After coming out of Liu Biao's mansion, Shen Chen was actually sweating profusely from behind.
He has a stronger personality, a bit more staunch, but he is not stupid. No matter how low his emotional intelligence is, he still knows what Liu Biao wants to do.
Today has been an extreme stretch from the beginning to now.
Liu Biao wanted to formally recruit him to serve as an official, so he found an excuse to dislike the low starting point for recruitment and was more ambitious and wanted to be a talented person.
It happened to be a great kindness to help others promote talents. Liu Biao thought that Shen Chen wanted to strengthen ties with him, so he didn't take it seriously and happily agreed.
After all, as far as Liu Biao was concerned, Shen Chen's entire clan was in Nanyang, and his grandfather married Cai's daughter, who was considered a relative of him and almost half-tied together. There was no reason not to hang out with him.
Therefore, Liu Biao never expected that the reason why Shen Chen did not want to serve under him was that he knew that he would not live long and did not want to be known as betraying his master.
Later, when Liu Biao talked about offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, Shen Chen was even more afraid to show his face.
In this kind of thing, whoever takes the lead will die.
Once word spreads, there will be an uproar throughout Jingzhou, and the public pressure will be very great.
And if the world knew that Shen Chen supported Liu Biao's proclaimed emperor, then he would be finished.
In the past few years, he has been talking impassionedly around Jingzhou, saying that Cao Cao is a traitor, we must attack Cao Cao, rescue the emperor, and help the Han Dynasty.
If he turned around and supported Liu Biao's proclaimed emperor and started again, his previous credibility would be gone and his character would also collapse.
Therefore, it was definitely impossible for him to support Liu Biao in this matter.
Liu Biao just wanted to test it.
Shen Chen's choice was to use a strategy that was impossible for Liu Biao to choose, and it also made him lose the idea of asking whether he supported him in becoming emperor.
So to a certain extent, the two sides are competing in a battle of wits and courage, with eight hundred minds scheming against each other.
Fortunately, Shen Chen had fooled him. Otherwise, if Liu Biao really proclaimed himself emperor in the future and he became his supporter, his reputation and credibility would be completely ruined. This was something he couldn't bear.
Now Shen Chen seems to be able to sense that Liu Biao's desire to proclaim himself emperor has increased, and he has even begun to directly test the attitude of the officials. It can be seen that in the future, it is not far away to worship the heaven and earth and travel in the emperor's carriage as in history.
After reluctantly prevaricating Liu Biao, Shen Chen turned white again. It was still early when he returned to Deng Hong's house, so he said hello to Cai, the sixth grandmother who had just returned home, and drove to Longzhong with Shen Qi and Deng Pi.
It was already December, the weather was gloomy, and the north wind was howling. Although the Xiangyang area is located in the south, there are large plains on both sides of the Han River, which are suitable for growing millet and wheat but not rice.
Therefore, after leaving the city, following the country road, the carriage shuttled towards various pavilions in the countryside. Sitting in the carriage, you can see large fields and endless wheat ears.
In winter, everything is yellow, the trees are withered, and the grass blades turn yellow. Only the wheat fields on both sides of the road are green and full of vitality.
Shen Chen was sitting cross-legged on the carriage like this, with the gentle breeze blowing in the countryside. The fields were full of busy villagers. Children were running around. Some adults were resting on the edge of the fields, some were weeding in the fields, and some were carrying heavy loads. Hoe is ready to go home.
"Woof woof woof!"
A guard dog suddenly jumped to the side of the road and barked at the carriage.
At that time, chickens and dogs were two must-have animals for the small-scale peasant economy. Lao Tzu once said, "In a small country with few people, chickens and dogs are inseparable." This is because dogs can not only guard the home and protect the courtyard, but can also be used for food and as a reserve in times of famine. food.
Generally speaking, guard dogs are kept in the yard to prevent them from colliding with outsiders coming and going or dignitaries traveling out of town, so as not to get into trouble.
