Liu Bei put the trapping camp and Lu Bu's men and horses together, about 1,200 people.

Time was pressing, so they only stayed for two days before regrouping their armaments and heading north.

Before leaving, Liu Bei did not take Guan Yu with him, but took Lu Bu to Sima's house in Hanoi.

said that he was thanking the Sima family for taking care of Gao Shunduo, but after arriving at the Sima family, he cheated a lot of food and money from the Sima family.

At this time, the two of them walked forward, and the soldiers who followed behind pressed the "looted" food and money.

Lu Bu, who was riding a red horse and carrying a halberd on his shoulder, turned his head and looked at it, "I thought that only I, Lu Fengxian, would do such a robbery while the fire was burning." I don't want you Liu Xuande to be soft, but I underestimated you at the beginning. ”

"Why did Feng Xian say it so ugly?" Liu Bei turned his head and said with a smile, "The Sima family is well aware of the righteousness, and knows that it is not easy for the soldiers to go on an expedition to Xianbei, and they want to give their hearts to the soldiers." They were told as if I were persecuting them. ”

Liu Bei sighed with emotion, "In the end, it is a family of poetry and books, and it really understands the righteousness." ”

"If I hadn't come with you, I would have believed your nonsense." Lu Bu laughed.

On that day, Lu Bu followed Liu Bei into Sima's house.

Now that Sima Fang is not there, the person in charge of the Sima family is a fellow of Sima Fang.

This person began to be quite arrogant to Liu Bei with the identity of the son of the Sima family, but when Liu Bei reported his identity, he was soon shocked by Liu Bei's identity, and he was not arrogant at all, but with some flattery.

Later, Liu Bei opened his mouth to ask for money and food, but this person didn't dare to refute half a sentence, and he responded directly.

Lu Bu said with a smile: "The Sima family in Hanoi is so famous, when I was in Hanoi, I was a little scared, and I didn't want to be scared just by listening to your name." I didn't dare to argue even if it was half a sentence. ”

Liu Bei, who was originally riding a horse in front, slowly held down the saddle until he was parallel to Lu Bu, "Feng Xian still hasn't seen the true face of the Sima family. ”

Lu Bu, who was still despising the Sima family, was stunned, "What does Xuande mean?" ”

"Feng Xian only saw that the Sima family was submissive to me, asking for money for money, and grain for food. We seem to have taken the lead, but have you ever thought about it, could all this be deliberately done by the Sima family? ”

"I see."

At this time, after Liu Bei mentioned it, Lu Bu remembered some details that he hadn't paid attention to before.

When they left, the person in charge of the Sima family showed a smile that had succeeded in his plot.

"This is also the terrible thing about the family." Liu Bei sighed, "If you can show weakness, it seems that you are succumbing to my name, asking for money for money, and food for food, I will naturally be complacent and relax my vigilance against them." ”

"When the time comes, when they can reap greater benefits, they will act behind their backs. It is like a poisonous snake, although it is dormant for the time being, but one day it will pounce and hurt people. And the snake is not hot. ”

Then Liu Bei said something that Lu Bu couldn't understand, "Especially the eagle-eyed wolf-looking people." ”

Lu Bu nodded, "Fortunately, there are not many families in the border areas, and the few families have no intersection with me, who are from poor backgrounds. ”

"No intersection?" Liu Bei smiled, "What about the Taiyuan Wang family?" ”

"Taiyuan Wang's family? It seems that Xuande already knows the truth about the killing of Jiaoqiu that day. Lu Bu did not hide it, and told the events of the day.

At the beginning, they were swordsmen who wandered around the state, so naturally whoever paid for it would do things for whomever they wanted. Since the Wang family paid the starting price, they naturally dared to take over the assassination of Jiaoqiu. Even if the matter is revealed, and there is the Taiyuan Wang family in front, they can't be blamed anyway.

Liu Bei didn't say much, but sighed, "Prince Taiyuan Division." ”

…………

This time, Liu Bei and the others did not return from Youzhou, but walked directly along the border of Bingzhou.

More than 1,200 horsemen, marching can be regarded as a mighty march, although the camp is mainly on foot, but also horses can be ridden.

Although the time is quite tight, Liu Bei has not let go of any of the bandit villages and bandits gathering along the way. Among them, the grain and grass hoarded by the thieves, he even let Gao Shun and others loot them, except for distributing some of them to the poor people along the way, he intercepted most of the others.

