Chapter 1209: Border emergency, conscription order issued
After leaving Hangu Pass.

Cao Wushang came close to Su Mingzhe and asked with a puzzled look on his face:
"Master, this Li You is quite good, not arrogant at all. I didn't expect that he is actually the son of the Prime Minister! He invited you to visit the Prime Minister's residence, why didn't you agree?"

"The Qin law states that eunuchs and officials in the court are not allowed to make friends with officials from outside the court."

Su Mingzhe casually gave a reason, then curled his lips and smiled:
"What's more, Li You has only just met me, but he dares to invite me to his home. This shows that his father Li Si must have been extremely powerful in Xianyang, so he can do whatever he wants."

Cao Wushang was even more puzzled after listening to Su Mingzhe's analysis:

"If that's the case, shouldn't we accept the Li family's invitation?"

Su Mingzhe looked at Cao Wushang, who seemed to be trying to curry favor with the powerful, and sighed:
"The reason why Li Si was able to dominate the government was because the First Emperor trusted him. All his power came from the First Emperor's trust. But now, in order to maintain his power, he keeps making friends with foreign officials and winning over allies. His actions are no different from trying to catch fish in a tree, trying to find a sword by carving a boat, trying to catch the moon in the water, and trying to get fire by knocking ice..."

Although Cao Wushang was a little clever, he could not understand Su Mingzhe's words. After thinking for a moment, he asked sincerely:
"Master, I am stupid, please give me some advice."

Su Mingzhe looked at the somewhat stupid retainer and continued to explain helplessly:
"You may have forgotten that Li Si is not from Qin! The Qin Dynasty practices the rule of law and values ​​military merit. Although Li Si is the prime minister, it is a favor from above, not a real military merit. The First Emperor gave Li Si a chance to let his son join the army, but Li Si sent his son to Hangu Pass, where there is no war, instead of the border. This shows that Li Si is only speculative, but indecisive and has no big picture."

"For a person like this, even if he suddenly gains favor and stands in a high position, it is still a very dangerous thing."

"In addition, the First Emperor is now nearly fifty years old, and he has countless beauties in his harem. I speculate that within three to five years, there will be changes in the harem. By then, the Li family, which is dependent on the First Emperor, will certainly be in danger of defeat."

Cao Wushang, Zhou Bo and other retainers were speechless for a moment when they saw that Su Mingzhe's words did not show any respect to the First Emperor and the powerful Prime Minister, and that he seemed to have a kind of ambition to change the world.

After passing Hangu Pass, it was less than 500 miles away from Xianyang.

Five days later.

Finally arrived in Xianyang.

Su Mingzhe first delivered the taxes and grain to the national treasury, and then took people to the market to sell the surplus supplies.

After everything was done, he finally gathered all the corvées and said:
"Brothers, you have worked hard on this journey. Next is a year of corvée labor. I, Su Erlang, don't have much to give you. You arrived in Xianyang more than 20 days ahead of schedule, leaving a lot of surplus. These surpluses are the result of everyone's joint efforts. I have sold them at the market and exchanged them for coins. Now I will distribute them to everyone. There are more than 900 brothers in total, and each of us can get more than 20 big coins."

"Thank you, sir!"

Everyone had long been convinced of Su Mingzhe, and now seeing that Su Mingzhe valued righteousness over money, everyone respected him even more.

After dividing the money, Su Mingzhe sent the corvée to the government office, handed in the list, and received a reply.

In the end, Su Mingzhe was left with only two retainers and eight official slaves.

The ten people followed Su Mingzhe on a tour around Xianyang City and got to know the most prosperous world in the world.

It was the afternoon.

Su Mingzhe led everyone to find the official residence.

The official residence of the Qin Dynasty did not receive ordinary people and travelers, but only those who held official positions or had titles.

So, when Su Mingzhe entered with ten people, the sheren (the person in charge) immediately reached out to ask for things like identity cards or official seals.

“This is my talisman!”

Su Mingzhe took out his own "Gong Dafu" bamboo talisman.

