"Those who choose to go west are no longer at home."

"And ahead!"

Xi firmly remembers that more than two years ago, standing under the snowy green mountains, Li Xin once said to himself.

For Li Xin, home is on the other side of the snow-capped mountains, in those lands and cities that have not yet been explored and conquered, at the end of the horse's hooves!

Li Xin is like an arrow shot by Qin Shi Huang in his last life, carrying his last wish, once he leaves the string and does not reach the end, he will not look back! Even if it was Hu Hai's edict, even if he died, he couldn't take away Li Xin's loyalty to the First Emperor!

So a whole 8,000 people marched westward, most of them were young and strong people who had nothing to worry about, good sons and evil young men, following Li Xin's footsteps, without hesitation, after their generation went to another world, what they would do, and they did not know.

But for most of the expeditionary force, home was still in the East. The Central Plains are the graves of their ancestors, the pines and cypresses, the wives and children who look out in front of the Lilu Gate day after day, the familiar clothes and country sounds, and the reassuring soup.

So under the leadership of Xi and others, more than 10,000 expeditionary troops began their journey to the east, and returned to Dunhuang in Zhangye County in March of the "40th year of Qin Shi Huang", that is, the "first year of regency".

By the time they entered Yumen Pass, their numbers had been halved, thousands of them had died on the dry Gobi, and the rest had remained in the desert oasis country, giving up hope of returning home......

Because home is too far away, even if Xi and the others go to Dunhuang and see Qinzhijun County Louque again, they are still half the way from Guanzhong.

Fortunately, the Dang River flowing through Dunhuang nourished the thirsty Western Expeditionary Army, and Mingsha Mountain was nothing compared to the great desert of the Western Regions.

They regrouped in Dunhuang and began to open up the Hexi Corridor from the west, defeating the Yue princes who were trying to return to this fertile land, and holding the new territory of Great Qin.

There was a great delay for this, and it was not until the beginning of the spring of the second year of the regency that they set off again.

There's still a long journey ahead.

From Jiuquan rocky rocks rise over the Black Mountain Gorge.

To the colorful Danxia wonders near Zhangye, these roads they walked when they traveled westward needed to be re-measured by the footsteps of the army.

As long as it is still in the Hexi Corridor, this long road that stretches for thousands of miles, as long as people look up, they can see the endless Qilian Mountains in the southwest, which seems to be endless, firmly occupying the skyline.

No wonder it was called "heaven" by the Yueshi and the Huns.

Looking at the snow on Qilian Mountain, Xi also touched his hair bun.

The thin old official who was assigned to the Western Regions many years ago has his hair still black, but now it is gradually dyed frosty.

As the footsteps moved eastward, the soldiers did not know how many pairs of shoes they had worn out, and the Hexi corridor became narrower and narrower, and it seemed that it had reached the end, but if the Western Expeditionary Army wanted to go home, it had to pass the last hurdle: the already dangerous Wusheling Ridge.

There are tall snow-capped mountains on both sides of the snow all year round, the cold often invades the Wusheling Ridge, forming a severe cold air belt standing on the east and west walls, the snow flies in the spring season, the cold air is skull, the western expeditionary army supports each other to climb, endure the cold brought by the sudden change of climate, and only then cross this natural danger.

Turning over the Wusheling Ridge, passing through Lingju County, at the crossing of the big river, Xi met Qianghua, the new Zhangye County Warden, and from his mouth, Xi also basically learned about the division and integration of the world over the years.

Qiang Hua praised Heifu for investigating the chaos and re-dominating the world, but he was happy but did not say no, the number of troops in the west was large, the crossing of the river was slow, and the march was slow, and he was allowed to take the fastest post to Xianyang.

"Gong Xia is looking forward to seeing Xijun again day and night, and treating him with a high position." Qiang Hua said.

But Xi was unmoved and flatly refused.

"I'm a prisoner."

"I preach military law to soldiers all day long, how can I leave the army and leave my post without permission?"

