"PS: In yesterday's chapter, my head was confused, and Qin Chu made a few mistakes, I'm really sorry. It has now been modified.'

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At the beginning of March, Zhuang Xin bid farewell to Zhaoju and embarked on a journey to Fangcheng to find Qu Yuan.

In view of the fact that Fancheng, Dengxian, and Yanxian had all been captured by the Qin army, and fearing that they would encounter the Qin army on the way, Zhuang Xin and his two servants could only make a detour to Jingling, and then go straight north to Fangcheng.

This detour made it take him nearly ten more days, and it was not until March 16 that he arrived at the land of Wan and Fang.

Along the way, Zhuang Xin also encountered the Wei army in Fangcheng, most of them were foot soldiers, a team of about ten people, sometimes briefly interrogating a few words, and then pointing out the direction of Fangcheng for Zhuang Xin.

Occasionally, they could also encounter soldiers on war horses, most of whom swept by in groups of three or five, unless Zhuang took the initiative to greet these cavalry and ask for help, otherwise, these Wei soldiers on war horses would most of the time gallop by, ignoring the pedestrians on the road.

In short, after several temptations, Zhuang Xin had a general idea in his heart about the Wei army in the other city, that is, this Wei army, unlike those Wei troops who had invaded the Chu State, treated the civilians of the Chu State more kindly - of course, it did not mean how polite the words were, but that the other party would not do anything to kill people for money.

Zhuang Xin attributed this change to the new Fang Cheng Ling.

When passing through Fangcheng on the way, Zhuang Xin saw that many Wei soldiers were building a camp outside Fangcheng, and it turned out that at this time, Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu had each led about 8,000 Wei troops to Fangcheng, and were preparing to train together with Fangcheng's army and Wancheng's Han army, as a deterrent to the Qin army.

Zhuang Xin wanted to get closer and peek, but unfortunately, the guards patrolling around Fangcheng warned him not to approach, and it was also thanks to Zhuang Xin who was dressed like a fugitive little nobleman of the Chu State, otherwise he might be arrested by the Wei army as a spy of the Qin army - during this time, Bai Qi did send a lot of detailed works to explore the reality of Fangcheng and Yeyi.

Since Fang Cheng couldn't get close, Zhuang Xin had no choice but to go to Yeyi to find his friend Qu Yuan.

From Fangcheng to the northeast, Zhuang Xin encountered a pass, to be exact, a pass that had just been built, he asked Wei who was patrolling nearby, and learned that this built gate was called "Yangguan (Blocking Yang)", once this pass was completed, it could completely cut off Yeyi and Wuyang, so that foreign enemies could not attack Liangyi.

Continuing along the avenue, it didn't take long for Zhuang Xin to see a sign, which marked the direction of Yeyi and Wuyang, and also engraved two sentences: Yeyi welcomes relocation, regardless of origin; Wuyang refuses outsiders, and non-Mongolian (Yi) people are exempted.

Zhuang Xin glanced at Wuyangyi a few times, and finally decided to honestly follow what was written on the notice board and go to Yeyi.

A few days ago, Yeyi absorbed more than 100,000 exiled Chu people from six cities including Li County, Sui County, Gaohu, Deng County, Fancheng, and Yan County.

No, after approaching Yeyi, he saw countless people in the western suburbs of Yeyi, these people were all wielding hoes in the wasteland, just because they were in time to cultivate a few more acres of farmland before this year's spring ploughing, and the scale that seemed to be like a sea of people made Zhuang Xin feel frightened.

You must know that he is in Chuying, and he may not be able to see such a spectacular scene.

"Ten years from now, I'm afraid that this Yeyi will become a border fortress city of the Wei State?"

Zhuang Xin thought secretly.

Then came to Yeyi City, sure enough, there were more people in the city, and the streets were densely packed with people, shoulder to shoulder, making Zhuang Xin seem to have arrived in Linzi of Qi and Handan of Zhao State, which was very lively.

Anyway, he was not in a hurry to see Qu Yuan, Zhuang Xin simply wandered around Yeyi, wanting to see this vibrant city.

Suddenly, he was hit on the shoulder by the crowd, causing him to stagger and stumble, but two servants beside him immediately supported him.

He frowned and looked at the person who hit him, but saw that the other party seemed to be a pair of brothers, and was looking at him apologetically: "Sorry, old man, there are many people here...... I'm sorry I ran into you. ”

Seeing that the other party had a Chu accent and apologized to himself, Zhuang Xin's frowning brows stretched out and looked the brothers up and down.

