Changes in the sky
Volume 2: The Edge of Heaven
Chapter 172: Eventful Spring
The sacrificial text that everyone used to offer sacrifices together that day was written by Yinling for me. Compared with my writing, it was much more graceful. In this sense, her writing was better than mine. Most of the sacrificial texts I wrote were similar to manifestos, and it would not be a bad idea to change "mostly" to "just". However, at this moment, it is better not to start a war. So after Yinling finished reviewing the first few sentences of my sacrificial text, I humbly accepted the draft that Yinling had prepared for me.
However, the moment I saw the sacrificial text, I couldn't hide my pride, which immediately made Yinling realize that I did it on purpose because I was lazy, so I took advantage of the situation to have some free time.
So, I suffered a wave of revenge.
Of course, it is not convenient to elaborate on this kind of revenge.
This incident illustrates a problem: even when facing a virtuous wife at home, sometimes one needs to be shrewd in order to ensure one's own safety.
In February of the second year of Chuping, it was the middle of spring, but there was still some unmelted snow under the southern city wall of Chencang. But it didn't matter, after all, it could only attract some naughty children and soldiers with childlike innocence to enjoy or reminisce about their childhood. Besides, it was sunny for a few days and the weather was getting warmer. Their happy time would not last for a few days and they could only wait until the next year. Even so, they were at least happier than me. I actually had to struggle again and again to suppress my desire to jump over and play snowballs with them.
Although I don't have to worry about getting my clothes wet and kneeling in the hall, I still think it's inappropriate to go play snowballs in front of all the city's soldiers and heroes. So I just watched the people playing over there from a distance with a relaxed smile.
This incident shows that I am actually quite shrewd.
The city gates were finally fully opened on the day we paid tribute to the heroes. As the bloody atmosphere outside the city gradually subsided, the farmers began to plan for the year's recovery, and the hunters were thinking about their plans for the next few days.
I took Yinling for a stroll to help her relax, and she was naturally very happy. However, I intentionally or unintentionally went to the place where the fighting had taken place and told her about the various situations at that time, but I just left out all the situations where I was in danger. So, although Yiren was somewhat repulsive to the battlefield, she still very naturally praised Mr. Zhong's arrangements.
In fact, deep down, I wanted to find the two swords my father gave me. Of course, they should have been broken, but the reality was that even the broken swords were nowhere to be found, and I didn't even know who had swept away the sheaths.
Unfortunately, because I was always looking for something on the ground, my wife finally discovered my motives, and I was asked to give her my cheeks so she could pinch them, and then I was laughed at for a while.
This incident illustrates two more profound issues: even a virtuous wife has her "unkind" side; also, even when facing a virtuous wife, it is still very necessary to have appropriate strategic depth.
But this is my personality. No matter how Yinling tells me or how I need to hide my inner likes and dislikes to protect myself, I am always so carefree, straightforward, and not pretentious. She can only be lucky that I can be of great use in critical moments, and can only be a rough man on weekdays; she also sighs that my heart is so pure and kind, and my mind is so open.
I was feeling proud, and then I used some hypocritical self-deprecating words to show that I had formed a good tact. But before I could finish my hypocritical words, she suddenly smiled evilly and said, "How about Ling's flattery?"
I couldn't hold back my laughter, so I could only scratch my head and look at Yinling embarrassedly.
This incident illustrates three issues: even a virtuous wife will occasionally show her "unkind" side; you can't be cunning just because you want to; and even if you are cunning, you can't show it in front of everyone, especially when the other person has the key to this cunning.
Unfortunately, Yinling had such a key. When I was still wondering when she had this key, Yiren smiled and pouted as if she was holding up her own key: "Twenty years."
This is my Yinling. I always feel that she knows me better than I do. Especially when it comes to things that I can't remember, she knows them very well. I always feel that she is making them up. But because I don't know, she always has something to say. A sentence like "What can you remember at that time" can leave me speechless. What's more distressing is that she seems to have colluded with Pei'er to make up my story together.
But she and I also need to be careful in our daily lives. Not everyone is like ** and Nan. The suspicion, resentment, and dissatisfaction accumulated in the past cannot be changed by wit and adaptability in a day or two. The origin of it is gradual. The last sentence sounds familiar to me, as if it comes from "The Analects of Confucius". Either I have used it before, or someone I know has used it before.
She understood me, so she didn't tell me everything that happened in the court before she came to Shanglinyuan, as if I had never heard of it, or they had all forgotten me. This matter was promoted when I was away, and there were reasons for it. In fact, it was also good for me. Although it was inevitable to arouse jealousy, it would not make people boycott me.
Looking back on the past, I have many people to thank. My last name is Xie, which is both natural and inevitable.
After the tomb sweeping was over, I told everyone to pack up, take their own heroic relics with them, prepare the horses and leave the next day. Then I went to say goodbye to Lord Zhong.
I realized something. It seems that I haven't noticed the person named Chencang Ling in recent days. It seems that I heard someone mention him, but I can't remember whether it was accidentally heard or something else. It was only when Yinling asked me to say goodbye that I found out and told her. She thought about it and thought that he might have died in the battle while defending the city. When I went there, I should pay attention to see what happened to this person. If he really died in the battle, I should record it and bring it back to Shanglinyuan to report. I nodded.
Yinling didn't go with me, maybe she wanted to rest. It was not proper for her to come and deliver the decree to me, but the emperor was happy and could only speak without thinking.
It just so happened that on this day, Lord Zhong had some guests, all of whom came from Huaili.
Originally, Huaili was the location of Youfufeng's government office. After the Lantern Festival, these people came from all over to Chang'an to visit him. As a result, they encountered the emperor's visit to Shanglinyuan, and they delayed their visit by avoiding the emperor's carriage on the way. Then they encountered heavy snow and delayed their visit for a while. When they arrived in Huaili, Lord Zhong had already gone to Chencang. These people stayed in Huaili for a while. When they heard that the incident in Chencang was settled, they could not wait for him to come back, so they came again. The only reason these people came to visit Lord Zhong was because they had the same hobby.
