Chapter 65

Handan was too guarded to beg in the west, and after listening to Montenegro's words, he hurriedly ordered his subordinates to quickly convey to the camps of the people, and the remaining service period of the merchant people could be replaced by a gold, and all the people of Zhuozhuang could go back first. After listening to the location of Zhuo Ming's camp, Zhuo Ming, who was in charge of the Zhuo family, hurriedly took the horse team and came over in person. From a distance, I saw Zhuo Ming's camp roaring, and I was so frightened that I was in a cold sweat. Hurriedly ordered: "The horse team fences them up, be careful not to hurt anyone!" ”

The 200 horse team immediately divided into two teams, outflanked them on the left and right, and soon surrounded more than 50 people in the middle, and the leading general shouted: "Everyone put down their weapons and squat on the spot!" ”

The Zhuo clan and Lu Si and the others were arguing, and suddenly saw a group of cavalry rushing over, and surrounded them in the middle in the blink of an eye, Zhuo Ming and Lu Si immediately regretted not agreeing to each other's conditions, but it was too late, so they could only be obedient and squatting on the ground!

"The county guard has arrived!" An official shouted. After a while, Xi begged the county guard and came to everyone's side, and when he saw that he didn't hurt anyone, he felt at ease, and immediately straightened his face and asked, "What's the matter?" Do you want to rebel? ”

"Lord County Shou, the grass people want to sue the Zhuo clan to hire someone to work on their behalf, violating the Qin law!" Lu Si hurriedly shouted.

"Lord County Guard, these people have come to the Minfu camp to blackmail! Please be clear! Zhuo Ming also let go and said hurriedly.

The county guard got off his horse and looked at the mess of farm tools and seven or eight iron swords on the ground. He asked, "Are these iron swords yours?" ”

Lu Si was so frightened that he was sweating profusely, and his men still had sword scabbards hanging from their waists, so he replied: "They came around with farm tools first, and we drew our swords to defend ourselves!" ”

"Tie these people up! All the others were brought back to the government for trial! The county warden ordered.

Several pro-soldiers immediately rushed forward and tied up Lu Si and his men.

"Lord County, why did you only tie us up?" Lu Si shouted.

"It is a felony to run to the people's camp without being ordered to bring a weapon to make trouble! If you shout again, you'll be slapped! The county warden said.

In the yamen of the county guard's mansion, Zhuo Ming, Lai San, and Lu Si were brought to the hall. The county guard sat in the middle, with the Ho Cao and the scribe sitting on either side, and a row of errand officers on each side. Seeing that the county guard was personally hearing the trial, Fa Cao suddenly felt that the opportunity to perform had come, and suddenly perked up, and asked in detail the names and addresses of several people. Then he asked, "Lu Si, what did you accuse?" ”

"The grass people denounced the crime of the people's husband Yingzhuo's family asking someone to replace the labor, I hope the adults will see it!" Lu Si said.

"You are not from the Minfu camp, how did you know that the Zhuo clan hired someone to replace the laborers?" Facao asked.

"It's... It was Lai San who told the villain! Lu Si said.

"Lai San, what's going on? Recruit from the truth! Fa Cao asked Lai San.

"I'm a merchant in this tun, so my daily work is thirty percent heavier than that of other tuns. Therefore, the other tun finished the work before the sun set, and my tun could not be completed until dark! Zhuo Ming asked people to buy a lot of meat and wine, and in the evening, he asked the people of other tun to help after finishing work, and then entertained them with wine and meat! Lai San replied.

"Is there anyone absent from your daily work, and someone else is looking for a substitute to work?" Facao asked.

"No one is absent, no one replaces!" Lai San replied.

"In addition to eating wine and meat, the Zhuo family can pay for the work!" Facao asked again.

"I haven't paid them!" Lai San replied.

"That being the case, at best, it's just a helper, not a replacement! Qin Law stipulates that it is a felony for a businessman to take care of others to serve him, but it is allowed for others to come to help in their spare time! Fa Cao said, "Lai San, why did you tell the people who didn't matter about the people of Bentun? ”

Lai San fell to the ground with a thud and said, "Lu Si and I are friends, and I inadvertently mentioned it!" ”

"Zhuo Ming, what do you want to sue Lu Si?" Facao asked.

"Lord Yu, today Lai San took Lu Si to the Minfu Camp, threatening us to ask the Minfu to work on his behalf, and asked me to give them 100,000 gold so that they could flee to Qi State, but the people in the Minfu Camp were angry, so they quarreled with them." Zhuo Ming said.

The case was quickly cleared! Zhuo's family all resigned because they did not constitute the crime of hiring someone to serve as a substitute. Lai San, Lu Si and others were sentenced to black noodles and hard labor for life, and Lai San was also punished with more tongues.

