Since he happened to meet, Heifu and Lu Dang led Ba Zhong to the Yiling County Temple to meet the county magistrate.

The county temple is located at the highest point of the county town. From the pier, there are uphill stone steps all the way. It only rained yesterday, and the steps covered with moss were a little slippery.

Heifu was careful not to let himself fall. While listening to the obscure language of Ba Zhong and the Ba people in the back, he thought about the deeds of "Ba Widow Qing" that he heard after coming to this era.

He heard that although Qin State had a low status in the position of merchants, there were two great merchants who were exceptional.

One is the Wushi Temple in Beidi County, which is said to have more than 100,000 cattle, sheep and horses! The other is the widow Qing in Zhi County, Bajun. He made his fortune by relying on the cinnabar cave passed down from generation to generation. In addition, he also collects gold, silver, copper and iron, as well as well salt in Bashu, and is a complete mine owner.

People in the world put these two together with Fan Li, Zigong, Bai Gui, Yidun, and Guo Zong since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and seven great masters ranked in the Forbes wealth list of the Warring States Period.

In addition to their amazing wealth, they also have outstanding status.

The King of Qin made the status of Wushiwu comparable to that of the prince and allowed him to enter the court to discuss matters. The court was treated slightly inferior to that of Wushiwu. Her son was named a doctor, but the King of Qin personally issued an edict to commend his integrity and to be named a chaste wife. The local officials of Ba County could be exempted from worship.

The reason why he treated the widow Qing so politely, in addition to the fact that the widow Qing family monopolized the cinnabar mine and was dedicated to the Qin government, was also because the widow Qingfu family was a powerful man in Ba, and it is said that his bloodline can be traced back to the ancestor Linjun of the Ba people.

Linjun was divided into five tribes, namely the Ba clan, the Fan clan, the Mou clan, the Xiang clan, and the Zheng clan, which constituted the ruling class of the Ba clan, called the "Five Nei clans", which is located in the core area, among which the Ba clan is the most expensive, second only to the Ji clan. In addition, the monk (ong), Pu, Zhu, Gong, Lu, the qi, the Yi, and the qi clan are the "eight outer clans", located in the surrounding area of ​​the Ba clan.

Although the Ba Kingdom has now been destroyed, the five clans and eight tribes have continued. Therefore, the husband's family of widow Qing is rich and noble among the Ba people. She is also good at managing it. Her mineral manors are everywhere, with countless wealth, with thousands of servants and tens of thousands of mine slaves! Her influence even exceeds the Ba County. The fleet and horse gangs cover the territory of the original Ba Kingdom, and have close contacts with the Ba people tribes in the four counties of Yiling, Yidao, Zigui and Wu.

Unlike the Shu people who rebelled repeatedly, the five powerful families of the Ba people obeyed the rule of Qin, and Qin also reciprocated their favor, allowing them to retain their industries, tribes and private armed forces, and rely on them to rule the language and customs of the Ba people who were very different from those of the Zhongxia.

Without the assistance of these Ba people and powerful people, the land of Ba would be in chaos, and Sima would not be able to raise so many Ba people and warriors to fight for Qin.

Heifu thought to himself: "The people from Nanjun Gongcao mentioned to me that the copper mines in the Jiangbei area of ​​Nanjun have been excavated for hundreds of years by Chu people, but there is not much left and there is also a lack of salt. Therefore, every year, the widow Qing family has to rely on the transportation of copper and tin from Badi through the waterway, and the well of salt into Jiangling."

Because of this, when the son of the widow Qing came to pay homage to the county magistrate Teng, Ye Teng could not neglect it, so he even let his chief minister welcome him.

Soon, the county temple had arrived. The county magistrate Teng was discussing matters at the Yiling County Magistrate. Seeing Ba Zhong bringing him, Ye Teng asked the Yiling County Magistrate to take the officials down. The black man was about to say goodbye, but Ye Teng called him to stop.

