Chapter 4 Section 57 Kidnapping

On March 7 of the Great Han Calendar (the second year of Chuping), the solar eclipse.

In the Han Dynasty, every solar eclipse was considered to be a moral deficiency on the part of the rulers, and the heavens showed a warning. This concept is systematically discussed in Confucianism and the I Ching and I Ching metaphysics. According to the custom, the imperial court was required to remove the three dukes from their posts, and asked the dismissed three dukes to think about it behind closed doors and consider what was wrong with them that caused the solar eclipse.

However, this solar eclipse made the imperial court not know how to deal with it.

On the one hand, the argument from Qingzhou says that the movement of the sun, moon and stars has nothing to do with human morality. And the tribal elders who once participated in the Thunder Oath are also making a big deal of it, even the God of Thunder does not exist, not to mention the legendary Sun-Swallowing Tengu - just a dog, do dogs also know human morality? It was precisely because of the fear of being ridiculed by the ignorant steppe tribes that the imperial court delayed issuing the order to remove the three dukes from their positions.

The most important thing is that Dong Zhuo is also one of the three dukes, and the court has not had the courage to remove Dong Zhuo from his position.

At that time, there was a lot of discussion about this solar eclipse. Confucianists have secretly carried out activities, taking the opportunity to accuse Dong Zhuo of tyranny, hoping to take the opportunity to bring down Dong Zhuo.

On this cusp, Dong Zhuo is determined to do something to prove that the phenomenon of solar eclipses has nothing to do with his morality.

In Wei County, Jizhou, after Yuan Shao lost for a while, Koji Yi insisted on Guangping and did not come out. Yuan Shao collected grain, grass and soldiers in Yecheng, and prepared to fight Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei again. Gongsun Zhan's army has been disabled by Ko Yi, after he left, Liu Yu's power was great, and he seized Gongsun Zhan's grain and grass in Youzhou, took over Gongsun Zhan's remaining army, and cut off the back road of the Zhan army in disguise. At the same time, Liu Bei continued to increase his troops in Qinghe, sat on the plain himself, mobilized siege troops, made siege equipment, and wanted to bury Yuan Shao in Yecheng.

The war in Jizhou broke out, and the sequelae of last year's sour jujube alliance were gradually revealed. After the fields were barren, the people everywhere had nothing to eat, and the bandit Zhang Yan in Changshan County could not loot food, so he had to raise troops to go south and loot the people. Because Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei had just won, Zhang Yan did not dare to march to Qinghe and Julu, so he could only look for the bad luck of Yuan Shao, the defeated man, and did not want the two generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou around Yuan Shao to come out together. After Zhang Yan broke the blood flow, he bypassed Wei County and went south to Yanzhou East County, and entered Cao Cao County to plunder.

And as Zhang Yan's army was rampant again, rebellions broke out in the northern counties. Xianbei once again bordered, and the border was full of wolf smoke.

Seeing the war in the north, and the three armies of Qingyouji rejected each other for more than a month, Dong Zhuo felt that there was a lot to be done. At this time, it happened that the strategist Li Ru suggested: "The heroes of Kwantung will jointly attack Taishi, with Yuan Shao as the leader of the alliance." Now, the Kwantung Army is in internal strife, and Yuan Shao's troops are squeezed to Wei County, and the situation is embarrassing. If the Taishi pretended to use the edict of the Son of Heaven to send people to Jizhou to reconcile the three armies. Yuan Shao is poor, and he will definitely agree. Gongsun Zhan had Liu Yu in the rear, and he also wanted to return to the army to stabilize the rear. Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan agreed, but Liu Bei was lonely and could not speak, so he would inevitably stop. After that, Yuan Shao must be grateful to the Taishi, since he, the lord of the Guandong Alliance, has surrendered to the Taishi, and the Kwantung Coalition Army is self-defeating, our army can go all out to deal with Zhu Jun, the leader of the alliance elected by the three states of Qing, Xu, and Henan. In this way, the prestige of the Taishi in the DPRK has been restored, how dare the corrupt Confucians talk about solar eclipses again? ”

Dong Zhuo was overjoyed, and the next day, he sent the Taifu Ma Riyan and the servant Zhao Qi to convey the edict after fasting.

