Qin Official

On the tenth day of the first lunar month, Heifu was dressed in casual clothes, with a scarf on his head and a black robe, sitting on a carriage, with the Anlu City Wall gradually blurring behind him...

He was not alone. The warden ordered Shi Le to go to the county town for work and to go with Hei Fu. He was too lazy to ride a horse, so he got into Hei Fu's carriage and took the initiative to drive for Hei Fu. He said with a smile: "Official doctor, Lieutenant Zuo gives you a thousand dollars as a gift, is it okay if you don’t accept it?"

Offering money is an unwritten practice in the official circles of various countries. If someone goes to a distant place to guard or serve as an official, his colleagues will give him money wrapped in silk cloth. This is called offering money, which is actually a red envelope as a farewell gift. County officials don't have much salary, so most people only get one hundred or two hundred, and those who have a close relationship get three to five hundred.

But today, when Hei Fu's friends and subordinates came to see him off outside the city, Zuo Wei's nephew Yun Xiong appeared at an inappropriate time and presented him with a gift of money with a smile on his face. many……

Of course Heifu knew that this was the Yun family's show of goodwill to him, but Heifu had no intention of just writing off his previous grudges. He smiled and threw the money bag back to Yun Xiong, saying that he appreciated Zuo Wei's kindness, but if Accepted this "huge sum of money".

"Isn't it because Lieutenant Zuo bribed me?"

Heifu told a joke that made Yun Xiong turn pale, then he bowed his hands to everyone and walked away...

"If you give it to me, I will accept it."

Lehaha laughed, and at the same time turned around and shouted to the people behind him: "We must arrive in Jiangling in late January, so we can't delay. You should hurry up and keep up with the carriage. If anyone gets tired, just ride on my horse instead. Remember to watch for prisoners!"

The three or five jailers who were escorting the two prisoners wearing wooden tongs only agreed. At the same time, some people joked and said, "There are brave and meritorious officials and officials walking with us. I don't expect these two people to dare to run away."

Heifu said a few words of humility and asked Le in a low voice: "Le Lingshi, what crime have these two committed? The county court can't bring them to trial, so you still have to escort them to Jiangling in person?"

Le shook his head: "These two brothers are crazy about money, and they dare to steal coins at home!"

Heifu glanced at the two people in a mess behind the carriage: "This is a serious crime."

After a trip to Wei and Chu, Heifu felt deeply that the government could not control the circulation of private coins in other countries, so they simply relaxed the laws and allowed you to mint them at will. In the Qin State, the state minted money uniformly, and local and private minting of money was strictly prohibited. The Qin Code clearly stipulates that anyone who steals coins without permission shall, in addition to "searching his room", that is, ransacking his home and confiscating the coins and coins he coined, he should also be arrested and severely punished, and sentenced to the penalty of Cheng Dan.

Even so, many people still take risks because the face value of copper coins is greater than the actual value of their raw materials. Minting coins privately is definitely profitable as long as they are not discovered.

Ledao: "Although some of the half-liang coins circulating in the market have been damaged for too long, they are all the same size and quality. When the coins are cast in the workshop, they are all made according to Xianyang's standards. However, in the twelfth lunar month, there are many coins on the market. There were some darker coins, so they must be counterfeit coins, so Nu followed the clues and caught two craftsmen, and found the copper molds for minting coins in their homes, as well as 1,100 new coins that had just been made. !”

As a result, the two men were found guilty of stealing the cast. However, during the trial by the prison officer, in order to reduce their charges, they revealed an even more shocking fact: the molds used by the two were obtained from Jiangling. It is said that Jiangling There is also a gang that steals coins, and the quality of the copper coins they mint is no different from the copper coins minted by the official!

This was no longer something that Anlu County could handle. Le was ordered to escort the two men to the county seat and hand them over to the county judge for trial.

At the same time, Le Ye sighed with emotion: "Oh, since Mr. Xi is not here, it has taken a lot of time to handle these cases."

Heifu smiled and said, "I heard that Mr. Xi was transferred to the county last year and also served as the county jailer?"

"Of course." Le said, "Xijun was favored by the prison censor because he scored the best in the three-year examination and was recommended to the county. So he got a high promotion and is now serving as the left prison censor."

The Qin State has divided its counties and counties, but it is not as neatly divided into six groups as in later generations. Instead, it is divided into more subdivisions. What Heifu knows, in addition to the long history, are Gong, Cang, Tian, ​​Hu, Prison, Soldier, The thieves and other Cao Cao are equivalent to the various departments and bureaus in the province. The chief officials of each Cao Cao are called "掾" (yuàn). They are nominally at the same level as the county magistrate, but in fact they are higher. No one with a title below the rank of public servant is allowed to hold the position.

And under each Cao master, there are two assistants, named after the left and right, usually held by those with the title of official doctor or duke. Xi is only a doctor, but to be promoted to Zuo Yu Cao Shi is definitely an exceptional promotion. .

Heifu was a little helpless: "I thought I would be happy after I came back, but who would have thought that my position would still be the same."

This time he was recruited into the county and held the position of "Leo Bing Cao Shi".

"It would be great if the officials could serve in Cao Cao."

Le joked: "Maybe after the case is brought to trial by Xijun, you can help arrest people."

Heifu laughed loudly: "I also want to work with Xijun."

