Chapter 52: Li Wei and Zhou Qing

  The Great Qin will not assign the revived Qin troops to Dong Zhuo, as they are the future backbone of the Great Qin and need time to grow. Before that, the Great Qin will not hand them over to outsiders to command.

  Dong Zhuo only had 500 troops, and Li Si let Dong Zhuo take this small force to conquer the northwest, purely to humiliate himself. The military soul cannot be assigned to Dong Zhuo, but strong slaves can be assigned.

  Li Wei, Xue Ling's fellow townsman from the northwest. Twenty-one-year-old Li Wei was still a sports star and sunshine campus grass just a month ago. Now he has disheveled hair, a dirty face, and his clothes are all tattered from high-intensity labor.

  "Little one, we can turn over now!" Meng Kui's Mandarin with a Sichuan accent was filled with longing for freedom. He was the original imperial army lieutenant who had been guarding the gymnasium, originally intending to protect the Li family's young lady and gain great merit. But that night, the imperial court collapsed, their highest command received Li Si's ultimatum, and the entire army surrendered to Great Qin.

  "Haha, so what if I've turned over a new leaf! The woman I liked has become someone else's wife!" Li Wei rubbed the black mud on his face, with an expression of indifference.

  He felt wronged when he thought about it, having just put on his military uniform and not knowing whether it fit or not, and even the legendary gun hadn't been touched before following the main force to surrender to the Qin army.

  Gongsun Ce's news has spread like wildfire among the slaves in Xianyang, and it was revealed by other inheritors' family members while searching for their relatives among the slaves. The slaves who heard the news kept spreading it, exaggerating and embellishing it. Even Gongsun Ce's wife, who was his classmate in his youth, had her information dug up.

  Among the slaves, all men envied Gong Sun Ce's martial arts skills, and all women envied Xue Ling's good fortune. Li Wei was one of them, he only envied Gong Sun Ce's good luck, in his opinion, everything about Gong Sun Ce was just due to luck. If he had obtained Lu Bu's legacy, he might have done even better than Gong Sun Ce!

  "Haha, this time the one recruiting soldiers is none other than General Dong Zhuo of Pingxi! Think about it, Dong Zhuo leads his troops to the northwest and encounters Gongsun Zan who has inherited Lü Bu's legacy. What kind of sparks will fly? Just thinking about it makes me look forward to it!"

  For Meng's slightly distorted mentality, Li Wei was not surprised. Under the oppression of the Qin army, becoming a madman is also normal.

  "Watch your mouth! If Qin Jun hears you, he'll have to chop off your head!" The speaker was Zhang Qiang, originally a lieutenant colonel in the imperial army, Meng Ke's direct superior and also his big brother.

  "Surroundings are all our brothers, this can't be said!" Meng Ke's mouth was nonchalant, but his eyes still swept around, seeing Qin Jun standing far away, his courage was boosted.

  In their midst, Dong Zhuo led two hundred flying bear heavenly soldiers to this empty land in the center of Xianyang New City. Under a sunshade umbrella, Dong Zhuo sat upright with his large golden sword, with Hua Xiong and Li Ru standing behind him.

  Next to him sat a handsome young man with a green jade forehead band, exceptionally handsome. He wore a silver armor, draped in a large red cloak, holding his helmet in his hand, looking at the dense prisoners of war with some tension.

  Looking at Guo Liang sitting beside Dong Zhuo, many prisoners of war flashed many embarrassing words in their minds. Sneaking a peek at Guo Liang's eyes also became obscene. Guo Liang wore a suit of armor, but his short hair still exposed his modern identity. Coupled with Dong Zhuo's bad reputation, it couldn't help but make people have an extra thought.

  "Liang'er, when selecting soldiers, besides physical strength, bravery is also needed! Physically strong soldiers can only patrol the borders and catch thieves; brave soldiers can become the elite of the empire!" Dong Zhuo pointed at the countless war prisoners and slaves in front of him, his face calm and indifferent.

  "Gao Shun also said this when selecting the heavenly soldiers, he said that governing the army is first and foremost about military discipline. With strict military discipline, one can be sure to win every battle!" Guo Liang naturally knew that Dong Zhuo was teaching him his military experience.

  Dong Zhuo heard the name of Gao Shun and just smiled, saying: "Gao Shun is quite capable, but too rigid. In my Flying Bear Army, the strongest fighting force was his two hundred men. Among three thousand people, Li Jue and Guo Si are not as good at commanding as Gao Shun."

  They immediately began to select soldiers, and one hundred Flying Bear Heavenly Soldiers lined up, standing in front of the prisoners. Hua Xiong held a large sword, his thick eyebrows and big eyes, half his face covered with whiskers, his facial expression fierce and menacing.