What surprised him was that the older one of the two brothers was actually wearing his Chu-style armor - although the armor of the soldiers of all countries in the world was similar in appearance, Zhuang Xin would never admit that it was the armor of his Chu army.

So he asked in surprise, "Where are you a soldier?" ”

The older of the two brothers clasped his fists and replied: "Old man, in Xia Deng Shu, he was a soldier in Lixian County before, this is my brother Deng Dian, I accidentally bumped into the old gentleman, I really don't want to go." ”

"It's okay."

Zhuang Xin waved his hand, then pointed to the armor on Deng Shu's body, and asked, "Young man, you are wearing the armor of my Chu State, don't you care about the Wei soldiers in the city?" ”

Deng Shu replied: "When I took my mother and brother to Yeyi, I was stopped and interrogated by Wei Jun, but when the other party saw that I was dragging my family, he let me go, and I was not embarrassed...... In fact, not only in Xia, but in this Yeyi, there are actually many Chu soldiers who have defected from all over the country, and most of them have defected to the army of Fangcheng, and they are also preparing to join the army......"

Hearing this, Zhuang Xin frowned slightly and said, "Defect to the Wei army? You are a Chu person, do you want to become a Wei pawn and serve the Wei State? ”

Deng Shu obviously heard something from Zhuang Xin's mouth, and his tone became a little colder, and he said lightly: "At least when my whole family was coerced by the Qin army, it was Fangcheng's army that saved me...... I don't want to serve the Wei State, I just want to work with Fang Cheng Ling to protect my new hometown. At least Fang Cheng Ling will not leave the people of Yi and flee like Xi Jun did......"

"Brother." Deng Dian saw that his brother's tone was wrong, and hurriedly confessed to Zhuang Xin.

Zhuang Xin waved his hand, and sighed secretly in his heart.

He knew that Deng Shu was right, when the cities north of the Han River, such as Lixian and Suixian, were attacked by the Qin army, his Chu State did not send assistance to protect these people, and the local Yi Jun, that is, Jinghao, also fled in panic because he was afraid of the Qin army.

In this case, it seems that Deng Shu and other Chu people confessed their feelings to the Wei army, and after moving to Yeyi, they wanted to join the Fangcheng army to protect their new hometown, and Zhuang Xin really couldn't blame anything - after all, it was he who was the first to lose the righteousness of the Chu State.

After thinking about it, Zhuang Xin apologized to the Deng brothers.

Seeing this, the expression on Deng Shu's face also eased a lot, and he took the initiative to tell Zhuang Xin a lot of things.

For example, there are many righteous houses built in Yeyi City, and the Chu people who have newly defected and have not yet been allocated a house can go to the righteous houses in the city to live temporarily, and Yeyi will distribute rice porridge, although everyone does not get much, but they will not starve to death.

Hearing this, Zhuang Xin was secretly surprised: even if Ye Yi was trying to win over the hearts of the people, the move of Yishe could be called a big deal.

After thinking about it, he asked again: "Is Yeyi's house allocated by the local county government?" ”

"Yes." Deng Dian explained: "As long as you go to the county government to register your household registration, you can get a house, but it is not free, and you need to pay a rent to the county government in the future, unless you save a sum of money to buy this house, you will not need to pay rent every year in the future...... Oh, there are exceptions, such as my brother, he is preparing to defect to the Fangcheng army, once he is recruited by the Fangcheng army, our family will not have to pay rent anymore, in addition, craftsmen such as stonemasons, blacksmiths, carpenters, etc., as long as they are willing to become craftsmen in Yeyi, they can also be distributed to the house for free...... But if he was not recruited by the Fangcheng army, and he was not hired as a craftsman by the Yeyi County Government, he would have to wait for a while if he wanted a house, and the old gentleman also knew that there were too many people in Yeyi now......" As he said, he looked Zhuang Xin up and down a few times, and added: "Therefore, many people have gone to the outside of the city to reclaim wasteland, according to Yeyi's decree, the wasteland reclaimed in recent years can be cultivated by everyone, so many people who have not been allocated houses have gone to the outside of the city to reclaim more than ten acres of wasteland, Then build a thatched hut by himself on the edge of the field and live temporarily, although Ye Yi does not advocate it, but he does not have the energy to manage it for the time being, so it is better to live for a while than to huddle with others in Yishe. ”

『…… No wonder there are so many people outside the city.'"

Zhuang Xin nodded in realization.

