The co-teacher guessed wrong. Unfortunately, Heifu heard clearly the conversation between their uncle and nephew...
However, Heifu had no intention of reporting it, because at this time, the Qin Dynasty, which had tightened its control over speech after the "Book Burning" incident, was relatively loose on private discussion. As long as they did not blatantly call for rebellion or sympathize with the assassins who assassinated the king, they were basically free.
Won't lose your head.
Gong Ao angrily scolded Lord Wu An fifty years ago. He was indignant that his family was affected by the war and almost died. If this matter was really pursued, it would be regarded as an "unreasonable" crime. It would be fine and fined, but at most it would be done.
It will make Gong Ao lose his position as a thief.
Therefore, there is no need to offend the Tong clan for something that is of little benefit to oneself and create another enemy for oneself.
Therefore, Heifu deliberately turned his head and looked at the city wall, pretending not to hear, so as to avoid trouble.
Master Gong seemed to admire Heifu for being promoted to the position of pavilion chief on his own at such a young age. He was somewhat optimistic about him, so he said that Gong Ao had just turned 18 and was one year younger than Heifu, so he was considered his descendant. He hoped that on the way north,
Please take good care of Heifu.
But Gong Ao looked dissatisfied and murmured: "Can a Guizhou leader who doesn't even have a family name be able to take care of me?"
"You're such a bastard, you really don't know what's good or bad!"
The co-teacher angrily rebuked: "Heifu, the pavilion chief, has a hairpin, but he is not taller than you?"
Gong Ao was just a young nobleman. In front of the actual title, he had to shut up obediently and reluctantly bowed to Hei Fu. Now it was Qin, not Chu. The status was not determined by surname, but more by titles and official positions.
.
Speaking of which, Bai Qi, whom they mentioned earlier, may be the biggest beneficiary of this system. It is said that Bai Qi is a descendant of Bai Gongsheng of Chu State, also called Gongsun Qi, but when he was young, he was reduced to the status of a servant.
.In the Chu State, he would have been an unpopular descendant of a traitor, with no hope of success in his life. But in the Qin State, Bai Qi had performed meritorious service by decapitating a soldier, and gradually became a military official, and relied on
With the support of Ranghou Wei Ran, he climbed to the top in one step and had the opportunity to shine...
Between Qin and Chu, Bai Qi chose Qin without hesitation.
After this episode, Heifu returned to the pavilion and told everyone that they would go on the road together with the Yan County garrison. After hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, which meant that he did not have to bear the responsibility alone.
The prisoner is at risk of escaping.
It was night, Heifu looked at the dark Yan County city wall in the night, and thought thoughtfully: "Actually, Gong Ao is right, Bai Qi was in Yan, and he left not only Yuwei in Nan County, but also the local people.
Hatred for Qin..."
From a military point of view, the Battle of Yanying was a beautiful battle to break the country. Bai Qi's boldness and military talent were perfectly reflected. But like all the battles commanded by Bai Qi, too many Chu people died in this battle
.
During the offensive and defensive battle of Yan City, hundreds of thousands of people died. Because there were too many corpses, the whole city stunk. The Pichi in the east of the city is still called the "Stinky Pond". The memory of that war is also passed down orally.
Let young people like Gong Ao remember it fresh.
Similarly, in the Battle of Yingdu, many Chu people died unexpectedly.
Therefore, after the war, almost every household that survived in Yan and Jiangling had a grudge against the Qin State. Although many people had moved from Qin after fifty years of rule, the locals still had a strong opinion of Qin's rule.
But the situation of dissatisfaction has not changed.
Hei Fu finally understood why Du Xian repeatedly lamented that "Yan is difficult to govern" when they met. In the 19th year of the Qin Dynasty, Nanjun was on the alert. In addition to the thieves in Yunmengze, there was also some unrest in Yancheng due to Jiangling.
Stable.
On the contrary, in Anlu and other counties that were not greatly damaged in the Qin-Chu war, Qin's rule was easier to establish. Anyway, for the common people in the capital of Guizhou, it doesn't matter whether they are the king of Chu or the official of Qin.
Isn’t it about paying taxes? In this era when revenge is paramount, whether someone in the family was beheaded by the Qin army will largely determine one’s stance towards the Qin State.
"If Yancheng, which has been established as a county for fifty years, is like this, wouldn't Han, Zhao, Yan and other places that were just conquered have an even more serious hatred towards Qin?"
Especially in the Zhao region, the scars left by the Battle of Changping have not yet healed. After the fall and massacre of Handan, a new wound may have been added. Those generous and elegiac people of Yan and Zhao are more difficult to rule than the Chu people of Nanjun.
