Ji Han Liu Zhang

Hanzhong, Nanzheng.

The wind that had been blowing all night stopped, and the sun rarely rose from the east, dispelling the early morning mist, and quietly rose into the sky, emitting light and heat, bringing a slightly warmer weather to Hanzhong.

It was in this weather that the leader of Hanzhong, Master Zhang Lu, wore a fur coat made of the fur of an iron-eating beast and climbed to the high tower of Nanzheng. He looked up and watched him rule. Visit the mountains, rivers, pavilions and pavilions of Hanzhong.

"Great river and mountain."

After a long time, Zhang Lu let out a sigh of gratitude from his throat, feeling for the great land of Hanzhong.In his eyes, Hanzhong had vast land, plentiful grains, a household registration of [-] people, and wealthy people. It was the best choice for the foundation of Tianshi Dao.

Not to mention that Hanzhong is blocked by the Qinling Mountains in the north, Daba Mountain in the south, and dangerous obstacles in the east and west. It is a country with four fortresses in the true sense.

"Hiss." Zhang Lu seemed to have thought of something, his face showed bitterness, and there was unbearable sadness in his brows.His sorrow came from the Shu region in the south of Hanzhong, or to be more precise, it was the current Yizhou Shepherd Liu Zhang. Beside his bed, there was a tiger like Liu Zhang staring at him, and his mood naturally relaxed all the time. No, I am worried.

"Master, there is a message from Chengdu." After asking the officials in the county temple, Yan Pu found Zhang Lu's location. He hurried here and reported to Zhang Lu that there was a letter A message from Chengdu.

Zhang Lu didn't answer immediately. After adjusting his breath for a moment, he forced a slightly relaxed smile on his face: "Gong Cao, just think for a moment, and I'll listen to what this little Liu Zhang has to say that is shocking to the world."

"Nuo." Yan Pu responded, picking up the important content of the memorandum and reading it out.

"Recently, I have been riding on an eastward expedition. Liu He, who is not riding in Jingzhou, is the leader. With his banner pointing south, the Yi king Gaoyuan and the wealthy Yong clan have been destroyed. Wherever the soldiers are heading, the army is attacking, and all the thieves have killed the owl leader."

"Exactly." Zhang Lu shook his head disdainfully, with a look of disapproval on his face: "Is this little Liu Zhang trying to scare me? I, Zhang Lu, have been in the army for more than ten years, how can I be scared?"

"Now Zhang... in Hanzhong is walking around Hanzhong with his ghostly ways, confusing the people, attacking and killing the school captains Pang Le and Li Yi without any reason, and sending the thieves Pu Hu and Yuan Yue south to leave the people behind. It is really a heinous crime and is extremely evil. amnesty."

"Moreover, the imperial envoys went to Shu to announce the decree and passed through Hanzhong. They were killed by them. Their deeds were so bad that heaven will not tolerate them."

"Huh?" Zhang Lu turned his head and asked a question. He recognized the previous tasks of attacking Pang Le and Li Yi and sending people south to attack Bajun, but he did it on Liu Yan's behalf to cut off the valley road and kill the imperial envoys. But Liu Zhang took out Liu Yan and put all the blame on him, which was a bit shameless.

"There are many conquests this year, so there is no time to send troops. I would like to inform Hanzhong that next year when the spring water comes back and the grass grows and the orioles fly, I will command more than [-] infantry and cavalry. We will march together from the Jinniu and Micang roads to conquer Hanzhong. Hanzhong is made of glutinous rice flour."

"More than two hundred thousand?" Zhang Lu shook his head in disbelief and sneered: "This kid Liu Zhang is not afraid of letting his tongue slip. Although Bashu has a large population, if there are 20 people, I'm afraid It’s not that easy.”

"The mother of the old thief is in Chengdu today. She has issued letters to her son many times, but Hanzhong has not responded. She ignores the nature of the mother and her son. If the old thief still has a conscience or two, she should bear the thorn and plead guilty, so that the mother and son can be reunited. With my mercy Benevolence, the old traitor must be forgiven, otherwise, when the soldiers arrive, he will be dead if he surrenders."

After reading this, Yan Pu respectfully handed the message to Zhang Lu, and then he stood aside with his hands down.

"Boring." Zhang Lu showed little interest. He finally mentioned his mother Lu's threatening words to this statement, showing a numb expression.Chengdu has used his mother to threaten him for countless times. This time too many times, there is no room for him to become desensitized.

"Gong Cao, what do you think?" Zhang Lu asked his own think tank, wanting to know what Yan Pu thought of this appeal.

Yan Pu thought about it for a while, and said with a clear mind: "The memorandum states that there will be 20 infantry and cavalry, and we will send troops to Hanzhong in the coming spring. These two things are nonsense... As Shijun said, although the population of Bashu is large, it must be It is absolutely impossible to raise 20 troops to attack Hanzhong at the beginning of spring. Between us, 7 to [-] people are considered good."