Ma Riyan and Zhao Qi are both great Confucians, Ma Riyan is Lu Zhi's ally junior brother, Dong Zhuo sent him, his uncle, how can Liu Bei and Gongsun Chan not give face? Zhao Qi was the first Confucian scholar in history to respect Mencius, and it was because of his admiration that Mencius became a sub-sage of Confucianism in addition to Confucius. These two people are famous, and once they accept the assignment of Dong Zhuo, a traitor, they immediately prove that the solar eclipse really has nothing to do with Dong Zhuo's personal morality.

The two came to Jizhou, Hebei, and Yuan Shao immediately went out to welcome Baili to receive Dong Zhuo's edict that he had opposed. The spirit of killing Dong Zhuo's envoy in the sour jujube is gone.

After Yuan Shao agreed to a truce, the next day, the two went to Gongsun Zhan's camp to read the edict, Gongsun Zhan was eager to return to the army to solve Liu Yu, and readily agreed to Yuan Shao's request for peace, and withdrew the camp in the afternoon of the same day. Dudu hung Liu Bei in Qinghe.

"In the past, the alliance begged for it, and today it is worshiped and worshipped, the hatred of the country and the family are forgotten, Shao Zhen is a coward!" Liu Bei received the news and lamented. At this moment, the imperial court's edict was rushing back to Yecheng from Julu, ignoring Liu Bei at all.

Tian Chou groaned and said, "Gongsun Bogui is not authentic, and he will withdraw without saying hello." The newly occupied Zhongshan Kingdom and Julu County are also gone. Now that our army occupies the three counties (Qinghe, Hejian, and Bohai), we can't advance or retreat, how can we do it? ”

Liu Bei said categorically: "Yuan Shao doesn't come to beg me, and the imperial court envoy doesn't come to see me, so he wants me to give up the three counties, don't think about it, I have occupied these three counties." ”

Tian Chou smiled lightly: "Lord, don't say that, if the imperial court envoy really comes to the plain, will we let go of the Qing River, between the rivers, and the Bohai Sea." ”

Liu Bei shook his head and vetoed: "Our army consumes money and food, and it is already cheaper to occupy only three counties. Therefore, it is a good thing that the imperial edict does not come to the plains, at least we can delay the return of the three counties of Jizhou. However, they did not come to the plains, but it made me lose face, people, it is such a contradiction. ”

Tian Chou said understandingly: "Yes, our army originally sent troops to echo the Zan army. Now, the Zan army has retreated, and the imperial envoys ignore the lord, although it can make our army make a fortune in silence, but it has a great impact on the lord's reputation. In my opinion, we still have to think of a way to recover the impact. ”

Liu Bei paced around the room with his hands behind his back, deep in thought.

In the county of Jinan, the Xun Yu family, who were kidnapped by Liu Bei from Jingzhou, were given a chance to breathe, and after crossing the Luoshui, they were allowed to stay in the county for a few days to rest for a few days, waiting for the meeting of the other team.

After the chaos in the Central Plains, Xun Yu first threw himself into Yuan Shao, but later saw that Yuan Shao was incompetent, so he planned to enter the relatively quiet Yizhou to avoid the war in the Central Plains. Unfortunately, because Liu Yan did not want to pay tribute to the imperial court, he blocked the road from Yizhou to the outside world, and Xun Yu was delayed in Jingzhou. Jingzhou scholars were more xenophobic, and Xun Yu could not gain a foothold in Liu Biao, so he happened to receive the documents solicited by Cao Cao, so he set off for Yanzhou.

At that time, Liu Biao was fighting with Yuan Shu in Nanyang, and in order to avoid the disaster of war, Xun Yu was accompanied by a group of Qingzhou businessmen, planning to enter Yanzhou from Xuzhou. Because Liu Bei was very vindictive, and most of the Qingzhou caravans had a strong escort team, Xun Yu did not doubt him, and entrusted the safety and defense work along the way to the caravan. The caravan refused to accept his expectations all the way and safely escorted him to Peiguo County. Just when Xun Yu was about to go north to Liang and enter the territory of Cao Cao in Yanzhou Goat County, this caravan suddenly turned its face ruthlessly and hijacked all the way to Langxie County.

