The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

Xi is now the left historian of the county prison, with the same rank as Heifu. His superior is the county magistrate in charge of law, so he still does his old job: judging cases. However, Xi's dress is still so simple, with a dark black robe without any decorations. Because he is not in court, he does not even wear a Xiezhi hat, only a single board crown. Compared with two years ago, he has a little more white silk, after all, he is more than 40 years old.

To Xi, Heifu always regards himself as a junior and bows to him respectfully. It's a pity that Xi is still so formal. Heifu calls him "Xi Jun", but he calls Heifu "Left Military Cao Shi".

So Heifu has no chance to greet old friends in a foreign land, so he has to go straight to the point and ask about the case he cares about.

"Dou Ran?"

Xi frowned: "It's the county lord of Chu who was captured by you last year. I have seen this person in the correspondence. He was detained in Nanyang County in December. He should still be in Wancheng now..."

He raised his eyes and said: "The left military officer mentioned this person. Is there something wrong?"

Hei Fu made his intention clear: "Let Xi Jun know that on that day in the territory of Chu, we were trapped in an isolated city. The Chu army was so powerful that we could not fight it by force. We could only take it by wits. So I pretended to surrender in the name of Li Junwei. In the Chu camp, Dou Ran said something inadvertently, which made me very concerned..."

Then, Hei Fu whispered to Xi about what happened that day. When he heard that Dou Ran had been exchanging letters with the "old minister" of Ruo'ao who stayed in Qin, and that the "old minister" might have leaked Qin's secrets to Chu, Xi was like a heavenly dog that smelled the scent of prey, and the whole person became energetic.

He lowered his voice and said, "Does the Left Military Officer want to investigate this matter thoroughly?"

"Yes."

Hei Fu said, "Qin and Chu have become enemies. Nanjun and Anlu are border counties. If there are really Chu spies hiding in them, then the strengths and weaknesses of our country will be in the eyes of the Chu people. A thousand-mile embankment can be breached by a hole made by an ant; a hundred-foot-long room can be burned by a crack. We must be on guard! If I don't find this ant, I won't be able to sleep well for a day!"

Xi nodded and said, "This matter should be reported by the Left Military Officer to the Prison Office in person before a case can be filed. At that time, the county magistrate can send a letter to Nanyang County, asking Nanyang to transfer Dou Ran to Nanjun for detention and trial..."

"At that time, can you trouble Xi Jun to personally try this case?"

Heifu requested, "Although Heifu is ignorant, he has heard a saying that a person with little knowledge cannot be used to plan things, and a person with little loyalty cannot be used to rule the law. The old minister of the Ruo'ao family must still be a local big family if he stays in Qin State, well-informed, and may even have a backer in the county. Things are accomplished by secrecy, and leaks fail. I don't trust ordinary law officials. Only Xijun, who is a man of great knowledge and loyalty, can rule this major case!"

"I will definitely try my best." Xi nodded and agreed to this matter.

After the two discussed this matter in the shadow beside the county governor's mansion, Xi looked at the young Heifu, and for some reason, he suddenly remembered the young man who stopped the car and cried out for injustice by the Yunmeng Lake more than two years ago. For a moment, he was a little dazed...

At that time, he never thought that one day this young man would become his colleague, and they would discuss here together how to uncover the "Chu spy" in the country.

"Left Military Officer, if I remember correctly, you are only twenty years old?"

"Twenty-one in my age." Hei Fu now likes to think that he is older. In the officialdom, it is not a good thing to be considered too young.

"As a village head, he has solved major cases; as a military officer, he has repeatedly made extraordinary achievements. He is really a versatile person."

Xi couldn't help but sigh. How could such a person suddenly appear in the small Anlu County? Although Hei Fu's talent was included in his rapid promotion, it was also because of opportunities. Most Qin officials worked hard at the grassroots level for twenty or thirty years and retired in their original positions.

I just don't know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing for this young man to rise so quickly and become famous among the county governor and even the king?

All this has nothing to do with Xi. Compared with other people's official careers, he is more interested in the case in his hands.

When saying goodbye, Xi remembered something: "By the way, when I entered just now, the county governor asked me about Zuo Bingcaoshi."

Heifu smiled and said, "Really? Xi, can you say a few good words for me?"

Xi frowned and said, "No praise, no criticism, no praise, no covering up, I told you everything about Zuo Bingcaoshi in Anlu!"

...

Heifu thought he would be summoned soon, but after Xi left, he waited for a long time until the "market closing" time. The bell sounded in the distance, and there were only a few clerks queuing in the house. The two subordinates who brought him came out and invited Heifu in.

At this time, the official duties of the day were coming to an end, and many officials began to leave work and go out. Heifu then discovered that the clerk led him to the house where the county governor lived, not the office area on the right side of the county governor's mansion, but the house on the left side of the gate where the county governor lived!

"Wait a minute, the county magistrate wants to see me at his residence?" Hei Fu stopped immediately.

The official was a close confidant of the county magistrate and smiled and said, "Yes."

Then he kept his mouth shut and continued to lead the way. Hei Fu could not get anything out of him and could only walk behind him suspiciously.

"I have never met the county governor, why do I get the treatment that only confidants can get?"

Hei Fu didn't know that the clerk in front of him was thinking: "Since he took office, the county governor has been devoted to official duties and rarely sees guests at his residence. Especially for the officials of the county, if there is official business, he usually meets them in the court. Even Xi, who was treated with courtesy by the county governor just now, also discussed things in the court. Why can this young Zuo Bingcaoshi be treated like this? I can't figure it out!"

