The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

In fact, the word "fake" should be added in front of Heifu's Fanyang Order, which means temporary county magistrate.

Qin was very efficient, and military conquests were often accompanied by the establishment of new counties and prefectures.

After Pingjing was converted into counties and prefectures, four counties were set up in the Huaibei area, and Jiujiang County was set up in the Huainan area. In the plan of the King of Qin and his ministers, the territory of this county was very large, not only including the entire Chu Huainan area, but also across the Yangtze River and Pengli Lake, and covering Fanyang.

However, because a large number of officials were arranged to take office in various counties in Huainan, Jiujiang County could not find a suitable candidate to take office in Fanyang for a while, so according to convention, Heifu, who conquered this place, was appointed as a fake order, and Fanyang was subject to military control for the next few months.

Therefore, Heifu, the fake Fanyang magistrate, had surprisingly great power. He not only had the civil power of a general county magistrate, but also had jurisdiction over judicial affairs, not to mention military affairs. Heifu still served as the Sima of the other division of the Southern Expedition Army, and continued to obey Li You's dispatch in military affairs.

"So my power is the combination of county magistrate, county lieutenant, and county magistrate."

Heifu played with the black ribbon copper seal and said, "I won't change my fake magistrate for a real one!"

The officials laughed. Of course, Heifu was joking. If he guessed correctly, his fake magistrate would end when the Southern Expedition was over.

Heifu looked at Ji Ying, who had made a trip to Jiujiang County for him, and said, "Tell everyone the news you heard there."

"I heard that Xiong Qi, who claimed to be the King of Chu, is dead!" As soon as Ji Ying opened his mouth, he brought everyone a big news.

It turned out that in November and December, almost at the same time as Li You attacked Changsha and Heifu went to Pengli, Wang Jian and Meng Wu also joined Tu Sui's ship division, ate the food of Nanjun, built a floating bridge to cross the Yangtze River, and began to attack Jiangdong, the last resistance of Chu.

Wang Jian's offensive was swift and fierce, using yi to fight zhu, and defeated the remnants of Chu. The last Chu King Xiong Qi also died in Danyang.

Now, the Qin army has begun to attack Gusu, which may be the last bastion of the remnants of Jingchu...

This is the last news Ji Ying heard. Maybe now, the Qin army has conquered Gusu and taken all the Wu land.

Heifu said to everyone: "General Wang has already conquered Jiangdong, and we must go south as soon as possible to capture Shanggan and bring Ganshui under the jurisdiction of Qin officials from beginning to end!"

For him, Fanyang is not the end, but the beginning.

Unlike Pengze, this place has a long history. Three hundred years ago, during the Spring and Autumn Period, the Chu State established a city here and began to govern with immigrants. Today, Fanyang has seven miles of outer city and two miles of inner city. Most of the residents are Chu people, with a population of thousands of households. It is currently the largest city in Jiangxi.

As a local, Xu Shu, who is good at making plans, analyzed to Heifu: "During the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu and Chu had repeatedly fought for this city. Why? This place has wide valleys and rivers, where Wu and Chu meet. It is separated from the Yangtze River in the north and the lakes in the west. It is often a passage for soldiers to enter and exit. Moreover, along the Fanshui River to the east, it is the source of Zhejiang. Going downstream, you can reach Kuaiji. Going south to the Yugan River and crossing the mountains, you will reach Ouyue and Minyue... Therefore, Fanyang is the most important place in Yuzhang."

Heifu is somewhat interested in these two places. They should be Wenzhou and Fujian in later generations, which are currently ruled by the rulers of the Yue people. Xu Shu also said that most of the current Yue rulers claimed to be descendants of Gou Jian, the King of Yue. In addition to Minyue and Ouyue, even the Yangyue Mei clan in the middle reaches of the Gan River did the same.

That was the only way for Heifu to go south, but before he set off, he had to stabilize Fanyang first.

The next day, Heifu asked Li Xian and Xu Shu to meet him at different times to ask them for strategies to stabilize Fanyang.

