The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

The Xu family of Pengze claimed to be descendants of the State of Xu.

The patriarch of the Xu family was a 70-year-old old man with almost all his teeth falling out. He was very verbose and had a strong local accent. Most of his words had to be repeated by Xu Shu, the scholar who surrendered with the head of Pengze Jun that day.

It turned out that the State of Xu was a great country in Huai and Si hundreds of years ago. At its peak, King Xu Yan was in opposition to the Zhou Dynasty. Later, the State of Xu was conquered and excluded by the Xia people. It gradually declined and moved southward. Finally, it arrived in the lower reaches of the Huai River and took in the Shu city-states of the same clan as the State of Xu. It finally gained a foothold.

But the good days did not last long. As Wu and Chu fought fiercely in Huainan, Xu became a battlefield between the two countries. Finally, Xu chose to surrender to the seemingly more powerful Chu, but was retaliated by Wu. Wu Zixu and Sun Wu led their troops to attack Xu, flooded Xucheng, and destroyed it. After Xu Jun and his wife surrendered, they moved to Chu. Since then, there has been no news of Xu people in the history books...

But the history of Xu people did not end there. Chu asked the Xu people who surrendered to cross the river and move south to enrich the land in the south of the Yangtze River, and also let the Xu people who hated the loss of the country with Wu develop this place for themselves.

After crossing the river, the Xu people landed in Pengze. Some of them were attracted by the lush forests and bamboos nearby, and the abundance of fish and shrimps in the rivers and lakes, and chose to stay here to rebuild their homes. More people bypassed Pengli Lake, went up along Xiushui, and finally came to Aiyi in the northwest of Jiangxi, which was later known as Jing'an and Gao'an.

Three hundred years have passed, and the language and customs of the Xu people have long been assimilated to the Chu state, but they always remember their origins. Not only do they use "Xu" as their surname, but they also stubbornly destroy the Xu State. The story of the Xu people fleeing to the south of Chu has been passed down from generation to generation.

Heifu was not interested in the ancient history of this family. What he wanted was their submissive submission.

After the Xu clan leader finally finished talking about the family history and showed that the Xu clan was willing to obey the rule of the Qin State, Heifu immediately stood up and asked Lixian to take out a letter of appointment and bamboo slips signed by Teng, the governor of Nanjun.

"The Xu clan helped our army to obtain Pengze County, and their contribution is indispensable. The clan leader of Xu clan can be the three elders of this county."

The three officials in the Qin State's townships are: the steward's duty is to hear lawsuits and collect taxes; the patrol guards and prevent thieves; and the three elders are in charge of education. For temporary appointments, the word "fake" must be added.

The three elders are in charge of education, but they don't have much real power, so it's just a nominal title to make Xu happy. Heifu asked Wubaizhuanpu to take up the post of fake patrol officer. He expected that after he captured Fanyang, he would move there with a large army, leaving only a few hundred people in Pengze.

As for the post of fake treasurer, Heifu planned to leave it vacant for the time being. Anyway, in the short term, their rule would not be able to penetrate into the villages, and it was a pipe dream to quickly implement Qin law.

Hei Fu thought to himself: "After the war is over and new counties are established, I will wait for Qin officials to be appointed and bring immigrants here to be treasurers. If I give too many positions to local people first, it will cause dissatisfaction when I cut them off, and they will feel that Qin has crossed the river and demolished the bridge. If I let them do what they want, the local forces will become too powerful and difficult to govern. Although I only conquer, I cannot leave too many problems for my successors."

Unexpectedly, someone in the Xu family also guessed his plan. At night, Xu Shu, a scholar who had helped the Xu clan leader leave, came back and said that he had something important to ask Hei Fu...

...

"Why did you come back?"

Sitting in the hall of Peng Zejun, Hei Fu asked the scholar in front of him.

Xu Shu had two moustaches on his lips, and wore a wide robe with big sleeves. He was dressed like an ordinary Chu scholar. He bowed to Hei Fu politely and said with a smile: "The clan leader asked me to come back to thank the general."

"That's all?"

Hei Fu didn't believe it, because he could see a passionate look in this scholar's eyes that was devoted to fame.

Xu Shu bowed again: "Shu has been to the prefectures and counties of Nanjun, and has seen the customs of Qin. He has also traveled along the shores of Pengli Lake. He is quite familiar with the rivers, geography, cities, and Yue tribes of Yuzhang. So I think that if the general wants to take all of Yuzhang, he may be able to use me!"

It is no secret that Qin wants to pacify Jing and make it a county, and the Qin army's conquest will not stop at Pengze. Hei Fu smiled and said, "Try to tell me what I don't know."

Hei Fu asked someone to give Xu Shu a mat, and he said, "Yuzhang was originally a barbarian land, and it has always been desolate. Therefore, there are only four kings in Chu, namely Xun Jun, Pengze Jun, Fanyang Jun, and Shanggan Jun."

As he spoke, he picked up the Liubo chess pieces placed next to him and placed them on the table between the two of them. The copper plate was Pengli Lake, and the chess pieces were cities, and they were placed in a very realistic way.

