—176 A.D.——

"Well, this ...... Your Excellency the Blacksmith, have you not asked for your name? Liu Bei asked the blacksmith who had been persuaded by him with a teacup.

This valley is only half a day's journey from Luoyang, but although Luoyang City has no curfew, the city gates will not open after dark, so Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan have to spend the night in this forger's retreat.

Although he was reprimanded unilaterally by Liu Bei not long ago, the blacksmith was not embarrassed because he was convinced, and took out the wine and meat to invite the two to dinner, but Liu Bei was not yet an adult, so he could only replace the wine with tea.

At this time, "Your Majesty" refers specifically to the emperor, and "Your Highness" mostly refers to the imperial family and high-ranking officials.

"Where is there any honorable name...... the blacksmith waved his hand: "In Xia Zhang Shiping, he is just a blacksmith, and the person who issued the commission must be my friend Su Shuang, who has been persuading me not to do business in Luoyang, probably knowing that this kind of thing would happen." ”

"Brother Zhang, although this is not appropriate from the person who persuaded you to go back just now, but after you go back to the city to clean up, you will leave Luoyang," Liu Bei recalled the overview of the Dahan Prefecture that Lu Zhi had said: "With Brother Zhang's talent, Liangzhou, Bingzhou, and Youzhou will definitely be able to shine in many places of battle, if you don't like the bitter cold on the side, you can also go to the coastal counties of Xuzhou, but the Dongyi pirates you need to deal with there are different from the Hu people, and the customized weapons will also be different." ”

"Hmm...... Speaking of which, Brother Su did mention that he wanted me to go to Youzhou," the blacksmith named Zhang Shiping pondered.

"Wait a minute," Gongsun Zhan, who had been looking out at the white horse absentmindedly from time to time, suddenly thought of something and said: "Although it may not be big, is your 'Brother Su' from Liaodong?" ”

"That's right," Zhang Shiping looked at Gongsun Zhan, "In this case, this ranger's accent is quite similar to his." ”

"Hey!" Gongsun Zhan clapped his hands: "The Gongsun family of Liaoxi and the Su family of Liaodong are the two largest families in the northeast of Youzhou, but my family started with military exploits, and they are famous for producing weapons, armor and war horses. ”

"I've never heard Brother Su talk about this, even when he suggested going to Youzhou, he just said that he would do his best...... Support ......" Zhang Shiping froze in the middle of speaking, and a look of annoyance that seemed to have been deceived began to emerge.

"I guess, you must not have asked this Su Shuang, what is his family background, just deduced from the characteristics he showed and the news revealed between his usual words, but is this?" Liu Bei saw that the situation was not good, so he interjected: "Obviously, he is unwilling to deceive you, but due to the requirements of the family, he can't take the initiative to say it clearly." ”

"Oh, that's right...... I always thought his family was a horse dealer in Youzhou. Zhang Shiping shook his head with a smile.

"Well......" Liu Bei felt the warmth gushing out: "After Brother Zhang went back, he asked directly, and I can guarantee that he will be endless, and at most he will answer 'can't say' on some questions." ”

"The two great favors, there is nothing to repay in the next, but the materials here are poor, and after returning to Luoyang, they will definitely create a weapon for each of them," Zhang Shiping picked up the wine jue: "Do it first in the next for respect!" ”

————

The next day, Zhang Shiping packed up his seclusion, put the tools and other things he usually used on a flatbed carriage, and returned to Luoyang with Liu Bei and Gongsun Zhan.

Because the white horses captured by Gongsun Zhan were too good, the pack horses were ashamed of themselves, and their speed dropped a lot, but it was estimated that they would be able to return to Luoyang before dark.

"Brother Bogui, I guess you should know very well that the white horse is a request from a commission." Liu Bei looked at Gongsun Zhan with a look of love for the horse, and finally spoke.

