On the north bank of Lishui, the tent of the Nanyang military camp.

The camp stretches for more than ten miles, and in addition to the huge camps, there are also some school grounds inside the barracks.

But at this time, it was quite strange in the school yard, and there were many boats placed in it.

In the evening, Shen Chen inspected the battalions, and the craftsmen carefully followed his orders and continued to build wooden boats, which were placed in the school grounds of each battalion.

In the past few days, although they have not suffered much losses, only countless arrows and stones, but the soldiers are also quite tired, so except for the guards used for guards, most of the soldiers went to bed early.

After inspecting the battalions, Shen Chen returned to his tent of the main battalion commander of the Chinese army, and in the tent, Zhou Budo and Cai Du took Deng Ai, Xie Hui, Zhang Li, Hu Wei, Li Qiu and other disciples to do paperwork.

It was Shen Chen's disciples, both martial arts and literature, and there were many students in the entire army from the bottom to the top who controlled key positions, and they could always learn a lot of new things by fighting with their masters.

Shen Chen was also able to control the grassroots level of the army through them, so that the 50,000 army could be commanded and planned freely, which was a good thing for both sides.

Seeing Shen Chen coming in, Zhou Budo got up and said, "Senior brother, the arrows have been lost a lot these days, more than 4.3 million arrows have been used, and the storage is almost half, but now we have not captured a single camp of the Cao army. ”

"It doesn't matter."

Shen Chen waved his hand: "The equipment is originally used to kill the enemy, and in the case of reducing the casualties of our army, no matter how much the bow and crossbow are lost, even if they only kill a few thousand people, it will be worth it." ”

Cai Du said: "General, today the king has news again, Lucheng was broken by Cao Cao, he can only retreat to Qishan, Cao Cao sent Xiahou Yuan to attack urgently, the camps are stormy, and the day is precarious, so the king hopes that the lord can act as soon as possible." ”

"Hmm."

Shen Chen nodded: "The lord is anxious and I also understand that once he withdraws from Qishan, Wudu will have no danger to defend, and can only retreat to Yangping Pass." Yangping Pass is the last line of defense, once Yangping Pass is in danger, then Hanzhong will not be able to be saved, and the lord needs Hanzhong. ”

The price of the Tibetan troops is that the elite main force on the front line is seriously insufficient, coupled with the supply of grain and grass, and the number of soldiers and horses is far less than that of Cao's army, Liu Bei will be at a serious disadvantage in the overall battle situation.

When these disadvantages are magnified, there is a possibility that there will be a chain reaction, and finally even the strategic land of Hanzhong will be lost.

Just as the West cannot lose Jerusalem, Liu Bei must not lose Hanzhong.

So he must be in a hurry.

But Shen Chen knew that the war was urgent, and he still waited patiently for the opportunity.

"Report!"

At this time, a scout outside the tent came in, knelt down on one knee and said, "General, Cao Hong has a letter." ”

"Oh?"

Shen Chen took the letter, looked at it, and laughed.

Zhou Budo wondered: "Senior brother, what is written in Cao Hong's letter?" ”

"Cao Hong came down to fight and asked me to wait for tomorrow's decisive battle."

Shen Chen said with a smile: "He said that the great Confucian king Lang in the north wants to debate with me in front of the battle." ”

"Debate?"

Zhou Budo remembered that his master, Song Zhongzi, and Confucianism were so refuted that they couldn't speak, and sneered: "It seems that since ten years ago, no one in the south is willing to debate with senior brother anymore." There are often scholars from the north who come to the south, but they all come to Nanyang to apprentice, but I didn't expect that there would be people who came to provoke. ”

"Probably deceived me into digging my own canal, thinking that the siege equipment could not pass, and the soldiers could not fully line up, so they thought that they could go out of the city to fight me."

Shen Chen smiled and said, "When I leave the city tomorrow, I will defeat the morale of the Cao army again, and I will capture Cao Hong alive at that time." ”

I have been sitting in Nanyang for more than ten years.

People all over the world think that they teach and educate people all day long, and they have become a teacher.

But after all, I forgot that I fought countless Confucian celebrities in Jingzhou alone, and my mouth bloomed with lotus flowers, how majestic.

At that time, whether it was poetry and scriptures, or ancient and modern texts, they were proficient in everything, and they were almost overpowering Nanzhou.

If Wang Lang thinks that the style of scripture and righteousness in the south is not as good as that in the north, it is a big mistake.

