cite Han

Chapter 184 Tanabata

Yuan Shu has no merit to the country, no good to the common people, and is rampant at the time, arrogance and self-respect, this behavior is simply cutting himself off from the world.

However, what makes people feel emotional is that, even if Yuan Shu caused a lot of anger, people betrayed relatives, and the world is an enemy, he still persisted for several years before perishing, which has to be said to be an anomaly.

The two are separated from each other, and I am afraid that there will be no intersection until Yuan Shu dies. Compared with this, Liu Jing is more concerned about the present.

Thousands of prisoners successfully completed the task of repairing and strengthening the Leishui embankment before the flood season in June.

Although they did not rely on self-consciousness, but under the supervision of the officials' leather whips, Liu Jing didn't care about this. In the first month, they were sent again to Linzhen Township to repair the city and build official buildings in preparation for the relocation of the county government after the autumn harvest.

Linzhen Township stands on the Xiangjiang River in the east, is sandwiched by Zhengshui in the north, and is surrounded by mountains on the south, west, and north sides. The city is very narrow.

Liu Jing's idea is to build this place into a military fortress against Liu Biao's army, so he has no intention of greatly expanding the city site, but is planning to take the "small but refined" route, starting from the perspective of strengthening the city defense, and expanding it to a limited extent.

…………

July [-]th, Qixi Festival.

The custom of Qixi Festival comes from the cow and weaver girl.Morning Glory, that is, Cowherd, and Weaver Girl are both star names. "The Book of Songs·Xiaoya·Dadong" has a saying: "The weaver girl with her feet has seven xiangs all day long. Even though she has seven xiangs, she can't make a newspaper. She pulls the oxen, but she doesn't take the box with her."

The Altair and the Weaver Girl have long been paired by people, but the love story with the two as the protagonists was formed in the Han Dynasty. The meeting of the Weaver Girl made them "cry like rain" and "painful", this kind of tragic story aroused widespread sympathy from the world.

Recently, there have been stories about the meeting of the cow, the weaver girl, and the Qixi Festival. Therefore, Ying Wei, the prefect of Mount Tai, wrote in "Customs of the Customs": "The weaver girl crosses the river on the Qixi Festival and makes the magpies form a bridge."

On the Qixi Festival, it happened that Liu Jing was taking a bath, and the weather was rarely fine, so he held a banquet on the boat above the Leishui, with a line of food and wine, in honor of the morning glory and the weaver girl.

Those present, including Liu Liang, Liu Zhu, Yu Zheng, Solemn, Wang Qiang, Shan Rideng, Chu Fang, Guo Shang, etc., are all close to Liu Jing.

Liu Jing wore a beam crown on his head and a Zen robe, sitting under the canopy, staring at the single Ridge below him with vigor, raised his glass and said loudly:

""Book of Rites" has a saying: "Father's hatred, we will die together; brother's hatred, do not fight against soldiers." Uncle Weng, I respect you with this glass of wine. I wish you all the best in your trip, and do your best to punish the enemy and avenge you. Family feud, hatred of overthrowing the village."

In addition to taking the opportunity of Qixi Festival to gather and drink with cronies today, there is another important reason, which is to see off the single day.

After more than five months of unremitting efforts, Shan Rifeng has now successfully recruited 300 Jingmen, but there are only more than [-] diehards who refuse to surrender no matter how much they persuade them.

But Shan Rixun also has a way to do this. After obtaining Liu Jing's consent, he made a promise to these people that if they can help him succeed in revenge, he will return them to freedom.

In this way, the soldiers in Shan Ri's hands successfully broke through a thousand and gained the strength of revenge.

Shan Ri raised his cup and said with emotion: "If Liu Jun hadn't taken him in at the beginning, I, my younger brother, and more than ten relatives would have been spared. Now Liu Jun has surrendered troops and donated goods so that I can return to Hengshan to avenge my blood." ——How should I repay Liu Jun’s great kindness and virtue?”

Although the number of soldiers under Shan Ri's command exceeds a thousand, there are not enough people alone. Clothes, weapons, food... everything is indispensable. Shan Ri's fled in embarrassment, "penniless", these are naturally paid for by Liu Jing .

Didn't Liu Jing hesitate in his heart, asking himself if it was worth it?In the end, it is even possible to "fetch water from a bamboo basket in vain" and "make wedding clothes for others."

But he dismissed this idea in an instant, and regardless of his personal relationship with Shan Ridao, the Shan Ridao he knew was not short-sighted. I will not be willing to shrink down in Hengshan and be a king of the mountain.

Taking a ten thousand step back, even if Liu Jing misjudged it, at most it would be a loss of some supplies, which would not have much impact on him.And if it is as he thinks, then the future harvest...

Liu Jing said: "Uncle Weng, you and I met in Weiwei and have an extraordinary friendship. Why do you say such things?"

