The arrival of this news did not seem surprising, because everyone continued to attack Bai. Zisheng saw that things were going badly and immediately joined the ranks of cleaning up the battlefield.
After the table was cleaned, we sat around it. I wanted to talk about serious matters with everyone, but this group of people couldn't talk for more than a few words before they started talking about the taste of pork. Finally, when they saw my fierce look, they restrained themselves.
"With Zhang Jue dead, the Yellow Turban Rebellion is basically over. The only ones left are the remnants of the Yellow Turbans in the Wuyue area and Zhang Mancheng. One is to the west of our Jingzhou and the other is to the east of our Jingzhou. What do you think we should do?"
"Are there Yellow Turbans in the Wu and Yue areas?" I asked knowingly, not knowing whether it was because I felt guilty or because I had let go of my worries about the Yellow Turbans.
"I was in Jiangxia, and an official from Yangzhou came to tell us that the Yellow Turbans would occasionally cross the river, and hoped that we would send navy to help intercept and destroy them. I reported this to my teacher, and he asked me in return, do we have navy, how many can we fight? After three sentences, I knew what to do, so I pretended to send a boat to look around the river. Last time, I also invited Yunshu Ziwen to travel along the Yangtze River with me, so that we could intercept and cover up our tracks." After Zishe finished speaking, everyone laughed, and I also felt strange and it seemed very funny, but I also felt that it was inconvenient for me to ask in detail, maybe because I was still guilty. Later, everyone talked about my beard and asked about my going out. However, nothing happened that night.
The next morning, I hurried to report to the teacher, because in the court, in full view of everyone, I only reported the part about meeting General Huangfu Song, and I didn't mention anything else. I told the teacher that I must have hidden something, and he didn't say anything either. He smiled and said to me, "You've worked hard this time, take a rest first." Then he asked about the situation of others. I got a lot of information from their discussions. Most of the officials from Jingzhou were sent back home. Now the whole Jingzhou has become the world of our school. The method of "sending" them away is really reasonable. With the words of leading troops to the north to fight against the Yellow Turbans, most of the officials submitted memorials to return home, to mourn, and to report illness. The only ones left were those honest officials who were truly concerned about the country. Because the emergency in the north of Xiangyang has been resolved, our troop deployment has also changed. Now a large part of the army is in the two cities of Xiangyang and Shangyong to contain Zhang Mancheng who has begun to become anxious. I originally wanted to ask why we didn't send troops to Jiangling to stop the Yellow Turbans in Wu Yue, but I thought I was still guilty, so I still didn't come out.
Near noon, the meeting was over and everyone went back to eat. I was left behind by the teacher. I had expected this, so I didn't move my seat at all. When the teacher and I were the only ones left in the hall, the teacher looked around and asked me to sit down somewhere closer. As soon as I sat down, the teacher smiled and said to me, "What have you done?" I didn't understand, but I vaguely felt that the teacher was referring to something, so I decided to continue to play dumb, "The teacher doesn't know what you are referring to." "Don't play dumb, you didn't say everything. Just tell me, was it Chen Liang who asked Huangfu Song to pretend to be a Yellow Turban and rob, and was it you who asked the Yellow Turban to go to Jiangdong?"
"Yes." I didn't expect the teacher to know everything, so I asked, "How do you know that?"
"If Huangfu Song had thought of it, he would have done it long ago. He would not have waited until you were about to arrive at his military camp before he did it. The same is true for the Yellow Turbans. Do I need to explain it to you? I don't know your temper and personality yet. I have taught you for several years. Although I don't know your personality and temperament very well, you have taken a risky approach. I expected that you would go to the Yellow Turbans to delay the Yellow Turbans from chasing Huangfu, but you are not that cruel. Without the accumulation of years, you would never think of pretending to be a Yellow Turban to rob, no matter how smart you are. It must be Chen Liang who asked you to bring a letter to Huangfu, and you are not hard-hearted enough to think about how to slaughter the Yellow Turbans after seeing hundreds of thousands of them. You must have thought of a way out for them. But you, do you still remember who you are?"
"Teacher, please forgive me." When a thief is discovered, he will inevitably be terrified. Even though I have always been quick-witted, I was still at a loss in front of the teacher. However, from the teacher's tone, it seemed that he was not very angry. Although I felt a little strange, I knew that at least my life seemed to be saved.
"But it's okay. On the contrary, you have made contributions. Do you know why?"
I thought about it and felt that there was only one possibility, because I could only think of one, but I was not sure, so I kept asking, "When the cunning rabbit dies, ... the running dog is cooked?"
"Well." The teacher slapped the table, nodded, and then lowered his voice. "This time, in order to suppress the Yellow Turbans, local tyrants have recruited soldiers and horses, but not many dared to fight against the Yellow Turbans, so the Yellow Turbans have not been destroyed yet, and the trend of heroes rising up has been formed. The disaster will not be caused by the Yellow Turbans. He Jin has already felt that the situation is difficult. Before the Yellow Turbans were defeated, they have begun to eliminate the feudal lords. According to reports, Dong Zhuo, Ma Teng and others in Liangzhou have fought several battles with He Jin's personal guards. This time, we in Jingzhou did not recruit soldiers and horses on a large scale, so we can live in peace for the time being. But once the Yellow Turbans are defeated, we will inevitably be suspected by him. He can punish me for not suppressing the Yellow Turbans. So you instigated the Yellow Turbans to Jiangdong. Although it was a helpless move for you and a great rebellion against the court, we have to thank you for your kindness to us. Although it is helpless, this is indeed the current situation."
