A few days later, Zhang Han came with good news, they had made a more durable iron pulley with the chief iron officer, which greatly improved the efficiency of stone and wood handling, and sent someone to send a made pulley. I took a look, although it is rougher, the loss is slightly larger, it should be no problem to use, just change the point frequently.

I took the pulley, redrew a drawing and instructions for use, noted to find something lubricating to apply on the shaft of the pulley, and asked Zhang Shu to hand it over to Feng Quji, and explained the use of Lishan to him for promotion. When Feng Quji saw it, he immediately realized the value of the pulley, and summoned the chief iron officer to start casting it day and night, and gradually applied it to various large-scale construction projects.

On this day, I was carefully studying the "Book of Ink" in the palace, and Zhang Shu walked in and said that Feng Quji had sent someone to invite me to the Prime Minister's Mansion for a talk.

"Did you hear me? Is it to the Prime Minister's Mansion, not to the Prime Minister's Mansion? I asked. Li Si followed Yingzheng on patrol, there should only be some officials in the Prime Minister's Mansion who work on a daily basis, Feng Qujian is still working in his own mansion, how did he go to the Prime Minister's Mansion today.

After Zhang Shu confirmed that it was correct, I took Meng Yiyi to the Prime Minister's Mansion.

When I entered the door, I saw Feng Quji and another middle-aged man with extraordinary martial arts coming over.

"I've seen Your Highness." The two saluted in unison.

I said with a smile: "No need to be polite, this is General Meng Tian?" ”

The other person hugged his fists and said, "Shangjun General Meng Tian has seen His Highness. The minister was ordered to return to Xianyang today to discuss with the prime minister about the Xiongnu's offense, and by the way, he sent this month's grain and grass to Shangjun. ”

Because my age is not the same as in history, I was 15 years old after the Great Dynasty Meeting, so my relationship with Meng Tian was not so close. Meng Tian has always been stationed in Shangjun, rarely going to Xianyang, and the most recent time was seen from afar during the Great Dynasty Meeting.

I smiled and said, "That day, the Great Court Meeting had only seen the general from afar. I met Meng Yi a few times in Xianyang, but for some reason, and Meng Yi went on patrol with his father, so he didn't talk much recently. Today, I was able to take a closer look at General Meng, and it was really similar to Meng Yi, which was really heroic! ”

Meng Tian hurriedly saluted and said, "Your Highness Xie is falsely praised, and the ministers really don't dare to be." The minister has lived at the border for a long time and has not been able to see His Highness from time to time, which is the fault of the minister. ”

Feng Quji also smiled and said: "Your Highness, General Meng, the weather is cold, how about the details in our hall?" ”

Then the three of them entered the lobby of the Prime Minister's Mansion and sat down, and there were already people who served hot tea, and there were two people in the hall who were writing something, and the two sat down together after saluting.

Feng Qujian looked at the two of them: "Your Highness, General Meng's return to Xianyang this time is mainly due to the increase in the number of Xiongnu harassment of the border passes. These two people are subordinate officials of the Prime Minister's Mansion, Taicang ordered Zhou Zhi, and the arsenal ordered Meng Xingyuan, who were in charge of grain, grass, and ordnance. ”

Only then did I react, no wonder Feng Qujian wanted to meet here. Now that Yingzheng is not in Xianyang, the general of the border pass has been ordered to return to the capital, the prime minister, the prince, and the general, the combination of these three is enough to make Yingzheng jealous. Feng Qujian is the right prime minister, but he chose the meeting place in the prime minister's mansion of the left prime minister Li Si, and also brought Li Si's subordinate officials with him, even if someone wants to sow discord in front of Ying Zheng, everyone in the prime minister's mansion can testify, which is really clever.

Feng Quji did not pause, and said to Meng Tian again: "I also ask General Meng to explain the situation in Shangjun to His Royal Highness." ”

Meng Tian arched his hand and said, "Yes." The Xiongnu raided the border passes more frequently than before, mainly for two reasons.

One is that this winter is cold, and the Huns' grain and grass are unsustainable, and can only be supplemented by plundering the border passes, which has happened in all years, which is not surprising;

The most important thing is that, according to the courtiers, the leader of the Huns, Mandan, subdued two more tribes at the beginning of this winter, namely the Brown Beggars tribe in the west and the Beiqiang tribe in the southwest. These two tribes had been outside the control of the Qiang tribe and the Xiongnu royal court before, and they rarely clashed with my Great Qin, and I don't know how Tou Mandan Yu persuaded them to join the royal court. In this way, the strength of the Huns was greatly increased, and they were able to raid the border passes so frequently.

In addition, the minister also found out that the Xiongnu had been in frequent contact with Donghu recently, and not long ago, the leader of Donghu, Titomur, met with Toumandanyu on the border between the two barbarians. The minister suspected that the Xiongnu were preparing to conspire with Donghu in preparation for a larger offensive in the spring, so he came to discuss countermeasures with the prime minister and His Royal Highness. ”

Feng Quji continued: "The Brown Beggar tribe was originally separated from the Qiang tribe, and the Northern Qiang tribe was the remnant of the Yiqu tribe who fled to the north after the Yiqu was destroyed by my Great Qin, and its subordinates had no intention of becoming enemies with the Great Qin after the destruction of the Yiqu, so the relationship with other tribes in the Qiang tribe was not very good, and the leader Dada and the leader of the Qiang tribe, Qi Suha, have never dealt with each other.

Chen also got some news here, because these two tribes and the Qiang tribe have always been inseparable, this year Qi Suha suddenly cut off trade with these two tribes, both tribes live on the grassland, most of the grain depends on the southern Qiang trade to obtain. After the interruption of trade in Qisuha, they had to turn to the Xiongnu if they wanted to get enough food, so it was not surprising that they took refuge in Toumandanyu. ”

I pondered for a while and said, "Is there a good plan between the prime minister and General Meng?" ”

Feng Qu replied: "Before His Highness arrived, the minister and General Meng had a general discussion. This winter's border raid is not a cause for concern, the construction of the Great Wall has provided us with a great boost, but we are worried that the Xiongnu will launch a larger war in the spring, and we can only prepare the necessary food, grass and ordnance in advance, and add military service to prepare for the needs of the war. The minister is considering additional military service, I wonder what His Highness thinks? ”

I nodded and said, "If there is to be war, these preparations are necessary. I changed my words: "It's just that the Xiongnu have been in trouble for a long time, have you ever considered how to solve this matter once and for all?" ”

Meng Tian and Feng Quji glanced at each other, and Meng Tian spoke: "Your Highness's intention is that we take the initiative to destroy the Xiongnu?" The minister has been stationed at the border for more than ten years and knows a lot about the Huns. The Huns came and went without a trace, dismounted for the people, mounted for the soldiers, our foot soldiers were not as fast as their cavalry, and the grain and grass on the grassland could not be followed up in time, and it was probably impossible to find the main force of the Huns for a decisive battle. ”

Feng Quji also added: "What General Meng said is true, if the Huns dare to fight with Daqin in a dignified manner, I, Daqin, have already destroyed the Huns, and there is no need to build the Great Wall." ”

I waved my hand: "I don't just mean by the means of war. War is indispensable, and if it is supplemented by other means on the basis of war, will it play some auxiliary role? ”

Later, I shared some thoughts on the future with a few people.