The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

Heifu left the small hall that made him feel so uncomfortable. After coming out and breathing the air outside, he felt that he was finally out of danger.

"This county governor Teng is really a shady old bastard..."

Over the past year or so, Heifu's career has been smooth sailing. Whether it was when he was a door-to-door patrol in Wei State, he convinced Zhang and got in touch with Chen Ping; or he successfully attracted Li You's attention in the war against Chu and became his short-soldier general, and he showed his skills in Yingyang. Not only did he get a backer, but also made hundreds of Nanjun soldiers grateful. It can be said that he gained both fame and fortune.

All of this was led by Heifu himself, even the relationship with Li You was the same. It was not accepting charity, but Heifu gave first and then the other party returned the favor. Although he was a confidant, Heifu also had his own confidence and dignity.

Until today, he finally capsized in the county governor's mansion.

Everything was clear. Ye Teng made such a big scene just to scare Hei Fu. He first slapped Hei Fu to the ground, then helped him up, smiled, and said kindly that I beat you for your own good...

The other party was a two thousand stone official, what else could Hei Fu do? He could only express gratitude, but in his heart, he felt a sense of frustration as if he was ambushed.

"People who can get two thousand stones are all shrewd people. I have to be more cautious in the future. I can't leave loopholes for people to see through at a glance like before."

He also realized that compared with these big figures who have been in the political arena for decades and have deep roots and luxuriant leaves, he is just a small sapling in spring, and at the same time he has a sense of crisis.

When Hei Fu first entered the county city, he thought that he wanted to be a "useful person" and was very enterprising. But now it seems that being too useful and too conspicuous is not a good thing. Look, he is just a young catalpa tree, but Ye Teng, an early woodcutter, is already waiting by his side, sharpening his knife...

In this world, useful catalpa trees are no more safe than useless oak thorns.

Only when you have an axe that controls life and death in your hands can you have a good night's sleep.

When leaving the county governor's mansion, Hei Fu heard the faint and unfamiliar piano sound again. At the critical moment just now, he had to thank the piano sound for accidentally saving him, just like the thunder and lightning that saved Liu Bei.

"Who is playing the piano?"

Hei Fu looked at the county governor's subordinates beside him.

"She should be the daughter of the county governor."

The subordinate laughed and said, "The daughter of the county governor has not yet reached the age of marriage. She has to learn the zither from the female teacher every day. We are used to it."

"She plays very well."

Although it was an unfamiliar sound of the zither, Hei Fu praised it for no reason, and then looked back at the small hall just now, and made a secret decision.

"I am unwilling. When can I become a woodcutter with an axe in my hand?"

...

At the same time, in Ye Teng's study, the curtain of the inner room was lifted, and a middle-aged scholar in a long robe came out and saluted Ye Teng.

"The county magistrate just frightened this young Zuo Bingcaoshi."

Ye Teng smiled: "Young man, why not scare him? If you don't scare him, how can you know if he is a real talent?"

This middle-aged man is the chief clerk of the county magistrate Teng. As a high-ranking official of 2,000 stones, Ye Teng is qualified to recruit private staff, and the chief clerk is equivalent to the chief of staff. This chief clerk from Han has been with Ye Teng for many years. As a confidant, it is his duty to find out the shortcomings and fill the gaps for the master.

So the chief official said, "But what this boy said just now cannot be fully believed. I have been ordered to check the hometowns of Heifu's ancestors for three generations. They were from a commoner family. Only his generation could read a little. There was no family tradition and no famous teacher to teach them. Why did he achieve amazing results in the three industries of industry, agriculture and medicine in just a few years? There is still something strange about this matter. The master must pay attention to it."

Ye Teng waved his hand disapprovingly: "Stop it. Since he has explained the matter clearly, why bother to investigate it to the end? Even if what he said is not entirely true, so what?"

The chief official was a little surprised. Didn't the county magistrate say that he just wanted to hear Heifu tell the truth?

"What I want to hear is the truth that I am willing to hear, and the truth that can be explained to the king."

Seeing that the chief historian was a little confused, Ye Teng asked him back: "Zheng Guo was a spy sent by Han to Qin. He was full of lies earlier, but is Zheng Guo dead?"

"Han Fei never lied in front of the King of Qin. Is Han Fei still alive?"

There is another sentence that Ye Teng did not say. He deceived his master and lied to his subordinates in Han. Why did he become a frontier official of Qin today?

Han had three heroes, but in the end one died and two survived. Isn't the lesson enough?

"A wise man must have foresight and clear observation. If he is not clear, he cannot see through private matters." This was Han Fei's gift to Ye Teng back then.

But there is a second half after this sentence.

"A man who can follow the law must be strong and upright. If he is not upright, he cannot correct evil!"

Ye Teng only took the first sentence, not the second.

