The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

After all the lieutenants received orders and went to their respective positions, Li You stopped Hei Fu and asked him if he was nervous about seeing the king's carriage.

"I am so excited that I couldn't sleep last night!"

Although Hei Fu actually slept well last night, he still pretended to be excited about meeting an important person.

His answer was very much to Li You's liking, so he laughed and said, "Yes, even though I often see the king's carriage, I still feel awe and anticipation every time, let alone you? Then let me ask you again, do you know what is indispensable on the king's carriage?"

"I dare not speculate about the emperor's carriage." Hei Fu pretended to be terrified and refused to guess, so Li You directly announced the correct answer.

"Although the king's carriage is spacious, he has no concubines and palace maids to serve him, and no precious treasures to play with. What he always has are maps of the world's mountains and rivers, and memorials from various counties..."

Li You explained: "Whenever the king goes to a place, even if it is a small city, he will always check the map, ask about the city, the population, the mountains, and the rivers, and he must remember the land under his rule. In addition, even if he is traveling, he will review a hundred kilograms of bamboo slips every day! He will never let government affairs fall by the wayside!"

"A workaholic who doesn't like to enjoy himself? Then why build so many palaces in Guanzhong? Is it really just for collection..."

Hei Fu thought so in his heart, but said admiringly: "The king is diligent in government, and Qin can eliminate the princes!"

The chat was almost over. Li You looked up at the time. The sun was high in the sky, so he waved his hand and said, "Let's go to the section where the Anlu soldiers are. When the king's carriage passes by, everyone must kneel down and then follow me into the city. Although the king may not remember you, when he sees me, he may remember Zicai's words and may summon you to see him!"

…

Huaiyang has been lost and recovered by the Qin army for several months. As a military food circulation center, the suburbs of the city are like a large military camp, and most of the 300,000 civilians are left here. Knowing that the King of Qin was coming, they were immediately mobilized again and repaired the road from the city gate to Wanqiu. Heifu and his tens of thousands of Qin soldiers went west along the city gate and lined up for a full ten miles!

Soldiers stood on the roadside, and behind them were groups of 150,000 Qin nationals who had been militarized and stood in an orderly manner. Further behind were local residents with unpredictable attitudes. They were also forcibly pulled out to watch the arrival of the King of Qin and the formal surrender of the King of Chu...

While Hei Fu was vigilantly maintaining the security of the 100-step area he was responsible for, he had to answer his subordinates' endless questions, especially Ji Ying's...

"Captain, what does the king look like?"

"I haven't seen him. Who should I ask you if you ask me?" Hei Fu answered unhappily.

"Isn't Li Duwei the son-in-law of the king? He must have seen the king. Why didn't he describe him to the commander?" Ji Ying and others did not give up.

"Li Duwei said that the king is wise and intelligent, like a god." Li You really couldn't explain it. He respected his father-in-law, the King of Qin, as if he were a god.

"God..."

Ji Ying, Dongmen Bao and others thought this metaphor made sense.

"That's the king, of course he's a god."

"I heard that the king is immortal." Gong Ao, who was standing next to them, also came over.

"I heard that the king is three feet tall." Mu, who was holding the flag, compared himself: "Twice as tall as me!"

"More than three feet, I heard that the king has the stars above his head, and wherever he goes, there will be good weather and good harvests!" Dongmen Bao said more exaggeratedly, his eyes full of admiration.

It can be seen that Hei Fu's men are really excited. Looking at their looks, they may not have slept well last night. Think about it, when the leaders of later generations come to the grassroots, they can also make the people who have the opportunity to shake hands with them very happy, not to mention the deified kings in ancient times.

People can be disrespectful to the county officials who manage them or even the county governors, but for the unattainable King Qin, they blindly respect him from the bottom of their hearts.

What they admired was not only his power, but also the things he had done in the past twenty years. Some princes, who had been in office for many years, might not let the people at the bottom know about themselves, but the King of Qin was different. After he took power, he mobilized the whole people of Qin to participate in wars time and time again. With the propaganda of Qin officials, everyone knew that there was such a king:

He could make the six countries disappear into ashes with a wave of his hand, and he could make 600,000 people travel north and south with a move of his mouth...

"You'll know in a while."

Hei Fu smiled helplessly, pointed to the west and said, "Go to your respective guard areas and stand up. I can hear the sound of drums!"

...

Hei Fu was not mistaken. There was indeed the sound of sheng, xiao and drums in the distance, which came into his ears with the wind.

The first thing that came into their sight was the leading troops of the Qin King's carriage. First, six mighty "axe carriages" passed by, followed by fifty halberds with halberds and fifty ceremonial guards with flags flying. The halberds had covers made of red and black silk, and the flags were colorful, with various animal patterns on them, all with different meanings, fluttering in the wind.

