Step, step, step.
Steady and orderly footsteps came from a group of elderly veterans wearing tattered armor.
Each of them has mottled white hair, just like a group of white-headed old men.
Line up, side by side.
They advanced slowly through the streets of Xianyang, just as they had done on the battlefield in those years.
Every battle is a life-or-death test. No matter how experienced a veteran is, he cannot guarantee that he will survive the 101st battle.
Facing the sharp spears of the soldiers from the six countries, all they could do was to hold the Qin swords tightly in their hands and march forward courageously.
In those years, everyone did this, and then established a huge Qin State.
The Qin State became powerful, but they grew old.
The figures were stretched very long under the setting sun, and the afterglow of sunset fell on them, which was a perfect match for these brave men in their twilight years.
Some of them had no forearms, and their elbows were round and exposed.
Some of them had their thighs broken off at the base and could only rely on their old comrades to pull a wooden cart for transportation, with some of their body armor hanging out.
Few of these veterans are intact, even if they appear to be fine on the outside.
But if you peel off their armor and look closely, you can see that some of them are missing three fingers, some have a big wound on their chest or abdomen, or some only have the soles of their feet without toes.
Cutting with sharp weapons, crushing with chariots, trampling with horses...
But most of them did not complain. Instead, they often laughed and said that so-and-so was so brave in the past and that Naigong lived longer than him.
On the battlefield, injuries and disabilities are commonplace. Being able to survive is a lucky thing, and many people are not blessed with this luck.
“Stop.”
A group of city defense soldiers stopped the group of old men in armor and stood in front of them, holding their spears tightly.
"stop."
At a command from the old man in front, the forty or fifty white-haired old men stopped immediately.
This scene made the ten city defense troops on the opposite side holding their long spears more powerful.
"What's up?"
The old man in front laughed.
"Forming a battle array and marching is against Qin law..."
The city defense army sergeant said in a deep voice.
In Xianyang City, civilians were not allowed to walk in groups of more than five, otherwise they would violate Qin law and be sentenced to prison.
Imprisonment is the most common and most frequently occurring punishment in Qin law.
The root cause was that in this era of labor shortage, everyone was a laborer, and killing them was a loss. The Qin State had endless civil engineering projects to do, which required a large number of laborers.
Qin laws were very strict, but there were definitely not many punishments for killing people, such as beheading, cutting in half, and dismemberment by five oxen.
Most of them were hard labor, tattooing, cutting off the nose, and other punishments that did not endanger life and wasted labor.
"Baby, look carefully."
The old soldier interrupted the sergeant of the city defense army and took out his photo from the inside of his armor and handed it over.
The sergeant of the city defense army took it seriously without any dissatisfaction - he could see that these old men were veterans of the battlefield.
In the Qin State, most people would not look down on people who had been on the battlefield. This was the mainstream culture.
Looking closely, in addition to the name and portrait of everyone on the photo, there is also a title - no more.
The old man in his twilight years is not only a veteran who has fought in the battlefield, but also a veteran who holds the fourth-class title of the Qin State.
The restriction that no more than five people can travel together is for common people, but the old soldiers with the fourth-class title of the Qin State are obviously not included in the restriction.
The old man took his photo with a smile and shouted again without waiting for the sergeant of the city defense army to speak.
"Take out your ID card!"
A group of veterans shouted in unison.
"promise!"
A group of city defense troops checked the photos and identification cards of every veteran, and found that every old man had a title.
Most of the old men were of the third-class nobility, and the fourth-class nobility was no higher. In addition, there were three of the second-class nobility, one of the first-class nobility, five of the fifth-class nobility, and one of the sixth-class nobility.
The Qin State stipulated that if a soldier killed an enemy "armored soldier", he could be promoted to the first-class rank of Gongshi.
Of course, "armored warriors" are not ordinary soldiers, but armored warriors, who are usually the elite vanguards in the army.
Moreover, after killing the enemy, his head must be cut off and brought back to the military camp as evidence of military achievement.
The difficulty of each rank increase by at least ten times . Most of the city defense troops in this rank are public officers, and only the rank of the city defense rank leader is a high-ranking official.
When they saw the titles attached to the old men, the already silent city defense troops became even more silent.
As warriors who had served in the army and fought on the battlefield, they knew very well what the old men's titles meant - any one of these old men might have more military merits than all the city defense troops combined.
