Changes in the sky
Volume 2: The Edge of Heaven
Chapter 163: Gathering of Heroes
My father repeatedly told me not to be too stubborn. When there was no one around, he added, "You are my only son, and you must come back safely." I have heard this countless times, but I still don't want to classify it as nagging. Just like Yinling has solved my problems for me several times, I will not get tired of it.
So I smiled and said, "My son is the Marquis of Ping An Feng Yun, so he should be safe." The father nodded: "It's time for you to go. I will make other arrangements for you. Go ahead with peace of mind. I wish you a victorious return."
The son accepted the order and said goodbye to his father. Before leaving, his father seemed to have forgotten what he had said before and reminded him again not to be aggressive or cruel.
When I set out for the gathering place, Yinling was still waiting for me. I told her to take care of herself, especially to sleep well, and just wait for good news. I don't know if she listened to me or not, but she knew it, but it made me feel sad, and she gave me a long list of instructions. I smiled and caressed her cheek, and she put her face in my hand obediently, closed her eyes and let her cheek touch my hand, and finally kissed my palm. I leaned over and whispered to her: My husband's hands are rough, don't scratch Ling'er's pretty face. She smiled, and I was smooth-talking again.
In addition to visiting my own Situ, Mr. Xu, the most important thing was to talk with Song. I told him everything, and he considered all the possible unfavorable situations for me. He also considered the weather, location, morale, etc., and he thought it should be successful. After discussing with him, I became more confident.
When I went to pick up my weapon, I found that my spear had been wrapped with a two-inch wide cloth strip. It was tightly wrapped, with only the spear head and a leopard tail tassel showing. I asked why. Yinling listened to Lieya. If the weather is too cold, the iron spear or hand will be stained with sweat or blood. If you touch it, it may stick to your hand. It will be difficult to move and strike, which will be dangerous. That's why I did it. I smiled and nodded: When I went to the north, I brought the iron bow given by my master. When I met Lieya for the first time, he helped me wrap a circle of deer skin on it. At that time, it was sticky. I looked at the spear and stabbed it twice. It didn't hinder me. I felt much warmer, unlike when it was cold and my hands were frozen when I touched it. When I picked up the bow, I noticed that there was a red ribbon wrapped under the tangle of Ling'er and Pei'er. I asked Yinling who tied it? I answered that I didn't know, and at the same time I was surprised when I looked at it carefully, and I was still guessing who had tied it. I didn't want to be bothered, and it was on my bow, so how could someone else's tie be tied together with my wife's? I wanted to take it off, but I didn't expect my wife to want good luck. If I didn't take it off now, I would be embarrassed to take it off when I returned victorious. I couldn't forget my roots after getting good luck, so it was better to take it off now. But she shook her head and didn't let me take it off at all. She said: Going to war is a big thing, don't do something unlucky; it's just a piece of red silk, even if it's a token of this person's love, it doesn't matter, as long as your heart is with me...
Finally, Ling'er sent me away, leaving me with nothing to worry about. In order to avoid distracting me, she stopped looking for me and slept alone at night without kicking the quilt or anything like that.
I naturally nodded in agreement and told her not to worry. Of course, I thought this was impossible. I knew she must have not been sleeping well these days and must have been worried about me all day long. For example, it was unlikely that I would not kick the quilt at night. In fact, we were all asleep and it was too late to sleep, so who would have the time to kick the quilt. But the "fact" she said was like this. Since I could remember, someone would often come in and lecture me the next morning when I woke up, saying, "Did you kick the quilt again last night? Or did I cover you again?" She would always find things I definitely couldn't remember to lecture me. I think this is the biggest shortcoming of my "sister" in the past and my current Lady Pingguo. But strangely, since then, I have always liked the way she pouts when she lectures me. It's very kind and warm, and I always feel that there is something behind her cute face that seems angry, and it is something pleasant. As for what this thing is, I don't know. I have never been very good at speaking, especially in normal times.
At that time, she was very, of course, I was even more. Sometimes she said something harsh, I might even be scolded to tears, and then the woman below couldn't bear to be hard-hearted and hurried to comfort me. I think I have a more easy-going personality, which is despised by people as a bit too kind, and sometimes I will play tricks, which is quite despised by some upright gentlemen. It should be related to the environment I grew up in. I don't know what kind of personality my first child will have when he grows up, but it should be very different from me. He or she has his or her own parents to protect them. If he or she is a boy, he or she should be able to learn a lot of character and skills that boys should have from his or her father. Instead of being self-taught like his father - my boyish personality was slowly developed when I and Zishe and a few others were fooling around in the streets and alleys of Xiangyang - first, it is about brotherhood, second, it is about friendship, and third, friends are brothers. The same is true for life skills. First, fight when solving problems; second, go home after getting into trouble and be scolded with a thick face; third, make up lies without changing your face or heart when going to other people's homes to save people. In the end, it seems that my personality at home and my personality outside are two different people. I hope my children don't have to be like this.
When I read this, I felt that I no longer wanted to fight, and I just wanted to fly back home with Yinling, wait for the birth of my children, and take care of them every day. I naturally looked behind me, and it was obvious that there were no wings there; I was still not a Xiezhi, so this dream could only be a dream.
