Chapter Fourteen: Iron Eagle Sharpshooters

  Cao Wu Shang is a man who can't keep secrets in his belly and has a narrow mind.

  However, the person is quite good, with a heroic spirit. Although his skills are not particularly high, when he sees something that doesn't meet his eye, he can't help but jump out.

  When it comes to friends, there's no need for words.

  In Pei County, however, Cao Wushang didn't have many friends. Everyone knew he looked down on Liu Bang, but strangely enough, Liu Bang's popularity was unusually high. Liu Jiao and Cao Wushang had drunk together twice, so they basically understood the situation with Liu Bang.

  It is said that Liu Bang was also a wandering knight in his youth, and the person he admired most in his life was Wei Wuji, the King of Xinling.

  He was once a famous heroic warrior under Zhang Er in the state of Wei, but the state of Wei soon perished and Liu Bang returned to Pei County.

  Ha, Liu Bang was actually a wandering knight?

  This made Liu Gan feel extremely surprised.

  At the same time, I felt extremely curious about Liu Bang as a person and really wanted to take a look at what kind of person he was.

  However, Liu Bang never showed up.

  Liu Bang didn't wait for long before the newly appointed magistrate of Pei County arrived.

  That day, many famous people in Pei County went out of the city to welcome the county magistrate who was said to have a great background. Cao Tingchang went, Xiao He went, Cao Wushang went, and Lv Gong also went... Liu Quan did not go, because he was learning to read with his mother at that time.

  Qin script was quite prevalent in later generations, Liu Ke could recognize a few characters.

  However, being a student again in this era is not that easy to bear. Mrs. Quan is very kind, but when it comes to studying, she is extremely strict. According to Liu Quan's idea, learning Qinwen would be enough. But Mrs. Quan thinks: if you want to learn, you must learn well! Not only Qinwen, but also the characters of other countries, cannot be easily abandoned.

  It is worth noting that after the Eastern Zhou moved to Luoyi, which is now Sanchuan County (now Henan Luoyang), it has been over 500 years since the vassals annexed and the seven countries competed for hegemony. By the time Qin Wang Zheng destroyed the State of Qi, each country had different fields, roads with different tracks, and languages and characters that were quite different.

  This is especially true for this text, and even more so.

  Many characters have more than a hundred different ways of writing them. For the single character "bao", Madame Kong can write 27 different shapes.

  Moreover, in terms of character structure, some are gentle and flowing, while others are sparse and exaggerated; some have a vertical and long body, while others are fierce and strange.

  Anyway, these characters made Liu Jian's head ache. Later, he made up his mind and only went to study the calligraphy of Qin Wen. Except for Zhou Wen, Qi Wen, and Chu Wen which were required by Mrs. Jian to review, everything else was ignored. This way, it became much easier.

  After reading, Liu also had to help his wife clean up the kitchen.

  He had little time to go out and have fun all day, so when the new county magistrate arrived, he didn't even go out to watch the excitement.

  What can the new county head do? Still just one nose and two eyes? They're all the same, how could they possibly produce anything different?

  Liu Kan sat on the porch resting after filling a big jar with water.

  Just then, Shi Zu He and Cao Wu Shuang rushed in excitedly, shouting as soon as they entered the door: "Ah Guan, you didn't go today, what a pity!"

  Liu Kan lazily leaned against the pillar, his eyelids didn't even move once. "What's there to regret?"

  "Do you know who this new county magistrate is?"

  Liu Qian said strangely: "Men and women? Apart from this, it's impossible for there to be a hermaphrodite who is neither male nor female."

  "What's a ladyboy? What does a ladyboy look like?"

  "Renyao is......" Liu Kan really didn't know how to explain this question, so he glared and changed the subject: "I'll explain it to you later. Er Ge, Wu Shang Da Ge, why don't you tell me about the new county magistrate, where did he come from?"

  Under the Qin system, counties were under prefectures and had a distinction between 'magistrates' and 'chiefs'.

  If a county has more than 10,000 households, it is called a ling, which is also known as the county magistrate; if there are less than 10,000 households, it is called a chang, named county head.

