The most powerful emperor Liu Bang

Chapter 6 Qin Duxian Fish
Liu Bang has been working as the pavilion chief for several years, and the county magistrate Cao De is quite satisfied with him.In the winter of this year, Cao De called him over and said, "Seeing that the New Year's Eve is approaching, you should go on a business trip for me to Xianyang and give some gifts to the adults in Beijing."

"Good sir. It's just that I have never been to Xianyang, and I have never had contact with those adults. How can I contact them when I get there? I'm afraid I may miss your business." Liu Bang said.

The county magistrate said: "I asked Xiao Zhang from the yamen to go with you. He has been there before. It's just that this kid is sloppy, and it's okay to run along with him. It's always futile to let him do things alone, so I let you take him. I have a letter to the adults, and you can just hand it to them when the time comes, and they will receive you."

"In this way, I don't have anything to worry about. Thank you sir for trusting me, but this is my first time traveling far. Do you have any special instructions?" Liu Bang asked.

The county magistrate said: "You still know it well. Of course, there are special things to pay attention to. Remember: first, it is a long way to Xianyang. You should bring a few people with high martial arts skills to prevent you from being robbed by gangsters." .Take the main road along the way, and don’t take remote trails. Stay at government-run posthouses as much as possible at night, and don’t just stay in private inns. Beware of some people’s greed for money. Second, you have limited expenses on this trip, so save some money on the way , when you leave, you should bring more dry food. Just buy a bowl of hot water to drink when you have a meal. Third, I have wrapped up all the things I brought to Beijing. Each of the adults will have a share. You are on the way Don't move it casually, don't take it apart to have a look or take it out to eat, if the seal is moved or something is missing, I will know, and I won't spare you at that time."

"I will do as you say, don't worry, my lord." Liu Bang assured the county magistrate.

Liu Bang was of course very happy that the county magistrate entrusted him with such an important job. At the same time, this was a business trip to the capital of the country that he had admired for a long time, which was even more joyful.He told the news to a few close friends and asked them if they would like to go with them. It was the winter slack season, and there was no one who disagreed.Fan Kuai didn't even do business anymore, he would rather take the dog meat of a few dogs, and follow him to open his eyes.

Guan Ying, Wang Ling, Lu Wan, Xia Houying, Zhou Chang and others went with them.They hired two mule carts, which were filled to the brim with the county magistrate's stuff and some items they used on the road.The dog meat and other food that Fan Kuai brought were wrapped in snow and packed in several big bags, enough for them to eat for a month or so.Such a group of people chatted and laughed and hit the road.

When Qin Shihuang first unified China, most of the courageous people were attracted by those politicians to oppose Qin, so the social security seemed relatively peaceful for a while.Liu Bang and his party walked on the road for more than ten days, and nothing happened. They were very lucky, so their vigilance was a little relaxed.When they arrived at Mianchi at the junction of Guanzhong and Guandong, they were exhausted and stayed at an inn at night.This place is not far from Xianyang, but because it is the junction of the two counties, the people coming and going are a bit complicated.

The post station was originally a place to receive officials. It is reasonable to say that Liu Bang and the others have the customs clearance certificate from the county magistrate, and the post station should arrange food and accommodation for them.But it has always been like this from ancient times to the present. If you are an official from above, it goes without saying that you should be received. If you come from below to the top, the guards at the post station will not be so polite. They are often blackmailers who should be blackmailed. Those who should collect money generally have to scrape some oil and water down to collect money.

At that time, the dog meat in Pei County was already quite famous.Because Liu Bang brought little money, the officials who sent off the station along the way were all confessed with dog meat, and most of the people who got it liked it terribly.But Duxun, the Shou Cheng at Mianchi Station, never ate dog meat because he was a dog. Liu Bang sent him away with dog meat, which annoyed him, so he immediately told him to take it back.He saw Liu Bang saluting with big and small bags, but he was reluctant to take out a little to honor him, thinking that they must have come to Xianyang to give gifts, and he immediately became jealous.With this idea in mind, he pretended to be very enthusiastic and said solemnly: "You are official servants, and I set up this inn for you. Now that you are here, you should live and eat, and I don't want anything from you."

