The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

In late September, when the letters from the Qin soldiers in Nanjun County of Dangyang were loaded onto the baggage carts and slowly moved south, more than a hundred miles away in Huaiyang (Chenying), Changping Jun Xiong Qi also received a letter from the south...

Opening the plain silk book, the delicate and slender Chu-style bird and insect characters came into view, but after only two glances, Xiong Qi crumpled it into a ball! He kept it in his palm and never wanted to open it again.

There is no doubt that although he was born in Xianyang and grew up in Qinchuan, this Chu-style bird and insect seal script was the first character he learned when he was a child...

Xiong Qi's father was King Kaolie of Chu. In the 27th year of King Qingxiang of Chu (272 BC), Chu asked for peace with Qin. King Kaolie of Chu, who was still the prince at the time, was sent to Xianyang as a hostage and stayed there for ten years. During this period, King Kaolie of Chu also married the daughter of King Zhao of Qin and gave birth to Xiong Qi.

Xiong Qi, who has the blood of the royal family of Chu, grew up in Xianyang. He wore Qin clothes and spoke Qin dialect when he was a child, which was no different from the ordinary Qin grandson. Only when it was late at night, his father would personally teach him some Chu characters and tell him not to forget his homeland.

Xiong Qi still remembers that when he was young and ignorant, he foolishly asked his father: "Isn't Qin my homeland?"

His father beat him hard with a rattan stick, letting him know what Jing and Chu are!

In Xiong Qi's earliest memory, Jingchu is synonymous with pain. Until now, every time he mentions this word, he will feel a pain from his soul.

There is no doubt that this letter was sent from the enemy territory of Chu.

"Who delivered the letter?" Xiong Qi looked at his subordinate Chen Ta. Xiong Qi was now the governor of the newly established "Chen County" in Qin State. Although he had many subordinates, only Chen Ta and dozens of others were the warriors he could entrust his life to.

Chen Ta said: "It was an old man in ragged clothes. He only handed over this piece of silk book, saying that it was a letter from the Lord, and it must be delivered..."

"A letter?" Xiong Qi's expression became more and more solemn.

He walked to the attic of the palace, holding the silk book in his hand, looking at the late autumn scenery outside in silence for a long time.

Chen Ying was once the capital of Chu State after it moved eastward. This was the former palace of Chu State. Logically, he had the opportunity to grow up here, but fate played a big joke on him when Xiong Qi was eight years old...

That year (263 BC), his grandfather, King Qingxiang of Chu, was seriously ill, but Qin State kept his crown prince and did not want to let him go. Xiong Qi's father conspired with Huang Xie and returned to Chu to become the king of Chu, while Xiong Qi and his mother were left in Qin, becoming a detainee with an awkward status.

Since then, Xiong Qi was ordered by his mother not to learn Chu characters anymore and to use Qin seal script instead. Even, only when he went to An Guojun's mansion to meet Lady Huayang did he have the opportunity to wear the misty and wide Chu clothes and eat the sweet oranges from the south.

At that time, there was also a Qin king's grandson named "Yi Ren" who went in and out of An Guojun's mansion wearing Chu clothes. He was an unpopular son of An Guojun. Later, he was adopted by Lady Huayang and changed his name to "Zi Chu", which means the son of Lady Huayang from Chu...

Xiong Qi, the real son of Chu, was stunned to see the businessman named Lu Buwei directing all this. It was from this person that he knew what political tactics were.

That year, it was the year when Qin surrounded Handan, and he was only 14 years old.

Ten years later, the throne of Qin changed, and it was finally Zichu's turn to be king, but he didn't live long and died a few years after he succeeded to the throne. Zichu's son, the young man who had been detained in Handan for several years after Zichu escaped from Zhao, became the new King of Qin.

That year, Xiong Qi was 24 years old and King Zheng of Qin was 13 years old, so he had to call him his cousin.

Because King Zheng of Qin was young, Queen Mother Huayang, as his grandmother, began to govern the country with Queen Mother Xia and Queen Mother Zhao. For a time, since the death of Queen Mother Xuan, the Chu-related relatives who had been dormant in Qin for a long time ushered in spring again. And Xiong Qi, as a new generation of backbone among the Chu-related relatives, was also entrusted with important tasks in the Qin court. As the King of Qin grew up, Xiong Qi became his most trusted relative uncle and the most powerful promoter of the King of Qin's personal rule.

