Luoyang City, the eastern capital of the Han Dynasty, its prosperous scene is indescribable, on the street, there are mostly scholars and doctors wearing gorgeous clothes, and on both sides of the street, there are not a few shops of the wealthy gentry. In the center of the entire capital is the Luoyang Imperial Palace, the ruling center of the Han Dynasty.

Not far from the palace, there is a quiet place, the sound of books comes from time to time, there is quite a school of Confucian charm, this is the Eastern Han Dynasty Taixue, built since the period of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, there are about two hundred years at this time.

Suddenly, there was a neighing of horses in the market, and the people began to crowd the streets, and they retreated to both sides of the market.

A team of horses entered from the west gate of Luoyang City, galloped through, and went straight to the north gate of the school field, with more than 1,000 people, all wearing armor and holding scimitars, but they looked like exotic warriors. And behold the handsome horse, it is the best Xiliang horse. It is necessary to know that the Yellow Turban War has just ended, and the productivity has not been fully restored, so there can be such a group of horse teams, in addition to Xiliang, I am afraid that there is only Hebei, so the two places are close to the Xiongnu, so there are many war horses, and the war horses are many good horses.

By the time the horse team had passed, the smoke had not completely dissipated. The people of Luoyang began to be busy with their lives again, but the people drinking tea and chatting in the tea shop inevitably started to talk.

An old man held a teacup in his right hand and a fan in his left hand, and said thoughtfully: "I'm afraid this is not a minority, you see that in the past few days, soldiers have come in every day." ”

There was a young man with a basket beside him and said: "I think it must be too, in the past few times, there are tens of thousands in total, it seems that the new big man surnamed Dong seems to have some ability." ”

"Alas, the world is evil, what's the use of having ability." The old man drank the tea cleanly, brushed the dust off his body, and sighed deeply.

Not only the old man has this opinion, everyone knows it in their hearts at this time, and now it is said that it is still the Han family, but since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the situation has been turbulent, and the Han Dynasty has been unable to dominate the whole territory. Looking at the land of China, although there is the prosperity of the two capitals, the wealth of Xichuan and Chengdu, and the peace of the lands in the south of the Yangtze River, in general, there are still many people suffering from poverty in various places.

Just some time ago, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty died, there seemed to be some big changes in the court, General He Jin was executed, the ten permanent servants were destroyed, and finally Emperor Shao of the Han Dynasty succeeded to the throne, and announced a general surnamed Dong from Xiliang, the name Zhuo, it is said that he made great contributions in the crusade against the Yellow Turban, and this time he was edicted to enter the palace, which was to protect the king of Qin.

Before, the people up and down Luoyang were still immersed in the unease and confusion caused by the external war and the enthronement of the new emperor internally, and they were suspicious.

――How many skills does this person named Dong Zhuo have?

In the next few days, they saw a total of tens of thousands of troops coming and going outside Luoyang City and between the school grounds, and the people's hearts felt a little calm.

At this time, the person named Dong Zhuo was also the patron god in the hearts of the people, but his heart was not so stable.

He sat on the chair in the palace hall, his fat body was writhing restlessly, it seemed that he couldn't adapt to the prosperity of Luoyang City, after all, the west was cool and remote, windy and sandy, which made him feel a little hot and dry, he was a little up, a little fluttering. Even so, he still needs to be calm, because he knows that he doesn't have much strength and capital at this time, and what outsiders see is ethereal.

"Li Ru." Dong Zhuo smiled kindly and called softly, which was extremely inconsistent with his own image, but he was indeed a manager who knew people and used them well, after all, the person in front of him who was not good-looking and slightly angry was his daughter's father-in-law, that is, his son-in-law.

Li Ru replied respectfully: "My lord, you want to ask, can this plan to increase troops work?" ”

Dong Zhuo's eyes narrowed, revealing a hint of appreciation, he was about to ask this.

Although he received the edict when he entered Beijing this time, but now that the imperial court is in decline, how much deterrent does the edict have? He has lived in Xiliang for a long time, but he is also an official of the imperial court, and he knows the affairs of officialdom very well, not to mention that this is an eventful autumn, and when the war is chaotic, everything needs to be thought about more.

He was worried, worried that the thousands of people in his hands would not be able to control the overall situation, or rather, he was worried that the thousands of people in his hands would not be able to defend the crumbling man.

In desperation, he asked for help from his son-in-law, the strategist Li Ru.

And Li Ru's strategy made his eyes shine, that is, after entering the city during the day, a few soldiers of only more than 1,000 soldiers would disguise themselves as people to go out of the city at night, and enter the city again during the day the next day.

Judging from the current rumors and gossip, this strategy has undoubtedly been achieved.

Li Ru knows his father-in-law's thoughts, the tiger wolf in the northwest, how can he live in the court, now the Han family is declining, the princes of the Quartet are rising, since his father-in-law can have the strength to come to the royal capital, he must not be a minister forever, but now his strength is limited, so he has to lie dormant and wait.

On the top of the main hall, Li Ru only had one look, and Dong Zhuo waved his hand and asked the guards to go out of the hall.

There was no one around, Li Ru came to the palace, rubbed his hands, and said: "Lord, according to the meaning of the son-in-law, at the moment this strategy can be concealed from some people, and it is inevitable that many people will know the inside story, but since those people know this plan, they must also know that there are scheming people in our army, and they dare not act rashly. ”

After hearing this, Dong Zhuo thought for a while, and suddenly raised his head and said, "Hmm! You are very right, and I will give the order. ”

Li Ru straightened up, waved his hand with a smile, and said, "No, it's good for you to act quickly, but you still owe a move." ”

"But which step?" Dong Zhuo didn't care about his obesity, leaned forward anxiously, and hurriedly asked.

