1.

After the Battle of Xiangge, Zheng Zhuanggong reflected on the duel with King Zhou Huan, but still felt that he had lost face.

It was originally a victory, and when I turned around, I had to apologize to him King Zhou Huan. Looking at him, King Zhou Huan is nothing more than that, mobilizing the six armies to fight my Zheng State, not losing his armor and failing to form an army. It's just that when he came to attack the king of Zhou, it was originally a big victory for my Zheng Zhuang Gong, but there was no spoils, and all the seizures belonged to the Zhou army. What kind of system is this? The more I thought about it, the more I felt that I had suffered a loss. Since it is a big victory, his Zhou royal family should leave something for Zheng Guo.

Zheng Zhuanggong closed his face and thought for a few days. felt that the two cities on the border between the Zhou royal family and the Zheng State were very tempting to him. If I can make the Zhou royal family spit out two cities, it will be considered that my Zheng Zhuang Gong has not won a game in vain. However, if he sent troops to capture Zhou, it was still easy to provoke the counterattack of the Zhou royal family. It shows that the Zhou royal family is the only one who dares to rebel against the king in the world, Zheng Zhuanggong, in case he calls on the princes to crusade together, he will not only lose money but also not be easy to win.

Zheng Zhuanggong suddenly thought of Qi Gong. This Duke of Qi has always wanted to crusade against Ji Guo and avenge his ancestors. However, his most taboo is the Zhou royal family. I am afraid that the tragedy of my ancestors will happen again. But at this time and at that time, where does the current Zhou royal family still have the prestige of the past, it has long been sunset and the end of the road. It's just that Qi Jiaogong is still afraid in his heart. Why not take advantage of Duke Qi's hatred of the Zhou royal family to join forces to march into Zhou. Let the Zhou royal family know that the person who dares to rebel against the king in the world is definitely not him, Zheng Zhuanggong alone. In this way, I, Zheng Guo, not only won the land of Zhou Wangji and repaid the glory of the winner, but the Zhou royal family had no way to target themselves, let alone the ability to fight back against the two great powers. Thinking of this, Zheng Zhuang Gong repaired a letter and sent envoys to send it to Qi State. He wants to unite the Qi State to attack Zhoudi.

On this day, after Qi Jiaogong married Wen Jiang, he was thinking about crusading against Ji Guo again. I thought: If Qi sends troops to Ji Guo, he Lu Huan Gong will have to consider the relationship between Qi and Ji Guo, and he will not blindly support Ji Guo. After all, the State of Qi and the State of Lu have a new marriage relationship. Qi Yi is just in the marriage between Wen Jiang and Lu Huangong. Someone came to report that Zheng Guo's envoy had arrived.

The envoy of Zheng Guo visited the Duke of Qi and handed over the letter of the Duke of Zheng Zhuang, who opened it and saw that it read:

The Zhou army was defeated, and it was feasible to cut discipline. However, considering that King Huan of Zhou still had a heart for the protection of Ji Guo, the widow thought that the combined army of Zheng and Qi would first penetrate into Zhou, destroy its direction and Meng Ercheng, and be entrenched by the Zheng army to block the main road for the Zhou royal family to go north. You can rest assured.

Qi Jiaogong read the letter, and saw through the fact that Zheng Zhuang Gong wanted to use himself to occupy the territory of the king of Zhou, and even pulled himself to create a joint inheritance of the rebellious Zhou royal family. Although Qi Jiaogong also cared about the impact, this incident was indeed to relieve himself of worries. After thinking about it, Qi Gong decided to have a big fight with Zheng Zhuang Gong. He Zheng Zhuang Gong borrowed the power of Qi to seize the territory of King Zhou, and I took the power of Zheng Guo to destroy Ji Guo. The law does not blame the public, and he is not afraid of any counterattack measures by the Zhou royal family.

So Qi Jiaogong immediately agreed to unite with Zheng Guo to send troops and march into Zhoudi.

