The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

"The reason why the Ba people rebelled is because the government broke its promise first?"

The sky gradually darkened, and the torches on the top of the city were lit. The preparations for Yidao were carried out in an orderly manner under the organization of the county officials. The county soldiers nervously watched the upper reaches of the Yishui River, and Heifu also learned a little about the "inside story" of the rebellion of the Ba people in Yidao from Ba Zhong.

Ba Zhong said: "Yes, the leader Fan Qin claimed that the officials of Yidao had agreed with the local Ba tribes that each tribe would count the number of people, and each Ba person would pay 56 cóng coins as corvée, so that they would not have to be conscripted to do corvée..."

Heifu knew that the so-called "cóng" was the name of money for the Ba people, and this money was collected as a compensation for corvée. In addition, each household was required to pay an export tax of 82 feet of cloth. If converted according to the "Golden Cloth Law", it was worth about 113 coins, less than half of the Qin head tax of 240 coins per person. As for the 30 pheasant feathers used as arrow tails, it was not difficult for the Yidao Ba people, who mainly fished and hunted.

The economic burden borne by the Yidao Ba people was much lighter than that of the general registered people. This was also a conciliatory method used by the Qin State to stabilize the border, ensuring that there had been no major rebellions in Yidao in the past few decades.

Ba Zhong continued, "However, last year, Qin and Chu fought in Qingyang and Chanling. Yidao was short of manpower, so they temporarily recruited various tribes to serve as garrison soldiers to fight against the Chu people. At that time, a small chieftain named Fan You was serving in Chanling. When he heard that his wife was about to give birth, he fled with 50 of his men. Afterwards, the county lieutenant of Yidao led people to arrest Fan You and brought him back to Yidao to be handed over to the county magistrate and the prison official for trial."

The prison official was right in front of him, and Hei Fu asked him to come over. When he talked about this, the prison official looked a little embarrassed: "This case was indeed tried by me. Since Fan You and his subordinates have been recruited as garrison soldiers and have accepted the conscription documents, whether they are barbarians or not, they should be regarded as soldiers and under the jurisdiction of the captain. They escaped halfway before arriving at the garrison, which is a violation of military law."

The Ba people leader named Fan You did not sit still and wait for death. Although he did not understand the law, he found a "Xia Zi" who understood Qin law to defend him. They brought out the "Law of Subordinate States" and "Law of Barbarians" used by Qin to manage ethnic minorities, and believed that the law clearly allowed the Ba people to be exempted from labor service, and gentlemen who broke the law could also be exempted, so even if they had to be punished, they should be punished lightly and fined...

The prison official said: "That being said, the "Law of Barbarians" only said that they could be exempted from labor service, not from garrison service, and the "Law of Subordinate States" did not pardon the death penalty. Moreover, the government has ordered the conscription, and Fan You and others are garrison soldiers. They should be managed according to the "Law of Garrison". If they flee, they will be guilty and must be severely punished! In the end, the Yidao County Court could not decide the case, so it was reported to the County Court, asking the county to make a decision..."

After the prison official said this, Heifu had a clear understanding of the ins and outs of the matter. Looking at the whole process of the trial of this case, the procedure was legal and fair. After Fan You was brought to justice, the officials of Yidao questioned him, questioned him (counter-questioning, arguing), read out the conclusion of the trial investigation, and reported the crime (reporting the crime to the court), all of which revolved around the "escape" behavior of the person involved and the relevant provisions of the "Shu Law".

The people invited by the defendant to help defend him cited the laws of the "Barbarian Law" and the "Subordinate State Law" to defend themselves. Finally, when the officials of Yidao were unable to determine the defendant's crime, they reported it as a suspicious case according to the petition procedure.

On January 3 of this year, the county magistrate of Nanjun made a judgment, ruling that Fan You should be beheaded, and the fifty people who fled with Fan You were all arrested and beheaded as deserters...

This case, like throwing a big stone into a pond that could overflow at any time, immediately set off an uproar!

In the eyes of officials in Nanjun and Yidao of Qin, they just executed a group of people who deserved to die according to the law, but in the eyes of the Ba people, this was simply unreasonable. They just felt that they were deceived by Qin, and the benefits of exemption from military service and reduced punishment were all fake.

The envoys of Chu saw this opportunity and went to various tribes to lobby. The leaders of the Ba people heard that Qin was defeated last year and seven lieutenants died. They counted with their fingers and found that Nanjun had only three or four lieutenants at most! So they made up their minds and rebelled against Qin and joined Chu.

So, it was a bloodbath caused by a big lawsuit...

Ba Zhong said helplessly: "So when Fan Qin encouraged the Ba people to rebel against Qin, the excuse was betrayal and revenge for blood relatives."