"Boy, who is your father?"
A one-armed old man looked carefully at the baby-faced city defense soldier who had just checked his photo and suddenly asked.
"My father's name is Sui."
The baby-faced man replied respectfully that the old man’s title was official, with an annual salary of three hundred stones, which was already a middle- to high-level title in the Qin State.
"Sui." The old man repeated, patted the sword hanging on his waist and said with a smile: "Did your father tell you that he had a centurion named Wang Wu who was unstoppable and used a knife instead of a sword?"
"Big Knife Wang Wu!"
The baby-faced boy suddenly opened his eyes wide and exclaimed.
"Hahahahahaha, he has a conscience. It's worth it that you blocked the arrow for him!"
The old man laughed heartily, feeling delighted to learn news about himself from an old friend.
"You, your arm..."
Baby Face grew up listening to his father telling stories about Wang Wu the Big Knife. He knew that Wang Wu was his father's savior and the man who helped his father in the army.
Wang Wu, the Big Knife, originally had no surname, but later because he was good at using the knife, a general gave him a surname and changed his name.
My father, who never got a surname in his life, would show envy whenever he mentioned this matter. In the end, he said, "You should also fight for a surname for your father."
In my father's words, the centurion who killed countless enemies with a big sword was extremely domineering and had supernatural powers. He could chop the enemy with his bare hands so hard that no one could resist, and he would always chop both the weapon and the person in half.
Others counted their military merits as carrying a whole head, but Wang Wu, the Big Knife, counted his military merits as carrying two and a half heads.
In Baby-faced's mind, Wang Wu the Great Knife has always been a tall and mighty idol. How could such a brave Wang Wu the Great Knife be missing an arm? His father must be very sad...
"No problem."
Wang Wu, the big knife, patted his empty sleeves and grinned.
"Thanks to the fact that I lost my arm, the general personally taught me how to use a one-handed sword. Now I am even more courageous."
Wang Wu, the big knife, gently touched the baby-faced boy's cheek with his only remaining hand. His eyes were clearly looking at the baby-faced boy's body, but the baby-faced boy felt that the idol in front of him was looking at someone else...
Big Knife Wang Wu came over and stood next to Baby Face, comparing their heights.
He smiled and said, "Sui's son has grown so big... If my son were alive, he would be as old as you."
The son of Wang Wu, the Big Knife, also joined the army. He survived the battle and was buried on the battlefield. The one-armed old man didn't even see his son's body.
"If Naigong is alive this time, will you be his son?" said the one-armed old man with hope on his face.
Doctor Jue Zhiguan's idol wanted to acknowledge him as his son, but the baby-faced man didn't react for a moment, and before he could say anything.
"OK!"
At this moment the old man gave an order.
"only!"
A group of old men responded by shouting.
The one-armed old man was also answering, his face showing disappointment, and he quickly returned to his seat.
A group of city defense troops made way, sent one person to the Neishi Mansion to report the situation, and then followed the group of veterans.
They didn't know what these veterans were going to do, but it was no small matter. They were all veterans, wearing armor and holding swords, marching in formation, which was a prelude to entering the battlefield.
But the veterans all had titles, so walking on the streets of Xianyang like this would not violate Qin law, and the city defense troops could not stop them, so they could only follow, follow...
"Godfather!"
The baby-faced man screamed among the city defense troops.
He mustered up his courage but received no response except strange looks from his colleagues. He lowered his head and blushed, thinking that he should not have been stunned just now. Now Wang Wu, the Big Knife, would not accept him.
The one-armed old man no longer looked lonely, and he laughed silently with his mouth wide open.
He wanted to shout "Ah" with all his might and accept this adopted son, but he couldn't.
"It's time to come back alive."
The old man muttered and touched the sword at his waist.
"If you have a child, get out. We don't need you."
The old soldier next to him spoke in a stiff tone.
"Nonsense! How can you not need me? Your father was given the name by the general himself! If you all don't go, your father will go too!"
The old man held his head high with pride.
"The general didn't just give you a name, why are you so proud?"
"Then why don't you have it? Hahahaha..."
The one-armed old man had made great achievements in battle throughout his life. His sword in his hand made the enemies tremble in fear, and he became an idol to many people.
But what made him most proud was not his swordsmanship, nor his title of sixth-rank official, but the two words "Wang Wu".
The veterans marched forward in formation.