The county shou Xi begged and said to Zhuo Ming: "The king of Qin has already decreed to the world that merchants can pay money instead of conscription in the future!" Fifty gold per person, are you Zhuo willing to pay gold on behalf of the conscription? ”

"The people of the Zhuo clan are willing to pay gold instead of conscription!" At this time, don't say fifty gold for one person, Zhuo Ming is willing to pay for five hundred gold.

"Okay, you have served for more than ten days, and the officials will come to you to collect the amount of money you should pay for the rest of your service. King Qin still remembers living in your house when he was a child, and he has already sent an envoy to your house! Go back first! The county warden said.

Zhuo Ming walked out of the official office, like a freshman, first went to the Zhuo's Inn in the city to wash up and change his clothes! asked for a horse to go back to Zhuozhuang outside the city. The person in charge was the old man of the Zhuo family, and he knew everything about the Zhuo family, so he secretly told Zhuo Ming: "A businessman from Xianyang said that the Empress Dowager Zhao died!" You go back and try not to let the two old men know! ”

Zhuo Ming was dizzy when he heard this, and shouted: "It's not good, the envoy of King Qin has already arrived in Zhuozhuang, I'm afraid the two old men already know!" I need to rush back immediately! ”

Zhuo Ming Pegasus galloped, and in the evening he went to the village, and saw that there were many Qin troops living outside the village, so he did not go home to visit the second elder first, but asked the location of the envoy, and immediately came to the guest house where Montenegro lived!

Montenegro heard the report from his subordinates, and Taimiaocheng immediately went out of the door! and Zhuo Ming greeted each other and welcomed Zhuo Ming into the house!

"There are rumors in the city that the Empress Dowager Zhao died, but is it true?" Zhuo Ming asked.

"Yes! The Queen Mother told King Qin about her life before she died! King Qin thanked Zhuo's great kindness and ordered us to come to report the funeral for the special envoy, we saw that our parents were old, and we didn't dare to tell the truth, just waiting for you to come back to call the shots! Whether you go to Xianyang to see the remains of the Queen Mother, please decide for yourself! Montenegro replied.

"I will definitely go, I immediately sent someone to call back my brother who was outside, but my parents are old, and someone must be left at home to take care of them! Please wait a few days! Zhuo Ming said goodbye and left.

A few days later, Zhuo Ming went to Xianyang with several older brothers and Taimiaoling, leaving only two younger brothers in their thirties to take care of their parents at home.

Montenegro patrolled the counties of Zhao with hundreds of guards, and he and a few of his cronies wore light kudzu cloth clothes in front, allowing the guards to follow far behind.

King Qin is an infrastructure maniac, every time he conquers a place, he first builds roads, then water conservancy, and supervises farming! Therefore, Montenegro set a route from Handan, Julu County, Hengshan County, Yanmen County and then south to Taiyuan County, Shangdang County and return to Handan County and Ye County, just to walk the counties of Zhao State except for the unconquered Dai County.

At the end of spring ploughing, officials from all over the country were leading their people to build roads and water conservancy, and waterwheels began to be promoted in various places. Since there was no threat of war, the soldiers of Zhao State returned to their hometowns to farm, the people were all smiling, and the construction site was in full swing.

In Julu County, Montenegro saw several old farmers weeding in the fields, so he walked down and shouted, "Old man, people passing by are begging for a bowl of water to drink." ”

An old farmer put down his hoe and replied, "Come from afar, sit down first, and I'll pour you water." He shouted to a few old men not far away: "Old buddy! Rest, drink water! ”

The old farmer took out a few bowls from the basket, poured tea from the clay pot, and handed it to several people in Montenegro. Black Mountain took a sip, it was a little bitter, and after entering the stomach, the mouth was sweet again! Busy praised: "Good tea, first bitter and then sweet!" ”

"You can drink this tea! It can be seen that he is also a farmer's child! The old peasants saw that Black Mountain and several of his subordinates were all dark-skinned, and said.

"In the past four years, we have farmers, slaves, hunters, and coolies who work on the docks, and now we are eating food in the army!" Montenegro replied, and then asked, "Uncle, why are all old people going to the ground?" What about young people? ”

"Now in the spring, just after the war, the family has long run out of food! After the young people ploughed in the spring, they all went to build roads and canals, and the government took care of the food. A few of us old people, the men went to the fields to weed, and the women dug wild vegetables, so we didn't starve to death! An old man replied.

"How much will you pay after the autumn harvest, has the government announced it?" Montenegro asked again.

"The government said that this year's seeds are from the government, and this year it will harvest three and a half percent of the endowment, and next year it will only harvest three percent!" The old man replied.

"With such a high endowment, is there enough food in the field?" Montenegro asked.

