In the mausoleum in the north of Chang'an City, in the inner room of Zhong Shao's original government office, the soothing cigarette smoke lingered, but it couldn't make Zhong Shao feel any relaxed. Although it was midsummer, Zhong Shao had a medicine bandage on his head.
, also wearing a hood, wearing heavy clothes, leaning on the couch, showing a frail look.
An incident occurred in Chang'an, and Zhong Shao and Liu Xie fled at night. Although the final result was neither good nor bad, for a person of Zhong Shao's age, it was nothing short of an exciting roller coaster.
He originally had good food and clothing, but how could he withstand the double test of mood and physical fitness? After he relaxed, illness suddenly hit Zhong Shao.
In the hall, the servants who were originally serving around Zhong Shao were all driven out far away at this time. The reason was very simple, just to give the people sitting in front of him more privacy and more insurance.
.
The person sitting opposite Zhong Shao has an elegant demeanor, but his body is a bit tough. Although this time he is deep into Chang'an, he still looks calm and calm...
This person is none other than Xu Shu.
At present, Zhong Shao's influence in Chang'an City has plummeted. Coupled with the fact that he is suffering from illness, it is even more miserable. Although he can still maintain such a wealthy air, everyone, including Zhong Shao himself, knows that this situation has become worse.
It has deteriorated to the extreme.
For the sake of wealth and honor, Zhong Shao could gamble his fate. He took a chance on Li Guo when he was at the height of his power, manipulated people's hearts, joined forces with each other, and stirred up huge waves. This kind of thing was almost equivalent to risking one's life and gambling.
In matters of life, since Zhong Shao has succeeded once and tasted the sweetness of power, he will naturally not be willing to fail and become a wealthy man who keeps his integrity.
There is not much time left for farmers.
Zhao Wen is currently busy establishing relations and negotiating deals with the nobles in Guanzhong. Maybe he can't take care of it for the time being, maybe he feels that he has not fully prepared his troops, or maybe he is worried that killing Zhong Shao first will cause lingering fear in the hearts of others.
There are no adverse consequences, so this period of time does not affect the family.
Because before dealing with Zhong Shao, Zhao Wen had to deal with Xia Mou first. After all, Xia Mou had soldiers, but Zhong Shao didn’t have many men...
Xia Mou was not a fool. Of course, he knew that if he fell to Zhao Wen and became his pawn, he would be the next one to be cooked after doing the dirty work.
So Xia Mou dragged his feet and never answered Zhao Wen directly...
Xia Mou is also helpless. He can't go back to cooperate with Zhong Shao. Even if he does, he probably won't be trusted by Zhong Shao. Xia Mou has cooperated with Zhong Shao before, but he failed to stand up at the critical moment.
On Zhong Shao's side, although it has maintained its own strength, the situation is still difficult to solve.
No one among the three parties in Guanzhong believes in the other, and no one trusts anyone.
Therefore, Xu Shu came.
In the current situation, Xu Shu's own safety is also in a delicate state just like the situation in Guanzhong.
If you come here secretly, you can naturally contact Zhong Shao smoothly, but you also face the risk of being killed secretly by Zhao Wen pretending to be a gangster.
If the banner was played openly, Zhao Wen would not dare to do anything for a while. However, revealing his identity is tantamount to ringing the alarm for Zhao Wen, indicating that the next goal of General Zhengxi is Guanzhong...
Everyone knows that Xu Shu is Xicao under General Zhengxi, so once he appears in Guanzhong, there must be something important, otherwise is he really just here for sightseeing?
During this period of time, Xu Shu was in Diaoyin, watching the situation in Guanzhong, watching the chaos started, watching the chaos spreading, watching the emperor of the Han Dynasty, watching the civil servants and generals being affected by Fei Qian, and watching the direction of the Han Dynasty.
Being changed by Fei Qian alone, looking at the seemingly majestic Guanzhong, it was finally torn into pieces. Looking at the Han Dynasty, it was finally revealed that her true nature was breakable at the touch of a finger...
Xu Shu's heart was filled with excitement, how could he say anything further?
Xu Shu was deeply moved by the fact that the Han Dynasty had reached such a situation today. In the past, due to the pressure and coercion of the gentry, he had to hide his name and travel far away from home, but under the protection of the gentry, he was able to walk under the sun again.
Opportunity, so for the gentry, Xu Shu's heart was contradictory.
But when he was under Lushan Mountain, he had communicated with Fei Qian for a period of time. Xu Shu also understood that in the current situation of the Han Dynasty, the nobles could not escape their responsibility...