"Not really!" Gongsun Zhan turned his head and said proudly: "The mission commission says 'I found a strong white horse in the northwest of Luoyang, please try to capture it', not 'my white horse is lost, please catch it by the ranger', so, this is an ownerless thing - no, it's mine!" ”

"Hmm...... So how are you going to talk back to the shopkeeper? Liu Bei looked at Gongsun Zhan, who was obviously not going to give up the horse, and shook his head again and again.

"Naturally, it will be shown directly to the shopkeeper," Gongsun Zhan stroked the white horse's supple mane: "I will tell him that this kind of good horse is worth at least 100,000 yuan, and his mere 2,000 yuan commission amount is an appraisal error, if the client refuses to add money, I will give him a 1,000 yuan 'mission failure fine' to take the horse away." ”

In order to prevent rangers who are not able to do enough to take on tasks or fail to perform them, most of the commissions have an execution period and a failure penalty, which are determined by the restaurant manager at his own discretion.

"In this case, the shopkeeper is fine, but the client will definitely be very dissatisfied......" Liu Bei frowned, but he couldn't think of the best of both worlds for a while.

"I'm not a 'good boy' like Xuande, I'm annoyed when he annoys me," Gongsun Chan laughed and said, "And you look at the rewards he added, a copy of the "Biography of the Daughters", if the client doesn't want to please Cai Zhenji, I don't believe it." ”

"The Biography of the Daughters" was written by Liu Xiang of the former Han Dynasty, which describes the well-known women who have been recorded since the Xia and Shang periods, or the demon concubines of the country, or the women with beautiful faces, or peerless talented women, and it is indeed appropriate to use their original to please Cai Yong's talented daughter.

"However, I seem to have heard that she is very close to the two sisters-in-law of the Cao family and the Yuan family?" After all, the teacher Lu Zhi and Cai Yong are familiar with each other, and it is natural for them to occasionally leak out some related trivial matters.

"Cao Mengde's words are still a character," Gongsun Zhan responded: "He dared to beat Jian Shuo's uncle when the power of the Ten Standing Servants was in full swing, and even better, it was in the name of Zhang Rang, which caused a dispute within the Ten Standing Servants, and it was not until recently that the results came out, giving him a painless punishment for transferring to other places to be a county commander." ”

"If he wants to reduce the authority of the Ten Standing Attendants, this is not appropriate," Liu Bei frowned and said, "It is a pleasure to be happy, but it is easy to invite trouble for friends and family." ”

"It's not clear whether there is trouble or not, but Cao Cao's friend, Yuan Shao and Yuan Benchu, should have been appointed as a nearby Beijing official, but when I heard that Cao Cao was transferred to other places to be a county magistrate, he was clamoring to follow, and it is said that the eyes of the third prince of the Yuan family were green." After a pause, Gongsun Chan smiled and said, "Although there are rumors that he is as stupid as a monkey, at least he is a monkey with affection and righteousness. ”

"Hmm...... After hearing that Cao Cao was Cao Shen, the prime minister of the Western Han Dynasty, could it be that he also had ambitions for this? Liu Bei pondered.

"I don't know if he has ambitions, but everyone in Luoyang knows that his father Cao Song's original name was Xiahou Song, and he was inherited from the Xiahou family to Cao Teng's name, so even if Cao Teng is a descendant of Cao Shen, he has nothing to do with Cao Song and Cao Cao."

"Brother Bogui is really knowledgeable."

"If you communicate with the children of Luoyang's eunuchs as much as you do with your brother, you will also know such trivial things."

"No, I'll just listen to Brother Bogui."

"Hehe-" Zhang Shiping, who was driving the car, couldn't participate in this kind of comment between the big families, so he had to keep smiling.

————

"Hey, say Cao Cao, Cao Cao is here."

When Luoyang City was already in sight, a large number of chariots appeared on the official road extending from the city gate, judging from the specifications, it was about the level of the three princes and nine kings, plus the "Cao" and "Yuan" banners, Liu Bei and Gongsun Zhan, who discussed Cai Wan, Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and others along the way, could naturally guess that the owner of the convoy was probably Cao Cao who was relegated to other places.

"Brother Zhang, please drive the carriage away from the road, preferably farther." Liu Bei said to the blacksmith.

