—180 A.D.——

Huangfu Song is an old-school commander.

This "old school" refers to the fact that the tactics he most often uses are the former Han Dynasty, the pre-Qin Dynasty, and even the kind that can be traced back to the Great Zhou, the kind of upright formation of soldiers against soldiers, and generals against generals, as for the "unparalleled warriors" that the new generation of generals like to use as strange soldiers, they were directly converted into the combat power of his troops.

Sun Tzu's Art of War has a cloud, "all fighters, with the right fit, with the odd victory", but in Huangfu Song's view, that means that in the case of the difference in the combat strength of the two sides is not large, they have to win by surprise, if they can directly "win with the right", why do they need to be "strange"?

In his previous career as a leader, whether it was to repel an invading frontier or suppress a rebel rebellion, after estimating the maximum combat power that the other side could muster, he led the troops that doubled on this combat power, and crushed the past with dignity, so far, there is no disadvantage.

In contrast, Zhu Jun, one of the three famous generals, prefers to "win by surprise", and his view is "If you can achieve the greatest result with the least number of troops, why not?" The last person, Lu Zhi, who could not go into battle in person because he was a civilian official, thought that both sides were very reasonable, and would make peace with the mud after the two argued or even quarreled.

This crusade against the Xiliang traitors is not only to quell the rebellion, but also to show the people of the world that the imperial court will not tolerate it, so the upright, or very mobile Huangfu Song is the first choice.

When Liu Bei and Gongsun Zhan were stuffed into the Hedong Army being formed by Huangfu Song under the pretext of "letting juniors see the world", the general of Zhengxi didn't even blink an eye, for no other reason, there were too many people doing it.

According to the intelligence collected by Liu Bei, because the rebels have entered Fufeng County, the defenders have been in a hurry several times, so the closest to Luoyang, the fastest assembled "Hanoi Knights" has been taken by the "Dangkou General" Zhou Shen to take the lead in setting off, he will coordinate with the local defenders to deploy defenses, and wait for the follow-up Hedong and Henan knights who are far away to join after the recruitment is completed.

After the Hanoi knights temporarily held back the rebel offensive, giving Luoyang officials the impression that it was "nothing more than that", many families began to arm their own sons and private soldiers in response to the call, hoping to share the credit for this "sure victory" battle.

This is really because the ten permanent servants are too arrogant and domineering at this time, and if they want to be officials, they have to bow to them, and as soon as they do the family, they plan to go off the rails, and let the children first promote their positions with military merits.

When these families deliver the troops, they will always hint that those family members and private soldiers can arrange dangerous tasks at will, but please watch more about who is small - the result is that Liu Bei and Gongsun Zhan, who want to go to the front line to kill the enemy, are slightly looked down upon by Huangfu Song.

However, at this time, there is another problem, when those big families "hand" the troops, they formed the "department" and "qu" according to the agreed number and scale, and they can be used directly, but Liu Bei and Gongsun Zhan have no one under them, if these two obviously talented young people are used as the head of the army...... How stupid is he?

It was not impossible to transfer other troops to them, but it would lead to a chain of confusion in a series of already mature arrangements of the "Knights of the Three Rivers", and in the end, General Zhengxi's decision was to let the two of them go to the recruiting points in the east of the river to pull up a team - this kind of spontaneous conscripts are of mixed quality, and most of them are usually used as reserves or baggage transport teams, and it is not a big deal to divide a special team of several thousand people from them.

And Huang Fu Song's genius pen directly broke through the behavior of the Ten Standing Servants in mixing sand with the army at the bottom, they may not want Huang Fu Song to fail, but they just want him to win not so easily, but the act itself is playing with the lives of thousands of soldiers.

On a frontal battlefield, the sudden damage of personal equipment often means the death of the user and a gap in the front, and a gap that should not appear often means the collapse of the entire front.

People who can see this will naturally go to the culprit to seek justice, and Guan Yu is the seventh person stopped by Liu Bei during the period of "waiting for the rabbit" near the county government, and at the same time, he is also the most powerful one.

————

"Under Liu Bei, Liu Xuande."

"'Liu'?" Guan Yu narrowed his eyes after hearing the answer: "You should be one of the many 'Three Rivers Knights', could it be that because it was not your own subordinates who was killed by this person, you decided to let him go?" ”

The green-robed young man turned around and stepped back, slightly raising the long knife in his hand towards Liu Bei, obviously, if Liu Bei answered inappropriately, he would ignore the unfavorable situation of one against two and force his move, and kill the county order no matter what.

"Killed?" Liu Bei stretched out his hands and was puzzled: "When?" Where? Who? ”

"That's—" Guan Yunchang blurted out two words, and then stopped by himself with his eyebrows twisted.