People who have hobbies seem to be crazy.
At that time, I thought that if Pei'er and Lord Zhong had the same hobby, I would probably see urgent letters from Yue Kingdom every day since I arrived in Luoyang, and I thought each letter would weigh more than 20 kilograms.
Pearl seemed to like reading, a real nerd. I didn't seem to have any hobbies, but after looking around to see if there was anyone, I asked myself: Maybe it was eating
It seems that this hobby of mine is just for eating. I don’t care too much about what to eat. It seems that as long as I am full, I don’t care about the taste.
Suddenly I felt grateful and sighed, thinking it was a pity that Pei'er's craftsmanship was wasted.
Pei'er's belly gradually swelled and her movements became increasingly inconvenient. After Zhu Jie Huarong went on a diplomatic mission, she often leaned on the couch in the inner room to read books. Sometimes she would also look after Yi Yue, and by the way, supervise Wu Yue, Kong Ming and others in the outer room, which was only separated by a curtain, to read.
In her words, she must supervise and live up to her husband's trust. In Nalan's words, if the lady doesn't watch over them, these naughty boys will go wild. Nalan can't control these four boys, and he is a little afraid of Huolan. But if he expects them to study hard, he needs Pei'er to watch over them. Pei'er is a nerd, she can't do anything else but study, and she can only learn by supervising Kong Ming and others. But the gatekeeper Lao Hu has another way: if a pregnant lady can still work so hard, no matter how bad the children are, they will not be lazy.
It seems that children of adults may not necessarily listen, but they will definitely learn to do what adults do.
After sending Sister Zhu away, Pei'er asked the children to copy the "Book of Poetry" and recite it silently. Suddenly, she got excited and asked Nalan to take Yiyue away. She ordered people to bring a few desks and writing materials, and wrote a letter to me. In addition to reporting Sister Zhu's affairs, the letter also mentioned various important events in Yue during this period, but only mentioned a word about my departure.
I think she either thought Yinling would read her letters, or she was deliberately suppressing herself.
The first thing is really important: recruiting talents.
I went to Yue State, originally for peace. I spent most of my time in the mountains and rivers, planning on the map, and then attacking, recruiting, and resetting the government. But I had no time to start selecting virtuous people and recruiting capable people.
But the matter is urgent. Although I went to Luoyang to pay homage to the emperor, if I don't recruit talents, "I am afraid that the hearts of the virtuous and good people in Jiaozhou will be chilled," said Zhang Shu. I am originally a foreigner and was granted the power of the state by Your Majesty. If I can't treat these local scholars well, the virtuous and good people will be disloyal and flee far away. Isn't it a big mistake
But in addition to the recommendation of the officials, we also need to select people and coordinate and preside over it in my name. The selection of this person to represent me is a big problem. First of all, almost all of us here are from other states. In addition, everyone has some "máo disease". Originally, the most suitable brother of Yuehou: Lieya is a Xianbei. Although he is studious and has learned some strategies in the north, he is still not very familiar with my Han classics. Zhang Shu was originally a famous party member and seemed to be the second most suitable candidate, but Zhang Shu himself declined: Jian is called Zhang Jiangui because I am a cruel official who governs with severe punishments and laws. If Jian is to recruit, it is okay to recruit one room of cruel officials, but how can others come? The two generals Bō and Han were originally Yellow Turban generals, and General Bō was taciturn and General Han was chattering, so they were not suitable. Nan claimed that he had the bloodline of the Liu clan of the Han Dynasty, but he read less than his brother-in-law, so he was also eliminated. In the absence of Lord Xu, the positions below the Minister of Agriculture, and the two counselors on the left and right, the Supervisory Ministers on the left and right, were either of low rank or not suitable. Even Huo Lan was considered, but unfortunately she was temporarily in the inner court and was a female official, so she was not suitable either.
After a round of discussion, it finally came to the fourth brother and his friends. This helpless solution was a compromise plan. With Pei'er as the main person, the fourth brother, Zhang Shu, Bō, Chen Ying, Yan Rou, and Huo Lan as the assistants, each of them was responsible for recommending talents. For example, Zhang Shu was only responsible for selecting cruel officials, and Huo Lan recruited female officials from the inner court - this was natural in Yue State - in the future, the issue of female leaders in Yue State would definitely be inevitable.
However, since some counties had not yet recovered, the people recommended for appointment and conscription were only in Cangwu and Nanhai, and Jiaozhi entrusted the scholars to recommend and conscript. Only a few counties in Yulin, such as Wu'an, were allowed to do so.
In the end, my wife will have to take charge of the overall situation. The letter also said that she was considering opening a policy essay test, and she wrote to me to ask a question to select talents and distinguish the superior and the inferior. She also wrote specifically that in a few years, maybe we can try to let Kong Ming do this. Kong Ming and I are somewhat similar. It is not easy to master it. I only know the general idea. Moreover, he has read all kinds of books. He is only nine years old (Kong Ming appears older in this book than in the official history). His conversation has gradually become more insightful. It is suitable for him to read policy essays, which can not only broaden his horizons but also help me select talents. Moreover, she is very honest. Kong Ming is much more insightful than me. But he seems to be a little cautious. For such a big child, she is a little confused. It is exactly the opposite of me who "dare to take risks". In addition, Wu Yue is also cautious, even a little too cautious, but his mind is not as meticulous as Kong Ming. Song Qian and Chen Wu were getting older. They had no foundation before and did not like to study hard. Now they only read superficially. They preferred to practice martial arts and often pestered the fourth brother to teach them how to ride a gun.
