Qin Official

In the past, I was gone, and it was raining and snowing. Today, I think about it, and the willows are lingering.

After more than a year, when he returned to Linyang again, standing on the old battlefield, Heifu looked at the ground in front of him that was still buried tightly and had not been dug up, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, what he was most worried about this year did not happen, and the people buried here were not disturbed or insulted... It seems that not every Chu person likes to dig up graves and whip corpses like Wu Zixu.

It's just that the densely packed Qin swords stuck on it have disappeared.

But Heifu can remember this place even if he closes his eyes. The stream is nine hundred steps to the east, the city is one mile to the west, the hill is three hundred steps to the south, and a little more than a hundred steps to the north is the Sophora Tree War. He was buried at the foot of the locust tree he was leaning against when he died. In order to facilitate identification in the future, Hei Fu buried him at the foot of the tree and piled a few stones to mark it...

And now, Heifu's charioteer Sang Mu was kowtowing to his brother there under the guidance of Ji Ying and others, crying bitterly as he knelt.

Hei Fu's tears had already been shed at that time. He just said silently in his heart: "Hei Fu kept his promise and came back again. The second and third sons don't need to stay long and can return to their hometown!"

"Captain, the local doctor has brought us here!"

Li Xian, who had been ordered to enter the city to capture the local officials, returned. When Heifu looked back, there was a frightened middle-aged man following behind him. He was dressed in silk clothes and it was Dr. Linyang.

The county officials of the Chu State were actually only equivalent to the rural misfits of the Qin State. Even though they were named as officials, they were actually just small village chiefs. As the vanguard of the Southern Army, more than 10,000 soldiers from Nanjun County broke the peace and stormed to the city gates. Doctor Linyang, who had less than a hundred men under his command, wisely chose to surrender. Because the Qin army had a reputation for being vicious, the doctor in Yi was still worried about himself. His life was still worried when he was invited out of the city by Li Xian.

"Doctor Linyang."

But Heifu smiled and said: "Did you know that the Qin army's ax just passed by your neck... If I found that these tombs were dug up and the bones of hundreds of people were insulted, you would now be the leader of the sword. Damn it!"

Doctor Linyang was startled and his legs became slightly weak. It turned out that when he came here to take office, some people suggested that he dig up the graves of those Qin people. But Dr. Linyang believed in ghosts and gods, and thought that it would be unlucky to dig up someone's tomb, so he just asked people to pull out the sword that was used as a tombstone, but he didn't bother to care about the corpse underneath...

"Consider it as manure to nourish the crops and atone for his atrocities!"

Unexpectedly, his original thought saved his life today!

But he couldn't care less about being lucky, because Hei Fu immediately threw him a difficult problem.

"According to the order of the captain, you should resume your official duties and be the lord of the town, appease the people and maintain order. A hundred generals will stay and watch you. The next time I come back, you must prepare three things for me. One hundred and twenty-eight coffins! I want to transport the bones of the soldiers who died here!"

"More than three hundred objects!?"

Doctor Linyang complained endlessly, so he had to let everyone in the city do it for a month. It was spring plowing now, where could there be so many people?

But Hei Fu ignored his complaints and threw a bag of gold cakes in his arms to the doctor, about ten taels.

"I don't want you in vain. If it can be done, I will pay you money and silk. This is a deposit. You have to do it well."

Dongmen Leopard, who was ordered to go into the city to search for food and returned with a full load, also drew his sword and threatened the doctor fiercely: "If we don't see three hundred coffins when we return, I will let you lie in the coffin too!"

The conqueror can do whatever he wants, leaving behind the Yi doctor holding the money bag with a bitter look on his face, Heifu walked away. He also wanted to organize everyone to eat quickly, so they could only stay here for a while and continue on their way in the afternoon. You can rest only when you arrive at Neqiu Castle.

When Heifu returned to the resting place of the army, Army Commander Kong Zhanghan had just organized everyone to put up deer antlers and other obstacles on the only way. He was also sitting on the chariot, drinking water and eating simple dry food slowly.

"Thank you for your hard work, Shaorong."

Heifu looked at the obstacles that had been arranged and praised: "We only stopped here for half an hour, Shaorong did not forget to be careful."

"It is the duty of the military commander to lay bridges, build roads, and build forts. Even if I only stay for a moment, I have to beware of being attacked by the enemy. If something goes wrong and it is later confirmed that it was caused by the military commander's carelessness and dereliction of duty, I will be arrested by the military magistrate." It's my fault." Zhang Han said.

