Siheyuan: I decide the fate of the world with my medical skills

For the common people, the Qin laws imposed sanctions on ordinary people like the common people, but for the former aristocratic class... hehe.

Everyone in Wu County knew where the misfortune that befell the Zhong Huai clan came from, but the perpetrator appeared before their eyes alive, frequently entering and leaving the county governor's mansion as if it were his own home!

The only supervisor who dared to investigate the matter was also driven away...

This situation is the real reason why the villagers are terrified despite Fan Zeng's kind attitude.

"Then take it and buy some nice clothes to wear!" Fan Zeng didn't realize that in the flash of thought, the villagers used their inner thoughts. His tone was firm as he handed Ying Ai back to them.

The more people gather around, the greater the momentum created by "Buying Bones with a Thousand Gold"!

Under the pressure of Master Ji's gaze, the people had no choice but to accept Ying Ai, thanked him repeatedly and left quickly.

Afterwards, Fan Zeng reprimanded Master Ji for a few words, and then the two of them went to the place where the villagers gathered.

Master Ji sneered and said nothing. He then handed the black horse he was riding to the care of the people behind him and walked forward with Fan Zeng. "Father, what big thing happened?" Master Ji looked around and asked with a little curiosity.

"Why don't you tear me up as well?" Fan Zeng said as he walked back.

"What happened today is all my fault. Please be magnanimous and spare my life." Ji felt helpless and took a few steps forward, kneeling and bowing in front of Fan Zeng to express his apology.

Alas... Fan Zengzeng sighed and stroked his beard. He began to teach again. As for whether Ji could accept it completely, everything remained a mystery.

After a while, they saw a young man standing on a high platform built by the river, wearing a military uniform (i.e., a formal dress of "袀jun玄") and a "远游冠 (one of the ancient male crowns)" on his head. He was about 23 or 24 years old, with a mustache, and looked down curiously.

Around the young man stood a dozen tall and strong men with daggers at their waists.

Fan Zengzeng frowned slightly and thought, the Yuanyou crown symbolizes the status of aristocracy, and the black string in front is used as a decoration. It is very likely that this person is one of the princes of the First Emperor...

The group of strong warriors seemed to be the inheritors of the Qi State's boxing and kicking skills. The leader of them was someone whose grandfather I had had a few drinks with at the Qi Academy...

This ointment is not in Xianyang, why did it go to Wu?

Thinking of this, Fan Zeng's mind was spinning rapidly. At the same time, he grasped the wrist of Master Ji, who was ready to launch a dangerous aura.

"Why do you need to stop me? If I knock down this Prince of Qin today, I will make sure he is neither alive nor dead." Ji replied in a low voice.

"Idiot, this is not the way to earn your reputation! Just be obedient!"

The same deep voice responded. A skinny hand firmly grasped Ji, to prevent him from losing control and ruining all the great plans he had made over the years.

Fan Zeng whispered, pointing to the warriors on and off the stage: "Look carefully, the prince of Qin is surrounded by hundreds of guards."

Xiang Ji chuckled and said, "Hundreds of people? Ha, even if there are a thousand soldiers, I can gallop among them at will!"

Next, Fan Zhangzhang took a breath and said, "Those hundreds of guards are all well-trained fighters who are good at joint operations. They are particularly powerful in chaotic battles. If what I am worried about comes true, it will not only fail to harm the status of that young master, but will go against your uncle's original strategy."

When Xiang Ji heard that Qi's martial artists were good at joint combat, he became interested. However, when he heard Uncle Fan Zeng mention his uncle, he had to put down the precious Yuchang sword in frustration.

Gongzi Gao, who was watching on the stage, had no idea of ​​the crisis of death passing by him, and his heart was filled with joy.

Since Shang Yang implemented the rule of law during the Warring States Period, the Qin State no longer supported idle royal family members. Even if the crown prince of Qin was unable to succeed to the throne, he had to rely on meritorious service to be promoted, and ordinary people could only obtain fiefs through meritorious service.

Take Gao for example: after he was still the King of Qin, he was granted the title of "Da Shu Chang", which was the highest rank among nobles. And the salary was quite generous, and he could enjoy the blessing of fine clothes and delicious food for life. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long.

According to the Qin Dynasty's regulations, except for the 19th and 20th level "Marquis" who can be inherited from generation to generation, the 18th level "Da Shuzhang" or the 10th level "Zuo Shuzhang" need to be demoted to the 8th level "Gongcheng" when their descendants succeed to the throne. This system is extremely disadvantageous to descendants!

These nobles were restricted not only by the size of their land grants but also by the size of their residences, which suggests that if they wanted to avoid having their descendants forced to move to other residences, they had to seek nobility.

Whenever he thought of this, Gongzi Gao would feel that simply dismembering Shang Yang was far from enough.

In view of these considerations, he took out the gifts that the First Emperor had given him over the years, and through expediency, exchanged them with his elder brother, the emperor, for a senior administrative position called "Ganlu Ling" to collect tea in various counties in the south.

