The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

On October 9, the 21st year of the reign of Qin Wangzheng, there was only one day left before the ten-day competition. At the South Gate of Anlu County, the head of the Jiashi, Yuan Bai, was restless.

He had just tried to provoke Heifu that day. If Heifu was afraid to refuse, he could laugh at him.

Unexpectedly, this fool from the countryside agreed to it! And he even made such a big bet! Yuan Bai, who was very proud, had no way out and had to accept it.

But thinking about it afterwards, he still felt that he would definitely win. In his opinion, Heifu, a 17-year-old guard who was serving for the first time, could lead the whole team to win the first place in the assessment? Yuan Bai didn't believe that this would happen.

He had already planned that if Heifu didn't get the first place, he would lose face and have to work as a servant and tenant farmer in his family for two years for free. He had to squeeze him hard.

At that time, Guishi was indeed stagnant in training and morale was low, but Yuanbai never expected that in just four or five days, Guishi had undergone earth-shaking changes!

First of all, in terms of training progress, unlike the first few days of standing still, squatting, turning left and right. On October 6, the people of Guishi finally began to walk on the training ground and practice "walking and stopping". Their practice method was still so different: those people did not wear shoes on their left feet, and walked one high and one low, not to mention how funny it was.

This funny scene made the people of Jiashi laugh, but on October 7, they couldn't laugh anymore...

It turned out that relying on the good foundation laid in the previous few days, after a day of practice, the people of Guishi could step on the right foot without taking off the left shoe - once someone made a mistake, the sergeant Dongmenbao who followed behind would come forward and beat them hard with the bamboo stick in his hand!

The squad leader Heifu walked in front holding a thick bamboo pole, shouting "left, right, left ... Drive them with profit, unite them with righteousness, push them with kindness, and intimidate them with the law... Hei Fu skillfully used these methods, and with the help of Ji Ying and Dongmen Bao, he brought together the entire Shishi, which was originally like a pile of loose sand.

"If this continues, Guishi may really get the first place..." Yuan Bai began to panic. Although his family was rich, four thousand coins were not a small amount after all.

"Shizhang, I have an idea."

The sergeant of Shijia came over and whispered in Yuan Bai's ear: "Xiao Tao of Shijia and I are from the same village. This boy is a stutterer, his family is poor, and he is also cowardly and can be bullied. As long as he is threatened a little and promised a little money, he will deliberately fall behind in the competition in ten days, and Guishi will not get the first place!"

"That's great!" Yuan Bai's eyes lit up, and he asked Shijia to find a way to find Xiao Tao quickly.

So, at lunch time on this day, Xiao Tao, who went to the toilet alone, was blocked outside the toilet by three or four people including Yuan Bai and Wu Chang from Jia Shi...

...

Just as Wu Chang from Jia Shi said, Xiao Tao was a thin and short young man, who was forced into a corner and trembled. Yuan Bai smiled and walked up to him and began to coerce and bribe him...

"I... I..."

After Yuan Bai explained his intention, Xiao Tao's face turned red and he was almost speechless. He didn't know whether he was angry or afraid.

"Just take it!"

Yuan Bai forced a cloth bag containing 100 coins into Xiao Tao's hand, put his arm around his shoulder and promised: "If you can do as I said and deliberately fall down and fall behind in the competition tomorrow, I will give you another 100 coins after the success!"

Wu Chang from Jia Shi also clenched his fist and threatened: "Otherwise, you will have a hard time when you return to the village!"

Xiao Tao's eyes were full of fear, and he looked at the money in his hand at a loss.

His family was poor, his mother had leprosy, and was caught by the neighbors in the village, sentenced to death, and drowned in the river. His father was a coward and incompetent, and he dared not say a word about this matter. His brothers and sisters had already married and separated from the family, and no one cared about him.

All year round, Xiao Tao had to work with his hunchbacked father on the thin fields of less than 100 acres at home, just to make a living. Calculated, Xiao Tao has never had so much money in his hands since he was a child!

He opened the purse with trembling hands and looked at the round and square half-liang coins inside. They were full of attractive metallic luster, stacked together, and made a pleasant sound...

Yuan Bai looked at Xiao Tao and smiled triumphantly under his beard. He felt that this boy had fallen into the eyes of money, and this thing could be done. Even though Hei Fu unexpectedly brought Guishi to a strict order, no matter how beautiful the oranges were on the outside, they would be rotten from the inside.