But this dog seemed to have escaped from a certain yard door that was not closed properly.
Someone shouted and cursed: "Dahuang, I'm going to kill you, why are you calling me in broad daylight?"
A young man walked out of a house with a courtyard on the left rural road. He also had a roll of bamboo slips in his hand. He seemed to have been reading a book when he was startled by the barking of a dog and chased him out.
"Stop."
When Shen Chen saw the young man, he asked Shen Qi and Denpi to stop the carriage.
The young man rushed up to catch the dog, and suddenly noticed someone on the carriage next to him looking at him with a smile.
He was slightly dazed for a moment, and then after a brief daze, the young man jumped up and screamed in ecstasy: "Master! Master is back!"
This young man is Xie Hui, one of Shen Chen's resident students.
"Ah Hui, you have grown taller."
Shen Chen sat on the carriage and looked at him with a smile. Xie Hui was only one year younger than him, but he looked like a ten-year-old primary school student.
This is because the people at the bottom of the Han Dynasty were generally undernourished and their development was relatively slow. Unlike him, whose family was a rich farmer, he often ate eggs and goat's milk when he was a child, and his body was relatively strong.
In addition, there is a certain genetic relationship, so Xie Hui, a student, looks very short in front of Shen Chen, as if he is four or five years older. People can't help but feel that the other student is a child.
"Master has also grown stronger."
Xie Hui quickly ran to the carriage, scratched his head with a smile and said, "Master, will you leave again?"
"I won't leave for now, I plan to come back to teach first."
Shen Chen smiled and said, "Where are your parents?"
Xie Hui looked apologetic and said: "My parents went to the city to play music. Unexpectedly, the door was not closed tightly and I bumped into Master."
"It doesn't matter."
Shen Chen touched his head and said with a smile: "Go and inform everyone that school will start tomorrow."
"good."
Xie Hui suddenly became excited.
Although he often read books in the days without his master, it was like there was no guiding light in the dark night, which always left him confused.
Now that Master is finally back, he can learn knowledge eagerly again.
"Close the door tightly and don't let the rhubarb come out."
Shen Chen looked at the guard dog, which was slapped twice by Xie Hui. He hid behind Xie Hui with his tail between his legs and whined. He suddenly felt interesting and thought that it would be good to raise a few dogs to guard the house.
"only!"
Xie Hui originally wanted to say hello, but suddenly he remembered the etiquette taught by his master, so he stood at attention seriously, bowed his hands and bowed.
"good."
Shen Chen nodded in approval and ordered Shen Qi and Denpi to set off again.
And Xie Hui kept maintaining his saluting posture, facing Shen Chen's departing back, until he disappeared at the end of the road, then he stood up and jumped up with great excitement.
"Master is back. Master is back. It's still early. I must inform everyone as soon as possible."
He simply pulled Dahuang out of the house and ran out alone, shouting from every village pavilion and spreading the news about Shen Chen's return.
For a time, several pavilions around Suiting in the east of Longzhong Township knew about this, and it caused a sensation.
Here, after Shen Chen passed the pavilion where Xie Hui was, he arrived at Sui Pavilion.
I haven't been back for a year, and Suiting is still the same.
When I was passing by the yard I bought, I saw a middle-aged man coming out and locking the door.
"Mr. Wang."
Shen Chen stopped the carriage and got out of the car.
The middle-aged man is Wang Yan, the poor Confucian scholar who was hired by Shen Chen.
After leaving Suiting and heading north to fight, Shen Chen entrusted the courtyard to Wang Yan, asking him to clean it at all times and teach during the slack time.
Judging from the current situation, there are probably not many students coming.
Wang Yan was overjoyed to see his employer back. He walked up to him and said, "Mr. Shen is back."
"yes."
Shen Chen also bowed his hand in return and said with a smile: "How is the school?"
Wang Yan felt ashamed and said: "I have little talent and little knowledge. During the year when my husband left, all the students left one after another. Even during the slack season, few came."
