The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

When the sun is bright, the low mountains in the distance are undulating, and the river water in the vicinity has ripples like folds. The endless fertile soil extends to the north and south. The battalions on the road are riding on foot, carrying various flags, soldiers or leading horses. Or carry spears and move forward one by one, dusty.

The breeze is blowing, quite refreshing.

Xun Zhen stood on the edge of the road, looking at the line of civil and military officials who stayed in Yanzhou.

His eyes swept across the faces of Xun You, Xu Zhuo, Liu Fu, Xun Yue, Le Jin, Pan Zhang, Gao Su, Feng Gong, and others, only to feel that Xun You and other literati were all beautiful and suave, all of them for a while. Elected, and Jue Jin and other generals, all of them are powerful and powerful, all of them can be called tiger ministers.

Xun Zhen was delighted in her heart and thought: "It is true that the civil and military are very good!" Xiao Yu said to everyone, "I will entrust Yanzhou to Yu Qing and wait!"

Xun You represented the crowd and said, "If there are ministers waiting, the Lord will protect Yanzhou from any loss."

Xun Zhen smiled and said: "Not only is there no loss! You must also clean up the people's hearts in Yanzhou as soon as possible. Meng De has been defeated one after another, and now he is trapped in Dongjun. I think he will probably go to Yuan Benchu ​​for help. Yuan Benchu ​​is currently working with Gongsun Zan is fighting, and he should not have time to help Meng De in the short term, but it will be difficult to say for a long time. We have to take advantage of this gap to hurry up and use it for our Xuzhou! Gongda, I will give you a year's worth of money. Time, a year later, I will come to see the results of your governance!"

Xun You was very confident and replied, "No!"

Two sobbings entered his ears.

Xun Zhen looked at him, startled, and asked, "Zixiu, what's wrong?"

It was Gao Su who cried.

Gao Su wiped away her tears and said chokingly, "My lord, you left me in Yanzhou, and you went back to Xuzhou. I don't know when I will see my lord again. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but cry."

Xun Zhen laughed and said: "Why is this! You miss me one day, you can ask Wen Qian to take a leave of absence, gallop slowly, and see me. Changyi is only four hundred fields away from Tan County. If you go to Changyi, you can go to Tan County the next night. When you come, I will set up a banquet for you, and have a good drink with you!"

Seeing that Gao Su was still weeping, she deliberately made fun of it, and said, "Zixiu, this is a troubled time. A man and a husband should hope to establish a career. How can such a mother-in-law and mother be like this? Isn't temporary separation very common? Our side If I want to use it for you in the future, today is nothing more than a small farewell, and I will be reluctant to part. Let me ask you, if one day, I will ask for a minister for the emperor, and the army will go to the secluded and united, and I will show you that you will be the general in the north, and you will be stationed there. What should you do? Could it be that you dare not obey my military orders?"

Four expeditions and four towns, these are heavy generals, above many miscellaneous generals. Generally speaking, if a general can achieve four expeditions and four towns, it is already a great honor.

Gao Su burst into tears and laughed, and said, "How dare Su dare to ask for General Bei! To be a **** under the lord's account for a long time, to see the lord day and night, and to be the forerunner of the horse, Su's wish has been fulfilled!"

Xun You and the others all laughed.

Xun Zhen also laughed.

Feng Gong's military rank was lower, he stood behind Gao Su, pursed his lips and smiled.

Xun Zhen beckoned him to come over, called him by his nickname, and said, "Hugou, you have a calmer temperament, which is better than Zixiu. The reason why I kept you in Yanzhou and merged your ministry into Zixiu Under the tent, it is so that you can always remind Zixiu, treat others and do things in a hurry. Zixiu's temperament, you know, is a little publicized, Yanzhou is a new land, there are many scholars in the state, and they are high-minded There are many arrogant people, you must keep an eye on Zixiu, don’t ask him to cause trouble, and let Gongda wipe his ass!”