Liu Bang and the others thought they had met a good person, and thought that they were closer to Xianyang, and that the inn in Huangchenggen was more regulated than other places, so they stayed at ease.When it was time for dinner, there was soup and vegetables, and a large jar of wine was prepared for them.It would be nice to have some hot tea at some of the inns where Liu Bang and the others stayed.Liu Bang hurriedly asked the cook: "Do you treat officials like this here? How much does it cost every year?"

The cook replied: "It's all the same. This is at the foot of the emperor. It's no more remote than yours. The inn is extremely poor. All expenses here are given as much as you use, and you can get it from the account."

"There is such a good thing, it's really unbelievable." Liu Bang said, smacking his lips.

"Don't believe me, you can eat and drink at ease," said the cook.

Liu Bang and his group are all people who have never traveled far, so they don't know what the post station in other places looks like.Although Xiao Zhang from the county government came out twice with the county magistrate, he didn't have to ask where to eat and drink with the county magistrate, and his servants made good arrangements, so he didn't know the rules of the inn near Xianyang.People who have been walking all day want to drink some wine to relieve fatigue at night, and people in Kuangpei are all gluttons, so how can they keep their mouths shut when they encounter such an occasion.Guan Ying and Fan Kui both had big appetites, and they drank a bowl of wine into their stomachs in one gulp, and did not take a break for three breaths.They had a full meal that night, the best they had eaten since they went out on the road.They thought they had arrived at a civilized place, so they put the two carts in the courtyard and went to sleep with peace of mind.This sleep was so sweet that he didn't even realize that there was a huge movement outside.

It turned out that all of this was deliberately arranged by Du Xun, and the cook who cooked was also in collusion.They have done this kind of thing many times. They are warmly entertaining the guests, letting the guests relax their vigilance, and then stealing property while the passengers are asleep.The reason why they didn't dare to seek wealth and kill their lives was because they felt that the movement would be too loud, which would easily cause shocks in the court and would be detrimental to themselves.There is another deep reason for this. Most of the Post Offices in the Qin Dynasty were people who had committed crimes and were exiled. They also hoped that one day they would be reappointed by the higher authorities, so they did not dare to do too much bad things. .This Du Xun was such a person. He was originally an admonisher, but because he talked back to Prime Minister Li Si, Li Si read a book in front of the first emperor, and he was sent to Mianchi guard station three hundred miles away.Officials in Beijing are used to taking advantage, how can they adapt to a place where there is too little oil and water, so they change their methods and do some tricks.

Because he drank too much yesterday, Wang Ling got up to take a urinate at dawn, and found that the carriages and horses in the yard were gone, so he immediately shouted.When Liu Bang and others heard the shout, they hurried out with their pants in their hands. They were dumbfounded when they saw the situation. The door of the inn was wide open, and everything was looted by others.The people at the station also came out when they heard the sound, Liu Bang asked the postman, "Where did our things go?"

Du Xun said, "I don't know, I didn't hear anything at night."

Liu Bang said: "Only you know that we live here. Now that there are few things, it must be done by your people."

"Why do you talk like that? There are a lot of customers coming and going in this post station every day, and anyone who has less stuff suspects us, so how can I open this post station? You don't like your things yourself, so how can you spoil others casually." Post Cheng said.

As soon as Fan Kui heard that Yicheng complained that they were not optimistic, he immediately became angry and said, "There is no one else in your courtyard. It wasn't that you did something wrong, could it be someone else?"

Seeing Fan Kui's fierce face, Du Xun hurriedly said, "You don't care what you say, big brother. Does this inn receive any guests every day, so why can't they be others? Our people are all here now. If we were the ones who took the things, we would have walked for a long time, and we would still be here waiting for you to ask for them? It’s really unreasonable!"

Liu Bang said: "Don't listen to his sophistry. Let me ask you, the gate of your yard is closed at night. If you didn't open it yourself, how did this thing get out of the gate?"

"I... I... My gate also has people coming in and out at night, it's not always closed. Even if it's closed, people from outside can climb over the wall and come in." Yicheng said in a creaking voice.

"I am me." Seeing that all his people were there, Liu Bang winked and shouted, "Brothers, don't listen to his strong words anymore, let me do it! Xiao Zhang closed the door."

