The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

Yang Shen drove into Handan County to pay homage to Duan Cong. .

Today, it is said that Duan Cong was in the official temple, and when Yang Shen arrived, Zhou Liang, the right commander of Handan, was also there.

Duan Cong was the nephew of Duan Gui, the permanent attendant of the middle school. As Qian Shi's Lang Zhongling, he had a high status in Zhao County, second only to Fu, the prime minister, and the lieutenant. Among the county officials and county people who fawned over him, Zhou Liang and Yang Shen were his favorites.

Zhou Liang is more than fifty years old, and he has been in the officialdom for decades. The Yang Shen family has a great career and is generous. Every time they come to see Duan Cong, they will bring some precious gifts, and they are very respectful to Duan Cong. Who in the world does not like to be flattered, and who does not like riches? It is normal for Duan Cong to have a special affection for Zhou Liang and Yang Shen.

Duan Congzheng and Zhou Liang were throwing pots and drinking in the hall, watching songs and dancing and making music. Hearing Yang Shen coming, he was busy and invited him in.

Yang Shen left the car and his entourage in the courtyard of Langzhong Lingguan Temple, and entered the room alone, holding a red-painted gift box on a black background.

"Today it's said to be warm and beautiful, Yang Gong is not at home enjoying happiness, why did he come to me again?"

Yang Shen knelt down on the hall, offered a gift box, and said, "Because Feng Nuan says beauty, and misses Duke Duan, I came here uninvited and took the liberty!"

The attendant in the hall took the gift box and handed it over to Duan Cong.

The gifts Yang Shen gave Duan Cong were either expensive treasures or novelties from the Western Regions, which always satisfied Duan Cong. When Duan Cong saw the gift box, a smile appeared on his face, but he didn't open it in front of Yang Shen, he waved his hand, motioned the attendant to step aside, asked Yang Shen to get up, ordered him to take a seat, and said with a smile, "Yang Gong really So much courtesy, so polite every time."

"After Duan Gong's famous clan, he left the prosperous Luodu for the benefit of Bi County, and came to our remote place as an official, deeply embarrassed to be the local leader, how could you not be respectful to your father?"

"Haha. . . . Mr. Yang, are you worried? How can I see your frowning deeply?"

"This……."

"Say something."

Yang Shen bowed down from the banquet and said, "Although Shen is old, he still can't hide his thoughts. He is ashamed and ashamed. Since Duke Duan has seen it, Shen will not hide it."

"Say, what's the trouble? I'll call the shots for you."

"Yes. . . . Duke Duan, do you know something?"

"What's up?"

"The lieutenant borrowed an order from the Prime Minister to raise food from the people of our county."

Xun Zhen only invited the order in the morning, but Duan Cong didn't know about it. He said "Oh" and said, "The lieutenant wants to raise food from the people?"

"It is also."

"..., this is not surprising. After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the county warehouse was short of grain, and even the displaced people could not provide relief, and the imperial court, at the request of the state chief, reduced or exempted the state's land rent for one year. It will last at least a year. The lieutenant has been in Zhao territory for less than three months, and he has twice used his troops to attack the thieves. already."

"Yes, yes,..., that's what I said, but..., alas, the local people have no food!"

Duan Cong was not stupid. Although he did not know the specific content of the text of the Prime Minister’s letter invited by Xun Zhen, he could guess that: Yang Shen’s so-called “wanting to raise food from the people of our county” must be the fact that Xun Zhen wanted to appeal to the local tyrants. It is absolutely impossible for Xun Zhen to start with a poor family when a large family raises grain.

He glanced at Yang Shen and thought, "This must be the lieutenant who sent someone to borrow food from his house. He refused to come out, so he came to me for help."

As mentioned above, Duan Cong is not a clean and competent official, but he is not an arrogant and domineering person. He usually accepts bribes and does some fraudulent things for personal gain. He never took the initiative to harm the people. He was quite in favor of raising grain to fight thieves, he pondered for a moment, then smiled and said to Yang Shen, "What does Duke Yang think?"

"Deeply bold, for the sake of the people of my county, I want to invite Duan Gong to see Xiangjun, and beg Xiangjun to withdraw this order."

Duan Cong said, "The minister's order has been issued, how can it be taken back? Even if I go to tell it, I'm afraid it will be useless."

"But after the disaster of the Yellow Turbans, the people of my county really..."

"Let's do it..., Mr. Yang, how about I go to the lieutenant and ask him to spare some of the grain that your family should produce?"

Duan Cong had listened to Xun Zhen's "On Thieves" and knew that the group of thieves in the western mountains of the county was indeed a serious problem for Zhao county. Kou, if Wang Dang is not defeated as soon as possible, the situation will definitely worsen. Although he does not have the idea of ​​"being an official and benefiting one party", after all, his conscience is still intact, and he can't sit idly by and let the thieves become more and more troubled. The stronger he was, and he had a good impression of Xun Zhen, and he didn't want to do such a thing to stumble Xun Zhen behind his back.

Not to mention that if Duan Cong went to Xun Zhen to intercede for Yang Shen, Xun Zhen would agree, but Yang Shen was very unhappy after hearing what Duan Cong said. Yang Shen didn't want to give out a grain of rice, but Duan Cong said to ask Xun Zhen to "a little free of the rice that his family should give out".

Yang Shen knelt down on the ground, thinking: "If you just ask Yuzhou'er to spare some of the grain he wants from my house, why should I look for you!" Dissatisfied in his heart, his mouth became more and more respectful, and he said, "Shen is not for this reason. I, Yang's family, don't lie to Duke Duan, and Han's and other families are also among the food raised. The Yellow Turbans have been in trouble for several months, and the prefectures and counties have been plundered. This is what Duke Duan saw. My family and other people's families have a small family. , the disaster is particularly heavy, there is indeed a little food left, but the small people and other families have many clans, and the remaining food is not enough for their own use, how can they be turned over to the county government?"