I now understood why the group of people at the banquet yesterday were so low-key about the Yellow Turbans. I suddenly realized something and asked us how to deal with it. "The Yellow Turbans will be quelled before the spring of next year. By then, it is estimated that He Jin will not have the strength to wipe out the princes in various places. He will definitely ask the emperor to issue an order to let those who have made contributions in suppressing the rebellion go to Luoyang to receive titles. At that time, they will be given a big but empty title to keep them in Luoyang. If there is any unusual movement, they can..." The old man made a downward cutting motion with his hand, and I nodded unnaturally. "If we don't go, we can just be charged with the crime of deceiving the army and go to suppress it with a legitimate reason. Therefore, the best way to protect us is not to touch the Yellow Turban Army in Jiangdong."
"Unexpectedly, our enemy has become our savior. This is such a huge irony."
"Now we can only try our best to let the people of Jingzhou live a good life. Apart from this, we have no other choice. We will probably fight Zhang Mancheng this winter. We should also try not to take action and not to have too much hatred with the Yellow Turbans. Therefore, I let Zishe guard Jiangxia. With the natural barrier of the Yangtze River and Zishe's wisdom, Jiangxia should be fine. And you can take a few days off and then go to Changsha to take office as the governor. I know that you still have friendship with the Yellow Turbans. I hope that Jingzhou and Jiangdong can remain peaceful. When the spring season begins next year, the situation will change again. Then we will consider other things. Now" The teacher suddenly smiled, "Let's go to dinner together." Then, the heads of the classmates appeared in each window, and I suddenly felt that I was fooled. I just don't know why I feel that again.
We wore our official uniforms and went to the largest hotel in Xiangyang. The teacher wanted to welcome me, so he asked everyone to come. Because the cottage couldn't hold so many people, and the teacher still lived there. The teacher was used to it, but there were some guards at the entrance of the cottage. The governor's mansion became a common place for all departments except the garrison, which was where I handled affairs as a city guard. The teacher made it convenient for everyone to communicate and cooperate with each other. The brothers thought that this made it convenient for the teacher to catch us at any time, and we had nowhere to escape.
The road was really grand, with more than 40 high-ranking officials from Jingzhou all present, making passersby happy to watch the excitement. We sat on the second floor of the hotel, and we could see our yard from the window, but we didn't know why the tree in our yard was gone. "Oh my!" I cried out in my heart, "Oh no!" I suddenly remembered two people, Zhou Cang and Zhou Yin. Why didn't I see these two brothers yesterday? Could it be that they didn't go to my house, or that steamed bun caught up with them and killed them? The feeling of uneasiness in my heart became stronger and stronger. But I couldn't leave the table, because this meal was for my welcome. If I ran away, it would be embarrassing. Zisheng went to tell the bartender not to let in any idle people, and Teacher Wei asked everyone to toast me and welcome me. This time, not all the people were there, maybe they were presiding over the situation in various places in Jingzhou. Imagine that most of us, like me, were not yet twenty years old, but had already become officials appointed by the court. This was probably unprecedented. But I always feel that teachers are not simple, because when I think about the way teachers teach us and the concepts they instill in us, they are very different from other places. Perhaps it is these differences that enable us to enter the world so early.
Although it was a welcome party for me, I couldn't tell that I was any different from them. The food on the table was quickly cleared out, and a group of people were still naming each dish: "Wind Swallows Canyun", "One Sip and Empty", etc. The names of the last two dishes were more interesting, one was "No Vegetables in the World" and the other was "Boss Regrets". I think we must be the most unrepresentable group of officials in history.
After saying goodbye to them, I hurried home and chatted with a few neighbors. As soon as I entered the house, I looked for my sister and asked her about the brothers Zhou Cang and Zhou Yin as soon as I saw her.
"Oh, I forgot about you when you came back. Zishe asked them to serve as soldiers. They have been fighting against bandits in various places in the past few months and have made great contributions. They have become centurions."
"They are still children, why are they allowed to serve as soldiers? Is there no one left in Jingzhou? Let the children fight bandits?" I was about to roar.
"Yes, there is no one left. Sixteen-year-olds can be city defenders, and fifteen- and fourteen-year-olds can only be centurions." I know my sister is making fun of me, and I also know that this is the truth. Now in Xiangyang, there are only these young people except the old soldiers. Since we can't recruit soldiers, then of course we have to keep these people who come to our door. It is always dangerous to have no soldiers in hand, because now is the world of chaos.
"What about them?"
"They went to Longzhong to fight against the bandits. Jiang Wei led the troops there."
Why didn’t I see Ziyu that glutton this afternoon? It turns out he went to…
"Longzhong? Isn't that the territory of Nanyang? What if we run into the Yellow Turban Army?"
"It's okay. It's said that this group of bandits are active between the government troops and the Yellow Turban Army. Sometimes they pretend to be government troops to rob Zhang Mancheng's food and grass, and sometimes they pretend to be Yellow Turban Army to rob the government troops' supplies. Both sides want to fight these people, but they are afraid of causing trouble. Haha, if you want to fight them this time, I doubt that the Yellow Turban Army will help."
"The government troops and the Yellow Turban Army are cooperating? Interesting. When can they come back?" Since they are already soldiers, why not take them to Changsha.
"I don't know. They've been out for ten days, right? There's no news. According to past practice, they should be back in the next few days. If they don't come back soon, the food and fodder they brought won't be enough."
"Oh... Sister, why are you so familiar with these things now? Who told you?"
"You ask this, I'll tell you, well, you'll understand if you go into the room... It's not your room, you fool, go to my room."
I went in and saw an official uniform, the uniform of a grain and fodder officer.