Seeing that most people had arrived, Gongzi Gao nodded to Ganlu Cheng Zhao Yan, indicating that the ceremony was about to begin.

Zhao Yan, an official appointed by the Emperor Qin Shi Huang as his assistant, said at the stage: "You have heard of the Emperor's order to collect green tea. This time, you and I are here specifically to collect tea."

Before he finished speaking, the villagers below shook their heads in doubt:

"Why ask for Green Tea's order? We don't even know!"

"You're right, the imperial court is just trying to squeeze our money in all kinds of ways!"

Zhao Yan and Gongsun Gao looked at each other knowingly, their brows slightly furrowed. Didn't the emperor's edict reach here? However, the tea picking activities had already been started long ago in Zhuang County in the west. Even the main residential area of ​​Zhuang County (located in modern Anji, Zhejiang) could collect dozens of kilograms of high-quality tea every day.

In addition, the civilians in the Zhuangjun area seemed to be inspired by the frenzy and flocked into the mountains in groups to search for wild tea trees, and then transplanted the new tea seeds they found to their own hillside fields.

Why not plant it in open areas is pure nonsense, because the good quality land needs to be used to grow food!

Gongsun Gao straightened his chest, put on his gown, walked to the stage, bowed in the direction of the Qin Palace in the capital, and then elaborated on the content of the emperor's decree allowing the use of tea picking volume to replace corvee labor.

As soon as Gongsun Gao finished his statement, the villagers in the audience immediately became excited and enthusiastic.

According to historical records in the 25th year of the reign of Qin Shi Huang, after Wang Jian, the Marquis of Wucheng, conquered the south and pacified Jiangnan Province, he forced the monarch who previously controlled the Yue Kingdom to surrender and set up the two prefectures of Kuaiji and Zhang. Kuaiji Prefecture included parts of today's Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang Province, and had rich fishery, salt mine resources, abundant rice and crab resources, and extensive coverage of wild tea trees.

Now, the news has come out that people can simply go up the mountain to collect tea leaves instead of paying taxes and performing labor service. The government has concealed such a rare opportunity, which is simply inhumane!

Thinking of the advice Ying Fusu gave him before leaving: "We must make quick decisions. Our mission this time is only to collect tea. Don't worry about anything else!" The confusion he felt at that time seemed to have a clear direction at this moment. Perhaps this is telling us something.

Zhao Yan raised his hands and pressed them downwards, signaling the arguing people to remain silent. He then made a few brief explanations to calm everyone and, at the same time, absolved the local officials of Kuaiji County of responsibility.

Then, he began to elaborate on the focus of this mission, stating that the court had appointed them to assist in the collection of tea, not to adopt the method of levying, but only to negotiate the purchase at a reasonable price to achieve a cooperative transaction.

"Will you buy it? How will the bill be settled?" The old man's powerful and vague voice was heard from the audience. The villagers who had just been aroused by righteous indignation seemed unusually quiet at this moment.

Zhao Yan looked at the old man with white hair but a lively look, and signaled two guards to lift a huge wooden sign. The sign had a leaf pattern painted on it. The original ink had faded due to the baptism of being displayed in different counties and prefectures. Last night, he and Gongsun Gao repainted its traces. Zhao Yan pointed to the pattern on the sign and announced loudly: "Green tea with one bud and one leaf like this is sold at ten cents per catty, and those with two leaves are sold at five cents per catty."

The villagers in the audience were shocked and exclaimed. As winter was approaching, the price of rice had increased slightly, and the current value of each stone was about fifty coins. According to this policy, only five kilograms of this high-quality green tea could be exchanged for about one hundred and twenty kilograms of rice.

After Zhao Yan found out that the public was so enthusiastic about this, he emphasized, "These high-quality single-leaf green teas are hard to come by. I'm afraid it will take a full half month to collect a full pound of them."

Zhao Yan nodded and said, "What the old gentleman said is very pertinent. The court collects many kinds of tea. For example, if a kind of tea has a leaf with a single bud, the price is one copper coin per catty; if two leaves are paired with a single bud, then one copper coin is equivalent to two catties of tea of ​​this specification; for the top-grade tea with three leaves and a single bud, each copper coin can be exchanged for five catties of such top-grade tea!"

While narrating, he pointed to the diagrams next to him and explained in detail so that his illiterate farmers could understand.

Although they may not be able to recognize all of these texts, they are very focused on issues that directly affect their own rights and interests.

"Your Majesty is so kind!" A voice in the crowd spoke in a slightly rude but obviously respectful Wu Yue dialect. "As expected of a princess from Chu, he still remembers the elders, brothers and sisters who passed away in Chu."

In another corner, someone speaking the same dialect asked, “So, how could you have such an idea?”

After the answer was revealed, another person responded in the same Wuyue dialect: "Don't you know? The current emperor's mother is our Chu princess. The marriage between Qin and Chu has a long history. In this sense, our monarch can be said to have half Chu blood!"