The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 322 Infant Infusion
When Wu Luo had his servants bring baskets of fruit, he added, "Every summer, the Western Regions have a bountiful harvest of fruits, so much that we can't possibly eat it all."

Although these people from the Western Regions brought a lot of fruits, Liu Fei and the other Qin soldiers who had just arrived in Zhangye were not too willing to eat them, fearing that if they did, they would be sold by Wu Luo.

Liu Fei had heard that, in addition to selling livestock, merchants in the Western Regions actually sold people.

Zhang Jing took a melon from the Westerner's basket, ate it as he did so, and gestured for Lü Matong to take the man away.

Seeing General Lü continue towards Zhangye City, Liu Fei discovered that he didn't need to urge his warhorse; the horse simply followed the procession into the city.

As Liu Fei entered the city gate, he overheard Wu Luo's conversation, in which he briefed General Zhang Jing on the troops from the Western Regions.

"General, Loulan has 3,000 soldiers, Yutian has 2,500 soldiers, Jingjue has 3,000 soldiers, and Shache has 2,000 soldiers..."

Liu Fei only listened for a short while, and the sound ceased once the group entered the city.

This place is more desolate than Wuwei County, and there are not as many people. Not far from the town, there are a few mulberry trees, and Qin soldiers are resting under the mulberry trees, which are laden with dark mulberries.

Liu Fei even saw grapes here, a bunch of fruit growing under the vine. Although there was only a little, it was enough to leave everyone dumbfounded.

Someone swallowed hard and said, "There really are grapes here."

The Qin people had occupied the Hexi Corridor for several years, so growing grapes shouldn't have been a problem. It's worth noting that when General Zhang Han was stationed in Wuwei County to cultivate land, there were many merchants traveling to and from the Western Regions.

Now, grapes are being grown in Zhangye County.

For Liu Fei, coming here was like entering another world.

The group arrived at a large camp in Zhangye County, where it seemed they would be resting.

Liu Fei dismounted, and without knowing what to do, simply stood there with his horse in the lead.

"Young man, where are you from?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Fei glanced to the side and saw a middle-aged man with a full beard but a smile on his face. He replied, "I was originally from Pei County."

"Pei County?" The middle-aged man chuckled and said, "I'm from Suiyang, Guan Ying."

The other party seemed quite friendly, so Liu Fei bowed and said, "General Guan Ying."

Guan Ying waved his hand and said, "I'm just a squad leader, I'm not fit to be a general."

Liu Fei asked, "Where will we be stationed after this?"

Guan Ying reached out and picked some mulberries from under the mulberry tree. He then sat down under the tree, chewing on the mulberries without saying a word.

Seeing this, Liu Fei lowered his head, thinking that it was not appropriate to ask someone where to garrison, as it was ultimately up to the general.

Just as Liu Fei was about to speak again, Guan Ying added, "We need to stay here for a while."

Liu Fei nodded and picked some mulberries to eat as well.

Guan Ying seemed to have good connections here. After a while, someone came to bring him some dried meat, saying it was yak jerky and tasted very good.

Liu Fei then looked to the other side, where the people who had come to the army with him were gathered together, occasionally casting envious glances at him.

Who would have thought that Liu Feigang, who had just joined the army, would become a squad leader, and perhaps even a general in the future?

The wind in Zhangye was very dry, making Liu Fei feel a little uncomfortable in his nasal cavity. When the wind blew, it would also blow up some sand from the ground. This fine sand would fall into your clothes and hair without you even noticing, and what was even more annoying was that it would get into your shoes.

If you travel west from Zhangye and go out for two or three days before coming back, you'll be covered in sand from head to toe.

General Lü has not come out since entering the county government office.

Noticing that Liu Fei was looking towards the county government, Guan Ying said, "Don't look. There's no county magistrate here yet. The one sitting in the county government is General Zhang Ping."

Liu Fei looked away again, but after the squad leader said a few words, he felt a little restrained and didn't know where to look.

Looking further into the distance, I saw a group of laborers digging a well, with some of them using baskets to haul up the soil from the well.

Someone shouted something, and the speaker's words were spoken in a local accent, so it was impossible to understand what they were saying at first.

Immediately afterwards, many laborers emerged from the well, having actually dug out water.

Guan Ying said, "This is the third hole they've dug."

Liu Fei took two pancakes from his bundle and gave one to Guan Ying.

The squad leader named Guan Ying didn't refuse. He took a bite, pursed his lips, and chewed the pancake, saying, "This pancake tastes just like the ones made from the new wheat from Guanzhong. It's delicious!"

Liu Fei, while eating a pancake, asked with a smile, "Brother Guan Ying, you've been in the army for many years, haven't you?"

Guan Ying said, "I only joined the army in the last two years. I'm different from you; I joined the army voluntarily."

Liu Fei hesitated and said, "Some people are trying to avoid military service, why would Brother Guan Ying volunteer to join us?"

Guan Ying leaned against the mulberry tree, looking up to see the mulberries hanging on the branches, and began to talk about his past.

It turns out that Guan Ying used to make a living by selling cloth, but because Qin arrested idlers in various places two years ago, Guan Ying was labeled an idler by the county magistrate, and his cloth-selling career came to an end.

He didn't want to bow down to the county magistrate, so he simply joined the army and ended up here.