When Heifu asked him if he could still endure the pain of marching, he smiled and said: "I just bumped a little in the car. The soldiers have traveled more than a hundred miles from the day before yesterday to now, wouldn't they be even more tired?"

Heifu said: "I am in a good mood to pursue the victory. More than a year ago, we braved the biting cold wind to escape in Huaibei, but we traveled a much longer distance than this."

At the same time, he patted the cloth tied to his calf and said: "Besides, with this thing here, the soldiers' march will not be so hard!"

Zhang Han didn't have time to ask questions along the way. Now while he was eating, he curiously said: "I asked the Nanjun soldiers. They said these things are called leggings. It was you, Commander Anlu, who suggested that the captain implement it in the army." , they are not seen on weekdays, but they are all wrapped up when marching, what is the use of them?"

Heifu said: "Shaorong is from the north, so I don't know. This thing is very common among the people in the south."

This leggings was really not invented out of thin air by Heifu. As early as when he was the director of the pavilion in Anlu, he discovered that some hunters and woodcutters in the mountain forests often wrapped a layer of cloth around their calves when they entered the mountains and forests.

After Heifu asked a few people, they told him that there were many low shrubs and weeds in the mountain, and there were also many hard rocks. In addition, there were many insects and snakes in the Yunmengze area. If he only wore lower clothes and straw sandals, he would be exposed. Your legs are easily injured, so wrap them in a layer of cloth to protect them from injury.

When he went to quell the Yi Dao rebellion, Heifu was even more surprised to find that many of the local Ba warriors did not wear shoes or socks, and were barefoot, walking on the rocks as if they were on the ground. But he carefully wrapped his calves in animal skins or cloth, because there was only soft flesh on the calves and no thick calluses on the soles of the feet...

Inspired by this, combined with the leggings that were common in later military-themed movies, Heifu included leggings in the military supplies when he was training in Anlu, so that the arsenal also prepared thousands of pieces of linen to wrap wounds. After trying out the long linen strips for wrapping the legs several times, I implemented them among the soldiers.

It is good to be a military officer. Following his order, thousands of soldiers in Anlu wrapped in leggings and went on the road. They walked to Yan County. After more than two hundred miles, the effect of the leggings was evident.

In addition to the gaiters used by woodcutter and hunters from all over Nan County to prevent snakes, insects and vegetation from scratching the skin, during long-distance marches, gaiters can also prevent mud and small stones from entering the poor-quality shoes worn by everyone, and can also lighten the legs of soldiers. of soreness. Except for a few people whose legs were swollen because they were tied too tightly, it proved to be a very useful piece of equipment.

Heifu suggested this method to Li You and got his approval. He also promoted it among the county soldiers under Li You's personal command. If the superiors had good ideas, the subordinates would follow suit. The soldiers in other counties also imitated it, so they started Wearing leggings like this, we walked to Nanyang, then to the frontline camp, and joined the troops from other counties...

Because their "Southern Army" of 70,000 to 80,000 people originally recruited more troops from southern counties. Except for the Nanyang people who live in the plain basin, which are a little surprised, Bajun, Shujun, and Hanzhong are more rugged and tree-filled than Nanjun. Not surprised either.

As a result, to this day, leggings have become a very common equipment in the southern army, which makes Zhang Han and other northerners look strange.

Heifu also complained: "Nowadays, many Nanjun soldiers prefer leggings, but many Nanyang soldiers don't pay attention to them. Some people think wearing leggings is stupid. Some people put the distributed leggings in their backpacks on their backs, and some even throw them away. Therefore, after two days of this march, the Nanyang soldiers could not move faster and could only fall behind."

"That's it! I never thought that this thing would have such a miraculous effect." Zhang Han nodded, planning to learn this method himself.

While talking, Heifu also stopped two soldiers sitting on the ground wearing leggings, and shouted:

"Don't sit down when wearing leggings. You have to stand up and make sure the tightness is appropriate. If it is too tight, the blood flow in the calf will be blocked, making the leg more sore and even useless. If it is too loose, it will be ineffective."

While talking, Heifu also walked over and demonstrated for them personally. He took off the cloth strip, starting from the heel of the shoe, and wrapped it around the crook of the leg below the knee. This could also protect the shoe opening and prevent mud. The stone enters.

Only then did he realize that the shoes of the two soldiers were in tatters, with their big toes sticking out, and they were still wearing thick winter coats. It was extremely hot during the spring march.

"Where are your summer clothes and new shoes?" Heifu asked with a straight face.

The two Qin soldiers were too embarrassed to say anything. They could only say with a grimace, "I don't have any summer clothes or new shoes."

