The great man will live forever

Chapter 242 The so-called divine blessing
"The Book of the Later Han Dynasty: The Benji of Guangwu": "In the new chapter, the northern capital of Luoyang was moved to Luoyang. Guangwu was appointed as the commander of the school, and the palace was renovated before the envoy. So he appointed staff, moved the composition, and engaged in inspection, just like the old chapter.

At that time, the three auxiliary officials went east to welcome the Gengshi. When they saw the generals passing by, they were all wearing turbans, women's clothes, and embroidery. Everyone laughed at them, or some of them walked away in fear.When they saw the ministers and subordinates, they were all overjoyed.

The old official might shed tears and say, "I don't want to see the majesty of the Han officials again today!" 'Those who know from this all belong to the mind.When Gengshi arrived in Luoyang, he sent Guangwu to destroy the generals and carry out major Sima affairs. "

Liu Xiu led his army across the Yellow River and advanced with great success at first, advancing several times in a row.Liu Xiu's generals Zhu You and Zang Gong fought hard, so Liu Xiu was able to visit various places smoothly, inspect the people's sentiments, and verify the achievements of officials.

After understanding the general situation in Hebei, Liu Xiu abolished Wang Mang's bad government and restored the system of the Western Han Dynasty.

The people surrendered and even killed cattle and barbecued meat to entertain Liu Xiu.

At this time, Liu Xiu behaved very honestly. He did not cheat on food or drink. He cared about the people and appeased the people.In this way, Liu Xiu entered Handan directly.

Originally, Liu Xiu didn't have many soldiers, but he spent a lot of money to recruit many soldiers.

According to the Han system, "Benming soldiers" were some officials and knights recommended by the imperial court to each county during the peaceful and prosperous times. Most of them were fierce warriors who were good at fighting, and they received national salary.

Once the country is in catastrophe or an emergency occurs, these people are summoned to serve the country.At that time, people who heard the imperial court's orders and rushed to dangerous events were called "running for their lives." Therefore, these "running for their lives" people were gathered together to form an army called "running for their lives".

"Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Guangwu Ji": "The soldiers who passed by rushed to the border counties and attacked Handan together."

Liu Xiu was touring Handan. Geng Chun, a native of Songzi County, Julu County, was appointed as the cavalry captain and met with Liu Xiu in Handan.

After the visit, he planned to go back, but on the way he found that Liu Xiu's army had strict laws and regulations, which was very different from those of the Caotou King generals.

As the saying goes, a good bird chooses a tree to roost in, and a good minister chooses his master to serve. Geng Chun is also a person who wants to do great things. He has been looking for a bright master and finally found him today.

He stayed and joined Liu Xiu's army, contributing hundreds of horses and silk.

Good guy, the Battle of Kunyang made Liu Xiu famous all over the world. Coupled with his strict military management, once the aura of domination was gone, many people came to join him. First there was Feng Yi, then Deng Yu, and then Geng Chun.

Moreover, people directly subsidized hundreds of horses and cloth. Rich people, like Zhang Fei later subsidized Liu Bei, went bankrupt!
When Liu Xiu was recruiting soldiers, a man came to join him. That man was Wang Lang. He held a flag and wrote "Asking for Divination and Fortune Telling", which was filled with Bagua diagrams, and he wore Taoist robes.

He looked like a fortune teller and said, "My name is Wang Lang. I am not here to suppress bandits and defect to the army. I heard that the general came to Hebei to recruit, so I came here specially to join him. He has been good at telling fortunes since he was a child and knows the secrets of heaven. He can be said to be a general in charge of military affairs!"

Feng Yi on the side disagreed, "Sir, fighting depends on the right time, right place, right people, and the right people. I have never heard of anyone who can win a battle just by counting on his fingers!"

No wonder Feng Yi said this. If anyone can win this battle with just a few calculations, then all his years of military training will be in vain.

Even people like Sun Bin and Han Xin cannot know the outcome before the battle. They just know a high probability, and these are all calculated and reasoned through precise calculations. It is not about God's will, God's will , but not that important.