And I still have to fight this battle.
Before leaving, I noticed that my brother was carefully observing my back. I asked him why. He saw me looking at my back and was afraid that there was something wrong with my armor. I changed the subject in time and asked: Who wrapped the cloth on your fork? He said proudly: My sister. I helped him straighten his helmet, tightened the rope on his helmet, and finally hit his head: Don't embarrass your sister. He nodded seriously. Finally, I checked the weapons of other personal soldiers. They were all wooden poles or handles, so they didn't need to be wrapped so specially.
Brother Zishi personally came to lead me to the place where I would rest tonight, and it was a familiar place. In fact, the place was not important. There were only two key conditions: one, it could accommodate thousands of people; two, it was close to the Wei River. Obviously, there were quite a few places in Shanglin Garden that met these conditions. If we really had to maintain it like this, it would be too expensive. It would be better to abandon it and use it as farmland and houses for the people. Anyway, the emperor would not come here often. Of course, this matter was only suitable for thinking, not for doing.
Snow covered the mountains, the ground, and the pavilions and towers of Shanglin Garden. On normal days, this would be a time for literati to write poems and essays. Unfortunately, this is not a good day for writing poems and essays, and there are relatively few literati who can write poems and essays. However, considering that the next few days may be worse, I should ask everyone to write down their words if they want to.
I seemed to be born for this kind of scene. As the time to set off passed, I began to calm down, even becoming calmer and calmer. But what you throw in now will be different. Just like a pool of still water, a stone thrown in will eventually sink to the bottom of the pool, but it will still create ripples, going back and forth, endlessly.
I don't know who had sharp eyes, but it seemed that a woman was coming, and it was her.
Yiren appeared on this day and looked at me from afar. I hadn't seen her for many days, so she might have lost weight. She was weak and helpless as she staggered in the wind and snow, as if she would turn into a snow flower and be blown away at any time. But she still came, but didn't get too close. The guards just stopped her but didn't dare to question her. This is the advantage of Shanglin Garden. Most of the wives and daughters of the princes in the world came with them. Seeing a new face, they showed elegance and bookishness. The guards didn't know who this person was. As long as she didn't insist on breaking in, no one would dare to provoke her even if she hid and didn't report it.
Even if she only needed to scare me a few words, she might come in, but she didn't, and finally she just watched from afar. Maybe if I only needed to say a few words to let her in, but I didn't, and finally she just watched from afar. I don't know if she can recognize me, but I hope she won't take me so seriously anymore. After all, I am already someone else's husband, and she deserves a love of her own, not a piece of heaven and earth from me who is no longer blessed with the beauty's favor. Temporary ruthlessness and cruelty may be the greatest kindness. She should understand that love is a kind of precious thing, but it's a pity that she put it in the wrong place, and she still hopes to put it here.
I always feel that men's feelings are more indifferent than women's. Women will always miss the men they like, but men often forget the women in their hearts temporarily. Wherever she goes, I am always in her words. When I look at Yin Ling, I feel that my heart is full of Ling'er; when I accompany Guo Pei, I think of Pei'er; but when I see her, I still have her in my heart. That's why there are so many weak women who are waiting for love, but so many unfaithful men.
And I am not such a person who is unfaithful to love. If I were as devoted and infatuated as she is, maybe I would marry her? But in the end, I first decided that I could not marry Huang Yi, so I gave up this relationship. Later, I only wanted to marry Yin Ling, but I still insisted on marrying Guo Pei. Zhi is just a mediocre person after all. He seems to be a powerful person, but he still cannot avoid being hindered and manipulated by all kinds of things. I thought of Zhou Cang, a stupid brother who I thought would not be able to achieve great things a few years ago, but he is so amazing. Suddenly I feel that I admire him more, especially now I want to have a good talk with him.
She left quietly, as if she waved to me for the last time, with a red silk handkerchief circling her fingers. The handkerchief seemed to fly over my eyes, landed on my bow, and turned into a ribbon on the bow that fluttered in the wind. I think women are really amazing. Yinling wanted to see me but was afraid of splitting my heart and couldn't insist on coming. She wanted to see me but was afraid of splitting my heart and leaving. It's really not easy for women. Most of them have to take care of housework, serve their parents-in-law, and have children after the age of fourteen; then they have to take care of their husbands and raise their children, and endure hardships for decades until they die.
How did the world become so male-dominated and female-inferior? Today, if a husband is unworthy, it is often attributed to his wife's unvirtuousness. Is it because men have to go to war? But what man is not born from his mother's ten months of pregnancy and one day of suffering
I had no way of understanding it and could only think about other things, but it still couldn't escape the fact that it was related to her.
Looking back, it was a mistake for me to bring her out of the mountains in the first place. If she had stayed in the mountains with her sisters, although she might have been lonely, she wouldn't have to endure so much pain of separation and such deep emotional hurt.
Facing this silk ribbon, she secretly sighed: I appreciate the silk ribbon, but please choose another good husband.