Heifu was a little surprised and asked: "Didn't I ask you to prepare everything before the army set off from Anlu? And before the spring began, I also asked you to write letters home and have all the necessary things sent home. At the beginning of February, Nanjun just released a batch of clothes, money and silk. If you are short of them, why don’t you buy them at the military market?"

"Captain."

One of the soldiers knelt down and said with a grimace: "I also asked my parents and sisters to send summer clothes or cloth and money in the letter, but my mother just died at home and there was a funeral, so I have no money to send it..."

Another also said that his father broke his leg while repairing his house. The family was busy treating his injury and had no money to send him.

"So we had no choice but to borrow money from Shi Changyuanbai in the army and buy new shoes. Unexpectedly, the shoes made in the military market were in good condition before departure, but they were damaged when we got here..."

This was an encounter with an unscrupulous vendor who cut corners. Heifu looked at these two ordinary pawns with simple words and faces that were darkened and red by the sun. He recalled that in history, it was also in this war that Heifu Brothers Husband and Jing asked their families to send them summer clothes and money, and even said, "Otherwise, they will die." They must have been so helpless and anxious.

And in their slightly confused eyes, they had no way of knowing how long this war would last...

Thinking of this, Heifu felt that something was harmful to his kind, so he called to his assistant and said: "Go to my carriage and get the two extra pairs of shoes and two summer clothes!"

Gongshi Quji was stunned for a moment: "That was sent from the leader's home. It was mended by the leader's mother herself, stitch by stitch..."

But Hei Fu was very determined and said loudly: "Soldiers are just like my hands and feet. My mother weaves summer clothes and sews shoes for my hands and feet to wear. How is it different from wearing them myself? Go quickly!"

After Quji went to fetch two pieces of summer clothes and shoes, Heifu personally handed the items to two soldiers and asked them what their names were.

"Little man Wang Gua."

"Little man mallow!"

Sure enough, one was as short as a melon and the other as thin as a sunflower. The two pawns, who were about the same age as Hei Fu, had tears in their eyes. They held summer clothes and shoes and bowed to Hei Fu, expressing their gratitude.

"The leader is still so eager for justice!" After Hei Fu sent them away, Qu Ji couldn't help but sigh. He had also been favored by Hei Fu back then.

"Hei Fu really loves soldiers as much as a child. No wonder they love you so much." Zhang Han also stroked his short beard and saw that Hei Fu's skills in buying people's hearts became more and more skillful and natural.

"It's my fault as a county lieutenant and leader."

Heifu shook his head. These two people were actually named after plants in the ground. It seemed that the family was not doing well. Once something trivial happened, the family, which was not originally wealthy, would immediately fall into trouble.

I have recruited such people into the army, and it is already very good that they can stay until now and still keep up with the team. Before the army left, he only took a cursory glance and asked the village chiefs. Seeing that no one was short of food and clothing, he set off with confidence.

But many problems will only become apparent after you hit the road. For example, no one knows how long it will take for your shoes, which are still in good condition, to fall apart.

According to the Qin army system, these things are prepared by the soldiers themselves, so it is useless to find the military officials in charge of the baggage. They only take care of the rations and replacement of damaged armor.

Heifu then called Ji Ying: "Send the order and ask the commanders of each camp to report the number of people who lack summer clothes and have damaged shoes. I will make up for them all! I, the commander, will not let any soldier go barefoot." Get on the road!”

"Thank you, Commander!"

After this order was passed down, Anlu soldiers burst into cheers and gratitude.

Zhang Han asked curiously: "Do you still have so many spare summer clothes and shoes in your carriage?"

"I don't have it in my car, but there is one in the next city of Chu State that we will capture."

Hei Fu pointed at the Yi doctor who was ordered by him to lead the Chu people in the city to cut wood and make more than 300 coffins, and said with a smile: "Sun Feng, the emperor of Qiu Qiu, is the same as the captured Hu Gong Dou Ran. He is an old acquaintance of mine. I need three hundred coffins in this small town, so why not buy three hundred summer clothes and three hundred pairs of shoes from him at the last moment?"

Zhang Han couldn't help laughing: "Didn't you tell me that the twelve gold cakes just now were your last savings?"

Hei Fu disagreed. The strict discipline of the Qin army was for the Qin people. However, when fighting in foreign countries, the People's Liberation Army has never "never taken advantage of the people." The Qin people were so actively involved in the war that they were attracted by more than just their titles. Moreover……

"What's the problem if you don't have money? No matter what, I'll carve the wood into a deed! Just write him an IOU!"