"It's finally me!"

After being called to Yilu, he heard that he was on the service list, and he immediately became excited.

He is eleven years younger than Xi, which is the age of masculinity and bravery, but since Fu's nationality, he has only served twice in the county and the county seat of Jiangling, in addition to military training, is to dig ditches for the city wall of the official palace, what is the difference between what he does and the prisoner? Qin Guoshang has military exploits, and whenever his fellow township party members return from the front line and show off the curtains on their heads and captured weapons to him, they are full of disbelief in their hearts, and they feel that with their own skills, they will be able to make greater military exploits than them!

So he couldn't wait to say to the two brothers: "I'll go back and pack my clothes and armor......"

"Panic what!"

Dare to stop him, and said strange things: "Others are happy when they hear the war, because they are poor and destitute, and they can only hope for military merit promotion in order to obtain land grants." My family is different, although my brother has divided the family according to the law, you and I are still under the same household registration, even if we are separated in the future, half of the land under your name can be allocated to you, are you still afraid of starvation? ”

He didn't know what he meant, so he only muttered: "Yes, the two brothers have achieved something, one is a prison peng, and the other is Lizheng, why should I be the head of Qiantou for a lifetime and plant land for a lifetime?" ”

Although Qin established the country by ploughing and warfare, the former can only ensure food and clothing, and the latter is the only channel for most people to rise.

"Confused!" Dare to point at him and reprimand: "You just take care of your own majesty, but you don't want to think about the fine gentleman in the family? Don't think about your two-year-old child? ”

Ma Qiang argued: "Brother's words are not right, I just want to make Xijun's face shine, and I just want to pass on a title to my son, so I have to go to the front line." In the past ten years, every time I was conscripted by household, it was my two brothers who took the lead, and I had to stay at home, and now it is my turn! ”

Dare to say: "Fighting a war is different from what you imagined, when I was in the Wei Kingdom, how many of my fellow villagers died of frostbite and disease along the way?" When they arrived at the battlefield, there were corpses everywhere, five or six out of ten who died in battle, two or three out of ten who returned home, and there was no shortage of people with broken arms and sores. If you don't believe it, ask the eldest brother, what did he see when he went to the Pingyang Army? ”

Of course, it was to witness the mountain of corpses and the sea of blood, and Zhangshui did not shed for it, but Xi still did not say a word, daring to think that the eldest brother was biased towards himself, and his momentum was even stronger: "If you go to meet with an accident, your soul cannot return to your hometown, we can only set up an empty grave for you in front of your parents' graves, and widows and orphans cry day and night!" ”

But he couldn't listen to it, and said sharply: "So what? Didn't two brothers take care of Xijun for me and raise my eldest son! ”

"You, you, you!" Dare to tremble with anger, turned his head to Xi and said: "Big brother, look at him, with his temperament, if he goes to the battlefield, he must be the kind of recruit who will be killed by arrows in the first round of charge!" ”

Xi finally spoke: "Dare, although what you said is the truth, but it is clearly written on the slip that it is the turn of the military service this time, according to your opinion, is it to take advantage of the power of the right to tamper with the order, so that the person can escape?" ”

Daring to shrink his head, he knew very well that he was very happy and principled, so he defended: "Brother, my family has just had a funeral, and the three-month filial piety period has not yet passed, is the law really so strict that it cannot be accommodating?" Why not let the next batch go again? ”

Without waiting for joy and anger, he first shouted loudly: "I don't agree!" ”

He stood up, ignored the daring, and only stared at Xidao, who was a parent: "When I was young, I always loved to fight with the children in the neighborhood, and when the eldest brother came back, he punished me to kneel in the courtyard and taught me, 'As a Qin person, you should be timid in private fights and brave in public battles'." Later, I became sensible, and I easily did not fight with the mouth, and now that I finally have the opportunity to fight, does my eldest brother also want me to desert? If that's the case, you'll never be able to hold your head up again! ”

What's more, if he wants to serve in a distant place, it is also because he wants to get rid of the familiar environment, as his mother's most beloved youngest son, a table and a chair at home, and a chicken pen in the vegetable garden in the courtyard will remind him of his mother's busy figure before her death, and the dignified seven-foot man will turn sideways and secretly wipe his tears in the middle of the night. Maybe only the blood and fighting on the battlefield can make you forget all this?

