The prosperous Jiangnan has been home to heroes and celebrities since ancient times. In Wu County, the capital of Kuaiji County, there lived a family named Yu. The old man was named Yu Yigong, and he was a wealthy businessman. Their ancestral home is Siwuyi, Xiapi County, Donghai County, which is today Yanji Town, Shuyang County, Suqian City, Jiangsu Province. The Yu family came to settle in Wu County of Kuaiji County to avoid the war. Yu Yigong had a daughter named Yu Ji. She was of natural beauty and was known as the most beautiful woman in the south of the Yangtze River. Yu Ji is seventeen years old this year. She is the apple of her parents' eyes. Because she is as beautiful as a flower, all the young men in Wu want to marry her, so some young men try their best to get close to Yu Yigong. However, most of these people are playboys and are not in the favor of Yu Yigong at all, let alone Yu Ji.
Yu Yigong was very rich. He once bought a horse from other places. This horse was much taller than ordinary horses. What was particularly special was that the horse's body was as black as if it had been painted with black paint, without a single hair. , so people call it sunspot. Because Heizi was violent and powerful, ordinary people did not dare to approach him, so no one dared to wear bridles or saddle stirrups. The night when Yu Yigong bought Heizi back, he actually killed all the horses in the stable. The next day, when Yu Yigong saw the scene in the stable, he was so angry that he trembled with rage. Because Heizi ate a lot, Yu Yigong didn't plan to ask for it anymore, but he never met a suitable seller.
By this time, the news of Chen Sheng's uprising had spread throughout the country. Yin Tong, the governor of Shandong Province, saw uprisings in various parts of Shandong and their southern part had also broken away from Qin's jurisdiction, so he also wanted to respond to Zhang Chu's uprising. After he had this idea, he wanted to recruit some war horses to form a team, so he posted a notice in the city to purchase famous horses and good horses. When Yu Yigong heard the news, he was ready to sell Heizi to the county. On this day, he sent someone to lead Heizi out of the house and walked towards the county government office. But what everyone didn't expect was that Heizi broke the reins as soon as he went out, ran wildly on the street, and even injured many people. The citizens were frightened and hid as if they had seen a tiger. Someone reported the news to the county guard, who hurriedly sent an official to surrender the horse. However, as soon as several officials approached, Heizi kicked and bit them randomly, making it impossible for him to get close. The official was ready to kill it with arrows. At this time, the county guard also arrived. He saw at a glance that this was a thousand-mile horse, and he decisively ordered: "You can only catch it, but you must not hurt it. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed!" He ordered everyone, Fei With the help of nine cows and two tigers, Heizi was imprisoned in a stable next to the government office. This stable was a large stable used by the county guard to form a cavalry team. The county guard knew that Heizi could hurt other horses, so he locked him up alone. According to Qin law, if someone's livestock damages other people's property or hurts other people's lives, the owner of the horse must be punished and must pay compensation. The county guard sent people to arrest Yu Yigong.
The governor was very smart, because if he wanted to fight against Qin, he had to find someone who knew military skills to serve as a general. At this time, he had also heard about the names of Xiang Liang's uncle and nephew, especially people's rumors that Xiang Liang's nephew Xiang Yu had abilities that were invincible to ten thousand people, but he did not know their true situation. The governor thought about it and decided to use the name of surrendering his horse to see if Xiang Yu was worthy of his name. After thinking about it, he wrote a notice about Heizi's injury, and exaggerated it, saying that the horse was very fierce, and it was scheduled to be released on a certain day in a certain month at the stable in front of the county government office. If the horse can be subdued, the county guard will reward him with a hundred taels of gold and promote him to a general. As soon as the notice came out, the whole city was in an uproar, and people were talking about Heizi.
After Yu Yigong was arrested, everyone in the Yu family panicked. My son, Yu Ziqi, is in his early twenties. He is cautious and a filial son. Now that I saw my father was arrested, I discussed with the whole family how to rescue him. At this time, someone suggested asking Xiang Liang for help. It turns out that Xiang Liang often arranges weddings and funerals for people in Wu County. In addition, he likes to make friends with local heroes, so he is very famous in the city. Therefore, anyone in Wu County who encounters something that cannot be solved will go to him. help. Yu Ziqi came to Xiang Liang's home and told what happened. He also said that his father had been arrested by the county guard and asked Xiang Liang to find a way to rescue him. Xiang Liang agreed after hearing this.
