The Bookish Scholar of the Red Mansion

While Shi Ding was killing thousands of wounded soldiers halfway, Chen Heng was still at Qingfeng Stronghold, hurrying to repair defensive measures. The war is coming, and whether everyone can survive depends on the facilities at hand.

Fortunately, although the civilians were not good at wielding swords and guns, they were quite skilled at digging trenches and laying arrow piles. It’s about everyone’s life and fortune, so we can’t help but do our best. Chen Heng left Wang Er and other military guards to supervise the details in the stronghold, while he returned to the Yiqi Hall to deal with the complaints of the civil servants.

These people are all scholars and have some knowledge. Naturally, he could see the advantageous location of the mountain stronghold, but he thought that if Shi Ding rebelled, he would face several times the enemy force. Using a group of civilians to defeat serious officers and soldiers, even in a city defense battle, will make people panic and fearful.

When Chen Heng finally came back from outside, they all rushed up to persuade him.

Sir, before we have time, let's take a detour and run down the mountain first.

That's right, that's right, sir. Fighting with soldiers is the job of mud-legged people. We... we... will be useful until we can help the world and bring peace to the people in the future. Wouldn't it be nice to repay the kindness of Lord Sheji?

Before, tens of thousands of thieves were here, but they couldn't stop the imperial army. Why do you want to attack the stone with an egg? As long as you are willing to nod and retreat, we are willing to write a letter together to explain your difficulties to your majesty, and we will never let your majesty blame you.

After hearing the messy words of frustration, Chen Heng couldn't understand everyone's concerns. But by now, it was too late to think about running down the mountain.

Furthermore, if Shi Ding and others are not blocked from heading eastward. The country will be shaken and the world will be in chaos. Where will there be a pure land to live in?

I have made up my mind. Chen Heng sat in the first seat and said calmly, I also know that all of you are worried and uneasy. Now that the war is coming, I will keep my colleagues in mind and let me tell you. Back Mountain There is a small road where the bandits used to retreat.

Hearing what Chen Heng said, many civil servants in the hall were already happy and their eyebrows were slightly raised.

I won't leave anyone on guard tonight. If anyone wants to leave, they can just follow the road down the mountain at night. Afterwards, if Chen is lucky enough to win, he will not report anyone who has neglected his duty to the court. It's just...

Chen Heng secretly wrote down a few civil servants who were overjoyed. No matter whether these people left or not, they were of no use.

It's just that after tomorrow's dawn, whoever dares to retreat and surrender to the enemy again? Don't blame Chen for using military law to deal with him. First, cut off his head and hang it on the city wall as a warning to others.

There happened to be a long knife on his waist. Chen Heng lifted up his red robe, pulled out a three-foot-long knife, turned around with an angry look and a red face, and struck the long table beside him. Fortunately, he knew that his strength was limited, so he didn't look for a hard place to chop, so as not to make a joke. Using only the blade, he cut off the corners of the long table.

Although the effect is poor, fortunately the momentum seems quite bluffing. Seeing Chen Heng's intimidating appearance with his sword drawn, everyone did not dare to speak. They hurriedly murmured a few times and then fell silent again, only giving each other winks.

Chen Heng did not want to embarrass them more, so he just waved his hand to signal the civil servants to leave first. He sat alone in the lobby, waiting for Xinda, Wang Er and others to respond.

About midnight, it was already dark. Xinda and Wang Erxin walked in and hurriedly reported various progress to Chen Heng. Hearing that the civilian husbands outside were very attentive to their work, Chen Heng nodded happily.

Thinking of these 30,000 people, they are the last support for his survival. Chen Heng in the hall couldn't help but asked with concern: Is there anything among the civilians who may confuse the morale of the army? Is the momentum of the army worthy of a battle?

Being deliberately stayed by Lu Yingxiong, Wang Er had no intention of surviving. After hearing Mr. Chen's question, he secretly thought: A scholar leads an army, and nothing can be accomplished. A group of men growing crops in the fields, how can they use their military morale?

Wang Er subconsciously chuckled and said, My lord, I'm afraid this will be difficult.

