The Son of Heaven's attention to Guo Bin can be said to be undisguised, and the Son of Heaven never seems to have the intention of concealing it, and has always shown it naked to the ministers of the world. However, this holy grace that everyone admires makes Guo Bin, who is now receiving the holy decree, slightly embarrassed.

In fact, Guo Bin's promotion from a cavalry lieutenant with a rank of 2,000 stone to a county commander is more than enough for his contribution to the war to suppress the Yellow Turban Uprising, but when his age is taken into account, it is a bit too conspicuous.

Guo Bin was born in the year of Ding Wei in the lunar calendar, which is the tenth year of Yanxi and the first year of Yongkang. Yongkang is the first year name of Emperor Liu Hong of the Han Dynasty, and coincidentally, in December of this year, Emperor Huan died, and Liu Hong was taken to the capital to inherit the unification. According to the year of the Common Era, this year is 167 AD, and to the first year of Zhongping (that is, 184 AD), Guo Bin is 17 years old.

A seventeen-year-old man, in modern terms, is still a high school child. Although the ancients may have been a little precocious mentally, seventeen years old was only a teenager who had not yet reached the crown, and the beard under the chin may have just sprouted a small amount of fluff. The so-called hairless mouth and unstable work, who would have thought that the seventeen-year-old Guo Bin would become an important minister of the country in one fell swoop, the county guard of Yingchuan?

Although it is reported that Cao Cao is also the prime minister of Jinan similar to Guo Bin, he was born in 155 AD, twelve years older than Guo Bin, which is still borrowed from his father's shadow.

Guo Bin's status is not obvious at the moment, and when he enters Beijing to participate in the court meeting, standing in the middle of a group of rickety old men, I am afraid that he will be even more uncomfortable. At the age of twelve, Gan Luo went to Zhao State, and was immediately appointed as the secretary of state by King Yingzheng of Qin, which spread all over the world as a beautiful talk. However, the story is just a story after all, if you look at the seventeen-year-old Guo Bin really standing in the queue of important ministers to participate in the court meeting, it is Lu Zhi, Cai Yong and others who value Guo Bin I am afraid that they will not be too comfortable in their hearts.

That's not all, Liu Hong actually gave him back the Zhongxing sword recovered by Guo Bin, and said something "get rid of traitors and rejuvenate the Han Dynasty". At present, the Yellow Turban Rebellion has subsided, it is the time when the world is peaceful and the Han family is prosperous. That's a lot to think about.

Therefore, returning to the handsome tent of the Yue Cavalry Battalion, Guo Bin gathered the generals to discuss the matter and raised this question.

Xi Zhicai said: "As the lord said, now that the Yellow Turban thief is ambushed, and the four seas are peaceful, where did the traitor come from?" Is it a traitor in the court, or a traitor in the locality? If it is a traitor in the court, how can he give the Zhongxing sword to the lord who is far away in Jizhou? And if it's a local traitor..."

Speaking of this, Xi Zhi stopped and looked at Guo Bin.

Guo Bin's face darkened, knowing that Xi Zhicai thought of being with him, and he was quite disheartened. After a while, he said to Guo Jia: "Little brother, what do you think?" ”

Guo Jia glanced at Xi Zhicai, and said in a deep voice: "Huangfu Zhonglang, oh no, it should be the general of the chariot cavalry, exterminating the yellow turban in the world, the merit is so great, it is unprecedented, how can you reward it?" ”

Zhang Fei watched it from the side, anxious, and said, "Little Guo Jia, what kind of dumb riddle are you playing?" Didn't the lord ask you who is a traitor? What do you say the general is doing? ”

Guo Bin glanced at Guo Jia and motioned for him to explain to Zhang Fei.

