I practiced magic in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 10 I swore to God, and God heard it
August is the golden autumn month with a bumper harvest, and it should be a festive day.

However, the lights in Wang Yun's study were still on late at night.

Dododo~
There was a gentle knock on the door.

"Who?"

"Father, it's me."

"It's Yuanxu, come in."

Wang Jing walked in and saw Wang Yun looking at the geomancy map in silence, so he asked, "Father, are you unable to sleep at night because of the war in Yuzhou?"

Wang Yun then sighed and replied: "The war in Yuzhou has started again, and the rebels are endless. I am unable to maintain peace and stability through my literary skills, and unable to stabilize the country through my military skills. I am truly ashamed of the court and Your Majesty."

Wang Yun was demoted for speaking out for justice and was more or less resentful towards Liu Hong. However, even so, he never changed his mind about being a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty. Day and night, he was always thinking about and worrying about the country and people of the Han Dynasty.

However, at this time, the land of China was facing internal and external troubles and was in a turbulent time.

Since the beginning of the fifth year of Zhongping, the remaining Yellow Turbans in the Central Plains began to rise up in rebellion.

In February, Guo Tai and others started an uprising in Baibo Valley in Xihe, and attacked Taiyuan and Hedong counties, and even spread to all parts of Bingzhou, where the smoke of war continued.

In April, the Yellow Turban Army in Gepi, Runan County, rose up again, attacking counties and prefectures. Now they are even approaching Yingchuan, shrouding the entire Yuzhou in the shadow of war.

In June, Yizhou commoners Ma Xiang and Zhao Zhi raised an army in Mianzhu, calling themselves the Yellow Turbans. They killed Yizhou Governor Que Jian and attacked Ba and Qianwei counties. Within a month, they had conquered three counties. Ma Xiang even called himself the Son of Heaven and had tens of thousands of soldiers. The local government was in a state of panic and had no power to suppress the rebellion. They could only ask the court for help.

But even if the imperial army were made of iron, how many nails could they twist?

Today, the Central Plains is full of holes, and no amount of manpower or money or food is enough to fill them.

Therefore, as early as the beginning of March, Taichang Liu Yan wrote to Emperor Lingdi Liu Hong, citing the constant wars and invasions throughout the country, suggesting that the Inspectors be changed to Provincial Governors in order to strengthen their positions.

The Inspector was originally an inspector in the Western Han Dynasty, but since the Eastern Han Dynasty, this position has gradually transformed into a local administrative official. After Liu Yan's advice, he was in charge of the military and political power of a state, which opened the curtain for the future drama of warlords' separatist rule.

Wang Jing came from later generations, so he naturally knew this development trend. He also knew that people’s destiny was that they could not go against the trend of history.

Therefore, he suggested to Wang Yun: "Father, the general trend of the world is as mighty as a rushing river, and people are just a drop in the ocean. Under the turbulent waves, those who follow it will prosper, and those who go against it will perish. Now that Yuzhou is in chaos and the court is exhausted, this is the time for heroes to serve. Why don't you raise an army in Chenliu to respond to the current situation?"

Wang Yun frowned and said in a slightly cold tone: "Why, do you want to be a traitor too?"

In terms of wisdom and expediency, Wang Yun was not bad, and could even be said to be shrewd and cunning, otherwise he would not have been able to plot to kill Dong Zhuo.

The problem is that he has always regarded himself as a loyal minister, and he devoted his life to the Han Dynasty until his death. In the end, he really fulfilled the duties of a loyal minister, so much so that he even lost the lives of his entire family.

But what about loyal ministers?

The loser will only be trampled upon. Wang Yun's reputation after his death was not very good. It seemed that if he had been too aggressive, the Xiliang soldiers would obediently accept the leadership of the court.

So at this time Wang Yun wanted to be a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty, but Wang Jing didn't want to.

You are just working for the boss and you just need to fulfill your duties as a worker. But you still hold on to the spirit of a master and live and die with the company. Isn't this just crazy?
People should think more about themselves.

"Father, in March this year, why did Your Majesty follow the advice of the Minister of Rites Liu Yan and change the governor to a state governor, and select ministers and chancellors to serve as state governors?"

"..."

Wang Yun remained silent. With his wisdom, he naturally knew the reason.

"Is father unable to answer, or unwilling to answer?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Seeing that Wang Yun's tone had become somewhat angry, Wang Jing hurriedly explained: "Even His Majesty knows that the crux of the problem is not in the court, but in the local areas. Why should father go against the trend? Moreover, raising soldiers, doesn't it mean that we can't be loyal to the country?"

