Qin Official

In the thirty-seventh year of the First Emperor of Qin, in the middle of the midwinter month (November), the situation in Xianyang was turned upside down. Because the news took two months to arrive, everything in Lingnan was still as usual.

Beijiang has reached the end, and the city of Panyu hidden in the dense forest is in sight. Several passengers on the boat sighed. The wind and waves were a bit strong, and they had to try their best to maintain their balance on the deck.

The Nanjun native touched his bald chin and wrapped himself in brown clothes. Who told him that Lingnan has summer all year round? It's obviously very cold.

However, this hint of coolness is better than the diseases caused by the extreme heat. People in Lingbei talk about all kinds of serious diseases in Lingnan with disdain.

Different from the past four years, the troops sent to Lingnan were mainly garrison soldiers, watchmen, and prisoners. Among the people sent to Lingnan in the 37th year of Qin Shihuang's reign, there were many "dishonest prison officials", that is, officials who had violated the law. They come from all over the Central Plains and will be transported to Nanhai County to govern Panyu, and then they will be assigned to county offices across Lingnan to replenish the urgently needed civil servants in the local area.

If nothing else happens, they, the new immigrants, will most likely spend the rest of their lives in the primeval forests of Lingnan...

But Gai Lu, who was originally devastated, never expected that just after arriving in Panyu, he would be received by Chang Nanhou, the supreme commander of the Southern Expeditionary Army!

…

Changnanhou was as dark-faced as in the legend.

However, perhaps it was because of the extremely hot weather in Lingnan. Most of the people who came here had been exposed to the sun for several years and were still dark-skinned. Changnanhou's skin color was hidden among the crowd, so it was not so conspicuous.

The prince was not as serious as he expected. He came in and sat down, minding his own business. He looked up and down at the hut and then said, "Do you know why I want to meet you alone?"

Gai Lu rolled up his sleeves and said with some helplessness: "Maybe it's because the criminal is from Nanjun, a fellow countryman of the king, or because among the people who moved south this time, I had the highest official rank in the past..."

Heifu said: "In terms of title, you are not the eldest. Last year, a Xianyang County magistrate named Cao Jiu came here. He was a public servant and committed corruption and perversion of the law. He was investigated by that 'Xiqingtian' .”

Heifu's voice became deeper and full of regret: "It's a pity that Cao Jiu was in the camp, and when he and Paoze were bathing, they lowered their heads to pick up soap locusts. They accidentally slipped and crashed to death, and died young."

"Nowadays, you are indeed the one with the highest position among the criminal officials sent to Lu Liangdi who are still alive."

He smiled and said: "How many people envy you, the magistrate of You County, Nanjun, and the six hundred chief officials. Everyone comes to Luliang for the same reason, to break the law. But the laws they break are different. Gailu, tell me about yours. Tell me the story, why were you thrown into this bad place?"

Gailu's throat moved. Although he didn't want to say anything, considering that this might determine his future life, he still told his story.

"The criminal is indeed the magistrate of You County, Nanjun County, and the crime he committed is 'letting a prisoner'..."

Gailu said that in the first month (October) of the thirty-seventh year of Qin Shihuang's reign, a rebellion occurred in Li Township, You County, which caused his parents to become a prisoner instead of serving as officials.

"General Wei's supervisor is the son of the Marquis of Changwu, who is stationed in Jiangling. All the food and supplies coming from the south to the north must pass through his hands. The Marquis of Changwu recruited the people of Nanjun to transport the grain, but there were many who had just completed their regular service. During the recruitment process, the head of Guizhou refused to accept the decision, argued with the government, and was suppressed and imprisoned. As a result, the head of Guizhou in Lixiang gathered in the township and asked the government to release him..."

Because the county captain and county magistrate mishandled the situation, the mass incident in Lixiang eventually turned into a rebellion. Gai Lu was planning a plot in Jiangling at that time. He hurried back to the county after hearing the news, only to find that the incident was getting worse and worse. The government failed to suppress it, and even many people from the capital of Guizhou who were recruited to suppress the rebellion fled into the mountains.

"Thousands of people in the township were in chaos. I thought that it was no longer possible to suppress it with severe punishment, so I ignored the objections of the county magistrate and released the captured prisoners to quell the turmoil. As a result, the turmoil subsided, but I was killed by the county's soldiers. Shi was caught and thought that I was treason and imprisoned. Although I appealed, Jiangling upheld the original sentence and sentenced me to be a ghost..."

While talking, Gai Lu also touched his chin, which was covered with stubble. The so-called torture means that the sideburns and beards are forced to be shaved off while keeping the hair. It is a kind of humiliating punishment.

After being tortured in Nanjun, he only felt that everyone's eyes were burning. Fortunately, when he came to Lingnan, the people he saw were either shaved or had tattoos on their faces, and even looked like Changnan Hou's four thousand short soldiers. , everyone has Kunfa, and is called "Kunjun". In comparison, he is inconspicuous.

This is the experience of being assigned to a house.

While listening to what he said, Heifu glanced at the file and knew that what he said was true.

"Why did you release the 'rebellious' Guizhou leader when you knew you might violate the law?"

Gai Lu said: "The release of the head of Guizhou can calm the turmoil. If investigated, it is just a crime of 'letting prisoners'. But once the head of Guizhou gathers and captures the county, I, as the county magistrate, will be guilty of losing territory. The whole family will be If you want to be implicated and die, you have to choose the lesser of two evils. What's more, under the circumstances at that time, blindly punishing and suppressing him will no longer help."

Heifu nodded and said secretly:

"Since the incident of Xijun, the officials no longer dare to say anything about the terms of the laws and regulations. They are all happy to use punishment and death as a threat. The court also regards good officials who are good at forcing the people and collecting taxes, but those like Gai Lu Being assigned as a prisoner, does this count as serving the law and harming the people?"

