I will be the master of Xuande

Chapter 5 Baili welcomes the grandson

Liu Jian had already inquired about the date of Gongsun Zan's appointment in advance, and he estimated that he would arrive within three to five days, so he bought gifts, and called Zhang Fei and Jian Yong to welcome them with him.

In this way, the four of them headed for the official road in the northeast direction with a group of servants.

Normally speaking, when Gongsun Zan came to Zhuojun from the east of Liaodong, he would definitely stay in his hometown of Liaoxi County during the period. After returning home to visit relatives and pay respects to the elders, he would then go to Jixian County to meet Fujun County, and finally made his trip to Zhuoxian County.

"From Jicheng to here, the terrain is flat, high in the west and low in the east. Unless they take the Juma River waterway, they will probably take the loess road in Gu'an." Jian Yong said to Liu Jian very confidently.

"Why are Xianhe so sure?"

With a smug look on his face, Jian Yong began to brag happily.

"Although I have never met the Lord Gongsun County, but I heard Ah Jian's description, I know that although he is a concubine, he has an arrogant personality and no children left. How could such a person come to take office quietly? He is eager to let everyone know that Gongsun Zan is promising and has become the Lord of Qianshi County!"

After all, Jian Yong looked at Zhang Fei as if showing off: "Brother Zhang Xian, do you think what you said is right?"

Zhang Fei didn't bother to talk to him, but looked at Liu Jian as if asking questions.

Liu Jian thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

Jian Yong's thinking is correct.

Because of his background, Gongsun Zan has always been treated poorly by the Gongsun clan in western Liaoning, and the good resources of the clan have never been available to him.

Now that all the hardships have come, he finally got rid of the shackles of the concubine step by step, and moved towards the elite class of the upper class of the big man. His repressed heart was released, so naturally he would not keep a low profile.

Not beating gongs and drums, and the drums and horns are full of propaganda, which is already considered very self-restraining.

"So, let's camp at the main road by the Juma River and wait for Gongsun Bogui to arrive there."

Zhang Fei said: "I'll arrange for someone to find a good place to set up the felt tent!"

The village of Zhang Fei's family raised many disciples, and this time to welcome Gongsun Zan, Zhang Fei also brought a few servants along with him.

It is said to be a servant, but it is actually a bodyguard.

Liu Jian and Liu Bei's family came with five people, five horses, and a cart loaded with belongings and gifts. Jian Yong's family was poor, so he was the only one with zero horses.

Zhang Fei brought ten servants, eleven rough horses, and an ox cart carrying daily necessities.

Regardless of Zhang Fei's young age and his background as a butcher, his parents are very supportive of Zhang Fei making friends with children like Liu Jian.

That's Lu Zhi's disciple—a man of culture!
Whatever Liu Jian is doing, the Zhang family is willing to follow him!
Zhang Fei sent his men to find a place near the Juma River beside the dense forest to set up felt tents, and then arranged a group of servants to divide into three groups to conduct investigations within a few miles.

As for what to investigate... Well, the environment of sleeping in the wild in the Han Dynasty is different from that of later generations. Leaving aside the reckless bandits, let's just talk about wild animals, which are by no means rare.

Tigers, wolves, leopards, and jackals are ferocious beasts. These days, when you go out, you will encounter them. If you travel in groups, it’s fine. It is certain death.

Especially at night, you must check around the camp before camping, because wild animals come and go at night.

A group of people rested by the Juma River. After a while, it was dark, and the people who went out to inspect came back one after another. Zhang Fei then asked his subordinates to burn corn and rice, and ordered them to take out the dried pork that they carried with them, and distributed the preserved fruits to everyone.

"The Biography of Liu Dan, the King of Swallows in the Han Dynasty", writes that "the hogs come out in groups in the toilet, which will damage the official stove" and "the toilet can also raise hogs."

Pork in this period has changed from food to a tool for fat accumulation. Gaomen or gentry generally choose meat and do not eat pigs, but cattle are usually afraid to kill. Therefore, the meat of high-level people is "fish, sheep, chicken" in order. ,dog'.

But this is only for Gaomen, ordinary people, it is difficult to eat meat, and they can choose what kind of pig or not, even if the pork smells fishy, ​​it doesn't matter.

No matter how fishy it is, it is still meat.

Liu Jian ate a piece of pork jerky and found it hard to swallow, so he stopped eating.

He turned his head and counted the people present. After counting and counting, he found that there were three missing.

"Why are there three people missing?"

Zhang Fei tore at the jerky, without raising his head, and said, "One of the people sent out to investigate just now has not returned yet, so just wait!"

Liu Jian looked up at the sky, frowned and said, "I just asked them to patrol the surrounding area for several miles. As long as there are no traces of tigers and wolves, they can come back. Do you want to take so long?"

Jian Yong joked: "Isn't it true that I met a tiger?"

Liu Bei was taken aback: "Xian and Mo Huyan, the two counties are in such a good place, where did the tiger come from?"

Jian Yong said nervously: "In these days, animals can still eat money, what else is impossible! Besides, in this wilderness, not to mention wild animals, even ghosts and ghosts are hidden."

His gloomy face, coupled with the fact that he deliberately lowered his voice, really made people feel scared.

Liu Jian reached out and snatched the jerky from Jian Yong's hand: "If you disturb people's hearts, don't eat it and go to watch the night by the river!"

"Just kidding! I'd better eat honestly." Jian Yong took back the jerky from Liu Jian with a smirk on his face.

