Chapter 47 Section 3 The Black Caravan Owner and the Mysterious Craftsman

On the official road to the west of the Hangu Pass, a black cloth wagon drawn by two horses rumbled along unhurriedly. The car has no driver.A handsome young man next to the car, riding a handsome red horse, with a whip in his hand, occasionally pointed at the white horse driving at the fork, and smiled and said a few words to the car from time to time, looking excited and curious.Looking at the Huashan Mountain on the left hand in front of him, the young man smiled and said, "Young Master, there is Huashan Mountain in front of you. Look, it's so tall!" There was a burst of laughter in the car, "Look forward, Nanshan Mountain is even higher." The young man said with a smile: "So How come the flat fields are all wasteland?" A sigh came from the car, "This is the guest land of Wei State, and there are always wars here and there, who wants to farm?" The young man asked: "The guest land? What is the guest land? The man in the car replied: "It's just occupying other people's land, and I don't care about governing it." The young man smiled and said, "Ah, I understand. Could this be the land of Hexi in Qin State?" The man in the car said with a smile: "You Little girl, do you still understand?" The young man hissed and laughed, "Hey, miss, don't dare to call me a girl, be careful if people hear you. Look, there is someone in front." The middle of the car tarpaulin was slightly opened, and the inside of the car The man obviously glanced out, "Who is Miss? Be careful yourself. It's strange, it's so lively." The young man said, "Hunting? Not like it. Plowing the field? Not like it. The autumn harvest is over, so many people are noisy in the field What are you doing?" The man in the car said: "Hit the horse, go ahead and have a look." The young man pouted, "Forget it, it's more important to hurry, don't you worry?" The man in the car patted the carriage board, "It's already arrived Why don't you look at the borders of the Qin Kingdom? Why are you in a hurry?" The young man made a grimace and said with a smile: "Okay. The master is not in a hurry, why am I in a hurry?" After speaking, he raised his whip in his hand, and the young man sat down on the red horse and two chariot horses Run big.

In a short while, they had reached the point where they were clamoring.The carriage came to a complete stop, the young man got off his horse, looked around vigilantly, and kept subconsciously touching the short sword on his waist.A handsome young man in civilian clothes stepped out of the car, with a white scarf and long hair, stood on the ground and looked at him with great interest. It was dusk in autumn, and the clean harvested fields were boundless as far as the eye could see.The dots and dots of houses in the well fields have miraculously disappeared, only the remaining willows in the manor, reminding people of the old smoke here.The wide and high "Fengjiang" (field boundary) between wells and fields is also gone.What is even more surprising is that all the criss-crossing fields in the fields have disappeared and have been reclaimed into cultivated fields, and the newly turned loess is particularly soft to step on.This kind of field path, the vertical one is called "Qian" and the horizontal one is called "Mo", which is specially used for the passage of chariots.Since the Spring and Autumn Period, there have been endless swords and soldiers, and there are almost no countries that do not fight. Therefore, the soldiers and chariots are the most important thing for the government.If the farmers didn't stay, the chariots would run across the fields when they came, and the crops would be white, so no matter how much the land was needed, no one would dare to move the chariots.The lanes are staggered and occupy a lot of fields. In the "Book of Shang Jun", there is an article "Calculating the Land", which says that the field roads and the dotted houses account for about four-tenths of the cultivated land!Even so, no one can move. Although the car battle has been eliminated, those driveways that criss-cross and shake the weeds are still entrenched in the fields, dividing the precious land into countless fragmentary pieces.Even Wei, the most developed and civilized country, still retains the abandoned driveways in Tianchou.Now in the state of Qin, there are no lands and fields, and the flat and fertile fields stretch as far as the eye can see. Isn't it amazing?

The young man in white scarf was very impressed, so he went to the field to see it.The young man behind him followed up nervously. Men, women and children in ragged clothes were scattered in the fields.Most of the strong men gathered around a black-clothed official, while the women chatted confusedly or scattered, and the children in the chief corner were chasing and frolicking in the soft new soil.The young man in white scarf walked to the place where the young and strong men gathered, and saw the little official in black shouting to the three gray-haired old men: "Remember, one step is six feet, one hundred steps is one mu, no There is a difference! Zuo Shuchang’s new law: those who walk more than six feet will be punished, and those who walk more than one hundred steps will be punished! You are all elders in the clan, and you have always been expected to be fair. If there is falsehood, the new law will not tolerate it!"