When Xun Yu was first hijacked, the sergeants were not strictly controlled, and they also shouted for help, and even in front of the frame of Chen Deng, the prime minister of Peiguo who was looking for an opportunity to patrol the runway, he identified himself and asked Chen Deng to rescue him. What is hateful is that as soon as Chen Denggang heard about Xun Yu's name, he slapped his chest on the mountain and promised to help. However, the guards of the Qingzhou caravan pulled him aside, whispered a few words, and handed over a letter, Chen Deng actually ignored Xun Yu's hoarse pleading, turned a blind eye, and walked away without hearing it.

Who has such a big force to keep Chen Deng shut? This is more than just a simple kidnapping. Xun Yu had this realization, and he no longer resisted along the way. After entering Langxie County, Xun Yu suddenly realized: it was Liu Bei, it was the bad habit of the Qingzhou madman who had flare up again.

In the hall of the county guard of Langxie County, Xun Yu met the complacent Chen Qun. Back then, Liu Bei was in front of him and deceived Chen Qun with a wine glass in Yingchuan Academy. Now, this young man in his early 20s has been a member of the party for many years. And he is almost 30 years old, but he is still running for a living. Looking back on the past, Xun Yu didn't know whether to be glad or distressed for Liu Bei to take a fancy to him.

Chen Qun, a young man, saw that Xun Yu didn't have the consciousness of being a junior disciple at all, nodded at him coldly, and then counted thirteen gold pens and handed them to the caravan. Said: "The money and goods are cleared, and the extra three gold coins are to trouble you to give them another ride." The lord has decreed that family members can be sent to Guangrao for resettlement. Wen Ruogong was directly transferred to the plain. ”

I'm only worth ten gold coins, Xun Yu thought sadly. I heard that Liu Bei spent ten gold coins to buy a fish (sperm whale), am I worth the price of a fish? Thinking about it, Xun Yu became more and more angry. I heard that when Lu Su and Zhang Zhao defected to Liu Bei, Liu Bei exchanged the territory of the two countries, and Chen Deng, the prime minister of Pei, came here in this way. And I'm only worth the price of a fish, well, maybe not the price of a fish. It costs the price of three gold coins to transfer from Langxi County to Pingyuan County, and from Jingzhou to here, I am not even worth ten gold coins if I lose the travel expenses.

After Chen Qun finished instructing the caravan guards, he waved his hand and walked into the inner hall without looking down. Xun Yu trembled with anger: "This kid was just exchanged for a wine glass, maybe not worth ten gold coins, how dare he be so arrogant to me?" ”

Out of Langxie County, Xun Yu had a stubborn temper attack, and resolutely did not go to Guangrao to settle his family, but the guards repeatedly refused to listen, so he had no choice but to take his family on the road together.

After arriving in the county, the guards slowed down because they were close to the plains and had not yet received further urging orders. That night, the caravan guards paid for a table of wine for Xun Yu and his family to eat as a sign of apology.

"Mr. Xun is here, seeing that he is going to be reused by my lord, and I and other small people are sent by the order, and I have offended a lot, please forgive me." The leader of the caravan guard raised his glass and smiled.

Xun Yu had a gloomy face and asked, "Let me ask you, did you receive an order to kidnap me in Peijun after you left Jingzhou, or did you receive an order to pass with me in Jingzhou?" ”

The leader of the guards smiled dumbly: "Mr. Xun, is there any difference between this?" If Mr. Xun is reused in the future, he will know all the truth. The villain can only say one sentence, have you ever seen Master Jane in Jingzhou? ”

"Is Jian Yong Jian Xian peaceful?" Xun Yu picked up the wine glass blankly, and while drinking, he slowly recalled the gathering when Jingzhou scholars invited Jian Yongdi. At that time, he was just an unwilling alternate official, and he had no chance to talk to Jian Yong, and he felt that Jian Yong had frequently looked at him, but he didn't come to talk to him. It turned out that since then, he has been targeted.