Liu Bei's face turned pale, and he wondered if he was really frightened by Jian Yong.

"Deran, if those people don't come back so late, will something happen?"

Liu Jian looked up at the sky, feeling uncertain.

"It's getting dark. If we search separately at this time, it will be bad for us. If there are ferocious beasts nearby, people's night vision will not be as good as those beasts... just wait a little longer!"

For the next period of time, all the people eating around the campfire fell silent.

Everyone looked serious, and from time to time someone would look up to see if the three lost people had returned.

Until the middle of the day, there was no one to be seen.

All of a sudden, everyone couldn't sit still.

Zhang Fei was the first to stand up and asked Liu Jian, "Brother, let's find someone!"

Liu Jian realized the seriousness of the matter, and lost three people in a good way, which is unreasonable.

He stood up and looked back and forth at all the people present—except for the three who got lost, there were still 14 people.

"It's too dark, if you act so rashly, you don't know what you will encounter, whether it's a beast or a villain, it's hard to say... We must first appoint a person in charge."

Speaking of this, Liu Jian looked at Jian Yong, and then winked at Liu Bei at him, signaling Jian Yong to recommend Liu Bei as the leader.

Jian Yong understood right away: "Hey! What else is there to choose? Our four tigers in Zhuo County have always been led by you, so naturally we must obey your orders!"

Zhang Fei's reaction was super fast, and he directly clasped his fists at Liu Jian: "I only obey my brother, and I will put my brother first!"

Liu Bei also said: "Deran, the person in charge is none other than you."

Several leading Shaolang lords have spoken, and the followers who come here will follow everything.

Liu Jian glared at Jian Yong fiercely, but saw that the other party smiled at him shamelessly.

Afterwards, Liu Jian ordered people to extinguish the bonfire, took dry food, and at the same time asked people to wrap the horse's mouth, and all the people headed west.

Logically speaking, searching in groups would be the most efficient, but Liu Jian was afraid that the fourteen people would be separated in the dark and that something would happen later, so it was better to act together so that they could take care of each other at critical moments.

Liu Jian, Liu Bei, Zhang Fei and others all hold swords.

In the Han Dynasty, long swords were not something that anyone could afford casually. In the early Han Dynasty, there was a saying "sell swords to buy cattle, sell knives to buy calves", which shows that iron is precious, especially swords made of good iron are treasures that many scholars dream of. .

Family backgrounds such as Liu Jian, Liu Bei, and Zhang Fei only hold four-sided Han swords that are not complicated to make. As for the eleven companions, they hold ordinary short blades.

Although Liu Zhou tried his best to urge Liu Jian and Liu Bei to learn the classics, martial arts did not fall behind. The martial arts practice of the scholars in the Han Dynasty was very popular, and there was no distinction between literati and warriors, but any individual, if conditions permit, would learn to bow and horse.

Especially the men from Bianjun regard archery and horse skills as the foundation of their lives.

During the day, the three missing servants went west to investigate, so Liu Jian and the others also searched west first.

In the dark night, Liu Jian asked Jian Yong in a low voice: "Just now I asked you to recommend Xuande as the person in charge, why didn't you listen?"

Jian Yong's expression looked surprised under the light of the torch: "Didn't you ask me to recommend you?"

"When did I say that?"

"You didn't say it, but your expression clearly shows that you just want to."

The muscles on Liu Jian's face twitched a few times.

He really couldn't understand, when he secretly winked, which action made Jian Yong misunderstand?

Is there something wrong with my eyes or something wrong with Jian Yong's eyes.

"Hush! Brother, please silence!" Zhang Fei suddenly lowered his voice.

"what happened?"

"There is someone in front, coming towards us!" Zhang Fei said in a low voice.

Jian Yong raised his head and looked at the dark distance - it was silent and dark, and there was nothing.

"Nothing, you kid, are you scaring me?" Jian Yong said carelessly.

"Don't make a sound!" Under such circumstances, Liu Jian felt that Zhang Fei was much more reliable than Jian Yong—even though he was only 14 years old.

"Brother Zhang Xian, are you sure there is someone? Not a beast?" Liu Bei asked with a frown.

Zhang Fei said firmly: "It's a bit far away, but it must be a human. If it's a beast, it will definitely make some noise when it sees these many torches. I guess there are people ambushing us in front! But there should not be many of them, otherwise we will take advantage of our unpreparedness." , Just rush over and grab someone."

Jian Yong said: "How about putting out the fire first?"

Liu Jian said: "Don't be in a hurry, now that the torch is extinguished, the other party will think that we have discovered them and be on guard... Why don't we just move forward slowly and pretend not to know!"

Afterwards, Liu Jian looked at Zhang Fei: "Brother, let's continue to pretend to search for people with torches here to attract the other party's attention. Can you lead five people around in the dark and take them down?"

After hearing this, Liu Bei and Jian Yong were shocked.

Why did this matter go to the youngest Zhang Fei?

Liu Bei is still responsible, he said: "Deran, leave this matter to me! Brother Zhang Xian is still young, I'm afraid..."

Liu Jian didn't speak, he just looked at Zhang Fei seriously.

After all, the one standing in front of him is one of the famous five tiger generals of Ji Han in the future, and his ability is absolutely top-notch. Although he is still young at the moment, Liu Jian believes that a few small thieves should not be able to stop him.

Sure enough, Zhang Fei said: "As long as my brother believes in me, Fei will kill them all, leaving no one behind!"

"No, it's better to leave a tongue for me to question."

(End of this chapter)