"Liu Ji, the head of the Surabaya Minfutun, has seen the officials!"

The bearded Liu Ji entered the camp tent and bowed down to Tuntian Changshi, who was a subordinate of the newly set up "Shuofang County Tuntian Captain" by the imperial court, who was responsible for managing the people.

Changshi also knew this bearded man who liked to gang up and brag and humiliate, so he raised his head and sneered:

"Most of the people who have come to me these days have lied that they have wives and children, and they want to escape the responsibility of Tuntian, could it be that you are the same?"

This sentence blocked what Liu Ji was about to say.

The time is the end of August, the weather is getting colder day by day, with the northern holiday, Henan land occupied by the Qin army, the Xiongnu far away, the war is also nearing the end.

The border is far away, and it is impossible to support so many people, and half of the soldiers have to be withdrawn, and the 150,000 people who were requisitioned to the border at the beginning of the year and are responsible for transporting grain and straw have also completed their conscription, and it is time to prepare to go home.

However, an order from Xianyang made them very frightened: the emperor ordered that the people should be given land in the vast northern Xinjiang, and those who have families, wives, or only children in the family, and those who need to support their parents, are allowed to move back to their hometowns after their service. Those who have no wives will be reclaimed and garrisoned in the same place, and the government will marry a local Hu girl as a wife!

In this way, in addition to the professional soldiers, this newly conquered land had its first farmers.

This frightened many people, although the Qin army established the "Shuofang" county to manage after seizing the Northern Vacation, but after all, everything was a hasty creation. In the eyes of the people from the rich land of the Central Plains, this is a bitter cold place, even if the imperial court promises land, Hu Nu, or even three years of tax exemption, it is not as tempting as the temptation to go home.

So the people with wives and children were happy, packed their bags and prepared to leave, while the people who were still single were sad.

Among them, there are many people who pretend that they have wives and children, or only children in the family, and try to get by. However, Qin originally attached the most importance to the management of the army's household registration and identity, and entrusted the blessing of paper implementation, when everyone was serving, the officials of the county to which they belonged would copy their personal and family status on a piece of hemp paper, which would be carried by the pavilion chief and the tun chief who escorted them, and after arriving at the place of service, they would be handed over to the officials who managed the widowers.

Whether there is a wife and children in the family, whether it is an only child, report the pawn and tun to which you belong, and you will know at a check.

Once they are caught lying, what awaits these people is a "not straight" crime, and there is no need to rush home in a hurry, just do hard labor in the local area to atone for their sins.

So no one dared to get through the trick, and could only regret that he didn't talk about his family in his hometown earlier.

Qin officials also did not sympathize with these bachelors, and Li Si, the court lieutenant of the supervising army, even said coldly:

"The law of King Goujian, a woman who does not marry at seventeen is guilty; If the husband does not take twenty, his parents are guilty. Now His Majesty is within the sea, and the number of mouths is insufficient, but there are many young people who do not marry in their Chinese New Year's Eve, and they are fighting everywhere. I was going to propose the reinstatement of this law, and let them stay at the border so as not to make trouble when they return home! ”

Liu Ji's thirty-six or seventy-seven people have not married so far, and it stands to reason that he wants to stay, but he has another way.

So Liu Ji entered the play in a second, bowed to Changshi, and told his story with tears in his eyes.

He said that he actually had a wife, whose name was Cao, but he was divorced before he could register with the government, and Cao left him a son named Liu Fei, who is only three years old this year. It is really hard to raise Liu Fei alone, because he has to serve, he can only be fostered by his parents, if he stays in Tuntian in northern Xinjiang, Liu Fei will become an orphan......

"If the superior officer does not believe, and looks at the transcript and examines the place of origin, there is the name of my son. And Pei County's chief official Peng Xiaohe, his death Shi Zhouchang, and the prison official Ren Ao can all testify for me! ”

Liu Ji was originally a local snake, and after becoming an official, he mixed well in the underworld and white, and the officials in half of the county had a relationship with him.

Changshi will find out the file suspiciously, Liu Ji's inspection biography, in addition to his parents and brothers, there is really a "little man fat".