Xi took a long breath and sighed: "Well said, dare, you are not as good as the little brother." ”

Dare to be anxious: "Big brother, I am also thinking about him and this family......"

Xi waved his hand and said: "I know that you have always loved Miao, Mi was ignorant when he was a child, and he was often beaten by Weng Fang, you always knelt down and said that he didn't bring Mi well, hoping to share half of the punishment for him; When he was young, he got into a fight with his neighbors, and his mouth was bloody, and when you found out, you were going to vent his anger with a hoe...... When you get married, you are also the first to be married, and you are happier than you are married. After Weng died, this family was maintained by you, and after finishing the chores, you ran home to accompany your mother. ”

dare to sit and hang his head silently, only clenching his hands into fists to suppress his emotions; He was no longer indignant, he only scratched his head and peeked at the second brother.

Xi's voice was solemn again: "As an elder brother, it is naturally not wrong for you to cherish your younger brother, but as a righteous person, it is a big mistake to be selfish!" ”

"There are clouds for the way of officials, and there are five losses for officials, three of them are good at taking officials, and five of them are called settling down and forgetting about the official mansion. You've done it all this time. ”

Xi patted the second brother on the back, and his voice softened: "Since it's your turn to serve, let him go, the idea of tampering with the order, it's better to put it away, but I haven't had time to break the law in my heart, so it won't be a violation of the law, but if you really dare to do it......"

"I'm going to kill my relatives in righteousness, and I'm the first to blame you! Let you be punished for shaving off your beard, fined for a pair of armor, and then removed from your position! ”

"No." dared to know that Xi was not just talking, so he no longer argued and accepted his brother's reprimand, while Yu was overjoyed and bowed his head to thank his eldest brother for his reasoning.

"Mi, don't be happy too early, it's good to be at home for a thousand days, worry about going out for a day, and when you leave Anlu and arrive in the north, you will know the hardship." Xi lightly criticized the younger brother, and immediately took out a slip from under the case and handed it to Mi.

"You are better than me and Dare, and your training is also good when you are in service, and you have been promoted to be the commander of the army, in those things, I have nothing to teach you, but this volume of "The Laws of War" was copied by my brother a few days ago, before the expedition, you are proficient in recitation, do everything according to the law, do not violate the law!"

……

Although he said that "there is nothing to give to him", before his younger brother joined the army, Xi still sent the coachman back to Anlu County, sent the armor and short sword at the bottom of his box, and solemnly handed it to him the night before he left.

When he drew his sword out of its sheath, he found that it was a good iron sword, and he immediately couldn't put it down.

"The iron sword is more difficult to maintain than the copper sword, you have to take care of it, in addition to the fellow countryman's robes, the sword in his hand and the armor on his body are the most helpful." Xi told him again: "You are still unfamiliar with this sword, so you need to practice more and become familiar with it until it can be like an arm and finger." ”

As for Dare, although he never wanted his younger brother to join the service, he still asked his wife to prepare a heavy bag of dry rice, let him take it to eat on the road, and stuffed the bundled winter fur into him, and scolded his younger brother when he was too heavy: "Zhao Di is colder than Wei Di, which is like An Lu, it rarely snows all year round, and you only hate this fur when the time comes!" ”

At the end, he said, "When you get to the place, write more letters to your family!" The pavilion chief will bring it back for you! Hum! ”

The next day, the young men who served in the Lizhong Shiwu unit left the village under the leadership of the local pavilion chief. Xihe dared to send his younger brother outside the door all the time, and stopped for a long time, watching him drift away. But this heartless boy has long been immersed in the imagination of making meritorious achievements, hanging a sword in his backpack, walking at the forefront with his head held high, and he didn't think to look back at his two brothers.

