Liu Bei actually didn't hate Cao Cao that much. He even received help from Cao Cao in his early years. If it weren't for Cao Cao, he would have been killed by Lu Bu and Yuan Shu.
The hostility between them mainly stems from their different positions.
Cao Cao held the emperor hostage, and Liu Xie issued clothes and edicts to Liu Bei, begging him to save his life. Naturally, conflicts arose between the two sides.
After that, Liu Bei also slowly went to the south and developed into a prince, and joined the princes' struggle for hegemony.
In this way, he and Cao Cao began to compete for territory, thus forming a natural hostile relationship.
But from a personal perspective, both Liu Bei and Guan Yu were favored by Cao Cao.
Therefore, from a personal emotional point of view, Liu Bei did not hate Cao Cao very much, but was somewhat emotional after his death.
But Shen Chen was different.
The souls of hundreds of villagers gathered in Zhuanyang are still watching from the sky.
Uncle Qi's eyes that were not closed before his death were always in his mind, and they couldn't get rid of them.
When Cao Cao massacred Xuzhou, more than thirty of Chenchen's close relatives died. He could name and address each of them. Among them, there were seven or eight cousins who had played with him since childhood. .
The two sides are no longer as simple as having a deep hatred, but the hatred is as deep as the sea.
The five culprits currently responsible for the massacre of the city were Cao Ren, Cao Hong, and Xiahou Dun. Now adding Cao Cao is not enough. Xiahou Yuan will have to be sent to him in the future.
So Shen Chen wished that Cao Cao would die.
In his eyes, Cao Cao was a scumbag, so how could he be like Liu Bei and still have a hint of regret?
The only pity is that Cao Cao did not die in his hands, that's all.
At the end of January of the 25th year of Jian'an, Shen Chen returned to Jingzhou.
Receiving Cao Cao's good news did not bring any changes to Shen Chen, and there were not many changes to the Liu Bei Group.
The difference is that officials from all over Jingyi have an additional layer of confidence in the crusade against Jiangdong.
For Cao Wei, this year is obviously not an easy year.
Cao Cao had just died at the end of last year, and in January the news spread throughout the north and south, causing panic and civil unrest in various places. As soon as Cao Pi took office as King of Wei, he was busy quelling the chaos everywhere.
In addition to the die-hard loyalists of Cao Wei, many people in the lower bureaucracy had a very different attitude towards Cao Pi. The Cao Wei Group's control over the local area also declined a lot, which made Cao Pi worried.
Fortunately, although the older generation was almost dead, the second generation clan group of Cao Wei could barely support the situation.
For example, Cao Xiu, a thousand-mile horse of the Cao family, Cao Zhen, a famous general who fought against Shu, and Xiahou Shang, who was an intimate and a minion, were all over forty years old. Even Xiahou Ba was over thirty, and they were all capable of taking on important responsibilities.
Besides Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen, Xia Hou Shang, Xia Hou Ba, Cao Zhang was also a fierce general.
However, Cao Zhang was Cao Cao's biological son, and Cao Pi was still a little wary of him. After he succeeded to the throne, he did not dare to give him military power, and it was a pity to let him leave the country.
But even so, Cao Pi sent the second generation of the clan to guard various places and quell the rebellion, but the situation was still unstable.
Many people thought that the Han Dynasty was about to rise, and countless people sent letters to the south. Even Liu Xie had many more people secretly writing to him. It seemed that many "loyal ministers" of the Han Dynasty came to the court overnight. It can be seen that How serious was Cao Wei's internal turmoil?
The Cao Wei Group is already in such difficulty, let alone the Jiangdong Group.
Since the end of last year, Sun Quan's rear has been extremely unstable. The Shanyue Uprising has continued, and aristocratic families from all over the country have changed their direction. Even if Cao Cao accepted Sun Quan before his death and made him the Duke of Wei and Wu, it still could not stabilize the hearts of the people.
From the beginning of December to the end of January, there were more than a dozen rebellions, large and small. The people in Jiangdong were also alienated from the Sun regime. Grassroots control was seriously affected, and Sun Quan was almost exhausted.
The only good news is that most of the families in the Jiangdong Group want to follow Cao Wei and not Liu Bei, so in order to prevent Liu Bei from really getting Jiangdong and destroying their interests, they can only bite the bullet and continue to support them. Sun Quan.