Lu Bu is quite strange about this, Liu Bei has always liked to invite fame, which is not strange to him at all, but Liu Bei is by no means a greedy person, since he wants to invite to buy fame, why not distribute all the money and food to those poor border people? Wouldn't that invite a bigger name?

It's just that Liu Bei didn't say much about the reason, and he didn't want to ask too much.

On this day, they came to a frontier place called Mayi.

In the past, Nie Yi designed to attract the Xiongnu Shan Yu and more than 100,000 Hun cavalry to this place, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set up an ambush with more than 300,000 Han troops. It's a pity that the matter is not secret, and it was still detected by the Huns, and in the end it fell short.

This is why Mayi is famous.

Later, the Han family who passed by here all sighed, thinking that if the things of the year were done, most of them would not have Wei Huo's expedition to the Xiongnu in the future.

It can be seen that heroes can create the world, and the world can also create heroes.

Outside the county seat of Mayi, Liu Bei met Zhang Fei and others who led people to make peace with him.

Liu Bei sent a letter to Zhang Fei before he set off from Luoyang that day, so Zhang Fei had already led people to wait here for a long time.

The people brought by Zhang Fei are not small, there are about 400 people, most of them are local rangers in Zhuo County, and many of them are Liu Bei's old friends.

Liu Bei greeted them one by one, and then everyone camped outside the city.

Liu Bei and others were numerous, although there was an official letter from the imperial court, but if they entered the city, it would inevitably cause panic, so they stationed a large army outside the city.

At night, all things were arranged, and the three brothers gathered in Liu Bei's main tent.

Since the day of the fight, the brothers met for the first time today, and they have a lot to say.

"I haven't seen each other for nearly two years, and Yide is becoming more and more powerful." Liu Bei smiled and threw a fist on Zhang Fei's shoulder.

Zhang Fei pretended to take a few steps back, and made a look of shock, "Brother is so powerful." ”

Guan Yu twisted his beard and laughed on the side, silently watching the two fight.

Suddenly, the three of them seemed to have returned to the days when they were "punishing evil and promoting good" in Youzhou.

The little alienation that came with not seeing each other for two years dissipated.

The three of them sat around the tent, drinking wine from the side area, and telling their respective stories during the two years of separation.

"Speaking of which, my brother has one of them that he has to meet." Zhang Fei took a sip of wine and said suddenly.

"What Yide said is Xi Zhong Xi Zhicai?" Liu Bei said with a smile.

It turned out that after the Battle of Gaoliu that day, Xi Zhong went to Youzhou with Zhang Fei, Zhang Fei thought that this person was quite talented and learned, and it was really a bit overkill to put him in Hanoi.

Therefore, Liu Bei never saw this person when he was in Hanoi.

"Yes, it's Xi Zhong. However, this person is open-minded, and unlike ordinary Confucian scholars, the elder brother still has to pay attention to one or two. Zhang Fei warned in advance.

In his opinion, Xi Zhong is indeed talented, but his temperament is really rebellious. Otherwise, with his ability, he would not have fallen to this step in the field no matter what.

Liu Bei smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "But I haven't seen you for two years, and I haven't even forgotten who your brother is?" When I was in Zhuo County, I was known for my broad-mindedness, and the Wang brothers wanted to lead people to ambush us, but after being discovered, I didn't take them? ”

Zhang Fei pursed his lips, "I really didn't do anything with them, I just took their hands and let them go to empty the dung buckets for a few months." ”

Liu Bei's journey to becoming the little overlord of Zhuojun was not smooth sailing, and there were many hardships during the process, which is quite similar to the family history of his ancestor Gaozu. And this Wang brother is a bit similar to the Yongya back then.

There was a grudge between these two and Liu Bei, but Liu Bei still kept them to show his benevolence.

Liu Bei kicked him, and Zhang Fei immediately trotted out of the tent to find Xizhong.

When Zhang Fei found Xi Zhong, Xi Zhong was hiding in a small tent and was drunk and hazy.

Zhang Fei picked up a bowl of cold water on the table and poured it on his face.

I didn't want Xi Zhong to be still unhurried, but he stood up slowly, shook his sleeves and wiped the cold water on his face.

"Didn't I tell you that I wanted you to take you to my brother today, how did you drink like this again?" Zhang Fei said angrily.