At this time, Deng Shu said to his younger brother Deng Dian: "It's not too early, I should go to Fangcheng, you don't have to send it off, I see that this old gentleman is new to Ye Yi and is not familiar with Yeyi, you might as well help him." ”

"This ......" Deng Dian hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Then brother be careful." ”

"Huh." Deng Shu said with a smile: "There is a Wei army stationed in Yangguan, can the Qin army still fight here?" I'll go first, and if I'm lucky enough to be chosen by Fang Cheng, I'll come back immediately to tell you the good news. ”

"Brother will definitely be selected by Fang Cheng."

"Haha, let's go."

So, Deng Shu left on his own, leaving his younger brother Deng Dian and taking Zhuang Xin to the righteous house in the city.

Zhuang Xin didn't want to slap the kindness of the brothers, so he simply followed Deng Dian.

Along the way, Zhuang Xin also learned a lot from Deng Dian, for example, Deng Dian told him that the two brothers were lucky, because when their family was naturalized in Yeyi, the officials of the county government saw that his brother Deng Shu was wearing the armor of the Chu State, and guessed that Deng Shu must be used as a soldier, so after learning that Deng Shu intended to defect to the Fangcheng army, they gave priority to allocating a house for their family, otherwise, they would probably have to take their family to live in the city temporarily.

Hearing this, Zhuang Xin couldn't help but think in his heart: That Fang Cheng Ling Meng Zhong did not exclude recruiting Chu people as his subordinates, which means that he has the confidence to entrap these Chu soldiers, or does he have no intention of being unfavorable to the Chu State?

"It should be the latter, otherwise Qu Yuan wouldn't have stayed with this person as a doorman."

Zhuang Xin thought secretly in his heart.

As he walked, the group passed by a street, and Zhuang Xin was surprised to find that the street was full of shops, from wine shops, inns, rice shops, cloth shops, and oil shops, which made him stunned.

You must know that in the county towns all over the world, the main streets in the city are generally the mansions of officials or local nobles, and the residences of commoners are generally on the east and west sides of the southern city, so it will gradually form two markets mainly set up for commoners.

But Yeyi is different, according to Deng Dian, Yeyi's markets are concentrated in the four main streets of the southeast, northwest and northwest, so that when Zhuang Xin walks on this main street at the moment, there are pedestrians coming and going, even though this street is quite spacious after expansion, but there is still a kind of congestion that can't open your legs.

In this regard, Zhuang Xin faintly pondered something: that Fang Cheng Ling seemed to pay attention to the commercial market.

I have to say that this is indeed a very novel in contemporary times, after all, all countries in the world are "heavy on agriculture and suppressing businessmen", and they are quite prejudiced against the businessmen who are "driven by profit" in the eyes of the world, and feel that these businessmen are not engaged in production, and they can easily get money that ordinary people cannot earn in a lifetime just by visiting various places to resell goods, so they feel quite dissatisfied.

As a result, the status of the merchants in this era was very low, not to mention compared with the "scholars", who were not even as good as peasants in the eyes of many monarchs.

However, this Fang Cheng Commander set up the commercial market on the four main streets of Yeyi, does this mean that he has no prejudice against the commercial market, and even hopes to attract merchants from all over the world and enable the circulation of goods.

Shaking his head, Zhuang Xin became more and more eager to see that Fang Cheng Order.

Because according to his secret visit, this Fang Cheng Ling's heart is really big, whether it is he absorbing more than 100,000 Chu people, recruiting Chu people to expand the Fang Cheng army, or setting up the commercial market on the four main streets of Yeyi, this is enough to prove that this Fang Cheng Ling has great ambitions and ambitions.

Thinking of this, Zhuang Xin asked Deng Dian: "Young man, the old man wants to see Fang Cheng Ling, what is the specific so-called inconvenience to talk about in detail, and I don't know that Fang Cheng Ling can be in Yeyi?" ”

Deng Dian was stunned, then shook his head and said: "Fang Cheng Ling rarely comes to Yeyi, it is said that he is in Fang Cheng most of the time, if the old gentleman wants to see Fang Cheng Ling, you can go to visit Ye Yi's Yi Cheng first......

"...... like this"

Zhuang Xin frowned and thought about it, and then asked: "The old man heard that the former Sanlu doctor, Qu Yuan, is now in Yeyi, and the old man has some friendship with him, I don't know where to find Qu Dafu?" ”

"Doctor Qu? The old gentleman is actually an old friend of Dr. Qu? ”

As soon as he heard this, Deng Dian's face became even more respectful, and he hurriedly said: "Doctor Qu is now in the county government of Yeyi, and when I went to the street to buy rice yesterday, I saw Doctor Qu with a group of craftsmen and servants building additional houses...... I'll take the old gentleman there. ”

With that, Deng Dian led Zhuang Xin to the place where he met Qu Yuan yesterday.

