The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 168 Longxi
The selection of new scholars by the Academy is not limited to the counties of Guanzhong; now, a swift horseman has entered the territory of Longxi.

At Wushaoling, where Longxi meets the Hexi Corridor, a small town was built. This town did not belong to the two towns of the Hexi Corridor, but to Longxi Prefecture.

This small town was newly built. When General Zhang Han was developing Longxi, he transferred the remaining manpower to build this small town.

Gongzi Gao stood on the city wall of this small town, from where he could see the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

I've heard from the elders of Xirong that the snow on the Qilian Mountains is getting thicker every year, and now, in the midst of late autumn in Guanzhong, Wushaoling has already been hit by a heavy snowfall.

In the wind and snow, a cavalryman arrived at the city gate. The messenger had come from Xianyang to deliver a message.

Prince Gao personally went down from the city to greet him. The messenger brought many letters, including an imperial edict, which the messenger said was addressed to him.

Looking at the contents, it turned out that his elder brother had bestowed upon him the title of scholar.

However, the history book was not yet completed, and Prince Gao still felt somewhat ashamed as he held the scroll.

"How are the other two young masters?"

Gongzi Gao thought of his two younger brothers and said, "They are both reclaiming wasteland in the Hexi Corridor."

However, he still needed to inform Xianyang, so Gongzi Gao wrote down what had happened here and sent someone to take the letter back to Xianyang.

My elder brother and Prime Minister Li Si appointed a total of twenty-six scholars, including myself and my teacher.

Among them was a family letter addressed to General Zhang Han. Gongzi Gao mounted his horse and led a troop of cavalry toward the Hexi Corridor.

When General Zhang Han came to the Hexi Corridor, he left his child in Weinan County, where the child was raised by Shusun Tong.

When Gongzi Gao was studying at Shangyan Mountain, he knew that his teacher had some complaints about General Zhang Han, but they were all minor matters. General Zhang Han and Shusun Tong were people whose families he could entrust to.

The two stayed in that village before Weinan was developed.

Once you cross the Wushaoling Pass, you can see squads of Qin troops. The Qin army has deployed a large force at the foot of the Qilian Mountains. There are 40,000 households that have migrated from the Hexi Corridor, which is more than 100,000 people.

I heard from the officials from Guanzhong that these people are poor people from all over the Central Plains. These poor people moved here with their families and have been at the foot of Qilian Mountain for three years now. In these three years, people have built this valley into a decent place.

At least it appears that there are cities and villages.

General Zhang Han established the counties of Wuwei and Zhangye, as well as the city of Guzang, in this area.

These are the three military towns to be established here.

Here, the military and civilians have always lived together.

General Zhang Han was a strict military leader. He believed that the army should not interfere with the people, and that everyone should live their own lives.

Wuwei County, now largely completed, is a very spacious city.

In the past, people from the Western Regions, including the Western Rong, Yuezhi, and even Wusun merchants, lived in this place. Therefore, it still retains some of the customs and traditions of the Western Regions.

General Zhang Han wanted to set up a fortified city here to guard the vital passage from the Hexi Corridor to Guanzhong.

When Gongzi Gao arrived at the city gate of Wuwei County, he saw a large caravan of camels. It was a group of merchants from the Western Regions who had come here to trade a large amount of goods and slaves.

Before the establishment of Wuwei County, General Zhang Han had already set his sights on this land, which is located in the heart of the Hexi Corridor. To this day, General Zhang Han has garrisoned 5,000 hectares of land here.

These 5,000 hectares of farmland are only in Wuwei County. According to Zhang Han's estimate, as long as the irrigation network is well constructed, the Hexi Corridor can actually support a population of one million.

There were actually quite a few people from the Western Regions traveling around this area. After the Qin army defeated Modu's Xiongnu troops here, the name of the Qin army resounded throughout the Western Regions, and more and more merchants from the Western Regions entered the Hexi Corridor to trade with people from Guanzhong.

Zhang Han tacitly allowed these people from the Western Regions to move around in the Hexi Corridor.

Gongzi Gao didn't know why Zhang Han was doing this. He had asked Chen Ping before, and Chen Ping said that General Zhang Han wanted to advance westward.

Gongzi Gao walked into the city. Wuwei County was divided into an inner city and an outer city. Inside the city, there were markets, residences, and military camps.

As they walked towards the military camp south of the city, Prince Gao encountered Lou Jing, who was haggling with a merchant from the Western Regions. Lou Jing wanted to buy camels from the Western Regions.

Chen Ping said that Lou Jing was not good at this business.

In fact, Chen Ping was absolutely right. Lou Jing did not do a good job in this kind of business. In the camel trade, Lou Jing did not secure enough benefits for the Qin army.

But that doesn't matter. Trading is just a formality. Any camel that enters the Hexi Corridor will belong to the Qin army. Once the war starts, there will be no need for trading. No matter how many camels there are in the Hexi Corridor, they will all belong to the Qin army.

Even though General Zhang Han knew that Lou Jing was not doing a good job, he still let Lou Jing continue to trade camels. As a result, more and more merchants from the Western Regions were willing to sell their camels to the generous Lou Jing.

Zhang Han seemed to be born with the ability to restrain Chen Ping.