Feng Gong, although he lacked a little bit of bravery, knew the way of advancing and retreating. In the army, he took care of the wise and worthy of the army, and he valued wealth and righteousness. Lax, do it for one person'. Is it Feng Gongzhi's side?" Therefore, although his military exploits were weak, Xun Zhen valued them.

Feng Gong's nickname is not very pleasant, he is a good-looking person, with sharp brows and eyes, and he is not low in height.

He replied respectfully: "Please rest assured, lord, Gong will definitely fulfill his duties and do his best."

Xun Zhen nodded, told him to step back, and said to Xun You, Le Jin, Xun Yue, Xu Zhuo, Liu Fu, etc.: "What should be explained to you has already been explained before. In a one-year period, by this time next year, I will see the effectiveness of your governance!"

Everyone promises.

Xun Zhen told Xun You, "Changyi is not close to Chang'an, and there are many bandits on the road, so it's not easy to go. It is estimated that the people we sent to Chang'an won't be able to return for more than half a year. When they come back, you should ask for it as soon as possible. Report to me."

Xun You replied, "Yes."

Xun Zhen settled on Le Jin and said with a smile: "Wen Qian, you have the talent in the army, and now you are attacking Yanzhou, and you have made outstanding military exploits, and you stay in Yan, I have nothing to warn you about in the military, only one It's good to be honest, but you can't make your family too poor! Last time I was in Xiapi, when I went to your house, it was like a family member who didn't talk about it. Your wife is actually a dishonest! How can this happen? After all, you are also my Xuzhou. The dignified general, when outsiders see it, they think I'm so stingy and deduct your salary!"

Le Jin fought in the field all the year round, his skin was tanned like iron, he was not tall, but his appearance was majestic. , let people see that he is the main commander.

Le Jin was wearing armor, so he gave a military salute, and said: "Jin has a small skill, and he is loved by the lord, and he is often rewarded. I don’t need any good clothes from Lingluo, and the people at sea are not at peace, and people’s livelihood is difficult, so why would I have the heart to buy furniture? So, I dared to be the master and distributed the master’s reward to the soldiers and the people.”

Xun Zhen sighed, "If all the military generals in the world are without Wen Qian, why would you be worried at home? Why would there be so many bandits?" Knowing that he couldn't persuade Le Jin, that's all, he raised his head to look at the sky and looked westward. Far away from the city wall of Changyi, he smiled and said to everyone, "Sending you a thousand miles away, there will be a difference. Don't send him any more, go back!" He said to Xun Yue, "Brother, please get in the car, let's go!"

Xun Yue was the prime minister of Ren Cheng, and Ren Chengguo was located in the northeast of Shanyang County, so he could walk with Xun Zhen for a while.

Xun Yue got into his car parked on the curb.

Xun You took the lead, everyone saluted and sent Xun Zhen on the horse.

With Dianwei and other personal soldiers shouting and hugging, Xun Zhen stepped onto the horse, whipped the whip and urged him to ride, and followed the road that was vacated for him on the road to the central army. Xun Yue's car started and followed him.

Xun You waited for them to go far before returning to the city.

Back in Changyi City, Liu Fu and Xu Zhuo went to Jiyin and Jibei prefectures to take office.

A few days later, Cen Rong and Chen Jiao completed the handover and came from Xuzhou, and took office in Changyi and Dingtao counties respectively.

As for Le Jin, he and Gao Su, Feng Gong, etc. were stationed in Changyi; Pan Zhang led two thousand soldiers from his headquarters, and a thousand soldiers from Yanzhou, which was newly added to him, totaling three thousand cavalry, and stationed in the newly established Lihu. county.

And needless to say.

...

But on the way back to Xuzhou, Liu Bei was full of gloom.

Zhuo Ying, who is currently the chief clerk of his department and in charge of documents, finally couldn't help it. On the march the next day, he asked him, "General, why do you seem a little unhappy?"

"Is there?"

"Yes. And it's not just today that I'm unhappy. It must be ten days. I'm always unhappy when I see the general."

Ten days ago, it was when Liu Bei's request to stay in Yanzhou was rejected by Xun Zhen.

