Eight months have passed since Shen Chen opened the rural school in Suiting in June last year to February of the third year of Jian'an.
In the process of mutual learning with Zhuge Liang, Shen Chen's thoughts and knowledge were sublimated again.
If it were him in the past, he would only cling to Cao Cao's cruelty and unkindness, and then criticize his character by severing the relationship between Cao Cao and Liu Xie.
But that argument actually won’t convince anyone.
Because for most scholars, the emperor's righteousness means the righteousness of his name. No matter what reasons you give, if you fight against Cao Jun, you are fighting against the imperial court, and fighting against the imperial court is treason.
This is an indisputable fact.
There are people like Jushu who are loyal to Yuan Shao, and naturally there are Xun Yu who are loyal to the Han Dynasty. Moreover, the Han Dynasty has been raising scholars for four hundred years, and Xun Yu is not the only one who is loyal to the Han Dynasty.
Before Cao Cao humiliated Yang Biao, deposed Zhao Wen, and massacred Kong Rong, Zhao Yan and other Han royalists, the royalists in Xuchang were like crucian carp crossing the river, but they were slowly eradicated by Cao Cao.
But even so, when Cao Cao ascended the throne as King of Wei and gradually revealed his tampering intentions, Geng Ji, Ji Ben, Wei Huang, Jin Yi and others still stood up and planned to seize military power, support Liu Xie, and save the Han Dynasty.
So everyone in this world has their own position.
For example, most of the people who took refuge in Cao Cao came from aristocratic families. They never cared whether the emperor's surname was Liu, they only cared about the interests of the family.
Like the countless aristocratic families who later persuaded Cao Pi to join the Han Dynasty, for them, changing the emperor was nothing more than changing the master.
As long as my family continues to prosper, the Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System will always ensure that my family prospers.
Some people believe that when troubled times come, one should choose a good leader and assist them.
With so many people under Yuan Shao's command, don't they know Yuan Shao's ambition?
But even if Cao Cao had the emperor's righteousness, he still could not change the position of Jushou Shenpei and others who were loyal to Yuan Shao and others.
Others regard Liu Xie as the emperor as a legal principle, so by the way, they regard Cao Cao, who has not yet shown his tampering intentions, as a loyal minister who helped the Han Dynasty.
As countless scholars in Jingzhou are thinking, this is not only true for those from aristocratic families, Confucian scholars from poor families, and officials and scholars.
Of course, later generations will understand that Cao Cao and Sima Yi are actually of the same nature.
There was a great Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and a great Emperor Xuan of the Wei Dynasty.
But people in the world don't understand.
Therefore, to put it bluntly, before the Yidai Edict and Shen Chen’s previous arguments, it was difficult to convince Xun Yu, a person who was not loyal to Cao Cao and only cared about the emperor and the Han Dynasty.
Not to mention trying to convince those children of aristocratic families who only care about the interests of the aristocratic family.
But now Shen Chen's thoughts have begun to sublimate, and he has truly understood what it means to unite knowledge and action, and has proposed a way to save the world. The depth of his thoughts is no longer the same as before.
It cannot convince those wealthy families, but to ordinary Confucian scholars from poor families, it is as thought-provoking as good words of wisdom.
The scholars in Jingzhou were mostly composed of ordinary Confucian students from poor families at the bottom.
After all, the aristocratic families are in the minority, and the bottom class is the main body.
They had no clan support, no powerful background, and no attention from the upper class. They just met by chance, became apprentices, and learned some knowledge, so they could barely be called scholars.
Although he was able to study and was from a well-off family that could afford food, his room for advancement was extremely limited. Without the need to consider the family's position in exchange for the official position given by Cao Cao in the name of the emperor, his way of thinking was naturally different.
Therefore, many people were deeply touched by Shen Chen's words after hearing his words, and their attitude towards him naturally changed greatly.
Even those children of wealthy families who could not agree with his views due to their different family positions still found what Shen Chen said to be very philosophical and thought-provoking.
There are always a few idealists who betray their own class.
For example, Pang Tong and Xiang Lang were both from the top aristocratic families in Jingzhou, but they did not betray Liu Cong in exchange for family interests like Kuai Yue and Cai Mao. Instead, they followed Liu Bei and took it as their own duty to help the Han Dynasty.
So very soon, what Shen Chen said today spread in Jingzhou Shilin. Without anyone taking the lead or deliberately belittling, many people felt admiration for Shen Chen. They didn't expect that his thoughts were so profound. Many people admire it very much.
For a time, Shen Chen's reputation among the Jingzhou scholars was not very good, but it slowly changed. Many people felt that even though Shen Chen might have opposing views to them, he was still a gentleman.
From then on, Shen Chen's name completely rose from the countryside and spread throughout Jingzhou, making him a famous scholar.
After that, Sima Hui settled down in the countryside northeast of Xiangyang City, near Yuliangzhou. He and Pang Degong were also old acquaintances. They talked with him every day, and their friendship became deeper and deeper.
Zhuge Liang, Shen Chen, Xu Shu, Pang Tong and others often discussed principles with Sima Hui and Pang Degong. Shen Chen's idea of the unity of knowledge and action made them feel like the way of a saint, and they were enlightened. They praised Shen Chen's talents and thoughts very much, and they were very helpful in promoting him. The reputation is also sparing no effort.
So when the busy farming season ended in May this year, and during the short slack period in June, Shen Chen's academy was almost overcrowded. He himself was considered a wise man in the countryside, and now his reputation spread throughout Jingzhou, and people came here. More.
However, just when Shen Chen's reputation gradually improved and his reputation improved significantly, the general trend of the world has also changed again.
