Three Kingdoms

Midnight has fallen, but the candles in the room are still burning tenaciously.

The door creaked, and Zang Ba walked in wearing a raincoat and a bamboo hat.

Henry Zhang, who was inside the house, raised his head and wanted to see clearly the face under the hat, but could not see the shadow clearly, "I have seen General Zang..."

Zang Ba took off the bamboo hat, then handed the coir raincoat to the guard on the side, then sat down and showed a smile: "Easy to say, easy to say... These days, the wind and snow are getting stronger..."

Zhang Xuan is the son of Zhang Hong. He followed his father to the south to avoid trouble.

Zang Ba and Zhang Xuan were originally incomparable people. If there had not been the previous turmoil in the court and the turmoil in the country, Zang Ba might have been a ranger or a fugitive in Hua County, Taishan forever. Zhang Xuan, on the other hand, will live happily as a noble son in the Guangling family...

But now, the war is sweeping across the country and has changed many people.

"I have heard about General Zang for a long time, and it is a great honor to meet him today..."

"The Zhang family in Guangling has many virtuous names, and they are indeed well-deserved..."

"Seeing that there are many brave men in General Zang's army, it is enough to know that General Zang has a good command of the army and a good command..."

"I heard that the Lord of Jiangdong calls my father "Eastern", which shows how much he values ​​me..."

"This...general deserves a reward..."

"Haha... easy to say, easy to say..."

The two people were flattering each other with a smile, just like a prostitute and a prostitute who deliberately said some words to close the relationship or alleviate their own guilt before the official start. .

For example, the prostitute is under the guise of rescuing someone who has fallen into disgrace, and the person who sells his or her body naturally wears a mask forced by life, and then each takes what he or she needs. Of course, in the end, it is difficult to tell who prostituted whom...

It's like the present moment. I don’t know who prostituted whom.

The meeting between Zang Ba and Zhang Xuan was originally unconventional.

Zang Ba was a subordinate of Cao Cao after all, and although Zhang Xuan did not formally serve as an official with Sun Quan, his father was highly regarded by Sun Quan, so it cannot be said that there was no political connection at all. Now the two of them have chosen this It's not normal for them to spend a midnight blending each other and testing each other's strengths and weaknesses.

However this is normal.

Normal physiology... bah, political needs.

The fundamental reason why Zang Ba is willing to meet with Zhang Xuan is still the dissatisfaction of the entire Xuzhou Group with Cao Cao. This dissatisfaction is like an undercurrent under the pool. Although it does not seem obvious on the surface, if you talk about the depth , it is turbulent and moving...

Although the Xuzhou Gang has several people in the Cao Wei Group who have reached high positions, whether it is the Three Dukes or the Minister, of course, the one who most people remember the most is Wang Lang, but in history, Wang Lang is dead Yu's death has nothing to do with Zhuge.

On the whole, the position obtained by the Xuzhou Gang was not really due to the talents of Xuzhou people, but a helpless balancing act by Cao Wei in the later period. After all, the Yingchuan faction and the Jizhou regiment were too powerful, and Xuzhou With so many three-legged cats, I can only barely use it to balance it. Therefore, except for Wang Lang, several other members of the Xuzhou Gang, in the biography of Cao Wei, although they have been in charge of the center of Cao Wei and have high status, are not very famous.

The same problem also occurred in Jiangdong.

Sun Quan called the two Zhangs differently from others. Zhang Zhao was called "Zhang Gong" and Zhang Hong was called "Dongfang". They were just names for others, which naturally reflected their status, which was very different from that of other ministers.

But the problem is that Sun Quan also has his own purpose. Because both Zhang moved south to Jiangdong and have no roots in Jiangdong, Sun Quan's intention is very obvious. He wants to use Er Zhang to suppress and suppress the faction of Jiangdong nobles.

What a pity, everyone wants to be a smart person, not a fool.

Therefore, when Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Xuzhou help these three monks come together, it is inevitable that there will be no one to carry water...

They all felt that they were at a disadvantage.

The candle flickered.

In the dim room, the two people tested and groped each other, looking for each other's weaknesses, trying their best to hide their own weaknesses...