"Enough is enough, I'm afraid that the government doesn't talk about it, and the autumn harvest will be increased, last year, Zhao Guo levied sixty percent of the endowment, and the young people joined the army, we couldn't afford it, so we had to flee to the mountains to be monkeys!" The old farmer replied.

"Don't worry! The government counts when it comes to talking! Is this land your own or have you rented it from someone else? Montenegro asked again.

"The rich families with a lot of land have been sold to the government, and the whole family has moved to Xianyang to enjoy happiness! Ordinary people, a piece of land is 100 acres, and the excess is sold to the government, and the government will distribute it to us for farming, so this year, we only pay the official tax, and we don't have to pay the land rent! The old farmer said.

"The government sends conscripts, do you hate the government?" Montenegro asked again.

"Don't hate, hate what? After repairing the canals and roads, we also benefited, the children saved some food on the construction site, and they could also bring some rice back, and they would boil porridge and drink with wild vegetables, we were all happy! Anyway, I can't miss the work in the field! The old farmer replied.

"How's the security here lately? Are there robbers and bandits who disturb the people? Montenegro asked again.

"A few months ago, there was a stockade on the hill in front of me. After the Qin army came, they recruited a part of it first, and the local people all went down to the mountains to cultivate the land, and the rest were not killed and ran away to Yan Qi! I can't see it now. The old man replied again.

"Looks like the days are promising! Is there corn planted here this year? Montenegro asked.

"It's planted, it's in the mountains ahead, I heard that this kind of tree can grow gold, but I don't know if it's true?" The old farmer replied.

"That's good! Last year, this tree could grow five or six gold, and this year I planted so much, although I can't sell five or six gold, but there should be no problem with income, you just wait to live a good life! Montenegro replied.

After leaving here, Montenegro visited several more places, and most of the situations were the same, it seems that the officials of Julu County are still dutiful! Montenegro went all the way north to Changshan County.

Changshan County is next to Dai County, and Zhao Guogongzi Jia fled to Dai County to claim the title of Dai Wang, so in addition to the 30,000 new recruits of the county army in Changshan County, there are also 50,000 iron cavalry of Li Xin stationed on the northern border. The carpenter, an old subordinate of Montenegro, was the general of the 30,000 new army.

So, Montenegro let five hundred guards live outside the city, and he brought a dozen or so people into Changshan County. Changshan is very short of food, Montenegro went directly to the official grain store to check, and saw an old man wearing patched kudzu cloth clothes, just carrying a small bag of millet walked out, so he stepped forward and saluted, and asked: "Uncle, what is the price of rice now?" ”

"One hundred and twenty dollars for rice, eighty dollars for millet!" The old man put down the rice bag on his shoulder and replied.

"Why is the price of rice so expensive in the government? It's more than twice as expensive as Guanzhong! Montenegro asked.

"It's okay now, last month Qishang rice was sold for 200 yuan, and millet was sold for 140 yuan! The government urgently transported grain from Guanzhong, and now it has dropped a lot! The old farmer replied.

"And how much does your bag weigh? How much does it cost? Montenegro asked.

"Fifty catties of this bag of millet were borrowed from the government, and the farmer had no money, so he would return one hundred catties to the government after the autumn harvest." The old farmer replied.

"Uncle, how many people are in your family, how long can this bag of millet last?" Montenegro asked again.

"My family has my wife and me, two sons and two daughters-in-law, and a three-year-old grandson, seven people. Ben also has a little granddaughter, who couldn't eat wild vegetables at the beginning of the year and starved to death," the old farmer replied, shedding two teardrops, "The eldest son repairs the canal, and the second son has just become a soldier after finishing farm work, and both of them eat official food!" This bag of millet, every time you grab a handful, you will boil porridge with wild vegetables, and you should be able to eat it until the autumn harvest. ”

When Montenegro heard this, his nose was sour, he didn't expect the people here to be so poor, but fortunately, as long as he suffered another four months, the corn could be harvested! Then he said to Zhang Jin beside him: "Go get a few catties of dried meat!" After a while, Zhang Jin brought four or five catties of dried meat and handed it to the old man, and Montenegro said: "Uncle, take this bit of dried meat home and add some nutrition to your little grandson!" After saying that, he put the dried meat into the old man's rice bag.

"How does this work? These dried meats cost a lot of money! The old man said that he was about to take out the dried meat, and the Montenegrin people had already gone away!

