Qin Official

On a late winter night, there were more than ten ships moored in the stormy Pengli River. Under Zhao Tuo's order, they did not beat drums or blow trumpets, nor did they raise battle flags. Instead, they furled their sails and hid quietly in the night. .

Standing on the swaying edge of the boat, looking at Peng Zeyi with faint fire a few miles away, Zhao Tuo looked a little ugly.

Zhao Tuo was now very weak. The bowl of chicken blood wine he drank with Hei Fu and Wu Rui almost killed him. On the first day of his return, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, followed by vomiting and diarrhea... …

"Could it be that the Yue people were poisoned by the chicken blood wine?" Zhao Tuo's men were very worried.

In the eyes of the Central Plains people, the Yue people were barbarians living in the mountains and forests of the south. They worshiped witches and ghosts, and even raised snakes and insects as voodoo to poison others. Therefore, when Zhao Tuo was feeling unwell, he suddenly became nervous.

Zhao Tuo thought that the bowl of chicken blood wine was made by Heifu's men, and the Yue people had no chance to poison it. They probably drank the raw blood and made their stomach upset.

At this time, they received an urgent report from Pengze via water: Lord Fanyang attacked Pengze with a surprise force!

He asked people to quickly report this situation to Sima Heifeng, and Zhao Tuo also ordered the fleet to set up all sails, row all oars, and return quickly!

"Isn't the Lord Five Hundred here waiting for Sima's orders?" His subordinates hesitated.

Although Zhao Tuo was physically weak and could not lift a sword, his mind was very clear.

"Peng Ze is in a hurry. The city may be destroyed in a matter of seconds. It may take two days to send the news to Sima, and another two days to return here. If I wait here in vain, Peng Ze has been destroyed! Why not return quickly? , explore the enemy's situation in detail, and then make plans, then it will be too late to come back to meet Sima."

After sending his men back to their ships, Zhao Tuo thought to himself: "Sima does not mind that Zhao Tuo's position is low and he worships me as his brother. This is Zhao Tuo's great honor. But I saw his subordinates Gong Ao, Dongmen Bao and others. I feel quite dissatisfied, this is my chance to prove myself! How can I let it go?"

So, driving at full speed, the group arrived at the lake next to Pengzeyi on the evening of the third day of December. From a distance, they saw that Pengze Pier was burned again, and there were more than a hundred Chu people on guard along the coast, keeping watch at all times. Movement on the lake.

So Zhao Tuo ordered his men to continue driving forward and hide near Xiaogushan on the north bank.

Zhao Tuo's village chiefs, who were actually the captains, came to the ship one after another to report to him the enemy situation they saw on the ship.

"The dock was burned, but the city has not yet fallen, and the black flag of the Qin army is still hanging."

"There are more Chu people than expected, about a thousand people. Under the banner of Lord Fanyang, they occupied the village south of Pengze City as a camp and surrounded both corners of the city. The campfire is currently burning."

"There are three hundred people guarding the shore, probably because they are afraid that the army will rush back from the waterway."

"Lord Five Hundred, what should we do next?"

Everyone looked at Zhao Tuo, and according to their thoughts, after exploring the enemy's situation, the safest way was to quickly return to Heifu's place and meet the army to come over.

"When Sima learned that Peng Ze was attacked, he might give up attacking Fanyang and return to the south bank of Peng Lize."

Zhao Tuo thought about it but shook his head: "Based on my understanding of Sima, he will never give up halfway!"

Zhao Tuo also read some military books. He understood that the army going south was like a crossbow that was fully charged and had to be fired. Taking it back at this time would not only damage morale, but also make a grand alliance with the Qianyue people. It became a joke.

Therefore, it is unlikely that Heifu will come back. To solve the siege of Pengze, we have to rely on Zhao Tuo and the others.

He showed a smile: "The speed of the rushing water, as for the drifting stones, is the force; the speed of the birds of prey, as for the destruction, is the integrity."

"Jun Fanyang thought he had a surprise force that put Sima in a dilemma, but we, how can we not be a surprise force?"

"We?" Everyone looked at each other, a little unsure.

