The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

"Too little?"

Yuan Bai was slightly surprised. He looked Hei Fu up and down and said with some contempt: "Looking at Hei Fu's clothes, his family doesn't seem to be rich. How much money can he take out?"

"I don't have much money." Hei Fu smiled and said, "But I can bet myself. If I don't get first place, I can personally serve as a servant for Yuan Bai's family for two years and cultivate the fields for you. What do you think?"

"Two years of servant?" Yuan Bai was a little hesitant, but Hei Fu was strong and should be a good hand at farm work. Moreover, he was famous for his bravery. Even if he was used to guard the house, it would not be a loss.

So Yuanbai held up four fingers and said, "It's a deal. If Guishi doesn't get first place, you have to serve me as a servant for two years. If Guishi really gets first place, I'll give you 4 gold coins!"

"4 gold coins?"

Heifu laughed and said, "Yuanbai, are you bullying me for not knowing how to count? 4 gold coins is 2304 coins. As far as I know, the minimum wage for a servant is 6 coins a day. If he works day and night, it will be more than 4,000 coins in two years! Chief Yuanbai, why is the price of renting servants so cheap?"

Yuanbai's trick was exposed and his face flushed. At this point, it was a bit unreasonable for him not to raise the price. He had to grit his teeth and said, "Okay, if you get first place, I'll give you 4,000 coins!"

Although 4,000 coins are not much, it is a huge sum of money for Heifu now. Heifu nodded immediately, "It's a deal!"

"Good!" Yuan Bai was also very happy, feeling that he had gotten a great deal, so he said: "I will ask a clerk I know in the county to write a deed for you and me, split a piece of wood as a letter of trust, and I will never regret it!"

With that, Yuan Bai returned to Jiashi and told his subordinates about this matter. He treated it as a big joke, and the group of people suddenly laughed, and each of them laughed at Heifu for being so stupid and overestimating his own abilities.

Little did he know that after Heifu turned around, he was also very happy in his heart, thinking: "Whatever I need, I was worried about not having enough money a few days ago! Four thousand coins will be in my hands!"

"Squad leader, what did Yuan Bai say to you?" At this time, the other nine people in Heifu's squad also came over.

After Heifu told them everything that had just happened, Ping, Ke, and Bu Ke, who lived in the county town, were shocked and said, "Shizhang, you may have been fooled. That Yuanbai's family was originally a merchant in the Chu State. They were very wealthy and often lent money to ordinary soldiers and officials. When they were repaid, they would charge high interest."

Dongmen Bao also said with a heavy face, "When my father was still alive, he also borrowed money from the Yuanbai family. As a result, when he repaid it, he owed a lot more!"

Heifu nodded. It seems that the Yuanbai family made their fortune by borrowing money. Although the Qin State also prohibited the use of pledges as debt guarantees in the law, and those who could not repay their debts could repay them with labor, the Yuanbai family should be very careful to walk on the edge of the law.

He asked, "How did such a family achieve Shangzao?"

Dongmen Bao said, "I remember that it was in the fourth year of the current king. Qin was hit by famine. The king ordered that if the soldiers paid 1,000 dan of grain, they could get the first-level title. The Yuanbai family was already a public official. It was at that time that they paid 1,000 dan of grain in one go and got the Shangzao title."

That was the only time in Qin that grain was exchanged for titles. Unfortunately, Heifu didn't catch up. Even if he caught up, he would have no grain. One thousand dan of grain, according to this year's grain price, is equivalent to 80,000 coins. In this way, the Yuanbai family is really rich.

At this time, others also realized the seriousness of the matter. Ping, Ke, Bu Ke and others couldn't help complaining. It can be seen that they are afraid that Heifu will implicate themselves.

Hei Fu laughed, "Don't worry, this is just a private contract between me and Yuan Bai. Even if I lose, I will be held responsible for my own actions. It has nothing to do with the people in Shizhong."

Chao Bo and others in Shizhong breathed a sigh of relief. After all, they had only known Hei Fu for a few days, so there was no need to accompany him in this mess.

Only Ji Ying was so worried that he almost got angry. In his opinion, this matter was just Hei Fu jumping into the fire pit by himself. He muttered, "I still have more than a thousand bonuses to spend. If I can't win first place, I will give all the money to Yuanbai. At least I can let Heifu and his brother serve as servants for a few months less."

Although Ji Ying seemed unreliable on weekdays, he was very loyal at the critical moment. Heifu was a little moved and patted Ji Ying and said, "Don't say discouraging words. I believe we can win the championship!"

Dongmen Bao agreed, "That's right! Don't say those useless things. We must win the first place by then, so that Yuanbai, Jiashi, and all the other guards who look down on us will have nothing to say."