Liu Bei's heart skipped a beat, and he said with a feigned smile, "What are you talking about!

This time, General Dong attacked Yan, first defeating the Yellow Turbans, then Caodong County, Jibei, Rencheng, Shanyang, Jiyin and other counties, all for our army. This is a happy event, how could I be unhappy? You read it wrong. "

Zhuo Ying seemed to believe but not, and said, "Really?"

Liu Bei said decisively, "Of course it is!"

Chengding and Shiguan are now very much loved by Liu Bei. Although they were promoted by Liu Bei as colonists not long ago, they would still follow Liu Bei when they were fine. At this time, the two of them also walked on the side.

Because of Liu Bei's words that "Xunzhen defeated Cao Cao and won several counties in Yanzhou", Shi Guan said with longing: "This time in Yanzhou, the general made a great contribution. I didn't know Chengding and I earlier, it turned out that Father Kang was the general and Chen. It was shot by the captain of the school! Father Kang is one of the most important towns in Yanzhou. This time back in Xuzhou, I don’t know what kind of reward General Zhendong will give to the general? Will he promote the general to a side general?”

Zhuo Ying said with a smile: "At present, there are only General Le, General Xun, and General Xu in my Xuzhou generals. General Le Qian town is in Xiapi, today's town is Yanzhou, General Xun is in northern Xu, and General Xu is in Xuzhou. Guangling and other places in the south are all generals who are on one side. Although the generals have made great contributions in this battle against Yan, I am afraid that it will not be easy to obtain the title of general."

He paused, then said, "However, Duke Ming is very partial to generals, and he has said to others more than once, 'My brother Xuande is also'. This time, I won't be able to get the honor of generals and generals. Sooner or later, generals will He must be promoted to this position.”

Cheng Ding said, "Does Zhendong prefer generals? I see, not necessarily."

Liu Bei's heart skipped a beat when he heard what he said, and Gu glanced at him.

Zhuo Ying didn't know why he said this, and asked in surprise, "What do you mean by this?"

Cheng Ding said: "If you really prefer the general, when the general asked to stay in Yanzhou last time, Zhendong would not refuse."

"You are talking about this. This is what you don't know." Zhuo Ying explained to him patiently, and said, "Yanzhou is my Xu Xin's land. As soon as I come, the thieves of Caodong County in the west are not dead, and they may counterattack at any time. I, secondly, are not attached to Yandi’s hearts, there may be a rebellion inside, and if Caodong County comes to invade, or there is internal chaos, the battalions of our army in Zhenyan will definitely have to fight. Since entering Yandi this time, we have already After fighting for a month or two, instead of staying in Yanzhou to continue the war, how can I go back to Xuzhou, wash off the dust and enjoy it? Duke Ming did not leave the general in Yan. I think it is for this reason that he is sympathetic to the general's hard work. That's exactly what it means to love the general."

Liu Bei said: "What the master said is very true, that day Duke Ming did not allow me to stay in Yan, that's what he said to me!" With a moving tone, he said, "Ming Ming loves me deeply, and Bei Shi does not know how to repay it!"

Cheng Ding pouted and said, "The more chaotic Yanzhou is, the better."

Liu Bei asked, "How?"

"If you don't mess up, how will you fight? If you don't fight, where will the military merit come from? If you don't have military merit, how can you get promoted and get rich? Didn't the registrar just say, 'I am afraid that it will not be easy to obtain the title of general and general'? What a rare thing! So I said, Zhendong doesn't necessarily prefer generals, but if I were Zhendong, if I prefer generals, I will definitely keep the generals in Yan, so as to give the generals another chance to make military exploits."

Zhuo Ying raised his face and scolded: "What nonsense are you talking about! What are you, dare to compare yourself to General Zhendong?"

Cheng Ding was born in a light chivalry, and he was a light-hearted man. From childhood to adulthood, he was fighting for one breath. Hearing his insults, he immediately became angry, looked at him, and said to himself, "Forget it, he is the old general of the general in Zhuo County. Man, I will give him a three-point face and not have the same knowledge as him." He said to Liu Bei, "Unfortunately, Zhendong did not keep the general in Yanzhou. The general has no chance to make merit, and the villain and Shiguan will not be able to make a fortune!"

