After leaving Lujia Village, the team continued to drive towards Ba County! Three days later, they entered the city of Ba County.

In the main hall of the other palace, Li Si reported to King Qin on the investigation of Ba Widow Qing in the past two days, which was on par with what the old housekeeper said!

King Qin asked Li Si, "What does Tingwei think about this matter?" ”

"Ransom 2,000 people with 10 million gold, with an average of 5,000 gold per person, the enemy is very obvious. According to the market, 100 gold is already sky-high for one person! Lees said. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the nobles among the prisoners of war were generally not killed, but demanded a certain ransom from the captives' families! The ransom also has a recognized market price! Different identities have different prices! Commoners generally have ten gold and twenty gold, and nobles can reach hundreds or thousands of gold. If it's a prince or son, it's only more than 10,000 gold!

"Your Majesty, I think Huaicheng is guilty, but there are extenuating circumstances!" Montenegro said.

"Montenegro, tell me what you think!" King Qin said.

"First, a few years before the Changping War, Wu Anjun captured the Yingdu of Chu and burned down the temples of the Chu royal family and the tombs of the Chu kings of the past dynasties! The Chu people hated Qin at that time, and they gritted their teeth with hatred. The second is that Huaicheng contributed money and efforts to lead his clansmen and the Qin army to resist the Chu State, so that the Qin army could resist the attack of the 100,000 Chu army for more than a year with 15,000 people, and wound tens of thousands of enemies. After the Qin army retreated, Huaicheng did not return to the Chu state, but fled into the mountains with his people to contain the Chu army, so that the Chu army could not occupy the entire territory of Bashu County in the end. The people of Chu will hate Huai. The third is that the Chu people know that the Huai clan is rich and rivals the country, and it is normal for the lion to open his mouth at this time. Fourth, although the Huai clan people are civilians, they have resisted Chu for more than a year, thousands of people have been killed and wounded, and 2,000 have been captured, although they are old and weak, they are also Great Qin warriors, how can they be discussed as civilians? Huaicheng ransomed 2,000 people with tens of millions of gold, guilty of the law, and made great contributions to the country! Montenegro replied.

King Qin pondered for a moment and said, "The two of you are reasonable. Prepare an edict to pardon the sins of Huai's enemies. The Huai clan who died in the fight against Chu more than 30 years ago were all given a pension according to the battle death, and each was given a knighthood, which was inherited by their respective descendants! Specially recognized Huaicheng Loyal and Righteous Monarch, and built the Loyal and Righteous Monarch Shrine in the hometown of the Huai clan. ”

At this time, Li Si was also in charge of the study of King Qin, and he picked up the pen at the moment and waved it on the parchment! Blowing the ink, he handed it to King Qin with both hands.

King Qin took the parchment and praised it: "Tingwei is talented in calligraphy, it is really the best in the world!" Look at it, just this elegant hand, I'm afraid it's hard to find! ”

"The king has won the prize! No matter how beautiful the minister's words are, there is no king's words that swallow mountains and rivers and are brilliant. Lees said.

"Little Gaozi, use the king's seal!" King Qin handed the edict to Zhao Gao beside him. Zhao Gao took it with both hands, skillfully stamped the king's seal, and handed it back to King Qin with both hands.

"Montenegro, this matter was brought on by you, and this favor is still handed over to you, and you will announce the edict. Summoning the widow to see the widow again! King Qin motioned to Zhao Gao to hand over the edict to Montenegro and said to Montenegro.

"No!" Montenegro answered, took the edict with both hands, and saw that Li Si's seal characters were neat and tidy, which was neater than those printed by computers in later generations! Every word has a verve! I couldn't help but admire: "Tingwei's calligraphy, it is difficult for Montenegro to learn it for ten lifetimes!" It is worthy of the best in the world! ”

Li Si said very calmly: "It's over!" "I'm finally a little balanced! Two days ago, he wrote poems, he knew that his poems were a lot worse than Montenegro, and he had also seen Montenegro's words, which were simply unsightly, and he was not as good as his five-year-old grandson.

Montenegro rode on the dark clouds and snow, and with fifty guards, galloped towards the Bashi Workshop twenty miles south of Ba County.