Zang Ba fell silent in the end. He was not good at this kind of thing, so he felt irritated first. After a moment of silence, Zang Ba added some tea to his tea bowl, then held the tea bowl and said, "You and I can't decide the matter in Xuzhou. Now that the war between the East and the West has stopped, the ownership of Jiangdong is the focus of attention. Although at the moment, Things have not yet been determined, but once they are determined, no one will let Jiang Dong go... This should not be difficult to see with Zhang Xiandi's intelligence? 』

The words Zang Ba said now were cold and serious, and these were the contents he said at this moment. Compared with what was said when chatting with Henry Zhang before, they are two completely different concepts.

Now that Zang Ba has touched Henry’s vital points, Zhang Xuan will naturally have to seize Zang Ba’s weakness...

Henry Zhang's eyes lowered slightly, "What if Jiang Dong... joins forces to go north?" 』

"Join forces?" ” Zang Ba’s eyes suddenly condensed.

Making friends from far away and attacking at close range was originally the only method of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, so Zang Ba could not veto this possibility.

Henry Zhang paused and said, "In a few years, maybe within a few years, something will inevitably clash again..."

As soon as Henry Zhang said these words, Zang Ba couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, his eyes became more solemn, and he didn't put down the tea bowl in his hand for a long time.

Zang Ba took a breath and said, "Brother Zhang Xian... you might as well tell us in detail..."

Henry Zhang smiled and said: "At this time, I can only say that we should prepare earlier... The sages have said that if something is predicted, it will be done, and if it is not predicted, it will be ruined." 』

The room was quiet for a moment.

It's like the first round of confrontation has consumed a lot of energy, and now they are recovering.

"Now the Hussar..." Zhang Xuan said, "It has already assumed the power of the Western Qin, like the Japanese army. This time the general invaded Jingzhou and took an unexpected position. The Hussar was not prepared, so he got the current situation... If ... I was born in Guangling and grew up in Xuzhou. Due to the war, I had to avoid the dangers of Jiangdong. Now I am worried that if the war comes again, my hometown will be completely destroyed! The disasters in Juling and Xiaqiu in the past are a lesson for others! 』

Zang Ba hesitated for a moment and said: "If this matter is a little careless... Xuzhou will also be in ruins..." In fact, what Zang Ba said was nonsense, but it was also true.

As Zang Ba, and the gentry who stayed in Xuzhou like Zang Ba, whether they were big households, as to why they were able to unite, it was because their goals were relatively consistent, which was to protect localism. Throughout history, the people who stayed in Xuzhou, including Zang Ba, Chen Gui, Chen Deng, etc., were all typical outsiders, always leaning in the direction that was more likely to protect Xuzhou.

Zang Ba was instinctively afraid, but he was also worried that if bad luck really struck one day, Xuzhou would suffer another disaster.

So Zang Ba stood up, then looked at Henry Zhang, put on his raincoat and bamboo hat again from his trusted guard, and when he was about to walk out of the room, he said: "Words are unfounded, seeing is believing..." 』

As soon as the door opened, the wind and snow rushed in. Zang Ba walked out amid the swaying candlelight, leaving only Henry Zhang alone in the light and shadow, dangling like a rootless duckweed.

……?(????)???……

Whether people are willing or not, time always passes quietly.

In the early morning, in the backyard of the newly rebuilt Zuixian Tower in Chang'an, the hotel clerks who got up early had already cleaned the snow in the courtyard, and then greeted each other in the not-so-bright sky.

In Drunk Immortal Tower, Drunken Immortal Wine will make all immortals drunk, let alone humans?

After the introduction of Zuixianjiu, the business of Zuixian Tower was extremely booming, and such excitement led to the prosperity of some other industries...

What?

Hu Nu’s belly dance?

This... there is also this, but those who came to the backyard of Zuixian Tower early today were not those bearded girls with their white bellies exposed and walking as if they were trying to lift up their skirts.

But a storyteller.

Storytelling can be found in written records. The so-called period when it truly took shape was around the Song Dynasty, but it does not mean that there were no storytellers in previous dynasties.

