I have lived forever since the end of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 263 Two Chen’s battle of wits
"Tap tap."

The carriage traversed the gravel and yellow mud path and passed the red maple leaves that were about to fall to the ground.

However, the cicada's last neighing sound before her death was a bit depressing.

Compared with the north where the weather has begun to get cooler at this time of year, apart from the yellowing leaves, there is no sign of autumn in Changsha, and the sun is still fierce.

Sitting on the carriage, Chen Luo opened the curtains in front of the window and the door, letting the breeze blow into the carriage and take away the heat in the air.

Chen Ping, who was sitting aside with his eyes closed to relax, slowly opened his eyes and asked softly: "Yang Xiahou is a little restless. Is it because the weather in Changsha is too hot?

When I came to Changsha a few months ago, I was also not used to it. I felt that the climate here was not as refreshing as the Central Plains climate.

But after I got used to it, I actually felt it was pretty good, so it was just a temporary problem.

Every time there is a change, it takes some days to adapt. The same is true for the climate, and the same is true for other things.

For example, storms at sea are more violent than climate changes in the north and south. "

His words seemed to be talking about the weather, but in fact they were alluding to something.

Compared with the climate changes in the north and south, the changes in the Han Dynasty's court will be more drastic, making people more caught off guard and difficult to adapt to.

Chen Luo, can you adapt to this change?
With a bit of playfulness and scrutiny in his eyes, Chen Ping stared at Chen Luo with the corners of his mouth raised slightly, wanting to see what his reaction would be.

Chen Luo was minding his own business, feeling the breeze blowing outside the window, his hair rising slightly, as if he didn't pay attention to the words Chen Ping said in his ears.

After a long time, he tilted his head and said: "Since the uprising in Daze Township, and the wars in the north and south for nearly ten years, what kind of bad weather have we not experienced?

Back then, King Xiang and I marched [-] miles at night in the wind and rain. Many soldiers even fell off their horses due to hypothermia. Even if they were wearing heavy clothes, they would tremble with cold.

At that time, the climate conditions were ten times more difficult than today. I was not afraid of it yet. Could it be that I couldn't adapt to the slight heat?
So I summed up an experience.

There is nothing to be afraid of ups and downs. As long as you stick to your heart, the interference of external objects will never make you lose your sense of place.

Brother Chen Ping, what do you think? "

He responded to Chen Ping's greetings.

Judging from today's head-on contact, Chen Ping probably regards himself as his opponent. Although his attitude is quite polite, his words are constantly testing both overt and covert, and he wants to confront him.

Currently, the ministers in the court who have the same position as Chen Ping are Zhang Liang. However, Zhang Liang is in poor health and has returned home after being ill for a long time, so his influence is gradually declining.

Next in line is Chen Luo.

His position is that of a censor, and he is positioned as a counselor. He can plan strategies and schemes, and his abilities are more balanced than Chen Ping's.

If Chen Ping really wants to make progress, the biggest obstacle in front of him is Chen Luo.

"Well..." After pondering for a while, Chen Ping then raised his head and said with a smile, "Jiang Ning's words make sense. I have no relevant experience. It's really too offensive to guess your feelings in vain."

He chose to take a step back.

The two looked at each other and smiled, and the atmosphere in the carriage seemed to be extremely harmonious.

Unlike Xiang Yu and Han Xin, when Chen Luo and Chen Ping talked about things, they did not need to directly pierce the window paper in the middle and shake everything out.

A smart person will naturally understand what another smart person is saying.

When facing Chen Ping's temptation, he mentioned his previous experiences to remind the other party to pay attention.

I have no problem with you wanting to show off more in front of His Majesty, but if you want to turn me into a stepping stone, then do I have a relationship with King Xiang? If I can’t adapt to the environment, then if I don’t move, the environment will come. Adapt to me.

Chen Luo doesn't need to adapt to the general rules at all. He will nominally play with you within the rules, but in fact he is aloof from them!
After understanding this hint, Chen Ping chose to retreat and said no more.

The sound of the horse's hooves continued for about [-] times, and then gradually began to slow down. Finally, with the driver's long "hoo", the carriage stopped near the palace.

"Yang Xiahou, we are here." Chen Ping looked at the environment outside through the opened curtains, and then turned to Chen Luo and said.

After bowing out of the carriage, Chen Luo looked at the palace outside. Its standards were quite high, and the decorations on the walls were in a distinct Chu style, with nine-headed birds and golden crows painted on them, mostly in red.

