Chapter 70: Spring and Autumn Female Spy

Zhiji immediately added: "There are jewelry, velvet, leather, spices... What I, Zhao, have now, can you just open your mouth and we will sell it to Zheng Jia at the market price, how about it?"

Zhaocheng's bulk short-term products adopt a general agency system similar to later generations. All products are divided into shares according to production and are underwritten by general agents from all countries and regions. This is why Zhiji said that "the cotton share in this autumn has been sold." However, because Zhao's industry has developed rapidly and Zhaocheng adopts a free and open market, there are also some scattered goods produced independently by individuals. The number of goods produced by these individuals is not large and is usually sold in the market. Therefore, some merchants stay in Zhaocheng and collect these scattered goods to ship to their home countries.

However, what Zhiji is talking about here is obviously not a scattered product. In response, Lu Keji bowed again and refused to say: "Mrs. Zhi doesn't need to break the rules so much. Zheng Jia is unwilling to ask for favors. If you make an exception like this and break the business rules, Zheng Jia will be very uneasy."

Zhao Wu looked at Zhiji strangely. This petty and cautious woman was rare to be so generous. Zhao Wu was willing to fulfill her wish. He interrupted and said, "I just came back from the battlefield. When I came, I bought some female slaves in the State of Wei and prepared to marry the bachelors in the territory. I plan to organize these female slaves and build my third textile factory. Then there will be more commodity shares. You, Lu Keji, are kind to my Dan girl. I will not do it for the Que family, but only set a portion of the share for you."

Lu Keji smiled and said, "Wu Zi's kindness made the little girl very moved. But why did the little girl take these shares? Without the protection of noble people, how could I, a little girl, sell goods from house to house - it would be better to divide some of these goods to Meng Xianzi (Zhengqing of Lu). Lu is located in the central part of Qi and Jin, and just happened to help Zheng Jia store and transport goods... However, all this still needs to be in the name of the little girl. Does Wu Zi understand?"

Zhao Wu was shocked - this is Lu Queji's ultimate goal.

After covering up for so long, Lu Keji went around in a big circle and spoke with the help of Zheng Jia. Now he finally saw the dagger.

Before Shi Xie died, he said: The more stable the hegemony of Jin State, the more ministers the vassal states cling to, the more powerful the internal struggle of Jin State. Lu Keji's statement just now was the clinging to Lu State.

Lu was in charge of diplomacy in the past. After Sanke fell, Lu lacked a strong supporter in Jin. Now they have a crush on Zhao Wu, so they come to communicate and test through Lukeji.

How could the person who came to test it was not Lu Keji - she was the one who belonged to it!

Although Lu Keji acted as a sacrifice for the country, her father was a doctor of Lu. When she married San Ke, Lu might have regarded this kind of marriage as a spy mission.

That's right, she is the contact person for Lu's diplomacy, and is specifically responsible for communicating and connecting the secret diplomacy between Lu and Jin.

Although Lu State is very sorry for her, who should Lu Keji join now? Who can she join? Sanke's wandering warriors invested in the price of Zhao's family in exchange for the monarch to return to the old territory "Wen". So the current Quewen family, or Wen family, have lost their "lord armed forces" and are guarding the reputation of a nobleman to face the enemy of Manchu. Can Lu Keji still rely on the Wen family? Do she dare to rely on the Wen family, which is a hatred of the whole country?

Wen's family cannot be trusted, so why should Lu Keji dare to return to Jin State alone? Who can she rely on to be confident?

This is the answer.

Zhao Wu replied slowly: "You can continue to live in Kasuocho, and Meng Xianzi can receive goods for you. I promised you."

Zhao Wu's words meant agreeing to be the diplomatic agent of Lu - this agent is not free.

In this way, with the Sanke elite soldiers he received privately and becoming the diplomatic agent of Lu, Zhao Wu accepted the most profitable high-quality assets in the Sanke industry - although he had never divided up a piece of Sanke's territory.

All this is done quietly.

People who engage in secret diplomacy are all versatile people. Although Zhao Wu did not express his affirmative statement in a word, Lu Keji already understood what Zhao Wu meant. After she bowed, she said something in her words: "Wu Zi is kind and willing to accept me, the wife of the former enemy, and also help the former enemy return to the ranks of nobles. The ancient wise man said that "repaying grievances with virtue" was just like this. The little girl saw the legendary benevolent man today.