Xi saw that he dared to worry, knowing that he was still afraid of what to expect, and when the time came, he didn't know how to explain to Weng and Fei, so he patted the second brother: "The pavilion chief has found me, saying that he will take care of him for us, and don't let him be stupid, of course, it will be within the permission ......of the law."

Dare to reluctantly bow his head, Xi continued to comfort him: "When Weng served, he went to Changping, and there were famous generals and warriors in Zhao State, who fought desperately with the Qin army, but you can imagine how tragic the situation was. ”

"It's different when you and I serve, I go to Yecheng, you go to Wei, and you fight with the wind, most of the time you only have to chase the Zhao people and the Wei people."

"Now it's your turn, although the service is far away, but it is just to guard the new land and suppress the bandits, and there is no need to go to the front line to fight, which is not dangerous. Thousands of Qin people have the courage to fight in public wars and go on a campaign for the king for several generations, so that there is today. So if you dare, you just let him go. ”

Because of this, Xi will intersperse his family history with the chronicle of national events, and he can vaguely feel the subtle connection between himself, his family and the prosperity of the state.

"Among the six kingdoms, Han and Zhao are dead, and the rest of the princes won't last long. Maybe when the next generation of my family grows up, there will be no need to fight again, there is only one king in the four seas, that is the king of Qin, the Qin officials rule according to the law, the head of the Qian, the people feast, and there is no longer the pain of death from afar......"

Dare to be stunned, his heart has always been at home, and his eyes are only limited to the inside, and he has never thought about these things.

On the one hand, he admired Xi's public heart, and on the other hand, he hated him for being selfless, and finally he could only turn all kinds of emotions into a complaint: "The great truth is like this, but now the autumn harvest is approaching, and he is gone, and he did all the farm work in the family in the past, and now I have to hire another helper...... No, you have to have two to make up for the work of the Tuo! ”

"Huh."

smiled happily, rolled up his sleeves and said, "Am I not idle?" How about the rice in the field, let my brother harvest it together? ”

……

At the end of August, Anlu County ushered in the harvest season, outside the walls of Anli, the yellowed ears of rice hung their heads in the breeze, and the fields were full of villagers who were busy with their waists, holding stone knives or iron sickles, cutting down the rice one by one, trying to harvest the crops before the weather changed.

A middle-aged man dressed as a farmer struggled to straighten his waist after cutting an acre of land, beating his sore back, and suddenly there was a chirping above his head......

"Yo, that's not a happy ...... Hi Doctor! ”

On the ridge, a few people carrying heavy burdens passed by this field, and when they saw the "peasants" in the field, they couldn't help but be stunned. I heard that he returned to his hometown to guard his mother's filial piety, why is he still in the field now? The Qin State was highly hierarchical, and the people hurriedly unloaded their burdens and saluted him.

I didn't like to take the shelf, and smiled at the villagers: "The young brother is far away, and if he dares, he is busy with internal affairs, so I will come to help." ”

When everyone saw that they didn't take the shelf, they also joked: "Dare to really have face, and all the dignified prisoners came to help him harvest rice." ”

I was not overjoyed, and chatted with a few fellow villagers about the gas and harvest, and after a while, they said goodbye one after another. The few domestic servants who worked in the fields with Xi were very surprised to see Xi so close to the people, is this still the prison Peng Xi, who is known for his "strictness" in the county and sends criminals to Chengdanqing at every turn? At this time, as soon as he turned around, the helpers hurriedly accelerated the movements in their hands, not daring to relax for a moment.

Xi is not as old as he was at the beginning, and he is easily tired, so he can only sit on the ridge with his waist and legs, and watch the young man walk like a fly in the acre. When he was young, his family was not particularly good, and he was the eldest son, so he often had to work in the fields with his mother, but since he became a servant, he rarely had the opportunity to work. No, even the action of cutting rice is a little rusty, and his hands have long been accustomed to holding a pen.

Even so, the thick earth and the fragrance of the rice still make Ki feel intimate and comfortable.