After the Han Dynasty inherited the troubled times, when the country was founded, the princes in various places were also very powerful, so Liu Bang did not dare to make major changes, so he reluctantly maintained the name of the Han Dynasty for the time being, but the threats from various places have always been as follows.
The stabbing on the back made the emperor of the Han Dynasty very unhappy, which led to the theory that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had a telepathy between heaven and man.
It is also true that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty deliberately supported those small families other than the ancient aristocrats of the Six Kingdoms, and supported the Confucian class who was driven east and west during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to suppress the Huang-Lao theory of the ancient aristocrats.
The treatment was so generous that he even resisted and disobeyed his own mother and the Queen Mother. From then on, these heirs of scriptures gradually developed.
Although these houses of scriptures indeed allowed Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to realize his dream of becoming an emperor through the ages, they continue to this day, but they are also consuming the vitality of the Han Dynasty day after day!
If the children of these noble families could fulfill their responsibilities and make the Han Dynasty's ruling institutions run smoothly, that would be fine. However, these children of the noble families put their family first, and gradually put their family above the country, and passed it down from generation to generation.
, making the politics of the Han Dynasty now chaotic and distorted to the extreme.
The disease of the Han Dynasty was actually planted during the founding of the country. Although there were some strong medicines, there was no change. Every slight change would cause a sudden mutiny. Take Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty as an example.
I don’t know that it was a mistake to sell my official position, but the Han Dynasty’s finances were bankrupt, a large number of people were controlled by the gentry, taxes were reduced year by year, and the people were miserable...
It's just that in the later stages, Emperor Han Ling himself gave up on treatment...
Xu Shu could see this, but couldn't figure out how to do it. Moreover, he himself was from a poor family and did not have much strength to break this situation and smash those invisible shackles. He could only live one day at a time and treat it as nothing.
Even if it doesn't happen, just pretend that nothing happened, just be a tortoise and live until the day it decays.
Then he met Fei Qian in Jingzhou.
This person who occasionally makes some weird words seems to have his head full of weird ideas. He is different from most of the children of aristocratic families. His thinking is always as unconstrained as the imagination.
And the key is that this Fei Qian also believes that the children of the noble clan need to change and break the original situation!
Xu Shu naturally understood that he would follow Fei Qian, and then break the shackles on the big man step by step. He didn't know how many disturbances would be caused, and he didn't know how many people would be killed in the process, but he could helplessly watch the big man coming in the future.
It suddenly collapsed in the blood and fire, but how could you bear it?
It's not that Xu Shu has feelings for the emperor Liu Xie, but that the word "big man" has penetrated into his blood. Who the emperor is or not, or further, whether there is or not, for Xu Shu, there is something
It doesn't matter, but the big man can't fall...
At least he can't fall down in front of his eyes again!
It has to be said that Xu Shu has such a perhaps stubborn and fierce soul in his body. If not for this, he would not have been forced to flee because of the murder. Otherwise, even though he was born in a poor family, he would not have been forced to flee.
You can just live with the situation and find a small official in the county or village to support your family...
Now that I have chosen to follow Fei Qian on this path, I will never look back.
Fei Qian is based in Pingyang and has things he needs to plan and coordinate, so Xu Shu, who is at Zuo Fengyi, naturally has tasks in mind to complete.
The most important part of this task is to have a good talk with the sick and sick Zhong Shao in front of him, who seems to have run out of oil and is about to die of illness in the next moment.
Zhong Shao is over sixty years old. It can be said that he can be regarded as a veteran of three dynasties. He has experienced three emperors of the Han Dynasty. This native of Guanzhong has a deep foundation. Although this tiger's airs have fallen, there are still three
With all his majesty, especially in this land of Guanzhong, Zhong Shao's attitude can still influence some people.
Xu Shu and Zhong Shao looked at each other for a long time, then suddenly smiled and said: "Mr. Zhong, the Emperor of Han has arrived in Luoyang."
After saying this, the room was still quiet except for the sound of Zhong Shao hula hula breathing with difficulty.
Zhong Shao panted, as if he was conserving strength, but also seemed not to have heard Xu Shu's words. After a long time, Zhong Shao slowly said: "General Zhengxi now has a strong army and strong horses, and he has great ideas... This Han Emperor... cough
Ahem...then it’s dispensable..."