The current price of rice is sky-high for ordinary people, but for some rich and noble families, there is no difference at all! As soon as Montenegro walked not far, he saw a fat man with a big ear, with a bulging belly, wearing precious silk, leading a dog with the same fat head and big ears, and two family members, walking with a swagger. A scholar in a white kudzu robe walked in front of him, holding a bamboo scroll in one hand, reading as he walked, and holding a few meat bones tied with straw rope in the other. The dog, which weighed seventy or eighty pounds, saw that someone was carrying meat and bones in front of him, and immediately rushed forward, broke free from the rope in his master's hand, and bit down on the flesh and bones of the scholar. The scholar saw that the vicious dog was biting his flesh and bones, and hurriedly raised his hand, but the vicious dog did not bite the bone, but bit the wide sleeve of the scholar's shirt, and the sleeve tore a big mouth with a "swish". The reader was in a hurry and hurriedly smashed the dog's head with the scroll. The vicious dog immediately let go of his sleeve and pounced, and threw the reader to the ground! If you bite down on the reader! Montenegro was about to rescue the scholar, when suddenly a butcher knife flew from the side and pierced the neck of the vicious dog, and the one-foot-long blade did not reach the hilt, and the vicious dog immediately fell to the ground! Convulsions, definitely not survive! It was a butcher who killed a dog who threw the knife, and I saw him walk to the dog's side, bend down and pull out the butcher's knife, and the dog's blood immediately spurted out and shot at the reader.

The scholar immediately stood up, turned pale with fright, and saluted the butcher: "Thank you for coming to the rescue!" ”

"Nothing! It's good that people aren't hurt! The butcher said.

"Well done! Whose dog is this, the owner is so irresponsible! Passers-by blamed the dog owner for coming.

"You dog slaughter bold? Dare to kill my dog! Kuo Shao walked over a few steps, saw that the dog on the ground was already angry, and scolded loudly in anger.

"Your vicious dog almost bit someone to death just now, and they killed the dog to save it! You are a person, you hurt people and curse people, you really owe discipline! "People passing by are shaking each other.

"My dog was bought from Wei at a great price! Even if I sell you, it's not worth as much as my dog! My father is a county prince, you will compensate 200 gold now, otherwise I will sue you in the official mansion! Kuo Shao pointed at the butcher and scolded, "You just wait to go bankrupt!" ”

When the onlookers heard that Kuo Shao was the son of Juncheng, they hurriedly dodged away and dispersed with a bang!

Dog Tu was also frightened and replied: "You just sold me for a few that are not worth ten gold, where did I get the two hundred gold for you?" ”

"Then you just wait for the lawsuit!" Kuo Shao said fiercely and strode away.

"Meng Hao, meatloaf, you two stay and watch the excitement, and help the butcher testify if necessary!" Montenegro commanded: "Go to the carpenter's camp when you are done, we will wait for you over there!" ”

"No!" The two answered, and Black Mountain led the others to the boot camp southwest of the city.

Several people came to the gate of the camp, but saw that the sentries were dressed in black armor, standing upright with their swords, and did not move.

An officer who did not change his title immediately walked over, saluted Montenegro and the others, and said, "See a few generals, please wait a while, I will go into the camp and inform General Mu." ”

Montenegro and his party were dressed in civilian clothes, and this officer recognized that he should also be his old subordinate, and was about to speak, when Mi Long scolded: "You calf, since you know that it is us, why don't you let us into the camp first, and then call the carpenter?" ”

"A few generals, wait a minute, General Mu has an order, even if the King of Qin comes in person, he has to stop it, and he can only enter after the report! Otherwise, cut off our heads! The officer replied.

"Hey, this stinky carpenter, he didn't even recognize his old boss when he came out! I'm going to kill him later! Miron scolded.

"You go and report, we'll just wait!" Montenegro said. He also said to the people around him: "The carpenter is doing the right thing, everyone is equal before military law!" You all learn something! ”

"Hehe, I'm just going to see if the carpenter's soldiers dare to stop us." Miron said slyly.

After a while, the bull's horn sounded in the camp, two short and one long. The officer immediately opened the camp gate and said to Montenegro: "Generals, General Mu invites you into the camp!" ”

Black Mountain and the others went inside and walked towards the camp, and saw the carpenter running quickly from a distance! He saluted to Montenegro and said, "I will not see the general!" ”

Montenegro nodded and replied, "It's not bad, it's worthy of the soldiers I brought out!" ”

"Come on, don't be serious!" Miron slammed his fist into the carpenter's sturdy chest and teased. The others also gathered around and made a fuss.

Montenegro went around the entire military camp and found that his method of governing the army was promoted by carpenters here! It was as if he was returning to the barracks of the Great Camp City.

"I'm learning from you! In two months, there will be an assessment, and officers below the commander of a thousand will be selected according to their results, and these people can be trained seriously!

"What about these recruits? There's no hatred of Qin, right? Montenegro asked.

"No, most of them have been Zhao Jun, and Qin Jun's treatment is much better! Their morale is high. The carpenter replied.

"You gather them together, and I'll cheer you up!" Montenegro said.

"No!" The carpenter answered and ordered the people around him: "Beat the drums, all the school yards gather!" ”