In winter, the north is already covered with snow, but at Hepu Port, located in the extreme south of the empire, the sun is still a bit bright.
The soldiers of the boat division can only wear short jackets, lie on the beach with fine sand and clean silvery white, and enjoy this pleasant time.
Where they looked, there were South Vietnamese fishing in shallow seas. Their fishing method was very special: they walked on stilts, carried heavy fishing nets on their shoulders and went into the sea. They also had to push, lift, and collect the fishing nets in the sea. We can catch shrimps, pick up shrimps, shake weeds, etc. Because there are so many creatures in the sea, we always get a lot of harvest.
South Vietnamese people throw fish and shrimps into baskets at will and keep them for cooking. But whenever they catch sea clams, they have to cut them open immediately. If they find round and shiny pearls lying quietly inside, they have won a big prize.
What's more, they brave the danger of shark bites in the sea and directly hold their breath and dive into the deep sea to fish for large clams from the cracks in the rocks.
After getting the pearls, the Yue people would excitedly put them in small bowls made of banana leaves, run to the Qin port just built a few months ago, and offer the pearls.
Merchants would pick and choose the pearls according to their color and size, and give them some goods from the Central Plains: cloth, brown sugar, pottery, and even rice.
This can be said to be a win-win trade. The Yue people left happily, while the merchants from Nanjun and Yuzhang were also satisfied with holding large pearls that were rare in the Central Plains and laughed at the Yue people for treating pearls as rubble.
All this was seen by Ren Xiao who was sitting in Hong Kong.
Obtaining the pearls that were sent as tribute to the Central Plains was one of the reasons why the Marquis of Changnan built a port and established rule here. But if it was just for this purpose, there was no need to bother General Ren Xiao to take action.
But Heifu still has a secret mission for Ren Xiao.
That was more than a month ago:
"Recently I heard that the traveler Wushi Yan was sent to the Daxia Kingdom west of Congling in the Western Regions. He actually saw Shu cloth, Qiongzhang and other products of Bashu in Daxia. By the end of last year, Zhang Cang was in Xianyang and translated with the Daxia scholar Su Shi He talked more and communicated more, so he asked the Daxia people where the Bashu products came from. The Daxia people said that they got them from the body poison in the south..."
Heifu talked eloquently to Ren Xiao, but Ren Xiao was confused when he heard these distant things. What does this have to do with Lingnan?
"The two things are connected."
But Heifu was very serious and forced the two things to be related.
"I have asked Zhao Tuo to find out that from Bashu you can reach the Yelang Kingdom of the Southwest Yi, and from the Yelang Kingdom along the Zangjiang River, you can go to Panyu in South Vietnam. Goujiang, Shu Brocade, Qiongzhang, etc. can all reach here. The Yue people are good at sailing and often During the trade at the seaside, these goods may have been spread little by little along the sea route to the western body drugs, and then to the northern Daxia..."
This is actually the effect of the "Shu Body Poison Road" that has always existed, but Heifu opened the Maritime Silk Road ahead of schedule in order to find an excuse to send Ren Xiao away from Panyu.
"Last year, Xu Fu led his people out of Panyu, headed west, entered the sea from Xuwen in the south, and got a large island, hundreds of miles from east to west, south to north, named it Zhuya Island, and briefly called it Lingao County."
"This year, Xu Fu bypassed Xuwen again and headed west to the Pearl of the Sea, where he built Hepu Port. A local Yue man who had lived for hundreds of years told Xu Fu that a boat trip to the west of Hepu would take ten days. The coast turns south, which is thousands of miles away, but when traveling to the land of extreme summer, suddenly there is a narrow channel to the west, leading to another strange ocean..."
"I guess that if you follow this sea route, you may be able to reach Shendu. It is said that the Tiaozhi Kingdom where your Majesty sent General Li Xin to go on an expedition, and even the Western Queen Mother Kingdom that your Majesty has been striving for, are to the west of Shendu!"
The so-called "people in Vietnam are all old" does not exist at all. Xu Fu only sent people as far as the mouth of the Red River, which is still 108,000 miles away from Malacca.
But it was all made up anyway, and Heifu didn't care about the specific location, so he made up nonsense and bluffed Ren Xiao.
Since it was an order to "connect to the Queen Mother Kingdom in the West for Your Majesty", Ren Xiao could not refuse, so he could only reluctantly go to sea...
But unexpectedly, he fell ill just after arriving in Hepu.
Ren Xiao withdrew his gaze from the silver beach outside the window, clutched his stomach, and lay weakly in the cabin. There was an unpleasant smell in the air...
At first, he got upset after eating seafood. As the person with the best medical skills in the fleet, Xu Fu prescribed some medicine for him, but unexpectedly it became more and more serious. After half a month, Ren Xiao was exhausted and his whole body was exhausted.
They were all deformed. As a last resort, they could only be raised in Hepu and handed over the command of the fleet to Heifu's nephew Weiyang. Because he cooperated with Han Xin to kill King Luo in the Linchen battle, he made great achievements and was promoted to the rank of Duke. He can be a building ship.
