Chapter 70 The cold winter tells the wine to the heart, and the snow and the smell of the dead ambition

The above book mentions that Ke Zique wanted to unify Xianbei, although he successfully persuaded He Lou Suli and Dugu Mijia, and with the help of Liu Bei, he won over the Yuwen tribe.

However, Helian's royal court army still has combat strength, and the Tuoba and Murong tribes still have 70,000 or 80,000 troops.

The tripartite forces have temporarily become a balance, but there are also some minor frictions from time to time.

When Lü Bu led the army into the Mobei grassland, the combined forces of Helian and Tuoba tribes had the intention of forming an alliance.

Ke Zique had to talk to Lu Bu again and persuade him to withdraw first.

Helian, Tuoba Deduction and Murong Feng took the initiative to come to Ke Zique for peace talks.

Ke asked them for an explanation.

The three were forced to have no choice but to compensate each family with 1,000 horses and 3,000 sheep.

Ke Zique proposed that they must move to Mobei and give up the southern part of the grassland to their four tribes.

At this point, the forces on the prairie outside the Great Wall were redivided, and the Xianbei clan was divided.

The four great tribes of Ke Zhique, Dugu Mijia, He Lou Suli, and Yuwen Chong occupied most of the southern part of the grassland, close to the Great Wall of the Han Chinese.

The four of them signed a non-aggression pact with Ding Yuan, the assassin of the Han Dynasty.

Because of this move, Ding Yuan also got 800 high-grade war horses every year.

The war subsided, and after this battle, Guo Xun rewarded the generals.

Liu Bei was awarded the title of Captain of Pingyin for his outstanding military exploits, guarding Pingyin, exercising the power of county orders, and commanding 2,000 soldiers and horses.

It is said that Gongsun Chan fought bravely and was valued by Guo Xun, so he moved his troops to Cao.

From then on, Gongsun Chan left Youbeiping and entered the Thorn History Mansion.

As the saying goes, people are in good spirits when they are happy.

Gongsun Chan is no exception.

After staying in the Assassin's Mansion for more than a month, he and Yan Gang took a few followers and went straight to Pingyin.

When we reached Pingyin, it snowed heavily.

Liu Bei learned that Gongsun Zhan and Yan Gang were visiting, and hurriedly came out of the house.

Seeing Liu Bei, Gongsun Zhan and Yan Gang pointed at Liu Bei, and Huo Ran laughed.

Liu Bei looked at them inexplicably, followed their fingers and looked down, only to find that he was actually pulling his boots, wearing shirts and pants on his lower body, and a small jacket on his upper body.

"Haha!" He couldn't help but laugh too, "Ahhhh Suddenly there was a sneeze.

"Xuande, the weather is too cold, hurry up and enter the house." Gongsun Chan greeted with concern.

Liu Bei touched his nose, didn't care at all, and still said with a happy face: "It's okay, I heard that the two brothers arrived, and they were in a hurry, and they lost their manners, and they lost their manners!" ”

As they spoke, the three of them walked into the hall.

Liu Bei summoned Xijie: "Lord Bing Cao is coming, you will prepare wine and food immediately." ”

"Yes!" Xijie immediately went down to make arrangements.

Outside, the snow was falling, and the three of them hid in the house around the charcoal fire, on which hot wine was burned.

A few days in front of him, beef has been put on the table.

"Brother Bo Jue, Brother Lun Chang, I have been following my teacher for several years, and now you and I have become a general. Brother Bo Jue is even better, and he has already lived in the army. Come, a toast to our teacher! Liu Bei raised the wine bottle and toasted to the two.

Gongsun Chan and Yan Gang raised their glasses and drank freely.

"Yes! I just don't know if the teacher is out of the mountains and into the office? Yan Gang sighed.

"If you are subject to relatives and servants today, didn't the teacher say, 'I am willing to seek for the world, not among the trees'. Presumably, the teacher has already joined the company! Gongsun Chan tore off a piece of meat and said while chewing.

"The court is dim, the inner servants control the government, and the foreign relatives are overbearing. I don't know when such a day will pass?! Yan Gang sighed.

