The Yangtze River leaves the Three Gorges and flows through the Jingjiang River, which has nine twists and turns. It begins to overflow and becomes chaotic, creating the Yunmeng Daze.
The general scope of Yunmengze extends from the foothills of the Dabie Mountains east of later Wuhan in the east, to the mountains of western Hubei in the west, to the Dahongshan Mountains in the north, and to the south by the river. It is about 900 miles from east to west and no less than 500 miles from north to south!
Of course, Nine Hundred Miles of Yunmeng is not all lakes, but a network of water and land, swamps, mountains, lakes, forests, grasslands, everything. If outsiders come here, they will definitely get lost. Traveling through it is as difficult as the Red Army crossing the grassland.
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But for the natives of Nanjun and Anlu, Yunmengze is where they make a living, and fishing and hunting are indispensable every year. When Wuchang camp was established two years ago, Heifu sent people to find suitable food routes.
, explored the paths in and out of the lake and drew them on a map.
At this moment, three thousand people followed the guide and marched through the Yunmeng Daze, pushing aside the dense reeds and trampling on the dogtail grass everywhere.
The land is low-lying and humid, and the sky is full of sandbars and swamps. The road sometimes disappears among the weeds and lakes, only to appear again after a mile. If the guide is not familiar with it, they will definitely get lost. The ground is very soft, and in some places, it is necessary to use
The spear and spear were tested from a distance to ensure that they could gain a foothold.
In this kind of terrain, the marching speed could not be increased. When taking a rest, Hei Fu couldn't help but laugh at himself at the Confucian scholar Lu Jia beside him.
"Thanks to Yunmengze, we were able to hide here without being discovered. After all, this lake was a famous place for harboring filth and evil practices during the Spring and Autumn Period!"
Lu Jia was not a Taoist, so he immediately laughed and said: "Yan has its ancestors, Qi has its country, Song has its mulberry forests, and Chu has its clouds and dreams. Judging from the belongings of these men and women, every spring, there are indeed many young men.
The girls were having sex here. I heard that Ziwen, the Ruo Ao family of Chu State, was born in this swamp?"
"That's right, Ziwen is our fellow villager hundreds of years ago, when Anlu was still called Yunyi."
Heifu couldn't help but think of the robbery of the Ruo'ao family's tomb fifteen years ago. Li Xian vividly told him about the long history of the Ruo'ao family. The Prime Minister of Chu ordered Yin Ziwen to be abandoned here by the Yun people because he was an illegitimate child.
In the vast swamp, there was a tigress nursing, so he survived, so he picked it up again and named it "Douguyu Tu", which means: a child who drinks tiger milk.
Don't tell me, Heifu and the others actually saw tigers in Yunmeng Ze. They watched three thousand people marching from a distance, and there were even herds of rhinoceros and elk galloping past the swamp...
Lu Jia wasted no time in flattering him: "The kings and princes are walking through the Yunmeng Ze, just like the kings of Chu who are hunting here, with thousands of horses and flags covering the sky. The rising of wildfires is like clouds, and the roar of tigers is like thunder.
How magnificent! Is it possible for me to temporarily serve as a historian for the king and write down this matter?"
Hei Fu was noncommittal, but smiled secretly in his heart: "Remember, in a few days, you will have to record the entire story of the Wuchang Shou Uprising. This will be a key point that future generations of students must take in history classes..."
…
All joking aside, when they arrived at the predetermined place to rest, Heifu summoned everyone and held a pre-war meeting.
"Our marching route is actually the same road that King Zhao Zhao of Chu and his entourage took in Yunmeng during the Spring and Autumn Period."
When Wu Zixu and Sun Wu worked together to defeat Ying, King Zhao of Chu and his party fled secretly, crossing the Ju River to the west and the river to the south, and fled to the depths of Yunmeng Ze. They also encountered a group of thieves and almost lost their lives.
If illegitimate trysts are "dirty", those gangs of thieves are the lasting "dirt" in Yunmengze. From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Qin Dynasty, dead people and thieves in the area have always been a local hidden danger.
Along the way, Heifu and his party often encountered a group of thieves hiding in Yunmeng. With good luck, they ran away when they saw them from a distance.
