In the middle of September, on this day, the wind and the sun were beautiful, the sky was high and the clouds were light, and a distance of 30 miles (30 miles) southeast of Yiqu City, as many as 1,000 infantry cavalry troops were setting off from the camp.

"County Lieutenant, walk more than ten miles, cross the wild fox ditch, and you can go up to Dayuan!"

Beidi County Lieutenant Heifu sat in the carriage, unfolded the map with both hands to check, Yiqu City, Dayuan, Pengyangyi, etc., but he couldn't find the place of "Yehugou", and couldn't help but look at the young man who led the way with doubts: the county soldiers and the hundred generals, Wang Wei.

Wang Wai is a native of Yuzhi County, only in his early twenties, and when Heifu took office, when he inspected the county soldiers, he found that Wang Wai led the most neat 100 people. Under the question, Wang Wei was a good son of a Qin family whose parents were both Qin people and had never committed a crime for generations, and he could also speak fluent Guanzhong dialect, so he made him his own personal soldier and a hundred generals.

Although as a personal guard, he is not as knowledgeable as Xiao Tao, but Wang Wei is also a typical northwest guy, straightforward and straightforward.

When asked by Heifu, he reacted, scratched his head and said: "The subordinates forgot, Yehugou is the name of our locals, and the officials call it the ...... of Yuanbei Road."

Heifu saw that this was indeed the case on the map, and he didn't think it was wrong, he needed to know more about the local human geography, so on the way through Yehugou, he asked Wang Wei about the origin of the name here.

Wang Wei said: "The subordinates also listened to the soldiers who lived nearby, and the county lieutenant should know that the Lilu villages and communities in the northern county are all built on large and small plains, and there are ravines and ravines when they go downhill. These ditches are named after the clans of nearby residents, for example, my house is in Wangli, and the nearby ditch slopes are called Laowanggou and Wangjiapo. But there is a ditch, which is called by the name of the beast, and that is the wild fox ditch. ”

"Legend has it that decades ago, when our ancestors moved from Guanzhong to Beidi County, a soldier in Lizhong was weeding the ground on the original edge when he suddenly heard a voice shouting in the distance: 'Fox, fox!' When Shiwu looked up, he saw a snow-white fox limping by, injured in the leg. Shi Wu knew that fox skins were expensive, especially white fox skins, so he raised his hoe to chase them, and chased them until they reached the ditch......"

But there was no right way in the ditch, and Shiwu drilled around in the artemisia grass, followed the blood stains for a long time, and only saw a small cave, and at the mouth of the cave sat an old man with white hair and white beard, covering his feet and basking in the sun. Shiwu asked, the old man only pointed to the south with his hand, and Shiwu continued to chase as he said, but chased all the way to Dayuan, and there was no fox shadow. ”

"Because the first king had a ban: the people of Qi were not allowed to go to the Great Plains without permission, so Shiwu returned the original way and returned to the cave, but the elder was gone, only where he was sitting, and saw a bloodstain and white fox fur!"

When Wang Wei said this, Heifu hadn't spoken yet, and Sang Mu, who had listened to it for a while in front of him and could understand Guanzhong's words, said:

"Could it be that the fox turned into a demon?"

Wang Wei said: "But no, the Shiwu was not lightly frightened, and the grass was not hoeed, so he returned to Lilu and told everyone about it, and everyone was shocked, and from then on this ditch was called Wild Fox Ditch......"

The superstitious characteristics of the Qin people are similar to the vast countryside in later generations, and they like to live by looking at the imperial calendar "Book of Days" of this era, and there are also legends of various monsters and ghosts, which are really from north to south, from west to east.

For example, in Fangmatan Township, Tai County, Longxi County, where Heifu once passed by, there is a story of the resurrection of the locals after the dead, saying that when King Qin Zhaoxiang was king, a man named Dan was beheaded and abandoned the city because of injury, and after three years, he came back to life......

This matter was solemnly played to the imperial historian by the county of Tai County, Qin Zhaoxiang King also asked people to investigate, at the turn of spring and summer this year, Qin Shi Huang toured west, and re-investigated the matter, the local order, Cheng neither dared to say that there must be this matter, nor did he dare to say that there was no.