Duke Qi personally led 500 troops to attack the Zhou royal family, all the way to the southeast.

Along the way, there was no one who dared to say "no" to the small countries he passed by. It is conceivable that a big country that dares to fight the Zhou royal family will take a small country in its eyes. And what small princes dare to confront it? In fact, several times he joined forces with Zheng Guo to fight the Song State and the Xu State, and the Duke of Qi had already intimidated the surrounding small countries to the ground, and even paid a gift to the Zhou royal family every year. Let Qi Gong clearly feel the strength of showing himself, for the surrounding small countries, this trip is a self-victory without a fight, Qi Qigong is not passing by these small countries in vain, those princes who have no more than 100 times of soldiers, have never seen an army of 500 troop vehicles, fluttering flags, horses like thunder. Everywhere they went, the princes and courtiers respectfully welcomed out of the city gate, fulfilling the friendship of the landlord. They all expressed their favor and friendship with Qi State, such as Tan State, Sui State, Cao State, etc., and even expressed their willingness to become a vassal state of Qi State. As a result, the Duke of Qi crossed all the way across the vassal states of Liu, and without spending a single soldier, he had become the ruler and commander of several small vassal states. The army led by the Duke of Qi passed through Tan, Su, Sui, Cao and other countries along the way, and the princes of several countries welcomed and sent them all the way to entertain the monarch of this great country. Let Qi Jiaogong have a different kind of self-satisfaction.

When Duke Qi arrived at Weiguo, Duke Wei Xuan saw that his father-in-law personally led the troops to greet him warmly, and sent 100 military vehicles to assist, so that Duke Qi had 600 military vehicles to advance into the Central Plains.

This huge team made the Zhou royal family feel a few times panicked. In the past, Zheng Guo rebelled, humiliated the Zhou royal family in every way, and even forcibly harvested grain, but now the Duke of Qi led an army of 600 to attack the Zhou royal family, where is the dignity of the royal family. Before the army arrived, the information had reached King Zhou Huan.

At this time, King Huan of Zhou was defeated and suffered an arrow wound, and he did not suffer well in both psychology and body. was contacting the guests of Ji Guo, and Zhou Xuan married Princess Ji Guo to King Zhou Huan, who was already a lot of years old, and was still listening to him talk about how Ji Nu looked like, when someone came to report when he was suffering mentally and physically: Zheng and Qi armies came to fight together. The armies of the two countries have already set foot on the territory of the Zhou royal family. The six hundred military vehicles of the Qi State had already camped near Xiangyi in Zhoutu.

King Huan of Zhou convened his ministers to discuss the retreat from the invasion of the coalition forces.

However, just when the Duke of Qi had just set foot on the outskirts of Xiangyi, the border city of the Zhou royal family, and was about to set up camp. got the good news from Zheng Jun, Zheng Jun has already taken the alliance. The defenders of Xiangyi hurriedly fled to the interior with their families and soldiers defending the city, and Xiangyi became an empty city.

So Qi Jiaogong took Xiangyi without spending a single soldier. This was not a bad thing for the Duke of Qi, who entered the Zhou without bloodshed and won a complete victory.

Just when Qi Jiaogong was resting his troops and preparing to march to Mengyi. One of Zheng Guo's military officials asked to see the Duke of Qi. This surprised the Qi army, and the people came in a hurry, and without waiting for the gate guards to report, they broke free from the guards and went straight to the big tent of Qi Gong. He said that he had an urgent matter to see, but it was too late.

The person who came reported his name, and the Duke of Qi knew that the name of this Zheng Jun official was Bao Shuya.

Seeing that it was a military official of Zheng Jun and very urgent, Qi Yi sat down in his clothes to greet this uninvited guest.

