's edict, Heifu was still strictly checked. A general who came to inquire about him apologized to him first, and then began to let his men divide into several teams to check the inspection reports of Heifu's entourage and the goods on the cart.

"What is this?"

Lifting the mat on the cart, the customs officer picked up a piece of brown sugar in the shape of a horseshoe and asked.

"It is a specialty of Anlu County, Nanjun, called red sugar! It is similar to malt sugar."

After Yan finished explaining with a smile, he added a sentence according to Heifu's instructions: "This is the tribute presented by Zuo Shuchang to the king!"

The general nodded, looked at Heifu and smiled: "Zuo Shuchang, can I check it?"

"Please."

Heifu wanted to take this opportunity to see if Yan could be worthy of this business worth millions of dollars. After throwing down a sentence, he stepped forward and chatted with the captain on duty today.

Therefore, Yan could only deal with the guards by himself.

But he saw the general put the horseshoe-shaped brown sugar into his mouth, took a bite, and couldn't help but widen his eyes. He thought it was as lightly sweet as glutinous rice, but it was so sweet that it made people salivate...

"So sweet!" He couldn't help but say.

Other generals and garrison commanders also came over and asked with a shy smile if they could try it too.

At this time, Yan seemed to be no longer nervous, and smiled as he would to the county clerk: "This brown sugar can be sold for hundreds of coins in Xianyang. Gentlemen, is this considered asking for bribes?"

Everyone was shocked to hear that it was so expensive. The general even wanted to put the brown sugar back after taking a bite, but was stopped by Yan:

"This is presented to the king. If it is sent to the palace and it is found that it has been bitten and has a tooth mark, what crime is this? If you want to taste it, please share this piece of candy!"

After Yan came over smoothly, Heifu looked at him admiringly: "Although this is your first time entering the pass, you have handled it well."

He praised: "You have also learned the Guanzhong dialect well."

"When I was a small vendor, similar things were not uncommon."

Yan touched the back of his head and said: "Qin officials are afraid of the law. They dare to take small advantages secretly, but they dare not ask for bribes openly. As for the Guanzhong dialect, Zuo Shuchang asked me to find someone to learn it a year ago."

He could not help but admire Heifu's foresight.

They were not asked to pay taxes, not only because Heifu said it was "tribute to the king", but also because in the first month (October), Xianyang issued an order saying that those who entered the pass from outside the pass this year would be exempted from customs duties! It was probably to set an example for the whole country to drop the pass and almost no taxes on people coming and going.

However, Heifu and his people and goods were fine, but the horses were still left behind, and were fumigated everywhere by a group of guards holding mugwort and other things, and the smell was very choking.

"This is a routine inspection."

The leader guarding the pass said to Heifu: "The law says that when guests from outside the pass come, their yokes and scales should be burned with fire, and cattle and horses should be inspected to prevent savage horses from entering the pass..."

Heifu knew that the so-called "savage horses" were a kind of parasite on horses. In order to prevent the carriages and horses from outside the pass from bringing in this livestock disease, all carriages and horses entering the pass had to use fire to fumigate the scales, yokes and belts of the drivers.

The same is true for people. There are doctors in Wuguan, Hangu and other passes. Anyone who enters the pass and has a disease, even a headache or fever, will be stopped to prevent infectious diseases from being brought into the capital.

"So strict?"

Hei Fu couldn't help but sigh: "Entering the pass these days is comparable to the customs quarantine in later generations!"

Fortunately, Hei Fu's horse was taken care of by Sang Mu and had no problems.

After this strict quarantine, Hei Fu felt that he had indeed entered the capital area, not just going anywhere casually.

Guanzhong, that is the heart of Qin, the land of Yongzhou, the solidity of Xiaohan, and the 800-li Qinchuan, is the real "Land of Abundance" of this era.

I wonder what kind of wonders he will see there?

"Please invite Zuo Shuchang to enter the pass."

Everything was fine. The captain guarding the pass bowed to Heifu, and then the soldiers behind him made way. Two heavy doors were closed in front of Heifu.

Heifu sat in the car and entered the shadow of the Wuguan city gate as the wheels rolled. As the front became brighter and brighter, he secretly looked forward to it in his heart: "Guanzhong..."

"I'm coming!"

...

At the same time that Heifu stepped into the land of Guanzhong, thousands of miles away, in Xiaxiang County, located at the junction of Sishui County and Donghai County, in the Xiang family manor hidden between the mountains and forests, Xiang Liang, who was dressed in Chu clothes, slammed the table angrily and shouted at the young man in front of him:

"I asked you to study in the school, but you didn't learn it until you achieved it, and you beat the teacher. I thought you hated literature and liked martial arts, so I asked a famous swordsman from Yanzhao to teach you swordsmanship, but you were lazy all day long, and I heard that you even broke the swordsman's weapon!"

"Could it be that the eldest grandson of my Xiang family is not good at literature and martial arts? Have you forgotten how the Chu State perished, and how your grandfather and father were killed by Qin?"

"Ji dare not forget!"

The young man, who had changed his hair into a bun at a young age, knelt on the ground, lowered his head, and said to his uncle:

"Ji thinks that books are enough to remember names, why should we learn to be a Confucian scholar? A sword can only defeat one person. Although Ji is a young man, he can defeat three people. It will be no problem for him to defeat ten or a hundred people in the future. It is not worth learning!"

Xiang Liang did not expect him to answer like this. He was stunned. After a while, he said: "Then what do you want to learn?"

The young man raised his head suddenly. Although he was only twelve years old, he had a strong face. Under a pair of heroic sword eyebrows, there were eyes full of hatred!

That was hatred for the Qin State and Qin officials! Hatred for the destruction of the country and the family!

