The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

Late at night.

The moonlight shone into the room, like a bed of stagnant water.

Xun Zhen blew out the oil lamp and lay down on the bed with her clothes on. The bed was made of elm wood, strong and durable, about eight feet long, and very spacious. There is a Lin seat on the top, because the autumn night is cold, a layer of mattress is placed on the seat, and I lie on it. I don't feel that the bed is hard, and it is very comfortable.

Huang Zhong in the front yard and the others are still talking, and they can be heard from time to time. He lay down for a while, without any sleepiness, he simply got up, removed the saddle-shaped wooden pillow, and sat by the head of the bed with the quilt.

The bedroom is on the inner side of the main room, facing the big elm tree in the courtyard. The windows were not closed, and the clear moonlight and the swirling leaves could be seen through the curtain over the bed. The night wind blew into the room, and the curtains rose and fell.

The moon rises and sets, and the sun and the moon divide.

The Master once sighed on the river: "The deceased is like a gentleman, and he does not give up day and night." In the previous life, although Xun Zhen didn't talk about the years of traveling, he never felt that time was urging people, but after the time traveled, he felt urgency all the time.

Xu Zhong, Wang Tu's wife and daughter, what happened today is over, he has officially assumed the post of pavilion chief, what should I do tomorrow?

Today is the first day of inauguration. Except for Xu Zhong who did not think of killing people, everything else is still on schedule. Everyone in the pavilion has seen it and is generally familiar with it. The people in the pavilion also knew a few. But these are naturally far from enough for his "big plan". What should be done next?

He studied from Xunqu since he was a child, but he read the scriptures and the law. He never learned how to be a pavilion, and no one taught him how to save his life in a troubled world.

"Ting Chang" is good. Before taking office, he did his homework, flipped through historical books, and based on what he heard, he concluded: As long as he can punish the violent and help the weak, save the people's labor, educate customs, promote learning and stop evil, and be prudent and frugal, By persuading the people to do farming and mulberry farming, they can become a good pavilion chief.

But "preserving life in troubled times" is difficult.

No one taught him, and he had no experience. After repeated consideration, for the time being, it seems that there are only four words "prestige, money". Taking an official career, being an official, in charge of the government of one party, and shepherding the people of one place, of course, can "enhance prestige and gather money", but how to do it specifically?

He also thought about it, but it is nothing more than "just and strict, and exercising kindness". As long as you insist on doing this, when the heat arrives, you will have your own prestige. But the problem is: although these eight characters are the right way, they are too "retreat" and the effect is very slow.

Zheng Duo said to him: "Everyone in the pavilion is an old man. Du Mai and Cheng Yan are both brave and capable of convincing strong heroes. The Fan brothers are local natives, familiar with people and places. Chen Bao Open-minded, although he likes to gamble, he does not care about money and goods, but he can win people's hearts. Huang Zhong is very old and he is valued by the villagers. If you can convince these people, you will naturally have prestige in the pavilion, and the pavilion will not be difficult to manage. already."

This is a pragmatic approach. From top to bottom, first convince the people in the pavilion, and then use their prestige in the pavilion to convince the people. Although it is not the "right way", as long as the way is right, the effect will be very fast.

Xun Zhen recalled the process of meeting the people of Tingshe.

"Begging for thieves" Du Mai only met once. Although they talked, they were all about business affairs, and they didn't know his temperament and preferences.

Brother Fan, the eldest Fan Tan has only met once. He didn't even speak a word, and he didn't know each other. He had a few words with the second brother Fan Shang, but he couldn't talk about understanding. He just felt that he envied the county The status and treatment of Chinese officials.

"Father Ting" Huang Zhong, according to half a day's observation, is indeed honest and a real person. Among them, he was the most respectful in his words and the most restrained in his actions.

Cheng Yan and Chen Bao, their behavior in gathering a crowd to gamble, and their behavior, words and deeds at the gate of the house in the evening were all watched by Xun Zhen silently.

Everyone has different status and different personalities. If you want to "convince" them, where should you start? He didn't think about it originally, but Cheng Yan and Chen Bao's gambling together gave him inspiration.

Since the beginning of the Han Dynasty, gambling has been prevalent, up to the emperor and nobles, down to the streets and markets, no one is bad. Although it is prohibited by law, it is not strictly enforced in most cases.

