The five people who were called out stepped out. More importantly, among the five people, except Qin Fang, the others were guerrilla generals. Many people looked down on Qin Fang and thought that such a team was too strange.
Du Ke said to them, "Since you are all here, why don't you come with me to meet the leader of the Barbarian Tribe? After all, this matter is related to you."
"yes."
The Barbarians had many tribes, including the small ones, and there were five large tribes alone. Of the five tribes, two originally surrendered, one remained neutral, and the remaining two did not intend to surrender.
So this time when Duco met with the tribal leaders, he met the leaders of two large tribes who had surrendered and one tribal leader who remained neutral, a total of three people.
Although Qin Fang and the others didn't understand, Du Ke didn't explain it clearly, he just said it was related to them and they could only follow.
Marquis Yonghe led them to the meeting tent, and then sent for the three tribal leaders to come over.
After the three tribal leaders arrived, they exchanged greetings with Du Ke, who then said, "I have been ordered to deal with the surrender of the leaders. I know you are anxious to know, so I will not waste any more time and let's get straight to the point."
The leader of the Barbarian tribe said, "Minister Du, please speak."
Du Ke continued, "After you surrender, your people will become citizens of our Qi country, enjoying the same treatment as our citizens of Qi country. At the same time, you will also have to bear the same responsibilities as our citizens of Qi country. In a word, you are Qi people, and you are not tribal people."
The tribal leaders had no objection to this. Being able to become a citizen of Qi, enjoy the same treatment as the citizens of Qi, and bear the same responsibilities as the citizens of Qi, was the best thing for them. "Then may I ask Minister Du, how will His Majesty arrange for us?"
Du Ke said: "Your Majesty has designated several places within the territory of Qi as your living places. There are a total of 18,000 people from our two large tribes, plus some scattered small tribes that we have counted. These 18,000 people will be led by the five generals opposite you to resettle them. Of course, the 18,000 people will be resettled in different places. After the resettlement, you will have the identity documents of the citizens of Qi..." What Du Ke said was Qin Fang's previous suggestion, but the court was more detailed. "What do you think about this?"
The two tribal leaders looked at each other and finally said in unison: "We have no objection." They sincerely surrendered to Qi State, so as long as the Emperor of Qi State did not treat them unfairly, they did not care how they were arranged. They also understood why the Emperor of Qi State wanted to disperse them and settle them. "Here, thank you very much, Your Majesty."
Du Ke was also very satisfied with their straightforwardness: "In this case, all leaders go back and organize your people. Half a month later, you bring your people here and we will make specific arrangements. During this period, our Yongzhou military camp will dispatch 20,000 troops to the border to ensure your safety in your own tribes during this period." To avoid being killed by those who want to surrender.
"yes."
The two tribal leaders had no objection. The neutral tribal leader thought about it and decided to wait and see. If they made good arrangements, it would not be too late for him to surrender.
The three tribal leaders brought 20,000 Qi soldiers back to the Barbarian Tribe. The 20,000 Qi soldiers were led by Yonghe Hou Shili himself.
Du Ke turned to Qin Fang and the other five people. Just now, he used the term "five generals" to describe these five people, but in reality, Qin Fang was only a captain of a thousand men. So after listening to his words, everyone understood that Qin Fang was going to be promoted. Du Ke looked at the five people and asked, "Which one is Qin Fang?"
Qin Fang stepped out of the line and said, "I am Qin Fang, your humble servant. I am honored to meet you, Your Excellency."
Du Ke narrowed his eyes and looked at the young man in front of him carefully: "Raise your head."
Qin Fang raised his head. His resolute facial features were very regular. His eyes were deep, his forehead was full, and his nose was high. Although he tried to stay calm, his tightly pursed lips revealed his nervousness. Du Ke had seen countless people in his life. Qin Fang was a man of his age and had seen a lot. He had been with many people in the military camp, so he knew whether he was loyal or treacherous. "Qin Fang, His Majesty said that he was very wrong." Finally, when cold sweat broke out on Qin Fang's forehead, he spoke.
Qin Fang was stunned for a moment, and immediately said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your praise." He could not hide his excitement. Did a man like him also leave a name in front of His Majesty
Du Ke smiled and said, "Don't be nervous. The plan you proposed for the resettlement of the barbarians who surrendered is very good. This plan was proposed by you, so you should also be involved in the arrangement. So... Qin Fang accepts the imperial edict."
Imperial edict
"Long live the emperor."
Qin Fang and others knelt down.
Du Ke: "In compliance with the will of Heaven, the Emperor proclaims: Qin Fang, the captain of the Yongzhou military camp, is a man of great courage, wisdom, loyalty and high moral character... He is hereby conferred the title of the fifth-rank general of Wude."