  "I am Hua Xiong, the one who was chopped by Guan Yu in 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'! Of course, in the official history, I was killed by Sun Jian. No need to waste words, you all know why I, Hua Xiong, have come here."

  "My master is going to choose the strongest among you and reorganize the elite of Xiliang!"

  "It's very simple, every time a hundred people are selected to take the Flying Bear Warrior test! Those who excel will directly become the main general's personal army and obtain the Flying Bear War Soul; those with excellent qualifications can serve under the command of the Western Liang generals; those who pass will be reorganized into the Great Qin Garrison Army!"

  After a moment, when everyone had absorbed this information, Hua Xiong turned his head to look at Dong Zhuo. Seeing Dong Zhuo nodding, he waved his large hand and the Flying Bear Soldiers stood in a row, holding their spears and halberds in formation.

  "The first hundred men, fall in!" Huaxiong shouted loudly.

  These prisoners of war were originally from the imperial court army, deeply understanding military discipline. After understanding Hua Xiong's intention, they lined up in rows of a hundred people and stood neatly.

  Although there were a hundred people in their hearts, they stepped out with a hard scalp. They dared to stand in the first row, and it can be seen that their desire to obtain the war soul and change their identity was so eager. They stood one-on-one with Fei Xiong Shi, not knowing what the next assessment would be.

  "Kill!" Flying Bear Soldier suddenly shouted loudly, the spear in his hand fiercely stabbing out, directly pointing at the face of the prisoner two meters in front of him.

  "My Flying Bear Army, only the bravest and most daring can join. If I can pick out a thousand Flying Bears from these 30-40 thousand prisoners of war, I will be satisfied!" Dong Zhuo gazed at over thirty people who did not dodge, but instead faced the incoming spears and halberds head-on. He was also delighted in his heart, for such a selection method, the results of the first batch were the most authentic. Those who could withstand the first round were all men with unyielding determination.

  Hua Xiong picked out twenty people from the thirty or so standing in front of him and said to them, "You have passed! Go there and line up!" The remaining ten or so who were not selected were either stunned with fear and unable to react, or else they were physically weak.

  Hua Xiong then said to the other sixty people who had dodged in time, "You have done well. Go and stand over there. Later, my Western Liang generals will come to select from among you."

  Hua Xiong's batch-by-batch testing, the fiftieth round, finally arrived at Li Wei and others. Li Wei and others already knew the assessment method, all wanting to become Dong Zhuo's personal army.

  After all, they know that starting high is more important than anything else. As the original imperial court army, they also knew the huge difference between the orthodox and non-orthodox systems.

  Li Wei's eyes swept over Guo Liang with a dull gaze, and he made a vow in his heart that one day he would also attain such status and become a superior being!

  He stared at the flying bear knight in front of him, making this flying bear knight feel uneasy. This flying bear knight was very strange, why was this guy different from others, without fear? The flying bear knight with doubts in his heart stabbed out a gun, unable to focus, and this stab went far away.

  Li Wei only felt a black shadow flash before his eyes, followed by a sharp pain in the center of his brow, and then a warm flow flowed down from the center of his brow, passing through his high nose wing, lips, all the way to his chin.

  He reached out to catch the fresh blood dripping from his chin, and Li Wei pushed away the gun muzzle that was still in front of him. He lowered his head, stuck out his tongue, and licked a mouthful of blood accumulated on his palm. The Flying Bear warrior opposite him cursed inwardly at the pervert who had caused him to lose his grip, while a chill ran through his heart.

  "Very good, you are a Flying Bear Warrior!" Hua Xiong walked over and exchanged a glance with Li Wei for a moment. Seeing Li Wei's dull eyes, a bright red line split a well-proportioned face in two. Hua Xiong suddenly thought of a kind of person he had often dealt with when he was alive: a dead soldier!

  Afterwards, the hundred flying bear warriors and the flying bear warriors standing behind Dong Zhuo exchanged places and continued to challenge the soldiers. After challenging a thousand flying bear warriors, Dong Zhuo took Guo Liang back to his mansion. Unexpectedly, when they passed by the city wall, a laboring slave suddenly threw away the tool in his hand and ran to their front, bowing his head and worshiping.

  "In the green hills next week, he is an old acquaintance of General Gong Sun. That night, he and General Gong Sun Ce got lost, and now he hopes that Lord Guo will lend a helping hand!" At this time, his appearance was such that although his clothes were badly damaged, his face was clean, unlike other laboring slaves who had messy hair and dirty faces.

  Zhou Qing had a strange encounter at the White Sheep Pavilion and was captured by the Qin army. He thought he would spend the rest of his life laboring to death among the earth and stones, but then Gong Sun Ce's legend gave him immense hope. He inadvertently found out about Guo Liang, knowing that he followed Gong Sun Ce around, and heard that his status was not low.