Zhuo Ying felt amused and said, "You little soldier, do you also want to be rich?"

Cheng Ding said proudly: "I heard the general say that at the end of the Qin Dynasty, there was a man named Chen Sheng who said, 'A prince and a general would rather have a seed'? Although I Chengding is a soldier today, Why can't you be a prince tomorrow?"

Liu Bei is extremely proud and valued of his identity as a descendant of the Han family. Whenever he has nothing to do, he will tell Chengding and Shiguan the stories of the founding of the country from Liu Bang of the former Han Dynasty and Liu Xiu of the current dynasty. His tone is full of pride; , When talking about Liu Bang's rise, he also told Cheng Ding and Shi Guan about the deeds of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang. Because, Chengding remembered what Chen Sheng said.

After Zhuo Ying was surprised, he laughed and said, "Okay, okay! I'll wait to see the day when you become a prince! If you really have that day, don't forget me! Let me follow you. ."

Chengding said with great loyalty: "'Don't forget your wealth and honor'! When I am rich and honorable, if I have meat to eat, I will never let the master book drink soup."

Shi Guan is not as brave as Cheng Ding, and his brain is not as good as Cheng Ding's. Although he is older than him, he has always been willing to be in a lower position, so he said: "A Ding, don't forget me!" Ran Yu Zhuo Ying's tone of irony Instead, he was quite sincere.

Cheng Ding patted his arm vigorously and said loudly, "How could I forget you? Didn't I share with you the concubine that the general gave me? As long as I have it, I will give you half of it. !"

Liu Bei not only greatly appreciated his words, but also worried that he would pick up the topic "Zhendong doesn't necessarily prefer generals" again, so he followed the words of Chengding and Shiguan and said jokingly: "Chengding is heavy. Righteousness, there is my style, haha, haha." Yu Zhuoying said, "Chengding has his own arrogance, and the future may be limitless, you must not underestimate it."

Zhuo Ying respected Liu Bei very much, so he stopped mocking Cheng Ding and replied, "Yes."

When Chengding heard this, he was immediately moved by the death of a scholar for his confidant, and said in his heart, "It's the general who knows me!"

While a few people were talking, Chen Shi, who was behind the formation, led two military officers to ride on horseback.

Liu Bei was stationed on the horse and saw that the two officers were officers under Zhang Fei's tent.

Chen Shi said, "Colonel Li Feng sent them both to ask to see the general."

Liu Bei smiled and asked, "What's the matter?"

The two officers stopped their horses and said, "The Duke of Ming's military order, in front of the lake and land, there is a bandit attacking the people, and I ordered my department to seek it out. My school captain, dare to ask the general to lead the department to the side a little and let it out to our department. Come on the road."

Liu Bei nodded and said, "I see."

When the two officers turned around to look for Zhang Fei's return, Liu Bei immediately ordered his troops to stop and move to the side of the road to make way for Zhang Fei's troops.

Not long after, hundreds of Xuzhou fine riders arrived.

A horse came out of the middle and came to Liu Bei. It was Zhang Fei.

With a smile on his face, Liu Bei greeted him with a whip. When he was about to go forward and have a chat with him, he saw Zhang Fei hurriedly saying, "Brother, there are bandits in Hulu County who are infested and kidnapped the local people. The lord ordered me to go immediately. Please, limit me to destroy it within three days. I will not stop, and when I destroy this band of thieves, I will come back to see my brother.”

Liu Bei's smile didn't change, and he said, "Okay, okay! There are only a few thieves, how can they be Yide's rivals? Here we go and we will succeed."

Zhang Fei bowed his hands in a salute on the horse, turned his horse to leave, remembered something, his advisor Liu Bei smiled and said, "Brother, Wu Zi's concubine, do you still have to use it?"

