The Collection of The End

——AD 176——

Luoyang, in a guest room of a luxurious mansion.

Liu Bei was looking at a small wooden carving that originally hung around his neck, with a pure vase in white and a willow on a lotus platform. Although it looked like an ordinary Guanyin Bodhisattva, she had no specific face. There were no carved features on her face except for a few ups and downs. The five senses come.

"Xuande, you... believe in Buddhism?" A slightly surprised question came from behind.

"My father believes in it," Liu Bei replied: "He was seriously ill. After he recovered, he claimed that he was saved by the Bodhisattva, so he asked all his relatives and family members to worship the Bodhisattva together."

"Tsk tsk..." The person behind him was noncommittal and walked around Liu Bei: "But why does the Bodhisattva have no face?"

"After the carpenters carved out the face, my father would always yell at them, 'It's not as good as the Bodhisattva, just in case' and ordered them to carve it again. In the end, they simply didn't carve out the face. In the end, my father was satisfied." Liu Bei tilted his head to look at this tall and strong man. , a classmate who is older than him: "Brother Bogui, did you say when you will be back?"

"No, sir, he is busy carving the 'Xiping Stone Scripture' with other great scholars. Let us study by ourselves -" "Brother Bogui" shouted: "But we have been 'self-study' for nearly two months!"

In the fourth year of Xiping (176), Liu Bei was fifteen years old. Since he had mastered all the knowledge taught by the teachers in Zhuojun private school, he went out to study with the support of his parents. Because of his status as a member of the Han clan and his handsome appearance, He is humble in behavior and gentle in temperament. Scholars from all over the country are willing to give some advice, and there are even a few who are obviously interested in accepting him as a disciple.

In this regard, Liu Bei cleverly took the initiative to say before they opened their mouths that he "went out to study in order to qualify himself to become a disciple of Lu Zhi, a great scholar of the dynasty who was also born in Zhuojun." It hurts face. After all, if they really proposed to accept disciples and were rejected by Liu Bei, not only would they lose face, but Liu Bei would also be labeled as "arrogant".

Although this kind of behavior may endear Lu Zhi to Lu Zhi because of his pious pursuit of learning, it is equally possible that Lu Zhi may think that he is putting pressure on him, and then become furious and refuse to accept him as a disciple. Fortunately, it is the former.

Lu Zhi, also known as Ziqian, has a voice like a bell, a resolute face, and is both civil and military. At that time, he was promoted to a doctorate due to his literary merits. However, because of the mountains and rivers in Yangzhou and Jiujiang, he was worshiped as the prefect of Jiujiang and went to quell the chaos. Jiujiang was peaceful and Lujiang was peaceful. There was chaos again, so he was appointed governor of Lujiang.

After Zhibanshi returned to the court, he was promoted to Yilang, and together with Cai Yong, Zheng Xuan and other famous figures, he revised and engraved the Xiping Stone Classic. He inadvertently neglected the two disciples he accepted as disciples, Liu Bei from Zhuojun and Gongsun Zan from Liaoxi. Some.

Gongsun Zan, whose courtesy name was Bogui, came from the Gongsun family in Liaoxi County, which had resisted the invasions of Wuhuan and Xianbei for several generations. He originally came from the "martial" side of Lu Zhi, who admired both civil and military talents. Unexpectedly, he was frequently taught in the "literary" side. , although he entered the wall early, Lu Zhi did not take him with him even when he went to Yangzhou to quell the chaos.

"Brother Bogui, don't worry. Since we have become 'disciples who enter the household', we must be more cautious than teaching those who are 'disciples who enter the hall'." Liu Bei put away the Bodhisattva statue and advised.

Although "entering the hall and entering the room" is mostly used to describe the degree of mastery of certain things, it itself is two words that describe the relationship between teachers and students. They each refer to "listening to lectures in the lobby at a fixed time" and "being able to live in the teacher's home and teach students in accordance with their aptitude." In these two situations, the average traveler will only receive guidance by "entering the hall", while those who can "enter the room" are officially apprentices. "Once a teacher, always a father" refers to this situation.

"I naturally know that my husband has a completely different attitude towards us and those wandering scholars who listen casually." Gongsun Zan shook his head and replied: "However, I am now twenty years old, and those brothers of the same generation in my hometown have already killed everyone. There are so many foreign races, but I am the only one who has not made any achievements, and I am very unwilling to do so."

"Then, I'll go to Luoyang Market with Brother Bogui to relax?" Liu Bei smiled at him.

"Are you going to 'grow for fame' again?" Gongsun Zan looked at Liu Bei sideways.

"Brother Bo Gui is joking," Liu Bei's expression remained unchanged: "You do good deeds without leaving a name. How can you call it a name for fame?"

————

Luoyang East City.

"-Okay, now drive in the rivets, secure with ropes, and cover with felt boards!"

"As expected of you, Lord Ranger! The repair work that has troubled us for two days is now at hand!"

"Haha, for a small matter like repairing the stables, even if I close my eyes..."

Gongsun Zan still wanted to boast a few words, but in the blink of an eye he saw Liu Bei standing by the stable with a smile on his face, so he stopped talking and walked over.

"You guys, aren't you going to find lost jewelry for others?"

"Ordinary people's jewelry is just beautiful in appearance and is almost worthless. As long as you search in the nearby remote alleys, you can find it successfully." Liu Bei responded: "This is just a simple reasoning, my friend .”

"Tsk..." Gongsun Zan frowned and looked at Liu Bei.