  Although he saw Guo Liang and Dong Zhuo walking together, although it was strange that the successor of Lü Bu's legacy had joined forces with Dong Zhuo. But he knew this was an opportunity, if he let it slip away this time, who knows when the next chance would come. Or even if there would be a next time, which was still unknown.

  A foreman holding a whip rushed over, raising the whip to strike, but Dong Zhuo stopped him. The foreman retreated with a sullen expression, eyeing Zhou Qing with malice. If Gong Sun Ce were here, he would surely recognize this middle-aged man - it was none other than the security chief from that night!

  He gained recognition from the Qin army with difficulty and became a criminal officer. He finally got rid of the heavy physical labor, with only one bag of rice and grain as his monthly salary. Adding to that the family's labor earnings, the whole family didn't have to worry about starving to death.

  His family can eat their fill and still have leftover grain to exchange for other household items, this kind of life makes him very satisfied, he doesn't want to lose it. In order to continue this kind of life, he is willing to sell his own soul, let alone become a supervisor?

  Guo Liang furrowed his brow and fell silent, he didn't recall Gongsun Ce mentioning any other relatives in Xianyang. To avoid making a mistake, he asked: "Tell me what Big Brother looks like, if you're right, I'll think of a way to get you out."

  Dong Zhuo was worried that he had not given Gongsun Zan a good opportunity, and seeing this, he smiled and said: "Why bother, give him a slave soldier quota, after making merits on the front line, he can naturally use his military achievements to exchange for freedom."

  "General Gong Sun is a northwest person, and he also has a good friend with the surname Ma. He is over 1.8 meters tall, very strong, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, a handsome face, and a deep voice, with a boldness that surpasses others." Zhou Qing hastily said, looking up at Guo Liang, who had a hopeful expression on his face, but saw Guo Liang frowning.

  Because he said all of which every slave knew, this point seems again cannot become strong evidence.

  Zhou Qing knew that time was precious, so he quickly added: "That night, he asked me to go to the White Sheep Temple in the north of the city and wait for him. He said he had to go to Xianyang University to rescue a good friend of his. This point can also be proven."

  Zhou Qing knew that the information he knew was about the same as others, and now every slave in Xianyang, even every modern person staying in Xianyang knew about Gongsun Ce. And he suddenly remembered the overseer behind him, the overseer became his lifesaver, and he quickly pointed it out.

  The middle-aged foreman is so fierce, just because he doesn't want to lose his current job. His nature is not bad after all, so he is also willing to help Zhou Qing get out of trouble.

  His forty years of life experience have taught him that having one more friend means having one more path, and he also knows the principle of having someone in power to make it easier to be an official. He is resentful that he cannot climb up to Gongsun Ce's big tree, but as long as he can climb up with Zhou Qing, when Zhou Qing climbs up to Gongsun Ce, it will be equivalent to him climbing onto Gongsun Ce's big ship.

  So the middle-aged foreman instantly knew what to say, he nodded and said: "We and General Gong Sun were in the same district before. That night was still thanks to General Gong Sun's rescue, otherwise we might have become a pile of white bones long ago. And at that time, General Gong Sun held an iron halberd in his hand, not Fang Tianhua Halberd!"

  The last words of the middle-aged foreman made Guo Liang believe what they said, because everyone knew that Gongsun Zan had obtained the legacy of Lü Bu and thought he still had the halberd in his hand.

  Seeing Guo Liang nod, Dong Zhuo found the Daqin Tunjiang who was in charge of guarding this group of slaves and directly said that he wanted to take away Zhou Qing. That Tunjiang had a difficult expression, Dong Zhuo's Pingxi General officer position made him look up, but the slave Zhou Qing was the national property of Daqin, not something he could decide on.

  After Dong Zhuo wrote the summons and stamped it with his General of the West Conquering Army seal, the garrison commander agreed to let them pass.

  Hearing that he had regained his freedom, Zhou Qing looked up at the sky and laughed loudly, with tears streaming down his face.

  The shackles on his body were gone, and the shackles in his heart were also gone. Zhou Qing only felt that he was clear-headed and refreshed, as if his cultivation had made another breakthrough, and he was overjoyed, thanking Guo Liang and others repeatedly.

  Looking at Zhou Qing following Dong Zhuo's departure, the middle-aged foreman was very envious. Dong Zhuo also had the intention of redeeming him, he feared the front-line battle, fearing that after his own death, his family would find it even harder to make a living.

  He believed that as long as he and his family held on a little longer, Zhou Qing would bring them freedom after he became successful.