The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

In the cold winter, the restaurant business in Anlu County was bleak. The store owner was dozing off by the warm stove, but unexpectedly a man came over and threw a bag of money heavily on the table, which scared the store owner.

"Store owner, we are here to rest and eat. Please cook a dog leg and make some good meals."

The store owner's dream was disturbed. He opened his eyes and was about to scold, but found that the person in front of him was an acquaintance. Wasn't it Ji Ying who had eaten a meal of millet soup here two years ago?

Since Ji Ying became a postman in Huyang Pavilion, he had many opportunities to go back and forth to the county town and was a frequent customer of this restaurant. However, he had no news since he followed Huyang Pavilion Chief Heifu to escort prisoners to the north to serve a year ago. When did he come back?

The shopkeeper smiled and exchanged a few words with Ji Ying. Several people came into the restaurant. They were all Anlu garrison soldiers who followed Hei Fu to serve in the north. Except for Dongmen Bao, the remaining nine people were here. They were all exhausted, but their faces were full of joy.

Hei Fu and his brother Jing walked at the back while chatting. After entering, they bowed to the shopkeeper and said:

"Shopkeeper, we have just returned from service. We were going to report to the official temple, submit our own certificates, and end our service. However, the official temple is closed, so we may have to stay in this restaurant for one night. Please prepare a room and hot water for us."

The shopkeeper agreed, because he found that Hei Fu was no longer the little pavilion chief when he went to serve. He was now wearing a majestic bearskin coat and a double-board officer on his head. Is this the symbol of an official doctor?

How many official doctors are there in Anlu County? You can count them on one hand! Looking more carefully, except for Heifu, the others were all wearing brocade and sheepskin. It seemed that they had really returned with a lot of rewards from their service this time. I wonder what kind of wealth they had encountered.

The shopkeeper did not dare to neglect them and quickly invited everyone to sit down. He also called his wife, son, and servants to help him to quickly prepare hot soup, kill chickens and dogs, wash rice and cook rice...

Everyone put a few tables together and arranged them into a long table. They sat opposite each other. Heifu naturally sat in the most honorable seat. Although Jing was the youngest, he was also pushed to the side by everyone.

"The brother of the five hundred masters is our brother."

Jing was shocked when he heard this. He was a little afraid to execute his brother's title of official doctor, so he said happily: "Brother Zhong, you have already reached the five hundred masters in the army?"

When he shouted like this, the shopkeeper who was pouring water on the side couldn't help but prick up his ears. Five hundred masters, if the county left lieutenant of this county enters the army, he will only be at this level, right?

"Fake."

Hei Fu said with a smile: "I was only the fake Lord of Five Hundred for a short time. Now that the war is over, everyone's military position has been lifted. Just call me by my name or title."

"Yes." Everyone bowed to Hei Fu: "Official Doctor!"

Although the war was over and everyone returned home smoothly, they still obeyed Hei Fu's words as military orders. Like Ji Ying, Dongmen Bao and other close friends who called him "Hei Fu" before, there is no more.

Jing has become more careful after staying in the county for a year. After noticing this subtle change, he felt even more itchy. There must be a story here!

But no matter how he asked Brother Zhong, Brother Zhong avoided talking about it on the grounds of "It's hard to say in one word". He could only find another way. Knowing that Ji Ying talked a lot, after the hot soup was served, he used water instead of wine to get close to Ji Ying who was sitting next to him and asked him to tell what happened in the past year?

"This year is really hard to describe!"

Ji Ying warmed up his body with a mouthful of hot soup, and then started to brag, which was what he was best at.

Since October last year, when everyone escorted the prisoners to the north, some prisoners escaped, which led to Hei Fu asking Bu Shang to use the "fish belly speaking book" strategy to let the prisoners start talking at ease. Talking about the battle of Waihuang, everyone bravely climbed the city, and Hei Fu personally bandaged everyone's wounds to stop bleeding. He also talked about their governance of Huoyou Township, deliberately luring the enemy with food and killing the old soldiers of Wei. Then everyone witnessed the collapse of Daliang City, the destruction of the Wancheng Wei Kingdom overnight, and the century-old city turned into ruins...

After saying this in one breath, Jing had already opened his mouth wide. This was an unimaginable wonder in his daily life in the boring small county town.

Ji Ying took a sip of water and said, "This is nothing. The most exciting thing is what happened in the war against Chu!"

He started with Hei Fu leading everyone in training, enforcing strict discipline by folding quilts, and writing letters to boost morale. In the middle, he briefly mentioned the defeats of Li Xin and Meng Tian, and only talked about the Battle of Yingyang!

Hearing this, Jing had already clenched his fists and was worried about his brother.

Trapped in an isolated city, the commander was injured, and he dared to personally enter the enemy camp to pretend to surrender! This is not something that ordinary people can do. And Gong Ao, Li Xian and others decisively suppressed Xu Yang's rebellion, which was also thrilling. As for the people going out of the city to fight, Huaimu and other soldiers who were trapped in the battle died bravely, which made Jing furious, and felt that those soldiers who had never met were really praiseworthy.