"Third master, don't panic, I just wanted to drink a small cup, but after a few drinks, I wanted to drink a few more glasses. The third master is also a person who loves to drink, so I don't need to say much about my feelings. Xi Zhong smiled casually, as if he had never taken seeing Liu Bei to heart.

Zhang Fei sighed, "Xi Zhong, although you are talented and learned, but you have fallen to this point, haven't you ever thought about the reason?" ”

"I have thought about it, but human nature is determined by heaven, and loyalty is such a nature, which cannot be changed, and I do not want to change. If the heroes of the world want to succeed, they can't tolerate things, if they can't even be loyal. How can that be called a hero? ”

This drunk, somewhat shaky scribe smiled: "If loyalty is not successful, it is not that there is a lack of loyalty, but that there are no heroes in the world." ”

Zhang Fei shook his head and sighed, no more.

Xi Zhong is a little outstanding, but he can be arrogant to this point. Such a person, although he has the ability, does not have a long lifespan.

At this time, in Liu Bei's main account, Liu Bei was chatting with Guan Yu, and the conversation was naturally about drama loyalty.

"Yide's vision of people has never been bad, and this person gave advice during the Battle of Takayanagi, so I think he has some talent." Guan Yu said.

Xi Zhong is a character recommended by Zhang Fei, Zhang Fei's ability Guan Yu naturally knows, and ordinary characters will definitely not be able to enter his eyes.

At this time, Guan Yu saw that Xi Zhong had not been here for a long time, even if Zhang Fei had already paved the way before, Guan Yu still explained a few words for Xi Zhong.

Liu Bei glanced at him amusedly, "Your brother has never been so unenergetic, and it is not easy to get talents." In the past, when we were in Luoyang, we counted Gu Wenhe in the north of the city, and we were repeatedly turned away, can you see that my brother and I are a little angry? ”

Guan Yu was stunned when he heard this, and shook his head, he was stunned not because Liu Bei mentioned the matter of counting Jia Xu, but because Liu Bei was secretly comparing this drama with Jia Xu.

Although Jia Xu lived in a simple place, Liu Bei's later series of plans in Luoyang were inseparable from this person's shadow, and he followed Liu Bei all day long, so he naturally knew this matter best.

After Liu Bei left Luoyang, he entrusted all the affairs of Luoyang to Jia Xu, and his trust in this person is so.

He couldn't help but ask, "Brother actually treats this person as a character like Jia Jun?"

Liu Bei shook his head, "This person is not like Jia Xu." ”

Although he didn't remember much of the content in the history books, he did remember that Xi Zhicai was the person.

Although this person only has a few strokes, it is conceivable that he is also quite valued under Cao Cao.

There was this person first, and then there was Guo Jia.

At this time, Zhang Fei had already walked into the tent with Xi Zhong.

Liu Bei raised his eyes and looked at the middle-aged scribe who was swaying left and right when he was standing, and he still had a strong smell of alcohol on his body.

He stretched out his hand, pointed to the wine on the wooden table in front of him, and said with a smile: "It seems that Xijun likes to drink, but first taste the wine I brought back from Luoyang, the taste is not bad, and now this wine is very expensive in Luoyang."

Xi Zhong smiled when he heard this, and he didn't squirm and excuse himself, he sat directly behind the wooden table, and poured the wine in the altar into the cup, the wine was clear, reflecting his slightly sickly face.

He drank it down, then wiped it casually from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve.

"Sure enough, it's a good wine, and it's worth a lot of gold." Xi Zhong said with a smile.

Liu Bei sat opposite him, picked up the wine jar and poured him another bowl.

Then Liu Bei did not mention the matter of soliciting drama loyalty, but talked about the origin of this drink.

From Duan Cheng to Li Ping, and then to how he spread the wine in Luoyang, so that the wine went from being unpopular to being worth a thousand gold.

Liu Bei said with a smile: "This is the story of this wine, Xijun is a person who loves wine, what Fang Cai said is not bad, this wine is a good wine, and it is indeed worth a thousand gold, but it is not a boast, if there is no Liu's operation, I am afraid that this wine will still be placed on the shelf and no one cares." ”

Xi Zhong nodded, "What Liu Jun said is not bad, Maxima often has, but Bole does not often have it." Mao Sui's self-recommendation is certainly a good story, but there is more than one Mao Sui in this world. Throughout the ages, there have been many talented people, and there are many people who have wandered and fallen into the mud and sand. ”

Liu Bei leaned forward and said with a smile: "In this way, Xijun is a talented person? How do you think you are prepared?"