Sure enough, not far from there, Zhuang Xin saw Qu Yuan holding an account book, directing his craftsmen and servants to build houses.

Seeing Qu Yuan's command from a distance and his serious attitude, Zhuang Xin was quite emotional.

Because once upon a time, when Qu Yuan was entrusted by King Chu Huai to reform and change the law, he was also so serious, for example, Zhuang Xin once saw that Qu Yuan took his soldiers out of the city to measure the fields outside the city, recorded all the private fields hidden by the nobles, and asked them to pay the corresponding field tax.

But since Qu Yuan was demoted to the Three Lu Doctor, Zhuang Xin no longer saw this serious appearance from the face of this great sage, Qu Yuan at that time, except for using his free time to open the altar to teach, teaching the children of Zhao, Jing, and Qu, most of the rest of the time was idle, drunk and chanting, and living absurdly.

The dignified left-hand disciple, the great sage of the Chu State, has fallen to that point, which is really sad.

However, today, Zhuang Xin saw Qu Yuan with a serious attitude again, but it was a pity that Qu Yuan was working for that Fang Cheng Ling in Yeyi, instead of serving him in Chu Ying.

Secretly sighing, Zhuang Xin stepped forward and patted Qu Yuan lightly on the shoulder.

Qu Yuan, who was commanding everyone, subconsciously turned his head, and when he saw that the person who came was Zhuang Xin, he was stunned, a blue and white color flashed on his face, and he seemed to be a little ashamed, his lips moved slightly, but he didn't know what to say.

Of course, Zhuang Xin understood Qu Yuan's mood at the moment, so he smiled and said, "Haha! Zhao Ju said that you were in Yeyi, and I really caught you! ”

Hearing this, Qu Yuan was relieved.

I have to say that he was really worried about being reprimanded by his old friends, who reprimanded him for being a former important minister of the Chu State and a son of the Qu family, but serving in Fangcheng of the Wei State.

Unexpectedly, Zhuang Xin's first sentence was a joke rather than a reprimand, which made him really relieved.

He hurriedly arched his hand and said, "Doctor Zhuang, why did you come to Yeyi?" ”

Zhuang Xin said with a smile: "It was Zhao Sui who told me that you were not in Jiangnan but on Fangcheng and Yeyi, so I came over to see how you were doing." ”

After that, he looked Zhuang Xin up and down a few times.

Once upon a time, Qu Yuan in Zhuang Xin's eyes was yellow and thin, and his face was haggard, as if a gust of wind could blow away, which was really caused by worrying about the country and the people, but when he saw Qu Yuan again today, he saw Qu Yuan's ruddy face and excellent complexion.

Zhuang Xin didn't know what to say about this.

After thinking about it, he said to Qu Yuan: "You are busy first, I am going around, and we will get together in the evening." ”

"Good!" Qu Yuan nodded.

So, Qu Yuan continued to direct his men to build more houses, while Zhuang Xin watched from the sidelines.

In the past, even if the sun went down completely, Qu Yuan would continue to ask people to light torches and continue to build houses, after all, the city absorbed more than 100,000 Chu people, and the pressure on the houses was too great.

But today, considering that his friend Zhuang Xin had been standing by his side for half a day, Qu Yuan rarely stole a lazy time, and when the sun went down, he ordered the craftsmen and servants to disband, and returned to the county government with Zhuang Xin.

On the way back to the county government, Zhuang Xin asked Qu Yuan with a smile: "I heard that you are now a doorman by the side of that Fang Cheng Ling, didn't he give you a mansion?" ”

Qu Yuan shook his head and said, "Yes, but I refused." ”

"Oh? Why? ”

“…… I'm alone, so why do I need a huge mansion? Qu Yuan smiled reluctantly.

"Oh......"

Zhuang Xin seemed to have guessed something, and did not ask any further.

After returning to the county government, Chu Min and Wei pawns greeted Qu Yuan along the way, and called Qu Yuan Mr. Qu, which made Zhuang Xin nod secretly: It seems that Qu Yuan is really doing well in Yeyi.

Walking into the county government, Zhuang Xin came to Qu Yuan's residence, which was just a house in the county government, the size was only a few zhang, and Qu Yuan's firewood house in Chu Ying was more spacious than here.

Because of this, when Zhuang Xin was invited into the house, Qu Yuan said with some embarrassment: "The residence is simple, which makes Doctor Zhuang smile." ”

Zhuang Xin chuckled and shook his head, after all, they are not the kind of people who care about power and money, otherwise, why would they repeatedly target Ling Yin Zilan, who has brought disaster to the country and the people? As long as they are willing to submit to Zilan, Zilan will inevitably give them glory and wealth.