Xinda has been hanging around Chen Heng all his life, how can he understand what it means to have military morale. But Wang Er is a veteran soldier in the army. What kind of person can fight and what kind of military spirit is enough to defeat the enemy. Although he couldn't explain it clearly, he could understand it by looking at it.

When Wang Er gave an overview of the civilian husband's private panic, Chen Heng also frowned. This won't work. If people are afraid of war, even if they have a 100% geographical advantage, they won't be able to use 50% of it.

Seeing Mr. Chen deep in thought, Wang Er said with a slightly mocking tone, half asking and half ridiculing: Do you have any magic tricks, sir, that can soothe people's hearts overnight?

Chen Heng was not upset when he heard this. After all, he was the one who led him down this dead end, and Lu Yingxiong used Wang Er's family as a guarantee. Chen Heng still has some trust in Wang Er, and is more willing to spend some effort to appease this person.

Thinking of this, he spread his hands generously, placed them on the armrests on both sides, and said calmly: It's true! Just keep an eye on it, Commander Wang.

He dealt with it with one sentence, and after Chen Henghe sent him away in a friendly manner, he and Xinda sat in the hall with a sad face. Xinda is one of his own, and right now he is only thinking about how to save his brother's life.

When the village gate is really breached, no matter what the second brother says. I have to knock him out with a hammer and surrender to the rebels.

If you want me to be infamy for eternity, you might as well kill me with a knife now.

Hearing Chen Heng's words revealing his thoughts, Xinda smiled and hurriedly waved his hands: Second brother is joking, I'm thinking of something for him.

Unexpectedly, Chen Heng said: I have a way. I just need some reliable manpower... His tone gradually became lower. After Chen Heng thought about it repeatedly, he asked, Are there any people from Yangzhou among the people?

Yes, there are quite a few. Xinda nodded hurriedly. Most of the civilians in the army came from all over the south of the Yangtze River, and some of them were local people from Ping'an Prefecture. Not to mention that the second brother wants to find a few people from Yangzhou, even if he is looking for people from Jinling and Suzhou, there are many in the camp.

Very good, you will pick some helpers later. Just do as I say... At the critical moment, you still have to use your own villagers. Chen Heng pulled Xinda and whispered to his siblings. The latter couldn't help but nodded, with a strange look on his face, and whispered: Is this okay?

Don't worry so much, just do as I say.

yes.

After receiving the order, Xinda turned around and left under the dim light.

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The next day, the sky was bright and sunny. Considering that no matter how fast Shi Ding, Shui Rong and others were, it would take two days to surround Qingfeng Village. Chen Heng ordered a group of civilians to go out of the city early in the morning to cut down trees. The wood could be used for repairs and could also slow down the enemy's future construction of Mongolian vehicles.

When this group of civilians came out of the village, they were still very frightened. I am deeply afraid that some thieves will suddenly jump out from behind a certain tree and stab me with a knife. With such a mentality, if Wang Er hadn't been watching and watching, several people would have run away on the spot.

Move quickly, what are you waiting for? Wang Er also looked anxious. It was such a risky move to leave the village now. We only have one life, and if we really lose it, no one will say a pity.

The peasants had no choice but to pick up their axes and chop down the trees. After probably working for a few quarters of an hour, a citizen suddenly rushed to Wang Er in a panic and said urgently: My lord, my lord...

Wang Er was startled by his appearance. He immediately drew his sword and asked, But are there enemy soldiers?

It's not... it's not a human being. The man said incoherently, There's something strange... on the tree.

This was really incomprehensible. Wang Er frowned deeply. If Chen Heng hadn't strictly ordered not to beat or scold the civilian husband, his knife would have fallen on the other person's head.

Shen Shen Nao Nao, take me to have a look.

Wang Er stood up and pushed the civilian husband. The two of them worked together and quickly arrived at the strange place mentioned by the civilian husband. Seeing the farmer's trembling hand pointing to the tree trunk, Wang Er took a quick look and saw the words God helps Chen, the phoenix rises from the mountain written in black on the tree.