Xu Shu smiled, ignoring the sourness in Zhong Shao's tone, and said, "Now that the people in Guanzhong are scattered and the seed master is suffering from illness, why not let the master Ling come forward to determine the outcome of the court?"
Zhong Shao rolled his eyelids and was a little annoyed that Xu Shu didn't open or lift any pot. If his son Zhong Jie had been a little stronger, he wouldn't have been at a disadvantage when confronting Yang Biao's son Yang Xiu and couldn't do anything.
I can only watch the Han Emperor Liu Xie heading east...
"Now that things have come to this, Zhong can only live day by day..." Zhong Shao said helplessly, "... the world is so cold, it is a blessing to be able to live in peace..."
"Oh?" Xu Shu raised his eyebrows and said, "It's really rare for a breeder to be so open-minded..."
Zhong Shao closed his eyes and said: "I am old... I don't have much time left..."
Xu Shu added lightly: "But... Mr. Ling is in his prime..."
Although these words were light, they made Zhong Shao tremble all over. He couldn't help but straighten his waist, open his eyes, and sit up a little.
As people get older, they naturally become less mentally and physically capable.
Why do later national constitutions often stipulate an upper and lower age limit for a head of state? It is because if you are not old enough and have insufficient experience, you cannot understand people's hearts and scare those monsters, but if you are too old, you have no time to spend time with evil spirits.
Often one either loses ambition and ends up falling behind, or loses patience, leading to fierce conflict...
Therefore, Zhong Shao is now plagued by illness and knows that he does not have much time left, and his ambition is not as strong as before. But for the family and his children, this time is naturally still relatively good.
Still growing...
For a person who once had the power of the imperial court, he naturally knew how painful the future would be for the entire family if the Yang family took control of the imperial court, or even suffered in Guanzhong under the jurisdiction of someone like Zhao Wen.
When Xu Shu said such words, on the one hand, he meant that he was very aware of the current situation of the Zhong family. On the other hand, it also hinted that there was still room for further progress for Zhong Jie...
Zhong Shao stared at Xu Shu closely and said word by word: "Is this statement... your intention, or the intention of General Zhengxi?" If it was Xu Shu's intention, then it would naturally be too shallow to be worth it.
Mention it, but if it is to paraphrase the meaning of General Zhengxi, then it is a different matter.
Fei Qian's foundation in Guanzhong is naturally not as good as that of the Zhong family. Basically, there is none.
But Fei Qian has a powerful army in his hands!
A powerful army swept across to the north and made Xianbei flee!
A powerful army that not only Zhong Shao himself, but even Yang Biao was a little afraid of!
At first, it was because Zhong Shao felt that Fei Qian's army was too threatening, so he wanted to overwhelm Fei Qian, but now...
Although the size of Fei Qian's current army is definitely not enough to sweep the world, for a region or a county, of course they are afraid of making Fei Qian angry, and then they will launch this powerful army regardless of it.
, even if you can defeat Fei Qian in the end, I'm afraid the price you have to pay will be quite high.
Xu Shu smiled, but did not directly answer Zhong Shao's question. Instead, he continued: "Zhong Shao, you need to know that the general who conquered the west... was also at the peak of the Spring and Autumn Period..."
Zhong Shao's original Lada's face couldn't help but twitch.
Zhong Shao could hear Xu Shu's voiceover clearly. If Zhong Jie is not too old, then Fei Qian is even younger.
Moreover, Fei Qian's economic skills and ability to train soldiers are simply...
If his children could be half as capable as Fei Qian, Zhong Shao wouldn't be as worried as he is now.
How long did it take for General Zhengxi's army to grow from its initial formation to its current size?
If General Zhengxi is given some more time to control more resources, how many more soldiers can be produced? Then in the future...
Zhong Shao didn't even dare to think about it.
Fei Qian is at his peak in Spring and Autumn!
Although there were some estrangements and rifts before, after all, there was no direct major conflict, so it was just a matter of face. In addition, General Fei Qian of the Western Expedition had such scheming and skill to control such a powerful army. In the future, as long as he
If it doesn’t collapse suddenly, it will take at least a few decades to slowly operate. By then, who can compete with it?
But Zhong Shao is already old and sick. Even if he escapes the attack of the disease this time, how long can he survive the threat of death?
It’s great to be young...
Thinking of this, even though Zhong Shao had gone through ups and downs, he couldn't help but take off his mask, showing a tired look, shaking his head and sighing: "Well... if we can keep the Zhong family for a long time, something like this
As an old man, just listen to the command of General Zhengxi..."