Shen Chen said: "It doesn't matter. I'll find someone to clean the school tomorrow, and then send someone to notify the countryside that school will start the day after."
"Mr. is now well-known in Jingzhou. If the news spreads, I'm afraid how many people will flock here."
Wang Yan was overjoyed.
People live to realize their own value.
Although he was just a poor Confucian scholar, he had barely taught the village children how to read in exchange for some food.
But I also hope to be successful in my studies and have a career in the future.
Now, after following Shen Chen, not only does he earn a good monthly income, but he also often listens to Shen Chen explaining the meaning of the scriptures and is greatly inspired. He has benefited a lot, which makes him, a Confucian scholar who pursues knowledge, very happy.
Therefore, the school reopened, which naturally made him very happy.
Shen Chen said: "Then I'll trouble you, sir."
"Business matters."
Wang Yan replied.
After the two parted ways, Shen Chen set out for Longzhong Mountain again.
There is still some distance between Xiangyang and Longzhong. He set off in the afternoon and arrived around five or six in the evening.
The carriage climbed up the mountain road and walked for about twenty minutes before arriving at the entrance of Zhuge Liang's thatched cottage.
Shen Chen got off the carriage and knocked on the door.
After a while, the door opened a crack, revealing a strange little head, tilting his head to look at Shen Chen, and then said in surprise: "Mr. Shen is here."
"Anu, where is brother?"
Shen Chen smiled and touched Anu's little head. Anu was one of the child servants who followed Zhuge Xuan to Jingzhou. She was a girl with braids and was only twelve years old this year.
"Reading in the thatched cottage."
Anu opened the door. There were several other servants in the yard who were busy chopping firewood, boiling water, and taking a bath at night. When they saw Shen Chen coming in, they all stopped what they were doing and saluted.
Shen Chen greeted everyone one by one and walked all the way through the front yard and hall to the backyard thatched cottage as if he were at home.
The thatched cottage is like a large pavilion, with walls covering two sides and linen screens as curtains on the other two sides. It is winter now and the weather in Jingzhou is also very cold. I don't know why Zhuge Liang wants to read in the thatched cottage.
"Brother."
Shen Chen opened the curtain and walked in.
Zhuge Liang sat cross-legged on the table, holding a book bound with paper and reading it with gusto.
There was a brazier next to him. When he heard the sound, he raised his head, and a surprise expression suddenly appeared on his face: "Brother, you are back."
As he said this, he was about to stand up, but his legs went numb and he almost fell down.
It turned out that I was addicted to reading and sitting cross-legged for too long, which led to lack of blood circulation in my legs and numbness in my feet.
"Brother, please slow down."
Shen Chen walked over and helped Zhuge Liang, helping Zhuge Liang to sit down on the wooden collapse next to him.
Zhuge Liang is actually nineteen years old this year. He is 1.8 meters tall and has a slender body. He also practices fencing and martial arts on weekdays. However, no one can feel numb after sitting for so long, so he smiled and said: "I have been reading for too long, but I didn't notice that my legs were gone." perception."
Shen Chen asked curiously: "Brother, what are you looking at that makes you so fascinated?"
"When I was discussing knowledge with Mr. Pang Degong, Mr. Shui Jing, Yuan Zhi, and Shi Yuan on weekdays, I compiled the quite reasonable sayings in them into a book."
Zhuge Liang handed over the booklet.
After the papermaking technology was perfected, paper became popular in Jingzhou.
At first, Shen Chen wanted to use ceramics and distilled liquor as his main sources of income. Unexpectedly, the sales volume of these two was far less than that of paper. Now selling paper has allowed Huang Menting to accumulate wealth to a terrifying figure.
Mainly there are many scribes from Jingzhou.
During the war at the end of the Han Dynasty, a large number of aristocratic families moved to Jingzhou, so that the writing style became comparable to that of Yingchuan, and the paper was easy to write on, so it was naturally favored by Confucian scholars.