An old man cupped his hands and said in a loud voice: "We know that Zuo Shuzhang's law is like a mountain, who dares to break the law?" A young man asked loudly: "May I ask Mrs. Wang, each head of household is five hundred mu?" "That's right!" The little official in black, Mrs. Wang, waved his hand quite reservedly, "Let's start, divide the land!" The crowd cheered, and the children rushed to surround an old man and clapped their hands and shouted: "Go! Go--" The old man straightened his clothes with a solemn expression, clasped his fists in his hands and bowed deeply to the sky, straightened his body, and "slapped" with his right hand. After kicking his knees twice, he finally raised his right foot.As the old man's right foot rose and fell, the children happily counted, "One, two, three..." The adults followed the old man holding their breath.The white scarf youth followed the people step by step into the depths of the field.Behind the crowd, two strong men pulled hemp ropes and followed the old man in a straight line, and more than a dozen young and middle-aged men piled up a long field ridge along the hemp ropes with shovels in their hands, which was regarded as a new "frontier seal".When they finally reached the field, another group of men and women erected a big stone on the top of the field ridge.

The old man who walked up the land read aloud to the stone tablet: "Landlord - Jinglaoliu! The land - 500 mu!" The black-clothed official waved his hand, "It's fixed, 500 mu! Hei Laoliu!" The crowd applauded in an uproar and shouted: "My land! Long live the old six!" A thick, black middle-aged man waved excitedly to the back of the crowd, "Mom Mudan, bring it quickly!" A woman covered in patches A bamboo basket squeezed out from behind the crowd and shouted: "Who would have thought that our black-spotted chicken would take the top spot!" Everyone couldn't help laughing loudly.

The young man in white scarf noticed a large flesh-red scar on the forehead of the thick black whale. With a flash of thought, he smiled and asked a young man next to him, "May I ask, what is this 'black spot'?" The young man burst into tears with laughter, "What is this black spot? It's right here, do you see it?" He patted his head vigorously. The young man in white scarf wondered, "Hey, is it the head?" The younger generation shook his head imitating the gentle tone, "Of course." The young man in white scarf was still puzzled, "What about the black spots? Could it be that there are black spots on his head?"

The younger generation tried his best to suppress his smile and nodded, "Basically, it means that this man is unlucky. He was an official slave. Didn't you see the scar on his face? You don't understand the dialect of the Qin people? What country is he from?" The white scarf youth pointed to Tian Ye with a smile and said, "Look, you are respectful." The lean and dark Hei Liu and the woman with the bamboo basket had already knelt under the stele on the ground, and three teenagers, two men and one girl, were kneeling side by side behind them.The stout woman took out two bowls of red square meat and two bowls of red-dyed eggs from the bamboo basket, and handed them to Hei Liu.The man respectfully held the rough pottery bowl, gently placed it on the soft ground in front of the stele, took the three incense sticks handed over by the woman and lit them, carefully inserted them into the loose soil, and then cupped his fists and shouted loudly to the sky Said: "God, God, the Hei family has been slaves for nine generations, and they have been cattle and horses for them for three hundred years. Today, I, Hei Liu, have my own land, 500 acres! My God, my God, you have the virtue of living, and sent Zuo Shuchang changed the laws of Qin, slaves have freedom, and poor people can eat and clothe themselves. I pray that God bless Zuo Shu to live longer than Nanshan, and to be the guardian god of farmers forever!" Hei Liu shouted. Actually burst into tears.The woman shouted tremblingly, "Kowtow! Worship the earth! God of the earth, bless the crops every year—!" The family of five kowtowed repeatedly.The peasants in Tianzhong sighed with emotion, and wept with joy, and wept together.

The young man in white scarf looked solemn, two lines of hot tears poured out and dripped into the soft loess under his feet. An old man said loudly: "Today is the day of great joy in our village. Come tonight to give a big ceremony! The magistrate Mr. Wang and these two little brothers are honored guests, please come to the village to celebrate together!" After finishing speaking, He bowed deeply to the three of them. Everyone shouted: "Great joy and joy! There is a seat for those who come! Great joy and joy! There is a seat for those who come!" The young man in white scarf bowed deeply: "The world has been turned upside down, and we should celebrate with our elders." The young man behind him frowned, but hurriedly followed suit with a deep bow.

