Qin Official

In mid-July, north of Helan Mountain, on the narrow green space between the Ulan Buh Desert and the river, a cavalry of several hundred people was rapidly heading north...

The two hundred cavalry were all wearing armor, each wearing a small leather cap, a red tassel tied under the chin, carrying a bow bag on the back, and a bow or crossbow hung on the saddle, a typical Qin cavalry outfit.

Although this area is close to the desert, as long as they walk next to the river, they will not lose their way, and there is enough fresh water to quench their thirst. However, it is too hot during the day, and many soldiers have their skin peeled from the sun, but they can only continue northward under the sun. When the horses are drinking and resting, it is natural to complain.

"Beidi County has just revolted in response to Marquis Wu Zhong. Some counties are still resisting and are being harassed by the Yuezhi barbarians. Either let us stay in the local area or go south to Guanzhong. Why bother to go all the way north when we are near and far away? ?”

Guan Ying, the cavalry commander in charge of these two hundred people, inevitably scolded them:

"Didn't Mr. Zhang say that? His lips are dead and his teeth are cold! The ones currently attacking the Helan Mountains in the north are just a few remnants of the Yuezhi who are acting on the orders of the Huns. But if Shuofang County in the north is captured by the Huns, the Huns' cavalry will be able to drive southward!"

About half a month ago, Zhang Han raised troops in Fuping after hearing the news that Heifu had entered Wuguan. With the funds provided by Wushi, he bribed the large and small military units stationed near Helan Mountain to serve, and Gongsun Bailang Also responded in Yiqucheng.

Beidi was originally a place run by Hei Fu, and many officials had received the wisdom of the black-faced county captain, either secretly or overtly. Only ten months later, Zhang Cang was able to go to Xianyang by water after the county changed its banner.

But Beidi County also encountered some troubles. It turned out that after the Xiongnu destroyed Donghu a few months ago, all the tribes in the northern Saibei grassland all respected the Xiongnu.

A Xihou from the remnants of the Yuezhi who was eliminated by Li Xin was also named the "Youxian King" by Maodun. He rode thousands of Yuezhi and settled in Yansai. Hearing about the civil strife in the north, he invaded Helan Mountain. However, they were repulsed by Zhang Han's plan. At the same time, they also discovered the important information that the Yuezhi and Huns cavalry began to use saddles and stirrups...

Zhang Han quickly adjusted his deployment and divided the northern "rebels" into two parts. One part was to clear out the recalcitrant counties, and the other part was to resist the barbarians in Helan Mountain. He also asked Guan Ying to lead 200 people to explore north to find out where Shuo was heading. Have they all fallen?

Now, after being scolded by Guan Ying, the cavalryman from a good family in the North did not dare to complain. After Guan Ying left, he lowered his voice and cursed:

"I think this Xin Qin man wants to go to Xin Qin to save his old friends!"

As early as the time of Shang Yang, the people of Qin were divided into two places of origin: the people in the old place in Guanzhong were the people of the old Qin, and the newly captured prefectures and counties in Guandong were the people of the new Qin.

The kings of the Qin Dynasty often took advantage of the people of the old Qin who were good at fighting and the people of the new Qin who were good at farming, so that the people of the "old Qin" and the "new Qin" could reasonably divide the labor, so that the Qin State would not delay the war for hegemony, but also avoid Become stronger without delaying agricultural production.

In short, one is responsible for serving in the war and beheading people, and the other is responsible for farming.

The boundaries between different divisions of labor gradually began to blur. For example, Guan Ying was originally a cloth seller in Suiyang, but he was recruited to the frontier fortress. He was a civilian husband at first, but because he was able to weave cloth shoes quickly and well during the mass production movement, he was awarded Heifu received the commendation and asked him what reward he wanted. Guan Ying said he wanted to be a military official, and showed off his self-taught riding and shooting skills...

It was at that time that he transferred to military service, and now he was reused by Zhang Han because he protected the eldest son of Marquis Wu Zhong when Hu Hai and Zhao Gao were rebelling.

