Qin Official

Winding and undulating mountains, endless rivers, sometimes open and sometimes narrow river valleys, with high and raised loess plateaus on both sides. There is a gray pass lying between the two large plateaus. This is the way to that place. Sai (Zhuanglang County, Gansu).

The most famous thing in Chaona County is the local lake Chaonaqiu. In the old belief of the Qin State, there were three great gods, namely "Wuxian", "Dachen Jueqiu" and "Yatuo". Chaonaqiu is where the god Lord Dachen Jueqiu lives. More than a hundred years ago, Qin tried to conquer Chu. King Qin Huiwen sent Zhang Yi to conspire to attack Chu. He also sent an envoy to Chaona to present a text to the God of Qiu, cursing the King of Chu and praying to the Qin army to "defeat the Chu army."

The stone drum inscribed with curses on Chu is still placed in the temple next to Chao Naqiu. The top of the temple is white. Although it is early spring in the Central Plains, it is the coldest time. The snow that fell a few days ago is still there. Not yet transformed.

The fair-faced and beardless eunuch Zhang Ao and the local officials stood at the door of the temple, looking at the Western Avenue with eager anticipation.

They were waiting for Wu Shiluo.

It turned out that last month he learned from Gongsun Bailu that "Wu Shiluo was the mastermind behind hiding Heifu's eldest son." Zhang Ao immediately sent people to Xianyang to report to Zhao Gao that Wu Shiluo was the newly promoted Guannei Marquis. , he didn’t dare to take action rashly.

At the end of December, Zhao Gao wrote back, telling him "not to act rashly" and that it would be best to use a trick to deceive Wu Shiluo from his nest.

Zhang Ao understood that if he openly went to Wushi County and captured the Wushi clan on their own territory, they might have to risk their lives, so he lied and claimed that he was under the orders of the second emperor to come to Naqiu to offer sacrifices to the emperor. Shen Jueqiu...

"Please invite His Majesty the Marquis of Wushi to preside over the ceremony!"

The three great gods seemed to be very effective. King Qin Huiwen successfully cursed Chu and allowed Qin to gain hegemony. Therefore, after successive Qin kings succeeded to the throne, they would send people to worship the three gods in the temple. Even King Qin Xiaowen died three days after taking the throne. exception.

The emperor has many affairs to deal with every day and cannot come in person, so either the prime minister, the representative of the nine ministers, or a certain monarch does it for him.

Therefore, Zhang Ao's excuse sounded good, and he was very promising to trick Wushi Luo out. When Lao Wu bowed to the gods to worship, he gave an order to throw him to the ground!

It was a beautiful thought, but Zhang Ao misjudged that Wu Shiluo was well-informed. Wu Shiluo had agreed to come, but he deceived everyone into waiting from morning to afternoon in front of the temple. The warriors hiding in the temple were holding their troops. Ren's hands were numb, and Wushi Luo didn't show up until Zhang Ao's men hurriedly came to report.

"Zhang Jun, the entire Wushi Luo clan has left the fortress!"

"He...he is running away out of fear of crime!"

Zhang Ao was shocked, and his voice broke in a hurry.

"Chase! Let the guards from that county go out to pursue them. If you want to see people alive, you will see corpses if you die!"

…

A few days later, outside the Great Wall of Qinbei County, Qiang Hua led a group of tribesmen on horseback across the melting meadows of ice and snow. In a mountain col, they met an old acquaintance who had been waiting here for a long time.

"Fu Zhi!"

Qiang Hua jumped off his horse and laughed.

"Zihua!"

Fu Zhi, a tall man, also came over. The two hadn't seen each other for a long time and hugged each other.

But soon, Qiang Hua grinned and pushed away his old robe: "You, Fu Guokui, are still so strong!"

