The night was falling, and the north wind was bleak, like a ghost crying. In the distance, there were flashes of fire, and the trajectory of the stone bullets was even more difficult to see in the darkness, sometimes falling outside the city, and sometimes smashing into the city unexpectedly. The artillery bombardment of the Liao army was non-stop, and during the day thousands of tens of thousands of ants attached to the city were attached to the siege, and at night they were not at ease, often sending dozens of people, more than 100 people, hundreds of people to touch the city, sometimes releasing cold arrows, sometimes trying to steal the city at night. During the day and night, the Han army's precautions were not relaxed at all. The cold night is getting longer and longer, and the defending army is divided into five classes, Zhao Xingde, Du Fujiao, Liu Zhijian, Jian Cheng, and Ma Rui each bring a class, and each shift is on duty for an hour.

At the beginning of the hour, Zhao Xingde handed over the next shift to Tong Yunjie, and then went to the clean room where the injured were placed. For more than a month, the Liao army suffered more casualties and fewer casualties, and because of the lack of treatment, it was common for minor injuries to be dragged into serious injuries and serious injuries to be dragged into dead people under the city. The Han army suffered many casualties and few casualties, and the city of Nanshan was narrow, and some rooms could only accommodate themselves. However, the clean room where the wounded are housed is spacious and ventilated, and it is smoked with vinegar five or six times a day, and more than a dozen langzhong take turns to serve.

Stepping into the clean room, he smelled a sour smell in the air, and the wounded soldiers near the door turned their heads one after another. Zhao Xingde almost every night must come, forming a pattern, every night, at the end of the night, the wounded in the clean room are waiting, after General Zhao patrols the night, he only turns off the lights and goes to bed, but he also sleeps very steadily.

In order to prevent the stone bullets of the Liao army, the clean room was built behind the city wall, and the beds were placed in the inner and outer circles along the arc room of the anti-slope plane, Zhao Xingde walked along the middle corridor, and he did not ask for warmth, but only bowed slightly to the wounded soldiers who came over, and only showed a sense of concern in his eyes. As they passed through the new batch of wounded soldiers, they slowed down. Five were gunners wounded by the blast, and forty-three were musketeers and sword and shield bearers. Lang Zhong, who was on duty, whispered in his ear that these injuries were light and serious, the light ones would be able to be recuperated for more than ten days, the heavy ones would not be healed until the beginning of spring, and the other three people would probably be disabled for life.

Compared with those soldiers who were accustomed to injuries, most of the new wounded soldiers were a little depressed, especially those who were seriously injured, although they did not say it, they could not hide a trace of loneliness in their eyes. Zhao Xingde sighed in his heart, cheered up, he pressed his hand on the shoulder of a wounded soldier, and was about to say some words of comfort, when suddenly someone next to him said: "General Zhao, 'The rich and the rich cannot be lewd, the poor and the lowly cannot be moved, and the mighty cannot be bent: this is called the big husband', these twenty-one words, the villain can write." ”

He turned his head, but saw Zhang Li lying on a bed, as if he had been injured on his back, and he lacked confidence when he spoke, which was far from the momentum of the "big husband". When Zhang Wei heard that General Zhao would come every day to inspect the wounded, he was overjoyed. This is an opportunity to make up for his mistakes, in order to talk to Zhao Xingde, Zhang Wei spent two hours, and he didn't care about eating dinner, swallowing dates, and learned the twenty-one words of this sentence. For him, these Lishu Chinese characters are like pictures, the "no" in the front and the two "no" in the back are counted as three characters.

"Oh?" Zhao Xingde smiled and said: "Shibei three days, when you look at each other, it seems that Team Zhang is about to be both civil and military." ”

All the Han soldiers next to him laughed, this sentence was the first sentence of the literacy book written by Zhao Xingde to the Han army, and the back was the biography of the righteous man who was famous in Liaodong. During the siege, Zhao Xingde did not give up his efforts to teach the soldiers to read and write, on the one hand, he could cultivate grassroots officers, and on the other hand, he hoped to pull the soldiers out of boredom and fear. Literacy is both fresh and hopeful. Many Han soldiers have already learned this opening sentence, and in the fifty or sixty days of siege, those who have made rapid progress are about to learn two or three hundred words, but no one has taken it out like Zhang Wei to show off.

"Hehe, General Zhao has won the award," Zhang Li's face was flushed, although he was just talking about it with an excuse, the general's half-joking appreciation still made him excited, his palms were slightly sweaty, he wiped two handfuls on the sheets, held it for a long time, saw that Zhao Xingde seemed to turn his head, and finally spoke: "General Zhao,......, General Zhao, when those prostitutes came to do business in the city the day before yesterday, they were villains who were confused for a while, this ,......," Zhang Li has only been in the team for a short time, and he can't speak a few official words, so he can only stammer, "Villain, ......, the villain must be changed, the general recites that the villain has no merit and hard work, don't blame ,....., hehe, blame. ”

He thought too much about himself, and said a lot of words without saying anything, and the Han soldiers next to him all looked at the jokes happily, and the corners of Zhao Xingde's mouth also had a smile, and he said in a low voice: "This thing is allowed by the general, even if you are guilty, it is also on the general, what are you guilty of?" Zhang Wei was stunned when he heard this, looked at General Zhao, and didn't know how to answer this insertion, but heard him say in a hazy voice: "Tell me, what are you guilty of?" ”

"This ,......, villain,..... Big husband, wealth can't be lewd," Zhang Jun wanted to repent heartbreakingly, his face was flushed, but the more nervous he was, the more he couldn't say that there was anything wrong with sleeping with a prostitute, "That's it,...... Hey, hey, you can't be 'lewd'. The Han soldiers next to him all laughed.