However, today is the last time that the little girl came to visit in the name of the widow of the Que family. In the future, I will be the one who relies on Zhao family to survive. I swept the bed day and night to wait, hoping that Wu Zi will have time to come."

Zhao Wu replied word by word: "I can, but I hope I will not see you at home again in the future."

This actually means: I will go to you if there is something, but you are forbidden to step onto the threshold of my house.

Zhiji was very satisfied with this sentence. After Lu Keji left, Zhiji was still thinking about how to repay Zheng Jia, and muttered in a low voice: "This woman is so stinking like a fox. No wonder she was so versatile that she was confused by her husband. The husband would not let her come to the door. But I still have to repay Zheng Jia for her affairs. How should I sit there?"

Xun Ji was not concerned about his own affairs and was relatively sober. She giggled and said, "Although the husband master had a grudge against the three, the husband master was willing to give Lu Keji a share alone. I believe that Wen Zi's descendants were as safe as Mount Tai."

What does "one stone kill two birds" mean? Lu Keji's behavior is to kill two birds with one stone... Well, maybe it is "one stone hits several birds".

Lu Keji demanded return with his kindness against Miss Shan, and then involved Zheng Jia, forcing Zhao Wu to respond. In this way, Zhao Wu's appearance of dividing Lu Keji's market share alone was behind the shadow of the second official, deputy marshal, and second ruling Zhiying in Jin State.

Then, Lu Keji appeared as Zheng Jia's agent. Zhao Wu and Xun Ying appeared on the surface because of repaying Zheng Jia for dating Lu Keji and supporting her business dealings... This kind of twists and turns completely concealed Lu Keji's real purpose. At the same time, it also made people confused and dared not to treat San Queji again, and dared not represent the remaining forces of San Queji.

At the same time, on the surface, Zhao Wu and Xun Ying were trying to repay their kindness. All diplomatic transactions were covered in normal cargo transportation, and they stood firm in both moral and justice. Even if the current monarch Duke Dao tried his best to eliminate the phenomenon of foreign diplomatic agents at home, he seemed to be unable to find any mistakes about Zhao Wu.

In this way, Wen's family is as peaceful as Mount Tai, Zheng Jia gets business opportunities, and Zhao Wu accepts three diplomatic achievements - no one notices them. Even Zhiji and Xun Ji only see the surface, but no one pays attention to the hidden contents.

Zhao Wu shook his head sincerely and said with a simple face: "After all, I have revenged my enemies with kindness. What do you think I did? Can you still find someone so generous in the world?"

Zhiji had not answered yet, and Miss Shan replied loudly: "Renye! The man I like is indeed a great hero. My vision is really good. Fortunately, I didn't hesitate at the beginning."

Zhao Wu waved his hand and walked towards the room while answering depressedly: "What kind of benevolence is this? Maybe others will think I am easy to bully. If you bully me casually, not only will you not cause revenge, but you will get rewards... What's the matter?"

At the entrance of the bedroom in the front yard, Zhao Qiaoren smiled and hugged the child to greet the door. She was holding Zhao Wu, and her legitimate son Zhao Cheng was held by another palace maid.

It was windy in spring and the child was not greeted at the gate of the yard. Look at the attitude, just when Zhao Wu first arrived at the gate, the women carried the child out of the house and greeted him at the gate.

Zhao Wu pinched the faces of the two children, and then remembered his new gains. He turned to Zhiji and said, "I forgot to tell you that the king has transferred Huocheng to me. From now on, I will officially have three territories, but unfortunately there are only two children."

When Zhiji heard this, she smiled and said, "Master, we have finished breastfeeding. In the future, we should give birth to more children for the Master. Master should also bring back more fiefdoms, otherwise there will be no more children."

There were no wet nurses in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the child's breastfeeding period reached two long years. Zhiji and the others had not yet reached the end of breastfeeding, but perhaps the arrival of the Dan girl made them feel threatened, so they ended breastfeeding early.

