The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

"County lieutenant, left military officer, in a moment, we will be able to reach Zhugong!"

On the fifth day of May, when Li You and Heifu were sitting in the cabin, the soldier who was looking out from the bow came to report.

Heifu knew that Jiangling City had many civilian docks along the river, but the largest dock was exclusively for the government. It was located in the southeast of the city and was called "Zhugong". It was originally a waterside palace built during the reign of King Cheng of Chu, and was exclusively for the boats of the King of Chu to dock.

It is said that the dragon boat that the King of Chu liked to ride was moored here. Qu Yuan's "Riding a waterwheel with a lotus cover, driving two dragons and riding a Chi" in Chu Ci is a portrayal of the dragon boat. The nobles of Chu State rode on the "Qingyu Boat", which was a phoenix boat, that is, a long-tailed green flag was hung on the boat, which could be ridden by the feudal lord. Going boating on the river and Yunmeng was a pastime for the kings and nobles of Chu State.

But now, those fancy boats that looked good but were not useful have disappeared, leaving only the ships that kept docking and leaving, either carrying goods or soldiers.

Li You and Hei Fu had also come to the deck, enjoying the river breeze. Seeing the dock approaching, Li You began to point out the various boats he saw on the river and asked Hei Fu their names.

Hei Fu answered him one by one: "In the Jianghan area of Nanjun, all large boats are called ge, small boats are called chu, long and thin ones are called chu, short and deep ones are called chu, small and deep ones are called yu..."

"In Guanzhong, no matter what the boat looks like, it is just called a boat."

Li You was very knowledgeable. Although he was from Chu, Shangcai was already in the Central Plains, and later he went to Guanzhong. He had never seen such a complicated classification of boats. This also shows that the people of Nanjun really depend on water for their livelihood and rely on boats.

In addition, the big ship that Heifu and his men were riding on was also called a "tower ship". The deck building was particularly huge, the ship was tall and wide, and the appearance was like a building. This was a warship invented when the Chu State and the Wu State competed in the Jianghuai area three hundred years ago. There were many flags on the ship to strengthen its prestige. It was the main warship of the Qin Navy, so the navy was also called "the man of the tower ship". The Qin's tower ship was relatively small and could only carry 300 people. It is said that the Chu's tower ship could carry thousands of people!

This is also the reason why Nanjun did not want the Chu State to seize Chanling, Yidao and other places, because the Chu army had an absolute advantage on the water. If it was allowed to obtain the port terminal located upstream of Jiangling, the county government would be threatened at any time.

As for the various types of combat ships surrounding the tower ship, they were large wings, middle wings, small wings, and warships, each with different functions. The ship carrying soldiers was called a "fang", which was two small boats connected together, and a fang could carry 50 people.

At this time, the two large wing ships in front suddenly slowed down and sounded a warning drumbeat!

Li You was startled, and then he realized that it was not an enemy attack. Looking forward from his position, he saw several narrow boats breaking into the water in front. The boatmen on them were rowing hard and speeding past, as if they were racing...

"What kind of boats are those?" When the warships in front were ordered to disperse these civilian boats, Li You asked Hei Fu again.

"It's a boat." Hei Fu said, "It's specially used for racing. Today is the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar..."

Today is the Dragon Boat Festival in later generations. In this year, there is a custom of racing on the water, but it is not to commemorate Qu Yuan, because Qu Yuan had already written a poem about this custom before his death: "I took a boat to the Yuan River, and the Qi and Wu clans beat each other. The boat was slow but could not move forward, and it was stagnant due to the backwater. I left Wangzhu in the morning and stayed in Chenyang in the evening."

It was probably a custom of exorcising evil spirits left by the Pu and Yue people who lived here in ancient times. Because there was a tradition in Chu that babies born on May 5th, whether male or female, could not be raised to adulthood, so many babies drowned in the river on this day. It was not until the Qin State ruled the area and strictly prohibited drowning babies in the law that it was slightly relieved.

"If someone really mourns Qu Yuan in this way, they will probably be arrested. After all, the county governor banned the Chuci Qufu because of what I did during the Shangsi Festival some time ago." Heifu felt a little funny. It seems that as long as they are still under the rule of Qin, they can forget about the Dragon Boat Festival holiday.

After this episode, nearly a hundred large and small ships carrying thousands of returning Qin soldiers finally arrived at Zhugong. Dozens of docks have been vacated, waiting for everyone to dock.

Heifu saw that on the shore, in addition to the heavily guarded soldiers, there were many people in official uniforms waiting, and thought to himself: "This time the county governor really gave Li You enough face."

