Offering advice

  The tiger eats the hedgehog, and there is no way to open its mouth. Just like this folk idiom says, after the Tiele people went through great difficulties to water their horses in the Wei River, they had to face this heavily guarded Xianyang City with deep moats and high walls that were difficult to attack, so they seemed at a loss and could only change their target of attack.

  On the south bank of the Wei River, those waterfront palaces and halls that were extravagantly decorated were normally off-limits to the royal family, although there were also stationed troops, but they did not pose an obstacle to the 500,000-strong Iron Cavalry.

  Under the instigation of Ye Fei and other treacherous officials, the vanguard of the Tie Le army made a detour, crossing the Wei River from a shallower point upstream on horseback. They then began to wildly plunder the Upper Forest Garden and nearby temples, palaces, and imperial gardens. They looted countless gold, silver, and treasures, accumulating mountains of silk, satin, and various precious antiques. Later, Ye Fei, seeking to vent his personal grievances, secretly collaborated with some Tie Le generals who had been tempted by these riches. Under the cover of night, they set fire to the imperial garden of the Great Qin Empire, which had been built up over generations.

  When the newly enthroned Grand Duke of Qin, now known as the 85th Emperor of Qin, saw from the top of Xianyang City the fierce flames and thick smoke rising south of the Wei River, he thought of the glorious buildings and imperial ancestral temples left by his ancestors, all reduced to ashes. Having suffered such a great humiliation, he, who had always been weak in character, burst into loud wailing in front of everyone.

  As the old saying goes, good fortune never comes in pairs while misfortune never comes alone. Bad news always follows one after another.

  The main force of the Rouran army gathered in the west, after suffering heavy casualties, broke through the Great Wall defense line as expected, entered the Hexi Corridor and then struck east to break the Longxi prefectures. It seemed to have the intention of joining forces with the Tiele people to take Chang'an.

  As the explosive news arrived, the entire Xiangyang City was in an uproar, like an anthill that had caught wind of smoke and fire. At this time, all living creatures in Xiangyang City that could move sensed the approaching threat of death and began to seek a way out. However, the martial law decree issued by the emperor in the early period was not lifted for even a day, and no one was allowed to leave the city. In the end, all the panic, resentment, and fear of the people were concentrated on the new Emperor Qin 85th.

  To be frank, this middle-aged man with a relatively weak personality and mediocre talent was lucky to have survived until the emperor's death without being overthrown by his brothers who were eyeing the throne.

  Indeed, Qin Shi Huang was not a bloodthirsty tyrant nor an indulgent ruler who only cared about his own pleasure. At the very least, he had intelligence and moral standards that met those of normal people. However, it is precisely because of this that he fell into a predicament even more unbearable than that of his ancestors.

  If the eighty-fifth emperor of Qin was a tyrannical dictator who disregarded the lives of others, he should have insisted on the decree to lock down the city and not allow anyone to enter or leave. It can be seen that relying on Xianyang's complete city defense works and more than 100,000 elite Qin soldiers, as well as civilians temporarily recruited for labor service, would be enough to resist the threat of the Hu cavalry from the south. If this new emperor was a thoroughgoing fool, he could have let go of his hands and feet, pushed all thorny affairs to the ministers to handle, and returned to the palace to enjoy the leisure time, waiting for the final answer given by fate.

  If we follow common sense, it is unlikely that the imperial ministers who have not yet made good ideological and material preparations to surrender to the new barbarian masters would allow things to develop to such an irretrievable point.

  The problem is that neither of the above two assumptions has actually occurred, and the situation is sliding irreversibly towards the worst possible outcome.

  Perhaps it was true that the 85th Emperor of Qin sympathized with the hardships of the people in Xianyang, and despite the strong opposition from the courtiers, he issued an edict to cancel the previous martial law order, allowing the people in the city to escape. Of course, although the opposition from the ministers was strong, their attitude was not firm, and many of them were secretly considering whether they should let their families disguise themselves as ordinary people and mix with the commoners to leave the city together. Therefore, they did not persist in their opposition. Otherwise, this new emperor, who was relatively weak-willed, would have found it difficult to overcome the opposition from all the officials and complete this major event.

  The strongest fortress in the world is often breached from within. The continuous flow of people from Xianyang City quickly caught the attention of Ye Fei, a prominent and accomplished bandit leader.

  After the failure of the uprising in Hebei, which was suppressed by the Qin army, Ye Fei sent a few trusted assassins to infiltrate Xianyang. He had planned to emulate the assassination of Emperor Wu of Han, but before they could act, the 84th ruler of Qin had already died after ingesting a golden elixir.

  When the imperial court of the Great Qin Empire allowed the common people to leave the city, Ye Fei guarded outside the city and contacted a subordinate who came out to report the news, thus inquiring about the situation inside the city.

  Xianyang, as the capital for a thousand years, naturally has abundant grain reserves. Within a year, it can support nearly one million civilians and soldiers without any food shortages. However, this time the Tiele cavalry arrived too quickly, and the civilians didn't have enough time to prepare firewood in advance. Many families had grain but no firewood, so they negotiated with the city gate guards, going out of the city at dawn to chop wood and then returning to cook their meals.

  Upon learning this news, Ye Fei couldn't help but feel overjoyed. Having studied military books and strategies since childhood, how could he not know of similar battle examples?

  "This is a good opportunity given by heaven, if I don't take it, I will be blamed for it."

