In Xu County, there are actually many people named Xu.
Otherwise, this place wouldn’t have been directly called “Xu” in the earliest times.
But even though there are so many Xu families, just like no matter how big a feudal dynasty is, it is inevitable to decline, no matter how big a family is, it is inevitable to fall. After the Xu family grows, people's hearts will naturally disperse. Although they are all named Xu, speaking of it
Five hundred years ago they were indeed one family, but now they are still looking after their own families.
During this period, there may have been some famous Xu family members, but they were never able to reunite the dispersed Xu family members. Of course, this cannot be said to be a bad thing.
The Yuan family was well organized and the family was powerful, but what happened next?
Xu Ju lowered his head slightly and walked forward like most ordinary people in Xu County. He was familiar with this place. After all, he had come here many times before following Xu Chu to Guanzhong, so he was in Xu County.
While walking, like the vast majority of local people, they didn't hesitate at all when turning in an alley or street, and just walked away without any hesitation. They didn't look like someone who had been away from Xu County for a while.
After leaving Wang Chang's queue, Xu Zhi went to find Xu Ping.
Xu Ping is the son of Prime Minister Xu. Strictly speaking, he is not related by blood to Prime Minister Xu, but he is merely adopted by Prime Minister Xu.
Xu Xiang was also a man of the hour in recent years, and he was the Sikong Situ casually. However, during the riots after the murder of He Jin in Luoyang, Xu Xiang didn't know whether it was because he was innocently implicated, or because there was a conflict of interest. Anyway,
The whole family, young and old, were all killed in the war.
Later, Xu Xiang's youngest son and old father in his hometown also died one after another, and there was no one to inherit the family business. The elders of the Xu clan summoned the elders and found someone in the clan to adopt him under the name of Xu Xiang, which was regarded as a celebration for Xu Xiang.
Sometimes someone can burn some paper money or something...
But the family property accumulated by Mr. Xu is naturally considered as an "adoption" expense. There is only an old house and ten acres of Susukino fields to support the family and provide shelter from wind and rain.
After passing through a narrow alley, turn right at the entrance of the alley and not far away, you will arrive at the old residence of Xu Xiang.
This is a simple small courtyard built with gray bricks and gray tiles. The area is not large. The door leaf of the courtyard door seems to have aged with the years, with wrinkles showing one by one, and there seem to be many copper nails and iron bars.
They were all corroded, as if they would fall off the door with a clang if the wind blew.
There are many places on the courtyard wall where the tiles are broken, and they have not been repaired in time, leaving yellow mud and moss intertwined with each other, and there are still some traces of rain erosion.
Xu Ju stretched out his head and looked inside through the gap.
There are two trees in the yard that have begun to lose their leaves, making it seem like there are withered yellow leaves everywhere in the yard. A dustpan and an almost bald broom stand on the side of the door, and it is obvious that no one is using them.
The door was half open and half closed, and the cloth curtain hanging on the door could no longer distinguish its original pattern, but was just gray and black.
"Is Brother Ping here?" Xu Ju shouted inward from the gap in the wall.
"Not here!" A dull voice seemed to come from inside the house, "I went out! I didn't come back!"
"Oh, Brother Ping, I'm not here to ask for a bill!" Xu Ju recognized Xu Ping's voice and laughed, "I also brought some food and wine, please open the door quickly!"
After a while, the curtain was lifted and a person walked out.
This man was dressed casually, his belt was not tied tightly, so his collar appeared to be very loose, and some black hair on his chest was exposed. He had a tough look on his face, and there was a scar on his cheek. His hair and beard were a little scattered, and he seemed to have no health at all.
It has not been taken care of in general.
"Brother Ping, it's me!" Xu Zhi raised the oil paper bag in his hand, "This! Braised pork from Lao Guan's family!"
Xu Ping seemed to recognize Xu Julai, his eyes flashed, "Ha, that must be paired with old Zhang's wine to be delicious!"
"Of course!" Xu Ju smiled and raised the wine gourd in his other hand.