Soon after arriving at the northern pavilion in the evening, people started to arrive. I saw many familiar people, some of whom I had only seen until now. For example, the subordinates of Lord Lu and Lord Gongsun Bogui. I was a little stunned when I saw them, and hurriedly said, "I didn't expect that the two brothers would also come." These two, one is Brother Yide and the other is Brother Zilong. Brother Yide has started to grow a beard, and he should be over 20 years old; Brother Zilong is still the same, but he remembered the dazzling white robe and white horse he saw in the past, and he really didn't know if he could shine until the dawn of the day after tomorrow. I kept saying "long time no see" and greeting each other, but in my heart I had already thought that I must separate you from Brother Fengxian. Brother Yide was very straightforward. When he saw me opening his arms to welcome him, he smiled and "warmly" hugged me. We were both considered rough men, and we didn't hesitate to use our strength. We were in a stalemate for a while, and neither of us threw each other down - although we were both unceremonious and directly tripped each other back then - but we threw the eyes of the people around us. Many people don't know Brother Yide, but they are very surprised that I am so familiar with him, and they are also surprised that I can't easily defeat him. You know, if I really wrestle, my winning rate is only 30% to 40%. If it's Brother Yunchang, it may be less than 20%.
Brother Zilong was a little more reserved and asked Brother Yide with a smile: Third brother, what do you think
Zirui is stronger now, but still worse than Lao Zhang.
Brother Yide's mouth is not as lush as mine, but he calls himself Lao Zhang, which may be inappropriate.
Brother Yide laughed, stroked his hedgehog-like face, went to arrange a place to live, and then found some wine to drink and chat.
Brother Zilong should be much more polite, so I don't have to be surprised. This is the kind of person my third brother is.
Haha, it's okay. I had a lot of fights with my second and third brothers in Lelang back then. Today, my third brother didn't fight me because he wanted to give me face. Brother Liu, where is Brother Guan
Yideben had entered the house, and he must have heard it, so he poked his big round head out. He said happily: My two elder brothers are stationed at the border, and this time I was sent to protect Yunzhonggong. I was not happy at first, but I didn't expect there would be a war to fight. It's very good.
Brother Zilong was much calmer and asked me a lot of questions. I knew he was thinking about how to fight. So I told him everything I could.
I counted twice, and the number of people reported was 980, including myself. At 15:30, only one family of lords was missing, but I had long thought that this family would not come, so I thought everyone was here. Because there was no one in this family, or the one who had it was reluctant to send. I don't think this is selfish. If it were me, although it is impossible now, but in a dozen years, if such a thing happens, I am afraid I will be the same as him.
But I was a little surprised that some families actually sent people. For example, I pulled Captain Qin aside and asked, "Is my second brother going back alone?" The reply was that there were a few close followers. He was worried at first, but it would be easier for my second brother to go back quietly with fewer people, so he was forced to come over. He also brought me a letter from him, or to be more precise, a memorial with a note on the outside: "Third brother, the captain gave me this letter. He is familiar with the nomadic habits of the Qiang people and can help me. Attached is the memorial of the thief Dong in the past. Your father copied it and gave it to you when you were enfeoffed. Now you have returned it to me on the eve of the expedition. You can learn about the past events and understand the nature of the Qiang people. Now you are leaving Qin to help me. A farewell letter from you, brother Wei."
I found a relatively secluded corner and uncovered the bamboo slips. I read them carefully. My father even annotated the important parts with words. After reading and collecting the book, I couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion. I didn't expect that Dong the thief could write such an article. Of course, it might be written by his subordinates. But in any case, if he really got the upper hand that day, things would be really bad later. Considering the part about the Qiang people, it is quite consistent with the previous rumors. It seems that what he said is true, and I have more confidence in my heart. Before I can think about it, the people sent by my father also came to see me.
But my father seemed to be joking with me. What I saw was a child. A fifteen-year-old boy with a bright smile named shè助注1 was transferred to me from the local area, which really surprised me. But what's interesting is that he also brought me a booklet written by his father.
My father originally asked this brother to go to Zhao State when he was older. He was the younger brother of Shi Jian, the governor of Shangdang in Zhao State. Because he was young, he did not have a courtesy name. Shi's family was from the local area (Si Li Fu Feng). This time, the emperor was on a tour, and my father called him to learn to help with some things so that he could be appointed as an official in Zhao State in the future. So he came here and happened to encounter this matter. So this hot-blooded guy took the initiative to ask for a fight, but his father naturally did not allow it, but he asked again and again. He liked riding a horse and shooting arrows, wielding a spear and a sword, and he had been practicing diligently and never slacked off. So, my father finally tested his riding and shooting skills and thought that "he was competent enough" and "allowed him to go." It can be seen that this cousin of mine is quite complacent. When he recounted the words, he was polite and arrogant. Going to the battlefield is not like practicing on weekdays. It seems that he is a little too confident and thinks that he will definitely achieve success. I am really afraid that this cousin will get into trouble. He opened the secret letter with a heavy heart, but the main text only had sixteen words, and there was no annotation. After reading it, he put it away and asked him with a smile what kind of horse weapons he usually used. He said he used a bow and arrow for distance and a spear and sword for close range. He asked him to demonstrate a few moves, and he did not feel shy at all, and started waving his weapon in the snow in the yard. It was indeed very beautiful, and it also attracted cheers from some people around. This made the young man look even more proud, and seeing that he was panting like that after demonstrating dozens of moves with a wooden spear, he felt that this child was not suitable for the battlefield.
