Chapter 9: The Tiger Tally of Great Qin

  "This official is Li Si, you must have heard of him." The twenty-six successors stood in three rows, and Li Si stroked his beard that had regained its luster, continuing to say: "You can join the Great Qin, it's a blessing for the Great Qin, and also a blessing for you."

  "We, the great Qin, have cultivated a unified military and agricultural system, with twenty levels of military merit and noble titles to dominate the world. We will then sweep across the six states!" Li Si raised his hand, and six attendants each held up a wooden box, inside which were bronze tiger tallies, twelve pairs in total.

  "The twelve strongest among you will receive a pair of tiger tally, with the right to command the Great Qin's Tiger Guards!" Li Si picked up a pair of tiger tally, opened and closed them with a crisp click. As he carefully wiped the tiger tally in his hand with his sleeve, he scanned these successors and asked in a low voice: "Who wants it? Step forward!"

  Gongsun Ce didn't think twice, took a step forward, saw that many people had also taken a step, and he took another step, only three steps away from Li Si. Several successors who saw him take a step also followed suit, while the original successors who had stepped out did not dare to be reckless and stood still, waiting to see the joke.

  Gongsun Zhan took another step forward, now only two steps away from Li Si. The followers who had been keeping up with him gave up. Even Guan Hai only took two steps and didn't dare to take the third one.

  "Brilliant! With the majestic aura of the Great Qin's Tiger Guards! These tiger talismans are treasures, and you who have inherited the military legacy will understand their significance clearly. As for how to use them, I won't elaborate." Li Si solemnly handed over the tiger talisman to Gongsun Ce, with a smile on his face. The smile had a hint of mockery, making Gongsun Ce's heart involuntarily vigilant.

  He stretched out his hand to receive the tiger tally, but felt as if a massive boulder of ten thousand jun was weighing him down, forcing him to kneel on both knees. After kneeling, this pressure suddenly disappeared, and he wanted to get up, but this massive force pressed him back again, involuntarily raising his head to look at Li Si.

  Li Si smiled and said, "This tiger tally contains the great fortune of our Qin state's military power. How can it be desecrated? Remember, do not humiliate it." Gong Sun Ce nodded with a serious face, without saying a word.

  "You're an arrogant person, I hope your abilities live up to that arrogance." Li Si looked down at Gongsun Zhan and stared into his eyes, saying: "Don't let me, Li Si, down. As the first military strategist to receive the Tiger Tally, I will give you a privilege."

  Li Si also said to the other successors, "Each of you has a task, which is to clean up and eliminate the evil spirits and chaotic troops around Xianyang. The Tiger Talisman will absorb their souls and gradually upgrade. The Tiger Talisman can create talisman soldiers, and the enemies killed by the talisman soldiers will have some of their souls strengthened themselves, some provided to the Tiger Talisman, and a small part transmitted to you for your cultivation."

  "The Hu Fu has a total of twenty levels, corresponding to the military merit and noble title system of the Great Qin. When promoted to the tenth level of Zuo Shu Zhang, one can establish a name for the symbol soldiers under their command. At the fifteenth level of Shao Liang Zao, one can enter the court and take on the role of a high-ranking official. At the nineteenth level of Guan Zhong Hou, one can choose a place in the Guanzhong area to be enfeoffed as a vassal king under the Great Qin. At the twentieth level of Che Hou, one can divide land within the territory of the Great Qin and become an independent country! Li Si's words made all the successors' blood boil with excitement. Now they just want to take the Hu Fu and go kill, kill, kill!!!"

  "I, Li Si, also came from a humble background. I won't say more about that. As long as you are loyal to Great Qin with all your heart, wealth and glory will naturally be yours in abundance. Look at the other states, how many of their high-ranking officials are from humble backgrounds? How many have been enfeoffed as marquises? Not a single one!" Li Si's words were passionate, striking a chord in the hearts of all the successors.

  "I suppose you can't wait any longer, so I won't say anything more. First, let me assign the task to you. Gong Sun Ce, the authority I give you is that you can choose a direction and go eliminate the evil spirits and rebellious soldiers!" Li Si was grinding down Gong Sun Ce's arrogance, making him kneel for a long time, which seemed like a good idea.

  "In the northwest direction, I'm going to rescue my father and mother as well as our clansmen!" Gong Sun Ce felt that Li Si was really detestable and responded loudly. Looking at Li Si's face, he felt indignant in his heart.

  "Alright, the northwest direction is yours, Gong Sun Ce. Don't tarnish the prestige of our Great Qin army, or you'll be in for a world of trouble!" Li Si said, helping Gong Sun Ce to his feet. Gong Sun Ce bowed and stepped aside.

  Li Si took two more steps forward and handed out the tiger tally to the five successors, who all knelt down on their knees due to the pressure brought by the tiger tally. One by one, they obediently accepted the tiger tally, bowed their fists in respect to Li Si, and stood aside.

  Li Si took another step forward and chose six successors, one by one, to pass on the Tiger Tally. Later, he assigned tasks to eleven successors who were waiting for orders with the Tiger Tally, with Gong Sun Ce in the northwest and one person in charge of each of the other seven directions. The remaining four people were divided into two groups and headed towards Chang'an, where it was very dangerous but there were more opportunities.

  "You haven't obtained the Tiger Tally, so you can follow them at will. When Xianyang New City is completed, you will also have one each." Li Si said to several inheritors with family members: "Your family members stay in Xianyang and will have civilian status. Your salary will be paid to their hands every week, and they don't have to worry about food and clothing, safety is also guaranteed. Of course, you can take them away. If you die and they are discovered by the Qin army again, all they can get is a slave status."