The fourth brother did me a big favor, but it must be noted that he did me a disservice. He "recruited" two people. The main reason for this favor was that these two people had special identities. One was Xu Ying, the eldest son of the former governor of Cangwu, and the other was Xu Wei, the second son of the current minister of Yue.
Both of Lord Xu's sons were born in Guangxin. The reason why no one told me was that one was nineteen years older than me, and the other was only sixteen. He was the governor of Cangwu before I was born.
The two children, the eldest son is good at martial arts, and the second son is good at literature, which is exactly the opposite of their names. It was actually a pure accident that the fourth son recruited them. If Lord Xu Zheng was there, this matter would never have happened.
Pei Erxin could only give a rough idea, so she later asked the fourth brother about the matter, and only then did she get a clearer story. The story was quite exciting, but it seemed to be mixed with the fourth brother's flattery and self-praise.
Although there were Han people in Lao Si's tribe who taught him how to write and read, I remember talking to Han people in their tribe. Most of them went there to escape the killing of the Party Imprisonment, and it was impossible for them to bring any Confucian and Taoist books. In addition, the Po Liu Han tribe was often attacked by the Hou Mo Chen tribe, so these Han teachers naturally taught some strategies and calculations. And he still had to hunt and graze with the tribe to maintain the livelihood of the entire tribe. As the left Sima who was in charge of the cavalry and infantry, he was quite diligent in his official duties, but in his spare time, his wild nature emerged, and he would take his younger brother, sister-in-law and Xue'er to find a place to hunt. Sometimes he would bring Nan with him, but Lao Si specifically added that it was often Nan who came on his own.
When he talked about this, he boasted proudly: "As the sworn brother of Yuehou, I should shoulder the heavy responsibility when my brother is away. One day, when I returned to the city from the military camp, I heard on the street that a tiger had come to Yushui Mountain in the south of Guangxin last winter and had repeatedly killed people. Everyone could only go hunting and picking together during the day. So I cheered up and wanted to get rid of the harm for the people."
Hearing this, I wanted to say: Just send someone, if you go by yourself, I'm afraid you'll still feel itchy. But I didn't want to hit him with his words, so I just let him go.
He was afraid that Xueer would worry, so he went to stay in the military camp for a few days on his turn. When he came out, he went to Big Brother Bō to report the matter, and Big Brother Bō sent someone to go. The tigers couldn't come out if there were too many people. He had hunted tigers in the north before, so he was an experienced hunter and was not afraid. Big Brother Bō asked how many people he brought with him. He said easily that one person, one horse and one bow were enough. In the end, Big Brother Bō said something and let him go.
Nan Yao was also a general in the army and was close to Lie Ya. Two days before Lie Ya was about to go hunting tigers, Nan happened to be on duty in the army, so he temporarily entrusted Nan with some of the things that Lie Ya had to do in the next few days, such as training and archery.
So Nan knew what was going on. He finally became cautious and threatened his brother-in-law: You have to take me with you wherever you want to go. If you don’t take me with you, I will tell my sister and you won’t be able to go, and so on.
The fourth brother had no choice but to take Nan to see Brother Bō and report the situation. Brother Bō was silent for a while before smiling: Let General Liu accompany you to hunt tigers, and I will order Lao Hai to take over your duty temporarily.
At this point, the fourth brother gritted his teeth and said: Don't be fooled by the honest appearance of Big Brother Bō, he is actually a cunning and deceitful person. He said that he wanted Nan to help me, but in fact he wanted Nan to tell Wan'er to stop me from hunting tigers. In fact, Nan is also a playful person, so he can only threaten me and not report to Wan'er.
But what I was thinking was that big brother Bō meant that if two people went, they could still be taken care of. When you said that one person, one horse, and one bow, I think big brother Bō was a little worried.
Anyway, Lieya and Nan packed their bags and "reported" to Wan'er that they were going to the military camp for rotation. Wan'er was careful and remembered that Nan and Lieya were not on the same day before, and Nan had only been on duty for two days. Lieya must have been thinking about it for a long time, and blurted out that it was not that ** and Deng Mao were not here, so Nan went to replace ** and he would replace Deng Mao.
After leaving the palace gate, he immediately led Nan to the west. Nan was puzzled. Every time Wan'er sent him off, she would take Xue'er to the palace wall to look out from afar. The military camp was west of the Li River. We were heading to Nan for the purpose of this trip. Nan, this "stupid wooden head", immediately became angry. In fact, Nan seemed to be quite smart, but when someone was in charge of things, he was too lazy to think. I haven't seen Wenwen for a long time. I wonder if she has a way to make Nan use his brain more.
Actually, I didn’t know that Wenwen had already left Nan at that time.
Sometimes I can only sigh that the daughters of famous men are different. I can still remember her courage to remain calm when she was stabbed by a sharp knife. For something like this that we thought should have been done long ago, she actually gave up Nan and left. As a woman of the time, it is amazing.
The two crossed the Yushui River and entered the mountains. They asked people and found out where the tigers were. During the day, Lieya took Nan to walk, rest, eat and sleep, and take advantage of the fact that wild animals were basically not around during the day to recuperate. At night, they would find a water source near where the tigers were and set up traps and baits to lure the tigers.
It was not yet dark, and no tiger appeared, but two children with weapons appeared.
One of them was called Xu Ying, and the other was called Xu Wei. They wanted to do something big while their father was away, which was the same thing as the fourth brother and his group. They called it getting rid of harm for the people.
From this point of view, the Xu family has a good upbringing. Both children have a heart full of adventurous spirit and personal heroism like the fourth child, and the belief of serving the people as an excuse.
In fact, the fourth child is the same age as Xu Ying, and Nan is only one year older than Xu Wei. It seems a bit excessive to use the word "child", but the two of them act like children.