With burning hatred, the young Xiang Yu said word by word: "A man should learn to fight against ten thousand enemies!"

...

Leaving Xiaxiang, he walked upstream along the winding Sishui River, passed Xiapi, passed Pengcheng, and finally arrived near Pei County. On the east bank of the river, at the main traffic route, there is a small pavilion called "Sishui Pavilion".

Unlike Huyang Pavilion in Anlu County, Nanjun, which is far away from the village and the shop, this place is not only close to the village, but also has two wine shops, one opened by Wang Ai and the other by Wu Fu. Because of the competitive relationship, the two women usually look at each other coldly and are not friendly.

However, on this day, in Wang Ai's wine shop, Aunt Wang was busy preparing meals, while the beautiful Wu Fu across the street closed the shop and ran over to help.

It turned out that today, both wine shops were booked by the newly appointed Sishui Pavilion Chief...

The new Pavilion Chief was named Liu Ji.

Liu Ji, who had a beautiful beard, was different from the downtrodden days when he was a knight-errant. Today, he was wearing a cap and a crown, armor and a sword, and sitting on the upper seat with his belly bulging. He also embraced his new lover, the pretty widow Cao, and accepted the congratulations from his subordinates Qiudao, Pavilion Father, Pavilion Guard, and his good brothers Ren Ao and Lu Wan, with a face full of smugness.

"I never thought that I, Liu Ji, who was only chased away by officials in the past, would also become an official one day!"

Over the past year or so, Pei County has undergone earth-shaking changes.

In accordance with the Qin State's policy for many years, the Qin army destroyed the old Chu State local government and set up Sishui County for management. Sishui County and Pei County quickly reorganized the rural society according to Qin's system of five families in a five-family and ten families in a ten-family, registered population and property, and collected taxes and military service. Everyone is fixed on the land where their household registration is located, and neighbors supervise each other and are jointly held responsible, and they are not allowed to leave their household registration and move around at will.

Under this new system, the most affected are the unemployed, especially the knights-errant, who have been brutally attacked and almost lost their chance to survive.

Under the changing situation, the knight-errant Liu Ji faces a major choice: either be included in the new system, fix his residence and occupation, and start a new life.

Or flee and become a desperate criminal outside the Qin law. For example, Zhang Er, a county knight of the State of Wei, who Liu Ji followed in the past, immediately became a wanted person by the Qin government after the Qin army conquered the State of Wei, and fled in hiding, and his whereabouts are unknown.

Since the Battle of Waihuang, Liu Ji had anticipated this day, and without any hesitation, this man of insight chose to turn back.

But he was too lazy to listen to his parents and honestly farm, and he was bold enough to think about becoming an official!

"You can be an official?" That's what my father Liu Taigong said at the time. He would never believe that mud could climb the wall.

However, Liu Ji made the right bet. He had no chance to be an official during the Chu State's rule, but he finally caught up with the good time!

According to the Qin State's official system, the newly-arrived county magistrate, county magistrate, and county lieutenant were transferred from the Qin State. But local minor officials were mostly local people.

There are many ways for local minor officials to enter the officialdom. They can be transferred from military officers, recommended by the local government based on certain property and behavior standards, or selected through "trial officials".

Liu Ji is 35 years old this year. He is an old bachelor with a bad reputation in his hometown Fengyi. To be recommended as an official, he needs virtue and reputation in the village. He can't get it, so he can only choose to take the exam.

He relied on his relationship with Ren Ao, a prison guard in the county, to find some Qin laws to copy and recite.

When Liu Ji was young, his parents had high hopes for him. He learned to read. He spent half a year and finally read the "Law of Theft", "Law of Thieves", "Law of Arrest", "Law of Prisoners", "Miscellaneous Laws", "Law of Equipment", "Law of Food Transmission" and "Law of Running Script" that Hefu had memorized many years ago. He also participated in the law and order examination in Pei County in October. Although he made some mistakes, he barely passed.

As a military official, the head of the pavilion was also required to know swordsmanship and five weapons, which was Liu Ji's strength.

So, in January, he was appointed as the head of the Sishui Pavilion.

The head of the Sishui Pavilion was the head of a place. He held the bamboo slips and orders in one hand and the ropes for tying people in the other. He also had two or three subordinates to serve him. Within ten miles, everyone was in awe of him. He was very impressive!

After everyone chatted for a while, a loud voice sounded outside the wine shop.

"Brother Ji, Ersanzi, the meat is here!"

A butcher in his twenties with a beard and greasy hands came in, holding two freshly roasted dog legs.

His name is Fan Kuai, a dog butcher from Pei County, and a brother Liu Ji met when he was a knight-errant.

"Kuai, sit down quickly, you are the only one missing!"

Liu Ji was the leader of the group. After he asked Fan Kuai to sit down, he put his arm around Cao Widow and kissed her, then laughed and raised the pottery wine cup high!

"My friends, before he entered the government, Liu Ji was a village knight. He traveled around, made friends, and valued loyalty!"

"Now that he is a minor official in the government, he must be subject to the many constraints of the way of being an official and the laws of Qin. He must not do anything wrong. As an official, he has official duties and can't wander around..."

After saying a few serious words, the old rogue couldn't help it, and his true colors were revealed. He smiled playfully: "But, we still have to drink wine and make friends!"

"Well said! Congratulations to Liu Tingzhang!"

Qiu Dao, Tingfu, Tingzu, as well as Ren Ao, Lu Wan, Fan Kuai and others also raised their wine cups, drank with Liu Ji, and laughed.

Although the wine was of a coarse quality, it was refreshing when it went down his stomach. After Liu Jiman drank several cups, he let the widow Cao help him wipe the wine off his thick beard. He reached out and touched his red cap, and said with deep emotion:

"From today on, I am also a Qin official!"