I told him very sincerely: going to the battlefield means death, it is either killing or being killed, it is definitely not like usual.
He actually asked me back: Lord Yuehou has been on the battlefield at the age of sixteen, why do you underestimate the support
The last muffled and pedantic sentence really made me feel bad for him, and it made sense. I was also ignorant before my first battle. Besides, in this kind of situation, even if you refute him with words, he may not be convinced. I knew from that time that talking is often useless. Only after you have taken advantage of someone, you can talk. This is the rule of the Xiangyang urchin community. Back then, I was the biggest beneficiary of this rule. I guess this rule works in many places. It should be used in this way for any problem that cannot be solved or cannot be solved with words.
Zi Yue seemed to have summarized this and even made up a story: Wolves and sheep live together, and they both say that there is no offense to them. The sheep's words are intentional and useless, while the wolf's words are useful but not intentional.
Although the use of this allusion here is somewhat inappropriate, the logic is not far off.
So I decided to go on my own. Actually, any strong man here could probably beat this boy who hadn't grown up yet. But if I lost to someone who wasn't famous, I was afraid that this proud boy would feel ashamed and even lose confidence, which was the worst thing. Although there were many people who could beat me, I was too famous, and many people considered it an honor to compete with me, and they didn't feel ashamed if they lost.
So I stood in the middle of the hall and stomped the snow under my feet. People around me who were originally cleaning up their houses to sleep at night called each other out to watch the fun. I fired my gun casually, and the tip of the gun stopped half an inch from the snow. It didn't pierce or tremble, as if there was nothing. There was an even louder cheer from the people around. The kid didn't understand yet, and it seemed that he thought this action was very simple. He pulled the gun away seriously, but didn't come close. It seemed that he was afraid of hurting me.
With so many spectators around, if I don't show off a little, I'd seem to be letting the people down; but if I show off too much, I'd be letting my own family down.
This was a bit difficult. After thinking about it, he decided to show off his brute strength. After all, no one would think it was shameful for a child to lose to a man who was five years older and two heads taller than him. So he resolutely raised his gun and went forward, making excuses for him: Tomorrow on the battlefield, there will be many enemies, or they may surround you thousands of times. If you want to break through the siege, you will need more strength. Now you are the vanguard and I am the enemy. Let's see how you can handle it.
I was not polite, I exerted a little strength, threw it down, and smashed it down like a wolf. I heard laughter immediately, I knew it was right, I seemed to like smashing, even if I didn't use a chopping weapon, the action of an experienced person would still be the same. I also know that the story of the first time I led people to kill into the North Palace and asked for a wolf tooth bāng when I met the emperor has long become a joke among officials.
This guy was quite agile, dodging the attack quite easily, and even knew how to avoid the spear tip and the leopard tail. But he still had no intention of attacking. He just retreated to the side and waited for my next attack.
So, I moved faster and faster, and slowly added strength while I was still able to control it, but I only tried to attack his forward weapon. He was smart, and he seemed to understand within a few moves, and he kept a certain distance from me, and we played a cat-and-mouse game together. However, after more than a dozen moves, he still took a bullet.
I think he wanted to test his own strength, but the result must have made him a little frustrated. Although he held the gun tightly, he was dragged to the ground by the gun. When he fell to the ground, one hand still held the gun tightly, and the other hand supported the ground, struggling to stand up and fight again.
"Heart, it's snowy today and the ground is slippery." I hurried to help this cousin up, brushed off the snow for him, and still spoke for him. However, some children are just foolish, he muttered, in fact, Yue Hou's spearmanship is just so-so, just to help with strength.
The people around who heard it didn't take it seriously, and some even booed, saying that the kid didn't know how high the sky was and how deep the earth was. I smiled and said to the people next to me, "The general didn't use his real skills, so he shouldn't be fooled."
This time the child looked happy again, and he showed me more respect.
However, I took him to my room, closed the door, asked him to show me his hands, and then he was silent for a moment. I told him frankly: either he should go back, or he must follow me in the war, and he could not leave me alone. He hesitated for a moment and then accepted the order, with an extremely unhappy expression on his face.
This time, he didn't show any politeness to him. He said, "Look at my hand." Then he covered his throat with his right hand, and he didn't even have time to react.
Then relax.
Are you convinced
I am not convinced. I never thought this would happen. If I had been prepared, this would not have happened.
Look at the hands!
This time he was faster and grabbed my right arm, but my right hand still grabbed his throat.
Are you convinced
I'm not convinced. Can you try again
I thought to myself, what a stubborn kid.
Okay, this time watch carefully, look at your hands!
He grabbed my right arm early, but I gently pinched his Adam's apple with my left hand.
I squeezed it gently and said with a smile, "People have two arms, don't forget it."
He sat down on the ground, feeling a little lost.
I patted his shoulder and tried to comfort him: "Brother, you are born with brute strength. If you have great strength, you can use it to move your whole body. If you want to go forward, you can reach your destination quickly without any obstacles. In future practice, you should not only practice the moves, but also strengthen your muscles. Follow me this time to learn some skills of fighting on horseback. You may be the youngest among those going this time, and you are not strong enough, so don't try to be brave."