The city defense troops followed closely behind.
The two groups walked for a while, and on both sides of the street, two veterans joined the team silently.
None of them had any hair, and their shiny bald heads were brighter than the sun in the sky.
One of them had a deep scar on his face, from the corner of his left eyebrow to the lower right corner of his mouth.
Other than that, they were no different from the marching veterans.
The city defense troops did not request to check the ID cards this time. When it came to identifying people, they believed that the dozens of veteran soldiers, including the lowest-ranking officers and doctors, would be more professional than them.
As the two groups continued to march, the ranks of veterans gradually expanded at a rapid pace.
One after another, veteran soldiers who had been standing there for some unknown period of time, armed to the teeth, joined the team, sometimes in groups of three or five.
Soon, this group of veterans, fully armed and well-armored, numbered over a hundred people. There were no pedestrians left on the streets of Xianyang, only the veterans marching in formation.
If someone could fly high in the sky and overlook the entire Xianyang city, he would find that there is more than one such team of veterans.
They were like wanderers returning to their hometown, or like ants returning to their nests after foraging. They were moving from all directions of Xianyang toward the same destination, moving...
There were only two armies in Xianyang.
One is the city defense force under the jurisdiction of the Nei Shi Fu, responsible for patrolling and protecting the safety of Xianyang.
The other was the imperial guard under the command of the Langzhongling, also called Langguan, who was responsible for protecting the safety of the Xianyang Palace.
Today, the majestic city of Xianyang has its third army, the veterans.
The first team of veterans arrived at their destination and stopped outside the Supreme Court. There were thirty-eight people in total.
Soon, the second team of veterans arrived and mixed into the first team, with a total of twelve people.
When the veteran general Wang Xi and his six veteran soldiers arrived outside the Supreme Court, the team of veterans had expanded to 15,813 people.
They are strictly disciplined and their silence is golden.
They wore armor and held weapons at their waists, most of which were swords, but there were also knives, and maces, forks, and spears that should not have appeared in this era.
The soldiers guarding the gate of the Supreme Court had their palms clenched with long spears, and their palms were full of sweat. The pressure brought to them by this group of old soldiers was too great.
This was partly due to the iron-blooded aura of the veteran soldiers. The two soldiers from the Supreme Court had not come into contact with that murderous aura since they left the battlefield.
The murderous spirit of the veterans was more than ten times stronger than that of the soldiers of the six nations they were fighting against on the battlefield!
There are also titles for veterans.
When the first group of veterans arrived, the government soldiers came forward to ask their purpose and checked their ID cards.
The veterans all said the same thing: to take a look.
The body stickers are basically all hairpins and no updates.
The Qin State only valued military merit. These veterans all had great military achievements, and each of them should be enjoying the support of the court at home. However, when the palace soldiers saw them in private, they would beg the veterans to tell them about their deeds on the battlefield.
Now, everyone was wearing tattered armor and standing in front of the palace soldiers. Although they didn't say anything, the pressure came all of a sudden.
This is equivalent to a group of lieutenants standing in front of a new recruit on guard duty, all of whom are captains. That's not all, there are also majors and lieutenant colonels among them. Who can stand this?
"His mother's."
The veteran arrived before he did, with his unique muffled thunderous sound echoing throughout the venue. He walked to the front of the veterans in formation with a dark face, stopped, and looked around.
"How can there be so many people! Liuzi, you birdman, just found a few birdmen without telling me?!"
Veteran Six was also very surprised, and first replied to the veteran that I had only found five people.
Then he stood behind the old general, found an acquaintance among the old soldiers in formation, and shouted in a bully-like manner: "Blackie, how many people did you bring with you? It's a secret that I won't tell you! You can't bring too many!"
The old man, who was called black because his private parts were too dark, innocently spread out his right hand which was missing four fingers and the thumb.
"Sixth brother, I just called Lao Jiu and Dong. Two people is not enough, right?"
Lao Jiu, who was standing next to Hei Zhong, followed suit and spread his hands innocently, saying, "I just called Ya, Ma."
"I just found the goods, scattered."
"Don't look at me. I didn't call anyone. When I wanted to call anyone, I found that everyone was there."
“…”
The veterans tried to shirk responsibility one after another, saying that they only called a few people.
The more the veteran listened, the more frowns he had on his forehead, especially when he saw the defense forces of Poqian City gathering behind the veterans, he wanted to curse even more.
