The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 321 Brothers of the Western Regions

After informing Chen Ping of the old prime minister's recent situation, he left with Gongzi Heng.

Heng sat in the carriage, while Chen Ping personally drove the carriage for the young master.

Leaving Sanchuan County and heading south along the Sishui River, one arrives at Yingchuan County.

Previously, while guarding the border in Helan Mountain, Heng was already very familiar with the regulations of the border troops and the Qin army. This time, traveling with Chen Ping, Heng crammed on his geographical knowledge of the places east of Hangu Pass and the local administration in those areas.

In the summer of Guanzhong, Liu Fei bid farewell to Xiao He, Cao Can, and Liu Ying, and left home with his bundle and many other people from the same county.

Some went to guard the Great Wall in the north, while others went to the south.

They came to Guanzhong from Zhongyangli, and now they are heading from Guanzhong to the northwestern border of Qin.

Liu Fei was traveling on the imperial road to the northwest. After passing the Baiqu Canal, he encountered Qin soldiers who were recording people's places of origin.

Liu Fei handed over his credentials, and then, led by two Qin soldiers, continued westward.

After traveling for half a month, Liu Fei followed the team all the way to Longxi, where everyone would rest for the night.

As Liu Fei was eating his dry rations, a Qin soldier handed him a bowl of hot porridge.

The porridge was made from millet and was so hot it was almost burning your hands.

Liu Fei knew that he received special treatment in the Qin army because he was still a teacher at the Imperial Academy.

After sleeping on his bundle as a pillow for one night, Liu Fei continued his journey to Wushaoling.

Before entering Wushaoling, Liu Fei looked back and saw that the wheat in the fields was ready for harvest, which reminded him that it was almost August.

The wind was quite strong in Wushaoling. After passing through a valley, the scenery before them began to open up. Under the azure sky, they saw a vast expanse of fertile fields stretching as far as the eye could see. Who would have thought that such a place as the Hexi Corridor could grow so much grain?

The troops here don't need any more supplies from Xianyang; they have more food than they can eat.

Liu Fei knew that ten years ago, Qin had carried out several major migrations, including several migrations to the Hexi Corridor.

At that time, some people said that in order to relocate people to defend the border and expand the border army, Qin launched a large-scale migration, which resulted in nine out of ten houses being empty, the population being depleted, and the fields being abandoned and uncultivated in various parts of the Central Plains.

Looking back now, it was actually necessary to protect the Great Wall and relocate people to the frontier, and all the criticism disappeared after the great victory of the Northern Expedition.

Just as Li Si once rebuked the scholars of Qi and Lu at Zhangtai Palace, "You should go north and see the Xiongnu people beyond the Great Wall..."

Now, Liu Fei also feels that those who criticized the Qin court's policy of relocating people to defend the border should come here to see for themselves. When they see that grain has indeed grown on the frontier and the soldiers guarding the border are no longer afraid of going hungry, they should feel ashamed of their past words and proud of the achievements of the people.

This vast fertile land is, of course, the achievement of the people, cultivated by tens of thousands of households who migrated to the Hexi Corridor.

At this moment, Liu Fei understood somewhat what Gongzi Gao had written in "History of the States". It was not a history book about the biographies of kings and nobles. Gongzi Gao wrote in the last sentence of the last volume, "I hope that future generations will read this as the history of the common people. This book is about the people of the states, not the kings and nobles."

Liu Fei composed himself, and led by the Qin army, the group entered the grassland, waded through streams, and then headed west.

The borders of the Qin Dynasty are truly vast and far-reaching; after traveling for three more days, we still hadn't seen the northwestern frontier.

Liu Fei didn't know how large the six states had been in the past, but he often heard the teachers at Tongguan say that Qin possessed more land than all the other states combined.

Due to the long journey, everyone's clothes were often soaked with sweat.

Hearing the exclamations of the people in the entourage, Liu Fei also looked up and saw a large number of warhorses. These warhorses were very beautiful, and their manes would fly in the wind when they ran on the grass.

The muscular tremors and limbs of a warhorse as it gallops convey a powerful sense of strength.

"My family used to raise horses, and those warhorses were excellent horses that could travel a thousand miles a day."

Someone said something, and everyone looked at the warhorses with envy.

After another day of travel, the group saw the Qilian Mountains and Wuwei County. When the temperature dropped at night, they entered the city to rest.

In Wuwei County, Liu Fei witnessed a scene he never dared to imagine in his life: a group of children from the Western Regions, both boys and girls, sitting together and studying with the children from the Qin people.

There were also blue-eyed people from the Western Regions drinking with the Qin people. The people from the Western Regions spoke a dialect they didn't understand in Guanzhong, and they could even share meat with the Qin people.

A Qin soldier, drunk and intoxicated, stood in the tavern and shouted, "My brothers from the Western Regions, if any king of the Western Regions bullies you, you must tell us, and we, the Qin army, will avenge you!"

Upon hearing this, many people from the Western Regions... both men and women, cheered.

What Liu Fei didn't expect was that the people from the Western Regions here actually read Xunzi and Mozi.

