Chronicles of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 210, Section 209: Abandoning Liaodong
Four captains and eight military officers are currently waiting for an imperial edict outside the Orchid Pond.

After Qin Shi finished handing over the palace affairs, he instructed, "Please invite them in."

The twelve people filed in.

Their promotions and titles within the Qin army today were entirely based on merit, without any favoritism. Given the intensity of previous battles, each of them had earned their positions through genuine military achievements.

For example, a captain must have participated in medium-sized battles and made meritorious contributions.

The rank of Military Commander is slightly higher than that of General, and they also possess strategic organizational capabilities.

At this moment, Qin Shi sat high on the jade steps, quietly watching them.

According to Qin law, each of the four private armies, including its captain and soldiers, wore insignia. The positions of each army were uniform and different from those of the other armies.

Therefore, it is easy to distinguish.

"Please state your name, General," the Red Maiden prompted from the side.

Everyone's expressions were tense, and they stepped forward one by one:
"This humble general is Lin."

"inflammation."

"Black Pig"

"More millet"

"Greetings, Queen."

Qin Shi checked their names one by one and found that the people were just as their names suggested.

Captain Lin Wenzhi was a refined and cultured man who appeared to be literate.

Yan's cheeks were flushed red, whether from excitement or from being born that way, it was hard to tell.

The black pig is indeed black, but more importantly, it is strong, very strong.

The same applies to millet.

After all, wielding long spears and swords to kill enemies, or even bows and crossbows, requires immense strength. Meat supplies in the army were scarce, making it extremely difficult for ordinary poor people to develop a well-proportioned and lean physique like Ji Heng's.

But that doesn't mean they're incompetent.

Qin Shi smiled and said, "Gentlemen, there is no need to be nervous. Since His Majesty has been willing to bestow you upon me, he must value you highly."

"Thank you all for waiting outside for so long. Wu Zi, bring some food."

Everyone nodded in agreement and were seated at the table.

The black pig subtly patted its belly: They had cleaned themselves thoroughly last night, entered the Orchid Pond from outside the palace before dawn, and waited for most of the day, and now…

In short, it's normal for everyone to endure it in order to avoid having to change clothes.

However, he has a large appetite and had experienced hunger in his childhood, so he always felt uncomfortable when he tried to endure it.

Hearing the Queen say this now, he felt relieved and even a little moved: the Queen was indeed as kind and benevolent as he had heard.

He had this feeling, and so did the others. At this moment, as they settled into their seats, everyone relaxed their tense nerves.

The Queen was right. Since their King of Qin had established a Queen and bestowed upon her private troops, he must have valued her highly.

If they offended or disobeyed, they should be executed according to Qin law.

But now that the Queen is kind and considerate, everyone's anxiety has lessened considerably.

The palace servants served food one after another.

Steaming hot brown sugar soy milk, large meat buns with thick skin and plenty of meat, brown sugar wheat cakes, old duck soup pancakes...

Perhaps taking into full account the appetites of those joining the army, the food in front of the twelve men was plentiful, especially with plenty of sugar and oil, causing everyone, who were silently reminding themselves not to break the rules, to swallow hard in unison.

Qin Shi's voice came at the right time: "No need to be so formal. You are all people who have made great contributions to the unification of our Great Qin. This small meal is just to reward you for your hard work."

Upon hearing this, the crowd below exchanged glances. The aroma of steaming meat buns filled the air with a starchy fragrance, and the sweet scent of brown sugar wheat cakes was irresistible...

The black pig couldn't resist any longer and grabbed the wheat cake.

In his entire life, apart from digging up grass roots and eating maltose, he had never smelled such an unpleasant sweet fragrance!

One bite and your soul will melt!

Take another sip of the soup in the pot next to him—the black pig was taken aback, slowly swallowed it, and then silently put it down.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally chose another bowl of soy milk.

Soldiers eat very quickly. Qin Shi watched from above, and in just seven or eight minutes, everyone had finished all the food on the table, trying their best not to make a sound.

The only difference was that some people would put down the wine jug in one gulp, while others would drink several mouthfuls in a row.

That's right, that pot of wine was recently brought in by the palace chefs.

It contains impurities and has a slightly sour taste. It's not rice wine, but a genuinely brewed liquor. After improvements by the imperial chefs, the alcohol content is now over 10 degrees—the highest level of fermented liquor available today.

In the Qin state today, this is considered a fine, strong liquor.

Such fine wine is extremely rare in the military, and everyone loves it.

But even the most restrained among them could only manage three sips before putting it down.

Qin Shi was very happy.

This shows that these four private armies still maintained strict military discipline.

As for the prohibition of alcohol in the military...

In today's world, this is extremely difficult to achieve.

Due to insufficient heating methods, the border troops, lacking alcohol to warm themselves in the winter, would likely suffer from the cold for many. The troops around Xianyang fared slightly better, but without cotton or silk, they too often suffered from the cold.