If it weren't for the best of his efforts to control it along the way, this western expeditionary army would probably fall apart countless times, or become a group of bandits in hunger and cold.

Hi decided to take them to the end, with a beginning and an end, and nothing could go wrong.

They crossed the river, entered the Great Wall of Linzhao, followed the route of Qin Shi Huang's return from the west, passed through Longban, and arrived at Guanzhong......

At this point, it is considered to be home, and the scenery has become different, less large areas of wilderness, more farmland connected to Qianmo, under the Qishan Mountain of Zhouyuan, men and women weave, a peaceful scene, it is hard to imagine that this was still a battlefield two years ago.

Most of the Western Expeditionary Army was left in Yongdi to eat, waiting for the restoration order to be sent back to their hometown, and Xi also said goodbye to the soldiers who had been with each other for three years in tears, and continued to march eastward.

When leaving Yongdi, Xi's carriage had a few more newly revised Qin laws, and when he rested along the way, Xi frowned and looked at them one by one, he wanted to know what the laws had gained and benefited in the past few years.

At nightfall, the pavilion chief knew his identity and offered to add lamps and provide fish and meat, but Xi refused.

"After I stepped down as the supervisor of the Western Expeditionary Army, I was just a person who was demoted by Qin Shi Huang as a guilty person, "The Law of Passing on Food" has a saying, but if you stay in the pavilion, do not go down to seek people, a bucket of rice, half a liter of sauce, a liter of vegetable soup, half a stone of grass for feeding horses, and no lamps and candles can be provided at night, since this law has not been changed, do not treat me specially."

After Heifu seized Xianyang, he sent a document to the northwest to restore Xi's status as an official in the court, but when Xi saw this document in Dunhuang, he did not accept it.

Xi did not think that the edict was legal and valid at that time, because of the discrepancy of information between the two sides, the matter was closed.

So he was stubborn, and he could only watch the transcription of the laws during the day, and when he was dazzled, he walked to the ridges of the villages along the way, greeted the farmers and vendors, and asked about the various policies of the government recently.

Like a history of orders who are about to handle a big case and conduct a trial, silently remember everything they have seen and heard, and use them as evidence in court......

On July 20 of the second year of the regency, the joy of the wind and dust was about to arrive at Duting, ten miles west of Xianyang.

And at this moment, his carriage was stopped!

The servant who was driving the carriage did not recognize the person in front of him, and when he saw that he stretched out his arm to stop the car, he hurriedly pulled the reins, and the carriage stopped in front of him, because the trip was very important, and he could not help but be nervous, and reprimanded:

"Who are you, and who is in the chariot? How dare you block it? ”

"I know."

The voice was as sonorous and powerful as it was back then.

Even if he closed his eyes in the car, he couldn't help but open his eyes, and his fingertips holding the book trembled slightly.

"Sitting in the car is the world-famous Xijun."

"Xijun has been an official for decades, he has fulfilled his duties, is familiar with the law and order, and has been imprisoned hundreds of times, and there are no unjust, false and wrongful cases in his hands, and each one of them has achieved justice in the law."

"Xijun is cold on his face, but in fact, he cares about the people, and he dares to question the first emperor in the court, and now he is wronged and returned to the west, and I, as a fellow villager of the younger generation, are here to welcome him."

The bamboo curtain of the carriage slowly opened, and he poked his head out, he was already full of gray hair, full of wind and sand, and the old official squinted and recognized the identity of the comer.

The person in front of him is no longer the young offspring who stopped the car and shouted grievances in Anlu Huyang Pavilion.

He stood in the middle of the dusty road, clasped his hands together, and bowed in joy with his hands folded.

Only the face as dark as the head of Qian, the smile is still the same.

"Xijun, don't come to harm?"

……

Xi and Heifu sat opposite each other in the Du Pavilion.

I remember in a trance that twenty years ago, their first acquaintance was also in an inconspicuous small pavilion in Anlu County.