At that time, people called gambling as a game of gambling, not necessarily for money, but also for alcohol. When Emperor Jing of the former Han Dynasty was the prince, he and Prince Wu had a gamble and bet on wine, and they had a conflict because of "struggling for the way", that is, competing for the chess path. In a rage, Emperor Jing raised the chessboard and killed Prince Wu. - Prince Wu's father, Liu Bi, the king of Wu who later started the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion. Liang Ji, a domineering general in the reign of Emperor Zhi and Emperor Huan of the current dynasty, wrote a book called "The Classic of Playing Chess". Playing chess, a game that imitates Cuju, can also be used for gambling.

There are also many folks who "use blogging as a cover-up". "Bo", six Bo; "cover", meaning money, a way of gambling. Some of the common people even made a fortune because of this, such as Huan Fa, who was written into the "Historical Records" by Sima Qian.

In such a big environment, Cheng Yan and Chen Bao are good at gambling, not to mention that Huang Zhong, Du Mai, and Fan's brothers will definitely be interested even if they are not good. Although Xun Zhen had no interest in gambling, his knowledge of "Bo Ji" was far better than that at the time.

At present, there are only a few ways to play games, such as Liubo, chess, and playing chess. At most, you can add cockfighting, walking horses, and running dogs. Where is there a great variety of posterity? If nothing else, there are only two types of cards, mahjong, which are called big killers.

These two things are well made. For example, for playing cards, bamboo leaves and leaves are enough; for mahjong, it is carved out of stone.

Xun Zhen can conclude that as long as these two things are taken out, Chen Bao and Cheng Yan will be pleasantly surprised. Not only that, it will definitely be popular in the countryside. In this way, not only can the relationship with the people in the pavilion be closer, but also the villagers can know its name. Kill two birds with one stone.

However, everything has pros and cons.

After the matter spreads, it may also bring some negative effects. Maybe there will be scholars who think that he has ruined the folk customs, which is not in line with the duties of the pavilion chief. It doesn't matter, he can justify: "I didn't intend to gamble". In fact, among the various ways of playing games that are currently popular, there are some that are considered elegant, such as playing chess, "elegant opera".

The big deal, he can create "chess" first - "Liu Bo" is the predecessor of chess. Chess is a combination of military strategy and is very suitable for scholars and officials to play, but because it was born out of "Liu Bo", Cheng Yan, Chen Bao and others would not find it unpleasant.

The moon is in the middle of the sky, and before you know it, the night is getting late.

The chatter and laughter in the front yard stopped at some point, and Huang Zhong and others may have gone back to the house and fell asleep. The night was silent, and there was no sound everywhere.

Xun Zhen thought to herself mockingly: "In order to save my life, the first 'big thing' I did was to 'invent' playing cards, mahjong and chess." After thinking about it, "After these things are made, there will be more than If it is popular now, it will definitely be passed on to future generations. I don’t know if future generations will say something when they open the poker table or play against the Chu and Han people: ‘The person who invented this thing is also Xun Zhen in the Eastern Han Dynasty’. Hehe, it is also considered The name will be passed down to future generations, and it will be left in the history."

…

It was late at night, maybe because he had changed to a new place, maybe because he was about to start "struggling", but he still had no sleepiness.

Raising prestige is important, but not the only one.

The Yellow Turban uprising was huge. In order to be more secure, he felt that there were other things that had to be done at the same time. That is, it is necessary to find out how many followers of Taiping Dao there are in Benting and this township.

Due to the epidemic, Taiping Road spreads very fast, especially in recent years, there are believers in almost every populated place. When he was in the city, he worked hard in this area. Although he couldn't know the number of his followers, he basically knew who the leaders of the Taiping Road in the city were. Now that I'm in the pavilion, of course I can't relax in this regard, and we must continue to investigate.

"I've been exhausted, haven't I?"

Xun Zhen pondered back and forth for a while, and felt that the things that needed to be busy at the moment were almost the same. The plan has been set, and the future has a direction. The tight strings loosened slightly, the fatigue of the day came up, and soon, he fell asleep.

…

He fell asleep, but Huang Zhong, Cheng Yan, Chen Bao, and Fan Shang in the front yard didn't fall asleep, they just moved into the room from the yard.