"The general is mighty."

Everyone bowed in unison.

Shen Chen waved his hand, sat back on the table and began to process the official documents.

The 50,000 army plus the 40,000 and 50,000 auxiliary soldiers of the people eat, drink and Lazar is not a small number.

It is also thanks to the fact that Jingzhou has greatly improved its productivity due to the emergence of double-cropping rice, and Nanyang is close, otherwise if it is like Liu Bei transporting grain in Longyou, it will really consume national strength and be almost exhausted.

Therefore, every time there is a war, he has to deal with the weapons, food, armor and equipment of the whole army, and the military spirit and mental health of the soldiers.

The daily routine is still very busy.

On the second day, the soldiers ate breakfast at the beginning of the meal, and left the camp to line up at the end of the meal, and by the time they reached the beginning of the middle of the corner to the third quarter of the middle of the corner, the army was already lined up in formation.

At this time, the camp tents of the Nanyang Army and the Cao Army were already worlds apart from before.

There are hundreds of criss-crossing trenches and canals, as hideous as the criss-crossing scars on the bodies of many military generals, stretching for three or four miles, all the way to the outside of Cao's military camp.

The excavation and construction of ditches not only put a great burden on the people and auxiliary soldiers, but also seriously hindered the departure of siege equipment.

Many soldiers of the Nanyang Army and even middle and high-ranking generals didn't understand why Shen Chen did this at all.

However, if it was an ordinary general, he might have doubted it.

For example, Lu Xun before the Battle of Yiling and Sima Yi met by Zhuge Liang during the Northern Expedition were probably ridiculed by the Wu army and the Cao army, and they were afraid of Shu like a mouse.

But Shen Chen had no one questioning it.

Because he is no longer the new governor who has just taken over like Lu Xun and Sima Yi, but a veteran general who has been on the battlefield for many years in his teens.

Therefore, even if there is confusion, no one questions it.

Without siege equipment, Shen Chen's army still lined up in the center of the battlefield.

The Cao army over there also moved at the same time and went out of the battle.

The two sides quickly came into contact.

A hundred steps away from the enemy and us, Cao Jun and several people rode out and came to the center.

This is already within the range of arrows, if Shen Chen orders ten thousand arrows to be fired, these people will definitely die.

However, Shen Chen did not give the order to shoot arrows.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, the style of rangers prevailed, although there were a large number of "traitors" who groveled to Cao Wei, but there were also righteous men like Yoshimoto and Wei Wei who cared about the Han family.

If you order archery in front of tens of thousands of people on the battlefield, it will be unscrupulous, it will make the soldiers on your side feel humiliated, and it will also make the Cao army's side indignant and increase the morale of the other party.

So sometimes it should be upright or upright.

What's more, Shen Chen is not afraid.

He was wearing the armor of a general, with a tiger courage sword hanging from his waist, a jade horse under his crotch, and only his disciple Shan Yi by his side, and walked over there with a swagger.

The two sides gathered in the center of the soldiers on both sides, and faced each other five or six meters apart.

Shen Chen saw that there were three generals from Cao Jun, as well as a white-haired old man, the general led by him had an old face and looked very familiar, and said tentatively: "Cao Hong? ”

"Somebody's here!"

Cao Hong stood with a knife, and his demeanor was still the same as it was back then.

But Shen Chen just smiled and said, "I didn't expect you to be so old, the last time I saw you was ten years ago, when I was besieging Kunyang." ”

Although the two sides have been facing each other all year round, it is only a confrontation, and the generals on both sides are in the camp, how can they meet?

So Cao Hong, who is now in his fifties, suddenly appeared in front of him, he really didn't expect time to change so quickly, and the majestic General Cao back then is now gradually gray-haired.

Cao Hong said coldly: "Shaft, a certain family is not here to catch up with you, if you know each other obediently and retreat back, if you don't know each other, a certain family must pay you blood debts." ”

"Dead Father!"

Shan Yi said angrily: "Are you rampant again? ”

"Huh?"

Cao Hong was also furious and raised his knife and shouted: "Little thief, do you want to die? ”

"Yide."

Shen Chen stopped Shan Yi, turned his head and smiled at Cao Hong: "The older you get, the more dry your temper becomes. ”

"That's kind of polite."

Cao Hong snorted and put the knife back.

In history, when Cao Cao and Liu Bei scolded each other in his later years, he was much more powerful than a mouthful.