Zhao Wu understood Zhiji's intention, and he turned around and called Miss Shan to the table together: "Come on, sit down, my meal rules are different from those of outsiders, they are all sitting on the table..."

The meal was enjoyable, Zhao Wu returned home with a full load, and his body and mind were particularly relaxed...

The next day, Zhao Wu issued incentive measures, and many commendable warriors obtained new arable land outside Huo City, which made the Zhao family the first to extend the feudal system to the samurai class among the countries.

Of course, the new fiefs obtained by the warriors were only on paper, but after the Jia family cleared the land, the warriors also recognized this "cultural land on paper". They took advantage of the spring plowing season to plan their own sealed operations first. Many warriors submitted applications to their families, requiring them to receive corresponding farm tools. Then they rushed to Jiangcheng in groups and bought servants in batches in the largest servant market in Jin State. Then, before Zhao Wu officially accepted the new territory, they spontaneously organized a mighty colonization army and headed to the north of Huocheng to reclamation.

In March, Shi Ruo brought the monarch's documents and personally accompanied Zhao Wu to Huocheng to receive the territory.

Shi Ruo was the son of the Shi family (authentic heir), and he was the same generation as Fan Yi. His uncle Shi Xie was the father of Fan Yi. Among them, Shi Xie was the Fan Yi, and Shi Rui was the zhi Yi. The Shi Ruo branch inherited the family name of Shi and became the hereditary judge of Jin State (justice). Therefore, he was a descendant of the authentic "justice".

Shi Xie is a humble gentleman. Although the child Shi Yi taught him was powerful and domineering, he was a person like Wei Xiang in his personality. He was both literary and wise, but Shi Wu was very wise and had a strong habit of martial artists. Along the way, the justice never refused to take off his armor. He sat on his chariot in a proper manner, and his every move was completely in line with the etiquette of aristocratic.

Zhao Wu did not ride a chariot, he brought five hundred cavalry, two thousand halberd infantry, and two thousand archers with him.

Zhao Wu's war horse did not walk fast. In order to keep up with the speed of the chariot, he also slowed down the cavalry, which just made the infantry keep up with the team slowly.

"Do you know? The Rong people often came to Zhao to harass the people. The mountains near Huo City are rugged and the chariots are difficult to run, so it is very troublesome to clear the Rong people. For this reason, Zhao City had to change the main force of pursuit and suppression into cavalry, which won the victory against the Rong people." Zhao Wu leaned over to explain to Shi Lu on the war.

The weak man looked relaxed, and he rolled his eyes: "Wuzi, it is your credit for changing the chariots into cavalry soldiers of Zhao; but Jin State gave up the chariots as the main force to pursue and suppress the Rong people, it is not your credit for it, it is Wei Qi's credit for it. At that time, it was Wei Qi who persuaded the king to give up the chariots - at that time, the soldiers were unwilling to leave the chariots to fight. Wei Qi implemented military law and killed more than 50 leben, which completed the military reform."

Zhao Wu looked innocent: "The weak man knows this... Then why did you go to Huocheng and still have to take a chariot?"

Shi Ruo curled his lips: "I don't want to steal the limelight from your Zhao family? I can't learn how to ride a horse by Zhao family. Besides, letting me, the justice of the Supreme Court riding alone like a messy traveler, also lose the face of the emperor. When people saw my appearance, they couldn't help but think that our Jin State had been in war for years and even the justice's carriage and horse were not worthy of. In this way, wouldn't the Rong people underestimate us?"

As soon as Shi Ruo finished speaking, a group of Rong people came towards him. The Rong people were fully armed, waving their whips all the way to drive the vast horses, singing loudly all the way, flags fluttering, and their arrogance was very arrogant.

Shi Ruo jumped up and reached out to draw the bow and arrow from the bow bag of the chariot to be on guard. But he turned his face and found that Zhao Bing disagreed with the Rong people coming towards him. Their casual attitude made the justice very embarrassed about his excessive nervousness. He turned his hand and presented the bow to Zhao Wu, concealing and saying, "I heard that Zhao's ability to make bows and arrows is no less than Han's. You, the master craftsman who compiled the "Hundred Artifacts" to help me see how this bow is like?"