On an autumn night, several piles of raging bonfires were lit beside a thatched pavilion at the foot of the mountain. This is the newly built Wanghua Village. Ten "well" farmers have moved into this new village. Eighty households have vacated more than 600 mu of cultivated land in the well field. The land occupied by the village is newly reclaimed at the foot of the mountain. wasteland.At that time, the mus were divided into large mus and small mus. The large mus were 240 square feet, which was equivalent to about nine fen of land later; the small mus were 100 square feet, which was equivalent to about half an mu of land later.At the beginning of the Shang Yang Reform in the State of Qin, the traditional one-hundred-step mu was adopted by the eastern princes. It was not until Xianyang was established as the capital that it was restructured to two hundred and forty-step mu.This is something.The southeast of this new village is the steep Huashan Mountain. The majestic green peak of Huashan Mountain is clearly visible in the daytime, so it was named Wanghua Village.The ten wells and eighty households in the village are all peasants of the original Mengxi and Bai tribes.The new law stipulates that after the scribe farmers get rid of their registration and divide their land and become new free citizens, they must be separated from the original suzerain households and build villages separately.The reason for this is to avoid unnecessary discrimination and conflicts as much as possible, and to eliminate the root causes of village clan fighting as much as possible.These former slave peasants got rid of their membership, got their own land and wealth, and lived in separate villages from the suzerain households. Suddenly, they were completely free from physical and mental shackles and gained freedom. For the first time, they tasted the joy of being a straight man. The taste, the excitement and excitement naturally want to vent wildly.

There are more than a dozen long wooden tables around the bonfire, unpainted, and they are still the original color of rough wood.A few days ago sat the old man from the village, the magistrate, the young man in white scarf who was a distinguished guest, and the boy who was always holding a horsewhip.On the wooden table are large clay pots for wine, a bowl of square meat, and a bowl of bitter vegetables.Around the wooden table, there are more than 300 people, men, women and children from Wanghua Village sitting in layers. There are more than a dozen people in a circle. There are two bowls of vegetables and a can of wine in the middle of each circle. The children are scurrying back and forth between the campfires. Frolicking.The thin Jingliu sat on the edge of the wooden table, looking very cramped.