Even if he was thinking in his heart, "Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers all born with different races?", Wang Jing certainly would not be stupid enough to shout it out. The imperial court is still powerful today, so there is really no need to be the first to speak out.

Stroke the tiger's whiskers is no joke, it can really kill people.

But Wang Jing also tried his best to seize opportunities for himself and plan for the future, and mastering the military power was the first and most important step.

How can you survive in troubled times without a powerful military force?

The Yuzhou Golden Rebellion that started in Runan was a crisis for others, but for Wang Jing it was a good opportunity to legitimately raise private troops.

But starting an army costs money. Wang Jing has no worries about food and clothing now, but he is still far from being able to support an army, so he must convince Wang Yun in order to get angel round investment from him.

Wang Yun was hesitant in his heart, but he listened to what Wang Jing had just said.

Even though he was upright, he had to consider his family.

After all, one should not put all eggs in one basket. Wang Yun is enough as a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty. There is no need to sacrifice his son as well.

However, Wang Yun still valued the reputation of the Taiyuan Wang family, so he made three rules with Wang Jing: "You can raise an army, but you must not rebel against the Han Dynasty in this life. Can you do it?"

Wang Jing was happy after hearing this. He didn't really want to rebel. Since he traveled through time, all he had been thinking about was to survive.

He immediately agreed without hesitation: "Jing swears to heaven that he will never betray Han in this life. If he breaks this oath, heaven will strike him with five thunderbolts."

Boom boom boom boom~
Five thunders exploded in the night sky, and strange phenomena appeared in the sky, which shocked the whole city of Chenliu.

Wang Jing also felt his scalp tingling and his heart was weak.

It's just an oath, what's the matter? Is it illegal to swear?

Wang Yun was also startled, but then his smile became warm: "Heaven is my witness, this is an oath made to heaven, I hope Yuan Xu will remember the oath I made tonight in the future."

Wang Jing: …

This is a little different from what I thought!

Didn’t Sima Yi get away with nothing after he made the Luoshui oath?

Now are you serious with me?
Three days later, Feibai Sutra Hall.

Cai Yan held a bamboo flute in her hand and tapped the table lightly with her jade fingers, with a hint of anticipation in her heart.

It was not until he saw the familiar figure of Wang Jing that the corners of his lips curled up slightly.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm the last one to arrive again. As usual, I have to drink three glasses of wine as a penalty."

Wang Jing was wearing a brocade robe and a jade belt around his waist. He walked in a relaxed and elegant manner, and he really had a sense of dignity.

During this period, Wang Jing often visited Feibai Sutra Hall and made friends with many local celebrities.

Cai Yan also seemed to like her current life. She had no worries and troubles every day. From time to time, she would invite three or five good friends to her home. They would taste fine wine, recite poems, and talk about the past and present. She was really happy.

In addition to Wang Jing, there are two distinguished guests from the famous Chenliu Gao family in Yanzhou who visited the museum today. They are Gao Gan, the son of Gao Gong, the prefect of Shu County, and Gao Rou, Gao Gan's cousin.

Wang Jing, who was well-versed in the stories of the Three Kingdoms, was quite familiar with these two people. Therefore, after greeting them, he couldn't help but look at them a few more times.

These two brothers are not simple characters. Gao Gan is Yuan Shao's nephew. He is talented and ambitious, and outstanding in both civil and military affairs. The reason why Yuan Shao was able to take control of Jizhou was that Gao Gan and Xun Chen lobbied Han Fu to give up the position of Jizhou Mu.

Gao Rou was even more powerful. Wang Fuzhi once commented: "When Meng De's wisdom was limited, Xun Yu, Guo Jia, Xun You, and Gao Rou would support him and make every possible effort."

As a future minister of Cao Wei, Gao Rou was able to be ranked alongside Xun Yu, Guo Jia and Xun You, which shows that his talent was indeed not low.

Gao Rou supported Sima Yi in the Gaopingling Incident and witnessed the rise and fall of the Cao family. He lived to be ninety years old and can be said to be an evergreen in the political arena.

Although Wang Jing had no intention of winning over these two people, he also did not want to offend them.

After chatting for a while, Wang Jing said to Cai Yan, "Zhao Ming, today is probably the last time I can have a drink with you and discuss literature."

Cai Yan's heart skipped a beat, and she felt a little reluctant: "Why is this happening?"

Wang Jing put down his wine cup and sighed, "The times are tough and the world is in turmoil. Although I don't have any great ambitions, I still want to do my part. Alas, if the country can be peaceful and the people can live in peace, I would also like to live a leisurely life with singing and dancing every day."