It’s really crazy. Who is writing on tree trunks when they have nothing to do? Wang Er muttered in his heart, secretly cursing the civilian husband for his lack of knowledge. He quickly stepped forward, picked up the bright white long knife, and scraped off the bark in a few strokes.

But it’s okay if he doesn’t do it, if he does. Behind the torn bark, on the pure white with a hint of cyan tree trunk, the two lines of black characters are more clearly visible.

This... Wang Er himself was dumbfounded. He thought it was someone who wrote ink on the bark of a tree as a prank. How come this line of writing can be soaked directly into the tree through the bark? ?

Wang Er really couldn't figure it out, so he picked up the bark and checked it again, and saw that there were no marks of knife carvings on it. A piece of bark was intact, with no trace of damage at all.

Wang Er subconsciously asked the civilian husband in front of him, Did you do it secretly?

The civilian husband himself was so frightened that he shook his head and explained in a panic: Sir... I... only know a few words... I can't write either.

This is strange, Wang Er is still wondering. Three or five other people came to look for him, saying that there was something strange about him. Wang Er went over and took a look, and found that the tree trunk still had the words God helps Chen, the phoenix rises from the mountain. As usual, the bark was torn off, but two parts were still intact, but the black characters could actually penetrate three-thirds of the wood.

People are most afraid of scaring themselves. No one dared to discuss things about gods and ghosts. Wang Er suppressed his confusion in his heart and just ordered everyone to continue cutting down trees.

Sir, should we chop down these trees with words on them, or not?

Wang Er himself was also worried. He...he didn't have the guts to make a decision on such a miraculous thing. After being silent for a long time, he could only mutter, Go around them first, and then cut anything else.

Yes, yes, everyone listens to the adults. The civilian husband had been confused by this matter for a long time. Hearing this, there was no reason to disagree.

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When this group of people returned to camp before noon, within half an hour, rumors were already spreading in the village. Someone said happily: Our lord happens to be named Chen, so God wants to help us. Others sneered: There must be a general named Chen among the rebels. God, he is telling us to hurry up and surrender to the opposite side.

No one on the two sides could convince the other. While they were arguing, tens of thousands of people knew about this strange incident. When some civil servants heard about this incident, they were worried that people would be distracted if the commotion continued, so they hurried over to find Chen Heng to take charge of the overall situation.

Unexpectedly, Chen Heng didn't take it seriously and scolded the civil servant in public. If Xinda had not come forward to intercede, he would have been immediately executed for 'disturbing the morale of the army'.

Being disturbed by Chen Heng, there were immediately fewer people in the camp discussing the matter. But no one said anything publicly, and no one knew what it was like in private. As the saying goes, it is better to block the river than to block it, and to guard against the people's mouth is worse than guarding the river.

It was only at sunset that I saw that the discussions in the camp were getting more and more intense, and many civil servants who chose to stay were even more worried. This group of people decided not to sit idly by and hurriedly gathered together to persuade Chen Heng to come forward to appease people's hearts regardless of whether it was true or false.

There were so many people coming this time that Chen Heng had no choice but to sound the military drum and summon all the people to the gate of the village. Chen Heng, who had changed into red clothes, led a few people up to the village tower and said to the people in the darkness below.

I also heard some strange things today. I don't know who caused this incident. It's just that the war is about to happen. If there are people who mislead the public with their evil words, the end will be the same as this tree.

As soon as Chen Heng waved his hand, Wang Eryi was immediately escorted, and dozens of cut tree trunks were erected in front of everyone. Tens of thousands of people rushed to poke their heads out, and in the afterglow of the sunset, they could clearly see the black characters on the tree.

Chen Heng didn't wait for their reaction and directly ordered the trees to be cut down. Xinda, Yan Xiaoer and others received the military order and hurriedly came down with their swords. In full view of everyone, they slashed the tree trunk with their swords.

Broken wood chips were flying, but no matter how they chopped down, the black characters on dozens of tree trunks were still clearly visible.

When everyone saw this, they couldn't care less about anything else. Immediately, someone knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing: Don't blame God, don't blame God. Our Lord is a young boy, he is ignorant, God doesn't care.

