In the thirty-fifth year of the First Emperor of Qin, in the month of Mengchun, in the "Donghai County" located in the east of the empire, the willow trees by the Huaihe River began to pull out young branches, but the weather was still cold. Nanchang Tingting huddled in the house, grilling over the charcoal fire, lazily grilling
My wife had just cooked corn rice when she heard a shout from outside.
"Ting Pavilion Chief, an official ship is coming!"
The director of the pavilion in Nanchang hurriedly went out and took a look. Sure enough, a ship with a deep draft of 300 dendrobiums was docking.
This looks like an official ship traveling between Huaisi and Jiangdong. The sail is brand new, the ship is painted, and there are two middle-aged Qin officials in black talking on the deck. A young gentleman is on the side of the ship.
The director yelled and asked the pavilion chief to send someone to help tie the boat, but his attitude was very rude.
Nanchang Pavilion Chief Marquis was on the shore and saw clearly that one of the officials was wearing a plate crown on his head and a black ribbon with a copper seal on his waist. This was a sign that his rank was more than 600 stones. How dare he neglect it? He immediately called for help.
"Xiao Lu."
Xiao He, the "high official" on the ship, frowned and scolded the young man: "You have no official title. You should be more polite when talking to others when you are away from home."
"promise."
Xiao Lu shrank his head. As the eldest son, Xiao He had always been very strict with him. What's more, his father didn't want to take him with him when he went south this time. It was he who begged and the Xiao family members also urged him to go south, saying that Xiao He was going south, and he was not alone.
Xiao Hecai reluctantly agreed as he could not do without the care of his close relatives.
The official who was talking to Xiao He laughed loudly and said, "Jun Xiao, young man, Zhang... it is normal for him to be a little arrogant."
This man's name is Zhou Chang, who was born in Sishui County. He has a small problem, a stutter. Historically, it was Zhou Chang and Deng Ai who together created the idiom "Qiqi Ai Ai"...
Zhou Chang's mission was to escort Xiao He, who was appointed by the Marquis of Changnan as the "Suwei Commander", to go south. As the name suggests, this Qianshi official was responsible for collecting military supplies and was a very important person in the shogunate.
General Chang Nanhou went south from another road, passing through Nanyang to Nanjun, and asked Xiao He to meet him at Yuzhang County...
Heifu's letter also mentioned something, which was to ask Xiao He to help recruit some talents along the way to make up for the shortcomings of the shogunate.
It's a pity that Xiao He didn't catch the person Heifu named.
When he thought that he would arrive in Jiangnan soon, Xiao Lu looked sad again:
"My father didn't recruit the dog to slaughter Fan Kuai, and he asked him to run away. I don't know if the Marquis of Changnan would be angry."
Heifu was also weird. He named the person he wanted, and the first one he wanted was a dog-slaughterer. I don’t know where he heard the name.
Xiao He knew that Fan Kuai was a good friend of Liu Ji. He was heroic and courageous. He was skilled in martial arts and had ten enemies.
But when Fan Kuai heard that Xiao He said that he was going to conquer the south, he hesitated at first and said that he wanted to go home and say goodbye to his mother. However, Xiao He sent someone to inquire the next day and found that the house was empty. Fan Kuai and his family stayed all night.
He ran to the mountains and swamps surrounding Pei County!
The little official who let Fan Kuai out of the city was named Ren Ao, and he also ran away...
Xiao He did not pursue the fellow villagers, but just sighed.
"A harsh government is as fierce as a tiger, and fleeing from a garrison is like fleeing from death."
As for the other person at Heifudian, Zhou Bo and Xiao He, after asking, they learned that he had been away in the north of the Great Wall for several years and had not come back for several years.
The other officials in the county, such as Xia Houying, Zhou Ke and others, knew that the expedition to Baiyue was an errand. Those who went to the first war died three or four out of ten, and they were not happy to go south. The local nobles Lu Lu, Wang Ling, and Yong
Not to mention his peers, his attitude is negative and indifferent.
According to Heifu's proposal to Qin Shihuang in his early years, "the southerners defend the south, and the northerners defend the north", this war was fought by people from the counties south of Huaihan and had nothing to do with Sishui County. Xiao He did not want to harm these rural parties.
Seeing the situation, there was no force, and the conquest failed, so he set out on the road empty-handed.
On the other hand, Zhou Chang, who was traveling with him, had heard about the name of Marquis of Changnan for a long time and envied Xiao He. Cao Shen was promoted rapidly within four years and was quite interested in serving in the Southern Army.