He kowtowed and said, "'The minister's order has already been issued, how can it be taken back?' What Duan Gong said was that Xiaomin did not consider it carefully. Otherwise, Xiaomin would like to write a statement with the Han family and other families to state the truth. Just ask Duan Gong to help Xiaomin and others to submit it to Mr. Xiang. After this matter, whether or not Mr. Xiang will take back the order, Xiaomin and others will express their gratitude to Mr. Duan before the seat."

If it is just a document, Yang Shen can submit it to the Prime Minister Liu Heng himself. The reason why Duan Cong is to submit it is that he still wants to borrow Duan Cong's background, borrow Duan Cong's backer in the court, and use Yang Hanzhu below. The situation of home in the local, I hope this will prompt Liu Heng to take back the order.

Duan Cong was not stupid, he knew Yang Shen's meaning immediately, and said embarrassingly, "This?"

Duan Cong was looking for the wrong person. Zhou Liang had long been dissatisfied with Xun Zhen's support for Li Cang and invading his own power, and wanted to take revenge on Xun Zhen. He had slandered Duan Cong before, but Duan Cong didn't listen.

Just after hearing Yang Shen's statement that Xun Zhen planned to raise food from the powerful sects in the county, Zhou Liang heard it, but there was no change in the expression on his face. It is Uncle Zhou's favorite general and some military exploits, but he actually extended his hand to the surnames of the county!

He just thought that he had not seen Duan Cong's turn, frowned deeply, and sighed.

Duan Cong asked curiously, "Why does Zhou Weiyuan sigh and sigh? Is it because of Duke Yang?"

"Liang is not for Duke Yang, but for Duke Duan."

"Worry about me? How can I say this?"

"Duan Gong, I heard that He Bo Qiu came to my Handan?"

"Yeah, but it's gone yesterday."

"Duan Gong is always a virtuous and respected person. He Bo seeks to be well-known at home and abroad. Since he has come to Handan, Duan Gong must have a great conversation with him?"

"It's a pity to say that after He Boqiu came to Handan, although I came to visit, I couldn't meet him because he was busy. I only met him twice in total, once in the prime minister's mansion, and once when he was there to welcome the lieutenant's triumph. There are many people, and none of them have been able to talk to him in detail.”

"But I heard he had a long private conversation with the lieutenant?"

"On the night of the lieutenant's triumph, He Boqiu lived in the lieutenant's mansion. He Boqiu and the lieutenant's family are old friends. It is not surprising that the two of them talked freely."

"Duan Gong, Liang is worried about this."

"What's the worry about this?"

"Dare to ask Duke Duan, what kind of people does He Bo ask for?"

"As Wei Zhou said: famous people at home and abroad."

"Dare to ask Duan Gong, what kind of person is a lieutenant?"

"The lieutenant was born in the Xun clan, and was a son of a famous family. He was a lieutenant of Zhao with merit. He was worthy of Yawei, wise and strong, knowledgeable and good at fighting, and beautiful."

"I have heard that He Boqiu and Yuan Benchu ​​are friends, they are the remnants of the party, and the Xun family is also the remnant of the party!" Zhou Liang got up and bowed, raising his tone, and said, "He Boqiu suddenly came to my Zhao County for no reason and after secretly talking with the lieutenant. Even if you leave, Duke Duan, don't you think this is weird?"

"eccentric?"

"The Duke's father is the permanent attendant in the court. The lieutenant and He Boqiu are the remnants of the party. Duke Duan,..."

Duan Cong was stunned, interrupted Zhou Liang's words, laughed loudly, pointed at him, and said with a smile: "Zhou Wei, are you trying to say that the lieutenant wants to harm me again?"

"It's inevitable."

Duan Cong shook his head again and again, and said, "The lieutenant is modest and elegant. He is definitely not the one who harms people behind his back, and since the lieutenant and I have known each other, we have never had any troubles~www.wuxiaspot.com~ We meet and be beautiful, how could he harm me?"

"If Duke Duan doesn't believe it, he has a plan to test the lieutenant's will."

"What's the plan?"

"The lieutenant defeated the yellow beard and won the county. Duke Duan can use this as an excuse to invite him to the Fuzhong night banquet tomorrow night."

"Invite him to dinner?"

"Of course, if he is invited to come, then he is good at treating the belly of a gentleman with the heart of a villain. I think he is wrong, but if he refuses to come?"

"so what?"

"As Duke Duan said, since the lieutenant came to our county, the Duke has treated him with sincerity, and since the Duke treated each other with sincerity, but he refused to attend the banquet, doesn't this explain the problem? He must have something to do with the Duke. picture!"

Duan Cong said hesitantly, "Is this bad?"

Yang Shen fell to the side, listened to Zhou Liang's words for a long time, raised his thumbs secretly, and said in his heart, "Yuzhouer is a son of a scholar, and Lang Zhongling is a son of an eunuch. The two are incompatible. I heard that Yuzhouer's clansmen are incompatible. In the past, he was also imprisoned, whether it was for his own reputation in Shilin, or because of the pressure of the elders in the clan, the invitation of Lang Zhongling to this evening banquet, Yuzhou Er would not accept it in all likelihood! Zhou! This is a good plan, and it’s wonderful!” He hurriedly opened his mouth to help Zhou Liang beat the drum, and said, “What’s wrong with this? The lieutenant won the victory and returned to the county. The celebration banquet is a matter of reason, if he comes, then the Duke and him will be more beautiful in the future, if he doesn't come, he can just see what kind of person he is!"

Duan Cong hesitated again and again, and was finally persuaded by Zhou Liang and Yang Shen to agree to this matter.