The word "storytelling" was first seen in "Mozi·Gengzhu": "Those who can talk and debate talk about debate, and those who can storytellers tell stories." ’ Of course, most of the storytelling at this time was just storytelling, and there was no performing art component in it.

After the Han Dynasty, storytelling began to be close to the people, with mostly performances. In order to attract more people to listen to the books, some simple musical instruments were also introduced, such as snare drums and so on.

These storytellers in Zuixianlou are basically at the forefront of the times, because they not only have musical instruments such as snare drums, but also storybooks specially created for them to better tell stories.

"Everyone, good morning..." A man came out of the house and greeted the storytellers in the backyard, holding a few pieces of paper in his hand.

"It's getting late... If Brother Wang doesn't come out, I'll have to go in to look for Brother Wang..."

"That is, if there are no new stories to tell today, I am afraid that my stubborn sign will be smashed..."

"Stop chatting. If you have any useful information, bring it quickly!" 』

"That's right..."

There were some sharp-tongued people in the yard who would talk quickly when they met. They didn't give the latecomer a chance to say a second sentence, so they simply stopped talking and just put the paper in their hands. It took one of them each to silence these storytellers. "Look at it, everyone, please correct it..."

Not long after, some people finished reading and looked at each other, a little excited, a little hesitant, and a little confused...

"Brother Wang, this story today..."

In the restaurant kitchen, breakfast preparations have begun, and the unique aroma of food has begun to fill the air again. The wealthy and leisurely nobles pursued high-end ingredients such as Zuixianjiu, while ordinary people just longed for a bowl of soup cakes with sufficient portion.

The two ingredients are naturally very different, but they have the same function and the same essence.

"I know that most of what you talked about before was about gods in the sky, ancient sages, or stories about the Spring and Autumn Period, heroes on the battlefield..."

"Yes, these...I'm not saying that Brother Wang's words are not good. But, would anyone be willing to listen to such words? 』

Wang, who wrote the script, smiled and said, "Don't ask others, let's ask you first, are you willing to listen?" Are you willing to talk? Before this, no one had ever been willing to listen or talk about these things... Gods in heaven and heroes on earth are all good... but they are too far away from us... so far away that we can only watch them from a distance. , and the closer one... is like these bowls of soup cakes... no spices, no fat, just ordinary soup cakes..."

Mrs. Wang greeted the waiter and brought bowls of steaming soup cakes.

"Just like in this Zuixian Tower, there is a jar of Zuixian wine worth a thousand dollars, and there are also three bowls of hot soup cakes worth three thousand dollars... How about that?" The delicacies of the mountains and seas are certainly good, but what can satisfy ordinary people like us are these hot soup cakes..."

After a while, someone picked up a big bowl of soup cakes and asked, "How about trying it first?" 』

"Well... let's try it..."

……(?·??·?)???(·?·) # ……

Snowflakes fluttered down.

As the new year gradually approaches, many people in Xu County are relaxing and waiting to welcome the new year. No one thought that one thing would break the remaining joy in their hearts.

On the first and second day of the lunar month, on the 15th and 16th day of the lunar month, there will be a grand meeting.

Although Cao Cao is actually the controlling shareholder, he still wants to say that the rights belong to Liu Xie on the surface. He will also propose some proposals at the court meeting for Liu Xie to vote on, and even prepare a few buttons, uh, prepare several suggestions for Liu Xie to vote on. Xie Lai chose to enhance the illusion that Liu Xie controlled the Han Dynasty as the emperor.

After all, it’s all about stability.

This time the Great Court Meeting was no exception. Cao Cao proposed some personnel proposals regarding Si Tianjian's astronomy and meteorology, and then submitted three names to Liu Xie, asking Liu Xie to choose one of them to be elected...

So the ministers in the court discussed it if there was anything serious, and studied which one of them knew better about the stars, sacrificial etiquette, etc.

Don't laugh, as the saying goes, "The great affairs of the country lie in sacrifice and military affairs." Now Cao Cao has given up half of them to the emperor Liu Xie to decide. Isn't this a very serious matter? "Unity of heaven and man", "reception between heaven and man", if the stars in the sky give instructions, but cannot read the signals that portend disaster and auspiciousness, wouldn't it be a waste of heaven's good intentions? Observing the sky is a very serious and important matter. How can you laugh?