Wang Jing said this from the bottom of his heart. By nature, if he could be a salted fish, he would have been one long ago. After all, not everyone in this world has lofty ambitions.

It’s a pity that Wang Jing wanted to be a salted fish but couldn’t.

After all, he can only be a salted fish when he is alive. If he dies, he will become a dead fish.

Upon learning that Wang Jing was going to the battlefield to lead his troops to suppress the rebellion, Cai Yan was reluctant to let him go, but she also knew that she could not keep him, so she raised her cup and said, "Then I wish you good luck in military affairs and a successful start."

"Haha, before I leave, I want to hear you play one more song, Zhaoming." "Okay, whatever you say."

Cai Yan picked up the bamboo flute in her hand, placed it across her chest, and began to slowly play the moving music.

The flute sounded so melodious that it attracted hundreds of birds to stop and listen. For a moment, everyone in the scripture hall was intoxicated by the gorgeous and elegant tune.

Wang Jing recognized a piece of music he had never heard before, and immediately asked his Dharma body to secretly memorize the changes in the melody. He would not miss anything that could enhance his strength.

After returning home, Wang Hong found Wang Jing and handed over an armed force belonging to the Taiyuan Wang family to him.

There were not many people, only a hundred or so, but they were all elite soldiers skilled in martial arts. They were energetic, had sharp eyes, and obeyed orders.

Any man can lift a 200-jin stone lock with one hand and be as powerful as ten men on the battlefield.

They also learned how to form battle formations, so if they formed a battle formation, they could easily defeat a hundred enemies alone.

Wang Jing then realized where the confidence of the aristocratic families came from. How difficult it was for an ordinary commoner to get started?

The aristocratic families secretly kept private armies, and when they were needed, they could directly pull out a group of people as the core backbone of the force.

Even though Wang Jing had never led troops in battle, he had at least been responsible for some project planning. Therefore, he understood that the most important thing in a team is actually the technical backbone, and the rest of the people can be replaced at will.

"How could my Wang clan have such powerful soldiers?"

"These soldiers were carefully selected from Bingzhou and trained using the same training methods used by the Qin elite. It took ten years. If we use them as the backbone, we can recruit troops at any time and control tens of thousands of soldiers."

Unlike Wang Yun, when Wang Hong learned that Wang Jing was going to start a rebellion, he supported it wholeheartedly. He even immediately returned to his hometown in Taiyuan and brought one-third of his family's power to Chenliu and handed it over to Wang Jing.

At the same time, Wang Jing also handed over his adopted daughter Xu Lan.

"Qiyun, come and greet me."

"Lan, meet you, my dear."

Xu Lan had a cold look in his eyes. After attending the meeting, he stood silently aside without saying a word.

Her father was an old friend of Wang Hong, who died of illness and left her alone, so she was adopted by Wang Hong and entered the Wang family. Because she had experienced misfortunes since childhood, her personality is cold and sharp.

Maybe it was because of her long years of martial arts training, but she gave Wang Jing a heroic feeling. She also had a great figure with full curves. Unlike ordinary ladies, she had a wild charm.

Wang Jing couldn't help but look at it a few more times, wondering if martial arts could reshape a person's body.
After noticing his gaze, Xu Lan felt very unhappy, and the coldness in her eyes became even stronger.

However, due to the order of her adoptive father Wang Hong, she had to suppress her anger out of gratitude, but she ultimately did not give Wang Jing a good look.

In her eyes, Wang Jing was just an uneducated and unskilled dandy who had great ambition but no talent and was not capable of shouldering important responsibilities.

Wang Jing didn't really care about her gaze, because he was quite excited. After traveling for so long, he finally had an armed force of his own.

On the second day, Wang Ling, who had learned that Wang Jing was going to send troops, came forward and said, "Second brother, are you going to raise an army to fight against the Yellow Turbans in Runan?"

"Serve the country."

"Ling is willing to accompany you."

"sure."

Wang Jing naturally knew Wang Ling's abilities, so he agreed immediately. Wang Ling was also very happy. Being able to achieve success on the battlefield was exactly what he expected.

After a month's rest, Wang Jing recruited soldiers in Chenliu and finally gathered 800 soldiers. He was about to go to Runan with Wang Ling and Xu Lan.

Before leaving, Diao Chan cried like a tearful person and said goodbye to Wang Jing outside the city: "My dear, promise me that you will come back safely."

"Got it. Just wait for me at home."

"Ah."

Tears rolled down Diao Chan's eyes and she nodded heavily.

