Chapter 272 New Building
The Meng, Xi and Bai families are the oldest aristocratic families of the Qin Dynasty today. They were founded as early as the time of Duke Mu of Qin.
The founders of the three schools were nominally Meng Mingshi, Xiqishu, and Bai Yibing.
In fact, the Meng family was founded by Meng Mingshi’s father, Baili Xi, a famous wise minister in history.
The ancestors of the Xi and Bai families were Xi Qishu, who was founded by Jian Shu, the grandfather of Bai Yibing. The Xi and Bai families were originally one family.
At that time, Duke Xian of Jin wanted to attack the State of Guo, but he had to pass through the State of Yu. So he gave good horses and jade to the king of Yu to ask for permission to pass through.
At that time, a minister of the State of Yu named Baili Xi stood up to oppose it.
At that time, there was a minister named Gong Zhiqi who also spoke out to stop it.
This is absolutely not possible. The relationship between Guo and Yu is like lips and teeth. If you lose your lips, you can't keep your teeth. If Guo is destroyed, can our Yu still survive?
This is the origin of the idiom "lips and teeth are cold".
The king of Yu refused to listen and said that it would be inappropriate for Jin to not let it pass through his territory when it was giving me treasures.
So, after the State of Jin destroyed the State of Guo through the pass, it returned and destroyed the State of Yu on the way back.
This is the origin of the idiom "假虞灭郭".
The State of Yu was destroyed and Baili Xi became a slave of the State of Jin.
Later, Qin and Jin formed an alliance, and Baili Xi was sent to Qin as a dowry for the wife of Qin Mu Gong .
Although he was already over seventy years old, Baili Xi, whose ambitions had not yet been fulfilled, did not want to be a slave for the rest of his life, so he fled to the State of Chu.
When Duke Mu of Qin heard about Baili Xi's talents, he felt it was a pity to let such a person go to the State of Chu.
So they negotiated with the State of Chu, offering to exchange five black sheepskins for Baili Xi.
Because Baili Xi was a slave at that time, the Chu State had no reason to refuse the offer of five sheepskins in exchange for one slave.
When Baili Xi entered Qin for the second time, Duke Mu of Qin went to greet him in person and asked him for advice on how to govern the country.
Baili Xi refused, saying that he was a minister of a fallen country and had no face to talk about governing the country.
After repeated requests from Duke Mu of Qin, Baili Xi finally spoke and talked with him for three days.
He presided over state affairs and served as Prime Minister of Qin, and had the reputation of "all his plans were successful and all his actions were fruitful".
Duke Huan of Qi became hegemon because of Guan Zhong, and Duke Mu of Qin established his hegemony because of Baili Xi.
After Baili Xi entered the court, he recommended his good friend Jian Shu to join the court.
With the assistance of Baili Xi and Jian Shu, Duke Mu of Qin attacked the Quanrong several times and intimidated Bashu.
He defeated the State of Jin at Yaoshan, captured Duke Hui of Jin alive, imprisoned Duke Huai of Jin, and helped Duke Wen of Jin return to the country and succeed to the throne.
The Zhou emperor sent a flag and recognized Qin's dominant position. As a result, Baili Xi and Jian Shu's status in Qin rose to an extremely high level.
Two people in power.
Their sons Meng Mingshi, Xiqishu and Bai Yibing served as generals. All three of them were generals with outstanding military achievements in the Qin State.
The father and son duo are both good at literature and martial arts, and they have an irreplaceable position in the Qin State.
These five people made the State of Qin rise for a time, making Duke Mu of Qin the second overlord among the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, after Duke Huan of Qi.
The Meng, Xi and Bai families were founded under such circumstances. During the reign of Duke Mu of Qin, the three families were so powerful that even the royal Ying clan did not dare to look down on them.
During that period, the three families of Meng, Xi and Bai made great contributions to the development of the Qin State.
Therefore, the King of Qin granted the three families many privileges in return. The three families were the only noble families under the royal family.
However, as time went by, the Meng, Xi, and Bai families, who started out as warring families, no longer had the fighting spirit.
The extravagant and comfortable life wore away the fighting spirit of the three families, and they gradually became idlers who relied on their ancestral foundation to eat and drink for free, and sucked blood from the Qin State.
The three families of Meng, Xi and Bai made Qin the most powerful country in the Spring and Autumn Period and pushed Duke Mu of Qin to the position of overlord.
They became a stumbling block to the development of the Qin State, using national strength to support their family, which resulted in the Qin State being blocked by the Wei State in Hangu Pass during the reign of Qin Xiaogong, and was in danger of being destroyed.
Therefore, Duke Xiao of Qin supported Shang Yang's reforms, which caused the power of the three major families to suffer a devastating blow for the first time.
In the circumstances where farmland is being confiscated and state-owned resources are being withdrawn, if the three companies do not make changes, they will become weaker and weaker and disappear into history.
