Ji Han Liu Zhang

After expressing his feelings about Gao Emperor Liu Bang by the Han River, Liu Zhang came to the official temple in Nanzheng, enthusiastically surrounded by the heads of many powerful families in Hanzhong.

To be precise, it cannot be said to be an official temple. After all, after Zhang Lu took over Hanzhong, most of the official temples in Hanzhong were converted into Taoist temples of Tianshi Tao, and the laws and regulations of the Han family were abandoned. Even the officials in Hanzhong The names were changed by Zhang Lu to the sacrifice wine, ghost soldiers, etc. of Tianshi Tao. Zhang Lu arrogantly wanted to build Hanzhong into a heaven on earth.

However, now that Zhang Lu has gone to the monastery, the Tianshi Taoist temple in Nanzheng has been renovated into an official temple, and all traces of Tianshi Tao have been wiped out. Therefore, Liu Zhang, who stepped into the official temple in Nanzheng, did not see anything in the official temple. Traces of the existence of Tianshi Dao.

It was quite heartwarming. Liu Zhang silently praised the wealthy families in Hanzhong. In order to welcome his arrival and prevent him from seeing the traces of Tianshi Dao, these wealthy families cleaned up the Nanzheng Temple so quickly. .

It's just that the external traces can be easily erased, but the Tao of Heavenly Master in the hearts of many scholars and people in Hanzhong is difficult to erase. You must know that Zhang Lu has been preaching in Hanzhong for several years. In addition, Zhang Lu was lenient and simple in his administration. It very swayed a group of Han soldiers and civilians to believe in the Tao of the Heavenly Master. These Han soldiers and civilians were Zhang Lu's biggest fans. Even if Zhang Lu ran away, they would still be loyal to Zhang Lu in their hearts.

The power of religious belief is very terrifying. Liu Zhang knew this very well. In his previous life, he had seen the horrors of extremist religious elements, such as body bombs, flying planes into buildings, etc. There are only things that no one can imagine, and no extremist can do it. Among the people who came out, there might be some die-hard Zhang Lu loyalists hiding underground, preparing to cause some trouble.

However, for a while, the devout belief in Tianshi Dao in the hearts of the Hanzhong soldiers and people was difficult to erase. Liu Zhang thought about it and slowly eliminated it with time and effort.

As soon as he stepped into the Mingtang of Nanzheng Temple, Liu Zhang naturally walked towards the top position. After accumulating his behavioral habits in this life, he was used to sitting straight towards the top position. Soon, only he could sit in the top position.

After Liu Zhang Shi Shi Ran secured his position as the leader, all the civil and military officials under him, as well as the heads of many wealthy families in Han Dynasty, dared to sit down at the table with a very respectful attitude.

Liu Zhang was the first to speak, and usually he was the first to speak. His power was growing day by day, and he already had the momentum that if I didn’t open my mouth first when spring came, no insect would dare to speak: "Chief Li, what is the situation in Nanzheng? What do you think? Everyone, listen to it.”

Liu Zhang named Li An, the head of the Li family of Nanzheng's wealthy family, and asked Li An to attend to explain the situation in Nanzheng. After all, their group had just entered the city and did not know much about the situation in Nanzheng, and Zhang Lu escaped to the commonplace that night. , moving treasury in Nanzheng and relocating scholars and people, Li An, a local snake, knows these things best.

When Li An was called upon by Liu Zhang, he immediately showed a respectful attitude and hurriedly left the meeting. With a straight face, he bowed his hands in front of Liu Zhang and saluted, and then explained in a slow and unhurried manner: "I'd like to report to Mr. Ming, the rice thief in front of us is in a hurry. After escaping, the ship anchored at the ferry in Nanzheng for some time. During this period, he picked up almost all the family members of his confidants, and at the same time almost robbed Nanzheng's treasury... Later, due to the obvious reasons, The soldiers of the public account beat the golden drum on the south bank of the Han River, which shocked the rice thieves. Therefore, the rice thieves had no time to completely empty the treasury, so the rice thieves took advantage of the wind and set fire to the treasury, intending to burn it all, leaving behind a burning Become the treasury of Baidi."

"The rice thief is really crazy." Peng Yi complained. When you are a person and do things, you should leave some room for everything so that we can meet each other in the future. Zhang Lu's behavior of burning down the treasury seems to Peng Yi that he has lost his mind. .

Hearing Peng Yi's words, Li An nodded in agreement and said: "What Bing Cao said is true. The rice thieves retreated in defeat. They were extremely mad. Otherwise, they would not have burned down the treasury...and the Nanzheng treasury was Although it was not connected to a residential building and was separated by a street, the wind was so strong that night that sparks flew up and burned down the residential building."

Echoing Peng Yi, Li An continued slowly: "That night when the villain saw a fire in the direction of the treasury, and knew that something happened in Nanzheng, he immediately led his tribe to put out the fire in the treasury to prevent the fire from spreading. It affected people's houses... but although the fire was extinguished, the contents in the treasury were not saved for Ming Gong. I am really ashamed."