Both of them came from good families in the North. Qiang Hua was from Jingyang County and was the grandson of Qiang Fu, the hero of the unification. He was a general and was very capable. He was especially good at riding and shooting. It is said that he once led his family's cavalry to chase down a group of bandits. , killed many prisoners, and was well-known in the local area.

Fu Zhi from Yiqu County was also born into a military aristocrat and was as strong as an ox. He played the "stone throwing" common in the army, like a strongman in the Olympics. After spinning a few times, he could throw dozens of steps in one breath! Beyond the pavilion!

They were drafted into the army by Hei Fu nine years ago. Together with thousands of other good family members, they formed the Northern Goblin Cavalry and made great achievements in the expedition against the Huns! Later he became a military official and served in the northern counties.

After the Second Emperor succeeded to the throne, he carried out a large-scale liquidation of Heifu's old troops in Beidi County. As a good friend of Heifu and the successor of Heifu's policies in the Northland, Zhang Han could not clear up the relationship and could only bring the Polu who came to surrender. Run away.

Fu Zhi was then the right historian of the Bing Cao, and he also left with Zhang Han. However, it was Qiang Hua who became the county captain of Chaona. Because he was the grandson of Qiang Yu, Xianyang did not dare to touch him without conclusive evidence, and only dismissed him. .

"How are you, little Junhou?"

Although Qiang Hua has not been Hei Fu's subordinate for a long time, he has always been obsessed with the expedition beyond the Great Wall. Sang Mu brought the prisoners into the North, and the first stop was him!

Fu Zhi smiled and said: "Very good, little Junhou is a young hero. He is tall and tall. He can drink a bucket of goat's milk every day, eat three kilograms of meat, shoot half a stone bow, and hit nine out of ten shots!"

"Can you shoot a half-stone bow at the age of ten?" Qiang Hua said happily: "Little Junhou's archery skills are much better than those of Wuzhonghou."

It was common knowledge in both South County and Northland that Heifu was not good at shooting.

After the greetings were finished, Fu Zhi said briefly: "I asked you to meet outside the fortress because I wanted to ask you, what is the purpose of Wushi Luo?"

Fu Zhi once went with Zhang Han to find Wushi Luo, informing the court that Wushi's affairs were known, and forcing him to raise an army, but the merchant ran away!

"It is said that he, his tribe, and his servants drove their cattle and sheep out of the fortress and headed west. Are they going to Hexi and the Qiangzhong?"

Qin officials still had the final say inside the fortress, but once outside the fortress, it was a land outside the law and a paradise for adventurers.

For decades, Wushiluo had been engaged in entrepot trade inside and outside the Great Wall, and had friendships with the rulers of the Hu Rong and Qiang people. He even married the Huangzhong Qiang people. With a sparsely populated area outside the border, Wushiluo raised hundreds of cavalry and servants. He has the protection of the Qiang Rong Lord, and those who pursue him will surely come back defeated.

Qiang Hua told what he had learned: "The soldiers who went to pursue them all returned halfway, bringing back at most ten or a hundred cattle and sheep. This was deliberately left by Wu Shiluo. He wanted to tell the pursuers: Poor Those who pursue may die, but if they don’t chase, they can take the cattle and sheep as a thank you gift to Wu Shiluo.”

As a northerner, who wouldn't want to be friends with a local tycoon like Wushi?

No one is a fool, so no matter how many people Zhang Ao threatens, no matter how many people are ordered to go, they are destined to be unable to recover Wushiluo.

After learning what happened from Qiang Hua's mouth, Fu Zhi was a little worried. Wushi Luo had escaped, but without Wushi Luo's response, Zhang Han's revolt might have been delayed...

After the two exchanged internal and external news, Fu Zhi said to Qiang Hua: "Zihua, let me tell you, instead of staying in the fortress and suffering the anger and watching the villains sent by the false emperor being so arrogant, why don't you go out of the fortress together and follow Commander Zhang? !”

"I can not go."