The reason why there are only bachelors is because forcibly breaking up the family is not good after all, and even if people with families stay outside the fortress, they can't stay in peace of mind. Seeing Liu Ji's words, when it came to emotion, even snot and tears came out, sticky and sticky everywhere on his beard, Changshi's heart softened, and after confirming that it was correct, he removed Liu Ji from the list of left-behind.

Liu Ji thanked him for leaving the camp tent, straightened his waist in an instant, and thought proudly:

"Fortunately, my father and mother are stubborn, and they insist on retaking the traitorous son from the Cao family and entering the Liu family's hometown, otherwise, Naigong will have to drink the cool breeze in this bitter cold place!"

Liu Ji felt that this was the second correct thing that his father Liu Taigong had done over the years.

The first thing is that after giving birth to Liu Ji that year, she didn't throw herself into the ditch and drown because she didn't look much like him.

When he went to the river to wash his beard and returned to the camp with a shy stomach, the people brought out from Peixian were comforting Zhou Bo......

Lu Juan and others are older, they have all married and had children, but Zhou Bo is young and has not yet married, let alone an only child. He and the other ten people had to stay in the local area and defend the field, but they were afraid that they would not be able to return to their hometown in this life.

This knife cut made the people very uncomfortable, but they were helpless, Qin was so indifferent and unreasonable.

Zhou Bo was simple and strong, honest and loyal, he did not feel sorry for himself, but smiled at his fellow villagers:

"Back to Pei County, I still have to rely on weaving silkworm foil, blowing the flute for people and playing elegy to eat, in this northern Xinjiang, but there is land to plant, three years of tax exemption, it is said that after three years, you can give the duke! In this way, there is nothing wrong with staying here. ”

As he spoke, he patted the bow in his hand.

Liu Ji saw through his purpose, and said with a smile: "Zhou Bo is not a person who can farm with peace of mind, I'm afraid you still think that when you start a war with the Hu people again, you will be conscripted into the army and shoot one or two Hu people to make meritorious service!" ”

In addition to weaving silkworm foil and playing elegy, Zhou Bo also has a skill, that is, he is tall and can open a hard bow, he originally wanted to enter the county pawn, but now he is staying at the border by mistake, and he has no chance to open the bow when he is a people's husband, and he may be able to show his strengths in the future!

Zhou Bo was seen through, a little ashamed, and said: "I heard that the lieutenant of Beidi County was also a Qiantou back then, relying on his military merits, he has now become a secretary, and he will even have the opportunity to be a marquis in the future!" I Zhou Bo asked himself if his skills were not bad, maybe he could make some small contributions......"

In the past two generations, they have been changing their nationality in Pei County, originally Song people, then Wei people, and finally Chu people, when Qin broke Pei County, because there was no big battle, there was not too much killing, and the antipathy for Qin was not as strong as that of Waihuang and Daliang people, Xiao He Liu Ji and others were Qin officials, and there was no psychological burden at all.

But Lu Juan and others did not have this kind of ambition, and they all ridiculed Zhou Bo for being too naïve, but Liu Ji stopped laughing and bowed his hand to Zhou Bo: "Zhou Bo has great ambitions, Liu Ji admires it." ”

Zhou Bo suddenly said: "Brother Ji also often says that he wants to do great things, why don't you stay and make contributions together?" "Me?" Liu Ji pointed to the tip of his nose and laughed, but after laughing, he became rare and serious.

"I've been out and about for so many years, and I've figured out one thing."

He turned his head and looked at the brand-new Jiuyuan City behind him, which was rebuilt from the ruins of the past, which was the result of the people in the past two months, and this was also the first foundation stone laid by the Qin army on the grassland outside the Saiwai......

"People don't quit their hometowns, and tigers don't quit mountains."

Liu Ji didn't say what he thought in public, and it wasn't until he was alone with his good brother Lu Juan that he realized the truth.

"My family is in Pei County, and my partner Township Party is also in Pei County. Staying in Pei County, Liu Ji is a tiger in the mountains that no one dares to humiliate, calling friends and accompaniment, drinking and singing, who is not afraid of me? But if he leaves Pei County and does not have the help of the township party, Liu Ji will be nothing! ”

……

A thousand miles west of Jiuyuan City, at the western foot of Helan Mountain, at the end of the grassland, and at the edge of the desert, a group of Qin army knights trekked here, standing on the hills, and in front of them was a lake reflecting the sky......