On the other hand, although civil unrest also occurred in the rear of Liu Bei's group, it was quickly put down and the people were appeased. They are currently actively recuperating and waiting for the start of the war to attack Jiangdong in the spring and summer of this year.
On January 27, Shen Chen, the newly appointed shepherd of Jingzhou and the governor of Nanzhou, sent his family back to Xiangyang and set off non-stop to inspect various places.
He did not go to Nanyang.
Because Nanyang was not greatly affected, Zhou Buyi also did an outstanding job as the new Nanyang governor. He not only appeased the people's livelihood in various places, but also mobilized people to work as corvees and built dams north of the Han River to prevent flooding on the north bank of the Han River from happening again.
Therefore, the main places Shen Chen inspected were Nanjun, Jiangxia and other places that were severely affected by floods, especially Jiangxia. This flood had almost destroyed all the farmland that had been cultivated in the Anlu area.
Now we have to start all over again, allocate food funds to the people affected by the disaster, and organize reclamation again. The financial pressure on the state government is actually relatively large.
However, no matter how difficult it was, we had to grit our teeth and persevere. We could only divert the spare grain and grass from Nanyang and Jingnan to subsidize the people of Nanjun and Jiangxia.
Xiangyang, Longzhong Township, Suiting.
In just over two months, the changes here seem to have been earth-shaking.
After the floods last September, Suiting turned into a beach. At first, it was filled with submerged farmland and villages, with ruins and walls covered with a thick layer of sand.
After the relocated people returned to their hometowns, they cleaned up the silt under the organization of the government, and used the washed up river bottom silt to cultivate farmland.
This is the instruction given by Shen Chen.
Because the river bottom silt is rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, it is very beneficial to the growth of crops. With the retting technology, if used properly, the harvest next May will be a good harvest month.
"Mr. Mao Changgong, this is the place where I gave lectures. It was originally a very large rural market, but now it has not been built yet. It should be able to return to its former prosperity in a few months."
Shen Chen walked in the countryside with Xue Yong, the new governor of Nanjun.
Xue Yong is the son of Xue Lan, a general under Lu Bu. After Xue Lan was killed by Cao Cao, Xue Yong defected to Liu Bei and followed Liu Bei for many years. After Shen Chen resigned as the governor of Nanjun, he was appointed by Liu Bei to Xiangyang.
The two of them and more than a dozen of their followers were riding horses and slowly watching on the country road. Some of the surrounding villagers were building houses, some were clearing the mud from the fields, and some were pulling out flooded tents in the fields. Wheat, we are already preparing to plant rice after spring.
Sumai is usually planted in autumn and winter and harvested in spring and summer. However, during the war last winter, the original Sumai was drowned by floods. It is obviously no longer possible to alternately plant Sumai and summer millet like in Nanyang.
Therefore, the government simply took advantage of the Han River water conservancy to build canals, ponds, and flood control dams along the river, diverted water into the plain areas to irrigate rice, and changed the crops to Champa rice and Han rice.
In this way, even if floods occur again in the future, because the rice fields are highly resistant to floods and are located to the north of the Han River, there will be less drought, which can greatly improve the viability of crops.
"The commander-in-chief knew astronomy and geography, and he saved hundreds of thousands of people in Xiangfan before the flood came. It's admirable."
Xue Yong looked at the busy countryside and couldn't help but sigh: "Now the villagers can return to their hometowns and start a new life again. All this is due to the governor."
Shen Chen smiled and nodded: "Mao Changgong is so complimentary."
They continued to move forward.
Unexpectedly, there were many people gathered on the country road ahead. People were cursing something indignantly, and several villagers were quickly heading over there.
The group of people dismounted and went over to watch the fun.
"What's going on here?"
Shen Chen asked curiously.
One of the onlookers said: "Someone was caught stealing cloth."
"oh?"
Shen Chen frowned.
Longzhong Township is a place of moral excellence, but now are bandits appearing?
So he took advantage of his height to look over the crowd.
Many people around saw him.
However, since Shen Chen has not returned to Longzhong Township for a long time, everyone only remembers his appearance as a boy. Moreover, his skin is now tanned and he is wearing coarse cloth casual clothes. They just feel familiar and think he is from the village, but there is no trace of him. People recognized him.
In the middle of the crowd, he saw a ragged young man with his head lowered and silent. He had no clothes on his upper body and his trousers were in tatters, barely covering his body.