Yes, Yue Hou!
Don’t call me Marquis of Yue. You and I are from the same clan, so just call me brother.
Aid dare not...
Why not
According to the clan's seniority, you are one generation older than Yuan...
Oh, that's not appropriate to call me brother, then you should just call me Yue Hou.
Thinking back, I would like to record what my father told me: In an emergency at the border, do not bring any generals with you; use them if you can, and send them away if you can’t.
I didn't expect that there would be children of the same age as my nephew. Just after the hour of Xu, Ma Chao and Han De came with an older general. I really didn't expect that Ma Teng and Han Sui would be so cruel. If my child was only this old, I would never let him go to the battlefield. I naturally told the two elders to take good care of him, and they naturally agreed. The one named Ekuchi from Ma Teng's family looked a little too fair, with a high nose and deep eyes. He didn't look like us Han people, but he looked a little like Deng's family. He spoke fluent Chinese. He was from the Western Regions Protectorate and traveled between Dunhuang in the Western Regions. Because his sister married Ma Teng as a concubine, he lived on a hunchback for many years and joined the Xiliang army. He spoke very fluently, and seemed to be from a merchant family. This one was Ma Teng's brother-in-law, and the other was Han Sui's son-in-law. Yan Xingzhu was a man of character, full of vigor and vitality, and his speech showed a certain elegance and spirit. He seemed to be from a military background, but he had the air of a scholar.
However, the other boy, Sun Ce, who shot arrows with the two at that time, did not come. Instead, a young general named Cheng Pu came, who was not the one that Sun Jian sent to fight Brother Fengxian that day. It was very strange that none of the people under Sun Jian that I knew showed up this time. Sun Jian had quite a lot of people.
More and more people came, people I knew and people I didn't know, people I was familiar with and people I wasn't familiar with, and I became more and more confident. Until dinner time, it seemed that no one was coming anymore, so I counted the number of people.
Each family reported the number of people and I added them up. Later, I asked them to help each other count and classify them into each family. In short, the number of 980 was correct. There are hundreds of rooms here, enough for so many people to live in, but of course, there are still some problems. For example, some people said they need a room for each person, while others asked why that person lived in such a big room by himself, and some even retorted that Yuehou's room was bigger and he should live there if he had the ability.
In fact, some problems are very easy to solve without my help. There are twenty-five people living in the room of my newly-appointed nephew Chen Kendi. After the floor is full of bedding rolls, there is no one left.
This is what is meant by "leaders lead by example". If you as a leader can do it, many things will be easy to solve. If you can't do it yourself, don't force your subordinates to do it.
That night, everyone finally settled down in the pavilion next to the Solitary Tree Pond. However, the surrounding scenery was very different from when I accompanied Yinling here only a few days ago. At dusk, many people were still looking at the solitary tree in the white pond, with a hint of dark blue. They all seemed to be a little emotional and talked about something from time to time. There were many people in the corridor and it was noisy. I don’t know what they talked about. Many of the remaining people were roasting fire and drinking wine by the brazier in the hall, cursing the horrible weather and the rebels in the west who were looking for trouble. During this time, the young people talked about how to kill the enemy, and even drew their swords and weapons to practice with each other in the snow in the corridor; the older ones mostly talked about their own family matters, such as how old their sons were, or whether their daughters were worried about getting married, etc.
Because it is close to Jianzhang Palace in the north, in order to facilitate the emperor to mount his horse and hunt when he came in from Jianzhang Palace, there is a huge horse farm at the entrance, which has 1,000 horses requisitioned from various places in Shanglin and Jianzhang Palace. Together with our own horses, it was very noisy in the evening.
A drinker suddenly swore, "That sound really sounds like a horse neighing, like it's about to get horny."
Is it possible to do this in such a cold weather? Someone next to him was obviously skeptical.
Damn it, he must have met a beautiful mare. He went for it even in such a cold day. This lustful bastard, don’t fuck it until its legs become soft tomorrow or I’ll beat it to death!
Amidst the laughter of the crowd, I asked the leaders of each lord's personal guards to come with me. Naturally, I had to explain the situation to them first, and then let them tell the people below.
Some of them took it upon themselves to go up, some discussed and recommended someone to go up, some pushed each other, and some rushed to go up. As they were going upstairs one by one, I went to the kitchen to get some rice, wrapped a bag with my cloak and went up last. Of course, I was going to learn about the terrain of Chencang. This really does not require special preparation, nor does it require Yinling to explain it to me carefully - she should not be more familiar with it than I am. Not only her, but when I said goodbye to my father, my father was still a little worried and asked me specifically if I was familiar with the terrain there. In fact, they all forgot one thing. I really want to tell my father again in front of all the people who are seeing me off: Don't forget that you are imprisoned because of me.
During those ten days, my mind was full of how many roads there were from Xiliang to Luoyang, and how to get there. This was one of them - of course, I was going to go along the river at that time - I didn't need to look at the map, I had walked back and forth several times in my dreams. Of course, this was only a thought, not a reality, although the regent and even the emperor knew it very well.