Xu Ping walked out, opened the courtyard door, and then, as if out of habit, he stretched his head and looked around the courtyard door, then closed the courtyard door with a bang, and then led Xu Ju into the house.
The situation inside the house is different from the situation in the courtyard. It seems to be two worlds. Inside the house, all kinds of utensils are neatly arranged, and the tables and shelves are spotless, which is in stark contrast to the messy situation in the courtyard.
comparison.
"Brother Ping, are you alright?" Xu Zhi asked with a smile as he put down the food and wine.
Xu Ping's appearance, in fact, if you ignore the scarred flower, is just like his character "Zhengfang", it is quite solid and thick. After seeing Xu Ju, Xu Ping also smiled, but behind the smile,
There seemed to be some rather interesting points, "I heard, brother, you...have not been appreciated by noble people, and have become rich and famous? Why, do you have anything to do with me today?"
"Haha, Brother Ping is joking..." Xu Ju smiled, "I just came to see my old friend today, nothing else!"
Xu Ping clicked his tongue, "You don't know who, you had so many bad ideas back then... Forget it, if you don't tell me, I'm too lazy to ask... Wait, I'll get the dishes..."
Xu Ping saw that Xu Ju was lying. Xu Ju came to see him today, certainly not for simple food and drink, at least not entirely. Xu Ping knew about the migration of Xu Chu and others to Guanzhong, even more than ordinary officials knew.
In detail, after all, it was a big event for Xu Ping and others back then.
Pour wine.
drink wine.
Xu Ping also brought out some pickled cucumbers from his previous home, which can be considered as several dishes to go with wine.
"The wine from Lao Zhang's family is still authentic!" Xu Ping drank a small bowl of wine and sighed half-truthfully, "If this is mixed with too much water, it will be fake...are you right?"
Xu Zhi showed an expression of regret and being wronged, "Brother Ping, if you say that...then I really shouldn't come!"
"Should we come? Aren't they all here?" Xu Ping said with a smile, "Come on, what's the matter? It'll be easier to drink if you explain it clearly!"
Xu Ju was silent for a moment, "Well, let me tell the truth...I just wanted to pick up some people...As you know, Brother Ping, the Xu family, some of our family members are still near Yingchuan..."
"That's it?" Xu Ping smiled.
Xu Ju nodded.
"Oh, you are still the same..." Xu Ping laughed loudly, "You look honest, but in fact you are not honest at all. Is this the truth? Do you think I am a fool or a fool?"
"Haha, Brother Ping is still awesome." Xu Zhi was not embarrassed to expose it to his face. "Actually, I also wanted to ask Brother Ping...if he is interested in going to the west together...to share the wealth?"
"To the west?" Xu Ping frowned slightly, "Why go to the west? To join the army? If I really want to join the army, do I have to wait until now?"
Xu Ju's eyes passed over Xu Ping's face, and then he looked at a corner of the room. On the shelves there, there were many books, either handwritten or in volumes.
Completely different from his appearance, Xu Ping doesn't like to dance with guns or sticks. Although he looks rough and wild, his dream is not to go to the battlefield to kill enemies. This is not a strange thing, after all, everyone has his own ambitions.
"What Brother Ping is thinking, is it possible that my brother and I are indifferent?" Xu Ju said with a smile, "Over there, it doesn't matter the net worth, origin, or appearance, just one thing, talent! Everything is the same.
This is an exam, and talents speak for themselves. If you pass the exam, you can become an official!"
When Xu Ping heard this, he couldn't help but raise his hand and touch his face.
There is a scar on his face.
Not deep, but not shallow either.
Stay on your face, but also stay in your heart.
"You don't care about your appearance?" Xu Ping asked, "You really don't care about your appearance?"
"Brother Ping... if we really want to talk about appearance..." Xu Ju came closer and whispered, "Isn't this... in the Chancellor's Desk, then whoever wants to talk about appearance, you say... Haha,
Right? How about it? Do you have any ideas?』
Why don't you have any ideas?
