The two or three days of the southward journey of the Great Liang of the Wei State is the capital of the Chu State, Yingchen, also known as Chencheng.

Chen Cheng was originally the former capital of the Chen State, and in the late Spring and Autumn Period, the Chu State set up Chen County here, making it a strategic place for the Chu State to look out at the countries and pass through the Central Plains.

In 278 BC, the Qin general Bai Qi led an army to attack Chu Yingdu. "Historical Records, Chronology of the Six Kingdoms, Chu Table" contains: Qin pulled out my Ying, burned Yiling, and the king died and left Chen. "Qin Benji" contains: Daliang made Bai to attack Chu and took Ying as the southern county.

In that year, under the fierce offensive of Bai Qi, King Qingxiang of Chu had to move the capital of Chu to the east for more than 1,000 miles and set the capital in Chencheng with the grief and indignation that the tombs of the previous kings of Chu were burned down by war.

Today, after years of operation, this ancient city that has suffered many vicissitudes of life seems to present a king atmosphere. Because this place is far away from the Qin country, and there are the Zhou royal family and Korea as a barrier in the west, when the king of Chu Huai was imprisoned by the Qin state and died, the king of Chu Qingxiang was killed by the Qin army and fled from the wind, all kinds of past seems to have disappeared, in the tall city wall and gorgeous palace against the background, the Chu people are taking leisurely steps, twisting their graceful posture, immersed in a corner of the time. Even if the two countries of Qin and Zhao have been killed all over the field and the blood is flowing like a river, when they get here, they don't even bother to mention the street discussions, and the elegant melody of attacking and singing is sometimes heard from the wine shop on the side of the road, attracting some passers-by to stop and linger.

Chen Zheng and his entourage found a post house to live in Yingchen City, and after inquiring, they learned that the grain of Chu State could only be purchased by Chu people, and the purchase was restricted according to the population of each household.

How can this be good?!

After Chen Zheng thought about it, it seemed that he had conceived this grain purchase plan too simply, no wonder Zhao Sheng didn't send others, it turned out that he deliberately gave himself a problem.

Li Mu proposed, why didn't Brother Lu go to King Chu and Chun Shenjun?

But Chen Zheng thought of those beauties of the Chu Kingdom, and thought of Huang Xie's countless guests, especially when he had never met Xiong Wan, the king of Chu, he also shook his head and sighed, hesitating.

A few days have passed, and the matter of grain purchase has not yet been sorted out.

Kong Piercing is happy, looking careless, with his practical actions to practice the famous saying of "what comes is safe", wandering alone among the wine shops and teahouses all day long.

Jing Hammer found his temporary home in a gambling house near the post house, and after losing every day, he quietly borrowed some from Li Mu.

Perhaps because this place is the capital of the Chu State, Chen Zheng and Li Mu traveled all over the city to buy grain, even the once invincible and invincible golden cakes are useless in front of shaking their heads and waving their hands at this time.

In desperation, Chen Zheng and Li Mu sat on the floor in a wine shop, drinking each other melancholy, perhaps inspiring some inspiration from the street discussion and obtaining some valuable information.

Several personable princes of Chu were on the side, some were building, some were dancing swords, and one of them sang: "The sun and the moon are not drowned, and spring and autumn are in order." Only the grass and trees are scattered, and the twilight of the beauty is afraid. If you don't grow strong and abandon filth, why not change it? Take a ride to gallop, come to Wudaofu first..."

Chen Zheng was fascinated by what he heard, and sighed lightly: "Isn't this a poem in "Lisao"?!" ”

Li Mu nodded and said, "Exactly!" It's a pity that the Si people have passed away, and the Sanlu doctor of the year is no longer there! ”

Chen Zheng looked at Li Mu: "I didn't expect that my brother would know Doctor Sanlu, it's really rare!" ”

"Brother Mo is not making fun of the little brother?! Who in the world doesn't know Qu Yuan, the Sanlu doctor of Chu State?! The younger brother once heard Lord Yu Qing say that King Chu Huai was surrounded by a group of villains who did everything for personal gain, not only exiled Dr. Sanlu repeatedly, but he himself was deceived into going to Qin State, and ended up dying in a foreign country. It's pathetic! ”

Chen Zheng sighed: "Yes! A person who is a king must first have a pair of discerning eyes! If you can't know people, how can you use people?! Mo Ziyun: With a sage, the sage will be complete; With a villain, the villain tends to be together. If King Chu Huai can trust and reuse the sage, the talented and wise people in the world will come one after another, if the villain is regarded as a person to rely on, then he can only be surrounded by the villain, how can he see the sage?! ”

"Big brother, do you know how to tell the difference between a gentleman and a villain?"

