Before Heifu took office, he heard that there was a road back to the middle road in Beidi County and the transportation was convenient, and he was secretly happy for a while.
But when he arrived at the pavilion at the intersection of Jingshui River and Nishui River in early September, he found that the flat road back to the middle continued upstream along Jingshui River. However, the group of them had to walk along a small path along Nishui River.
Going north, Yiqucheng, the county seat of Beidi County, is still more than a hundred miles away...
Roads in plateau mountainous areas are mostly built along these large and small river valleys, and farmland and villages are mostly distributed along these river valleys. Mud water is as its name suggests: one stone of water, six buckets of mud. It is late autumn, and the runoff is wide and turbid.
The river was rushing down, and the loess in many places on the river bank was eroded and peeled off. In some places, the road also collapsed, making their journey very difficult.
And the further north you go, the higher the terrain becomes, and you have entered the real "Loess Plateau". However, unlike Heifu's impression of a barren plateau with its face facing the loess and its back facing the sky, the air is also more humid, making it much more livable than in later generations.
The vegetation here is extremely rich. As far as the eye can see, at least half of the place is covered by withered forests and grasslands, and some hunters who cannot tell whether they are Hua Shirong are chasing deer on it.
Although there is more vegetation than in later generations, the loess underfoot is as thick and compact as it was two thousand years later. Moreover, there are ravines and ravines, which may seem to be not far away, but they are likely to be climbed up and down many times, which greatly affects the speed of the local area.
The people were trapped in the mountains and rivers, which resulted in different customs for five miles and different pronunciation for ten miles.
While resting in the counties along the way, Chen Ping went to the shops as usual and found that Niyang was the last county that mainly focused on farming. As he continued to go north, not only did the price of millet begin to rise, but the price of millet in front of him also began to rise.
The scenery I saw was also very different...
There are still farmlands along the river, and farmers with white turbans on their heads collect grass from the fields. Sometimes herdsmen in sheep fur will appear in twos and threes, waving whips in their hands, driving black goats from the loess plateau to the river to drink water.
Eat grass.
Sometimes when Heifu sees them with braided hair and skilled horseback riding, he thinks they are Rong people. When he gets closer, he asks, but he claims to be from Qin people decades ago. Sometimes in Xiaoyi, he sees a man with a bun on the right side and a full dress.
The man in the right robe was thought to be a Qin man. He opened his mouth, but he could speak fluent Rong language...
After walking for another day, Heifu was even more surprised when he arrived at a small town called "Beibin" built on a plateau.
"This is where the Zhou people lived before they moved to Bin?"
Heifu was a little unbelievable. He looked around and saw that this place was really a barren place. There were shrubs and plateaus everywhere, and the soil quality was not good. In such a barren place, if you sow a handful of millet seeds, you won't be able to harvest much after half a year.
How do people live?
Chen Pingdao: "I heard that during the decline of Xia, Gong Liu's ancestor Bu Chu (ku) abandoned his career in Hou Ji and fled between Rong and Di. It was probably here. I guess he followed the customs of Rong and Di.
, do you make a living here by raising animals and hunting?”
The Zhou people mixed with the Qiang and Rong here and became a small tribe. It took several hundred years for the Zhou people to resume farming life and establish a city-state under the leadership of Gong Liu.
Heifu secretly said: "No wonder Jiang Shang and other ancient Qiang tycoon chiefs tried their best to support the Zhou Dynasty against the Shang Dynasty. After hundreds of years of getting along with each other, Ji Zhou and the Qiang have long since intermarried and become one family..."
But think about it, the ancestors of Qin and Zhao also made a living by herding horses and driving horses in the Rongdi wasteland. Going back, everyone's distant ancestors had similar experiences.
Here, farming and animal husbandry, Hua and Rong, seem not to be as distinct as Heifu imagined, but like two rivers flowing together.
"Huarong is a mixed place, and agriculture and animal husbandry coexist... This is Beidi County!"
He understood better the meaning of the first word that Nesten sent him.
With this thought, Heifu also asked people to speed up their pace. In early September, after more than ten days of trekking, they finally approached the capital of Beidi County: Yiqu City!
…
Ye Zijin opened the curtain of the carriage again, and there was a pavilion ten miles away from Yiqu City. According to the usual practice, all the officials of Beidi County's lieutenant system, without exception, were here to welcome Mr. Hei...
The post of a county lieutenant is related to martial arts. In peacetime, they are responsible for catching thieves, public security, customs defense, garrison, and training. In war, they can directly lead the troops in combat. The officials directly under them are Bing Cao.
, thieves Cao Yu, Wei Shi, etc., as well as the county captains of various counties.
After the officials greeted each other with wisdom, Hei Fu also got in the car and explained to his wife the arrangements after entering the city. Seeing his happy face, Ye Zijin asked, "Why is my beloved so happy?"
Hei Fu smiled and said: "There are four great joys in life. Does my wife know what they are?"
At this time, there was no such thing. Ye Zijin shook his head, and Heifu said: "Light rain comes after a long drought, meeting an old friend in a foreign land, night of flowers and candles in the bridal chamber, gold medal... Well, when I was conferring a title to the general, I happened to meet one of them.
