In May, with the arrival of summer, the shrike birds are scattered in flocks on the treetops, calling for food, and the chirping in the shade of the trees is noisy day and night from the beginning, chirping for the last summer of the year.

In the chirping of birds and insects, Xiao Pei, who was supposed to be immersed in the busy season of farming, accidentally fell into the urgent atmosphere before the conquest of the army, and the summer grain harvested in the fields was soon conscripted into the barracks as military rations, and every household was closed doors, and they also noticed this unusual atmosphere, and heard that Liu Yuanjun in the city was going to fight again, and this time it was a big battle, and Ding Zhuang, a civilian servant under the rule of large-scale forced conscription, went out with the army.

Xiaopei is Pei County, which once Gaozu raised an army against Qin. It belongs to Peiguo under the rule of Yuzhou Thorn History, but it happens to be stuck between the three states of Yanzhou, Yuzhou and Xuzhou. In the troubled times, as a place where soldiers must fight, it has fallen into a situation where there is no war, and there are often soldiers and horses plundering the border.

Most of the time, it is the soldiers and horses of Yanzhou and Yuzhou who cross the border.

In order to prevent local forces from taking risks, the principle of dividing the states and counties of the imperial court has always been "dogs and teeth" rather than "mountains and rivers".

Liang Fu and Kangfu, the two dangerous roads that entered the territory of Xuzhou, "the car can not be squared, and the horse cannot be ridden in a row" are controlled under the rule of Yanzhou, and the soldiers and horses of Xuzhou have no danger to defend.

Therefore, Xuzhou needs Xiaopei as its western barrier. Xiao Pei was sandwiched between the two, which also caused a situation in which Lu Bu, who was based in Xuzhou, and Cao Cao, who was based in the Central Plains, wanted to suppress and win over Liu Bei.

Although Lu Bu, who was in exile, nominally got Xuzhou, but in fact only controlled part of Pengchengguo, Xiapi and Donghai County, Langya and Donghai had Taishan soldiers led by Zang Ba, Guangling County was controlled by Chen Deng, and Xiaopei was ruled by Liu Bei, who was asked by Cao Cao to be named Yuzhou Mu, and what he got was Xuzhou, which was withered and fragmented, and his strength was still weak.

It's just that now, Cao Cao of Xu Du doesn't plan to keep Lu Bu, who doesn't seem to be strong. Although last year, Lü Bu was still an important ally he sent to deal with Yuan Shu.

Liu Bei of Xiaopei, after the beginning of spring, received a secret edict from the imperial court, the edict declared that Lu Bu of Xuzhou was still secretly in contact with Yuan Shu, who claimed to be the Son of Heaven, and the imperial court was ready to use troops in a big way after the autumn to crusade against Lu Bu who disobeyed the king's orders and fornicated with traitors, and ordered Liu Bei of Yuzhou to mobilize soldiers and horses to serve as the vanguard of the imperial army, capture Pengcheng in advance, and open the way into Xuzhou.

This put Liu Bei in a dilemma, and he knew very well that the reason why he was able to survive in the gap between Cao Cao and Lu Bu and not be destroyed by either of them was because there was still a weak balance between the two.

Now Cao Cao of Xu Du takes the initiative to break this weak balance, and he is bound to force Liu Bei to stand in line, but Liu Bei knows very well that after standing in line, no matter whether Cao Cao and Lu Bu win or lose after the war, for himself, he will lose after all.

However, Liu Bei could not fail to obey the will of the edict, because in this way he could at least lose a little decently.

This kind of anguish of being powerless to resist was shrouded in the hearts of Liu Bei and the few civil and military forces under his command.

Today was originally the day for the whole army in the battalion to point soldiers and train soldiers, but Liu Bei, who was the state pastor, did not appear for a long time, and Guan Yu, who led the troops in the army, did not wait for Liu Bei, he was relieved, so he simply asked Zhang Fei to organize the army and train the array, and he took his eldest son Guan Ping and rushed back to the state capital in the city, wanting to find Liu Bei to meet.

Riding a horse to the gate of the state capital, Guan Yu took Guan Ping and several armor soldiers to dismount, and walked into the mansion in a hurry, and strode directly to the back hall where Liu Bei was.

Outside the back hall, Guan Yu was about to climb the stairs, but Shiren in the garrison mansion hurriedly led troops to stop him, and said:

"Captain Guan, please stop. The lord has an order, today he is irritable, he doesn't want to see guests, the captain is wearing armor and holding soldiers, and he comes without a call, so please don't enter. ”

Guan Ping, who had been unimpeded all the way, knew his father's temper, he hurried over, and he was also a little angry, seeing that Shiren dared to lead troops to stop his father, and he was not to be outdone by his young heart, so he immediately stepped forward and said loudly:

"Bold, we have something important to report to the king, and you dare to stop it?"

Shiren is also an old man who has followed Liu Bei for a long time in Youzhou, but now he is yelled at him by an immature boy, and the spit stars are about to be sprayed on his face, and there is a sergeant with him behind him, and his face is already a little unbearable, but the other party is the son of Guan Yu, he doesn't dare to be ruthless, he can only provoke his head, and said with a stiff face:

"This is the lord's order, I am just acting on orders, Guan Jun still don't be embarrassed."

"You-"

Guan Ping's face turned red all of a sudden, and he wanted to argue with Shiren, but he heard his father's thick voice behind him.

"Ping'er, you step back first."

As soon as Guan Ping heard this voice, the momentum on his body suddenly dissipated, and he could only glare at Shiren, who despised him, and retreated to the back in a daze.