Zhao Xingde also smiled slightly: "It's okay, think about it more, and don't worry," he patted Zhang Xing's shoulder, looked at his subordinates on the left and right, and said casually, "Besides, you may not be at fault." In this battalion, if you want to say right or wrong, you only look at the laws and regulations of the country. In addition, the benevolent see the benevolent, and the wise see the wise. If all of you here had your own opinions, you would only be proud. ”

All the Han soldiers nodded one after another, but Zhou Yu was suspicious: "What General Zhao said, is it true?" He lowered his voice and said, "What the art of war says is that the things of generals can fool the ears and eyes of soldiers, make them ignorant, and make people ignorant. Burning the boat and breaking the kettle, if driving the flocks of sheep. Driven away, driven away, I don't know what to do. It was about Zhao Xingde who was too unscrupulous, and people unconsciously relaxed their vigilance, Zhou Yu was shocked when he said this, and said secretly: "He also said casually, how can I save the general's face in public?" His face was a little embarrassed, and his left hand unconsciously rested on his right arm, which had been injured during the day. The other Han soldiers had never studied or read a book, and they didn't seem to understand these words, so they only looked at Zhou Yu and Zhao Xingde with confused faces. Zhang Wei hated it in his heart, and secretly said that Zhou Yu was ruthless, and he couldn't see General Zhao talking to Lao Tzu, so he came to stir up Lao Tzu's good deeds after reading a few books.

Zhao Xingde was stunned, he didn't expect that there was someone who could quote "The Art of War" in the soldier's stroke, he glanced at Zhou Yu quite meaningfully, and said slowly: "Only the mother of heaven and earth, only the soul of all things." People are born to think, feel, enjoy, and fear, all of which cannot be cut off. The way to govern people, just like the way to govern water, is not as good as sparse. The way of silting up is for a while, and the calamity is for the afterlife. Allowing the soldiers to be ignorant and stubborn, if they raise thieves and feed tigers, it is the way to disrupt the country. The so-called foolishness of its ears and eyes, driving back and forth, is just the use of the word 'fraud' and one more word "threat". Those who practice deceit will not last long, and those who respond to violence will be counterattacked. On the contrary, if a strong man knows where the righteousness lies, he can suppress treachery and evil inside, and defend his family and country outside. Even if there are one or two traitorous males, making noise, if Dong Zhuo of the Eastern Han Dynasty and a disciple of Anshi in the late Tang Dynasty, he is just inserting a label and selling his head. ”

Zhou Yu lowered his head and pondered silently, while the other soldiers became more confused the more they listened, as if they understood or not, Zhao Xingde saw this, and then said: "The birds and beasts in this world have their own powers, but according to me, there is only one thing, and it can't compare to people." It's cold, we know how to add clothes, cross the river, we know how to build a bridge. Guys, got it, right? ”

When the general asked, the Han soldiers dared not answer, and nodded one after another: "I know." ”

Zhao Xingde smiled slightly, and dragged out his voice: "'Know-Dao-', 'Know-Dao-', you don't underestimate these two words. 'Knowing' is knowing, 'Tao' is the truth, the reason why man is better than beasts and is the spirit of all things, is that man can know the truth, and then follow this truth, seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. When the weather is cold, birds and animals want to moult and moult, not because they know this truth, but out of instinct, just like our instinct to and pee. Only we know that wearing thicker clothes can be warmer. If these birds and beasts are caught in the south, even if it is hot, it will still have to change its moult as before, because it does not know. And those of us who wear thinner clothes to make ourselves more comfortable, because we know it. Well, you understand ,......, Eun, you know? ”

When they nodded and said "I know" this time, the Han army was not so confused, but grinned a few more, thinking to themselves: "Speaking of these two big white characters, it turns out that there is still hidden knowledge." Someone laughed and said: "General Zhao said it clearly, but he has gained a lot of knowledge." ”

Zhao Xingde's face gradually faded, and he said in a deep voice: "Therefore, it is the most important thing to be fortunate to be born as a human being, and to know the truth." There are endless and various truths running in this heaven and earth, and the more people know, the more transparent they know, the more comfortable they will live. Confucius said that when he heard the Tao, he could die at night. That's probably what it means. The more you know in the morning, the more you can benefit from the day. ”

At this time, some people wondered: "Is the truth actually to make people's lives more comfortable?" ”

Zhao Xingde nodded with a smile and said in a deep voice: "In ancient times, people lived in the wilderness, wore animal skins that had not been nitrated, and ate raw meat with blood. Fathers and sons and brothers can't give in to each other, everyone is like wild beasts, killing each other, and there is no fixed husband and wife. Later, I learned about building houses, weaving clothes, and cooking meals. Only by knowing humanity can a family live together in peace, and knowing the law of etiquette and righteousness, there will be peaceful years in the world. You see, isn't this just to make people's lives more and more comfortable? ”

All the Han soldiers nodded one after another, and Zhao Xingde continued, "There are thousands of people in this world, everyone can know new truths, and use them to teach each other, and everyone can get more benefits from them than one person knows. Therefore, there is nothing worse in this world than to deceive the intellect of man, so that he cannot know the truth, and to use man like a servant. And the most regrettable thing is that people who are born to think do not seek the truth, and live a life in such a mess. Or if you know some truth, but you go with the flow, you don't stick to it, you never know what is right or wrong, and you regret it when you die. He paused, looked at the Han army, and asked in a deep voice, "Do you all know?" ”

"The Admiral knows." "The villain knows."

The soldiers replied one after another. Everyone realized that there were different shades, and the gaze that looked at Zhao Xingde was different from before.