The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

"When a clerk is sent to see another official, he shall not remove his former assistants and clerks and appoint them to new positions..."

The Qin law stipulates that when a senior official is transferred to another place, he must leave alone and cannot take his former assistants with him.

Shang Jun thought that with this article, he could put an end to ganging and factionalism in Qin. And Xunzi also praised the scholars and officials of Qin in his "Observations on Entering Qin", saying that they "do not form cliques or cliques".

However, from Heifu's perspective, Xunzi still knows too little about Qin. Even in the orderly Qin army, it is not only military law and discipline that determine personnel appointments and military dispatches. This battle to destroy Wei is full of the shadow of human feelings and old friends.

When Heifu came out of the tent of the 2500 masters, he had already received the appointment he expected. Looking at the busy garrison soldiers and prisoners outside, he couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

"The commander who was ordered to lead the army to attack Daliang this time was Wang Jian's son Wang Ben. Although it was his first time to lead a large army, his title was already high. The deputy commander was also Zhonggeng Qiang Wei, who had cooperated with Wang Jian to defeat Zhao. He was a Qiang from Longxi. Wang Ben ordered Qiang Wei to lead more than 10,000 people to leave Daliang and attack the eastern counties of Wei."

"And Yang Xiong, the county lieutenant of Fangcheng, is also a descendant of the Yang family of Sanchuan County who has a close relationship with the Wang family. Otherwise, he would not have been given this good job..."

"The reason why I was able to get into this team was largely because my old boss Du Xian had an old friendship with Yang Xiong and wrote a letter of introduction for me, saying that I was good at leading troops and performed well in the positions of guard and pavilion chief."

There is a saying that the relationship between people is definitely no more than six levels, and at most they can be connected through only six people. After Hei Fu calculated this way, his relationship with the King of Qin was only five or six levels apart!

So even in Qin, the relationship between people is still full of every corner that cannot be controlled by laws and military laws. No matter how hard you work in your position, after leaving the familiar environment, when competing with people of the same title, you still have to rely on personal connections to get key appointments.

This is the important reason why some people get promoted and rise to the top, while others remain unknown at the grassroots level all their lives, even though they start from the same point.

Fortunately, the result is in favor of Heifu. He got Yang Xiong's consent and can set off with the Zhengdong wing division, although his position is only a small garrison chief.

The organization of the Qin army infantry is divided into six levels, namely: five people are a squad, with a squad leader; two squads are a squad leader; five squads are a garrison, with a garrison chief; two garrisons are a hundred, with a hundred general; five hundred people, with a five hundred master; one thousand people, with a two-five hundred master. Among them, Yang Xiong's position in the army, "two-five hundred master", also known as "thousand people", is already a mid-level officer.

Because this army attacking Wei came from different counties and the Eastern Expeditionary Division was also mixed, the organization was not strict. For example, Heifu, the head of the garrison, did not have a hundred generals to supervise him, but directly obeyed the "Five Hundred Lords", whose name was Zhang Yi (yǐ), a Wei Shi from Wancheng, Nanyang County.

The fifty soldiers under Heifu's garrison included the people from Anlu County he brought with him, and the soldiers from Yan County who lived near their shacks. Grassroots military units were basically assigned according to their place of origin, because the accents and dialects between different counties were very different. The counties within Nanjun could barely hear clearly, but if Heifu was assigned to a few soldiers from Hanzhong County, the orders he shouted would be completely confusing to them...

Elegant language? That was Mandarin that only nobles could learn, and it had nothing to do with Heifu and his people. Moreover, since the demise of the Zhou Dynasty, the elegant language had gradually declined.

Therefore, in the next three days of the formation, Heifu gave orders to his new subordinates in the Anlu dialect.

He divided the fifty people into five squads and appointed five squad leaders and five squad leaders.

After fully understanding the inside story of "human relations and old friends" in Qin, Heifu also played the principle of nepotism. Dongmen Bao and Xiao Tao, who had the title of Gongshi, were appointed as squad leaders by him, and Ji Ying, Li Xian, and even Bu Cheng were promoted to the position of squad leader.

In addition, there were three squad leaders from Yan County, including Gong Ao. When this guy learned that he had become Heifu's subordinate, he couldn't help but complain.

However, Heifu shut him up with one sentence.

"I am Zhan Niao, and you are Gongshi."

People with lower titles obey those with higher titles. This is the iron rule in the military camp.

Gong Ao was so angry that he said that he must make merit and get a title this time to surpass Heifu.

There were only three days to organize the troops. Although the mixed Yan County garrison soldiers were far less orderly than the Anlu County garrison soldiers that Heifu had brought along in the past few months, fortunately, the garrison soldiers had at least served once and received basic military training.

So Heifu didn't spend much effort to let them know their squad and squad, and review the skills of advancing, retreating, stopping, standing up and squatting. As for left and right... I didn't force them to master them, just follow the bamboo pole flag in the squad leader's hand.

After completing the organization of each garrison, the next step was the joint training at the "thousand-man" level. As mid-level officers, Yang Xiong, the second and fifth garrison commander, and Zhang Qi, the fifth garrison commander, were different from the rustic styles of the 100-general garrison commanders, but mastered the high-level military tactics.

Nowadays, the Qin army's training method is no longer the early Sun Tzu and Wu Zi, but the "Wei Liao Art of War" recently compiled by Wei Liao, the national commander far away in Xianyang. Speaking of which, Wei Liao is also from Daliang. I wonder what he would think when he learned that his art of war was used to attack and destroy the State of Wei?