It's just that the fate of the two is different, both are excited by the tide of this great era, and they have departed from the original trajectory, but Heifu finally got off the bottom and became a tidebreaker, and Xi drifted farther away, but more like a witness......

Witness a small man grow from a mere leader to the true ruler of the empire.

It has also witnessed the ups and downs of an era, which is fierce and tends to be flat......

Xi looked aside, the legend is that the white self-slaughtered splash red horse stone pier is on the side, it was here, Xi was the first emperor to the west, depressed to embark on a long road, passing through Du Ting.

Because Fusu was reprimanded for intercession, none of the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty dared to say goodbye, but Ye, the wife of the black husband, traveled on a bicycle and gave wine to each other. He also gave a house of people for the joy of calling, and a maid for the use of washing and cooking along the way.

For this reason, he specially addressed Hefu:

"If I didn't have this pair of servants to take care of me all the way, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on to Li Xinna, thank you Mrs. Regent, when I went to the Western Regions, they stayed in Dunhuang, and now they have two or two daughters, and they don't want to return to the east, I'm afraid I can't return them to Mrs. Regent......"

"In addition, I would like to thank the regent for the gift he sent to Hexi."

Hefu returned the courtesy, and was as respectful to the respectful person as before, no matter what status he reached:

"Don't worry about the road ahead, no one in the world knows you, General Li does know Xijun, and Xijun has not lived up to the trust of him and the soldiers, and brought the people of the Western Expedition back safely, and there has never been a conflict that offended the people along the way, which is not easy."

Xi said: "General Li also knows the regent, and before he crossed the green ridge, let me bring you a word." ”

"What?"

"General Li just wants to ask."

Hi raised her head and looked at Hef:

"Heifu, do you remember the ambition of the First Emperor?"

"The First Emperor's Ambition ......"

Heifu was silent for a long time, and sighed: "It's all clear, the seal is engraved on the carved stones of Hengshan, Zhifu, Jieshi, and Langya!" ”

He stood up and recited the dreamy whispers of a previous era.

"**Within, the Emperor's Land. Wading quicksand in the west, and reaching the north in the south. There is the East China Sea in the east, and Bactria in the north. Wherever people go, there are no subordinates. ”

"This is the first emperor's great ambition to expand the territory of China, but it's a pity that the world can't afford so many expeditions, but it's enough to be gratified that Li Xin, he can inherit this ambition, lead the army to the west, and look at the outside world for the first emperor who sleeps in Lishan, and see other civilizations outside Kyushu, with Li Xin's ability, maybe he can really lay down a piece of mountains and rivers, so that the prestige of the first emperor can be spread to the country of the extreme west?"

"This legacy of expanding the territory has been succeeded by Li Xin."

Xi nodded and agreed, Li Xin did think so.

"Also, the first emperor made people not judge himself by his name, and the future generations were counted, and the second and third generations were as long as the eternal generations, and the transmission was endless. He hopes that the Great Qin will be prosperous forever, long live the millennium, and continue forever. ”

"But in this world, there is no immortal dynasty, Xia, Shang and Zhou are all like this, how can Qin be an exception? Although I have survived this crumbling society, after I die, everything is still unknown. ”

"However, Gongsun Jun, the son of Fusu, he has been sealed in Haidong, living in a corner, as long as there are not too many variables, maybe he can really be in that country forever, and he will be in a family for all generations."

"Therefore, this will of the eternal lineage may be succeeded by the Marquis of Haidong, just like Yin Shang has died, but the Song State has inherited the surname Sheji."

On this, Xi frowned and was noncommittal.