Chen Luo glanced around and said as he stepped forward, "Is this a palace of the King of Changsha?"

This made the guards and coachmen next to them open their mouths. Could it be that Marquis Yang Xia was as good at predicting things as he was before Jiang Taigong?
Because after Liu Bang came to Changsha, he could not directly occupy Wu Rui's palace, so he lived in this most complete summer palace, so the plaque of the palace here was temporarily taken down.

As a foreigner, Chen Luo came here and told him where this place was originally at the first sight. Isn't it surprising?
If this palace had not been newly built, they might have suspected that Chen Luo had been to Changsha before.

"As expected of Jiang Ning, I guessed it right. This place was indeed the palace of the King of Changsha before." Chen Ping complimented, without much surprise in his eyes.

It was not difficult for Chen Luo to guess that this was the royal palace of Changsha.

Just from the luxurious level and area of ​​its construction, we know that this is not something ordinary people or nobles can afford to build, not to mention that Liu Bang will not stay at their home.

In addition, the location of this palace is not far from Changsha City near the Xiangjiang River, which is not a suitable location for building a palace. Therefore, it is more reasonable to guess that it is a temporary palace.

It's just that Chen Luo can make these judgments in such a short period of time, and Chen Ping secretly admires him in his heart.

When Chen Luo entered the palace, Chen Ping led the way and was responsible for explaining to the guards and passing the interrogation.

After several open investigations and countless secret inspections, Chen Luo finally entered the palace.

Chen Ping turned sideways and asked with a smile: "Jiang Ning, this palace is called Baisha Palace. Guess what it has to do with?"

After saying this, he rubbed his chin.

This question is a bit tricky. I want to forcefully make things difficult for the other party.

After all, the word "white sand" does not provide any effective information at all, at least it does not provide effective guidance in the right direction.

Chen Ping has already made plans to tell the other party the correct answer later. Because of the difficulty, he will not ridicule.

"White sand?" After thinking about it, Chen Luo found that this word had a deep impression on him.

Later, the specialty cigarettes of the Huxiang area were named after the city flower of Changsha, the Furong King, and the Baisha cigarettes, which were named after the characteristic landmark Baisha Well.

He smiled and said: "There are not many clues, so I can only make a wild guess. There should be a landmark named after it near the Baisha Palace.

The terrain nearby is flat and naturally there are no white sand mountains.I didn't see any tall buildings along the way, probably not Baisha Tower or Baisha Pavilion.As for the Baisha River and Baisha Stream... two or three miles away is the Xiangshui River. Even if it existed, the palace would not be named after "Baisha".

As for Baisha being the name of the alley, it should not affect the naming of the palace.

I'll just make a random guess. There is a white sand well here, so this palace is called Baisha Palace. "

"Huh?" Chen Ping's eyes suddenly widened like bells. Even though he was usually a steady and calm image, he could not hide his shock at this moment.

Can this also be guessed?

"Brother Chen is so surprised. Could it be that I got fooled?" Chen Luo blinked and seemed equally surprised.

Just opened it by yourself?
No, how could I open the door if I guessed the answer based solely on my previous experience and knowledge?

Chen Ping, who took a breath and managed to regain his composure, said: "What Jiang Ning said is absolutely correct. There is indeed a well named Baisha one mile southeast of the palace. The water is sweet and refreshing. Even outside Changsha, people got up early and came here with burdens to fetch water." water.

This well has a great reputation. Originally, when the King of Changsha built his palace, he wanted to include it in the palace. Not to mention the people's unwillingness, many officials in Changsha also wrote to oppose it. So under pressure, the Baisha Palace was built in Baisha. Northwest of Shajing, it was not incorporated.

However, the water used in the palace is usually taken from Baisha Well. It was summer when I came, and I took a sip and it was really refreshing. "

He had already thought up the idea of ​​the original science popularization, but he didn't expect Chen Luo to actually answer it. Chen Ping didn't know how much the other party knew about Baishajing, and whether it would make him laugh if he said it.

If he didn't say that, he wouldn't know what to say and could only brag that Chen Luo guessed the answer.

Therefore, Chen Ping chose to follow his original preparation, slightly changed his wording, and continued to speak.

When he took a few steps forward, he was shocked when he turned back.

Is it really a coincidence that Chen Luo guessed the answer correctly?