Seeing Xun Yu raising a glass and drinking, the family couldn't bear the hunger, and under the persuasion of the caravan guards, they started to eat one after another. When Xun Yu came back to his senses, all the family members' mouths were stuffed with food, and from time to time someone made vague compliments.

The leader of the guard raised his hand and clapped it twice, and three colorful women in full costume walked in carrying three strange bodies like lanterns. Kneeling down in the middle of the table, fiddling with the three strange things (at that time, chairs and benches were not popular in places except Qingzhou and Izumo, and even in Qingzhou and Izumo, this kind of furniture born from the old chairs was only a rare thing for a few powerful people and wealthy businessmen to show off their status, and occasionally some citizens bought tables and chairs, which was also based on the psychology of the nouveau riche). Xun Yu came from other places, so the caravan specially entertained him with the dwarf food table common in the Han Dynasty, so Xun Yu could observe the things fiddling with these maids in parallel eyes.

There was a number of charcoal fires piled on an iron tray, and a three-legged iron ring was placed on the charcoal fire, and on the iron ring was placed something like a frying pan. The maids cleaned their hands and, with a slender iron spoon, gracefully poured some oily liquid from the small pot they had brought with them, and poured it into the boiling pan - the smell was fragrant.

As if that were not enough, seven or eight maids rushed into the hall, each carrying a tray in their hands, and on each tray was a white thing. The white stuff was put into the oil pot, and the oil pot made a thunderclap sound, and the smell was strange.

"What is this?" Xun Yu asked in surprise.

Answer: "Mince patty." ”

During the Three Kingdoms, people's staple food was boiled grains, which were called soup with meat and porridge without meat. Grinding flour into flour only appeared during the Northern Wei Dynasty, and it was only after that that that cake-like food appeared. Liu Bei promoted Izumo Mill in Qingzhou last year, and since then, it has become fashionable to eat flour and make cakes in Qingzhou, and it is no wonder that meat patties are solemnly recommended at formal banquets.

Qingzhou's grain is a strategic material, which is only purchased in large quantities from outside and has never been sold to the outside world. The grain and grass that helped others, Liu Bei could save it, and subtracted this process. So this habit has not spread outside, Xun Yu This is the first time he has come into contact with flour and meatloaf, he can bear it, women and children can't help it, smelling the fragrance, they are already salivating.

"Liu Bei's name of greed is indeed worthy of his name", eating the meatloaf with a mouth full of oil, Xun Yu sighed with emotion. Then, he added meaningfully: "However, the name of kidnapping officials (alternate officials) and kidnapping women and children is not false. ”

"I sent someone from Jingzhou to kidnap Wen Ruo, is Wen Ruo very unconvinced?" In Pingyuan City, Liu Bei saw Xun Yu and asked.

"Not bad," the sentence aroused Xun Yu's anger, and Xun Yu, who had already planned to show his character, replied sharply.

"But I am stronger than you in my body; I am greater than you in power, and my rulers are greater than you; Many of my men are greater than you; You can't go it alone, I don't care about double fighting. Go to the court to complain, no one has given you this petty official to come out, offended me, a big man, you are just looking for someone to come forward, who dares to provoke me for you? What else can you do but lose your temper and sulk? ”

"I still have a lot of blood?" Xun Yu stood proudly, his eyes splitting.

"I've told you everything, I can't single you out, your little blood, watering flowers, and flowers can't be raised, what's the use of coming? I have been fighting for many years, killing people and wilderness, do I care to splash your blood? ”

"I have a pen, and I will use the pen as a knife to record your ugly deeds, so that you will be infamous forever."

"History has always been written by the victors, and from ancient times to the present, how many classics have been lost and how many manuscripts have been burned in war. Even if your manuscript is handed down, you can't hear it, I can't hear it, but you will be bullied by me in this life, is it fair? ”