After Yu Ziqi left, Xiang Liang found another very important person. This person was Shen Mu, the head of the Xiang family. Shen Mu was a little older than Xiang Liang and had followed Xiang Liang for a long time. He had been fleeing with Xiang Liang since the fall of Chu. Later I came to live in Xiaxiang. He quickly fled from Xiaxiang to Wuxian County. Shen Mu is loyal to the Xiang family, and is almost the same character as Cheng Ying in "The Orphan of Zhao". He is also the most important figure in the Xiang family's plan to rebel against Qin and restore Chu. On that day, he said to Xiang Liang: "This surrender of horses is a good opportunity for your Xiang family to establish a good name. When the day of surrender comes, you will let Yu'er surrender the horses, and the county guard will surrender them." I'll leave the important matters here to your Xiang family." Shen Mu gave Xiang Liang another analysis, saying that the county governor must have had the idea of raising troops to respond to Chu. Xiang Liang was very happy after hearing this, so he called Xiang Yu and told him about the surrender of the horse. Xiang Yu heard that he was asked to surrender his horse, and felt that his expertise was very suitable, so he readily agreed.
On the day when the horse was surrendered, Xiang Liang, Xiang Yu, Yu Ziqi and others came to the stable in front of the county mansion. All the people in the county came to watch, and many people gathered at once. At this time, the county guard also led a group of officials out. They came to the stables not far away and watched the horse surrender event together. Xiang Liang and others also came to the stable. Before they got close, they heard Heizi neighing, the sound was surprisingly loud. Xiang Yu approached the fence and found that the horse was circling the stable, and its momentum was indeed extraordinary. A closer look revealed that Heizi's whole body was indeed as black as coal. His mane was three feet long, his ears were as pointed as bamboo leaves, and his pupils in his square eye sockets were as bright as hanging bells, and his eyes were shining like purple flames. . Xiang Yu thought to himself: I once encountered a tiger while hunting. Now that I saw this horse, it was much more majestic than the tiger. He couldn't help but admire: "This is a thousand-mile horse!"
At this time, many young men in the county were watching the horse riding around the fence. Suddenly, a young man walked out and shouted: "Let me do it first!" He jumped into the stable. When Xiang Yu saw that someone had taken the lead, he stood aside and watched. I saw the young man walking slowly from behind Heizi. Strangely enough, this grumpy guy saw a stranger today, but he didn't show any resistance at all and stood there motionless. The young man felt happy and jumped on the horse. But this time something terrible happened. The black horse was frightened and jumped forward and backward, knocking the young man to the ground in a few strokes. The boy hurriedly got up and ran towards the fence. Heizi chased after him with his mouth wide open. The boy had no choice but to exclaim: "Help!" His accomplices helped him and pulled him out of the fence. He almost lost his life. This embarrassed boy This move made the onlookers laugh.
Before the laughter stopped, another menacing man came out. Without saying a word, he jumped directly into the stable. But at this time, Heizi seemed to have seen his enemy, and he rushed over with his big mouth open. The young man wanted to jump on the horse, but Heizi had already pounced on him, so he hurriedly dodged. During this process, the man wanted to seize the opportunity to grab Heizi's mane, but he couldn't catch it for a long time. The man was so anxious that he had to turn around and run away. But before he could reach the gate, Heizi had already chased him up and knocked him to the ground. The man's life was hanging by a thread. At this critical moment, Xiang Yu roared like a tiger and a leopard, and then flew into the stable. The black man seemed to be frightened. Not only did he not dare to move forward, he also kept retreating. Xiang Yu rescued the man and dragged him out of the gate. Seeing this scene, the onlookers focused all their attention on Xiang Yu.
Heizi seemed to be scared when he saw Xiang Yu, and did not dare to step forward except to retreat. But Xiang Yu rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward, grabbed Heizi's long mane, pushed Heizi to the ground with force, and then sat on him. At this time, Xiang Yu grabbed the horse's ears with one hand and dug the horse's eyes with the other. He pressed hard again, and the horse snorted in pain, and then crawled there motionless. Xiang Yu jumped up, pulled Heizi up, and then caressed Heizi's body with his hands. It seemed as if it had seen its owner. It bowed its head and let Xiang Yu caress it. It seemed very docile and wiped it with its cheeks from time to time. Holding Xiang Yu's body. Xiang Yu was very happy, so he slowly put the saddle stirrups and bridle on Heizi, then asked for a whip, mounted Heizi, and shouted: "Get out of the way!" The people quickly made way for him. Xiang Yu took his horse back a few steps and then charged forward. Heizi actually jumped out of the fence and ran out of the city. When people saw this scene, they cheered together. By the time everyone left the city again, Heizi had already disappeared without a trace, leaving only a trail of suspended dust in front of him.
