The "Junzi Battalion" brought together more than 40 Central Plains scholars who took refuge in Shile, which can be regarded as Shile's secretariat, and Zhang Bin, the governor of the "Junzi Battalion", is the secretary general. These more than 40 scholars, plus their family members, servants, and some Central Plains people recruited to serve as guards, also had a total of seven or eight hundred, occupying a considerable block in the east of Xuchang City.

Since the end of the Han Dynasty, Xuchang is a famous city in Zhongzhou, the hukou was originally very prosperous, but it has also become a major focus of contention for all parties, for several years it has been repeatedly warned, and the residents of the city do not have one in a hundred - although there are many who died under the soldiers, for various reasons forced or actively fleeing, it accounts for the vast majority - a large number of vacant houses. Most of the Hu people in Shile's army were still accustomed to sleeping at the checkout, and Shile was also strict in his management of martial artists, asking them to be as consistent as possible with the soldiers; He knew that the people of the Central Plains liked to live in tiled houses, so many of the empty houses they occupied were allocated to the "gentleman's camp" - regardless of whether they were really full or not.

Therefore, Shi Le ordered Zhang Bin to prepare a residence for Pei Gai and Pei's family, which was a very simple matter, but Zhang Bin was immediately summoned away by Shi Le—they had to immediately agree on the order of the march to the north to attack Luoyang, for fear that once there was a delay, the great achievements would be snatched away by Liu Yao, Wang Mi and others—so they entrusted the matter to a subordinate.

This person's surname is simply the name of the Taoist to the complex, a native of Dongping County, born in a small family, just a little bit of literature and ink, the county Zhongzheng commented on him as a lower middle, basically has nothing to do with being an official. But he knew a little about medicine, and he took refuge in Shile very early on—before Zhang Bin—so that after the establishment of the "Gentleman's Battalion", he was also able to join it, and Zhang Bin often assigned him some chores in the camp, which were handled in an orderly manner. In a sense, he can't be regarded as Shi Le's secretary, but Zhang Bin's secretary, or a relatively low-level kind.

Jian Dao's face is quite kind, plus he has no status, and he has not seen much of the world, I heard that Pei Gaishi is promoted to a free cavalry permanent attendant, Nanchang County Marquis, my God, it is simply a big man like a god in the sky! Not to mention that he also has a princess of the East China Sea by his side...... Even if the Han and Jin were friends or enemies, he instinctively courteously courteous and flattered, just as a slave treats the honored guests of his master's house.

And he arranged a considerable house for Pei's aunt and nephew, which is said to have originally been lived by the county governor, although the backyard wall collapsed in half, just one front yard was enough to house twenty or thirty people. Pei's aunt and nephew only had one maid Yun'er by her side, the one who was in the picture of Jiao'an, and she was a good person to the end, and she was also returned to Pei's - anyway, it was just a dewy marriage, and she didn't plan to be a concubine - so Jian Dao also specially called more than a dozen veterans to help the Pei family settle down.

He said to Pei Gai: "Most of the relics in the city have no source of food and clothing, and they make a living by carrying supplies and equipment for the army and repairing the city walls. The last official may go and buy a few slaves and maidservants for the princess to drive—but if you do not know what kind of style you need, please give me advice. ”

Pei Gai looked at the other party coldly, although the people were kind enough to stick their hot faces over, but when he thought of hearing that this person took the initiative and was not forced to take refuge in Hu Lu, it was difficult for him to get along with Yan. couldn't help pouting at the moment: "The city is ruined, the land is barren, and the people have no food and clothing, I don't know whose fault it is?!" ”

Jian Dao was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then replied with a smile: "When the former county prince took the city, the state of desolation was no different from today. This is not a place to live for a long time, and the horses are handsome, so it has not been able to stabilize the people's livelihood and resume farming and weaving. ”

Pei Cai's original intention was: It is precisely because Hu Qi disturbed the Central Plains that the people were miserable, and you would even take the initiative to take refuge in the Hu people, do you have a conscience? ! But Jian Dao misunderstood, thinking that Pei should blame them for failing to restore people's livelihood when they stayed in Xuchang for a long time-aren't you from the Central Plains? Isn't it Schle's counselor? You don't need to fight a war, don't you know how to do it in a stable place?

In fact, Jian Dao was quite happy in his heart, and Pei Cai was stunned when he heard his answer, so he hurriedly added: "However, Pei Gong punished him, and the last official was taught." "You didn't treat me as a human being, and I was a staff officer of Shile, why else would you ask me about people's livelihood?" In the "Gentleman's Camp", I am afraid that except for Mr. Zhang, this Mr. Pei is willing to treat me as an equal.

