The strength of the country.

So that Li Yuan finally had the opportunity to reform the old domestic policy.

With the opening of the Silk Road, it is expected that in the next year, the Qin State will gradually move away from the national policy of focusing on agriculture and implement a strategy of paying equal attention to agriculture and commerce. As a link connecting Eastern Chu, Nanyue and other places with the Western Regions, the Qin State could take advantage of the opportunity of transit on the one hand to earn a rich price difference, and on the other hand, it could raise mulberry and grow hemp on a vast territory, and weave oriental objects such as Shu brocade that Westerners loved.

When a steady stream of money and silk flowed into the blood of the Qin State through the main arteries of the Silk Road, Li Yuan believed that even the most conservative Qin people would be surprised and proud of it.

In the implementation of this policy, the most critical issue of raising orphaned children was gradually replaced by the original family support system.

In the counties of the Qin state, an institution similar to an orphanage was established in this context, and the state set aside special funds every year to support children who had lost their parents and relatives, and among these orphans, if they were the children of the Great Qin army, they would also receive special care.

At the same time of economic development, there were also many seemingly minor changes in the Qin State this year, such as: the selection of officials no longer relied solely on the recommendation of the father, but adopted a combination of the recommendation of the elders in the township and the pavilion and the self-recommendation of Mao Sui, and each newly hired official had a probationary period of assessment before being formally appointed.

During the appraisal period, the imperial historian and the doctor who are responsible for the evaluation of the performance of officials will issue some specific evaluation indicators, such as the incidence of crime, the output rate of grain production, the reclamation rate of wasteland, the average level of taxation of people, and so on.

Whether an official is competent or not is determined by the score, not just by the officials at the higher level, which is a small step forward in the official system of the Qin State. However, it played a vital role in the future development of the Qin State.

As the minister of Qin, Chen Ping, a civil leader who was powerful for a while, was more often regarded as a person who summarized opinions, and what he had to do was to judge the most suitable one among the different opinions, write his own opinions, and then submit them to Li Yuan for the record.

During the filing period, Li Yuan may support his decision. It is also possible to overturn his opinion, and no matter which decision it is, it will not affect the implementation of the decree until it is made. This sentence sounds a little confusing, in layman's terms, it means that Chen Ping has the right to execute, and Li Yuan has the final right to adjudicate.

――。

The state of Qin struggled forward in the midst of change after change.

In the early summer of this year, after the Chu State sent troops to the Yan State and fought a big war with the Huns, the Huns in the north, and the two strong Qin and Chu states in the south. Gradually, a new situation of confrontation between the three countries was formed.

Da Dan Yu Maodun has just completed the unification of the various tribes of the steppe, although the foundation is not very solid, but at least it will not affect his use of troops in the south.

The blows of Qin and Chu to the left and right virtuous kings of the Xiongnu made Mao Dun angry. In June and July, the Huns who marched south in large numbers entered the northern border of Qin and the northern border of Chu from Hetao, Yunzhong, Dai, Yuyang, Liaodong and other counties.

A war of border raids and counter-raids began in early summer.

The Hetao area.

The Qin border troops, who had prepared for the Huns' counterattack early in the morning, laid a simple defense line made of stone barriers along the line of Daqingshan and Yinshan, although this stone wall could not stop the southern invasion of the Huns. But it can make them lose blood on the way south because of the need to cross many stone barriers.

And behind the stone barrier, in the place of the nine bends of the river. The Qin State also faced a group of Xiongnu tribes that rushed into the Hetao Plain with a stern attitude.

However, Mao Dun's attack in Hetao was only a feint, and the Huns, who had suffered several times from the Qin army, had no intention of launching a large-scale attack on Qin, and Mao Dun's real target this time was the Chu State in the east.

After the old rival Chu State was involved in the war against the Xiongnu, it went through a process from a great victory to a stalemate, and then to a bitter battle.

After hearing the news of the Qin army's victory in the Hexi Corridor, Xiang Yu, who was determined to compete with Li Yuan, led the Chu army to chase and fight all the way, killing the Xiongnu Zuoxian King Qiu Liju to the ground, but as time went by, the glory of the ten battles and ten victories gradually faded away with the battles again and again.

The reinforcements of the Huns are more and more, the Chu army in the battle with the Huns, the disadvantage of the northern Yan land is not adapted to the water and soil began to appear, the dry Youyan Plain makes the Chu people who are accustomed to surviving in the river swamp area uncomfortable, in contrast, although the Huns are also fighting in other places, but on the Great Plains, the advantage of their cavalry moving quickly is undoubtedly revealed.

Yuyang.

Temporary military camp of the Chu army.

In the tent of the Chinese army, the lights were bright, and the overlord Xiang Yu's heavy pupils were covered with bloodshots, and he was inspecting the map of the Northland drawn on the parchment scroll sent back by the scout.

"Someone, go and call the two generals Xiang Zhuang and Zhou Lan to come over, and in addition, go and call Mr. Lou Jing to come to the discussion together." Xiang Yu stared at the map silently for a while, and commanded loudly.