Zhao Wu glanced casually and praised: "The Supreme Court's bow is indeed the number one in the middle school of the country."

Shi Ruo curled his lips: "Come on, Xiao Wu, don't come and treat me perfunctorily - can this bow be given to Wei Qi with the same bow you gave to Wei Qi?"

Zhao Wu smiled awkwardly.

After all, the weak man was not his bow and arrow. He inserted his bow back into the bow bag and pointed at the Rong people who had just passed by, and asked: "Why did the large group of Rong people pass through Huocheng and have arrived near Zhaocheng? You Zhaocheng soldiers are not alert at all. Have the Rong people given up their habit of plundering now?"

Zhao Wu smiled coldly. He looked at the group of Rong people, waved to greet the Rong people's team, and replied to Shi Lu: "Dogs cannot change their shit. It is harder to make the Rong people give up their habit of plundering than to fill the sea. But this Rong people no longer belongs to the Rong people's tribe. They are my Zhao family's horse shepherd tribe, which specializes in her horses for me. The horses they drove were also my Zhao family's horses - you didn't see the word "Zhao" branded on the horses, and do they have their swords?"

Shi Lu looked carefully and replied in surprise: "Yes, although the scimitar on their bodies is of a crank, and the head is carved with a bird's head. This is your sword-casting craft - Wuzi, when did you turn the Rong people into your own shepherd slave?"

Zhao Wu corrected: "It's not a shepherd slave, it's a shepherd. They are not servants, and I buy all the horses they grazed at normal prices, so I have an equal relationship with them in a fair deal."

Shi Ruo looked at Rong people driving the horses and passed by them, and he asked worriedly: "Fair transaction? You asked them to go to Zhaocheng to trade. These Rong people are arrogant and let them enter Zhaocheng, are you relieved?"

Immediately, Shi Ruo smiled again: "I forgot that you have moved all the market out of the city and placed it in seven towns."

Zhao Wu added: "Yes, I won't have to worry about them even more when I accept Huo Cheng. To be honest, I really hope that they will cause trouble in Zhaocheng, so that I can block Huo Cheng at the Gorge and launch cavalry to search them. After that, they can confiscate their property reasonably and legally."

Shi Ruo nodded and agreed: "Yes, who have I ever been afraid of in Jin State? Such a group of Rong people want to cause trouble, isn't they seeking death?"

In fact, Shi Ruo ignored a crucial issue in his conversation with Zhao Wu just now: the Rong people lived in the Taiyuan Basin north of Huocheng. Zhao Wu had not yet accepted Huocheng, but the Rong tribes had already joined him and began to shed horses for the Zhao family in the Taiyuan Basin. This shows that Zhao Cheng's power had long passed Huocheng and arrived at the Rong people's territory.

It was not a matter of one or two to recruit the Rong people. This group of Rong people walked along the road leading to Zhaocheng market with ease, which also means that Zhao Wu's covet Huocheng was not a matter of one or two to a matter of one or two to a matter of one or two to a matter of one or two to a matter of one or two to a matter of one day. Before the king had granted Huocheng to Zhao Wu, he had already attacked the surrounding areas of Huocheng.

This is a deviant behavior.

Shi Lu is the Supreme Justice, and such a matter of usurpation is under his control.

The gentleman didn't care because Huo Cheng had now returned to Zhao Wu, and Huo Cheng had not made any statement before. How can he pursue the past?

Therefore, Shi Ruo didn't care about Zhao Wu's early sneaking.

The Huocheng Guard had already received news from the middle school of the country. In the south gate of Huocheng, Huoda knelt down to welcome the new lord. He respectfully presented the key to Huocheng Gate to Zhao Wu and solemnly swore: "I, Huoda, swore to be loyal to his master - the son of Zhao Shuo, and the lord of Zhao Wu. As a vassal, I will never violate the master. I will be your loyal assistant. As long as my strength allows, I will give you advice and help with my duties and myself, and will never deceive or rebel, so that you can maintain and implement the authority given to you by the monarch..."