But when I came up, the atmosphere upstairs was not very good, just a little heated. People who didn't live together were so close to each other, and it seemed that there was a lot of temper. At least the two men under Han Fu and Yuan Shao who were not very familiar with each other, and the two brothers Fengxian and Yide who were very familiar with each other, were obviously not very angry. If it weren't for Zilong, Cheng Pu and others to help persuade, I'm afraid that there would not only be quarrels, but everyone would have drawn their swords to fight. Someone who wanted to settle the matter was very hot, and opened the window. It seemed that the cold wind blowing in really calmed everyone down.
I am very grateful to this subordinate of Lord Liu Yu, but this person does not look like a military commander, and his name sounds a bit strange, called Xianyu Fu Note 4. I wonder if his father gave him this name because he ate salted fish that day. Naturally, he could not show any disrespect for salted fish on his face. It was only later that I suddenly thought about it and laughed like a child for a long time. But at that time, although I thought his name sounded a bit strange, I couldn't laugh at all.
Not only are there obvious confrontations among the families, but Brother Fengxian also has a problem - the Qiang blood in his body. Although Brother Fengxian has taken off his earrings at some point, the huge ear hole still makes some people mutter about why there are still Rongdi people here. I believe Brother Fengxian can hear it, and most of the people talking are those who have lost face in the hunting field - this makes people feel that some people are too narrow-minded. Brother Fengxian's face became even uglier, and it seemed that he was about to explode. I knew that my troubles had begun.
I have always believed that violence is more terrible than natural disasters, because heaven has no other intentions, but people have their own intentions. For example, the emperor's expulsion of the imperial physician and the imperial historian was unreasonable, especially the latter. However, since he is the emperor, and he treats me very well, and he is my elder, it seems that I should not complain so much. In short, now that the natural disaster has caused violence, we have not yet gone to quell the chaos, and the situation has become a little chaotic. Maybe I have been too nice before, and they don't seem to take my head seriously.
I must suppress this bad tendency, but I can't use force. Fortunately, at this critical moment, it's my turn to play.
"If you are powerful, we will face tens of thousands of enemies in the future. If the time comes, you can say whatever you want. I just don't know if those luan people will listen to me." He said with a smile, pouring rice on the table in the center of the room, and slowly used his hands to draw the shape of mountains and rivers. In fact, he had already gone through many twists and turns in his mind.
"Aren't there quite a few Qiang people in the village? Is it appropriate for General Yan to go?"
"The rest of the bandits and their leaders are all Han Chinese. Is it appropriate for us to go?"
Someone suddenly laughed, but most people remained silent. The one who laughed seemed to feel that he stood out a little too much, so he stood still. Everyone was looking at me, and I could feel that many of their eyes were in agreement. Of course, there were also those who disagreed.
I pretended to continue to build my rice pile, but in fact, I saw this scene and started to think of further countermeasures. But in the eyes of everyone, those who knew the situation would think that I was trying my best to show the scene around Chencang, and those who didn't know the situation might think that it was a big young man playing with rice. No one would think that I was actually anxious to come up with further words with a relaxed face, especially when I still looked relaxed and still outlined the shape of mountains and rivers on the rice.
"When you are working hard for the country, do you have to go to your hometowns to check the bloodline of your ancestors for eighteen generations from you? Most of you are Han people, and so is Brother Fengxian, but he also has the blood of Qiang people. Among us Han people, there are many saints and wise men, but also many evil people and thieves. It is impossible for us Han people to be saints and wise men because of Yao and Shun, and to be evil thieves because of Jie and Zhou. The same is true for other ethnic groups, there are wise and kind people, and there are also bandits and criminals. Don't be good because of the Han people, and don't be evil because of the Rongdi. Zhi never thought of this. I have a sworn brother who is a Selei people in the Western Regions, a sworn brother who is a Xianbei, and my wife is a Yue people." I paused, looked at the shape of the mountains and rivers on the table, and continued to do some trivial things. In fact, I was pretending. The important thing was to continue: "Don't think about the race. The Xiongnu Chanyu is still my outer relative of the Han Dynasty, Bowang Hou (Zhang Qian) also has Xiongnu blood. You are in me, I am in you, and the current situation has long been a trend. In the Zhou Dynasty, Rongdi and Huaxia lived together. Although there were frequent wars, intermarriage was also continuous. This is a matter of believing in the great justice of heaven and earth and following the great principles of human relations. How can we talk about the division between Han and Hu, and the difference between Hua and Yi? Moreover, the blood of Rongdi has the aura of hegemony, which should not be underestimated. In the past, there was Chong'er of Jin, whose mother was a Di people, and he made the world "The Han Dynasty wanted to show its virtue to the world, so it must not be so narrow-minded. Have you not seen that when the Han Dynasty was strong, the four barbarians came to pay tribute, and when the Han Dynasty was weak, the barbarians invaded the borders? Therefore, the disaster did not originate from outside, but from within. Now we are going to fight. If we continue like this, we will not see the enemy has already defeated us. Will it help to argue about the difference between Han and Hu?"
I finished, and naturally finished the work at hand, so I stood up and looked around, noticing the looks from the people around me. I should have liked them. Of course, after the peacemaker finished, he still had to look gloomy.
"That's all I have to say. Please don't mention it again. If you do it again, you will be punished for destroying the morale of the army."