The two of them led the horses to the waterside to drink water. Xu Wei was still young and had been out for a long time, so he was a little worried. Seeing the horses uneasy, he kept looking around and said to his brother to go back early. In fact, Xu Ying must have felt guilty. Lie Ya watched him take a sip of water and quickly stood up. He looked around and saw something suspicious by the water. He quickly raised his weapon and went over, but he kept saying to his brother: What are you afraid of!
He soon got really scared, and shouted "Don't move, my dear!" The fourth child rushed out, which really scared the two children. But when they saw two big men wearing animal skins and holding weapons and bows rushing out, they felt relieved. The eldest child breathed a sigh of relief, and the other one took a long breath and patted his chest.
However, just as if they had no identity of their own, the two big men actually disguised themselves as hunters.
So, the tall men among the "hunters" almost walked into the tiger trap I set, otherwise they would be stabbed by the sharpened bamboo.
The boss seemed a little disdainful and pointed at the weapons in his and Lieya's hands. "Since we have this, why don't we just use our own weapons to chop? Why do we need traps?"
Then he noticed Lieya's double-sided axe, and Lieya's identity was exposed.
So Lie Ya proudly found that he was a famous person in Yue State, especially in Guangxin. He had been called Zuo Sima Taishu, Yue Hou Yidi, and the Four Generals. And for others to recognize him, they only needed to rely on this weapon called "Qian Kun Double-Sided Axe". It was said that he was the only one in Jiaozhou who used such a weapon. Nan was not as good. Although he had grown a lot in the past two years and was already quite sturdy and strong, it was a pity that the weapon in his hand looked like a fork. There was a reason why forks were the first choice of weapons for hunters. So, they took it for granted that the big man behind was the hunter guide brought by Lao Si. This must have dealt a serious blow to Nan's self-esteem. Then he found a target to fight back. Facing Xu Ying, isn't yours also a fork? The child's weapon was indeed wrapped in a three-pronged leather sheath, but when the child pulled the leather sheath open, his could only look like a halberd. I also saw it later: three branches separated forward and all with sawtooth-like blades, which were very vicious. According to reports, their martial arts master was a barbarian, who gave each of them a strange weapon. Xu Wei's weapon was similar to a halberd (similar to a spear, but different), but not very much like a halberd. The two weapons had in common that they both had serrated blades, so they both needed to be wrapped in sheaths.
When Nan told them everything he knew in a rage, the two children finally knew that Nan was the brother-in-law of Zuo Sima Taishu, the brother-in-law of Yue Hou, and the brother-in-law of four generals, and they immediately showed more respect to Nan. But they still asked why they still needed to dig traps. Couldn't they kill the tiger easily with their own abilities
Lieya returned to his original nest and whispered, "Have you ever hunted a tiger?"
They naturally shook their heads, but they knew what a tiger looked like because they had tiger skins at home, so they could tell what it looked like if they put them on a shelf.
Lie Ya later told me that he knew as soon as he heard these two must be the children of some non-official. They could invite barbarians to teach martial arts at home, they could forge and hold such strange weapons, and there were tiger skins at home for them to play with. I suggested that he stop bragging and continue his story.
The two children began to hide their names. The elder brother almost let it slip, but the younger brother seemed to be more cunning. The elder brother's name was Yu Ye (Xu Ying) and his own name was Yu Wei (Xu Wei). Their family was a wealthy family nearby. When their father went out to do something, they heard about this and decided to "eliminate harm for the people."
The next night, the four were talking in the dark in the bushes. The fourth brother discovered from their conversation that the eldest brother was good at marching and arranging battle formations, while the second brother was "actually" proficient in the ways of officialdom at his age. I cannot agree with the word "actually" used by the fourth brother, I think it is as it should be. When Lord Xu came, he must have been a young man, and he must have been thinking about how to defend the land and resist the invaders among the barbarians and establish meritorious service. Later, after a long time, he felt that the officialdom was stupid, and it would be better to be a two thousand stone governor, so naturally there was some difference in education between the two children. Looking back, didn't Lord Xu's time as a governor just cover the party imprisonment? This is easy to understand.
Suddenly, Lao Si signaled everyone to be quiet, saying that the tiger was coming. They asked Lie Ya what was going on. Lie Ya's own horse had followed him from the north, and he knew almost all the beasts.
Then, he twitched his nose twice, hearing the sound of the wind. The other three followed him and twitched their noses. Lieya asked them why. They imitated him and asked if they were trying to smell the tiger.
Lie Ya smiled. The mountain wind was strong at night and he had just slept and was affected by the wind. Tigers are very smart. When they hunt at night, they always go upwind from downwind, which not only hides their own scent, but also makes it easier to smell the scent of prey upwind. So he looked directly downwind.
The four of them were silent, only Nan's stomach rumbled.
Lieya could actually still smile and joke with Nan: You are hungry, and the tiger is hungry too, let's see who will eat whom today.
The tiger was getting closer and closer, and there was a soft and gradually clear rustling sound in the grass that kept coming into my ears.
Several horses were startled, and the other three became nervous. Only Lie Ya said slowly, "It seems there is only one. Now I'll tell you, I saw the hair of a tiger shed on the riverbank here. It should have been drinking water by the water in front of us. Tigers usually drink water in a familiar place. So that's why I chose to wait for it here."
After a low and short roar, the guy pretended to be calm and continued to say: "It found us, maybe it found our horses, so we can shoot."
The mountain wind was getting stronger and stronger, whistling past them. The other three felt the wind coming from behind them, and they always felt like a tiger was behind them. Only that guy kept talking: "The moonlight is not very good today, but you can see its eyes."
He even said mysteriously, "Because the tiger's eyes glow at night!"
The three children were all very nervous about this sentence afterwards.
However, before they saw the tiger, Lieya suddenly drew his bow and shot an arrow. The first arrow caused a tiger roar and a rustling sound in the bushes in front. Then the second arrow was shot and everything became silent.