Compared with himself who still needs to disguise himself, Liu Bei just changed his coat, changed his expression and way of speaking, and changed from a gentle student to a confident ranger. Who is the real him? , but there is no way to judge.

Moreover, as Liu Bei said before, after receiving task entrustments from various restaurants, he would only let others address him as "Ranger", and there were many rangers like this who did not want to leave their names, so it was strange that there was no entruster. For both parties, as long as the commission can be successfully completed.

Luoyang is located at the foot of the emperor. In order to prevent "chivalry from violating the prohibition with force", all the commissions in the restaurants will not involve politics or military affairs. At most, there will be commissions to the extent of "the station is short of manpower, please ask the rangers to assist in patrolling".

The "relaxation" Liu Bei refers to is to anonymously accept some commissions located in Luoyang City that do not take long and are issued by the people.

"Oh, it's the 'find lost property' and 'repair the stables' commissions from Ranger Seventy-Five and Ranger Seventy-Six." At the Dongshi Restaurant where the commission was received, the shopkeeper took the two number plates and looked at them: "Confirmation went well. Completed, a total of three hundred coins will be obtained, do you want to exchange it for silver or cloth and food?"

"Change it to broken silver, thank you." Liu Bei responded.

The inconvenience of this kind of anonymous execution of the commission is that he cannot say "accounting" as coolly as the real-name ranger, because even if he and Liu Bei accept the commission again on the spot, the number will be postponed to... one hundred and sixty-nine and one One hundred and seventy, there are still so many anonymous rangers today.

After retrieving the number plate and handing Liu Bei a small piece of broken silver, the shopkeeper did not say any more greetings, but if it was a real-name ranger, he would make a recommendation based on the person's preference for executing the commission.

While Gongsun Zan was thinking, he said to Liu Bei who was reading the task commission column: "It's getting late today. Even if I accept another task, it will have to be carried out tomorrow."

"No, I actually found two commissions outside Luoyang City. They are suitable for you and me. It's just that the exchange will take about a whole day. I am hesitating whether to accept them." Liu Bei pointed at the wall.

Search for the blacksmith and...capture the white horse?

————

The next day, in the suburbs of Luoyang.

"Righteous people are beneficial. Your Excellency is a well-known blacksmith in Luoyang, but you live in seclusion in a deserted place. Do you think that not competing with others is a sign of loyalty?"

"I heard that Meng's mother moved three times, only to choose a suitable place for her son to study. For what reason do you think that such harsh mountains and rivers are helpful for forging?"

"Now that a large army of barbarians has invaded Bingliang and Liangzhou, Your Majesty refused to provide excellent weapons to those who generously went to the border. You only allowed them to carry inferior equipment. When you return home in the middle of the night, how do you answer the questions of the souls who died because of it?"

"In order to prove your innocence to people you don't know, your Excellency has put aside those who trust you. Could it be that the years of friendship with those relatives and friends are not as good as the slanderous words of a few jealous people?"

Liu Bei, dressed in riding gear, was in a hut in a valley, questioning the silent blacksmith repeatedly, using reasons, stories, seasons, friendship and other means to try to persuade him to return to Luoyang.

Gongsun Zan was standing outside holding his white horse, completely stunned.

The specific matter was not complicated. Liu Bei remembered what he saw in the commission. He was nothing more than a blacksmith who could forge excellent weapons stably and occasionally forge sophisticated weapons. He was slandered by some envious people and moved out of Luoyang to live in seclusion in anger. , give up market share to those rumormongers - you say I can't do it, then you can do it!

As a result...the rumormongers just used ordinary or even dilapidated weapons to occupy all the market share, and by the way kicked out all the blacksmith's other blacksmith friends.

"The result is that they don't care about the reputation of the Luoyang weapons market at all. As long as they can make money, it will be useless even if you live in seclusion for a hundred years." Liu Bei concluded.

"Your Majesty will not sit idly by and watch!" the blacksmith roared desperately.

"The Ten Permanent Attendants will not let His Majesty know!" Liu Bei shouted back.

"Eh? You..." Gongsun Zan couldn't help but say.

"Let's talk about this when we get back." Liu Bei responded quickly in a low voice.

As a clan member of the Han Dynasty, it was impossible for Liu Bei not to criticize Wang Yue, the "Sword Master", for protecting the emperor but not the majesty of the royal family. However, these words can only be mentioned when no one is around.

"...Okay, I'll go back right now," the blacksmith's voice deepened: "I won't let those who trust me continue to disappoint."

coming--

Following the blacksmith's words, Liu Bei felt a warmth generated by the wooden Bodhisattva statue, just like when he was basking in the sun or warming himself by the fire. Then, a faint golden light shone on his body surface, and after circling him in a circle , separated a part and flew towards Zhuojun.

Although I can't see it, my father Liu Hong must be in better health.

This is what motivates him to insist on "doing good things", Liu Bei thought as he glanced at Gongsun Zan who was unaware of this.

As long as you do something that causes others to have positive emotions towards you, such as gratitude, gratitude, love, etc., this kind of golden light will appear and give a part to your father. Although it is not clear what use it is to you, but every time your father receives it, After reaching that golden light, your body will be better.

On the contrary, if others have negative emotions towards you because of your behavior, a biting coldness will follow. This coldness will also be distributed to the father, and the father, who is already in poor health, will directly fall ill because of it. fall.

In addition, the "Bodhisattva" is obviously not rigid. When other children have negative emotions such as jealousy and disgust towards Liu Bei because he is praised, they will be ignored directly.

Therefore, Liu Bei has been a good boy praised by everyone in Zhuo County since he was ten years old, and he will continue to be so.