The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

"An instrument that can make pounding rice more efficient?"

Yan Zheng glanced at Hei Fu, then looked at his half-eaten rice cake, and seemed to understand something.

However, he did not ask too many questions, but pondered for a while before saying:

"These tools and machinery are all under the jurisdiction of the engineer. The "Law of Engineers" states that the name of the craftsman should be engraved on the object to test his sincerity. If the work is not done properly, he must be punished. The work of all craftsmen is supervised by the internal historian of Xianyang, and the county magistrates of each prefecture and county are supervised. Under the county magistrates, there are county engineers who are responsible for managing all craftsmen in the county. Every year, the county engineers must hand in the tools and weapons they have made to the county for evaluation. If they are rated as inferior, they will be punished. If they are rated as inferior for three consecutive years, the punishment will be increased."

Hei Fu nodded. The Qin State had a set of official positions from top to bottom to manage agriculture and industry. No wonder they could concentrate all domestic resources on war. Moreover, handicrafts were mainly run by the government, and they often conducted assessments and evaluations. Individual craftsmen like his brother-in-law were rare.

After talking about punishment, Yan Zheng began to talk about rewards: "On the contrary, our Qin State has always disliked useless tricks and lustful things, and advocated merit first. If the craftsmen have tools that increase effectiveness and can really achieve the desired effect, they should also be rewarded, or given a title, or money..."

Hei Fu understood that the so-called "merit first" means focusing on effectiveness, or "function first".

This is indeed in line with the character of the Qin people. For example, although iron swords have been tempered and can be sharper and more durable than bronze, since they cannot be mass-produced and equipped on a large scale, they are not favored by the Qin army.

The same is true for iron armor. Although Yan and Chu have begun to have elite troops wearing iron armor, the Qin army still wears leather armor. After all, this thing can be fined tens of thousands of pairs every year.

Furthermore, if you want iron soldiers and armor, you can just take them from the bodies of the captives after defeating the enemy...

In short, low cost, large scale, and easy to use are the factors favored by the Qin government.

Heifu was happy now. Isn't the treadle pestle in his home such a good thing!

He finally understood why the Qin State did not promote the stone mill that had appeared in the northern Qi and Lu areas like promoting ox plowing. It was probably because the stone mill was expensive in this era and it was difficult to benefit every household. That is, the rich and powerful learned to make one, and the spread was extremely slow.

But the treadle pestle is different. Its structure is simple. Any craftsman can imitate it by taking a look, and the materials are easy to find and the cost is low.

"This is a great achievement."

Heifu was happy. He thought that this time he would go to the county for assessment and present treasures to the county engineer. Maybe he would get another title and reward. If he could continue to come up with similar inventions in the future, it would not be a dream to be promoted and get rich.

However, Yan Zheng poured a bucket of cold water on him.

Yan Zheng's face became serious, and he said to Hei Fu earnestly:

"I still want to remind you that if it is not the native of Baigong who offers this thing, the government may accept the thing first, but punish the person who offers it. Hey, by then, let alone being a pavilion chief, Hei Fu, you may not even be able to keep this title of public official!"

...

That afternoon, Hei Fu said goodbye to Yan Zheng early and finished his last class. Tomorrow morning, he will go to the county to participate in the official assessment on the first day of the twelfth lunar month.

After leaving the plaque and walking on the way home, Hei Fu's mind was still full of what Yan Zheng warned him.

Yan Zheng extinguished Heifu's dream and told him a story that he heard from the judge of the Censorate many years ago when he was checking laws and decrees in the Censorate in Xianyang...

Once upon a time, Han Zhaohou fell asleep drunk, and the hat-keeper was afraid that he would be cold, so he covered him with clothes. After Han Zhaohou woke up, he saw the clothes on his body and asked his attendant, "Who covered the clothes?" The attendant replied, "The hat-keeper." Zhaohou punished both the clothes-keeper and the hat-keeper at the same time.

Han Zhaohou punished the clothes-keeper because he thought he was derelict in his duty; he punished the hat-keeper because he thought he exceeded his authority. It's not that he didn't worry about the cold, but he thought the harm of exceeding his authority was greater than the cold. Therefore, a wise ruler controls his subjects, and subjects only need to do their own work well. They cannot exceed their authority to make meritorious deeds. If they exceed their authority, they should be punished...

The stuttering Han Fei also summarized this story as: "Let the chickens watch the night, let the raccoons catch mice, and use their abilities, and the ruler will have nothing to do."

This is the thinking of the Legalists. It is the same for officials and the household registration of the people.

After Shang Yang's reform, the Qin State divided the native places of various social personnel and stipulated that people of different native places should do their own jobs:

The soldiers farmed and fought, the craftsmen made tools, the merchants sold what they had, and the officials managed the local area well.

So in the eyes of the Qin government, if a soldier did not farm well and serve, but spent all day thinking about tricks and making money, it would be like a cat not catching mice well, but running to learn to crow like a rooster.

Even if you really made something good, you must not be praised. If you set up a bad atmosphere for a small object, giving people undue expectations and scrambling to imitate, what will happen? Wouldn't the order of Qin be in chaos?

Therefore, for such a restless person, the government should first accept the things he offered, pat him on the shoulder with a smile and give him a verbal praise, and then severely punish him...

The object is innocent, but the person is guilty.

Because of this, in the past hundred years, even though Shandong scholars such as Zhang Yi and Gan Mao suddenly became prominent after entering Qin with their mouths, the Qin people just watched silently, and would not think about learning to be scholars and seek wealth.

Because they are not a "scholar register" specially set up for foreign talents, no matter how envious the Qin people are, they know that road will never belong to them.

They can only farm and serve as soldiers from generation to generation, following the profit-making hole set by Shang Yang.

People in later generations may not understand that the border of Qin's native place is not something you can cross casually. What stands in front of Heifu is a mountain, a minefield, and a natural moat...

"So, unless I become an engineer or the chief officer in charge of this matter one day, it is impossible to rely on inventions to upgrade my title?"

Heifu wanted to cry but had no tears. It turned out that after walking for a long time, there was a dead end in front of him. Fortunately, he did not rush to the county to present the treasure, otherwise he would fall into this big pit, and countless efforts in the past would be in vain.

Although this is the truth, Heifu still feels that it is wrong. How can the enthusiasm of people to invent and create be wiped out because of household registration management?

"This must be a system problem!" He waved his fist at the sky cynically.

It seems that Heifu has to rethink about treading the pestle.

While thinking about it, he saw a figure running towards him hurriedly on the road ahead. It was his younger brother Jing!

Jing also saw Heifu and ran faster. He even fell down halfway and rolled in the mud.

"What happened? Is it mother?" Heifu felt uneasy. His first reaction was that his mother might be sick again. He hurried over to help Jing up and asked.

"No..."

Jing was anxious: "The head of the village learned from somewhere that my family has a treadle pestle that is more convenient for pounding rice, so he forced my brother-in-law to build one for his family. My brother-in-law refused, and the head of the village incited the whole village to surround our house!"

"There is such a thing!" Hei Fu's face changed suddenly, but then he reacted: "Then how did you get out?"

"I was chopping wood outside at the time. When I got home and saw that the situation was not good, I wanted to look for you. The village guard let me out of the village..."

"So that's it." Hei Fu asked again: "What does the head of the village want to do by inciting the villagers to surround my house?"

Jing was so angry that he gritted his teeth: "The head of the village wants my brother and my brother-in-law to hand over the treadle pestle and share it with everyone in the village to use it together! In fact, he wants it himself! Now more than a dozen households are instigated by him and are blocking the door! Brother Zhong, come back with me to take a look!"

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