Deng Zhi bid farewell to Liu Jing and headed north along the Huishui River under the escort of Liu Zong. When passing through his hometown of Xinye, Deng Zhi made a special trip back to the Deng clan's land.
Because Cao Cao and Liu Biao have stopped tit-for-tat in recent years, the situation in Xinye is barely stable. In addition, the epidemic situation has eased, and the Deng clan members who had previously fled have returned to their hometowns, but the weather is not as good as it was in the past.
The Nanyang Deng family has been prosperous and prosperous for generations since Taifu Deng Yu, and has become one of the leading wealthy families in the world. Unfortunately, it declined after prosperity. After more than a hundred years of prosperity, it eventually declined inevitably.
Deng Zhi advised his clan members to serve as officials to assist Liu Zong, or to go south to join Liu Jing. With Deng Yuan's relationship, the Deng clan in Nanyang would be able to prosper again.
After Deng Zhi paid homage to his ancestral graves, he continued northward to Jiyang County under the escort of Liu Zong.
Jiyang County is located at the northernmost end of Zhangling County, bordering Wan County under Cao Cao's jurisdiction. The current magistrate of Wan County is Liu Jing's good friend Du Xi.
Before Du Xi, he was the magistrate of Xi'e County, Nanyang County. When he took office, Liu Biao was in trouble outside Xi'e County, bandits were causing chaos inside, the people were scattered, the fields were barren, and the situation was very difficult.
Fortunately, not long after, Liu Jing rose up in Jingnan and completely wiped out Liu Biao's army going south. From then on, Liu Biao concentrated on the south and no longer invaded the north.
Without the constraints of Liu Biao, Du Xi recruited strong men and quickly wiped out the bandits in the territory. He then encouraged agriculture and resumed production. Many people from all over the world returned, and in two years there were more than 5,000 families. Cao Cao lamented his political power and moved it to Wan County.
make.
Not long after Deng Zhi's team entered the boundary of Wan County, Du Xi in the city received the news and immediately rushed out of the city to greet them.
Although Liu Jing has been keeping a tight seal on news, there is no airtight wall in the world. Du Xi has heard a lot of news from the south recently. Some said that Liu Biao and Liu Bei had repelled Liu Jing, and some said that Liu Jing had successfully captured Xiangyang...
…
Du Xi was eager to know the answer. He heard that a car was coming from the south, so how could he sit still?
When the convoy arrived at the gate of Wan County, Deng Zhi got out of the carriage and saw an official with a high crown, fine clothes and a seal and ribbon coming to greet him at the city gate. He raised his voice and asked, "Is this Du Zixu of Yingchuan?"
When Du Xi heard this, his heart moved, he nodded and said: "That's right, may I ask you?"
Deng Zhi said calmly: "Deng Bomiao, who is in Nanyang, is the right commander of General Anyuan. This time, I have been specially ordered by the general to go to Beijing to serve as a tribute."
After his suspicion was confirmed, Du Xi was overjoyed and said: "So, the rumors are true. Liu Zhongda has really captured Xiangyang?"
Deng Zhi nodded and said: "Since the general launched his troops for the Northern Expedition in March, he has been victorious in every battle and conquered every attack. The Northern Army died and all surrendered troops were defeated. Liu Biao died of illness and Liu Cong surrendered without a fight. All the counties in Jingzhou and Huang Zu
The whole generation of Jingzhou is now owned by the general."
Du Xi was shocked when he heard that. The so-called surrender of Jingzhou may not be true, but it is true that Liu Biao died of illness and Liu Cong surrendered. Liu Biao had been in power for more than ten years in the Han Dynasty, and Cao Gong did not dare to take it lightly. He regarded it as his life
The powerful enemy did not expect to face Liu Jing's attack and was defeated in a single battle. It is really unbelievable.
Deng Zhi then took out a letter from his arms, handed it to Du Xi, and said, "This is a letter from the general to my subordinates."
Du Xi did not rush to read the letter. He invited Deng Zhi to the county temple and then opened the letter. The more he read, the more shocked he became. It turned out that in addition to Liu Biao, Zhang Jin also perished at the hands of Liu Jing.