However, a hundred years of extravagance and debauchery, where everything was provided for them, had caused the three families to lose the bravery, bravery, and passion of their ancestors Meng Mingshi, Xiqishu, and Bai Yibing.
The three families, which did not require hard work and could be contented by exploitation, did not have the soil to produce such amazing talents as the founders Baili Xi and Jian Shu.
The three families who only knew how to eat, drink and have fun were used by Shang Yang as chickens to scare the monkeys. They were the main targets of attack and were on the verge of extinction in the Qin State, which implemented the policy of farming and warfare.
It turned out that the three companies found a point of change in their own expertise in eating, drinking and having fun: the building.
There was only one public entertainment facility in the Qin State, which was the tower.
Almost all the concubines in the Qin palaces came from three families.
Each of the three families has their own specialty, and the slaves they train have their own magical powers. They use their best skills to play with women and train them to be the most enjoyable for the male guests.
Almost all the noble families in Qin State depended on Gan family's business for their livelihood.
The Meng, Xi and Bai families also depend on the Gan family for food, but they do not rely on the Gan family. They make a living by training and selling slave concubines.
This is in accordance with Qin law. Slaves and concubines are objects, not people.
Relying on being the only entertainment supplier in Qin State, the three companies which already had a long history in Qin State accumulated a lot of wealth and came back from the brink of destruction.
Although it is difficult to restore the time when the three families of the ancestors dominated the Qin State, it has become the leading family among the aristocratic families.
Except for those families that have established themselves based on military achievements, such as the Meng family to which Meng Tian belonged, the Li family to which Li Xin belonged, and the Wang family to which Wang Jian belonged, others looked down upon the actions of the Meng, Bai, and Xi families.
All other noble families were envious of the three families' business of selling slave concubines and wanted to get involved.
It's just that the three companies are closely related and firmly control all the building businesses in Qin State except the capital, and they don't share the profits.
The reason why the towers in the capital were not built was that after experiencing Shang Yang's concentrated firepower attack, the three families learned to make a fortune in silence and did not want to be too presumptuous under the nose of the King of Qin and cause trouble for their students.
There were also some noble families who pooled their money and wanted to unite to compete with the three major families, but they were completely defeated.
The money they had gave them the capital to break the impasse, but the concubines they trained could not break the impasse of the concubines trained by the three families.
Compared with the young men of the three families who have a hundred years of experience in playing with women, and compared with the first three families who set their sights on the resources of the tower and established a systematic model for training concubines, they don't know how to train at all.
All the noble families have long been curious about the training methods of the three families.
One is for profit.
The second is for desire.
At this time, all the noble families were in panic because of Ying Chengjiao and wanted revenge.
When Gan Luo was arrested and the Gan family was suppressed, the three major families stood up and took the lead.
The three great families used the excuse of announcing the training methods as an excuse to invite the heads of the major families to the Bai family for a meeting, and all the invited heads of the major families came.
The three families bought a large mansion in an area farthest from the Xianyang Palace in Xianyang, and broke down and connected all the outer walls of the mansions to form a huge courtyard that could accommodate thousands of people.
There was no plaque or plaque hanging above the gate of the large courtyard, and no one had written anything on it. It was just blank.
But all the heads of the noble families who came here knew that this was a new building, a new building built by the three major families in Xianyang.
The tower is a government institution and there can only be one in each city, so the new tower can never be made public and is naturally hidden from the public.
This kind of secrecy is very useful for the nobles who are angry about being monitored in their towers, and who have to gallop on horseback, make love with others, rise and fall, go up and down, and be careful not to say the wrong thing.
Even if I can't find out how the three families make money today, at least I can indulge in some sensual pleasures.
Most of the heads of noble families who have been nervous recently think so.
There was no one guarding the gate or guarding the gray mansion.
The gate looks like two simple wooden boards, which are the same as the wooden doors found in ordinary homes in Xianyang.
The old wooden door was wide open.
Since noon, there has been a steady stream of people entering this large mansion, which looks absolutely nothing like luxurious.
One by one, people wearing dark coarse linen gowns walked in. Judging from their appearance, the heads of these major families looked like ordinary people in Xianyang.
But as soon as they saw their faces, everyone could tell that was definitely not the expression ordinary people should have.
The wax festival is over.
In Xianyang, a city with extremely strict control, people's faces are mostly numb and their steps are hurried.
No other common people would have such calm expressions and excited eyes as they did.
In order to keep a low profile, none of them came on horseback, and no one came by car.
Well, at least no one drove the carriage to the door of the new building. Most people got off the carriage a hundred meters away.
This could not be hidden from the eyes and ears of the patrolling city defense troops, and they had no intention of doing so.
In Xianyang, there was nothing the First Emperor didn't know as long as he wanted to know.
They did this just to express their attitude that they had no intention of causing trouble.
