Qin Official

In the coldest month of winter, the business of restaurants in Anlu County was bleak. The shopkeeper was sitting by the warm stove and dozing off. Unexpectedly, a man came over and threw a bag of money heavily on the table, which shocked the shopkeeper.

"Housekeeper, we are here to rest and have a meal. Please cook some dog legs and make some better meals."

The shopkeeper's sweet dream was disturbed. He opened his eyes and was about to scold him, but found that the person in front of him was an acquaintance. Wasn't it Ji Ying who had eaten rice cakes at his place two years ago?

Since Ji Ying worked as a postman in Huyang Pavilion, he had many opportunities to go back and forth to the county town, and he was a frequent customer of this restaurant. However, he has not been heard from since a year ago when he followed the chief of Huyang Pavilion, Heifu, to escort the prisoners north to serve. , when did you come back?

The shopkeeper smiled and exchanged greetings with Ji Ying. Several people walked into the restaurant one after another. They were all Anlu garrison soldiers who had followed Heifu north to serve. Except for Dongmen Bao, the nine people who were still alive were here. They were all dusty, but their faces were full of joy.

Heifu and his brother Jing walked at the back while chatting. After entering, they raised their hands to the store and said:

"Housekeeper, we have just returned from the service. We were supposed to go to the official temple to report, submit our respective certificates, and end our service. However, the official temple has been closed. I am afraid that we will have to stay in this restaurant for one night. Please help the store prepare for us. House and hot water.”

The shopkeeper only agreed because he discovered that Heifu was no longer the little pavilion chief he was when he went to serve. He was now wearing a majestic bearskin coat with double boards on his head. Is this the sign of an official?

How many officials are there in Anlu County? I can count them all on one hand! Taking a closer look, except for Heifu, the rest of the people were all dressed in rich clothes. It seemed that they had returned home with a full load from this service. I wonder if they had met some kind of wealth.

The shopkeeper did not dare to neglect, and quickly invited everyone to sit down. He also called his wife, son and concubines who were helping to quickly prepare hot soup, kill chickens and dogs, wash rice and cook...

Everyone put together several cases and arranged them into a long case. They sat opposite each other. Hei Fu naturally sat on the most distinguished seat. Even though he was the youngest, he was pushed to the side by everyone.

"The younger brother of the Lord of Five Hundred is our younger brother."

He was shocked when he heard that his brother had received the title of official and he was already a little afraid to carry out the title, so he said happily: "Brother Zhong, have you already achieved five hundred masters in the army?"

When he yelled like this, the shopkeeper who was pouring water on the side couldn't help but pricked up his ears. Lord Five Hundred, if the county lieutenant of this county enters the army, it will only be at this level, right?

"Fake."

Heifu said with a smile: "I have only been a fake Lord of Five Hundred for a short period of time. Now that the war is over, everyone's military duties have also been relieved. All you have to do is commensurate with your name or title."

"Wei." Everyone bowed their hands towards Hei Fu: "Official official!"

Although the war was over and everyone returned home smoothly, Heifu's words were still treated like military orders. Like before, Ji Ying, Dongmen Bao and other close friends called him "Heifu", but that is no longer the case.

After staying in the county town for a year, Jing became more attentive. When he noticed this subtle change, he felt even more itchy. There must be a story in it!

But no matter how he asked Brother Zhong, Brother Zhong would avoid talking about it on the grounds that it was "too difficult to explain". He could only find another way, knowing that Ji Ying talked a lot, so after the hot soup was served, he drank water instead of wine, got close to Ji Ying who was sitting next to him, and asked him to tell him what happened in the past year.

“This year has been really hard to describe!”

After Ji Ying warmed up his body with a sip of hot soup, he began to do what he was best at, bragging.

Since October last year, everyone was escorting the prisoners north, but some prisoners escaped, which led Heifu to ask the fortune teller to use the "fish belly language book" strategy to make the prisoners feel at ease and start talking. Speaking of the Battle of Waihuang, everyone bravely climbed to the city, and Hei Fu personally bandaged everyone's wounds and stopped the bleeding. It was also said that when they governed Hufu Township, they deliberately lured the enemy with food and killed the old soldiers of the Wei State. Then everyone witnessed the collapse of Daliang City, the Wancheng Wei Kingdom was destroyed overnight, and the century-old city was reduced to ruins...

He said this in one breath, and his mouth opened in shock. This was an unimaginable sight in his daily life in a 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 battle against Chu!"

He started with the story of Heifu leading everyone to train, laying quilts on them to strictly enforce discipline, and writing letters home to boost morale. In the middle, he briefly touched on the defeats of Li Xin and Meng Tian, ​​and only brought up the Battle of Linyang to talk about it!