Unluckily, the simple camp was set up on the only road, and was bumped into by the outpost led by Dongmen Leopard. After a fierce attack, most of the bandits were captured, and they knelt down by the roadside and waited for Hei Fu to die.
Heifu stepped forward on horseback and saw that these "bandits" were living in houses made of mud and thatch among the weeds. There were men, women, and even old people and children among them. They were all in ragged clothes, with thin faces, and were filthy.
Trembling under the soldiers' spears...
They are refugees who have fled into the swamp, and they know full well what kind of cruel punishment they will face if they are caught by the government!
The dark-faced general, riding a tall war horse, passed by the kneeling crowd.
The horses are shoed and snorting, and the generals are wearing armor and robes, looking majestic and majestic.
A four or five-year-old boy hiding in his mother's arms couldn't help but cried out in fright. His elder father and mother were very anxious and tried to persuade him softly. But when Heifu glanced at the little boy, he cried even more.
So cruel!
"Are you hungry, or are you afraid of me?"
Heifu said: "Move the spear and spear away, don't scare them."
The mighty general dismounted his horse and asked someone to lead him away. He took out a bag of candy and handed it to the child's eldest father and mother.
"Give him a piece of candy. When my child cries, a piece of candy will calm him down."
Heifu showed a fatherly smile: "If it doesn't work, then two pieces."
The deceased people were stunned. After a long pause, the child's elder father took some candy and stuffed a piece into the child's mouth. He immediately stopped crying and puffed out his cheeks to suck.
The tension subsided a little. Heifu sat cross-legged in the grass, without any pretense, and asked the deceased people about their place of origin in the local Nanjun dialect. From the past, he learned that most of them were from Nanjun, and many of them were from Zhouling, Shaxian,
From Hubei.
"There are so many ferocious beasts in the lake, why do they come here again?" Heifu asked knowingly.
The eldest father of the skinny boy, seeing that Hei Fu had no intention of killing them or taking them away, cautiously replied:
"General, although ferocious beasts are evil, they are not as painful as corvee..."
It is true that the deceased were so poor that they had nothing, but they were also very free. They did not have to bear the heavy labor and taxes imposed by the households in the county and township. Yunmengze was rich. As long as they had the skills of fishing and hunting, they did not have to worry about two meals a day.
"In the old town of Laodai, there were hundreds of people who did not return because they were guarding Lingnan, but after escaping into the swamp, only ten people were killed by tigers and leopards..."
"Is tyranny more powerful than a tiger?" Hei Fu nodded. Life outside the country was more precarious than inside it.
The old man was in his fifties and already bald. He sounded very pitiful, but Heifu knew that this was indeed the current situation in the counties south of the Yangtze River and Huaihe River in recent years.
Anlu was protected by Heifu and received preferential treatment, but he was only responsible for running the army and fighting wars. The local government was still responsible for matters such as arresting civilian husbands. There were few officials like the one who was sent to Lingnan some time ago for the crime of "indulging imprisonment".
The county magistrate also has a benevolent heart, but the more he imposes heavy taxes, the more he is appreciated.
So don't blame some county leaders for being forced to flee into the mountains, forests and swamps for banditry.
Poems from the Han and Wei dynasties, poems from the Tang and Song dynasties, when writing about Yunmengze, they mostly talked about rare and exotic animals and magnificent scenery, but has a poet ever described these poor people?
"In the Nine Hundred Miles Cloud Dream, there are not ten thousand, but eight thousand such people."
After Heifu learned about the situation of these "group thieves", he thoughtfully asked the messenger to tell everyone what he said!
"Fathers, I know that most of you are good citizens in Guizhou. It is only because you can't bear the harsh government and heavy taxes that you have no choice but to flee to the middle of the river to find a way to survive."
"But among the laws of the Qin Dynasty, there are "Laws for Catching Robbers", "Laws for Thieves", "Laws for Corvenes", and "Laws for Guards", etc., all of which state that the dead must be captured. Once captured, they will be considered as fleeing, punished for Yang crimes, and Kunfa surrendered.
As a prisoner!"
As soon as these words came out, the hundreds of dead people were shocked. This was what they feared the most!