Zhao Wu, in accordance with the rules, gave Huo Da a set of clothes, a jade sword, and an iron axe, solemnly accepted Huo Da's surrender and declared: "I, the grandson of Zhao Dun, the son of Zhao Shuo, the current new army assistant of Jin State, and the owner of Huo City, recognize your subordinate power, give you jade sword to prove the power you have, and give you iron axe to recognize your judicial power in the territory..."

Giving vassals a sword was a feudal custom in the Spring and Autumn Period. It means: "Swords, shoes and... silhouettes, and tigers and men say swords ("Book of Rites. Music")" - that is, the sword was a symbol of status in the Spring and Autumn Period and recognized the status of the other vassals.

Giving the other party's iron axe is a quote from "Book of Rites. King's System": "Give the bow and arrows and then conquer them, and then kill them." It means admitting that the other party has judicial power in the territory, and that they can directly pronounce and kill them according to the law without passing the superior lord.

In the vassal ceremony, "give a crown and a garment... a jade sword" means that the distributor has "the highest ownership", but this power is not infinite. As the lord of Huocheng, Zhao Wu must also reiterate his three major obligations: "I swear that as the lord of Huocheng, I will do my best to protect the safety of the people of Huocheng; respect the possession of property by the people of Huocheng; at the same time, I admit that Huocheng's vassal has the right to jury, and when they violate the law, I will never judge them alone."

Speaking of the "vassal" jury power, when San Ku was assassinated, Chang Yujiao used the jury power to ask San Ku to interrogate in court, and then took the opportunity of the jury to approach San Ku and complete the assassination operation.

Jury is the power enjoyed by feudal vassals, and then the right to defend and the right to defend was developed. The early jury was actually equivalent to the right to defend. Vassals who committed crimes could require witnesses to appear in court to testify for themselves at critical moments. Moreover, without committing crimes, they also have the right to participate in the trial and determine whether the suspect is guilty. The leader among these juries is called "judges".

...

After completing a set of etiquette, Huo Da made way. He led the warriors in the city to kneel on the side of the road again. The weak soldiers parked the chariot on the other side of the road and asked Zhao Wu to go first. Zhao Wu was not polite. He had this power - to enter the city first.

Upon climbing the wall of Huocheng, Zhao Wu inspected and shook his head and said, "This wall is not as good as my Zhaocheng."

Shi Ruo smiled: "What is Xiao Wu like to compare your Zhaocheng city wall? I heard that the king has complained several times, saying that the walls of your Zhaocheng city are built more powerful than those of the capital.

Huocheng is just a small city. Although its walls are broken, the Rong people have not broken through them in two hundred years. There are hundreds of thousands of Rong people buried under this wall. How can you think it is broken?"

Huo Da smiled and explained, "I, Huocheng, have been waiting for people to take over for many years. This place was originally Sanke territory, but Sanke was unwilling to ask for it in the end. After they moved all the young and strong people in the territory, they returned the territory to the king. The king later transferred Huocheng to three times, but the recipients were unwilling to ask for Huocheng every time. After all, there was little farmland here, and they faced constant attacks and looting by the Rong people. It cost a lot to defend, but the profit was very small.

Speaking of which, Zhaocheng is the happiest thing for the people of Huocheng to take over us. Not to mention that Zhaocheng is close to Huocheng, it has the convenience of military support, but the development of Zhaocheng in recent years has made the people of Huocheng envious - Zhaocheng is also less arable land, but Zhaocheng can develop breeding in the mountains, grow wild fruits and make wine, and raise bees, and dig out treasures from the mountains without profit... Zhaocheng can develop like this, and I, Huocheng, also has hope.

However, a while ago, Qi Ce explained that we were asking us to give up all the arable land and build a large pass here in the future to support ourselves by collecting tolls. We were a little nervous - there was no arable land, how could the people provide food?"

Zhao Wu waved his hand and replied: "The arable land around Huocheng is not to be distributed to the people of Zhaocheng. The people of Zhaocheng will not come to occupy Huocheng's land. I plan to abolish public fields ('public fields under the serf commune system', also called 'public fields under the people') and rent all the fields to the people in the form of land rent-I call this new system the rent system.

However, although the Huocheng public fields were vacant, the local people did not make any contribution to my Zhao family, so I couldn't give them the reward... and when the Huocheng people made contributions, I would then share the fields to them."
To be continued...