The man looked at it and then whispered:

"Master Arrest, this talisman can only accommodate ten people!"

Su Mingzhe was stunned when he heard this, then he reacted.

Qin law stipulated that a duke or a senior official could own nine official slaves.

Therefore, official residences were given to officials at most, with accommodation space for ten people.

Su Mingzhe had no choice but to take out the official reply.

Seeing that Su Mingzhe had official business, the servant registered everyone and arranged accommodation for them.

The accommodation consists of one upper room, one bunk room and two dormitories.

Due to his status as an official reply and a public official, he could only be arranged with an upper room and a bunk room, and Su Mingzhe had to pay for the two bunk beds out of his own pocket!

Su Mingzhe naturally lived in the upper house, the two retainers lived in the bunk house, and the official slaves lived in the common bed.

After eating the free meals provided by the official residence, everyone washed up and prepared to rest. Cao Wushang saw Zhou Bo fall asleep and asked unwillingly:
"We finally made it to Xianyang, are we going back now?"

"Or else?"

Although Zhou Bo was honest, he was not stupid. When he saw Cao Wushang's indignant look, he knew what his partner was up to.

Seeing that Zhou Bo was not taking the bait, Cao Wushang could only take the initiative and say:
"Do you still remember the invitation from Prime Minister's son Li You to the host?"

"Remember, didn't the master already refuse?"

Zhou Bo suddenly curled his lips, revealing a hint of mockery and sarcasm:
"You are not going to seek refuge with the Prime Minister without telling your master, are you?"

"Who am I? Even if I go and seek refuge, they won't recognize me."

Cao Wushang's face turned red because of Zhou Bo's words.

Although he was subdued by Su Mingzhe's "Mind Control Technique", he was still a vain villain by nature. Now that he was in the prosperous world, he naturally couldn't stand the loneliness:
"This is what I think. Our master has lofty ambitions and is unwilling to rely on the prime minister. However, I think we don't need to rely on the prime minister. We just need to be able to have a relationship with the prime minister's mansion. When we return to Pei County, we can also use our tiger skin to scare a group of people!"

"Don't act on your own and cause trouble for the master!"

Zhou Bo heard that Cao Wushang was actually disobeying his master's orders, so he quickly spoke up to stop him:

"The master said that we cannot get involved with the Prime Minister's Mansion. There must be a reason for that. If you do something reckless and ruin the master's plan, be careful of the master's punishment!"

"How dare I disobey you? I just thought that one person's wisdom is short, but three people's wisdom is long, so I'll discuss it with you!"

Cao Wushang heard that Zhou Bo was unwilling to "go along with him", and he immediately lost interest and lay down on the bed to rest.

Just then, a strange, dull drum sound suddenly came from outside the window.

It was this dull drum sound that disrupted the pace of everyone in Xianyang City.

Turn around.

Su Mingzhe took his retainers and official slaves to buy some specialties of Xianyang and prepared to leave.

As soon as I walked out of the east gate of Xianyang City, I met some soldiers checking the passers-by's ID cards.

Some people were released directly after being checked.

Some people would have their hands and feet tied up with ropes by the soldiers and thrown aside.

Su Mingzhe didn't understand why, but he still lined up obediently with his retainers and official slaves.

Soon, it was Su Mingzhe's turn.

The soldier took Su Mingzhe's token, looked him up and down, and immediately called the captain who was resting nearby.

The team was walking over, took a look at Su Mingzhe's talisman, and said with a gentle smile:
"Su Song, right?"

"Yes!"

"Are you the Pei County police officer?"

"Yes!"

"How many people are there in your family?"

"I'm the second in line, and I have an older brother above me!"

"In that case, come over here!"

As the team leader was speaking, he grabbed Su Mingzhe's arm and pulled him aside.

"What's happening here?"

Seeing this, the family servants and official slaves behind Su Mingzhe could only follow to the side.

After everyone stood still, the captain took out a piece of silk book from his arms, read it to Su Mingzhe, and then said:

"Su Song, you've been drafted into the army!"

(End of this chapter)