In the thirty-fifth year of the First Emperor of Qin, just after the rooster crowed on the second day of October, three important ministers were summoned by an audience to wait outside the Jieshi Palace and Bedroom, waiting to see the emperor.
They are Li Si, the right prime minister, Mao Jiao, the imperial censor, and Yao Jia, the Shaofu. The three of them are all veteran ministers. They have reached the age of destiny and hearing, and their hair and beard are gray. The sixty-eight-year-old Yao Jia is even bald on the top of his head.
Fortunately, there is a hat to cover it...
The emperor had probably just woken up and had not arrived for a while. The three people in the palace had the memorials they had written after staying up all night in their sleeves. They stood separately, a few steps apart, very clearly. Li Si was preoccupied, Mao Jiao raised his head to gaze at the stars, and only Yao Jia kept his head up from time to time.
Yawn.
Yao Jia was originally from Wei, and was born as a "Prisoner of the World". His father was a prisoner who guarded the city gate. He had a similar experience to Li Si in his early years. He had a low status, but was quite talented. He served in Wei and Zhao, but was scolded as ""
"Liang Zhi is a great thief, Zhao Zhi is a chaser", and his reputation is very bad.
It wasn't until he entered the Qin Dynasty and served the First Emperor of Qin that Yao Jia finally found a master worthy of his allegiance.
After Yao Jia yawned, he found the atmosphere awkward. He looked at Li Si, then at Mao Jiao, and suddenly laughed: "Prime Minister, doctor censor, it has been more than 20 years since we last called together like this to wait for your majesty.
Before, it was about the time when the three of us were all Lang Guanshi, right?"
Li Si, Mao Jiao thought about it, and it was really like this. In addition to Li Si's career going smoothly and rising steadily by Qin Shihuang's side, Mao Jiao and Yao Jia both went abroad for a long time.
Mao Jiao spoke out and remonstrated, which angered the emperor, while Yao Jia was too active in poisoning Han Fei and acted as a knife for Li Si. Qin Shihuang regretted it later. Although it was not easy to kill Yao Jia to vent his anger, he also killed him
He was responsible for sending envoys to various countries. After the unification, he also served as a county guard. It was not until recent years when the old ministers withered and the nine ministers were short of people that the emperor remembered him and transferred him back to the central government as a young man.
However, when the three old colleagues reunited, their relationship was no longer what it used to be. Li Si and Mao Jiao had political disagreements and often argued in court - this was also the court balance set up by Qin Shihuang. Yao Jiaze and Zuo Prime Minister Feng Quji relied on each other.
Very close.
But now, it is not the time to quarrel. Yao Jia said: "The Southern Expedition has encountered obstacles, and it is a troubled time. I hope the three of us can be like we did in the past, not only to help each other in the same boat, but at least to be patient with each other for the sake of the country."
"It's natural."
Li Si and Mao Jiao both nodded, but they didn't agree in their hearts. Mao Jiao was even more defensive. Although Yao Jia spoke beautifully, he was not polite at all when he harmed others. This person had a close relationship with Li Si. Back then, Han
Unless he was killed by these two people in conspiracy, he didn't want to follow in their footsteps.
After waiting for another half moment, Qin Shihuang arrived belatedly. The emperor's complexion was not very good, and he occasionally coughed when speaking.
After hearing the news from the south yesterday, all the ministers looked at each other in shock. Except for Heifu who had a premonition, no one expected such a result!
But the clever Yao Jia immediately jumped out and tried his best to discredit Tu Sui, throwing all the blame on the dead general, saying that his general was incompetent and the three armies were suffering. All the ministers agreed.
At that time, Mao Jiao felt extremely ironic after hearing this. Half a year ago, Tu Sui killed Lord Xiou and when the situation in the south was great, the officials were full of praise for him. And can Tu Sui really be blamed for this? Qin Shihuang
He hoped to pacify Baiyue in the first month of the new year, but the edict was urgent, so Tu Sui had no choice but to bite the bullet and take risks...
But there is no way, Qin Shi Huang is a god on earth, he will not make mistakes, then the only mistakes are the generals below and the person who recommended Tu Sui - Li You.
Li Si also had to stand up and ask Qin Shihuang to severely punish Li You and remove him from office and imprison him!
"We will not discuss the matters that have been investigated for the time being."
Qin Shihuang was not interested in this kind of self-deception. What he wanted was the result, the result!
The emperor's only concern is whether this battle can still be fought, how to fight it, and who will fight it?
This is also the question that the ministers were ordered to think about last night. The emperor is very anxious and must give him an answer today!