Ba widow Qing moved the Ba clan and Huai clan to the river (Yangtze River) and built a wharf by the river, not far from the wharf is a huge silk mill, weaving mill, dyeing mill, and Dansha refining mill! There are shipyards along the river, and dozens of hydrowheelers are replacing manual labor to scoop various ores into powder and make dansha or dyes. Upstream of the workshop are countless houses, neatly planned and reasonably arranged! Between the workshop and the residential area is the street, which is lined with inns and liquor stores, and many Babbitt merchants live here for a long time. The population has reached 10,000 households, and the scale is only slightly smaller than that of Ba County. In later generations, it was also a small-scale industrial city. But this is just the private workshop of Ba Widow Qing!

The Babbitt workshop is surrounded by a blue brick wall, and there is a team of county soldiers standing at the gate! There are also plainclothes secret guards brought by Meng Hao a few days ago standing guard!

Because he came to proclaim the edict, Montenegro wore a silk official robe and a jade crown made on his head! Hang the sword given by the King of Qin on your waist, and ride a black snow and snow horse! The short soldiers are also all well-dressed and armoured, riding Yinshan war horses, looking majestic! As soon as I arrived at the gate, I was greeted by a secret guard!

"Lead the way ahead and go to the mansion of Ba Widow Qing! Inform Meng Hao to meet me over there too! Montenegro ordered!

"No!" A few secret guards immediately led the way! Get off the horse and walk in Montenegro! Observe the people around you carefully. I felt that in the whole workshop, everyone was lifeless, with no smile on their faces, like mourning.

After a while, Meng Hao came to rendezvous! Montenegro asked, "Why are all the people in this place gloomy and unsmiling?" ”

"It's not the one who sued the enemy for the crime! The county guard has already sent 5,000 soldiers to surround this place, and he will only try this case when the King of Qin returns! They are in danger! Can you be happy? Meng Hao said.

"Zhang Jin, you let your subordinates separate and shout everywhere, the King of Qin has pardoned the Huai clan's crimes of being an enemy and posthumously crowned Huaicheng Loyal and Righteous Monarch! Make them happy! Montenegro ordered Zhang Jin.

"No!" Zhang Jin responded and immediately told his subordinates to disperse! Immediately shout everywhere!

The people who came and went stopped what they were doing and listened carefully, but no one dared to believe that it was true! An old man stopped a soldier and asked, "Master, are you shouting true?" You won't lie to us, will you? ”

The soldier replied, "Look at our armor, we are the guards of the King of Qin, can we make such a joke?" ”

After a while, the entire Workshop City cheered! Countless voices of "Long live King Qin" resounded all over the clouds!

Meng Hao took Montenegro to a three-entry courtyard in the middle of the residential area, which was the highest specification that a businessman of the Qin State could live in! Qin law stipulates that merchants of Qin nationality cannot wear silk, and their residences cannot exceed three entrances. However, there are no such regulations for merchants from other countries who enter Qin! Shang Junshu's reclamation decree said: "Collect heavy taxes on merchants several times, only allow them to wear kudzu clothes, they cannot be soldiers or officials, the length of conscription is doubled, and they have to do the heaviest work, and they cannot spend money to find someone to replace them." In this way, the people will be ashamed of doing business and concentrate on farming. Merchants will give up business and go farming, and the wasteland will be cleared! ”

"Knock on the door!" Meng Hao said to a secret guard. One of the guards immediately stepped forward and smashed the gate with his fist.

Meng Hao, who was also a person who had read books, kicked at the secret guard of the hammer door and scolded: "I told you to knock on the door, not to ask you to slam the door!" Want to scare people to death? ”

The secret guard rubbed his buttocks and said with a smile: "I'm a rough person, I forgot about it for a while!" ”

The door creaked open! Inside, a maid dressed in white kudzu cloth stood in front of the door! A salute! Asked softly, "How many guests knocked on the door without knowing what?" ”

"The edict of King Qin has arrived, and asked Mrs. Ba to come out to pick up the king's book!" Montenegro said.

The maid is well-informed, but when she hears the edict of King Qin, she doesn't know what to do! He saluted again and said, "I'm really sorry!" Even the king's envoy should have invited you in at once, but no man has entered this courtyard since it was built. Wait a minute, and I'll go in and report to Madame! ”

When Meng Hao heard this, he wanted to stop the envoy of King Qin outside, and was about to get angry, but Montenegro immediately stopped him and said to the maid: "No defense, we won't enter the door, just ask Mrs. to pick up the book outside the door!" ”

"Thank you for your understanding!" The maid thanked her and closed the door again!

