"One of my disciples has just returned from the Yan-Qi border. Shortly after winter began, there were signs of disaster in the Wei-Qi border.
There is no doubt that it will be a cold winter this year, and it is said that the coastal waters (today’s Bohai Sea) have begun to freeze.”
In the bone mirror, there was a message from Zou Yan.
Xunzi also sighed: "Every few decades or hundreds of years, the seasons will change, and there will be cold, hot, floods and other events.
This year, Yan and Qi are likely to encounter a severe cold that has never happened in a century."
After the old saints spoke, the bone mirror became quiet.
Zhao Huaizhong put down the mirror and concentrated on handling government affairs.
In the evening, Fan Qingzhou entered the palace and reported: "The king asked the palace to conduct a secret investigation of Si's family, and there has been progress."
"The Si family controls several sects, sects and other forces of different sizes in Yan, Qi, Chu, Wei and other places.
One thing these sects have in common is that they secretly preach that there is a fairy island overseas. It is said that the island is a blessed land of fairy families, where food is inexhaustible, everyone can be full, and there is no risk of hunger.
Living on the island means you will be free from disasters and diseases and live a long life.
These sects secretly organize people who join their sects to secretly travel to overseas fairy islands.
This is why there are so many missing people in various countries.”
Zhao Huaizhong said: "Were all the missing people sent to the island by the Si family?"
"yes."
Fan Qingzhou said: "The government has found the location of the Immortal Island. In addition to the native indigenous people on the island, more than half of its population are people who were deceived and abducted from the various countries in China and Earth."
So the Si family are old people traffickers and have not run away.
What Ye Yufu observed was basically consistent with what Siying said that day.
"The Si family proclaimed themselves the rulers of the country on the island and called it the Great Xia Fairy Kingdom."
"Immortal country?" Zhao Huaizhong pursed his lips.
"Your Majesty, look at this."
Fan Qingzhou took out the secondary mirror of a bone mirror and pointed at it.
Zhao Huaizhong also took out the osteoscope again.
On the other side of the mirror, a secret agent from Ye Yu Mansion secretly opened a secondary mirror of the bone mirror and revealed the scene on the other side.
There were thousands of refugees and victims of the disaster, with sallow faces and skinny muscles, no clothes to cover their bodies, and shivering in the cold wind.
"There have been many disasters in Wei District recently. Many people have been displaced and don't have enough to eat. The Si family has been active in Wei District recently, and a bowl of thin porridge is very attractive." Fan Qingzhou said.
"These are the refugees in Wei who are causing disaster?"
"Yes, in order to fight against the Qin Dynasty, the King of Wei went all out to train his troops. The victims in the territory had nowhere to resettle and were unable to resettle them... and the Si family's activities in the territory of Wei were probably secretly approved by the King of Wei." Fan Qingzhou said.
"King Wei's tacit approval?"
Zhao Huaizhong said: "Are you saying that the King of Wei could not resettle the victims, so he simply gave them to the Si family, and the Si family was subsidizing the Wei people in money and food in exchange for these victims?"
"It should be so.
But Wei Chen did not find any definite evidence. Last month, spies in the palace discovered that members of the Si family were secretly entering and leaving the Wei Palace..."
Fan Qingzhou knew that Si Ying of the Si family was a concubine in Da Qin, so he spoke very carefully and used "should be" as the prefix.
"The Si family is quite wealthy. How many people did they get from the Wei Kingdom?" Zhao Huaizhong asked.
"The increasing number of refugees in the Wei territory is a sign that has only appeared in recent years. The number of victims is not large. There are about 40,000 to 50,000 refugees in the entire Wei territory. Wei Wu transferred more than 10,000 of them to the Si family." Fan Qingzhou said.
"Since the Si family are old human traffickers and have been doing this kind of thing for a long time, so many people have been transported overseas. Why didn't the government know anything about it before?"
"First of all, the Si family has become more restrained in our country, Daqin, and has almost no population in our country.
Furthermore, the Si family acted cautiously, and it is very likely that they still had some kind of treasure that could be used to store people and be transported secretly, so they were able to hide their whereabouts.
What's more important is that in recent years, monsters have been everywhere, wars have occurred in various places, and the population has been lost. Thousands or tens of thousands of people are lost every year. The only place the government can thoroughly investigate is our country, Da Qin, so it is difficult to find abnormalities."