There are three rooms in the front yard, and there is no one in the middle hall. Du Mai and Fan's brothers share a room, and Huang Zhong's three share a room.

In addition to going to Du Mai and Fan Tan in the county, there are four people at the moment. Fan Shang didn't sleep either, sitting cross-legged in Huang Zhong's room, and the four of them were talking about each other. Xun Zhen was pondering how to gather all the people, and the topics discussed by the people did not leave Xun Zhen.

The candles had been lit for a long time, and the smell was choking. They did not light the lights, and they talked in a low voice with the help of the moonlight outside the window.

"Although Xun Jun is a son of a famous family, from today's point of view, he is not arrogant, but rather kind." It was Huang Zhong who spoke.

Cheng Yan smiled and said, "Not only is it kind, but it's also weird."

Huang Zhong puzzled: "Why is it weird?"

"Leave the county officials inappropriate, and come to be a pavilion chief."

Huang Zhong didn't know the conversation between Cheng Yan and Xun Zhen in front of the courtyard, but he was very dissatisfied with Cheng Yan's attitude and said, "Don't talk about it again! Woolen cloth?"

Cheng Yan smiled.

Chen Bao said, "Speaking of which, Xun Jun is indeed different from Zheng Jun. After all, he is from a famous family, and looks like a learned person." It sounds like poetry. Lao Huang, among the few of us, you are the only one who can read and read books, but you haven't read poetry, right? ... It's quite a lot to have knowledge and a well-known background, but to be a pavilion chief. Strange."

Seeing Chen Bao talking like this, Huang Zhong became anxious: "Didn't I tell you not to criticize Shangguan? Why do you say that!" He said worriedly, "Xunjun is peaceful, but you shouldn't mess around. The more friendly people are. , the more terrifying you are when you are angry, don't hit the knife edge!"

Fan Shangben also wanted to make a few comments, but seeing that Huang Zhong was in a hurry, he changed the subject and said, "Did you see that? Xun Jun is carrying a knife, not a sword, so he doesn't look like a Confucian scholar!" "Swordsman, gentleman Armed equipment", many scholars wear swords, but not many people wear swords.

Cheng Yan said: "He rides very neatly and dismounts very quickly, as if he had been trained."

They grew up in the countryside and worked in the pavilion. Apart from seeing the demeanor of "children of famous families" when passing high-ranking officials came to stay for the night, UUkanshu www.uukanshu.com had no chance to contact famous people at all. In other words, "Xunzhen" The class they belonged to was considered superior to them, and they had a strong curiosity about "famous families", but now another "children of famous families" came to serve as the pavilion chief, and it was inevitable that they would discuss Xun Zhen's words and deeds.

Huang Zhong is old and has a lot of experience, and he always acts with three-point care first. Seeing that he has said it twice in a row, Cheng Yan and the others are still talking about Xun Zhen, and they get angry: "Tell me! Speak! Xun You come from a famous family, so what’s so strange about riding a horse?… Don’t say it anymore. Ah Shang, it’s getting late, you should go back to your room to sleep!”

Chen Bao yawned: "I know, I know." Thinking of something, "I originally said that I would invite Xun Jun for a drink tonight, but I forgot about Xu Zhong's trouble. How about tomorrow, what do you think? ?"

Huang Zhong and Cheng Yan had no opinion. Cheng Yan was impatient, so he got up and touched the money in the clothes hanging on the ring nails to make up.

Fanshang but hesitant.

Several people have been in the pavilion for many years, and they know each other well. Cheng Yan said impatiently: "Come on, don't act like this! You don't need to pay!" He snorted and said disdainfully, "Take it lightly. Money is important to righteousness, how can you value money?”

Fan Shang blushed, but fortunately, it was covered by the night. He stood up hastily and said, "You guys can talk, I'll go to bed."

Cheng Yan insisted: "If you say that they are all in the same pavilion, why is there such a big difference? Lao Huang and A Bao, do you think so?" He touched the money and handed it to Chen Bao.

Chen Bao chuckled lightly, didn't answer, didn't take the money, and said, "I won a little in the afternoon, I'll pay the money."

Huang Zhong was sincere, changed the subject, and said, "It's getting late, it's time to go to bed. Du Jun rushed to the county center to report the case overnight. Maybe people from the county will come tomorrow, so we have to keep our spirits up."