Xi Zhong drank all the wine in the cup in front of him and glanced at Liu Bei, "In the past, Emperor Wen asked Jia Yi in the Xuan room. The king is a clear king, and the minister is a famous minister, but the person who asks is a ghost and a god. Qu Jiayi is in Changsha, how can there be a lack of time? Even if Liu Jun is generous, how can he know that he can make a certain drama show his life's ambition?"

Liu Bei poured another glass of wine for Xi Zhong, and said with a smile: "A certain is not Emperor Wen, and Jun is not Jia Jun." Don't you want to give it a try?"

"In that case, how dare Zhong disobey his orders?" Xi Zhong said with a smile.

He agreed so happily, but it made Liu Bei, who had prepared a lot of words, stunned, "Xijun agreed so happily, but it caught Bei a little off guard." ”

Drinking the wine in the cup again, Xi Zhong said with a smile: "When Zhong was in Zhuojun, I heard the words of the same house and Liu Jun's life. Loyalty thinks that the person who can say those four sentences is worth the gamble of loyalty no matter what. ”

"There is nothing good in the drama in his life, and there are only two people who are good, drinking and playing. It's not easy to bet this time, and I hope Liu Junmo will let me lose a lot. ”

Liu Bei poured a full bottle of wine for the two of them, and gently bumped into Xi Zhong, "Beizi will not disappoint Xi Jun." ”

…………

Mayi is famous all over the world for what happened back then, and it can be regarded as a famous city in the world.

For more than 100 years, I don't know how many literati and ink writers have come and gone here, looking at the monuments of their predecessors and sighing, splashing ink, but leaving a lot of poems that are spun on the spot.

Although Liu Bei and the others were quite short of time, they had no reason to enter Baoshan and return empty-handed.

Early this morning, he planned to take Guan Yu into Mayi City for a walk, but when he didn't want to leave the camp, Lu Bu came up.

The three men entered the city gate and walked on the avenue in the middle of the city.

Along the way, Liu Bei sighed again and again, although Mayi and Luoyang are both ancient cities, but the city is a completely different style.

Luoyang is located in the Central Plains, the city is full of people, the street vendors sell a dazzling array of things, the road is mostly rich or expensive, at a glance is a prosperous atmosphere, the style of a great country.

As an important border town, Mayi is naturally incomparable to Luoyang in terms of the number of pedestrians in the city. Most of the items sold on the street are some Northland specialties and some novelties from other races. Most of the pedestrians are dressed in short brown, and the whole city, from the city to the people, has a unique ancient atmosphere of the borderland.

At this time, Lu Bu suddenly stopped, leaned over and picked up a wooden hairpin from the stall on the side of the road, he wiped it with his sleeve, and looked quite fond of it.

He asked the price, and he didn't bargain, put the hairpin into his sleeve, and then turned his head to look at Liu Bei.

Liu Bei shook his head with a smile, took out a few five-baht coins, and handed them to the little trader.

The three of them continued to move forward, and Lu Bu smiled and said, "I am going to give this hairpin to Qi'er, and I will tell her that this is a gift from you and me to her together."

It turned out that when Lu Bu left the remote village that day, he still brought out the grandfather and grandson, and even adopted the little girl as a righteous daughter.

As soon as he said this, Liu Bei couldn't say anything, after all, he also liked the little girl from a poor background very much.

"Xuande, it's also a border land, is this a little different from your Zhuo County?" Lu Bu suddenly stopped and asked with a smile.

"It's a little different." Liu Bei nodded, "Although Zhuo County is a border area, it is still more prosperous than here. ”

Lu Bu said with a smile: "Although Zhuo County is called a border land, after all, it is far away from the border, but it is not a real border land. This is the real frontier. ”

"There are many sores in the eyes, and the pedestrians are in a hurry." Lu Bu said with a smile, "I don't know what will happen tomorrow today, and I don't know when someone will knock on the door, this is the border people." ”

Liu Bei was silent.

The land of secluded and cool three states, the Central Plains leans on it as a fence.

But the Central Plains often uses the border land as a burden.

There are many martial artists in the border land, so that the martial arts are angry in their hearts.

This fire will always burn on the people of the Central Plains one day.

At this time, Liu Bei didn't know how to speak, and the three of them were cold for a while.