However, the distinction between the new and old Qin people remained the same, and the old Qin remained unchanged. However, as Qin destroyed the six kingdoms, the number of new Qin people increased.

The Qin Dynasty expelled the Xiongnu to take over Henan, established Shuofang County, transferred garrison troops from Guandong to build the Great Wall, and relocated the people to implement it. Most of the 30,000 households and nearly 200,000 people were New Qin people, and a total of more than 40 buildings were established. A city, because this county is almost composed of Xin Qin people, it is also called Xin Qin, Xin Qin Zhong...

Therefore, the people of Qin looked down on the people of New Qin, and often humiliated and oppressed them. Therefore, this cavalry official refused to accept Guan Ying, and even secretly called him a "zian-selling child."

When Guan Ying heard this, he just turned his head and smiled slightly:

"Don't forget, Marquis Wu Zhong, is also a native of Xin Qin! What's more, I am a cavalry commander, holding the talisman of Zhang Jun. You all should be honest and obey your orders!"

…

On the second day, Guan Ying and the others walked out of the desert. The yellow sand turned into sparse grassland, and the grass became taller and taller. As the horses' hooves stepped into the mud, a plain with intertwined water networks suddenly appeared in front of everyone's eyes. The greenery and forests are unimaginable. This is actually Saibei?

Guan Ying knew that this was the most fertile and rich grassland in northern Saibei: Hetao.

The river slowed down here, leaving behind a large amount of yellow-brown silt, which was extremely fertile. In the past, there was abundant water and grass here, and it was the favorite pasture of the Huns. Eight years ago, after the three generals Hei, Li, and Meng drove the Huns northward, This place is empty.

Under the advice of Heifu and others, Qin Shihuang made a wave of his hand and divided Hetao, Beijia and Henan into a new county:

"Sakufang!"

A large number of people who were exiled and convicted from the mainland moved here. Under Meng Tian's urging, they built the Great Wall to protect the entire Shuofang County. At first, their rations were all transported thousands of miles from Guanzhong via the straight road by people from the mainland. It was only ten to twenty-three years old, and it required a lot of labor, and the whole world was exhausted by it. Later, the method of relocating people to farmland was adopted, and 30,000 households were moved from Guandong to live there.

In order to accommodate these 30,000 households and 150,000 garrison soldiers along the Great Wall, Qin Shihuang established forty-four counties in Helan, Huamachi, Yunzhong, Shuofang and other places, and Shuofang occupied thirty.

In this way, dozens of small towns were dotted throughout the New Qin Dynasty like a string of pearls. They were the bridgeheads and outposts of the farming people on the grasslands, while the Great Wall was the fence that enclosed the land.

Each city has city walls and can accommodate more than a thousand residents. It is surrounded by newly developed farmland and pastures protected by the Great Wall beacons. The Xinqin people who migrated here were able to be self-sufficient through half-farming and half-herding, and even supported the garrison guards stationed at the Great Wall. The garrison guards also watched everything outside the Great Wall vigilantly to ensure the safety of the immigrants.

But now, the balance has been broken, and the Great Wall, which stretches for thousands of miles, is empty!

This is what Guan Ying and the others saw after they entered Xin Qinzhong. Every beacon tower along the Great Wall was empty. The civil war was fierce. The Great Wall Corps was mobilized south twice, and almost all of the more than 100,000 people were wiped out.

The price is that the Huns who did not dare to go south to herd horses in the past began to get bolder and closer. When the Great Wall no longer fired crossbow bolts or even burned beacons to warn, the Huns became bolder and tried every means to break through or bypass it. Cross the not-so-high Great Wall and return to the Hetao Plain...

That was just the beginning. After Maodun had destroyed Donghu and all the Saibei grasslands were left, the Huns no longer had any worries and began to invade Yunzhong and Shuofang unscrupulously!

Guan Ying stood in Dengkou Fort, which was full of corpses and where vultures and crows lived, and frowned.

This is the southernmost city in the Xin Qin Dynasty. "磴" means stone steps. The river channel on this bank is like a step, so it is named. It has always been a wealthy ferry in the Xin Qin Dynasty, and grain ships from the north came here. Arrived at the shore and headed east again.

