Qin Official

In late June, Chenliu County.

In the early morning of this morning, shortly after sunrise, in Gaoyangli, Chenliu County, Li Shiqi, the newly appointed inner prison gate, got up with a yawn, came to the inner door, removed the narrow door panel, and welcomed Gaoyangli. a new day.

Li Shiqi found a bamboo mat and knelt down by the inner door. While flipping through his old bamboo slips, he greeted the inner people who were going out to do work.

The people in Gaoyang still maintain the life they had before the war, working at sunrise and resting at sunset. If there is any difference, it is that the opening and closing of the inner gate has become stricter, and the wandering knights in the inner village have also disappeared. The officials of the Qin State did not like light knights. They could no longer show off in the market as before. They could only find a job and pretend to be good citizens.

Li Shiqi's younger brother Li Shang is one of them. Li Xia, who used to be well-known in the county town, now has to do the lowly job of driving a carriage. Without the control of laws, he suddenly feels uncomfortable.

Seeing his younger brother go out with a sullen expression as if someone owed him money, Li Shiqi shook his head.

Compared with when the Qin army just occupied this place four months ago, Chenliu County is already very different. First of all, everyone was told: Daliang has been broken, Wei has perished, and the king of Wei also went west to Xianyang to do the work of the king of Qin. I am a minister. The people of Wei in the past were no exception. From now on, no matter men, women, old or young, they are all the leaders of Qin!

The name "Wei" cannot be used from now on. Instead, it was replaced by a new administrative plan. The original territory of Wei was divided into two. Taoqiu was assigned to Dongjun, and new counties were established in Liang and Song. , called "Dangjun".

When he learned the name of this county, Li Shang complained to Li Shiqi: "Dangyi is just a poor and remote place, why should it be named after it? Besides, Dangyi and Dangshan are far away in the Song Dynasty, and are not the same as the Wei and Liang Dynasties." What's the matter? This Qin man really doesn't know how to name, so he can't call him Wei County? Liang County?"

Li Shiqi laughed loudly after hearing this and said to him: "This King of Qin never liked to use the old name after he destroyed the country. You see, Korea was destroyed a few years ago and was changed to Yingchuan County; after Handan was destroyed, The original Zhao land was renamed Handan County and Julu County; the Yan Kingdom was destroyed, and the original Yan land was renamed Yuyang County."

"The Qin people's move was to make the people of the princes forget their homeland and accept the new rule. How could it be possible to name the county after Wei?"

"As for Liang? It's even more impossible. Don't you know that Daliang has become an empty city a long time ago. Now many merchants and workers in Daliang City have gone to Chen Liu to make a living."

Although the county government of Dang County was set up in Suiyang City in Song Dynasty, which was well preserved after the peaceful surrender, in Li Shiqi's view, Chenliu had already replaced Daliang and became the central city in Wei Dynasty. He had analyzed before that it was connected in all directions and had large granaries that could feed many people. In addition, it was not far from the chasm. As long as the original dock was expanded, it would be easy to attract merchants and boats.

Not to mention anything else, let’s just say that after the Qin troops stationed in various counties and villages in Wei were disbanded and returned to the north and south, they all used Chenliu as a distribution center. New Qin soldiers reported here every day, and left one after another after receiving the order to disband.

The whole morning was calm as usual. When Li Shang came home for dinner at three o'clock in the morning, he said to Li Shiqi: "Brother, another group of Qin soldiers came to Chenliu from Waihuang in the morning. They seemed to have captured Chenliu's group and let them go. I carried things for them. This group of people spoke with a Nanjun accent, and I saw a black-faced Qin official inside who looked familiar, but the right bun on top of his head had been replaced by a long single-piece crown..."

Li Shiqi had now penetrated into the Qin system and was familiar with the Qin people's military titles, treatment, and symbols. After hearing this, he was immediately amazed.

"So, the Qin official was just a hairpin before, but now he has become a fifth-level doctor?"