Pei Cai looked at the other party's expression, observed his words, and roughly understood what this person was thinking, and couldn't help but cry and laugh a little, and his anger was vented on the spot. So he thought about it for a moment and responded: "You don't need to hire more people, two or three are enough, you can plan for yourself." ”

When they were roughly settled—in fact, they didn't have any luggage, but they just asked the veterans to light torches and sprinkle the houses and courtyards—Pei should have blasted Jian Dao and the others away, and then turned back to the upper room to see Pei.

Pei's is naturally no longer dressed as a servant now. Hu Qi grabbed a lot of supplies, they simply looked at everything, they wanted everything, those silk clothes, head jewelry, naturally there was no shortage of everything, Shi Le picked out some rewards for Pei Gai on the way, and asked him to hand them over to Pei - it can be seen that this person is very thoughtful, and he is also very good at all kinds of means to win people's hearts. Pei's half of his life is clothed and fed, and he is not a person who can afford to suffer too much, in the past, he was afraid that his life and chastity would be threatened, so he would wear rough and unkempt clothes, but now that he has the conditions, he will naturally wear them all.

When Pei Gaibao entered, Pei had just finished washing his face, and was lighting candles and powdering the mirror under the service of the maid. Pei should stand with his head down, not daring to face it squarely—this is the etiquette of this era, not that the soul in his shell is embarrassed to see a woman wearing makeup.

When Pei Shi saw him come in, he raised his eyebrows slightly, and immediately instructed the maid: "You go out first, and close the door." The maid agreed, and walked past Pei Gai in small steps, and went out of the door—Pei Gai squinted at it, the little girl was only fourteen or fifteen years old, and she had not yet fully developed, and she couldn't help but say to herself, you beast, you really can do it!

However, the aesthetics and habits of this era are like this, and it is impossible to demand a robber with any moral standards, he scolded bitterly in his heart, and put the matter behind him, and did not dislike Yu An even more because of this—anyway, he is not a friend or foe, and his own favorability value in his own mind is negative.

When the door closed, there was no third person in the room. The two sides were silent for a while, and Pei Shi first turned his head and asked, "What are you going to do?" ”

Pei Gai had been listening with his anger just now, and it seemed that there was no other movement in the courtyard except for the footsteps of the maids - it was estimated that Shi Le and Zhang Bin would not have sent someone to monitor him so quickly, and when Jian Dao "bought" a few slaves and maids, he would have to be careful at that time. But when he heard Pei's inquiry, he couldn't help but take two steps closer, and then sat down on his knees—because Pei was sitting, and if he was still standing and talking, looking down condescendingly, it would be too disrespectful—and he lowered his voice and said, "Take shelter for the time being, and seek an opportunity to escape." ”

Pei Shixiu raised his eyebrows again, and also lowered his voice: "Go to Pengguan?" ”

Pei Gai shook his head: "This is not a day or two. ”

Shi Le led his troops north to attack Luoyang, and it was likely to pass near Pengguan, even if the two sides did not have sword soldiers for the time being, Chen Wu of Pengguan could not stay for a long time. Listening to Pei's words, his brother Pei Song asked for orders to go to Pengguan to ask Chen Wu for help in Luoyang, Pei should feel that this matter is not old and reliable. Thinking that Chen Wu is not a genuine general, but a "beggar army" commander all the way, how can he have the courage and strength to enter the capital at this moment and throw himself into the tiger's den? Besides, even the real Jin soldiers and generals will try to get as far away from the capital as possible in this situation......

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By the way, I would like to explain "begging", which is a unique historical phenomenon produced in the last years of the Western Jin Dynasty.

At the end of the day, the ontology of "begging" is the "homeless people", because famine and turmoil have led to the misery of the people in some areas, and a large number of poor rural people have been forced to leave their hometowns and go to other prefectures and counties to beg or work part-time, and then under the hostility of the local residents and the expulsion of the government, they have gathered together to seek self-protection, thus forming groups of displaced people of various sizes.

At that time, there were many homeless people and homeless groups in various places, and the largest group was because of the rebellion of Guanzhong Qi Wannian, which led to tens of thousands of homeless people entering Shu, and finally gave birth to the Chenghan regime. However, the "begging work" is not only a homeless people, but it is not an ordinary group of displaced people, because of the famine in the state and the disturbance of Hu Kou, so the state generals Tian Zhen, Bo Sheng and others took the initiative to organize the refugees and followed the assassin Shi and Yan Wang Sima Teng to Jizhou to seek food. The banner of this group is "begging", which means that they only want to survive and have no other plans. They called themselves "beggars", and the local government and residents were contemptuously called "beggars".