It's just that Cao Hong thought that Wang Lang said last night that he could say that he could calm down in the morning, so he suppressed his impulsive temper, otherwise he would have started scolding his mother a long time ago.

However, Shen Chen is thirty-three years old this Chinese New Year's Eve, Xu is a successful learner, more and more calm, and his joy and anger are invisible, even if Cao Hong is not inferior, he just smiled and did not care.

There's no need to care about the dead.

Shen Chen turned his head to look at the old man and asked, "Could this be the king's sacrificial wine that asked me to debate the scriptures today?" ”

He was not Situ at this time, and it was not until eight years later that Cao Rong succeeded to the throne and replaced Hua Xin as Situ, and finally died of illness in the second year of Taihe, that is, nine years later.

According to precious historical records, he died at the time of his death, so he was just sixty-seven years old at this time.

Wang Lang shook his hands and bowed: "King Jingxing of the East China Sea." ”

"Shen Xiaoqing of the East China Sea."

Shen Chen returned the salute.

The two are still fellow villagers, both from the East China Sea.

However, Shen Chen is Xiangben County in the East China Sea, Wang Lang is Tan County in the East China Sea, and the two counties are neighboring counties, which are separated by a Yishui.

After seeing the salute, Wang Lang got up and said solemnly: "I have heard the name of Shen Zhongzi for a long time, and I am honored to meet you today." However, according to the scriptures, there are some uncertainties in the old decay, and I hope to solve the doubts. ”

"Please."

Shen Chen stretched out his hand to signal.

Wang Lang said: "In "Zhuziyan", Xu Zi once asked Shen Zi, can the ancestor of Qin be ordained? You say that it is an order, and the people return to Han for the sake of the envoy, and the Han is the mandate of heaven. ”

"Not bad."

Shen Chen nodded, such orthodoxy itself did not need to be argued.

Wang Lang said: "That is the case, why does Liu Xuande disobey the order and not respect the edict?" Why are you rebellious? How many times have you attacked the capital of the Son of Heaven and disturbed Your Majesty, is this not a rebel or a thief? ”

Shen Chen said: "I am edicted to beg for thieves, how can I not respect the edict? Could it be that His Majesty's bloody edict is not respectful, and the thief is holding the false edict written by the Son of Heaven hostage? ”

Wang Lang arched his hand to the north and said: "Your Majesty is in Chendu, and the Son of Heaven lives here, which is to order the king to quartet." If it is an edict, it should be received. ”

Shen Chen said with a smile: "Fu Ji and Wu are in chaos, and Tang and Wu are punished because of the heart of the world." Ji and 纣 are the kings, Tang and Wu are ministers, could it be that the order of Ji and 纣, Tang and Wu Zun, how can there be Shang Tang? If Gaozu was ordered by Li Si and Zhao Gao, how could there be a modern Han? ”

Wang Lang said: "The King of Wei was ordered by the emperor to seek revenge from the Quartet, how can he generalize? Do you think that the Son of Heaven is a rude? ”

"No, the Son of Heaven is the king, and Cao Cao is the king of Wengonghui."

Shen Chen said: "In the past, when Duke Wen of Jin Dynasty, in order to dominate the world, he defeated the State of Chu in the Battle of Chengpu. After that, he invited King Zhou Xiang to come and named him Uncle Hou. "Spring and Autumn" said that the king of Zhou patrolled Heyang. However, Confucius once angrily criticized the Duke of Jin Wen, saying that "the princes have no right to summon the Son of Heaven", which shows that the Son of Heaven was caused by the coercion of the Duke of Jin Wen. ”

"When King Qin Hui was king, because he hesitated between attacking Shu and Korea, Zhang Yi once proposed to blackmail the Son of Heaven to order the princes. By the time of the Warring States period, the majesty of the Son of Heaven had ceased to exist. Although it is the mandate of heaven, Ranzi said that there is no way and the conquest of etiquette comes from the princes, which is the case. ”

"Back then, the Duke of Qi Huan assisted the Zhou room, respected the king of Xiangyi, and ordered the king of Chu Cheng to pay tribute to the Son of Heaven. Ordered by the Son of Heaven, he must also respect the etiquette and not exceed the rules. ”

"Mencius" said: "Those who use strength to fake benevolence are hegemonic, and there must be a great power." Cao Cao deviated from the White Horse Alliance and proclaimed himself king. Killed the queen, uncle, and minister. slaughtered the people, families, and princes of the Quartet. is not the king of Huan, but the king of Wen Gonghui is also the son of heaven. ”

"My lord Liu Xuande acts with benevolence and righteousness, and this is the return of the people's heart. Outside is like Duke Huan, who is edicted to crusade against Cao thieves, and he is ordered by heaven. How can you be afraid of Cao thief because of Cao thief's false behavior? Therefore, we attacked the capital of the Son of Heaven, not to disturb His Majesty, but to rescue His Majesty, so that the Son of Heaven could return to Orthodoxy! ”

The words are well-founded and convincing.