At this time, the county guard asked who the man who surrendered the horse was, and someone answered: "He is Xiang Liang's nephew Xiang Yu." The county guard was shocked and met Xiang Liang in the crowd. The county guard said: "I have heard of your name for a long time. It is really like thunder. I am lucky enough to meet you today. It is a great comfort to my life!" Xiang Liang also said: "Your Excellency, I have heard that a fierce horse hurt someone, so I I brought my nephew to watch together. I didn’t expect him to be so young, so please take more care of him!” The county guard said with great joy: “I heard that you are the son of Xiang Yan, and you actually have such a heroic nephew. It’s really a coincidence. It's too late!" At this time, many people had gathered at the city gate, and people wanted to see Xiang Yu's style. While the county guard was talking to Xiang Liang, Xiang Yu had already returned from riding. The county guard and Xiang Liang greeted Xiang Yu together.
When Xiang Yu was approaching the city gate, he saw a lot of people gathered, so he dismounted early, then touched Heizi's neck in front of everyone, patted his back, and then came to greet the governor and his uncle. The county guard looked at Xiang Yu happily and saw that he had strange eyes, thick eyebrows and horizontal temples, a tall figure, and an impressive weapon. He was very surprised and exclaimed: "Today I finally saw the legendary hero with my own eyes!" and asked Xiang Yu. Where have you just been? Xiang Yu replied: "This horse ran like Huang Zui jumping in the water. It ran to Lou County in one breath, and then came back from Lou County." The county guard was shocked and said in wonder: "It is forty or fifty miles away from Lou County." The journey was nearly a hundred miles, and it only took half an hour to get back. What a thousand-mile horse!" An ancient poet said in a poem:
Hu Ma's name is Dawan, and he has sharp edges and thin bones. The ears of bamboo are steep, and the wind blows lightly on the four hooves.
There is no vastness in the direction, which is worthy of life and death. If Xiaoteng is like this, he can travel thousands of miles.
After the county guard praised it, he immediately ordered his left and right people to bring the one hundred gold they had prepared and said to Xiang Yu: "This is the reward. Please accept it with honor, Xiang Xiang." Xiang Yu took the opportunity and said: "Please let go of Yu Yigong who offered the horse. Then all the money will be compensated to the injured people, and I will not take any money." Seeing that Xiang Yu was really upright, the county governor happily agreed to his request, and immediately sent an order to release Yu Yigong, and then asked his left and right officers to come with the hundred gold. Go to the market to compensate the people for their losses. When Yu Ziqi heard that his father had been saved, he happily followed the official mission to take his father home. At this time, all the officials in the county congratulated Xiang Yu. There were two of them. One was the county supervisor Ji Bu. He was very popular because he was very trustworthy and would handle other people's affairs as soon as he promised. Therefore, people said that he was "A thousand pieces of gold cannot be exchanged for Ji Bunuo"; the other one is the county captain Zhong Limei. This man has a bronze face, a body as tall and strong as an iron tower, leopard eyes and tiger beards, very majestic. Both of them are about thirty. Many years old. When it comes to martial arts, both of them are among the best, but the county guard refused to let them surrender their horses just to make Xiang Yu stand out.
Seeing that the scene was very lively, the county guard said happily: "I finally got a thousand-mile horse today!" Xiang Liang said, "My lord, I got two thousand-mile horses today!" The county guard pretended to be surprised and said: "This is How do you say it?" Xiang Liang tried his hand and said: "Now the world is in chaos and heroes are everywhere. If you get this horse, you can gallop on the battlefield. This is the first thing worth celebrating. If you get my horse again, you can control the world. So I said, Sir, you have got two thousand-mile horses!" After hearing this, the county guard also understood what Xiang Liang meant. He thought that he was relying on Xiang's uncle and nephew to achieve great things, so he said happily: "Xiang Liang You can temporarily serve as my staff, but I will definitely use you in the future. How do you like it?" Xiang Liang also said happily: "It is my long-cherished wish to serve your lord, and Liang will not hesitate to do anything to his heart!" Sheriff Overjoyed, he turned to Xiang Yu and said, "I said in advance that whoever can surrender this horse will be a general. Now I will appoint you as the captain of Wu County." Xiang Yu was naturally filled with joy after hearing what the governor said. The county guard added: "As the saying goes, 'a BMW matches a hero', it is a perfect match. A thousand-mile horse is of little use to my father. Now I will give it to you. I hope you can ride it and gallop around the world!" Xiang Liang quickly asked Xiang Yu to thank the county. Lord Mori. Xiang Yu prostrated himself to the ground.