Liu Xie was not satisfied with the candidate proposed by Cao Cao, because even a person from Si Tianjian is still a radish pit, not to mention that if the time is right, the radish in this radish pit can be made to sound like cabbage, so Liu Xie said that Cao Cao's three candidates all have some problems and they need to be discussed again...

Wait for Cao Cao to discuss again and see if there is someone he likes among them. If so, let's go with the flow. If not, continue to discuss again. Anyway, the stars in the sky were already there millions of years ago. It's early and late. How many days does it matter?

Cao Cao didn't care about Liu Xie's rejection. He even knew that among the three people he recommended, at least there was no one Liu Xie particularly admired. Therefore, he could use it with a little more peace of mind. As for further discussion, then Let’s discuss it again. Anyway, what was presented to Liu for agreement were some “big things”. The more complicated and repeated these “big things” are, the more it proves that Cao Cao respects the emperor and obeys the court system?

As for "little things", don't bother Liu Xie, Cao Cao and the others can handle it themselves.

It seems a bit unreasonable, but this is the most appropriate and the political ecology that meets the current needs.

It is conceivable that if Cao Cao puts down his power, a group of people will inevitably rob him. Not to mention the political ecology, even the most basic order will disappear...

Not only Cao Cao knew this, but also Xun Yu, Guo Jia and other advisers.

"My lord..." Cao Hong walked beside Cao Cao, his voice low, "This emperor...does he have any new ideas..."

"Haha..." Cao Cao stroked his beard slightly and smiled but did not answer.

A few days ago, Cao Cao received a message from the palace, saying that Liu Xie had met many people one after another. Then Cao Cao gave it a try today. As expected, Liu Xie didn't know what was wrong with him and was planning to do something. Action...

It doesn't matter.

Isn't it just a small trick...

Let’s do it together, everyone knows it, who is afraid of whom?

After the court meeting, Cao Cao naturally left first. But when Cao Cao and his men left the palace and turned to the cross street to go to the General's Office, suddenly a high-pitched voice rang out...

"Kill the traitor!" 』

Just like a secret signal for an appointment, someone shouted suddenly on the street. One person lifted the cover of a nearby car, and the two assassins in the car raised their crossbows and aimed at Cao Cao!

At the same time, another vendor who was jumping with a burden also overturned the burden. The red-burning charcoal flew into Cao Cao's queue. Then he took out a spear head from nowhere and put it on the wooden pole in his hand. Suddenly, he rushed forward!

From the other side, several people jumped from the eaves of a house, holding swords and slashing at everyone they met!

On the rafters, two men with bows stood up at some point, setting up their bows and shooting!

"shield! 』

Dian Wei, who was beside Cao Cao, shouted loudly, and the iron halberds in his hands danced like the wind, knocking away the flying arrows...

Under the snowflakes all over the sky, there is a conflict between human figures.

Even colder is the blade.

What's hotter is the blood.

The sound of shouting and the sound of clashing weapons were intertwined...

Cao Cao gritted his teeth and muttered in a low voice.

"Lord!" ” Cao Hong also held up a shield and blocked it in front of Cao Cao, “My lord, what did you say?” 』

I was just discussing with Cao Cao a few days ago about doing something, but I didn't expect Cao Cao to be so generous all of a sudden!

Look, how realistic and tragic this sudden assassination is...

Look, this formation and this comprehensive arrangement are all aimed at Cao Cao's life...

If Cao Hong hadn't vaguely known some of the inside story, he would have been shocked by what he saw right now. Seeing these dead soldiers fighting tenaciously, with blood staining the cross streets like blooming flowers, Cao Hong couldn't help but praise him in his heart. Fortunately, it was my lord who was chosen by these dead men. It was really speechless.

Awesome, like it.

"Someone said..."

Cao Cao squinted his eyes, gritted his teeth, and his thin voice was very low. Like a bone-piercing cold wind, it floated to Cao Hong's ears, making Cao Hong feel trembling all over!

"You mean... these guys... weren't arranged by you!" 』