Yao Jia, the Shaofu, was the first to speak: "Your Majesty, I asked someone to make a plan last night. Because all the counties in the world implement calculations and collect brown sugar for official business, the Shaofu is full of money!"
As soon as Mao Jiao heard this, he knew that old Yao was taking credit for himself. When he first took office as the Shaofu, Yao Jia did two major things: Suan Min and Brown Sugar Official Camp. While the merchants were filled with grief, they also made the Shaofu make countless money.
.
As a native of Qi, Mao Jiao, who was deeply influenced by Guanzi Shang as an agricultural assistant, naturally hated this kind of killing of chickens to obtain eggs, but he was helpless. Money was needed everywhere in Lishan Mountain, North and South, the Great Wall, and the Western Regions.
But I heard Yao Jia say again: "As for the grain and fodder, since Lord Canghai has been appointed as the leader and the northern expedition has stopped, if the grain and fodder from the Central Plains are transported to the south, the grain will be sufficient and we can send troops to fight again!"
For the emperor, this is undoubtedly good news. If he wants to save the defeat and save the face of the court, it is not enough to punish the relevant personnel, but also to turn defeat into victory!
"In this case, we will recruit a group of corvees from various counties and go south to reinforce. I hope that Baiyue can be restored before summer this year!"
Half a year was the psychological limit of Qin Shihuang.
At present, the follow-up news from the south has not yet arrived. Qin Shihuang only thought that this was just the accidental death of the general, just like the sudden death of Yang Duanhe last year, and it did not affect the overall situation of the Eastern Expedition.
The emperor who had never been to Lingnan could never imagine how corrupt the situation in the south was. Eighty-ten thousand of the Cangwu Army's ten thousand men had died, completely losing their combat effectiveness. The Guilin Army was also in a difficult situation and could only barely hold on to its stronghold.
The Chu people and Huang Xiejun in the army felt that the Qin Taijun deliberately sent them to die. Their attitude was very negative and there was a possibility of mutiny at any time...
At the same time, Xiou, Luoyue, and South Vietnam also began to unite to drive the invaders out of their homes.
Because of the delay in news, the three important ministers did not feel that there was anything wrong with Qin Shihuang's expectations.
Even if he is as calm as Mao Jiao, he does not have a clear understanding. Yesterday, Qin Shihuang carved an inscription on the Jieshi: "The terrain is established, the common people have no Yao, and the world is prosperous. Men enjoy their fields, women cultivate their careers, and everything is in order." This is quite
Yu announced that after defeating Baiyue, he would rest with the people.
Mao Jiao saw hope. Since he could not persuade Qin Shihuang to stop the Lingnan garrison, he could only hope that the battle could be resolved quickly.
They are just a few small tribes of barbarians. As long as they party with their generals, the Qin Heavenly Army will not destroy them? This is the blind self-confidence of the Celestial Kingdom. The predecessors were like this, and future generations will have to repeat similar mistakes countless times.
The fight must be done, and it must be done cleanly and neatly. It can be done in half a year, so there is only one question left:
Who is going?
"I recommend someone!"
Mao Jiao immediately said: "Heifu, the guard of Jiaodong, once led troops to conquer Yuzhang, built the city of Nanchang, and garrisoned the fortresses. He knew the situation in the south, and Heifu was known for his military knowledge. Although he was not the first to drive away the Xiongnu, he acted steadily and was quite good.
If you have the style of a general, you will gather Qi in the third month and help the young master to destroy Canghai. Everyone has merit and can be the main general!"
Qin Shihuang thought for a moment and looked at Li Si:
"What do you think, Prime Minister?"
Li Si had his own guess in his mind. Two years ago, when Qin Shihuang decided to use troops against Baiyue, two memorials were placed in front of him. Heifu and Tu Sui both recommended themselves as generals. In the end, the emperor was attracted by Tu Sui's "two years to pacify Yue".
, chose him as the main general.
As a result, Tu Sui's army was defeated and killed, which was a huge disappointment.
This incident has a sense of déjà vu. It is almost the same as when Li Xin and Wang Jian attacked Chu successively!
Appointing Heifu as general at this time is undoubtedly a disguised admission that the emperor's decision-making back then was wrong. The current Qin Shihuang is not the Qin Wangzheng who used to be a polite and virtuous corporal. It is almost impossible for the emperor to admit his mistakes...
"Conquering Yue is different from destroying Chu. It does not mean that if Hei Fu is missing, there will be no one to replace him."
But Li Si thought about it carefully. Apart from Heifu, there was really no more suitable general for the great Qin Dynasty: Wang Bi and Ye Teng were both seriously ill, Li Xinyuan was far away in the Western Region, and Meng Tian was guarding the northern border. Moreover, these two guys were not good at fighting in the south.
