Volume 1: Entering Great Qin for the First Time Chapter 46: Black Ice Platform

  As soon as Li Si's words came out, the entire hall suddenly fell silent——

  Huhai heard Li Si's words and slightly stunned, saying: "Salary? The salary of Li Ai and others is still the same as before. Do you want me to increase your salary?"

  "We dare not!"

  Li Si and other officials in the hall couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when they heard Hu Hai's words, and hastily bowed their heads.

  "Then let's stick with the old salary. Do any of you gentlemen have any further objections to the plan for the clear land and fields that I mentioned?"

  Hu Hai noticed the change in Li Si's expression, but pretended not to care. However, he secretly took note of it and planned to ask Zhang Han privately later on.

  "Your Majesty is wise and we have no dissenting opinions."

  "Good! Then let's set up the Ministry of Land tomorrow and dispatch officials from various departments to prepare for the survey and measurement of land."

  Huhai waved his sleeve and said loudly.

  "We obey your orders!"

  "Your Majesty, where is the National Territory Office located?" Feng Qiju asked, taking a step forward.

  "Where is he staying?"

  Huhai looked at Feng and asked hastily: What does this mean?

  "Returning to Your Majesty, it is where we are stationed." Feng Qiju said affirmatively.

  Huhai was really confused, where did the National Land House live? Is it necessary to find a place to live when establishing the National Land House? Huhai looked around in a daze.

  Li Si beside him saw Huhai's pleading gaze and hastily whispered

  "Your Majesty, there is still an empty house in the East Wing of Xianyang Palace, which can be used as the office for this country's governor."

  Damn it, you've been messing around for half a day and you're looking for an office. If you want to find an office, just go find one, why bother asking me where I'm staying? However, Hu Hai cursed in his heart, but when he heard Li Si's words, he hastily said

  "The empty room in the east wing of Xianyang Palace can be chosen by Lord Feng as an office for his official duties."

  "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

  Feng went away with a satisfied heart and thanked him.

  Hu Hai couldn't bear to look at Feng Quji's smug expression, or so he thought. His gloomy mood turned his head towards the map, and his gaze suddenly stopped at a certain place, startling him.

  "How many soldiers are there in the Western Garrison of Longxi and Beidi? Who is leading the army?"

  The area west of Longxi and Beidi is now the land of Qiang and Rongdi tribes. Di and Qiang are two closely related ethnic groups with a long history in our country. The original distribution area of the Di tribe was in the southeastern part of Gansu, southwestern Shaanxi, and northwestern Sichuan, namely the area west of Qinbei Diguang and Longxi County.

  The original distribution area of the Qiang people was south of the Hexi Corridor, centered in eastern Qinghai, which was known as "River Bend" in ancient times. The Yellow River's nine bends and areas to its west and north were inhabited by the Qiang people, who lived in a strip from western Qinling to the north of Ba and Shu counties.

  The Qiang and Tuyuhun tribes were roughly the ancestors of the Tubo tribe in the Tang Dynasty.

  Hu Hai asked about the two counties of Longxi and Beiguan because he saw on the map that the Qiang and Xiongnu tribes, two strong Hu ethnic groups, were adjacent to these two counties, thinking that he had only thought of the Xiongnu and forgotten these equally powerful Hu ethnic groups.

  Hu Hai did not know that at this time, the Xiongnu and other western tribes were suffering from years of raids and invasions by the Xiongnu, and had no power to raid the Great Qin bordering them. The ancestor of the Qiang people, Wuyi Yu Jian, was taken captive by the Qin state during the Warring States period and made a slave.

  Later, Wu Yijian escaped back to the Qiang tribe with his sword and brought back the farming techniques he learned from the Great Qin. He taught the Qiang people how to farm and became the leader of the Qiang tribe.

  The fact that he was once a slave in the Great Qin had left a deep shadow on him, and he had always been deeply afraid of the Great Qin. This fear also affected the entire Qiang tribe, so the Qiang people would not come to raid the Longxi counties.

  "Your Majesty, the border troops of Longxi and Beidi have a total of over 100,000 people. General Li Xin of Longxi and Chancellor Weng Zhong lead the border soldiers of the two counties of Longxi and Beidi." Meng Tian was the first to stand up and respond when he heard Hu Hai's words.

  "Li Xin, Weng Zhong?" Hu Hai muttered twice, pointing to the map: "Can the Qiang and Yueyue tribes raid our Great Qin border?"

  "Your Majesty, in the past there have been raids, but in recent years the Xiongnu's power has grown, not only frequently coming south to attack our Great Qin, but also having many killings among neighboring tribes such as the Yuezhi. These two tribes have not raided our Great Qin for many years."

  "That's good, that's good."

  Huhai secretly let out a sigh of relief when he heard Meng Tian's words.

  "When that happens, as soon as the army of Jiuyuan arrives in Xianyang, you will immediately lead the army south to take charge of military and civil affairs in the four counties of Henan, Dongjun, Xuejun, and Langya. Prevent the six nations from rebelling and causing chaos in our territory north of the Shandong Peninsula. If any officials in these four counties disobey orders, behead them!"

  All the senior officials who heard Hu Hai's order were shocked and looked at each other in dismay, including Meng Tian himself was also stunned.

  The reason why the high-ranking officials in the grand hall are like this is that at this moment, the Qin army and civil affairs are two different fields. Before, there has never been a person who can take charge of both military and political affairs of even one county or prefecture.

  Now, as soon as Hu Hai opened his mouth, he gave Meng Tian the power to manage both military and civil affairs in the four commanderies, which was unprecedented in the history of Qin. This trust is not trivial, and this power is equally not trivial.

