"PS: Chapters of 6,000 words are generally around 66,700, which is a lot......

———— the following text————

At noon on the ninth day of the eighth month, that is, when Meng Zhong set off for Fangcheng with his men and horses, only half an hour apart, a guest from the palace sent the news to Xue Gongtian Wen's ears.

After learning the news, Tian Wen's mood was greatly happy.

After a while, when Feng Chen, his trusted staff, came to the study, Tian Wen said to Feng Chen happily: "That kid Meng Zhong finally obediently went to Fangcheng to take up his post......

Hearing this, Feng Chen's face showed a slightly strange expression.

Immediately, he asked Tian Wendao: "Xue Gong, Meng Zhong is a virtuous talent?" ”

Hearing this, the smile on Tian Wen's face gradually retracted, and was replaced by a look of wistfulness.

But considering that it was Feng Tan who asked him, he finally answered sincerely: "Yes." ”

"But the virtuous?"

"Yes." Tian Wen nodded twice.

"How far can we go in the future?"

OR ...... Or be able to crown the king and worship the marquis......"

Tian Wen slowly walked to the window lattice, looked at the courtyard outside the window, and said quietly.

In fact, since the incident of Zhao Guo, Tian Wen knew that Meng Zhong was quite powerful, not to mention that after Meng Zhong repelled the Qin army's army in Yique Mountain some time ago, he realized more and more the ability of Meng Zhong, and spoke highly of it in his heart.

However, he would never say these comments, let alone let them reach Meng Zhong's ears - this is something that he can't tolerate as he values face!

However, at this moment, there was only Feng Chen, a trusted retainer in the study, so Tian Wen didn't mind telling his true thoughts from the bottom of his heart, that is, his true evaluation of Meng Zhong.

“……”

Hearing the words "Fengjun and Worship the Marquis" coming out of Tian Wen's mouth, Feng Tan was still very relieved in his heart, because this was a sign of Tian Wen's trust in him.

But he still couldn't help asking: "Since Duke Xue knows that Meng Zhong is a great talent, why is he unwilling to resolve his enmity with him?" ”

Tian Wen was silent for a moment, and then said lightly: "Why do I have to settle the grudge with him? When he humiliated me like that in Zhao State, I saw that he was ordered by King Song to send Xue Yi a reward, so what should he do if he spared his life? …… The gentleman said that the horse is difficult to chase, and since I promise not to take his life, I will not harm him again, but he also does not want to easily set foot in a high position in the Wei State......"

I have to say that Tian Wen is really a very principled person, he has a good face and re-promises, since he said that he would no longer hate Meng Zhong, he will naturally no longer think about trying to harm Meng Zhong, but this does not mean that Tian Wen will not deliberately embarrass Meng Zhong.

Just like this time, Meng Zhong made a great contribution to the Wei State, but Tian Wen managed to select Meng Zhong's food yi on the far border of Wei State, but then again, the scale of 3,000 food towns has not changed at all, and even, Yeyi and Wuyang add up to more than 3,000 households - in the end, just like Meng Zhong guessed, Tian Wen purely wanted to make him unhappy!

"Why bother?" Feng Tan smiled bitterly, shook his head and said, "Since I have learned that Meng Zhong's future is limitless, why should Xue Gong embarrass him everywhere? In the next thought, if Xue Gong followed the Qin State's generals' system, he would take Meng Zhong as his wings...... This Meng Zhong can become your 'Wei Zhang'! ”

The Wei Zhang in his mouth, that is, the trusted general and partner of Zhang Yi, the minister of Qin, one of them served as the minister of state in Xianyang, and the other was in charge of the army outside, and when Zhang Yi went to Wei to coerce the latter to submit to Qin, Wei Zhang was Zhang Yi's minions, as long as Zhang Yi gave an order, Wei Zhang would lead more than 100,000 Qin troops to attack.