Chen Heng was even more angry when he saw this formation. He stamped his feet directly on the village tower and said: When we fight with soldiers, how can we easily believe in the theories of gods and ghosts?

Chen Heng immediately pulled out his sword and said directly: We are the king's teachers, protecting the country and the people, and we are here to fight against the enemy. To protect the people's livelihood in Shandong, Lianghu, and Jiangnan. If there is really help from God, how can we help Zhou to do evil? reason.

After some excited words, Chen Heng, who became more and more angry as he spoke, directly rolled up his sleeves and said: Since you guys feel that God is showing up, please bring us pens, ink, paper and inkstones quickly.

When Xinda heard this, he hurriedly brought the prepared things from the side. Yan Xiaoer put down his knife again and walked up to the adults carrying a basin. Chen Heng first cleaned his hands and then wiped off the water stains on his hands with a towel. Maybe he felt it wasn't clean enough, so he deliberately slapped his hands on the clothes a few times.

When it was confirmed that it was correct, Chen Heng used his clean and white hands to pick up a piece of white writing without paper and showed it to the civilian workers below. As he picked up his pen, he muttered: If God is willing, please help us defeat the enemy, win the battle, and protect our country.

A set of high-profile words, thrown out for free. After Chen Heng finished writing, he picked up the paper and showed it to everyone. Seeing the word 天 written on it, all the people held their breaths. They couldn't even hear the previous discussion and just wanted to see what the adults would do next.

Chen Heng ignored the civilian husband and just held up the white paper and begged God: God, if you are really spiritual, please show some of God's will to me and other subordinates.

After speaking, Chen Heng nodded to Yan Xiaoer, who hurriedly handed over an oil lamp. Chen Heng put the paper on the flames. Amid everyone's surprised exclamations, the white paper was quickly engulfed in the fire.

Seeing that the white paper was about to burn cleanly at his fingertips, Chen Hengqiang suppressed the stinging pain from his fingertips, clasped his hands together, and bowed to the east in front of everyone.

After praying three times like this, Chen Heng straightened up and waited for a while. Seeing that there was no movement between heaven and earth, Chen Hengcai chuckled and said, You can see that the so-called theory of gods and ghosts is pure fiction.

After saying that, Chen Heng let go of his hand, blew on the ashes in his palm, and let the ashes scatter in the wind.

Naturally, many of the people down there are lost. Chen Heng poured cold water on him again, and he felt even more depressed. Chen Heng was about to encourage people when suddenly someone pointed at the confetti flying in the air and said: It's God, it's God. God has appeared!!!

Seeing him shouting so loudly, everyone subconsciously looked to the sky. Sure enough, I saw a piece of ashes floating leisurely in the soft evening wind.

People with good eyesight stared wide-eyed. What's more, the appearance of Ashes turned out to be a celestial being.

God appears, God appears.

The Great Merciful and Great Compassionate Guanshiyin Bodhisattva bless you.

God is wise, God is wise.

Seeing the people who were still standing just now, a large number of them knelt down again. Chen Heng was shocked and said repeatedly from the top of the village: I don't believe it, I don't believe it.

Following the same pattern, Chen Heng wrote several more black and white words on the paper. As usual, Chen Heng bowed three times to the east, let go of his hand and blew, and another sky word flew out one after another.

At this point, even the common people who do not believe are convinced that they are convinced. Just because the sky characters floating down were picked up by someone who was willing to touch them with their hands, the remaining warmth after the fire could be clearly felt on the paper.

What else can I say? It must be our Mr. Chen who is blessed by God.

General, with God's help, we will surely win.

I don’t know who took the lead. In the blink of an eye, such calls spread throughout the village.

Seeing more and more people joining in, Chen Heng had no choice but to say: I didn't believe it before, but after seeing this, I can't believe it anymore.

After saying that, he showed his palms to the civilian husband, and saw the word 天 on each palm.

The process of cleaning hands just now was witnessed by everyone. Chen Heng could wipe his butt directly with his clean palms. Seeing this scene, the civilians cheered even more. The mood that had hit rock bottom suddenly rose again, like a kite in March, flying in my heart.