"We are just sailors. We can ride on the water for a while, but we have no advantage when we reach the shore."

However, Zhao Tuo had his own ideas. He became serious, looked at everyone, and said loudly: "The people of Wu are good at water, but when they go up the Huaihe River, they can defeat Chu's chariots and soldiers on land, and they entered Ying in five battles. Who said that the buildings and ships are better? Sir, you can’t get ashore?”

The subordinates asked again: "Even if the five hundred masters want to attack Peng Ze's defenders from inside and outside, where will they land? The dock was burned, and the Chu people also sent three hundred people to guard the shore where the boat can land."

Zhao Tuo didn't answer at first and walked out of the cabin.

They were located near Xiaogushan on the north bank. Zhao Tuo looked at the dark south bank of the river and pointed to a place surrounded by water on three sides and without a trace of light: "Penglangji!"

Upon hearing this name, everyone's expression changed suddenly, thinking that Lord Zhao Wubai was crazy...

…

In the early morning, under the cover of howling wind and waves, small boats sailed from the depths of the lake to the south bank. More than ten paddles entered the water at the same time. The blades stirred the lake water and created ripples.

Without a pier, large ships cannot dock, and can only rely on paddle boats to sneak closer.

Zhao Tuo squatted on the first boat. His stomach and intestines had not yet recovered. They seemed to be knotted at the moment, and there were bursts of tingling pain. It was unclear whether it was the sequelae of diarrhea or because of nervousness.

Not only are we worried that the enemy is outnumbered, we are worried that we will be discovered by the enemy's troops guarding the shore, but we are also worried about the waters we are about to sail into.

Two miles ahead, the moon reflected the dark cliff, which was Penglangji.

Penglangji stands in the middle of the river with strange rocks, facing the river on three sides. It resists the wind and suppresses the surging waves. Local people say: when the boat passes the island, although there is no wind, there are still waves, which is why it got its name.

Zhao Tuo turned around and found that the building and the stern were gradually shrinking behind him. When they almost disappeared, Penglangji was also close at hand.

A messy wind blew from the north coast, and the flowing water beat against the hull. The soldiers pursed their lips and shook the oars vigorously, with their hearts in their throats, fearing that they would accidentally hit a reef at the next moment, and the ship would be destroyed and everyone would be killed. The river water in the twelfth lunar month was freezing cold. , can quickly take away a person's body temperature. Even if they are a sailor, it will be difficult for them to swim ashore again.

"Fortunately, I have not been idle during the month of occupying Pengze."

Zhao Tuo said he was lucky. He asked people to find out the nearby topography and hydrology, and also asked a local old fisherman to take him to Penglangji to overlook the north shore.

Now, these have become their advantages.

There were tangled rocks on the shore, but the tide was rising at this moment, so more than ten small boats safely passed the most dangerous area, and the bows of the boats washed up on the rugged shore of Penglangji.

Stepping on the cold lake water, the soldiers skillfully dragged the boats ashore and tied them up, and then lined up in two teams. Everyone's cheeks were flushed by the cold wind of the twelfth lunar month, and some even had long snot hanging under their noses.

Although he was named the Lord of Five Hundred, in fact, Zhao Tuo only had more than 300 men. He was left to guard the stern of the ship, and only 200 people came ashore with him to carry out this adventure.

Zhao Tuo directly wiped the nose of a young man from the building with his sleeve, patted the nervous people, and said with a smile:

"If we fight in the daytime, we dare not claim to be number one."

"But when it comes to night battles, I'm afraid no one dares to compete with the men of the building and the ship!"

Hearing this, everyone laughed in the cold wind. This is indeed the advantage of those who are building ships. Qin Jun, who is mainly a farmer and whose staple food is millet and rice and rarely eats meat, often suffers from the symptom of "blindfolded eyes". He can't see clearly at night. Even if there is a moon, he can hardly see anything and move. difficulty.

However, the people in the building are different. They are selected from the fishermen who live by the waterfront. They grew up drinking crucian carp soup. In the army, they also had rice soup and fish. They were supplemented with vitamins, so the symptoms of blindness were less severe. light.

This kind of dark night is indeed a good time for them to show off their talents!

