In late April of the 26th year of Qin Shi Huang, Zhuo Tie stood by the muddy Weishui River with a hoe, looking at his new home.

Their new home, located in the east of Duting, west of Zhiyang, "between Feng Hao", here was the old capital of the Zhou Dynasty, abandoned after the disaster of Lishan, there is no former city palace, there is no prosperity of the city, only a lush millet seedlings grow to the fullest, foxes live, jackals howl, and occasionally there are one or two long calls of wild pheasants.

This land is the northern edge of one of the five gardens, Shanglin Yuan, and was not developed until more than a decade ago, when Qin Shi Huang's grandmother, Empress Dowager Xia, chose this place as her mausoleum.

Empress Dowager Xia was not in the main room, so she could not be buried with King Qin Xiaowen in the Shouling Tomb west of Du Ting, so she chose a wasteland between Shouling and the mausoleum of her son Zhuangxiang Wang Zhiyang, and left her last words and said: "Look at my son in the east and my husband in the west." After a hundred years, there were 10,000 families next to it. ”

Qin Shi Huang apparently took the old empress's last words to heart. There is no need to wait a hundred years, and with the arrival of immigrants, a simple living area has been built here for the immigrants to live in. The Lilu Shiwu was strictly divided, and the three elders of Lidian, Wu Lao, and Xiang were selected. He also sent a village man to take charge of the household, and let everyone register their household registration, their names, and write their own years.

Outside the settlement, the fence walls were slowly rammed to prevent the wild beasts in the garden from attacking people and animals, and the woods and meadows were burned to the ground, probably until they had settled down completely, and then went to open up the fields.

Although the long journey has ended, Zhuo Tie and other Yan Zhao immigrants are still worried, because at this time, the spring ploughing has passed, it is too late to plant millet, and they are not allowed to go to other places to buy grain, will the Qin officials and officials raise them for nothing until the autumn of next year?

There are more than 1,000 families in Dudong alone, and there are at least ten such settlements in the entire area around Shanglinyuan in Weinan. Tens of thousands of people have to eat more than one million stone of grain, which is not a small amount, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of immigrants scattered in forty counties of Inner History, at least five million stone of grain in a year.

On this day, the black-clothed and black-crowned Tian Zuo and Cang Zuo officials gathered the people of each household and dispelled their anxiety.

"According to the Qin law, men are given one and a half stone of food per month, young men and women who are less than six feet five in height are given one stone of food per month, and children are given half a stone of food."

According to the previously registered household registration book, each family went to receive this month's ration on the first day of the fifth month, and Zhuo Tie's family had a total of three stones of grain, so they could eat enough.

But when the immigrants received the food, they opened the sacks and looked at them, but they were all dumbfounded.

It turned out that what was distributed was not millet, but wheat!

"Officer, only Mai?"

Zhuo Tie doesn't care about himself, but his wife is not in good health and his son is young, if he eats wheat rice, he will definitely have something wrong with it. He didn't know that this was because the human body lacked wheat starch digestive enzymes, and eating wheat rice would cause indigestion and other uncomfortable symptoms.

"From now until April of next year, your ration will only be wheat!"

Qin officials glanced at these Shandong migrants who dared to be angry and did not dare to speak, and smiled: "If you don't want to eat wheat rice, you can go to the water mill by Weishui, and at the price of 30 yuan and one stone, you can grind wheat into wheat flour, and Neishi will also send cooks to each town to teach the method of making wheat cakes!" ”

Wheat is slightly cheaper than millet, less than 30 yuan per stone, but it costs the same price to grind noodles, and a discerning person will know that he is slaughtering people when he sees it.

The ordinary farmer must be reluctant, and would rather chew the unpalatable wheat rice than pay this unjust money.

However, the immigrants in Shandong were originally local wealthy families, and before they were relocated, all their belongings were replaced with gold and silver money, and they did not lack money, but what they lacked was a pampered and accustomed life.

From Baqiao to Du County, they had the privilege of eating several meals called "naan cakes", which are said to be made from wheat flour. Although everyone was not accustomed to eating it, it was quite delicious, and the rich man Wang who was clamoring to kill him and not eating wheat was already addicted to it, saying that the taste of wheat cake was stronger than that of corn and millet.