Li Ru said patiently: "This time is different from the past, in the past when you were in Xiliang, the lord and you privately recruited troops and horses, although it was not a problem, but now that you have entered the imperial capital, if you want to recruit troops, you must ask the young emperor, and then do it, and then set up two more names, one to recruit soldiers of the Han Dynasty, and the other can be sufficient for the Dong family's army, so that the princes of the world will not say that the lord is not behind his back." ”

"That's not going to work!" Dong Zhuo waved his hand very reluctantly, and then said: "In this way, I am afraid that those young and strong people have gone to the Han army, but they will not come to my Xiliang army." ”

Li Ru smiled, thought for a while, stepped forward, and whispered a few words in Dong Zhuo's ear.

I saw that Dong Zhuo's eyebrows were raised, and then he grinned his teeth, looking so happy, people couldn't help but think about what Li Ru said.

Three days later, Dong Zhuo's recruitment list was sent to a small town named Kunyang, and many poor men chose to go to find out. The land on which they used to live has been destroyed by the war and has lost the basis for survival.

In a village outside Kunyang City, there is a small farmhouse where a mother and son live.

Mother is called Xian's, dating back three generations, and she is also a celebrity in Runan County, but it is a pity that in troubled times, the royal bloodline does not exist, and no one knows about the small surname. It is said that this Xian family married Zhao Xun from Yingchuan at the age of fifteen and gave birth to a son, named Zhao Yue, with a long name. Today, Zhao Yue is also a sixteen-year-old dignified man, just because he escaped the famine a few years ago and came to settle in the village outside Kunyang City.

In the dim hut, the old mother on the wooden couch coughed lightly: "My son, I am afraid that time is running out for my mother, and if I leave, I will save myself suffering in this world, but it is a pity that you have not been able to leave you some money, nor have you been able to give you a family." ”

Zhao Yue was wearing a white cloth coat and straw sandals, and was thinking about where to find medicine for her mother, when she heard this, she couldn't help but tremble, with tears in her eyes, and suddenly knelt in front of Xian's couch, and said: "Mother, don't say that, it's the child who is not filial, and has failed to fulfill his filial piety, so that you will suffer and suffer." ”

Mother and son looked at each other, tears in their eyes. It is conceivable that in today's era, the system of electing talents is to promote filial piety, filial piety is meritorious fame, meritorious fame can still be promoted to the county or the imperial court, and the fame can only be obtained by scholars and Confucian scholars who are familiar with the scriptures and history in the township.

Zhao Yue's family is in trouble, so naturally he has no conditions to travel around to study and visit friends, and even ancient books cannot be obtained.

At this time, someone knocked on the door of Zhao Yue's house, Zhao Yue opened the door and took a look, and found that it was his childhood friend, Zhang Duan.

This Zhang Duan is majestic and majestic, and his voice is also very loud. Speaking of Zhao Yue's village in Kunyang City, there is a huge stone at the entrance of the village, and no one in the whole village can move it, but Zhang Duan can lift it, which shows the strength of this person. He has been playing with Zhao Yue since he was a child, and the two have a very close relationship, and they have a lot of contacts on weekdays.

"Chang Jiao." As soon as Zhang Duan came in, he shouted Zhao Yue's words loudly, and when he saw Xian lying on the bed, and saw Zhao Yue who was secretly wiping away his tears, he also knew a little about what was going on. In fact, it's not that he doesn't want to help Zhao Yue, it's just that he is not rich, it's just that he is alone, and it doesn't hurt to be hungry for a day or two.

"Brother Zhang Duan, why are you here?" Zhao Yue asked with tears in her eyes.

"It's nothing, but I heard the old man who came back from the city say that the government has begun to recruit soldiers, and I just want to join the army with you and serve the court, so as to fill my stomach." Zhang Duan patted his belly and said boldly.

"I ......" Zhao Yue hesitantly glanced back at her elderly mother on the bed, and then said to Zhang Duan with an embarrassed expression: "I'm afraid I won't be able to, my mother is old and needs someone to take care of her." ”

"Oops!" Zhang Duan laughed heartily, "I guessed that you would say that, don't worry, I've arranged it all, even if you go with me, your mother I have asked Aunt Wang and Sister Li from the neighboring village to take care of it, it should be there in a while, pick up your mother and go to the neighboring village to settle down, besides, you became a soldier and made meritorious contributions to the imperial court, if you are named a captain or something, how beautiful it will be for you to come back, at that time, your mother will also follow you to the light!" ”

After Zhao Yue heard this, she was moved and said, "Even so, I still need to ask my mother." ”

The Xian family on the side had already heard it in his ears, and when he saw his son say this, he hurriedly sat up and said: "Son, since you have the opportunity to serve the country, you just have to go, it's not that no one takes care of your mother, don't worry, you will get ahead in the future, and you will live up to the reputation of your father, but you haven't learned martial arts since you were a child, and you can rest assured that you can kill the enemy in battle." ”

After saying that, Xian's face sank uneasily, and she could see that she was worried about this son.

Zhang Duan said, "Auntie, why do you have to worry too much, with me, I will take care of Changjiao more, presumably no one will embarrass him, Auntie, you can rest assured." ”

Hearing this, Xian's face finally brightened, and he smiled with relief: "I'm a little relieved to have you here, son, you just have to go." ”

"Yes, mother." Although Zhao Yue meekly agreed, he still couldn't rest assured in his heart, but he had no other choice.