The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

As the Qin-Chu border army gradually gathered and the atmosphere of war became more and more intense, Li Xin, far away in Xianyang, Guanzhong, also completed the ceremony of swearing to go to war.

With the sound of bells and drums, Li Xin's horse-drawn chariot crossed the Ba Bridge and began to head east. Tens of thousands of Guanzhong men will gather at Hangu Pass, waiting for General Li, who will lead the army for the first time.

Among the crowd who saw Li Xin off on the north bank of the Wei River, the imperial physician Xia Wuqi, with gray hair on his temples, just sat in the carriage and watched the scene from afar. He did not join the cheers of the crowd, but because of the occupational disease of a doctor, he shook his head at those good families in Guanzhong who were slowly leaving with lofty ambitions.

"I wonder how many more people died of injuries and wounds..."

He had been in Qin for 30 years, and this was the nth time he had seen the army go east. Naturally, he was used to watching those disabled soldiers with broken limbs being loaded on the carriage and transported back to Xianyang after the war.

"Today is a day off. I don't need to go to the palace for my shift. Let's go home. I'm afraid Wujiu has been waiting for me at home for a long time."

After telling the driver to go home, Xia Wuqi closed his eyes. He didn't know since when, the population of Xianyang City has increased, the accents have become more and more mixed, and the road from the suburbs to home has become longer and longer, just like the road he has walked over the years.

Xia Wuqi is not a native Qin person. He is a Han person. He is a distant branch of Queen Mother Xia who married King Xiaowen of Qin many years ago.

Although this branch of theirs is a descendant of the nobility, they learned medicine. Therefore, since Xia Wuqi was young, he wanted to enter Qin. Qin was not comparable to the Central Plains in other aspects, but it was unique in medical skills. For hundreds of years, Qin has produced many famous doctors, whose skills are close to Taoism and whose art is like gods. Many stories and legends have been left in the history books of the princes.

As far as Xia Wuqi knew, Yi Huan in the era of Duke Huan of Qin and Yi He in the era of Duke Jing of Qin were invited by Jin to treat Duke Jing of Jin and Duke Ping of Jin respectively. At that time, Qin and Jin were no longer good friends, but enemies with constant conflicts. Jin could invite doctors from the enemy to treat its monarch, which shows that Qin doctors were famous...

In the era of King Huiwen of Qin, Yi Li also rushed to Qi to "cut acne" for King Xuan of Qi, and the disease was cured. King Xuan of Qi was very grateful for this.

After the death of the last doctor Bian Que and the disappearance of the medical family, Qin became the most developed region in the world in terms of medical skills, and Xia Wuqi also yearned for it. So he came to Qin when he was 20 years old. It happened that the son of Queen Mother Xia, King Zhuangxiang of Qin, succeeded to the throne, and the Xia family became a relative of Qin. Relying on this relationship, Xia Wuqi was able to learn medical skills from a famous teacher and got a job as an imperial physician in the Xianyang Palace.

Queen Mother Xia liked him very much. Whenever the old lady was ill, she would ask Xia Wuqie to take her pulse and then talk about some family matters...

But there were some words that Xia Wuqie dared not answer. Not only did he dare not say them, he wanted to cover his ears and not listen to them!

For example, the rumors about Zhao Ji and Lu Buwei, about the young successor to the throne of Qin, about the brother of Qin Wang, and the most beloved grandson of Queen Mother Xia, Chang'an Jun...

Fifteen years ago, Xia Wuqie had a deep memory. That year, the comet visited Qin three times, causing great panic. Many people thought that the sky would collapse and the earth would crack.

In the end, nothing happened. The disappearance of the comet only took away the life of Queen Mother Xia.

Then there were several years of chaos. Chang'an Jun Chengqiao, the last supporter of the Xia family of Han, actually rebelled. Queen Mother Zhao took the opportunity to instruct Lao Ai to liquidate them. Xia Wuqie was also imprisoned at that time.

It was not until a few years later that he was released when Queen Mother Zhao and Lao Ai's group were also wiped out for treason and the intention to kill the king.

He and many other released people waited tremblingly for the judgment of the King of Qin.

The King of Qin actually remembered Xia Wuqie's name and did not drive him away, but kept him to continue working in the Qin Palace.

"Wuqie is good at pediatric medicine. When I was young, he treated me and cured my illness. Now I have an eldest son, Xia Wuqie, you should stay."

