The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

In the end, Liu Ji still rejected Zhang Er's invitation and chose to go east.

From Shanfu County to the east, there is a flat road. After walking for dozens of miles, you can reach the border between Wei and Chu. After passing the pavilions of the two countries on the border, you will reach Pei County.

But Liu Ji did not take the main road, because it was crowded with Wei refugees fleeing the Qin army. Some of them came from Meng County, and some from Taoqiu. They all brought their families and were terrified. Because of the large number of people, ox carts collided with each other from time to time, and were scrapped on the way, blocking the road and causing greater chaos...

Although Liu Ji did not know this sentence, and he was not the kind of hypocritical gentleman, he knew to avoid the road full of robbers and take the mountain path he was familiar with.

A few months ago, he said goodbye to his fellow villagers and went west to Wei State with only a two-foot sword. He took this road.

Liu Bang's family lived in Fengyi, Pei County, Chu State. Fengyi was a border town between Chu State and Wei State. In the small town, there were many immigrants from Wei State, and the local accent was a mixture of Chu and Wei.

Even Liu Ji's father, Liu Taigong, when he was leaning on a cane and recalling the family's past, said that Liu Ji's great-grandfather was once a doctor of Wei State. It was not until their grandfather's generation that they moved to Fengyi, and it has only been a few decades since then.

So Liu Ji also has some Wei blood in his body. Perhaps this is why he always yearns for the Western Central Plains world when he grows up.

Liu Ji was particularly fascinated by Xinling Jun of Wei State, who stole the seal to save Zhao and treated the wise and humble with respect.

Although Xinling Jun had passed away when Liu Ji was sensible, his reputation lasted for a long time, even beyond the courts of various countries, and was widely spread among the people of the world, from Wei State to Fengyi, and to the ears of the young Liu Ji.

According to the government's public opinion, Wei Wuji was a minister who disobeyed the emperor's orders, saved the country from danger, and followed the way rather than the emperor; according to the public opinion, Xinling Jun was a hero who broke the class, made friends with the world's talents with his ability, and pushed the chivalrous spirit to the top.

Regardless of which identity, the young Liu Ji was fascinated. In his eyes, the highest realm of life was to be able to follow Xinling Jun to travel around the world.

Liu Ji's character was very different from his father and brothers who were law-abiding since he was a child. He was rebellious and unruly. After he became an adult, he did not follow his second brother Liu Zhong to work hard in the fields, nor did he want to listen to his parents' advice to settle down and manage the industry, and marry a plain girl from the same hometown early. Instead, he wandered around Zhongyangli and embarked on the road of chivalry...

Although this kind of life is comfortable, it will definitely be disliked by relatives and looked down upon by neighbors in the village.

So when he was in his twenties, after getting tired of the cramped world of Zhongyangli and Fengyi, Liu Ji went to Pei County and worked for Wang Ling, a local tycoon and the leader of the Pei County Rangers. Liu Ji treated him as a brother and called Wang Ling "Big Brother".

Wang Ling was also a county knight, but his fame was limited to Pei, and his influence was not as great as Zhang Er in Waihuang.

A few years later, Liu Ji returned to Fengyi with some of the Shaowen and willfulness he learned from Wang Ling. With this experience, he was no longer the village knight who used to shout with the young people in the village. Instead, he gathered a group of rural teenagers, such as Lu Wan and others next door to his house, and began to play the role of the first village knight in Fengyi in groups of three or five, and his mouth was full of "Nai Gong" and "Shu Zi".

However, in the eyes of his family, he was still an idle prodigal son, an old bachelor who had not married at the age of 30! He just wandered around with a group of unemployed and vagrant teenagers all day long!

This situation reached its peak when he took his younger brothers to his uncle's house to eat a free meal and was deliberately chased away by his uncle.

Liu Ji, who lost face in front of his younger brothers, was dissatisfied and vowed to do something big to make his relatives and friends look at him differently.

And this so-called big thing was to go to Wei State, which he had longed for, and join Zhang Er, who was said to have inherited the "Xinling style". Judging from those rumors, Zhang Er might be a hero second only to Xinling Jun. If he went to be a guest himself, he might encounter some opportunities.

Fengyi is hundreds of miles away from Waihuang County. After leaving Chu State, there are Shan County, Meng County, Zai County and other places in Wei State in the middle. For Liu Ji, who was already 30 years old, this was his first time to travel abroad. With only a two-foot sword on his body, he slept in the open air and had nothing to rely on, and he walked all the way to Zhang Er and became his disciple.

However, Zhang Er made him feel a little disappointed.

"It is true that Zhang Er is courteous to the wise and humble, but he is just imitating Xinling Jun everywhere, and he can never become Xinling Jun."

In Liu Ji's eyes, if Xinling Jun is a tiger, then although Zhang Er has painted his body with patterns and shows off his power, it still cannot change the fact that he is just a dog of Waihuang.

Liu Ji's heart cooled down. Apart from eating and drinking all day, he didn't want to seek any opportunities. He only planned to stay here for a year or two, eat and drink enough, and then bid farewell to Zhang Er and return to his hometown. By then, through this trip, he will definitely become famous in Pei County - didn't Zhang Er make a name for himself by relying on the identity of Xinling's old guest? If he can do it, why can't Liu Ji?

In Liu Ji's view at that time, being a county hero like Zhang Er and Wang Ling and competing with them was his life pursuit.

Until the war broke out, Daliang was surrounded by the Qin army.

The huge Wei State suddenly became extremely fragile and was easily manipulated by the Qin State. Those Wei Wu soldiers who passed by Waihuang also became vulnerable and collapsed under the attack of the Qin army.