He remembered the rumors some time ago: Although the King of Wei's younger brother Ningling surrendered without a fight and sacrificed Suiyang under the siege of three partial divisions of the Qin army, the King of Qin did not give him anything in return and moved directly to Xianyang. For the common people...

The former princes and princes have now fallen to the ground, but the former heads of Qin and Guizhou scholars have relied on this war and chopping off the heads of Wei people to reach higher positions.

While sighing with emotion, Li Shiqi, an old scholar who claimed to be a drunkard of Gaoyang, couldn't help but beat the beat and sang a poem.

"Yeye is shaking with electricity, and it is restless. Hundreds of rivers are boiling, and mountains and hills are crumbling. The high banks are valleys, and the deep valleys are mausoleums..."

…

The Qin officials Li Shang met in Chenliu County were none other than Hei Fu and others. At this moment, he had already put on the long single-plate crown that matched the title of "doctor". Dongmen Bao, Ji Ying and others followed him. He walked around Chenliu Market, not to mention how majestic he was!

It turned out that after leaving Hufu Township in mid-June, Heifu and others first went to Waihuang to join the group of prisoners they had escorted when they came. These people ate dust under Daliang City for four months, did a lot of hard labor, and many of them died. Fortunately, after the collapse of Liang City and the fall of Wei, General Wang Ben passed the imperial edict on behalf of the king, and everyone under Daliang City had merit. , the garrison soldiers will be exempted from regular service in the coming year, and the prison terms will be halved...

This gave the prisoners some psychological balance. Although they looked around, their number was already several fewer than when they arrived.

While outside Huang, Hei Fu failed to find Chen Wu Jiu. He had already joined the army returning to the west a few days earlier. He only asked someone to leave Hei Fu a letter, which was Chen Wu Jiu's address in Xianyang. If Hei Fu had anything to say, , you can ask someone to send him a letter.

Just the night before leaving Waihuang, Heifu was surprised to receive the title of "Doctor" issued by Xianyang after verification!

According to the Qin State's "named field and house" system, this not only means that the land that Heifu can own will reach 500 acres and the homestead will be 150 square feet. With the rise in title, the positions he can hold after returning to his hometown will also increase. …

Although the Qin State did not strictly stipulate which titles and levels of official positions should be held, there have always been unwritten regulations. Except for the special areas newly occupied, this rule is generally followed in the counties and counties in Qin.

The lowest-level civil servants can be held by public servants or superiors.

The chief of the pavilion who manages public security for ten miles usually has to wear a hairpin.

Traveling in the countryside should at least be done with a hairpin.

As for Heifu's title of doctor, if he is in the countryside, he can be the head of a village and a coward in the village.

If he is in the county, he can be the chief official of the county, such as Cangcaocang Shifu, Tiancao Tianshifu, and Gongcao County Engineer who have dealt with him before. Of course, the directors of the two units with the greatest authority in the county are the chief clerk of the civil servants and the chief clerk of the jailer. Once he reaches this position, Heifu will be on equal footing with Xi Ping.

If he is lucky, he can also go to the county to govern Jiangling City, but he will not be able to be a chief official. After all, the county is not as good as the county. There are really as many officials as dogs, and they can travel all over the country. Heifu can be a county official with a hundred stones. I still have to be shouted around...

The future suddenly became bright again, but Heifu still felt a little regretful: "It's such a pity that County Zuo Lieutenant Yun Man is a government official, and I am still one level lower than him."

But no matter what he chooses, at least he doesn't have to worry about Zuo Wei making excuses to make things difficult for him again.

While thinking about it, Hei Fu and the robes behind him were selecting items at the Chenliu Market. After they got the bounty, they had a lot of spare money in their pockets. In addition to buying a set of clothes so that they could return home in dignity, everyone I all want to bring some specialties from the Central Plains back to my family...

The Dongmen Leopard was looking around, picking out children's toys. He was the one who looked forward to going home the most among everyone.