Qiang Hua smiled bitterly: "It's not that I'm afraid of death, it's that my brother went to the west with General Li, and I am the only eldest son left in the family. Hundreds of people in the whole clan are counting on me. If I run away, I have to take the whole clan with me." Weak old people, women and children, otherwise we will harm them.”

"Furthermore, I also need to convey the war situation in the Central Plains."

Fu Zhi nodded: "But didn't you say that the recent arrests in Xianyang of Wuzhonghou's former officials have become more and more frenzied, and some were even arrested and imprisoned because they were neighbors of Wuzhonghou's family."

Qiang Hua smiled and said: "Border fortress is different from Xianyang. The military clans in the north have been married for generations, and they have long been intertwined. If Xianyang dares to imprison me, it will definitely chill the hearts of the good families in the north, and they will rebel. , as long as I’m careful, everything will be fine.”

When the two of them parted, Qiang Hua promised Fu Zhi again and again: "When Marquis Wu Zhong comes to the pass, I will respond as soon as possible with my clansmen and follow with my bows and horses!"

"Spring is here, and the war will start again. I believe that day is not far away!"

…

On the other side, hundreds of members of the Wushiluo clan have arrived at the river hundreds of miles outside the Great Wall, where the water of the Zhuo River is exceptionally clear.

"After crossing the river, we will reach Zhangye County and Hexi Grassland. We will be safe."

Wu Shiluo didn't look like he was running away, but like he was playing. His wives and concubines were in groups, sitting in huge felt tents and cars. They ate and drank when they were on the road. When they were hungry, they would let people pick fat sheep from the livestock and slaughter them. When they were thirsty, they would open the wine barrels and pour out the aged rice wine that had been collected for many years. Western wine.

Although this runaway, giving up Wushi's territory, and sending away cattle and sheep to pursuers along the way would bring great economic losses, he did not feel bad about it and lectured his two sons:

"Nothing is more precious than the lives of your own family members. If a fortune is scattered, it will come back again. This is how a great businessman should behave!"

Besides, as a vested interest in Li Xin's expansion of Hexi, Wushi also has many pastures in Zhangye County, which is sparsely populated and even more so in the north. He was able to start from scratch in the past, and now he can start again.

If the pursuers still persist in pursuit, Wu Shiluo can only take a few more steps to Huangzhong, visit the home of the Qiang chief, and taste the fine wine brewed from highland barley and snow water next to the big blue lake. Is it sweet or not?

So after careful calculation and adding Huangzhong Qiang's words, he didn't step on five boats before, but six...

But before crossing the river on a sheepskin raft, U Thi Luo stopped her eldest son U Tin: "You stay!"

Wu Ting was stunned: "Father?"

Wu Shiluo said: "Do you still remember what I said about Yiqu and Gongsun?"

"From today on, my family will be split into two!"

"Wufang is following me. As for you..."

Wushiluo faces the east, pointing in the direction of Helan Mountain.

"Please dig out the boxes of gold cakes that my family has hidden there and go find Zhang Han!"

The second child, Wu Fang, listened to the side and was suddenly stunned: "What kind of gold cake?"

Wu Shiluo and Wu Ting glanced at him but said nothing.

Wu Ting only said softly: "Those gold cakes were slowly saved by my father who has been in business for many years. If converted into half a tael, they would be worth tens of millions..."

Wu Shiluo didn't even blink: "I even gave Hu Hai 20 million yuan in vain, how can Marquis Wu Zhong have less?"

"Tell Zhang Han for me..."

Wushi Luo drank a glass of wine, squinted his eyes and said, "I, Wushi Luo, really wanted to contribute to the great cause of Marquis Wu Zhong, but because of my carelessness, I was discovered by Xianyang, so I had no choice but to flee outside the Great Wall."

He touched the tendrils and smiled: "I am a small businessman. I have no soldiers, no power, and no knowledge or courage."

"I can support Wu Zhonghou..."

"That's all we have!"

…

ps: Chapter 2 is at night.