The tiger was hit by two arrows, one under the neck and one in the left eye.
Then, in front of the three bāngchuis, Lieya pulled out the arrow, picked up the tiger and threw it on the horse's back. The horse had seen the world and didn't mind at all.
The man himself seemed puzzled as he looked at the three stunned people behind him and said, "Let's go! Let's go back."
I guess he was very proud at that time.
I asked Nan, who had been through this before, why he was at a loss, just like the two Xu masters. He didn't even apologize, but just said to me confidently: "I won't do it next time."
At some point, Nan seemed to have really grown up.
What I have is his heart, maybe Wenwen’s departure is also a reason.
So, this is why I doubt the authenticity of Lieya’s descriptions of me.
This matter was put aside, as there were many related things in the future. For example, as soon as they returned and came out of the mountain, they ran into the Xu family's anxious housekeeper who came with dozens of soldiers to look for people, which revealed the identities of the two Mr. Xu.
Lie Ya did the most brilliant thing at this time. The tiger was hunted by the four of them together. He praised the two Master Xu for their righteousness and courage.
Then I wrote down their names and ages, and reported them to Pei'er, Uncle Zhang and the others. They also thought that the two Xu Gongzi were very good young men, and after discussing it, they directly added a draft petition written by Lao Si and Chen Ying to Pei'er's letter, and by the way, I could do a favor to Lord Xu. I guess they all went through Pei'er's guidance, otherwise I could recognize their handwriting, but I would not recognize this document. Especially Lao Si's letter was probably originally: Fourth brother, Lord Xu's eldest son is not bad, how about giving him a position of 600 stones as the Northern Lieutenant of Guangxin
The draft memorial I saw in the end impressed me. I even read it many times and felt that I could not write it and would not plan it this way. I did not expect the court of Yue to do it so well. I know that our court of Yue needs to be different from the memorials of the Han Dynasty, but it is also a credit to be able to do this new standard well.
I have to thank Pearl.
I still remember very clearly the words in Lie Ya's letter, written from right to left, in rows (the order in which they were written at the time):
Book Report to Yue Hou Yi Jue
Ying, the son of Xu Zheng, the prime minister of Han and Yue, was nineteen years old. He was brave, resolute and decisive, and had the potential to be a good general.
He is proposed to be appointed as the Northern Lieutenant of Guangxin.
The Han and Yue dynasties had Sima Chen Cai, the left Sima Chen Beihai, the right Sima Chen Xian, the left Zhong Daifu Chen Dao Rong, and the right Zhong Daifu Chen Hai Jin Ni.
Chen Ying's letter was similar, except that the people who discussed and drafted it were replaced by civil officials such as Zhang Shu and others, and he was appointed as Shangshu Zuocheng, with a salary of 400 shi. This was an official position I had not expected.
Shangshu means to submit a letter to the emperor. Since my dynasty was re-established in Luoyang, this group of people have become quite prominent officials. In fact, their official rank is not high, and the Shangshu Ling is only a thousand stones, but their power is very great. When all officials submit a letter to the emperor to express their opinions, they must first address themselves as "I am the Shangshu". Although my father is in the court now, recording the affairs of the Shangshu and leading all the departments of the Shangshutai; but when I was governing the country of Yue, I never considered this institution at all.
After the ban on political parties, the Secretariat was controlled by eunuchs, and many of the positions were held by eunuchs themselves. Anyway, in the old days of the Qin Dynasty, and even during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu of the Han Dynasty, eunuchs were used as secretaries. If it weren't for the fact that few of them had any knowledge of writing, I'm afraid the Secretariat would become another nest of eunuchs in the harem. In this case, the memorials of many wise ministers and good men in the court naturally could not be submitted. So from Yinling's education of me, I felt that the Secretariat was not a good place. Before I became the Marquis of Yue, I felt that there was a trouble with the establishment of the Secretariat. If these secretaries concealed some important memorials and did not report them, wouldn't it delay important matters
I had no plan to set up a Secretariat, but they actually decided to do so. I don’t know what their purpose was.
Fortunately, I hadn't seen it at that time, otherwise I would not have been able to wait outside at ease. I would have immediately looked for the writing materials and bamboo slips to reply and question. Especially at that time, I was listening to a group of Mr. Zhong and his friends inside the wall discussing calligraphy, which really made me want to write some words myself.
But I just drew a few random strokes on the wall with my fingers.
For me, calligraphy is not easy to distinguish. For example, although my handwriting is not beautiful, many people think it is very powerful. Yinling and Pei'er's handwriting are both beautiful and neat, but almost no one praises them. Of course, we cannot rule out that some people are trying to flatter me, but flattering my two wives may be more effective, especially for Yinling.
Outside the wall, I could hear these people asking this person to write a few strokes and that person to write a few words, praising each other non-stop. This person's eight-point (official script) is the best in the world; that person's writing is like a mountain stream that cannot be interrupted, and it is completed in one breath. One praised this person as worthy of being the contemporary grass saint, and this person modestly said that the casual painting was not worthy of appreciation. These people talked very speculatively, and they had their own opinions on the changes in the pen shapes. This made me hesitate. It happened that Yinling didn't come with me, and I didn't know whether to go in now or not. If Yinling was not in Chencang, I was the only one who could decide. I would not leave until Master Zhong was free. After all, Master Zhong had this hobby, and it seemed a bit unworthy to not let him enjoy it, but it would spoil his elegance. But if I left now, it would be difficult to explain to Yinling, and she was not allowed to "praise" me as a good person and baby. Now there are many people around, and it would be bad if someone heard it and spread it.
So I chose to wait outside. The two guards wanted to go in and report several times, but I called them back and asked them to wait.
