The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

At the end of March, Huyou Township was peaceful. There was no flooding of the walls in Daliang, nor the continuous war in Taoqiu. Instead, there was a bit of peace in the troubled times.

The spring plowing had ended. The people who had escaped the catastrophe of the war squatted in the fields, looking at the green beans and wheat, and smiled with satisfaction. The flood under Daliang City, the fierce battle between Wei Wuzu and Qin Ruishi, and the survival of Wei State had little to do with the lower-class common people. If it weren't for the Qin people outside the town who dressed up and had a very special accent, they wouldn't even know that the town had changed its flag.

The day after Zhang's banquet for Heifu, several ox carts set out from Zhang's house in Huyou Township and slowly drove towards the Qin army garrison camp. The one who escorted these carts was Zhang Fu's son, the 40-year-old Zhang Zhong.

After shouting loudly and explaining his purpose, the camp gate slowly opened, and a team of soldiers lined up to march out. Seeing their steps, armor, and swords, Zhang Zhong remembered the fierce and domineering sword dance yesterday, and his scalp tingled.

Fortunately, Heifu did not let him wait for long. He and Zhongming came out soon, bowed to Zhang Zhong and smiled, "I don't know what's the matter. I have to trouble you to come here."

He glanced at the ox carts behind Zhang Zhong and asked, "This is..."

Although Zhang Zhong was twice as old as Heifu, he had to bow to the Qin official and said:

"The patrol officers were ordered to stay in this village to maintain stability and prevent the entry of rioters and thieves. However, I heard that there were only more than ten stones of rice and grain left in the camp. The governor and the three elders were afraid that it would not be enough for the soldiers to eat, so they asked me to take 150 stones of millet and 30 stones of fodder from my home and bring them here to give to the patrol officers for use during the garrison..."

"Enough food means enough soldiers. This can be regarded as solving this official's urgent need. I will thank the governor and the three elders in person another day."

Since Zhang Bo finally learned to be polite after being rude, Heifu helped Zhang Zhong up and made some polite remarks.

Heifu did not lie. Zhang did solve a big problem for him. The food and clothing of more than 50 people required at least 70 to 80 dan a month, and the food in the camp was about to run out.

Because of the war, the price of grain in Wei soared, reaching 1,000 coins per dan in the war zone. Even in Yangwu County, where there was no war, the price of old rice reached hundreds of coins per dan because the summer harvest had not yet arrived. Moreover, the currencies of Wei and Qin were different. It was impossible for the officers to fill this big hole by buying it themselves, and they could only rely on the local wealthy people.

So Heifu was still grateful.

However, after he asked Li Xian to take the soldiers and move the food and fodder given by Zhang down to the warehouse, Li Xian came over and whispered to Hei Fu: "You Jiao, I roughly calculated that these food and fodder are not as many as Zhang Zhong said!" Hei Fu frowned at first, but then thought that Zhang had already paid the most, so he would not play tricks in this regard. Seeing that Zhang Zhong was well-spoken and honest, he was not the kind of person who would fleece his own family. He understood the reason after a little thought. "I almost forgot that the stone of Wei State is different from the stone of Qin State!" Today, the world is still not unified, and each country still uses its own weights and measures. Just in terms of volume units, Qin State uses shi, dou, and sheng, while Wei State uses hu, dou, and sheng. Hu and shi can be used interchangeably, but the specific sizes are different, so it is normal to cause deviations. In terms of weight units, Qin and Wei both use liang, yi, and yi, and the specific weights are also different.

This is still a small gap. After all, Shang Yang introduced a new system of weights and measures in Qin State, referring to the more advanced Wei at that time. However, Qi State, located in the East China Sea, has its own system of weights and measures, which is very different from other countries. It uses dou, qu, fu, and zhong, and mixes the four-digit system with the decimal system. I really don't know how those merchants who trade across borders can complete such a complicated conversion.