Uncle Bao walked into Qi Jiaogong's big tent, and when he saw Qi Jiaogong hurriedly stepped forward, he knelt down with "plopping", and was already reporting to himself: "Zheng Jun's subordinate Bao Shuya knocked on the king." The subordinates have something important to repay them. ”

Qi Jiaogong asked: "The widow knows the battle situation of the Zheng army to take Xiangyi, do you have a new battle situation to explain to the widow?" ”

Uncle Bao hurriedly interrupted Qi Qigong's words and said: "The foreign minister is not reporting the battle situation, but he just has an urgent matter, don't ask the king to agree to the request?" ”

Qi Yigong frowned and asked, "What kind of request does the widow have to agree to?" ”

Bao Shuya said: "In the era of the ancestor Zhuang Gong, there was a minister who was in charge of the mountain, and I think the king should have a memory? ”

Qi Jiaogong hesitated slightly, he seemed to remember that there was a doctor named Guan Shan in Qi State, so he replied casually: "There is such a person." ”

Bao Shuya said: "The descendants of Lord Guan Shan are now about to be beheaded in Zheng Junzhong, and I beg the king to come forward to save his life. ”

Qi Jiaogong was a little puzzled: "Why does the widow have to save his life?" What crime did he commit, and Zheng Jun wanted to punish him with beheading? ”

Uncle Bao's anxious head was steaming, and sweat flowed down his body like a stream from his face, damp the armor on his upper body. Uncle Bao said eagerly: "Guan Zhong, the son of Guan Shan, is a fellow villager in Yingshang and Xia. Now he sent troops to attack Xiangyi, but because he retreated from the battle, he was beheaded by the commander of the army. This Guan Zhong is a genius in the world, smart and clever since childhood, erudite and talented, with the world in his chest, and he is a pillar of today. Because there was an old mother in the family who needed support, he faced the enemy in battle, and he was sentenced to behead by Si Kou at 12 o'clock at noon when he wanted to protect himself and retreat. Seeing that Guan Shan is an old minister of Qi State, the monarch will be able to save Guan Zhong's life if he comes forward to rescue, otherwise the pillars will die here in one day, don't ask the monarch to rescue, even if he is a cow and a horse, he will repay the monarch for life. ”

After speaking, Uncle Bao bowed to Qi Gong again and again.

Although Uncle Bao said eagerly, that loyalty and sincerity had already touched Qi Jiaogong. Qi Jiaogong said to Uncle Bao: "This Guan Zhong has nothing to do with you, but you are taking such a big risk to rescue you. It seems that this Guan Zhong is really popular. ”

Uncle Bao said: "Exactly, it is to ask the king for mercy and rescue." ”

Qi Xigong said: "The widow and your army Si Kou do not know each other, if the widow is not necessarily gullible, the widow still repairs a letter to Zheng Guojun, in the name that the widow needs Guan Zhong's assistance to save him from death." ”

Uncle Bao hurriedly kowtowed, and said to Qi Gong: "It's best to do this, it's just that the letter is sent to Zheng Guojun, and then go back to the law field, I'm afraid that Guan Zhong has already become a ghost." ”

Qi Gong said: "You might as well send a letter to Zheng Zhuanggong here, and at the same time send someone to the court with you to explain, so that he must wait for Zheng Guojun to arbitrate." ”

Uncle Bao said gratefully: "Your Excellency is wise! This move will definitely be able to keep Guan Zhong, and if Guan Zhong can survive, he will definitely serve the king. ”

Qi Yigong smiled: "It's good to be like this, bring a pen!" ”

Qi Yigong wrote a letter to Zheng Zhuang Gong with a stroke of his pen, and here he sent his subordinate Gongsun Wuzhi to follow Bao Shuya straight to the Dharma field.

2.

