Qin Official

After burning down the house in Blind Mountain, Heifu and the others went to the county town to return to work the next day and accepted the reward at the same time.

When entering the official temple, everyone's hands were empty, but when they came out, the familiar bowls were full, and everyone was still smiling and congratulating Xiao Tao.

"Xiao Tao's arrow was really life-saving. If it had been a moment later, we wouldn't be standing here anymore." This was Dongmen Leopard's praise.

"Although he is quiet on weekdays, he is really reliable at critical moments." This is Ji Ying's praise.

"Xiao Tao deserves the title of Duke." These were Li Xian's words, but in his eyes, he felt a little lonely and envious.

Xiao Tao is a dull young man who usually doesn't talk much and is always very inconspicuous. Now he suddenly became the center of attention and his face turned red with irritation. He touched the "gongshi" scarf on his head and felt that it was not true. After leaving the official temple, he immediately bowed to Heifu and said:

"I can have... today, today, much... thanks to the pavilion chief."

Heifu quickly helped him up: "Xiao Tao, this meritorious service is all based on your own ability. If you hadn't shot the prison door and bluffed with a copper whistle to scare the people inside, I'm afraid It's more bad than good, so it's us who should thank you."

As the leader of the pavilion, Heifu was very fair when reporting the case. He truthfully expressed his credit for everyone's performance without hiding anything. Especially Xiao Tao, perhaps because he has low expectations for this young man, so his bravery and intelligence always surprise people.

In the end, the government concluded that Xiao Tao was the number one hero, so they treated the Li Jianmen who incited the locals to kill officials and flee as a first-level beheading, and made Xiao Tao a noble official.

Because although there are many people in Blind Mountain, they are just a group of unruly people, neither bandits nor fugitives, so it is difficult to judge and reward them. In the end, except for young Master Tao Sheng, the collective reward was only thirty gold coins, equivalent to fifteen thousand coins. Heifu had more than 5,000 yuan, and the rest of the money was divided according to each person's different merits.

As a result, Ji Ying and Li Xian, who were still soldiers, couldn't help but be envious of Xiao Tao. Li Xian remained silent, but Ji Ying sighed and said that he didn't know when he would get the title.

It was better to ask Dongmen Bao, the thief, to think openly. He slapped the two of them hard on the shoulders and said with a big smile: "With the black husband taking you, are you afraid that you will miss the opportunity to make meritorious service and get a title? Second and third sons, don't you look at the past six months?" , how much reward did you receive?"

Not to mention it was a blessing, but when everyone thought about it carefully, it was true that since Heifu Xuetian took office, although they had only solved two cases, they were both major cases that shocked the whole county.

The title of Qin is not that easy to earn, but the money is real. In the past, everyone's family background was not very wealthy: Dongmen Bao worked as a laborer to carry bags for others, Xiao Tao's family were mediocre and poor, Ji Ying and Li Xian's family were slightly better off, but they only had enough food and clothing.

After receiving the reward money for emergency relief, these four people are now at the level of a middle-class family, their clothes are no longer shabby, and they can even think about getting themselves a suitable sword. In this way, all that is needed is a fine horse, and all the essential things for a man in this era are complete.

They attribute all of this to Heifu. There are many pavilions in Anlu County, as many as ten or twenty, but not every pavilion has such good luck. The chief of the pavilion must be capable so that he can lead his men to earn credit...

"It's not my fault alone, it's actually the joint efforts of everyone." Heifu said modestly.

It's certainly a good thing to have such trust from his subordinates, but Heifu also understood through this incident that his path to promotion in the future may not be as smooth as before.

Why? It's not that someone in the county deliberately suppressed him, but because... the upgrade experience bar has become longer.

When he first came to this era, Heifu also thought about it: "Since a soldier kills an enemy's head, he can get a first-level knighthood; in this way, as long as he kills twenty enemies, he can get a twentieth-level knighthood." ?”

He quickly rejected this stupid idea. There is no such easy-to-earn title. If that were to happen, Qin would definitely be like "marquises everywhere and concubines as numerous as dogs."

The officials of the Qin State were not fools. Shang Yang, who formulated this system of merit and nobility, was very smart!

Slowly, Hei Fu found out that the calculation methods of military merit for officers and soldiers were very different. For example, he is now a top-ranking soldier. If he is placed in the army, his minimum rank is very high, and he can even be a commander.

In a war, if he wants to lead fifty people into battle, he must first ensure that the number of people killed in the battle is less than the number of beheadings, so that he will not be punished. The commander of the village takes the lead and leads the soldiers to kill the enemy and behead them. If he himself is cowardly and fails to capture the enemy, then he himself must be executed!

But even if a few heads are chopped off, the commander still cannot be promoted, because military law stipulates that only after the "Central Team" has captured 33 heads, the generals and commanders can achieve meritorious service and be crowned.

In short, soldiers' upgrades are based on individual merit, while officers are based on collective merit.

And in order to prevent senior officers from not doing their jobs properly and competing with ordinary soldiers for credit. The laws of Qin even expressly stipulate that those with the title of doctor or above must command the soldiers to attack and are not allowed to suddenly stop and behead their heads. If they do this, they will be exiled!

Therefore, it is not surprising that Bai Qi, Lord Wu'an, pursues the beheading count every time he fights with the enemy. As far as Changping is concerned, if Lord Wu An accidentally beheads 400,000 Zhao people, I am afraid that the officers and soldiers at all levels below will end up in vain due to insufficient beheadings...