That being said, working in Bingcao is what Heifu needs most at the moment. Thief Cao is equivalent to the Provincial Public Security Department, in charge of public security. But the Bing Cao is equivalent to a provincial military region, responsible for military recruitment, training, combat and other military matters.

Heifu also already knew that the person who transferred him to the post was Li You, the new Nanjun County Lieutenant. The implication was self-evident.

Li You wants to do well in Nanjun!

Heifu secretly guessed: "In the first battle against Chu, the outstanding performance of a remnant soldier from Nanjun impressed Xianyang, and Li You also tasted the sweetness of leading this soldier. So he applied for external transfer to coordinate the military affairs of Nanjun. It's just right, this is preparing for the second attack on Chu."

The rank of Junwei Dianwu was a soldier with a rank of two thousand stones, which matched the title of Zuo Shuchang. Nanjun was also a major county on the front line of the attack on Chu. It was easier for Li You to recruit and train troops personally and then lead them to fight, making it easier for him to achieve meritorious deeds.

This is both a joy and a worry for the people of Nanjun. The good thing is that they finally don't have to be treated like a "miscellaneous army" like the last war, doing things like luring the enemy, filling gullies, and cutting off the rear. The worry is that when the war starts again, Nanjun may have to recruit more soldiers and shoulder heavier responsibilities.

But the general who attacked Chu for the second time was Wang Jian after all. Just hearing this name, Hei Fu felt inexplicably more at ease, at least he was more reliable than Li Xin.

"Li You is from Shangcai, and most of the people who came to Li Si were scholars and civil servants. There must be no one who knows military affairs and is familiar with the county, so I was recruited to serve in the military cao. With Li You as my backer, I don't need to If you are worried about being excluded, you still have to think carefully about how you can achieve results..."

Thinking of this, Heifu yawned and dozed off on the swaying carriage.

…

Nanjun is a large county, covering thousands of miles. The distance from Anlu to the county seat is not close, it is more than four hundred miles. Heifu and the others walked for seven or eight days, heading west, passing through Xinshi, Yundu, and Dangyang, and then entered the Xia Road, which leads from north to south, and then turned south.

When he was hungry, thirsty and tired, he would rest in pavilions along the way. Looking at the pavilion chiefs and pavilion fathers who were busy running around to entertain, Hei Fu thought of his earlier days at Huyang Pavilion.

On January 18th, the dusty crowd approached the center of Nanjun.

The number of pedestrians on Tu Road gradually increased. There were traders going north and south, garrison soldiers serving as corvees, unkempt criminals, and hurried petty officials. Sometimes when there were many people, they even had to move to the left side of the road to pass.

This area is also on the banks of Yunmeng and Dajiang. The weather has warmed up in mid-January. The rice fields on the roadside are endless, with ridges towering in the distance. Nearby, hundreds of farmers and officials are spread out in the fields, busy plowing the fields. Oxen plow the fields.

Tian Dian and Tian Zuoli, who were wearing soap clothes, stood on the ridge of the field. They caught a glimpse of Heifu and his party, but they just glanced at them casually, then turned back and continued to urge everyone to work in the fields.

"As expected of a county magistrate."

Le clicked his tongue and said: "When an official walks in Anlu County wearing a double crown, he will definitely attract a lot of attention. There are many people who look back and bow. But before we reach the county town, the small officials on the fields seem to be used to it. It's just that Once you take one look at it, you won’t look at it again.”

"What does I, a noble official, mean to the county?"

Hei Fu laughed dumbly. He had heard it a long time ago. In the county town, there were as many public buses as dogs, and there were many officials everywhere. Unless they were officials at the level of five officials, they were worthy of attention.

At this time, a city appeared in front of everyone.

The wide and deep moat goes around the city, sparkling in the dusk. After crossing the moat, we faced a majestic city gate with two large characters on the top.

"Ying County."

Heifu breathed a sigh of relief, his destination had arrived.

"Sir, you and I have to say goodbye."

Le reluctantly got off Heifu's carriage and waved goodbye to him. They had to bypass the city and walk five or six miles south to reach the real county seat: Jiangling.

It turns out that after the Qin State took control of Jianghan, the original Ying capital of the Chu State was divided into two. The Chu Palace in the north and Nancheng County were called Ying County, and the residential area in the south was called Jiangling County. The county guards and magistrates were stationed in Jiangling, while the Nanjun County Wei was stationed in Ying County, where the city was higher and easier to defend than to attack.

The administrative seat of a county lieutenant is generally not located in the first county, but has its own separate administrative seat. This is also the norm in the Qin State.

Heifu watched Le and others escort the prisoner away from the fork in the road, then took a deep breath and asked the coachman to drive to the gate of Yingxian County.

Unlike Jiangling, where merchants gathered and prospered, Ying County has the temperament of a military town.

Flags were flying on the five-foot-high city wall, and county soldiers were patrolling on it. A dozen guards with spears and armor were standing on both sides of the city gate.

Heifu showed his biography, as well as the certificate of appointment sent to him by Li You. The guard read every word carefully and kept looking up at Heifu's face. After checking that there were no problems, he let him into the city. "The Qin State is in too much trouble, and the conquests are so urgent. I don't even have time to change my name with the county household official. Otherwise, if the number is not correct in the inspection, I will be in trouble."

Heifu secretly cursed. Before he could recover from the darkness under the city gate, a man suddenly ran to the middle of the road and stopped his carriage! "Wait slowly!"