The imperial court worshiped Liu Biao as a general of hussars, who held orders and supervised affairs in the four states of Yi, Jiao, Jing, and Yang.
In May of this year, there was a bumper harvest in Nanyang. Liu Biao received nearly 10 million yuan in new grain, and his treasury was suddenly filled with too much. Two years in advance, he enjoyed the power he had to defeat Zhang Xian two years later, which made Liu Biao's ambitions expand again. stand up.
When he learned that the imperial court planned to give him greater nominal power in exchange for millions of stones, grain and grass, Liu Biao agreed to the matter without any hesitation after discussing it with the mastermind Kuai Liang.
So five million stones of grain and grass were transported to Xuchang, which instantly filled Cao Cao's nearly exhausted treasury. In addition, new grains from Yingchuan, Yanzhou and other places were also harvested this year, allowing Cao Cao to serve the emperor at the same time. Send troops to fight and no longer worry about food and grass.
In June, after holding on for four months, Cao Cao sent Xiahou Dun to rescue Liu Bei.
But they did not expect that Gao Shun and Zhang Liao were quite powerful. After the two sides were in a stalemate for more than a month, Gao Shun and Zhang Liao suddenly launched an attack and even drove Xiahou Dun back, forcing Cao Cao to prepare to start his own expedition.
In the ninth month of autumn, Xiaopei was captured.
Shen Chen once wrote a reply to Liu Bei, asking him to march outside and settle down his family members, and not to be with him.
Liu Bei followed his advice and settled his wife and children in Xiayi. His family members were not captured, but he lost all his troops and horses. He fled to the Liang Kingdom with Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Taishi Ci Mi Zhu, Jian Yong, Sun Qian and others.
It happened that Cao Cao was also campaigning eastward against Lu Bu at this time. After having a foundation of food and grass, he added some troops, about 70,000 to 80,000 people, and marched towards Xuzhou with an army of 30,000 people.
The rest of the army stayed in various places. For example, Xia Houyuan and Cheng Yu led more than 20,000 troops to guard against Yuan Shao in Sili, Yanzhou and other places.
He also ordered Cao Hong, Xun You, Li Tong and others to send 10,000 troops to guard Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu.
He took Xiahou Dun, Yu Jin, Xu Chu, Xu Huang and others with him, and came to Xuzhou in a mighty way.
Although Cao Cao lost the fierce general Dian Wei in the Battle of Wancheng last year, when he returned, he soon encountered Xu Chu leading thousands of men and horses to surrender.
Cao Cao has always been very fond of people who bring their own soldiers, such as Li Dian's uncle Li Qian, the two-gun general Li Tong, and later Zhang Xiu, not to mention Xu Chu is a fellow countryman of Cao Cao.
Knowing that he was extremely brave, Xu Chu quickly replaced Dian Wei and became the leader of Cao Cao's guard.
After Cao Cao arrived in Liang Kingdom, he met with Liu Bei.
At this time, the poor emperor's uncle was like a child who was beaten outside and went back to report to his parents. The parents brought the guy with them to avenge the child.
Although the truth of the matter is that Cao Cao must eliminate Lu Bu to prevent being attacked from two sides in the future decisive battle with Yuan Shao.
But the scene at this time is quite vivid. You can know that the emperor's uncle has never had a good life since he went to Xuzhou. He traveled here and there, wandering around, living a miserable life all day long, and he was very different from the people who lived and worked peacefully in Jingzhou. Shen Chen formed a sharp contrast.
After joining Liu Bei, Cao Cao continued to march and arrived outside Xiapi City at the end of September, and wrote to Lu Bu asking him to surrender.
At this time, Lu Bu still has a chance. As long as he surrenders, Cao Cao may not necessarily kill him.
However, Chen Gong had already had a big conflict with Cao Cao, and had stabbed Cao Cao in the back. He knew very well that Cao Cao could let Lü Bu go, but he would never let go of Chen Gong, so he urged Lv Bu to hold on and suggested dividing his troops to balance the differences. to fight against Cao's army.
It's a pity that Lu Bu didn't listen, but he didn't choose to surrender either.
So Cao Cao continued to besiege Xiapi, and the siege lasted for almost three months with sufficient food and grass. However, although there was sufficient food and grass, the soldiers were very tired and thought of giving up.
Guo Jia still urged him to continue attacking Lu Bu and proposed the strategy of flooding Xiapi.
Cao Cao then acted according to his plan and continued to attack Xiapi.
At the same time, Lu Bu's army in Xiapi City had also become disloyal. Because Hou Cheng was punished by Lu Bu for disobeying Lu Bu's order to ban alcohol, he was resentful and wanted to surrender.
It was Guiyou day in December of the third year of Jian'an, February 7, 199 AD. The weather was quite sunny on this day. However, due to the Little Ice Age, the sun was high in the sky, but the strong north wind was still blowing. Slight chills.
In recent days, Lu Bu has given up drinking and sex, and has regained some energy. He patrols the city gate every day. Today when he arrived at the White Gate Tower, he saw that Cao Jun's camp was still peaceful from a distance, and the military flags on the camp were rustling in the wind. He sighed for a moment: "Today is another ordinary day."
"yes."
Zuo Zuo said: "It feels so peaceful. Cao's army outside the city has not attacked the city for a long time. I'm afraid it won't be long before they retreat due to lack of food."
"Well, let the soldiers wait a little longer. We will be able to repel Cao's army soon."
Lu Bu cheered up and spoke words of encouragement to everyone.
The words were not spoken yet.
"Dong-dong-dong-dong-dong-dong!"
A heart-stopping drum beat sounded.
Cao Jun's camp suddenly opened, and groups of mighty soldiers slowly walked out.