As a Ba person, Ba Zhong strongly advocated that it would be better for both sides not to fight, so he was still persuading Hei Fu: "Left Military History, according to my rough observation, it was mainly Fan Qin, the brother of Fan You, who was trying hard to incite. Not all the leaders wanted to rebel against Qin. If I were to lobby again, I might be able to make many people change their minds..."

"It's too late."

Hei Fu shook his head: "If it was before today, there might be room for it, but now the county magistrate and county lieutenant of Yidao are dead, this knot is completely tied. You have been running around for a day, go down and rest first, and the matter of persuading surrender will be discussed later."

After letting Ba Zhong go down to rest, Hei Fu said to the generals and county officials on the top of the city: "The Ba people just won an ambush and killed the county magistrate and the county lieutenant. They must be proud of their victory. Sending people to persuade them to surrender now will not be very effective. Instead, it will make us look cowardly. We must wait for the Ba people to attack the city and give them a head-on blow! Let the Ba people know that it is wishful thinking to break the city. When the reinforcements arrive and the Ba people regret it, we can send people to persuade them to surrender. Only in this way can the tribes collapse..."

The officials agreed. At this time, someone shouted: "There is a fire in the distance!"

Hei Fu and others looked up and saw a lot of bright lights moving towards this side from the upper reaches of the Yi River. During the period, they set fire to every village they passed by. One village after another burned up, as if it was a beacon fire...

"Fortunately, Zuo Bingcao Shi has sent people to bring those Qin people to the city." The county magistrate and the prison official were still in fear.

Heifu said: "The morale of the Ba people is high, and with the help of the Chu people, they will definitely not wait until tomorrow morning to attack the city."

As he spoke, he counted the approximate number of torches. There were nearly a thousand. According to the Qin army's rule of one torch per squad, there were probably four or five thousand people, right? The number of young and strong men in the entire Yidao Ba tribes was about this number, right? Of course, it may also be that the marching team was deliberately lengthened to make the number look larger, so as to scare the defenders in the city.

It is better to be prepared than to be caught unpredictable. Heifu said to the officials beside him: "Let the old people and women under the city wall hurry up to prepare things to defend the city!"

Even if they called all the men in the city, there were only more than a thousand people. It was still a bit difficult to resist so many enemy attacks.

As he spoke, as the Ba people got closer and closer, under the reflection of the blazing torches, it seemed that the entire Yishui River was burning. In a trance, the small Yidao City seemed to be in the boundless river of fire, trying to resist its waves, an indescribable pressure filled everyone's heart.

The front line of the Ba people also arrived outside the moat under the city, and their appearance was finally revealed. They were not much different from the Ba people that Hei Fu saw on Ba Zhong's boat. They were all barefoot, with simple cloth or animal skin wrapped around their waists, and had a topknot or cut hair.

Those warriors held wooden shields in one hand and willow leaf spears or willow leaf swords in the other. Under the loud calls of the leaders of various tribes, they stopped in front of the moat, but it was not as lonely and silent as before the Qin army attacked the city, but everyone shouted the Ba people's language as loudly as possible, while dancing...

Although it looked messy, there was a kind of extraordinary momentum because of the large number of people.

Everyone on the left and right looked a little ugly, and even the last few people couldn't help but step back a few steps...

Hei Fu also became serious: "Thousands of people sing, tens of thousands of people join in, the mountains and hills are shaken, and the valleys are rippled... Are these the warriors of the Ba people who sing in front and dance in the back?"

At this time, the Ba people automatically separated to the sides. A Ba people leader riding a horse, wearing an exaggerated feather crown and a leopard skin, came to the trench. Although his face could not be seen clearly at night, the man raised a willow leaf spear in one hand, and a bloody human head was stuck on the tip of the spear...

"That man is Fan Qin." The county magistrate gritted his teeth and said, rubbing his eyes, staring at the head, and said in horror: "That head, could it be..."

It was the head of the Yidao County Magistrate!

Fan Qin shouted in the Ba language, and laughed at the same time. The Ba people behind him also laughed with him, jumped and danced, and became more noisy, as if they were not going to the battlefield, but attending a party.

A prison official who knew both languages translated for Hei Fu: "Fan Qin said that he came here today to avenge his brother Fan You who was executed by Qin officials! If everyone in the city wants to live, they should surrender quickly!"

"Tell him!"

Hei Fu looked at the arrogant Fan Qin and the Ba people singing and dancing in front of the city, and said to the people behind him: "Qin has generals who are willing to expand its territory, but no officials who abandon their land and surrender to the barbarians! We would rather die in glory than live in disgrace. Tonight, we will fight to the death!"