Zhu Xiang inquired in detail about the armed conflict between the two mountain strongholds.
The barbarians in the two mountain strongholds were all "Bandun barbarians", that is, the Ba people who were destroyed by the Qin State.
The Ba people originally made their living by fishing and hunting. By the time the Qin Dynasty conquered the Ba people, the Ba people on the plains had already become an agricultural civilization. There was scarce arable land in the mountains, so they combined fishing and hunting with farming.
After the expansion of the Qin State, not all places strictly followed Qin laws, but instead adapted to local conditions.
For example, the original slavery system for the Ba people was continued, and they were gradually assimilated through rewards.
During the reign of King Huiwen of Qin, the leaders of the Ba people were required to marry Qin women in every generation in order to assimilate their descendants. Now King Zhao of Qin promised that every household in Ba would have a tax-free quota of one hectare of land, and no matter how many wives and concubines they married, they would not need to pay more taxes.
The two policies complemented each other, not only encouraging the Ba people to go down to the mountains to farm, but also making poor Ba women more willing to marry into the wealthy Ba nobles' families as concubines, resulting in most Ba civilian men being unable to marry women from their own tribe. Without the need for the King of Qin to give them Qin women, they would take the initiative to marry the migrated Qin women and be further assimilated.
In ancient times, the lower classes of the people had no idea of being loyal to each other or not. They got married just to survive and reproduce. Moreover, the Ba people still had slavery.
Because they often intermarried with the Qin people, and Shimen was located at a transportation hub in and out of Shu, they were not isolated from news.
When exchanging materials with the caravans, they not only learned the Qin language, but also learned about the major events in the Central Plains and the Qin State. Some ambitious young people among them would go out with the caravans to do business and gain more knowledge.
Although their news would be a year or so later than the outside world, Zhu Xiang had been famous all over the world for more than a year or so, so it was the freshest time for them to hear it.
There were few fields on the mountain, and it was difficult to cultivate. They heard that potatoes could grow a lot in a corner, so they saved a lot of mountain products and asked the caravan to buy potatoes.
The caravan was honest and did not cheat them. Although potatoes were cheap, the caravan had spent a lot of effort to transport them from a long distance to Shimen without them getting moldy, and it was worth it for so many precious mountain products.
The village where people asked others to buy potatoes was called Qingpianzhai, and the village across a ravine was called Hongpianzhai. They were named because one side of the cliff was made of bluestone, and the other side was made of red soil.
The people of Qingpian Village bought potatoes and were thinking about how to eat them and how to grow them. The people of Hongpian Village came to Qingpian Village to exchange things. They thought the potatoes were very rare, so they took a few and left.
When the people of Qingpian Village asked for potatoes, the people of Hongpian Village learned about the magic of potatoes from the caravan and were willing to exchange animal skins for potatoes.
The people of Qingpian Village naturally refused. The quarrel between the two sides turned into a fight, and then it became a fight between people from the two villages.
After hearing the whole story, Zhu Xiang wanted to say that the people in Hongpianzhai were in the wrong, but this kind of thing could no longer be explained by reason.
Just like the war between Wu and Chu that destroyed both sides' national strength, it originated from two women on the border fighting over the mulberry leaves of a tree.
They started out as women swearing at each other, then dragged fathers and brothers from both sides into fighting each other, then to a fight between two villages, and in the end, somehow it ended up with the town garrison and the two countries' monarchs being defeated.
Zhu Xiang smiled bitterly and said, "Should I be thankful that the people fighting for the potatoes are all Qin people. If it were Qin people and Chu people, Li Mu, you would have to put on your armor and go into battle before you have even adapted to the southwest climate."
The young and energetic Li Mu said nonchalantly: "Chu has no good generals. I can win even if I put on my armor and go into battle."
Zhu Xiang said, "I heard that there is a family named Xiang in Chu State who have been generals for generations. They are quite powerful."
Li Mu said, "I have never heard of any good general named Xiang in the State of Chu. What military exploits did he have?"
Zhu Xiang thought about it carefully and realized that there really wasn't one now.
The famous battle of Xiang Yan in later generations was a joint attack with Changping Jun who rebelled against Qin State, catching Qin General Li Xin off guard. Apart from this, Xiang Yan had no military achievements before and after.