"After tonight, Zhao Tuo may be worthy of being Sima's adopted brother, and the second and third sons will also make great achievements and become famous in the army!"

Zhao Tuo was young and not very good at words, but he knew that the most inspiring thing was to lead by example.

So he ignored the pain still in his belly and the cold wind pouring into his armor. He pulled out his sword and pointed it at Pengze City, which was several miles away, and at Lord Fanyang's camp.

The bonfire over there had merged into the night sky, becoming a blurry speck in the distance, but it pointed them in the general direction.

"Cooperate inside and outside, destroy all the enemy forces, and then go into the city to eat warm food!"

The moon hid in the clouds again, and everything was pitch black. But in the eyes of the people of the building and ship, their five hundred master Zhao Tuo was shining like gold at this moment! Lead the crowd forward!

…

"Ten days ago, Zhao Tuo led two hundred people on boats to land at Penglangji and attacked Fan Yangjun's camp in the dark. When Xiao Tao in the city saw the enemy camp on fire, he immediately led his troops out of the city to respond. The two men cooperated inside and outside, and killed more than a thousand Chu people. By the morning of the next day, the battle was over. More than three hundred Chu people died, more than two hundred fled, and the remaining five hundred had all surrendered."

After informing his men about the battle that happened ten days ago, Heifu put down the slip sent by Peng Ze and said with some complacency: "How is it? Is my judgment of people fairly accurate?"

Dongmen Bao, Gong Ao, Ji Ying and others looked at each other. They thought they could do it with a small number against a large number. However, it took a man of great wisdom and courage to land a surprise attack in a place with strong winds and waves and dense reefs.

They had previously been dissatisfied with Heifu's emphasis on Zhao Tuo, mainly because Zhao Tuo had not shown any outstanding qualities, but this time, they had to accept it.

When Xu Shu heard this, he also breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "There are ministers who will work in gold mining."

Heifu then asked someone to open a wooden box that was delivered with him. Inside was a head with half of his face burnt.

"This is Lord Fanyang himself. He also died in the rebellion. Zhao Tuo specially sent his head here, hoping that I could use it to intimidate Fanyang and shake his military morale."

Speaking of this, Hei Fu got up, walked to the city tower, looked at the Qin army who was cleaning up the battlefield, and the embarrassed Chu prisoners, and smiled: "Zhao Tuo is shining brightly, and I, the sworn brother, don't shine either." Luo Luofeng!"

Just yesterday, after several days of attack, Wu Rui led the Qianyue people to attack Fanyang from Shuimen. E Jun led more than a thousand people in the city to resist, but they were no match for the Qin army with high morale, and were quickly defeated. After more than two hundred casualties, Heifu has completely taken control of the largest city in Yuzhang!

In mid-December, Lord Fanyang died at Pengze, and Fanyang was captured by Heifu. At this point, the war in northern Yuzhang came to an end. Heifu asked Ji Ying to send the good news to Captain Li You, who was attacking Changsha, and to the newly established "Jiujiang County" in Shouchun, Huainan.

By early January, Li You's order was still on the way, but Jiujiang County's reply arrived first.

"According to the king's order, the Yuzhang area in the south of the Yangtze River will be placed under the jurisdiction of Jiujiang County. Counties will continue to be established in the Fanyang area. Peng Ze and Yu Qian will all rule the countryside..."

Also sent along was a letter of appointment, a brand new crown uniform, and a small copper seal with an ink ribbon...

In the Qin system, each level has a corresponding official seal. For example, Heifu's previous work as a soldier of Cao Zuo was a low-ranking assistant. He was a low-ranking assistant, and he had only one Xiaotong seal for more than two hundred stones. Officials with a weight of less than 600 shi have a copper seal and a yellow ribbon. Heifu once served as Zuowei of Anlu County, and this is the case.

As for the copper seal and black ribbon, with two colors under the ribbon, he is a "high official" with a rank of six hundred stones!

Sure enough, after opening the letter, Heifu's name was clearly written on it!

"The fifth official, Heifu, was successful in conquering the southern territory, so the Jiujiang County Sheriff eliminated him as the Order of Fanyang!"