The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

After King Qin Zheng's carriage traveled ten miles along the long road, a grand military parade was held in the western suburbs of Huaiyang.

The "Feng Chang" who was in charge of the rituals of the ancestral temple also accompanied the king on this trip to the east. He had prepared a complete set of rituals and music ceremonies early. Tens of thousands of Qin soldiers surrounded the two sides. With the sound of swords hitting shields, the music officials began to beat the bells and drums, playing the rich "Yin Wu"...

"Beat the Yin Wu and attack Jingchu. Go deep into their barriers and conquer Jing (póu)!"

"You are Jingchu, living in the south of the country. In the past, there was Cheng Tang: from the Di Qiang, no one dared not to come to enjoy, no one dared not to come to the king. It is said that Shang is the norm!"

The tune was ancient, and Hei Fu didn't quite understand it. Li You told him that this was the last chapter of "Shang Song". The poem described Wu Ding's achievements in attacking Jingchu and making the princes from all over the country surrender. At that time, the Chu people, as the remnants of the Kunwu Kingdom, a vassal of the Xia Dynasty, ran to Jingshan to continue to resist.

In terms of blood relationship, Qin regarded itself as the successor of Shang Dynasty. Both Zi and Ying surnames have legends about the black bird of heaven giving birth to their ancestors. Fei Lian and E Lai, the distant ancestors of the royal family of Qin, served as the charioteers of the Shang Dynasty emperors for a long time, so the Ying surname was prominent and even became a vassal. It was the real "helper of Zhou". It was not until King Wu destroyed Shang that it fell into decline and was driven to the west to raise horses.

After the Shang Song was sung, the next song was "Cai Qi" (qǐ) in Xiaoya.

"You stupid barbarians are in Jing, and the big country is your enemy. Fang Shu is an elder, who can strengthen them. Fang Shu led the troops to stop and arrested the ugly. The chariots were rumbling, rumbling, like thunder and lightning!"

This poem describes the event when King Xuan of Zhou ordered the minister Fang Shu to perform military exercises to intimidate the barbarians in Jing. Although it looked impressive, in fact, the entire Western Zhou Dynasty failed to subdue Jingchu. King Zhao of Zhou was drowned on the banks of the Yangtze and Han Rivers. At that time, Xiong Qu also shouted the slogan "I am a barbarian, and I will not be given a posthumous title by China", and made his son the king, indicating that he did not want the title of king and did not submit to Zhou!

The Qin State was the successor of Shang in terms of blood and marriage, and the successor of Zhou in terms of region and culture. The Qin State originated from the Zhou homeland destroyed by the Quanrong, and absorbed a large number of Zhou people. After hundreds of years, it was more like Zhou than the six states in Guandong in terms of artifacts, writing, and language. The princes regarded Qin as a barbarian, and they also disliked the Chu dialect as "bird language" like Mencius, which was typical regional black, and whoever believed it was stupid.

It is said that recently, an old case from 200 years ago in Xianyang has been brought up again. It is said that during the reign of Qin Xian Gong, Zhou Taishi Dan went to Qin to offer gifts and predicted: "Qin and Zhou first united, then separated, and will reunite after 500 years. After 17 years of unity, a hegemon will emerge..."

Qin was just a "Western Frontier Doctor" at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty. As a vassal of the King of Zhou, it had no independent status. From the time when Qin Xiang Gong was made a vassal for his meritorious service to the King of Zhou, to the time when King Zhao of Qin conquered the Eastern and Western Zhou and moved the Nine Cauldrons, it was exactly 500 years. Seventeen years later, it was the year when King Zheng of Qin came of age and ruled the country, and Qin did dominate the world.

Therefore, the meaning of this ceremony is self-evident: Yin Shang and Zhou failed to eliminate Jingchu throughout their lives, but as the successor of Yin Zhou, Qin did what the previous generations had not done!

The Chu State was destroyed after 800 years, and the war between the two civilization centers of the Central Plains and the South, which lasted for more than a thousand years, also came to an end.

Who did all this?

Of course it was Qin Wang Zheng.

The surrender ceremony reached its climax when thousands of Chu captives came to the altar in despair, and Chu Wang Fuchu, naked and leading a sheep, bowed to the high and mighty Qin Wang.

As Chu Fuchu bowed his hands to the ground, his head also bowed to the ground, trembling and asking Qin Wang to forgive his sins, the thousand Langzhong Lingjun surrounding the altar also sang loudly the lines given by Feng Chang.

"The founding of Qin was in the past, and the successors were called kings.

Suppressing rebellion, the power moved the four poles, and the military justice was upright.

The military officials obeyed the imperial edict, and after a short time, Jingchu was destroyed!"