Objectively speaking, this great victory was not his credit, but the credit of Changping Jun.
Except for Li Mu, the famous generals of the six kingdoms in the late Warring States Period were able to resist the Qin attack once or twice. Even if they reached the threshold of famous generals, they basically had no chance to capture cities.
Thinking about it this way, the reputation of "famous general" is indeed a bit watery. It is normal for Li Mu to look down on him.
"No military achievements yet. But since they have been generals for generations, they must have some skills." Zhu Xiang said, "Select a hundred cavalrymen to follow me up the mountain, and I will give you some herbs. Bring water and dry food with you, and don't drink the water they bring."
Li Mu was puzzled: "Will they poison us again?"
Zhu Xiang shook his head: "It's not poison. The drinking water places of the mountain people are close to where they live, which is easy to be contaminated by feces. They often drink raw water, which is easy to breed parasites. It's better to be careful."
Li Mu nodded: "Okay."
People who often lead troops in battle will be concerned about water pollution. Otherwise, most of the soldiers will be killed by plague before the battle even starts.
Although the soldiers did not have the conditions to drink all the boiled water, they were cautious when choosing the water source. When taking water, they chose to go upstream of the camp, preferably where there were animals drinking water.
The herb Zhu Xiang mentioned was garlic juice.
After winning the garlic, Zhu Xiang began to promote this "magic medicine".
Garlic, especially purple garlic, produces allicin when crushed. Even without alcohol extraction, mashed garlic and garlic juice have strong antibacterial effects and are also effective against parasites.
Zhu Xiang's Institute of Agricultural Sciences has a special research project on the prevention and treatment effects of garlic products on schistosomiasis. Although there are effective drugs for schistosomiasis in modern times, they will gradually accumulate drug resistance. Allicin is not easy to accumulate drug resistance, and researchers hope to extract cheaper and more convenient anti-insect drugs from garlic.
But allicin is difficult to preserve, and a cheaper drug has not yet been developed.
Zhu Xiang did not prepare allicin, but just crushed garlic and applied it to exposed skin, which was enough to prevent mosquito and schistosomiasis bites.
Garlic paste plus soy sauce is a very delicious dipping sauce for people who are used to the taste of garlic. Zhu Xiang also won a variety of green onions that can be eaten raw, and piled a lot of them in the carriage as a health supplement for Ying Xiaozheng.
After entering Shu, the climate was hotter and more humid than in Guandong. Ying Xiaozheng felt stuffy, so he peeled the scallions, dipped them in soy sauce and mashed garlic, and ate the scallions like fruit. After eating a piece of scallion and sweating, his body immediately felt comfortable.
Zhu Xiang couldn't help but cover his face with his hands when he saw Ying Xiaozheng chewing onions.
It was a small matter what he smelled. He didn't care about the smell. He just had the illusion of feeling sorry for the fans of Qin Shihuang in later generations.
He raised his child to be too down-to-earth.
"Uncle, I want to go too!" Bored Ying Xiaozheng raised the half-eaten onion in his hand.
"Okay." Zhu Xiang said, "Follow me closely, don't walk around, don't touch anything."
Ying Xiaozheng nodded and continued to chew the green onion.
Li Mu frowned: "Will it be dangerous for Zheng'er to go?"
Zhu Xiang said, "With your protection, there will be no danger. The Ba people are also Qin's people. It is rare for him to encounter a fight during his trip. He can learn more and take it as a lesson."
Li Mu sighed: "Okay. Zheng'er, follow me closely."
Ying Xiaozheng nodded while chewing onions, wondering in his little head whether to follow his uncle closely or his teacher closely.
Li Mu looked greedy and also took a scallion to chew.
After taking a bite, he frowned. Every time he saw Zheng'er chewing onions, he couldn't help but want to try it, but he still couldn't get used to the taste of raw onions.
Zhu Xiang laughed at Li Mu, built a fire, roasted the onion that Li Mu had taken a bite of, and sprinkled a little salt on it so as not to waste the good onion.
Zhu Xiang made a decision, and Li Bing also went to watch the fun.
Du Mo followed with fifty men, and the massive Qin army scared the people from the two mountain strongholds who were confronting each other half to death.