The opinions of the two were surprisingly similar: the king's policy is not to rush to deal with thieves! The remnants of Fanyang Jun and E Jun fled into the mountains and forests, bent on revenge for the two kings. In the eyes of Qin Li, they had become thieves and should be eliminated.

Based on his authority, Heifu appointed Wubaizhu Anpu as the thief Caoyuan, with 500 men under him, responsible for the security of Fanyang, and went into the mountains and forests every now and then to carry out sweeps.

After the "thieves" were arrested, the second thing was to re-establish order.

Li Xian and Xu Shu had a disagreement on this matter.

Li Xian believed that the Qin's laws and regulations should be moved intact to Fanyang, and military law officers from Anlu should be appointed as prison officials to enforce the law.

Xu Shu, however, believed that this was unnecessary.

"When Sima first came to Fanyang, the people's hearts were not settled, so they should not be punished by Qin's laws all of a sudden. The feudal lords of Chu often told the people that Qin's laws were harsh and brutal. If they were too strict, the people would resent them and even help thieves."

Although Hei Fu wanted to move the famous "Three Articles of Law" to Fanyang, he dared to use the gold produced by the gold mine as military expenses, but he did not dare to use the law.

Only names and tools cannot be lent to others. For the princes of the Spring and Autumn Period, tools are symbolic ritual tools such as tripods, gui, and chimes. For the Qin State, Qin Law is the national tool. Those who arbitrarily change it will be punished most severely...

Heifu did not dare to act recklessly. After thinking about it, he adopted Xu Shu's opinion and announced that before the county magistrate appointed by Jiujiang County took office, Fanyang would be governed according to the old customs. In this way, it did not cross the line, and it was also a concession to the local tyrants, making them willing to cooperate with the Qin army.

Heifu also released some soldiers who were willing to naturalize. After they returned home to publicize the "kindness" of the Qin army, the people of Fanyang breathed a sigh of relief, and the tense atmosphere in the city also relaxed a little.

After doing this, it was already mid-January, and Hei County Magistrate hurriedly asked Xu Shu and Li Xian to go down to arrange spring plowing.

As for this year's food, even though the Chu people still had some resistance to the rule, they dared not delay. Heifu saw the farming method in the Jiangnan area: "fire farming and water weeding".

The so-called "fire farming" is commonly known as "slash-and-burn farming". Heifu found that the farmers inside and outside the city did not plant the fields of previous years, but ran to the mountain forests far away from the city and set a big fire.

The fire burned all the thatch and shrubs on the hillside, used the ashes left as fertilizer, and then sowed dryland crops such as millet and beans. The locals called it "burning the wasteland".

In addition to dry land, there are many paddy fields along the Fanshui River, which are planted with rice. Li Xian went to inspect it and described the scene he saw to Heifu after returning.

"In Nanjun, farmers use oxen to plow rice, but in Fanyang, no one knows what ox plowing is. Not to mention ordinary people, even nobles and magnates know nothing about it, and often kill oxen for food."

"When they grow rice, the whole family walks barefoot in the paddy field to loosen the rice stalks and kill the weeds. This is called water weeding..."

After comparing it this way, Hei Fu found that Qin was really paranoid in promoting advanced production methods. Even the most remote villages can learn more or less from the field officials about ox plowing and composting techniques.

It was different in Chu. The King of Chu's orders did not reach the border lords, and most of the lords were ignorant and short-sighted, so there was a situation where ox plowing almost did not exist in the vast Jiangnan area.

"Li Xian, what do you think will happen if I promote ox plowing and composting here?" Hei Fu asked Li Xian.

Li Xian thought it would be difficult: "Jiangnan is a vast land with few people and abundant resources. In addition, the climate here is hot and there are two crops a year, so farmers are lazy. They can get enough food by sowing seeds everywhere and tilling the land roughly. Even if there is a famine, they can eat fruits and fish in the mountains and forests."

"Therefore, even if intensive farming techniques such as ox plowing and composting are forcibly promoted, it will be difficult to see results in a short period of time, unless they are forced to farm according to the laws of Qin."