With a heavy heart, Hei Fu didn't care about how good and big the county governor's residence was. He just met maids and slaves every few steps along the way. They should be the county governor's private maids. They looked at this unfamiliar young official in surprise.

Soon, they came to a hall through the corridor. Hei Fu took off his shoes and shoes at the door with the clerk and went in wearing only his foot clothes.

"Reporting to the county governor, the left military officer has brought you here."

"Your subordinate greets the county governor!"

Although Hei Fu's title exempted him from being a county magistrate or county chancellor, he still had to perform the ceremony. He immediately bowed down and raised his head to see the county governor's appearance.

A middle-aged man in his forties, with a face as thin as a knife, did not change into his regular clothes when he returned to the mansion. He was still wearing the county governor's black clothes, with a crown, belt, silver seal and green ribbon on the table. He was flipping through a scroll of bamboo slips.

As soon as Ye Teng raised his eyes, Hei Fu saw a pair of dark blue eyes, like two ancient wells, bottomless, as if he wanted to see people's hearts clearly.

Hei Fu immediately bowed his head respectfully and did not look directly at him. The person in front of him was the first person to complete the achievement of destroying a country and destroying a city at the end of the Warring States Period, and he was also a frontier official who had the power to decide the life and death of Nanjun. He might as well pretend.

"Are you here? No need to greet, just sit down."

Ye Teng spoke briefly, with almost no polite greetings, and no compliments for Hei Fu, the "young talent". Instead, he went straight to the point and said to him: "I called you here today because it is related to the establishment of medical and emergency personnel in Nanjun..."

Hei Fu breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. As he guessed, Nanjun would also implement this policy.

Next, Ye Teng asked some details about first aid and wound dressing. Hei Fu answered honestly whatever he asked, unlike the previous proposal to Chen Wujiu. He only said that when he was the head of the garrison, he witnessed his soldiers being injured and killed, so he had this idea. Now that it can be realized, he is really happy for the thousands of wounded soldiers...

"Oh? A small head of the garrison can have such vision and put forward such suggestions that are beneficial to the army and the country?"

It would be better if Ye Teng didn't smile. When he smiled, people felt that his intentions were unclear.

Fortunately, his smile quickly subsided: "The king has ordered that each county should set up a new department under the military department to train medical and emergency personnel, and strive to ensure that there is one medical and emergency personnel for every 100 soldiers to treat the wounded on the battlefield. Nanjun needs to train more than 300 people. Since this policy is proposed by you and you are in the military department, you will be responsible for this matter..."

"Yes!"

Hei Fu agreed, and then said: "This matter should be informed to the county lieutenant first..."

"I will send a letter to inform Li Junwei."

What a domineering leader!

Hei Fu secretly complained that Ye Teng was very domineering as a county head. If it were other county governors, they would not flatter Li Si's son, but at least they would respect him like a guest. But when Ye Teng mentioned Li You, it seemed like he mentioned a young man. In this matter, he decided directly before informing Li You. Wasn't he afraid of causing conflicts? Or was he sure that Li You would not dare to be dissatisfied?

"Heifu."

At this time, Ye Teng called Heifu's name and said, "Are you wondering why the county governor summoned you alone instead of asking the county lieutenant to come and discuss? And you came to the private hall of the mansion?"

"I dare not..." Heifu raised his head. Although Ye Teng's eyes were still scary, he could no longer hide his doubts.

"Because what I want to ask you today cannot be brought to court."

Ye Teng said lightly, "It's like this. The county governor encountered a strange thing. Maybe you can help me solve my doubts."

He waved his hand to let everyone in the room go out. After the door was closed, he read the bamboo scroll in front of him.

"Heifu, from Chaoyangli, Yunmeng Township, Anlu County, Nanjun, 20 years old, with the title of official, served successively as the head of Huyang Pavilion, Yushui Township, Anlu County, and the head of the garrison during the attack on Wei, and also served as a temporary patrol officer of Huyou. He fought against hundreds of generals with short weapons and made meritorious service in breaking through the siege. Now he is the left military officer of Nanjun..."

"Yuan, from Chaoyangli, Yunmeng Township, Anlu County, Nanjun, is a craftsman, about 28 or 29 years old. He once presented a treadle pestle, which made pounding rice twice as effective with half the effort, so he was granted the title of public official. Now he presented a water pestle, which saved ten times the manpower, and should be promoted to Shangzao, and stay as the county engineering officer as an engineer."

This is the birthplace resume of Heifu and Yuan. Before Heifu could figure out what this meant, Ye Teng read the third name again.

"Zhong! He is from Chaoyang Village, Yunmeng Township, Anlu County, Nanjun. He is about 31 or 32 years old. He is a public official. He proposed the method of composting and fermenting fertilizer, which doubled the yield per mu. He was appointed as a public official. Now he is the farm manager of Chaoyang Village..."

After reading Zhong's hometown, Ye Teng raised his head with an aggressive look.

"Heifu, last year and this year, this county governor has harvested a lot. Whether it is the method of composting and fermenting fertilizer, the treading of the water pestle, or the advice of the doctors and soldiers, they are all policies that benefit the country and the people. But the strange thing is that these three things were all done by your brothers. Is this a coincidence? Or is there another reason?"