"Secondly, the memorandum mentioned that troops will be sent to Hanzhong in the coming spring. This year, there have been several wars in Shu, and Zhao Wei has caused a civil strife. Although these disturbances were quickly put down, there must be some losses in money and food. And it's not small. Although Shu is rich, if you want to attack Hanzhong at the beginning of spring, you are afraid that you will run out of food and retreat... According to Liu Zhang's behavioral observations, he is not such an unintelligent person, and he will definitely wait until After the summer harvest, we will have enough troops and food, and then we can send troops to attack Hanzhong."

"What the meritor said is true. This son Liu Zhang is just trying to scare us with some big words. I'm afraid he wants to scare us into recruiting our husbands to guard Yangping Pass and abandoning spring plowing, causing us to be short of food and grass in the coming year." Zhang Lu followed. Yan Pu developed his thoughts and roughly guessed Liu Zhang's sinister intentions.

Yan Pu respectfully agreed: "This is exactly the truth. In the art of war, what is real is illusory, and what is fictitious is real. Liu Zhang is a cunning man, no less cunning than his father. He will definitely call upon us Hanzhong if he has any dirty tricks... But then Even so, Hanzhong's life is at stake at Yangping Pass, so it should not be done carelessly. Master can send two documents, one to Li Xiu, the new Yangping Pass guard, and one to Master's younger brother, asking them to be careful. Be on guard to prevent Chengdu from taking advantage of the situation."

"Of course." Regarding Yan Pu's suggestion, Zhang Lu agreed. At the same time, he couldn't help but sigh: "I have never had the idea of ​​spying on Bashu. I just wanted to guard Hanzhong on behalf of Chengdu and be a prince. But this Liu Zhang My son was unyielding to me and fought me several times, trying to capture Hanzhong. It was really abominable... When the two armies fought and the troops fought together, I don't know how many people shed blood and wailed."

Faced with Zhang Lu's heartfelt words, Yan Pu stood there with a calm expression. He waited for a moment before echoing: "Master has such a benevolent heart, but others have never had it."

Immediately afterwards, Yan Pu reported another incident: "Master, recently there have been notices posted by Chengdu's agents in every county in Hanzhong, fabricating Master's fault, and beguiling the wealthy families in Hanzhong, so that they will wait for the Chengdu army to rise up in the future. , and even stated that as long as he is not attached to the master and defends the city, he has achieved great merit."

"Liu Zhang, son." Zhang Lu gritted his teeth and expressed his indignation at Liu Zhang's actions of inciting the people.He knew that the current situation was that Liu Zhang was strong and his side was relatively weak, so there were probably a lot of weaklings on both sides, trying to contact Chengdu.

"In the opinion of the meritorious officer, how should this matter be handled?"

Yan Pu stroked his beard and frowned slightly. This matter was a bit troublesome. In the past, Zhang Lu believed in ghosts, and many aristocratic families in Hanzhong could not stand it. However, Zhang Lu was so powerful that he could not tolerate them not bowing their heads. , if Liu Zhang takes the lead now, the Hanzhong family will have a choice, and some restless families will do something rebellious.

"Master, I have sent people to order all counties to collect these notices everywhere, but the content of these notices has been spread more or less, and many people are aware of it... Now, for those who believe in the Celestial Master's Tao, You must give them enough trust and do not do anything that disturbs them. Secondly, for disobedient families, you can use preaching as an excuse to move them to Nanzheng to prevent them from causing trouble in the local area. Opportunity. I don’t know what the master thinks of handling it this way.” “That’s the only way.” Zhang Lu nodded. He didn’t have any good ideas at the moment. Most of the aristocratic families in Hanzhong studied Confucian classics and scorned the Tao of the Heavenly Master. But he couldn't wipe out these families who didn't believe in the Celestial Master's Tao in one fell swoop, so he could only regulate them.

"Meritor, it's windy at the top of the city. You can go down first. You can write a letter and deliver it to Yangping Pass. I'll take a look at it later. If there's nothing wrong, I'll send it over." Zhang Lu made a caring word.

"Nuo, Master, you also need to take care of your own body. It is not suitable to stand on the city wall for a long time." Yan Pu reciprocated his concern and then left.

After Yan Pu got off the tower, Zhang Lu continued to admire the land of Hanzhong. At this time, the sun had already risen to a position close to the sky. The fog had dissipated, and the distant view was no longer blocked, and the beautiful mountains and rivers could be seen. caught his eye.