In battles, we have been defeated miserably before.
As for the younger generals, Feng Jie and Wang Li, they did not perform well and did not gain the emperor's trust. As for his son Li You, Li Si knew that he was not qualified for the job...
And there is one thing that is very concerning. Yesterday, Qin Shihuang asked Hei Fu to come with him to the palace to inform him of the news and discuss the military affairs of the south, but today he was not summoned.
"Could it be that the best candidate in His Majesty's heart is still Hei Fu, and you are deliberately trying to avoid him?"
Taking into account Qin Shihuang's determination to "take over half a year", Li Si had some concerns.
Regardless of whether you agree or disagree, there are risks. Even if you say something heart-wrenching about "Hei Fu is young, he may not be rewarded if he performs more meritorious services", it will not be flattering. This kind of eye medicine should be left to the ministers.
Since it is difficult to stop it, we can only find another way.
So Li Si simply recommended another person, a person who was destined to be opposed by Mao Jiao, and whose qualifications and achievements were difficult to compete with Heifu:
"The veteran believes that Jiaodong Captain Ren Xiao can also be a general. Ren Xiao once followed General Wang to destroy Chu and was stationed in Kuaiji. He recruited the Chu Yue boat division and was skilled in crossing the land. Later he went north to serve as Jiaodong Captain and sailed eastward to transport grain and fodder.
His merits are no less than those of the governor of Wei County, and the Jiaodong Boat Master can immediately go south to Jiangdong to take charge of the overall situation..."
As expected, Mao Jiao objected: "Prime Minister, Kuaiji and Xiou are thousands of miles apart. How can Ren Xiao take charge of the overall situation? And although Ren Xiao is good at water warfare, as far as I know, Xiou and Luoyue are all densely forested and mountainous, and there are no buildings or ships."
There is no place for us to fight. Even if we go south, I'm afraid it won't help."
Qin Shihuang still did not express his attitude, and glanced at the third person: "Yao Jia?"
"I thought..."
As an old comrade who cooperated to trap Han Fei to death, Yao Jia immediately understood Li Si's intention of recommending Ren Xiao. This was to retreat in order to advance!
He then smiled and said: "Prime Minister, what the imperial censor said is reasonable. Why don't your majesty make Hei Fu the leader and Ren Xiao the deputy? Use the strategy Hei Fu proposed in the past to pacify Yue, advance by land and water, and use the boat division to transport troops and supplies.
If this is the case, Lingnan can be settled in half a year!"
This is Li Si's real intention, to recommend Ren Xiao. After this matter is spread, it will make Ren Xiao grateful and make him and Heifu have a grudge. The boat master controls the food lifeline and will not let the Confederate Army fall into disgrace.
Dominate.
In just a few words, the three spirits had already fought back and forth several times. Outside the palace, they even said that they would work together to help each other. After a while, the intrigues started again.
But this has nothing to do with the overall situation. Qin Shihuang nodded and said to the visitor: "Summon the Jiaodong County Governor!"
Sure enough, Qin Shihuang didn't call him Hei Fu today just to avoid suspicion. As early as when the bad news came from the south, the emperor's candidate had already been decided!
Unbeknownst to the three of them, Qin Shihuang coughed up blood again last night. Both his body and his patience were exhausted.
It’s time to put that cow-slaughtering knife that has been sharpened for a long time to use!
What he needs is a quick battle that silences everyone, just like a cook trying to untie a cow!
…
Not long after, Hei Fu had already rode up to Jieshi Palace. He was not in a hurry and walked up the steps slowly. Outside the palace, he first took off his frost-stained mink fur, then took off his sword and handed it to Lang Wei.
He took off his shoes at the door of the palace, stepped inside wearing only his bare clothes, and bowed before His Majesty:
"Official Heifu, I have met Your Majesty!"
Qin Shihuang never said any nonsense:
"Heifu, I want you to be the commander-in-chief of the Southern Expedition. Before Xia enters, you can pacify Baiyue! Is it possible?"
"With your Majesty's trust, I am willing to obey the order and go south immediately. I dare not delay for a moment!"
This attitude is very interesting. Among the three ministers in the palace, Li Si is worried, Yao Jia is stroking his beard and smiling, and Mao Jiao is very happy. He has high hopes for Hei Fu. If Hei Fu can control the army of the Southern Expedition, it will also be helpful for the future establishment of a prince...
…
But unexpectedly, Hei Fu said again: "But after half a year of peace, Hei Fu does not dare to deceive the king..."
He raised his head and said helplessly: "I can't do it!"