  There were eight thousand households registered in Pei County.

  Therefore, this new parent official can only be called the county magistrate. Don't underestimate this issue, according to the Qin system, the title of this official is absolutely not allowed to make mistakes, otherwise, they will be punished. Liu Kan saw that Shi Yu and Cao Wu Shang were both very excited, and he couldn't help but curiously ask them questions.

  Iron Eagle Squad!

  Cao Wu Shang's eyes lit up, and his tone was filled with admiration as he said: "The new county magistrate, born from the Iron Eagle Elite. Accompanied by thirty Iron Eagle Elites... Ah Qian, it's the Iron Eagle Elite! The most elite troops of Old Qin Country, it's said that there are only 1600 in the entire Old Qin Country."

  "Tiě Yīng Ruì Shì?" Liu Kan looked at Shen Shi with a puzzled expression.

  Shan Yu shook his head in dismay, "Ah Jian, I think you must have practiced martial arts to the point of stupidity... You don't even know about the Iron Eagle Sharpshooters?"

  "I'm really not sure."

  Xun Shi sat down and explained to Liu Kan: "In the earliest days, the Iron Eagle Sharp Soldiers were also called the Iron Eagle Swordsmen. The entire old Qin state had only a little over 100 people. Later, Sima Cuo became the Supreme General of the Qin State... do you know who Sima Cuo is? Ah, good that you do. Sima Cuo retained the simple selection system of the Iron Eagle Swordsmen and on this basis established the Iron Eagle Sharp Soldiers, known as one of the Seven States' Four Strong Braves."

  "Are the seven countries and four strongs brave?"

  Cao Wushang interjected, "The so-called four strong warriors of the seven states refer to the most elite troops among the seven states. There is Wu Qi's creation, the Wei State's Wu Du; Zhao Wuling Wang's establishment of the Zhao State's Hu Dao cavalry; the Qi State's Ji Xia Jike cavalry; and also the Iron Eagle sharpshooters just mentioned."

  The Wei Wu has passed away, and the Hu Knife Knights and the Ji Jue Knights have also lost their former glory.

  In the past, there were four elite troops, but now only the Iron Eagle Guards remain. It is said that the selection of the Iron Eagle Guards was particularly strict: dismounted infantry had to surpass the Wei Wu Troops, while mounted cavalry had to be on par with the Xiongnu Hu Riders. In addition to Wu Qi's training methods for the Wei Wu Troops, each soldier was equipped with a spear, twenty long arrows and an iron-hard bow, three days' worth of military rations, full armor, a short sword, an iron dagger, and a cowhide shield.

  In total, it weighs around 130 catties.

  Liu Quan was taken aback. According to Cao Wujin's words, the training method of this Qin army iron eagle sharp soldier is similar to the heavy load crossing in later generations. However, one hundred and thirty pounds... Liu Quan thought for a moment, if it were placed on his own body, he should be able to pass through smoothly.

  Cao Wushang said, "This is just the first pass, and later there will be more techniques to compare and martial arts elimination; next, we must undergo rigorous training, master various formations, and be able to flexibly apply them, forming arrays to fight according to different situations; after that, we will have another martial competition.

  After rounds and rounds of elimination, when the new Qin army was formed, there were 200,000 people.

  However, there are only 1,600 people who become Iron Eagle Sharpshooters. And after that, the number remains at this figure and does not increase again."

  It sounds like it has a bit of the flavor of selecting special forces for future generations.

  But in Liu Jian's heart, another question arose involuntarily.

  "Big Brother Wu, how did you know about the training methods of the Iron Eagle Guards? Logically speaking, these things are not something that ordinary people can easily find out."

  Cao Wu Shang chuckled.

  Shan Shi lowered his voice and said, "Ah Qiang, to be honest, in our county of Pei, there is a capable person. In the south of the city, there is a man named Tang Lie, who is the grandson of Tang Yi of the Wei State."

  "You don't know who Tang Wei is?!"

  Shen Shi looked at Liu Kan and saw that his eyes were wide with a bewildered expression, and he knew that he must not know who Tang Yu was.

  As expected, Liu Kan nodded awkwardly.

