The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

After returning home and taking office as the lieutenant of Anlu County, Hei Fu had no time to do anything else, but had two banquets first.

The first banquet was hosted by the magistrate and the county magistrate of Anlu County. It was a public banquet held in the magistrate's residence. Only the "three giants" of Anlu were present. The county magistrate Yong He sat in the chair, and Hei Fu and the county magistrate sat on the left and right respectively, with the right seat being the top seat. After Hei Fu entered the door, he acted like a junior, saying that the county magistrate was older than him and had a higher position than him, so he asked him to sit on the right.

Speaking of which, the prefectures and counties of Qin State were different in this regard. In the prefectures, the prefecture governor was the chief, and the county lieutenant was the second. The county magistrate was only a six hundred stone official, which was far from the level of the governor and lieutenant, but in the county, the county magistrate was slightly higher than the county lieutenant...

The maids carried food boxes and filed in, serving food to the three people. The female musicians of the county magistrate's family also played the piano and blew the sheng, singing and dancing.

Heifu is no longer the ignorant vagrant he was more than a year ago. As an official in the county, he has participated in many "upper class" occasions and even had banquets in the county governor's mansion. Now he has learned to behave politely and speak appropriately, which has changed the inherent impression of him as a "warrior" by the county magistrate and the county magistrate.

Qin is a typical "only the state officials are allowed to set fires, and the people are not allowed to light lamps". Group drinking is strictly prohibited among the people. But when your rank reaches a certain level, drinking is as common as drinking water, provided that you are rich enough, because the price of wine in Qin is still very expensive.

In addition to eating and drinking, the three of them were also talking about gossip. The county magistrate and the county magistrate praised Heifu's youth and promisingness. He was the youngest county lieutenant they had seen in their ten years of officialdom. They said that they had long seen that he was a sharp awl. Once he entered the county lieutenant's pocket, he stood out!

When the routine banquet was about to end, the county magistrate Yong He brought Hei Fu and the county magistrate to the courtyard, clapped his hands, and someone drove a carriage to the spacious courtyard...

"All magistrates, chiefs, magistrates, and lieutenants have their own special carriages, which are provided by the stables. I asked someone to pick a new carriage. County lieutenant, take a look, are you satisfied?"

"Thank you, county magistrate!"

Such a small matter can be done by the stable clerk, why arrange it personally? How could Hei Fu not know that the county magistrate was trying to show him goodwill? He hurriedly thanked him.

However, he found that this carriage was a little different. He had seen the county governor's carriage with four horses, and his previous carriage was a carriage with two horses, but he had never seen a carriage with three horses. The three horses, black, red and yellow, were squeezed together in this strange way...

Seeing Heifu's puzzled expression, the county magistrate Yong He took the opportunity to stroke his beard and said with a smile: "It is said in "Xiao Rong" that four horses are in full saddle and six reins are in hand. Qiliu is the middle horse and Li is the chariot... The carriage driven by these three horses is like Anlu County! And the three of us are like these three horses!"

He pointed to the red horse in the middle: "The county magistrate, the largest one is 600 dan, and the smallest one is 400 dan. They are all in charge of governing the people, showing kindness and encouraging righteousness, prohibiting evil and punishing evil, handling lawsuits and suppressing bandits, caring for the people's current affairs, collecting taxes in autumn and winter, and reporting to the county to which they belong. The county magistrate is the head of all officials in the county, so the serving horse in the middle is like me..."

Then he pointed at the two black and yellow horses on the left and right.

"The chancellor is in charge of documents and warehouses. The lieutenant is in charge of thieves. If there is a thief and the chief is not appointed, he will investigate and find the criminals to find out the cause. In addition to the thieves, he also has to command the army. These two horses on the left and right are like two kings!"

Yong He is a man of some knowledge. He used the metaphor of "Qin Feng" very well and unconventionally, which made Hei Fu have a deep impression of him. This county magistrate is not simple!

As he said, the power structure at the county level in Qin State is indeed like three horses driving a yoke. The county magistrate, chancellor, and lieutenant seem to have separate powers, but they also have many intersections.

Yong He said earnestly: "The carriage needs the cooperation of three horses to move steadily. If one horse wants to go forward, one wants to go back, and one wants to go left, the carriage will be unable to move forward, and may even fall into the ditch. Although the carriage of Anlu is not big, it also carries hundreds of miles of land and tens of thousands of people. My lords, we also need sincere cooperation!"

At this point, Yong He understood the implication, that is, he hoped that Hei Fu could keep pace with them.

Hei Fu's goal is to train soldiers, and he also needs the assistance of the magistrate and the county magistrate, so he immediately bowed and said: "Hei Fu is of humble origin and a junior. In the future, he will need the guidance of the county magistrate and the county magistrate in all matters in the county!"

Hei Fu expressed his attitude, and the county magistrate and the county magistrate were relieved. They were afraid that Hei Fu was too young and liked to do things recklessly. He relied on the support of the county and acted independently in the county. Seeing that he was so calm and profound in the officialdom, they were relieved, and the banquet became cheerful again.

However, Heifu was also thinking about an interesting question during the dinner.

"If the county government is like a car and the county officials are like horses, then who holds the six reins and controls its direction?"