Hearing this, I was shocked and clenched my fists, sweating for my brother Zhong.

Trapped in an isolated city, the general was injured, but he dared to enter the enemy camp in person and feign surrender! This is not something ordinary people can do. And Gong Ao, Li Xian and others decisively put down Xu Yang's rebellion, which was also extremely thrilling. As for the people who went out of the city to fight fiercely, Huaimu and other soldiers who were trapped in the battle died heroically, which made him furious and frightened. He felt that those soldiers who had never met before were really praiseworthy.

When Ji Ying said that Xiao Tao flew away with an arrow and prevented the enemy general from committing suicide, and that everyone pretended to be the Chu army and fought for three hundred miles in Chu State and finally returned to Qin State, he was shocked and could not help but let out a long sigh of relief.

"Sigh."

Unexpectedly, someone behind him also sighed.

Looking back, I found that the owner of the store was holding a plate of dog meat and was listening in a daze. The two merchants who walked into the store and planned to eat, and the concubines who were helping, were all listening in rapt attention, waiting for Ji Ying. After they finally finished speaking, they all clapped their hands in praise.

"You are all strong men to be able to accomplish such a feat!"

But they didn't feel too surprised, because Heifu was a celebrity when he left Anlu. He captured three thieves by one person, caught tomb robbers on a snowy night, broke the contract with gifts, and the case in Blind Mountain where he refused to accept horses as gifts from others. , quite famous for his benevolence and righteousness.

But this time, his deeds can be labeled as "hero"!

Ji Ying became even more proud now, and said loudly: "The army was disbanded at the beginning of this month. When we stopped in Nanyang, we received commendations from Xianyang. Everyone of the seven or eight hundred people who are still alive must be promoted to a higher level. If they die in battle, The person is at the second level. The king also rewarded everyone with three million yuan! I think that soon, the government’s commendation for us will also spread to Anlu County! "

"All of this is the work of Mr. Hei... and the officials!"

Everyone applauded again, surprised and elated, feeling extremely proud. They turned their heads to look at their brother and said with admiration: "Brother Zhong, I never thought you were so powerful!"

"This is not my credit."

Heifu quickly asked Ji Ying to sit down and told everyone: "Those strategies of false surrender, arraying, and attacking the enemy, including the route of retreat, were all decided by Lieutenant Li You, and I was just a knife for him. How dare Heifu take the great credit for himself?" Yes, bragging? Don’t say these bragging words again..."

The people nearby dispersed, but they regarded Heifu's words as words of humility. The two businessmen leaving the restaurant would probably become the best mediators, using what they heard today as conversation topics to tell everyone. Someone I know. In a few days, Heifu may become famous in Anlu County, or even in Nan County.

Ji Ying then boasted about another thing to Jing Jing, which was the relationship between Heifu and Li You.

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

"It must be the county magistrate. I saw him from a distance when he came to inspect the school."

"What is a county magistrate?"

Ji Ying waved his hand in disgust: "It's just an official with six hundred stones. Do you know what the county magistrate is after that?"

He was surprised and said: "It's a county official, a county guard, a county magistrate, a county lieutenant..."

"What about further up?"

"Then it has to be a high-ranking official in Xianyang, a censor or something like that..." Jing murmured, that was a height that he could never imagine in his life.

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

"Let the court officials handle it." He scratched his head in shock. He remembered that the master had said in class that difficult cases that could not be decided by the county court could be handed over to the county court. Cases that the county court could not handle were submitted to the imperial court and handled by the court officials. Trial.

The duty of the Tingwei is to manage the world's prisons. The total number of prisons in counties and counties every year is finally summarized by the Tingwei. There are also laws and regulations, which are also revised by the Tingwei and the imperial censor in cooperation with the king's orders.

"That's right, Captain Li You who is in charge of us is the son of Captain Ting, and the official is a close confidant of Captain Li."

Ji Ying clasped his fingers and counted: "Brother Ru Zhong bandaged Captain Li's injuries, and it was Brother Ru Zhong who saved Captain Li's life. In this battle, General Li Xin and General Meng Tian were both severely punished and had their heads cut off." He was banished to a border county as a general, and the rest of the generals were punished and demoted, and seven captains were even worse, they were killed directly in the battle!"

"Only Lieutenant Li, thanks to his military exploits in Linyang, was promoted instead of being demoted. Now he is the chief of Zuo Shu, and he has returned to Xianyang to receive rewards. The king's edict also said that Qin Mugong is still in trouble on Mount Wei , failure is nothing, but if everyone has it..."

Speaking of this, Ji Ying paused and smiled at Li Xian: "Li Hanhao, what did you say next?"