Then came the tall drum and trumpet carriages, which actually had two floors! On the upper floor, there was a drum with flying feathers, and two drummers holding hammers to beat the drums. On the lower floor, there were four musicians sitting, two by two, playing the sheng and the xiao.

Six drum and trumpet carriages, thirty-six people, the drummers beat the drums vigorously like dancing wildly, and the blowers played with all their strength, their cheeks swelled into a big ball, and their lungs seemed to be about to burst at any time. They were so strong just to tell everyone with the loudest voice:

The king has arrived!

After the ceremonial guard, the heroic and orderly "Langzhong Lingjun" followed.

Langzhong Lingjun, this is the elite force guarding the king, the members are all officials from good families in Guanzhong, Li Xin, Li You, Meng Tian and others are from them.

First, the walking warriors wearing black armor and heavy helmets, almost all eight feet tall, five hundred people walked in the order of "five soldiers", with shields on their backs, short swords on their waists, halberds raised high, bows and crossbows with neat feathers, and the branches of bronze halberds like a passing forest.

After the infantry, there were knights, who were called "military knights". According to Li You, they were all under 40 years old, over 7 feet 5 inches tall, strong, skilled in riding and archery, and able to "cross trenches, climb hills, take risks, cross large swamps, rush against strong enemies, and disrupt the masses."

The two hundred knights were divided into two groups, the front and the back. The former wore helmets with red cherry blossoms, copper-leather armor, and crimson battle robes, with nine-foot-long spears pointing forward obliquely.

The latter wore ferocious copper masks, pure white bird feather crowns, long swords on their waists, and even their horses were equipped with leather horse armor. The men and horses were fully armed, and they became more mysterious under the cover of dust.

Their horses were tall and their men were well-equipped. They looked very energetic when they passed by. Heifu's subordinates could not help but sigh, feeling that they were indeed the elite guarding the King of Qin. They looked like they could really fight one against five. Especially the Yu stable officials who served as scouts were so envious that their eyes almost popped out of their heads.

So far, the King of Qin's carriage had passed several hundred meters one after another. Heifu was sighing that the King of Qin was really coming out after being called for many times!

Just when he was wondering when it would end, several more drum carriages passed by, and the officials on them shouted loudly:

"The King's carriage is coming, bow!"

...

"Bow!"

Subconsciously, the soldiers knelt on one knee, and the Qin nationals behind them knelt on both legs. Within a ten-mile range, more than 100,000 people along the way fell down like wheat fields blown by the wind!

At this time, the royal escort team composed of chariots also passed by. Heifu heard that the King of Qin was already using the emperor's chariot. Although it was not as exaggerated as the 81 chariots after he became the emperor, there were still 36 chariots.

First, there were six light chariots with vermilion wheels, no cover or lid, with spears and halberds, and guards holding crossbows were watching the surroundings vigilantly. There were also colorful flags on top.

After that, there were six leading chariots, with Shangshu and Yushi riding in them, leading the king. They also had spears, crossbows, and halberds. The chariots were painted red with black covers and red linings. The chariots were also painted red.

Finally, after the lead car, Hei Fu finally saw the real carriage of the King of Qin...

It was a huge carriage pulled by six pure white horses. It looked not very luxurious, but it was exquisite in every aspect. First of all, it was twice as big as the average car, with red wheels, tigers lying on the sills, dragon heads holding the yoke, feathered canopies, and large flags (qí), and five auxiliary cars followed closely behind.

Yellow house and left flag, Hei Fu saw clearly that it was the King of Qin's carriage!

"Is it coming?"

Hei Fu nodded.

"It's coming!"

Ji Ying, Dongmen Bao and others around Hei Fu were still asking in a low voice. After getting a positive answer, they all held their breath and looked very uneasy. They wanted to stand up straight to see the King of Qin's appearance, but they didn't dare to. In the end, they couldn't help their curiosity and tilted their heads to look at the car.

Today was not an ordinary trip, but a trip to reward the soldiers of the three armies, so the King of Qin did not take the tightly fitted but relatively safe "Golden Root Carriage", but an open-top carriage that allowed everyone to see his carriage...

However, the first person Heifu and his companions saw was the driver for the King of Qin. He was tall and strong, wearing a sword and a crossbow, wearing a belt and a crown, with a short beard, majestic and steady, and was an official of the Central Chariot Office!

And behind the driver, sitting in the carriage, of course, was the King of Qin himself!

But he was seen sitting upright in the carriage, wearing a royal robe with twelve chapters of the sun, moon and stars painted on it, with a black top and a purple bottom, and in his hand, as Li You said, he was still holding a bamboo slip.