Guo Jia nodded and said, "Brother Yide, what do you say is the most feared thing for this emperor?" ”

Zhang Fei smiled: "What are you talking about? The Son of Heaven is rich all over the world, how can he be afraid? You kid, I know that you have a lot of ideas, but don't make fun of me. ”

Guo Bin couldn't help but laugh and said: "Yide, the reason why the Son of Heaven is rich in the four seas is that he is the Son of Heaven, if one day, he is no longer the Son of Heaven, but how can he still be rich in the four seas?" At this point, his voice had turned low. After all, it's not something that can be declared, although the account is all the people of his heart, but there is no big mistake in being careful!

Zhang Fei's eyes widened, covered his mouth and exclaimed, "What? "He's just stuck to his usual way of thinking, and he hasn't thought about it, but he's definitely not stupid. At this time, after listening to Guo Bin's words, Deng Shi was clear.

Guo Jia said slowly: "Yes, the general of the Che Cavalry exterminated the Yellow Turban thieves and restored the Han Dynasty, which is difficult to find in eternity. It's just that the merits are high and it is difficult to reward, and at the same time, he currently has heavy troops, and the officers and troops of the South Road are also under his command. It can be said that the elite soldiers in the world, half of them are in hand, plus the northwest wealthy family is their Olympic aid, if they have different intentions, the Han family is in danger. ”

Guo Jia is right, Huangfu Song is a native of Chaona County, Anding County (now Pengyang, Ningxia), and his father Huangfu Festival was the Taishou of Yanmen County and has been a border general for a long time; His uncle Huangfu Gui was a famous general in the Eastern Han Dynasty and one of the three Ming in Liangzhou. It can be said that Huangfu Song is currently the most prestigious and powerful person among the wealthy families in the northwest borderlands.

The northwest frontier is very close to the Qiang people, and there are often conflicts with the Qiang people, so most of the wealthy people in the northwest are old people in the army. Most of these people were born as warlords, and they rose to prominence by fighting with the Qiang people, forming a unique political landscape in the northwest frontier.

However, whether it is a difference in geography or a difference in philosophy, it has caused mutual hostility between the Central Plains scholar class and the Northwest wealthy clan. Because the Qiang people repeatedly violated the border, which brought extremely heavy military pressure and financial burden to the imperial court, there was an argument in the court that they wanted to abandon the northwest. The so-called: "Those who are good for the country should cherish their internal interests and do not seek external benefits; Enrich the people, not greedy for the land. Sanfu Mountain is far away, the people are sparse, so the county is a hill city. There are many people who can live. Now it is advisable to migrate to the border counties and those who cannot survive by themselves to live in the tombs, the old counties of Tianshu, and the isolated cities and counties, so as to migrate to them. ”

This argument can be summed up in one sentence, that is, the northwest frontier is vast and sparsely populated, and it is far from the Central Plains, so it is better to give up and migrate its people to the interior.

In the eyes of modern people, this is naturally a bullshit and incomprehensible view, but it has formed a great momentum in the Eastern Han Dynasty, causing Wang Fu to say sarcastically in his book "The Theory of Hidden Husbands": "The land is boundless, and the country is boundless." Therefore, if the state is lost, the three auxiliaries are the edges; If the three auxiliaries are entered, Hongnong is the side; Hongnong enters, then Luoyang is the edge. Pushing this to the situation, although there is still a border in the East China Sea. ”

Immediately issued a "If you don't use force to punish the whole territory, the selection of materials is the whole territory, and the cloud edge cannot be defended, if you want to cut yourself first, show ● Kou enemy, don't you also be confused?" The cry of pain.

This argument, which runs counter to the fundamental interests of the wealthy clans in the northwest and even the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation, is naturally not enough to teach a lesson, but to a certain extent, it reflects the contradiction between the wealthy clans in the northwest and the scholars in the Central Plains.

The imperial court needed soldiers from the northwest frontier to carry out the war against the Qiang people and suppress the domestic civil uprising, so it relied on the Hao clan in the northwest a lot, which can be seen from the origin of the four main generals who quelled the Yellow Turban Rebellion: Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun, Lu Zhi, and Dong Zhuo. Among the four main generals, there are Huangfu Song and Dong Zhuo, who were born in Liangzhou. And Lu Zhi was born in Zhuojun, the forefront of the fight against Wuhuan, and only Zhu Jun was born in Huiji Shangyu in the south.

