Qin Official

Winter has come, and the water in the river is even colder, but more and more people are swimming from Hedong to Fenglingdu. They are not only the Qin people who have lived in Hedong for nearly a hundred years, but also many Hedong natives.

Quji, the "Hedong Shou" stationed here, was responsible for receiving the refugees from Hedong and sending the old and weak to Weinan for resettlement. The young and strong were organized into an army and trained in Ningqin County.

One day in mid-October, a military officer came to report that he had caught an old man swimming with the refugees on the shore. He trembled and told the chief officer who was escorting them that he wanted to see the county governor for something.

"He said that he was Li Shiqi, a scholar from Wei. He heard that he was the regent of the country and sent the Xin Commandery Guard to station troops at Fengling Ferry to meet the people. He came here to serve. He was able to meet the Commander and describe the world's major events."

"If you are a scholar, you should keep your mouth shut about world affairs."

Qu Ji smiled and didn't take it seriously. During the rest of the month, many Kanto wanderers came to seek refuge with them, but most of them were incapable of talking to Qu Ji.

"What kind of person is he?" he asked absently.

"He looks like a great scholar, wearing Confucian clothes and a majestic mountain crown on his head."

"Confucian scholar? Can he swim in this suit? I think he must be very good at water."

Qu Ji lost interest in meeting him. Like most Northern Expedition officers, he didn't like Confucian scholars very much. He felt that these people were boastful and had no skills, so he sent someone to drive this person away:

"Please decline him for me, saying that I am busy with official duties and have no time to see Confucian scholars."

But Chang Shi came back after going out for a while, and told Qu Ji: "I just told the old Confucian what the Sheriff said, but the old Confucian scolded me with his eyes angry and his sword in his hand, saying, 'Hurry up, go tell the Sheriff again. , I am not a vulgar scholar, but I was Zhang Er's counselor, I have the status of a great official, I have traveled all over Wei, and I know the truth and reality of the east of the river, so I want to give this land of mountains and rivers to the regent!"

Only then did Quji put down the brush in his hand, feeling surprised.

"Counselor Zhang Er? Or a doctor? Let him come in and take a look."

Not long after, Chang Shi led the man in, only to see that he was over sixty years old, with gray hair. When he was young, he should have been a burly man of eight feet, but he had shrunk a little as he got older, and his Confucian crown had been thrown away. The Confucian robe also cut off the long sleeves that were in the way, and hung a sword on his waist. He walked in swaggeringly. He did not bow down quickly like ordinary people when he saw him, but just bowed.

Quji coughed lightly and said, "Is this our guest Li Shiqi? Why don't you pay your respects?"

Li Shiqi smiled and said: "I heard that the regents of the Qin Dynasty respected the elderly and gave dove sticks to those over sixty years old. There is no need to bow to the county magistrate. There are two old people in sixty, so naturally they will not bow."

This old man knew a lot about the new policies in Guanzhong. The chief historian on the side reprimanded him: "This is a county governor, not a county magistrate."

Li Shiqi burst out laughing: "A landless county guard? A county guard with less than ten thousand people under his rule? I dare to ask, is the county guard here to help Zhang Er consolidate the defense of Hedong? Or is he a regent? Who is it that collects the hearts of people east of the river and prepares for the eastward march?"

"Supreme Confucianism!"

Qu Ji was a little annoyed: "Of course I was ordered by the regent to prepare for the capture of Hedong. What does it mean to support Zhang Er?"

Li Shiqi straightened his face and said loudly: "In this case, how can the county guard be arrogant and not see the elders? The reason why the old man wears Confucian clothes is because Qin officials have always hated Confucian scholars. They walked along the river bank in the image of Confucian scholars and held the official talisman. Order, the Wei soldiers will not doubt that I will cross westward."

"I was so eager to go west that I risked my life and crossed the river. I wanted to see the county governor on the pretext of describing the world's major events, but the county governor said that I had no time to meet Confucian scholars. How could I recruit the heroes from Hedong by judging people by their appearance? Human heart? If the governors and generals appointed by the regent are so arrogant, I am afraid that the regent will lose the best men in the world, and miss the opportunity to unify Guandong as soon as possible. How many times have the governor missed the regency..."

Qu Ji was snatched away by this old Confucian, and his face was a little red. He was indeed a little proud of being promoted to a high position of two thousand stones these days, and he lost the diligence in recommending talents like Han Xin to Hei Fu during the Southern Expedition. , had no choice but to apologize:

"It's wrong to cure the disease. I only heard about Mr.'s face, but now I know what he meant."

He invited Li Shiqi to sit down and served him hot soup to ward off the cold. Unexpectedly, Li Shiqi pushed his bowl aside and asked:

"Is there any hot wine?"

Qu Ji had no choice but to share his wine with others, and watched Li Shiqiu drink with distress, his face turned red after drinking - Heifu had increased the wine tax, and the government could only brew a small amount, and not many people could drink in large quantities.

"Sir, if you are Zhang Er's counselor or a fake Wei doctor, why did you come west alone?"

