When Lu Ao returned to Xianyang after his trip to Zhongnan Mountain, it was already three days later. He did not go back to his residence directly, but wandered around in the bustling market. Novel .
He has been to many places and knows that every city has its own "city grid". More than a hundred years ago, when Xianyang City was first built, it was just an inconspicuous small city. Shang Yang, who was deeply influenced by Wei culture, followed the Anxi
Xianyang was built in the style of a city. From the streets to the Jique, everything was imitated from the East.
Even if the imitation is decent, in the eyes of Easterners, Xianyang still looks rustic. The people here are best at farming and fighting, but they have no citizen spirit at all.
At that time, if a person from Xianyang and a person from Daliang or Linzi met each other and chatted about the cities where they lived, and the others talked about "crowding around each other and renting thousands of gold a day", the Xianyang people had nothing to say.
A hundred years have passed and Xianyang has undergone tremendous changes. Not only are the palaces increasing in height and the city walls expanding, but the mentality of Xianyang people has also made a huge leap forward.
They now live at the feet of the Emperor, and they are very ambitious and even talkative.
After all, there are so many things to brag about in Xianyang now. Which city in the world has such a large population? Have you seen the majestic Xianyang Palace from a distance? The streets and alleys here are the cleanest in the world. You don’t go to the public toilets and defecate everywhere.
people will be severely punished.
The emperor liked to do things, and things that happened in various places gathered in Xianyang, so new things happened here every day, and they became the talk of Xianyang people's market life.
This is exactly what Lu Ao needs. The market is the most convenient way to obtain information. Lu Ao will hear the conversations of others without missing a beat, and they will become the knowledge he needs to build momentum for himself.
At that time, he was famous in Yanqi precisely because he claimed that he was often carried by gods in his dreams and traveled through the past.
He once had a banquet in the palace of King Jian of Qi. There was an old man in his nineties at the table. Lu Ao asked the old man his name. After the old man told his name, Lu Ao said:
"I was once taken back by an immortal in my dream to play and have a banquet with your great father decades ago. You were very young at that time and you were also by my side."
Then, he explained clearly where the old man was decades ago and what his home was like at that time, as if he had actually seen half of it with his own eyes. The old man kept nodding his head to confirm what he said, so everyone sitting there was shocked, and Lu
Ao's reputation spread.
But in fact, he was just well prepared and told half truths and half lies.
After arriving in Xianyang, Lu Ao repeated his old tricks. Once, when Qin Shihuang summoned him, Lu Ao saw a gold vessel placed in the palace, pointed at it from a distance and said: "I know this gold vessel, Qin Shihuang."
King Huiwen once placed it on his desk."
After checking the inscription, it turned out that it was a creation of King Qin Huiwen, so Qin Shihuang also felt that Lu Ao might have some ability. Although he was called seventy years old, he looked only about fifty years old, with a rosy face, smooth skin, and similar teeth.
Young people are so neat.
After blessing himself with many mysterious colors, Lu Ao could make people believe that he had really seen immortals when he was a child, went to Penglai, and could ask for elixirs for the emperor.
Of course, he could only wander around, but he couldn't touch any food, because it would destroy his image of being healthy and living a long life without eating grains. There is nothing sadder than an alchemist who is greedy for food.
It is now the beginning of July in the 31st year of Qin Shihuang. The new policy implemented by Heifu in the far east has not attracted much attention. What people in Xianyang are talking about are the two wars in the west and the south.
The battle of Bajun and Shujun to conquer Qiongdu, and the battle of General Li Xin against the Yueshi...
The people of Xianyang had never heard of the name Qiongdu. It was too far away and too small. They overestimated their own capabilities and prevented the Qin army from building the Five-foot Road. As a result, they were beaten to pieces by Shu commanders. After several confrontations, they saw that
After the Qin army became stronger, King Qiongdu requested surrender, and one of the conditions for the Shu commandery was that King Qiongdu came to Xianyang to see the emperor.
That was in May. Yesterday, the surrender envoy from Qiongdu finally arrived after traveling through mountains and rivers!
Near the south gate where Lu Ao passed by, Xianyang residents were still discussing the weird costumes of the Qiongdu people: the common people of Qiongdu were almost naked, but the chieftain was wearing felt cloth and had a big black head wrapped around his head.
The sac has a slit near the corner. All men, women and children, old and young, are barefoot and feel as if they are walking on the ground. Some people even wear rings on their lips and noses and fasten them with metal rings.
"They are indeed barbarians from the southwest." People in Xianyang were filled with contempt, and even the height of these barbarians and their skin tanned by the sun became the objects of their ridicule.
Also sent back were the weapons of the Qiongdu people: guns and arrows made from local bamboo, rough tiger skins, and dwarf ponies. When they learned that they were horses, the people of Xianyang laughed:
"It is as small as a donkey and less than five feet tall at the shoulders. How can it be called a horse?"
The novelty that this group of southern barbarians brought to Xianyang people only lasted for one day. Everything was planned in advance. It was like an appetizer, followed immediately by a plate of barbecue with exotic flavors. On the second day,
That is to say, today, the Yueshi prisoners sent back by Li Xin also entered from the west of Xianyang City.
"Here we come, the Yuezhi captives are here."
Unlike Qiongdu, the people of Qin have heard a lot of news about the Yuezhi in the past few years, including the case where the Yuezhi prince was held hostage in Guanzhong and beat someone to death drunkenly, which was also a hot topic at the beginning of the year.
Many of the troops brought by Li Xin to attack the Yuezhi were the sons of Xianyang military meritorious landowners. Therefore, the people of Xianyang were all concerned about the west. The surprise attack across the river, the great victory of Wuwei, and whenever the battle report came, all of them would be triggered.
bursts of cheers, and then imagined how many heads his own children had chopped off.