Because of this, the countries of the Central Plains were so afraid of Zhang Yi at that time - is it really true that Zhang Yi, the "seven-foot husband", lobbied the countries with only one mouth? Behind him is the famous general Wei Zhang and the more than 100,000 Qin troops led by him who are silently supporting him!

And Meng Zhong ......

In Feng Chen's view, if the Xue Gong in front of him can take Meng Zhong for his own use, emulate the Qin State's general system, Tian Wen will serve as Wei Minister in the court, and Meng Zhong will be in charge of the army outside, relying on each other and benefiting from each other, even if he is afraid of Qin State? !

But for some reason, Tian Wen was unwilling to completely resolve the enmity with Meng Zhong.

Sure enough, after listening to Feng Chen's words, Tian Wen said quietly: "There is no need for that. …… He went to the Wei State to be an official in order to make the Wei State protect his homeland, and I was appointed as the Wei Minister, and no matter how well or badly he got along with him, he had to obey my orders. Unless he leaves Wei, I will make him go east, and he will not dare to go west......"

Hearing this, Feng Tan let out a long sigh.

And just as Feng Tan was thinking about how to persuade the Xue Gong in front of him, suddenly there was a sound of footsteps outside the house, and immediately, a soldier walked into the house and whispered a few words to Tian Wen.

"Oh? Is there such a thing? Tian Wen showed a surprised expression.

Seeing this, after Tian Wen waved his hand and dismissed the soldier, Feng Tan couldn't help but ask, "Xue Gong, what happened?" ”

I saw Tian Wen stretch out his hand and pat the window lattice, and said calmly: "Just now, Tian Di entered the palace to meet the King of Wei, and begged the King of Wei to allow him to expand the garrison around Fangcheng to 50,000 people......"

"Fang Cheng? Isn't that the position Meng Zhong is about to take?"

Feng Tan thought secretly in his heart.

"What did the king say?" He asked curiously.

“…… At first, the king was only allowed to expand to 30,000 people, so Tian Huang made a suggestion that the remaining 20,000 troops did not need to be allocated money and food by the imperial court......"

"Huh?" Feng Tan was surprised when he heard this, and said, "Then Meng Zhong actually volunteered to bear the expenses of the remaining 20,000 troops? That's not a small amount. ”

Hearing this, Tian Wen sneered: "There is still a Duan Gan clan behind him, do you still need him to worry about him?" ”

"That's ......" Feng Tan nodded with a smile, and then asked Tian Wendao: "That...... What does Xue Gong think about this? ”

"Huh." I saw Tian Wen chuckle lightly, and said lightly: "If you allocate 30,000 people, you can harvest 50,000 elites, why not?" ”

Seeing this, the corners of Feng Tan's mouth showed a slight smile imperceptibly, and he deliberately asked again: "Isn't Gong Xue worried that Meng Zhong will be unfavorable to you after he takes charge of the heavy army?" ”

"Just him?"

Tian Wen sneered: "If I, Tian Wen, lose power in the Wei State one day, it must be because I have lost the trust of the King of Wei, how can it be because of him?" ”

Speaking of this, the smile on his face slowly converged, and he frowned and said: "That's okay, with these soldiers in Meng Zhong's hands, my Wei State may have the opportunity to interfere with the Qin State's attack on the Chu State......

Of course, Feng Tan knew that Tian Wen managed to seal Meng Zhong to the Wandi area, but in fact, there was a layer of meaning that outsiders didn't know, so he lowered his voice and asked, "Does Xue Gong really want to intervene in the war between Qin and Chu?" ”

Hearing this, Tian Wen frowned and said, "Mr. is here to test me again?" No matter how stupid Tian is, he can guess that Qin will inevitably use troops against Chu next, coerce Chu to submit to Qin, and then wave his army to attack our Wei and Han countries. It's not that I want to intervene in the war between Qin and Chu, but I have to do it, otherwise if I sit back and watch the state of Chu fall to the state of Qin, the consequences will be unimaginable. ”

"That Tian Huang wants to expand the garrison of Fangcheng this time......" Feng Tan deliberately mentioned.