Zhang Han often looked down on Chen Ping's strategies, and Chen Ping dared not offend Zhang Han, so he could only follow the general's orders. For the time being, things were still relatively harmonious.

In fact, Prince Gao also had concerns, worrying that one day the cunning Chen Ping might anger Zhang Han, and Zhang Han would execute him to maintain military discipline.

Here, they had arrived at the central command tent of the garrison. Inside the tent was Wu Shi Luo, who acted as a guide to the Western Regions. Following General Zhang Han's orders, he had lured and tricked numerous merchants from the Western Regions to the Hexi Corridor, transforming the once desolate region into a prosperous one within just three years.

Wu Shilu also contributed to this.

Prince Gao felt that General Zhang Han's wisdom was superior.

Previously, when I was in Weinan, I thought General Zhang Han was a kind and honest person. But after coming to the Hexi Corridor, I realized that General Zhang Han was not only kind and honest, but also had a deep understanding of people's hearts.

Gongzi Gao stood outside without disturbing General Zhang Han, who was talking with Wu Shilu.

Only after Wu Shi Luo bowed and left did Gongzi Gao enter.

When Zhang Han saw the visitor, he stood up and bowed.

Gongzi Gao hurriedly said, "General, there's no need for such formalities. Your letter from home has arrived."

Zhang Han picked up the letter and began to read it. His son was already nine years old and could write.

Gongzi Gao stood to one side and saw that General Zhang Han's hand holding the letter was trembling slightly, but he also had a smile on his face.

Looking up again at the furnishings inside the tent, one could see a long spear and armor lying across the general's tent.

Gongzi Gao then saw a bag of gold dust, which was most likely a gift from Wu Shiluo.

General Zhang Han never embezzled. The gold dust was used for military construction. The Qin army was much richer than before. After several years of recuperation following the Northern Expedition, and with the continuous supply from Guanzhong, the troops in the Hexi Corridor were doing very well.

Standing inside the large tent, one could still hear the neighing of warhorses outside.

Zhang Han seemed to have looked at it several times. He smiled and said, "The child's handwriting is not good, please excuse it."

Gongzi Gao had never seen the contents of the letter, but after hearing what the general said, he took a look. It was indeed some crooked and messy writing, but it was much better than that of ordinary children of the same age.

Gongzi Gao said, "I will take my leave now."

Zhang Han nodded; he still had to keep busy with military affairs.

After speaking, Prince Gao walked out of the military camp and into the city, looking at the new homes under construction. The wind and snow covered the sky and blocked out the sun, but they could not stop people's enthusiasm for life.

Outside the city, some new residents who had moved here opened restaurants.

General Zhang Han required the new residents to cultivate the land, but once they had finished cultivating the land, they could seek a livelihood in other ways, such as building restaurants.

The person who built this restaurant was surnamed Zhao. He also said that he was a relative of King Qian of Zhao, a nobleman of the royal family of Zhao, and a descendant of Queen Wei of Zhao.

After Qin unified the country, he fell into poverty.

No one remembers that he was a nobleman of the Zhao state back then. Noblemen like him actually live worse lives than ordinary people.

After Qin implemented the prefecture-county system, he lost all his money and was left with only a bare house. In the end, he could only make a living by doing manual labor, and his most frequent task was to move the dead.

Whenever asked about this, he always said that there used to be wars everywhere, but now that the State of Chu has been conquered by the State of Qin, he started a business selling mutton soup.

He originally lived in the north of the Zhao state. He borrowed the mutton soup recipe from Guanzhong and stewed it to make it very delicious, adding some scallions as well.

The young master sipped his mutton soup and asked, "How's your mutton soup selling?"

The shop owner, Mr. Zhao, said with a smile, "Those who like it come every day, and those who don't like it don't come."

Gongzi Gao chewed on some mutton, and after swallowing it, he asked again, "What were you thinking when you dared to move to the Hexi Corridor in the northwest?"

Zhao then took out a lamb bone from the pot, cracked it open to reveal the oily marrow inside, and placed it on Gongzi Gao's table.

Knowing that the young master Gao was a person, Zhao said, "The children of Zhao also love to eat mutton. Eating more mutton bones will make their bones stronger. It's free."

Young Master Gao did not refuse, and said with a smile, "Thank you."

Zhao continued, “I was thinking of getting more people from the village to move here with me. Who would leave their home so easily? They all say that moving into Qin is to fight the Xiongnu. I don’t know who spread the rumor, I can’t remember. Those who move to Qin are all people like me who have nowhere else to go.”

Gongzi Gao continued drinking his mutton soup, listening to his words in silence.

From this Zhao woman, Prince Gao heard something he had never heard before: it turned out that his brother and the Prime Minister's relocation plan was not going smoothly, and there were even people spreading rumors and obstructing it.

In retrospect, according to Zhao's account, it was quite remarkable that Qin was able to relocate so many people to the northwestern frontier.

Just then, Gongzi Gao saw Lou Jing hurrying out of the city through the wind and snow, pointing to a carriage that had come out of the snowstorm.

Lou Jing angrily shouted, "Chen Ping, you bastard!"

Because it was a snowy day, the area in front of Wuwei County was already quiet, but Lou Jing's angry shouts sounded very harsh and even echoed.

(End of this chapter)