By the way, I asked who was inside, and they answered that they didn't know. There were seven people in total, young and old, tall and short, fat and thin, who came by car, chatting and laughing as soon as they got off the car and rushed in. They didn't know the situation, so they naturally stopped them. Unexpectedly, after they found out that this was Zhong Fufeng's headquarters, they directly called Master Zhong by his name and courtesy name. One of the sloppy old men was Cao Chunzhao, Yi Guanhu, and Zhang Dan, who came to see an old friend. They stopped them one by one, and one went in to report. Unexpectedly, Master Zhong was so happy that he came out to greet them with his clothes in disarray and his shoes on backwards. Then they have been discussing the method of calligraphy and engraving until now.
None of them knew these people, and some of the names seemed vague, as if some of the words in them were ones I had heard before.
Later I felt that what I thought was complete nonsense.
In the end, I only knew that I couldn't get anything out of the gate through the guards. They didn't come from Huaili with Lord Zhong. They were just local garrison soldiers.
Listening to it from outside is quite instructive. I often hear a person who calls himself a teacher. He is quite arrogant, but he is really well-informed. He always likes to refute others with some anecdotes. I have never heard of many anecdotes. But I feel uncomfortable listening to his tone, but the people inside are very respectful. A person who calls himself Chun likes jokes. He often uses one or two jokes to ease the slightly stiff atmosphere. I feel funny when I hear them, and often laugh with the guard outside. In addition, there are two children's voices, occasionally interweaving. It seems that there is a person named Kong Ming in it, which reminds me of the one at home, but this Kong Ming seems to be thirty years old.
I seemed to have a natural liking for Kong Ming, and I didn't know why, and even I felt it was a bit ridiculous. So I tried hard to listen to what they said, and thanks to my good ears, the voices of people with the same hobbies got louder from time to time, and finally I could roughly tell the difference.
If I can judge people, Mr. Kong Ming seems to be a top person. He is either not good at talking or he always has something new to say when talking about something. But Mr. Shi seems to be only good at talking about military affairs on paper. He always mentions "The Art of War" and so on. What is very strange is that his "The Art of War" seems to be different from the ones I have read. It always talks about people from Qi asking Sun Tzu, and then Sun Tzu answers this and that. I am really confused. Could it be that this "The Art of War" is Sun Bin's Art of War? (That is "Sun Bin's Art of War". Generally, Sun Wu is called Wu Sun Tzu, and Sun Bin is called Qi Sun Tzu. In ancient books, they are often called Sun Tzu. Sun Bin himself is quite famous, but "Sun Bin's Art of War" was lost and then excavated from a tomb. It still exists in the world today, but unfortunately some parts are lost.)
Regardless of whether this book is authentic or not, anyone who can just follow the book and memorize it can do it. But I have not seen that since Sun Tzu, everyone who read the book has become a famous general.
I don't like this kind of aggressive person. Listening to them talking about everything from calligraphy to worldly affairs, I dislike this guy even more. Fortunately, Mr. Kong Ming was able to calm down Mr. Shi. Interestingly, it seems that Mr. Shi also deliberately maintained respect and courtesy to Mr. Kong Ming, but he did not argue much after Mr. Kong Ming said something. It can be proved that no matter how reasonable Mr. Zhong's words were, he would always say: This is wrong, this matter should be so and so.
I wonder why Mr. Zhong is still so good-tempered.
When the teacher began to talk about state affairs, I asked the two guards about the matter of Chen Cang Ling. The matter was more serious than I thought. Chen Cang Ling was not dead, but was locked up. The reason was that my father seemed to have been investigating the matter of Chen Cang Ling selling government grain, so he ordered Lord Zhong to come and deal with it, and then report the situation to Shanglinyuan.
As a result, this incident happened on the third day after Lord Zhong came here to deal with that matter.
I always feel that if it wasn’t that kind of thing, then this kind of thing would be bad.
God bless me! I had just calmed down and was still feeling emotional. But I saw a lieutenant colonel coming to the door without a horse. He was running and panting. He was lingering at the door, not knowing whether to go in or not. The guards asked him to report but he refused. If they didn't report, he would be very anxious.
Seeing me staring at him, the man came over and bowed to me. I asked him what was going on and why.
The answer was very interesting, his words were crude, but he was not a coarse person. His general meaning was: Damn! There are some important people inside talking to Lord Zhong, and the Marquis of Ping An Feng Yun has to wait outside!
I could only explain that they came first, and I had nothing important to do, so I just came to take a look and waited. I also casually asked him what happened and why he didn't ride a horse.
His place is close, so it would be better for him to just run faster than to go to the stable to lead the horse.
I wondered why we were not getting to the point.
Fortunately, he realized it immediately: "Oh, there is a very strange team coming from the west, they don't look like us Han people, nor like Qiang people, the leader looks very strange, but he speaks authentic Han Chinese. General Zhang was outside to greet them, and asked Che'erge to report the news. Che'erge couldn't remember so much, and was scared, so he found me as soon as he entered the city and asked me to come, I was smart enough. Hehe! I also saw it on the top of the city... It's really strange... The clothes and weapons of those soldiers are really strange!"
"Do they have flags?"
"Oh, yes, Qin!"
I slapped my thigh and said, "You are smart. This is the most important thing, but you missed it."
"You go and report it! I'll go first." Then he jumped on his horse and left.
I began to vaguely know who was coming, especially when I heard the name Queen Qin.
So I was very excited. I rode my horse to the barracks where we were staying temporarily, intending to ask Yinling to go with me.
But I thought I went to the wrong place.
I entered the camp gate and then went out, looking at the roads on both sides and the flags on the city wall behind the camp. Everything was normal.
I looked left and right, front and back, and it seemed to me that this was where everyone lived.
I looked up and down, far and near, and it seemed to me that this was no longer the place where everyone lived.
There was no sound, no one was around. The entire camp seemed empty.