."
"A beloved man meets an old friend here?"
When Ye Zijin thought about it, her husband was from Nanjun and had never been to Beidi before. He probably didn't know the local officials. How could he be an old friend?
"During the first attack on Chu, the man Paoze fought with in Linyang was called Zhai Chong!"
The Battle of Linyang was the battle that made Heifu famous. Ye Zijin also heard about it, but Heifu rarely talked about it. It was only when he returned to Anlu and Nanjun Township Dang Paoze came to visit, he saw the lively banquet and drank and drank.
Heifu suddenly sighed:
"It would be great if Sophora japonica is still alive..."
After hearing this, Sang Mu, the loyal charioteer beside her husband, came to bow down and cried. Only then did Ye Zijin know that Sang Mu was Sang Mu's elder brother, who died in the war in Linyang, and his body was buried in the "Martyrs Cemetery" in Yan County.
"inside.
She knew the significance of that battle to her husband, and also knew that Hei Fu was a sentimental person, so she smiled and said, "It's a coincidence that we met the old Paoze!"
Heifu nodded: "Besides me, among the hundred generals who fought with the Chu people that day, there were three others, all of whom served in Nanjun. Tu Si was a member of the Tuju tribe and was transferred to Changsha to work with Zhao Tuo. Only Zhai Chong, he was
A native of Shangjun, he is now an official and a military official in Beidi County, and he happens to be my subordinate."
"Bing Cao Zuo Shi, isn't this the position that Liang Cao held many years ago?"
After all, Zhai Chong is not a direct descendant of Anlu and has not taken advantage of Heifu's promotion train. Of course, Zhai Chong's development is not as good as that of Anlu's old subordinates.
Although this person didn't behave too much, he was willing to sacrifice his life and blood together. Having an acquaintance would help Heifu get familiar with the local situation as soon as possible and carry out the plan expected by Qin Shihuang...
While he was talking, there was a burst of loud shouting outside.
"We are blocked and delayed in greeting each other. I hope the commander-in-chief will not be surprised!"
Heifu is a county magistrate with a weight of two thousand shi, which is equivalent to a high-ranking official. He is also in charge of the provincial military region, the public security department and other departments. When the officials come to greet him, they are all respectful. Who dares to make a noise outside?
He got out of the carriage and saw two tall and strong men prostrating themselves on the roadside of the pavilion. One was in military uniform and the other was wearing armor.
They both have leopard heads, ringed eyes, swallow chins and tiger beards, just like brothers.
"Who is this?"
Heifu asked, pointing at the two of them.
He had changed into a crimson robe, and wore a green ribbon with a silver seal on his waist. He had been living in Xianyang for two years, and he spoke without anger or authority.
Zhai Chong was about to answer on his behalf, but Heifu said: "Let them speak for themselves."
"Your Majesty Gongsun Bailu! Lieutenant of Yuzhi County!" said the man in armor. He raised his eyes and peeked at Hei Fu. He found that he was so much younger than himself, and he couldn't help but feel envious.
"Commander Yiqu Bailang! General Ohara!" said the man dressed as a soldier. His accent was very thick and sounded strange.
Yuzhi County is a small county not far to the north of Yiqu City, and Dayuan is a large loess plateau between Nishui and Jingshui. Later generations called it "Dong Zhiyuan".
The main source of troops for recruiting troops and cavalry.
Heifu looked at the two of them and saw that they were indeed sweating profusely while running. It didn't look like they were doing it on purpose, so he said: "The law does not mean that you are late to meet the officials, but if you are marching and fighting, you two will be like today."
, if it’s too late…”
He had a straight face: "Then I will kill him to show favor to the three armies!"
The second general said yes at first, then stepped aside.
"I thought my beloved was going to kill someone to establish his authority."
When the motorcade started again and Heifu entered the car, Ye Zijin mentioned that when her father went to Nanjun to take office, he found an excuse to chop off the head of a minor official who was delayed for some reason.
"You can't pick these two people to attack even if you want to establish your authority."
Heifu had done some homework before coming here, especially the local forces in the North, and he had a rough idea of them.
He said to his wife: "This Yiqu Bailang and Gongsun Bailu, do you know who they are?"
Ye Zijin shook his head: "I don't know."
"Both of them are powerful chiefs of the Northern Territory. If they are killed for no reason, half of the Northern Territory will be in chaos. That's all. They have another identity."
Heifu's next words immediately aroused the woman's curiosity.
"Did you know that Empress Dowager Xuan gave birth to two sons for Lord Yiqu? After the death of Yiqu, Lord Yiqu's family was slaughtered, and only two sons survived. Among these two people, one of them took Yiqu as his surname.
It showed that he would not forget his father's family. But one man was ashamed of this identity and only recognized his mother's family, so he took Gongsun as his surname... This is the origin of Yiqu and Gongsun's surname!"
Ye Zijin understood clearly that this was a big gossip that the Qin court kept silent about! He said excitedly: "So, Gongsun Bailu and Yiqu Bailang should be the great-grandsons of Empress Dowager Xuan?"