It wasn't until someone inquired that Liu Fei learned it was the local custom that anyone from the Western Regions who wanted to enter Wuwei County had to read Guanzhong books and speak the Guanzhong dialect.

Liu Fei even got to drink grape wine presented by people from the Western Regions.

After taking a small sip, Liu Fei disliked this grape wine. It was sour and had a bitter taste, not as good as the wine from Guanzhong or the rice wine from his hometown.

Wuwei County was truly lively and prosperous. Even at night, you could smell the aroma of wine wafting from the taverns and see dancing Western Region women, which really broadened the horizons of these people who were new to the Hexi Corridor.

The magistrate of this county, Lou Jing, was a very enlightened man, which is why the people of the Hexi Corridor were so open-minded and quite fierce. Liu Fei secretly admired this magistrate for managing Wuwei County so well.

After a month of running around, Liu Fei was so tired that he went to bed early. He didn't know when the hustle and bustle in the city ended. When he woke up, he finally saw the quiet side of the city.

Everyone else was still asleep. Liu Fei went outside, fetched a ladle of cold water to wash his face, and the cool morning breeze finally woke him up. Looking around, he saw no one moving about in the city. Apart from the snoring of the people sleeping in the house behind him, the city was very quiet.

It seemed he had woken up too early. Liu Fei stretched his body and planned to find something to eat in the city.

Just as he was about to set off, Liu Fei heard the sound of horses' hooves, followed by a continuous sound of hooves and footsteps.

Liu Fei turned around and saw a person dressed in black armor who was also looking him up and down.

Upon seeing this, Liu Fei bowed and said, "Liu Fei, a resident of Jingyang County, has come to serve in the army by order of the Grand Commandant's Office."

The black-armored general dismounted and said, "Liu Fei? You must be the teacher from the Imperial Academy."

"Exactly."

"Yes, I had someone inquire before I came. You are the only one who is both a teacher at the Imperial Academy and serving in the army."

Liu Fei continued to perform the salute, but what he didn't say was that there would actually be another one later, and that person was Gongzi Li.

"I am Lü Matong, the deputy general under the Western Army General Shejian. From now on, all of you will be under my command."

"Yes."

Liu Fei responded loudly.

Lu Matong glanced at the people still sleeping inside the house, then ordered his soldiers to go inside and bring everyone out.

Once the ranks were in order, Lü Matong pointed at Liu Fei and said to everyone, "From now on, he will be your squad leader. You will all follow his orders, and his orders are orders."

After saying this, Lü Matong remounted his horse and led the group out of the city.

Liu Fei actually had no military achievements; he was just a squad leader from the start. This wasn't unreasonable, considering how rare it was to find a teacher from the Imperial Academy in the army, who could also teach.

Liu Fei was already an official, so it was not unreasonable for him to serve as a squad leader in the army.

When the enemy soldier handed him the reins, Liu Fei hesitated for a moment, but in order not to show weakness in front of others, he gritted his teeth and awkwardly mounted the horse.

The warhorses were very docile. As the caravan began to move out of the city, Liu Fei didn't need to urge them on; the warhorses simply walked towards the city gates on their own.

The others who came along the same path could only walk and did not receive such treatment.

Previously, the Qin army's border defense line was indeed at Wushaoling. Later, it expanded to Wuwei County, and then further west. Today, there is another county in the northwest of Wuwei County, which is the newly built Zhangye County.

The city wall of Zhangye County is still under construction. The city wall of this county is built with rubble and loess.

Zhang Jing sat in the county and discussed the current national policies with Wu Luo.

Looking at the city wall under construction, Wu Luo said, "This city wall should be higher and bigger to show the might of the Qin army, just like the general, who is both strong and wise."

This Wu Luo was very good at flattering people. Zhang Jing said, "It doesn't matter how high the city wall is, what matters is its practicality. We Qin people build our cities at various key intersections."

"Like Hangu Pass?"

Zhang Jing nodded.

Wu Luo spoke fluent Guanzhong dialect, and the two had a very smooth conversation.

Zhang Jing added, "This is the main route for merchants from the Western Regions to Wuwei County. As long as the Qin army blocks this route, the cavalry of the Western Regions will not be able to enter Wuwei County."

Wu Luo looked at the map and asked, "In the future, the Qin people can build houses outside Wuwei County. The population will increase. Our Qin emperor is the most wise man in the world. This land should be handed over to the emperor to govern."

Zhang Jing looked out of the county and saw Lü Matong leading a group of people passing by. He waved to them.

Lü Matong is leading his team toward here.

Upon seeing the group, Wu Luo said, "What fine young men you are! You will surely become the bravest warriors in the desert."

This man from the Western Regions started with an extremely exaggerated praise.

Zhang Jing said, "Don't listen to him. He not only sells jewelry and warhorses from the Western Regions, but also people."

Hearing General Zhang's words, everyone became more wary.

Lu Matong was used to this. He dismounted and said, "We'll spend the night here and head to Mazong Mountain tomorrow."

Zhang Jing said loudly, "Haha, I was just worried that we couldn't finish the food here. You can take some with you when you go to guard the border."

The enthusiastic Western Region brother, Wu Luo, said with a smile, "There are fruits from the Tianshan Mountains to eat here."

(End of this chapter)