His words were helpful, and Hei Fu nodded and said: "In this case, these civil affairs should be slowly implemented after the war is over and the real officials arrive."

Hei Fu didn't want to waste more time, just don't let famine happen this year.

By the end of January, Heifu had asked Lixian to collect thousands of stones of grain and grass, and was ready to set out again. His request at the beginning of the month for Jiying to send it to Jiujiang County again was also responded to...

On the last day of January, Heifu summoned his men again. Under the expectant eyes of everyone, he took out a stack of appointment letters approved by Jiujiang County.

This was the last thing Heifu had to do, to select the people who would go south with him and arrange the people who would stay behind.

"Zhao Tuo, the leader of the Five Hundred, will also serve as the fake patrol officer of Pengze, responsible for the defense of the entire Pengli Lake, and Xiao Tao will go south with me."

"Anpu will continue to serve as the Caoyuan of Fanyang Bandits, responsible for local security."

"Wuyang will serve as the supervisor of gold mining, and Jing will serve as its supervisor."

After arranging these people, Heifu still needed someone who could handle government affairs, calm Fanyang, and flexibly handle the relationship with the Yue people in Yugan.

Everyone fell silent. They guessed that this person should be one of Xu Shu and Li Xian.

Li Xian was a little nervous. Since Xu Shu became Hei Fu's staff, Hei Fu mostly adopted his opinions. For example, a few days ago, Hei Fu asked the two of them how to stabilize the order in Fanyang. Li Xian advocated copying the Qin law, but Hei Fu finally used Xu Shu's strategy of governing people according to their customs.

This made Li Xian feel a great sense of crisis, fearing that his position would be replaced.

He was even prepared for this.

So when Hei Fu handed him the appointment letter, Li Xian was a little stunned.

"Li Xian is appointed as the temporary lieutenant of Fanyang, equivalent to 400 stones..."

Heifu stuffed the yellow copper seal issued by Jiujiang County into Li Xian's hand and said seriously: "When I am not here, Fanyang City will rely on you to govern. Don't be harsh, be careful to get along well with all parties, and don't make any mistakes before the new official of Jiujiang County arrives to take over! If you make a mistake, I, as the sponsor, will also be punished!"

After finishing the official business, the next thing is private. Heifu put away his sternness, smiled, patted Li Xian on the shoulder and said: "Although there is a fake word, it is still a county lieutenant. Congratulations, Li Xian, you don't have to wait for ten or twenty years, your ambition has been realized!"

"You are now sitting in the position I once sat in!"

"Congratulations to Li Xian." Dongmen Bao and others followed to congratulate him and were happy for Li Xian.

Li Xian let them push and push, looking at the appointment letter and seal in his hand, a little unbelievable.

Was this Hei Fu's trust in him, or was it a helpless move to appease his old subordinates?

In normal times, Li Xian would have thought about it for a long time, but this time, his mind went blank.

That's right, Hei Fu recommended Li Xian as his sponsor this time with his own guarantee.

This relationship is far beyond the ordinary superior-subordinate relationship.

Although Li Xian was Hei Fu's most trusted subordinate in the past, he never felt like he owed Hei Fu a life like Dongmen Bao and Gong Ao. At most, he was a little grateful for his support, actively worked for Hei Fu, and wanted to hold on to this thigh.

But now, he had the idea of dying for Hei Fu in his heart...

After everyone left, Li Xian bowed to Hei Fu resolutely and bowed his head to the ground.

"If Sima had not recommended him to Jiujiang County, how could Li Xian have become a temporary lieutenant? Li Xian will never forget this kindness and this favor! Li Xian's descendants will never forget it either!"

Hei Fu just helped him up and said with a smile: "What did you call me?"

Li Xian looked up in confusion. Hei Fu now had many official titles. What should he call him, Sima? County Magistrate?

But the next moment, he suddenly realized it, bowed his head again, and sincerely praised Hei Fu in a voice that only the two of them could hear:

"Lord!"