Liu Bei signaled behind his back: "This person made or will kill thousands of Han soldiers for small profits, however, since this matter has been discovered by us, then it is impossible for the death to happen, if you want to be held responsible, it is at most the crime of 'dereliction of duty' or 'greed for ink', and it is not to death." ”

"Ridiculous!" Guan Yu retorted: "If a thief wants to kill you with a knife and is stopped by me halfway, will you let him go on the grounds that 'I was not killed'?" ”

"Well said!" Liu Bei clapped his hands and said, "After Brother Bogui heard about this, it took two days to think of similar words. ”

"Hey......" Gongsun Chan smiled bitterly beside him.

"This matter involves the word 'attempt,'" Liu Bei continued: "It should be dealt with according to 'intent' and not 'facts', and 'attempted homicide' is the same crime as homicide." ”

Guan Yu was stunned for a moment, obviously, whether it was "facts" or "intentions", none of the county orders had achieved the premise of "wanting to kill the border soldiers", so he was not guilty? …… I always feel that there is something wrong.

"The disposition of this ignorant county decree should be to temporarily detain and make it contribute to the aftermath of the matter, and then clearly explain to him the rule that 'dereliction of duty in major matters is equal to subjective serious crime,' and finally demote him," Liu Bei explained in detail. ”

"Heh......" Unconsciously, Guan Yu had put away his long knife and said to Liu Bei: "Look at Your Excellency, you have no official position and no position, and you are thinking about something that even the emperor doesn't bother to think about?" ”

"It's because the emperor is too lazy to think about it that he has to think about it." Liu Bei replied solemnly, as if he didn't realize how inappropriate this was.

Gongsun Chan looked at the sky with a big gun, and he didn't understand it at all.

This truth, or "law", was summed up by Liu Bei himself when dealing with the Luoyang plague, and with the help of the wood carving to perceive the gratitude, he easily felt the heartfelt gratitude of some low-level officials after he corrected the "behavior that objectively causes the spread of contagion", but at the same time, there are also officials who have no fluctuations in their hearts, and even laugh at Liu Bei's stupidity - there is no doubt that this group of people is the guy who knows that his dereliction of duty will kill many people, but still decides to do it for the sake of money, if there is a chance, It must be dealt with severely.

However, the date of its implementation can be said to be far away, and the problem is that ordinary judges are completely unable to judge whether it is "subjective malice", and can only make a vague judgment based on the small wood carving that Liu Bei carried with him at this time, if someone's "Wushuang" awakens a similar function.

Finally, Liu Bei concluded: "Not only officials, but also ordinary people with insufficient knowledge, who are likely to be inadvertently involved in wrong actions because of distorted ideas or deliberate misdirection, at this time, they should be given a chance to understand what is right and what is wrong, instead of directly punishing, if they resolutely do not change, it is not too late to punish." ”

At this time, Guan Yu had completely given up the idea of killing the county order, but he still said stubbornly: "What does 'correct' mean?" What is an 'error'? What evidence do you have to think that what you call 'right and wrong' is really 'right and wrong'? ”

Liu Bei seemed to have thought about this question for a long time, and replied without hesitation at this time: "[Those who harm others and benefit themselves are wrong, and those who harm themselves and benefit others are right." ”

"......" Guan Yu was silent.

Liu Xuande knew through the sudden warmth of the wood carving that he had been convinced.

Because this statement is so brief, if you meet someone who is familiar with the scriptures and historical texts, you will probably argue with him about the detailed definitions of "harming others and benefiting oneself" and "harming oneself and benefiting others", as well as the position of "people" and "oneself".

Liu Bei couldn't explain that those things had already been determined by a certain "bodhisattva", and if he was forced too quickly, he could only say "I will admit it, I will define it, and I will explain the right and wrong in the world" - this is a bit too arrogant.

"My grandfather often told me to read more "Spring and Autumn" and "Zhou Yi". Guan Yu spoke again, and his tone changed slightly: "In his opinion, maybe everything in this world is nothing new, everyone is repeating what the ancients have already done, I hope I can learn from the past and find the most suitable path for myself." ”

Liu Bei was confident, smiling silently.

"However, I can't find any similar words from the annals of history, and I can only think that Your Excellency is trying to break a new path with a new idea, and I can't confirm whether this road can be passed, and I am deeply curious about its development," Guan Yu arched his hand and said: "The two generals should come here to prepare to recruit troops to the west, then, Guan Mou is not talented, and dares to ask for companionship to witness what will happen at the end of this road." ”

"Hehe, with the help of Yun Chang, I will be like a tiger with wings," Liu Bei also saluted: "Next, what we have to do is to stop all those who try to assassinate this county official, and take them down when they are finally ready to flee with the money, and hand them over to General Huangfu - as for the tattered equipment and horses, they can be used by the soldiers for the practice of familiarizing themselves with horse warfare before they really engage in battle." ”

At this moment, Liu Bei suddenly had a strange sense of déjà vu, as if he had been working with this Guan Yu Guan Yunchang for many years, and in addition, Gongsun Zhan beside him seemed to be stronger and darker?

Could it be that the "Bodhisattva" has done something? Liu Bei only thought about it for a moment, and then put this feeling behind him.