If you think about it carefully, there are roughly three possibilities.

The first possibility is that Chen Luozhen was talking nonsense. A blind cat bumped into a dead mouse and happened to guess Baishajing.

This situation is the least likely, not to mention that Chen Luo doesn't have that kind of personality, and people who blindly guess the correct answer often show uncontrollable excitement when they get a positive answer.

Chen Luo was extremely calm just now, obviously he had expected it.

The second possibility is that Chen Luo got the answer through strict logical reasoning just like what he said.

First, "White Sand" was determined as the name of the landmark, then mountains, water, buildings, and alleys were excluded, and finally "White Sand Well" was settled on.

Chen Ping thought that he could not match such clear thinking, or that he could not get the correct answer in such a short time.

As for the third possibility, Chen Luo has known the answer a long time ago, and now he is just working backwards based on the answer.

In this situation, Chen Luo seemed to be the weakest, but in fact, he showed the most terrifying strength.

You must know that Chen Luo was with him the whole time from getting off the ship to returning home, and finally arriving at Baisha Palace, and he almost never let him out of sight.

Then Chen Luo needs to know that he is going to Baisha Palace and Liu Bang's temporary stay here.

After all, where Liu Bang is in Changsha, not to mention it is top secret, only a few dozen people know about it. Chen Luo can find out what kind of well-connected intelligence channels he has.

The first scenario is unlikely to happen, while the second and third scenarios are quite terrifying.

Chen Ping's eyes were full of fear, and he suppressed his desire to turn around, maintaining a calm tone and saying: "This is Jiang Ning's first time in Changsha, and it's really amazing that he can guess the name of the palace.

If you say you can do divination, I believe you. "

Chen Luo laughed loudly and said, "Brother Chen, you have been fooled by me."

Chen Ping was stunned, turned around and asked in confusion: "Why did you say that?"

Chen Luo waved his hand and said, "These guesses of mine come from my observations on the carriage along the road.

I saw a sudden increase in the number of people carrying wooden barrels and bamboo barrels on the road near the palace, and there were also people pulling ox carts to fetch water, so I guessed that there was a white sand well nearby.

What's more important is that I heard people on the road mention "Baishajing" in their shouts. I didn't notice it on the carriage, but when you mentioned it, I got the impression.

As for the inferences I told you earlier, they are all nonsense and cannot be counted. "

He observed that after Chen Ping turned his back, his walking posture felt a bit unnatural, and he knew that the other party was beginning to doubt him.

Chen Luo suddenly reflected on himself and realized that the reasons he had just given were not enough to support his answer of "there is a white sand well nearby". If he was thinking divergently, he might not know what he would think of himself.

So he changed to a more reasonable angle to explain why he was able to answer "Baishajing" just now.

The credibility of the new reason has increased a lot.

What's more, I added "I heard people talking about Baishajing", which doesn't seem so miraculous and is within the acceptable range of ordinary people.

Chen Ping nodded suddenly, and then said: "But Jiang Ning's keen observation ability also makes me admire, and it is worth learning."

He was dubious about this new statement, but it was much more reasonable and not as scary as his second and third conjectures.

It's just that Chen Luo just chose to take the initiative to report. Could it be that he noticed my change?
Slowly exhaling a breath, Chen Ping turned around again, but the pressure in his heart was reduced by most, and his back was no longer tight when he walked, and became much smoother.

Chen Luo secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this.

The two of them walked for a short distance without any further conversation. The riddle just now became the last topic between them.

Chen Ping stopped, glanced at the simple and bright palace in front of him, and gave a few instructions to the guards at the door.

After the guard walked inside, he turned around and said, "Your Majesty is ill and is resting inside. It is not appropriate for too many people to enter at one time. After the announcement is completed, Marquis Yangxia will go in and pay homage on his own."

"Thank you Qu Nihou for leading the way." Chen Luo saluted.

When the guard came out again, he brought Liu Bang's oral instructions, "Please invite the Marquis of Yangxia to enter the palace to meet His Majesty."

"Wei." After Chen Luo agreed, he nodded to Chen Ping, followed the attendants, and after a while, the figure disappeared from the palace porch.

Watching him leave, Chen Ping finally relaxed, rubbed his brows with his hands, and murmured in a low voice: "Yang Xiahou... It's really hard to tell which of your words are true and which of them are false. "

(End of this chapter)