Chen Zheng waved his hand lightly: "If a gentleman and a villain can be distinguished in a few words, then the gentleman is popular in the world and the villain has nowhere to hide." ”

"Brother Lu, you might as well talk about it briefly!"

"Huh! The gentleman is still righteous, and the villain is just profiteous. The gentleman and the villain should not be lightly asserted, as soon as they come, the gentleman will become a villain with a thought, and the villain will become a gentleman if he repents; Second, the gentleman is inevitably confused with the villain when he has no choice, and the villain is often dressed as a gentleman of good manners. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to distinguish between a gentleman and a villain. ”

"Brother Lu, I think that this gentleman's deeds are more important than his words, even if he has a talent, he often can't do it, and he will inevitably seem clumsy and unliked. And what about the villains? But they are all exaggerated, say more and do less, and even only say that they will not do, since the talent is not as good as the gentleman, they will do their best in articulate and opportunistic, these people have a smile on their faces, smeared honey on their mouths, and they are swaying by shaking their heads and tails, slandering the gentleman and rising to the top, Qingyun is ambitious, although it looks liked, but the stomach is filled with a snake and scorpion heart, sooner or later one day will open his teeth and claws, and his original form will be revealed, even if you have been kind to him, he is also a grudge to repay virtue, ungrateful, really teach people to guard against it! ”

Chen Zheng was stunned: "Brother Li has a lot of experience in this!" It seems that we need to be more careful with those who smile and nod their heads, and those who are courteous for a reason or no reason. Hahahaha! ”

At this time, a prince of Chu who was standing not far away sang: "The water of the waves is clear, and you can wet it." The water of the waves is turbid, and you can wet my feet. The water of the waves is clear and turbid. I'm on my feet..."

Li Mu said with emotion: "I can't imagine that an ordinary fisherman on the edge of the Yuan River would have such a realm, what a strange person!" ”

Chen Zheng said abruptly: "The water of the waves has been passed down through the ages, but it comes from the mouth of the fisherman by the river, which is indeed incredible. ”

"Through the ages? Why did Brother Lu say this? ”

"Oh~!" Chen Zheng hurriedly changed the topic: "Brother Li, do you know what else the fisherman said?" ”

Li Mu smiled: "Brother Lu wants to fail the test for me again?" I think that when Dr. Sanlu was exiled by King Chu Huai, he was wandering alone by the Yuan River, he was really full of ambition but unable to display it, how sad! The fisherman on the river didn't know why, but he recognized the appearance of Dr. Sanlu. Dr. Sanlu was asked by the fisherman why he was depressed and said at this time: The whole world is turbid, I am alone, everyone is drunk and I am sober, so I was exiled. The fisherman actually said, "The saint is not stagnant in things, but can move with the world, and the people in the world are filthy, so why not muddy the muddy water and put it in it?" People in the world are unconscious, so why not drink and get drunk with them? Why do you want to torture yourself and pretend to be high, and end up being banished? ”

"What does Doctor Sanlu say?"

"Dr. Sanlu said that if you have just washed your hair, you have to flick your hat, and you have just taken a bath to shake your clothes, how can you let your innocent body be infected by the dust of the world? I'd rather jump into the Xiangjiang River and die in the belly of a fish than teach myself to be innocent. ”

"And then?"

When the fisherman heard this, he said nothing, and paddled away with a smile.

Chen Zheng said abruptly: "For those noble people, it is more painful to be with the light and dust and the same stream than to die!" I don't know how many people in this world are forced to laugh and make compromises in the passage of time, and call those who tend to be angry and forget their righteousness all day long, pushing cups and changing lamps, and over time, I am afraid that I can't even tell who I am. Life is a life, grass and trees are autumn. Although the integrity is noble, it will make people withered and wander alone. What about the passage of time? But it will make people brightly clothed and noble in front of people. The former is sad, and the latter is not sad?! ”

Seeing Chen Zheng's sadness, Li Mu smiled and said, "Speaking of resentment against me, how can you teach Brother Lu to express such emotion when you talk about it?!" Oh yes, I don't know what Brother Lu's plans are for this trip to Chu State? ”

Chen Zheng smiled bitterly: "When my brother asks about this, brother, don't I have to sigh even more?!" ”

Li Mu suddenly had an idea: "Brother Lu, I have an idea!" This capital of Chu is under the nose of the King of Chu, so it is naturally a decree to purge, and leaving this place may be a different situation. Why don't you and I go out of the city and go to the hinterland of Chu State? ”

When Chen Zheng heard this, he seemed to have some truth.