Tian Wen sneered when he heard this, and said lightly: "Let's just ignore it." …… I would rather hope that Na Meng Zhong can train 50,000 new troops as soon as possible. The garrisons in Hedong and Yecheng should not be moved lightly, but if that Meng Zhong can train an army as soon as possible, I may have a chance to try to thwart Qin's intention of "coercing Chu to attack Wei and Han"! ”

"See!"

Feng Tan nodded when he heard this.

Immediately, after a slight hesitation, he tentatively said, "But...... Even so, you still refuse to settle your enmity with Na Meng Zhong? ”

"No way!"

Tian Wen's face changed slightly, and he replied categorically.

Seeing that Tian Wen answered so decisively and simply, Feng Tan had no choice.

In all fairness, Tian Wen is a very contradictory person, and it is indeed not as good as the rumors beautify, thinking that when he Feng Tan first arrived at Tian Wen's mansion, he went to Xue Yi for Tian Wen to collect interest (usury), and then saw that the people of Xue Yi were very miserable, Feng Tan burned those boxes of IOUs in public.

Afterwards, Tian Wen was very angry and drove him Feng Tan out of the mansion.

It wasn't until the end that Tian Wen realized the role of "people's hearts", and personally invited him Feng Tan back, and never mentioned Xue Yi's interest again.

You must know that Tian Wen set interest money in his own fiefdom in order to support the 3,000 guests, but because of his relationship with Feng Chen, he lost all the money with interest, but even so, Tian Wen finally invited Feng Tan back and treated him as a guest.

I have to say that in terms of "light money and heavy faith", Tian Wen is indeed unpraised, but people with such a mind are unwilling to forgive those who have offended him, which makes Feng Tan really a little puzzled.

But......

『…… That's it for now.'"

Feng Chen secretly thought, after all, as far as he could see, Tian Wen was already very satisfied with sending Meng Zhong to Wandi, and was not ready to target Meng Zhong again, but was also ready to use Meng Zhong to thwart the ambitions of the Qin State, so there was no need for him to risk angering Tian Wen to persuade anything.

It's just that in the bottom of his heart, Feng Tan felt that it was a pity, after all, the pair of Zhang Yi and Wei Zhang really frightened the Central Plains countries, and now, Tian Wen and Meng Zhong actually have the opportunity to reach the same height as Zhang Yi and Wei Zhang, but it is a pity that Tian Wen has always refused to really resolve grievances with Meng Zhong.

A few days later, due to Tian Wen's pretenses, Tian Huang finally persuaded Wei Wangjun to allow the garrison of Fangcheng to be expanded to 50,000 people, but just as Tian Huang had promised before, Daliang's side only gave Meng Zhong 30,000 troops of money and food, if Meng Zhong decided to use a full 50,000 troops, the extra 20,000 troops would have to be borne by Meng Zhong himself.

In fact, it is not that the king of Wei is stingy, but in this war, the losses of Wei are too great, and 100,000 soldiers have been killed, and nearly half of them are Wei Wu soldiers.

Under Tian Wen's analysis, he had learned that Qin's next target was Chu, which was intended to force Chu to surrender and attack Wei Han again, so even if the treasury was difficult, Wei Wangjun would allocate the little money left to let Meng Zhong form a new army.

To be exact, it was not only Meng Zhong, Gongsun Zhu's Hedong army, Wei Wangjun also decided to replenish to 100,000 people, after all, Hedong (county) maintained half of Wei's tax revenue, and there was absolutely no room for loss - if he lost this land, then he Wei would no longer be able to stop Qin.

At the same time, Meng Zhong and the others were still on their way to Fangcheng.

Fangcheng, which is located on the southernmost border of the Wei State, is about 600 miles away from Daliang and about 900 miles away from Mengyi, which can be described as very far away.