  Facing the overjoyed Ye Fei, his subordinates were not so optimistic. After hesitating for a moment, the man in front of him, with a dark complexion and calloused hands, looking like a farmer, said in a low voice:

  "Your Majesty, you are allying with those barbarians, this is like plotting with a tiger for its skin!"

  Upon hearing this, Ye Fei was quite unconvinced and shook his head saying:

  "Don't mention plotting with a tiger, I'd rather drink poison to quench my thirst. Our entire Ye family was slaughtered by that old dog's butcher knife. If we don't avenge this grudge, what face would I, Ye Fei, have left to survive in this world? You needn't say more."

  Seeing that it was hopeless to advise his master, this loyal and devoted retainer changed the subject and said:

  "So... what do you plan to do?"

  At this time, Ye Fei sneered and said with a cold smile:

  "Just now you said that the city gate guards, in order to avoid accidents, people going out must pile up firewood and hay in the earthen jar city, and can only take it away the next day, right?"

  "Your Majesty, those corrupt officials are still demanding a bribe before allowing the bodies to be taken away. The people in the city curse them as 'extortionists reaching out from their coffins'."

  With a joyful laugh, Ye Fei turned serious and said:

  "Very good, you come closer and listen."

  After listening to a few whispers in his ear, the dead soldier looked at Ye Fei with some doubt and said:

  "......Your Majesty, is this plan feasible?"

  He let out a mouthful of murky air and said indifferently:

  "For the time being, it has to be like this. That old dog's mausoleum was built under the supervision of that wicked monk Pudu Ci Hang, and I heard that it is full of hidden mechanisms and secret passages, as well as evil spirits and other sinister methods to prevent grave robbery. If we wait until the Dog Emperor is buried, and the Dragon Stone falls into place, just relying on our abilities, don't even think about touching a single hair on his head again. Without Qin's old dog head, what can I use to make offerings to the hundreds of vengeful spirits in my household?"

  The loyal dead men of the Ye family were all orphans raised by the aristocratic families from a young age. In their eyes, there was only the Ye family, and everything else could be ignored.

  When Ye Fei heard that he was avenging the deep-seated grudge of the Ye family, regardless of the cost, this dead warrior also felt the same way. He immediately turned over, knelt on the ground, bared his upper body and pointed to the sky as an oath, saying:

  "Some are willing to die for their lord, and rush into boiling water or walk through fire, without hesitation."

  At the sound, Ye Fei patted his subordinate's shoulder with great approval and said in a deep voice:

  "Go back and tell everyone to be careful with their safety, don't be stingy with money. I have ten taels of Ma Tzu gold here, take it carefully and use it to bribe the soldiers guarding each city gate. If things go wrong, leave immediately from another direction, do not delay."

  "Yes, I understand."

  Ye Fei nodded and said:

  "Alright then, go back! Be more careful on the way."

  A flame of hatred burns fiercely in Ye Fei's chest, a force that can drive him to take the road of no return. So never underestimate the heart of an avenger. Although it is as fragile as glass, it is absolutely sharp and can hurt both others and oneself.

  After making a preliminary plan, Ye Fei returned to the camp and changed into an iron collar man's Hu attire, mounted his war horse and rushed to Da Khan Si Jie Duo's large camp.

  This time, the Rouran people swept across the southern bank of the Wei River, plundering large numbers of imperial palaces and gardens. What they obtained was not only treasures like gold, silver, pearls, and jade, but also a considerable number of noblewomen from the imperial family of the Great Qin Empire. These aristocratic women were forced to wear semi-transparent gauze skirts and perform dances in the tents for the Rouran Khan Shi Jiong. Although their dancing skills could not compare with those of the professional palace maidens, the barbarian conquerors had a special fondness for this sort of thing. The more they ravaged and humiliated these high-born beauties, the more it made them feel the joy of victory.

  Long heard that these noble ladies of the imperial family, now fallen to become dancing girls and singing courtesans, had miserable fates. Yeh Fei, who harbored a deep hatred for Great Qin, did not care about their miserable lives at all.

  All the way, Ye Fei walked into the account with his eyes down, knelt on one knee to Iron Tiele Khan who was above him, and then opened his mouth to say:

  "Great sweat, are you still worried about Xianyang?"

  Upon hearing this, the emperor's expression changed and he sat up straight, waving his hand at those around him. The attendants nearby understood and led away the idle people in the tent, along with the dancing beauties and musicians.

  Before long, the outer layer was wrapped in three layers of fine white sheep's wool felt, and the inner layer was laid out with more than thirty layers of high-quality Shu brocade, and the luxurious tent finally quieted down.

  Si Jie Du looked up and down at Ye Fei for a few moments, vaguely remembering the past achievements of this excellent Qin Jian. Just like a capitalist looking at an employee who can create surplus value, Si Jie Du also showed a warm and gentle smile, saying loudly:

  "Oh, what strategy do you have to capture Xianyang?"

  "Hehe, of course there is a way."

  His face lit up with joy, he clapped his hands and burst out laughing. He stood up, paced back and forth, and said in a loud and clear voice:

  "Alright, if you can give me a good idea, I'll reward you with thirty camels' worth of gold."

  After the conquest of Guanzhong, the Tieli people made a fortune and when Si Jiedu rewarded his subordinates, he didn't bother to use cheap cattle and sheep for counting anymore, and instead directly smashed down gold and silver.

  With a single-minded desire for revenge, Ye Fei was not very interested in wealth and fame. However, in order to dispel the suspicions of others, he still deliberately put on an air of being honored and humbly accepted Si Jue's promise. Then, Ye Fei added:

  "There is a way, but you have to agree to one small condition for me."