Ji Ying was bargaining with a vendor in front of a stall selling bronze mirrors. He was quite talented in this area. Although they couldn't understand what the other party was yelling about, he was able to make a deal in the end just by using his hands. Ji Ying He said that the prices in Anlu County's markets were all clearly marked, so there was no use for his words.

"The bronze mirror was brought to my bride." Ji Ying touched the finely polished mirror and showed off happily: "When I go back, I will get married."

Then he said bitterly: "Previously, her family still disliked me for not having a title, but now I also have a title, let's see who is better than who!"

The rest of Li Xian, Bu Cheng and others also bought some portable items. As the chief and corps commander of Hei Fu, they will of course be given priority by Hei Fu and their heads will be given to them. Nowadays, Li Xian, Xiao Tao and Gong Ao are all Shang Zao, and Bu Cheng has also become a public official.

Among the crowd, only Gong Ao and Xiao Tao did not buy anything. Gong Ao raised his head proudly and said that there was nothing he liked in this little Chenliu market. Xiao Tao stammered that he planned to save money and go back to buy a slave to replace his old father in farming.

Heifu wanted to buy a lot of things. He picked out a pack of good needlework for his mother. Her mother had no other hobbies and liked to sew and mend the three brothers. But the needles in her hands were all dull and it was time to replace them with new ones. new.

He chose a bamboo flute for his brother Zhong. Although his eldest brother was dull and honest, after finishing his work, he could sit on the edge of the field and play the flute well. I wonder if the compost field he and Tian Zuoli worked on was going well?

He wrote a few words for his younger brother. This boy has been studying in the county school for more than half a year. How is he memorizing the laws? Have you been bullied and discriminated against by officials?

He also picked out a turquoise-inlaid copper hairpin for his sister, a saw for his sister-in-law, and of course gifts and toys for the niece and nephew. They must have grown a lot taller now, right?

In short, everyone is full of expectations for returning home...

…

On June 25th, after waiting for two days in Chen Liu, Heifu and the others finally received the order and allowed everyone to embark on their return journey.

They were not the only people going south. There were also hundreds of garrison soldiers from Nanjun and Nanyang counties. There were also people asking about the way back.

"Go southwest from Chenliu to Yangzhai in Yingchuan County, and then go south into Nanyang. The rest of the way will be the same as when you came!" Ji Ying, the mailman who has become a living map, loudly explained to everyone.

"I'm afraid I'll have to leave for a month."

Someone was calculating and said, "Should we still be in time for the autumn harvest?" They had forgotten about the war and began to worry about the farming at home...

The gate of Chenliucheng opened, and everyone walked forward together. In Hei Fu's eyes, their faces were no longer solemn, and they were all relaxed. While escorting the prisoners, they were laughing and joking.

War seems to be a thing of the past and a better life is on the horizon.

But just as everyone was approaching Shiliting Pavilion southwest of Chenliu, there was a rapid sound of horse hooves in front of them, shattering their dream of returning home!

"Stop!"

Everyone stopped talking about their endless plans to return home. Heifu also turned his head, but saw a messenger holding a small flag riding a horse at a fork in the road ahead from the direction of Chen Ying (Huaiyang). He stopped in front of the returning procession of the garrison prisoners, raised the flag and shouted loudly: "Second and Third Sons! Stop! Stay where you are, no one is allowed to leave the team!"

Even though the obedient Qin soldiers were unwilling, they still stood there obediently, but anxiety and suspicion had spread among them.

"What happened?"

The garrison soldiers were inexplicably stopped and felt unhappy. They all asked questions from left and right, and some loudly questioned the officer who had sent the order.

But the military officer just kept a dark face and said nothing. When he was forced to bear it no longer, he only said that he was ordered to deliver the order and knew nothing else. However, his eyes kept looking in the direction of Chen Ying. He was also anxiously waiting for the new order. .

Seeing the restless messenger and his ambiguous words, Heifu couldn't help but feel nervous.

"It can't be that!"