The county governor? The King of Qin? Or the Qin law itself?

...

After dealing with his superiors and colleagues, he had to gather his subordinates who had been separated for half a year under his command again. So the next day, Heifu also held a banquet in his county lieutenant's mansion, inviting all his old subordinates, including his younger brother Jing, Li Xian, Xiao Tao, Dongmen Bao, and Ji Ying.

Today, everyone came with his own people, so there was no need to be polite, so they sat together. After not seeing each other for a long time, they talked about old times happily and showed Heifu's official seal at the table...

Heifu is now "four hundred stones", so his seal has been changed from a hundred stones of blue ribbon to a yellow ribbon. Everyone carefully showed it as if holding a pearl, and envied it.

This is awe and envy of power, but everyone also feels that this official seal has their hard work. So under the influence of alcohol, everyone began to show what they had done in front of Heifu intentionally or unintentionally.

"It's really not easy in the past six months."

Although Ji Ying was still skinny, he was newly married and had a good life. His face gradually became fuller and rosy. He began to talk about how he took advantage of the opportunity of being a rural postman to secretly open many private letters from the children of the Yun family in official documents in the past six months, and found a lot of negative information about the children of the Yun family.

Heifu smiled: "I remember that when I was in Huyang Pavilion, I almost opened an anonymous letter."

Everyone laughed.

"I am no longer the same person I was back then."

Ji Ying liked to brag, and hurriedly said: "Now I can open a letter and then restore it again, and others can't see the flaws!"

He even performed a show. He found a letter that Heifu had not had time to open. After observing the ink on it, he actually carved a seal with a radish on the spot, and then skillfully opened the seal rope of the letter, checked the contents inside, and restored it again. The newly made red ink on the seal rope was so real that Heifu's brother was stunned...

"You are just a trick."

Dongmen Bao looked disdainful: "Yunman has several manors in Beijiao Township, where there are dozens of guests. After the pavilion chief arrested Yunman, those guests tried to make trouble. I led the township pavilion guards, local people, and the county soldiers led by Xiao Tao to surround the manor. After a fight, we put down the rebellion... Xiao Tao, you say something!"

Xiao Tao still spoke little, and only stammered at the end: "If... if we talk about the most effort, it's Li Jun."

No one disagreed with this point. When Heifu was away, it was Li Xian who was responsible for coordinating them. In order to overthrow Yun Man, they united and did not become a pile of scattered sand. During those days, it was Li Xian who designed to lure Yun Man to the Guan Temple and captured him.

So Heifu asked everyone present to toast Li Xian with a glass of wine!

Li Xian smiled bitterly and said, "In that case, I also deceived the head of the Li family. Now I am not despised by the clan members. I am very satisfied. How dare I take credit for it?"

He replied to Hei Fu, "If the county lieutenant had not found out Yun Man's serious crime in the county, our trivial crimes would not have been able to bring him down. Now that the head of the pavilion has returned and has obtained the position of county lieutenant, our plans for the past six months have not been in vain."

"That's right."

Dongmen Bao also said, "From now on, the Anlu County Lieutenant's office will be under the final say of the county lieutenant. Our good days are finally coming! I don't have to be as cautious as before, afraid of being caught by the Yun family?"

Ji Ying also encouraged, "When will the county lieutenant go to the county? It's just right to take us with you and show off!"

"I came to Anlu to serve as the county lieutenant, not to rest and show off."

Hei Fu put down his cup and said seriously: "This time I am here to train more than a thousand young men in Anlu into a powerful army! You may not know this, but after the autumn harvest, Qin and Chu will go to war again!"

Except for Li Xian, everyone else was a little surprised, and then looked at each other.

"Another war?"

They reacted later and bowed unevenly, saying: "We will do our best to assist the county lieutenant in training!"

Amid the chorus of responses, Hei Fu was sensitive to a hint of something strange, that is, everyone's words and deeds did not seem to be as enthusiastic about the war as before, but instead revealed a sense of success and satisfaction...

"These guys have started to slack off after only half a year away from the army?"

Hei Fu was a little uneasy, but then he reacted.

"Being content with the status quo is normal, isn't it!"

After all, they are just a group of people from the county and township, who have not received a good education and have not much knowledge. Unlike when they left Anlu two years ago, when they were all poor and most of them had no titles, they all got promoted and made money in the war. Now that Yun Man, their old enemy, has been killed, they have fallen into a state of losing their goals, and even feel that "this life is enough".

For the upcoming war, everyone is not very enthusiastic. That's right, since everything is available, why should they fight to the death? Even if they are not sparrows, they are at most wild ducks in the county and township. Hei Fu can't ask everyone to have lofty ambitions!

If his own confidants are like this, how can he train a strong army?

So Hei Fu thought for a moment and suddenly smiled and said, "It's been a long time since I had a good chat with you two. It's rare for us to get together here, so today we have to have a good chat!" He stood up and said, "In the past, we were born in humble families and often suffered from hunger and cold. We either worked hard to make a living or tried to avoid death in the ditch. Now we are all Qin officials and have obtained titles. Although our family wealth is not much, it is enough for our wives to be rich. Now that we are no longer troubled by our livelihood, I want to hear about your next plans and ambitions. Everyone, please speak out your aspirations here!"