Ye Teng was a domineering person. When Li You first arrived, he did not even discuss some military appointments with the county lieutenant, but notified Li You after the decision. Li You did not dare to go against him, because the county governor had great power and he had no foundation in the local area.

The two local officials cooperated well in the Mengxia offensive launched by the Chu State. Ye Teng immediately returned to Jiangling to mobilize troops, while Li You personally led the army across the river and forced back the attack of the Chu army. Although not many heads were beheaded, it was also a small victory.

So Ye Teng probably wanted to take this opportunity to show the impression that the county governor and the county lieutenant worked harmoniously together. The county governor had to deal with foreign enemies and prepare for war in the autumn. He could not cause internal strife due to power struggles at this time.

As Hei Fu expected, Li You just got off the boat, and Ye Teng came over enthusiastically, bowed to Li You, and praised him as "the pillar of the country"! When he saw Hei Fu behind him, he also asked him to come forward and praised him as "young and promising". It can be seen that County Governor Ye was very satisfied with Hei Fu's job in Yidao.

What Ye Teng was most worried about was that the young man Heifu's handling of the Yidao rebellion was too simple and rough, causing the local erosion and becoming an ulcer that was difficult to treat, which would make Ye Teng suffer. As a result, Heifu first repelled the Ba people in Yidao City, and then sent Ba Zhong to communicate with the various tribes, designed to kill Fan Qin and punish the chief culprit. The most wonderful thing was that he threatened the Ba people to follow him to Chanling, so that they could see the powerful strength of the Qin army. I think at least during the war to destroy Chu, the Yidao Ba people can be quiet for a while.

After the county magistrate and the county lieutenant were humble to each other, they joined hands and got on the same carriage and went into the city. When they drove into the "Dragon Gate" in the southeast of Jiangling City, Heifu found that in addition to all the officials of the government who came to greet them, there were also many students and people from the school who came to watch.

Among those students, there were many familiar faces to Heifu, including Qi Xia, Huang Tian and others who had clashed with him on the day of Shangsi Festival. They also saw Heifu in the triumphal procession and looked a little unhappy.

However, more people cheered for Heifu and other officers and soldiers who returned.

Although this battle was not a great achievement, it also prevented the Chu army from further threatening Jiangling and disturbing the lives of local people.

Ye Teng also stopped the convoy and made an exception to let some local elders come forward to offer wine to Li You. Li You seemed to enjoy this scene. Ye Teng asked the messenger to publicize his achievements to the people around him, saying that the county lieutenant led the army to repel the Chu army and keep Nanjun safe...

Watching this scene, Hei Fu also understood: "In addition to showing a friendly relationship with Li You, Ye Teng went to such great lengths to create a scene of our triumphant return in Jiangling City, which was also to wash away the haze after the failure of the first attack on Chu, so as to mobilize the enthusiasm of the people of Nanjun for war..."

This old fox really didn't miss any opportunity to perform, but it was because such a person was in charge of Nanjun that this place could be as safe as a rock.

At this time, more and more people came after hearing the news, and they were crowded on the side of the road, really to the extent of "fresh clothes in the morning and covered clothes in the evening". On both sides of the street, the two-story buildings also opened their windows, and the women of various wealthy families leaned against the doors and windows, peeking out. However, because Qin law prohibits throwing things from windows to the street, otherwise there will be a heavy penalty, so the women did not throw handkerchief sachets at the officers and soldiers.

At this time, Hei Fu raised his head and accidentally saw a window quietly opened on the side of the street in front of him. Something stretched out from the dark window hole...

He was not wrong, it was a crossbow! The private possession of crossbows was strictly prohibited by the people!

Hei Fu's heart was immediately pulled away from the cheerful atmosphere! It was raised to his throat!

He shouted loudly: "Assassin". At the same time, he picked up the crossbow on the car and aimed it at the window!

"Be careful!"

Not only Hei Fu, but also the knight guards on the left and right wings of the county governor and county lieutenant were highly vigilant and also noticed this scene. They all warned and raised their shields to protect the county governor and county lieutenant.

However, the speed of the arrow was faster than the human reaction, and the sound of the bowstring was covered by the cheers of the lively crowd. Hei Fu could only see the next moment, when the county governor Ye Teng and the county lieutenant Li You in the carriage in front of him fell to the ground almost at the same time!

The cheers of the entire Jiangling seemed to be cut off by the sharp arrow at this moment, and they were silent for a moment!