Because of the long distance, Meng Zhong decided to go back to Mengyi first, on the one hand, to visit his teacher Zhuangzi, on the other hand, to bring the children of the Mengyi families who were willing to join him to Fangcheng, and by the way, to bring his mother, sister and newlywed wife to settle in Fangcheng - after all, if nothing else, Meng Zhong and they would have to live in the Fangcheng area for a long time.

Therefore, when it was time to set off, Meng Zhong divided the team into two teams.

One of them was led by Meng Sui and Meng Hu, of which Meng Sui temporarily commanded about 1,500 foot soldiers, while Meng Hu and his deputy general Cao Chun led more than 300 cavalry along the way to protect, and this team set off for Fangcheng first.

The other team is more than 600 cavalry led by Hua Hu and Mu Wu, who will protect Meng Zhong, Wu Ying, Le Jin, Le Xu and others along the way, first return to Mengyi, and then chase after the team of Meng Sui and Meng Hu.

Considering that the period of going to Fangcheng to serve was a full month, Meng Zhong and the others were not in a hurry.

As for Mengzi's other teacher, Mengzi, there was not much time, so before he left from Daliang, Mengzhong wrote a letter to Mencius, roughly describing his upcoming trip to Fangcheng to serve as the city commander.

There is still a distance between the girder and Mengyi, but because Mengzhong's team is all cavalry, it won't take much time.

However, when crossing the border between the Wei and Song dynasties, it took some work.

The pass on the Wei side was okay, and after Meng Zhong took out the official document of the Wei Wangjun canonizing him as the "Fangcheng Order", the Wei defenders in the pass immediately changed their attitude.

It is worth mentioning that the guard of this pass is the same guard who personally interrogated him when Meng Zhong went to Wei.

In less than a year's work, the boy of Song Guo, who was interrogated by him at the beginning, actually turned into the city guard of a city, and I have to say that the guard general was also very surprised.

Compared with Wei Pass, the pass through the Song State was even more troublesome, even if Meng Zhong told his hometown and explained his intentions, he could not persuade the guards of the Song Pass to open the gate and let them enter the Song State.

In the end, Meng Zhong could only let Cai Cheng and Lü Wen lead more than 600 cavalry to station outside the Song Kingdom, while Meng Zhong returned to Mengyi with Hua Hu, Mu Wu, Xiang Yi, Wu Ying, Meng Heng, Meng Min and others.

It can be seen that although Wei and Song are now allied, the military and civilians of the two countries still do not trust each other, so the Song general naturally will not let more than 600 Wei cavalry under the command of Meng Zhong enter the country - this is the responsibility of the people.

After temporarily leaving more than 600 cavalry, Meng Zhong and others rode horses, while Meng Heng and Meng Min rode chariots, and the two sides traveled for two days before finally arriving in Mengyi.

After entering the territory of Mengyi, Meng Zhong instructed the two clan brothers, Meng Heng and Meng Min, to return to Mengyi with their brother Meng Ao first, while he, together with Hua Hu, Mu Wu, Xiang Yi, Wu Ying, Le Jin, Le Xu and others, first went to Zhuangziju to visit their teacher Zhuangfuzi.

The speed of the cavalry was naturally much faster than that of the chariot, and in just half an hour, Meng Zhong and his party arrived at Zhuangziju.

I saw that their group tied their war horses to the bamboo forest outside Zhuangzi's residence, and walked to the village one by one, which frightened the children of various families living in the village.

It's no wonder who let Meng Zhong and these people wear military uniforms one by one and hang a sharp sword at their waists.

However, after the children of the Le family in Zhuangzi's residence recognized Le Jin and Le Xu, and the children of the rest of the family also recognized Meng Zhong, Hua Hu, Wu Ying, Xiang Yi and other clansmen of their family, the other party knew that it was just a false alarm, and hurriedly reported to Zhuangzi and Zhuang Bo on their behalf.

After a while, Meng Hu led Hua Hu, Mu Wu, Xiang Yu, Wu Ying, Le Jin, Le Xu and others to the hall of the main house to meet their teacher Zhuangzi, and respectfully kowtowed to this teacher a few times, as a disciple who failed to serve the teacher's side to make amends.