The owner of the cloth and his relatives tied his hands and shouted: "You are a cloth-stealing bandit. You actually came to our Longzhong Township to commit crimes. You are so bold. Don't you know that this was once the place where Mr. Shen gave lectures?" "
When the thief heard these words, he seemed to collapse and cried mournfully: "My home was flooded, and I came out to steal because I had no other choice."
The owner of the cloth pointed around and said: "Your home was flooded, weren't we? What's more, now the government also provides food to help us reclaim fields and build houses. Why do you still come out to steal?"
The thief wailed: "My father died of illness. I only have my mother and two younger sisters. We don't even have any clothes at home. They can only curl up in bed all day without going out. I am going to Xiangyang today to find some work and earn some money to buy a horse." The cloth was used to make clothes for my mother and sister. I was passing through this village and had evil thoughts when I saw the cloth. I plead guilty and am willing to be punished, even if my head is killed. I just want the clothes on my body to be sent back and don't let Mr. Shen know about it. This matter."
"I didn't expect him to be so pitiful."
"Even if you are pitiful, you can't steal. No one has committed a crime in Longzhong Township for many years."
"Yes, when Mr. Shen was giving lectures in the village, when everyone encountered disputes, they would ask him to comment. He always spoke clearly and convincingly. Since then, breaking the law has been a shame in our village, even if Mr. Shen no longer , sometimes there were disputes, and when I think of Mr. Shen, they were settled quickly. This is the first time I have encountered a thief."
Everyone was talking.
Seeing how pitifully he was crying, the owner of the cloth felt soft-hearted and said, "Forget it. For the sake of your filial piety for your mother, I'll let you go and go back."
The thief immediately knelt down and kowtowed gratefully: "Thank you, thank you."
"Who reported the crime?"
At this time, several well-ordered robbers came in through the crowd, and one of them muttered: "We haven't had a robber case in Longzhong Township for many years, but we encountered one today. It's really strange."
The owner of the cloth said: "I reported the case, but I saw that this man was pitiful and decided to let him go. I'm really sorry for you."
The leader of the team, Youzhi, said: "If this is the case, then so be it."
He said getting ready to go back.
But someone in the crowd shouted: "Wait!"
Everyone looked over immediately.
I saw a tall man standing among the crowd, and it was he who was speaking.
Shen Chen actually gave lectures in Longzhong Township for three or four years, and he was still in his teens. Most of the rest of the time was either fighting with Sun Quan, fighting with Cao Cao, or at Huangmenting in Nanyang, and there were very few Return to Longzhong.
Therefore, with the big change in appearance, the villagers did not recognize him at first, until someone looked at him and he looked more and more familiar, and asked tentatively: "Mr. Shen?"
"It's me."
Shen Chen grinned and said.
"Mr. Shen is back, oh no, General Zuo is back."
Suddenly the crowd was in an uproar.
Some people gathered around him and wanted to say hello enthusiastically, some shouted loudly and were extremely excited, and some even ran away—preparing to go back and tell their families to come and see God.
"Everyone, everyone."
Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, Shen Chen quickly lowered his hands to signal for silence and said: "Today I went back to Longzhong to inspect the countryside just to see everyone's current situation, to see if the government was allocating funds for disaster relief, and to see if anyone was there If you find any corruption, shirk or inaction in the government, you must inform me."
"No, no, grain trucks arrive on time every day to deliver grain to everyone. Now the grain is stored in the warehouse built in the pavilion. Every household receives it, and the old pavilion chiefs gather in the village every day. I am busy with work, guiding everyone in rebuilding, and people from the Xiangyang government come here every day."
"Yes, this is all the work of General Zuo. If it weren't for the general, we people might have drowned. When we Longzhong Township people heard that it was General Zuo who asked us to move, we all set off immediately It won’t stop.”
"Yes, I heard that some people in the neighboring township and other counties were not willing to relocate. After being forcibly relocated, they spoke ill of the general behind his back. As a result, now, I am afraid that they regret it so much that they want to slap themselves in the face."
Everyone talked one after another.
Xue Yong said: "Everyone, the governor is no longer General Zuo. He is now the governor of Jingzhou Mu and Nanzhou."
"The general has been promoted again? The emperor has a keen eye for people, so he should allow a talented person like the governor to be promoted."
"If we have Mr. Jingzhou here, we can always maintain peace."
"By the way, what did the governor mean when he said wait?"
Everyone was generous with their praises, and some were confused as to why Shen Chen just said "take your time" and what he meant.