Zheng Guo's Yingshang is a place where water is sweet and the ground is fat. The land there nurtured industrious and prosperous people. It's just that there are rich and poor everywhere. This one is no exception. Yinghe River is like a golden belt, out of Songshan rushing out, into Yuzhou, all the way shining with mountain aura, from Yingshang across the east and west, the main landform belongs to the gentle plain area. It slopes slightly from west to southeast. It has a transitional climate between north temperate and subtropical. The summer is hot and the winter is cold, and the four seasons are distinct. There is abundant rain, and it is a suitable place for agricultural plants to grow. Yingshang is on the north bank of the Yinghe River, and it is a vibrant Pingchuan as far as the eye can see. There is a bloodline inherited from this vast and nurturing land, which is the descendants of the Guan family.

In that year, Zhou Gong Ji Dan pacified the rebellion of the three eunuchs, killed Guan Shu Ji Xian, and Guan Guo perished. However, Uncle Guan's descendants were not all exterminated. It is rumored that a descendant of Guan Shuji Xian named Guan Shan escaped from the disaster and lived among the people, and Yingshang is the place where the descendants of the Guan family live and reproduce.

When the descendants of Guan Shu Ji Xian were passed on to the eleventh generation, there was a person named Guan Zhuang. This person is talented and capable, and when he reaches middle age, he has already mixed into the doctor class of the Qi State.

In the fiftieth year of the reign of Duke Qi Zhuang, Marquis Wen of Jin died. Because Marquis Wen of Jin had made great contributions to the Zhou Dynasty, according to the etiquette of the Zhou royal family, Marquis Wen of Jin died, and all vassal states had to send envoys to mourn. The State of Qi sent Guan Zhuang as an envoy to the Jin State to mourn.

Ji Qiu, the prince of the Jin Kingdom at that time, was in communication with Guan Zhuang, and he deeply felt that Guan Zhuang was knowledgeable and a talented doctor. In further conversations, I learned that Guan Zhuang's original wife had died of illness for many years, and the distress of losing a spouse had always made Guan Zhuang's life difficult. Seeing that he was alone and had only one child by his side, he felt pity and couldn't help but sigh: "The beauties around Gong Qi Zhuang are famous all over the world, is it still difficult to give one to the doctor Guan to solve the embarrassment of having no one to repair the broken clothes?" It can be seen that the relationship between the monarch and the minister is negligent and not close! ”

So, while the wine was hot, Ji Qiu, the prince of the Jin Kingdom, gave the beauties in the palace around him to Guan Zhuang as his wife. Guan Zhuang couldn't resign, so he had to bring it back to Qi State.

Guan Zhuang has an extra Jin court beauty by his side, and it is inevitable that the doctors in the court and China will talk about it. This matter reached the ears of Qi Zhuang Gong, and he was very unhappy when he learned that the beauty was from the Jin Kingdom. As the king of a country, this matter made Qi Zhuanggong's face even more unbearable. Every time he went to court, Gong Qi Zhuang didn't have to look at Guan Zhuang with his eyes, which made Guan Zhuang feel uneasy. The uneasiness in Guan Zhuang's heart was not that Duke Qi Zhuang didn't understand, he was worried that Duke Qi Zhuang would doubt that he had become a spy that the people of Jin wanted to plant in Qi when he saw that the Jin State treated him so well? This kind of doubt makes Guan Zhuang apprehensive, and it is difficult to justify. Guan Zhuang had to take leave and send the woman who Ji Qiu gave to him back to his hometown.