Xu Ping did not consider taking the route of force. On the one hand, he looked like a warrior, but in fact he had never received any military or force training since he was a child. He was completely different from Xu Chu. If he really took action, he would
Even Xu Zhi may not be able to defeat him.
It's like there are many burly fat men in later generations, and their strength is not small, but when they are in front of a fighter, they are just like dough and let people knead it casually. In addition to talent, martial arts also requires skills, and more importantly, long-term
of hard training.
And for a person like Xu Ping, who only has some physical capital, if he really joins the army, he will probably be an ordinary soldier, and then fight on the front line of the battlefield, and finally end up in the military academy, or die on the battlefield before he can make it out.
above.
What's more, in Shandong, the people who control the top ranks of the army are either Cao or Xiahou. How can they get ahead?
But in Shandong, Xu Ping was blocked by the scar on his face when he wanted to take the path of becoming a civil servant.
To put it simply, he looks bad.
It's like having tattoos on your body in later generations. As an individual, of course you have the right to have tattoos. There is no problem with this. After all, it is no longer the era when tattoos represented criminals in feudal dynasties, but don't forget,
Others naturally have the right not to admit students.
Xu Ju watched Xu Ping's expression change and didn't say much. He just lowered his head and drank slowly from the wine bowl.
It would be wrong to say anything more at this time.
Although Xu Ping has never said where the scar on his face came from, it definitely didn't fall from the sky! If we speculate based on what Xu Ju knows, in fact, the scar on Xu Ping's face is probably
It’s not like it’s so “for no reason”…
Xu Ping inherited the incense of Prime Minister Xu. Prime Minister Xu had served as Sikong and Situ before. Although he was not as good as the four generations and three princes of the Yuan family and the Yang family, with disciples and former officials all over the world, he was a high-ranking official after all.
, how could it be possible that all that is left of the family property now is a dilapidated courtyard and ten acres of thin farmland?
So, where are the family properties that once belonged to Prime Minister Xu?
There are many ways to exterminate a family. Bullying orphans and widowed mothers is the lowest. Killing a whole family and then devouring the family property is the cruelest. But like Xu Xiang, he has gained both praise and substantial benefits while remaining calm.
, is a truly good method.
Xu Ping was adopted by Xu Xiang, and he was nominally the heir to Xu Xiang's family business. So what if one day Xu Ping became prosperous and used the remaining reputation of Xu Xiang to turn around, what would he do? He would spit back what he had eaten.
?Or do you want to double and double again?
Instead of worrying in uneasiness, it would be better to cut off all Xu Ping's promotion paths!
Suddenly you are good, I am good, and everyone is good.
Xu Xiang has four seasons of incense and can eat, Xu Ping has a place to live, and everyone has real income and can have fun. As for whether there will be any changes in Xu Ping's descendants in the future
, that all belongs to the next generation, or the next generation.
At least Xu Ping, who has a scar, can no longer think about how high he can go!
But the question is, is Xu Ping willing?
If Xu Ping originally wanted to live a stable life, then why would he become someone else's heir? It's not like a three-year-old child doesn't understand anything and can do whatever adults say...
After a while, Xu Ping seemed to have heard nothing and raised his wine bowl to invite him to drink.
Xu Zhi didn't say anything else. He just drank. Then the two of them chatted about some family issues and ate and drank. Finally, they ate all the food and drank all the wine. Then it was getting late, so Xu Zhi stayed.
In Xu Ping's house, he was snoring and sleeping soundly, but Xu Ping couldn't sleep.
It wasn't Xu Ju's snoring that made the noise, well, maybe there was some, but it was more that Xu Ping's own mood was uneasy. He once thought he had no hope, but suddenly some light appeared in front of him.
, he felt a little worried about gains and losses.
After dawn, the two of them got up one after another, washed themselves, and then cooked breakfast.
Preserved meat is also very simple.
Finished.
Xu Pingping looked at the evidence and said: "Brother Xian, what are you here for? If you don't tell me clearly, how can I trust you?"
Xu Ju was silent for a while, and then sighed, "Brother Ping, it's not that I want to hide it, but this matter is somewhat risky. I don't want to involve my brother..."