Shen Chen took it and glanced at it. The situation was similar to "The Analects of Confucius" and "Fayan", both of which were in the form of questions and answers.
However, "The Analects of Confucius" and "Fayan" are written in the tone of master and disciple, while this book is written in the style of friends, and the form is quite novel.
Pang De's company, Ma Hui, Xu Shu, Pang Tong, Zhuge Liang, and others are all people with extremely high attainments in Confucianism. They all have profound meanings when expounding the path of Confucianism. Reading their remarks is indeed very rewarding.
"The Yi and Di have kings and leaders, but they are not as good as the tyrants and chaos of the Xia, and there is no distinction between superiors and inferiors. This is a cry of tears. Wow, China can be better than Yi."
When Shen Chen saw one of the sentences, he couldn't help but sigh: "Pang Degong is really a great Confucian of the world. Now that the world is in chaos, even the Yi and Di know the superiority and inferiority, but the Xia is in chaos. I guess Pang Degong also vaguely knows something."
Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "You mean General Liu?"
"Liu Jingzhou's ambitions can be hidden from the world, but they can't be hidden from you."
Shen Chen shook his head: "Today he tested the officials of Jingzhou, big and small, saying that he planned to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth early next year in the spring."
Zhuge Liang was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said: "Although I had some guesses in my mind, I didn't expect General Liu to be so impatient. Maybe he is old and can't wait anymore."
Most people in Jingzhou may not know what Liu Biao thinks, but who are Pang Degong, Sima Hui, Zhuge Liang, Xu Shu, and Pang Tong?
Even if the smartest people in the world are divided into the same circle, they are still among the smartest in this circle.
So they may not talk eloquently on weekdays, but they naturally have some pointers in their words.
Shen Chen said: "I think Liu Jingzhou plans to attack Cao Cao next year. One is to establish his authority, and the other is to murder the emperor under the guise of rescuing the emperor. What do you think, brother?"
"That's probably the case."
Zhuge Liang stood up and felt that the soreness and numbness in his legs had subsided. He stretched out his muscles and said, "I'm afraid the day when General Liu will become emperor is not far away. Speaking of which, my brother is here, which will only add fuel to the flames."
"Am I that important?"
Shen Chen scratched his head.
Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "A person's ambition is matched by his own strength. The stronger the strength, the greater the ambition. You help General Liu collect grain and recruit troops, and you weaken Cao Cao's troops. Now General Liu's strength has leapt to the top of the world." The leader of the princes, what do you think he will do?"
"I didn't expect Liu Jingzhou to be so ambitious."
Shen Chen smiled sheepishly.
In fact, he also knew that this matter had something to do with him, but the ambition Liu Xian showed now was indeed beyond his expectation.
Because he had never read history books and did not know that Liu Biao had performed unscrupulous acts such as offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, riding in the emperor's carriage, and preparing rituals for the country, so he did not expect Liu Biao to be so bold at first.
It was only six years after he entered Jingzhou and had been in contact with Liu Biao for so long that Shen Chen discovered that the incompetent mediocre person he had always thought of was actually a strong man descended from heaven.
At the age of forty-eight, he rode into Jing alone, feasted and killed a group of thieves, and determined the seven counties. Then he killed Sun Jian and drove away Yuan Shu. With his super personal charm and super high prestige, he won the Kuai brothers, Cai Mao, and Huang Zu. Support from local forces in Jingzhou.
On the eve of the Battle of Guandu, he dealt with Cao Cao and Yuan Shao again, bringing peace to Jingzhou for a long time.
At the same time, he accepted Liu Shi and opened a college, creating a pure land for students all over the world. He governed Jingzhou for many years, making the people of Jingzhou strong and wealthy, and he was a capable minister in governing the world.
So after carefully studying Liu Biao, I discovered that he was really not a simple person.
No matter in terms of ability or city government, I'm afraid they are not inferior to Cao Cao.
The only problem is age.
He is already fifty-eight years old. If he were to be ten years younger, I'm afraid he might not be Sun Cao Liu in the future, but he might be Sun Cao Liu Liu.