Now the Qin officials only gave them two choices, so most of them gritted their teeth after being slightly entangled, and still carried the sack and walked towards the water mill.

A folk song also spread among Shandong immigrants:

"I'd rather eat a bite of naan than a basket of wheat rice!"

……

At Heifu's house on Zhangtai Street, looking at the naan cakes on the plate in front of him, which were wheat-brown, steaming, and wrapped in a little meat filling, Qin Mocheng Shang smelled the fragrance and swallowed his saliva, but he didn't start for a long time.

He looked at the black man who was eating the cake slowly on the table opposite, and sighed: "In the past, the ink man would wear short brown clothes and eat the soup of quinoa. Although Qin Mo is more than this, he is also simple and simple, if Xiang Lige sees me so extravagant, I am afraid that he will say that Qin Mo has forgotten his ancestors? ”

Heifu was slightly stunned when he heard the name of "Xianglige", and then remembered that it was the Chu Mo who ran to the Qin camp alone to persuade Li You to withdraw during the battle to destroy Chu.

Later, when the city of Ruyin was broken and all three of his division commanders were killed, Xiang Lige pulled the chariot with hemp rope and carried their bodies away......

Since that day, Qin Mo Chengshang's concept has been greatly impacted, and he is always doubting whether Qin Mo is doing the right thing, and he is about to become depressed.

When Heifu came to Xianyang to see him again, Cheng Shang had already lost a lot of weight, and his face was becoming more and more bitter......

So Heifu put down the food in his hand, and said while wiping his hands:

"Now that the state of Chu has been destroyed, the world is unified under Qin, the strong take all, and Chu Mo, who specializes in helping weak countries resist aggression, has completely lost its usefulness."

"But when Qin Mo is in great use, Brother Cheng is worried all day long, why is this?"

Cheng Shang was silent, Qin Mo mainly inherited Mozi's concept of "Shang Tong", and they believed that as long as there were many countries in the world, war could not disappear. If we want to achieve universal harmony, we must first achieve political unity, and we must let all voices come from one voice, so as to eliminate war.

Qin Mo chose to assist the Qin State to unify the world, and after a hundred years of fighting, he was questioned by many people inside and outside the faction, and finally realized his original intention.

Qin Mo also actively participated in the construction of the empire, in that feudal, county dispute, Mo Zhi firmly stood on the side of the county, Qin Shi Huang said: "Today, the common struggle is endless, in order to have a prince." Lai Zongmiao, the world was initially decided, and the country was restored, it is a tree soldier, and it is not difficult to ask for its peace! Qin Mo agreed with this very much.

But the current new dynasty is still far from Qin Mo's ideal country, especially the recent series of policies of the emperor, which makes Cheng Shang even more worried, and he can't help but think of Chu Mo's prophecy a few years ago.

"The king of Qin is strong and the six kingdoms, slaughtering the world, the people of the world will not love each other, the strong will cling to the weak, the people will rob the widows, the rich will insult the poor, the noble will be cheap, and the deceit will deceive the foolish!"

Although the world was unified, the hatred of the remnants of the Six Kingdoms for Qin did not disappear, and in order to stabilize the rule, Qin Shi Huang ordered 120,000 households to migrate into the customs, which was a little rough in the eyes of the Mo.

"More than 600,000 people have food and clothing, if it is not handled well, the consequences are unimaginable, Your Majesty is too anxious."

Heifu didn't think so, Qin could even supply the rations of the 600,000 expeditionary army, let alone eat in the rich Guanzhong? The problem is nothing more than how to save costs, so he smiled:

"Is Cheng Jun too worried? At present, the immigrants from Shandong have moved into their new homes, protected by the city, and provided by the government. Although there is only Su Mai, I have heard that the people of Shandong have become fond of noodles, and the men rush to the water mill to grind the noodles, and the women follow the chef of the government to learn how to knead the dough and make the dough and scone cakes. There is also a folk song that says, 'I'd rather eat a bite of naan than a basket of wheat rice'......"

