Qin Official

The beautiful wooden door with hollow carvings was kicked open by Dongmen Leopard, making a loud crackling sound. Heifu followed closely behind. He frowned and glanced around the luxuriously decorated room, and saw Bai Ling hanging on the beam. It swayed back and forth in the wind, but there was no one up there.

"Run away?" Dongmen Leopard was panting, holding the halberd and looking around, somewhat unwillingly.

"Shh." Heifu gestured to him to be silent. He listened carefully and could hear nervous breathing coming from the bed.

Heifu understood, and nodded to Ji Ying and Gong Ao behind him. The two immediately entered, squatted down, and found the person they wanted to arrest under the bed.

Looking at the Chu officials huddled up under the bed, Hei Fu smiled at him: "Climb out by yourself, or do you want to take my sword first?"

"I'm coming out, I'm coming out."

The official got out of the bed shivering. He was short and fat, with a pair of mustaches on his face. His original high crown had long been lost, and his bun was stained with spider webs, making him look a little embarrassed. The man sneezed a lot after he came out. He must have eaten a lot of dust under the bed.

"Is he the governor of Dun County?" Heifu asked.

"I'm not... I'm the chef..."

The fat official raised his head and was about to deny it, but found that the Qin official in front of him was not asking about him, but two female maids in the mansion.

The maid nodded cautiously.

So, after a while, the Yin of Dun County was carried by several strong men from the Qin State and walked to the main hall of the Yin's mansion.

"Where are you taking me?" The county governor was a little flustered, but he didn't dare to struggle.

"The captain invites you."

Hei Fu walked forward holding his sword. At this moment, the county Yin Mansion had long been occupied by the Qin army, and there were short soldiers everywhere. It would become the temporary command post of Captain Li You in Dun County.

They left Yangcheng on the first day of October and traveled southeast along the Yingshui River. They quickly defeated more than a hundred sentries posted by the Chu State on the border and invaded Dun County.

He arrived at Dun County on October 3rd and captured the city on the evening of the next day, which was very fast. However, considering that Dun County is only a small county, with the city only two feet high and only three to four hundred soldiers, there is no need to be surprised.

"Did the Chu army simply abandon this city? Where were the Chu cavalry sentries who had several encounters with the Qin army's cavalry near Yingshui a few days ago? Why are they nowhere to be seen?"

Heifu felt a little uneasy. The more he encountered no resistance, the more he felt that there was a trick. He knew that this war would fail, but he didn't know how. He could only be cautious day and night.

I just hope that the failure does not start with their team.

Thinking like this, the main hall of the County Yin's Mansion has arrived. Hei Fu asked his subordinates to follow him, and threw the Dun County Yin who was used to pampering and pampering into the hall, and kicked him in the leg, making him kneel in the capital. In front of Wei Liyou.

"Captain, the governor of Dun County brought him to me. He did not hang himself, but hid under the bed."

When the short soldiers and guards in the hall heard this, they all smiled contemptuously.

Li You was looking through some bamboo scrolls found in the mansion, which recorded the records of the Chu army's garrison in the local area, so he did not raise his head to look at the prisoner, and directly asked: "Yin of Dun County, do you know the crime?" "

Dun Yin said in a trembling voice: "The foreign minister could have abandoned the city and left, but he stayed here when the general's troops pressed on the border. It is because he has the responsibility to defend the land. He is not guilty in Chu, but may be guilty in Qin..."

The first half of the sentence is neither humble nor arrogant, but the second half of the sentence immediately reveals its true character: "But the foreign minister is willing to govern the people for the general, stabilize the people's hearts, and atone for his sins!"

"So, you are willing to surrender?"

Li You looked at Dunyin, only to find that he was also looking at him intently, his eyes widening.

Seeing Li You raise his face, after looking at it for a moment, Dun Yin couldn't help but look happy, stood up and said, "My dear nephew, it turns out to be you!"

As soon as he made a reckless move, Heifu and two of his men stepped forward, pushed Dun Yin back to the ground, and put the sword to his neck!

"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding! I am really an old friend of the captain!" Dun Yin explained hurriedly.

Li You looked Dun Yin up and down, but couldn't remember who it was, so he asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Cai Cheng. I was a county official in Shangcai in my early years, and served as Li Si... No, I was Li Gong's superior, and I got along well with him..."

Li You shook his head, still not impressed. Although his family was indeed from Shangcai, Chu State, as early as he could remember, his father Li Si went to Lanling to visit Xunzi and became his disciple.

A few years later, Li Si returned from his studies and only stayed for a few days. He took his brothers and several others to hunt and play for a few days, and then he said, "I have been in a humble position for a long time, in a difficult place, and I am not a worldly but evil person. It is not the sentiment of a scholar to rely on inaction." So he went west to Qin to look for opportunities.

It was also from that time that the Li family went from an ordinary family of poor people to a prosperous career.

