Although he is a great saint and wise teacher, since he relies on the divination of "the blue sky is dead, the yellow sky will be established, the year is Jiazi, and the world is auspicious" to make the people loyal to him, even if he himself does not believe in this thing, I am like an immortal on the street, calculating the past life and knowing the future. If he does not come to me when the Yellow Turbans are in trouble, at least he will ask me for the crime of demoralizing his army. I feel that I am reckless again, so I will take it one step at a time.
A man with deep eyes, thin face, and a weathered look appeared on the chair in the middle. There was nothing to indicate the identity of this number one rebel, except for the yellow scarf on his head, which told me that the person sitting in this most conspicuous position was at least the head of a yellow scarf. The man next to him was almost a replica of this man. I knew that this was the highest court of the Yellow Scarf Army that had destroyed the reputation of the government army.
"You... this fellow Taoist seems very young." The leader asked, "I wonder where your master came from?"
"I don't think the great sage teacher asked me to come here just to establish a relationship with me, right?" I was afraid of trouble. It would not be a good thing to chat with him like this.
"Why are you in the street market, waiting for me to face trouble in autumn?"
"Master..." An idea suddenly flashed through my mind. Although I don't usually tell many lies, I can always make up a brilliant lie at any time. "Brother Zhang Jiao, Rong Bing, my master observed the celestial phenomena and predicted that the Yellow Turbans would face a great disaster. He thought that the Yellow Turbans were kind to the people and did not harm anyone wherever they went. He distributed food to the people. He really couldn't bear to see the Yellow Turbans being slaughtered in the autumn, so he ordered me to come here. Please don't ask my master's name. My master told me not to mention his name."
"Your master is truly a god. We have already predicted that things will be bad in the autumn." This was beyond my expectation. It turns out that they also have good planners here. "But I don't know what to do. In another month, the morale of the army will surely be low... Your master, do you have any ideas?"
I must have fallen into a great dilemma, because I was completely lost in thought. I didn't know what they had done. But I was thinking whether to give them a way or a suggestion to keep them in place. However, the situation changed drastically when I was about to return to my position of defending Xiangyang.
A sturdy man rushed in from outside the door. I just came to my senses and before I had time to observe him carefully, he had already started cursing at the Yellow Turban leaders in this room, "Huangfu Song, that bastard, ran away, and the whole camp is empty, but this bastard ordered his men to pretend to be us and burn, kill and loot in Qingzhou and Yanzhou. He left us a mess. How can I collect food from the people in the autumn? Our food? General Tiangong, what should we do? Can you give us an idea?"
Zhang Jue paused and said worriedly: "If they continue like this, they are going to attack Bo Cai. The government troops are ruthless enough, it will be difficult for us to make the people trust us again. We have not maintained good military discipline and have caused disturbances to the people several times. This time we really have no way to defend ourselves, it seems we will not be able to survive this fall." There was silence in the room, and then sighs came from everyone.
"Why are you so angry? What should I do now? Now is not the time to sigh. Can you give me some advice?"
I was still in a daze. I already knew what was going on, so I was speechless, but I couldn't just sit there and watch them die, so I decided to help them, even though I didn't know what the consequences would be, but now I had no choice.
"Teacher, no, but can you listen to me?" Seeing that they all looked at me, I began to give my ideas. "The weather, the location, and the people are completely different today than in the past. At the beginning of the Jiazi year, due to the severe drought last year, there were starving people everywhere at the beginning of the year. The general acted according to the time, in accordance with the weather and the will of the people. In addition, the four states of Qing, Yan, Xu and Ji were flat and the government troops had no strategic locations to defend. Therefore, the weather, the location, and the people were all in my hands..." I didn't expect that I treated myself as a traitor and it was so easy. I thought it was funny. I couldn't help but sigh. I continued, "But now..."
Someone suddenly took over the conversation, "We are in trouble due to lack of military rations. Autumn is approaching, but there are large tracts of wasteland in the fields. Autumn harvest is approaching, but nine out of ten farmers in the fields have died. The weather is not in our favor. Because the war consumed too much food and grass, our army is limited by the existing food and grass, and we have just experienced the plum rain season. The roads are muddy and we are unable to advance. Now, these four states with flat land have become the biggest flaw in our defense. The terrain is not in our favor. The government troops have looted in our name, which has actually made us lose the support of the people for at least the past two months. The people are not on our side either." After he finished speaking, he did not sigh like I did. At least I planned to sigh when I finished speaking to add to the tragic meaning.
Although it was just a simple inference, it was very clear and accurate. It turned out that there were indeed some wise men among the Yellow Turban farmers.
"Second brother, what you said is absolutely right. Is there any way to crack it? What do you have to do, fellow Taoist?" I immediately understood who the two people in front of me were. They were Zhang Jue's younger brothers: General Zhang Liang, the God of Earth, and General Zhang Bao, the God of Man.