After war kills, if the fear is not relieved in time, many people will go mad at night, which can lead to a riot...

Therefore, even under strict Qin laws, drinking alcohol was permitted, albeit with some restrictions.

When Qin Shi served wine, she didn't mean to test them; after all, ten-proof wine was nothing to her.

Craft beer can have an alcohol content that can even reach 16 degrees.

However, the fact that everyone was able to restrain themselves still made her very happy.

This is because it represents her private army, which is still self-disciplined and composed of elite and valiant soldiers.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, and seeing that the atmosphere had gradually calmed down, she got straight to the point:
"Since you all are willing to serve as my private army, you must have a plan for the future. From next spring at the earliest to the next two years, we will need a large number of people to handle this."

"Therefore, all you need to do is strengthen yourselves and be ready to serve at any time, and you will be able to repay the emperor's kindness."

"Only one point: what I require is that they must be elite troops and capable generals."

The officers paused for a moment, then bowed in unison: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty!"

They are fearless in battle! It's a pity we're not on the training grounds now, so the Queen can't see their skills in charging into battle!

Qin Shi laughed again.

She truly loved the foundation that Ji Heng had laid for the Qin state—everyone obeyed the king's orders, and the old Qin people were loyal to the Qin state and willing to die for it.

The queen's authority is rightfully hers, and no one will feel disrespected because of it, so they will strive to retain it forever.

However, after painting a rosy picture of the future, we need to get down to business.

Otherwise, if there is only a distant goal in front of us, and we expect people to restrain and improve themselves, it goes against nature, and not everyone has great perseverance.

Therefore, she added, "However, since they are my private troops, I have informed the King that one physician will be stationed with each unit."

"All the arrangements for the private soldiers were supplied by the palace."

That should cover basic medical care.

also……

“There will be a test every seven days. The specific test content will be discussed by the captain and reported to me. The top ten in each performance will be rewarded with a chicken or a duck.”

"The top three each month will receive an extra jar of brown sugar."

"The top ten winners of each competition will receive a prize of one tael of silver in addition to brown sugar and sheep."

“The competition will be held simultaneously in four parts every three months. The top ten will receive an additional five taels of gold.”

"If the captain's team wins, the captain will receive one gold ingot and one badge of honor."

"The specific details will be handed to you by the Chief Secretary later." She didn't go into details, but even so, the various rewards every seven days, every month, and every three months were already dizzying!
Keep in mind, their five divisions only have a total of 10,000 people!
Competition among ten thousand people, is that even a big deal for them?
This is how you reward...

The Queen is indeed wealthy and loves to reward!

In short, everyone was overjoyed and made up their minds to go back and start training as soon as possible, determined not to lose face no matter what!

And those gold coins, they're definitely going to get them!

On the jade steps, after giving these instructions, the Queen generously said, "In that case, you may all step down."

The detailed rules also included a cultural lesson of learning five characters every night, which is also included in the assessment. Since everyone is so happy now, let's not dwell on it.

Everyone was stunned again.

Historically, a new official always makes a strong first impression, and the queen, being kind and generous, first offered them all the sweet treats, for which they were naturally extremely grateful.

But what about sticks?
Is this how it ends?
The crowd was somewhat bewildered.

However, the Qin dynasty did not intend to criticize the private army system.

In fact, the reason why the Qin state was able to sweep across the six states was precisely because their military system was exceptionally well-developed.

The grand ceremony that Ji Heng saw on his phone was indeed majestic, magnificent, and meticulous.

However, array training is the basic training of the Qin army today.

It's just that we can't achieve that perfect, linear precision in the firing of the guns.

There are also bugle calls, drum and gong sounds, military formation training, as well as daily weightlifting, long jump, high jump, wrestling and combat, etc...

These practices had already become systematic within the Qin army.

It's highly unlikely that she'll be able to impress people with her modern military training methods.

In addition, there is the current "farming and fighting" system—Qin soldiers who have completed their service and returned to their hometowns still need to participate in training and competition assessments regularly every year.

If the results are unsatisfactory, the local village chief or headman will be punished.

The whole nation is mobilized for war; this is exactly what it means.

Qin Shi believed that his greatest contact with military discipline was through military training, so how could an outsider instruct an expert?

All she could do was try to improve the food quality as much as possible.

Let's start with the assessment.

She then smiled and said, "You may leave."

Unaware of her true thoughts, she took the imperial edict of reward and retreated in a state of unease.

Outside the Orchid Pool Palace, they exchanged a glance, and at that moment, they finally hardened their resolve—

The Queen, being kind enough, didn't say much to them. But even the medical order had to be sent to the military camp; it required the King's support!

If they receive a reward but refuse to put in the effort, not only will the King and Queen not yet unleash their ruthless methods, but their brothers will also be envious!

They'd probably do anything to pull them back so they could enjoy the benefits themselves!

The only option now is to fight with all our might!
……

In late August, the temperature gradually and noticeably cooled down.

