Chapter Seventeen: Chen County

  "Who is Wei Liao?" Hu Hai muttered to himself in confusion, as he didn't know much about the history of Qin and had never heard of this person before.

  The dozen or so imperial guards beside him obviously also knew Wei Liao, and when they heard Wang Lei's words, they were all overjoyed for a moment, but then seemed to think of something and their faces gradually darkened.

  Hu Hai looked puzzled, clearly having never heard of this person. Wang Li explained: "The Emperor's majesty unified the six states and made great achievements, but for some reason he suddenly stopped asking about government affairs and wanted to leave Xianyang to retire. The Emperor did not allow it and gave a large mansion to Guan Jun." Wang Li obviously had great respect for Guan Jun, and spoke with some hesitation.

  Hu Hai, seeing this, became impatient and said: "Is the mansion that was bestowed upon you still in Xianyang?" Upon hearing this, Wei Liao suddenly felt a surge of enthusiasm, for he had been respected by great generals like Wang Li, and his contributions to the unification of the Qin dynasty were truly remarkable.

  "Yes, the Duke of Guo has been in Xianyang." Wang Li looked at Hu Hai with shining eyes and said hesitantly, apparently he also seemed to have thought of something, but clearly didn't dare to dampen Hu Hai's enthusiasm.

  "Pass on Our Imperial Order, immediately summon Wei Liao......" "Your Majesty, wait!"

  Hu Hai's words were interrupted by Wang Li before he could even speak. Immediately afterwards, Wang Li hastily knelt down and begged for forgiveness, after all, interrupting the emperor's words was a great disrespect. Hu Hai didn't have the mood to bother with this at the moment. He also noticed that including Wang Li, more than a dozen imperial guard generals were all looking strange, could it be that there was something mysterious about this matter?

  Huhai thought of this and asked: "What does Wang Ai have to say? Just speak without hesitation, no need to hesitate."

  Wang Li saw the situation and gritted his teeth, saying: "Your Majesty, Guo Wei has been imprisoned by the First Emperor in the grand mansion he was granted, so I fear that Guo Wei..."

  It wasn't until now that Huhai finally understood. For some reason, Qin Shi Huang gave Wei Liao a grand mansion to show his favor and grace, but in reality, he was giving him a large cage to lock him up.

  King Li interrupted Hu Hai's words, apparently worried that Wei Lü had grievances and was unwilling to make plans for the Great Qin again. He feared that Wei Lü would not give face to Hu Hai, causing Hu Hai to lose face. Another reason is that although Hu Hai has now changed his temperament and has a wise appearance, he is still young after all. He feared that Wei Lü would make Hu Hai unable to get off the stage, and in a fit of rage, Hu Hai would have Wei Lü executed, and the Great Qin would really lose its pillar.

  After all, at this time, the vast Qin dynasty may have only Wei Liao who can resolve this crisis.

  Huhai thought that if he rashly sent someone to deliver the imperial edict and Wei Liao refused to help, what could he do? He couldn't kill him, could he? Thinking of this, Huhai decided to investigate further before making a decision.

  Jian Wang Li and other generals were huddled around the map, whispering to each other with dark circles under their eyes. Hu Hai said: "Everyone please go back and rest first, we'll discuss again tonight." Including himself, no one had slept all night, and for now, they couldn't come up with a solution anyway.

  King Wei and other generals heard Hu Hai's words, all showing a grateful expression, repeatedly saying that they were not tired, letting Hu Hai go to rest first. No matter how Hu Hai said it, he just wouldn't leave. Hu Hai had no choice but to force the palace maid to take King Wei and others to the side hall for dinner and rest. He wanted to sort out his memories alone.

  The entire hall was left with only Hu Hai, who stood on the map, pointing to each place name with his hand, desperately trying to recall. He wished he could turn his brain upside down. When Hu Hai's finger swept across a place, he suddenly had an epiphany and rushed to the desk to take notes. He knew how to use a brush pen, but looking at the full table of bamboo slips, he didn't know where to start writing.

  It seems that I should let the paper-making technique appear ahead of time, this bamboo slip is too troublesome. Hu Hai secretly thought to himself. In the end, he had no choice but to have the palace maid bring over a piece of cloth to record his thoughts, what a waste, what a waste, Hu Hai sighed as he wrote on the brocade with a brush in a crooked and slanted manner.

  Thus, Hu Hai was like a man possessed, one moment pacing in circles and muttering to himself in the grand hall, the next rushing to the map to point and gesture wildly, and then suddenly throwing himself at his desk to scribble down something, while the silk cloth on the imperial desk became increasingly covered with chaotic symbols.

  Time flies, the palace maids and eunuchs waiting outside the grand hall are anxious and keep turning around but dare not knock on the door. The gate of the grand hall remains tightly closed, except for occasional voices with excitement that no one can understand, such as "fuck" and "fucker". Because Hu Hai had previously ordered that no one could disturb him unless he came out himself.