"But! I promise that after this year's rice transplanting is completed and before the rice flowers bloom, if you surrender yourself to the police, you will be pardoned."
"Whether it is because you escaped to avoid taxes or labor, or you have committed murder or theft, all of them will be written off and you can be amnesty!"
Everyone opened their mouths, feeling incredible. Pardon? In the Qin Dynasty where punishments are severe, this is the most bizarre thing that everyone has heard in the past ten years.
The elder father of the child just now said nonchalantly: "The government says these laws were made by the emperor. General, you... can you change the emperor's laws?"
"Emperors will also make mistakes when they take a nap."
Hei Fu's words were not surprising, but he continued to laugh and said: "What's more, since he has passed away, some harsh laws and heavy taxes and land rents should have been changed long ago!"
He announced loudly: "I can let you go, and tell the dead people and thieves in Zezhong about this for me. Let everyone remember the time, plant rice among the flowers, and don't miss this good opportunity for amnesty."
!”
The rice transplanting was in March and the rice was in bloom in June and July, which was enough time. At that time, Heifu believed that his "big plan" had been successful and at least he had controlled the counties in the south...
Hei Fu rode away, and the old man who seemed to be the leader of these hundreds of people asked loudly: "It's not that I don't believe the general. Do you dare to ask the general's name?"
Heifu's words were accompanied by the sound of the footsteps of three thousand soldiers returning to the road.
"I am the 'Wuzhonghou' conferred by the emperor. If you find it difficult to pronounce, just remember that my name is Heifu! The commander is the Nanjun soldiers!"
"Black husband..."
This name was so familiar that the old man was surprised and delighted: "It's the prince from Anlu County!"
Hei Fu is a legend in Anlu and a famous celebrity in Nan County. There is no information in Zezhong. Everyone does not know that Hei Fu is "dead". As soon as this name came out, the possibility of 10% became 50%, and many people were very happy.
Weeping with joy, he prostrated himself on the ground until three thousand soldiers from Nanjun disappeared into the swamp...
Looking back, even when Heifu was mobilizing, the Nanjun soldiers, who were shouting "big plan" but were a little frightened, also smiled at this moment.
Their monarch is still so humane. Not only does he want to lead his soldiers to find a way to survive, but he also wants to find a way for these dead people to survive!
…
After witnessing this incident, the Confucian scholar Lu Jia was even more excited. He ran beside Hei Fu's horse, cupped his hands and said to him:
"Junhou Daren!"
Heifu didn't think so: "What's the point?"
Lu Jia said: "It is benevolent to administer benevolent policies to the people, to reach the dead, to save punishments, and to reduce taxes and collect taxes. Isn't it benevolent?"
Heifu laughed: "Regardless of benevolence or not, you can benefit the people without following the etiquette, but if you want to change, you must first seize Wuchang and control Nanjun!"
Lu Jia trotted and said: "The king will win! When he seizes his people, he will not be able to farm to support his parents. His parents will be cold and hungry, his brothers and wives will be separated, he will drown his people, and the general goes to conquer them. Who can compete with the general?"
Enemies? Hence the saying: 'The benevolent are invincible!'"
"I just hope you are right."
Although Lu Jia guided what Heifu did to Confucian values, Heifu had his own ideas and purposes.
“Let’s call these propertyless people hiding in the water proletarians.”
"The proletarians will always be the most active group of people in breaking the old order during social changes. I can recruit their young people and make them available to me."
In Heifu's view, this "big plan" is by no means a simple mutiny, coup, siding with the emperor, and changing the emperor.
It’s not a power game between a group of nobles or a dispute among kings.
He believes that this will be a bottom-up change!
"The prime minister must be from the state department, and the fierce generals must be sent from the soldiers. After all, it is said that, except for the group of veterans who followed the First Emperor earlier, among the nine ministers, how many of them really started from the state department and were sent to the soldiers.
People? The central government of Great Qin has been separated from the masses for too long."
"But now, taking the death of the First Emperor as an opportunity, hundreds of rivers will boil and mountains and tombs will collapse. High banks will become valleys, and deep valleys will become mausoleums!"
Heifu knew that he might have to replace Chen Sheng and Wu Guang and raise the banner of Shouyi. Although the slogan was not anti-Qin, it could be used as a trigger, and chaos in the world was inevitable.