It seems unlikely that they were all drunk and sleeping, but it is the only reason I can think of. However, the fact that the couple did not snore at all immediately overturned this reason. During those two days in Guzhu Garden, the whole courtyard was filled with snoring, one after another, disturbing people's thoughts and conversations.
A jar suddenly rolled out from a tent, and a man rushed out, took two steps at a time to hold down the jar, then picked it up on tiptoe and tried to take it back.
And it was as if he didn't even see me.
I have no idea why. Normally, these guys are never like this. How can they be so cautious and quiet like girls? These are heroes who fought against tens of thousands of people with me. How could they be like this
So he continued to think in his mind, but his feet immediately quickened, and his hands immediately grabbed the collar of the girl.
**My first reaction was to hold the jar and turn around to let me speak.
My next reaction was to realize that it was me who was pulling his collar.
So the subsequent reaction was to happily ask for words.
However, he immediately covered his mouth with his hands.
Then he suddenly realized that the jar was no longer in his hand.
The next action was to reach down with both hands to scoop it up.
Finally, he was delighted to find that I was holding the jar in one hand and looking at him suspiciously.
Then Yuan came out of the tent with a red face. Just as he was about to say something, he found that ** and I turned our eyes to him.
Then he burped and quickly covered his mouth with his hand.
I was already starting to get angry and was about to scold the assistant, but then both of them put their hands over my mouth.
I don't want to beat around the bush. The only explanation I got in the end, and everyone I saw pulled me away and explained, was that Mrs. Silver Bell fell asleep in the car.
I really want to look at that car and sigh: What a gifted child of heaven!
But I still tried to look at Yuan calmly and said softly: But this is not a reason for you to drink secretly, and you drank too much.
So I quickly mounted my horse and went alone, and caught up with Master Zhong at the city gate. It seemed that the man had reported what I had said to him outside, so Master Zhong was naturally surprised that I had not arrived first and was actually behind him. I thought, I went to find Yinling, but Yinling did not follow me; I was worried that she was sleeping; I went to change clothes, but it was obvious that I had not changed clothes. So I went to get ready.
God knows what I have prepared.
That colonel was later promoted and would tell everyone that the flag was the most important to the Marquis of Ping'an Fengyun. I repeated the matter of the flag several times, and Lord Zhong thought I was scheming, so he mentioned me to General Zhang, and General Zhang promoted me one level without saying a word.
I eventually heard the story from General Zhang.
In fact, the flag is indeed the most important thing. I can even guess who it is from their description.
So I said a few words to Lord Zhong and rushed over to hug my brother.
He punched me on the breast and I realized he was left-handed, like me.
But I think our feelings are completely different.
He laughed so hard that his eyes became invisible and he almost choked.
My eyes went dark and I almost fainted.
When I recovered, he asked cautiously, "Third brother, are you injured on your left side?"
I answered incoherently: Yes... Ah! I was hit by an arrow.
"Oh, I didn't know that. You looked so lively, I didn't expect that."
"I didn't realize you were left-handed either."
"I'm not left-handed, I just hold the whip in my right hand." The elder brother looked apologetic and at a loss. As a result, he raised the whip in his right hand and unfortunately hit my left hand.
This was such bad luck that I quickly jumped four feet away from him and said half-jokingly and half-helplessly: "Brother, don't bully me like this!"
My eldest brother was actually an honest man. He threw away the whip, cautiously took a step back and asked me what was wrong.
I quickly tried to laugh, rubbed my left hand, and patted my right shoulder which seemed a little numb with my still aching left hand. I said, "It's okay. I helped the old four tribesmen retreat in the north and suffered worse. Your third brother is very tough."
He also looked serious and started talking to me about serious matters: "Third brother, I brought a man with me. People in the court asked me to bring him here. Originally, they wanted him to persuade the Five Pecks of Rice Sect to return. I didn't expect to see them returning with the Qiang people at the border."
"Zhang Lu?" I asked.
The eldest brother said: "The second brother just came back. When he saw what happened, he asked me to bring him to see you." Then he turned around and went back.
I looked behind him, and then heard my brother tell someone to take a message to the back in northwestern dialect.
Before Zhang Lu arrived, I saw these Qin soldiers dressed strangely.
They were wearing red linen clothes, with only black armor on their mouths, and helmets on their heads. The red feathers on the helmets were quite bright. What was strange was that they held a shield in one hand and an axe in the other.
I heard from Yinling that there was a Great Qin in the west. I only knew about it back then but didn't find it. Later, I heard from my eldest brother that these soldiers might look like the soldiers of the Great Qin in the west. So I asked my eldest brother if this was the look of the soldiers from his grandfather's side.
"No, no one in our tribe has seen it. There are only some techniques left on sheepskin. In the past, there were no stirrups, so one hand had to pull the reins, so the horses used one-handed short swords. This was discussed by the second brother, uncle, and a few of us. The armor of the Xiliang cavalry named Dong was very strong, but too heavy, so we thought of cavalry carrying shields to solve the protection problem. In addition, the one-handed weapons were lengthened, and the swords were too heavy and easy to break. So I passed on the short spear skills passed down in our tribe to them." The eldest brother paused and sighed, "But there is a shortcoming, it can only be used for stabbing, not for chopping and killing."
I looked at the weapons of those horsemen again, and I always felt that their spears looked so similar to axes.
He suddenly remembered something: "Oh, the troops that came with me this time are of course ceremonial guards, not fighting troops."
When I got here, a young man had already dismounted from his horse and was lying in front of me.
"The guilty man, Zhang Lu, greets the Regent, Lord Yuehou."
I helped him up. He must have been having trouble sleeping and eating for a while, and his face looked a little dull and yellow, but he was still a very handsome young man.