And in Nanjun, there are also rumors that tigers become spirits and wild mandrills, and it seems that although Beidi County is a border land, there are similar legends.

Of course, once something like this happens, the leaders will also use some extreme ways to exorcise evil spirits, the simplest is ...... Take a shit bath!

Wang Wei swore that the farmer who bumped into the white fox demon was afraid of reprisals, and took a "dog bath" after returning home. They believe that dog shit is dirty, ghosts are evil, and when two things come together, they cancel each other out.

Sang Mu believed, when passing through the wild fox ditch, he had been carefully observing both sides of the road, for fear of encountering the white fox demon, and he would have to take a dog bath when he went back.

Heifu doesn't believe it, but he won't find anything to do to break the feudal superstition for them, and who can't tell if it's a scientific event or a ghost......

However, compared to the story of the White Fox Demon, he was more interested in the "ban of the first king" mentioned by Wang Wei.

Wang Wei said that decades ago, after the establishment of Beidi County, the people who moved to Guanzhong came to settle down, but a local decree was also issued: immigrants from the interior could settle on both sides of Jingshui and muddy water, but they were not allowed to go to Dayuan to open up wasteland.

Because, Ohara, that is the largest "residence" left to the North Land Rong Department. While the decree prohibits the Qin people from going to the plains, it also makes the Rong of the Great Plains not allowed to go down to the plains for no reason! Violators will be severely punished!

At this time, a red horse rider turned back, he was the grandson Bailu who greeted Heifu a few days ago, the county lieutenant of Yuzhi.

When setting off from Yiqu City, in addition to the county soldiers, Heifu also asked Gongsun Bailu to select two hundred horsemen from Yuzhi County Muyuan to accompany him and open the way in front.

"County Captain!"

Gongsun Bailu dismounted: "Dayuan has arrived!" “

As early as ten miles away, Heifu saw that a tall brown and yellow earthen wall appeared in the south of the field of vision, it was hundreds of meters above the wild fox ditch, and when he got closer, he found that it was not an earthen wall at all, but a high hill.

This is the largest loess plateau in China, with a length of 150 li and a width of 280 li, which is equivalent to the area of a large county. Heifu and his party went up the loess slope to the plateau, and as far as the eye could see, there was an endless flat meadow with occasional forests.

Looking in all directions, those ravines, beams and yǎoxiàn made of gods and ghosts are really like the undulating waves of the Yellow Sea, arching this great plain.

"Big and high, vast hundreds of miles, so it is called the Great Plains."

Heifu was convinced, according to the information prepared for him by Chen Ping, Heifu knew that this origin had existed since ancient times. King Mu of Zhou once led a large army to conquer Xirong, captured the king of Wurong, and the rest of Wurong fled to Dayuan. By the time of King Xuan of Zhou, Dayuan was occupied by the northern 猃狁 (xiǎnyǔn), and the Zhou Dynasty fought against it, so the poem said: "Bo felling the lynx, as for the Great Plains".

After the Zhou Dynasty established a stronghold here, so that the local Rong people surrendered, half farming and half herding, but did not record the household registration, did not pay taxes, after a few years, because of the loss of the six divisions and the southern division one after another, King Xuan of Zhou had no choice but to let these Rong people become the new source of soldiers of the Zhou division in the large raw materials......

Later, the dog Rong broke the Zhou, and the Great Plains were out of control again, and this place was occupied by Peng Lurong, and later Peng Lurong was merged by the Yiqu, and many Yiqu people moved in, intermarried with each other, and formed the "Great Plains Rong". Today's Dayuan Rong people, with a total of five tribes and more than 10,000 people, each occupy a corner of the Dayuan and live a life of half farming and half herding......

Now Qin's attitude towards the Dayuan Rong people is similar to that of King Zhou Xuan, and he regards this as a source of soldiers, after all, it is very difficult to let a group of farmers from Guanzhong and Nanjun directly fight on horseback.