This is the reason why the King of Qin kept Xia Wuqie. Wuqie was grateful. For so many years, Xia Wuqie has been conscientiously taking care of the eldest son Fusu. Whenever he had a little illness, he would immediately run to him with a medicine box. Slowly, in addition to Fusu, Xia Wuqie was often called by the King of Qin to practice medicine. After the age of 30, the King of Qin, who was busy with government affairs, would have some pain from time to time. There were not many doctors who could make him feel at ease.

When accompanying the king, Xia Wuqie was more cautious. When he was in the palace, he dared not breathe, until the audience two years ago.

He smashed the medicine box in his hand hard at Jing Ke, the assassin who was chasing the King of Qin! The medicines in the medicine box, such as Poria cocos, Angelica dahurica, Panax notoginseng, etc., fell to the ground, and also paved a road to wealth for Xia Wuqie...

With two hundred taels of gold and promoted to the imperial physician, Xia Wuqie became prosperous, and his disciples also rose with the tide. Those who could only treat Gongcheng before can now enter the homes of the five doctors, all thanks to Xia Wuqie.

Among Xia Wuqie's disciples, Chen Wujiu is considered to be the worst. Now he can only rely on the golden wound medicine passed down by Xia Wuqie to treat the captain and the five hundred generals in the army. In Xia Wuqie's view, Chen Wujiu is neither his son-in-law nor has much talent, and his achievements in this life are probably limited.

But at this time, Chen Wujiu gave Xia Wuji a big surprise, which made Xia Wujiu look at this useless disciple differently...

...

When Xia Wujiu returned home and changed into a loose casual dress, the servant came to report that Chen Wujiu was indeed waiting in the hall.

Xia Wujiu thought for a while and said, "Let him come directly to the inner room to see him..."

When Confucianists describe the learning of disciples, they often use "entering the hall" and "entering the room" to describe it. Isn't this also a reflection of the close relationship between the disciple and the master?

In the past, Chen Wujiu was just an inconspicuous one among Xia Wuji's seven or eight disciples, and could only enter the hall. Now, Xia Wuqie directly asked him to come into the room to see him, which made Chen Wujiu very happy. After entering the inner room, he bowed in front of the teacher and said, "Hello, teacher. Have you sent General Li's army away?"

"Yes."

Xia Wuqie took the pottery cup and rinsed his mouth with water. He only responded vaguely. Chen Wujiu bowed again and said, "So, the teacher has also written to the king about the suggestion and asked General Li to implement it on the front line?"

Xia Wuqie spit the water in his mouth into the copper basin.

"That's not the case."

He waved his hand and asked someone to hand over a silk book to Chen Wujiu.

Chen Wujiu took a look and realized that this silk book was the one he had thought hard about and perfected Heifu's suggestions on "battlefield rescue" and handed over to the teacher, asking him to review it and write to the king? Why is it still here!

Xia Wuqie said, "I have already stood in front of the king and General Li with this silk book, but after thinking about it, I still did not write it."

Chen Wujiu seemed a little anxious, and asked puzzledly: "Master, you specially called me back from Wei to demonstrate the method of bandaging and stopping bleeding proposed by the young garrison commander. Didn't you praise it highly? And after reading our suggestions on battlefield rescue, didn't you agree with it and say that it was a good strategy to save people and govern the country?"

Xia Wuqie nodded: "The suggestion is very good. In addition to saving the dying and the wounded, and encouraging soldiers to fight without worries, it can also greatly enhance the status of doctors like us in Qin."

Yihe, a famous doctor in Qin, once said: The best doctor treats the country, the next best is the patient, and the worst doctor treats the disease.

Indeed, Xia Wuqie, now that he is rich and powerful, can't help but have some ideas of going down in history. Throwing the medicine bag to Jing Ke is not enough. He wants to leave his name as a doctor and become a "superior doctor".

This suggestion is a good opportunity. Once implemented, it will definitely be a big reform. Doctors are responsible for training special emergency bandage personnel and then assigning them to the army. This will undoubtedly increase his power as the imperial physician.

Xia Wuqie affirmed the foresight of the suggestion, but based on his understanding of his disciple Chen Wujiu, Wujiu might not be able to come up with such a good idea. It is probably the credit of the small village chief of Anlu County named "Heifu".

Chen Wujiu was even more puzzled: "If that's the case, now that the king has sent General Li to lead the army to attack Chu, and the war in the east has started again, it is the right time for this proposal to show its strength, why..."