"I think... my brother must have given you a lot, I don't have much, this time I am also lucky that your followers are loyal and righteous, and no disaster has occurred. I hope that Master Zhang can work hard for the Han Dynasty and the stability of Qin in the future, and properly lead the followers of your religion." To be honest, I feel awkward myself, always feeling that such matters involving believers are a bit worrying. In fact, I have thought of many things before, but I think it is better not to say anything, so I just added one more sentence: "Remember: if the action does not violate the law, then the punishment will not be on you; if the matter does not harm the country, then the crime will not be on others."
I am speaking as a regent. I remember Pei'er said: "The word 'qing' means 'celebration'. The people are gratified by what they rely on, and that is what they call 'qing'."
Once you are in the position, you should plan for the policy.
I can't remember what else we talked about, but it was mostly about family matters, some of which were intended to help the elder brother get close to him, and some of which were meant to say nice things to the second brother to reassure people.
I only knew that after I comforted Zhang Lu, I took the eldest brother to drink. Big brother, he wants to go to the land of Western Qiang. I know that he should go once, but it doesn't have to be him. He himself is not a Han Chinese, but he has dealt with the Western Qiang people in Kunlun Mountain before, so it should be easy to go.
When I came back drunkenly with my elder brother and saw Yinling, I can't remember anything after that.
The next day, my eldest brother took Zhang Lu away, and I accompanied him for a day.
Another day passed, and I had to say goodbye. I went to see Lord Zhong. Since I was really leaving this time, I met his friends intentionally or unintentionally.
I was very polite, so soon one of them became rude.
A teenager named Liang Hu raised his head and asked me how tall I was with a surprised look on his face. I was about ten feet tall. A half-old man named Shi Yi Guan finally jumped out as I expected. I was not that tall, and he even used a ten-foot piece of silk that I had come from nowhere as proof.
If that piece of cloth is really ten feet long, then I am indeed not ten feet tall.
But what interested me more was that there was a word written on it: 飞 (飞).
Really, although I don’t understand calligraphy, it is really beautiful and powerful, so I really want to hang it up at home.
But it seems inconvenient to say this. And I have to think about the problem of my height, but I don't know what the problem is. It seems that all my neighbors are ten feet taller than me, and the silver bells for buying cloth can prove it.
Finally, Lord Zhong spoke for me: "I have heard that the Chu ruler is often used in Chu. The Chu ruler originated from the Song ruler. Song Yuan was a descendant of the Shang Dynasty (Note: Wei Zi Qi, Duke). Therefore, the Song ruler originated from the Shang Dynasty, and the Shang ruler is shorter than our Han ruler. When Qin conquered the six kingdoms, it abolished the rulers of all countries in the world and replaced them with the Qin ruler. Later, when Xiang Shi revived Chu, the Chu ruler became popular again. Yue Hou was originally from Chu, and many people in the vicinity used the Chu ruler, so it is not surprising that they often use the Chu ruler as the standard."
Most of the people acted as if they were in a daze, but the old master refused to give up. "Although Yuan Chang's words are true, the logic is wrong. I once heard someone joke that the Chu people fled to the south, and their stature was shorter than that of the Qin and Zhao people, so they liked to use a short ruler to show their height. Now I know it is true. Haha! The story that Zishu told the other day about using leaves to cover his eyes (this story comes from "Xiao Lin", the first joke collection in China, compiled by Handan Chun) can be used to illustrate this story of the Chu people. Right?"
I didn't know the story of using a leaf to block my eyes, but I knew that this old teacher was not very friendly to me. I wanted to fight back, but I couldn't take it too seriously, otherwise it would seem narrow-minded. So I quickly went through all his words in my mind, looking for a flaw, and made a slight gesture: "If a joke can be true, why not go to a wine shop and drink some Fufeng alcohol, and you will hear the official history of the court. Then ask two clerks to record it, and my history of the Han Dynasty will be complete. Wonderful, wonderful!"
Everyone was silent. Suddenly, another old man clapped his hands and laughed, "Yi Guan, Yi Guan, I really want to write down this story. Can I use your name? Ah... Hahaha!"
It was that Lord Zhong who came out to smooth things over: "Marquis Yue smiled. Allow me to introduce you. This is Lord Shi Yi Guan, who is famous in the capital. His calligraphy is large characters that are ten feet square and each character can contain thousands of words. He is truly a genius of the time!"
"This..."
The man who was clapping his hands and laughing suddenly interrupted: "Your servant Handan Chun is not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning."
I seem to have heard of these two people, but it should not be from Yinling. Maybe from classmates, or maybe from neighbors, but I really can't remember.
Then the self-proclaimed insignificant Lord Handan introduced them one by one: This person is Zhang Boying (Zhang Zhi, the Master of Cursive Script) from Dunhuang, this young man is his disciple Wei Dan, and the other one is Liang Hu, the beloved disciple of Yi Guan. This one is Cao Zhongze (Cao Xi) from Fufeng, and that one is Mr. Hu Kongming (Hu Zhao), the junior brother of Lord Zhong.
I have to go back and report, and cannot listen to your wise words here. I learned a lot from you outside the other day and I am full of respect.
At this point, I even walked up to the teacher who looked a little unpleasant and said, "Teacher, I heard you talk about the "Art of War" the other day. I am not very smart and have never read it. I wonder if you can give me some advice."
The teacher suddenly smiled complacently, pretended to be generous, and took out a wooden plaque from his sleeve, four inches square, with a lot of black marks all over it, and gave it to me.
Actually, I didn't ask him to do this. I always felt that Pei'er should be able to recite and write it for me. I just wanted to humbly ask for advice and calm down the previous dispute.
After chatting for a while, I left.
I felt a little regretful, but I had to leave.
It was very strange, but Mr. Kong Ming was the only one who didn't say a word. He just watched everything on the scene quietly with a slight smile.
That day, I only greeted him twice, once as a greeting and once as a brother.
He only returned my gifts twice, once as an equal and once as a farewell gift.
That year, I was 20 years old and Hu Zhao was 28 years old.