When waiting for the whole army to ascend the plateau, Gongsun Bailu also reported to Heifu: "If there is a big conscription, the five Rong people of the entire Dayuan can send out 1,000 horses, which is equivalent to one-third of the cavalry in the north." ”

The other two-thirds are from Qin and Rong herdsmen on both sides of Jingshui and Mushui.

And now, there are no more than 10,000 cavalry in the four places of the entire Qin State and Guanxi.

"One-tenth of the cavalry came from this."

Heifu knows the importance of this place to Beidi County, especially when Qin Shi Huang is going to use troops against the Xiongnu and Yueshi in two years!

But now, Oha is in chaos......

Gongsun Bailu said: "The ban of King Zhao not only forbade the Qin people to occupy the land in the plains, but also did not allow the Rong people to leave the plains, and even the amount of land occupied by each department was clearly divided, and it was not allowed to cross the border......"

"At first, it was okay, there were not many Rong people, but after decades of peace, the household registration of the Rong people in Dayuan increased dramatically, tripled, and there were more cattle and sheep raised. Every winter, the forage and prey in their respective territories are not enough, so in recent years, the Wubu Rong people often compete with each other. No, just a few days after the white wolf of Yiqu went to visit the county lieutenant, the five departments made trouble again, fighting and fighting each other for water sources and wintering pastures, and dozens of people have died......"

This is the cattle and sheep that treat Dayuan Zhirong as a captive, Heifu bowed his head and asked Wei Shi next to him: "Where is the white wolf of Yiqu now?" ”

To domesticate cattle and sheep, naturally a shepherd dog is indispensable, Empress Dowager Xuan's great-grandson Yiqu White Wolf, played this role, although he was from Yiqu City, but was sent to Dayuan to lead the Rong Cavalry, stationed in Pengyangyi, and the letter for help was sent by him.

Wei Shi replied: "When the Yiqu White Wolf reported to the county, he couldn't control the situation, so he could only restrain his two or three hundred people to stay in Pengyangyi to prevent the people who jumped off the beam from messing around. ”

Ohara is the heart of the Northland, and the stakes are very high, and it is related to the stability of the whole county, which is why Heifu personally led his troops here. Fortunately, they only fought with each other, did not kill officials and rebelled, and fought between the Rong people, and only appealed according to the "crime of group robbery", and they were punished lightly, sentenced from the death penalty to ghost salary, and they could also atone for their crimes with cattle and sheep.

Even so, Heifu also knew that if he allowed Zhu Rong to fight, sooner or later it would affect his "big plan" for the next few years.

With this in mind, Hafu took out the talisman and gave orders to his subordinates.

"Gongsun Bailu, you and Wei Shi each brought five hundred people, divided into two roads to five departments. Order the troops to stop fighting, and those who do not obey will be regarded as a rebellion, and they will be the ruler of the king! There are those who resist, and there is no mercy! ”

Gongsun Bailu's heart trembled, but he still promised to accept the order.

"After quelling the brawls of the various departments, I ordered the five chiefs to meet in Pengyangyi within three days, let them know the lieutenants of this county, and I will hold an alliance meeting to administer justice for them! Redraw territorial boundaries! ”

To put it bluntly, Heifu is here to do national mediation work.

"It's not been a year or two since the five departments hated each other and fought each other, what is the county lieutenant going to do?" Wang Wai was very curious.

"Have you ever had a dog at home?"

Heifu glanced at him.

Wang Wei nodded, there is a saying in the Qin people: those who have no dogs in the past are mediocre (referring to being so poor that they can only work as helpers). Therefore, even if you can't afford to raise cows and horses, a dog is also the standard configuration of the Chinese family. This is especially true of the Qin people in the north, who live a half-farming and half-pastoral life, how can there be no dogs at home?

Hefu asked, "What do you do when a dog fights for food?" ”

Wang Wei's eyebrows danced: "Kick hard, whip a few whips, and then let the fighting people separate, don't raise together, if you are still disobedient, then kill and peel the skin and eat meat!" “

"That's not right."

Heifu smiled: "The best way is to lure them, instead of fighting in the nest, it is better to go and compete with the foxes and wolves outside!" ”