Guan Yu is tall and strong, and he came to Shiren in front of him with a big stride, he is tall and burly, plus a square face and starry eyes, the whole person stands there without anger and self-authority, although Shiren is a border man in Youzhou, but standing in front of Guan Yu, he suddenly became a big shorter, he took a step back a little gloomy, and then looked up and looked at Guan Yu.

"Junyi, Yu is not an outsider, you go and report it."

Guan Yu's voice carried a majesty that could not be refused, but after Guan Ping's conflict just now, Shiren, who also had a little temper, was not good at regressing, making others think that he was afraid of Guan Yu and would only bully children like Guan Ping who had not grown up.

"Captain Guan, the lord really has a strict order, no one else is required to enter, even the ladies are not allowed to disturb, there is something to be reported in the middle of the day, the captain still has to make it difficult to do it."

"It's ridiculous, the military situation is like fire, how can you stick to the king's order and don't know how to be flexible, you still don't let me go!"

Guan Yu himself is not so good-tempered, even if Shiren stopped his eldest son just now, he dared to stop him, and he didn't report it, isn't this just isolating himself from inside and outside, despising himself.

As Liu Bei's right-hand man, Liu Bei and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei sleep in the same bed, Enruo brothers, although now because the three of them have their own families, they no longer stand around as before, but they also have a strong sense of brotherhood.

Which one of Liu Bei's subordinates doesn't know Guan Yu's status in Liu Bei's heart, Jian Yong, as Liu Bei's old man, and Mi Zhu, as Liu Bei's in-law, also have to respect themselves, a little Shiren, who believes that he is an old man who follows Liu Bei in Youzhou, dares to take the lord's order to fake the tiger and prevent him from meeting his brother.

Guan Yu suddenly became angry, the tiger power on his body burst out, and the momentum was compelling, Shiren, who knew Guan Yu's strength, hurriedly took two steps back, widened the distance from Guan Yu, and prevented Guan Yu from breaking out, but he didn't expect the result to hit the sergeant who didn't have time to follow the retreat, so he subconsciously stopped, but his performance was already a little embarrassed.

"Is Yun Chang here?"

Shiren was forced by Guan Yu and couldn't advance or retreat, a gentle voice suddenly came from the hall, and his heart was suddenly relieved, knowing that he would not completely lose face today.

"Envoy, Yu is here!"

"Junyi, don't stop it, you should retreat first."

"No."

Shiren got Liu Bei's order, and hurriedly greeted the sergeants beside him, and didn't dare to look at Guan Yu and the others anymore, so he strode away with his head buried and walked to the guards outside the courtyard.

Guan Yu turned to look at Guan Ping and said:

"You're waiting here too."

After finishing speaking, Guan Yu strode on the steps and walked into the lobby, Liu Bei, who had just walked to the door of the hall to speak, had already returned to his main seat at this time, Guan Yu asked while also walking towards Liu Bei.

When his tall and majestic body stood at the door of the hall, the light in the hall became dim and hazy for a moment.

"Brother, why didn't you come to the camp today?"

"I had some miscellaneous things to worry about, so I didn't go."

Liu Bei looked at the bamboo book in front of him, waited for the light to regain his light, and said indifferently.

Although Guan Yu knew why his brother was worried, he was still curious, and when he approached, he saw the dense official book on the bamboo book in front of Liu Bei, he looked at it for a while, and saw that this was a whole coherent text.

"The husband is the Taoist, like an ox carrying a weight. Walking deep in the mud, tired and afraid to look left and right; Out of the mud, it is to rest. Shamen should look at lust more than mud. Reciting the Tao with a straight heart can avoid suffering. ”

Guan Yu silently read the words that he had finally read in his heart, and suddenly frowned slightly, turned his eyes to look at Liu Bei with a quiet face and asked:

"Brother, what is this?"

"This is the scripture of the Futu Temple."

Hearing Liu Bei's calm answer, Guan Yu's brows furrowed even deeper, he looked at Liu Bei and asked:

"What is the use of reading this kind of confusing thing for people from the wandering side, you must know that the war is imminent, and Cao Cao will soon engage Lu Bu."

Liu Guanzhang and the three of them were all born in reckless or poor families, and they all showed their faces as martial artists, but the three of them were not ordinary martial artists, and they all had some literary qualities.

Liu Bei once studied under the famous Confucian Lu Zhi, although he "doesn't like to read, likes dogs and horses, music, and beautiful clothes", but "doesn't like to read", not "doesn't read", he still has a certain cultural accomplishment, and he doesn't regard ignorance as capital because he "doesn't like to read".

In addition to Guan Yurong's horses, he also likes to read "Zuo Chuan", and Zhang Fei's calligraphy and painting skills are also good.

But the knowledge of the three of them is biased towards utilitarian learning, Liu Bei is not studying for the sake of studying, but just to get acquainted with the powerful, in order to seek the way of the noble; Guan Yu didn't seek to understand when he read "Zuo Chuan", he was only interested in the history and military affairs of the army; Zhang Feigong's calligraphy and long painting skills are also because of the decline of traditional Confucianism in the late Han Dynasty, but it is the skills of resignation, calligraphy and painting, and music that are popular.

Although Guan Yu had also spent time in Xuzhou and knew that many local scholars believed in Futu, he himself hated it and sneered at those who believed in it.

It's just that I didn't expect that the elder brother, who didn't believe in Futu, actually looked at the scriptures of Futu Temple.