In the twenty-second year of Jian'an, winter.

Wuhan, Shangshuling Mansion.

Meng Da sat on the couch opposite Fa Zheng, and said with a smile: "I haven't seen my filial brother for many years, but I didn't expect you to be promoted by the king as a scholar, which should be gratifying." ”

Fa Zheng smiled at the corner of his mouth and said: "Thanks to the king's appreciation, otherwise, with his shallow ability, how could he be ranked in the Shangshu Order!" ”

Pang Tong was transferred to the deputy governor of Jianghuai, the position of Shangshuling of Hanchang was vacant, and Fa Zheng was promoted from Hanchang Taishou to Shangshuling. The vacant Hanchang Taishou, under the recommendation of Zhuge Liang, was appointed by the Chu people.

Huanjie, the word Boxu, Changsha Linxiang people. At the beginning, he encouraged Zhang Xian to rebel against Liu Biao and help Cao Cao; When Cao Cao went south to Jingzhou, he went north to Xiangyang. However, during the Battle of Chrysostom, Cao Cao was defeated, and Huan Jiejie was captured by Erliu.

After Huanjie was swept away by Liu Qi, he was entrusted with an important position because of his fame and extraordinary ability. Later, Liu Bei inherited Liu Qi's power, and Huan Rank was transferred to Liu Bei.

During his tenure, he tried his best to encourage work. was valued by Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei took Fazheng to expedition to Shouchun, Hanchang County did not have a county guard to perform his duties, and Zhuge Liang recommended Huan to serve as the Hanchang Taishou.

Meng Dawei sighed and said, "Brother Xiao has made many achievements, and he has to be valued by the king and moved to Shang Shuling. Randa has lived in a remote county in Padang for several years, and it is difficult to achieve great ambitions, or there is a sense of wasting time. ”

Leading the way of the three-person party, according to the different contributions of the three people, Liu Bei appointed them for different purposes. Zhang Song has been lurking in Yizhou for many years, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as a servant of Shangshu; Fa Zheng was in agreement with Liu Bei, so he was appointed as the Taishou of Hanchang.

As for Meng Da's words, his merits were not as good as Zhang Song's, and his relationship with Liu Bei was not as close as that of Fazheng, so he was released after the founding of the country and served as the Taishou of Badong.

Among the three buses, Badong County is a remote county because it is located in the Three Gorges area, and the household registration is particularly scarce.

Meng Da saw that his old friend Fa Zheng's official position continued to move up, but he had been standing still for several years, and he was inevitably envious or gloomy in his heart. However, Meng Da also has something to say, as the saying goes, crying dolls have milk to drink.

Fa Zheng felt something, poured a cup of tea for Meng Da, and said, "What did Zidu say? ”

"Zidu ruled Badong and the Han barbarians, educated the people, and strictly practiced the law. The king praised Zidu a lot, and said that Zidu should have a sense of great talent and little use. ”

"Why does filial piety deceive me?"

Meng Da spit out bitterness and said: "Since Zhang Song's incident, many people in Shu have been squeezed out. And in the south, the Chu people are precious, the Wu people are noble, and the Shu people are the queen. Most of the people who have fallen in our passes, except for those who have prestige or those who hold military power, are not reused. ”

Fa Zheng's face was slightly straight, and he scolded: "Under the rule of the king, people are often appointed to be virtuous, how can they favor the Chu people?" ”

"Kong Ming, Langya people; Zhang Zibu, a native of Pengcheng; Wang Zhongxuan, a native of Shanyang; Xu Yuanzhi, a native of Yingchuan; Lu Zijing, a native of Xiapi; ......, the king of Jun He Yan loves the people of Chu a lot, and he doesn't need to care about the northerners! ”

After a pause, Fa Zheng reminded him: "Zidu, don't forget that the king will enter Jingchu first, then go to Wuyue, and then take Bashu." The reason why the Chu people respect it is because the king has already been helped by the Chu people. ”

Compared with history, Liu Bei used the Chu people and the northerners to govern Shu, and the plane is much better now. After Liu Bei went down to Jiangdong, he got a large number of Jianghuai scholars, as well as Wu people.

In today's Southern Han Dynasty, due to various factors such as Huo Jun, Zhuge and Liu Qi, and because the capital of the Southern Han Dynasty is in Wuhan, the status of the Chu people will be high, but the high-level and middle-level and high-level people are by no means all Chu people or people from a certain region.

But Meng Da was not wrong in the second half of the sentence, although the territory of the Southern Han Dynasty was three times larger than that of the Shu Han, there were not only three times more people who shared the cake, but more scholars such as Wu Yue, Central Plains, and Xu Huai. For those of them who later entered the Southern Han Dynasty, there were very few opportunities to get them.

