Do the Yuan family and the Deng family have a history?
Shen Chen and Deng Hong looked at each other, and both could see the confusion in the other's eyes.
You must know that the glory of the Deng family happened seventy years ago. It has been so long now, how do they know the previous history?
So after hesitating for a moment, Deng Hong raised his hands and said, "I don't know about this. Please let me know, General."
Yuan Shu sneered and said: "Back then, my great-uncle Duke Shuping was dismissed from his official position because he was unwilling to join Deng's relatives. He committed suicide after returning home. Isn't this the origin?"
"Well"
The grandfather and grandson looked at each other again. This time, the look in their eyes was not confusion, but speechlessness.
Both of them were wondering if Yuan Shu was deliberately looking for trouble.
Because the uncle Pinggong mentioned by Yuan Shu was the third prince of the second generation of the Yuan family, named Yuan Chang, who became Sikong in the third year of the Yuan Dynasty.
Four Generations and Three Gongs does not mean that there are three Sangongs in the four generations, but it means that there are three Gongs in each of the four generations.
The first three generations of the Yuan family began with Situ Yuan An during the reign of Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty, which was more than a hundred years ago.
The second generation is this Yuan Chang, Sikong during the period of Emperor An of the Han Dynasty.
The third generation is Yuan Shu's grandfather Yuan Tang, a Taiwei during the reign of Emperor Huan of Han Dynasty.
The fourth generation is Yuan Shu's father Yuan Feng and uncle Yuan Wei, who were Sikong and Taifu during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty.
It seems to be a matter of three generations, but the time span is very large. Yuan Chang died in the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty, 117 AD.
At that time, the world was indeed dominated by the Deng family. Empress Dowager Deng came to rule the court, and the Deng family's relatives were at the height of their power. Generally speaking, the three ministers and ministers could not compete with them, so it was normal for them to convict them.
The problem is that the Deng family are not bad people. The Queen Mother Deng and Deng's relatives have a good reputation. Even though they were later framed by eunuchs, the Deng family fell into disgrace. During the Shun Emperor's period, Han Shun Emperor Liu Bao also rehabilitated them.
Therefore, the struggle between Yuan Chang and Deng's relatives is not a simple story of a good official fighting against the powerful, and then the good official is forced to death by the powerful.
It should have been a struggle between two political interest groups, and in the end Yuan Chang failed.
In addition, there is another problem.
That is, Yuan Shu and Yuan Chang are not direct relatives. Yuan Chang is Yuan Shu's great-grandfather, that is, the biological brother of his grandfather's father, so Yuan Shu should be called Yuan Chang's great-uncle.
And what about Deng Hong?
He belongs to the Xinye Deng family, not the Luoyang Deng family. He is more closely related to the then Empress Dowager Deng, and may be related to the generation of Deng Yu, the ancestor of the Deng family during the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Yuan Shu used this matter to find fault with Deng Hong, which is equivalent to Cao Cao's father dying because of Tao Qian, but because Tao Qian was the shepherd of Xuzhou, Cao Cao felt that all the people in Xuzhou were guilty and wanted to massacre Xuzhou.
Although such outrageous things have happened, everyone has to be reasonable.
If you want to settle accounts, even if you can't go to Empress Dowager Deng and General Deng Zhi, you will have to go to Luoyang's Deng family.
It's been almost a hundred years since everything happened and you come to settle old scores.
When Pangu created the world, your ancestor was still a cell and was bullied by other cells. Why didn't you start looking for your ancestor's enemies from that time?
"Hahahahaha!"
Seeing that the two of them were speechless, Yuan Shu laughed proudly and said: "Sir, don't be scared, I'm just joking with you."
Deng Hongqi smiled and said: "General Zuo is really funny."
However, Shen Chen knew that Yuan Shu had long wanted to be emperor, and it was his words of support to the Han Dynasty that had offended him, so he also said: "General Zuo is magnanimous and worthy of being a hero of Jiangzuo!"