With everyone's excited expectations, Chen Heng saluted God again and said loudly: Since God is helping us, when we return home after victory, we must burn incense widely so that we can offer sacrifices and thank the gods.

With such sincere words, I saw the commander-in-chief of the first army personally lifting his robe and kneeling down, bowing three times to God. There were still common people standing down there, and they all followed the Lord and bowed three times. Everyone looked up at Chen Heng with indescribable awe in their eyes.

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Under the escort of Xinda and Yan Xiaoer, Chen Heng thanked the enthusiastic people and quickly returned to the lobby. Then he sent away the civil servants who came to inquire about the situation. When the surrounding area became quiet, Xinda quickly came up, took out the ointment and looked at Chen Heng's blistered palms and fingertips.

I'm afraid I'll be heartbroken if I let my sister-in-law see it when I go back. While helping Chen Heng apply the medicine, Xinda asked, How did my brother come up with this method?

When Tian Dan defeated Qi and Zongze resisted Jin, they both used similar methods. The predecessors were the best, and I am just a toddler in Handan. When Chen Heng was in pain, he smiled bitterly and said, I have been studying sages for so many years in vain. Book, at this moment, all I can think of is offering incense and praying to God.”

Thinking of the history of youth many years later, it will be remembered that the number one scholar who won three yuan in a row started to pretend to be a ghost in public. Apart from smiling bitterly, Chen Heng only hoped that future generations of scholars would stop calling himself a magic stick in front of the text.

Bah, bah, bah. When Xinda heard this, he spat a few times and said to Chen Heng, God is above me, brother, it's better not to talk nonsense. I don't know, we really have God to help us.

Xinda couldn't tell. He only felt that when Chen Heng led a group of people to kowtow to the east just now, there was an indescribable solemnity and solemnity about him. That power was far greater than Master Chen in the court.

That's right, that's right. Chen Heng heard the same thing and apologized to his head, God, don't blame me, God, you have a lot. This kid is pretending to be a ghost, just to protect the peace of the world and give the people of various states a peaceful life.

After saying this, Xinda asked Chen Heng how to do this. The latter then smiled and explained: It is easiest to burn paper to make characters. You only need to use honey to write a word 天 in the palm of your hand and the back of the paper. After the fire has just burned, clap your hands together and the characters will naturally form.

What about the three-pointer?

Use horse urine, charcoal ash, and sand to grind together into powder, mix it into ink, and write on the wood. It can penetrate three to four minutes deep into the wood. After saying this, Chen Heng added with a smile. , Even if it is written on a stone, it can penetrate more than a minute into the stone.

Xinda laughed when he heard this and couldn't help but ask: Is this what the second brother saw in the book?

Where can it be? Chen Heng shook his head, It's at the second uncle's tea stall. As if remembering interesting things from his childhood, he couldn't help but look reminiscing, and said in a faint tone, The second uncle's tea stalls are all over the place. From time to time, some strange people would pass by, so I would invite them to have a cup of tea and listen to their interesting stories from all over the world.

Hearing Chen Huaijin's name, Xinda's nose suddenly filled with sourness. He whispered: If we can go back safely this time, let's go home and see. Second brother, I miss my grandparents.

Yes. Chen Heng nodded and said sadly, I miss them too.

The two brothers looked at each other speechlessly, so they had no choice but to suppress their thoughts about their families and talk about other things instead.

You are getting older. Your sister-in-law told me before that when you go back this time, she will arrange a wife for you. We thought about it for a long time, and I think there is a candidate, it is really...

When Xinda heard this, he couldn't think about remembering his family. He stood up with a red face and said while running: Second brother, don't worry about me, it's better to focus on having a baby. I'm still waiting to be an uncle and ride as a horse for my nephew.

Seeing him slipping away so fast, Chen Heng didn't bother to catch him again. Anyway, it doesn't matter if he says it himself. There is Daiyu at home, and there is no way that Xinda can shirk the things she has decided. After all, the elder sister-in-law is like a mother, and the other party is also a smart and sensible girl, so they are a perfect match.

Happy New Year, brothers! ! ! ! !