He still had doubts in his heart. The trend of arresting spies from the Six Nations had just spread from Xianyang to Ningqin some time ago. Could this old man be here to deceive him? If he can't tell the truth from his mouth, I will definitely punish you severely and ask you to trick me into drinking!

While drinking, Li Shiqi briefly introduced his experience. Chen Liuren persuaded Chen Liuling to surrender for the Chu army, and then joined the Wei state and became a doctor with an official title, which allowed him to walk freely in Wei.

"If a ship was about to sink, wouldn't the people on top not rush to jump off? Although the so-called Wei State seems to be still strong and good, I have seen that there is stupidity inside. If the regent comes with a large army, , Wei will fall apart. In this world, good ministers choose their masters to live in. I also expected that if the regent wants to go east, he must first take the east of the river, or there may be a place that can be used for old age."

Qu Ji smiled and said: "Our army can attack Taiyuan from Shangjun, go out from Hangu to attack Sanchuan, or go from Nanyang to attack Yingchuan. Why does it have to be Hedong?"

Li Shiqi talked eloquently: "I have read short and long books. It is recorded in the book that Shang Yang said that Qin Xiaogong said, Qin and Wei, if people have heart disease, if Wei does not merge with Qin, Qin will merge with Wei. What the hell? ? Wei Ju is located in the west of Ling'e, with the capital Anyi, and the border river with Qin. It is only good at Shandong. If it is beneficial, it will invade Qin in the west, and if it is sick, it will take the land in the east. Now the king is a wise man, and the country depends on it to prosper; in previous years, Wei was greatly defeated in Qi, on the banks of the princes, can attack Wei at this time. If Wei does not support Qin, it will move eastward. Then Qin will seize the rivers and mountains and control the princes in the east. This is the emperor's business..."

"The current situation of Qin and Wei is very similar to that of Qin Xiaogong, except that Qin is ten times stronger than it was then, while Wei is more than twice as weak. It is like hitting an egg with a stone. Now among the countries in Guandong that rebel against the king, only Chu is the strongest, and Zhao Secondly, Hedong is the farthest from Chu, and Hedong is the farthest from Chu. The Chu people are difficult to save, but they are only separated by a river from Guanzhong, and the people still miss Qin. Therefore, when the regent goes east, he must attack Hedong first. Everyone with a discerning eye knows this. matter."

This person saw it very accurately, and said quickly: "What can you teach me about Hedong, sir?"

Li Shiqi said: "I can present a map of the Wei troops in the east of Hedong."

"Where is the map?" Qu Ji was very concerned, but Li Shiqi had been searched before he came in, and no map was found. Seeing that Li Shiqi was slightly drunk, he pressed him to ask.

Li Shiqi's mind was still clear. He pointed at his gray temples and smiled: "Here it is."

He went back to Jifu and sat back, seemingly unconcerned: "Wei's army deployed a weak or solid defense. Without you, our army can still get it."

Li Shiqi finished drinking all the wine, then took a sip of the hot soup and burped: "I know that the spies sent by the regent are all over the east of the river, but most of them are outsiders. Even if they are hidden among the people, they are difficult to penetrate. When you enter the Wei army, you don’t even know that Wei generals like falsehood and reality.”

"That's not the case for Lao Chen. I have been traveling east of Hedong in the past six months, but I have drank wine and made friends with many people. I can even persuade one or two people to surrender for the regent. When the regent attacks Wei, Lao Chen will be able to provide mountains and rivers in various places. The geographical location is favorable, and heroes and heroes are recommended to take advantage of it..."

His voice changed:

"But the above can only be discussed in detail after meeting the regent!"

This was a cunning old guy. Qu Ji understood that this Li Shiqi was a typical political strategist. He watched the world situation for a long time and figured out who was most likely to win. Then he came with countless intelligence and came in pursuit of merit...

The attack on Hedong was indeed a major event this winter. He nodded, whispered a few words to Chang Shi, and asked him to take Li Shiqi to rest.

The old guy stood up unsteadily, turned around before leaving, and asked with lingering interest: "Is there still wine? Give me another bottle."

"Gone!"

Quji's face suddenly became as dark as Heifu's: "Go to the regent's office and drink!"

About a moment later, before Li Shiqi could doze off, several officials in black came to Li Shiqi's residence and took him away with solemn expressions.

This is an official from Heibingtai, specializing in intelligence work.

"Is the regent in Xianyang?"

Li Shiqi asked this question as he smelled of alcohol before getting into the carriage, but several military officials in black didn't say a word. They just silently pushed him into the carriage and headed west overnight.

Only Qu Ji, who was watching the carriage go away, knew that the regent was not in Xianyang, but at the Northern Expeditionary Army camp in Xixia, where they were organizing army training and carrying out some reforms in military institutions in order to move eastward.

There is another important thing.

In Heifu's words: "Now that the Northern Expedition has been successful, the historical mission of the Northern Expeditionary Army has been completed. It is time to change to a new designation!"

…

ps: Chapter 2 is before 0 o'clock.

Also, this chapter says it won’t be restored until the 6th. Damn it, how can I write a book review? (How does it feel to hold back an old rant and be unable to spit it out?)