The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

"The county's right lieutenant is looking for me?"

This was something Hei Fu had not expected. On the way to the official temple with General Chen Bai, he could not help but ponder.

"What could it be? Could it be..." He was moved in his heart, but pretended to be ignorant and knew nothing, and followed General Chen Bai into the county lieutenant's office.

The county-level government of Qin was generally divided into three major areas: civil economy, justice, and military security, which were respectively managed by the county magistrate, county magistrate, and county lieutenant. Among them, the county magistrate was the chief official, and the county magistrate and county lieutenant were the second-rank officials. They were all ranked 400 stones and had their own separate administrative offices and official offices.

Hei Fu had been to the county magistrate's official office and the county prison lobby. Now he came to the county lieutenant's official office separated by a wall. The same thing was that there was no decoration, and the officials came and went in a hurry. The difference was that the military color here was heavier.

The guards at the door stood facing each other in armor, motionless, and walked straight through the second hall. The security gradually became tighter. The soldiers holding spears stood guard every three steps and every five steps, giving him the feeling of entering a military camp.

Come to think of it, the duty of the county lieutenant was to take charge of public security and catching thieves. In wartime, or when the border was conscripted for corvée, he had to take all the able-bodied men in the county to the front line, which was equivalent to the Public Security Bureau and the People's Armed Forces Department in the future. Thinking of this, Hei Fu felt a little close to it.

Before entering the lobby, Chen Baijiang and Hei Fu were stopped by the lieutenant, who asked them to remove their weapons and then take off their shoes before entering.

Chen Baijiang was in front, walking in small steps with socks on his feet, while Hei Fu was embarrassed because he didn't even have a pair of socks!

Hei Fu had to walk barefoot on the cold wooden floor, but it still made a squeaking sound. Fortunately, he had taken a cold shower before coming, and paid special attention to his feet, so there was no smell of dirt on them, otherwise it would be even more embarrassing...

It was afternoon, and the sun shone into the lobby through the window. Hei Fu saw that on the left was a bookshelf with bamboo slips, and on the right was a "Lanqi" with five kinds of weapons, spears, halberds, bows, swords, and halberds, which were dyed red and very conspicuous.

In the center of the lobby, Du Xian, the right lieutenant of the county, was wearing casual clothes and a bamboo leather crown on his head. He was sitting behind the desk, reviewing the bamboo slips with a pen.

Don't think that military chiefs are all warriors. In the Qin State, in addition to the lieutenants and prison guards, the county's patrol officers and pavilion chiefs, who were responsible for social security, were all led by the county lieutenant. Every month, the cases and documents for catching thieves sent from various townships and pavilions can fill up the desks. How can you handle these official duties without some knowledge?

Heifu also saw that beside the county's right lieutenant, there was not only his copper seal and black ribbon, but also half a tiger talisman... This was a symbol of military power.

"Report to the right lieutenant, the official Heifu is here..." General Chen put his hands together and bowed to the ground, and Heifu had to imitate him.

"I, Heifu, greet the county lieutenant!"

Du Xian kept writing, looked up at Heifu, and nodded: "Are you here? Sit aside, no need to be restrained."

It was called sitting, but in fact it was kneeling on the side of the hall. Although the cushion under his knees was quite soft, Heifu could only imitate General Chen's appearance, with his buttocks slightly touching his heels and his upper body straight. This is called "kneeling", to show respect for people of much higher status than oneself. According to General Chen Bai, this Du Xian was not only the right lieutenant, but also a 6th-level official doctor, one level higher than Xi whom Heifu had seen before.

Du Xian did not stop his work, so Hei Fu could only sit there awkwardly but politely. During this time, Chen Baijiang leaned over to Du Xian, looked at Hei Fu, and said something to him...

All Hei Fu could do was to observe and guess the intentions of the county lieutenant and Chen Baijiang. The right lieutenant Du Xian's methods could be seen from the fact that he punished Bin Baijiang that day and left the left lieutenant Yun Man speechless. He was not an easy person to deal with.

He guessed right. Du Xian had been observing Hei Fu secretly since he entered the door.

According to Chen Baijiang, after Hei Fu got a lot of money, he did not eat and drink, but gave it all to his brother to take home. He should be a grateful person to his family.