In short, one stone of rice in Wei State is slightly less than one stone of rice in Qin State.

Hei Fu would not be so fussy that he had to ask Zhang to make up the rice according to the Qin State's weights and measures. Anyway, looking at the quantity, it is enough for them to eat and drink for at least two months.

What's more, because of the Zhang family member mentioned at the banquet yesterday, Hei Fu now looks at the Zhang brothers and suddenly feels much more pleasing to the eye.

…

"Zhang Cang..."

Sitting in the camp, muttering this name, Hei Fu still couldn't believe that Zhang Cang, a great mathematician who lived for more than a hundred years and spanned the Warring States, Qin, and Han dynasties, would have an unreliable uncle like Zhang Bo.

But according to the description of the Zhang brothers, whether it was worshipping Xunzi as a teacher or working as an official in the Qin Xianyang Censorate, it was completely consistent with Zhang Cang's resume, and it should be him without a doubt.

As a disciple of the great Confucian Xunzi, Zhang Cang's reputation may not be as great as his two senior brothers Li Si and Han Fei. But from the perspective of Hei Fu, a modern person, Zhang Cang's contribution to Chinese history and culture has exceeded the two!

As the Zhang brothers said, Zhang Cang loves books like his life, reads everything, and knows everything. He is a genius who is knowledgeable about ancient and modern times. Otherwise, he would not have been recruited by the Censorate as soon as he entered Qin and became the librarian of the Qin Dynasty...

Of course, he may also have followed Li Si's path. Although Li Si, the court judge, killed Han Fei out of jealousy, he did not show too much hostility to Zhang Cang, his junior brother who did not overlap with him.

With someone above him and talent in his belly, Zhang Cang could read books in the Censorate with peace of mind and continue to enrich his knowledge.

Hei Fu knew that according to the original history, the theories of the Hundred Schools of Thought in the Warring States Period would experience a catastrophe more than ten years later. The Qin Dynasty burned poetry and books, which affected the history books of the Six Kingdoms, as well as the folk sayings of the Hundred Schools of Thought, leaving only one copy in the library of the Censorate. And Zhang Cang may be the manager of these remaining copies...

A few years later, the Qin Dynasty also fell. Seeing that the books were about to be destroyed, Zhang Cang, who had already defected to Liu Bang, brought Xiao He to hastily save some laws and regulations, but not too many.

Afterwards, Xiang Yu's retaliatory fire in Xianyang destroyed all the remaining rare historical books and academic books hidden in the Qin Palace, leaving no words behind.

There was a major break in Chinese culture.

At this time, Zhang Cang's years of accumulation in the Imperial Censorate showed great value.

The so-called Han inherited the Qin system, and some of those rules and regulations were passed down by this bookworm, and the Hundred Schools of Thought were even more so. Chinese culture, the results of the Hundred Schools of Thought, were able to be preserved to some extent after the catastrophe at the end of the Qin Dynasty, and Zhang Cang should be remembered for his great contribution.

Moreover, Zhang Cang not only read a lot, but was also a generalist. He not only learned Confucianism from Xunzi, the world's first academic master and the culmination of all schools of thought, but also understood the nine streams and ten schools of thought in Jixia, and was very good at law, music, calendar, astronomy, and geography.

But among Zhang Cang's many specialties, the most famous one is mathematics.

The famous "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art" was revised by Zhang Cang!

Heifu knew this person because the mathematical problems recorded in this ancient mathematical monograph have reached a high level, but they are not divorced from reality. They were all used by Zhang Cang to improve the national economy and people's livelihood in the Han Dynasty...

It can be said that judging Zhang Cang's achievements from the perspective of modern people like Heifu, he can be called a mathematician or even a scientist.

Craftsmen like Heifu's sister Zhang Shu can make instruments according to Heifu's description and master the skills, but they cannot summarize the principles and turn them into scientific knowledge.

In this world, Heifu can find countless craftsmen to make tools for him.