Yuan Shu smiled and said: "Sir and my grandson are indeed rare talents. I would like to present you as the Prime Minister of Jiujiang County. What do you think?"
"Thank you, General Zuo."
Deng Hong immediately said: "Hong is willing to follow the general to make great achievements, but the clan wants to return to the Nanyang tribe to find their ancestors and return to the clan. Therefore, I hope the general will allow Hong Xian to escort the clan back to Nanyang and then come to Huainan to serve the general."
"No, that's not it."
Yuan Shu thought for a while, then nodded and said: "Runan is now in dire straits, and there are countless bandits along the way. Last month, Zhuge Clan of Langya also passed through Huainan, and I will appoint Zhuge Xuan as the prefect of Yuzhang. If you go to Jingzhou, you can
Just take a boat from Yuzhang to Jingzhou and look for Zhuge Xuan."
This was what Deng Hong was waiting for, and he immediately said with great joy: "Thank you, General."
After coming out of Yuan Shu's place, the grandfather and grandson got what they wanted, and immediately returned to the north of the city. Using the seals and documentary tokens given by Yuan Shu, they prepared to set off south to Yuzhang.
The reason why they chose to go far away from the near and take a long detour through Yuzhang instead of going from Runan to Nanyang is because Runan is too dangerous now.
Since going south from Xuzhou and entering the territory of Pei State, we have already encountered several small-scale bandit robberies.
That was still in Pei State.
Cao Cao had just massacred Xiapi, and the people and bandits around Pei State were frightened by the news, and there was almost no human habitation within a hundred miles.
But even then, he was still in danger. If the clan guards had not been trained, the clan might have been wiped out.
Runan is even more powerful. During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, millions of Henan Yellow Turbans were dispersed by Huangfu Song and fled to various places as bandits. There were countless rogue bandits in the Funiu Mountains, Dabie Mountains and throughout Runan counties.
In the first year of Jian'an, Cao Cao attacked Runan. During the battle of the Yingchuan Yellow Turban Army, the leaders of the Yellow Turbans in Runan, He Yi, Liu Pi, Huang Shao, He Man and other tribes each supported tens of thousands of people.
In the fifth year of Jian'an, Liu Bei went from Yuan Shaona to Runan to prepare to go south to contact Liu Biao. As a result, there were thousands of people from Runan's Yellow Turbans, Liu Pi and Gongdu, who were stationed there. We can know the current situation in Runan.
Moreover, the history books only record that He Yi, Liu Pi, Huang Shao, He Man and other tribes each had tens of thousands of people, but there are too many that are not recorded.
He Yi, Liu Pi, Huang Shao, He Man, Liu Pi, and Gong Du are just the six larger groups among them, with a total of more than 100,000 troops.
There were countless other small groups of yellow turban bandits with hundreds or thousands of people, and the whole of Runan was about to become a den of thieves.
The total population of Huangmenting is only about a thousand people. After excluding the old, weak, women and children, there are only more than 200 fighting clansmen. It is fanciful to rely on these people to survive all the way.
So although it takes a long way to go from Yuzhang to Jingzhou, it is still much better at least in terms of safety than going from Runan.
After receiving the token from Yuan Shu, Shen Chen immediately urged Deng Hong to return to his clan without stopping and prepare to set off.
On the way, Deng Hong was a little puzzled and said: "Ah Chen, I think that Yuan Shu seems to be a good person to get along with. Why do you want me to lie to him and say that I will serve him after escorting the clan back to Nanyang? I think being an official is not a bad thing.
.”
Everyone wants to be an official. He didn't have that opportunity before, but now he suddenly ascended to Yuan Shu's court as a descendant of the Deng family, and was promised a place as a county magistrate. Naturally, Deng Hong was very moved.