Now, General Li Xin has another great victory: under the threat of tens of thousands of Qin troops and the Wusun raiding the west, King Yuezhi abandoned Zhaowu City and prepared to go west to defeat Wusun and move to the Western Regions. However, unexpectedly, he was killed by his subordinates.
He was killed by the Marquis of Xi, and his head was presented to Li Xin.
At this point, King Yuezhi died, and his direct subordinates were separated and fled south from the Qilian Mountain Pass into the Qiang. Among the five Xihous of the Yuezhi, one was eliminated by Li Xin in Wuwei, and two surrendered in Zhaowu City. The other two led
With 20,000 tribesmen, they fled northward and reached Juyanze. With the support of the Huns, they fled as far as Mobei and joined Modun Shanyu.
When the news came back, Xianyang City was immersed in excitement for a while, and thousands of people came out to watch the ceremony of the captives entering the city.
Lu Ao was among them, but he couldn't even squeeze into the front row and could listen to the lively discussions among Xianyang people from a distance.
They said that the Yuezhi people were tall and fair-skinned. Although their hair and eyes were black, their eye sockets were slightly sunken and their noses were high. They looked very different from the Guanzhong people who had slender eyes and flat noses.
Although Yuezhi men do not have a high opinion of them, those exotic Yuezhi women have attracted a lot of interest from small military landowners. Some people are already asking if they can buy a few from the government to serve as maids.
In addition to people, Li Xin also collected a lot of trophies in Zhaowu City, the capital of the Yuezhi. In addition to the tall horses that are a specialty of the Qilian Mountain grasslands in Hexi, there are also metal utensils from the West that are very different from those in the East, as well as various types of Central Plains people's capital.
A spice I’ve never heard of.
After the people of Xianyang were satisfied with the above items, they were sent to the Xianyang Palace one after another for the first emperor of Qin to see.
The whole process was bustling, and Lu Ao stood in an inconspicuous place on the street corner, watching all this silently. Xianyang people were the largest beneficiary group of the Mingtianzhai system, and they wholeheartedly supported Qin Shihuang's use of troops near Guanzhong so that his children could continue to earn money.
Gongjue.
But Lu Ao believed that the biggest beneficiaries of this war were not them, or even Li Xin, who was destined to be promoted to two levels in a row.
"It's the black husband who lives far away in Jiaodong..."
Even though this man went to the far east, the "Western Expansion" plan he initiated was still being implemented by the emperor. Every time he succeeded, the emperor would think of him and show him even more favor.
In addition, the black man also picked the right time and did something major in Jiaodong that completely offended Zhutian.
Lu Ao remembered the letter written by his disciple Shi Sheng to him. Shi Sheng said this: "The Wei family divided the fields of Yeyi to Lu Zuo, Yongbao, and farm laborers. This violated the world's taboo. Everyone in the land was in danger and wanted to raise troops.
There are countless people who have killed Mr. Hei!"
Shi Sheng predicted that Heifu was playing with fire and would soon arouse the hostility of Zhuda. His position as county governor might end in turmoil.
"My disciple is still too young, and his eyes only focus on Jiaodong, a corner of Qi..."
Lu Ao stroked his beard and stood in the Xianyang market celebrating victory, secretly thinking: "Shi Sheng couldn't see it. At the same time, Xianyang was celebrating the victory of the West, but Hei Fu must have guessed it and dared to do something terrible.
!”
"According to your Majesty's temperament, after the Western business, he will definitely pick up the long-delayed eastward tour, visit Zen, and watch the sea. In just January or February, he will be able to go to Jiaodong for hunting tours. By then, thousands of tigers will accompany him, and tens of thousands of county soldiers will protect him.
If Zhutian dares to cause trouble during this period, he is seeking death! The world fears the Qin Shi Huangdi, just like the beasts fear the tiger. No one dares to openly cause chaos until the emperor is dead. And Heifu is the pioneer of the emperor, and all beasts in Jiaodong dare to
Aren’t you trembling?”
He couldn't help but sneered: "What a trick to trick a fox into pretending to be a tiger! I think this man is not only a black dog of Emperor Qin, but also a cunning black fox!"
…
Lu Ao's guess was correct. Sure enough, the next day, Qin Shihuang announced the establishment of the Qiongdu Road after holding a prisoner dedication ceremony. The two counties of Bashu and Shu continued to open up the Wuchi Road, and a new county was established in Yuezhi Hexi District.
: Zhangye County! It means the arm of Zhangye to connect the Western Regions.
At the same time, the left prime minister Wang Wan, the imperial censor Feng Quji, Tongwuhou Wang Ben and others reported to the First Emperor: "Since ancient times, emperors have been appointed emperors, but they have never been granted Zen status. Your Majesty went to the sea and fixed the nine tripods, so that Hu Ben could break through the Helan Mountain Que and drive north.
The Xiongnu established Shuofang County, which can be described as an ancient achievement. The Yue clan is Di, and the capital of Qiong is Yi. Now the Yi and Di are all returned, which is unprecedented in ancient times! Your Majesty will patrol the east and grant Zen to praise Qin's achievements!"
Qin Shihuang said: "Yes." Let the prime minister, the imperial censor and more than 70 doctors handle the ceremony of conferring Zen, and that day he will patrol eastward to Xue, Linzi, Jiaodong, and Langya!
Immediately, the emperor ordered the envoy to ride eastward. In early August, an edict was delivered to Heifu in Jimo City.
"I ordered the Jiaodong County Sheriff and the Major to make Wei Heifu, and on August 15th, I went to the foot of Mount Tai to see the Emperor's conferment on Zen!"