"The rebellion of the imperial court began during the reign of the first emperor Yuanjia. The Son of Heaven does not distinguish between good and evil, and likes falsehoods and lies, but does not like to listen to the truth of those righteous ministers. He especially believed in the eunuchs, and often because of the eunuchs' slander, he cut the upright ministers in the court and imprisoned them, which can be described as extremely mediocre. "Gongsun Chan seems to be very dissatisfied with the DPRK.

Liu Bei had never been in contact with the upper echelons, nor did he know about the things above, but he knew that the emperor had changed now, so he asked, "Is it still like this today?" ”

"It's even better!" Gongsun Zhan glanced at Liu Bei, with some disdain in his eyes, "After the death of the first emperor, the Son of Heaven ascended to the great treasure." In accordance with the edict, the general Dou Wu and the Taifu Chen Fan assisted the government together. However, the Empress Dowager Dou hung the curtain, and the eunuch Cao Jie and others took power. ”

Yan Gang interjected and said: "The general Dou Wu and the Taifu Chen Fan saw that the government was leaning day by day, and they knew that they were ashamed of the first emperor, so they secretly discussed in the general's mansion to kill the internal troubles and eliminate the villains around the Son of Heaven. However, he acted poorly and leaked secrets, but was framed by Cao Jie and others. ”

"Huh? Is there such a thing?! Liu Bei exclaimed in surprise.

Gongsun Chan nodded, raised the wine bottle and took a sip of wine, and continued: "Since then, the eunuch line has begun to run rampant inside and outside the court. Officials of all sizes have attached themselves to each other, resulting in bias in the government and government. ”

"Could it be that Ding Envoy Jun and Guo Envoy Jun are also attached to the eunuchs?" Liu Bei asked puzzled.

Yan Gang smiled and explained to him: "What if they are a prince? It's not like you have to give gifts to those eunuchs from time to time. Especially our Lord Thorn Shi, he got this position with the help of Zhongchang Attendant. ”

"Isn't there anyone who dares to oppose them?"

"There are always those upright ministers in the DPRK, such as our mentors, such as the former councillor Cai Yong, etc.?"

"Cai Yong?"

"That was in July of the second year of Jianning. As early as April of that year, the Son of Heaven ascended to the Dewen Temple to meet with the ministers. As soon as he sat on the throne of the dragon chair, suddenly a storm rose in the corner of the main hall. I saw a big green snake the size of a bucket, flying down from the roof beam of the main hall, lying on the dragon chair.

The Son of Heaven was shocked, rolled aside, and hurriedly beckoned left and right. The attendants hurriedly lifted the Son of Heaven and hid in the palace. His Royal Highness's officials all fled in all directions. ”

Listening to Gongsun Zhan as if talking about a book from heaven, Liu Bei listened with relish: "What about later? ”

In a moment, the serpent was gone. Then, thunder and lightning poured down in the sky, and a bowl of hail crackled and fell in the rain until midnight. ”

Hearing this, Liu Bei's face was suddenly full of sadness, and he asked worriedly: "Aren't the people suffering?" ”

"Yes! This hail and thunderstorm smashed countless houses and left tens of thousands of people homeless. How many people died, we have no way of knowing! Ay! Gongsun Chan said and sighed.

Yan Gang said again: "In February of the fourth year of Jianning, it was two years later. The wrath of the gods made the land of Luoyang roar, and hundreds of people died. In various places along the coast, the sea god was angry again, and the sea water swelled up, drowning I don't know how many people! What a sin! ”

Liu Bei had heard of these things, so it was not surprising.

It's just that Gongsun Chan was surprised when he went on to talk about things: "In the first year of Guanghe, the hen turned into a male. In June, a black gas was more than ten zhang long, and he did not enter the Wende Palace. In autumn and July, there is a rainbow in Yutang; The banks of the five plains are all cracked. The Son of Heaven was shocked and issued an edict to ask the ministers. ”

Liu Bei asked, "What do you say?" ”

"The ministers have their own arguments. Cai Yong, the speaker of the book, pointed out that the female rooster turned into a male, the black gas entered the hall, the rainbow frightened the wall, etc., all of which were caused by the women's temple interference. The words were full of earnest words, and the Son of Heaven sighed when he read the recital. From time to time, because he got up to change clothes, he was peeped at by Cao Jie. It's hurt Lord Cai! When Gongsun Chan talked about Cai Yong, he was quite helpless.