At this time, there were already people standing outside watching the excitement, and they were stopped ten steps away by more than a dozen secret guards. The shouts in the distance are still coming and going!

"Zhang Jin, blow the trumpet! Gather everyone at the gates, including the Dark Guards! No more shouting, let them pass faster! After announcing the edict, we withdrew it all. Montenegro said to Zhang Jin!

"No!" Zhang Jin agreed and blew the horn with him!

After a while, the door opened again! More than a dozen white-clothed maids surrounded a woman who was dressed in a black kudzu robe, wearing a black hat, and a long black scarf around the hat, and could only look at a pair of white hands, walked out!

"She is Ba Widow Qing, she has been dressed in this dress for more than 30 years, and even the old housekeeper has not seen her appearance for almost 30 years!" Meng Hao introduced.

"Oh! So mysterious! Montenegro said.

I saw that Ba Widow Qing had slowly come to the front of Montenegro and squatted in a thousand blessings! said in a very pleasant voice: "The people's daughter Huai Shi Baqing, I have seen the envoy of the King of Qin!" After saying that, he still didn't take off his hat.

Montenegro didn't care, took out the king's book, unfolded it, and read it aloud: "The edict of the King of Qin, after careful investigation, the Huai clan has made great contributions to the country. The crimes of the Huai clan are now pardoned. The Huai clan who died in the fight against Chu more than 30 years ago were all given a pension according to the battle death, and each was given a knighthood, which was inherited by their respective descendants! Huaicheng is posthumously recognized as a loyal and righteous monarch, and the Xu Huai clan built a loyal and righteous monarch temple. March 20, 19th year of the reign of King Qin! ”

After reading it, Montenegro handed the edict to the Ba widow Qing with both hands. The widow's hands were as white as white jade, and she trembled slightly when she received the edict. The surrounding people had already surrounded the three layers inside and three layers outside, and when they heard the edict, they were all overjoyed, shouting Long live King Qin!

"I'll ask the housekeeper to prepare wine and food for a few people, please move to the Babthia Restaurant!" The very pleasant voice said.

Montenegro said to Ba Widow Qing: "Just cook a few dishes to eat your fill, and the wine will be free!" King Qin Zhaoba and Mrs. Ba went to Bajun City to see Wang Jia! Ask Mrs. Ba to prepare it, and set off after dinner! ”

Mrs. Ba squatted on Montenegro again and said:

"King Qin has given such a great favor to the Huai family, and he should thank the king in person. The people are going to prepare, please go to the restaurant to eat first! "After that, he went by himself!

"Thank you, general, for your great kindness!" The old housekeeper didn't know when he came to Montenegro's side, and he thanked Montenegro very excitedly!

"Don't thank me, this is King Qin Shengming, and the second is the blessings accumulated by Huai and Ba Shi over the decades!" Montenegro replied.

Ba Widow Qing brought more than ten maids, and the maids all assembled swords, obviously strong in martial arts! When I arrived at the Bajun City Palace, I took the Ba widow from Montenegro to the side hall of the palace! called a few palace maids and said to Ba Widow Qing: "King Qin is in danger of the world, anyone who wants to see King Qin must carefully search his body, offended!" After speaking, he withdrew from the hall and instructed the palace maids to carefully inspect the body of Ba Widow Qing!

Montenegro came to the main hall, and King Qin was talking about political affairs with the ministers! Montenegro will report to the King of Qin in detail what he has seen and heard in Bashi Workshop City!

The King of Qin and the ministers felt incredible when they heard that the widow Ba Qing had not really met a man in the past thirty years! In the Warring States Period, when women could remarry at will, this was absolutely unique. The king of Qin immediately summoned the widow Qing into the palace!

The two palace maids took the widow into the hall, and everyone saw that she was still wearing a black Gebu long skirt, wearing a black gauze hat, and her whole body except for a pair of slender jade hands, there was no more to see!

"Ba's widow bows to King Xie Qin and meets your lords!" The widow said in a very sweet voice, and saluted the people present!

"Bold people's women, cover your face to see the King of Qin, a great crime of disrespect, and don't take off your mask!" Li Si shouted.