In history, although he had unruly behavior, the reason why he never proclaimed himself emperor in the end was because the pro-Cao faction in Jingzhou was strong.
In addition, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao in the Battle of Guandu, swept across the north, and had the tendency to annex the world. This made him afraid to proclaim himself emperor for fear of triggering Cao Cao's attack and the outbreak of internal opposition forces.
But now Shen Chen helped him govern Nanyang, moved farm households, resettled the remnants of the Yellow Turbans, defeated Cao Cao, and attacked Xudu three times, which greatly damaged Cao Cao's vitality.
However, Liu Biao's power increased sharply, and his troops and horses were strong. The decline of one and the other naturally led to the growth of his ambition.
So to a certain extent, Shen Chen really helped Liu Biao.
The expansion of his troops, the accumulation of food and grass, and the weakening of the enemy's strength were all due to him. It can be said that he helped Liu Biao clear many obstacles.
No wonder Liu Biao likes Shen Chen so much...
Zhuge Liang said: "If General Liu proclaims himself emperor in the future, Jingzhou may be plunged into war. Neither Liu Zhang in Yizhou nor Sun Quan in Yangzhou will let go of this opportunity."
"Yes, these days, whoever claims to be emperor will be the target of public criticism."
Shen Chen nodded in agreement.
Zhuge Liang felt that his legs had regained their vitality, so he slowly sat down again, crossed his legs on the table, looked at Shen Chen, and asked: "Brother, what are your plans?"
Shen Chen knew what he meant, so he said: "I have declined Liu Jingzhou's conquest and plan to return to Suiting to start school and teach."
Zhuge Liang frowned and said: "Now that General Liu is about to enter the realm of immortality, can we just watch it with helpless eyes?"
"What can we do?"
Shen Chen smiled bitterly and said: "Now Liu Jingzhou is powerful and his ambition is to conquer the world. I have advised him to sit back and watch Yuan and Cao fight for hegemony, then destroy Sun Quan in the east, attack Liu Zhang in the west, clear the south, and then visit the Central Plains in the north. It’s a pity that he didn’t listen.”
"Is that so?"
Zhuge Liang thought for a moment, nodded slightly in approval and said: "This method is indeed the most fair and sound plan. General Liu doesn't listen, probably because of his age."
Shen Chen shrugged: "Yes, at his age, no one knows when he will die, so he can only choose to take a gamble."
Historically, Liu Biao had seven years left to live.
The problem is that Liu Biao doesn't know that he still has seven years.
Besides, seven years is not much.
So if you don't fight while your troops are strong, then when will you wait?
Zhuge Liang asked: "If General Liu is destroyed, what will happen to my brother?"
Shen Chen looked at the north with a deep gaze and said with a smile: "I forgot to tell my brother that I met someone who has the same ambition as you and me. We both want to calm down this troubled world and build a prosperous country for the people of the world."
"who?"
Zhuge Liang asked.
Shen Chen replied: "Uncle of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bei and Liu Xuande."
"Uncle Liu Huang?"
Zhuge Liang was slightly distracted.
In his eyes, a distant memory flashed deep in his memory.
In a daze, I remembered the kind figure I met on the way to move from Xuzhou to Yangzhou that year.
He was a tall and tall man, but he was also the stupidest man in the world.
At that time, their migration team also followed that man's army, and was indirectly protected by him, listening to the people around him telling his stories.
It turned out that he was invited by Tao Qian to go to Xuzhou to fight against Cao Cao's Pingyuan Prime Minister Liu Xuande.
Everyone says he is a fool.
Because he knew clearly that the enemy was cruel and cruel and killed many people, but he still resolutely accepted the invitation. With only a few thousand troops, he dared to block Cao Cao's tens of thousands of tigers and wolves.
But many years later, people found out.
He is not stupid.
He just didn't want to see those common people fall in front of him again.
That's why he protected the people of Qingzhou during their migration.