"A few things from Ah Du are nothing, as long as the person is fine." Liu Zhang waved his hand, looking extremely heroic.

But Liu Zhang felt a little funny in his heart. He originally thought that Zhang Lu would take the Nanzheng treasury and escape again after being captured by Cao Cao at Yangping Pass like in history. But I didn't expect that Zhang Lu was so resentful of his surname Liu that he burned down the treasury without even leaving it for him.

This can't help but make Liu Zhang feel a little annoyed. After all, in such a comparison, he is not as good as Cao Cao.

As for the contents of the Nanzheng treasury, Liu Zhang had never paid much attention to it. The Nanzheng treasury was just some rags accumulated by Zhang Lu. How could he take a fancy to it? After all, he was sitting on Bashu, and there was no shortage of gold and silver. of.

Moreover, if you save people and lose their land, you will save your land, and if you save your land and lose your people, you will lose your people and land. The teacher's teachings are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. He did not get some property, but he gained tens of thousands of people in Hanzhong, which means he made a lot of money.

Liu Zhang praised Li An: "I should commend Patriarch Li for his meritorious service in putting out the fire... Nowadays, many of the sacrificial wines set up by Zhang Lu in Hanzhong have been dismissed, and there are many vacancies for officials. For example, the county magistrate of Chenggu County is currently missing. I don't know if Patriarch Li is Are you interested in taking up the post?”

"An was born in Nanzheng. If something happens in Nanzheng, he should respond to it. Fighting the fire is his duty, but he should not be praised by the public." Li An said humbly, showing a humble attitude.

It was really troublesome. Liu Zhang was a little helpless. There were always these back-and-forth excuses in the officialdom, but they were inevitable. After all, humility and humility were probably ingrained in the bones of many scholars. Few people could speak frankly. He He said patiently: "Clan Chief Li, you don't have to be like this. You have made meritorious deeds, and meritorious deeds should be rewarded. Don't refuse."

"Thank you, Mr. Minggong. An will be reduced to pieces to repay Mr. Minggong." Li An bowed in submission. After going through the process, he accepted Liu Zhang's appointment with peace of mind.

After commending Li An, Liu Zhang turned his attention to Zhang Jun, the head of the Zhang family in Chenggu. Compared with Li An's mere fire-fighting efforts, Zhang Jun raised his clan to revolt and took over Chenggu County to respond to him. This was a big deal. Credit: "Clan Chief Zhang, I was blocked in front of Yangping Pass and was not allowed to enter Hanzhong, and no aristocratic family in Hanzhong responded. I thought it was rice thieves who had taken over Hanzhong for a long time, and the place was full of ghost soldiers... but I didn't expect Zhang to succeed. After solidifying the situation, I realized that there are many loyal people in Han."

"Ming Gong was so complimentary." Zhang Jun bowed his hands and said, "The former Jun was imprisoned in Nanzheng for Zhang Lu. The whole process of Zhang's army was all carried out by my niece Zhang Lixiu." , It’s not Jun’s credit.”

"I know about this." Liu Zhang nodded. He had received a letter from Zhang Lixiu earlier and knew about the Chenggu Zhang family's raising an army. However, in the letter, Zhang Lixiu had explained: "Zhang Lixiu has something to say about raising an army. , is the plan set by you, Patriarch Zhang, she is just implementing it, and she deserves to be the one who initiated it... Now Nanzheng lacks a county magistrate, and I think you must be the one to do it."

After some shirk, Zhang Jun took over the responsibility of Nanzheng County Magistrate. At this time, Li An, who had taken over as Chenggu County Magistrate, looked at Zhang Jun with envy. As the county magistrate of Hanzhong, Nanzheng was It is a large county, and according to Zhang Jun's family background, it is difficult to get this position. But now Zhang made a big gamble and got the magistrate of Nanzheng County. "Where is Zhang Lixiu? She deserves credit for planning the army." Liu Zhang asked about Zhang Lixiu's whereabouts. He wanted to reward Zhang Lixiu.

Zhang Jun, who had just accepted the post of Nanzheng County Magistrate, immediately responded: "The etiquette cultivator was still in Chenggu, and a letter came to her. It was said that she had done something, one was to avenge her late husband Zhao Song, and the other was to get rid of Zhang. Lu, abandoning ghost ways and restoring peace and tranquility to Hanzhong are all done out of righteousness. She does not dare to take credit, and she does not want to take credit. She only wants to raise an orphan girl and spend the rest of her life behind closed doors."

"What a wonderful woman." Huang Quan sighed with emotion. What Zhang Lixiu did, even a man could not do, was actually done by a weak woman like Zhang Lixiu.