People are curious, and the more they can't see it, the more they want to see it, and this is especially true of King Qin! I saw him with a gloomy face and didn't speak!

Ba widow Qing has done such a big job, she has already been proficient in Qin law, and she knows that the crime of losing honor in front of the king is not small, so she replied: "Ba Shi is not dead, and he does not show outsiders his true face, it is really to save the ulterior motives of many people with other thoughts!" How dare you lose your honor before the king! After saying that, immediately take off the black hat! I saw her with jet-black hair, tied up with a ribbon! The complexion on her face is like jade and fat, with thin eyebrows and big eyes, and a small cherry mouth, she is really a stunning beauty!

Montenegro was also secretly surprised that a woman of nearly fifty still had the appearance of twenty years old.

King Qin and several ministers were stunned! Wang Juan is relatively old, so he hurriedly coughed a few times! Only then did everyone come to their senses and look at each other in embarrassment.

King Qin is a workaholic, not a good drinker! said with a smile: "Mrs. Ba has such a stunning appearance, but she has been widowed for thirty years, it is really not easy!" The love of men and women is the common love of the world, how about a widow giving you a marriage? ”

"The king's good intentions, the people's women have it! The woman has decided to be a widow for her deceased husband for the rest of her life, and now she is nearly half a hundred years old, and her heart is like water! I hope the king will be perfected! Widow Ba said lightly with a blank face.

"I have heard that many people covet your beauty, and they often harass you. And the officials of Ba County are also happy to do it! Is this true? King Qin asked, but the last sentence was said by staring at the county guard of Bajun!

The county guard of Bajun was still looking at Mrs. Ba in a daze, but when he saw King Qin staring at him, he was immediately frightened! Kowtowed to the ground and said: "Xiaguan has been entrusted by Changping Jun many times to cut Ke for him!" Please, the king, punish the sin! ”

"Although the laws of Great Qin are strict, there is no crime of cutting Ke for others! But you fought for Changping Jun, and after being rejected, you came to the door many times, didn't you have the intention of currying favor with your boss and threatening to harass? King Qin's face was gloomy and he said.

"The king is angry, the people have been widowed for 30 years, and there are countless people who come to the door to propose relatives, and the people have their own way of the whole body. Since the county guard of Ba County took office, he has opened up wasteland and built roads, and has been diligent in political affairs, which is already a rare good official! "The widow Qing excused the county guard.

"Get up! Demote the second rank to retain! "King Qin is still quite satisfied with all aspects of Bajun during this inspection! Therefore, only the punishment of the county keeper was imposed.

"Ba, you will inherit your father's title! Titled virgin! If anyone dares to beat your idea in the future, you will have to worry about your own catties! King Qin's reward for Ba Widow Qing exceeded everyone's expectations, and the word "virgin" is even more meaningful! He just ordered a few years ago that his wife was caught by her husband for fornicating with someone, and he could kill the adulterer and adulteress on the spot without guilt! Perhaps the rebellion between Empress Dowager Zhao and Chang Yu deeply hurt the heart of King Qin!

"The people's woman Xie Qinwang is very gracious!" Ba widow Qing was also surprised and hurriedly thanked her. King Qin's reward made her reluctant to get rid of a lot of troubles, and it was of great help to her career!

At this moment, Lang Wei brought in a black flag messenger, who took out a copper pipe and said, "The imperial doctor ordered a six-hundred-mile urgent letter!" ”

Zhao Gao hurriedly stepped forward to take the copper pipe, skillfully inspected a piece, then opened the lid, took out a piece of parchment and handed it to King Qin.

King Qin took it and looked at it, sighed and said, "Empress Dowager Zhao is critically ill, I'm afraid it will be difficult to return to heaven!" ”

Everyone was shocked and comforted King Qin! Wang Juan said: "Your Majesty, we should set off immediately and rush back to Xianyang. ”

The affair between Empress Dowager Zhao and Chang Yu has long become the laughing stock of the world! It is also the pain that King Qin most reluctant to mention! Most of the reason why Ba Widow Qing is rewarded today is that the two are both well-known women of the same age, but their reputations are diametrically opposed. But after all, the mother and son must be connected, King Qin turned his face away, and two tears fell! He waved his hand to everyone and said, "Go back to Xianyang!" ”