Liu Bei said, "That concubine, I have given it to Chengding."

Zhang Fei was stunned and asked, "But it doesn't suit your brother?"

Liu Bei said: "It's not unsatisfactory, because I was happy with it, so I gave it to him."

"Brother is really generous!"

Liu Bei smiled and said: "Yide, a wife is like clothes, and a brother is like a brother. Compared with a brother, a wife is like this, let alone a concubine, what a pity."

Zhang Fei praised and said, "Brother is a benevolence and righteousness!" Saying goodbye to Liu Bei, he galloped back to the headquarters, and led his cavalry to the east.

Liu Bei watched him and his minions go far, and couldn't help but feel lost. He looked up and saw the white clouds in the sky, birds flying freely in flocks, and the various battalions marching ahead. , Flags fluttering, Armored Day.

He sighed inaudibly, and longed for Guan Yu and Jian Yong, and said to himself, "I haven't received a letter from Yun Chang and Xian He for a while, and they don't know how they are doing now?"

He recalled that when he first joined Xun Zhen, he was very ambitious. He talked with Guan Yu and others in the forest that night, looking forward to the future, full of expectations, but who would have guessed that he had been cast under Xun Zhen’s tent for several years, and looking at the past, he had achieved nothing!

Although it was said that he was honored by a middle-ranking general, this official was given privately by Xun Zhen, and there was no glory at all.

Although he has already led one of his own, but the number of soldiers in the army is only a thousand or so, and compared with the time when he joined Xunzhen, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, the two enemies of ten thousand people, are no longer under his tent. It can be said that he is now under his tent. The combat power of the soldiers is not even as good as before.

Thinking of all this, and thinking about his age, he is already in his thirties, and when he reaches the age of 30, but not yet, how can he not be sad?

What made him even more depressed was that his gloomy mind could not speak to outsiders.

He looked at the sky again, looking at the boundless blue sky.

Zhuo Ying said: "General, the Yide Department has passed, and we can continue our march."

Liu Bei came back to his senses and responded.

Part of the beginning, continue to move forward.

The road ahead is long.

...

The gang of thieves in Hulu, said to be thieves, were in fact refugees, and they mainly fled to the south from the Yellow Turban Rebellion from Jibei and Dongping in the north of Yanzhou. In contrast, Shanyang County is a little more stable. Therefore, after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, many refugees fled to the county from the north. Some went to Juye, Changyi and other counties in the west, and some went to Gaoping and Hu in the east. Lu and other counties.

Some of these refugees who fled to Shanyang, some attached to the local tyrants, became their slaves, like slaves; some sold their sons and daughters and barely survived; , had conflicts with the local surnames and villagers, was rejected, and had nowhere to go, so they formed gangs and simply looted to make a living. This is the case with this group of thieves in Hulu.

They have no fighting power, and they have no organizational power, so naturally they are not the opponents of Zhang Fei's department.

It didn't take three days, but after only two days, the good news was delivered to Xun Zhen's army.

Zhang Fei wrote in the military newspaper: According to the order of Duke Ming, after the surrender of this band of bandits, there was no more killing, and they were divided into fifty cavalry and escorted them to Guangqi and Liuxian.

Xun Zhen knew that these bandits were originally refugees, so before Zhang Fei set out to attack him, he specifically explained to him, telling him not to kill indiscriminately. As long as these bandits were willing to surrender, they would all be sent to Guangqi and Liuxian, and handed over to Zhang Fei. Placed by the local county magistrate. Guangqi and Liuxian are two counties of Pengcheng State. The northwest corner of Guangqi borders the southeast corner of Hulu, and Liuxian is in the south of Guangqi, not far from Hulu.

After reading Zhang Fei's military report, Xun Zhen handed it over to Yuan Sui and asked him to keep it for the archives.

After passing Gaoping, Hulu, and then passing through the narrow area at the northernmost tip of Pei, the troops entered Xuzhou eastward.

When they marched to Qixian County, the most western part of Donghai County, they encountered hundreds of soldiers and more than a thousand civilians.