It is conceivable that they all insist on severe punishment, and the great cauldron in the world is about to open again...

"Are there any similar rebellions in Nan County?" Heifu asked Gai Lu. Although the foreign party had many informants, their control was unable to cross the river.

"Quite a few."

Gailu was worried: "Except Anlu County and Jiangling County, which are still good, there have been cases of people resisting and fleeing in many places. The head of Guizhou fled into the mountains and could not be caught. The unlucky ones are us officials who are in charge, and they are often arrested and convicted. I left At that time, there were more and more bandits in Yunmengze. Not only was there something happening in Nan County, there were also two big things happening in Jiujiang County next door..."

"The first is a prisoner named Yingbu who was tattooed under Qin's law. He was supposed to be sent to build the Lishan Mausoleum, but he killed the escorting officials and took more than a hundred people with him. He died as a group of thieves in the river."

"The second is that there is a group of people operating in Chaohu, under the banner of Xiang Yan. It is said that it is Xiang Yan's grandson Xiang Ji..."

Hei Fu frowned and said to himself: "Xiang Ji...Xiang Yu? Didn't he follow Xiang Liang and be sent to Beidi County?"

Regardless of whether it is true or not, he is also a clay Buddha crossing the river now, and he has no time to care about Jianghuai's affairs.

"You can be my official in charge of new immigrants."

After Heifu personally inspected the building, he thought he was a good official and gave him a decent job.

Hearing that he didn't have to do physical work, Gai Lu breathed a sigh of relief and bowed down to thank him. However, Hei Fu stood up and said, "Come with me to see the people you want to take care of. Take a look, too. The imperial court sent them to Luliang again." What kind of stuff is coming!"

…

When he arrived at Panyu City and looked at the new immigrants entering the city, Gailu realized that he had received special treatment...

But in the northwest of Panyu, outside a camp specially designed to accommodate immigrants, under the threat of Southern Expedition sergeants holding spears, immigrants lined up in a long line. Among them were old people with hunchbacks and immature young people. Most of them were sour and smelly, with hairy beards. The clothes were greasy, infested with fleas and ragged, patched and seldom washed, and many people looked unhappy.

"There is a steady stream of immigrants from the Central Plains. They have been coming since I conquered Nanhai County and rebuilt Panyu City last year."

But who are all coming?

Hei Fu pointed at those people and said with a smile: "Deserts with dead faces, concubines who disobey their masters, debt-ridden gamblers, poachers, rapists, thieves, as well as lowly sons-in-law, merchants, and even For criminals like you, all go to this frontier."

In the eyes of the imperial court, Lingnan was a garbage dump dedicated to accepting the waste of scum from all over the country.

"They are the abandoned people of the Central Plains and the abandoned people of the Qin Dynasty. They are the people who built the huts and you want to help me manage them."

The Marquis of Changnan seemed to be chatting and laughing, but Gai Lu always felt that his words were full of helplessness. He was cleaning up the mess for the defeated General Tu, and wiped out Baiyue in two years, thinking that Guilin and Xiangjun were the king of Baiyue. Neck, commissioned officials.

Although he looks very majestic, Changnan Hou also has his own troubles.

"Do you know now why Lingnan is called Luliang Land?" Heifu asked Gai Lu, but he answered the question himself.

"Lingnan Baiyue has many mountains and land, and its nature is strong in Liang, so it is called Lu Liang."

"The people who migrated to the south numbered hundreds of thousands, and most of them were abandoned people. Their evil nature is hard to change, and their rebellion is rampant. They can also be called Luliang."

He spread his hands and said: "Today, there are more than 200,000 immigrants and prisoners in Lingnan. I have to rely on an army of 100,000 scattered in the four new counties of Nanhai, Guilin, Xiangjun, and Minzhong to suppress these people." New immigrants and local barbarian tribes.”

In addition to the 100,000 soldiers south of Lingnan, there are still 50,000 soldiers in the three battalions north of Lingnan. This is the total strength of Heifu's command.

But are these armies really reliable?

It is not reliable at all. In Heifu's view, the army under his command is not only a mixed composition, except for the 4,000 short-term personal guards, 30,000 Nanjun and Yuzhang troops, and the 10,000 people Han Xin is training, most of them have combat effectiveness Low, it's still a powder keg ready to explode at any time.

The question is, should you keep it in your own hands and blow it up, or should you use it to blow up others...

Sure enough, after finishing his inspection of the new immigrants and arriving at the military camp, Heifu found that a lot of people had gathered here, noisily, and were talking to the newly appointed "leader" Chen Ying.

"What happened?"

As soon as Heifu appeared, the soldiers immediately stopped making trouble, lowered their heads, combed their hair, and erected monuments. He led them to win the war. After two years, no one was unconvinced by the prestige of Changnan Marquis.

But some things really take too long.

Chen Ying came up to report: "Your Majesty, today is the winter solstice. The soldiers are homesick, so they gathered together..."

"General!"

Among the soldiers, someone finally couldn't bear it any longer and loudly asked in Jianghuai Chu dialect:

"I dare to ask General, we have been guarding Lingnan for four years! We have not been able to see my wife, son, parents and brother for four years."

He asked the thoughts of all the soldiers of the Southern Expedition, regardless of Qin and Chu:

"Now that Baiyue has been settled and all the households in the north are exhausted, when can our garrison return home?"

ps: Chapter 2 is at night

Regarding the construction of the hut, refer to Case 18 of Zhangjiashan Han Bamboo Bamboo Slips "Zou Jian Shu" "Nanjun Shi Fu You? Waiting for the Prison Book", the time and name have been modified.