"More than 24,000 coins!?"
Heifu was shocked by this "astronomical figure".
Wow, this can be exchanged for ten sets of good armor. Converted into millet, it is more than 300 stones, nearly 20,000 catties!
But think about it, the king's policy is not to rush to thieves. Qin Law, like its predecessor "Fa Jing", ranks the law of catching thieves first, because thieves are rampant on the road, which will cause great damage to social security. The governor of Nanjun was deeply saddened by this situation in the official document, so it is reasonable to use heavy rewards to encourage officials and people to catch thieves.
Now Heifu is a little happy. If everything is as Ji Ying said, he will go from a poor soldier with nothing to a millionaire in Qin.
But he noticed Ji Ying's eager eyes looking at the three thieves, and a thought flashed through his mind, so he smiled and said, "Ji Ying, you are wrong."
"What's wrong?" Ji Ying was stunned.
Hei Fu said, "It was obviously you and I who encountered the thieves on the road and arrested them together. You should have a share of the credit!"
"I..." Ji Ying was speechless. He just regretted why he didn't catch the thief who confronted him, and was a little jealous of Hei Fu's good luck, but he didn't dare to ask for a share of the credit. Because these three thieves were all captured by Hei Fu alone! He just watched from the side and didn't help at all.
Hei Fu didn't think so: "Thanks to you for holding back a thief, otherwise the four of them would have rushed over and I would have been dead on the road."
"I really can't bear it."
Ji Ying blushed and wanted to refuse, but Hei Fu had made up his mind and patted him and said: "We are considered to have lived and died together, and this wealth should be shared!"
Ji Ying was so moved that he opened his mouth several times and swallowed it back. After a while, he bowed to Hei Fu and said: "Hei Fu, from today on, I, Ji Ying, will treat you as a brother! If you need me, just tell me!"
Hei Fu quickly helped him up. In Hei Fu's opinion, although Ji Ying's skills were a little poor and he was talkative, he was a good person, especially because he did not run away when he encountered trouble. So Hei Fu felt that this friend was worth making friends with, and he could get his promise, maybe he would really need it in the future.
Furthermore, a man is innocent, but he is responsible for his crime. Heifu was a little uneasy about receiving such a huge reward. He alone could not watch over three people at the same time, so it would be better to have more accomplices to escort the thieves together. Anyway, minus one person, the remaining two people can also get him a reward of more than 16,000 yuan, which is enough.
With this money, even if he joins the army in a few years, Heifu does not have to write home to ask his mother for money and clothes, and the gears of his destiny have been pried a little bit.
While the two of them were pushing each other, two of the three thieves were injured and cried out in pain, but the bearded man who was tied up suddenly laughed.
"Hahahahaha!"
He laughed so hard that his saliva flowed onto his beard, as if he had seen the biggest joke in the world and wanted to laugh out loud.
Ji Ying was furious, and kicked him hard, cursing: "Thief, what's so funny!"
The bearded man raised his head and grinned: "I am laughing, I didn't expect that I was so valuable, why didn't I know it after living for more than 30 years?"
Hei Fu and Ji Ying were stunned, and the bearded man chattered: "My name is Pan, and like you, I was also a good citizen of Qin State, and never left the county, until one day, the government recruited me to join the army, so I set out in rags. At that time, I was in a hurry, and I was thinking that I could cut off a few heads to get a title and glorify the village, but who would have thought..."
"Who would have thought that you found that the taste of the battlefield was not pleasant at all?"
Hei Fu could probably guess what the bearded man had been through. In his previous life, his uncle, who had participated in the self-defense counterattack, once told them that not everyone could adapt to the battlefield. For some people, a little taste of death was enough to make them collapse. When you charge forward, there are always people running in the opposite direction.
This was even more true in ancient times. The Qin State raised troops every year. In theory, everyone would only be conscripted twice, but this decree alone became an empty letter. The actual situation was that under the will of the King of Qin, every soldier had to participate in countless wars year after year. On the battlefield, the younger brother watched his older brother die, the father lost his son, and the belly of the villagers was cut open by a sharp sword... Even those who survived the first ten battles might collapse in the eleventh fight.