Liu Zhang nodded. He did not intend to force anyone to make things difficult for him: "Even so, Chief Zhang would like to thank Zhang Lixiu for me, and with Zhang Lixiu's contribution, some gold and silver rewards will still have to be collected."

Seeing that Zhang Jun wanted to be humble, Liu Zhang raised his palms and stopped Zhang Jun from speaking: "If I don't even accept the reward, wouldn't others think that I am acting unfairly and not rewarding my merits?"

"Jun Daixiu thanked Mr. Ming." For this reason, Zhang Jun had no choice but to accept it.
-

Fangling.

After being ambushed by the wealthy Shen family, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun returned to Fangling after a heavy defeat. They did not reflect on why they were defeated, nor did they search for the whereabouts of their savior Wenpin. They just drank and had fun as usual, waiting. He dispatched reinforcements to Xiangyang, then reorganized his banners, and then attacked the Shen family.

But as he drank cup after cup of wine, Cai Hao did not feel refreshed. The graceful figure and graceful dance of the dancer in front of him did not make Cai Hao feel any pleasure at all. Instead, he was defeated by the Shen family. Something happened in his hands, like a poisonous snake entangled in his heart, making him feel more and more unhappy.

This unhappiness spurted out from his chest, and Cai Hao, who drank another glass of wine, threw the exquisite lacquered wine glass in his hand to the ground in front of him, venting his unhappiness.

The lacquered wine glass was not as fragile as porcelain. It rolled several times on the ground and made several crunching sounds before falling at the feet of the dancing girl who was performing a song and dance.

Faced with Cai Mao's sudden rage, the dancers stopped singing and dancing at a loss. They just tightened their bodies and stood straight, waiting for Cai Mao's next instruction.

Cai Mao, who was bored, had no interest in enjoying the singing and dancing. He waved his hand and signaled all the singers to leave, leaving only him, Zhang Yun, and their personal attendants.

"General Zhonglang doesn't have to be like this. Victory or defeat is a common thing for military strategists. Even if the Shen family is proud for a while, when our reinforcements from Jingzhou arrive, the army will attack again. Let's see how the Shen family can resist." Zhang Yun, who saw the sadness in Cai Hao's heart, said with relief.

Cai Hao just shook his head. If he was defeated by a decent enemy, he would not be so unhappy. But who is Shen? He is just a little tycoon in the mountains and valleys. He humiliated him and made him want to do more. He couldn't bear to ask Xiangyang for help.

"Hey, I thought it was just a matter of easy capture. Xicheng and Shangyong are now owned by me in Jingzhou. I never thought that I would be deceived by the juniors and fell into the Shen family's ambush, so I lost my army and generals." Cai Mao drank a few glasses of wine, and he Speak your mind.

Zhang Yun glanced at the door first, and then said hurriedly: "This is not the fault of General Zhonglang, but the fault of Captain Wenpin. Seeing that the Shen family was pretending to be defeated, Wenpin was greedy for success and pursued the Shen family without thinking. He fell into an ambush by the Shen family, which led to this great defeat."

Cai Hao, who heard Zhang Yun's words, patted his head: "Yes, yes, I was almost confused. It's Wenpin's fault, not my fault."

Cai Mao was sure, but his words revealed some guilt. He was the one who marched to hunt down the Shen family, and it was he who abandoned the army after being ambushed. On the contrary, it was Wenpin who fought bravely and gave up his horse to He killed him and allowed him to escape.

At this thought, a trace of shame flashed across Cai Mao's face. Wenpin was his benefactor, but he put all the blame on Wenpin. This was a bit unethical. He felt a little ashamed after all.

It's just that Cai Mao did have a sense of shame, but not much. After a while, he threw Wenpin behind his head. Wenpin, who had lost his horse, did not return. He must have died in the battle, and Wenpin let the horse save him. One life was a life-saving grace for him. This kind of kindness was very deep. It didn't matter if it was thicker, so he simply made a fuss about Wenpin, who died in the battle, and blamed Wenpin for the defeat.

Wenpin's people are all dead, so they don't care about these things. Cai Mao thought happily and sighed at the same time: "Wenpin is a good man. Even if he dies, he can relieve my worries."

"Of course, Captain Wen is a good man!" Zhang Yun smiled with his teeth, echoing Cai Hao's words, and at the same time he teased: "Sometimes, dead people are more useful than living people."

"Hahaha... Pfft." Cai Hao shrugged his shoulders and laughed out loud at Zhang Yun's words. Unable to maintain his image, he laughed so happily that he spurted out the drink in his mouth, which was unavoidable. Coughed a few times.

Cai Mao, who choked, took a long time to recover. Then he pointed at Zhang Yun and said with a smile: "What the captain said is interesting, but the truth is that sometimes the dead are better than the living."

Yes, even if Wenpin died in the battle, dead people can't speak, so they can't defend themselves, so he and Zhang Yun were framed to cover up their ugliness. (End of chapter)