Returning to Yingshang's home, Guan Zhuang deliberately stayed and did not return to the court. He thought in his heart that he would postpone his return to Qi, and when he didn't see him in the early dynasty, he would definitely send someone to invite him. So Guan Zhuang waited on Yingshang for several months, and did not wait for the Duke of Qi Zhuang to send someone to Yingshang, Fang felt that he had misjudged the monarch of Qi State. It's hard to make a living with a little savings in the past, so you have to do something! Just when Guan Zhuang was at a loss, the Marquis of Jin Zhao Ji Qiu sent a messenger. It turned out that when the Marquis of Jin Zhao ascended the throne ceremony, he saw that the envoy of Qi was not Guan Zhuang, so he inquired about the news of Guan Zhuang. Knowing that Guan Zhuang had left the Qi court to live at home, he immediately sent someone to ask Guan Zhuang to come to the Jin State to assist. At this time, Guan Zhuang gave birth to a second son with this Jin woman on Yingshang, and the birth of this second son did not cause Guan Zhuang to mind. Because he already had an eldest son, this second son was no more important to him than the first son. Especially at that time, the eldest and youngest were clear, and Guan Zhuang still regarded the eldest son left in the front room as the foundation of his life. The name of this little son is Yiwu, the word is Zhong, and Zhong means the second child. So the name originally meant the second housekeeper. And in Guan Zhuang's view, the woman given to him by the Jin Kingdom is a dusty woman after all, and it is impossible to become a lady. Therefore, Guan Zhong still regards his eldest son as his heir, and he cares for him everywhere.

Guan Zhuang received Ji Qiu's invitation and hesitated. I thought: staying in my hometown for a long time without a source of livelihood is not a long-term solution. This Guan Zhuang has read poetry and books since he was a child, and he has the world's major events in his chest, and he has witty words and clever tricks in the court, which can impress the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty, but in actual life, he is neither a master of farming nor an expert in business. So staying on the chin is just sitting and eating nothing. So Guan Zhuang still decided to go to the Jin Kingdom.

Guan Zhuang took his eldest son to the Jin Kingdom. threw the Jin woman and her youngest son Guan Zhong on the chin. Guan Zhuang promised to bring his family to live in the Jin Kingdom after mixing in the Jin Kingdom. So in order to take the first step, I left Guan Zhong and the dusty woman on the Ying. Linxing Guan Zhuang instructed the woman: "You work hard, educate Xiao Guan Zhong at home, and once you have a good day in the Jin Kingdom, you will come back to pick up their mother and son to go to the Jin Kingdom." ”

Guan Zhuang arrived in the Jin Kingdom, and the Marquis of Jin Zhao was really important. He was immediately given the position of Shaoqing and became a doctor in the court. It seems that life is good, but this Guan Zhuang has never returned. At first, there was a message back, maybe because Shaoqing's job was busy, or the pressure on the new arrival in the Jin Kingdom was too great. As time passed, the mother and son who remained on the Yingshang were able to receive fewer and fewer letters from Guan Zhuang. Later, there were no letters. The woman who stayed on the chin only thought that the man either had a new woman and had a good life, and forgot the woman at home; Either something happened and the person who wrote to his family was no longer alive. After a few more years, there was no news of Guan Zhuang, and although the woman had many conjectures, in the final analysis, she blamed her fate for not being good. She transferred all her love to her son Guan Zhong. No matter what, she has to raise Guan Zhong to grow up, and her son is all her hope. So the woman supported the housekeeper's door and lived a difficult life of frugality. Relying on their own weaving and spinning threads to support the livelihood of the two mothers, the people of Yingshang know the hardships of their orphans and widows.

When Yiwu was seven or eight years old, he met Uncle Bao, who was two years older than him. In Yingshang, the Bao family is a big businessman, and living in Yingshang is really solid and wealthy, although Bao Shuya is neither the eldest son in the family nor the eldest relative of his father. But Uncle Bao has gradually revealed his responsible, responsible, righteous and moral mind among his brothers in the family since he was a child. This also made his father pay more and more attention to him. Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya studied at the same time, and after two years of study, Guan Zhong couldn't afford to pay the tuition. But Guan Zhong didn't want to give up studying, so he told his master that he would pay half a fee to listen to a half-day class. Although this master is respected as a teacher, he has not yet met a student who pays half of the fee and listens to half of the class. But this master looked at Xiao Guan Zhong intelligently and cleverly, and there was a desire for knowledge in his big eyes that flashed with long eyelashes. It was hard for this master to refuse. In this way, Guan Zhong listened to the teacher's lectures for half a day, and helped his mother do some knitting and other work to make ends meet. But he still followed the teacher's tutorial and completed the day's studies by self-study. In this way, Guan Zhong, who has been in class for half a day and working for half a day, still has a good academic performance above several peers. This made Uncle Bao very admirable. So Uncle Bao mobilized his family to spend more tuition fees to help Guan Zhong finish the remaining years of books together. After listening to Uncle Bao's reason, the father secretly admired his son's love, and was moved by Uncle Bao's spirit of helping others, and happily agreed. Because of this, the two get along with each other deeply and are like brothers.