Wang Lang didn't mean to refute at all, but nodded approvingly: "Well, since that's the case, how can Liu Bei explain that he has established himself as the king?" And where the King of Wei went, the people's hearts were attached, you said that the people's hearts were the mandate of heaven, shouldn't this be like the ancestors of Qin, in order to get the artifact? ”

He has spoken very boldly, mainly because Liu Xie's usefulness is getting smaller and smaller now. The ministers of the Manchu Dynasty were already Wei ministers instead of Han ministers, the people in the north were also Wei people instead of Han people, and the family also supported Cao Wei instead of Liu Han.

In particular, Liu Bei attacked the wealthy families in the south, so that the wealthy families in the north have moved closer to Cao Cao, as the controllers of the right to speak, they naturally don't care whether the majesty of the Son of Han still exists.

Therefore, Wang Lang said almost in front of the soldiers of the two armies today that Cao Cao had occupied the entire north and the people of the north were attached, so he should also become the new emperor on behalf of Han.

However, Shen Chen immediately replied: "In ancient times, the world was also taken by the people, and the current world is also taken by the people's lives." ”

Wang Lang asked, "What's the solution?" ”

"Tang, Yu Shangren, the people of the world and the emperor, don't you say that you take the hearts of the people in the world?"

Shen Chen said: "Wei Shangquan, drive the son under the sharp blade, and fight for an inch of land in a hundred battles. By the soldiers for the princes, by the princes for the Son of Heaven, non-soldiers can not be powerful, non-war can not serve, do not say that the world is the people's life? ”

"The number of days has changed, the artifact is easier, and it is natural to return to the virtuous."

Wang Lang said with a smile: "Liu Xuande said that he acted with benevolence and righteousness, didn't he also stand up as the king this time, and fight for an inch of land with a sword?" You say that the king of Wei takes the life of the people from the world, why is he not like this? ”

"The Mandate of Heaven is still in Han instead of Wei, and the people under my rule are rich in food and clothing, and everyone lives and works in peace and contentment, isn't it kingly?"

Shen Chen asked rhetorically: "As far as I know, now there are many dead and injured people under Cao Wei's rule, and the people will not leave three out of ten, and six or seven percent of the harvest grain will be handed over to the Wei State." He is also a scholar family, conscripting a wife, and a soldier is fighting on the front line, but his wife has been forcibly married to others, what is a virtuous person for such evil deeds? ”

"Forehead ......"

Wang Lang was speechless for a while, because Cao Cao did do this, and the exploitation of the tuntian system has become more and more serious now, it used to be four or six or five or five, but now it has risen to seventy-three. There are also front-line soldiers who are fighting, and the daughter-in-law in the rear is assigned to others, which is really not authentic.

Shen Chen said: "I have entered Henan many times, and what I have seen and heard, all the way along the way. There are no strong men in the fertile fields, and the government forcibly conscripts the people into the army, so that the fields are wasted, hunger is rampant, and I heard that there was a rebellion in Qingzhou last year? ”

"How can a little trouble shake the foundation of the country?"

Wang Lang waved his hand and said: "Then according to your meaning, if the son loses the hearts of the people today, the people in the north will no longer be Han people, and the king of Wei will replace the Han, it will be the mandate of heaven." If you go against the grain, you are going against the sky. said that the king of Wei used his power to dominate the fake benevolent, didn't Liu Bei usurp the country in the fake benevolent? ”

Shen Chen arched his hand to the north and said: "Your Majesty is in one day, and my lord Xuande Gong will support him for one day." If Cao Cao usurped the Han Dynasty and seized the Sheji artifact, for the sake of the world, my lord would also take it back from Cao Cao's hands, this is the destiny of heaven! ”

"Huh."