Gai or knew that he had lost his words, Meng Da was embarrassed, and said: "Da is only difficult to show his hands and feet, depressed, and has gaffes, and I hope that filial piety will forgive me." ”

Fa Zheng's tone slowed down and said, "How is Zidu the same as mortals? Between you and me, there is the merit of welcoming the king to take Shu, and Zidu is both civil and military, and it will be of great use in the future, why do you sigh that it is difficult to show your talents? ”

Hearing this, Meng Da smiled and said: "Filial piety is promoted to Shangshu Ling, and in the future, there should be Lao Jun for Dameiyan." ”

"You and I are fellow villagers, how can we say thank you?"

Fa Zheng was helpless, and said: "Today's words, after Zidu comes out of the court, you must not talk nonsense with outsiders, otherwise the villains will get it and report it to the king." The king may not punish the crime, but he will offend the 'Chu people'! ”

The Chu people are divided into narrow and broad senses, the narrow sense is the person who is from Jingchu, and the broad sense is the person who has lived in Jingchu for many years.

In a broad sense, Zhuge Liang, Wang Cang, and Xu Shu mentioned before Fazheng can all be called Chu people. Because they have been in Jingchu for many years, they have settled in Jingchu and made friends with Chu people. Under the mutual recommendation of classmates and friends as officials, a large number of Chu people will inevitably be introduced.

Let outsiders know that Meng Da attacked the Chu people, saying that he was favored by Liu Bei, or he was suspected of forming a party for personal gain. In the meantime, those who are narrow-minded will be impeached at the meeting.

"It's nature!"

Meng Da took out the wooden box from his side, moved it to Fazheng, and said with a smile: "Nanzhong specialty, special gift and filial piety." ”

Fa Zheng opened the wooden box, and saw that the box was actually a slave deed, and said with a smile: "The barbarian servant is precious, where did Zidu come from?" ”

Meng Da sipped the tea and said with a smile: "Mi Nan is a barbarian, and there are more barbarian servants." Dazhi Badong, the way to curb the river water, there are many contacts. Filial piety is still the order of the book, and there are slaves in and out, why is it noble now? ”

Due to the sparse population in the south, since Zhuge Liang came to power, he issued a ban on the accumulation of Han slaves. Zhuge Liang will not pursue the Han slaves he has accumulated before, and he can even buy and sell them. However, after Liu Bei founded the country, it was forbidden to buy and sell Han people as slaves.

Hermes-Epitek could not be slaves, and due to the rise of a large number of military groups, the price of slaves in Nanzhong skyrocketed. Therefore, Mi Fang, who sits on the cornucopia of Nanzhong, has made a lot of money. Munda is just one of the beneficiaries.

"Zidu Qianli debriefing, why do you need to be so polite!"

"A little Nanzhong specialty, how can my brother see outside!"

"That's it!"

Fa Zheng was also not polite, accepted the brute servant presented by Meng Da, and said with a smile: "Thank you for your affection!" ”

While Fa Zheng was putting away the box, Meng Da asked curiously: "Brother Xiaozhi has lived in Wuhan for a long time, have you heard the rumors of Huo Zhongmiao in the market?" ”

"Huo Du rumors?"

Fa Zheng was slightly stunned and said: "A certain person works on official business, but he doesn't know about Huo Du. I don't know what it means to be a child? ”

Meng Da lowered his voice and said: "Da entered Wuhan by boat, and there are many rumors in Jinkou City that Cao Cao has an appointment with Huo Jun and wants to crown him as the king of Huainan and Yongzhen Jianghuai. ”

"King Huainan?"

Fa Zheng frowned tightly and said, "Huo Du has served the king for many years, how can he serve Cao Cao?" Feng Huo Du is the king of Huainan, or it is a rumor in the market! ”

Meng Da had an expression of eating melons and said, "Whether it is a rumor or not, it is difficult to tell." But Da knew that Huo Zhongmiao and his old generals were mostly guarding Jianghuai and followed him for more than ten years, only knowing Huo Zhongmiao, but not the king. ”

Saying that, Meng Da looked a little worried, and speculated: "The people of Beifu are entrenched in Jianghuai, and they mostly follow Huo Jun's orders. Huo Junzhen and Cao Cao allied with each other, raised troops and rebelled, and with the soldiers under his account, it was not easy to divide Jianghuai? ”

As Meng Da said, Huo Jun's generals were mostly accumulated by him bit by bit, rather than from Liu Bei's distribution, which is very crucial.