Wang Lang said: "You don't understand the matter of strategizing. General, before I leave, I divined a divination for you. It's Shang Liu. The dragon fights in the wild, and its blood is black and yellow. I'm afraid it won't be good for you in the battle ahead. , I suggest that the general read the almanac before going into battle!"

Feng Yi quietly said to Liu Xiu, "This man talks nonsense and is a liar at first sight. Send him away quickly."

Liu Xiu said: "I won't listen to him, but now is the time to employ people."

Liu Xiu did not scold him, but said politely: "Thank you for your advice, sir. Thank you for your trust. Okay, let's talk about other things later. Wang Ba, please lead everyone down to settle down first..."

He seemed polite, but in fact he didn't pay much attention to Wang Lang at all.

Later, Liu Xiu was worried about military expenses. Wang Lang had a seemingly clever suggestion that he rob the people around him. Liu Xiu was very angry and dragged him down and beat him 20 times. Wang Lang resented Liu Xiu.

Handan was the capital of Zhao State during the Warring States Period and also the capital of Zhao State, a feudal state in the Western Han Dynasty.At this time, the State of Zhao in the Western Han Dynasty had already been deposed by Wang Mang, and Liu Xiu met Liu Lin, the son of the former King of Zhao Liu Yuan.

After all, Liu Lin is also a descendant of a prince, and he is very powerful.Liu Lin thought to himself: "Liu Xuan's surname is Liu, and my surname is Liu. My roots are Miaohong, and I am much stronger than Liu Xuan from the distant branch. Liu Xuan can be the emperor, why can't I, Liu Lin, do something great?"

This guy is just an opportunist. He has nothing to do when he's full, and he wants to have something he doesn't have every day.

At this time, the power of the Red Eyebrow Army was expanding. Liu Lin felt that it was a threat and suggested that Liu Xiu open the Yellow River to submerge the Red Eyebrow Army.

This method will completely flood a large area. After 1900, Principal Chang used this method to deal with Japanese pirates. The consequences were serious and he was scolded thousands of times.Liu Xiu didn't want to be scolded a thousand times, so he didn't listen and left Handan for Zhending.

Liu Lin wanted to cause trouble, but such a good plan was rejected by Liu Xiu. He was very angry, "Why, Liu Xiu didn't listen to me, I will do it myself and won't play with you anymore."

You need a reason to do it yourself. Liu Lin is a local powerful man and has made many "cunning" people in Handan.These people include local powerful people, desperadoes, people who sell dog-skin plasters, and people who pretend to be fortune tellers.Mr. Wang Lang of Handan is one such person.

It happened that Liu Xiu beat Wang Lang because of his suggestion, and Wang Lang turned around and went to find Liu Lin.

At that time, fortune-telling was not a heresy, but a very good knowledge.If you want to do this job well, you need two brushes.

The first brush is astronomical knowledge, and the second brush is the ability to deceive.

This Wang Lang is very wise. He not only relies on divination and cheating to support his family, but he also knows some astronomy.He watched the sky at night and thought that there was an emperor's energy in Hebei. This emperor's energy was not elsewhere, so he put it in his Bagua stall, pretending to be Liu Ziyu, the son of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, in order to achieve great things.

Generally speaking, it is not easy for a common man who relies on deception and fortune-telling to cause trouble.But Wang Lang is not an ordinary person. If he wants to cause trouble, it is too easy. He only needs to fool one person, and that person is Liu Lin.

Liu Lin happened to also like astrology, and Wang Lang's expertise matched Liu Lin's hobby. From then on, Wang Lang and Liu Lin became good confidants in discussing astrology.

Since the young master Liu Lin was stupid and naive, Wang Lang made up a story.He changed his identity and claimed to be Liu Ziyu, the son of Emperor Cheng of Han Dynasty.

In fact, with the little ability of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, he really couldn't give birth to a child. What's more, even if he gave birth to a son, his two concubines killed him. This legend of Liu Ziyu is a typical fabrication.However, people would rather believe the fabrication than Wang Mang.

At first, when Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, there was someone in Chang'an who claimed to be Liu Ziyu, the son of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty.Generally speaking, when encountering this kind of situation, regardless of whether it is true or false, it will be treated as false. Wang Mang took advantage of this fake Liu Ziyu.