"What happened to Master Cai?" Liu Bei asked.

Yan Gang took over the conversation: "Hey! Lord Cai was framed by them and fell into prison, but fortunately he was rescued by the teacher and others and was dismissed. ”

"I see!" Liu Bei suddenly realized that the imperial court was so dim.

As for later, in the imperial court, the ten people who were often servants, including Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong, Feng Zhen, Duan Qi, Cao Jie, Hou Lan, Jian Shuo, Cheng Kuang, Xia Yun, and Guo Sheng, were traitors, brutalizing Zhongliang and endangering the government, and the ministers of the court called them "ten permanent servants".

The Son of Heaven has always favored Zhang Rang, and even called him "Father".

Gongsun Zhan didn't know much about these things, so he didn't tell Liu Bei.

Otherwise, with his royal family, where is his face?

The three of them drank and stopped.

Gongsun Zan and Yan Gang rested in Liu Bei's mansion for one night.

The next day, the two resigned.

Liu Bei saw off the two at the three-way crossing.

Looking at the two people in the distance, Liu Bei was affected by the snow around him, and suddenly felt empty in his heart.

After glancing around, he closed his eyes again, trying to appreciate the emptiness around him.

It seems that he wants to drive away the sadness of worrying about the country and the people in his heart.

But Heaven didn't let him go at all......

Suddenly, he heard a timid voice: "My lord, it's good, give me something to eat!" ”

The sound is so faint that you can't hear it until you calm down.

Liu Bei felt a twitch in his heart, and hurriedly followed the voice.

I saw that under the snow beside the road, a low thatched kennel-like hole showed a dark hole.

"Xijie, go over and have a look!" Liu Bei hurriedly asked Xijie to go over and check.

Xijie took the two of them, jumped off the horse, and came to the cave.

The three of them tossed and pulled two out of the hole.

One adult, one child.

The two were ragged and hugged each other tightly, but they shivered in the cold wind.

Liu Bei hurriedly took off the cloak on his body and handed it to them.

Then, he took Xijie and the others and brought the two back to the mansion.

When he returned to the mansion, he immediately arranged for someone to boil water and prepare ginger soup, rice porridge and other meals.

After Xijie and others settled down, the two took a hot bath, washed away the cold on their bodies, and drank ginger soup and rice porridge. Then, they were settled in the house.

The next day, Liu Bei took Xijie, Zheng Xing, Zhang Ji and others to visit them.

The child was still asleep, but the adult woke up first.

The groomed face looks like it's thirty or forty years old.

When he saw Liu Bei coming in, he hurriedly got up and wanted to get out of bed and salute.

Liu Bei stretched out his hand to stop him and said, "Don't be polite, don't be polite." ”

After saying that, he asked Xijie to help the man sit down.

The man didn't seem to have recovered yet, and he looked a little weak.

Leaning against the wall, he leaned down.

Liu Bei asked a few simple questions, and learned from the man's mouth: The child is his son.

They fled from Luoyang.

The officials there oppressed the people and expropriated them violently.

The people toiled for a year, and the food rations left at home were barely enough to survive the winter.

What makes people even more infuriating is that they don't treat the people as human beings at all, and no one arrests the real thieves, but instead arrests the honest people and sends them to work.

After listening to it for a long time, Liu Bei was very annoyed, comforted the man with good words, and ordered his subordinates to entertain him, and then left with Xijie and the others.

Since then, Liu Bei has often thought about the way to be an official, rigorous his behavior, and restraining his subordinates.

On the first and fifteenth day of the new year, he took Xijie and others out of the house to visit, and once he found that the officials were corrupt and bent the law, he would not forgive them.

At this point, his prestige among the people increased day by day.