When the first snow fell in the 29th year of Qin Shihuang's reign, Heifu returned to Yiqu City with 6,000 soldiers...
Last month, Li Xin of Longxi County launched a sudden attack on Helan with a thousand light cavalry. Hearing that there was a fire in the backyard, the four thousand Huns who were wandering near Huamachi could no longer stay and immediately abandoned Shenquan Barrier and Xiaoyanchi.
Retreat.
Seeing that the Huns were fleeing, Heifu did not rush in. The weather was getting colder day by day. Although he asked the Wuzhi caravan to bring a large amount of grain and hoarded it in the city, he also blackmailed Jun Yanyan and asked him to kill two thousand sheep.
The Qin army ate half of it and salted the other half directly with the salt from Huamachi, which was enough to eat this winter.
However, the supplies needed for tens of thousands of people were too much. The soldiers were homesick, and Heifu could not let them stay outside the wall for a long time. So in early November, Yiqu Bailang was left with one thousand cavalry and one thousand disciples to guard the outside, while the rest waited
, and followed him back to the north.
Also going south was Jun Yanyan.
As soon as he arrived at the city gate, Heifu received a warm welcome. The county magistrate Yin Tong came specially to welcome him on his triumphant return.
After Heifu drank the hot wine handed to him by the elders in the city, the short and fat Yin Tong sighed:
"I have been in the north as a county magistrate for several years, but I heard that barbarian bandits outside the Great Wall were harassing the border and plundering merchants. The soldiers could only drive them away, but never pursued them. However, since the county captain took office last year, the internal troops and cavalry have been guarded.
Recruit good men and women, and send merchants and spies to penetrate the Huns to see what they are and what they are."
"Today the commander of the county came out of the fortress with eight thousand tigers and horses, and the road was full of horses and soldiers. The banners were like clouds, and the armored soldiers were shouting. They were powerful and powerful, like the wind and lightning. In less than ten days, they would hear the news of success and defeat the Xiongnu.
, beheaded more than a thousand people, captured nothing, shocked people outside the Great Wall, and opened a frontier of five hundred miles! This is truly an achievement that the North has never had before since the destruction of Yiqu!"
Heifu cupped his hands and said: "Heifu was able to go far beyond the Great Wall, thanks to the county guards and county magistrates who arranged things inside, and there was an endless supply of food and fodder for the carriages and horses."
"Otherwise, a county guard is like a prime minister, and a county lieutenant is like a general. The generals work together and work together. As a subordinate, I am just following orders."
Yin Tong's words were full of flattering words, almost flattering. Hei Fu was a little strange. He didn't have a close relationship with this county magistrate. Why was he more enthusiastic about him than usual today?
The two entered the city humbly. The county governor, Zhao Hai, was old and could not bear the cold, but he was waiting outside the gate of the county governor's house. Hei Fu came over and bowed to him, and was supported by Zhao Hai. His white beard trembled.
, smiled and said:
"The commander-in-chief's banner points to the fact that the barbarians are escaping, which really strengthens the power of the Qin Dynasty. If this old man can be twenty years younger, he should go out with the commander-in-chief to kill the captives!"
Hei Fu said hurriedly: "The old governor is ridiculous. You must be strong. If you go out of the fortress, we won't be able to kill the enemy."
Zhao Hai was very pleased with Hei Fu. Before Hei Fu came, he thought that the emperor's new favorite, who had suddenly ascended to a high position at the age of only twenty-six or seven, would be difficult to get along with him, an old minister of the previous king who was over fifty years old.
.
But what I didn't expect was that Heifu had a composure far beyond his years. He never lacked in etiquette because of his loyalty to the emperor. He only engaged in military affairs on weekdays, but he was absolutely incompetent in civil affairs under the jurisdiction of the county governor.
Don't interfere.
In addition, Heifu's wife is well-behaved and smart. She often goes in and out of the county magistrate's house to keep company with the county magistrate's wife. She brings some specialties from the south and gives her some unique snacks from her chef. Last month, she even asked craftsmen to repair the county magistrate's house.
A house with a heated kang. When Zhao Hai returned home, his old wife complained that it was the first time in the many years since she had been in the North with him that it was so warm in winter...
Over the past year, Ye Zijin has almost become like mother and son to the county governor's wife. Such a knowledgeable and decent couple naturally makes people unable to hate them. What's more, the results Heifu has achieved during his expedition will also bring benefits to Bei.
The prefectures and counties bring a steady stream of benefits.
After welcoming Hei Fu into the county mansion, Zhao Hai made his plans clear to him.
"For the newly surrendered Yu Yanrong, in the land of Huamachi, I plan to establish Cheng Dao, make Jun Yan Yan the magistrate of Yu Yan County, and then create a county captain and a county magistrate."
It’s hard to say that although Beidi County has a vast territory, it has a sparse population, and most of them are Rongdi who have difficulty collecting rents. It is a famously poor county in Kansai. The most important financial income is Wushiluo’s oral income.
Trade, but most of it went to the Shaofu. The county could only collect a pitiful commercial tax, and the cattle, sheep and horses sold to the mainland every year were only enough to exchange for military rations for the garrison soldiers.
Now, thanks to Heifu, Beidi County has two more financial resources...
One is the burgeoning wool textile industry. Since Heifuxing County lobbied Wushi Luo last year, Wushi also began to purchase long-haired Qiang sheep from the Qiang and raised more than 2,000 sheep in Wushi County. Yiqu
There are also a thousand head raised here in the city.