"Ha, risk." Xu Ping nodded, "Going up the mountain to collect firewood may be risky... What is not risky? You tell me."
"Well... okay, let me speak frankly," Xu Ju said slowly, "Actually, the purpose of coming here this time is to find someone in the prison..."
"Finding people? Who? Oh, I understand, you, not you, want to save Kong Wenju, right?" Xu Ping thought for a moment, and then quickly responded, "Don't take the official route... Oh, I understand.
,Yes, that makes sense! Yes, it’s Kong Wenju, right?”
If he were an ordinary person, he would not have to go to such trouble. And from a certain perspective, it is true that Kong Rong is the only person in Xu County and prison who is worthy of Xu Zhi and the representative of Xu Zhi.
People use their hands to fish for people.
Just like most infuriating incidents, people will inevitably forget them as time goes by. Kong Rong's incident was indeed infuriating at the beginning. There were a lot of discussions in the streets for a while, but as Kong Rong was imprisoned
As time went on, not only did the number of people outside the prison gradually decrease, but even the topics discussed in the market on weekdays changed to other things.
In other words, it is "reducing popular searches".
When Cao Cao first killed Bian Rong, he didn't have much experience. Now I don't know if he has learned a lot and summed up the experience, or there are some other reasons. Anyway, there are indeed fewer people talking about Kong Rong in the market nowadays.
A lot, even Xu Ping and others received less extra compensation...
That's right, those who shouted loudly outside Xu County Prison that Kong Rong was "unparalleled in benevolence and righteousness, a model for the world" were basically not serious gentry children, but "stand-ins" hired by these gentry children. Xu Ping
I took several orders and went outside the prison every day to shout and receive some money.
Perhaps it was also for this reason that Xu Ping quickly thought of Kong Rong.
Xu Ju coughed, "Brother is indeed smart and sharp... But it's not Kong Wenju. Well, it's mainly because Kong Wenju himself doesn't want to... Besides, Kong Wenju's matter is so big, there will definitely be guards to guard it. If my brother and others are allowed to do it,
Isn't this matter... So, this time, we are just saving Kong Wenju's son. If Kong Wenju is really killed one day, the inheritance will not be cut off..."
"Inherited incense..." Xu Ju murmured and repeated these two words, and then sighed, "It's rare, it's rare... In Shandong, no one cares about Kong Wenju's inherited incense... To do this
, but it’s you... who can do it! I’ll take over this job! If you have any money, take it out first so I can hire some people.”
"Brother, do you have a plan?" Xu Ju asked, not taking the money directly.
Xu Ping stared at Xu Ju and couldn't help but laugh: "Why, are you still afraid that I will defraud you of your money? This matter is not as difficult as you think! It is true that Kong Wenju is not easy to save, but Kong Wenju's son... that's not the case."
It's not difficult! It's very difficult for ordinary people to get into the county jail, but for some people, it's easy..."
Xu Ju frowned and thought for a moment, "Oh? Could it be that my brother knows the jailer in Xu County Prison?"
Xu Ping stretched out his hand and clicked the sign. He did not answer directly, but said, "These days, there are too many children who cannot survive outside the city. Find someone of similar age, spend some money, and change it when the time comes...
...It doesn’t take much effort at all! This is a traditional craft job! The prison bosses often do this job, and Qiu Zhan can find a scapegoat, not to mention the two children?』
"That's true..." Xu Ju nodded and said, "But... As for Kong Wenju, I'm afraid I won't wait for Qiu Zhan, and may not even be executed publicly... You know what I mean, right?"
Xu Ping was stunned for a moment, then nodded silently.
Generally speaking, most prisoners are executed after death, but the problem is that Kong Rong is not an ordinary person. It is very likely that he died silently in prison at some point, and then announced to the public that Kong Rong was hiding and hitting the wall.
Got sick, or died from drinking boiled water...
This is also normal.
"In that case, we can only change it in advance..." Xu Ping frowned slightly and said, "In this case, the risk is really high... However, I do know someone..."