Amid the sound of drums and music, the grand surrender ceremony came to an end. At this time, Heifu found that there were three trembling guys under the altar. Heifu saw that they were dressed in formal attire, but they were not the entourage of the King of Qin. They were placed nearby to observe the surrender ceremony. The more the Qin people cheered, the paler they looked...

"Captain, who are they?" Heifu asked Li You secretly.

Li You took a look and said to him, "They should be the envoys of Qi, the Prime Minister of Dai and the Prime Minister of Yan."

Heifu understood that the King of Qin made such a big scene today, not only to announce that Qin would continue the cause of Yin and Zhou, and finally destroy Jingchu, so that the Chu people in Huaiyang would give up, but also to scare the three countries that had not yet surrendered.

As far as Heifu knew, a few years ago, after Wang Jian conquered Handan and captured King Qian of Zhao, Prince Jia of Zhao took hundreds of people and ran to Dai County in the northernmost part, proclaimed himself king, but did not dare to call himself Zhao, so he called himself Dai.

Similarly, after the capital was conquered by Wang Jian, Yan State was happy to flee to Liaodong and offered the head of Prince Dan to survive. Now Yan and Dai are only one county, with a total population of less than 100,000 and less than 10,000 soldiers, which poses no threat to Qin at all.

Qi State, on the other hand, still has a certain strength. In the past forty years, the King of Qi has always strictly adhered to isolationism. Qi Xiang Hou Sheng accepted bribes sent by Li Si and Wei Liao, so he let Qi shrink on the edge of the East China Sea and watched Qin wipe out the Three Jins, Yan, and Chu. Not only did he not help the five countries, but he also sent people to Qin to pay tribute every year.

Chu State was once the last hope for the Three Jins, Yan, and Zhao to restore their country. Now Chu has also fallen. It is conceivable that they must be extremely desperate. It is too late for Qi State to regret now. Qin has broken the backbone of Shandong and separated the princes far away, so they can be defeated one by one.

Heifu had no time to care about the feelings of the envoys of the three countries, because after the ceremony, the King of Qin immediately announced the rewards for the soldiers who attacked Chu...

As the King of Qin made a loud announcement, the Qin soldiers caused a commotion.

Since the death of Changwen Jun and the rebellion of Changping Jun, Qin has not had a prince for several years, but today, here, a new marquis was born!

"The great minister Wang Jian, who defeated Xiang Yan's army and captured the King of Chu, has made contributions and has been promoted to Guannei Hou!"

...

The Qin army outside Huaiyang City was boiling all afternoon.

In addition to Wang Jian being Guannei Hou, among the other deputy generals, Meng Wu was the minister of Siche, Feng Wuze was the great Shangzao, and Qiang Wei was the junior Shangzao.

Among the several captains, Li You was also promoted to the right minister, and he is currently the highest-ranking among dozens of captains.

After the generals and captains were rewarded, the military officers and soldiers below also received benefits, and among them, Heifu's Anlu rate became the biggest winner.

He arrived at the battlefield first in the decisive battle, spread flags and caused chaos in the Chu army, and then broke several formations and captured Xiang Yan's flag, which was a great contribution. So the thousands of soldiers in the army, the lowest was a public officer, and those with outstanding performance were even promoted two levels. Among the several officers, Ji Ying became a general, Li Xian and Xiao Tao were doctors, and Dongmen Bao had the merit of seizing the flag, and his troops beheaded Yinglun, so he was directly promoted to an official doctor!

As for Heifu, he was promoted to the eighth level of "public servant"!

When everyone was in high spirits, Li Xian bowed his head and counted, then whispered to Hei Fu: "Captain, if we add our gains in Huainan, your achievements are enough to be promoted to the rank of Fifth Officer, why did you only get Gongcheng?"

"Captain Li told me."

Hei Fu told him not to worry: "There are too many military officers and soldiers, so the accounting officers and military law officers only had time to count the merits of the Huaibei war. The merits of Huainan should be counted together with the whole army after the complete destruction of the State of Chu."

It can be seen that the King of Qin only awarded half of the reward this time. The remaining half should be counted together after the complete destruction of the State of Chu. On the one hand, he can continue to use the title and salary as bait to prevent the generals from being satisfied. On the other hand, it can also prevent Wang Jian from falling into the situation of reaching the maximum level and having no more titles to be awarded...

"I see." Li Xian nodded.

Others did not have the same thoughts as Li Xian. They were all so happy that they almost went crazy. Dongmen Bao was even more laughing. After a while, he suddenly became serious and said to Ji Ying: "Ji Ying, slap me!"

Ji Ying thought he was confused. Finally, under Dongmen Bao's repeated requests, he slapped him hard. Dongmen Bao covered his red cheek and laughed again: "It hurts, it seems to be true!"

"A year ago in Anlu, I was a mere official, and I was satisfied with managing the thieves in a village. But now, I am an official doctor, an official doctor..."