Actually, Zhuangzi didn't care about these false courtesies, but considering that this was the heartfelt behavior of Meng Zhong and other disciples, he wouldn't stop it—let it be.

It wasn't until Meng Zhong and the others had made a heavy salute that Zhuangzi smiled and asked, "What did you gain from going to Wei this time?" ”

Hearing this, Meng Zhong arched his hand and said: "Back to the teacher's words, when the disciples and others were in the Wei State, they went to rescue Korea as the Wei army, and luckily defeated the invading Qin State in Yique, helping Korea to repel the incoming enemy and recapture Yiyang and Xincheng, so the King of Wei sealed the disciple Fangcheng Order, and gave 3,000 households in Yeyi and Wuyang as food ......."

At that time, Uncle Zhuang was also beside him, and after listening to Meng Zhong's words, his eyes widened in surprise.

He was surprised and asked, "Three thousand households?" ”

"Yes, Uncle Johnson." Meng Zhong nodded.

Hearing this, Zhuang Bo showed a happy look from the bottom of his heart.

It's no wonder, after all, he has no heirs, and Meng Zhong, Meng Sui, Hua Hu, Mu Wu, Xiang Yi, Wu Ying, Le Jin, Le Xu and others, almost he and Zhuangzi have grown up, and his children and grandchildren are no different.

He smiled and said, "The old man immediately asked those boys in the house to prepare some dishes, and they must celebrate today." ”

With that, he left happily.

Compared with Zhuang Bo, Zhuangzi's reaction was calmer, after all, this is a great sage in the opposition who abandons the position of the prime minister of a country, and a mere "Fang Cheng Order" can't enter his eyes, what he values has always been only Meng Zhong, Meng Sui, Hua Hu, Mu Wu, Xiang Yu, Wu Ying, Le Jin, Le Xu, these disciples.

I saw him nod and said, "Got the fiefdom?" That's great, and then you can take the opportunity to learn how to govern the country. In this world, there are all kinds of lords and gentlemen, and some lords and gentlemen follow the sky and are supported by the people; while others acted perversely, and were eventually expelled or even killed by the people...... You and everyone are all grown up by the old man, the old man understands your temperament, but there is no need to make any more instructions, I believe that you will be able to govern Fangcheng, Yeyi, and Wuyang well. ”

"Yes."

Meng Zhong bowed his head respectfully, and immediately put forward his thoughts: "Teacher, when I came, the disciple and the others discussed it, hoping to welcome the teacher to Fangcheng, so that the disciple and the others could serve the teacher every day. ”

"Hehehe......"

Master Zhuang laughed when he heard this, stroked his beard and smiled: "It's enough for you to have this heart, as for the old man...... The old man is used to living here, and he doesn't want to go through the rush to Fangcheng......"

Seeing this, Meng Zhong and Hua Hu, Mu Wu, Xiang Yu, Wu Ying, Le Jin, and Le Xu glanced at each other, and they were inevitably a little disappointed in their hearts.

That night, Meng Zhong and the others stayed temporarily in Zhuangzi's residence to receive a celebratory banquet prepared for them by Uncle Zhuang and the children of various families in Zhuangzi.

However, although it is a celebratory feast, the dishes are actually quite ordinary, and the amount is not very much, and in the end, everyone only eats seven or eight points full, after all, what Zhuangzi hates most is extravagance and waste - as a Taoist disciple, even a grain of rice is not allowed to be wasted, after all, this is a godsend.

After eating, Zhuangzi tested the knowledge of the disciples one by one, asking them what books they had read during the Wei period.

I have to say that when Zhuangzi asked this question, Hua Hu, Mu Wu, Xiang Yi, Wu Ying, Le Jin, Le Xu and others all changed their complexions, lowered their heads and shrank their heads, and showed a look of contempt, but Meng Zhong said with confidence: "When I was in the Wei State, my disciples had read all the "The Legend of the Spring and Autumn Ram". ”

After Meng Zhong's explanation, Zhuangzi learned about the "Legend of the Ram in the Spring and Autumn Period", that is, the Confucian sage Confucius passed it on to his disciple Zi Xia, and Zi Xia passed it on to the ram Gao, and the ram Gao passed it on to his son Ram Ping, which tells the historical record of the rise and fall of the Lu state.