The memory in Zhang Lu's mind began to go back. After Liu Yan entered Shu, relying on the beauty of his mother Lu, he gained Liu Yan's trust and served as the governor of Sima. Then in the second year of Chuping, he was sent by Liu Yan to stay with him. Zhang Xiu, the commander of the Ministry, led his troops to attack Su Gu, the prefect of Hanzhong.After Zhang Xiu killed Su Gu, he killed Zhang Xiu again, seized Zhang Xiu's tribe, and sat alone in Hanzhong, becoming a prince.

The position of Hanzhong Prefect under him was obtained through all kinds of hardships by betraying his mother's lust and betraying Zhang Xiu, the original Taoist master of Tianshi.

'No one can take Hanzhong from my hands. At this point, Zhang Lu, who had paid countless sunk costs, swore a vicious oath that he would never allow or agree that Hanzhong, which he had paid so much to get, was taken away by others.

Zhang Lu raised his eyes and looked south. His eyes seemed to have traveled across thousands of mountains and rivers, and he saw Liu Zhang living in Chengdu: "Liu Zhang, my son, since you are rich in Bashu, why do you want to covet the land of Hanzhong, which is the public?" '

The panic-stricken Zhang Lu lowered his eyebrows. He, who was good at ghost ways, thought of a good way to deal with Liu Zhang.

'The art of witchcraft. '
-
Hanzhong, Mian County.

Fazheng looked carefully at the thief-crying letter in his hand. It was a thief-crying letter written and posted everywhere in Chengdu.

The various crimes of Zhang Lu are detailed above, including but not limited to worshiping ghosts, attacking and killing school captains Pang Le and Li Yi for no reason, and sending Pu Hu and Yuan Yue south from Micang Road to massacre Baishui Market.

"Huh?" Fazheng had a look of disdain on his face. He didn't expect that the news about Pu Hu and Yuan Yue going south to win was actually Pu Hu and Yuan Yue taking credit for killing good people, and they were also the market merchants they killed.

"Fa County Magistrate, Fa County Magistrate." Fa Zheng's clerk reminded him softly when he saw Fa Zheng being silent for a long time, seeming to be deep in thought.

"What's the matter?" asked Fazheng, who woke up from his meditation.

The scribe lowered his hands and asked respectfully: "May I ask the county magistrate how to deal with this rebellious notice? Now the city is not only the one in your hand, the county magistrate. This notice is posted everywhere, and there are many notices. They even tore it off and hid it privately.”

Fa Zhengyi spoke righteously and said impartially: "Take people to tear down all these ridiculous and rebellious notices. As for the ones hidden by the people, carefully check them one by one to make sure not to expose any of them..." In addition, send a few elite people to spy on the news among the people to see if they can catch the spy from Chengdu so that they can be handed over to Nanzheng for restoration."

"Nuo." Fazheng's instructions were careful and every detail made sense. The clerk accepted them without any doubts. Then he said goodbye and left, hurriedly leading people to search for these rebellious notices in Mian County.

After the scribe left, Fazheng continued to read the notice in his hand. He naturally saw the words on the notice that Liu Zhang invited the heroes of Hanzhong to destroy Zhang Lu.

After roughly reading the notice in his hand, Fazheng did not destroy it, but folded it into his bag and hid it close to his body.

After being released from office, Fazheng and Mengda met.

"Thieves." Meng Da, who got the notice from Fazheng, cursed angrily when he saw the notice stating that Pu Hu and Yuan Yue had killed Liang.

"I wonder why the caravans that recently went south to Chengdu have all retreated. It turns out that it was Pu Hu and Yuan Yue who pretended to be merchants and massacred the Baishui Market in Brazil County."

As a county captain, Meng Da was different from Fazheng who was on duty. He mostly led troops to patrol around Mian County. During this time, he encountered many caravans that went south to Chengdu and then turned back. He had always been doubtful. At this time, The doubts were cleared.

"Hey, Liu Yizhou is inviting us and other heroes to annihilate Zhang Lu together." Meng Da saw the back of the notice, and his face showed joy. He thought this was an opportunity.

Fazheng nodded calmly, and said: "We still have to wait a moment. When Liu Yizhou's army conquers Hanzhong and Hanzhong's attention is focused on Yangping Pass, we can take the opportunity to do something good and do a good job here. Show your performance in front of Liu Yizhou. What you need to do now is to accumulate strength and don’t act rashly.”

"Hmm, with Liu Yizhou's generosity, there is no way I can be a captain." Meng Da, who had not yet established his merits, began to have wonderful thoughts about his future.

"As for Xiao Nao, you are from a famous family and have outstanding talents. I think you might be able to join the army."

Fazheng was noncommittal. He, who was serving as the county magistrate under Zhang Lu, and Meng Da, who was serving as the county lieutenant, both had unexpected plans and did not intend to work under Zhang Lu for a long time. They planned to find another job. The Ming Lord has done something great, and the two of them have found a target, which is Yizhou Mu Liu Zhang. (End of chapter)