"Because there is not enough time."

Xia Wuqie sighed: "Even if the king agrees, it will take at least three to six months to implement this strategy and promote it to the army. But the situation is urgent. General Li has already led the army to set off, and the army that attacked Wei before is waiting in place. This war will probably start in September and October. Even if we train immediately, it will be too late to arrange it in every garrison."

It is not difficult to practice the art of wound wrapping, but it is not easy to organize a large number of people to learn and promote it to the grassroots level of the army. If you spend money and energy in the end, people are trained, but in the end they are not used in this war, wouldn't it be in vain?

Xia Wuqi was not only worried about this, there were some things he could not tell Chen Wujiu, that is, he actually did not have much confidence in Li Xin's attack on Chu this time...

As the saying goes, new clothes are not as good as old ones. Xia Wuqi had seen General Wang Jian go on many expeditions in the past ten years, and he always returned victorious. Whether the opponent was the difficult Li Mu or the easy-to-take Yan army, he was cautious. The more troops he led, the more cautious he was.

But Li Xin was different. This young man had never experienced setbacks, and had never had an equal opponent like Li Mu to compete with him, so it seemed that there was no problem when he was deducing military strategies, but when he really fought, no one could say.

Can this young general, who is good at chariots and cavalry, really lead an army of 200,000 and really destroy the biggest enemy of Qin in one breath?

So although Xia Wuqi did not know the final outcome of this battle, he always felt that Li Xin could only obtain Huaibei at most during this trip. Want to destroy Chu? It's very difficult.

"Wujiu, let me ask you, how can I become a famous doctor praised by everyone?"

Chen Wujiu looked up in confusion and said a bunch of clichés that Xia Wujiu had taught him.

Xia Wuqi shook his head and said, "A famous doctor does not depend on how good his medical skills are, but on the five things he should not treat. First, he should not treat those who are arrogant, rude, cunning and tyrannical; second, he should not treat those who value money over life; third, he should not treat those who are doubtful and indecisive; fourth, he should not treat those who are too weak to take medicine; fifth, he should not treat those who are terminally ill."

"Given General Li's temperament, he likes to attack quickly with chariots and cavalry, and does not like to take steady steps. Even if he offers advice, he may not implement it on the front line. This is a person who is doubtful and indecisive."

"In addition, if General Li Xin fails to achieve complete success, or even returns in defeat, the effectiveness of battlefield rescue will not be heard by the king, and he will not be able to demonstrate the goodness of treating the wounded, nor can he prove that this strategy can inspire the morale of the soldiers. What use is it to the country? It's like we treat people's illnesses, but we can't get rid of the root of the disease. Not only will we not be rewarded, but we will even be blamed..."

He patted the silk book on the table and said: "This strategy requires enough time to prepare, and it must be put in a battle that is foolproof, but the battle that General Li Xin wants to fight is not stable..."

Doctors cannot prescribe medicine hastily when they get a good prescription. They have to slowly boil the medicine and see if the patient's constitution is suitable.

"Let's wait and see! When the most appropriate time comes, I will naturally offer advice to the king!"

...

Li Xin traveled very fast. He left Xianyang in mid-August and arrived in Yangdi, Yingchuan County in early September.

The garrison soldiers and civilians from Sanchuan, Yingchuan, Hedong, Shangdang, and Henei counties also gathered here, totaling 100,000. Together with the 100,000 troops already deployed on the Qin-Chu border, the 100,000 men he promised to the King of Qin were all in place, and the autumn harvest grains from various places were also stored in the warehouses. Ao Cang had accumulated more than 100,000 stones of millet, and the millet from Guanzhong was still being delivered in a steady stream, enough for the army to eat well...

The Chu State also sensed that the Qin people were coming with bad intentions. After several unsuccessful envoys were sent to negotiate, the war faction headed by Xiang Yan was reappointed by the King of Chu and began to prepare for war, deploying heavy troops in Huaibei. The two sides were on the verge of a war.

At the same time, Heifu in Yangcheng learned that the commander of the Qin army was really Li Xin, and cursed in his heart.

"I really got on a broken ship, and this battle seems to be over..."

But the captain who was sent to Yangcheng to command the 5,000 soldiers of Nanjun gave Heifu some hope again.

The captain and Li Xin were distant relatives. His name was Li You. He was the son-in-law of the King of Qin. He had just married the eldest princess of the King of Qin. He also had another identity.

"The son of Li Si, the court officer..."