The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

Kushangli is located in Huoyou Township. It is named after its proximity to the township warehouse. There are 40 to 50 households in the village. There are wealthy families with millions of dollars in wealth, and there are also poor people who live in poor alleys and have shabby houses.

But every year on the first day of the tenth month of the first month of winter, more than 200 people in Kushangli, regardless of whether they are noble or common, will gather at the village community under the big locust tree. "She" is the god of the land. Regular sacrifices can bless the next year with good weather and good harvests.

The community sacrifice is held four times a year. The three times in spring, summer and autumn are just routine affairs and small sacrifices. Only the community sacrifice in the first month of winter is called "Dahu". At this time, all the people in Kushangli go out, bring the newly harvested millet and rice, and offer the best food to the community god. All the households in the village must also contribute money together, kill a large number of animals to offer their merits, or kill chickens and dogs, or cook sheep and pigs, beat drums and ring bells, and dance.

Since it is so important, the person who presides over the community sacrifice cannot be careless. It is usually the head of the village or the elders with high moral character in the village.

But the community chief elected by Kushang Village this year is a young scholar in his early twenties...

Chen Ping is more than eight feet tall and has a handsome appearance. Unlike the brown clothes he wore a few years ago, he now wears a brand new silk suit, his hair is neatly combed and wrapped with a white scarf. He performs the established etiquette and speaks the sacrificial eulogy in a serious manner.

"Give me the light of Qi, give me the sacrifice of sheep, and make the community and square. My fields are fertile, and the farmers are celebrating. Play the zither and drum to worship the ancestors of the fields. Pray for sweet rain, and give me millet and sorghum, and give me grain for my men and women!"

Chen Ping, who claimed to be a student of "Huang Lao", recited the poems in a very good manner, and the onlookers sighed secretly:

"I never thought that Chen Ping, who did not engage in farming and business, was idle all day, was slandered for stealing his sister-in-law, and was the laughing stock of the county, has now become the most prestigious among the young generation in Yangwu County..."

All these changes can be traced back to five years ago, when the Qin State occupied the county, and Chen Ping cleared the false accusation of stealing his sister-in-law and went to the Qin camp to work as an interpreter.

Since then, Chen Ping has climbed up the ladder. He first made meritorious deeds and became a public official, earning a lot of money. The Qin official also asked for marriage from the local tycoon Zhang Fu on behalf of Chen Ping, and married Zhang's granddaughter for him. Because Chen Ping was poor, the Zhang family also lent him money to prepare a banquet, which was simply giving him money.

At that time, many people speculated with gloating that how long it would take for Chen Ping to be killed by Zhang's daughter who had been married five times? But Chen Ping not only did not die, but his career was booming. In the year when Qin conquered Chu, Zhang paid money and paid a thousand stones of grain to exchange for the title of "Shangzao" for him. Now he is an official in the village, and his social status is very different from before.

Behind the scenes, some jealous people secretly slandered: Chen Ping had been committed to Qin official Hei Fu, and later married Zhang, a widow who killed her husband. He relied on selling his body to get to where he is today, and he himself has no talent.

But today, Chen Ping slapped those people in the face with his actions!

Not only was there no mistake in the degree of sacrifice, the eulogy was ups and downs, and even the division of the sacrificial meat after the sacrifice could satisfy every household.

Dividing the sacrificial meat is not as simple as cutting it evenly with a knife. It is also necessary to consider the status of each household in the village and the contribution of the community sacrifice: who should get more, who can get less, and who should be given a special part? How can it be fair and reasonable to please the people in the village when it is both fussy and trivial? It is the most troublesome and troublesome. Only a smart person can handle it in a thoughtful way.

But Chen Ping did it. He asked several older people in the village to sit at the table, including the village director, field director, and village guard. He personally held a knife and cut off the most suitable parts and sizes of sacrificial meat for them, and respectfully placed them in front of the table. Then he divided the meat of the remaining thirty or forty households one by one!

Now, even the old scholar who used to look down on Chen Ping the most in the village could not find any fault with him. He held the cold pork on the table and sighed: "Good, Chen Ruzi is a butcher!"

There was endless praise, most of which came from the heart, and a few were flattering. Chen Ping kept a kind smile and looked at his brother and sister-in-law in the crowd, as well as his wife.

When the elder brother Chen Bo heard people praising his younger brother, he was so proud that he puffed up his chest.

Chen Ping's sister-in-law, who was once divorced and then reunited with Chen Bo, boasted about her brother-in-law's erudition and knowledge. Even the high official "You Shuzhang" of Xianyang sent a wedding invitation.

Chen Ping's wife, Zhang's daughter, touched her round belly and looked at her husband lovingly.

