The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

That afternoon, the news that the county chief, county lieutenant, and more than a hundred county soldiers of Yidao County were trapped in the upper reaches of Yishui River came back, which made the small town of Yidao nervous.

In the narrow county temple, Qin officials with salaries of more than 100 stones were gathered together, talking worriedly.

"Earlier, it was said that the two tribes were fighting for land and killing each other, and asked the county chief to mediate. I never thought it was a rebellion! We must quickly put down the rebellion." Yu Yu shook his head.

"Put down the rebellion? Now the county chief and county lieutenant are unknown, and only two of the county soldiers who followed them escaped. Yidao is empty. If the Ba people come to attack the city again, it is still unknown whether they can defend it. What's the point of putting down the rebellion..." Tian Sefu laughed.

As officials, they knew the situation in Yidao. Because the registered people were only concentrated around the county town, the number of county soldiers was less than that of ordinary counties, and most of them had been lost outside.

At this moment, the county magistrate walked into the hall, and walking side by side with him was an official wearing a crimson robe, a flat cap, a copper seal and a green ribbon...

The county magistrate said happily: "My friends, the county magistrate already knows about Yidao, and this left military officer is from Yiling!"

"The county magistrate knew about it so quickly."

Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and asked Hei Fu: "May I ask, sir, when will the reinforcements arrive?"

Hei Fu glanced at everyone: "The day after tomorrow."

"The day after tomorrow?"

An official saw that Hei Fu was young, and heard that the county soldiers had not arrived yet, and suddenly felt like a frost-bitten eggplant: "The wall of Yidao City is small and low, and there are less than a hundred county soldiers left. If the ruler of the Ba people attacks it with thousands of troops, I'm afraid it will be difficult to defend it for even a day. It's better to let everyone in the city take a boat to the north to avoid being harmed by the Yi bandits..."

"Who are you?" Hei Fu could only see that the title of this negative element was a doctor, but he didn't know what the specific position was.

The official said, "I am Tianshoufu."

Heifu immediately frowned, "After all, you are a clerk with a salary of 200 shi, in charge of the affairs of a Cao. Now that rebellion is about to break out, you don't think about protecting the local area, but want to escape at the first sign of trouble. Where are the prison officials?"

"I am here!" The official who had just said that he wanted to quell the rebellion as soon as possible responded immediately.

Heifu showed the silver-plated tiger talisman: "The county governor gave me the tiger talisman, which can mobilize the soldiers of the Yidao. All military officials and county soldiers are under my command. According to military law, those who praise the enemy to intimidate the crowd shall be killed! Now is not a war, but Tian Sufu has boosted the enemy's prestige and destroyed our morale. According to the old rules, drag him down and flog him thirty times! Record his crimes and let the county governor decide his fate after the chaos is quelled."

He swept his eyes over everyone: "From now on, anyone who violates the ban in the county will be beheaded!"

Heifu had fought in the army after all, and there was a murderous aura in his words. Everyone was awed, and no one dared to say anything negative anymore.

After Tian Shufu was dragged away amidst the cries of begging for mercy, Heifu looked at the county magistrate again: "The prefect has given me the power to act at my own discretion. The county magistrate will take over the position of the county magistrate, and I will take over the county lieutenant's position in charge of the county's soldiers. What do you think of this arrangement?"

"At this critical moment, we really cannot have people who flatter the enemy and frighten the crowd."

The county magistrate quickly responded: "The survival of Yidao depends on Zuo Bingcaoshi!"

The Qin law was strict, and local officials would be held accountable if they lost the town they were defending. The county magistrate did not want his whole family to become prisoners with him, and he himself did not know military affairs, so he regarded Heifu as his last straw.

Heifu said to the county officials with an official rank of 100 or more: "The military law states that those with more than 100 men who retreat in battle, surrender in defense, or flee from the land are considered military thieves. Not only will they be killed, but their property will also be confiscated, and all the men and women in their families will become slaves and concubines. This is true for military commanders and guards. Most of you are from other places who came to Yidao to serve as officials. You don't want to harm your entire family because of your momentary cowardice, do you?"

These words calmed the hearts of the Qin officials, letting them know that they had no choice but to defend the city and fight. Then, Heifu summoned the minor officials from various government offices and asked them to go to the villages in the city and ask all the men and women in the family to come out and gather at the city's arsenal!

At noon, Heifu sent people to chase the county chief and county lieutenant of Yidao, but they were ambushed by the local Ba people "Yi tribe". After learning the news, he immediately showed the tiger talisman to the county magistrate and went down to the military camp to check the county soldiers of Yidao. Because half of them were taken away by the county lieutenant, there were only 100 left, mostly lightly armed infantry, and a dozen archers who could shoot arrows.