Brother Yide laughed heartily and suddenly walked up to Lu Bu: "We'll deal with the border issues later. Now the country is in trouble, and I will fight with you hand in hand." Brother Fengxian also generously extended his hand, and the two of them clasped their fists together, and seemed to have a contest of strength. Brother Fengxian suddenly smiled: "Just as you said, I will fight with you brothers again when I go back." After saying this, the two laughed out loud together.
The atmosphere suddenly became much better.
Of course not completely, I have good hearing, I heard the two people seem to be still laughing at each other, but it is not a racial issue. Since I don't know the reason for the mutual ridicule, I can't intervene or blame.
How can you be justified
How can a white rabbit know a man’s ambition
The people who were talking were Sui Gu and Qu Yi, one was Han Fu's subordinate and the other was Yuan Shao's subordinate. I am not very familiar with these two. Now it seems that Sui Gu's courtesy name is Baitu. I don't know who gave it this name. At least this big man is very different from Baitu. Even if he is described as a big white rabbit, the two images are still clearly distinguished. It is really appropriate to use this word at this time. If you take the Jing River, you can reach the capital of Qin, and if you take the Wei River, you can reach the place where the bandits in Qin are.
I lowered everyone's voices and began to explain the local terrain and how to defeat the enemy.
There are mountains to the north and south of Chencang, and the Wei River runs through the middle, connecting the east and the west. The two sides of the Wei River are river valley plains, which gradually widen to the east and gradually narrow to the west. Chencang is located in a narrow area, with mountains visible to the north and south, and there is nothing in between. Therefore, Chencang is a place that must be fought for by military strategists. If the enemy troops want to enter the Sanfu area from the east, they must capture it first, otherwise the road behind will be easily cut off and the food and grass will be easily robbed.
We will set out at Xu time tomorrow and arrive near Chencang at Yin time the next day. We will act according to the situation and defeat the main force of the enemy army in one battle.
Naturally, I still have to do some mobilization. I drafted a speech about the four defeats. In fact, most of the content is the speech that Song helped me to plan, and it is just right to use it at this time.
"The bandits were born due to natural disasters. Although they are numerous, they are short of food and grass, and they live in the wild. The weather is not favorable to the bandits, which is the first defeat. The bank of the Wei River is a plain. If there is a city, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If there is no city, it is easy to attack but difficult to defend. Now the city is still in our hands, and the geographical advantage is not favorable to the bandits. This is the second defeat. The bandits are a motley crowd, especially because there are many hatreds and rifts among the Qiang tribes. There are often some who bully others and kill their tribes at will. Their customs are very different from those of the Han bandits, and there are inevitably some grudges between the Han and Qiang. This is the third defeat. Now Lord Zhong Yao of Youfufeng is personally in Chencang to support the battle. With the solid city, the bandits are eager to break through. Their power is gradually declining, and their hearts are about to be broken. This is the fourth defeat. With these four defeats, the bandits have nothing to fear!"
Not only have I thought of these four defeats, I've also thought of a paragraph about the four victories, but I plan to talk about it before I leave tomorrow.
At the end of the day, I only gave one order: everyone should sleep as long as they can, eat as much as they can tomorrow, and be ready to set off tomorrow night!
But I didn't get to tell you because something happened that night.
Actually, it wasn’t something that happened that night, it was something I only found out about that night.
But just because I knew this, I didn't talk about the four victories that I was so proud of, but instead changed it to an impassioned and inspiring speech of oath.
That night, a man came from the gate of Shanglinyuan. He claimed to be the county magistrate of Shanghe, and came to report an urgent matter. Naturally, such a lowly person was stopped, and no one here would take a county magistrate seriously. Although the salaries of these gatekeepers were much lower than those of the county magistrate, they all "diligently performed their duties." I didn't go to bed so early because I was thinking about something. I heard the shouting and scolding coming from the door far away, and I was afraid of disturbing the rest of the people in the hall, so I hurried over to see what was going on. When I knew he came from Shanghe, I became interested in him.
His name was Wei Kang (a historical figure). He was very young that year, probably very young, so young that he seemed too young for a county magistrate; it was also a bit inappropriate for a county magistrate to come here to report on affairs; and he actually went through the north gate of Shanglin Garden from the southeast to here, just like I started from Xiangyang and entered Luoyang from the north gate, which was very inconsistent with common sense. All three of these reasons made no sense.
So I think he must be genuine.
It is like I climbed up there when I was very young; I once planned to rob the Huangmen Temple as a commoner; and I actually went from Xiangyang to Luoyang through the North Gate.
The main thing is that if you want to deceive people here, you have to make up a good reason for them to believe. For example, you can get yourself covered in pig blood, have a few arrows stuck in your back, and carry a box of military information, pretending to come from the west. If someone stops you at the door, you can raise your whip and yell at them: You are delaying the military information, are you able to take the responsibility? Don't reveal your identity, make it as mysterious as possible. In this way, you can probably get away with it.
The guards didn't notice his problems, but since the captain was not there, they didn't dare to let him go. So even if he did pass through tomorrow and was found to have delayed things, the blame would be borne by the captain who was sleeping somewhere.