The construction of Ganquan Palace had already been quietly accelerated without Qin Shi even needing to inquire.

Otherwise, if they worked in the cold, not to mention the craftsmen might get frostbite, they would have no way to make a living if the Queen's move to the palace was delayed.

Therefore, without Qin Shi's knowledge, the fire walls, stoves, and other things she wanted to improve had already been heavily modified based on the existing ones in Qin.

The resources that those in positions of power can enjoy are truly beyond the wildest dreams of ordinary people.

Meanwhile, the Ba family and Wuyou, who were expanding outwards, were already on their way.

Contrary to Qin Shi's expectations, they did not radiate outwards from Xianyang. Instead, they prepared simple luggage and headed straight to the farthest reaches of what is now the harsh and cold land of Qin.

"Pity."

Lady Ba rode swiftly in a carriage along the Qin Straight Road—originally used for transmitting military orders, and its management was even stricter than that of the Imperial Road.

People of their status can only travel short distances after going through numerous application processes.

Now that she has the Queen's handwritten orders on her person, she can move about without any hindrance, which is an exceptionally pleasant thing for Lady Ba.

But now, this joy is mixed with a little unease.

"I will report back after the New Year, and I hope the Queen will be lenient..."

She and Wuyou each divided up their respective areas, but being seasoned business people, they knew that promoting honeycomb briquettes from Xianyang outwards, as the Queen had suggested, was actually a poor strategy.

When it's not cold, ordinary people are preoccupied with filling their stomachs and don't care about this at all.

If you want something to be accepted by people as quickly as possible, you naturally have to address their urgent needs and requirements.

Therefore, it is only effective when the weather is freezing cold.

In other words, November and December after the Lunar New Year will be the best time for the Central Plains region.

Although the weather was cold at that time, it was not cold enough to freeze people to death, but it was still very difficult to endure. Only in this way could efficiency be achieved.

This was not because they were driven by self-interest, but because the Qin state was vast, and the two families combined simply did not have enough manpower.

Therefore, they all chose to start from a more distant and colder place and then slowly return to Xianyang.

However, after much deliberation, they unanimously decided to abandon Liaodong Commandery in this harsh and cold land.

This is something that can't be helped.

Liaodong Commandery, which later became part of Jilin, was not only vast in area, but also more than 3000 li away from Xianyang.

Even traveling on the straight roads, it would take them 3 to 6 months to arrive, and that would be under the condition that the journey was unimpeded.

If they were to actually bring a large quantity of goods there, by which time it would be summer elsewhere, they might only arrive in Liaodong just as spring arrives. How would they then promote the goods?
With no other option, even though Liaodong Commandery was extremely important to the Qin state, it was simply impossible to catch up this year.

They can only exclude them first.

After reporting back to the Queen, he decided to send people to prepare the briquettes next spring. This way, they could gather a large quantity of briquettes at once and arrive just in time for the following winter.

This area is vast and rich in forest resources. The king forbade unauthorized logging, but this was naturally relaxed in accordance with local conditions.

In short, giving up was out of necessity, not because they didn't try their best.

I hope that the Queen will be lenient after learning the truth.

Now, Madam Ba is heading to Longxi County.

They set off from Shu (Sichuan) or Xianyang, naturally bringing all their resources with them.

However, as they traveled, the group of people dispersed and remained in the local area.

Only by running multiple tasks in parallel can the Queen's mission be completed in the fastest and most efficient way.

Therefore, although the Ba clan was not as good at expanding their business to other regions as the Uyu clan, they still gained an advantage by relying on their family population.

As for Lady Ba, who wanted to see the Queen in person, she naturally chose Longxi, which was the furthest away but also of great strategic importance, as winter was approaching.

Longxi encompasses Qinghai and Gansu, covering a vast area, but it is sparsely populated.

In terms of personnel value, they are naturally inferior to those in the Central Plains. In another month or so, the temperature here will drop significantly and frost will form. At that time, it will be difficult to protect oneself with armor, and one can only barely survive the winter by living in deep caves.

But this place is also exceptionally important.

The king makes a western tour every few years in order to strengthen his control.

They built the Great Wall here, deployed troops, and set up fortifications.

Yan Lang, the eldest son of the former General Yan, was also stationed here to guard the borders of the Qin Dynasty.

They fought against the Xiongnu in the north, guarded against the Qiang people in the west, and were also surrounded by the Yuezhi tribe in the northwest.

Given the strategic importance of this place, the Queen repeatedly instructed that the first batch of honeycomb briquettes must be delivered to the border troops.

Therefore, Mrs. Ba naturally felt obligated to do so.

　I've been surviving on painkillers this month. Thankfully, two more days of these should be enough.

　　Giving up Liaodong was truly a last resort. Although it was an important strategic location, it was simply too far away. Even at Qin's speed, it would take three to six months to travel along the main roads. By the time the goods arrived, it would be too late. But we will definitely make arrangements for next year!

　　(End of this chapter)