Wang Lang sneered and said: "You open the people and close the world, the king of Wei has done his best in the north, how many tens of millions of people under his rule?" If it weren't for your royal orders, the king of Wei would have ruled China and made the people live in peace. ”

Shen Chen also sneered: "You said that you have read my book, but I feel as if you have not read it at all." In your mouth, I only heard the opening of my eyes for Cao Cao, telling me that since Cao Cao won the north, I should submit to him. But I didn't see the people I mentioned in the book, and I didn't see how many cities Cao Cao slaughtered that I said. ”

"Even if there are deaths and injuries for the sake of the world, it is inevitable." Wang Lang said in a deep voice: "Killing 100,000 can save 10 million, isn't this what should be done?" ”

"But I didn't see that Cao Cao saved tens of millions!"

Shen Chen said categorically: "The life of the Li people in the north is not to cultivate their own fields to support themselves, but to be enslaved by Cao Cao's tuntian and enslaved by the big clans. Our lord will receive one out of ten taxes in the south, and the people will receive nine, and the people will be richer, and everyone will have clothes to wear, and everyone to eat. However, Cao Cao enslaved the people in the north, and Cao Cao had seven or eight out of ten, and the family had eight or nine out of ten, and he only gave the people who had worked hard all their lives a mouthful of food, barely living. How can such a life be considered a good one? You don't see how many northern people have fled to the south since the north and south have been holding each other, and how many Li people have hidden in the mountains and forests, unwilling to be Wei people. In the final analysis, Wang Saijiu is also from a big family, and he enslaved I don't know how many people under his rule, because Cao Cao sheltered you, and you are your minions, and you are also worthy of talking to me about the people, and also worthy of talking to me about the world? ”

That's the contradiction.

Wang Lang himself is the Wang family of the East China Sea, with land, people and industry, belonging to the vested interests of the landlords' estates of the big clans, and the hidden households can help them get a lot of food and property, so they will naturally not stand on the side of the people.

】

Therefore, Wang Lang will not come to talk to Shen Chen about the people, but will only come to talk to him about whether the Han Dynasty is under the command of heaven, the Han Dynasty's qi has run out, and whether it has become the mandate of heaven for Cao Wei to represent the Han.

However, Shen Chen has always insisted that the one who wins the hearts of the people is the destiny of heaven, so he has always emphasized that Liu Bei won the hearts of the people and Cao Cao's hearts were forcibly obtained.

Although the world is not the opposite of good and evil, there is always a delicate gray between black and white.

But if the ruling class is not able to move indefinitely towards justice and seek benefits for the people, then the people will continue to suffer.

Cao Wei's rule advocated power and the rule of law, and it was a policy of slavery for the common people, such as the forced conscription of strong men, the relocation of people to the fields, the scholar family system, the birth of women, etc., the common people were mostly exploited and oppressed, and often the living were very difficult, not to mention any dignity.

Under Liu Bei's rule, it was a normal royal policy, adopting a conscription system, paying military salaries, collecting one-tenth of the field tax, and prohibiting the family from forming a monopoly on the population and land, and the people became richer.

Of course.

The premise of all this is that the productivity of Liu Bei's group has greatly increased, otherwise it will be difficult to afford such a huge army.

But this alone makes the two systems fundamentally different.

After the establishment of Cao Wei, due to the alliance with the family, so it was supported by the family, the family controlled a large number of people and land, and the grassroots would be forced to support Cao Wei, so that Cao Cao always had a strong army, but the people would suffer extremely.

Shu Han is mainly to suppress the family, and the family will not cooperate with Shu Han, so they have to find a way to increase the enthusiasm of the people, so that they can barely maintain, but at least the people will live a much better life.

If Cao Wei rules the world, just like the Jin Dynasty, the family has the right to speak, and the people of the whole world are enslaved like cattle and horses.

If Shu Han ruled the world, just like many later dynasties just opened the country, due to the chaos in the world that destroyed the original inherent class, the land was redistributed, and the people's lives would naturally recover.

Even if in the next one or two hundred years, as in the late Ming Dynasty, a gentry group will replace the family group and become a new landlord class, it will be better than the existing landlord class directly taking power.

At least the Western Jin Dynasty has existed for more than 50 years, and the Ming Dynasty has existed for more than 200 years. What's more, Shen Chen will definitely make new policies in the future to prevent this from happening.

So in essence, what Shu Han is doing now is to safeguard the interests of the people like our army.

And Cao Wei is safeguarding the interests of the family, so conflicts between the two sides are inevitable.