Xiao Zhang ran over and closed the door in one stride.There were not many people at the post station, so Fan Kui grabbed Du Xun's hair with his left hand, pulled him back, then grabbed his neck with his right hand, and shouted: "Come here, you." Cheng took control.The rest of the people also grabbed the people at the post station one by one.

Liu Bang stepped forward and said to Du Xun: "See, you people are not opponents. If you don't hand it over, you will be strangled to death now. Do you want your life or something?"

"You... you... where did you come from to be robbers, so unreasonable." Du Xun struggled.

"Are we being unreasonable? This is still light. Fan Kuai, show him some strength, and ask if he did it." Liu Bang ordered.

Fan Kuai pinched it hard with his hands, and the postman retched immediately, his face flushed immediately, and he stammered, "I said, I said, I know where the things went, but we didn't do it."

"Hmph, I still want to deny it, let someone take out the thing quickly, if you lose a hair, you will be killed immediately." Liu Bang said with a sigh of relief when he saw that Yi Cheng recognized it and knew the whereabouts of the things.Fan Kuai let go of his right hand, and Du Xun ordered his servants: "Go quickly and pull the things back."

It turns out that the people at the post station have formed a group with the local ruffians in the nearby villages. Anyone who sees something in the passer-by but cannot show it is in place, they will use this trick to steal the item aside and hide it. If the stolen guest is weak If they don't pursue it, they will earn it. If it is like today, they will return the things.This is also a method of extortion.

After waiting for a while, Liu Bang and his two mule carts were sent back.Zhou Chang counted his things, but one bag was missing.That package of things was divided up by a few hooligans that night, and the people at the post station went to ask for it, but they said it was lost.This is because they have fully understood the weakness of Yizhan, knowing that the Yizhan can't do anything to them, and the Yizhan will compensate them for the lack of things. Anyway, they can't do it for nothing, so they boldly intercepted it.Knowing that he was blackmailed by some ruffians again, Yi Cheng stomped his feet and said, "These rascals, why are you so disrespectful!"

Fan Kuai quickly grabbed Du Xun's hair again, and asked Liu Bang, "Third brother, I lost a bag of things, what should I do with this bird man?"

"Ask him, should he die or lose money?" Liu Bang said.

When Du Xun heard that the other party was willing to ask for money, he hurriedly said: "Several heroes spare their lives, if there is less stuff, I will double the compensation."

"Then spare his life and ask him to pay more money. It's a punishment. Let's see if he will do such a thing in the future." Liu Bang has made a clear plan at this time. As long as he has money, he can't buy anything in Beijing. Gifting souvenirs to others may not be welcomed by others, so it is better to give money directly to save trouble.Today, Yicheng took the initiative to lose money, and just took the opportunity to ask for more, maybe he could make some money, so he readily agreed.

Several people insisted that the thing was worth five thousand dollars, and Yicheng and his subordinates gritted their teeth and pooled up ten thousand dollars to pay. It was really a waste of money, and almost all the money they had spent extorting customers for a year was spent. .

With this training, Liu Bang and the others didn't dare to be careless for the rest of the journey, and they took turns arranging shifts to guard things during the stay.After walking like this for a few more days, I arrived in Xianyang.

Xiao Zhang has been here twice with the county magistrate, and stayed for ten and a half months each time, so he is quite familiar with the situation in Xianyang.They found an inn to live in first, and the next day they went to the acquaintances of the county magistrate to post Baimenzi.The official position of these acquaintances is the servant Zhou Qingchen, so the county magistrate naturally gave him more things.The others are all subordinates of Jiuqing or lower-level officials.There was also a eunuch named Zhao Ang in the palace. Liu Bang gave him half of the money that Yicheng paid for the lack of a piece of things, but he was praised by him: "This little virtuous son is getting more and more good at doing things." , tell him, I will not reply, thank you." Liu Bang was still a little uncertain at first, but now he believes that money is the best thing, and everyone in the world does not love it.

Liu Bang also wanted to give presents on behalf of the county magistrate this time, so that he would be lucky enough to meet the high-ranking officials in the capital and gain insight, but he didn't expect that those gentlemen would not be interviewed at all, but let them sit and drink some water in the porter's room. After the host writes a reply letter, the housekeeper will see off the guest.This may also be the reason why the county magistrate no longer comes in person.You know these superiors, as a subordinate, you have to show something, otherwise they will not be enough to speak ill of you in front of the emperor, but they are very airy, and sometimes they get angry when they build something, so the county magistrate So I adopted a refined method and asked others to give it to me. Anyway, I can’t see the real Buddha, so I just need to be polite.But this time, Liu Bang felt a world of difference from these high officials.

