Qin Official

"Greetings to the village chief... No, it should be called You You now. I am Zhong Ming. I heard that You You will lead his troops to garrison today, so I am waiting here."

After being separated from the Five Hundred Lords, waiting for Heifu and the others at the intersection was a Qin army commander named Zhong Ming, who was from Hanoi.

Zhong Ming was very eager. After the two parties exchanged wooden slips to prove their identities, he took the initiative to help Heifu lead the horse and said with a smile in Guanzhong dialect with a Hanoi accent:

"The subordinates originally followed the Hanoi army to besiege Jiyang. After Jiyang was captured, Yangwu also surrendered. The general was busy leading the army to Taoqiu to participate in the siege, so he only sent a few troops to take over. This household in Youxiang is It is a large township in Yangwu County with a population of over 10,000, but we only have ten people on guard, which made the subordinates very worried. Fortunately, Youyou arrived in time..."

Heifu already understood what was going on with this appointment. The Qin army's attack on Wei was mainly concentrated in several large cities. The main force in Guanzhong led by Wang Ben had to watch tens of thousands of Wei troops and ten people in the city who were stubbornly resisting under Daliang City. There were tens of thousands of Wei people and even 100,000 Qin people who dug trenches and dug canals outside the city to guard the soldiers and prisoners, ensuring that the water attack strategy went smoothly.

The three main field troops to destroy Wei: Nanyang soldiers, Dongjun soldiers, and Hanoi soldiers, each with more than 10,000 men, attacked Wei's second, third, and fourth largest cities Suiyang, Taoqiu, and Jiyang respectively. .

Now that Jiyang has been conquered, Taoqiu has yet to attack, so Dongjun soldiers went over to assist, so that in April, the troops from the three counties would encircle Suiyang and completely occupy Wei's strategy.

As for other small counties, such as Waihuang, Yangwu, etc., just let the miscellaneous troops take over the garrison.

In the eyes of the coach, the one thousand people led by Yang Xiong are just motley crew with weak combat effectiveness, so there is no need to participate in the battle. They can just garrison nearby...

Yang Xiong himself left with hundreds of men to stay in Waihuang, and asked Zhang Yi (yi) to take 500 men to defend Yangwu. Perhaps it was the performance of Heifu's camp in the battle of Waihuang that left a deep impression on the two officers. , this time he was actually entrusted with the important task of traveling as an agent in Hufu Township, the largest town.

This is not an easy job, and Heifu doesn't know whether he should be grateful or complain.

It is now mid-March, and both sides of the road are covered with green fields of millet and wheat seedlings. It seems that because Yangwu County surrendered without a fight, spring farming has not been affected, which is good news.

Heifu simply dismounted, held the horse by himself, and talked with Zhong Ming in a slightly unfamiliar Guanzhong dialect. Since he was assigned such a position, he must know more about the local information.

There are huge differences in accents among counties and counties in the Qin State. Each speaks its own language, which can easily lead to chickens and ducks speaking alike. Hanoi dialect and Nanjun dialect are even more different. Therefore, Heifu and Zhongming have to rely on the army to communicate. The "Mandarin" Guanzhong dialect. Over the past few months, he has been immersed in it and learned a bit, although he is not yet very proficient in using it.

He guessed that the reason why the Qin army that passed here before left the chief of Hanoi native place for the follow-up troops was also to consider communication issues.

Hanoi County was established decades ago when the Qin State captured the Hanoi area from the Wei State. The accent also belongs to the Liang-Wei dialect. It seems that in the future, until Heifu gets used to the local dialect, he may have to rely on Zhong Ming as a translator. Communicate with the locals in Humo Township.

Not long after, a village with a wall about one foot high appeared in front of him. Zhong Ming pointed to it and said: "That's the village of Humo Township over there."

Heifu looked at the nearby terrain. They were all endless plains with few hills. The village was located at the intersection of a major road, and then asked: "This place is flat and flat, why is it called Hufu?"

The so-called Hufu refers to doors and windows, and is usually used to describe dangerous passes such as Fangcheng and Xingyang. This place is called Hufu, but there are no natural dangers, so Heifu is a little surprised.

"I also asked local elders about this matter."

Zhong Ming said: "This place has been around for a long time. Hundreds of years ago, it was a small town in the Song Dynasty, close to the Zheng Kingdom. When Zheng Shi moved eastward and broke through the town, he entered the Song Dynasty. It was also equivalent to the gateway of the Song Dynasty, so it was named Huxuan. …”

"That's it." Hei Fu nodded. After hundreds of years of annexation, the territories of Zheng and Song Dynasty in the Spring and Autumn Period have now become the Wei State. Soon, the Wei State will also disappear, and all counties, counties and towns within the four seas will be destroyed. It is going to belong to the Qin Dynasty...

Although the town of Hufu is right in front of us, the camp where Heifu and the others are stationed is located outside Xiaoyi. It is actually a small village surrounded by wooden stakes. There are two gates in the north and south. The two-foot-high sentry tower has been It stood up, and there were Qin soldiers wearing armor and holding crossbows standing on guard.

Zhong Ming shouted loudly and asked someone to open the gate of the camp. He then smiled at Heifu and said, "It's a little crude, but there's nothing we can do about it. The city is a little crowded and there's no place for dozens of people to camp. If something happens, they won't be able to get out. It’s safer outside.”

Heifu nodded. During those few days in Waihuang, he had often felt the resentment and hostility of the local Wei people towards the "invaders". Hufu had just surrendered. Who knows how many dissatisfied people were in the city? It would be safer to set up a separate outpost outside the city.

He was also unambiguous. After everyone entered the camp, he immediately asked his subordinates to gather in the open space in the camp.

Except for the ten Hanoi soldiers led by Zhong Ming, the rest were all Heifu's old subordinates, so they did not need to shout slogans, but gave orders in an orderly manner.

"Except for the few who died in the battle in Waihuang and were recovering from injuries, there are still forty-five people in this camp. In addition to ten Hanoi soldiers including Zhong Ming, there are fifty-five people in total. The number of Shi and Wu remains as usual. From now on, At twelve o'clock a day, the north and south gates of the camp need one team of people to guard each in turn. Zhongming, is there anyone stationed at the south gate of Humo Township?"

Zhong Ming responded: "Not yet..."

"Xiao Tao." Heifu immediately ordered: "You immediately bring ten people who are good at shooting over and take over the defense of the township gate."

Although he did not dare to stay in the city, Heifu had to firmly hold the control of the city gate. Otherwise, if something happened in the city and the entrance was blocked, he would be helpless.

"Ji Ying, you were originally a postman, so I left it to you to communicate with the outside world. Five horses have been assigned to this village. You can take four people who can ride horses to practice diligently, and find time to go to Yangzhou separately. I have traveled to Wu, Jiyang, Waihuang, Huangchi and Daliang to become familiar with the roads."

Heifu thought carefully. Once there was a big turmoil in Hufu Township that dozens of them could not control, they had to immediately ask for help from several nearby places. Although Hufu belonged to Yangwu County, it was the easternmost township of Yangwu. It is nearly a hundred miles away from Yangwu County in the far west, and the water far away cannot save the fire nearby. On the contrary, Jiyang and Waihuang are only a few dozen miles or half a day away if a horse is galloping.

Heif then announced some more bans.

"During the period of garrisoning in Hufu, except for those who are ordered to inspect the villages and guard the gates, the rest are not allowed to leave the camp without permission, let alone wander alone!"

"promise!"

Hei Fu looked at everyone and said sternly: "You are not allowed to bully men and women or do anything wrong! If there are any of the above situations, the lighter ones will be whipped, and the more serious ones, I can kill them according to the method of combat!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone was awe-inspiring. It is still in a wartime state, and the Qin army's method of killing gives superiors the power to kill subordinates: if they are too long, they will kill ten people, if they are too long, they will kill a thousand people. A general with a hundred people can kill a leader, a general with ten thousand people can kill a general with a thousand people, a general on the left or right can kill a general with ten thousand people, and all great generals can't be killed!

Under the silent silence, Zhong Ming showed a surprised look. Not only did Hei Fu have a high prestige among the soldiers, but he also worked vigorously and resolutely. Perhaps this errand that had given him headaches and troubles for many days could be successfully handled under Hei Fu?

Heifu had no choice, because this tour was different from the tour in Anlu County where he only had to patrol the countryside, stop illegal activities, arrest thieves, and maintain public order.

He was an officer in the occupied area appointed by the front line. He was stationed in an enemy town where the local clans and people had just surrendered and the attitudes of the local clans and people were unpredictable. He not only had to impose military control on the area and be prepared for possible rebellion at any time, he also had to search for food in the local area and send it to Daliang. In order to achieve General Wang Ben's purpose of "feeding the enemy with food" and "supporting war with war"...

The world did not have the concept of unity at this time. In the eyes of the Wei people, they were invaders, foreign occupying forces, and officials of the Qin Dynasty who taxed and extorted heavily, and broke the bones and sucked the marrow. So this was not an easy job. While Heifu has to perform his duties, he also has to be careful of conflicts between soldiers and the people in the city, causing mass incidents and then turning into rebellion...

Heifu was very sure that if the fifty or so of them were plunged into the vast sea of ​​tens of thousands of people in the township, there would be no chance of survival.

You can't run away. The military regulations of the Qin army read: If an officer who is guarding a certain area abandons a city, loses territory, and abandons the city and soldiers to run away, it will be a serious dereliction of duty and will be considered an "army thief" and will be liquidated after the war. Even if I was executed in public, my whole family would be imprisoned and sentenced to do labor for the government...

So Heifu could only be cautious in everything.

Just after he had arranged everything and asked everyone to go down and perform their duties, Li Xian, the commander in charge of guarding the camp gate, came to report that someone from Hufu Township came to see Mr. Hei...

"It's a tall man in soap clothes. He is holding an invitation. He says that Zhang Jun, the newly appointed country man, has held a banquet at his home and invited You You to come and get together!"

"Country scumbag?" Heifu heard what Zhong Ming said. In addition to him, there are two local tycoons in Huyou Township. They were appointed as the local scumbag and the village's third elder respectively. It is said that it is to commend them. The credit for being the first to surrender to the Qin army...

Heifu was pondering over there, while Gong Ao, who had become his die-hard loyalist, was furious because he owed Heifu two lives.

"What kind of local stingy man, what kind of Zhang Jun? He is just a local wealthy countryman from Wei. He did not bring anyone to kneel down to greet you outside the city. It is already extremely rude. Now he invites you to a banquet, but he dares not to come in person. Did he send someone to deal with it? Who does he think he is? "

Gong Aoyi raised his hand: "Youyou, why don't you let me lead the troops to capture Fu Na and teach him a lesson! Let him know that the sky has changed!"

As soon as these words came out, Zhong Ming changed his color and quickly stood up to stop him and said: "It is absolutely forbidden to wander around. The Zhang family of Hufu Township in Yangwu County is different from the ordinary wealthy people from Wei State!"