It is true that Qin and Chu were enemies. After King Huai of Chu died in Qin, they had a deep blood feud. However, the royal families of the two countries had been related for 400 years and 18 generations. The relationship was so complicated that it could not be distinguished by the words "enemy" or "me".

Nine years later (238 BC), King Guan of Qin, during the turmoil when Lao Ai sent troops to attack Qinian Palace, Xiong Qi was ordered to lead the people to defeat Lao Ai's accomplices and put down the rebellion. This outstanding merit earned him the title of "Lord Changping". He was 33 years old that year.

In the same year, bad news came from Chu. Xiong Qi's father, King Kaolie of Chu, also passed away. After obtaining the permission of King Zheng of Qin, Xiong Qi came to mourn on behalf of Qin.

In Shouchun, the new capital of Chu, he saw the coffin of his father who had been away for more than 20 years, and three unfamiliar brothers...

Xiong Han, Xiong You, and Xiong Fuchu.

Xiong Han and Xiong You were born of the same mother. The two of them stared at Xiong Qi with wary eyes, fearing that he was assigned by the Qin State to come back and seize the throne. After all, he was the eldest brother among the four brothers.

Xiong Fuchu, however, was full of smiles. As soon as they met, he kept calling him brother, brother. At that time, Xiong Qi thought he was a filial and brotherly man. It was not until a few years ago that the news came that Fuchu killed Xiong You and established himself as king. Xiong Qi felt that he did not know people well.

That's right, the current King of Chu, Fuchu, is Xiong Qi's last "family member" in Chu, so this family letter must have been sent by the King of Chu!

"When the Qin army was at the door, you finally remembered me, your eldest brother? You also wrote those words in the silk book. What does that mean?"

"In addition to the silk book, you also sent this thing." Chen Ta knew the temperament of his master. After Xiong Qi finished thinking, he placed the small basket of fruits in front of him.

Xiong Qi took a look and saw that it was a whole basket of tangerines.

Yes, it is late autumn in September, the season when oranges are ripe, which is a specialty of Chu.

But when Xiong Qi peeled one of them, he did not see the yellow orange petals, nor could he smell the rich sweet and sour aroma.

Under the thick orange peel, there were only hard bitter oranges.

Xiong Qi's face twitched a few times, and he opened the white silk book that he had crumpled into a ball again.

On it was Qu Yuan's "Ode to Oranges", which was their father's favorite poem when he was alive, and Xiong Qi had recited it word for word.

"It's a pity that you, the young generation, were born too late and could not see Qu Yuan's charm." Xiong Qi still remembered his father's sigh and regret, so he recited it very hard, and even without looking at the silk book, he could recite the above sentence.

"The emperor's favorite tree, the tangerine tree, is here to serve.

It was ordered not to move, and was born in the south...

It is deep and hard to move, and has a single mind.

Its green leaves and white flowers are so beautiful."

After reciting a paragraph, Xiong Qi shook his head and sighed.

"My brother Fu Chu, you are a smart man. Are you asking me whether Xiong Qi is the Chu tangerine tree, which was ordered not to move, was born in the south, and has a single mind? Or is it the Qin tangerine tree, which changed completely after moving to the north?"

Xiong Qi did not give an answer. He just sighed, "I am not Boyi, why do you take me as an example?" Then he threw the silk book into the brazier and burned it clean, and asked Chen Ta to bury the basket of bitter tangerines.

He himself, expressionless, was put on the official uniform of the Qin State under the manipulation of the maids, and took off any accessories and high crown that might have the color of "Jingchu", and changed into a conventional Qin style to show his firm position. Then he went out and got on the carriage, left the palace, and drove to the Qin army camp outside Chenying City...

Today is the day when Li Xin, the chief general of the Qin army, and Meng Tian, the deputy general, led the army to arrive. As the governor of Chen County and the chief officer responsible for logistics in this war of Qin's destruction of Chu, Xiong Qi must go to greet them, and the three of them will discuss the strategy of destroying Chu together.

Li Xin and Meng Tian did not avoid Xiong Qi because he was the elder brother of the King of Chu. Since the last successful persuasion of Chenying, Xiong Qi successfully dispelled the doubts of King Zheng of Qin, believing that he had made a choice between Qin and Chu.

Xiong Qi closed his eyes and rested in the shaking car, but in his wide sleeves, he found a mixed green and yellow fruit, quietly stored in his palm.

Is it a tangerine? Or a trifoliate orange?

No one knows until the peel is peeled to find out...