During the days of corvée labor, he was also conscientious and did not do anything out of the ordinary. He was quite calm and did not get carried away because of his success.

Before coming to the temple, he had a quick bath to wash off the dirt from the labor. After entering the hall, he did not look around like some rural peasants, fearful and timid. Instead, he followed Chen Baijiang and performed etiquette in a strict manner, which showed that he was a smart person who knew respect and inferiority...

Du Xian always believed that he was different from the nepotistic Zuo Wei. He looked at people not only by their abilities, but also by their nature. Such people were worthy of support.

So Du Xian finally put down the bamboo slips in his hand and asked: "Gongshi Heifu, I have heard that you are good at martial arts and can fight three people. I want to ask you, can you use the five weapons?"

Behind Heifu is the "Lanqi", the so-called five weapons are the spear, halberd, bow, sword, and halberd, the five most common weapons of this era.

Hei Fu answered truthfully: "Hei Fu served for the first time and did not come into contact with military weapons, so he can only use a sword. He can pull the hunter's bow, but he can't shoot accurately."

"It's enough to know how to use a sword. The sword is the best short weapon and a gentleman's weapon."

Du Xian smiled and asked, "I heard that you can read and write? Where did you learn it?"

"When I was young, my family was well off. I learned it with my brother from an old man in the village."

"How many characters can you recognize? How many characters can you write?"

"I can recognize most of the characters in official documents and laws, but I can only write three or four hundred."

Hei Fu answered one by one. After asking Hei Fu for a while, Du Xian went straight to the point: "This captain doesn't like to beat around the bush. I called you here today to ask you if you are willing to be an official?"

Without hesitation, Hei Fu immediately responded, "Yes!"

After more than a month of personal experience, he finally understood that in Qin, the people with the highest social status, besides the meritorious soldiers, were the Qin officials of all sizes.

As a Qin official, not only was he a grassroots officer when he joined the army, but he could also accumulate merits and get promoted on weekdays, and he had more opportunities to be honored with honors, so he always wanted to get into the Qin civil service.

Hei Fu bowed and said, "I couldn't ask for it! But I was born in a humble family and couldn't enter the school to learn the laws and regulations, so I had no way to be an official!"

As far as Hei Fu knew, although Qin did not have the imperial examination, there were many ways to enter the officialdom. In addition to being honored with honors on the battlefield, there were also "appointment" and "recommendation". However, the former was the patent of the second generation of officials such as Meng Tian, Wang Li, and Li You, and the latter was equivalent to the "selection of filial piety and integrity" in the Han Dynasty, which required you to have a family background, reputation, and wealth in the local area before you would be recommended by the villagers.

Most of them would enter the school, learn laws from the law officials, and then enter the official career after passing the examination, which is equivalent to the cadre training class in later generations. However, there is a hard requirement for admission, and they must be "officials", that is, the children of officials.

For Heifu, who came from a poor family, none of the above ways would work. He had secretly hoped that an official would recommend him, or that he would be recruited by the government because of his outstanding work, but such opportunities were rare.

Unexpectedly, today the county right lieutenant suddenly asked him such a question. Could it be that he was finally going to stand out?

"No way? Haha, I don't think so."

At this time, Chen Baijiang, as Du Xian's confidant, took over the conversation tactfully: "Now, there is such an opportunity, Heifu, do you still remember the head of Huyang Pavilion?"

"Of course I remember."

How could Heifu forget him? If it weren't for this guy, the more than one month in the county should have been very peaceful.

Chen Baijiang said: "Last month, he was fined as a ghost because of the lawsuit with you. After that, the position of Huyang Pavilion Chief became vacant. There was no suitable official to succeed him in the county, and no one in the local area recommended a candidate..."

He paused, looked at Du Xian, and after getting his nod of agreement, he continued:

"At this time, the right lieutenant immediately thought of you! He also informed the county magistrate about your capture of the thief and your victory in the military exercise in ten days. The county magistrate asked the chief clerk to recruit you as an exception. If you can pass the official assessment, you can be tried as the Huyang Pavilion Chief! Heifu, such a God-given opportunity is in front of you, why don't you thank the right lieutenant quickly!"

------------