The Bao family invited a martial artist for Bao Shuya to teach Shuya to practice eighteen martial arts such as swordsmanship and riding archery. Uncle Bao also called Guan Zhong to learn martial arts together. The two also study, Guan Zhong worked very hard, and the kung fu taught by the master was always Guan Zhong first to understand clearly and grasp accurately, which also made Uncle Bao admire Guan Zhong even more.

Once the two of them practiced archery, Uncle Bao shot three shots and hit three shots, while Guan Zhong shot three shots at the center of the target. This shocked Uncle Bao's apprentice very much. So Uncle Bao asked Guan Zhong how he could achieve such results. Guan Zhong smiled and said, "It's just practice,"

Guan Zhong went on to say how he practiced archery, if one arrow missed, he would shoot three arrows in a row as compensation, and if one of the three arrows missed, he would have to shoot several more three arrows to compensate, so the process of practicing archery was very time-consuming for Guan Zhong. Often because he misses an arrow, he has to shoot dozens of arrows in a row. In this way, I took the trouble to practice a skill. Therefore, although he was a peer who learned swords and arrows at the same time, Uncle Bao admired Guan Zhong's indomitable and energetic spirit.

Two young people talk about the future together. Bao Shuya said: "If you and I serve a monarch together, if you can become a general, I will be your lieutenant." ”

Guan Zhong said: "If I become a general, I won't let you be a deputy general, I can only let you be a military commander." You will strictly enforce the law to ensure that there is no chaos in our army and that there is enough combat effectiveness. ”

Uncle Bao laughed: "I knew you would say that." There is no one in this world who understands you and Guan Zhong than me Uncle Bao. ”

Guan Zhong also laughed: "Then I will say that the person who knows you Uncle Bao in this world is none other than me Guan Zhong." ”

At the age of sixteen or seventeen, both of them have reached the age of earning a living and supporting their families. Bao Shuya and Guan Zhong jointly opened a butcher shop, and relied on the purchase of prey to peel the skin into edible meat, so as to process the fur and sell meat, which was very profitable. But it's easier said than done, but it takes a bit of effort. On the one hand, the store has to take care of people to engage in some manual labor, from acquisition to sales, every link needs someone to take care of it. There is a real amount of money to invest in this piece. It was said that half of each was out, but the prediction turned out to make Guan Zhong shy. Guan Zhong couldn't come up with so much money to invest. Helplessly, Uncle Bao had no choice but to invest more and let Guan Zhong invest less, so that the butcher shop could be established. Uncle Bao is responsible for purchasing, and Guan Zhong is responsible for store management and sales. At the end of the month, the accounts are settled, and the income and profit are partially stratified. In addition to the rest of the wages paid to the guys, Guan Zhong kept a large head for himself and a small head for Uncle Bao. This made the guys working below unconvinced, and they reported to Uncle Bao about the unfair distribution of Guan Zhong. Uncle Bao disagreed, and said to the guys: "Aren't all the payments that should be paid to you in full?" That's enough, as for how the two of us divide it, don't be angry and unfair. Uncle Bao was afraid that the guys would not understand, so he said carefully: "Guan Zhong's family is not well-off, orphans and widows, it is natural to take more." My Uncle Bao's family background must be better than Guan Zhong. ”

All the guys listened to Uncle Bao's words and were grateful for Uncle Bao's generosity. More respect and love for Uncle Bao.