Although the number was small, fortunately they were in a border county and had good training, at least they had suppressed rebellions and bandits.

Heifu asked the local generals to lead the soldiers to follow him and wait outside the county arsenal. Soon, the petty officials of various departments came from all directions, followed by young and middle-aged men who were still confused and didn't know what was going on. Thanks to the distinct household registration system of the Qin State, most people living in the city are Qin people, or "Xia Zi" who are a mixture of Qin and Yi. There are more than 500 households in the city, and there are 800 to 900 young and strong men. Together with the county soldiers and petty officials, there are also a thousand people. The quality requirements for soldiers in defending the city are far less than those in field battles. Looking at this number, Hei Fu felt a little more at ease.

Yidao County Magistrate was still a little worried and whispered: "Zuo Bingcao Shi, if everyone knows about this, I wonder if people will be in chaos?"

"Since the Yi tribe dared to ambush the county magistrate and county lieutenant, it is only a matter of time before they attack the city. If they only rely on county soldiers, they can't even fill one wall. The main force of defending the city is still these young and strong people. It is impossible to hide it from them."

The county magistrate's worries are not unnecessary. After Hei Fu told them what happened today in a concise manner, these seven or eight hundred people were all horrified.

"Don't worry, my friends. We are just following orders to defend the city. The county governor's reinforcements will arrive soon!"

Hei Fu had experienced this in the last war. Anyone trapped in an isolated city would be nervous and afraid, but if there was a rescue army outside, people would be more stable.

After giving a glimmer of hope and reassuring the young and strong in the city, Hei Fu threw out another bombshell: "I heard that the county soldiers who followed the county magistrate and the county lieutenant out of the city this morning, except for two who escaped, the rest were all slaughtered! The leader of the Yi tribe also threatened that if Yidao City was broken, he would massacre the city, kill all the men, abduct the women, and make the Yi River red!"

These words made the Qin people in the city stand on end, and they cursed one after another. The fathers and brothers of the county soldiers were even more angry when they heard the words, beating their chests and stamping their feet.

Like the Ba people, the Qin people also value martial arts. If these hundreds of people were incited by Heifu, it would not be too difficult for them to defend the city for two days with the support of hatred and fear.

After mobilizing the masses and distributing the long and short weapons in the arsenal to them, Heifu also found a set of armor and put it on, picked up his weapons, and climbed the watchtower at the intersection of the west wall and the south wall of Yidao. This city is indeed too simple, only two feet high, and even this watchtower is only three feet high, which is not as good as the Waihuang County in Weiguo that they had conquered...

"I just hope that the fighting power of these local Qin people under the fear of massacre can be compared with the rangers in Waihuang."

Heifu has never fought with the Ba people, but he has also heard that this is a martial tribe that is very skilled in land and water attacks. Although he pretended to be calm in front of the people in Yidao at this moment, he was still a little nervous in his heart. After all, the art of war also said that if you don't know the enemy but know yourself, you will win one and lose one.

"Why hasn't Ba Zhong come back yet? Or, will he come back?"

After learning that the county chief and county lieutenant of Yidao were ambushed in Yishui, Heifu and Ba Zhong separated. He entered Yidao to prepare for defense, while Ba Zhong pretended to go to Wuluo Zhongli Mountain to worship his ancestors and go deep into the enemy territory to investigate the situation...

Although the Ba people in Yidao rebelled, this was only a special case. The Ba people in Ba County at least still had their hearts set on Qin. Who would win in the end, Qin or Chu, and who would bring the greatest benefits to their family, this account should not be unclear to Ba Guafuqing.

As if responding to Heifu, at this time, a rider and a man hurried back on the road west of Yidao. They were Ba Zhong and his confidant, the "Tiger Shooter" Danhu. Although he was walking, he was very fast and followed closely behind his master's horse.

When the people on the top of Yidao City saw Danhu dressed as a Ba person, they were immediately very nervous. Heifu went over to ask them to stop, put down their bows and arrows, and let the two in.

"How?"

As soon as Ba Zhong entered the city, Hei Fu went over and grabbed his horse reins, asking hurriedly.

"It's impossible!"

Although Ba Zhong's noble status as "the son of the Ba family" was there, and with the financial resources of his family, no one among the Ba people dared to make things difficult for him, so he could leave calmly.

But his face was still a little pale, and after taking a sip of water, he said: "The gentleman of the Yi tribe is called Fan Qin, who was also one of the five clans in the former Ba country. He designed this ambush and forced several small tribes to participate. Now the county magistrate and county lieutenant of Yidao are all dead! The leaders of the tribes have no way out, and I also found..."

Ba Zhong looked at Hei Fu and said: "Among these Ba people, there is also a tribe of soldiers from the Chu State Qu family!"