Early the next morning, I took Meng He and a few personal guards to Wu's Mansion.

At present, the most people in the Fang market where the merchants of Great Qin are located are not guests, but the imperial forbidden army and the guards of the Ba and Wu clans in disguise. Yingjiang is worried that something will happen to me here, and the other two are even more worried that I will hurt here......

When I arrived at Wu's Mansion, except for Wu's Mu who was waiting at the door, I walked into the courtyard and didn't see anyone.

I nodded slightly, and said secretly in my heart: "This Wu clan is worthy of being a big family, and they are very aware of their status as merchants. ’

There was no politeness with him, and he went straight to the courtyard where Wu Shilu was located in the inner courtyard.

Entering the door, Wu Shilu had already changed into a black robe and sat on the couch on the side of the main hall.

Seeing me enter the door, he hurriedly straightened up and bowed deeply under the support of Wu's neighbors: "The minister has seen Your Majesty, please forgive Your Majesty, the minister can no longer get up and stand." ”

I stepped forward and said with a smile: "No need to be polite, you are not in good health, Wu Shimu has already told me." ”

Although he enjoyed political status and could be called a minister, he did not have an actual official position, and his sons and grandsons were not qualified to inherit this status.

Wu Shilu hurriedly made a gesture of please: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please take a seat." ”

I nodded, walked to the top and sat down.

"I haven't paid much attention to the merchants of Daqin since I ascended the throne, you are ill, and you have never participated in the court meeting, so I thought you had returned to Wushi County. If it weren't for Wu Shimu telling me, I wouldn't have known that you were in Xianyang. ”

I actually thought he was dead...... After thinking about it, it's not polite to say such things to an old man with white hair, so let's put it another way......

Wu Shimu hurriedly bowed down and said: "Your Majesty's forgiveness is the fault of the villain, and Your Majesty should have been made clear a long time ago, but I am afraid that these little things will make Your Majesty tired." ”

Wu Shi also apologized: "This is really Wu Shi's fault. ”

I waved my hand and said with a smile: "It's okay, Wu Shi understands the general situation, takes the overall situation into account, and can consider the community, which is very comforting." ”

Hearing this, Wu Shi Lu arched his hand, and then raised his eyes to look at Wu Clan's neighbor, Wu Clan's neighbor understood, and immediately bowed and withdrew.

Wu Shilu then continued: "Your Majesty has every opportunity, and the minister will speak bluntly. ”

I nodded, "But it doesn't hurt to speak." ”

The Wu clan breathed a sigh of relief: "Your Majesty, nine out of ten of my Wu clan's business is to trade livestock and cloth in the territory of Daqin, which is run by the minister's grandson herd and Jie; The other part was a trade with the Hu, Qiang, and even the Xiongnu, which was run by the minister's son Feng. ”

Wu Shi Lu's son Feng seems to be the Wu Shi Feng who smuggled salt on the Donghu grassland.

Although I was a little surprised that Wu Shilu took the initiative to tell me this, I already knew some of it before, and I didn't show it on my face, and I still looked at him with a smile.

Seeing that I didn't react, Wu Shilu became a little uneasy, so he could only continue: "The emperor knows these things. In the twenty-sixth year of the first emperor, the emperor had just unified the world, inspected Longxi and Beidi, passed through Liupan Mountain, and heard that the minister's cattle and sheep were full of mountains, so he specially summoned the minister. At that time, the minister had already made these things clear to the emperor. ”

I nodded and said indifferently: "The emperor did not punish you, but gave you supreme glory than the feudal king, why is this?" ”

In fact, I already have a guess in my heart, which is nothing more than spying on the military and providing livestock for Daqin. Unexpectedly, Wu Shilu's reason was completely beyond my expectations.

When Wu Shilu heard this, he responded: "Back to Your Majesty, many of the minister's cattle and sheep are traded from the grassland, some are with the Huns, some are with the Huns, but they are all strictly controlled by the number of transactions, which can not only complete the transaction, but also will not make the Huns and the Hu people hoard too many materials such as salt cloth. ”

"Hmm." I praised: "You have considered this point more thoughtfully, at least from the battle with the Xiongnu and Hu people at the beginning of the year, it can be seen that they do not have too many strategic materials. ”

"Your Majesty is wise." Wu Shilu arched his hand: "In the twenty-sixth year of the first emperor, Great Qin had just unified the world, and before he could fight the Xiongnu, the northern border trouble was very serious at that time. At that time, the emperor was also not allowed to trade with the tribes of the steppe, and they could not obtain the necessary salt and cloth, so they desperately attacked Daqin. ”

"When the emperor talked to his ministers, he was quite worried about this. Chen Jiu lived in the Wushi Rong tribe and knew a little about the grassland tribes. Every time they plundered, they went south through a place where there was no Great Wall, and there were no heavy troops in the north, so the minister offered a plan to His Majesty, that is, to send troops to defend the existing Great Wall first, and then connect the Great Wall of Zhao, Yan, and Qin as a whole, so as to resist the invasion of the steppe tribes. ”

"What do you say? The proposal to connect the Great Wall and attack the Xiongnu in the north was put forward by you? "I was shocked.

"Historical Records" contains: Because of Lu Sheng's "Hu Ye, the Dead Qin" in the 32nd year, Ying Zheng ordered "those who are suitable for the treatment of prison officials who are not straight, build the Great Wall and Nanyue", and at the same time let Meng Tian lead 300,000 people to attack the Xiongnu in the north, how could it be a proposal made by Wu Shilu? And if Ying Zheng adopted his advice, why did he have to wait from twenty-six years to thirty-two years, and then send troops to the Xiongnu after a full six years? Is it really because of that nonsense?

Wu Shi was stunned for a moment, not understanding why I was so excited, and hurriedly said: "Back to Your Majesty, it's true!" ”

I thought about it carefully, when I stopped repairing the Great Wall, I really didn't ask when the Great Wall was built, nor did I ask Meng Tian when he went to the Northland, if what Wu Shilu said was true, then Tai Shi Gong could have made a big joke!

"You go on!" I hurriedly urged.

Seeing that I attached so much importance to it, Wu Shilu spoke a little faster: "The emperor was overjoyed when he heard this, thinking that if today's peace has been pacified, the Xiongnu have repeatedly invaded the border passes, slaughtered the people, and must pacify the northern troubles as soon as possible." So he immediately ordered General Meng Tian to lead an army of 300,000 to the north, chase Rong Di, collect Henan, build the Great Wall, and then set up Jiuyuan County and 44 counties in Henan, and migrated to this day. ”

This is also the most important reason why the emperor gave his ministers a lowly merchant Jia to be a feudal king, and the other is that the minister's livestock can help the development of agriculture in Daqin. Speaking of trade with the steppe tribes, at that time, it was also to delay the southward movement of the Xiongnu, as long as they lived, they were naturally unwilling to take their lives to harass Daqin. Later, it slowly evolved into spying on the military intelligence for the Great Qin Border Army. ”

After listening to Wu Shilu's words, I was already deep in thought.

If according to what he said, then Tai Shi Gong's statement in the "Historical Records" about Yingzheng building the Great Wall and attacking the Xiongnu in the north is not nonsense? I shuddered, it was called by Lu Xun "the swan song of the historian, the rhymeless "Lisao"" The official history!