Cai Cheng was anxious and said quickly: "Twenty years ago, before he left Shangcai, Li Gong took the captain, the middle son, and the yellow dog out to hunt cunning rabbits at the east gate of Shangcai. I was also riding a horse at that time. After returning from the safari, I chatted with Mr. Li for a few words at the east gate. At that time, I asked the captain how old he was and whether he could learn to read."

Seeing that Li You seemed to have remembered something, he pointed to his hand and said: "At that time, I was still carrying a wild baby and gave it to Mr. Li. Mr. Li asked the captain to take it, but the captain didn't remember it? How many years later? "When Li Gong took the Duwei brothers to the Qin State, I went to the Duwei's home, and then I remembered the Duwei's appearance."

"This seems to be the case. It turns out that he is really an old friend of my father's."

Li You smiled, not too happy. He just waved his hand and asked Hei Fu and others to let go of Cai Cheng, give him a cushion, and bring a bowl of water for Cai Cheng to drink.

Cai Cheng probably hid under the bed for too long, so he took the water and drank it, then wiped his mouth. Seeing that the son of a resigned petty official whom he looked down upon back then, has now become a dignified captain of the Qin Kingdom. He was so high above others, but he himself became a prisoner. His life and death depended on a single thought, and he couldn't help but feel a lot of emotions.

"That was thirty years ago. At that time, Mr. Li was young and had just been appointed as a minor official in the county. He always liked to watch rats when he had nothing to do. We asked him why he was so interested in rats, and he said that when he saw the official's house The rats in the toilet are eating filth and will run away in fear whenever someone or a dog comes. But in the granary where we work, the rats in the barn eat accumulated corn and live under the big house all year round, not to mention Worry about being disturbed by people or dogs.”

"At that time, Mr. Li sighed with emotion and said to us, whether a person is virtuous or unworthy, like a rat, is determined by where he is."

"So within a few days, Li Gong resigned from his position as a minor official and went to Lanling to worship Xunzi as his teacher. He said that he wanted to learn some emperor's skills. At that time, many colleagues laughed at him, but now..."

Cai Cheng looked at his embarrassed appearance and then at Li You, who was occupying his mansion majesticly. He shook his head and said: "We are indeed the rat in the toilet, and Mr. Li is already the rat in the hamster..."

After he finished speaking, he felt that this was wrong and quickly changed his words: "No, Mr. Li and the captain brothers are all phoenix birds and swans!"

This was the first time that Li You heard that his father had such past events. He immediately became friendly and chatted with Cai Cheng in his hometown dialect.

In the first few years when Li Si arrived in the Qin State, he was just a native of Lu Buwei. He became the long history of the Qin State and had a low status. After Lu Buwei fell and Zheng Guo was a spy, the King of Qin expelled the guests. As a foreigner living in the country, Li Si was almost bombarded. After leaving, he relied on a "Book of Remonstrance and Expulsion" to gain the respect of the King of Qin. From then on, he rose to the rank of Tingwei.

It was not until that time that he took Li You brothers to Qin. That year Li You was already a teenager. When the family left Shangcai, he was still wearing common clothes and was dusty. At that time, I never imagined that more than ten years later, I would be able to marry the Princess of Qin and lead an army back to my hometown...

"When this battle is over, I will return to Shangcai to worship my ancestors."

While listening to Cai Cheng's compliments, Li You thought about what would happen after the war. Perhaps the capture of Dun County was too smooth, giving him the illusion that the war would end soon.

"What an inspiring story." Heifu was listening to the conversation between Li You and Cai Cheng. He felt that Li Si's experience was a role model for all aspiring young people in this era. It's a pity that the time full of opportunities has passed.

However, the metaphor of the rat in the toilet and the rat in the warehouse can only be applied to the state of Chu. If it were placed in the state of Qin, the warehouseman would be so nervous when he saw a mouse that he had to catch it and kill it, and then put the mouse to death. The hole is blocked because Qin law stipulates that if there are more than three mouse holes in the warehouse, the warehouse stingy man will be punished. Therefore, in the Qin State, the life of a mouse in the warehouse is probably worse than that of a mouse in the toilet.

After reminiscing about old times, Li You finally got to the point and began to ask Cai Cheng about the movements of the Chu army.

"I heard they all evacuated to Xiangcheng."

Cai Cheng now knew everything and complained: "It is said that Shangzhu Kingdom is in Xiangcheng. I wanted to go there, but I was afraid that Shangzhu Kingdom would blame me for abandoning the city."

The "Shangzhu State" he refers to is Xiang Yan, who is the highest military officer of the Chu State and his official position is second only to Ling Yin.

Heifu listened to this important military situation and nodded secretly. It seems that he guessed correctly. The reason why the Chu army gave up on the border towns such as Dun County was probably because they did not want to be defeated by the Qin army because they divided their troops to defend the ground. Instead, they planned to gather them together. , In this way, the Qin army fights far away and will not have any advantage in terms of military strength.

"Do you know how many Chu soldiers there are in Xiangcheng?" Li You asked again.

Cai Cheng thought for a moment, stretched out his hands, and said, "I also heard from the military officers who went to deliver food. They said that Shangzhu State has gathered a hundred thousand troops in Xiangcheng!"