However, the others still looked at each other in bewilderment, without much reaction.

...

In the afternoon of that day, Yuanbai did as he said. He invited a clerk from the county, and Chen Baijiang to be witnesses for the two of them, write a deed, and split wood as a letter.

Half of the deed was handed to Hei Fu, and it was written on it:

"On October 21, the 21st year, the county general Chen, the clerks and others wrote: Yunmeng Township official Hei Fu said that in ten days, there will be a large examination of the night guards. If he does not win the first place, he is willing to be a servant of Shang Zao Yuanbai and work for him for two years. Shang Zao Yuanbai also said that if the official Hei Fu wins the first place, he is willing to give Hei Fu 4,000 yuan..."

After that, the two of them signed their names.

At this point, not only has this matter been known to all the night guards, but it is also a done deal and has legal protection. If someone regrets it later, the other party can appeal to the county prison and let the clerk enforce it. It is equivalent to a private contract in later generations, and there is a notary.

Everyone felt that Hei Fu was really going further and further on the road to death. Not only did he compete with Bin Baijiang, but now he signed this contract that seemed to be a sure loss. Hei Fu walked on the road, and people all over the training ground were pointing and talking about him.

After this incident, although Hei Fu still said it easily, he began to unconsciously intensify the training of Benshi.

But how easy is it to let a group of farm children with almost no education experience learn how to turn while stopping, and distinguish between turning left and turning right at the first time? And when turning backwards, there are always people who turn the wrong direction, which looks very chaotic.

It was the experienced Chao Bo who helped him think of a way to let everyone take off the shoes on their left feet and only wear the right foot. In this way, the number of mistakes was indeed reduced.

Moreover, the training of the Qin army was not like the military training in later generations. It was allowed to be beaten. If there was any mistake, Hei Fu would beat them with a stick without mercy! In total, the three people in the county, Ping, Ke, Bu Ke, and the somewhat dull Mu were beaten the most.

However, the quiet Xiao Tao once again impressed Hei Fu. He was the one who made the least mistakes in the team. He couldn't help but praise him a few words.

But even so, the overall progress was still slow. Their training had been stagnant on the afternoon of October 4 and the entire morning of October 5. In addition to various worries, the fatigue of high-intensity training, and the confusion about Heifu's unique training method. Except for Dongmen Bao who was still full of fighting spirit, Xiao Tao silently understood, and Ji Ying barely persisted, the morale of the people in Guishi was extremely low.

"It won't work like this..." Ji Ying told Heifu about his worries during the meal.

Heifu nodded. He knew that just by being exempted from the next year's service, the pot of wine, the reward of ten dried meat, and various punishments during training, it was not enough for the weak-willed people to persist to the end. And the people who were used to being looked down upon were indifferent to the sarcasm of other groups. He needed to give them greater stimulation.

So that afternoon, Heifu went to ask Chen Baijiang to let Guishi take some time out to repair the leaking roof. Although Chen Baijiang was a little dissatisfied, it was a normal request, so he agreed.

So, in this afternoon, the people of Guishi, who had been tense for the past few days, finally had some time to relax. Under the leadership of Heifu, they went outside the school field to find dry thatch, borrowed a ladder, repaired the thatched roof, and then pasted mud on the thatch and pressed it with wood. After it dried and hardened, there would be no more worries about leaking at night.

After completing this task, everyone was a little happy to think that they would no longer be wet by leaking at night. Perhaps working together brought them closer to each other, and they actually chatted lively. The previous dullness was swept away, and Heifu also tried to chat with everyone.

In his previous life, when he was a military training instructor for freshmen at a certain university, he also encountered similar problems. Some boys did not cooperate and always made trouble, and the overall morale was very low. At this time, you can't just punish them blindly, which will make them more negative about this matter. Instead, you should try to communicate, understand them, and even become their friends. In this way, those little boys who don't care about anything can actively participate in the training.

When the atmosphere was at its most heated, Heifu, despite his hands still covered in mud, bowed to everyone and said, "My dears, the reason why Heifu made a contract with Jiashi and Yuanbai today was not for anything else, but just to fight for our pride! Yuanbai was sure that we would lose, Jiashi laughed at us, and other soldiers also thought that we would never win the first place, but Heifu believed that you could do it, and I hope you also believe in Heifu..."

"What are you talking about, Shizhang?"

Everyone was a little moved, and after saying this, Heifu raised his head and said the most crucial point.

"When the competition is over, if Guishi wins the first place, in addition to the meat and wine rewarded by the county lieutenant, the four thousand coins will never be taken by Heifu alone, and will be shared with my dears!"

As soon as the voice fell, the eyes of all the people in Guishi lit up!

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