Wang Lang seized on this line and falsely claimed that he was the real Liu Ziyu. He claimed that his mother was the singer of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, and he was accidentally favored by the Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty.

Then he saw a yellow light pass by his mother's belly button, and then he popped out of the belly.

Unfortunately, Zhao Feiyan found out about this and wanted to murder him, so he sent a civet cat to replace the prince and left the palace.

He went through 81 bizarre situations and tribulations, and was possessed by a real dragon. He was unscathed and able to grow up...

Good guy, this is simply outrageous. You opened the door to outrageousness. It’s so outrageous. Who in the world would believe this?

Liu Lin listened to Wang Lang's story and was very confused. Is this true or false?At that time, there was no DNA testing technology, and there was no way to do a blood test with Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty who returned to the west. This caused a lot of trouble for Liu Lin, who was not very smart.

In fact, he probably didn't believe it, but Liu Lin thought to himself, it doesn't matter if he is true or false, if I can use him to make things happen, it will be beneficial to me, and I can do it.

So he planned to support Liu Ziyu (Wang Lang) with Li Yu, Zhang Shen and others from Zhao State to see how everyone would react.

You won’t know the result unless you try it. Once you try it, you will be shocked. People are so stupid that they believe it.

It seems that there is a way to use him to cause trouble, no, it is a big deal. So what are you waiting for? Let's do it. This is the power of Conglong. When the time comes, I will be the emperor if I take him down.

So, one morning in December of the first year of Gengshi (23rd year), the sky was bright and clear, and the wind was gentle and prosperous. Wang Lang calculated with his fingers that it was a very auspicious day.

On this day, Liu Lin led hundreds of chariots and riders into Handan City. At the palace of King Zhao, he supported Wang Lang as the emperor and established his own regime. This regime was called "Zhao Han" in history to distinguish it from the Xuan Han Dynasty.

He immediately appointed Liu Lin as prime minister, Li Yu as chief minister, and Zhang Shen as general. Then, he assigned generals to capture Youzhou and Jizhou, which is Hebei.

Wang Lang used his expertise in deception and wrote a very deceptive and arrogant statement, and informed the states and counties: "I am Liu Ziyu, the son of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty. The Queen of Han killed Fake Ziyu again. Fortunately, I was protected by destiny and hid between Zhao and Wei.

Everyone raised up righteous soldiers to destroy Wang Mang. I looked at the sky and saw that the emperor's energy was entrenched in the Palace of Zhao in Handan.Liu Xuan of Nanyang did not know that I was still alive, so he temporarily became emperor.Don’t blame those who don’t know, I will reward them.I have ordered Liu Xuan and other heroes to come under my command.I feel sorry for the war-torn people. "

The propaganda was very popular, and the consequences were very serious. Liu Xiu's efforts in patrolling Hebei in the past year were all in vain. The vast area from the north of Zhao to the west of Liaodong was invincible.While you are sick and will kill you, Wang Lang remembers that Liu Xiu hit him. If there is a favor, he does not need to repay him. If there is a grudge, he will definitely avenge him. So he ordered people to pass a letter: "Whoever captures and kills Liu Xiu will be rewarded ten times." Thousands of households”.

For a time, Hebei was in chaos, and Wang Lang's responders were everywhere. Faced with the huge temptation of "one hundred thousand households", these people might borrow Liu Xiu's head at any time to receive the reward.

Liu Xiu's career was in a huge crisis. He originally jumped out of prison and achieved great things, but he almost died before his great achievements were realized.

If he stayed near Handan any longer, Liu Xiu's head would be snatched away and used by others. Strategy 36 was the best, and Liu Xiu was forced to embark on an embarrassing escape.

What should he do to reverse the defeat?
At this time, a man came, and his joining would help Liu Xiu reverse the defeat. This man was Geng Yan, a proper second-generation official.

His father, Geng Kuang, was once a classmate of Wang Mang from his younger brother Wang Ji, and they studied together in Taixue, and later became Shuo Tiao Lianli (ie the prefect of Shanggu).