Qin Fang was stunned. His body was shaking. He knelt stupidly and forgot to react at all. At this moment, his mind was blank. Since he entered the military camp, he has worked hard to practice martial arts, train hard, and learn to read. After getting married, he dared not neglect it, hoping that he could have a promising future and be worthy of Yanyan. But now, he has become a general of the fifth rank, and he suddenly feels that he dares not believe it.
Seeing this, General Ao pulled him and said, "Qin Fang."
Du Ke said: "It's okay, young people, it's inevitable to be a little excited."
Qin Fang came back to his senses and kowtowed three times: "I will serve your majesty till my death."
Du Ke laughed loudly, and was very satisfied with the young man with red and swollen eyes and poor manners. He was honest and simple, and that was the kind of person he wanted. "By the way, there is also an imperial edict in my box, which is an imperial edict for your wife." Generally speaking, when a husband gets promoted, his wife will also get an imperial edict.
But sometimes, the emperor would deliberately suppress it. There is another situation, like Qin Fang's promotion to a thousand-man commander. Although it was the emperor's appointment, the formalities were actually handled by the Ministry of War. Even the emperor would not remember such a thing, let alone give the wife of the thousand-man commander a seventh-rank imperial decree.
Qin Fang received the imperial edict again: "Thank you, Your Majesty, and thank you, Lord Du."
Du Ke nodded with satisfaction: "The position of the captain of a thousand men is vacated, remember to arrange someone to take it. And we..." He said to General Ao and others, "You five who have been ordered to arrange for the surrender of the barbarians can bring two seventh-rank loyal lieutenants with you, and at the same time, take away 200 people from the Yongzhou military camp. In addition, after you settle the surrendered barbarians, you will have two important tasks. One is to monitor the surrendered barbarians. The second is to serve as the city guard general of the county. The city guard general can organize a thousand troops. You will bring 200, and the remaining 800 will be selected from the local people."
Qin Fang and others: "Yes."
Du Ke: "You guys go and leave, Qin Fang stay."
"yes."
Qin Fang, who was left alone, was also nervous. He looked at Du Ke awkwardly, not knowing what the Vice Minister of War was going to say.
Du Ke didn't embarrass him, nor did he beat around the bush. In his eyes, a man like Qin Fang was not worth beating around the bush. So he said bluntly: "Regarding the position of the captain, do you have a suitable candidate in mind?"
Qin Fang didn't expect Du Ke to ask this. He was about to mention Han Zhen, but reason stopped him. He was silent for a while, and then asked, "Does your Excellency have anyone to recommend?" A mere captain of a thousand men should not be worthy of the attention of Du Ke, a military minister, but he paid attention to him and reminded him. So Qin Fang couldn't help but think about it for a while before asking this question.
Du Ke glanced at him and asked, "What do you think of Wei Wu?"
Qin Fang's heart sank. Of course not. Compared with other children of noble families, Wei Wu was indeed a very good person. He was also very cooperative when on duty, never spoiled, and had a very good temper. But in terms of qualifications, he was not good enough. In Qin Fang's opinion, Han Zhen was more suitable to be a thousand-man captain.
However, since Du Ke asked this, it meant that he wanted Wei Wu to be the captain of a thousand men. But he couldn't say that Qin Fang could speak well of Wei Wu against his conscience.
Du Ke said: "It's okay to speak frankly."
Qin Fang thought about it again and again before he said, "I have a more suitable candidate in mind for the position of Thousand Captain, Han Zhen. Han Zhen was originally a centurion. When we competed for the position of Thousand Captain, he lost to me. He is very skilled and cautious. As for Wei Wu, with his personality, he is not qualified for the position of Thousand Captain, but he can be trained as a centurion and make a final decision later. Do you think it is okay?" Of course, if Du Ke insisted that Wei Wu be the Thousand Captain, he would have no choice. He was just nominating, and it was not up to him to decide who would be the Thousand Captain.
Du Ke thought for a moment and said, "Okay, let's follow your suggestion."
Qin Fang held his breath for a long time, and finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Du Ke agreed. "Excuse me, sir, do you have any instructions regarding the matter of the lieutenant?"
Du Ke smiled again: "You can take two hundred people from under you, and the selection of the captain is up to you. I don't care about this." However, he was just a captain guarding a county town, so he naturally wouldn't care about such trivial matters.
Qin Fang said: "Yes."
Du Ke waved his hand and said, "Okay, let's go back and make the arrangements."
Qin Fang: "Yes, I will take my leave now."
Qin Fang retreated respectfully, and only when he got outside did he feel like he was dreaming. He twisted his thigh hard and felt pain, which meant that it was not a dream. He was promoted, he became a general, and he... could finally support his family.
Qin Fang jumped up happily, attracting the attention of other soldiers. Qin Fang hummed and left quickly with a serious face.
After returning to District 18, he immediately summoned his five centurions to a meeting.