The water mill was also a novelty, an idea that Heifu proposed to Nersten. Guanzhong's Mai already has an animal-powered stone mill, and Nanjun's Lianji water mill is also a very mature technology, the combination of the two, the rice mill is replaced by a stone mill for grinding noodles, and the water mill can be made.

So since last month, the craftsmen invited by Neishi from Nanjun have cooperated with Qin Mo to build dozens of water mills in various settlement points in Weishui, Fengshui, and Bashui.

For the first time, the people of Guanzhong were amazed when they saw this kind of equipment that could run on its own without the strength of humans and animals. But the local old Qin people, after watching the excitement, no one walked into the water mill to grind noodles.

The stubbornness of food habits is extremely deep, take Heifu himself as an example, it is okay to eat a meal of wheat cakes once in a while, so he can't stand it at once, he still prefers the rice and rice that have accompanied him for decades in his past life and this life, and the southerners have the saying that "eating steamed buns is not suitable for rice".

Therefore, the locals in Guanzhong would rather eat their own millet than touch the fragrant wheat cakes, but the Shandong immigrants had no choice but to be forced to eat the cakes......

"The promotion of wheat and pasta in the north starts with hundreds of thousands of Shandong immigrants, first let them get used to eating wheat cakes, and then let everyone grow wheat in the field in July and August, so that a virtuous circle can be formed, and the sown area of wheat in Guanzhong can be gradually expanded."

Wheat is more productive than millet, and sooner or later it will be replaced. But historically, this process began in the Han Dynasty and was not initially completed until the Tang and Song dynasties, and for a thousand years, wheat was a miscellaneous grain in the north.

Heifu also comforted Cheng Shangdao: "With Fengshui and Weishui for grinding and grinding, and turning five wheels, each mill grinds wheat for 300 times a day, and Cheng Jun and Qin Mo have made a lot of credit for this!" ”

But the Virgin Mary of the Ink Scholar was sick again, and Cheng Shang said hesitantly, he thought that the money for grinding noodles collected by the water mill was too expensive, but it was a crime to rob the people of their food and clothing, and to rob the people......

"Anyway, you don't have to work with people and animals, so why not let the people use it for free?"

The Mo family was too idealistic, and Heifu couldn't cry or laugh: "It takes a lot of money and labor to build a mill, and the officials who guard the mill also need to pay a fortune, if the mill is not profitable, the government will have no incentive to build it, and I am afraid it will be abandoned in a short time." ”

Cheng Shang didn't know that this idea was given to Neishi by Heifu.

Thirty yuan per stone is charged for grinding noodles, which is equivalent to selling millions of wheat to wealthy households in Shandong. By the time of next year, Nesteng not only stabilized the price of millet in Guanzhong, but also earned back the wheat money through the mill, and such an eye-catching political achievement will definitely be appreciated by the emperor......

It's also a bonus that Heifu gave to Nesten.

"This is called wool out of the sheep, anyway, the rich in Shandong are not bad for money." He thought to himself.

But then again, the Qin Dynasty government even counted the rations of small officials on business trips very finely, and if you don't let you eat one more meal, how can you raise hundreds of thousands of people for a year? As far as Hefu knows, these hundreds of thousands of immigrants still have a big project waiting for them before they plant wheat in the autumn.

This is also the purpose of Cheng Shang coming to find Heifu, he said with a bitter face: "Qin Mo once suggested to His Majesty, saying that after King Wu of Zhou was destroyed, Yanwu Xiuwen would return to Huashan. Although it is decided today, there are countless soldiers in the world, and when the soldiers of the world are collected into the customs, the sword is cast into the ......."

This is Qin Mo's original intention, but Qin Shi Huang is a person who likes to make his own ideas, and when the edict was announced the day before yesterday, the ink scholars found that their suggestions had gone astray.

The emperor collected the world's soldiers and gathered Xianyang, but he did not want to cast them as agricultural tools, but ordered to use the mountains of six kingdom blades to do a great thing comparable to Yu casting Jiuding......

"Pin Feng Di, cast as a golden man twelve!"