A white-haired old man in the middle of the wooden table nodded and clapped his hands to the magistrates, distinguished guests and Jing Liu, and the audience suddenly fell silent.The old man's old and hoarse voice echoed in the night sky: "Fathers, brothers and sisters, today's reform has three joys: Wanghua New Village is completed, the land is re-divided, and I am a free citizen! Come, we are waiting for three great joys, and we will do this one first. Bowl!" As he spoke, he picked up the pottery bowl in front of him and "dang" touched the young man in white scarf sitting next to him. "Damn—!" The audience shouted with laughter, jingling and drinking. The old man wiped his white beard and said with great emotion: "This Shehuo meeting is here to celebrate, and to explain official business. The new law stipulates that one village is governed by one clan, and one clan is no longer governed. In the same village, multiple surnames can live together, and the patriarch is no longer the leader. An official recognized by the government. From now on, the official affairs of the village will be handled by the village official. From today onwards, I, the patriarch, will retire. Lord Wang, please appoint the village official." The county magistrate in black stood up and said loudly: "By the order of Xiagui County Magistrate, Jingliu is appointed as the village head of Wanghua Village, to implement the new government law, and manage village affairs according to law!" "Cai—!" The audience applauded and cheered: "Long live the whale!" With his face flushed, Jing Liu stood up and bowed his fists to the field, clearing his throat vigorously, "Ji Liu is an idiot, he used to be a black-spotted scorpion, and he couldn't read half-literate. I had no choice but to obey the order. My Wanghua Village is divided into eight Jia Jia Lianbao, each with ten households. In the future, the eight Jia chiefs will have to worry more, and the villagers must strictly abide by the new law. Otherwise, the government will punish them repeatedly. I Wanghua Village is Xinmin Village Everyone is a black-spotted mud monkey who has just escaped from citizenship, so we must win glory!" An old man said loudly: "The village is at ease, Zuo Shuzhang's law is strict, and the heads of the Mengxi and Bai tribes have all been executed. Who dares to defy the law?" A woman said loudly: "As long as life is good, breaking the law will be enough!" Everyone laughed and cheered in disorder.Whale Liuchang swung his arm, "Okay, the dance club is on fire!" "The dance club is on fire!" Everyone cheered, and the young girls laughed and danced, lit the pine torches prepared in advance on the bonfire, and ran to the village in groups with their hands held high. The children also ran forward and back laughing and shouting, and the trail around the new village suddenly became a fire dragon, a river of laughter.Soon, all the women and middle-aged men also joined the ranks of Shehuo. They waved torches all over the mountains and plains, danced with hands and feet, jumped up boldly and enthusiastically, let go of their throats and roared, and the mountains and fields were full of wild shouts. The old people who stayed by the bonfire lit three sticks of incense, took out their musical instruments, and played village songs attentively.Those musical instruments are the simplest Tao Xun and bamboo chi, and they are also the two most basic folk musical instruments.However, in the wilderness of autumn night with cold moonlight, it appears full and intense, sad and long.The saying "like Xun and Chi" refers to the musical realm of Xun and Chi ensemble.Tao Xun sobbed in a low voice, like weeping and complaining.The bamboo chi is clear and sad, as generous as it is generous.The Xunchi ensemble, combining strength and softness, vividly expressed the bitterness and passion of the Qin people and Qin Feng!In the music, an old man knocked on the tiles and sang on the ground: The farmers sang deeply, "Destroy foxes and rats, and enrich my Great Qin..." Hearing this, the young man with a white scarf burst into tears, and sighed, "If you have entered the land of Qin, you will know the samadhi of Xun Chi!" The old man who presided over the opening of the social fire couldn't help asking: "Young man, I see that you are a Shandong scholar. What do you say , Wei Guo has been reformed for decades, do common people have the same situation as Qin Guo?" The white scarf youth shook his head, "Old man, Wei Guo is a transformation of a snake, Qin is a transformation of a dragon, it is incomparable." The old man laughed loudly, "That's a good point! The head of the state of Qin is Zuo Shuzhang!" The white scarf youth couldn't help but shook his head and laughed softly: "Old man, don't dare to say that, it's a taboo." The old man stammered stubbornly Neck, "What? It's a taboo? That's the small belly and chicken intestines of you people from the six kingdoms of Shandong. I, the great Qin Zuo Shu, said that Qin Fa punishes people's hearts. Do you understand? Young people." The white scarf youth was stunned and murmured He said, "Punish the deeds but not punish the heart. Well, well said, there is progress." Then he raised his head and smiled: "Old man, Zuo Shuzhang is good to the common people, and the common people should also be good to Zuo Shuzhang, right?" "of course?" "Since this is the case, you can't do Zuo Shuzhang a disservice." "Won't help? Don't worry, let me think about it...You are a young man who thinks deeply, but you want to go to Liyang?" "I want to see it." "But you're going to ask a judge?" The young man in white scarf smiled, "I can't be an official, I'm doing business." "Business is good. People from Qin see that life is about to get better, so you should bring more good things from Shandong. Needles and threads, mulberry and coarse cloth, salt and iron. The old Qin people are sincere and will not To your fault." The young man in white scarf laughed loudly, "Okay Dad, I will remember it, and I will definitely bring it to you." The next morning, the caravan left Wanghua Village.As soon as he was on the official road, the young man slammed his whip, and the two horses galloped westward, galloping along.At dusk, when we reached the foot of Mount Li, Liyang City in the northwest was already in sight.At this time, the young man on horseback smiled and said, "Young Master, look, is that the cavalry of the Qin State? How strange!" The tarpaulin of the cart was lifted, and the young man in white scarf looked towards Mount Li, and saw a cavalry about a mile away flying down from the mountain plateau to the south. There is no helmet and iron armor, and they are all black and white civilian clothes, which look very weird in the autumn twilight.Seeing the cavalry suddenly fly into the Li Valley, the white scarf youth frowned, "It's not like cavalry in the army, it's like a