Xu Shu pointed at the chess pieces on the table and said, "Xun Jun and Peng Ze Jun lived in the west and east of Pengli Lake. Now one surrendered and the other died. Their cities have all been returned to Qin, but the general only controls the rivers and lakes, but has not yet set foot in the land thousands of miles inland of Yuzhang."

"Fan Yang Jun occupies the middle reaches of Fanshui River. His city is larger and higher than Pengze City. There are many people and soldiers. It is said that there are 2,000 people..."

Hei Fu didn't care about the 2,000 Feng Jun troops, but Xu Shu's next sentence made him alert.

"Before the general came, Chu E Jun led the remnants to Pengze. He saw that Pengze City was small and knew that he could not resist the Qin army, so he fled to Fanyang with thousands of followers. If he joined forces with Fanyang, his number would probably be comparable to the general's."

This is a bit troublesome. Fanyang has suddenly become a bone that is not easy to chew.

Hei Fu stopped laughing at this time and stretched out his hand and said, "Sir, please move closer!"

After moving, the two of them were already very close, only one step away.

Xu Shu also said in more detail: "In addition to Fanyang, there is also Shanggan Lord, whose territory is far to the south, from Tailing to Pengze, with a gap of more than 1,300 miles between the north and the south. Even if the general can capture Fanyang and lead the soldiers to Shanggan, it is a long way, with dense forests and difficult roads. It will take at least one and a half months to walk. When the troops are at the gates of the city, the enemy has the city of Nanyi and the dangerous Limen Pass, which will be difficult to capture for a while..."

"In addition to the feudal lords of Chu, there are countless Yue tribes in Yuzhang, such as Gan Yue in Yugan River, Yang Yue in Gan River and Pengli Lake. Although many have gradually naturalized and have small gatherings in cities, there are still many Yue people gathering in the mountains and forests, migrating and fighting. If the general attacks Fanyang and Shanggan in the south and fights with the feudal lords of Chu, these Yue people will cut off the general's food supply, and the general will be in danger!"

After this narration, Heifu was impressed by this man. Not only was his words very logical, but he also knew all the forces in Jiangxi. It seemed that what he said about "traveling in Pengli and Ganshui and observing the customs of various cities and tribes" was not false.

"This is a talent. There is a wise man in the wild."

Heifu praised secretly and said, "As you said, the Qin army had never set foot in Yuzhang before, so the local situation has always been unclear. After listening to your words, I suddenly saw the light!"

Heifu had no shortage of military officers who could capture cities and land, nor did he lack assistants like Li Xian who could adapt to circumstances, but he lacked a think tank who could understand the local geography and river defense and help him formulate a strategy plan!

So he smiled and said, "There is still a lack of a staff in our army. Are you willing to do it?"

Heifu threw out his bait: "With this qualification, the stingy man that Pengze County still lacks after the war can be easily found by you..."

Although Xu Shu has some talents, he is not a member of the Xu family and is destined to be unable to inherit the family business. His pursuit may be similar to that of Li Xian, so Heifu tempted him with an official position.

But Xu Shu did not show much enthusiasm, just smiled and said: "Pengze is too small, Xu Shu has wanted to go out for a walk for a long time."

This is a double entendre. Heifu heard it and knew that his ambition was probably more than just a small village official, so he increased his stakes: "Qin has pacified Jingdi and established many counties. Officials are urgently needed. If you can help me capture Fanyang and Shanggan and take in the Yue people, I will definitely reward you!"

This is what Xu Shu wanted when he urged the clan leader to kill Pengze Jun and surrender to Qin, and came to meet Heifu in the middle of the night. He immediately bowed and said: "How dare Shu not serve the general?"

Heifu helped Xu Shu up, and then left the table to ask for advice on how to capture Fanyang.

"Teacher, you said before that there are also some Gan Yue people living in the city walls in Yuganshui, and their power is not small?"

Xu Shu nodded: "Yes, there is a Yugan city more than a hundred miles south of Fanyang, which was built by Gan Yue. It is about the same size as Pengze. There are thousands of Gan Yue people living there, and there is already a leader."

Hei Fu understood that the northern part of Yuzhang is roughly a three-way confrontation between Qin, Fanyang Jun, and Yue people. If Fanyang Jun and Gan Yue jointly resist Qin, it will not be easy for the Qin army to seize this place because they are not familiar with geography. But if the Yue people can surrender to Qin like Xu, the situation will be very different!

He suddenly wanted to contact the Yue people in Yugan, and this task might have to fall on Xu Shu.

At this time, Xu Shu said again: "But their leader is not a Yue person, but a Chu person who came to Yuganshui 20 years ago."

"Oh?"

Hei Fu was surprised and asked about this matter.

"Twenty years ago, a Chu official named Wu Shen was demoted to Yugan. He taught the Yue people to plough and fertilize the fields, so that they didn't have to use slash-and-burn fires to plow and hoe. He often migrated and married the daughter of a local chieftain. He built a settlement on the Yugan River and was worshipped as a leader..."

"Now Wu Shen is old. The Yue people in Yugan are mostly led by his son Wu Ruirui. I traveled south to Yugan River a few years ago and met him..."

Xu Shu was worthy of being a person who dared to surrender to the Qin camp with the head of Peng Zejun in his arms. He immediately bowed and said, "I am willing to contact Wu Rui for Sima!"