The soldiers went down according to their words.

After a while, Xiang Zhuang, Zhou Lan, Lou Jing and other generals and strategists of the Chu army who went out with the army arrived, Xiang Yu nodded at a few people, and said: "I just counted the heavy battalion and reported it, our army's current grain can still support a month, and the strong horses in the army still have about 3,000 horsemen, as for the morale of the generals in the army, you all see it, this king will not say much, this battle, how to fight, please discuss it." ”

Xiang Yu, who has always been arbitrary, discussed with Xiang Zhuang, Lou Jing and other subordinates in such a tone, which is an extremely rare compromise posture, in fact, for the current predicament of the Chu army, the strategist Lou Jing has advised Xiang Yu early on that he can properly recover it and lure the Huns to Jixian and Yishui.

On the bank of the Yishui River, there are Qin's eastern front troops, about 40,000 foot soldiers of Han Xin's army, the combat effectiveness of this Qin army is not weak, if you can find a way to involve the Qin army in the war between Chu and the Xiongnu, the unfavorable battle situation in the Yandi area can be broken at once.

"Overlord, the opinion of his subordinates, it is still necessary to retreat, without the support of the cavalry, our army does not have much advantage over the Huns, and if there is another field battle in the future, I am afraid that the situation will be more dangerous." Lou Jing's face was solemn, and a few wisps of red tide appeared on his fair face.

"What do the Qin people say about the trade of war horses, and are there any conditions that have been promised to us?" Xiang Yu didn't answer Lou Jing's words, but asked about another matter. After several fierce battles, less than 3,000 of the more than 5,000 or 6,000 Chu cavalry that had grown up through trading with the Qin people were now left, which made Xiang Yu feel extremely unhappy.

Swallow land.

It is also a good place for horse husbandry, the purpose of Chu to occupy Yan Land is to obtain important strategic resources such as war horses, which is also the reason why Xiang Yu has always refused to retreat and give up. It's just that now, the Huns are coming, so Xiang Yu has no time to run those pastures on the border of the Great Wall.

In desperation, continuing to trade with the Qin people and allowing the Chu army to maintain the necessary cavalry rapid troops was something that Xiang Yu had to do at the moment.

"The meaning of the Qin State is that if you want war horses, you can use sea salt and silk as a trade, but those traded war horses must be used on the battlefield against the Huns, if not, then the trade will be automatically terminated." Lou Jing replied.

The trade of exchanging prisoners for the battlefield that lasted for half a year, with the return of the Qin army's prisoners of war one by one, gradually lost the reciprocal conditions of the transaction, and with the Chu army going north, the Chu State, which urgently needed war horses, proposed the conditions for the continuation of the trade to the Qin State.

Lou Jing is a participant in this follow-up jihua.

On the side of the Qin State, the official involved in the negotiation was Guan Yue, the old and treacherous ruler in the business field, one of the two was good at arguing and the other was treacherous.

"Promise them. As long as we can defeat the Huns, our Chu State will be able to herd horses under Wuhuan Mountain, and when the time comes, how many tall war horses there are, how many - . Xiang Yu snorted coldly and said.

"Overlord, what Mr. Lou said is very reasonable, the last general listened to the scout's report, this time the Huns Dadan Yu Maodun personally led the troops to come, in this way, the pressure on our army will be more and more great, even if the Qin people deliver the war horses, I am afraid that they will not be able to stop the southern invasion of the Huns, Jiyan is not Chu after all." Chu general Zhou Lan admonished.

Huan Chu died in battle.

Zhou Lan had relatives in his heart, compared with Xiang Yuzhi's determination to take revenge, Zhou Lan, an old comrade-in-arms of Huan Chu, was frightened, and he began to be afraid.

"Zhou Lan, are you scared? This little battle, how can my big Chu Jian'er be greedy for life and fear of death, afraid of retreating, overlord, the last general is willing to lead a foot army to garrison Jixian, thinking that it is the foundation of the whole army. Xiang Zhuang's humming plea, just like his expression, made him feel unhappy in silence.

Xiang Zhuang has changed.

There are some things that haven't changed.

For example, the courage in the face of tough battles is as always, and in this regard, Xiang Zhuang is exactly the same as his cousin Xiang Yu from the bones.

"Xiang Zhuang, you don't want to hurt people, I, Zhou Lan, am also from the side of the overlord, how can I steal my life." Zhou Lan blushed and said with a hint of shame on her face.

"Okay, the Yan land has been returned to my Great Chu, since I don't give up an inch of land, you don't have to argue anymore, what if the Huns come here, I was not afraid of even 400,000 Qin troops at the beginning, how can I be afraid of barbarians today." Xiang Yu's eyes were full of energy, showing an incomparable confidence.

I don't know when Xiang Yu unconsciously regarded Li Yuan as a benchmark for competition and imitation. Li Yuan was able to open up the territory of Hexi, and so was Xiang Yu. (To be continued......)