"The first emperor also promised, saying that the terrain is established, Li Shu has no rope, and the world is salty. Men enjoy their domains, women cultivate their careers, and everything is orderly. Hui was all produced, and he came to the field for a long time, so he was not disturbed. In the course of time, all the fruits multiply. Qianshou is peaceful, and there is no need to ...... the revolution"

"He didn't do it when he was alive, but he was overly served, Daxing the palace, fighting in the south and the north, and the world was exhausted, so that it caused a catastrophe, but now it's okay, I once again unified Kyushu, the six countries were wiped out, the Kanto region was stable, and even the hidden dangers of the frontier Xiongnu have been broken and fled north, and the soldiers who run around the north and south of the world can go home, and the farmer only needs to pay the rent of eleven, which can be regarded as a man's pleasure, and a woman's cultivation of her profession, each in an orderly manner."

Heifu spread out his hands and said with a smile: "This will will be inherited by me!" ”

"From this point of view, whether we go east, go west, or stay in the Central Plains, we are all the successors of the First Emperor!"

Xi sighed with emotion:

"The ambition you have inherited is the most difficult to achieve, forty-eight counties, more than 20 million people, and people from the six countries who are difficult to mediate, but it is not comparable to Li Xin and Gongsun Jun who only need to be responsible for thousands of people."

"Is it difficult?" Xi asked Hef, at this moment, he became the fellow villager who taught Hefton.

"Difficult."

Heifu was stunned for a moment, and bowed his head with emotion: "To really bear the burden, I know that it is difficult to start a business, and it is even more difficult to keep a business." ”

He then bowed to the chief and said:

"Xijun, in addition to these three points, the First Emperor has a will, which has not yet been realized!"

"That's the first level of the French style, judging different positions, in order to establish constancy."

"The great sage governs, establishes the law, and shows the discipline!"

"Let Qin's decree be adapted to local conditions and truly spread in the world, as a program for all generations!"

Xi Mo was silent, and only said hesitantly: "This, is this really the last wish of the First Emperor?" ”

Didn't he persuade Qin Shi Huang not to take the lead in breaking the law for his own selfish desires, so that he was angry and migrated?

Heifu said: "Whether he is sincere or boasting, since he has promised, as a successor, he will do it." I hope that one day, in this world, we will be able to truly govern the country according to law. ”

"Even if we exhaust the efforts of a generation, we can only take a small step towards that goal!"

"But if you want to do this, you can't rely on me alone, and even more so on the princes and heroes of the Manchu Dynasty who only think about the wealth and grandchildren of the Manchu Dynasty."

After the world was decided, the heroes have become the objects that Heifu must watch out for, and this group of guys who have made a class leap will soon degenerate and become corrupt.

Therefore, it is necessary for a truly impartial person to stand up and rebuild the judicial system.

"If there is anyone in this world who can be fair and selfless, and can enforce the law fairly, it is none other than Xijun!"

"If there is anyone in this world who can supervise me, it is Xijun!"

"So, Xijun, you must be involved in this matter."

Heifu bowed for a long time, just like Liu Bei's gesture of inviting Zhuge Liang out of the mountain:

"Please Xijun as the imperial historian of the imperial court! Oversee the officials of the world, including me, the regent! And re-examine the laws and decrees, change the disadvantages of the laws and orders of the first emperor, so that the laws and decrees of Qin will be implemented in the world again. ”

"Let this world that has collapsed and corrupted the law once again have the world's program!"

Xi was a little moved, but he didn't agree to Heifu.

There was no refusal either.

Xi's eyes were sharp, and he looked at Heifu fixedly: "Like Li Xin, there is also a problem with old decay. ”

Just as Ling Shi was in the trial, no matter what the facts of the case were, no matter what the subjective judgment was, and no matter what the objective evidence was, the suspect must be questioned in accordance with the established procedure.

He is only asking about Heifu, but he seems to be asking all beings, future generations, all those who will start this story from the beginning and see the end!

The question of joy seems to have crossed time and space, and even penetrated the thin paper!

"Heifu, is it still a Qin official?"

……

PS: After thinking about it carefully, let's let Li Xin's story be passed on (well, if there is one).

So, on the 21st, I will also slow down, and you will also slow down, the last chapter on the 22nd, the finale.

Readers, you(* ̄) ̄*)are panicking.