Liu Fei recalled what he had seen in Tongguan City. At that time, Gongzi Heng had also said that an imperial decree could change the fate of many people. Before the imperial decree, Guan Ying might have continued to make a living by selling cloth, and perhaps even lived a very wealthy life.

At that time, all the counties were arresting idlers. People like him would be forced into corvée labor if they did not participate in land reclamation and cultivation, unless they obeyed the arrangements of the counties.

There was no other way; in the end, Guan Ying could only end up working in the army.

Guan Ying said, "This place is quite nice. If I could sell cloth here, I could live even better in Suiyang." Liu Fei saw the other's smile and nodded, "I definitely will."

Before long, General Lü emerged from the county government building.

Seeing the general walk towards the other end of the county, Liu Fei said to his peers behind him, "Follow me."

The group had been traveling for a month. Even though they could get some sleep every night, the continuous trek had left them exhausted.

The group helped each other to their feet and caught up with the others.

Lu Matong arrived at a large camp in the west of the city, where everyone was required to stay and take turns on duty day and night.

Following General Lü's instructions, Liu Fei began arranging the personnel for the shifts. Due to his status, he also had to teach the soldiers to read and write.

These days, Liu Fei and Guan Ying have gotten along well. Liu Fei calls Guan Ying "elder brother." Guan Ying is Liu Fei's first good friend in the Western Army, and the two inexplicably hit it off.

During their free time after a busy day of military affairs, Liu Fei and Guan Ying drank wine and ate meat.

Liu Fei originally didn't like drinking this kind of grape wine from the Western Regions, but he saw that Guan Ying was drinking it with great relish.

He had no choice but to take a big gulp of wine from his bowl.

The drink has a sour taste upon first sip, followed by a pungent aroma.

Guan Ying laughed and said, "Don't you like it?"

Seeing that the other party had noticed his expression, Liu Fei explained, "I have rarely drunk alcohol since I was a child. I have only drunk rice wine from Chu and bitter wine from Guanzhong once. This grape wine is the worst to drink."

Guan Ying nodded and said, "We can't find any other drinks here, so it's already good enough that we have wine."

Liu Fei put a piece of mutton into his mouth to mask the sour taste of the grape wine, and whispered, "Brother Guan Ying?"

"Ah."

"Do you think we're really going to attack the Western Regions?"

Hearing Liu Fei say this, Guan Ying shook his head and said, "What's so great about fighting in the Western Regions? We can't even build up Zhangye properly yet, so why bother fighting?"

Liu Fei recounted what he had overheard at the city gate.

It seems that the Western Army had a thorough understanding of the military strength of the various kingdoms in the Western Regions, which inevitably makes people wonder.

Those small kingdoms in the Western Regions were really small; a small kingdom with two or three thousand soldiers was considered quite remarkable.

The Qin army always sends out tens of thousands of troops. Guan Ying said, "The soldiers from the Western Regions don't know how to fight. Three thousand soldiers? How many of those three thousand soldiers are actually capable of fighting?"

Liu Fei shook his head.

Guan Ying sneered, "Heh, the Western Region soldiers are nothing, three thousand soldiers? Give me five hundred soldiers, and I can take one or two small countries to offer to the emperor, and maybe even be granted a marquisate in the Western Regions."

After saying this, Guan Ying said in a low voice, "There is indeed a desire in the army to advance westward, but the Prime Minister's office will not allow it."

Liu Fei, eating his dried meat, understood.

The generals were eager to make meritorious contributions, but the Prime Minister's office hoped that the generals could maintain stability.

The wind picked up again in Zhangye at night, and Liu Fei could still hear the sound of sand falling on the roof when he went to sleep.

The already drunken Guan Ying said, "It's the windy season now, it'll be fine after the windy season is over."

After hearing this, Liu Fei drifted off to sleep.

The next day, just as dawn broke, Liu Fei woke up early and saw soldiers sweeping sand from the streets, indicating that the sandstorm the previous night had been quite severe.

And every time they sweep, the dust gets even worse.

Guan Ying said, "You'll get used to it."

After saying that, Liu Fei saw Guan Ying hopping around while putting on his boots and walking towards the camp.

Liu Fei tidied himself up and then went to the other end of the camp.

The academy in Zhangye is located next to the county government, and today more than twenty people came to listen to the lecture.

While in Tongguan, I taught children at the local academy; I never imagined I would have to come here to teach soldiers.

Liu Fei picked up a scroll of the Book of Mozi and began to read it aloud. Every time he read a sentence, the soldiers would repeat it after him.

For the next few days, almost everyone who had just arrived spent their time like this.

A few days later, new soldiers arrived in Zhangye County almost every day, and more and more people from all over the country came to serve as soldiers on the border.

Having a little free time today, Liu Fei wrote a letter and gave it to Guan Ying.

Guan Ying had a good network of connections in the area, and he quickly found someone willing to deliver the message to Jingyang County.

This favor wasn't done for free; there were conditions for Guan Ying: he had to become his son's teacher after they returned.

Although it seems that Guan Ying would benefit more from this whole affair, it's probably because his elder brother used to sell cloth. He always believed in a fair exchange and would never let himself suffer a loss. With this shrewdness, he lived quite well in Zhangye.

Liu Fei greatly admired this elder brother. After all, his ability to have such connections here and to navigate between the Qin army and the Western Regions people was not only due to his shrewdness but also to his sincerity.

(End of this chapter)