When Du Mo went to explain, Zhu Xiang curiously held Ying Xiaozheng to visit the fortress where they were confronting each other.
The people from the two mountain strongholds dug a fortress in an orderly manner, erected flagpoles, and held wooden shields and bronze spears. It looked like they were at least at the level of a certain island country competing for supremacy in the Warring States Period.
Du Mo quickly brought the two village chiefs to pay respect to Zhu Xiang. As soon as Zhu Xiang cast his eyes over, the two village chiefs knelt down, and they knelt so fast that Zhu Xiang was startled again.
"Please stand up, two elders." Zhu Xiang spoke Qin dialect very slowly, and he didn't know whether Bandunman could understand him.
Fortunately, the two village chiefs often dealt with the Qin people and spoke fluent Qin dialect.
They rushed to kowtow, hoping that Zhu Xiang would bless them with a good harvest.
Zhu Xiang was confused.
Du Mo said: "People say that Duke Zhu Xiang is an immortal."
Zhu Xiang didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "I just refuted a group of people who used magic to cheat people, how come I became an immortal? Old man, please get up. I am not an immortal. I am the Lord of Changping of the Qin State, an ordinary person who is good at farming."
Zhu Xiang put Ying Xiaozheng in his arms on the ground and helped the two old men up.
The smell of garlic on him made the two old men frown.
Zhu Xiang felt very embarrassed, but he had no other choice, as he had no medicine more versatile and useful than garlic.
Fortunately, he had a good reputation, so even if they smelled an unfamiliar odor, the two old men just thought it was the perfume of the nobles. After getting used to it, they kept breathing it in, wanting to smell it a few more times.
Zhu Xiang felt even more embarrassed and quickly changed the subject.
He told the two old men about his refutation of the alchemist, reiterated that he was not an immortal god, and asked them not to treat him as one. He said he could teach them how to grow potatoes, and asked if Qingpian Village could sell some potatoes to Hongpian Village. However, Hongpian Village was in the wrong first, so it had to pay more to make up for the loss.
After hearing Zhu Xiang's story about how he had exposed the alchemist's magic tricks, the two old men not only did not treat Zhu Xiang as an ordinary person as he said, but instead they were even more in awe of Zhu Xiang.
If they encounter immortals and gods, they will be skeptical. If those immortals and gods cannot bring them benefits, they will most likely expel or kill them.
But Zhu Xiang was a capable person who had made real achievements, and he was not comparable to some illusory immortal or god. If they angered Zhu Xiang, he could really create fire and ice to destroy their stronghold.
Zhu Xiang was helpless when he saw how frightened they were. His consolation seemed to have little effect
Fortunately, fear can also make people obedient. Under the witness and supervision of the county governor Li Bing, the people of the two mountain strongholds ended the fight and exchanged potatoes and animal skins.
Fortunately, this fight ended without bloodshed, otherwise it would have been difficult to mediate.
Li Bing had many years of experience as an official and was very skilled in mediating fights. He did not expect that Zhu Xiang was even more skilled than him.
Zhu Xiang smiled bitterly. In his previous life, when he was working on experimental fields in the countryside, the job of an agronomy professor was not just farming. In the eyes of the farmers, an agronomy professor is a high-level intellectual. They like to come to him for any big or small matters, and he will be half a "village official".
Zhu Xiang calmed down the villagers in an instant and was treated as an honored guest by them.
Ying Xiaozheng did not reveal his title as Prince Qin, and followed Zhu Xiang to sit on the main seat - Zhu Xiang sat on the main seat, and he sat in Zhu Xiang's arms.
Zhu Xiang accepted the precious items given by the villagers, took out some garlic as a gift in return, and told them the benefits of garlic.
"Although potatoes have a high yield, they consume a lot of soil and need to be planted at least once every other year. Potatoes are best planted in rotation with beans, millets and garlic."
Zhu Xiang originally wanted to give them peppers. How could the people of Bashu not grow peppers? However, peppers and potatoes have the same diseases and cannot be rotated. Garlic is more suitable for rotation with potatoes, and it can also prevent schistosomiasis and is more suitable for the villagers who are half fishermen and hunters.