But whether Zhou Chang could satisfy the Marquis of Changnan was something Xiao He and his son were worried about.
Zhou Chang suggested: "Xiao Jun, Marquis of Changnan, didn't you say that we will recruit troops again in Nanjun... We will recruit troops once, delay for ten days, and meet with Xiao Jun in Yuzhang in March. Since we have plenty of time, it is better to recruit troops in the counties along the way."
, see if there are any strong men, and take them with you."
"That's all."
Xiao He nodded, and then summoned the head of the Nanchang Pavilion. After asking, he learned that this place was called "Nanchang Pavilion". He couldn't help but look at each other and smile with Zhou Chang and Xiao Lu. It was a coincidence that it had the same name as their destination.
I also learned that Huaiyin County is two miles away by the river, and it only takes two minutes to drive there.
Xiao He did what he said and wanted to catch a few "strong men" along the way to deal with the black husband, so he decided to let Zhou Chang watch the ship and take the people to the city for a walk.
Before setting off, he also told everyone to take off their official clothes and put on regular clothes, so as not to cause local commotion. People's livelihood was difficult along the way, and Xiao He disliked the extravagant reception given by local officials.
Although he was not very happy to go south, Xiao He, who was pursuing his own affairs in his position and sitting in the car, looked like a scribe. He kept looking out over the vast fields, observing the situation here, and said to his son:
"Huaiyin blocks Huai Pinghai, which is an important place for military strategists. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Fu Chai wanted to pass through China and went out of Jianghuai, so he engaged in this."
In order to fight for hegemony in the Central Plains, King Fu Chai of Wu did not hesitate to use the power of the whole country to dig a canal "Hangou" between the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River. Wu ships were able to sail north here, and Huaiyin became a land and water important point, and a plain formed by the Huaihe River.
It is a fertile field with the resources for colonization, a water network extending in all directions, and water transportation.
"The Marquis of Changnan wants to conquer Fujian and Yue first. This place must be the hub for grain from the Central Plains to move south. A large warehouse can be built in Nanchang Pavilion to store 100,000 dan of grain!"
While thinking, the group entered Huaiyin County.
Although they were in civilian clothes, they held the talismans of thousands of stone officials, and the soldiers guarding the gate quickly gave way.
Xiao Lu took the lead. The young man was playful and couldn't help but look around.
At that time, people regarded Sishui, Chen, Runan and Nanjun in the north of Huaibei as Western Chu; Donghai and Jiangdong east of Pengcheng were called Dongchu; Hengshan, Jiujiang, Yuzhang and Changsha in the south of the Yangtze River were called Southern Chu. The customs of the three Chus were slightly different.
Xiao Lu, who was traveling far away, saw the clothes and products that were different from those in Huaibei, and found them quite novel, so he went wherever the excitement was.
Xiao Heze stopped and asked his servants to inquire about local prices, especially the prices of grains.
After asking around, I found that almost all grains are several times more expensive than Sishui County, up to 200 yuan per stone! It stands to reason that Huainan is also a granary, and the method of composting and retting has also been spread here, so it shouldn’t be like this.
.
When I asked again, the locals said that it was because the government had requisitioned grain, and the grain was sent to the south via the canal. There were 100,000 mouths waiting to eat in Jiangdong. There was less local grain, so the price would naturally be higher...
Xiao He couldn't help but sigh secretly:
"The Art of War has it that the reason why a country is impoverished due to war is because the army has to go thousands of miles to haul grain, which is delayed for several months. People eat horses and chew it. When the grain arrives, there is no one left, and a lot of labor is needed to travel back and forth.
, this will inevitably make the people poor, food prices will skyrocket, and their resources will be exhausted."
When the national finances are exhausted, in order to continue the war, they will rush to serve in the countryside. Such a vicious circle will reduce the expenses of the people and the expenses of the public. In the end, it will even lead to collapse.
Many years ago, the powerful Wu State declined in this way, and Fan Ju Wenzhong made a plan to lend grains to it, which made things worse...
In fact, Sun Wu had already given a solution: give the enemy food.
But that only applies to the campaign in the Central Plains and the southern expedition to Baiyue. When the Vietnamese burned their rice fields and fled into the forests, the Qin soldiers had no food to rely on and could only look forward to the northern millet.
Just relying on the Jianghuai counties to transport food thousands of miles away can't quench the thirst of the people near you. If you want to end the war, you must first solve this problem.
When Xiao He was squatting in front of the grain stall and meditating, he heard a loud shout in the distance:
