At the end of the sixth year of Zhang Wu, Yizhou was in Langzhong, Brazil.

There is a large mansion in the southeast of Langzhong County, near the riverside of the Western Han River.

This mansion is magnificent, covering an area of hundreds of acres, pavilions and terraces are all over, courtyards and paintings are lined up, and rockery ponds are located.

The whole courtyard is like a beautiful palace group, although the specification system is not as high as the palace, but the houses are lined up one after another, and the courtyards are located colorfully, full of two words - arrogant.

There are not many families in Yizhou who can afford to buy such a large business, and there is only one family in Pasir County that can have such a large property.

That is Langzhong Zhou.

Even if Langzhong Zhou is not said to be the richest man in Yizhou, it is probably not far behind. Especially after Zhou Lin fell on the thigh of Emperor Liu Bei of the Han Dynasty, he became more and more wealthy.

Liu Bei is encouraging agriculture, not inhibiting commercial development, promoting handicraft manufacturing, and making the business atmosphere and economy extremely prosperous.

Later, the national policy of the Han Dynasty's salt and iron monopoly was continued, and the state opened a state-owned enterprise commercial bank to specialize in salt and iron, which was responsible for Zhou Lin and Mi Zhu, so that the price of salt in the south was low, and everyone could afford to eat oil and salt, and could afford to use iron pots and iron tools.

Although the Langzhong Zhou clan lost a lot of land and population in the national policy, they originally made a fortune in business, so the loss was not large, and the property was still very large.

At this moment, it is already evening, in the backyard of Zhou's house, here is a huge square, covering an area of more than three acres, there are countless precious flowers and plants in the courtyard, as well as pavilions and rockery ponds, bamboo shadows and forests, quite luxurious.

The most eye-catching thing is a tall building in the southeast corner of the back garden, which must be at least more than ten zhang high, and is extremely conspicuous among the low pavilions, like Optimus Prime towering into the clouds.

Everyone in Langzhong knows that this is the Zhou family's sky-watching tower.

On the top of the sky-watching building, an old man was standing on the top of the building, looking at the clouds in the sky.

This old man is Zhou Lin's cousin Zhou Qun.

Historically, he was the Confucian captain of Ji Han and was also an astronomer.

There is also a middle-aged man in his forties beside Zhou Qun, this person is Zhou Qun's son, named Zhou Ju.

The father and son have been studying the art of diagramming and studying the movement of the stars all year round, and standing on the top of the sky-watching tower, they can't take their eyes off the eastern sky.

I saw the stars twinkling in the eastern sky, and occasionally a streak of stars crossed the night sky, like a comet dragging a long tail.

After a while, Zhou Ju said to Zhou Qun: "Father, Ziwei Emperor Star, it seems to be a little dim." ”

Zhou Qun frowned, stroked his beard and said: "A few days ago, I watched a meteor fall in the east, and there should be a certain general in the east who passed away. Recently, not only has Zi Weixing gradually dimmed, but I'm afraid the world is going to be in chaos. ”

Zhou Ju thought about it, and when he saw that there was no one left and right, he whispered to Zhou Qun: "Father, there are two emperors in the world now. The dimness of the emperor star often means that you say it will be? ”

"Don't speculate in vain about Emperor Xing."

Zhou Qun interrupted him and said, "Your Majesty is now on the Northern Expedition, and at this critical time, no one wants accidents. ”

"But."

Zhou Ju hesitated, but still didn't speak.

Those of them who study astrological charts can easily combine the current situation with the celestial phenomena.

Now that the crape myrtle star is dim, thinking that Liu Bei is nearly seventy years old and still has to go out on the Northern Expedition, it is inevitable that people will worry about what will happen to His Majesty's current health.

It's just that their Zhou family can have their current family business, which has a lot to do with Zhou Lin's development and Liu Bei's appreciation.

Therefore, Zhou Ju knew that his father had studied the diagram technique for many years, and it was impossible for him not to know what the dimness of Zi Weixing represented, but he didn't want to believe it.

If his father didn't say anything, Zhou Ju naturally didn't dare to say anything.

The two continued to watch the sky.

It was getting late and late, and at this time, suddenly a meteor fell from the sky.

Zhou Qun's eyes froze, and he hurriedly turned his head sideways.

Zhou Ju also watched and asked curiously, "Father, where did this meteorite come from?" ”

Zhou Qun said: "It seems that Xuanyuan Star is coming, take a look again." ”

And they stretched out their heads and looked on.

At the end of the evening, at about eight or nine o'clock, small meteors appeared scattered in the sky.

Later, when the number of people was fixed at three quarters, the number began to increase dramatically, and the naked eye could see that the meteorite streams were crisscrossed, staggered and fell. There are also two huge fire meteors inside, which are very spectacular.

One of them, as large as a half-liter container, bright enough to illuminate the night sky, the trail condensed in the sky, bent like a cloud; The other meteor was the size of a large peach, and its light shimmered brightly, falling slowly, almost competing with the bright moon.

Seeing this, Zhou Qun's mouth grew, and his face didn't know whether he was happy or sad. For those of them who study the stars, it is undoubtedly the most spectacular sight.

However, the technique of diagramming is often combined with reality, and whether the fall of such a large area of stars portends something, Zhou Qun dare not imagine.

And such a meteorite shower lasted until the next morning.

Even during the day, you can see a staggered light from time to time, and in the evening, there are still tail stars falling, which seems to be endless.

In the early morning, the father and son of the Zhou family, who had been observing all night, couldn't go back to rest at all, Zhou Ju said to his father with the bags under his eyes left by staying up all night: "Father, last night's meteorite shower, the vision of heaven and earth, I'm afraid something big happened." ”

Zhou Qun's face was also very tired, but he still held his body and continued to look at the sky and said: "The stars have fallen, does it mean that a large number of people will die in this war in the Southern Han and Northern Wei Dynasty?" What I care about the most is the two Martians in the sky, which are terrifying, could this be a harbinger of the two emperors? ”

By the end of the day, he was muttering to himself, not knowing what to do.

The fall of stars on such a large scale, even if he has studied celestial objects and stars for many years, has only seen it once.

The last time was more than 30 years ago, when it was the end of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Ling had just died, Dong Zhuo usurped the throne, and then the princes competed for hegemony and the heroes disputed.

At that time, he thought that many people in the world would die.

Sure enough, Dong Zhuo was killed by Lu Bu, Jizhou Mu Hanfu, Yuzhou Thorn Shi Kong Ling, Yanzhou Thorn Shi Liu Dai, Hanoi County Taishou Wang Kuang, Chen Liutai Shou Zhang Miao, Dongjun Taishou Qiao Mao, Shanyang Taishou Yuan Yi, Jibei Xiang Bao Xin, Guangling Taishou Zhang Chao, Changsha Taishou Sun Jian, Xuzhou Thorn Shi Taoqian and others died one after another.

Later, Gongsun Zhan, Yuan Shu and other great princes perished one after another, and the situation in the north became Yuan Shao and Cao Cao occupied Hebei and Henan respectively. In the south, only Liu Biao of Jingzhou, Sun Quan of Jiangdong, Liu Zhang of Yizhou, and Han Sui Ma Teng of Guanzhong remained.

It can be said that since that large-scale star fall, all the princes of the world have been killed and injured in just ten years. Then Liu Bei came to Jingzhou and unified the south, which gradually became the current situation of confrontation between the north and the south.

This was the case back then, but now there has been another star fall, Zhou Qun no longer dares to imagine, will it soon be another group of heroes in the future?

"Father, father?"

Zhou Ju saw that Zhou Qun had been in a daze, and he was still muttering something in his mouth, so he called twice.

Zhou Qun came back to his senses, his face was very dark, and he said, "I'm afraid something big is about to happen." ”

"What's the matter?"

Zhou Ju asked hurriedly.

Zhou Qun said: "This should be the Xuanyuan Star Meteorite Shower, do you know when I last saw this scene?" ”

"When?"

"When the Spirit Emperor collapsed, a huge spark also landed, and then the stars fell. After the collapse of the Spirit Emperor, the world was in chaos, the heroes rose in all directions, and the lives were devastated. ”

"Huh?"

Zhou Ju was taken aback and said, "What can I do about this?" Now that the situation between the north and the south has finally stabilized, is the world going to be in chaos again? ”

Zhou Qun shook his head: "Not necessarily, it may be that many generals and ministers are dead, and now that the world has confronted the north and the south, Your Majesty's governance of the south is as stable as a rock, and it is unlikely that there will be chaos again." ”

Zhou Ju pondered and said: "Now that the north and the south are at war, many generals are very old veterans, and they have been fighting horses for many years, maybe in this war, there will indeed be many generals who have died." ”

"Hmm."

Zhou Qun said: "No matter what, I still have to report this matter to the prime minister." ”

With that, he immediately went down to the Sky Tower and went to write the report.

At present, his position is still the captain of Confucianism, mainly doing some book survey and correction work, but he still works part-time to watch the stars, so he naturally cannot neglect this matter.

I heard that the prime minister is also a master of observing celestial phenomena, maybe he also noticed the scene of the falling stars last night, and I hope the prime minister can deal with it.

Zhou Qun thought to himself.

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Guanzhong, Chang'an City, Weiyang Palace.

Shen Chen was walking in the square outside the north hall of Weiyang Palace at this time, he had just returned from inspecting the barracks this morning, and now he was going to deal with some paperwork.

Deng Ai is on duty today, and now Deng Ai, Jiang Wei and others have been promoted again because of their merits, Deng Ai has been promoted to a miscellaneous general, and Jiang Wei has also become a captain.

Deng Ai and Jiang Wei both chose to join Shen Chen's pro-guard army, and they have replaced Shan Yi and Wu Dang, serving as the leader of the pro-guard around Shen Chen every day.

As for Shan Yi and Wu Dang, the two of them were promoted to become generals in the army who could take charge of themselves, and now they are leading the army alone outside the city, and they are no longer bodyguards.