Geng Yan is not the kind of second-generation official who causes trouble. Instead, he was known as a diligent and studious person in his youth.It is common for counties to hold county examinations at the end of the year to teach martial arts and train soldiers. They sincerely like it, so they learn riding and archery and like the art of war.

In the first year of Gengshi (AD 23), Liu Xuan established the Gengshi regime, made Luoyang the capital, and sent generals to occupy various places. Some of them used their power to replace the prefects and magistrates of some counties.

Because Geng Kuang was an official appointed by Wang Mang, he was very uneasy. He was afraid that Liu Xuan would settle scores and send people to beat him. After all, Liu Xuan had killed Wang Mang, so he ordered Geng Yan, who was only 21 years old, to go to court with Liu Xuan. Contribute treasures in an attempt to consolidate your position.

Geng Yan had just traveled south from Shanggu to Songzi County, when Wang Lang, claiming to be the son of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, Liu Ziyu, started an uprising in Handan.

Sun Cang and Wei Bao, officials from Shanggu County who followed Geng Yan, actually believed it and ran to join Wang Lang.

Due to the road blockage in Chang'an, the army was in chaos, and some of his men fled. He didn't know what to do for a while. He happened to hear that Liu Xiu, the great commander of Gengshi, was in Lunu, so he went north to meet him and was appointed as a subordinate.

Geng Yan asked to return to Shanggu and send troops to attack Handan. Liu Xiu laughed and said, "You have great ambitions at such a young age!" So he summoned him several times and offered him comfort.

Soon, Liu Xiu came north to Jicheng, and just as he ran over, Wang Lang's pursuers came over.

Liu Xiu heard that Wang Lang was aggressive and Handan sent troops to Ji. He felt something was wrong and even wanted to return south to Luoyang and summon his officials for discussion.

Geng Yan said: "Peng Chong, the governor of Yuyang, is your fellow countryman; the governor of Shanggu is my father. With the troops and horses of these two counties, there are thousands of horses. Handan is easy to capture."

Although Liu Xiu thought it was a good idea to go to Yuyang and Shanggu, all his men were from Henan and were not willing to go to the north at all.

These people don't believe Geng Yan's words. As soon as Liu Xiu left, did your two families send troops?Is he so proud?
But there is no way, people are so proud, and their younger brothers come to vote for me, but they don't believe it. Some people even directly said: "Even if I am going to die, our heads must be facing the south. We must not go to the north and let others slaughter us." "

Seeing that everyone under his command had said this, Liu Xiu had no choice but to reject Geng Yan's proposal and lead his people to the south.

But the further south you go, the closer you are to the core area controlled by Wang Lang, and the living space for Liu Xiu and others becomes narrower.

Wang Lang was determined to retaliate, so he offered a reward of [-] households to Liu Xiu, which made many people want to catch Liu Xiu.In order to avoid the pursuing soldiers, Liu Xiu and his party did not even dare to enter the city at the back, and could only eat and sleep in the wild.

But after all, everyone didn't bring much food. There was always a time when they finished eating. The group could only go on hungry and continue to move forward. They caught fish in the rivers and hunted in the mountains and forests, but this was not an option.

Because they were so hungry, Liu Xiu and others had no choice but to risk being discovered and pretended to be Wang Lang's envoys and had a full meal in Raoyang City.

Continuing to go south, the situation became even more dangerous. When Liu Xiu and others arrived at Quyang, Wang Lang's pursuers were already very close.

But at this time, further ahead is the Hutuo River, which is impossible to cross without a boat.

In desperation, Liu Xiu had to send people to the front to check the situation.Soon, the people who were sent out came back, and the news they brought back was very bad. There was no bridge on the river, and there were no boats around. Although there was ice on the river, it was not completely frozen, making it impossible to cross.

Seeing that the pursuers were coming, this news was very fatal, so Liu Xiu had no choice but to ask Wang Ba to go to the front again to investigate the situation.

Wang Ba is from Yingchuan, and both he and his father once served as minor officials in the county.When Liu Xiu passed by Yingchuan, Wang Ba, who had been looking for an opportunity, took his friends and followers to join him.