When Ji Ying talked about how Xiao Tao shot an arrow and stopped the enemy general from committing suicide, and how everyone pretended to be the Chu army, fought for 300 miles in Chu territory and finally returned to Qin, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Alas."

But unexpectedly, someone behind him also sighed.

Looking back, he found that the owner of the store was holding a plate of dog meat and was also listening in a daze. The two merchants who walked into the store and planned to eat, and the servants and concubines who helped, all listened attentively. After Ji Ying finally finished speaking, they clapped their hands and praised.

"You are all heroes, so you can do such a feat!"

But they didn't feel too strange, because Hei Fu was a celebrity when he left Anlu. He captured three thieves alone, caught tomb robbers on a snowy night, gave gold to break the contract, and refused to accept the horse gifted by others in the blind mountain case. He was quite famous for his benevolence and righteousness.

But this time, his deeds can be crowned with the word "hero"!

Ji Ying was even more proud now, and said loudly: "At the beginning of this month, the army was disbanded. When we stopped in Nanyang, we received commendations from Xianyang. The seven or eight hundred people who were still alive were promoted one level, and those who died in the battle were promoted two levels. The king also rewarded everyone with three million yuan! I think that in the near future, the government's commendation of us will also be passed on to Anlu County!"

"All this is Heifu... It is the credit of Guan Dafu!"

Everyone cheered again, and was surprised and proud. He turned his head to look at his brother and said admiringly: "Brother Zhong, I never thought you were so powerful!"

"This is not my credit."

Heifu hurriedly asked Ji Ying to sit down, and told everyone: "Those strategies of feigning surrender, arranging battle arrays, and attacking the enemy, including the route of retreat, were all decided by Li Youduwei, and I was just writing for him. How dare Heifu take credit for the great achievements and brag about himself? These boasting words, you two or three guys, please don't say them anymore..."

The people around him dispersed, but they regarded Heifu's words as humble words. The two merchants who left the restaurant would probably become the best intermediaries, telling everyone they knew what they heard today. In a few days, Heifu would be famous in Anlu County and even in Nanjun.

Ji Ying boasted to Jing about another thing at this time, that is, the relationship between Heifu and Li You.

"Jing." Ji Ying smiled and said, "Who is the highest official you have ever seen?"

"It should be the county magistrate. I saw him from a distance when he came to the school for inspection."

"What is a county magistrate?"

Ji Ying waved his hand in disdain: "It's just an official with a salary of six hundred stones. Do you know what is above the county magistrate?"

Jing said: "It's a county official, the county governor, the county magistrate, the county lieutenant..."

"What's above it?"

"That would have to be a high official in Xianyang, such as the Imperial Censor..." Jing murmured, that was a height he could never imagine in his life.

"Yes, the officials in Xianyang are the most powerful. You are a student in the school, learning laws and regulations. Do you know who is in charge of the prisons in Qin?"

"The Tingwei is in charge." He scratched his head in surprise. He remembered that the teacher had said in class that difficult cases that the county court could not decide could be handed over to the county court, and cases that the county court could not handle would be submitted to the court and tried by the Tingwei.

The Tingwei's responsibility is to manage the prisons in the world. The total number of cases decided by the counties and counties each year will eventually be reported to the Tingwei. In addition, the formulation of laws and regulations is also revised by the Tingwei and the Imperial Censor in cooperation with the king's order.

"That's right. Lieutenant Li You, who leads us, is the son of the Chief Justice, and Guan Dafu is the most trusted of Lieutenant Li's trusted confidants."

Ji Ying counted on his fingers: "Lieutenant Li's wound was bandaged by Brother Ru Zhong, and Lieutenant Li's life was also saved by Brother Ru Zhong. In this battle, General Li Xin and General Meng Tian were severely punished, stripped of their titles, and exiled to the border counties as generals. The rest of the officers were punished or demoted, and seven lieutenants were even worse, dying in battle!"

"Only Lieutenant Li, relying on the military exploits in Yingyang, was promoted instead of demoted. Now he is the left minister and has returned to Xianyang to receive his reward. The king's edict also said that Qin Mugong still had the difficulty of Mount Yao, and the defeat was nothing, but if everyone had it..."

At this point, Ji Ying paused and smiled at Li Xian: "Li Zhanniao, what did it say next?"

Li Xian didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said on his behalf: "The king said in the edict that if everyone had the ambition of the three generals Meng, Xi, and Bai, and everyone could emulate Li Duwei's courage to fight even after defeat, and to fight behind enemy lines for 300 miles without stopping, then this battle would not have ended like this..."

As Hei Fu expected, the King of Qin really needed a fig leaf to cover up this rare defeat of the Qin army. Because of Li You's identity, their troops were indeed regarded as a model and received extra praise.

"That's right."