Fan Qingzhou lowered his head:
"The foundation of a country is its population and territory. The king of Wei used the people of Wei to make deals with the Si family. This was a foolish move.
I think we can continue to conduct a thorough investigation of the Wei and Si families to find out more evidence."
————
Wei.
"Your Majesty, after the twelfth month in Yan and Qi, the temperature dropped day by day, and we in Wei were also affected by it..."
In the palace of the King of Wei, a court meeting was being held.
Wei Di was only slightly affected, not seriously.
The problem was that the Wei people had already devoted all their national resources to training their troops and were short of money and food.
At this moment, it was only slightly affected, but for the Wei people's finances, which were constantly drying up, it was even worse, and they were in a precarious situation. There was little left to rest, provide disaster relief, and improve the situation.
Wei Chen reported the situation in a low voice, but Wei Wu said calmly: "The late king once secretly hid a sum of tax revenue to prepare for emergencies, and the amount should be able to solve the current difficulties of the Wei Dynasty.
I took it out and put it to use."
All the ministers were stunned. They didn't expect that Wei Wu actually had hidden money and food in his hand, which could solve the immediate problem.
All the ministers were stunned for a moment, and then they all said it was good.
Wei Wu smiled slightly contentedly.
————
Time is quickly coming to the end of the year.
Xianyang, evening.
Cao Ping came home from outside with a proud face. Looking at no one, he reached out and patted his wife with his good arm.
Snap!
The daughter-in-law reacted sharply and showed no signs of weakness, even turning her hand to return the favor to Cao Ping.
His wife is thirty-three years old this year. She has a middle-aged appearance but a plump figure. She has given birth to two children, both of whom are in their teens.
"Why are you so crazy? You went out to drink?" the daughter-in-law said angrily.
"Drink, what the hell."
Cao Ping said very arrogantly: "Give me the pound of bacon that was distributed in the army last time, steam it, and drink some more."
His wife ignored him and said, "That meat is reserved for the Chinese New Year. How can I eat it now? I really drank too much. Go to the house and go to sleep."
"Let me say it again, steam the meat and drink some." When Cao Ping doesn't drink, he usually doesn't dare to be so awesome at home.
No matter what era you are in, men are not rich, and if they are not cheating, they are generally no match for their wives.
In front of people, Cao Ping is in charge, but when no one is around, it is his wife who makes the decision, and it brings tears of bitterness when she talks about it.
But today, Cao Ping was drunk and emboldened, and his waist was straight. After he finished speaking, he saw that his wife was not moving, and his hands were crouched, so he went to pat her again: "Hurry up, let me tell you, there will be good things to be handed out in the army tomorrow.
Enough meat tube."
"Send something again?"
The daughter-in-law was about to have a seizure, but she immediately became energetic after hearing the second half of the sentence, and took the initiative to nuzzle Cao Ping.
Cao Ping glanced at his wife sideways and said, "Go and steam the meat. Then you can serve us comfortably at night. I'll bring you something nice back tomorrow."
The daughter-in-law rolled her eyes, rubbed her plump body again, lowered her eyebrows and said: "Our family is living well, and we have some surplus. I want to save that piece of meat and take it back to my mother's house during the Chinese New Year. You don't have a good look on your face."
Does it look good too?”
Cao Ping's nostrils turned upward and he snorted twice: "You have to work harder that night."
The daughter-in-law spat and said scornfully: "If you don't work hard, you are nothing, but if you work hard, how can you work hard?"
Early the next morning, Cao Ping, who almost didn't wake up after his wife's hard work, got up early and rushed to the outskirts of the city.
It's late December.
Meng Ao changed defenses, guarded the border from the east, and returned to Xianyang to rest and prepare for the New Year.
He came to the palace and planned to report to Zhao Huaizhong on the situation of the confrontation between the Eastern Front and the Wei Kingdom.
When he caught up with Zhao Huaizhong and was about to go out, he said with a smile: "I am leaving the palace. When the old general comes back, I will go with him. It is just in time to reward General Lao Meng."
“Very good.”
Meng Ao happily agreed. Seeing that Zhao Huaizhong was dressed in casual clothes, he also took off his armor, took the cloak from his attendant, and changed into casual clothes.