However, the wealthy families of the Central Plains did not feel the pain of the Qiang trouble, and the imperial court had to pay taxes from the Central Plains to deal with the war in the northwest. Therefore, it is understandable that the wealthy families in the Central Plains are dissatisfied with this.

The war of the Hao clan group in the northwest in the border not only preserved the face and territory of the Celestial Empire, but also guarded the northwest gateway of the Central Plains Dynasty, so that the Qiang people could not enter the Central Plains through Guanzhong. Therefore, these wealthy families who are fighting on the front line of resisting foreign aggression will indeed not be happy to see someone stabbing them behind their backs.

The Huangfu family is a real wealthy family in Liangzhou, and with its current prestige in the court, it will undoubtedly become the head of the northwest faction in the court, so its influence in the northwest army, which is the most capable of fighting in the Han Empire, can be imagined. Guo Jia's words about the high merits are hard to reward, and even half of the world's elite soldiers are in hand, is not unreasonable.

Guan Yu said: "The general of the chariot cavalry is heroic and loyal, and he will not end here." ”

Xi Zhicai glanced at Guan Yu and said, "It's that General Huangfu has no objections, but what about his advisers?" Putting aside these many possibilities, could the imperial court allow such a highly meritorious person to control the army for a long time? ”

Guo Jia nodded and said lightly: "Therefore, the Son of Heaven gave the Zhongxing Sword to the lord, and asked the lord to 'get rid of the traitors and rejuvenate the Han family', for no one else." ”

At this point, the people in the tent were speechless for a while. At this point, the purpose of the Son of Heaven to give the Zhongxing Sword to Guo Bin is clear. It's nothing else, it's just to contain Huangfu Song.

Xi Zhicai said: "General Huangfu once wrote to the Son of Heaven that he wanted to exempt Jizhou from a year's land rent to support the hungry people. ”

Guan Yu said: "Didn't the Son of Heaven agree?" Besides, this is a good strategy to curb the resurgence of the Yellow Turban Army, didn't the lord say the same? ”

Guo Bin said: "Or someone deliberately spreads rumors, or someone exaggerates, in short, there is a nursery rhyme circulating in Jizhou Fang now, does Yun Chang know?" ”

Seeing Guan Yu's dazed face, Guo Jia said: "The world is in chaos, the city is in ruins, the mother does not protect her sons, her wife loses her husband, and the emperor is restored to live in peace." ”

Zhang Fei exclaimed: "Oops! Isn't this going to hurt the general of the Che Cavalry? ”

Yes, if Huangfu Song is only a military general who can fight and has no local foundation, the Son of Heaven will rest assured; If Huangfu Song is a civil official and a county guard who manages the administration of a place, he will be loved by the people under his rule, and the Son of Heaven will not be suspicious of him.

However, today's Huangfu Song is not only a commander who can conquer and destroy the Yellow Turban, whether it is in the court or in the hearts of the people of the world, his prestige is incomparably high. Now he has been sincerely praised by the people of Jizhou, it can be said that the popularity is gathered in one, and with the support of the wealthy families in the northwest, he has the ability to overthrow the rule of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, the Son of Heaven is very jealous of him, which is also human nature.

However, Huangfu Song still has the credit of the Han family, and the merit of exterminating the Yellow Turban thieves is unprecedented, if the Son of Heaven does not reward him, the people of the world will inevitably be indignant, and those who have made contributions to the Han Dynasty in the Yellow Turban Rebellion will not agree. Therefore, the Son of Heaven must pinch his nose while rewarding Huangfu Song, which is really contradictory.

However, just when everyone was indignant that Huangfu Song was framed, Xi Zhicai's words made all this even more confusing.

I saw Xi Zhicai caressing his beard and said slowly: "According to the intelligence, this nursery rhyme is from the army, and the person who initiated it seems to be the general of the chariot and cavalry, Yan Zhong." ”