The new building that looks shabby on the outside is an attitude, and the coarse linen gown that only untouchables wear is also an attitude.
Attitude is important.
Just as all the heads of noble families knew, building a new building was a taboo and would displease the First Emperor.
Business in government buildings is very bad, so everyone comes here to have fun.
Although as long as you don't pay for the new building, it doesn't violate Qin law, and free sex doesn't count as prostitution.
But this touched the First Emperor's purse strings.
And this is also the attitude that the major families want to show.
Your Majesty, if you don't tidy up the tower and deal with that brat, we won't dare to go to the tower to play.
Darkness swallowed up the light.
The curtain covered the sky.
Xianyang entered a secret evening.
The curfew forced all outsiders and non-outsiders to stay indoors.
The city defense troops patrolling at night could be seen on the streets of Xianyang.
The two old wooden doors of the new building were closed, and inside there were four muscular slave concubines divided into two groups, two people in each group.
They grunted and struggled to push the two wooden doors on the left and right, which should not have been so heavy.
Boom~
The two old wooden doors on the left and right made a dull clanging sound when they closed, rather than the rustling sound of wood rubbing against each other.
Clang~
A big lock was locked from the inside.
Actually, this doesn't mean much, because the two wooden doors are filled with refined and compacted bronze.
Even if it was not locked, it would take four Qin soldiers to push the door open.
A room inside the new building.
The butler walked in respectfully, bent down 90 degrees, and performed a cumbersome etiquette that had long been abolished in the Qin State to Meng Jiakun, Bai Fei, and Xi Shu who were sitting quietly.
He said respectfully, "My Lords, the door is locked."
Meng Jiakun's eyes were shining, which was very conspicuous in the dim room with only one candle lit.
It's like a wild cat watching the movements of mice, ready to pounce and catch them at any time.
"How many people are here?"
Without being ordered to stand up, the butler remained bent over with his head down and looking at the ground.
He said, "No one from the Meng family came, no one from the Li family came...Except for these eight families, all those who sent out invitations have come."
"Humph, you don't know how to appreciate my kindness!"
Xishu snorted coldly, anger flashing in his eyes.
"Meng Mingshi, Xiqishu, and Bai Yibing, our three ancestors, fought in all the wars of that generation. They have only produced a few generals and fought in so many battles, yet they dare to be so arrogant in front of our three families!"
Bai Fei smiled faintly and asked Xishu to calm down, then waved his hand to ask the butler to leave.
The butler, terrified and forced to listen to Xishu's anger and afraid of being killed, thanked him profusely with a "Yes" and walked out at a pace a little faster than usual.
"Aren't they always so arrogant? That old fellow Meng Ao thinks he has done a lot of hard work and he curses everyone he sees. Under the leadership of such a rude Qi animal, the Meng family doesn't even take the Wang family of Wucheng Marquis seriously. Is it any surprise that they don't come?"
The First Emperor always referred to Meng Ao as Meng Gong, and Bai Fei referred to him as a livestock from Qi.
None of the three people present were surprised or objected, and it was obvious that this was not the first time they had heard of it.
"Brother Xi , you should change your temper. Fighting with such a bully is a disgrace to the noble status of our three families. They are just a bunch of ants who don't know whether to live or die tomorrow."
Meng Jiakun stood up by supporting himself on the table, stirring up the sticky darkness.
The long years seem to have made Meng Jiakun, the head of this generation of the Meng family, forget about it.
The nominal founders of the Meng, Xi and Bai families, Meng Mingshi, Xiqishu and Bai Yibing, were all generals, and the three families were originally military families.
"My mentality is unbalanced." Xishu reflected on himself, "A group of ants who only know how to fight and kill but not how to manage will lose their power sooner or later. When that happens, I will sell all the women among them to the frontier towers and let them be stabbed to death by those barbarians!"
"That's right. Ever since that old villain Wei Yang started his reforms, a large group of generals have emerged, many of whom look down on our three families. After their generals die, won't their wives and concubines be at our disposal as we please?"
Baizhu felt a little dry in the mouth as he spoke, so he took a sip of hot water to moisten his throat.
He grinned and said, "We gave them a chance to live. Since they won't come, they will have to wait for the day when they are exterminated and will have to enjoy themselves under our crotches and wail at our knees. The ones who should be angry are not Brother Xi, but Qi and the little beasts who followed that beast."
The thick night was stirred again, like a bottle of black ink being overturned.
Meng Jiakun looked back, his two cat eyes flashing with cruelty, excitement, pleasure, and impatience.
"Let's go, everyone is here. Today is the day when our three great families return to the top of the Qin family. We should thank that bastard for this. If he hadn't arrested our good nephew, how could we have this opportunity?"
After he finished speaking, he couldn't help laughing out loud.
Bai Fei and Xi Shu also laughed out loud.
“Hahahahahaha…”