"Zuo Bing Cao Shi, you stay."

Ye Teng's face looked serious. Heifu thought that something must be wrong, so he promised to sit aside.

"Ba County Bazhong, I have met the governor of Ye."

Ba Zhong bowed down, and the widow Qing could see the county magistrate not bowing, but he did not have this preferential treatment. Although Xia Yan had a strong accent, he was fluent.

"No gift." Ye Teng didn't talk nonsense and asked directly: "You sent a small boat messenger to tell me that there was something important to report to me. What is it? It's worth taking a risk to come in person?"

Ba Zhong bowed again: "It's a big deal. My family recently learned that the chief of the Yi tribe of Yidao in Nanjun intends to rebel against Qin and join Chu!"

...

"Yi Daojun wants to rebel against Qin and join Chu!"

After hearing this, Changshi Ludang first lost his voice, and then realized that he had lost his composure.

Ye Teng glared at him and continued, "It is common for Yi tribe to rebel and submit. There has been no matter how many people in the tribe resisted the labor force once or twice? In the end, the local officials have all been put to rest. Besides, the county magistrate Yidao did not inform me of this matter, so why did the predecessor of Zhi County, Bajun, hundreds of miles away, know about it?"

Ba Zhong smiled and said, "Although the county magistrate, Qin has strict governance in the mainland counties, the barbarians are different. The tribes live in the streams and forests, and there is no official management. What happened is often known after more than a month. It just so happened that my salt horse team was active in that area. According to what they saw, last month, the chief of the Yi tribe received the envoy of Chu, and treated him with good wine and meat. Finally, he swears with him to drink chicken blood..."

"This matter is absolutely true. My mother thought it was extraordinary and didn't even have time to report to Ba County City, so she asked me to take a boat to the east. She was about to go to Jiangling to visit him, but she happened to hear that the county magistrate had arrived in Yiling. My mother and Ba Zhong were loyal. I hope the county magistrate would not doubt it!"

Qin's rule over the barbarian rulers was relatively loose, and he did not require the establishment of households and the people were not paid, nor did he pay general taxes. He only delivered local specialties and sent people to perform labor service. However, he received the envoys of Chu and sweared with him, which was strictly prohibited. Ye Teng frowned and looked at Heifu.

"The Left Military and Catholic History, in charge of soldiers, and knowing the passes, terrain, and barbarians are your job, what do you think?"

Just as they were talking, Heifu's mind quickly turned. As the history of the Left Military Affairs Office, he was in charge of military affairs. The mountains, rivers, geography, roads and pavilions of Nanjun must be familiar with them, and of course he is not unfamiliar with the situation of Yidao.

Yidao (now Yidu, Changyang, Hubei) is not far from Yiling, just seventy or eighty miles downstream, but it is located south of the river and at the intersection of the Yishui River. The natives there are called "Yibu", which is actually one of the "Eight Outer Divisions" of the Ba people.

So he carefully said, "The officials thought that this matter was of great importance and must be verified immediately."

"Oh, keep talking."

Heifu said: "Last year, Qin was defeated in Chu, and many soldiers were damaged. Even the commander killed seven people in battle. This matter cannot be hidden. Yidao is located in the south of the Yangtze River, close to Chu and far away from Qin, and it is inevitable that he will have the desire to be renounced. Last year, a certain king of Yidao was arrested and beheaded for escaping the garrison. The local barbarians must have resentment. If the Chu people lobbied for this matter, they would lure them with profit and disadvantage..."

The implication is that what Ba Zhong told me is still very likely to happen. While Qin was preparing for war, Chu was not idle, trying to harass him from the corners, so that Qin could not concentrate its troops.