This group of soldiers and civilians headed towards Shanyang. The soldiers, armor and ordnance in the army were relatively simple, and they were not front-line troops in Xuzhou. The civilian husbands who accompanied the army drove three or two thousand head of cattle, and most of the cattle were on the carriage and pulling the carriage.

The officers who led the team respectfully came to see Xun Zhen.

However, they were ordered to send cattle, grain seeds, agricultural tools and other items to the newly appointed governor of Yanzhou, Xun You.

This was an economic move by Xun Zhen to win the hearts of the people of Yan. He ordered Xun You to promote the establishment of "village cooperatives" in Sanyang and other counties. The county government produces cattle, grain seeds, farm implements, etc., and lends them to local villagers according to the administrative unit at the township level. Give these things without money; when the harvest comes, the county takes half of them as rent and taxes. ——This method of agricultural cooperation is not the first creation of Xun Zhen. There have been some prefectures and county officials who have done similar things under their rule.

Xun Zhen explained a few words to the officer, telling him that he must take good care of the cattle and that there should be no loss on the way. You know, Xuzhou is not well-off, some of these things were captured from the Yanbei Yellow Turbans, and some were squeezed out of the teeth.

The officer complied.

Thousands of cattle walking together, the momentum is also very big.

In the turbulent times, cows are treasures. In order not to frighten the cows and cause unnecessary losses, Xun Zhen ordered the entire army to suspend, and would not continue until this army of soldiers, civilians and husbands passed by.

After passing Qi County, the former was Yinping, and after two counties, after traveling for more than a hundred li, it was Xiangben.

When we arrive at Xiangben, we are very close to Tan County.

At this point, the army had left Changyi for four or five days.

An official came from behind with a few cavalry, begging to see Xun Zhen.

Xun Zhen summoned him to see him, and was a servant of Xun You.

This official presented a letter from Xun You.

Xun Zhen opened it to see that it was Xun You who killed an old official of the Yanzhou prefecture a few days ago.

Xun You described in detail the reasons why he killed this official in the book~www.wuxiaspot.com~ This official had served in the prefecture as early as Liu Dai's period, and his family was a local surname, and this official often invaded. He abused the common people, so someone complained to Xun You about him. Xun You investigated and found that the facts were conclusive. The official was indeed very outrageous, and he was punished according to the law. I don't know that this official is very arrogant. He probably also expected that Xuzhou soldiers would occupy Yanzhou. Xun Zhen and Xun You had behaved very politely and valiantly before, and they valued the local clan, so they thought that Xun You did not dare to kill him, so they shouted: "Ning Fujian is dead!" Xun You then complied with his request, and after flogging him according to Han law, he threw a sword at him and forced him to commit suicide.

After reading Xun You's book on Taoism.

Xun Zhenxi and Xi Zhicai said: "Gongda first punished according to the law, which is a strict rule of the Ming and Han families; and then gave the sword to this official, and regarded him as suicide. He was a devious official and a traitor, and he established his prestige in the state. Okay. Ah, okay, not only has the law been affirmed, but also the majesty has been established, Yanzhou, I have no worries!"

Blind tolerance will not be able to do things well, nor manage a new land like Yanzhou.

The way Xun You dealt with this evil official was very appropriate.

This afternoon, the troops arrived outside Tanxian County.

The officers of various ministries brought their troops back to the camp, and Xun Zhen entered the county and went home.

As soon as he entered the house, he saw Chen Zhi dressed up waiting in the courtyard.

Xun Zhen thought that she was celebrating her capture of many counties in Yanzhou, so she showed a modest attitude and said with a smile: "It's nothing more than taking a few small counties, there's nothing worth talking about. Young Master, you are too grand."

Chen Zhi bowed and said, "My concubine welcomes her husband, not because of her husband's military exploits."

"Oh? What's that for?"

"My concubine recently heard rumors in the county that my husband wanted to be Dong Zhuo, so I dared to ask my husband, is this true?"

Xun Zhen laughed in surprise and said, "Where did you start with this!"