From then on, Wang Ba became Liu Xiu's subordinate and followed him to participate in the Battle of Kunyang.When Liu Xiu went to Hebei, many people were not optimistic about his prospects. Wang Ba's friends and retainers all left, and only he stayed.It is precisely because of this that Liu Xiu pays more attention to Wang Ba.

After Wang Ba went to the Hutuo River to check, he found that the previous investigation was correct. There were no ships or bridges on the river, so it was impossible to cross.

Wang Ba is also very smart. He knows that the current situation is very delicate. If other people know the news that they cannot cross the river, they may have different intentions in panic, and everyone will disperse. Maybe some people want to surrender or take advantage of others. Liu Xiu's head in exchange for a reward.

In desperation, he could only grit his teeth and prepare to go back and tell a lie to let everyone move on first.As for what to do when you get to the river, you can only take one step and see what happens next.

After Wang Ba returned, he told everyone: "Although there are no ships or bridges on the river, the river has frozen, and the ice is very solid, so you can walk directly across it."

Everyone was very excited after hearing this, and Liu Xiu couldn't help but laugh and said: "The people who went there before were really talking nonsense."

Afterwards, Liu Xiu asked Wang Ba to lead the way and lead everyone to move forward.At this point, Wang Ba had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue walking forward. He really couldn't imagine what would happen if everyone saw that the river was not frozen.

When Wang Ba took everyone to the Hutuo River, he was shocked first. The river was actually frozen.

What's even more amazing is that after a group of people crossed the river, the river thawed again.

At this time, Wang Ba did not hide anything and told what he had lied about before.

After hearing this, Liu Xiu couldn't help but sigh: "Thanks to you this time, we can cross the river with peace of mind."

Wang Ba disagreed: "I don't have any merit, it's all because you are blessed by the gods. I think even the white fish omen of King Zhou Wu in the past is not as good as it is now."

Liu Xiu sighed for a long time after hearing this. He was also very confused. He just thought that the gods were blessing him, so he turned to the others and said: "Wang Ba's lies were just a temporary measure before, but I didn't expect that his words came true. This is probably God." Bless us."

After everyone heard this, their confidence increased greatly and they continued to head south.Soon after, Liu Xiu and his party arrived in Xindu, where the prefect Ren Guang was also an official of the Gengshi regime.

With the support of Ren Guang and others, Liu Xiu finally had his own territory. This was a new beginning.

But he had no idea that by the river, there was a young Taoist priest, an old Taoist priest, and several Taoist boys hiding in ambush.

After Wang Ba checked, he threw a large amount of saltpeter into the river. Saltpeter can quickly freeze the water surface. Coupled with the cold weather, it had already frozen by the time Liu Xiu arrived.

After they passed by, the Taoist poured something dark on the river, which looked like oil, but actually it was petroleum. Then he lit a fire and burned it gently, and the ice melted again. When the pursuers came, When the time came, it was impossible to get through it.

It seemed to be God's blessing, but it was actually caused by the two Taoist priests. The old Taoist priest had a sign hanging on his waist with the word "Zhu Rong" written on it, and the young Taoist priest also had a sign hanging on his waist with the word "Ghost" written on it. Gu, the quality of that belt medal is very good, it looks like jade but not jade. It is unusual at first glance.

"Master, why do you do this?" one of the Taoist boys asked.

The old Taoist priest wearing Zhurong's waist badge smiled and said, "It's destiny. He is the true dragon emperor. After blessing, he can gain merits and virtues. If you practice with merits and virtues, you can achieve perfection. You can live a long life, even immortality. Immeasurable deity, infinite and impermanent!"

The young Taoist priest wearing a waistband with the word "Guigu" clasped his hands together and said: "In the ancient way, all living beings are in front of the immeasurable, to understand the confusion of this life and escape the reincarnation of the next life. I want to inherit the heaven, my life is immeasurable!"

"Brother Zhu Rong says goodbye!"

He said, turned around and left quickly.

"Master, who is he? Why do I call you Zhu Rong?" A Taoist boy next to the old Taoist priest asked in confusion.

"Don't think about it, don't listen to it. Everything has its own fate. Let's go back."

The old Taoist priest did not answer him, and left with the Taoist boys. Their direction was Maoshan.

(End of this chapter)