Although the superficial reason is "fear of chaos," in fact the real purpose is still beheading. Therefore, the life and death of those Zhao soldiers were no longer decided by Bai Qi alone, or even in the King of Qin's thoughts. Instead, they were pushed to the butcher's knife by Qin's military merit system and the desire of hundreds of thousands of Qin soldiers for promotion and meritorious service. of……

This is true in wartime, and it is also true in peacetime when officials discuss their merits.

When Heifu was still a scholar or a public servant, he could basically advance to one level at a time, but when he reached the top level, it was a different matter.

The county magistrate told him that the credit this time had been recorded on the performance slips, and he had to make another great contribution before he could be promoted to the third level of "hairpin".

"It's just a small pavilion. If we solve two major cases in half a year, it will be a big deal. And I don't want there to be any more trouble in the area. If this continues, the road to promotion will be far away..."

With this in mind, Heifu led everyone in Huyang Pavilion to the gate of Anlu County. The embers in Blind Mountain were not yet cold. Here, the cruel death penalty was about to begin...

…

The Qin State did not have the later generations' "autumn and winter executions". The trial, judgment, and punishment of the case were usually completed within two months, and the death penalty was no exception. Even the food provided to the officials is scrupulous. How can the condemned prisoners be allowed to eat and drink for free in prison?

The 13 principal criminals in the blind mountain case will be executed outside the market today. People in Anlu County are packed with people watching.

The punishment of those ten people was relatively good. They were just beheaded and the bodies were divided. Although the corpses were humiliated, they did not have to suffer too much.

It was different when the carriages and horses began to move slowly, the criminals screamed for mercy, and the sound of bones breaking resounded throughout the Anlu market. Because the scene was so bloody and cruel, even several officials who were watching the execution vomited out gall water.

Xiao Tao and Ji Ying also had livid faces, and Li Xian even turned his head away, unable to bear to look any further.

On the contrary, Dongmen Leopard was very excited to see it. This guy was born with a different preference for blood.

Heifu also turned a little pale after seeing this, and he left the execution site after a while. Although I feel some physical discomfort, I don't know why, compared to when I first came to this era, I felt a little pity for the executed thief "Pan", and my sympathy is less overwhelming.

Perhaps it’s because, no matter ancient or modern, the experiences of all police officers have something in common. From the youthfulness when they first arrived to the numbness they have become accustomed to, after the past six months, Heifu’s heart has hardened a lot...

In this situation, he suddenly remembered what the senior police officer who told them about the experience of fighting trafficking in his previous life warned them:

"Compassion does not control soldiers, kindness does not serve as police!"

Although he complained about Qin Lu's frequent sitting with hundreds of people, Hei Fu knew what they had done to these people in front of him, and they deserved their death. Is there any other way to deal with extremely vicious criminals besides using more evil to stop evil?

If you want to slay demons, you must first become a blood-stained Wei Tuo!

Heifu has this realization.

When the execution was over and everyone was walking on the way to the south gate, Heifu noticed that the people around him looked at him in an unusual way.

If he captured three thieves for the first time and gained a small reputation, the people of Anlu County simply praised him, but the praise did not last long and was forgotten after a few months.

So the second time, Heifu gave 4,000 yuan to Gongshi to cure his illness. His "righteousness" reputation spread throughout the county, and the people of Anlu County became respectful to him. The respect lasted longer, but it didn't last long. Several years.

But this time, Heifu led the people in the pavilion to capture more than a hundred people and bring them to justice, almost exterminating an area. In addition, today the government publicly executed 13 people, and the cruel death method of 13 people warned the people of the whole county, "Don't follow suit!"

So the people in Anlu County looked at Heifu and the others with a mixture of respect and awe. Seeing them from a distance, they inevitably bowed to them carefully and then stepped aside.

Although he felt the changes in the eyes of others, Heifu still smiled and nodded to everyone who saluted him.

The Dongmen Leopard is different. What he pursues is the feeling of being looked up to and awed by. He feels happy, has a shy belly, and even walks with arrogance...

However, not everyone was in awe of them. At the crossroads heading to the south gate, there was a rider riding a galloping horse. He passed by them in a daze without slowing down at all. Not only was Ji Ying so frightened that he sat on the ground, Dongmen Leopard was almost hit!

"You guys, don't you have eyes?"

Dongmen Bao pointed at the horse's butt and cursed, but the rider on the horse just looked back and even smiled.

Dongmen Leopard was furious, gritted his teeth and said: "Hei Fu, do you want to catch up and see who is so bold? Condemn him for galloping in the street!"

Before Heifu could say anything, Ji Ying quickly got up and said, "Don't cause trouble, Ah Bao. Judging from the way the rider is dressed, he must be a descendant sent by Nanjun."

He himself is a member of the postal system, so he is naturally familiar with that person's identity.

"When someone delivers an urgent letter, even if he rides on horseback in the street, no one will say that he is not. Furthermore, he is carrying a bamboo tube dyed yellow on his back. Did you see it?"

Heifu was also curious and asked: "What's the deep meaning of that yellow bamboo tube?"

Ji Ying said: "That color is specially used by the government to report victory! It must have been passed down from Xianyang to Nanjun first, and then passed down from county to county..."

"Report victory?" Everyone looked at each other, not understanding where the victory came from.

Still Heifu's expression changed and he said: "Could it be..."

He turned around and looked to the north. In the sky looking north, the thick layer of clouds was blown to pieces by a strong wind...

Heifu's guess was correct. Sure enough, the next day, the Anlu County Magistrate sent mailmen to announce the great news to all townships and kiosks!

"Good news from the north, by order of the king, the general has captured Yanji City and assassinated the head of the king's mastermind, Prince Dan! The army has returned in triumph! Congratulations to the king, Qin Wansheng!"