  Shen Shi and Cao Wu Shang exchanged a glance, shook their heads in unison, and let out a sigh.

  Cao Wushang said: "Ah Gan, you've really practiced martial arts until you're stupid."

  That Tang Yu, is the only one who dares to confront and threaten King Zheng of Qin. King Zheng of Qin also highly appreciates him.

  At that time, King Zheng of Qin wanted to exchange 500 li of land for Anling. However, the Lord of Anling was unwilling, so he sent Tang Ju as an envoy to the state of Qin.

  The King of Qin saw that he could not get the Annals, so he became enraged and said: Do you know what is called the anger of the Son of Heaven? The anger of the Son of Heaven means corpses piled up by the hundreds of thousands, and blood flowing for a thousand miles.

  Tang Wei retorted: "Does the great king know what it means by 'the wrath of a commoner'?"

  Liu Qiang suddenly let out a loud cry, his eyes wide with surprise, and said: "But what about the first one who rushed to grab the land?"

  "Huh?" Shen Shi smiled and said: "You've actually heard of it?"

  Liu Jian excitedly said: "Didn't Tang Wei say: 'Zhuan Zhu's assassination of Wang Bao, a comet struck the moon; Nie Zheng's assassination of Han Kui, a white rainbow pierced the sun; and Yu Rang's assassination of Qing Ji, a dark eagle swooped down on the palace. These three men were all commoners..."

  How could Liu Jian not have heard of this passage?

  That was still what he learned in junior high school, although it was a long time ago, but because of the strong language, the memory is deep. Especially the paragraph he recited just now, has not been forgotten until now. Tang Wei, could it be that scholar in plain clothes who even the King of Qin respected?

  Shan Shi's eyes widened in surprise: "You really know, don't you! Indeed, Tang Lie is the grandson of Mr. Tang Wei, who has been well-versed in the art of combat since childhood. Wu Shang and Tang Lie have a very good relationship, often sparring together. However, not many people are aware of this."

  So that's how it is!

  The state of Wei and Qin had clashed countless times, so Tang Lie was familiar with the Iron Eagle Sharpshooters, which wasn't surprising at all.

  It seems that Tang Lie and Cao Wu Shang are both good at training soldiers. But it's unknown why they are so low-key.

  Is Cao Wushang okay?

  Liu Kan took a glance at Cao Wujie who was still excited, but in his heart, he thought: This guy should also leave a name in history...

  Shan Shi said: "I think that new county magistrate is probably not simple."

  Cao Wu Shang glanced at Shi Yu with a hint of disdain, "Nonsense, Iron Eagle Elite, of course it's not that simple!"

  "No, I mean, Tie E's sharp soldiers are the personal guards of the Qin king. If there isn't something big going on, how could they possibly come to such a remote place? They must be plotting something."

  Liu Quan furrowed his brow, "Didn't Mr. Xiao say that the King of Qin was going on an eastern hunting trip?"

  "It's cancelled!"

  Shen Shi said: "I heard Mr. Xiao say that the Eastern Hunt has been cancelled... But since the Eastern Hunt was cancelled, why did the Iron Eagle Sharpshooters come?"

  Liu Jian couldn't help but fall into deep thought as soon as he heard it.

  Yes, Pei County is a remote place. Why would the Iron Eagle Sharpshooters appear in this place? If it were to say that they were here to clear obstacles for King Qin's eastern expedition, then it would make sense. But now that King Qin has decided not to go on an eastern expedition, the appearance of the Iron Eagle Sharpshooters is a bit unusual. Moreover, the new county magistrate brought thirty Iron Eagle Sharpshooters with him, which is even more extraordinary.

  Could it be said...

  Liu Jian's mind suddenly lit up.

  The location of Xiashui County is very important, connecting the north and south. In history, Qin Shi Huang once conquered Baiyue, could it be said that this trip was made in preparation for this matter?

  If so, what benefits should one seek from it?

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  Note: One jin in the Qin system is about 0.6 kg, roughly equivalent to one kilogram today. The so-called carrying a weight of 130 jin is approximately equal to 80 kilograms by modern measurement.