According to Wei Liao's Art of War, the soldiers were distributed with weapons. The short ones took spears and halberds, the tall ones with wide vision used bows and crossbows, the strong ones held large flags, and the brave ones played golden drums.

Next, it took several days to let everyone recognize flags, distinguish golden drums, know how to advance and retreat, and know rewards and punishments. As a garrison leader, Hei Fu had to master the basic information such as "beating drums to advance, lowering flags to march, sounding gongs to retreat, waving to the left, waving to the right, and sitting when both gongs and drums were beaten", and then teach it to the squad leader.

What's more daunting is that on the golden drums, there are also various types of drum sounds such as step, march, wu, general, commander, and Bo. Similar to modern marches, beating a drum once for every step is a slow march, beating a drum once for every ten steps is a fast march, and continuous drumbeats are a running march...

This means that in wartime, Heifu must prick up his ears, listen to every drum beat issued by the messenger, open his eyes, and see the direction and height of the flag clearly. If he makes a mistake or does it the opposite, disrupting the order in the army, then he will lose his head!

After completing the training of a thousand people, it is the joint training of ten thousand people. The army lined up in a square array, holding weapons, shouting orders loudly in the cleared Liangyou, and marching in the dust, is also a way to deter the city.

Soon it was mid-February. On the eve of the water from the Great River and the Honggou being diverted by the prisoners to flood Daliang, the Qin army garrison camp once again sounded a series of orderly drum beats...

After half a month of training, the garrison commanders were already very sensitive to the golden drums. Hei Fu turned over and urged everyone to get up and gather outside the tent.

One drum to organize the troops, two drums to practice the formation, three drums to rush for food, four drums to strictly handle the matter, and five drums will do. Hear the drum sound, then raise the flag...

This is equivalent to the wake-up call, exercise call, and meal call of the modern army. There are also charge calls, assembly calls, and march calls during combat. It's just that the drum beats can't compare to the brass trumpet, and there is no such obvious difference in tune. Hei Fu has to remember it firmly in his mind.

So after the third drum, Heifu Tunzhang took his subordinates to finish breakfast. After the fifth drum, they walked out of the camp together, gathered under the flag of "2500 Lord" Yang Xiong, stood in a small square, and prepared to set off...

Those soldiers who got up early to dig ditches and work as boatmen looked at the more than 10,000 people who were separated and ready to go with some envy. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Wei was rich and the Wei army was weak. If they got the opportunity to attack the counties in the east of Wei, they could not only see the colorful world of the Central Plains, but also get the opportunity to behead people and make meritorious deeds, which was much better than dealing with mud and water under the city of Daliang.

Everyone under Heifu's command also had longing in their eyes, except Gong Ao, who looked at Daliang City under the morning sun with a little melancholy. He suddenly said to Heifu: "Captain, do you know that although I don't like the Qin army, I am very happy to leave Daliang with the army?"

Standing in the front of the square formation, Heifu, holding a sword and wearing armor, glanced at the solid earthen wall of Daliang and said lightly: "You don't want to see the tragedy of more than 100,000 casualties in the water attack on Yancheng?"

In this war, the Qin army besieging the city was basically able to remain unscathed, but the Wei people in the city had a hard time... Perhaps when Heifu and his men came back, the people in the city were already hanging pots to cook and exchanging children for food...

The conversation between the two was interrupted by the rapid drumbeats. In the sun, the general flag of Zhonggeng Qiang appeared. It was brightly colored and raised to the east, and the small flags of "thousands of people" also followed it to the east.

Under the guidance of the "step drum" that was beaten with every step, Hei Fu also held tiles and bamboo boards, beat the same rhythm, commanded his subordinates to move forward, and everyone moved the camp eastward...

The first target of this army was a few dozen miles southeast of Daliang, called Chenliu, which was an important town and dangerous pass in Wei State, with 3,000 soldiers stationed there. This "loyal army" had been lingering and watching the situation in Daliang, and was also an obstacle that must be removed for the detachment to move eastward!

...

One day later, Chenliu County of Wei State.

The Chenliu magistrate of Wei State was a tough guy. After hearing the news that the "Qin invaders" were coming, he did not choose to surrender or escape, but beat the drum in the county, calling on all clans and people to fight the enemy together...

In the sound of bells and drums, in Gaoyang Township, located in the east of the county, a young man dressed as a light knight, in his twenties, walked into his poor yard with hurried steps, picked up the two-foot sword hanging on the wall, and was about to walk out!

"Li Shang, stop!"

Inside the house, a middle-aged man in Confucian clothes holding a bamboo scroll walked out. He was already forty years old and eight feet tall. He was not as majestic and strong as the young knight. He was born a little weak and thin, and his appearance was also ordinary. However, there was a hint of cunning and frivolity in his small eyes.

"My brother, you have a sword in your hand, where are you going?"

Li Shang held the sword and shouted: "Brother, the Qin invaders are coming, the county lord is beating the drum to recruit people to resist the enemy, and my friends in the village are going to go!"

"Resist the enemy?"

Hearing this, the middle-aged man in Confucian clothing laughed: "The Qin army is so powerful that even the King of Wei was trapped and died in Daliang City, and his life is hanging by a thread. And Chenliu is just a small town, and as long as the Qin army sends a small army to attack, it will also be in danger. The generals of the feudal lords can't resist the enemy in Liangmen, and you, a group of young knights, want to repel the Qin people?"

After Li Shiqi finished speaking, he frowned and scolded: "Knowing that the situation is hopeless, you are willing to sacrifice your life just to fight for a moment of courage. It's stupid! Li Shang, is your life so cheap?"