  ……

  When Hu Hai was frantically searching for his memories of Qin Dynasty history, Chen Liu, a county in Henan Province.

  The originally not very high but still neat and tidy city wall was now full of ruins, with cracks everywhere. The protruding battlements were covered with smoke and fire marks, with a few feathered arrows inserted at an angle, swaying unsteadily.

  The narrow city wall path was littered with the bodies of Qin soldiers wearing black armor, some with feathered arrows all over their bodies, others killed by sharp blades, and some entangled with men in cloth robes... Broken arms and legs were everywhere.

  Under the low city wall, there were piles of corpses, which had already buried the entire foundation of the city wall. The thick bloody smell and the charred smell of the corpses mixed together to form an indescribable strange smell that filled the air, making people feel nauseous.

  It is clear that an exceptionally brutal war has just taken place here.

  County Lieutenant Wang Tong stood on the city wall with a face full of gunpowder, his shoulder wrapped in bandages with bright red blood constantly seeping out. Wang Tong leaned against the wall and looked at the continuous barracks hundreds of feet away from the city wall: "County Magistrate, has the letter to the imperial court been sent?"

  "Lord Wang, rest assured that the messenger had already rushed out of the city in the chaos when the rebels were just retreating." The county magistrate said with a face full of gunpowder smoke.

  Wang Tong nodded upon hearing the county magistrate's words, withdrawing his gaze and said with a worried expression: "County Magistrate sir, the rebels' momentum is strong, there are not many soldiers left in the city who can fight. It would be best for County Magistrate sir to leave the city early while the rebels' offensive has temporarily stopped."

  The county magistrate sighed and said: "As a local official, I have a responsibility to protect the land, how can I abandon all the people in the city and escape alone..."

  Just then, a shout came from the city, and Wang Tong and the county magistrate heard the sudden appearance of the shout behind them, and their hearts suddenly surged with strong anxiety, hastily turning around.

  Several flames rose in the city, and vaguely, countless figures were rushing towards the direction of the city wall. The cries of "Overthrow the cruel Qin" and "Kill all Qin officials" grew clearer and clearer.

  "Report!" A blood-soaked Qin soldier rushed up to the city wall and knelt on one knee, saying, "Two nobles, the wealthy families in the city suddenly rioted with their guests, and now they have stirred up thousands of rioters who are killing their way towards the city gate."

  Wang Tong and the county magistrate exchanged a helpless glance, both knowing that the county was definitely unable to be defended. The large group of rioters outside would surely take advantage of the situation and launch an attack once they discovered the changes within the city.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, with just one loud "clang", countless people wearing cloth robes and bare feet, holding hoes and wooden clubs, swarmed out of the camps outside the city and charged down the mountainside.

  "Loyal to the Great Qin!" "Kill!"

  The two loud shouts were quickly drowned out by endless cries of killing.

  ………

  Kuxian County Government, now the temporary headquarters of Zhang Er and Chen Yu. Having just taken down Kuxian, Zhang Er and Chen Yu set up a banquet in the county government to celebrate, with many generals also seated.

  "Big brother, now we have occupied four counties and have more than 100,000 troops. What should we do next?" Chen Yu asked, holding up his wine cup. Upon hearing Chen Yu's words, the many generals in the hall also hastily put down their wine cups and perked up their ears to listen to how Zhang Er, the great leader, would arrange things next.

  After capturing four county towns, all the people who first followed Zhang Er and Chen Yu to rebel now have a large family with several concubines. It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality. No one wants to see their wealth and beauties become nothing again.

  Zhang Er sat upright in the first seat, put down his wine cup upon hearing Chen Yu's words, and swept a glance around with an air of grandeur: "Second Brother asked a good question. I'd like to ask everyone, do you want temporary wealth and honor or lifelong glory?"

  Although everyone in the hall found Zhang Er's words somewhat inexplicable, including Chen Yu, they all chimed in unison that he must be seeking a life of wealth and glory.

  Zhang Er was very satisfied with the answers of the various generals, and happily said: "That's good. Previously, the brothers wanted me to be king, but I didn't dare to agree. Although we now occupy four counties and have an army of over 100,000 men, the Qin army is much stronger than us.

  And the four counties we occupy are all poor and unbearable, our army is growing day by day, if this continues, it will be difficult to sustain food and grass. Without food and grass, it's not equal to the violent Qin dynasty rising up to attack us, we must lose and perish; If we claim to be king at this time, we will inevitably bring in the violent Qin dynasty's large army to besiege and attack us, and we will also be close to death.

  "Now is the time, our top priority is to take advantage of the situation and capture Chen County." Zhang Er slammed his hand heavily on the case, saying resolutely.