The topography of Panyu City was surrounded by mountains and the South China Sea. During the First War, the Qin Army's Middle Route Army used this place as their base camp and operated it for a period of time. Unfortunately, they were poorly prepared at the time and had to give up under the double blow of epidemic disease and mutiny.
Now, Heifu planted the red dragon flag representing his status as "Guannei Hou" on the top of the city, announcing that the Qin army would permanently occupy this place.
On the day of the wax festival in the Central Plains, even Nan County is covered with ice and snow, but in Panyu, Lingnan, the climate is only slightly cooler, and the trees all over the mountains are still green.
At the place where the mountains and the sea meet, Heifu asked the entire army to gather and hold a ceremony today: to confer knighthood on the meritorious soldiers!
A huge fleet was moored at sea, and tens of thousands of people were arrayed outside the city. It was a spectacular scene. The Yue people who were detained as concubines couldn't help but be shocked when they saw this scene.
"Commander Ao led the Wuchang camp out of three passes, captured four meetings, and reached Panyu. There were several battles along the way. The whole army beheaded 8,000 prisoners and captured 29,000 Yue people. He has made outstanding contributions and according to the law, he will be honored with two titles. The rank is promoted from the fifth official to the right concubine."
"The fake captain Dongmen Bao, who beheaded 3,146 people and captured 58,000 Yue people, should be promoted to two levels, from Gongcheng to Zuo Shuchang."
According to the rules of the Qin army, Heifu had no right to decide the reward for General Ren Xiao, so he only announced the title of captain, Sima of another department. The captains such as Dongmen Bao and Gong Ao announced The leader, five hundred masters of one level of merit... go down in turn until the leader announces each one.
After the announcement is completed, all those who want to be rewarded with titles above the rank of doctor must be sent to Xianyang. The emperor authorizes the prime minister and the censor to confirm before it is completed. However, for the four titles below the rank, Heifu has the right to Awarded directly by the military...
He asked the loud-voiced guard to hold a simple trumpet made of copper skin, and the sound shook the surrounding areas:
"Among the three armies, those who have outstanding achievements and have been promoted two levels in a row to the rank of doctor or lower will be promoted to the rank of officer!"
There were not many people who met this requirement at the same time. There were only a few dozen people who stood up. Among them, there were prisoners who were directly promoted to the upper class due to their bravery in combat. There were more than 20 people in Guizhou. There were also small-scale battles. In the middle, behead more than twice the required number of hundred chiefs and village chiefs, only a few people...
In the Qin army, collective merit is more difficult than individual merit. Those who can be promoted to two levels in a row are the top people among the lower-level military officials.
Han Xin is also among them.
Under the guidance of the messengers, they came to the front and stood in a row. When they heard that the Marquis of Changnan was coming to register the title in person, their faces had different expressions, some were unbearably excited, and some were inexplicably excited. As lower-level officers and soldiers, Even prisoners, these people rarely even have the chance to see Hei Fu, let alone the old man coming to personally reward him?
Everyone was looking forward to it. After a while, Hei Fu came on horseback and stopped in front of the meritorious soldiers. He immediately got off his horse and was followed by several personal guards. On the tray he held in his hand, there were crowns of different shapes. towel……
Just recall the various things that Heifu has put on his head in the past ten years. Among the Qin army, different ranks have different hairstyles, whether their buns are on the left or right, whether they wear crowns, and what kind of crowns they wear. All are particular.
These hair crowns are equivalent to the military ranks of later generations. When walking in the camp, one can tell the military rank at a glance and know whether to bow hands or bow slightly.
The first to be awarded were the five officers who were directly promoted from "Shangzao" to "Bugen". When Heifu came over, they stood up straight.
Han Xin is located on the far left. This is the first time he has seen Changnan Hou in person. His skin color is bronze, as dark as the legend. He is dressed very solemnly today, wearing a crown on his head and gorgeous armor. Behind him
It's a bright red cloak.
"I have met the king!"
The five people bowed down, and Hei Fu asked them to get up. He then took the trapezoidal wooden crown representing the title of "Bu Geng" from the bodyguard, put it on the head of the meritorious soldier, and then asked the name of the first person.
"My subordinate Zhang Zhong!"
"Are you the commander of Jialu, Yinlu, under the command of Captain Dongmen Bao, and a native of Fo County, Nanjun?"
After the man reported his name, Heifu actually accurately told him his place of origin, official position and the army he was affiliated with. Tuan Zhang Zhang was so pleasantly surprised that he even choked up when he bowed to Heifu.
This is the advantage of spending a little more time when your merits are low. The names of the next three people, Heifu also knew, made this group of military officials extremely proud.
Finally, it was Han Xin's turn.
"You're such a tall young man."
Chief Heifu, who originally wanted to pat Han Xin's shoulder affectionately and call him "kid", had to raise his head before he could look directly into Han Xin's eyes.