In addition to being the leader of the pro-army, Deng Ai also worked part-time as a clerk to help Shen Chen deal with official documents, and was in the side hall of Weiyang Palace at this time.

Seeing Shen Chen coming in, he bowed and said, "Master." ”

Formal duties are to be addressed.

However, there is no one in the hall now, and it is a private occasion, so it is naturally more cordial to call Shijun.

Shen Chen nodded, his face was as pale as water, and he didn't have a bit of joy.

Deng Ai saw his preoccupied appearance, so he asked, "Master, is something wrong?" ”

Shen Chen shook his head and said, "No, it's just that I've been restless these days, and I always feel that something big will happen, so I'm a little worried." ”

Deng Ai said with a smile: "We have now occupied Guanzhong and captured Chang'an, although we cannot continue to forge ahead because the soldiers, horses, grain and grass are not sufficient, but the Western Front has won a big victory, why should Shijun worry?" ”

"That's not what I'm concerned about."

Shen Chen slowly walked to the main seat in the hall and sat down, put his hands on his knees, pondered for a while, and then said softly: "It's just that I always feel that something will happen." ”

"Shijun is probably too worried, now the Cao army only dares to stick to Tongguan and Merge Zhou, where can he send troops to recapture Guanzhong?"

Deng Ai smiled.

It's actually hard for them to keep moving forward now.

It's not Tongguan's problem.

Tongguan is indeed easy to defend and difficult to attack, but a large-scale attack is not impossible to attack outside the pass and force the attack card.

It's just that now Cao Wei's heritage has been exhausted, and more people have been sent to the Western Front.

After the city of Chang'an was broken, less than 20,000 of Cao's 50,000 troops fled back, and with the troops of Cao Zhen and Xu Huang and Zhu Ling, about 70,000 people were entrenched.

Later, Cao Pi sent another 50,000 people, and now the number of Cao troops in the entire Bingzhou and Tongguan area exceeds that of the Han army.

But Shen Chen is not without background.

In the past year, Yu Ban has been training troops in the rear, and after Liangzhou is stabilized, the number of troops has increased dramatically, and it is not a big problem to transfer another 20,000 or 30,000 soldiers and horses from Hanzhong and Liangzhou.

The main thing is to storm Tongguan, it is not possible to do it for a year and a half, and to transport grain from Hanzhong to Chang'an, and then from Chang'an to Tongguan, even if there is Weishui and the Yellow River to help transport grain, it is still a long way, up to 2,000 miles.

Now that the south has been recuperating for three years, it is really unreasonable for the family business that has been accumulated with great difficulty to fail like this.

Therefore, after conquering Guanzhong, Shen Chen hoped that the migrants would return to Guanzhong for development.

As long as he can relocate some people, plant land around Chang'an, and solve the problem of military food transportation, he will naturally take action against Bingzhou and Tongguan.

The same Cao Jun seems to be outnumbered, but he doesn't dare to pass the pass.

Shen Chen improved his horse equipment, with strong light cavalry and heavy cavalry, and with superb mobility, Cao's army only suffered losses in the field, let alone attacking the city.

Therefore, on the Western Front, the two sides are in a situation of confrontation and see-saw, Shen Chen's side is not easy to attack, and Cao's side is not capable of counterattacking Chang'an.

However, to Deng Ai's surprise, Shen Chen shook his head and said, "I'm not worried about Cao Jun's problem. ”

Deng Ai was surprised: "Then Shijun is this?" ”

"I don't know."

Shen Chen supported his forehead with one hand and frowned: "It's just that I'm restless, I'm obviously not thinking about the attack and whether Cao Jun will come, but I'm always worried about something, but I don't know what I'm worried about." ”

Deng Ai thought for a while and said, "Could it be that Shijun is worried about His Majesty and the general?" Shijun has already sent tens of thousands of cavalry to help His Majesty, and Henan is probably worry-free. The general broke Cao Xiu again, shocked Huainan, surrounded the city of Hefei, and who was his opponent in the land of Huainan? ”

"Hmm."

Shen Chen said, "Your Majesty and the general's side. Naturally, I don't worry. Eh, forget it, it's probably me worrying about nothing. ”

He shook his head and smiled.

Now the three-way offensive is relatively smooth, and although the Henan side has not achieved results, it is also leaky.

With Pang Tongfa and Xu Shu to help, Liu Bei is probably unlikely to fail.

Not to mention Guan Yu's side.

Although Zhang Liao is also a world-famous general, he is still a little worse than Guan Yu.

So there is nothing to worry about over there in Huainan.

Shen Chen felt that he might have thought too much, so he didn't care, picked up an official document and started reading it.

After about a quarter of an hour, the messenger at the door hurriedly came in, his face sad, and he knelt down on one knee with a hint of crying and reported: "Governor, something is wrong. ”

"What's wrong?"

Shen Chen's face suddenly became serious, could it be that his hunch was right, something bad really happened?

The messenger mourned: "General Huang. He died suddenly last night. ”

"Smack."

The paperwork in Shen Chen's hand suddenly fell, and his face froze.

Old general, gone?

(End of chapter)