"This is it."

Yiqu White Wolf's lips were dry and cracked, he opened the map, pointed to the lake between the mountains and the desert, and said: "What the captured Huns said is the big lake at the end of the grassland, the pearl at the edge of the desert. ”

Fu Zhi on the side saw the sparkling blue water of the lake, and couldn't help cheering, wanting to drink it, but was stopped by the white wolf of Yiqu.

"This is the Great Salt Pond (Gilanti Salt Lake), and like the Flower Horse Pond, the water in it can be directly marinated, and you can't drink it, so you need to go around the lake to find the river."

More than two months have passed since the great battle in Henan, and the Qin army's various armies gathered in Hetao, and under the leadership of Li Xin, once again hit Toumandanyu, causing it to rush westward.

Yiqu White Wolf and his entourage, is to follow the traces of the Huns, they in this big salt lake, sure enough, found the Huns' messy horseshoe prints, those captives are right, here is the only way for the Huns to migrate every year.

The crowd wanted to continue to follow, but there was a vast desert ahead, and there was no end in sight, and the supplies they brought with them when they left the Hetao were no longer enough, so they could only set up a post here, leaving a hundred horsemen to hunt and garrison, as the westernmost stronghold of the Qin army......

……

At the beginning of September, Yiqu White Wolf and others returned to the eastern foot of Helan Mountain and reported what they saw along the way to Shaoshang Zaohefu.

"On the order of General Li Xin, the subordinates and Fu Zhi and Gan Chong rode 3,000 horses to the north, crossed 400 miles west of the fertile field, and arrived at Tangwenchi, and did not see a single Xiongnu. So far, south of Yinshan, there is no Xiongnu herdsman, a felt tent! ”

"It seems that the Huns are really far away."

Heifu breathed a sigh of relief, after two years of planning and half a year of fierce battles, he finally achieved what the Qin Dynasty had done in history ahead of schedule, but the Huns were more than 700 miles!

The Xiongnu were even worse than in history, Ding Zhuang was either killed or captured, at least a third of them were lost, and their poor population, without two generations, could not recover.

The Xiongnu suffered heavy losses, and Toumandan's prestige was lost, and he could not make a comeback in a short time, but Heifu had another concern.

Gongsun Bailu said: "What the general is worried about is the Yue clan who cruised to the western foot of Helan Mountain!" ”

After the defeat of the Xiongnu, the Yue clan took the opportunity to occupy a lot of Xiongnu pastures, and their scouts even came to the western foot of Helan Mountain, and also sent envoys to communicate with Qin. After all, seeing that the Qin army swept through the Xiongnu, the combat effectiveness was terrifying, and the Xiongnu were still defeated, not to mention that the population territory was not as good as their Yueshi?

"No, it's not Yue's."

Heifu looked at the letter sent by Chen Ping, this guy was not idle in Beidi County, and went to Wushi Sai again, and through Wushi merchants, he got a lot of information about Yue's family.

Among them, there is the "news" that Mao Dun dedicated his beloved wife and horse to the king of the Yue family!

Maoton, yes, Heifu has never forgotten this famous son of the wolf in history!

So cruel to yourself, let alone to others? If this person is not removed, it will be a thorn in his heart after all.

"The Hu people don't dare to go south and graze horses, this is not enough, they have to let them for generations, and the soldiers dare not bend their bows and complain!"

Heifu asked people to come to Helan Mountain to garrison and recruit Wu Shiyan, the "county chief" who accepted Baiyang and other departments.

The county magistrate is not Heifu's subordinate, he is under the management of the county, and he is also responsible to the "pawn" who is responsible for diplomacy, subject countries, and minority management in Jiuqing.

"Go and tell the Yue's people who came to contact that the Yue's want to go to Qin, there are three conditions."

"First, the king of the Yue clan personally went to Xianyang to pay tribute; second, the Qin merchants were allowed to pass through Hexi and go to the Western Regions, without obstruction; Third......"

Heifu smiled: "Sacrifice the head of the Hun Kouzi Maoton!" ”