"Two ways!" Oh, it was beyond my expectation. I could only think of one way. "On the one hand, the old thief Huangfu went to fight Bōcai. His barrier in front of Luoyang Gate has been gone. Although my food and grass supply is insufficient, I can order more than 10,000 troops to repeatedly harass the surrounding areas of Luoyang, pretending that the army will attack Luoyang. The thief He Jin will definitely order Huangfu and Zhu to go back to rescue. Although the generals are away from home, they are not subject to the orders of the king. But the two of them should know He Jin's temper. If they still care about their lives and have to go, then Bōcai's emergency can be solved, and we can also use the troops to "If we can suppress Luoyang with our advantage, the initiative will return to us. Secondly, we will send half of the army. Well, the food and grass may not be enough, so we will cut it by half again and follow Huangfu. We must make a big show and pretend to attack Huangfu together with Baocai. When Huangfu shrinks a little, we will immediately pass through Xuchang and go straight to Xiangyang. Before that, we will contact Zhang Mancheng and take over the entire Jingzhou within a month. As far as I know, Jingzhou is far richer than the four states, and among the southern states, Jingzhou is the only one that has not recruited soldiers on a large scale. With the original soldiers in Jingzhou, there is nothing to be afraid of. Once we take it, we will have no worries about food and grass in the autumn."
"No!" I shouted, and I regretted it as soon as I shouted it. I knew I was not dead yet, but I was not far away, because I could not find any reason to refute him.
"Why?" They were also surprised. I also knew that his plan was perfect and impeccable. It was indeed the best way out for the Yellow Turbans now, but if that were the case... I dared not think about it, and I had to make them give up this idea.
"You all know that I am from Jingzhou, and I am a disciple of Mr. Shuijing. My master warned me to take care of the people of the world and not to abandon the justice of the world for some false reputation." I know that everything depends on my performance. I mentioned a hermit master I know. I don't know if they know about it. I can't remember who I learned about this master from. But I am a man who has no words, so if I think of it myself, it seems unbelievable, at least that's what I think.
I told them what I had seen in the past few months. I also expressed my admiration with emotion. Even my own people felt numb, but at least I knew that what I said was true. The Yellow Turban Army was indeed amazing. They had little surplus food but were willing to give it to the people. This alone was amazing. They were also very polite to single passers-by. Without the yellow scarves, they were just ordinary farmers and honest people. But with them on, they became the evil yellow scarves in the court newspapers, doing all kinds of evil. The so-called doing all kinds of evil was probably the imagination of those people. I also told them about the plans of Zishe and Zisheng, and Chen Liang's evil plan.
"You see, Xiangyang has such a counselor who can come up with such a plan, plus there are hundreds of thousands of people in Xinye, and Zhang Mancheng is surrounded by the army of four states. One month? I think you don't have time at all. As for Luoyang, you may have left Luoyang empty as soon as Huangfu Song left. In fact, Lu Zhi's Youzhou army has already deployed troops on your flank. Once you divide your troops to Luoyang, they will send out assassins, and your special forces will become dangerous troops. If you don't believe it, you can go and check it out now. Now Lu Zhi's suspicious troops are pretending to be the main army and setting out from Youzhou, right?" I thought about it again and felt that I didn't leave any loopholes. So I was relieved, and now I can delay them.
“These beasts who keep talking about loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness… Oh, brother, you are helping us by leaking the whereabouts of the government troops. Isn’t that what you scholars call disloyalty?” Zhang Jue said to me with an unclear smile.
"If I am loyal to them, I will be unjust to the people of the world." I think I am quite open-minded, so I said this very firmly. But if the teacher heard this, I would be dead. Even if he didn't kill me, he would teach me a lesson for several hours, beat me with a stick, and then put me in prison for two years.
"Then what should we do?" Zhang Bao asked anxiously. It seemed that he trusted me very much.
"Since we have lost the advantages of time, place and people, can we consider moving the army to the land of Wu and Yue? First, the land there is fertile and there is plenty of fish and rice. Second, the terrain is varied, and the Yangtze River is a natural barrier. The time and place are all favorable."
"Are the government troops so stupid? Will they let us cross the river at will?"
"Hasn't the plum rain just ended? Of course it's a good time."
"Just after the plum rains, the water level of the Yangtze River is at its highest. Isn't this a good time?"
"The plum rains have just passed, and the fishermen have been depressed for a long time. Now they have to go out to fish and make a living. There are boats to cross the river, and the water level of the Yangtze River is at its highest at this time. The hidden stakes and chains that prevent the Yellow Turbans from moving south have temporarily lost their function. The government troops in Jiangdong are empty, and the navy has been neglected for a long time. I think they will not hinder the Yellow Turban rebels at all." I am getting more and more confused about myself. What am I doing? I seem to be diverting the war to other places and helping the rebels, but if these people are eliminated as rebels, I always feel that it is unfair. I think I am going crazy.
"Then Lu Zhi must know where we are going. Isn't he already watching us?"
Yes, I didn't expect that holding them back would become a stone that tripped me. I could have just held them back, but why should I give them advice? If I, Lu Zhi, were not by their side, it would take about ten days for the army to arrive. Then, Luoyang would become the target of the Yellow Turbans' attack in order to save Zhao from Wei. I am really in a dilemma now. I don't want them to be defeated on both sides. I seem to have become the thing blocking the two chariots. It depends on me whether I am a stone or a mantis arm.
For the first time, I felt that the lives of at least a million people were in my hands. Every word I said might make them take one more step towards the underworld. This was too difficult for me. I thought something must have gone wrong. How could history allow a Mao leader to stand at this turning point and decide the rise and fall of the world
That year, I was sixteen years old. That night, the sky was clear and there was no wind. Everything was so peaceful, at least it seemed so.