In fact, it is not easy for these security guards nowadays. They can only bully those young and ignorant children, or the powerless people. If a low-ranking official comes and shows off, he will probably start to feel arrogant.
When the guards saw me approaching, they stopped talking and greeted me. They still didn't dare to let anyone go without the presence of the captain of the gate.
"Is there an ultimatum?"
"Yes, but we dare not demolish it without permission. The captain is not here, so we cannot make the decision."
I took the ultimatum and opened it. The Jingzhao Yin was called Sima Fang. I didn't know if this Sima was related to Yinling. But I knew that the seal and the words were made in the same way. Besides, the letter didn't say anything, but it had to be passed on to Lord Zhao as soon as possible.
"Come in." I waved to him, and naturally no one would stop me.
That night, the snow was still strong, so he led him directly to the resting shed next to the stable to take shelter from the snow. He directly revealed his identity and asked him what happened, and of course, he also asked him about all kinds of unreasonable questions.
So the young man explained. Since the Duke of Zhao was enfeoffed, Shanghe was under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Yin, and Jingzhao Yin Sima Da appointed him as the county magistrate. Unexpectedly, taking advantage of the snow and wind a few days ago, tomb robbers actually dug up the tomb of the Shen family in Shanghe. This was a big deal, so Shanghe ordered to stay near the mausoleum and dared not leave without permission. The two county lieutenants were chasing and searching for the fleeing robbers. He came to Shanglinyuan by himself. He came here through the ultimatum written by Jingzhao Yin Sima Fang Da, but he was still stopped.
I couldn't help but feel nervous. Although I had never grown up in the family, I didn't care much about my ancestors, but it was my ancestors' tomb after all. It was robbed by thieves, making my ancestors unable to rest in peace. It was really infuriating. If my father knew, he would be furious.
Without calling anyone, I immediately went to get a new and strong horse. I tied the saddle girth for him, took off my own cloak and put it on him. I told him to meet the man who was sent by me to see my father, and I took off the flute from my waist and gave it to him as a token of love. I showed him the way and told him to go and find his father quickly.
He was a little flattered, but seemed to fully understand it. He immediately said with a serious face that he would go and inform Lord Zhao without any delay.
As he was getting on his horse, I asked, "Do you know which of my ancestors were robbed?"
"Because it was discovered early, only one tomb was dug. The owner of the tomb was called Shen Gongshe, who seemed to be the youngest son of Zhao Gong. However, there were many burial objects inside, which were extremely luxurious."
It turned out that my tomb was dug up. Well, I wasn't dead, so it didn't matter if it was dug up by someone.
I started to want to laugh, but I knew I couldn't. But soon I couldn't laugh anymore.
"County Magistrate Wei, if Lord Zhao's son were alive today, he would probably be older than you." While finding it funny, I was also touched. My parents usually live a very simple life, but I never expected that they would spend so much on me.
“Oh, Kang Shi didn’t know. He just felt sorry for the curled bones left outside the coffin. Oh, these tomb robbers are really despicable…” At this point, the young county magistrate showed an expression of pity, as if the scene appeared before his eyes again.
But I was confused at that time, and all my quick wit was of no use at this time.
I really wanted to ask him: Are there really bones inside
But I couldn't ask, because if there were no bones in the tomb, it would be suspicious. My question sounded ridiculous, but if you knew the truth, you would understand that it wasn't so ridiculous.
So I immediately suspected that he was a fake. But the expression on his face, his behavior along the way, the ultimatum from Lord Sima Fang, and even the seal around his waist, didn't seem fake.
As I watched him disappear into the dim light of the snow, my fear grew stronger.
This is like when a person dies, there are two skeletons, one is his and the other is when he was one year old. This is simply a big joke.
But whose skeleton was that? It couldn't possibly be Fan Mengbo's son, as Jiang Wei was still alive and kicking and preparing to return to Qin. If it was just a random abandoned baby's body, why would the parents, who lived such a simple life, use such luxurious burial objects for an unknown child? And the tomb robbers specifically stole this first, obviously because they knew that there were many burial objects in the tomb.
But who is that young skeleton, that poor child who was buried with countless people
Note 1: I wanted to make a special note, but in the end I decided not to. I can only tell you that this person and his brother shèjian are both historical figures.
Note: In history, it was not at this time that Yan Xing became Han Sui's son-in-law.
Note: In this book, I portrayed Sun Jian as a bit sinister, which may be a little confusing to some readers. In fact, from the historical books, it seems that he should be a hero, at least he performed very well in the early stage of the attack on Dong. However, when he found the Yuxi, everything was different. He no longer had the ambition to move forward regardless of any difficulties and hardships, ignoring internal and external resistance. What the Yuxi means is clear to all readers. He hid the Yuxi and ran away with his men. What he was thinking is open to everyone's guess.
Note 4: Xianyu is a surname that comes from the descendants of Jizi at the end of the Shang Dynasty. Because they founded the Kingdom of Joseon, some of their descendants lived in Yuyi, and each took one character from their surname, thus getting their surname.
Note 5: Sui has five pronunciations. There are many sources for this surname, so the pronunciation is different. The dictionary says it is pronounced as sui. But here, I follow the way it is pronounced in Zhenjiang (because Sui Gu's native place is closest to that place), and pronounce it as u.