Ji Ying clapped his hands: "Brother Ru Zhong said that he was just Li Duwei's ghostwriter, but if it were anyone else, how could they have such courage and ability? Therefore, Li Duwei highly valued him. Did you see this bear fur coat? It's worth 30,000 or 40,000 yuan. Li Duwei waved his hand and said he would give it away! He also said that this thing should be given to the talented people to keep warm!"

Jing opened his mouth wide when he heard it. When he went home to complain about being isolated in the school, Zhong had told him that the left lieutenant Yun family was powerful and had a grudge against Heifu, so Jing should keep a low profile in the county. For this reason, Jing has been unhappy, because he was isolated in the school because a child of the left lieutenant family was doing bad things.

But now, Brother Zhong has become the confidant of the son of the court judge. The county left lieutenant and the court judge? In this comparison, is there any need for their family to be afraid of the Yun family!

"Okay, stop bragging."

Heifu interrupted Jiying and scolded: "So much food can't stop you from talking. You are now a noble. If you want to keep your title and continue to rise, you must learn to be careful in what you say and do."

"Anyway, the county people will know it sooner or later..."

Jiying muttered, and then deliberately said loudly: "Spread it out earlier, so that some despicable villains can weigh it!"

Heifu shook his head helplessly, and everyone followed the topic and talked about their rewards and titles.

The Qin government was very generous with money, and rewarded Li You's subordinates with a huge sum of 3 million coins in one breath! Those who died in the battle got more, 5,000 coins each, and the living ordinary soldiers got a little less, but there were also 2,000 to 3,000. Military officials could get more, and the most, such as Heifu, got 70,000 coins alone!

In order to make it easier to carry, Heifu exchanged all the money for gold. Together with the various rewards he had saved from the previous war against Wei, Heifu's bag already had 30 taels of gold, a huge sum of nearly 200,000 coins...

So everyone could afford the fur coats that were considered expensive in the past. It was Ji Ying who encouraged everyone to pick them in Wancheng. Everyone felt that if they didn't wear something nice to show off after surviving a narrow escape and getting so much reward money, they would be sorry for themselves!

Heifu wanted to save the money and do more meaningful things, so except for the bear fur coat on his body, which was given by Li You and he couldn't refuse it, he didn't buy too many things to show off his wealth.

In terms of titles, the Qin government was not so generous. Basically, those who died in battle could be promoted by two levels, and those who were alive could be promoted by one to two levels according to their merits. Those above the rank of doctor could only be promoted by one level. Because Heifu gave the credit for the decision-making and command of the Battle of Yingyang to Li You, he was only promoted to the rank of official doctor.

But Heifu was already very satisfied. With only this small price, he boarded Li Si's big ship, which was not a loss at all.

Ji Ying and Li Xian, who were still soldiers when they left Anlu, were promoted to Zan Niao. Gong Ao, who parted with them in Yancheng, was also a Zan Niao. Bu Cheng is now a Shangzao, and the other Anlu people who followed Heifu on the road are also Shangzao.

"We are not as capable as the officials, so we can just follow them. But Xiao Tao is now a no-mortgage, and he doesn't have to serve in the future." Ji Ying said enviously.

Xiao Tao was always silent at the dinner table, and his bun on his head was not changed to a small crown. It was easy to be regarded as a background board. When he heard that this young man who was only two years older than him was already a no-mortgage, he was surprised, respectful and envious.

"There is still a no-mortgage who hasn't come yet."

Heifu laughed: "He just entered the city and was busy going home to see his son."

Everyone also laughed, and they were talking about Dongmen Bao.

As he was talking, he saw a big man in a deerskin coat walk into the restaurant, sit down cross-legged next to Ji Ying, pick up the cup in front of him and drink!

After finding that it was hot water, he cursed and slammed the table and shouted: "Where is the wine? Shopkeeper, can you heat some wine!"

Hei Fu scolded him: "This is not Wei or Chu, what kind of wine are you looking for? The restaurant is opened by the government, where does the wine come from? Don't make a fuss and cause trouble!"

Dongmen Bao shut up obediently, but he was still angry, as if he had suffered a great injustice.

"What's wrong with Ah Bao?" Everyone looked at each other. Didn't he go home to see his son with many specialties bought from Nanyang County just now?

Could it be that...

Everyone fell silent. These days, the probability of newborns dying is very high, and many mothers also die unfortunately. Could it be that...

Dongmen Bao looked up and saw that everyone was looking at him with sympathy. Hei Fu sighed and patted his shoulder, about to comfort him. He got even angrier and said, "Don't think too much. My wife is safe! She gave birth to two babies! Now she's almost one year old!"

Everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief and smiled again: "This is a good thing, why are you frowning?"

"Because it's not a son, it's a daughter!"

Dongmen Bao stood up indignantly, stretched out two fingers and emphasized, "It's still two! You have been thinking about a boy's name for more than a year, but it's all in vain!"