Compared with other homeless groups, the "begging work" is more organized, and it is mixed with many state generals and state soldiers, and has also fought with the Hu Han army, so it has considerable combat effectiveness, and is not an ordinary rabble. But at this time, the Hu and Han regimes were in full swing, but there were still warlords fighting and fighting endlessly in the Western Jin Dynasty, and even Sima Teng had already been a ghost under the knife, and the "begging work" was naturally dispersed, and it was scattered in the vast Kanto regions such as Yan, Henan, Si, and Hebei, and there were dozens of shares in size.

Pei Gai knew what "begging" was all about in his previous life, and as for the name of "Chen Wu", he was found in his fragmented memories and learned that he was the commander of a larger "begging army" in Henan, and it was said that there were 100,000 people in his department. However, just like the "Yellow Turban Army" at the end of the Han Dynasty, the "begging work" is also a semi-armed group of old and weak women and children advancing and retreating together, and the real capable soldiers are probably less than one-tenth of the total number, coupled with the inferior equipment and insufficient food, it is simply impossible to carry the large army of the Hu and Han Kingdoms like Shile.

And even the regular Jin Army, and even the Central Army, have seen the performance inside and outside Ningping City, Pei Gai has also seen it......

Therefore, Pei Song went to tell Chen Wu that unless Chen Wu was an idiot, or an inexplicable foolish and loyal person, he would never go to Luo to help guard; And if he is really stupid, entering Luoyang is equivalent to stepping into a death trap with one foot - Liu Yao, Wang Mi, Shi Le and other Hu Han armies will soon be surrounded from all directions.

Therefore, if he escaped to Pengguan, he would not be able to find Pei Song at all - either he would enter Luoyang with Chen Wu, or he would return to Luoyang alone, or he would flee elsewhere. And Pei should reply to Pei simply and concisely: "This is not the work of one or two days." "It means that we have just arrived, and we have not yet gained the trust of Shile, and we must not escape at this time, and if we want to escape, we must first lie dormant for a while, be fully prepared, and then find the right time to do so.

Don't talk about Pei Song at that time, even Chen Wu will probably not be in Pengguan.

Listening to Pei Gai's words, Pei Shi frowned slightly, and asked again: "The Hu army will attack Luoyang, what does Wen Yue think is the chance of winning?" ”

Pei Gai smiled bitterly: "Since the king left the city, Luoyang will be empty. The army was cruising outside, and the Hu cavalry did not dare to attack, and the attack was afraid of being attacked by the abdomen and back; Now that the army is annihilated, it will inevitably attack Luoyang, and Luoyang will fall into the hands of the enemy. ”

"How is the Son of Heaven?"

Pei Gai continued to smile bitterly: "Either he is a prisoner, or he is dead." He knew that in history, Emperor Sima Chi of Jin Huai was captured by Hu Hanjun on the way to escape and made a prisoner, but history may have changed, and there is no need to act as a prophet here.

Pei Shi couldn't help but sigh gloomily: "Is Jin Zuo going to end?" ”

Pei Gai's eyes narrowed slightly, and he replied in a deep voice: "Wang Qi should be in Jianye!" ”

Pei Shi looked at him, his eyebrows stretched slightly, and then nodded: "Yes, I advised Brother Ru to avoid Jiangdong, although it is now in the hands of the Hu people, and finally he should go to Jianye." Then he suddenly stretched out his hand and pressed lightly on the outside of Pei Gai's big arm: "You are good at living, don't live up to my hopes, and don't think of me again." ”

Pei Cai puffed up his chest: "Since I should go to Jianye with my aunt to ......" Speaking of this, he paused slightly, and suddenly asked: "I don't know if my aunt may ride a horse?" ”

I'm planning to flee with you, Shi Le is not Cao Cao, he won't give us a robe and let us go, when the time comes, I don't imagine Guan Yun is long, send his sister-in-law for thousands of miles, and there is a carriage behind the red rabbit horse, how cumbersome it is, are you sure you can run away?

Pei replied: "I have ridden before, but I am not very proficient. ”

Pei Gai said that I was too, but—"Nephews and aunts should be skilled in horsemanship, so that they can benefit the future." ”