The approaching Qin army, the precarious Waihuang, and the uneasy Zhang Er, all of this was unexpected by Liu Ji.

Fortunately, he was smart enough and had a natural sensitivity to danger. Before the Battle of Waihuang, he took the initiative to stand up and shouted that he would do his best to protect the city for Zhang Er's kindness. But in fact, after holding on for a while and killing a Qin soldier, Liu Ji felt that he had repaid Zhang Er's favor.

"Defending the city for a while and killing one enemy is to live up to Zhang Er's hospitality for several months. I am not an ungrateful person."

"The situation is not good, so I will run away immediately. This is to live up to myself. I am not a foolish person. A man should be magnanimous and do great things. How can he bury his good life here?"

So when the black-faced Qin official with a gray right bun jumped onto the top of the city wall and wanted to fight with Liu Ji, Liu Ji ran away without hesitation!

After that, he left Waihuang and fled east with Zhang Er because Liu Ji had known Zhang Er for several months and knew that he was not determined to defend the land to death for the King of Wei. He must have thought of a way to escape long ago.

Instead of running around like a headless fly like other knights and being caught and beheaded by those tiger-like Qin soldiers, it is better to stare at Zhang Er and go wherever he goes.

The worst plan was that even if they were unfortunately surrounded by the Qin people, Liu Ji would risk his reputation and cut off Zhang Er's head to offer it, and he could still survive! Liu Ji was a flexible person. Compared with his own life, principles and faith could be temporarily abandoned.

Fortunately, there was no danger along the way. After all, Liu Ji was a Chu person and didn't know much about the mountains and rivers of Wei. He just "protected" Zhang Er all the time, and only bowed and said goodbye when he came to the familiar border between Chu and Wei.

Unexpectedly, at the fork in the road, Zhang Er, who was moved by Liu Ji's "heroism and faith", actually invited Liu Ji to go to Qi, as if he wanted to treat him as his right-hand man.

In the past, Liu Ji, who wanted to be a hero, would definitely follow him. He knew that although his family was well-off, with land and houses, and his father could marry a concubine, he was not rich enough to be a county hero. Following Zhang Er and using his connections and reputation to start a business is obviously a shortcut.

However, after experiencing the Battle of Waihuang, Liu Ji's state of mind is somewhat different...

In the past month or so, he has witnessed the unstoppable force of the Qin army sweeping across Wei, and experienced the fearless attack of the Qin soldiers on Waihuang City.

The Qingxia, who used to be considered amazing, was so vulnerable under the fierce attack of the Qin army.

The county heroes and nobles who used to be arrogant could only flee in a hurry and become fugitives when the Qin officials came to the door.

The country that Xinling Jun once wanted to protect was also in danger and would soon be wiped off the map.

And the beautiful faith and loyalty of his fellow rangers, including himself, was instantly shattered when the disaster was imminent.

Liu Ji had believed in the world of knights for twenty years, and a crack began to appear. The crack slowly expanded, and after being completely shattered, what appeared in front of him was the broken old era, and a wider world...

He saw that a black fission from the west was surging eastward, trying to sweep the world, including the universe, the four seas and nine states, and no one could escape!

Liu Ji's cultural level was limited, and his understanding of the current situation was also limited, so he didn't know how to express it in written language. I just felt that in two or three years, the world would definitely change greatly! In the face of this change, is it a bit outdated to stick to the chivalry of Xinling and just be a knight?

Therefore, after a little hesitation, Liu Ji rejected Zhang Er's invitation. When the world situation changed, it was wise to return to his hometown to wait and see the situation.

Thinking all the way, unknowingly, after crossing many gullies and hills, and passing through the lonely graves and weeds, the path came to the end.

Liu Ji had bypassed the refugee-filled pavilions between Wei and Chu, and returned to Chu over the mountains and ridges. His hometown Fengyi was right in front of him...

Compared to the chaos in Wei, this place was far away from the war and still maintained its former tranquility. Farmers were busy in the paddy fields, and merchants came and went in Chu-style clothes.

Looking at the familiar earthen wall, the bearded knight smiled: "The wanderer is sad for his hometown. I often miss Fengpei when I am between Liang and Wei!"

Before entering the town, Liu Ji squatted down by the stream to wash his face, and even scooped up some water to drink, as if he also tasted the taste of Chu from it.

But after washing his beard, Liu Ji became a little troubled again.

It's good to go home, but...

Liu Ji carried the sword on his shoulder, tilted his head, looked at the sky helplessly and said: "When I went there, I boasted that I would return with a luxurious life, but now I only brought back a sword, and even the scabbard is lost. Oh, when I get home, my father will scold me for being a scoundrel, unable to manage the property, and not as good as Liu Zhong!"

...

Just as the wanderer Liu Ji returned home with a stiff upper lip and was chased and scolded by his old father, on the other side, Hei Fu and his party had already left Waihuang and entered Yangwu County, and came to a place called Huyou Township...

"Hei Fu, the head of the village, you stay here."

Pointing to Huyou Township not far away, Zhang Yi, the head of the five hundred army, gave Hei Fu an order and handed him a wooden tablet with a red seal.

Heifu took a look and found that it was actually an appointment letter issued by Yingchuan County of Qin State, with the signature and seal of the front-line commander, Shaoshangzao Wang Ben...

Zhang Qi said: "Heifu, from today until the conquest of Wei State and the king sends a formal official to take office, I will be the county lieutenant of Yangwu County, and you will be the patrol officer of Huoyou Township!"

------------