The royal families of the two countries took refuge in Dai County and Liaodong, and were still resisting. A rebellion also broke out in Xinzheng, South Korea, in September. It is said that it has just subsided, and there is still some chaos in Yingchuan County...
"Under the general trend of the times, the undercurrent is still surging." Thinking this, Heifu fell into a deep sleep.
…
When Hei Fu and others left Yan City, they joined three to four hundred people led by Zuo Wei of Yan County. The number of people recruited in Yan County was more garrison soldiers than prisoners, so the chances of Cheng Dan's subordinates fleeing were greatly reduced.
They helped take care of it, and Heifu asked Bu Cheng to use superstition to trick the prisoners in Anlu into peace, so the rest of the journey was much easier.
On the winter solstice, a group of several hundred people arrived at Canglangshui.
The tomb leads to the Yangtze River, which flows to the Han Dynasty in the east, and the Canglang River in the east. This is the boundary between Nanjun and Nanyangjun...
As a tributary of the Han River, the Canglang River is not wide and fast, but if it rains, the soil from the upper reaches will be washed down, and the Canglang River will become turbid and reddish-brown.
But it was winter at this time, the Canglang water was light green and clear, and the morning mist spread on the river, as light as a spider web. There were several ferries on the water, slowly heading towards them through the light mist, and the boatmen were singing
The song Confucius heard when he passed by this place hundreds of years ago...
"The water in Canglang is clear, so I can wash my tassel; the water in Canglang is turbid, so I can wash my feet..."
After hearing this, Gong'ao, an angry young man standing side by side with Heifu, said meaningfully: "This water is very muddy. It would be great if I could wash my feet without having to wash my tassels."
Ji Ying, the Dongmen Leopard on the side, was an uneducated outsider and could not understand the metaphor, so he said in a confused way: "This water is very clear, not muddy."
Heifu smiled and shook his head.
Whether the water is clear or muddy is very different in the eyes of people of different classes.
Wash your tassels when you are clean, wash your feet when you are dirty, and get what you want. This is certainly the ideal of the scholar class in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. However, in the face of the real great era, no matter what class or status you are, individuals have no choice.
To be alone? In the late Warring States period when King Qin conquered Liuhe, it did not exist.
You can only choose to be a stubborn rock with a mantis' arm like a chariot, and be smashed to pieces by the stormy waves called "Unification".
Or choose to be a wave under the influence of the storm, go with the trend, protect yourself, and then take advantage of the opportunity to rise higher!
Although Gong Ao never forgets the old hatred of his family, the Yancheng Gong family still chose the latter, otherwise Gong Shi would not be so cautious in interacting with people, and let Gong Ao work as a thief and infiltrate into the system. Hatred returns to hatred, survival
In order to survive, if the family wants to continue, it must bow to reality.
As for Heifu? The good news is that his background and experience mean that he doesn't have to make a choice at this moment.
"Unification is the general trend of the world. It is vast and powerful. Those who follow it will prosper, and those who go against it will perish!"
With this idea in mind, Heifu boarded the boat crossing the waves. The boat sailed north, taking him away from Nanjun and into Nanyang. He was getting further and further away from his peaceful hometown, but getting closer and closer to the drumbeat of war...
…
While Heifu and the others were waiting for the ship to dock in the cold wind of Canglang River, Chen Ying (Huaiyang), hundreds of miles away in the northeast, at the end of the chasm, two generals of the Qin Army were also outside the tall city wall.
waiting.
The two generals stood side by side on the heavy horse army chariot. Their armors were exquisitely made and colorful: brown-black armor, vermilion sash, lace around the armor, and gorgeous animal patterns painted on the white base. The front
There are several colorful flower knots on the chest, back and shoulders, like medals of later generations, showing their different ranks and titles.
He is a tall and burly general who wears a long swallow-tailed crown and a mustache. He is over thirty years old. His armor is decorated with fifteen knots, which means that his title is the 15th level of "Made for Young Masters"!
He is short and stout, wears a chopstick crown on his head, and has a white beard. If he is over forty years old, his armor is decorated with fourteen rosettes, which is the symbol of the "middle watch" of the 13th level title.
Behind them were tens of thousands of heavily armed Qin troops, which were so dark that they surrounded the entire Chen Ying. But despite the large number of people, they were all squatting on the ground, as if waiting for the general's order...
After waiting for a long time, not only the soldiers were tired, but also the horses in the military chariot were impatient. The horses' hooves stepped on the ground restlessly, making a "clack-clack-clack" sound.