Shan Riyan shook his head and said: "Only harvesting, not giving, how can there be such a reason in the world? After thinking about it, I only have one body. In the future, Liu Jun will have a destiny, and I will definitely die without regret!"

After finishing speaking, Shan Ri raised his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp. His heroic words immediately won applause from all the halls.

Liu Jing shook his head, but didn't say anything more, and also drank the wine in the glass.

Afterwards, Shan Ri filled another large glass of wine, and respected Liu Zhu and Wang Qiang: "On the way home, please leave me to Brother Liu and Brother Wang..."

Ling County is hundreds of miles away from Hengshan Mountain, and their status as Jingman is very sensitive, so naturally they can't go by land, water is the only choice, so Liu Zhu and Wang Qiang have to trouble Liu Zhu and Wang Qiang to lead the fleet to send them back to Hengshan.

"Uncle Weng, you're welcome." Liu Zhu and Wang Qiang shared a drink with Shan Riyi with a smile.

The task Liu Jing entrusted to them this time was more than that. After sending the order back to Hengshan, they had to go north without stopping.

The fifteen ships that Liu Jing ordered at Huang's Shipyard last year will be completed in the next month or two.

Receiving ships, recruiting captains, training soldiers... many things came one after another, but fortunately they had accumulated enough experience last year, so they wouldn't be in a hurry.

Liu Jing has ordered [-] ships from Huang's shipyard in the past two years, but he does not plan to continue to order. Next year, a war will break out in Jingzhou. By then, the ships will be caught by Zhang Xian before they leave the shipyard. Forcibly confiscated.He will never do things that harm himself and benefit others.

In fact, there are several boat yards in Ling County, but the scale is limited and the craftsmanship is relatively ordinary, and they can only build boats under ten feet.

Even though it was not as satisfactory, Liu Jing still placed large orders with several shipyards without hesitation.The time left for him is running out, so he has no qualifications to pick and choose, every point of strength will give him more security.

At the same time, he had another plan in mind. Once Zhang Xian was defeated and Linxiang was surrounded by Liu Biao's army, he planned to forcefully move many shipyards near Linxiang to Ling County.Anyway, Zhang Xian is no longer needed, so instead of taking advantage of Liu Biaojun in vain, it is better to take advantage of himself.

…………

The banquet didn't come to an end until it was getting dark, Liu Jingxun boarded the carriage in a hurry, instead of going back to the county house, he returned home directly.Today is Qixi Festival, and his wife Deng Yuan took the maidservants home early to spend the festive season with her family.

After arriving home, Liu Jing got out of the car and walked into the house, pushed aside the support of the servants, and walked softly towards the backyard. Before entering the courtyard, he heard a series of laughter like silver bells.

Liu Jing also couldn't help showing a smile on his face. This was the laughter of his younger sister Liu Rao. He immediately entered the backyard, and he saw Liu Rao standing in the hall with a pair of maidservants and a beautiful dress with ribbons. Moonlight, holding a needle and thread, has a charming face.

His wife, Deng Yuan, and even Ashu and Axi's maidservants were all immersed in threading needles, laughing and laughing constantly, and even Liu Jing didn't notice when he came back.Stepmother Zhang and sister-in-law Lai Ci were all smiling, seeing how busy they were.

There are many customs on Qixi Festival, "Threading a needle and begging for cleverness" is one of them. "Xijing Miscellaneous Notes" said: "Han colored women often wear seven-hole needles on July [-]th in Kaijinlou, and people have learned it."

Although Liu He and Liu Qun's uncles and nephews were watching with great interest, they did not participate in it. They soon discovered Liu Jing and couldn't help shouting: "Brother... my lord..."

Liu Rao let out an "ah", and when he saw Liu Jing's return, he immediately ran over bouncing around, holding a golden needle as if offering a treasure, and said with pride on his small face: "Brother, look quickly, this is the needle I wore. Is my hand skillful?"

Liu Jing nodded with a smile and said, "Coin, clever... Ah Li's hand is the most skillful in the world."

Liu Rao was very unhappy when he was praised, and then when he thought something was wrong, he immediately pouted and said, "Brother, why did you come back? If you were later, you would have missed the meeting between Cowboy and Weaver Girl."

Liu Jing spread his hands and said: "I also want to come back soon, but I am trapped in a banquet and cannot get out."

Liu Rao snorted angrily and said, "Brother, what you are saying is obviously a evasion. You are the county lord, and you are the biggest in Ling County. If you want to leave, who dares to stop you?"

Liu Jing smiled and rubbed her maid, came to the hall, even though he drank a lot of wine, Liu Jing still only kept the etiquette, saluting to his stepmother Zhang and sister-in-law Lai Ci respectively.

Seeing that her husband was drunk, Deng Yuan immediately ordered Ah Shu to boil water and make tea to sober him up.

(End of this chapter)