After sighing, he and Ji Ying and others bowed down to Hei Fu!

"What are you doing?"

Li Xian knew what everyone was thinking and said for them: "Thanks to the leader who encouraged us with 'Dukes, marquises, generals, and ministers, are they of different species?' at the banquet that day. Otherwise, we would have been content with our small fortune and unwilling to fight again. How could we have continued to be promoted to higher ranks today?"

"You have shed blood and sweat on the battlefield and made contributions."

After Hei Fu helped them up one by one, he thought to himself: "Don't be too happy too soon. Although I and everyone else may continue to be promoted to higher ranks after the complete demise of Chu, the tide will rise. After this great battle, at least more than 100,000 people will be promoted. I'm afraid that Qin's title will be greatly reduced!"

Just as everyone was discussing how to celebrate in the evening, Li You sent Feng Jing to find Hei Fu.

"Congratulations." Feng Jing smiled as soon as he came in and bowed to Hei Fu repeatedly.

Heifu said he dared not, and smiled: "I also want to congratulate Ziyang."

Although Feng Jing was only a clerk and failed to be promoted, his resume was gilded this time, and his father Feng Wuzhe became a great Shangzao in one fell swoop. This second generation is becoming more and more valuable...

"Zijing came to see me, could it be that the captain summoned you for something?"

"What do you think I am congratulating you for, being promoted to Gongcheng?"

Feng Jing laughed and said: "The captain asked me to tell you that the king may have summoned you, so you should go to the king's tent and wait! Heifu, this is really worth congratulating!"

...

"Still energetic."

When Li You saw Heifu rushing over, he looked him up and down, and even straightened his clothes for him personally.

"After all, we are still in the military camp, so you and I will go in in uniform."

Seeing that Heifu seemed a little nervous, Li You patted his armor and said with a smile: "Just answer whatever the king asks you, don't be tongue-tied, the king doesn't like dull and stupid people."

Heifu agreed and waited behind Li You. Not long after, a tall and straight middle-aged man with a long sword on his waist, a crown on his belt, and a short beard on his lips opened the king's tent and walked out.

He looked majestic and calm, and his smile was like a spring breeze. He smiled softly and said, "Captain Li, please come in."

Li You did not dare to neglect this man and said respectfully, "Didn't the envoys from Qi, Yan and Dai just come in?"

The white-faced middle-aged man smiled and said, "If the king says it's okay, then it's okay."

He then glanced at Heifu: "Is this the leader Heifu who was praised as a 'talent' by the king two years ago?"

"It's Heifu!"

If Heifu remembered correctly, this person was the driver for the King of Qin. His position and salary should not be high, but he was the closest and most trusted person to the King of Qin. No wonder Li You was so respectful, so he also bowed deeply. The driver of the chief must not be offended.

Li You also introduced him: "This is the Minister of the Imperial Chariots, Mr. Zhao..."

The middle-aged man laughed loudly and said, "What Minister of the Imperial Chariots? I was originally a concubine of the imperial palace, and my family was humble for generations. I was lucky enough to be selected as an eunuch, and I committed a serious crime. I should have been put to death. Thank you, Your Majesty, for sparing me and letting me serve you. Now I am just an ordinary clerk in the Imperial Chariots. You can call me Zhao Gao!"

"Zhao Gao!?"

Hei Fu's face did not change, but his heart was like a storm.

This tall, handsome guy in front of him, who smiled like a spring breeze and spoke modestly and appropriately, is Zhao Gao?

"Is he in the wrong set?"

Hei Fu felt a little confused, and secretly stared at the beautiful beard on his lips and thought to himself: "Isn't Zhao Gao a eunuch? Why is he tall and majestic, and has a beard?"

However, if this person is really Zhao Gao, if he died before that time, history would be completely different!

Heifu was just thinking about it, but Zhao Gao seemed to sense something. He suddenly stopped talking to Li You, turned around, met Heifu's eyes, and patted Heifu's shoulder gently. He seemed enthusiastic, but his hand was extremely cold!

Zhao Gao's usual smile was like a viper with fangs: "Captain, you are uneasy, is there something wrong?"

Heifu was startled, and immediately bowed his hands in fear and trepidation: "Is it so? You are so young, no wonder."

Zhao Gao took his cold hand away from Heifu's shoulder, and before Heifu could breathe a sigh of relief, he turned around and told Li You a joke.

"Jing Ke and Qin Wuyang also said similar things when they met the king. But they couldn't hide their evil intentions even if they wanted to. Unfortunately, I didn't bring any weapons with me at that time, so I could only fight them with my bare hands. In the end, Lord Xia got the credit… Hahahaha, but today I'm in the military camp, and the soldiers are full of blood and murderous intent. Maybe I'm wrong!"