At this time, the sky was about to get dark, but the community sacrifice had just entered its climax. It was not only a solemn sacrifice day, but also a grand festival. The whole night, people in the village feasted and drank, and the gods and people had fun together.

Not only in Kushangli, but also in the entire Huyou Township, the community in the poor village, knocked on the urns and bottles, sang in harmony, and thought they were happy. As for the big communities sponsored by the rich and powerful, there were even more drums and flutes, singing and dancing, and the scene was unprecedented.

After returning home from the carnival and washing off the grease on his hands, Chen Ping let his wife lie down, but he lit the lamp and studied the invitation from Xianyang under the anointing lamp...

...

This is Heifu's wedding invitation, with a red mulberry paper cover and fine hemp paper inside. The words are humble, and the title is "Heifu's second greeting", and it was sent two months in advance to invite Chen Ping to enter the pass.

"When will my beloved leave?" Miss Zhang asked softly.

Chen Ping felt a little guilty, tilted his head and looked at the candle and said: "The wedding date of the right minister is on the first day of the twelfth lunar month. It is a long way to Xianyang. I will set off tomorrow."

His wife was pregnant for eight months and was going to give birth in December. If he went west to Xianyang at this time, he would definitely miss the birth date, but Chen Ping did not hesitate at all when he received the wedding invitation.

He wants to go! He must go!

Chen Ping stroked his wife's hand and explained, "First, this Right General Heifu, when he was an official in this village, personally acted as a matchmaker for me to your family. When he left, he gave me a lot of money, which I could not repay. Now he is the Right General, and it is said that he is also a close minister of the emperor, but he still remembers me and sent me a wedding invitation two months in advance!"

Chen Ping did not expect that she still remembered him after a casual relationship five years ago.

"Second, although I am now a village official with no worries about food and clothing, I do not want to be confined to a poor and remote place all my life. Now Heifu invites me to Xianyang, which may be an opportunity!"

Marriage is profitable. Chen Ping married Zhang's daughter, not only because of her beauty, but also because of Zhang's status in Yangwu County. In the past five years, holding this thigh, he not only gained more reputation, but also became more and more wealthy, and his friends became more and more extensive. As an official in the village, no one dared to disrespect him.

But Chen Ping was not satisfied with this!

"Today, I am the chief of the community, and everyone praises me."

"But, my talent and capacity are only enough to slaughter meat for one mile?"

Although the sacrificial meat is small, it carries the norms of etiquette. If the etiquette is correct, the world will be stable, and if the etiquette is biased, the world will be in chaos. That's why Confucius insisted on not eating meat that was not cut properly. When the Duke of Lu did not send him sacrificial meat after the community sacrifice, Confucius was discouraged and resigned from his position and left Lu.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, the head of the family servants under the nobles was called "house chief". Confucius was the chief of the Gao family of the nobles of Qi.

The lord of the city is the "city chief", which is what Ran Qiu said: if he is sixty or seventy, if he is fifty or sixty, Qiu will do it. In three years, he can make the people satisfied. Confucius also served as the chief of Zhongdu. It is said that in one year, he made Zhongdu men and women separate, no one picked up lost items on the road, and no fake utensils.

Chen Ping's ambitions and ambitions far exceeded those of the chief of the community, the chief of the family, and the chief of the city.

His ultimate goal is to be the "prime minister", the head of all officials in a country!

"Alas, if Ping can rule the world, he can also be as competent as today's meat distribution!"

When he was praised for dividing the meat today, he sighed in his heart.

But this ambition cannot be spoken out. People will only laugh at him for dreaming when they hear him because he is poor.

However, there was only one day, five years ago, when Chen Ping's hidden ambition was revealed!

"This gentleman, may he rule the world in the future?"

This was Hei Fu's parting words, which shocked Chen Ping and took him a long time to recover.

How big the world is. I thought that I would never meet Hei Fu again. I never thought that five years later, Chen Ping was still rolling around in Huoyu Township. The former small vagrant had entered the court and became the right minister, a close minister of the emperor!

Chen Ping's wife's Zhang family's backer is Zhang Cang, but now, I heard that Zhang Cang has to work under Heifu...

Chen Ping's utilitarianism was stirred again. Heifu still remembered him and invited him thousands of miles away, which showed that he liked Chen Ping's talent. As a junior minister, Heifu was qualified to recruit staff and guests.

Being a guest in Xianyang is much better than being a minor official in the countryside. Chen Ping has also seen clearly in recent years that although Qin law treats everyone equally in theory, in fact, as the survivors of the Six Kingdoms, their careers and titles have a ceiling, and it is difficult to go beyond the level of no more than a township official.

And Heifu may help him cross this natural barrier!

"So I should go to the banquet for both emotional and rational reasons."

Chen Ping explained a lot, just hoping that his wife could understand that they had been married for more than three years, Zhang was finally pregnant, but he went away when she needed him most, so he felt guilty.