In just half a year, Liu Jinglian destroyed Zhang Jin, and Liu Biao and the two princes annexed the two states of Jiao and Jing. Not to mention he was shocked. Even if Cao Gong heard about it, he would have trouble sleeping and eating, right?
Du Xi was silent for a long time. When he returned to the north, Liu Jing was only a hundred-stone official in Changsha. The following year, in the second year of Jian'an (197 AD), the two became chiefs of a county one after another. It can be said that they started from the same starting point and had no differences.
gap.
Five years later, Du Xi was only moved from the magistrate of Xi'e County to the magistrate of Wan County, gaining only a few hundred stones in rank. His official career was not as expected.
In contrast, Liu Jing suddenly transformed and became the leader of Jing and Jiao states. The gap between the two is now so great that they are simply incomparable.
However, Du Xi was not jealous of Liu Jing's achievements. He was happy for his friend from the bottom of his heart. However, while he was happy, he could not help but feel a little worried in his heart.
Du Xi knew Liu Jing very well. He had an extremely conceited temperament. When he was living in the market in the past, he regarded the heroes of the world as if they were nothing. He always wanted to whip the world and clarify his aspirations.
But he also has the intelligence to match. There are many people in the world who are ambitious and talented, including Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shu. Liu Jing is different. He is wise and martial, unparalleled in the world. He uses troops like a god. He is simply the second in Guangwu.
Liu Jing and Cao Gong are both extraordinary heroes with great aspirations for the world. As the saying goes, one mountain cannot tolerate two tigers. How can they live in peace and harmony when they meet?
Liu Jing didn't know Du Xi's worries. He was currently in the general's mansion, meeting with Song Zhong, Qi Wukai and Sima Hui who were engaged in the five industries.
Although the three of them all hold state posts and can be regarded as Liu Jing's subordinates, Song Zhong is Liu Jing's mentor, Qi Wukai, and Sima Hui are also old men of virtue. They are elegant and distinguished scholars and cannot be regarded as subordinates. Liu Jing went out to welcome them in person.
Enter the room.
Song Zhong couldn't wait to sit down and said to Liu Jing impatiently: "All the questions for the shooting strategy exam have been prepared. General, please take a look. If there are no problems, the exam can be started at any time."
Liu Jing took a thick stack of paper from Song Zhong and said with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, sir."
Liu Jing believed that the examination system represented by Maocai and Xiaolian had become rigid after its development, and he wanted to innovate the way to recruit scholars. Therefore, as soon as he entered Xiangyang, he inspected the school and publicly stated that he would open subjects A and B and recruit hundreds of scholars.
, Section A serves the state, government, Section B supplements the counties, and is preparing to form a regular system, with exams every two years.
This time, there are three rounds in the selection of scholars, namely, scripture writing, meaning test, and comprehensive test.
The first and second round of commentaries and meaning tests mainly focus on the essentials of the Five Classics.
Naturally, professional matters must be left to professionals. Liu Jing ordered Song Zhong, Qi Wukai, and Sima Hui to be responsible for formulating the examination questions. It took half a month, and now it is finally completed.
Song Zhong shook his head and said: "This is not my fault alone. Qi Wu Guangming, Sima Decao, and even all the people in the school all worked hard, slept and ate, and read through the Five Classics. The hard work during this period cannot be explained clearly in a few words."
"It all depends on the efforts of Mr. and all the gentlemen." Liu Jing added: "Since the examination questions have been decided, naturally the sooner the examination starts, the better. Why not set it for tomorrow."
One day when he had enough time to prepare, Song Zhong asked: "Will the general come to the examination room in person tomorrow?"
"The first round of scripture writing is very important. If I show up in the examination room, I am afraid it will distract the students and affect the examination." Liu Jing pointed to Zhuge Liang and Wang Can beside him, and said to Song Zhong: "I will do it tomorrow.
Let Kong Ming and Zhong Xuan go to the school on my behalf and inspect the examination room."
Song Zhong nodded. Zhuge Liang and Wang Can were both important ministers under Liu Jing's command. Their presence in the examination room was enough to show that Liu Jing valued him.