Sima is gone.
At this time, the door opened, but it was Xu Fu who came closer with the two of them, holding a bowl of unpleasant medicine in his hand, with a smile on his face:
"General Ren, it's time to drink medicine!"
…
Alchemists these days are all-rounders. They can not only read zodiac signs, but also know geography, can make elixirs, and are good at telling fortunes. In critical moments, they can even carry a medicine basket and play a guest role as a doctor.
Xu Fu did his best to take care of Ren Xiao, and because he was afraid that he would find the medicine soup bitter, he even added sugar.
But today, when the bitter-sweet medicinal soup was put to his mouth, Ren Xiao showed a trace of doubt in his eyes.
"Mr. Xu, are you sure you prescribed this medicine correctly?"
Xu Fu suppressed his smile, as if his professionalism had been insulted: "General, what do you mean?"
"I have been ill for half a month. Why does the more I drink Mr.'s medicine, the worse it becomes?" Ren Xiao suspected that Xu Fu was not sick for a day or two.
Xu Fu sighed: "The general is suffering from dysentery, which is a serious disease in Lingnan. His intestines and stomach are damaged, how can he recover so quickly? The villain's medical skills can barely save the general's life. As for the cure? I'm afraid it will take some time."
"
With that said, he offered the medicinal soup to Ren Xiao with both hands.
"I won't drink it!"
However, Ren Xiao had already lost his patience and ordered the two personal guards who were waiting with their heads down: "Please come out, Mr. Xu!"
He wants to change doctors.
But the two personal guards did not move!
"Wait..."
Ren Xiao, who had been suffering from illness for many days and was a little distracted, realized that these two people seemed a little unfamiliar...
"The general is really very ill. He has begun to imitate Duke Huan of Cai, hiding his illness and avoiding medical treatment!"
Xu Fu's cold voice came, but he was seen slowly retreating. With a gesture of his hands, the two "personal guards" swarmed up, held Ren Xiao down, one gagged him, and the other tied him up with a rope.
"Xu Fu, what do you want to do? Do you want to rebel?"
Ren Xiao was shocked and wanted to resist, but after having diarrhea for half a month, he had no strength at all.
"Don't you dare? It's just that the general has a stubborn disease. In order to avoid infecting the soldiers and causing everyone in the boat division to die of the disease, he had to be isolated for a period of time. I'm offended..."
Ren Xiao's voice could no longer be heard. Xu Fu smiled and retreated to the door. Outside the door, Li Cang, who was quickly sent by Heifu from Panyu, cupped his hands and said:
"Please report back to the lord, Xu Fu has lived up to his command and has restrained Ren Xiao. Lou Chuan Master is now the Wei family's!"
…
"General Ren passed away in Hepu."
A few days later, Heifu told Ziying the sad news.
Ziying froze on the spot, but saw Hei Fu beating his chest and stamping his feet in front of him, crying bitterly:
"It was me who killed General Ren! If I hadn't asked General Ren to find a waterway leading to Tiaozhi, the Queen Mother State of the West, and stay in Panyu, he wouldn't have suffered such a catastrophe!"
"I have worked with General Ren for many years. We were close brothers and sisters in Jiaodong, Fujian and Yue, and in Panyu. You and I were there to support each other, and we were always there for each other. Unfortunately, I died young. Oh God, God! It really hurts me! It hurts me.
Kill me too!"
Heifu was so sad that Ziying had no choice but to comfort him.
Ziying was unaware of the drastic changes that had taken place in the court, so he was assigned by Marquis Changwu to take Heifu to Zhucheng to pick him up. The military affairs in Lingnan were handed over to Ren Xiao, but now that Ren Xiao has suddenly passed away, what should be done?
?
At this time, Hei Fu also stopped crying like a cat, wiped the water from his face, and said:
"The emperor's order cannot be violated. It is already the end of the month and there is no further delay. I must go north with the supervisory army immediately!"
Ziying was anxious: "Wait a minute, Marquis of Changnan, if you leave, the counties in Lingnan will be without a commander. Someone must be in charge!"
If Heifu left in a hurry and the Yue people in Lingnan rebelled, Ziying would not be able to bear the blame.
"You can't suffocate yourself to death, there is always a way."
Heifu took the opportunity and called the military judge to come up quickly and asked him seriously:
"Jun Zhengcheng, now that the general has passed away, and I will leave Lingnan, according to the law, to whom should I hand over the command of the army?"
Quji said sternly: "They should be moved down according to their positions and titles. In this way, if the prince goes north, the military affairs in Lingnan should be temporarily handed over to another general who comes to Panyu to take charge..."
"Another general?"
Ziying knew that in addition to Ren Xiao, Heifu also had three generals, namely Yin Tong in Yuzhang, Xinyi in Wuchang, and Guilin...
"If you are in urgent need, you must be the nearest general."