Zhang was a lady from a wealthy family. Although she had killed five husbands, she was truly devoted to Chen Ping.

Before she got married, Zhang Fu warned her: "Don't be careless in serving Chen Ping just because his family is poor. Although Chen Ping is not rich now, he will surely make a great career in the future!"

She remembered her grandfather's words and served her brother Chen Bo as a father and her sister-in-law as a mother. She also treated Chen Ping with respect and was very considerate.

She said sympathetically: "My dear should go to Xianyang for the banquet. I have my uncle's wife, concubine, and mother-in-law to take care of me."

But she frowned again: "It's just..."

Chen Ping was very happy to get his wife's understanding, and asked: "Just what?"

Zhang's face was a little red, not knowing whether to mention that matter. After holding it in for a long time, she whispered: "I heard rumors in the village that the reason why the black man took a fancy to my dear was because... because..."

She stole a glance at Chen Ping's handsome face with a hint of elegant beauty, and hesitated to speak.

Needless to say, Chen Ping had understood his wife's intentions. He was very good-tempered and his face turned pale. He cursed:

"This is the jealous nonsense of the countryman! He falsely accused me of stealing my sister-in-law back then, and now he is slandering me again. How malicious is his intention! Think about it, not to mention that Heifu is attracted by my talent, he is about to get married, and his letter is full of joy about marrying a new wife. How can he be a person who likes Longyang?"

...

Chen Ping left home in mid-October and took the carriage given by Zhang Fu. He headed west. The road was already in ruins, and there seemed to be countless ghosts flying around in Daliang at night. He passed Xinzheng in Yingchuan County and stopped in Luoyang in Sanchuan County to observe the old customs of the Zhou people. He was quarantined at Hangu Pass with countless merchants and scholars.

Because Chen Ping had Heifu's wedding invitation and the attached talisman, he was able to enter the country smoothly, but the horse pulling the carriage had a problem and was quarantined for illness, so he was detained. Chen Ping could only use the gold and silk he brought with him to rent a new ox cart in Taolin, and when the first snow fell at the end of November, he barely arrived in Xianyang...

Chen Ping was cold and tired, and thought he would go to Xianyang alone to find Heifu's mansion, but he didn't expect that Heifu calculated the date of his departure after replying to the letter, and specially sent a servant to wait at Baqiao, holding up a wooden sign with "Chen Ping" high in the snow. After successfully receiving him, he asked someone to quickly inform the master, and then took Chen Ping to Heifu's mansion.

The mansion given to Heifu by Qin Shihuang was located in the main urban area of Xianyang, so the carriage to pick up Chen Ping first went west along the south bank of the Wei River.

Snow fell one after another. Chen Ping saw the looming buildings of Zhangtai Palace in the distance, covered in silver. The majestic capital on the other side of the Wei River was also magnificent.

Thinking of coming from a remote county to the center of the empire, every decision here, the abolition of feudalism, the establishment of counties, the standardization of vehicles and writing in the past year, all affected the fate of tens of millions of people. Young people were inevitably a little excited. When the carriage reached the center, they felt that they were walking on the Milky Way Bridge...

"Mr. Chen!"

When the carriage reached the bridge, he suddenly heard someone calling him. Chen Ping looked closely and saw a nobleman wearing a pheasant hat and wearing a thick bear fur coat, standing at the bridge with several servants, bowing to him.

He was slightly stunned and recognized that it was Heifu!

"Right Shuzhang!"

Chen Ping almost jumped off the moving carriage and almost slipped. It was Heifu who supported him.

"Chen Ping is a lowly person. How dare I ask the Right General to come here to greet you..."

"Mr. Chen and I are old acquaintances. We worked together in the past. I also acted as a matchmaker for you. As the ancients said, it is a great pleasure to have friends coming from afar. How can I not come out to greet you?"

When he looked up, Chen Ping found that he didn't know whether it was because of the snow or because Hei Fu had been out of the army for a long time, his face didn't seem to be as dark as it was five years ago.

Hei Fu was not at all strange, and patted his shoulder generously and said:

"Back in Huoyou Township, I told Chen Sheng that life encounters are always at their own time. After sending you a thousand miles away, we must finally part. It has been five years since we last met, and five years is enough time for many things to happen. I have made an appointment with Zhang Cang and prepared a banquet for you. Let's drink some wine and eat some Xianyang soup cakes to warm up our bodies. Tonight, you and I will sleep on the same bed and have a good chat!"

"Sleeping... on the same bed?"

This is a courtesy between scholars to show their excellent friendship, but after hearing this, Chen Ping, who was originally very moved, trembled slightly, his face was a little strange, and his smile gradually stiffened in the wind and snow...