He could observe everything in secret, and he could show his strength and ability in front of the king and others, but he didn't want to be a straight-forward and treacherous person.

Today, he just wanted to teach this young man a lesson.

Ye Teng smiled: "People say that the Han Dynasty is as strong as a huge iron bar, as cruel as a bee. But if it is not forged, how can it be used?"

"So the county magistrate wants to employ this boy?" The chief secretary finally understood Ye Teng's true intention and couldn't help but feel ashamed of his slowness.

"That's right."

Ye Teng paced in the room: "The king has decided to attack Chu, and will use General Wang Jian as the general. The day of the war will be in the autumn!"

"The king sent Li Youlai to Nanjun as the county lieutenant. His intention is very clear. In this way, I, the county magistrate, will have no chance to lead the troops to go to war."

Ye Teng felt a little regretful. In the past few years, he has been sitting in Nanjun and watching the father and son of the Wang family defeat the three kingdoms. How could he not be jealous?

But the clever Ye Teng also discovered from the order of conscription and grain raised by the King of Qin to Nanjun that this war against Chu was of great importance, and Qin would mobilize the whole country.

"At that time, the generals will be strong and sharp in Chu, conquer cities and territories, and will naturally have hard work and rewards on the day of the destruction of Chu."

"But the counties in the rear must also count the population, prepare soldiers, and supply grain to the front line thousands of miles away. If they do it well, it will also be a great achievement!"

Ye Teng has been in Nanjun for almost five years. He punished thieves and nobles with thundering means, governed the originally chaotic Nanjun, and promoted the legalist education and rectified the administration of officials. All of this was done for the king to see.

He didn't want to end his life as a county governor, but hoped to go one step further and enter the court! Even if he couldn't become the prime minister or the imperial censor in one step, he would at least be the internal historian, in charge of the capital Xianyang and more than 40 counties in the capital area.

Therefore, this preparation for the war against Chu was his last chance to show his ability.

"The reason why the country prospers is because of agriculture and warfare. Military affairs are under the jurisdiction of Li You, whose father is Li Si. It is not convenient for me to compete with him, so I must make amazing achievements in agriculture!"

At this critical moment, Anlu County offered a composting method that could increase the yield per mu by 40% to 50%, and then the Tongguan Workshop made a water mill that could save manpower!

Ye Teng asked the chief historian to spread out the map of Nanjun. There were large tracts of land in the 18 counties of Nanjun, half of which were paddy fields and half were dry fields.

"Yu Gong" said that Jing and Hengyang were only Jingzhou. Their soil was only muddy, and their fields were only lower-middle..."

The population of Nanjun was not small, nearly one million, but the land was not very fertile, and it was only rated as "lower-middle".

"But if the composting technique can be promoted to the whole county, at least 30% to 40% more grain can be harvested in autumn than last year!"

Shang Yang's law emphasizes agriculture. In peacetime, the increase in grain production in autumn is also an important criterion for planning. The best will be rewarded and promoted, and the inferior will be reprimanded and punished. What's more, on the eve of the attack on Chu, when Qin was in urgent need of grain? Ye Teng could imagine the King of Qin's praise:

"A good ruler will not steal from farmers even if his granaries are full!"

In addition, there is a water mill. In Ye Teng's opinion, this thing is simply specially designed for Nanjun, because Nanjun has many water flows. In addition to the rivers drawn on the map, there are hundreds of streams flowing continuously.

If water mills can be widely used in Nanjun, and some are set up on every river, how much manpower can be saved? Then use those abundant manpower to collect military supplies such as animal skins, feathers, and wood. Ye Teng is sure that Nanjun will make a big splash in the autumn harvest!

These two things are really a blessing from heaven! This is why Ye Teng attaches so much importance to Hei Fu.

It's just that based on his habit of playing tricks for many years, he didn't want to be passive in this matter, so he played tricks and made Hei Fu, who originally had no intersection with the county governor, owe him a "life-saving grace" in vain, and also gave him a handle of "deceiving and lying", after all, he was a young man.

Ye Teng smiled and said, "In fact, I owe Heifu a big favor. Why should I push him too hard? Although I have given him a beating today, I will ask for merit for him afterwards and make him a public official. Even his brother-in-law and uncle will be given more titles and promotions!"

The chief historian understood Ye Teng's real plan and could not help but bow down. This is the insight of an axe holder, but he hesitated and said, "Unfortunately, Heifu is already Li You's man."

"Who said that?" Ye Teng said, "Didn't Xunzi say that when he entered Qin? The Qin scholars and officials do not form cliques and do not compete with Zhou. This sentence can be wrong, but it can also be right."

Ye Teng bowed to the north, "Because we are all Qin officials, all the king's party members! What is the difference between working for this county governor and working for Li You?"