Hei Fu made a decision: "It's not too late. In this case, we can only immediately inform Zuo Shuchang who is in Guilin, Guilin County Lieutenant Zhao Tuo, and let him come to take charge of Panyu!"
…
On the first day of the first month of the 37th year of Qin Shihuang's thirty-seventh year, after a delay of more than ten days from the time when Ziying delivered the decree, Heifu finally arranged the military affairs in Lingnan, took a few followers, and headed north with Ziying.
Heifu was sitting on the boat, seemingly closing his eyes to recuperate, but in fact, he was repeatedly confirming whether the "backup" he had left was safe enough.
"I deliberately asked Xu Fu and Wei Yang to restrain Ren Xiao under house arrest. In this way, after I go north, the command of Lingnan will have to be handed over to Zhao Tuo."
"Despite my repeated suppression, Zhao Tuo still got the position of Guilin County Lieutenant because of his contribution to the southern expedition. Although he is my sworn brother, once I break with the court, his attitude is unpredictable. He has the strength of a county and has subordinates.
Loyalty will be the biggest hidden danger in Lingnan..."
Historically, this is what Zhao Tuo did. It would be funny if he made a wedding dress for Zhao Tuo after all the hard work of conquering Lingnan.
"But when a tiger falls in Pingyang and is bullied by a dog, Zhao Tuo's foundation is in Guilin, where he stayed for four years. Once he leaves his hometown and comes to Panyu, the soldiers will not know the generals, and they will not know the soldiers I left here."
His cronies are arrogant, and his orders will never leave Panyu City!"
"And Gong Ao followed my order and led his people northward from Yulin to control the Guilin garrison, as well as the two major transportation routes of Tancheng and Lingqu. In addition, there were Anpu watching over the three passes of Nanhai County, and the dangerous passes in the south of Lingnan were all over.
It’s in my hand…”
Whenever Mr. Hei does something, he thinks about retreating before advancing.
If he found out that something was not going well, he could rush back to Lingnan at any time, block the roads, and continue to survive.
"Prepare the worst case scenario. With Weiyang controlling the boat division, I can also go into exile overseas and go to Lingao, Hainan..."
The retreat route had been arranged, but after thinking about this trip to the north, Heifu felt that he still had to go.
For the sake of his relatives who are not in danger, and for the families of the soldiers in the armed forces.
Heifu raised his head. Emperor Qin Shi Huang was like the sun hanging above everyone's heads. Before the sun set, the stars could hardly appear. As long as he was alive, no matter how he escaped, he could not escape the scorching sun's direct rays...
Anyway, the journey north is long. There are Xiaotao, Xiao He in Changsha, Lixian in Yuzhang and many old troops. Once he notices something wrong, he can turn back at any time!
But in early January, when they arrived at Huangxiguan and rested for the night, there was unexpected news from afar, which completely disrupted Heifu's arrangements!
…
The person who risked his life to deliver the news was Tang Yan, Heifu's cousin and the largest merchant in Nanjun. He was dressed in brown clothes and had chapped lips. He rode a horse and ran all the way to Huangxiguan!
Every word he said made Hei Fu feel horrified!
"The Mohist failed to assassinate the emperor? The whole city is under attack?"
"Fu Su had a guilty conscience and ran away with his party members, family, and my wife and son, intending to go south to Bashu. After he was caught up, his life and death were unknown?"
"Meng Tian was imprisoned, Mao Jiao died, and the emperor drove out of Xianyang with great fanfare? There were one hundred thousand soldiers accompanying him?"
"My home in Nanjun has been surrounded by people sent by Marquis Changwu. My mother and brother are not allowed to step out of the door?"
As a merchant, Tang Yan was well-informed, but he was completely ignorant of the details related to the royal family's secrets, and most of them were heard from hearsay.
But every time he listened to it, Heifu felt a chill in his heart.
These things suddenly broke out in a short period of time, which really caught people off guard.
Heifu asked everyone to step back. Facing such drastic changes in the DPRK, even he needed to calm down before he could think of countermeasures.
"It's right to be uneasy. This summons is indeed a disaster..."
"What did Fusu do to reverse the situation in just a few days?"
"The letter I wrote to him was also discovered? Is the whole blame placed on me?"
Heifu covered his cheek and felt toothache.
Looking back now, whoever destroyed the Qin Dynasty was evil? How can it be considered evil? One pot is more evil than the other!
The asymmetry of information makes people even more suspicious.
Looking at the crescent moon obscured by dark clouds in the night sky, Heifu came up with a horrifying idea, a worst-case scenario!
He slapped the wall tiles suddenly, his eyes blazing!
"Or maybe Qin Shi Huangdi is actually dead!?"
"And Zhao Gao and Hu Hai tampered with the emperor's edict and forced Fusu to run away?"
"Now you are asking me to go north to meet you again. All this is just a ruse by Zhao Gao, Li Si, and Hu Hai to trick me into going to Zhu City to capture and kill me without announcing the funeral!?"
In history, weren't Fusu and Meng Tian killed by this trick? Oh, now they are using the same trick again?