After absorbing Qiang technology and trying for two years, the East and West Weaving Rooms of Shaofu have developed a relatively mature wool spinning process. Although the clothes weaved are still fat and big, the smell is much lighter.
Now that the emperor wants to defeat the Xiongnu, he may mobilize 300,000 people next year! A large number of sweaters are needed. Even if the war is over, the number of soldiers who are ordered to guard the north will at least be enough for two people. Therefore, this item has become a military necessity and is in short supply...
…
The county magistrate Yin Tong also said: "There are mulberry and hemp in the central plains of Qilu, and silk and silk are brought out for profit."
“It’s bitterly cold in the north, and silkworms are scarce, but we can still clothe and quilt the northern frontier by relying on wool spinning!”
Zhao Hai nodded. He also hoped that the woolen textile industry could become a major economic pillar of Northland in the future.
The second is the newly captured Huamachi. In the past few decades, Huamachi has been the main source of salt in the North. Now that Yan Yan has surrendered, Huamachi has naturally become the jurisdiction of Beidi County. Zhao Hai decided,
Immediately set up a salt officer in Huamachi and let local soldiers and troops garrison to collect salt...
Heifu gave Zhao Hai another idea: "I have left two thousand people in Huamachi City. After next spring, there will be a large army going north, and there will be a constant flow of cattle, horses and vehicles."
"In the past, when there was trouble at the frontier fortress, the inland carriages and horses would carry grain and return with the wounded, but most of the carriages were empty, which was really a waste. In the future, the vehicles going to Huamachi will carry grain when they go and salt when they return. This will save money.
freight!"
"This is a wonderful strategy." Zhao Hai nodded. In his eyes, what the truck brought back was not salt, but a heavy half a tael!
In fact, Heifu has a plan in mind for Huamachi salt. After the war stops, the official management of the salt industry in Beidi County can relax a little. Huamachi salt is mined by the government and ministers, but it can be sold and retailed by merchants.
All power is given to merchants, and the government only controls the wholesale link. If salt merchants want to obtain salt, they need to transport grain to the border, exchange it for "salt stamps" in their hands from the county guards, and then transport the salt back to the interior.
…
In this way, it may be able to solve the problems of food shortage at the border and high freight costs, and also make the market more dynamic.
Of course, I am just thinking about it now. This involves changing laws and regulations and tampering with national policies. Legalists will definitely oppose it.
Regarding the establishment of a county in Huamachi, the three frontier officials discussed for a while. Seeing that it was getting dark outside, Zhao Hai said:
"The old man is also confused. When he talks about state affairs, he forgets the time. The county captain has returned from the expedition and has not yet returned home to take a look. Go quickly! Tomorrow, I will be outside the Jingbian Temple to serve as the county captain and Jingwobei.
Outside the field, Hu Chen's generals held a banquet to catch the wind and wash away the dust!"
The Jingbian Temple in Beidi County was built in the north of Yiqu City, next to the "Retirement Home" that Heifu had previously built with his family members. It has now been renamed the "Invalids Hospital". Further north is the "Loyal Soldiers Cemetery" in the suburbs.
Bury the unknown soldiers whose bodies are hard to identify on the battlefield.
These three places were built by Heifu after he came to the Northland, and they have become local "patriotic education bases". On every Lunar New Year's Day and the fifteenth day of the lunar month, the local school officials will take their disciples to worship the county.
The soldiers were also asked to carry water for the orphans, widows and disabled old soldiers in the Invalides...
Hei Fu also missed his wife, who was eight months pregnant at home, so he said goodbye. At this time, white snowflakes were falling outside, and the military chariot he used for battle did not have a canopy to show that he shared the joys and sorrows with the soldiers.
At this time, the county magistrate Yin Tong made sure to give Hei Fu a ride and invited him to his spacious and warm carriage.
Heifu couldn't refuse, so he got into the car. The two of them talked without a word. Heifu felt that Yin Tong's behavior was unusual today, so he kept waiting for him to speak.
After the car slowly drove out of the county mansion, Yin Tongcai suddenly sighed: "It's so cold in the north, and your breath turns to frost. The county captain once went on an expedition to Yuzhang in the south of the Yangtze River. I wonder what it was like in the winter there?"
Heifu then said: "Even in the cold winter, Yuzhang is still full of green mountains and warm waters. On the upper reaches of the Gan River, the local Yue people don't even have the words 'ice' or 'snow' in their speech."
"That's good, that's good."
Yin Tong said with a smile: "My wife is most afraid of the bitter cold. She has long wanted to leave Beidi and go to Yuzhang. I think she will be willing to do it."
Heifu heard his wife talk about it a year ago. Yin Tong's wife had been boasting that her husband would soon be transferred to the mainland as an official, but there was no news after that. It seemed that the result was finally there.
However, in the eyes of the world, Yuzhang is probably even more wild than Beidi. Yin Tong's wife is very picky and might be too hot if she goes there.
In this way, Yin Tong also found the reason why he tried his best to show his kindness.
But Heifu still deliberately showed surprise: "Oh? Could it be that the county magistrate is going to be promoted..."
Yin Tong smiled and said: "Yes, I am also lucky. Last month, when the county commander was still fighting outside the Great Wall, His Majesty issued an order. The north and south of Jiujiang County are far away from each other, making travel inconvenient. From the first month (October), the river will be used as the boundary.
, Yuzhang County is newly established in the south of the Yangtze River! The Prime Minister and the Yushi officials have recommended various officials and ordered me to transfer Yuzhang to the south and serve as the county's fake captain!"