So there were deserters and dead people, and in the Qin State's code, such people were synonymous with dead people and slaves.
"In Qin, if you flee once, you can never be a soldier again, nor can you return to your hometown. Even if you go back, your parents and brothers have already been imprisoned." The bearded man lowered his voice. This is the story of how he was forced to become a bandit.
Hei Fu was silent. This thief reminded him of the Hei Fu brothers in history. Perhaps if they had a different thought, they would have the same fate as this man.
Ten years later, Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty, was probably in a similar situation. He fled to the mountains, wanted to seek amnesty but failed, and his wife and children were arrested and imprisoned. In the end, he simply rebelled.
"Tell me, when you were a soldier, you were worthless, but when you became a bandit, your value doubled. Is it funny?"
Ji Ying scratched his head, but hardened his heart again, kicked the bearded man again, and cursed: "But you must have killed many people and robbed a lot of money when you were a bandit in Yunmengze! You deserve what happened today!"
The bearded man seemed to have suffered a great injustice, his face flushed, and he spat on the ground, spitting out a tooth that was knocked out in the fight, and cursed: "Nonsense! It's true that you have killed a few people, but the people you met were all poor ghosts. Let alone fourteen golds, you haven't even seen one gold!"
Ji Ying ignored him and suggested: "Brother Heifu, we have to go to the county town to serve anyway. It's only 20 to 30 miles away. We can get there by dark. Just take the three thieves there and hand them over to the county jail to claim the reward as soon as possible. Then you and I can rest assured."
"That makes sense." Heifu nodded. Although he felt sad for the other party, it was related to his future life and death. He could not be soft-hearted and had to let these people be stepping stones for his wealth.
The bearded man had his hands tied behind his back and was tied with the other two, but he was still shouting: "Since I ran away from the military camp, I knew this day would come. I am willing to be cooked or killed, but I have one more request..."
Hei Fu looked at him: "You say."
The bearded man said with an expression that looked like crying and laughing: "After you escort me to the government, if you get a reward, you must let me see it and touch it! Let me know that I am really worth so much money!"
"Shut up!" Ji Ying felt sad for no reason and kicked the man again, but this time, it was not so heavy.
Hei Fu and Ji Ying picked up the three thieves and forced them to go on the road. Unexpectedly, at this moment, a group of people ran over on the road. They were fully armed, holding bows and arrows, spears, short swords and shields, and even one was riding a horse.
Seeing Heifu and others from afar, the rider galloped over quickly and shouted from afar: "Where are the thieves?" When he was a few steps away from Heifu, he grabbed the reins to stop the horse, and the dust raised by the horse's hooves fell on Heifu and the other two's faces.
Ji Ying spit out the sand and cursed: "What do you want to do, you bastard!"
The man on the horse was more than 20 years old. He wore a red cap on his head, leather armor on his body, crimson clothes inside, a sword on his waist, and a long and thin horse face.
Seeing the three thieves tied up, the man looked happy and was about to dismount to check. Heifu was very dissatisfied with his arrogant attitude, so he stretched out his hand to stop him.
The man was immediately very unhappy and said with a stern face: "How dare you! Do you know who I am?"
"I don't know, I just know that the thieves have been captured by me." Heifu did not give in.
The two looked at each other, and for a moment, the atmosphere became tense!
"Brave man, Pavilion Chief... misunderstanding, misunderstanding."
At this moment, the merchant who was chased by the thieves and fled came here breathlessly, and hurriedly stepped forward to persuade them to stop fighting. He saluted Hei Fu and the other two and said, "Thank you for saving my life, two brave men."
Then he introduced the man again: "This is the local Huyang Pavilion Chief. I found the reinforcements. Pavilion Chief, those thieves ambushed and attacked me here..."
"Pavilion Chief?"
Hei Fu thought it was not good. Sure enough, at this moment, those people holding weapons also came one after another. There were as many as four of them. They surrounded Hei Fu and the other two and pointed their bows and arrows at them!
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