The chief Lu Dang also said: "The county lord, the land of Xiangyuan in Chu State, is the territory of Qu's clan. Before Chu State moved eastward, Qu lived in Zigui and Yiling, and had contacts with the Ba tribes. After Qu Yuan's death, Qu's clan had been a feud with Qin for generations. Last year, Qin and Chu had already made peace, but Qu's clan was unwilling to hand over Qingyang, and even counterattacked Nanjun Chanling, Yidao and other places, which triggered the war. Now he sent people to lobby Yidao Ba people, so he wanted to use the same trick again!"

Heifu also said: "If the Yi Dao is lost, then all the Ba people and the tribes on the Yi River are not owned by Qin. This road is very dangerous and the barbarians are mixed, and there is no benefit if they get it. However, if the local Ba people are encouraged by the Chu people to attack Qin, then Chanling County will be isolated in the south of the Yangtze River and will be difficult to save. When the several counties in the south of the Yangtze River are lost, the Ba people will then use wooden boats to go out to the Yi River and flow downstream to help the Chu army cross the river to invade Jiangling, and then the trouble will be immeasurable..."

After analyzing it, both of them believed that this matter must be verified immediately. If it is true, it must be stopped in the bud. Otherwise, the Qu family of Chu will have the ability to directly threaten Jiangling. The troops of Nanjun will be dragged to the local area, and no one or another will be able to send out.

"If I lose two counties in a row, then the achievements I have made in Nanjun this year will probably be greatly reduced..."

Thinking of this, Ye Teng made up his mind.

But before appointing personnel, he looked at Ba Zhong first and asked with a smile: "Ba Zhong, it's true that your mother named you Zhong. She came to tell you thousands of miles away, which shows her loyalty to Qin. It would be great if every Ba people could be like you."

Ba Zhong said modestly: "Ba's family was favored by Qin and was able to preserve its industry. How dare he be disloyal to the king or the Qin? Furthermore, Yishui was the place where the Ba people originated. Thousands of years ago, Linjun traveled west from Yishui to make the Ba people grow stronger. Wuluo Zhongli Mountain in Yidao is still the place where Ba people return to their souls. How could Wuluo Zhongli Mountain be caused by war disaster because of the confusion of the Yi tribe? This is also very unfavorable to my family's salt and cloth collection."

Ye Teng just smiled but said nothing about these scenes. After all, Ba Zhong was young and was stared at by the old slip-on. He felt guilty and simply said another purpose of the trip.

"In addition, my mother has something to ask for! I heard that Nanjun has recently made a tool that can pound ore day and night without manpower... I wonder if the county magistrate can send skilled craftsmen to Ba and teach this technique to my house?"

Hearing what he said, Heifu also said to himself: "It's true."

For mine owners like Ba Widow Qingjia, water pestle is also a magical tool that saves manpower and costs. I believe this is to be in exchange for this incident.

When Ye Teng saw that he guessed what Ba Zhong wanted, he couldn't help laughing: "Ba Zhong, your family is in the Ba people and has prestige. Moreover, the salt horse team is familiar with the terrain of the terrain and knows the strongholds of various troops. If he can serve as an envoy to help the government calm down this matter, I will report the merits of your family to the king! The technique of the water pestle in the Nanjun can also be delivered to you!"

This old slip-on is really a good deal!

Ba Zhong hesitated for a moment and agreed.

Ye Teng ordered again: "Left Military and Cao Shi!"

Hef promised: "Yes!"

"This matter is related to the safety of the two counties, and may even endanger Jiangling and the entire county. It has a great relationship. I will send someone to transfer Yiling and the troops from Zhijiang to cross the river south later. You will first hold my tiger talisman and take a boat with Ba Zhong to the Yi Road at night. Tell the county magistrate and county magistrate about this situation, and immediately start a thorough investigation, and find a way to stabilize the local Ba people's monarch."

Heifu took the silver-plated tiger talisman and asked again: "I dare to ask the county magistrate, if it is true and the situation is critical, can't wait for reinforcements to arrive?"

Ye Teng said murderously without any hesitation: "You can do things cheaply!"
Chapter completed!