ranger. But, how can there be a ranger in a group?" While talking, he jumped out of the car, "Don't panic, just wait and see." The young man smiled and said, "Understood." Then he took off the girth of the horse on the inside and fiddled with it as if repairing it.The young man in white scarf paced leisurely, but his eyes did not leave the valley. After a while, I saw twenty or thirty burden-bearers coming out of the valley intermittently, and finally a rattling ox cart.Once out of the valley, these people scattered to different field trails and walked towards the official road from different directions.The white scarf youth's eyes flickered and he said in a low voice: "Calm down, it's the same as usual." The burden bearers walked up the official road one after another, some carrying dry firewood, some herbs, and some animal skins.They were all wearing patched black coarse clothes, and hurried past the caravan with their sweaty bare feet, none of them looked at the white scarf youth and the boy. When the last ox cart came rattling, the driver clapped his hands and asked with a smile, "Why did you stop, sir? Can I help you?" The young man in white scarf quickly clapped his hands and replied, "The horse's girth is broken, can it be repaired?" The driver smiled and said, "It's a trivial matter to drive the car all the year round. Brother, let me take a look." Then he walked up to the young man, took the harness girth, looked it up and smiled, "This girth, which is probably new, how can it be broken? Can my little brother know how to drive?" The young man lowered his head, "I just learned it." "No wonder." The dark man took out four iron nails from his arms and wiped them in his mouth, and then took out a small nail from his leather bag. With a hammer and a piece of cowhide, he laid the girdle flat on a piece of bluestone by the roadside, wrapped the cut with cowhide, nailed the four iron nails firmly, and handed it to the young man, "Okay. I'm leaving. The white scarf young man clasped his hands and said with a smile: "Look at your work, it's as wonderful as a craftsman, I admire it." The dark man smiled and said: "Thank you for your compliments, I am an ironworker. Good. You go." The white scarf youth asked "Are you going to Liyang to do farm tool business? You might as well go with me." The dark man said: "I'm hired to deliver goods to others. The ox cart is too slow, sir, take care of yourself." After finishing speaking, the bullwhip swung, "Yes." With a yell, the bullock cart went away with a bang.The young man in white scarf looked at the back of the man in the bullock cart and thought for a while, then said, "Let's go." Then he got into the cart.The young man got on his horse and raised his whip, and the horses and chariots rattled along. They didn't catch up with the ox carts and the bearers until outside the city of Yueyang. The young man in white scarf glanced outside the hood of the car, stomped his foot, and the caravan entered the east gate of Liyang and went straight to the Weifeng Inn. Hou Ying was anxious.Five days ago, An Yi sent a letter, saying that Miss Bai Xue was going to Liyang soon, first, don't tell Wei Yang, and second, stay at the Weifeng Inn.Hou Ying knew that Bai Xue was always punctual in doing things, so he prepared his room and waited.According to the route, we should have arrived yesterday, so why is there no trace today when it is already dark?Hou Ying wanted to tell Wei Yang from Zuo Shu Chang's Mansion, but after thinking about it, he decided to wait and see, if he didn't make it tonight, he must go to Wei Yang.While meditating in the courtyard, he suddenly heard the sound of wheels outside the door, strode out, and saw a caravan parked at the door, immediately the young man asked with a smile, "Is this brother Hou Ying?" Who else could it be if it wasn't the young master, Miss Bai?Hou Ying hurriedly cupped his hands and replied, "This is Hou Ying. Miss Bai, please." The young man in white scarf stepped out of the car, "Brother Hou, are you safe?" Hou Ying said with a smile, "everything is fine. I really can't recognize Miss Bai. Please." The young man in white scarf smiled and said, "The journey is convenient. How could there be any other?" Then he stepped into the high bluestone threshold. Hou Ying led Bai Xue through two rows of spacious and tidy guest rooms to the backyard, and turned into a round door to a secluded courtyard.But I saw a small courtyard, three jing houses hidden among the trees with sparse yellow leaves, stone walls and stone gates, solid and hidden, very quiet.Hou Ying cupped his hands and said: "Miss Bai, Liyang is no better than Anyi, only this small place." Bai Xue smiled and said, "How wonderful! I never thought you had such an elegant small courtyard. He also lived here Is it?" Hou Ying said, "That's right, brother Wei Yang lived here for three months. Heya, come and meet Sister Bai." "Hey, here we come." There was a crisp answer from the abode, and a clean and tidy village girl in common clothes ran out, holding a rag in her hand, her face flushed with two blushes, and she smiled sweetly before saying anything, "Brother, Who is Sister Bai?" Hou Ying pointed to Bai Xue and said, "This is Sister Bai." The village girl smiled innocently and said, "Oh, what a beautiful big brother, is that sister?" Then she bowed to the end, But it is a man's etiquette.Bai Xue, Hou Ying and the young man laughed together, and Bai Xue said with a smile: "This is sister Mei, I have seen it before." The village girl sneered, "Sister? What is it called?" Another bow in the end.Aunt Bai Xuemei was amused by the innocence of the village girl. Bai Xue asked with a smile, "Is she hired by Brother Hou?" Hou Ying smiled and said, "No. She is a little village girl that Brother Wei Yang brought back when he visited Qin. The family was poor and couldn’t afford it. When I first came here, I was like a mud monkey, and my name was also given by Brother Wei Yang, Chen Heya.” Bai Xue was so moved that her eyes turned red, and she stroked Xiao Heya’s hair, “Heya, follow the eldest sister. Eldest sister will let you stop suffering." He Ya giggled and said: "I'm going back. Dad sent a message that my family has land! Eldest sister come to live with me, okay?" Bai Xue said with a smile: "Okay, Definitely go." While speaking, it was time to light the lamps, He Ya had already tidied up the house, and Mei Gu neatly arranged all the things she brought with her, the small courtyard became a warm and quiet boudoir.Before eating, Bai Xue called Hou Ying aside, and whispered about the adventure on the road, the two discussed and ordered the meal to be served.After the meal, they split up to make some preparations, so Hou Yu and Mei Gu tied up and flew out of the inn.After waiting for a while, Bai Xue also changed her attire, left the inn, and came leisurely to Zuo Shuchang's mansion.