Zhu Xiang taught them planting knowledge such as how to detoxify potatoes, how to grow sprouts and cut them into pieces, and that green and sprouted potatoes cannot be eaten. He also inspected their current fields and taught them how to compost the ridges and maintain the water and soil.
Farming in mountainous areas is not easy, and even in modern times it is still difficult to get rid of poverty. There is not much Zhu Xiang can do.
Instead of taking the trouble to teach them how to farm in the narrow mountain areas, Zhu Xiang preferred to persuade them to move and build a village on the flat land under the cliff.
Bashu is a vast land with few people. If they don't move now, there will be no place for them to move to later.
The Ba people were very hesitant.
The Qin people still called them "barbarians", so they did not consider themselves Qin people. If they left the shelter of the mountains and forests, they were afraid that the Qin people would harm them.
After listening to their concerns, Zhu Xiang patted Ying Xiaozheng's head gently and said, "Zheng'er, remember the troubles of the villagers. This is something you need to solve."
Ying Xiaozheng raised his head and said to the leader of the stronghold: "I will write a letter to the king and ask him to issue an imperial decree announcing that you are all Qin people, not barbarians. You pay taxes to Qin, so you are Qin people, and Qin officials are not allowed to discriminate against you. Li Junshou, am I right?"
Li Bing said, "My lord, you are right. Old man, don't worry and go down the mountain. I am the governor of Shu County. Trust me."
The villagers were still very hesitant.
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "Don't be in such a hurry to move. You can do it anytime you want, next year or the year after next. But after the war in Bashu, many people outside want to enter Sichuan. There are many people passing through Shimen. You should move as early as possible, otherwise the good land will be occupied by others, which will not be beautiful."
Upon hearing this, the village chief quickly asked, "Are there really that many people going to Shu? Shu is not a good place!"
Zhu Xiang pointed at Li Bing and said, "You may not know him, but Li is a well-known capable official. With him in office, Shu will surely become very prosperous. People are willing to move to Shu because of his reputation."
Li Bing was at a loss whether to laugh or cry: "What kind of reputation do I have? Didn't the common people rush to you as soon as they heard that Duke Zhu Xiang was in Shu?"
Li Mu, who was guarding nearby, interrupted: "Yes, once the news about you in Shu gets out, I'm afraid many people will come to Shu to seek refuge with you."
Ying Xiaozheng also nodded vigorously. Doesn't my uncle know anything about his reputation? He is too modest.
Zhu Xiang touched his nose and said, "It's possible. Anyway, old man, while you still have time to farm at the foot of the mountain, move early to avoid being robbed of your good place by others."
The village chief then nodded repeatedly and said that he had discussed with the villagers and decided to move after the grain was harvested this year at the latest.
Du Mo's face was full of surprise.
Because it was difficult to collect taxes in the mountain strongholds, the previous county governor issued many decrees, hoping that the villagers would go down to the mountains to farm. Both Qingpianzhai and Hongpianzhai were very stubborn, and if they were talked too much, they would hide in the mountains.
How come Duke Zhu Xiang and the new county magistrate agreed to relocate with just a few words
Afterwards, Du Mo asked curiously, and the two village chiefs’ statements were consistent.
Duke Zhu Xiang will surely attract many people to compete with them for land, so they must hurry up and occupy a good spot.
Moreover, "Officials who came here before all called us barbarians, but Duke Zhu Xiang not only said we were Qin people, but also smiled at us!" When they said this, their faces were full of pride.
Duke Xiang of Zhu is smiling at us!
Du Mo scratched his beard and smiled, and you agreed
Zhu Xiang didn't know what happened after he left. He stayed for a few days, taught the villagers some farming skills, and passed on his farming experience to the two village leaders, asking them to find someone who knew the Qin language to continue teaching them farming knowledge, and then he continued on his journey.
Although Zhu Xiang and his companions had carriages and horses, they did not travel very fast for the sake of safety.
So when they arrived at the next big mountain stronghold, the people in the stronghold had already heard about the rumors about Duke Zhu Xiang and his entry into Shu, and they knelt on the roadside waiting for a long time.
Ying Xiaozheng stuck his head out of the car window with a scallion in his mouth.
He wanted to see how many people would block his way and kneel down to him along the way.
(End of this chapter)