It's the end of the twelfth lunar month after the business is done.Liu Bang calculated that even if he went back, he would not be able to go home in time for the New Year.He discussed with a few people that it would be better to spend a few days in the capital and see how people celebrate the new year.It was the first time for several people to travel far away, and their moods were always in a state of excitement, especially when they arrived in Kyoto, everything they saw was new, and they wished to stay here for two more days, so naturally Liu Bang agreed with them as soon as he talked to them.Although Xiao Zhang has been here before, he still wants to take another in-depth tour, and he has only heard about the Efang Palace, so he plans to take a look this time.

There are two vertical, three horizontal, and five streets in Xianyang City. There are many shops on each street, crowded with people and heavy traffic. It is really prosperous.At night, the lights of thousands of houses are brilliant.Especially seeing that the New Year is coming, everywhere singing and singing, singing and dancing, full of joy, all show the first emperor's martial arts and martial arts.Liu Bang looked at the people in Beijing, the men were all high-spirited and high-spirited, and the women were gorgeously dressed and elegant, and he suddenly thought: I can be a Xianyang person in my life, and I will be satisfied.

Since Qin Shihuang ascended the throne, the hexagram officials in charge of astrology and divination in the imperial court kept reminding him that the southeast has the emperor's spirit. Measures had been taken as early as the first king, but they have not been removed.As a result, he traveled to the east many times to suppress, but each time he returned without success.These days Liu Bang came to the capital, and the two heavenly spirits converged in one place, and the sky over Xianyang was full of rays of light and colors every day.The divination officer was not sure at this time, and only said that the sky was auspicious, and the emperor would be overjoyed.But Qin Shihuang was frightened, like a thorn in his back, restless.So these days, I have to walk around the street every day, saying it is to understand the people's sentiments, but in fact it is to relieve the restlessness in my heart.

This day, Liu Bang was wandering with a few people on the North-South Avenue, when he suddenly heard shouts from behind, and someone in the crowd shouted: "The emperor is here." Then several guards galloped past on tall horses, and then The emperor's imperial chariot came slowly, surrounded by people in front of and behind the chariot.I saw Qin Shihuang sitting in the car, wearing a black suit and a tall hat, with an expressionless face and looking ahead.Seeing the emperor walking by, the people on the side of the road fell silent.Unexpectedly, Zhou Chang stammered out a sentence at this time: "And, and, and, the emperor is really... so majestic."

Liu Bang couldn't help but said casually: "Wow, that's what a man should do!"

Qin Shihuang just happened to pass by Liu Bang at this time, and when he heard what Liu Bang said clearly, he turned his head to see what someone said. At this time, Liu Bang was also looking at him, and his eyes met. "A cry.

Left and right hurriedly asked: "What's the matter, Your Majesty?"

Qin Shihuang pointed with his hand in a panic: "There are assassins!"

The left and right guards hurriedly looked in the direction Qin Shihuang pointed, they were all unarmed spectators, there were no assassins there.Liu Bang realized that Qin Shihuang might be stimulated by his own words, so before the others could react, he squatted down and walked away.

The guards arrested several suspects on the spot and went back to show Qin Shihuang. Qin Shihuang said no, and said: "I saw a person with a very special gaze, which made me very uncomfortable. It seems to be the person I have been looking for. You want Search the whole city to find this man."

Liu Bang once heard from his parents that he had experienced a life-saving mole cricket accident when he was just born. Although he didn't believe that he had the good fortune to become the emperor, he also felt that this incident was a bit strange.So Qin Shihuang glanced at him just now, which made him alert immediately.After returning to the inn, he left without saying anything.The person accompanying him asked why, and he said, "I can't tell, hurry up, you will die if you leave late."

A few people didn't look at Efang Palace, and hurriedly left the city that made them dream about.Later, Efang Palace was burned down by Xiang Yu, leaving eternal regret in their hearts.

(End of this chapter)