"Of course, the car is old, but I don't want to replace it yet." Zhang Shiping drove the pack horse pulling the cart away from the official road.

The Han Dynasty's official road was about 50 feet (12 meters) wide, and was the main road connecting the major cities, with two carriages running in parallel on the "post road" and pedestrians on both sides.

"I said Xuande, don't you go to 'do good deeds' at this time," Gongsun Zhan frowned as he looked at the surrounding environment and frowned as he took a break away from the official road and waited for Cao Yuan's two convoys to pass.

As people were waiting for the convoy to pass, many people gathered on the side of the road, and there were many incidents of disputes, fights, and crying.

"What kind of person does Brother Bogui think of me?" Liu Bei glanced at the people who were far and near: "The disputes caused by the bumps, the children who cry for unknown reasons, the brawls that rise up bravely, and the sighs because of poverty, even 10,000 Liu Xuande can't deal with them." ”

"Hmm...... So what are your criteria for helping people? Issuing a request at a restaurant? Gongsun Chan asked.

"So to speak," Liu Bei nodded, "but specifically, they have to be 'asking for help', not 'waiting for alms'." ”

"I see, I said, Xuande, you always like to do good deeds, but I have never seen you give even a penny to the beggars in Luoyang." Gongsun Chan suddenly realized.

"Doing good with a bottom line is 'benevolence', while doing good without a bottom line is 'self-satisfaction' and will not lead to any good results." Liu Bei said slowly: "I am willing to hold those hands that are stretched out for help, but only once." ”

In fact, when he first arrived in Luoyang, when Brother Bogui didn't know, he had tried to give alms to beggars, Liu Bei thought, but he only gained "so rich and not too much", "Dressed so well, it is natural to take some money from him" "It must be a good reputation, these boys" This kind of malice is full of jealousy, hatred, and indifference in negative emotions.

Of course, this malice was isolated by the Bodhisattva wooden statue, and it gave him some warm currents like comfort, but Liu Bei didn't feel comforted at all at that time, and even had a sour nose and almost cried.

"Hey, Xuande, look, there's a woman holding a child there, and the child seems to have chickenpox," as if sensing that the topic was a little serious, Gongsun Chan looked around and tried to change the topic: "Is helping them count as a good deed?" ”

Liu Bei followed the prestige, and saw a middle-aged woman wearing coarse cloth clothes and holding a three- or four-year-old child in her arms, trying to approach some pedestrians, but she was always driven away from her as if she were facing a great enemy, and when they turned around, they could vaguely see the red spots on the children and the woman's faces.

"Well......" "With all due respect, Liu Xiaolangjun," Liu Bei was about to say something, but was interrupted by Zhang Shiping: "If it's really chickenpox, you'd better not approach, although the momentum is very strong and the knowledge is also very good, but looking at the appearance, you must not be an adult, and chickenpox is most likely to be infected with a half-sized man like you." ”

"Forget what I just said, Xuande," Gongsun Chan also reacted, "If you are infected with such a contagious disease, not only will you not be able to continue to study with your husband, but you will also be driven out of Luoyang—that woman's husband should be nearby, but he will not come close." ”

"So, how about we just ask the doctor to treat her and not approach?" Liu Bei looked at the woman who was driven away again and stood in a daze, a little unbearable.

"That's okay, when we go back to Luoyang—" Gongsun Chan breathed a sigh of relief.

Stomp Trample - Gollum - "Give way to give way-"

At this time, the carriages of the Cao family and the Yuan family passed by the side of the road, and the hooves and wheels of the horses and the shouts completely drowned out the words behind Gongsun Zhan.

In the chaos, Liu Bei saw a young woman wearing a luxurious black dress, a pure white hood, a satin folding fan in her left hand, and a strange cane in her right hand walking towards the middle-aged woman who was suspected of being infected with chickenpox.

Before Liu Bei could look at it for a moment, pink petals fell from the young woman's body, and in the next moment, she disappeared along with the woman holding the child.

Merlin? No, that's the "bodhisattva" that my father mentioned many times!