Looking over his own acres and looking at the hundreds of acres of rice fields around him, his younger brother dared to wear a hat and run around with the "Litian" officials who were in charge of agriculture in the middle school. After more than half a year of hard work, only one shiver away from the harvest, on weekdays, I encountered secretly drinking, and dared to turn a blind eye, but it was absolutely forbidden during the busy farming season, in case there was a gathering to drink and delay the harvest.

The "cow chief" who was in charge of the public cattle in Lizhong came to discuss with the families to send him some of the remaining poles after the rice was cut, and then led the buffaloes to the river to wash. From this month on, he will pay special attention to the cows, because in October according to the "Stable Law", an annual bull race will be held in the township: those who raise cattle with excellent performance and fat and good health will be rewarded, and if they raise thin cattle and raise dead cattle with the lowest grades, the head of the cattle will be reprimanded and even whipped.

All of this was to ensure the harvest of farming, and Qin established the country by ploughing and warfare, and farming was the cornerstone of war. After arriving at this location, you can clearly see the source of the flow of Great Qin's power: the grain overflows the land, gathers in the county under the recruitment and collection of local officials, and properly stores it in accordance with the "Cang Law" and "Effect Law", and then flows into the sea like a hundred rivers, and with the order of the King of Qin, it is pushed by the conscripts and sent to the front line, reaching the rice bowl of his younger brother Ti and other soldiers.

After resting for a while, the wives and children of the family brought food and water, the daring wife carried a heavy bucket, the wives carried the black clay mustaches full of hot rice, and the happy wives carried baskets full of pottery bowls and bamboo chopsticks.

Xi's two sons followed, and the eldest son, "Won", was nine years old, obediently holding a jar of pickles, which was Xi's favorite accompaniment. The second son, "Hui", was born in the eighteenth year of the king, at the age of three, the little one walked on the ridge of the field, stretched out his hand to chase the fluttering butterfly, almost fell down, and was dragged by his mother......

Looking at this scene, I couldn't help but smile on my face, and the grief of my mother's death has been diluted a lot by this quiet and comfortable life.

Immediately rejoiced and thought again, it was Qin Law who ensured that everything was in order, right? It draws a line of rules and regulations for each of the capitals, ensuring that no one dares to commit adultery and disturb the quiet lives of others. As a prison boy, Xi is one of the defenders of order in the county.

In the past few months, he has finally been able to enjoy the peace that he has participated in casting, although after the first day of October, Xi has to return to the tense trial case, but this break makes Xi feel even more that everything he has done is worth it......

He beckoned the servants to stop what they were doing, and it was important to eat well first, and he took the two children to pull the rice grains in the bowl, but he saw a knight coming at a gallop on the road in the distance, and shouted a warning while hurrying, and the villagers who were carrying the grain home avoided it one after another.

Xi frowned and stood up, the smoke and dust raised under the horse's hooves like a stone that broke Anli's peace and tranquility. Seeing that the knight was getting closer and closer, and came to the outside of his own field, Xi was about to scold, but when the knight saw Xi standing on the ridge, he quickly stopped his horse, and then jumped down, ran over quickly, and waved at Xi from afar: "Xijun! ”

It turned out to be the order history of the county prison department: Le. In the past month or so, Le has traveled back and forth between the county seat and Yunmengxiang several times, and every time he returns, he has official business to ask for joy. It's a shame that the county is quite peaceful, and there are no big cases, so I like to give a few words and let them deal with it according to their usual practices.

But today, Le came in such a hurry, he immediately climbed onto the ridge after confessing his sins to Xi, and said in a low voice: "The county monarch wants me to summon Xijun back!" ”

Xi solemnly bowed his head, the county order clearly approved his bereavement leave, and he had not sent anyone to urge him before, but suddenly like this, something urgent must have happened. Xi Baole walked to the side and asked him, "What happened to be so in such a hurry?" ”

Le ran all day, still gasping at the moment, he took a deep breath, leaned into Xi's ear and whispered: "It's news from the county that the king has been assassinated in Xianyang!" ”