But they didn't expect it to be like this. The ferry had been destroyed and it was a mess. Looking at the situation in the city, only two or three hundred people died. The rest either escaped by boat like the hundreds of people they met when they came, or they were …

"Captured by barbarians!"

The Qin cavalrymen who had previously had a quarrel with Guan Ying gritted their teeth. They all knew that once women and children were captured by the Huns, they would end up extremely miserable. Basically, they would become slaves and suffer humiliation. The Huns called them despicable The "sheep concubine" was not qualified to ride a horse or a carriage, so she could only follow the Huns as they moved around barefoot, and their lives were precarious.

"Damn Huru, in the past when the Great Wall guards were there, the Huns were timid and did not dare to go south to herd horses, but today they are so rampant! If General Li was here, if Marquis Wu Zhong was here, how could he be like this!"

The cavalry officer said pessimistically: "Dengkou Fort is already the southernmost city in the New Qin Dynasty. It has fallen, not to mention the twenty or thirty castles in the north? They must have also been plundered by the Xiongnu. General Guanqi, we If you go deep into the land of Hulu, be careful of being discovered and pursued by your team. It is better to retreat early and report the matter to Mr. Zhang..."

"Look at that."

Guan Ying pointed to the north, more than ten miles away, deep in the green grassland, where a wisp of wolf smoke rose straight up, so eye-catching in the sky.

"There is smoke, which means there are still people holding on and asking for help!"

He galvanized his horse and began to move towards that direction.

"Not all the cities in New Qin have fallen into chaos!"

…

Although he planned to go to Linrong Fort to find out what was going on, but considering that the Hu people liked to use hunting skills in warfare, especially to lure enemies, Guan Ying asked two hundred northern cavalry to hide under a hillside, and he only took a few scouts with him. Go and explore the situation in Linrong Fort.

Guan Ying and others tied their horses upwind and sneaked into the woods one mile away from the city to check secretly.

But they saw more than a hundred Huns on horseback, camping outside Linrong Fort, and driving some people to show off their power in front of the fort gate.

Or they would drag the captives, old and weak, on horses while galloping, dragging them to stagger and whipping them until they were covered in blood. The barbarian knights laughed loudly at the people in the city. When they got tired of playing, they drew their bows and arrows and killed the old and weak people.

"This is indiscriminate killing and humiliation to anger the people in the city and lure them out of the city to fight with them..."

Guan Ying took a breath. This plan was really vicious. These old and weak people were frightened, and there were probably many family members of the people in the castle who had not yet entered the city.

If we don't save them, the morale in the city will drop sharply and people will be scattered. If we go out of the city to save them, we will play into the hands of the Huns.

It is well known that the Huns are not good at attacking cities, but when it comes to field battles, many of the Huns are now following the example of the Qin people. They are equipped with saddles and stirrups, and their riding and shooting are better than before. They are a group of immigrants who have only received rough training. , I'm afraid it's difficult to defeat him.

Guan Ying looked at the woods a few miles away opposite. There were probably some Huns hiding there, but he didn't know how many there were.

While Guan Ying was thinking about how to deal with it, the situation under the fortress suddenly changed.

But one Huns was too arrogant and leaned too close to the city wall, and was shot to death with an arrow by a big man on the wall who had been holding a bow for a long time.

A hundred steps away, and still a moving target, an arrow hit the center of the eyebrow and penetrated several inches into the body. Regardless of accuracy or power, it was a top-notch talent!

Guan Ying asked himself that even if he couldn't do it himself, who was this person who could be so powerful?

The Huns outside the city gate were a little dazed now, but something even more unpredictable was yet to come.

But the big man who shot a barbarian to death roared loudly and jumped down from the earth wall two feet high when he saw that he was the leader, as if a god descended to earth.

It must have been an appointment, and the city gate behind him was opened. A group of young immigrants rushed out with swords in their hands, roaring, and the big man took the lead in running, drawing his sword and shouting angrily:

"Zhou Bo is here, Huluan dares to be arrogant!"

…

ps: Chapter 2 is in the afternoon.