"Xuande talked about the frontier heroes before, but Bu remembered one person." Lu Bu suddenly smiled and said, "This person's surname is Zhang Mingyang, and he is also a rare hero in the Northland, and he is also a rare friend of mine." He has always hated foreign races the most, but it is a pity that he went to the south at this time, otherwise you don't need to bother to talk about it, he will help you deal with the Xianbei people. ”

"That's a pity." Liu Bei also shook his head with a smile.

Zhang Yang naturally knew that he was also Lu Bu's best and only friend.

The three of them talked and laughed and walked forward, but they saw two groups of teenagers fighting in the street not far away.

The border people have always been martial, and they have been mixed up in various fights with people since they were children.

At this time, there were many passers-by beside the two groups of teenagers, but they all looked sideways with a smile on their heads, and they had no intention of stopping them.

It is said that it is two groups of teenagers, but in fact, there is a huge difference in numbers.

There were only five or six people on one side, all of them in short brown straw sandals. There are more than ten people on the other side, and more than ten people on the other side are all wearing long clothes, and their size and age are obviously larger.

At this time, the group of short brown boys seemed to be a little invincible, and they were fleeing backwards while fighting.

Liu Bei was quite familiar with this scene, and before he met Guan Zhang, when he fought with those young people in Zhuo County, he didn't let people chase after him.

The enemy is outnumbered, and it is not a shame to avoid it for the time being.

Liu Bei smiled: "Fengxian, is this also a tradition in the border land?"

Lu Bu asked rhetorically: "Xuande is also from the borderlands, don't you know."

The two looked at each other and smiled.

The three of them walked towards the two groups of teenagers.

The group of short brown boys had fled to a low wall, and if they jumped over the wall, there was a vast world behind them, and even the other group of people could not catch up.

One of the short brown boys was quite tall, and even if he was dressed in a sentence, he couldn't hide his heroic spirit.

At this time, the young man ran in the front, leaped vertically, pressed one hand on the low wall, and the whole person flew directly over the wall like an arrow.

Liu Bei looked at it from the side and nodded, "This person is powerful, I haven't had such good skills as him at his age." ”

It's just that although the young man is good, the group of young people who are with him may not all be like him.

A short, fat brown boy ran slower, surrounded by the long-clothed boys who were chasing from behind, and in the blink of an eye, a fist and kick fell on him.

At this time, several short brown teenagers who had not yet crossed the wall were standing by the wall, not knowing what to do.

"Ah Liao, save me!" The pudgy boy cried out in pain.

"Zhang Liao has already escaped!" A young man in a long coat shouted loudly.

At this time, on the low wall, the tall boy who had just crossed the wall and ran away crossed back again, still carrying a long stick in his hand.

He glanced at his companion who was still standing under the wall, and shouted, "Come with me to save people!"

At this time, the group of young men in long clothes also abandoned the short and fat young man and surrounded the teenagers who had thrown themselves into the net.

Liu Bei noticed that a few men were secretly approaching in the distance, most of them were the guards of those long-clothed young men.

Lu Bu obviously noticed these people as well, and said with a smile: "I'll go back when I go."

At this time, although the number of long-clothed young men was numerous, but the short-brown young man with a wooden stick was extremely brave, a long stick in his hand, and he actually overturned them one after another, although he also suffered a lot of punches and kicks on his body, but he still did not fall, and forcibly opened a way from among these people, and knocked the leaders of these long-clothed young men to the ground with a stick.

The long-robed boys, who were still gathered together, saw that the leader was overturned to the ground, and immediately scattered.

At this time, the tall boy pointed at the long-clothed young man who had shrunk to the ground with the long stick in his hand, and then turned around and prepared to leave.

Not wanting a fierce look on the face of the long-clothed young man behind him, he took out a short knife from his arms, got up and stabbed at the tall boy.

It's just that he hasn't come to the young man, but he has already been held down by a red-faced man's head.

Guan Yu glanced at the dagger in his hand, pursed his lips disdainfully, and shouted: "Guan Mou looks down on someone like you who sneaks up behind your back."

At this time, the tall boy wanted to turn around, but the injuries on his body were quite serious, and he didn't stand firm in a hurry, and he was about to fall to the ground.

Beside him, someone reached out to hold him, and he was greeted by a young man with a warm smile.

Liu Bei smiled: "Young man, I don't know your name?"

The tall young man pushed Liu Bei's hands away, barely standing firm, and his words were full of pride, "Ma Yi, Zhang Liao." ”