Han Xin was indeed very tall, half a head taller than Heifu. The nervous young man realized at this time that he couldn't let Changnan Hou stand on tiptoe to change his crown! He quickly knelt down on one knee.
Heifu didn't stop him. Just like before, he gently took off the red turban on Han Xin's head, took the plate crown, put it firmly on the tall boy's bun, and tied it with a tassel.
Like the soldiers who were awarded honors by their commanders in later generations, Han Xin's body was a little stiff at this moment. When the tassel knot was tied and Heifu asked him to get up, he took a deep breath and said with cupped hands: "Thank you, Lord, my name is...
"
"I know you."
But Hei Fu interrupted Han Xin's words, which made Han Xin's heart skip a beat. He was afraid that what the prince had heard was about the humiliation he suffered from the crotch in Huaiyin.
But Hei Fu pointed at him and said: "Han Xin, Han Xin of Huaiyin, a baggage leader under Xiao He, the commander of grain control, commanded dozens of soldiers and hundreds of civilians, and defeated the Yue people who robbed the grain, fled and beheaded them."
You are the best military officer at the same level, and you have made great contributions..."
The four people next to them glanced at each other with envy. This was the only person who could make the Marquis of Changnan remember his name, place of origin, and achievements...
This made Han Xin's face feel like it was on fire.
But that was all. Heifu didn't say anything more to Han Xin. He immediately took a step back and smiled at the five people:
"No, I really like this title. It was the battle against Wei fourteen years ago. At that time, I was just a small village commander. I got the title for conquering Waihuang. I heard that I don't have to serve in the battle of Gengzu in the future.
, I am very happy to have an extra month of free time every year, and at the same time I feel that I have reached my peak.”
Heifu pointed to the crowns on everyone's heads and said: "This is the top of the knighthood. After taking this step, you will be the knighthood of the doctor. It is several times more difficult to rise to the rank than before, but I hope that you can go one step further!"
After saying that, he turned around and continued walking to the back, continuing to award medals to all those who came out.
Han Xin couldn't remember what happened in the following ceremony. He only remembered that after it was over, his colleagues who usually treated him coldly, and even some secretly sarcastic colleagues came up to congratulate him.
After all, there are not many people who can be remembered by the Marquis of Changnan. Everyone congratulated Han Xin and said that his position will be promoted!
But a little later, the official transfer issued by Changnan Marquis made Han Xin slightly disappointed.
"Han Xin is the master of two to five hundred..."
At only twenty-one years old, he could hold the position of two to five hundred masters, and he could command thousands of people. Back then, Heifu participated in the two battles of conquering Wei and Chu, and cheated one after another. At this age, he could only hold this position.
The only two things he is slightly better than Han Xin are: one is that he holds the position of fake county captain, and the other is that he has a slightly higher title and is already a public official...
Therefore, nowadays, when the title is far less valuable than it used to be, whether he is the leader of a hundred people, or whether he is the master of two or five hundred people, it is Xiao He and Hei Fu who promoted Han Xin in an exceptional way.
The system of the Qin Army is like this. If you want to climb up from the bottom, no matter how talented you are, you can only go one or two levels. There is no way to make a fat man in one bite.
But even though Han Xin knew this, he couldn't hide his disappointment in his heart.
This is not arrogance, nor is it dissatisfaction. Han Xin cannot forget that in the Battle of Sihui last month, he was not allowed to participate in the battle because he was in the transport army. He could only stand on the guard tower in the camp and helplessly watch the man
Captain Gong Ao, when commanding the army to encircle the Yue people, made mistakes one after another that, although not fatal, were really unnecessary.
"If the opponent is not Yue Ren, but an experienced general, these small flaws will cause big problems."
At that time, Han Xin could not help but sigh, and thought more than once: "If I were Sima, I would be a captain..."
After winning the first battle, Han Xin was extremely confident in himself!
He felt that he must have done better than those mediocre Sima and Captains. When Heifu directly said his name when he was awarded the title, Han Xin had more expectations.
He has already commanded five to six hundred men in battle, so he hopes that he can at least get a position as a commander in another department. He can test his own capabilities with 3,000 men and see how many men Han Xin can command!
Is it three thousand, ten thousand, or even one hundred thousand?
Unfortunately, too high expectations often lead to disappointment.
"Sure enough, even if Mr. Xiao recommends me, and even if Qu Ji speaks for me, Han Xin still can't reach the sky in one step..."
Han Xin could only sit in the tent, wiping his new crown of immortality, and comforting himself.
But immediately, an order came from the shogunate, which made the three armies look sideways again! It also made Han Xin jump up in shock.
It turned out that after the ceremony, Marquis Changnan said another sentence to the messenger, an understatement but an order that made people think: