Qin Official

In late July, at the great court meeting in Zhangtai Palace, Qin Shihuang ordered the visitors to read aloud the good news letter sent by Hei Fu, asking the officials to listen carefully and study hard!

"The Xiongnu Shanyu Touman attacked me east of the river with his elite troops, and engaged the Longxi and Northern armies. They were defeated by General Li's sudden cavalry, and were pressed by his followers, so they were defeated. At dusk, a strong wind blew up. The ministers and General Li surrounded Touman with their left and right wings. Touman could not fight against the Qin soldiers, so he crossed the Youhe River alone with thousands of strong cavalry to escape. The rest of the tribes also dispersed. It happened that the wind and sand were blowing hard, and our army could not pursue it at night. , and then returned, General Li rode thousands of steps down the river, trying to chase Shanyu away, beheading him and hanging it in the Hebei Palace of Linguang Palace..."

"In this battle, the Xiongnu captured hundreds of miles of land at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain. They also relieved the siege of Baiyang, the commander's army, and captured 12,000 Xiongnu leader captives. When Baiyang and other tribes heard that the Xiongnu were defeated, they surrendered to the south of Beihe River. , it’s all Qin!”

After reading, Qin Shihuang stroked his beard and said: "Driving a long chariot, crossing the Helan Mountain gap! Great kindness! Only my two generals, dogs and horses, can accomplish this heroic feat!"

He glanced at the ministers and sneered: "My lords, who wants to say that this is a lie? Who wants to urge that it will be detrimental to attack the Xiongnu?"

The ministers, especially the Confucian scholars and alchemists looked at each other in confusion.

A few days ago, when Qiang Yu and Meng Tian were in vain, the whereabouts of the main Xiongnu force became a mystery, and Feng Jie was cut off from contact with the mainland for several days, they had many arrogant discussions about war. He believed that attacking the Huns was an unreasonable provocation. Even if the Huns were driven away, the gains would be far less than the gains. They said that "the land of the Huns is rich and uninhabitable."

At this time when the outcome of the war is unknown, if one of them is damaged and tens of thousands of people are killed or injured, I am afraid that the voice of opposition in the court will be loud...

But at the moment, all the noise has been suppressed by the great victory in Helan Mountain and Hei Fu's words, "Crossing the gap in Helan Mountain"!

What's more coincidental is that the Xiongnu Chanyu, who was originally expected to be the main force of Qiang Yu and Meng Tian, ​​was not found, so Heifu and Li Xin ran into them. After a great victory, who still dares to say that "white horse and black dog Xi Tuo" is a nonsense told by a wizard? The emperor, who was originally doubtful, was convinced in his heart.

At this point, reports from all fronts have been sent back one after another, and the court can finally sort out the complete story of this war.

Except for Heifu and Li Xin who defeated Shanyu's main force, the other armies did not achieve much.

The veteran general Qiang Yu, who led the largest army, marched north with his flags fluttering in such a mighty manner that he frightened all the troops in Loufan to surrender along the way. They successfully crossed the river and recovered the ruins of Jiuyuan, but they did not find the Huns, only a tribe hiding in the forest. They killed all the men as if they were beheadings, but they only collected 500 levels. There were 150,000 soldiers and civilians. How could these 500 levels be enough? It's really ugly...

Meng Tian's tribe was slightly better, and there were many cavalry in the clouds. Although they were not equipped with experimental high-saddle stirrups, they still had a certain fighting capacity. After discovering that Shanyu Wangting and Touman City were empty, Meng Tian ordered his cavalry to scatter in all directions, unable to find them. It doesn't matter if you get to the Huns' army, find their herds first!

As a result, a huge herd was found near Yinshan Mountain. It was the Xiongnu Youda Danghu tribe who had not retreated in time. Needless to say, the Huns were defeated. Meng Tian's army beheaded a thousand people and captured 50,000. Cattle, sheep and horses!

Wang Li, who was Meng Tian's deputy, was not so lucky. He and a captain from Shangjun were ordered to lead 20,000 people across the river south, through Loufan, and across Kujiesha to Henan, in search of traces of the Huns, but they were killed. Lost their way, that is, lost their way, 20,000 people wandered around the edge of the desert, and finally had to return to the building. Hundreds of people in the army died of thirst or disappeared.

This little General Wang cannot shake off the title of "Lost Captain".

Of course, compared to Feng Jie, his losses were nothing. Feng Jie was the real defeat. All three thousand chariots and cavalry were lost to the Huns, and many infantry were killed and injured. Even when the Beidi and Longxi armies were fighting a decisive battle with the Xiongnu, Feng Jie "sidled on the sidelines". Although he argued that he was suspicious of the Xiongnu's plan and did not dare to attack rashly, Qin Shihuang did not intend to forgive him.

Qin Shihuang said slowly: "The Art of War says that rewards and punishments should not be slowed down. Failure to reward will lead to suspicion, failure to punish will lead to laziness, and the army will not be organized. Collect the rewards and punishments of the army, and discuss the merits of the generals in order to achieve great results. Today, all the ministers will discuss the generals. Great work!"

Tingwei Li Si was supervising the army in the county, but the prime minister did not care about this matter. The post of Taiwei was no longer established after Wei Liao's death, so Qin Shihuang raised his hand and directly ordered Feng Quji, the imperial censor, to preside over the court meeting.

Feng Quji hurriedly came out and said: "I was defeated by Hu because of my unworthy son. I lost my master and humiliated the country. As my father, I should avoid suspicion and not discuss it..."

The emperor said: "Qi Huangyang is the captain of the Jin Kingdom. He is in charge of prison and prison affairs. He does not avoid enemies when doing external actions, and does not avoid children when doing internal actions. If you do this, you will also punish him. He can do it, but you can't?"

Zhao Gao, who was standing in front of His Highness, shrank his head. Anyone who understood could hear that the emperor was angry. He was angry about nothing else but Feng Jie's defeat, which made this war that should have been a complete victory more difficult. flaw.

Your Majesty, the Emperor, does not like flaws.

Feng Quji had no choice but to obey the order and said: "May I ask Your Majesty, when it comes to the merits of a general, should it be based on beheading or expanding the territory?"

These are the two ways the Qin Dynasty calculated merit, beheading or seizing the city.

Qin Shihuang said calmly: "Beheading is the main thing."

Feng Quji understood immediately. After talking with everyone in the Royal Envoy's Mansion, he quickly made an assessment of the generals in accordance with the promotion regulations in the law.

The beheading of 12,000 people in Beidi and Longxi is certainly a great achievement, and it is twice as good as Yinglun, enough for Li Xin and Heifu to be promoted to two levels in a row; Meng Tian captured Mancheng, and as for Beihe, he beheaded a thousand people and captured many livestock. It should be regarded as medium merit; Qiang Yu's surrender to Lou Fan, the capture of Jiuyuan's ancient city, and the beheading of five hundred people can only be regarded as minor merit.

Wang Li missed the mark, but no one stipulated when he had to arrive and where to fight. It was not considered a miss, it was a minor offense!

When it came to the most difficult assessment, the censors secretly glanced at Feng Quji. He looked serious. In front of the emperor's ministers, not only did he not dare to let his son go, he even deliberately increased the punishment!

After the agreement was reached, Feng Quji was about to report the results to Qin Shi Huang, but another military report arrived!

…

"It's Li Xin's good news."

Qin Shihuang took it and took a look at it. Long Yan was overjoyed. Since it was good news, he asked the visitor to read it out in public and let the historian write it down quickly.

"Li Xin, the captain of Longxi Province, pays his respects again. I chase Touman with my light cavalry and block him from crossing the fertile fields 500 miles north of Helan. There are sudden cavalry on the land and boatmen on the water. They kill five thousand captives and kill the left-bone Duhou of the Xiongnu. . Just as Yunzhong soldiers were about to encircle them, Touman and his remaining 30,000 cavalry did not dare to fight, so they collapsed and fled westward!"

This memorial also comes with a letter from the supervisor Meng Yi, which has verified the number of Li Xin's beheadings!

At this point, more than half of the 60,000 people Touman Shanyu brought to Henan were killed or injured, and Meng Tian had led his army to occupy most of the Hetao, rekindling the beacon fire at Gaoque fortress...

At this stage of the battle, all the originally scheduled strategic goals had been achieved. Unfortunately, Touman ran too fast and failed to completely annihilate the Huns.

Feng Quji had no choice but to ask the censors to calculate it again, and then said in the order of punishment first and reward later:

"Your Majesty, Feng Jie suffered more than 4,000 casualties, lost all his supplies, and was defeated and humiliated the country. This is a huge mistake! He should be demoted to the fourth level and become the fifth official! He should be removed from the post of Shangjun County Lieutenant and returned to the capital to face his punishment!"

The ministers were silent, and many people felt sorry for Feng Quji. In recent years, the Wang family has been highly praised by the emperor, but Wang Jian was allowed to retire and Wang Ben was not recruited to return to the court. Instead, he gradually used the Meng and Feng families. Feng Quji was even a strong competitor for the prime minister. But after this incident, Feng Quji may be implicated by his son, and his status in the emperor's heart will be greatly reduced...

"Wang Li was demoted one level to the rank of Zuo Shu Zhang!"

In this regard, everyone remained expressionless. So what if Wang Li was relegated to a commoner? Old General Wang Jian did not have many years to live. According to the rules, after his death, because Wang Ben himself was a marquis, he could directly pass on the title to the marquis. To grandson Wangli...

But the weight of a marquis earned through military exploits and that of an inherited marquis are worlds apart.

Then there were the rewards and punishments of Qiang Yu, and he was promoted to the rank of concubine commander! This is Qin Shihuang's preferential treatment of veterans. After this battle, Qiang Yu will also retire.

Feng Quji continued: "Meng Tian and Hei Fu are the next best. Meng Tian was promoted two levels to the commander of the carriage. Wei Hei Fu was promoted two levels, at least to the highest level!"

Meng Tian became the concubine of the carriage, which was expected by everyone, but Heifu, on the other hand, had made continuous meritorious deeds in recent years, jumped up the ranks and was promoted at an astonishing speed!

"Twenty-seven-year-old young master, Ye Neishi has really found a good son-in-law..." This is what everyone is thinking.

Finally, the much-anticipated drama is here...

"Li Xin should be the first to achieve great results! He will be promoted to the Great Shangzhao!"

"Dashangzao!"

The ministers had different expressions, some were surprised, some were sighing, Da Shangzao, this is the title Li Xin held in his heyday!

After Li Xin was defeated in the attack on Chu, he was beaten to the end by Qin Shihuang, became a fifth official, and went to Daibei as a school captain. He was ashamed and ashamed, and his hair turned gray overnight.

But Li Xin did not remain silent. He seized every opportunity to make meritorious deeds again, and never failed again. Now he has won two great battles against the Huns, avenging his past humiliation!

"In ancient times, Duke Mu used three defeated generals, but now your Majesty has raised up General Li again. Meng Mingshi swore to cross the river to defeat the Jin army, while General Li's thousands of light cavalry swept away the Xiongnu!"

"Of course, General Li is really the Meng Mingshi of today!"

"White Horse Flying General!"

There was an endless stream of praises, and all the ministers felt that after this battle, Li Xin would once again become one of the most important generals used by the emperor.

Qin Shihuang was also quite pleased that Li Xin, Li Xin, finally did not let him down.

The rewards and punishments were over, and after a great battle, drastic changes took place in the Qin Dynasty's military. Some fell into the abyss, some were mediocre and incompetent, and some stood out...

"Meng, Li, and Wei, these will be the three most important generals of Great Qin in Northern Xinjiang in the next ten years!"

…

In mid-August, news of rewards and punishments reached Helan Mountain, causing a sensation.

There was a hint of discord in the congratulations of the subordinates who said "Young Master Lieutenant Commander".

"If the general listens to me and leads his troops north to chase Shanyu, I'm afraid he will be the one who made it big now!"

Because of his bravery in the two battles last year and this year, Ao Dun was satisfied that he had become a "public official". He felt sorry for the black husband.

However, Hei Fu just took it indifferently, without any intention of being jealous of Li Xin. He even said secretly: "Thanks to Li Xin for blocking the gun for me."

His wife had long advised Hei Fu that it was not a good thing to be too sharp when he was young and successful. The faster he climbed, the worse he fell.

Therefore, during this war, Heifu hid behind Li Xin's light many times.

Therefore, Hei Fu did not rush to compete for the top spot, but set up camp at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain, built a city, and ordered the soldiers and civilians to open up some fertile fields, dig ditches, and plant wheat.

At the moment, there is great joy outside: Qin soldiers are cheering. Thanks to the beheading of those prisoners, the 30,000 soldiers of the Beidi and Shangjun armies have been rewarded. Each of them has been promoted to one rank. They go north together with Li Xin to pursue Shan. Yu's cavalry each has two levels!

The civilians were a little dazed. Facing the reward from the court, they felt mixed joy and sorrow and remained silent.

It turned out that Qin Shihuang's reply to Heifu and Fusu's proposal came with the officers and soldiers. The emperor may have been happy about the victory this time, but he followed the good news and agreed to share the work with the civilian husband.

"The victory of the Qin Dynasty is as good as that of cattle and horses. No one is unworthy of virtue, let alone the head of Guizhou?"

Therefore, the deceased civilian husbands were given pensions, just like those who died as soldiers, and they were allowed to be buried in the local cemetery of loyal soldiers. After the establishment of counties and counties, the government would pay homage on time.

As for the living, the emperor strictly abides by military regulations and believes that it is not appropriate to grant titles, but he can grant fifty acres of land to those who have no land in accordance with the law.

But the problem is that the fields granted are all at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain!

"Those who have a family and a wife will be allowed to move back to their place of origin after completing their military service...those without wives or children will be settled in the Helan Mountains and settled there, and the government will marry local Aries and Loufan Hu girls as wives!"

When he saw this, Heifu was stunned for a moment, then secretly muttered:

"Who did the single guy offend whom?"