Zhao Huaizhong then left the palace surrounded by Meng Ao, Xin Wu and other guards.
There are many pedestrians on Xianyang Street, people coming and going, and the atmosphere is noisy.
Zhao Huaizhong walked forward with his hands behind his hands, quite enjoying the prosperity of the country and the people under his rule.
He and Meng Ao walked outside the city together:
"Is the general ready to attack Wei next year?"
Meng Ao smiled and said: "I have been on the Eastern Front these past few months and have already made preparations. I am just waiting for the king's order."
"Do you know what the situation of the Wei people is like?"
Meng Ao said: "The Wei people's military strength has indeed improved, but the Wei people lack good generals.
In addition, the Wei people have almost exhausted their national strength in order to train their troops in recent years. If they can win the war, it will be good.
If the Wei people suffer a defeat, everyone over the age of fifteen will sign up to join the army, and the king of Wei who strongly advocates the expansion of the army and training will be counterattacked, and there will probably be a good show among the Wei people."
Zhao Huaizhong nodded slightly, Meng Ao was an experienced man. He not only knew how to fight, but he also understood the form of the Wei people very accurately.
The monarch and his ministers were walking around and discussing when they suddenly saw a group of people in front of them, pulling dozens of chariots and escorting more than a hundred people, passing by in the street.
The guards in the center of the team are all muscular, sharp-eyed, and extremely imposing.
"Whose team is this? Those people in the middle are quite impressive."
Meng Ao and Zhao Huaizhong stood at the street corner and watched the group of people passing by on the street.
"People from the Si family."
Zhao Huaizhong said calmly: "Let's go outside the city. I have prepared some gifts for the old general."
Meng Ao said happily: "Old minister, I would like to thank the king for this generous gift."
Zhao Huaizhong followed closely, looking forward to the gift that the king would personally give.
suburbs.
When Zhao Huaizhong and Meng Ao arrived, no less than two to three thousand people had gathered in the fruit garden on the outskirts of the city.
Most of them are veterans.
But it was a stable for livestock breeding that was opened in the fruit orchard. In preparation for the upcoming New Year, five hundred pigs were being slaughtered at the same time.
All veterans and wounded soldiers from around Xianyang were called over to share the pork.
After Meng Ao came over, he followed Zhao Huaizhong onto a temporary wooden platform and watched hundreds of pigs being slaughtered at the same time.
Meng Ao said in astonishment: "The gift that the king said he wanted to give to the old minister, is this? Please invite the old minister to watch the slaughter of the black-faced man?"
"hold head high."
Zhao Huaizhong said calmly: "Last year, we bred more than 2,000 black-faced pigs from the animal houses around Xianyang. We gathered together to slaughter 500 pigs for the New Year. I asked General Meng to choose two pigs to take back."
Meng Ao said: "Two heads are not enough. There are many people in my family, and when we gather together during the New Year, we need at least four or five heads to be able to eat."
Zhao Huaizhong readily agreed: "Let the old general choose five fat pigs and take them home."
After a pause, he said: "Bringing the old general here this time is really a loss-making deal."
Great joy.
Ouch~ouch!
Five hundred big fat pigs were tied up and slaughtered at the same time. The screams were so cruel that it shook the world.
The scene, the momentum, and the scarlet splash of blood were spectacular and unprecedented.
The knife pierced the pig's neck, and the pig squealed quickly and weakly.
Then, a large wooden basin was placed under each slaughtered pig, and five hundred basins were filled with the pig's blood.
Then came the famous scene of disembowelment, internal organs and other objects being taken out and cleaned.
The pig-killing ground was steaming with heat and was in full swing.
Many veterans who gathered around to watch, including Meng Ao, were all watching attentively and actually felt a sense of relief.
Some old pig butchers cut the pigs cleanly with their swords in hand, and the onlookers would cheer.
Zhao Huaizhong watched the pig slaughter for half the morning, and discussed with Meng Ao and others while laughing.
In the evening, Xin Wu and other guards brought a lot of pork back to the palace to prepare for the coming New Year.
Day and night alternate, the coldness of winter changes from strong to weak, and spring is approaching.
Qin was about to attack Wei, and preparations for various matters began intensively after the New Year.