At this time in Yuzhou, chaos broke out in Runan and Yingchuan counties one after another. The Yellow Turbans He Yi, Liu Pi, Huang Shao, He Man and others, with tens of thousands of people each, repeatedly attacked counties and took refugees with them, causing trouble to the local area.

Because the Yellow Turbans behaved like wild beasts wherever they went, He Yi, Liu Pi, Huang Shao and He Man were also called the Four Beasts of Heyin, and their notoriety spread far and wide.

After leaving Chenliu, Wang Jing led his troops southeast and headed straight for Qiao County, the seat of Yuzhou.

As he traveled along the way, Wang Jing saw that the once prosperous land of Yuzhou was now infested with bandits and thieves. The state was in ruins, with dead bodies everywhere, bones exposed in the wild, and no roosters crowing for a hundred miles.

The sight of refugees everywhere is even more shocking.

Wang Jing was in a heavy mood.

Troubled times are just two words of understatement, a casual mention in the history books.

But when the troubled times really appeared before his eyes, the bloody cruelty and despair gave Wang Jing an unprecedented psychological shock, because he was born in a peaceful and prosperous era in his previous life, and he had only come into contact with the concepts of war and unrest in books and film and television works, but had never witnessed them with his own eyes.

After traveling through time, he lived in a courtyard with high walls, so naturally he couldn't see these things.

At this moment, he truly felt the heavy pressure. He, the time traveler, was not the only one who longed to survive in this troubled world.

"Brother, why did you stop?"

"Yanyun, even though Yuzhou is so rich, there are still refugees everywhere. How much better can the other states of the Han Dynasty be? What do you think is wrong with this world?"

"Ling doesn't know."

Wang Ling fell silent after being asked this question.

Wang Jing didn't get an answer, but he was always rational and knew in his heart that he didn't want to live in a chaotic world. Before that, he just wanted to protect himself, or at most protect the Taiyuan Wang family, and he didn't have any idea of ​​saving the world.

But now we see that there are so many people in this world who cannot survive. Will these people be willing to die and let aristocratic families like the Wang family of Taiyuan continue to live happily?

If the world turns into purgatory, how can one remain unscathed even if one is born into a noble family?

By then, I'm afraid I will be dragged into purgatory and abyss by these people.

Wang Jing, who didn't know what fear was the first time he killed someone, now felt a chill.

Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers of different species?

If you were the one saying this, it would certainly be inspiring, but if someone else were to say it to you, it wouldn't sound so nice.

With such mood, Wang Jing arrived at the territory of Qiao County.

Although Wang Yun was the governor of Yuzhou, his position was actually very awkward because Huang Wan was the governor of Yuzhou.

The existence of both a governor and a governor in one state is not a good thing at this critical juncture. Otherwise, Wang Yun would not have traveled between Henei and Chenliu to avoid any rift with Huang Wan.

Because of this, Huang Wan was very welcoming to Wang Jing's arrival. After all, Yuzhou was indeed short of manpower at the moment. He warmly hosted a banquet in his mansion to entertain Wang Jing.

"Your father has been loyal to his duties. If there were no villains in the court, the post of governor would have belonged to him."

Huang Wan spoke very politely. He came from the Jiangxia Huang family. His grandfather Huang Qiong was the prime minister, one of the Three Dukes. His power was not inferior to that of the Taiyuan Wang family.

Wang Jing naturally did not want to offend such an old fox in the political arena, so he smiled and said, "Your Excellency is highly respected. Only if you come to Yuzhou can everyone feel at ease."

After some false flattery, Wang Jing solved the problem of logistics supplies by flattering others. After all, it was just a few words of flattery and it didn't cost any money.

Huang Wan wanted to hear Wang Jing tell him something different for three days and three nights without repeating himself.

Of course, the prerequisite is to pay extra money.

Afterwards, Wang Jing learned a lot of useful information from Huang Wan.

First of all, the local county and state soldiers in Yuzhou can only barely protect themselves by relying on the city walls, and it is unlikely to rely on them to suppress the bandits.

Secondly, Huang Wan had already asked the court for help, but the court had only organized and trained a new army in Xiyuan at the beginning of this month, which was the famous Xiyuan Eight Colonels.

It has now been decided that the lower army captain Bao Hong will lead the troops to fight against the Yellow Turbans in Runan.

The problem is that you have to wait three months.

Therefore, Yuzhou can only rely on itself to survive these three difficult months. It must not only defend the remaining cities, but also prevent the Yellow Turban Army from continuing to grow.

(End of this chapter)