But in this era, there is only one Zhang Cang.

So in Heifu's imagination, if he wants to choose an ancient person to slowly teach him the modern subjects at the junior high school level in his mind, so that they can spread and benefit the world. Zhang Cang is the best choice!

So, when the Zhang brothers brought up Zhang Cang at the banquet that day, trying to scare him with their own power, Heifu was not worried but happy!

Not only did he act very excited, he also took the initiative and taught Zhang Bo a lesson.

Heifu said that Zhang Cang had a promising future, and as his uncle, Zhang Bo should let him enter the government in Xianyang with peace of mind, so Zhang also needed to abide by the law, obey the laws, cooperate well with Qin officials, and not cause trouble for Zhang Cang...

Heifu couldn't contact Zhang Cang directly now, but at least he knew his hometown and where he was serving as an official. In this way, if he had the opportunity to go to Xianyang in the future, it would be convenient to find him, and he could also lie that he had some friendship with Zhang, which would not seem abrupt...

Now it was Zhang Bo and Zhang Fu's turn to be dumbfounded. Although Zhang Cang had no real power, he was an official in Xianyang after all. Heifu was not afraid at all. Instead, he taught himself a lesson with a tone that he was thinking about Zhang Cang. It was really unreasonable!

In this way, the Zhang brothers lost their trump card, and instead felt that Heifu, a petty official, was somewhat unfathomable.

Afterwards, Zhang Fu said to Zhang Bo in great confusion: "That Heifu, who is obviously a Qin person without a surname, why is he so bold? Moreover, his words and deeds, the various means he used today, say that he is a commander of a thousand people, I believe it! This person will be extraordinary in the future."

Zhang Fu knows a little about face reading, and has always been able to judge people, so Zhang Bo also believed him. In short, after the game and test of that banquet, Zhang no longer dared to underestimate Heifu and the Qin people.

Heifu made it clear to them that Wei would perish, and also demonstrated the military strength of his men. Although there were only fifty people, they could fight against several times more children and servants. He regarded himself as the local spokesperson of the Qin army. Any arrogant attitude towards him could be regarded as disobedience to rule, and any murderous rebellion against him would lead to brutal suppression by the Qin army.

Therefore, even though Zhang was not happy about Heifu's garrison, he could only accept it with a pinch of his nose.

For Heifu, although he won a great victory in this game, Zhang invited all the elders and virtuous people in the village to the scene, showing him his connections and his status as the leader in the village. At least before the end of the war, if the Qin army wants Yangwu and wants Huyou Township to be stable, it can't do without Zhang.

Therefore, Heifu can't do anything to Zhang. Without Zhang's cooperation, Qin's rule in this township will probably collapse immediately. These more than 50 Qin soldiers can't leave the camp and can't even stay for half a month.

Besides, for Zhang Cang's face, as long as Zhang is honest, he won't embarrass them.

Everyone is a mature person and won't fight for a moment, so they ended the game and started to return to the table, put away their clenched fists, and smiled at each other.

Paying grain for emergency relief is the best way for Zhang to show goodwill to Heifu.

From that day on, Heifu and Zhang's contacts increased.

According to the Qin system, the duty of the governor was to hear lawsuits and collect taxes; the duty of the roving guards was to prevent thieves; and the three elders were in charge of education. Everyone performed their duties. Heifu would not interfere with the local customs and life, and would not exceed his authority to manage household registration and taxation. He only needed Zhang Bo and Zhang Fu to send him food and help him maintain local order. Everyone cooperated in a limited way and reached a tacit understanding.

To describe the relationship between the two sides in one sentence, that is: the local tyrants and evil gentry began to collude with foreign imperialist invaders to jointly exploit the vast majority of people and suppress the patriotic people with full blood.

Time passed slowly, and in April, everything was calm, but Heifu never expected that he would be involved in a famous case in history because of a gossip in the market...