Gao Xiang, Xu Sheng, Jiang Ji, Huo Du, Ding Feng, Yu Yun and other civil and military officers in Beifu did not come from Liu Bei's account, but because of Huo Jun.

At that time, Liu Qi's soldiers went to Jiangzuo and were qualified to disperse Huo Jun's subordinate martial arts, but Liu Qi relied on Huo Jun and did not dare and did not want to disperse.

Later, Liu Bei became the master of Jing Chu, and other people's subordinates did not dare to move lightly, let alone Huo Jun's old subordinates.

and Huo Jun defeated Jianghuai, Liu Bei because of the west of Bashu, the defense of the Jianghuai region more and more dependent on Huo Jun and his Beifu soldiers. Over time, on the virgin land on the Jianghuai side, the Beifu Military General School gradually mastered the Jianghuai County.

The three major prefectures of Jiangzhou, Nanjun and Hanzhong were all appointed by Liu Bei. Compared with the Jianghuai Prefecture, the Jianghuai Prefecture has a strong independence and a wide area, far exceeding the Southern Han Dynasty Prefecture.

The reason why An Lushan was able to rebel in history was not because the soldiers and horses under An Lushan's tent were independent.

Where Qin Shi Huang was afraid of Wang Jian holding heavy troops, it was not because the heavy troops were in Wang Qian's hands, but because Wang Jian led the Qin soldiers to fight for many years, and there were many henchmen in the army.

In the eyes of a person like Meng Da who is greedy for power, Huo Jun now does have the qualifications to divide Jianghuai. Even when Meng Da heard this kind of rumor, he fantasized about how wonderful it would be if he were Huo Jun.

Therefore, when rumors spread, different people will feel different people when they hear them. For example, when Meng Da rebelled against Liu Bei according to the three eastern counties, he may have thought that he was qualified for better treatment. Even if his wife and children are in Chengdu, Meng Da doesn't care.

Of course, Liu Bei Rende, Meng Da and Shen's wives and children left in Chengdu were not disposed of. Gai or Liu Bei suffered from the displacement of his wife and children in the early days, and he couldn't bear to attack other people's wives and children. Those who have been drenched in the rain always want to shelter the innocent from the rain.

Whether the monarch's heart is true or not, big things are often difficult to see, and can only be seen from the details and small things.

Seeing that Fa Zheng was silent, Meng Da said: "Filial piety is the order of Shangshu, the wings of the king." The things of this time must not be left unguarded, and they should be reported to the king. ”

Fa Zheng sighed and asked, "Has Zidu ever thought about what happens after reporting?" ”

"But you can't fail to report to the king?"

Meng Da hesitated a little and said: "Da is an official who reports on his work, not long after he first entered Wuhan, he has heard about it, let alone an ordinary central official?" ”

After a pause, Meng Da emphatically said: "Receiving the title of King Huainan, splitting the soil and sealing the territory, sacrificing in the temple, and the prosperity of the people and ministers, this is beyond the reach of the king." ”

"And if Huo Jun really harbors evil intentions, he will be sealed by Cao Cao and rebel against Jianghuai. At that time, not only Jiangzuo will be in danger, but Wuhan will also be in danger. ”

"Zidu has lived in Padang for a long time, and he doesn't know about the center. How can you be suspicious of the general because of the rumors in the market now? ”

Fa Zheng's face was slightly straightened, and he said in a deep voice: "The matter of rumors is decided. Zidu went in and out of Wuhan, and he should not talk about this matter lightly, so as not to have another right and wrong! ”

Meng Da bowed slightly, and said with a smile: "Filial piety should rest assured, today's words are only known to you and me!" ”

Then, Meng Da got up and said goodbye, and said vaguely: "In the future, there should be hard work and filial piety!" ”

"I know what I know!"

Fa Zheng got up to say goodbye, looked at Meng Da's departing back, and exhaled turbidity.

As Meng Da said, even the officials who reported on his work when he first entered Wuhan heard the rumors, as the old Han Chang Taishou, how could the Fa Zheng of the current fashion book order not know?

Before, he thought it was a small person in the market talking and laughing nonsense in private, but if he didn't care, he exposed it as a joke. You can't make a big deal out of this little thing, maybe it will exacerbate the speech, it is better to calm down with time.

Unexpectedly, the rumors are spreading more and more, and even foreign officials like Meng Da who have entered Beijing to report on their work know about it.

There is no wind and no waves, could it be that Huo Jun really has the idea of separating Jianghuai and establishing himself as the king?

(End of chapter)