The veteran thought so and did so.
"Shut up, everyone! So many of you are here to mutiny! Get the hell out of here!"
The veterans fell silent for a moment, and no one made a move to leave.
Mutiny... That depends on the general's intention.
They stared at the closed gate of the Supreme Court and silently tightened their weapons at their waists.
"Prince."
Nei Shi Mengyi rode up on horseback, walked quickly to Wang Xi's side, and looked at his grandfather's close friend with complicated expressions.
He whispered: "This is a very unwise move."
The old general narrowed his eyes, kicked Meng Yi in the abdomen, and kicked him three meters away.
Meng Yi never expected that this great grandfather would suddenly take action, and his attack would be so ruthless.
He climbed up with difficulty, holding his abdomen which felt as if the Qin sword was swirling around in it and was in great pain. Cold sweat covered his forehead, and he looked at Wang Xi in disbelief.
"roll."
Wang Xi shouted angrily.
Squeak
The city defense army's Qin swords were unsheathed in unison.
Since Nei Shi Meng Yi was beaten, they dared not be careless.
The current situation will deteriorate if they are not careful, so they must pull out Qin Jian first.
Otherwise, they were afraid that they would die at the hands of these veterans, who were on average third or fourth rank nobles, while drawing their swords.
The veterans heard the sound of swords being drawn behind them, but no one paid any attention.
They stared at the veteran general Wang Xi in front of them, watching Wang Xi pointing at their faces.
"You bunch of bastards, you still want to recognize this face of yours!"
The veteran pointed to Xianyang Street.
"Just get out!"
No one responded.
Silence is Xianyang this afternoon.
The old general's anger was growing and was about to explode. An old soldier in front of him lowered his head.
"My Lord, please let us stay. We have come this far. If we go back now, we will die anyway."
"Bullshit! You..."
Wang Xi was furious and had just started talking.
Suddenly, someone shouted from the crowd of veterans, interrupting the old general.
"Prince!"
The old general became even more furious when his words were interrupted. His eyes were filled with ferocity and he followed the voice to find the person who was speaking.
Seeing that the old man was sitting on a wooden cart, without his legs and right arm, with only his remaining left hand tightly grasping Qin Jian, the anger in his eyes dissipated for the most part.
"Let me, a useless person, stay here."
The old man was so sincere and worried that his voice was too soft for Wang Xi to hear him, so he asked his old friends to push him to the front.
The wooden wheelbarrow rolled over, carrying an old man who could no longer stand up to Wang Xi.
The old man looked up at the veteran, put down Qin Jian, lifted up his clothes to let the veteran see his empty legs.
"My legs were cut off when I followed Marquis Wucheng in the battle against the Zhao army. They were cut off by a group of Zhao dogs called flying soldiers. In the past, when the army wanted to continue to march, a useless person like me would just kill it with a sword and supplement my family's income."
Wang Xi remained silent. This was an unwritten rule of the battlefield that was not written in history books.
Medical care was underdeveloped in the Qin Dynasty. Injuries like a broken leg might not necessarily lead to death, but there was a high probability of death. Even if the patient was saved, he would no longer be able to work.
If the army is returning from a victorious battle, or if the two armies are in a stalemate, they may be rescued because there is time.
But if it is a forced march, fierce fighting, and a rapidly changing battlefield.
No one has the energy or time to take care of a disabled person. Usually they just kill him quickly and report him as dead, and send a pension to his family.
In this era, those who have lost their fighting capacity and their ability to work become useless, and useless people are a burden.
"Without the general, I, a useless person, would have died long ago and would not have lived to this day. Apart from the general, no one would care about us. No one would let us settle down in Xianyang, give us money and rice, and bring us together.
"No one will tell us that the present state of Qin is not only the result of the generals, but also ours. No one will tell us that we are not useless people, but heroes. Heroes, except for the generals, who would say that a group of useless people are heroes..."
The old soldier, who had a sinister face and looked like he was not a good person, spoke in a hoarse voice.
"I told the general not to spend money on us, it's a waste. The general said we are the most valuable asset of Qin."
An old man, who was well-mannered and elegant even in his old age, and whose armor was out of place in him, walked to the front.
"The general said: 'Those who carry firewood for the public should not be allowed to freeze to death in the snow.' The general said that we are the ones who carry firewood for the public, and we deserve everything we have. The general has carried firewood for us for so many years, and it is time for us to protect him from the snow."