But the arrow had to be fired when it was on the string. He couldn't care so much now. He could only think that the world was going to be in chaos, but it couldn't be in vain. Instead of being a paper poster, adding things here and there, not touching this and not touching that.
Might as well...fuck him and turn everything upside down! Clean the house first, and then add new furniture in it!
"After the government is reorganized, the world should be governed by a group of civilian ministers who know the sufferings of the people!"
Heifu tilted his head and asked Lu Jia this question as if he was making a promise but also seeming to be a temptation while his horse was driving forward.
"Lu Jia, are you looking forward to that day?"
Lu Jia was stunned and stopped. He just looked at Hei Fu's horse's butt and then his eyes burst out with excitement!
"I read that right, you, the prince, are really the ones who can make the king's way prevail in the world!"
…
The journey was still slow. On the first day of march, we could not reach the edge of Yunmeng Ze. We only found a piece of high and dry flat land to set up camp and rest.
Just after Heifu finished his marching meeting, the short guard came to report: "General, we caught an old man outside the camp. He was acting suspiciously. He was wearing rich clothes under brown clothes. He also found a talisman granted by the emperor!"
"A talisman bestowed by the emperor?" Heifu frowned. Although this place has left the hinterland of Yunmeng, it is still wild and wild. Why would the emperor's envoy come to such a place?
"Bring the old man here and have a look."
When the soldiers pushed the white-haired old man in brown clothes and dressed like a fisherman, but without any calluses on his hands, to Hei Fu, and after they pushed back his messy beard and hair, Hei Fu was a little surprised when he saw his face.
"What a coincidence, it turns out to be... Imperial Physician Xia?"
Hearing this sound, Xia Wuji, who thought he had been captured by Zhao Gao's men and could not escape, suddenly raised his head.
Because it was a little dark, he couldn't see the other party's face clearly. It wasn't until Hei Fu raised the torch that Xia Wuqie turned pale with shock:
"General Wei? Chang... Marquis Wu Zhong? You are indeed not dead!"
…
"Your Majesty has really passed away..."
This was destined to be an unequal conversation. After chatting for half an hour, Xia Wuqie still knew nothing about Heifu, but Heifu already knew all the major events that happened in the camp center before and after the death of Qin Shihuang.
Hei Fu couldn't help but sigh when he heard that Qin Shihuang was as weak as an ordinary sick or elderly person before his death.
Heifu sneered when he learned that Hu Hai had indeed been established as the crown prince, or the second emperor, and that Wang, Feng, and Li were assisting the government.
Xia Wuqi said: "The old man knew that once the emperor was buried, the next people to die would be the doctors and eunuchs who knew about it, so he took advantage of the death of the first emperor and everything in the camp was complicated and quite chaotic.
The talisman given to me came out of the camp, and I disguised myself and escaped into Yunmengze. I originally wanted to hide for a while, but unexpectedly I met the general..."
Hei Fu held up his palm and praised: "Xia Gong is really smart. He is worthy of being the man who could throw the medicine basket to stop the assassin Jing Ke and protect His Majesty."
However, this old man, who was almost seventy years old, slipped away too fast, and his thinking was clear. He went directly into Yunmengze. Anyway, there were tens of thousands or more dead people and thieves within a radius of 900 miles, and the government could not find him.
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Thinking of this, Wei Guangzheng Heifu, who had just been described by Lu Jia as "the benevolent, the invincible and the king", suddenly became cunning again.
Hei Fu suddenly stood up, approached, and stared at Xia Wuji's luxurious clothes after taking off his brown clothes for a long time, then smiled, which made old man Xia tremble.
"General? What happened?"
Hei Fu said meaningfully: "Xia Gong, I am thinking that in your belt, there is probably a secret edict written in blood when His Majesty was robbed by a traitorous minister before his death!?"
Xia Wuji was stunned, his face was uncertain, and he felt like he had just come out of the wolf's den and entered the tiger's den again.
Although he was a little reluctant, he glanced at Heifu's hand holding the sword hilt and the spear shafts held tightly by the short soldiers on the left and right. Xia Wuqie finally nodded, took off his empty-lined belt, and held it in his hand.
