The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

Flickering, firewood was lit in the narrow and dim room, reflecting the figures of Heifu and his brother-in-law.

In those days, lighting was basically dependent on fire. Rich people used animal fat "paste" and beeswax, insect wax, and lit it with a wick, but the light was not bright, usually as small as a bean. People like Heifu couldn't afford to light those things at all. They only used flint to light a small firewood carefully when needed, and they had to be careful when lighting to prevent the house from being set on fire. The probability of fire in those days was much higher than in later generations.

Under such lighting conditions, Yuan tiptoed from a corner of the room and took out a large basket of heavy things...

Heifu knew it was money without looking, just by listening to the sound. It was a basket full of half a tael of money.

"Heifu, this is the reward money that the county government asked the county to issue. Guess how much it is?" Yuan lowered his voice.

Heifu was too lazy to guess. He had counted the money until his hands were tired today. He just took a look under the dim light. There were about ten buckets, so he smiled and said, "Ten thousand coins?"

"Yes, that's ten thousand coins!"

Yuan was a simple craftsman who rarely left the village. He was used to being poor all his life and had never seen so much money. After he got the money back today, he was excited for a while, but then he started to be suspicious again, thinking that someone outside was coveting it.

So he simply locked the money in the house. He was guarding outside the door alone, pacing like an ant on a hot pot, looking at everyone who passed by with suspicion, just waiting for Heifu to come back and let him make a decision.

Heifu had indeed seen the world. After all, he had only received more than 15,000 in reward money in the morning, and in the afternoon, he gave away 4,000 in the blink of an eye. So he was not too surprised, and only asked: "Besides the money, are there any other rewards?"

"Yes, yes."

Seeing that his uncle remained calm in the face of such a huge sum of money, Yuan could not help but admire him. He took out a brown cap and said: "I was also granted the title of Gongshi, and I will be the same as you, Heifu..."

At this point, Yuan found that Heifu's head had been replaced with a khaki scarf, and was greatly surprised: "Are you already a high-ranking official?"

"I was just promoted to a high-ranking official at noon today." Heifu touched the bun on his head and smiled indifferently: "I was just about to tell my brother-in-law, it seems that today, my family has double happiness!"

Now, Yuan was so happy that she danced with joy: "Yes, yes, it is double happiness. If your mother, elder brother and your elder sister knew, they would be so happy."

While Yu was laughing foolishly, Heifu sighed silently, because he felt that the first-level title and ten thousand coins were huge rewards for Yu, but Heifu thought that compared with the usefulness of the treading pestle, these rewards were still a little less...

According to the demonstration in the county warehouse that day, the treading pestle can increase the efficiency of pounding rice by nearly one-fold if used properly. In the past, the work done by two slaves with pestles and mortars can now be done by one person with the treading pestle in the same amount of time.

If this were put in the future, it could be rated as the "major invention of the year", right?

"It seems that although the Qin State attaches great importance to skills, the status of craftsmen is still low. They are sent away with a casual title and reward. The benefits of this invention are not very high." Heifu complained.

What he didn't know was that after the two of them presented the treading pestle to the county, the warehouse steward thought that it should be rewarded with ten thousand coins, while the county engineer thought that it was more appropriate to reward it with a first-level title. The magistrate of Anlu County could not make a decision, and felt that the function of this item might not be evaluated in the county, so he reported the two imitation treading pestles together with the documents to Nanjun.

After reporting to the county, the county magistrate asked the county engineer of Jiangling City to measure the value of the treading pestle, and then decided to give a double reward, a title and money together.

At this time, after thanking Heifu repeatedly, Yu pushed the money in the basket to Heifu and said, "Heifu, although you warned me to tell outsiders that I came up with the idea of treading the pestle and it had nothing to do with others. But the truth is clear to you and me! Treading the pestle was your idea, but you gave it to me. It is a great honor for me to get the title of Gongshi. Take this money!"

"Brother-in-law, I have received a lot of rewards for capturing tomb robbers. Since this money is specifically given to you, how can I take it?"

Yu was very stubborn and insisted that Heifu take it. Heifu finally couldn't refuse, so he had to agree to Yu that the money would be divided 50-50 between the two of them. Yu refused and insisted on a 90-100 split, one for him and nine for Heifu.

As the two were pushing and shoving, Yu remembered something again and quickly put aside the matter in front of him and asked Heifu for advice.

It turned out that in addition to the title and money, because of his honesty and good craftsmanship, Yuan was noticed by the county engineer during his days of helping to make treadle pestles in the county, and was allowed to stay in Anlu County as a craftsman, and he could bring his family and move his household registration to the county.

Yuan didn't know what to do for a while, and wanted to ask Heifu to help him make a decision.

"Brother-in-law, this is a good thing."

Heifu said happily: "People go to high places and water flows to low places. If you come to the county to work, your future will definitely be better than staying in a small rural village."

Yuan hesitated: "But your sister..."

Heifu said: "Didn't the county engineer allow brother-in-law to move his household registration to the county? My sister has longed for the county for a long time, and she is full of praise for the county's cloth and silk. She will be happy to move to the county! Besides, after a month, I will be a formal official, and I can let Jinglai come to the county school to enroll as a student and learn laws. By then, brother-in-law and sister's family will be in the county, and I can take care of him..."

There is another reason that Heifu didn't say. His brother-in-law has skills, and he is simple and has no bad intentions. It is indeed buried in the small village. Heifu thought of the metaphor of the rat in the warehouse and the rat in the toilet by the now popular court judge Li Si: "The virtue or vice of a man is like a rat, it depends on where he lives!" In this world, only by going to the center of the times can a capable person highlight his value.

Among all the craftsmen in the country, the skills of the citron may be only average, but there is Heifu.

Because of the unique household registration system of the Qin State, the soldiers responsible for farming and fighting were not allowed to play with their skills at will or get involved in business. So Heifu thought that in the future, he might have to rely on his brother-in-law to make any objects for the future. In this way, Heifu can make what he wants and also help his relatives. Why not?

So Heifu pushed the money that was pushed by Yu in the opposite direction and said, "Brother-in-law, you should keep half of the ten thousand yuan to buy property in the county. Don't worry, no matter who is in our family, the future will be better and better, and the road will be wider and wider!"

...

Heifu, who was in the small county of Anlu, thought that the incident of offering the treading pestle had finally come to an end. But he didn't know that this was not the end, but the beginning.

The day after they received the reward, in Jiangling City, the capital of Nanjun, the hub for sending and receiving government mail and official documents, outside the Jiangling Chuanshe, two "treading pestles" made in Jiangling, together with the expedited letters indicating "urgent", were moved onto the "transmission car" specially used to transport urgent letters.

Then the horse and the carriage were put on the shaft, and the carriage went out of the north gate of Jiangling City and rushed north along the straight road...

"Do not delay the messenger of this letter. The letter will be sent to the court at the time of Chung Hsin on January Yi Hai..."

The messenger on the carriage only needed to take a look at the date marked on the seal of the letter to understand that it was an urgent letter. This trip must be quick, and it must be delivered to Xianyang City before Chung Hsin on January 10. Accompanying him was an official under the county engineer.

So from this day on, the carriage began to move non-stop.