Walking into the house, Zhuang Xin was not surprised to find that the furnishings in the house were very simple, but there were many books, and he smiled and praised: "Dr. Qu has never forgotten to read the books." ”

At this time, Qu Yuan was talking to a Wei pawn on duty in the county government, and asked him to let the cook send some wine and food, hearing Zhuang Xin's emotion, he said with a smile after entering the house: "It's not okay if you don't read, like Fang Chengling, Ye Yicheng, etc., are all sages and sages, and the only way to read more books is to avoid making jokes in front of them......

"Huh?" Zhuang Xin was surprised when he heard this, and asked, "The sage is high?" ”

"Ahh Qu Yuan nodded and said: "Fangcheng Ling Mengzhong, Ye Yi Cheng Xiangyi, as well as generals such as Meng Sui, Hua Hu, Mu Wu, Wu Ying, Le Jin, Le Xu and other Fangcheng and Ye Yi are all proud disciples of Master Zhou Zhuang of the Song Kingdom......

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Xin's eyes widened in surprise.

You must know that Zhuang Zhou is still very famous in the Chu State, after all, this is a great sage who once refused to come to his Chu State to serve as Ling Yin, how could Zhuang Xin not know.

Shocked, Zhuang Xin suddenly said: "It turned out to be a disciple of Master Zhuang, I said how could the Wei army in Fangcheng have all the old bad habits, the military discipline is strict, and there is no ...... against me Chu Minqiu."

Qu Yuan smiled slightly.

I have to say that the reason why he stayed by Meng Zhong's side for the time being has a lot to do with Meng Zhong and the others being disciples of Zhuang Zhou.

Otherwise, if he were a rough person like Tang Zhi and Dou Xing, how could Qu Yuan wronged himself?

After all, things gather by like, and people are grouped.

After a while, the food and drinks were served, and it was quite hearty.

Seeing this, Qu Yuan asked in surprise: "Why did you send so many dishes?" ”

Wei Shu, who delivered the dishes, said: "It was Yi Cheng who learned that Dr. Qu had an old friend visiting, so he specially ordered the cook to add dishes. ”

Qu Yuan suddenly realized, and thanked him: "Please thank Yi Cheng on my behalf." ”

"Whoa."

Looking at Qu Yuan sending away a few Wei pawns who were delivering vegetables, Zhuang Xin threw a preserved fruit into his mouth and asked casually: "Yi Cheng, is it Yi Cheng Xiang Yi of this Yeyi?" How is it to be a person? ”

Qu Yuan closed the door, returned to the table, and said while cooking wine: "How to say it, it's a bit like Zilan, most of the time she smiles, but her personality is very decisive, but she is more talented than Zilan, and she is not jealous of her talents." ”

"That's not like that."

Zhuang Xin said casually: "In addition to being jealous of meritocracy and crowding out loyalty, what else can our Lord Ling Yin do?" The Qin army has reached the Han River, and he still wants to cut the land and sue for peace...... This is like putting out a fire with a salary, cutting meat and returning a wolf, which is simply stupid! ”

Obviously, Qu Yuan was not interested in talking about his Chu State's Ling Yin Zilan, shook his head and didn't say anything, and after the wine boiled, he scooped a spoonful in both Zhuang Xin and his own bowl.

After taking a sip of wine, Qu Yuan asked Zhuang Xin, "I heard from the cavalry of Fangcheng that Chu Ying is finally willing to send reinforcements to reinforce Yanyi?" ”

Zhuang Xin sneered when he heard this: "Zilan's gang is also a little flustered, although these people are friendly to the Qin State, they are not dizzy in the end, and they still know who gave them today's wealth." ”

Qu Yuan chuckled when he heard this, and said casually: "In short, there is Zhaoju in Yanyi, and there is no need to worry about Yanyi for the time being......

Hearing this, Zhuang Xin said with a smile: "Zhao Sui told me, saying that you sent someone to send him a letter some time ago to tell Zhao Ju how to stop that white ...... Is this what you call 'serving your country in another way'? ”

"No!" Qu Yuan shook his head: "At most, this move can only retreat from the Qin army, not enough to save the Chu State!" ”

"Save ...... Chu? ”

Looking at Qu Yuan's gradually serious face, Zhuang Xin also slowly put away the smile on his face.

He vaguely felt that Qu Yuan must have made some big moves.

In addition to this speculation, Qu Yuan's change also surprised Zhuang Xin.

He felt that Qu Yuan's trip to Yeyi was as if he had changed as a person.