  It was not just this that shocked the senior officials in the hall, but more importantly, with the great influence of the Meng family at present and Meng Tian's own ability, plus Meng Yi is about to go to Jiuyuan to lead the 200,000-strong Qin army. If Meng Tian, who is currently in charge of the military and political affairs of the four counties, wants to rebel, then the consequences will be a hundred times more serious than those of the six nations' remnants, and the consequences are equally severe.

  As soon as Hu Hai's voice fell, the grand hall was silent, and for a moment, there was an eerie stillness.

  Of course, these senior ministers did not speak out because they did not want to oppose. First of all, the Meng family was one of the two most meritorious military families in Qin Dynasty, and no one wanted to offend Meng Tian easily for this matter that had not been finalized yet.

  Secondly, it's because of Hu Hai. As for the current Hu Hai, they all know that whatever they can think of, Hu Hai can also think of. Since he thought of it but still gave such an order, there are only two possibilities.

  One is that Hu Hai went mad, which is obviously impossible. The second is that Hu Hai had control over Meng Tian, or to put it more sinisterly, even if Meng Tian and the Meng clan rebelled against the Great Qin, Hu Hai would still have a way to win. But what was Hu Hai relying on?

  Huhai stared at Meng Tian tightly and said in a low voice.

  "What? Does Meng Ai Qing not want to take on this heavy responsibility?"

  Hu Hai's words suddenly awakened Meng Tian from his daze, to be honest, he was really puzzled by Hu Hai's thoughts at this moment. It was him who wanted to kill his two brothers at first, and it was also him who let them go later.

  Let's not mention the apology earlier, and later first transfer Meng Yi to Jiuyuan to command 2 million elite border troops. Originally thought that at most it would be letting oneself lead 1 million troops from Jiuyuan to enter Xianyang to quell the rebellion, but unexpectedly not only was given a large army of 1 million, now also opening up the precedent for the great Qin, and letting oneself command the military, government, and people's affairs of four counties.

  What is Your Majesty thinking? Meng Tian really can't fathom the reason. Is he not afraid that his two brothers and the Meng family will rise up in rebellion? Or does he want to take advantage of the opportunity to promote himself and kill off the Meng family? Or does he truly just trust himself?

  "Your Majesty......this......" Meng Tian hesitated.

  "My dear subject, just answer whether you will accept it or not."

  Huhai looked at Meng Tian with a calm expression, his eyes serene.

  When Hu Hai spoke, Meng Tian raised his head and looked at Hu Hai. Hu Hai's expression was calm and peaceful, with no worry or evil intentions in his clear eyes. There was not a hint of conspiracy in his clear eyes, only trust.

  As soon as Meng Tian saw Hu Hai's gaze, he knew how to choose. A gentleman dies for one who knows him, the Meng family was like that towards the First Emperor, and it would be the same with Hu Hai from now on.

  "Your humble servant obeys your orders! The Meng family is willing to hold the reins and lead the horse for Your Majesty, to spread the mighty power of Great Qin!"

  Meng Tian fell to his knees with a thud and kowtowed, saying in a loud, choked voice.

  "Haha! Good! Good! I indeed didn't misjudge you, Meng Ai Qing! What do all of you think about this matter?"

  Huhai burst out laughing and stepped forward, using both hands to help Meng Tian up, exclaiming excitedly.

  Meng Tian himself had agreed, and now openly coming out to oppose it wouldn't be slapping the Meng family in the face? The high-ranking officials in the hall, even if they had different thoughts in their hearts, could only say in unison at this moment: "Your Majesty is wise!"

  "Your Majesty, I have another request. I hope Your Majesty will grant it."

  Meng Tian stood up and spoke cautiously. When Li Si and others heard Meng Tian's words, they couldn't help but roll their eyes, wasn't this a typical case of taking an inch and wanting a foot?

  "Oh? Tell me, what did Meng Ai Qing say?"

  "I hope Your Majesty will pass on the military tactics mentioned earlier to me." Meng Tian took a sneak peek at Huhai, fearing that he would not agree, and hastily added: "I only need to know the essentials of beheading and breaking through, two types of military tactics."

  "Haha, so it's just a small matter. Wait for a few days and I'll have someone compile it into a book, which will be passed on to you, not just you, but all the generals of our Great Qin Empire can learn from my military tactics."

  "Thank you, Your Majesty!" Meng Tian said happily.

  Many high-ranking officials only understood what Meng Tian had asked for at this time. Could it be that Your Majesty still understands the Art of War, and even more so, a never-before-seen Art of War that even Meng Tian, who has thoroughly studied various military classics, yearns for? What else can Your Majesty do?

  The calm and collected expression on Hu Hai's face made Li Si and others feel a bit mysterious.

  Among them, Zhang Han and Yang Rui were particularly delighted, even the great general Meng Tian admired Your Majesty's military strategy so much, it must be a matchless military strategy.

  However, Meng Ai Qing, the methods of beheading and breaking through have limitations, which I will tell you later. But there is one point that you can prepare in advance. These two methods require a certain number of skilled and powerful soldiers who are familiar with knives and horses, and must undergo special training before they can be implemented.

  Of course, if there were dead soldiers, it would be the best. However, training elite soldiers and dead soldiers is not a matter of one day and one night. My Qin army seems to have no such people, and you should not be in a hurry. I will also tell you the method of training soldiers."

  Hu Hai finished speaking, and then saw Meng Tian staring at him with a strange gaze. The surrounding Li Si, Feng Quji, and Wei Liao also looked the same. Hu Hai's heart felt uneasy, had he said something wrong again? Or was it...

  "Your Majesty! There are many brave warriors like me in the Qin Empire, and they are all highly skilled in martial arts and loyal to Your Majesty."