Unexpectedly, Shen Chen shook his head and said: "Uncle, I advise you to give up the idea of becoming an official in Yuan Shu. I think he has evil intentions, and I am afraid that he will be in trouble soon."
"ah?"
Deng Hong wondered: "How did you figure this out?"
Shen Chen said in a deep voice: "Uncle, think about it, why did he change his color immediately after I said, "With the reputation of the Yuan family, why can't I clean up the world and help the Han Dynasty?"
"you mean?"
"The year before last, the imperial court sent Grand Tutor Ma Rixi to Yuan Shu, and granted him the title of General Zuo, Jiejie, and Marquis of Yangdi. But look, uncle, where is the Grand Tutor now?"
"I've also heard about this. He was detained by Yuan Shu for more than a year. At the beginning of the year, I heard that he had died of illness."
"Yuan Shu even dared to imprison the imperial envoys, which shows that he has despised the imperial court and may not be long before he becomes emperor."
"It's not that serious, right? Does he have the guts to become emperor?"
Deng Hong was surprised.
The year before last, Ma Rixi was sent to Yuan Shu to read the emperor's edict, and Yuan Shu indeed detained Ma Rixi for more than a year.
Although he detained an envoy from the imperial court, and he was an imperial concubine, his crime was comparable to treason.
But in today’s world, there is nothing to say about it.
Yuan Shu could have made an excuse to say that he was afraid that Ma Rixi would be unsafe on his way back, so he kept him here to protect his safety.
At present, all the princes in the world are indeed attacking each other, and the decline of the Han Dynasty is an indisputable fact.
It's a bit like the Zhou Dynasty, when the heroes were divided among themselves.
The problem is that everyone still maintains a superficial relationship and verbally expresses their respect for the Emperor of Han.
Just like in the early Spring and Autumn Period, even the most powerful Jin State did not dare to directly claim the king. They all called themselves Duke XX.
The first to claim the title of king were border countries such as Chu, Wu, and Yue, because they were far away from the Central Plains and were not afraid of the restrictions of the Zhou royal family.
It was not until the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period that the prestige of the Zhou royal family declined significantly, before Wei, Qi, Qin and other Central Plains countries became kings one after another and no longer needed to take care of the Zhou royal family.
This is the so-called righteousness.
People say they respect the Han Dynasty, but secretly practice separatism. In today's era, it can be regarded as some kind of unspoken rule.
But no matter what, the unspoken rules are unspoken rules and cannot be made explicit.
The Han Dynasty has not declined to the point where everyone can be emperor.
If Yuan Shu breaks through this layer of window paper first, it should not be difficult to imagine what it means to him.
However, Shen Chen said: "Uncle, think about it, if a prince has no disobedience and arbitrarily detains a three-legged angel, what good will it do to him?"
"This" Deng Hong couldn't answer.
Because if you think about it carefully, this really doesn't do Yuan Shu any good.
Shen Chen added: "If Yuan Shu wanted to help the Han Dynasty, he should send the Taifu Li back, and even send troops to protect him, instead of taking away the Taifu's talisman and imprisoning him to make him resentful and angry. Death, this is nothing more than challenging the authority of the emperor."
"That seems to be the truth."
Deng Hong felt that Shen Chen was right. Wasn't Yuan Shu's behavior a challenge to the emperor's authority?
Shen Chen continued: "When I said the words "help the Han Dynasty", Yuan Shu immediately changed his expression, which is enough to show that he has evil intentions in his heart and his desire to become emperor is obvious. If my uncle serves Yuan Shu in the future, his death will be a small matter. It’s a big deal if your reputation is ruined.”
Deng Hong suddenly broke out in a cold sweat and said: "Fortunately, Ah Chen saw his evil intentions, otherwise I would have been really tempted. But now Yuan Shu is so powerful in the south, even if he is proclaimed emperor, no one can control him."
"Is Yuan Shu powerful?"
Shen Chen sneered: "Oh, there are bones in the grave, and you will die by the roadside sooner or later!"