Chapter 523: As long as there is no conscription, Your Majesty, I, Ba Qing, will give you whatever you want, no matter how much you want!
She touched the bun on her head, which was tied by her adoptive mother before she died.
For the rest of her life, she would no longer have the tenderness of a girl with hair wrapped around her fingers.
She went from being a young girl named Luo Tianshui to an innocent young woman, and her love withered into a withered lotus before it even blossomed.
She not only took over her adoptive mother's position, but also her adoptive mother's name and the millions of people in the land of Bashu.
She became the nominal but real ruler of Ba and Shu, which were once two separate lands that were united by the Qin State.
Many people envied her for having the wealth of Bashu at such a young age, and thought that her high bun looked very beautiful with the air of a noble person, and they all called her Ba Guafu Qing.
Not many people have thought about how difficult it is for a young girl of her prime to gain a foothold in the Fang family.
Merchants from the Central Plains were of low status.
The same is true of the Qin State in the far west, which is known as the country of tigers and wolves.
The same was true of the arrogant Chu State, which was regarded as barbarians by other countries and also called itself barbarians.
But this lowly status is relative, referring to the nobles who hold official positions, titles and good family backgrounds.
For those common people who are nominally above the merchants, no matter how much they look down on the lowly merchants who value profit over separation, when they are in trouble due to lack of money, they will envy and yearn for the copper smell on the waist of the merchants in sackcloth coats.
A man with money is a real man, while a man without money is hard to be a real man. This was the case when the word "Han" had not yet become a national name.
Merchants were not allowed to wear fancy clothes, travel in carriages pulled by two horses, and there were strict restrictions on entering places like towers.
The restrictions for citizens above it are not so many, except for one: money.
One ban leads to a hundred bans.
This is because information is not well developed, most people are illiterate, and spend their entire lives wandering around in the village. The government's policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce is still workable and can stabilize the world.
It cost 100,000 yuan to clear the jackpot of a 40,000 yuan lottery ticket, and you don't have to pay taxes for winning 220 million yuan. If this explosive news happened in the Qin Dynasty, it wouldn't even make a splash, so how would the common people know about it?
Of course, knowing that is useless.
Apart from not being able to become officials, the four major and five major merchants in the Central Plains lived a life far different from that of ordinary people.
The Fang family of Bashu, whose wealth far surpassed theirs, lived an even more carefree life.
The Fang family, which made their fortune from cinnabar, has disappeared from the public eye since then. They have confined themselves to their small , and their power is completely unknown to outsiders.
The land of Bashu is isolated and has no communication with the outside world.
Their understanding of the Central Plains has always been through the tiger and wolf country of Qin, which was excluded by the orthodox Central Plains.
The roads in Shu are narrow, and there are many places where one man can block the passage of ten thousand. Foreign countries could not have much influence on them, and they happened to be in the Qin Dynasty, which regarded etiquette as nothing. How much could they change?
This resulted in the culture and customs in Bashu being very different from those in the Central Plains. There was no such thing as merchants being of low status. The Fang family had both the inside and the outside in Bashu and were truly the kings of the place.
If she hadn't provoked Bai Qi and caused a massacre, how could Yu Tianqing have usurped her family business and made Ba Guafu Qing famous?
With such a huge family business, Luo Tianshui, who inherited his adoptive mother's position and became the second generation of Ba Guafu Qing, narrowly escaped death several times, used both appeasement and iron-blooded tactics, and formed an alliance with the Lu Chamber of Commerce, which was seeking cooperation, to bring in external aid. He finally secured the position after surviving many dangers.
The world can only see the beauty of Ba Guafu Qing, but not the dead girl Luo Tianshui.
And now, she wants to seek stability.
She risked her life and almost gave up everything to gain this status and wealth, and she would not allow anyone to take it away, not even the ruler of the world.
Unless, it's her children.
She bit her red lips and whispered softly, her eyes were as charming as silk.
"Your Majesty~"
It was because of this sweet cry that she received two elite soldiers.
She practices charm and martial arts to strengthen her body, practices alchemy, and refines elixirs to strengthen herself. How could her physical strength be that poor? She is just begging for mercy and pretending to sleep to wait for elite soldiers.
A woman's body will always be given away, she just chose the best.
Originally, the First Emperor was her best option. She traveled all the way to Xianyang last year just for this purpose. The reason why it didn't work out in the end was not because the First Emperor was unwilling, but because she was unwilling.
Although she was well versed in alchemy, she only had contact with the First Emperor for two days and walked around the harem a few times, and she was convinced that he was a ruthless tiger and wolf.
There is a little bit of love between men and women.
There is not much love a mother can show for her child.
Matters of the bed and the ties of children are far less exciting than expanding territory.
That fierce king had no intention of marriage, only annexation.
Holding his lower abdomen, Ba Qing looked inside himself and saw no signs of life, with a look of disappointment on his face.
It would be strange if she could find out, as she just opened the gate to welcome the elite troops the day before yesterday.
Ba Qing sighed quietly.
"I was too impatient."
She thought that the Second Emperor was extremely brave in fighting against many enemies alone, so she had higher expectations for his elite troops.
More than a month later, spring comes and flowers bloom.
Within half a month, three royal orders from Xianyang arrived in Bashu, each time collecting a million shi of grain and fodder, and three million shi of grain and fodder were demanded three times!
An adult in the Qin Dynasty needed 18 shi of grain a year. Not counting the transportation costs, 3 million shi of grain was enough for 160,000 Qin troops to fight for a year. For the wealthy Fang family, this was definitely not a small amount.
The Fang family was filled with resentment and held several meetings in front of the Catholic statue. Most of them thought that it would be better to allow conscription to Bashu and go to the war.
Those untouchables are not from the Fang family, how can they compare to the Fang family's three million shi of grain!
Ba Guafu Qing only attended the last time and made the final decision.
"As long as there is no conscription, the Fang family will give you as much food as you want!"
The next day, grain carts loaded with three million shi of grain set out from Bashu and headed towards Guanzhong.
The Fang family members dared to speak out in anger, and secretly Luo Tianshui's name was once again heard. The real widow Ba had died long ago, and this adopted daughter Luo Tianshui could not be considered a member of the Fang family at all, so how could she be in charge of the Fang family.
Similar heart-piercing words spread throughout Bashu within a month, and the force forcing Luo Tianshui to step down became increasingly stronger.
Just two days later, all the sounds disappeared.
Ba Qing sat on the main chair in front of the statue of God, smiling softly at the Fang family members, who were less trembling than usual.
With her high bun tied in a woman's style, she was as gentle as water, just like the daughter of the sea god.
"You guys have been calling me Ba Guafu Qing for many years, why do you change your words recently~"
Everyone in the room was silent at first, but soon, everyone praised the widow of Ba as pure.
The next day, two pieces of news left the Fang family and entered Bashu.
Article 1.
Ba Guafu Qing said in person:
"People are my greatest wealth."
Article 2.
In order to protect the people of Bashu from war, the widow of Ba dedicated herself to the King of Qin and donated five million grains of rice.
For a time , the reputation of Ba Guafu Qing spread throughout Bashu and won the support of the people.
The Second Emperor kept his promise and did not recruit soldiers into Bashu.
Ba Qing returned the favor and fulfilled her promise.
"As long as there is no conscription, I, Ba Qing, will give you whatever your majesty wants, no matter how much you want!"
Except for Ying Chengjiao and Luo Tianshui, no one knows what these two promises mean and how much change they will bring to the world.