In the middle of the night, Qiang Yu (lěi) held his hand on the carriage rail and looked anxiously at Chen Ying's gate. It was covered with scars but was tightly closed. He couldn't help but said to the general beside him: "General Xiao Wang, Lord Changping,
It’s been an hour since we entered the city!”
Upon hearing this, the young commander Wang Ben, who was accustomed to being called "Little General Wang", said to the veteran general Qiang Yu who followed his father in the southern and northern wars: "So what?"
Qiang Xu whispered: "No matter what you say, Mr. Changping is still the son of the Chu Kingdom. If he is..."
"Afraid that he will betray Qin and surrender to Chu?"
Wang Ben smiled and said: "In the thirty-sixth year of King Zhao (271 BC), Changping Jun was born in Xianyang. His father was King Kaolie of Chu who was a hostage in Qin at that time, and his mother was the daughter of King Zhao of Qin.
, it has been forty-five years now. Later, King Kaolie was sent back to the Chu Kingdom by Huang Xie, but Lord Changping was kept by the Queen Mother Huayang, and stayed with the great dynasty in the palace. He was called cousin, but he was actually a brother."
"In the ninth year of this king's reign, the king took charge of the government, and Lao Ai caused chaos in Xianyang. The king ordered Lord Changping to bring peace. In the tenth year of this king's reign, Marquis Wenxin was dismissed and Lord Changping succeeded him as prime minister. He served as the prime minister of Qin for eleven years.
During this period, he worked conscientiously and helped the king to destroy Han and Zhao, and his contribution is indispensable..."
"Isn't it true that Lord Changping's position has been removed by the king?" In the eyes of Qiang Yu and others, this was a sign that Lord Changping had lost the trust of the king.
"Although Lord Changping was dismissed as prime minister last year, the king still trusted him more and ordered him to ride in the king's chariot and inspect the eastern counties. During this period, he also put down the rebellion in Xinzheng and killed King An of Han."
Wang Ben raised his whip, pointed at Chen Ying's city gate and said: "Now, Lord Changping has come to the front line. In order to avoid the destruction of life in the city and heavy casualties during the siege, he also entered the city to persuade General Chen Ying to surrender. You are right, he is
It is true that he is a son of the Chu State, and it is true that he has the blood of the royal family named Mi flowing in his body. However, in the past forty-five years, Changping Lord has been living in the Qin State as a Qin citizen and has never set foot in the Chu Kingdom. Could it be that he just entered the state of Chu?
In one hour in Chu City, the identity of the Prime Minister of Qin for the past eleven years can no longer be maintained?"
Besides, the king ordered in the edict that Lord Changping should go to Chenying to persuade him to surrender. Isn’t this a test for him?
The king also seems to want to see what choice Changping Lord will make between Qin and Chu...
Of course Wang Ben hoped that Lord Changping would choose Qin like people from Chu like Wei Ran and Bai Qi. He thought to himself: "Even if Lord Changping doesn't care about himself, he still has to consider the eldest son..."
The eldest son Fusu, who lives far away in Xianyang, was born to Lord Changping's sister. Although Fusu was only ten years old, he was already very smart, wise and benevolent. Lord Changping's decision was not only related to himself, but also to the people of Changping.
The status of Mr. Fusu.
I hope he can think it through.
After saying this, Wang Ben ordered: "I believe that Lord Changping will not be so confused. Since we have made an agreement with him, we must keep our word and order the three armies to continue to wait. No attack on the city until three poles above the sun!"
Qiang Xu had no choice but to agree, but he secretly thought that compared to General Wang's combination of right and wrong, General Wang's behavior was still a bit too upright...
Fortunately, his worries were unnecessary. Another hour passed, and just as the appointed time was approaching, Chen Ying's city gate finally slowly opened!
A handsome minister with a long crown and brocade clothes and a long beard reaching to his chest came out of the carriage. It was Lord Changping! The carriage drove until it was in front of the Qin army. Lord Changping held it in his hands. The bright red face of the Chu State was as bright as fire.
The phoenix bird flag was thrown into the sand in front of the formation, and at the same time he waved his arms and shouted:
"Chen Ying, surrender!"
"Qin will be victorious!" Tens of thousands of Qin soldiers raised their weapons and cheered! The tiles on the top of Chen Ying City were shaking!
"how?"
Amidst the noisy cheers, Wang Ben looked at Qiang Fu and laughed: "It seems that Lord Changping has made a choice between Qin and Chu!"
After saying that, Wang Ben no longer looked at the city in front of him, but turned back and looked to the northwest, looking at the other end of the chasm!
There, there was a more magnificent and magnificent city waiting for Wang Ben.
Waiting for him to conquer! Waiting for him to establish the achievements of destroying the country! Waiting for him to gain a great reputation like his father!