  He then said to those inheritors without family: "You are the same. My Great Qin was founded on farming and war, and within the country there are only four kinds of people: officials, soldiers, civilians, and slaves! What to do, you think for yourselves."

  Gongsun Ce carefully put away the tiger tally and found Xuelin and the others to tell them what Li Si had said. Xuelin blinked her eyes, thought for a moment, shook her head and said: "I'll listen to you, but my mind is all confused now, I can't think of anything." The other five women were also like this, they didn't know how to choose, although they didn't have the right to choose, they also had the right to think. Their decision would also affect Xuelin.

  If they follow Gong Sun Ce, first and foremost, they must ensure that Gong Sun Ce can survive, and only then can they think about whether they themselves can survive. Moreover, if there is danger, Gong Sun Ce will only protect Xue Ling and leave first, not them. If they stay behind, they will obtain civilian status and won't be enslaved, but they are unsure if Li Si will keep his word or not. So they are very tempted to stay behind.

  Gongsun Ce let out a sigh, he believed what Li Si said, they were safe staying behind. But he couldn't bear to part with Xue Ling, he thought it was safest to have Xue Ling by his side, so that at any time he could betray Qin and not be controlled. He also feared unexpected events, which would make him regret for the rest of his life.

  Looking into Xuelin's round eyes, he made a decision: "Stay behind, I'll bring back our families. It may be a bit troublesome on the way, and it's estimated that we can only return next year. You have to believe me, I will come back, and my family will also come back." His words made Xuelin feel sour in her heart, and the other girls also put their hearts at ease.

  Xue Ling pressed her lips together, hesitated for a moment and said: "If not, you'll be back." After finishing, her tears flowed uncontrollably down her chin and fell to the ground. Gong Sun Ce understood another layer of meaning in her words, nodded silently, took her hand and found Li Si. When they were processing their civilian registration, he quietly disappeared with the iron spear on his back and the statue of Dai Ji behind him.

  After Gong Sun Ce's back disappeared, Xue Ling was even more choked with sobs. Li Qingxuan held her in his arms and comforted her, saying: "He is a good man, good people live to be a hundred years old." Xue Ling nodded, then shook her head and sobbed, saying: "Not at all, he is a great villain, causing trouble for thousands of years, it's him who was being talked about."

  Li Qingxuan smiled and nodded in agreement. She envied this silly girl, thinking of her own past and couldn't help but let out a long sigh in her heart. Li Si stroked his beard and said, "If it was that easy to die after obtaining Lü Bu's legacy, would Lü Bu have given the legacy to him?"

  "Settled in?" Liu Wei leaned against a large tree, although it was Mid-Autumn Festival, the sun still shone brightly and made people feel uncomfortable. Gong Sun Ce saw a military jeep parked beside him, with a three-foot square black flag with white letters inserted on the roof, with a seal character "Qin" in the middle. The engine was still roaring, he got straight into the car, Liu Wei responded with a sound, climbed onto the driver's seat, and said while driving: "Six women, and an adorable little loli, how blissful!"

  "The wise men of ancient times were right, good fortune and bad luck are intertwined! Although happiness is a blessing, it's also a troublesome thing to settle down." The jeep drove slowly on the highway, which was littered with abandoned vehicles. Fortunately, the jeep had enough power to push aside the cars that blocked its way. Along the way, he muttered to himself, Gong Sun Ce closed his eyes and remained silent, while Liu Wei didn't find it boring.

  "Look, that's the end of those who have been enslaved!" Liu Wei pointed to the forest outside the highway, Gong Sun Ce opened his eyes. He saw groups of people, regardless of gender, cutting wood, and if anyone moved a bit slower, the overseers would go over and beat them with fists and kicks. Interestingly, many of the overseers were not Qin soldiers, but living people!

  "People's minds are like this now, no matter if it's the Qin army, Han army or American army, as long as the fist is big, there will be many party followers leading the way." Liu Wei spoke with disdain, looking at the group of people who had been reduced to slavery without any sympathy. In his eyes, these people were originally of this status, only they didn't have to worry about food and drink, and they did light labor, and had the right to choose what kind of labor to do. Now it's just that their work is fixed, turned into physical labor, that's all. Essentially, there hasn't been much change, they are still being ruled, like cattle, converting grass into meat, making cattle that people can eat!

  "We are lucky, that's all! We can't control too much, we just need to take care of ourselves and the people around us." Gong Sun Ce turned his head, took a glance, and said, closing his eyes again. He was very tired, his spirit had been tense in his dreams, and when he woke up, it was endless killing, doing things he had never heard of before.

  He killed many yin spirits, zombies, and even fifteen Qin swordsmen. It was truly an experience like a dream, fortunately it wasn't a dream. If it were a dream, when he woke up he would still be the same him. For the sake of his family's cotton field, running around and putting on a smiling face for those who didn't even have formal positions. For the safety of his family, he had to swallow his anger and remain silent.

  He has made up his mind, to sweep across the Western Regions, destroying everything in his path. He will return to the city where he spent his youth, kill those who deserve to die, and do as he pleases. Then, he will think about how to divide the land and grant fiefs. On his own land, he can sleep soundly without worrying that someone will come to demolish his house, collect taxes from him, or kill him for his flesh.

  Looking at Gong Sun Ce who was fast asleep, Liu Wei felt very pleased. This was a sign that Gong Sun Ce trusted him, and his heart couldn't help but fill with joy.