Just then, there was a burst of cries and shouts outside.

Outside the restaurant, a luxury carriage crashed into a woman, who fell to the ground with a painful look. A boy of four or five years old stood beside the woman, crying in fright.

The coachman in the carriage scolded casually: "Something that doesn't have long eyes! Then he threw two or three brass plates at the woman's side, raised his whip, and went on.

The surrounding crowd gathered, and several big men stood in front of the carriage and put on a posture of commenting.

The coachman shouted, "What do you want to do?" It's against you! Do you know who my son-in-law is? Those who know each other immediately dodge Lao Tzu, otherwise don't blame Lao Tzu's whip for not recognizing people. ”

As soon as the words fell, the surrounding people gathered more and more, and the carriage was surrounded on all sides.

Just as people were pointing, a man jumped out of the carriage, and saw that this person was about twenty years old, with slanted eyes and crooked mouth, and his shoulders were one high and one low.

The man stretched out his hand and gestured around, and his mouth was not ambiguous: "Do you know who my Lao Tzu is?" ”

The coachman looked at the speechless people around him, and said proudly: "Lao Tzu knows that you don't know!" To tell you the truth, my son-in-law's son is the general of Jingyang. Then he pointed to the son: "This is General Jingyang's favorite little son." What do you think? Scared, right? Don't you want Lao Tzu to dodge?! ”

The boy pulled the male duck's throat: "My son is Jingyang." You dare to stop this son's carriage, and you don't want to stand up alive! My Lao Tzu is Jingyang. Don't say that Ben Gongzi's carriage hit someone, even if he killed this short-eyed person, there is also my Lao Tzu on top. My Lao Tzu is Jingyang. ”

When the onlookers heard the word "Jingyang", they were so frightened that their faces were bloodless, and they dodged one after another.

Li Mu, who was standing on the periphery of the crowd, twisted his face and looked at Chen Zheng beside him: "What does Brother Lu think?" ”

Chen Zheng said quietly: "What can you think?" Life and death are downbeat, and if you don't accept it, you will do it! Later, you can give this guy some color, and I will call our people to wait for you outside the city. ”

"Which outside the city did the eldest brother say?"

"The post house is the closest to the West Gate, of course, outside the West Gate. When you are done, you can go out of the city through the other gates, and make a detour outside the west gate to meet us again. ”

"The eldest brother really thought it through. What about the son of Gao Gongzi? ”

"His 'son once said, 'Haven't you heard enough?!'"

"Big brother is saying, let's dump..."

Without waiting for Li Mu to finish speaking, Chen Zheng broke off and shouted: "Wait!" ”

The crowd that was gradually dispersed heard this cry and stopped to watch from afar. The people in front of Chen Zheng all looked at the slightly shabby-dressed young man behind him in amazement, and couldn't help but give way to it.

Chen Zheng and Li Mu walked to the front of the carriage.

The boy looked the two people in front of him up and down, and chuckled, "What advice do you have?" My Lao Tzu is Jingyang. ”

Chen Zheng also smiled: "I can't talk about advice." However, you Lao Tzu is not Jingyang, but someone else, right? ”

"What do you mean by that?"

Chen Zheng stretched out his hand and pointed at the coachman: "This person claims to be a Lao Tzu, in my opinion, you Lao Tzu is also unknown?!" You father and son want to run away when they hit someone, do you really think that there is no king law here?! ”

The boy glared: "Our father and son, oh no, what does this son have to do with you?" My Lao Tzu, oh no, my dad is Jingyang. Who are you? ”

Chen Zheng smiled: "Well, my surname is Wu Mingsong." It doesn't matter if your son is a tiger on Jingyang Gang or a town in Guanxi, grandpa, I can't get used to being a bully like you. I'm also weird, why is there a person everywhere my dad is here and my dad is there? Your dad is no better than you! ”

"My father is Jingyang, the general of the Chu State." The boy stared at Chen Zheng with a disbelieving expression.

"Okay, okay, got it." Speaking of this, Chen Zheng turned his face to look at Li Mu: "Brother, then bother you to teach that general a lesson for this son who does not grow up, how about it?" Oh yes, don't be too heavy, lest you have to beat this fight too hard, and then he will be a blessing in disguise. ”

The surrounding people saw that Chen Zheng was relieved by the kind words of the mother and son, and after taking out a string of copper coins and handing them to the boy, he walked out of the crowd flutteringly.

Just as people raised their eyes to look at the figure of the cloth boy, they turned their heads to see that the mother and son in front of the carriage were also gone, and a "crackling" and unusually crisp sound echoed on both sides of the street, the sound was so pleasant, so moving, so instructive, so refreshing.