Li Xian didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he said on his behalf: "The king said in the edict that if everyone has the ambition of the three generals Meng, Xi and Bai, everyone can imitate Captain Li's courage in defeating You Dou and move to fight three hundred miles behind the enemy's rear. If we don't give up, this battle will not be like this..."

As Heifu 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 unit was indeed regarded as a model and received extra praise.

"That's right."

Ji Ying raised his hand and said: "Brother Ru Zhong said that he was just the man who caught the sword of Captain Li, but if it were anyone else, how could he have such courage and ability? So Captain Li valued him very much. Have you seen this bearskin fur? It's worth three dollars." With a wave of his hand, Lieutenant Li gave the forty-thousand-yuan thing as a gift! He also said that this thing should be given as a gift to the material warriors to keep out the cold!"

Jing was so shocked that he opened his mouth. When he went home and complained about being isolated in the school, Zhong once told him that Zuo Wei Yun's family was powerful and had a grudge against Hei Fu, so Jing Jing kept a low profile in the county. For this reason, Jing has always been depressed because he was isolated in the school, but there was a child of Zuo Wei's family who caused trouble.

But now, Brother Zhong has become a confidant of Tingwei's son, County Zuowei and Tingwei? In this comparison, does their family still need to be afraid of the Yun family?

"Okay, stop bragging."

Heifu interrupted Ji Ying and scolded: "Even though you eat so much, I can't shut your mouth. You have a hairpin now. If you want to keep your title and continue to rise, you must learn to be careful in your words and deeds."

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

Ji Ying muttered, and then said loudly and deliberately: "Publish it as soon as possible, and let some despicable people weigh it!"

Heifu shook his head helplessly, and everyone followed the topic and chatted about the rewards and titles they received.

The Qin government was very generous with money and awarded Li You a huge sum of three million yuan in one go! Those who died in the battle were given a larger share, with five thousand coins per man. The ordinary soldiers who were alive were slightly less, but there were still two or three thousand. The military officials could get even more, and the one with the most was Heifu. He alone received 70,000 yuan!

In order to make it easier to carry, Heifu converted all the money into gold. Adding in the various reward money saved from the previous battle against Wei, Heifu already had 30 taels of gold, a huge amount of nearly 200,000 yuan hidden in his bag. …

That's why everyone can afford furs that were too expensive in the past. Ji Ying encouraged everyone to pick them together in Wancheng. Everyone feels that after surviving a narrow escape and getting so much reward, if they don't dress well and go home to show off, I feel so sorry for myself!

Hei Fu wanted to save his money and do more meaningful things, so except that the bearskin fur on his body was a gift from Li You, which he couldn't shirk, 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 to two levels, while those who were alive could be promoted to one or two levels based on merit. Those above the rank of doctor can only be promoted one level. Because Heifu gave up the decision-making and commanding role in the Battle of Linyang to Li You, he was only promoted to official doctor.

But Heifu was already very satisfied. He only paid this small price to board 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 hairpins, and Gong Ao, who separated from them in Yancheng, was also hairpins. Bu Cheng is now Shangzao, and so are the other Anlu people who followed Heifu on the road. "We are not as capable as the officials, so we can just take advantage of it, but Xiao Tao is no longer in service now and will not have to serve in the future." Ji Ying said enviously.

Xiao Tao has been silent at the dinner table, and the bun on his head has not been replaced with a small crown. He can easily be regarded as a backdrop. Hearing that this young man who is only two years older than himself is no longer young, he is shocked, respected and envious.

"There's still someone who hasn't come yet."

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

Everyone also burst into laughter, they were talking about Dongmen Leopard.

Just as he was talking, he saw a big man wearing deerskin fur rushing into the restaurant, sitting down cross-legged next to Ji Ying, picking up the cup in front of him and drinking!

After realizing it was hot water, he swore something bad, slapped the table and yelled, "Where's the wine? Storekeeper, can you boil some wine!"

Heifu scolded him: "This is not in Wei or Chu. What kind of wine are you looking for? The restaurants are opened by the government, where do you get the wine? Don't make any noise and cause trouble!"

Dongmen Bao obediently shut his mouth, but he was still angry, as if he had been greatly wronged.

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

Could it be that……

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

Dongmen Bao looked up and saw everyone looking at him with sympathy. Hei Fu sighed, patted his shoulder and was about to comfort him, but became even more angry and said quickly: "Don't think too much, my wife is safe." She’s still here! She gave birth to two children in one pregnancy! She’s almost one year old now!”

Everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief and smiled playfully: "This is a good thing, why are you looking so sad?"

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

Dongmen Bao stood up indignantly, stretched out two fingers and emphasized: "There are still two! Nai Gong has been thinking about a boy's name for more than a year, but it was in vain!"