Shen Chen walked out of the crowd and walked to the center of the crowd, in front of the owner of the cloth and the thieves.
At this time, when the thief heard that Shen Chen was coming, he buried his head in the ground in shame, wishing he could find a crack to get in.
But Shen Chen walked straight up to him and said to him, "What's your name?"
"王王黑."
"Is that your real name?"
"Yes."
"Where do you live?"
"Fengting Pavilion on the North Bank of Longzhong."
"Are you sure?"
"Sure."
Wang Hei was a little firmer this time.
Shen Chen nodded and said: "Although the owner of the cloth is willing to let you go, your theft is a fact and you should be punished. According to the crime of theft, I will sentence you to two years in prison. Do you have any complaints?"
The value of a piece of cloth in the Han Dynasty was still very high. In the peaceful times of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the value of a piece of linen cloth was about 300 to 600 yuan.
But these are troubled times, and the prices of in-demand goods such as grain and cloth have skyrocketed. Even in Jingzhou, where prices are relatively stable, the price of a piece of linen is close to a thousand dollars.
It doesn't look like much, but in terms of value, according to the law at that time, it would have been a life sentence.
Because "Book of Han·Criminal Law" says: "What is not a thing is called theft." "Ling Ling" says: "Those who steal two taels of gold abandon the market. This person will get the stolen goods, and the lost thing will be worth three taels of gold." "
The crime of theft was a very serious crime in the Han Dynasty and was divided into four levels. If you steal an item worth 1 to 22 qian, you will be fined 1 tael.
If you steal an item worth 22 to 110 yuan, you will be fined 4 taels.
110 to 220, closed for 3 years.
220 to 660, closed for 5 years.
660 five baht coins to two taels of gold, life imprisonment, and inscriptions on his face.
For more than two taels of gold, abandon the market.
In the Han Dynasty, a pound of gold was worth 10,000 gold, and sixteen taels were equivalent to one pound, so one tael of gold was worth 625 gold, and two taels of gold was worth 1,250 gold.
In other words, if you steal more than 1,250 yuan, you will be beheaded.
What this man stole was a piece of linen, worth nearly a thousand dollars, so according to the previous law, he would have to have his face engraved on his face and be imprisoned for life.
But later Shen Chen thought that this crime was too serious, so he canceled the death penalty for the crime of theft. The maximum penalty was only three to ten years, and the sentencing was basically similar to that of later generations.
After hearing Shen Chen's words, the thief said without hesitation: "I accept the punishment."
"Um."
Shen Chen nodded, and then said to those Youzhi: "Go to Fengting to check and see if what he said is true. If it is true, then ask Fengting to send someone to the government to collect the information." A piece of cloth should be sent to his family, and his mother and sister should be supported by the government, so that the villagers can help his family cultivate some fields."
"only."
Several people with rank hurriedly went to check.
The thief named Wang Hei was shocked and cried: "I have committed a crime. Why do you still support my family and give me a piece of cloth?"
Shen Chen said: "Jingzhou suffered from floods and many families were separated. It is the government's obligation to help with disaster relief and support. As for giving you a piece of cloth, it is not a gift, but a loan. You stole it for your mother and sister, and you stole it for your mother and sister. I'm afraid that I know your fault, which shows that you have filial piety and shame. Since you have filial piety and shame, you will definitely be able to correct your mistakes. I am doing this just to encourage you to change your ways. I hope you can behave well in prison in the future, as soon as possible Come out. Don't feel humbled by this incident in the future. As long as you correct your mistakes and become an upright person, then everyone will respect you. I hope you can understand my good intentions. After you come out of prison, Farm or work hard, support your mother and sister, and return the half piece of cloth I lent you as soon as possible. When you can return it depends on your efforts and determination."
Hearing these words, Wang Hei burst into tears and kept kowtowing: "I, Wang Hei, will never commit any crime again. From now on, if Mr. and the people of Longzhong do anything to me, I am willing to be an ox or a horse in return." "
"Go ahead."
Shen Chen waved his hand, signaling for the thief to take him away.
See this scene.
Xue Yong finally understood the reason why Shen Chen was so respected in the countryside, and couldn't help but sigh deeply: "No wonder the world says that the governor is a saint in this world. I am afraid that only the ancient sages have such moral education. Long Zhongsheng The profound influence of virtue is far greater than the power of punishment!"