However, what happened next was beyond Yuan Bai's expectation.

"But, the chief... treated me well."

Xiao Tao opened his mouth and muttered this sentence, then suddenly raised his purse high and threw all the money on the ground without leaving a penny!

"Clatter!"

The copper coins fell all over the ground, like a rain of gold coins.

"You..." Yuan Bai took a half step back in surprise.

Xiao Tao raised his face, and then Yuan Bai and others realized that his flushed face was not excitement, but humiliation; his trembling hands were not fear, but anger!

The shy young man from Yunmeng Township said word by word in such humiliation and anger, stuttering: "You... don't... underestimate me!"

In the shocked eyes of Yuan Bai and others, Xiao Tao raised his head and chest, just like Hei Fu taught them, with his weak body, he stood up like a straight green pine!

"I...I...I will never...betray...the captain!"

"You little brat! You don't know what's good for you!" Yuan Bai and the others were furious and raised their fists to hit him!

Although Xiao Tao was very tough in words, he was still a little scared. He closed his eyes tightly and protected his head.

But after waiting for a long time, Yuan Bai's fist did not fall.

When Xiao Tao opened his eyes, he found that Yuan Bai's wrist was tightly grasped by a thick big hand. It was the tallest and strongest man in Guishi. He was staring at Yuan Bai with a cold eye.

The other three people in Jiashi were also stopped by Ji Ying and Zhui who came.

Hei Fu appeared behind them, playing with the short sword in his hand, and sneered: "Captain Yuan Bai, what do you mean? If you can't do it openly, you want to do it secretly? You should know that you are fighting privately, which is not upright. If the government finds out, you will be convicted!"

"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding..." Yuan Bai's hands were about to be crushed, and his face was distorted as he begged for mercy.

Hei Fu didn't want to make a big deal, so he waved his hand and asked Mu to let Yuan Bai go.

"Captain Yuan Bai, take care. After the competition tomorrow, don't forget our agreement!" Hei Fu looked at the figures of these people fleeing in a panic and waved at them.

Finally, he turned around and looked at Xiao Tao, who was silent with his head down, for a long time without saying a word.

"Sergeant... I..."

It was not until Xiao Tao raised his head and tried to explain that Hei Fu smiled with relief, patted his shoulder heavily and said, "Good job!"

...

"Why didn't you call me for such a big thing? If I was there at the time, I would definitely cut off one of Yuan Bai's arms!"

When everyone returned to the training ground, Dongmen Bao knew what had happened. He immediately cried out in regret and rolled up his sleeves to go to Jiashi to find trouble with Yuan Bai.

"If you beat him up, where will we find 4,000 coins tomorrow when we win first place?"

Hei Fu quickly held him down. Just now, it was the clever Ji Ying who found that the people of Jiashi had blocked Xiao Tao and immediately came to tell him. Hei Fu deliberately did not take Dongmen Bao with him. This reckless man did not know how to control his strength. Who knows what trouble he would cause.

It is commendable that Xiao Tao finally withstood the coercion and inducement, which made Hei Fu look at him with new eyes. On the way back, Hei Fu kept praising this stuttering young man from the countryside, saying that he was not afraid of violence and was a good man who could not bend under the might of the army, which made the shy Xiao Tao blush.

However, this incident also sounded the alarm for Hei Fu. He decided to train hard in the next day and never let anyone leave the team alone to give others an opportunity to take advantage of it.

After these days of training, the ranks of Guishi have made great progress, although turning left and right on the spot is still a bit awkward and makes mistakes from time to time. But the standing posture, team marching, squatting and standing up, and standing and turning have reached the standards required by Hei Fu. Although it will definitely be the bottom in the military training of universities in the future, it is already a standout among the messy steps of the soldiers.

Hei Fu is more confident that he will take the lead tomorrow!

But it was not enough. Before the sun set on that day, after the other squads finished their training and went to eat, Hei Fu gathered all the people in Guishi together. Looking at their faces of different ages, everyone stood straight and looked at their squad leader.

At this moment, Hei Fu was filled with emotion, as if he had really returned to the last day of military training in his previous life, the scene before the review.

After a long silence, he slowly said:

"Today is the last day before the competition, the last training. Whether it is sitting up, walking and stopping, left and right, forward and backward, you have already mastered it by heart, and it is useless to review it again. But here, I will teach you one last thing!"

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