Old soldiers, who should have entered the underworld long ago, are using the life they snatched from the King of Hell to say some nonsense that is not accepted in this world and in this era.
The ghosts' whispers were still floating around, but from time to time one or two old ghosts would join the ranks.
Clang~
The door of the Supreme Court was opened from the inside.
The young men from the three families of Meng, Xi, Bai and others walked out cursing and arrogantly.
They either wanted Li Si to pay the price or to teach that brat Ying Chengjiao a lesson.
They walked out of the Supreme Court and walked quickly, wanting to escape from this place stained with the blood of three families as soon as possible, and wanted to return home and take revenge on that villain immediately.
These children of the three families who rose to prominence through military merit do not know how to fight, but they understand politics very well.
What Ying Chengjiao did today is bound to arouse the fear of all the aristocratic officials in Xianyang, and he will definitely pay an extremely heavy price.
No one would like to have a Qin sword on their neck all the time.
If Ying Chengjiao can capture the three great families of Meng Xibai today, can he capture other families tomorrow?
Don’t say that you won’t be arrested if you don’t violate Qin law. Qin law was used to restrict the untouchables and was a weapon for political struggle.
The Qin Law itself had no binding force on the nobles. It was only binding on the nobles when the nobles fought each other or the king wanted to kill someone.
Anyone who attacks the violation of Qin law for the sake of power, title, fiefdom or other interests is insane and sick.
This was not only true during the Qin Dynasty, but throughout the entire feudal dynasty. In fact, the Qin Dynasty was better in this regard - at least in Guanzhong , the nobles did not dare to kill people in public.
With the order from the First Emperor, Li Si was forced to release the children of Meng, Xi and Bai.
These noisy and gloomy-looking young men from the three families who were thinking about how to take revenge on Ying Chengjiao and kill Ying Chengjiao walked out of the gate of the Tingwei Mansion, but found that they still could not return home - the old soldiers had surrounded the gate of the Tingwei Mansion so tightly that no one could get in or out.
"Where did this group of old dogs come from? Are they planning to rebel?"
Someone sneered.
"Get out! Don't block the road!"
Some people are impatient.
Most of these children from aristocratic families had no fear of the old soldiers. Coming from aristocratic families, they looked down on even the regular army of Qin, not to mention the old soldiers who looked so miserable.
They believe that they are of noble birth and are different from the untouchables who can only fight for their lives.
But even if the forest is big, there won’t be only stupid birds. A few clever birds saw that something was wrong and cried out inwardly, “Oh no!” They stopped going out and returned to the Supreme Court.
The old soldiers who were muttering to themselves stopped talking and stared at the three families' children with fierce eyes.
The release of the three families' children meant that Ying Chengjiao's order was wrong, which meant that Ying Chengjiao had failed.
Before Ying Chengjiao arrested the three great families, the veterans did not have much hatred towards them. Some people might say that the children of the three families were arrogant, but most people did not think that the three great families deserved to be killed.
But when the three great families stood against Ying Chengjiao, the veterans wanted to kill the three great families.
This is not a shift in ideology, but an absolute personality cult of Ying Chengjiao.
The veteran turned around and squinted at the crowd.
Although the old general had not appeared for a long time, the older members of the three major families who had experienced the fighting with Wang Xi still recognized the old general at a glance, and their faces changed.
Squeak
The veteran drew his sword.
"Who says I have no clothes? I share my clothes with you. When the king raises his army, I will sharpen my spears and halberds, and I will share your hatred!"
The veteran sang "Without Clothes", which was the song the entire army would sing when he was charging into battle.
The old general's thunderous voice was not enough to make the song "Wu Yi" sound beautiful, and it could not be compared with the beautiful voices of the actors in the palace.
But the desolate, bloody, and fierce atmosphere of war and battles, the actors and actresses in the palace, who were skilled in acting, could never perform it in their lifetime.
Squeak
The veterans all drew their swords and, along with their veteran generals, sang a battle song that would boost their own morale and dampen the enemy's morale on the battlefield.
"Who says I have no clothes? I will share the same clothes with you. When the king raises his army, I will sharpen my spears and halberds and work with you!
"Who says I have no clothes? I will share my clothes with you. When the king raises his army, I will prepare my armor and weapons and go with you!"