When he thought of Confucianism, Zhuangzi couldn't help but think of Meng Ke's hateful old face, and then he was not interested in it.

However, Meng Zhong's diligent and studious behavior was highly appreciated by Zhuangzi.

There is one thing that Taoism and Confucianism have in common, and that is the attitude towards "learning".

Even when he lived to the age of Zhuangzi, he was still learning the celestial phenomena and figuring out the will of heaven, while Confucianism also attached great importance to learning - the difference between the two families was only that Taoist disciples studied in order to improve their own literacy and pursue the way of heaven; Most of the Confucian disciples studied to better become officials. [PS: There are also Confucian disciples who live in seclusion to do learning and do not ask about the world, especially the branches that are deeply influenced by Taoist thought, but most Confucian disciples study for the sake of their careers. 】

The next day, Meng Zhong, Hua Hu, Mu Wu, Xiang Yi, Wu Ying, Le Jin, and Le Xu temporarily left Zhuangziju, and separated outside Zhuangziju, and each returned to their own families, and agreed to gather the children of the family who intended to go to Fangcheng with Meng Zhong in Mengyi, while Meng Zhong returned home to reunite with his mother, sister, and newlywed wife.

I have to say that when they learned that Meng Zhong had obtained 3,000 households of food in the Wei State, the Meng clan attached great importance to it, and instead of preventing the young people in the Meng Heng and Meng Min families from defecting to Meng Zhong, they were extremely supportive.

It's no wonder, after all, the old people in the clan like Meng Qi, Meng Yuan, Meng Yan and other old people also feel that the Song Kingdom is gradually no longer peaceful, and this may become a place of four wars, for the continuation of the family, they decided to let some young people follow Meng Zhong to Fangcheng, while the other half is guarding the homeland of Mengyi.

Also, how can the ancestral industry that has been passed down from generation to generation be easily parted with?

A day later, Hua Hu, Mu Wu, Xiang Yu, Wu Ying, Le Jin, and Le Xu led the brothers of their respective families who intended to defect to Mengzhong, and under the leadership of the patriarchs and elders of each family, they came to the hometown of the Mengshi clan, and the Mengshi family held a banquet for this purpose.

Counting the children of these families who are willing to defect to Mengzhong, there are no less than 300 people.

It is no surprise that these children of various families will become the core of Meng Zhong's team in Fangcheng in the future, and Meng Zhong will revolve around them to reorganize an army of 50,000 people.

Five days later, on August 22, Meng Zhong and others bid farewell to their teacher Zhuang Fuzi, bid farewell to their families, and slowly went to Fangcheng with their respective families.

On the way, Meng Zhong took out a roll of bamboo slips that his teacher Zhuangzi had given him when he was leaving, and slowly unfolded it.

I saw that there were only two words written on the bamboo slips.

Chungdo!

This is the epigram that Zhuangzi chose for Meng Zhong.

Originally, Meng Zhong's name "Zhong" was actually purely the second brother in line, so Meng Zhong simply said that Meng Zhong meant Meng Er.

However, the "zhong" in the table character taken by Zhuangzi for Meng Zhong takes the meaning of "zhong", that is, it is impartial and located in it.

As the name suggests, Zhuangzi chose the word Zhongdao for Meng Zhong, hoping that he would not be invaded by foreign objects such as fame and fortune, be impartial, take his own path, and pursue the road that only belongs to him.

"Meng Zhong, the word Zhongdao ......"

Although it was a little difficult to read, Meng Zhong repeated it with great interest.

Because of this word, he placed high expectations on him from his teacher Zhuangzi.

Set a small goal first, such as remembering in 1 second: book guest residence