The King of Qin wore a heavy crown on his head, which was seven inches wide and two inches long. The thin tassels covered his face, so Heifu could only see the long beard under his chin fluttering in the wind, and the King of Qin closed his eyes slightly, as if he was resting and resting his mind...

When passing the Anlu soldiers in the front, the King of Qin finally opened his eyes.

Behind the pearl tassels, there was a pair of bright and sharp eyes!

Although it was just a slight glance, and there was no excessive expression on his face, it was enough to scare the soldiers who met the King's eyes half to death.

The daring Dongmen Bao, Li Xian who often made shocking remarks, and Ji Ying who was full of dirty talk just now, all suddenly lowered their heads, because they subconsciously felt that it was disrespectful to look the King in the eye!

Heifu also moved his eyes away. Only then did he realize that some of his men even lay on the ground, bowed their heads, and breathed the dust raised by the King's passing, considering this as a special honor.

"King!"

I don't know who started it, but the Qin soldiers all shouted in a deep and heavy voice.

"King! Great King!"

From a hundred steps to a thousand steps, from a thousand steps to ten miles, along the road from Wanqiu to Huaiyang, tens of thousands of people, like spreading the word, from west to east, began to shout the same words.

"Great King!"

"Great King!"

First the Qin soldiers shouted, then the Qin nationals on both sides also shouted, and finally, even the local Chu people who had seen the majestic carriage and had already looked ashen could not stand the atmosphere and pressure, and knelt on the ground and followed the shouting.

There are Chinese dialects, Nanjun dialects, Central Plains dialects, and even Bashu and Yanzhao dialects, mixed together, but what they want to express is the same.

Only this man can make so many people and so many voices come out of one mouth.

The King of Qin closed his eyes again, without a smile or frown, just gently stroking his beard, without a trace of fluctuation. He seemed to be enjoying it, and seemed to have long been accustomed to or even tired of the cheers...

Hei Fu also shouted a few times, and when he looked up again, there was only the back of the King of Qin's carriage and the tall crown, which was worn on his head without moving.

Unlike the ordinary Qin soldiers and civilians who were full of reverence and crazy shouting, just now, Hei Fu seemed to see a lot of things from the King of Qin.

There is the glory represented by the official carriage and the yellow house and the left flag. The King of Qin is the supreme king, and will soon be the only emperor on this land. During the whole process, although he did not say a word, he was able to make thousands of people cheer for him, go crazy for him, and bow to him and die for him.

The power of the world was in the hand holding the bamboo slips. It was so majestic that it was no wonder that Liu Bang sighed when he saw this scene in the future, "A real man should be like this!"

But in addition to the glory, after getting closer, Hei Fu also saw a trace of fragility in the King of Qin: no matter how powerful he was, he was still a person, a mortal. There were too many myths piled on him. Some Qin soldiers firmly believed that the King of Qin was immortal, but Hei Fu knew that Qin Shihuang did not live forever in the end.

Xiang Yu must have seen this, too. He saw the aging emperor, and saw his human body, and that he, who could defeat ten thousand enemies, could defeat him with just one step...

No wonder he arrogantly blurted out "He can replace him!"

But compared to the ideas of these two, as a later generation, Hei Fu knew more about the King of Qin and the First Emperor:

He would live a wonderful life, and use his power to do many things that were unimaginable in previous generations and could not be repeated in later generations. He conquered the Baiyue in the south and repelled the Xiongnu in the north. The land within the six directions was the emperor's. Wherever people went, there were all subjects.

He would die helplessly. During his last trip, he fell down painfully from the carriage he was sitting on, and his body was placed in a smelly fish and abalone market. His will and edict were arbitrarily manipulated and modified, and his descendants were almost slaughtered. A few years later, the empire he established also fell apart.

In addition, Hei Fu saw something else.

He saw that the King of Qin kept reading during his trip.

He felt how heavy a job it was to govern such a huge country with one person's energy. It was easy for Heifu to be a captain of a thousand men, but it would be very difficult for him to manage a county or 10,000 troops.

He saw the height and weight of the crown of the King of Qin.

Seven inches wide and two inches long?

"No, no."

"Its glory is a thousand feet high."

"Its weight is also ten thousand pounds!"

Liu Bang saw the height of the glory, but this little pavilion chief certainly didn't know how heavy it was at that time.

Xiang Yu saw the possibility of snatching the crown, but he was wearing a crown and didn't know how to wear it.

So at this moment, what came out of Heifu's mind was not the words of the two, but his own thoughts.

After the King of Qin's imperial carriage gradually went away, Heifu didn't know whether he was sighing at the King of Qin or sighing at history, and stood up and said secretly:

"If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight first!"