Although he had a close relationship with Gan Ning, Gan Ning was a straight-tempered person. Even though he had read books, he was often rejected because of his personality.
For example, when he was under Liu Zhang, he rebelled from Yizhou because he was disgusted with Liu Zhang and his son.
Later, when he was under Liu Biao, he was so depressed that he left at once and wanted to go down the river to Sun Quan in Jiangdong.
Therefore, although Shen Chen's words were very sensitive, they felt very comfortable to Gan Ning's ears.
He was originally a person who did whatever he wanted. These were his true thoughts. Shen Chen just spoke what was in his heart.
For a time, Shen Chen and I seemed like old friends. We talked about a lot of heart-to-heart things, and both of us were very happy when we talked about it.
Soon the food came. Gan Ning, who was rich and wealthy, was indeed very luxurious. The food was all venison, bear paws and the like. No wonder he was not popular with others.
A rich second generation came to the military camp to experience life. His immediate boss Zhang Yun did not have such luxury.
Seeing that the food was so rich, Deng Hong, who had been reserved before, suddenly felt that the dry food he had eaten before was no longer fragrant, and he finished several bowls of venison.
Although he gained weight by eating late night snacks, Shen Chen was at the time when he was growing taller, so he naturally accepted everyone who came and ate with his mouth full of fat.
The two of them chatted happily with Gan Ning. After dinner, they talked about some scriptures and articles before falling asleep separately.
The next day, the grandfather and grandson were preparing to leave again. Gan Ning sent them outside the south city gate. When they were leaving, he said, "Ah Chen is very smart. What are your plans for the future?"
Shen Chen glanced at Nanyang in the distance and said softly: "Nanyang will be in flames of war in the next few years. I want to grow here. When the time comes, I can lead my troops to leave Zhang Yun and go with me."
"Liu Biao won't mind?"
Gan Ning was puzzled.
Leaving Zhang Yun is equivalent to leaving Liu Biao. This is even another defection. And how could Liu Biao allow forces beyond his control to dominate his territory?
Shen Chen said with a smile: "Liu Biao is very excited. He needs someone to guard the northern gate for him in Nanyang. As long as he respects him as the supreme one, he has nothing to do even if he listens to the instructions but not the propaganda. Just watch, sir. I will tell you next year What should you do."
"Oh well."
Gan Ning nodded in agreement. It was precisely because he had read books and had the ability to distinguish talents from others that he admired Shen Chen's knowledge very much.
However, Gan Ning also understood that reading only increases people's wisdom, but it does not mean that reading can make people understand the world's situation, so he is just listening for now. When he is convinced, it will still take time to verify.
It's like there are a large number of Confucian scholars in Jingzhou who often discuss the general trend of the world, but Sima Hui, a famous scholar in Yingchuan, dismisses them. Only Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong can fall into his eyes.
It is because although these Confucian scholars have read books, their ability to analyze situations is very poor. They are far from the level of Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang, so naturally they are not good at it.
But Shen Chen's analysis seems to make sense. For example, he said that the reason why the war broke out in Nanyang was the Great Rebellion in Guanzhong. The internal struggle between Li Jue and Guo Si would inevitably crowd out some Guanzhong warlords, and these people were likely to follow suit. Wuguan came to Nanyang.
In addition, after the situation in Henan stabilizes, the princes in Henan will definitely covet the land and population of Nanyang. Liu Biao does not practice martial arts and has poor military capabilities, so there will definitely be a conflict in Nanyang.
But after all, these are only current situation judgments. Whether they can be fulfilled or not needs to be based on facts. Therefore, Gan Ning does not believe what others say. When he finds out that what Shen Chen said is correct in the future, he will naturally make his choice.
After bidding farewell to Gan Ning, the grandfather and grandson once again got on the donkey cart and set off. They arrived at the dock in the south of Fancheng, boarded a ferry boat, and crossed the river to Xiangyang.
The Han River is magnificent, and Xiangyang still stands on the other side of the river. It seems to be two different worlds from the Nanyang Basin in the north.
The Nanyang Basin stretches as far as the eye can see. Apart from dense forests and vast grassland-like plains, only the faint outlines of the Funiu Mountains and Dabie Mountains can be seen in the distance.
Xiangyang, on the other hand, is nestled in the easternmost part of the Daba Mountains, a branch of the Qinling Mountains. Behind it, it seems to be surrounded by boundless mountains, lush and green, and surrounded by trees.
Covered in the forest, the first thing that catches the eye is the vast land on the northeastern coast. Countless cottages and houses are lined up neatly, stretching from Xian Mountain in the distance to the bank of Han River, stretching for more than ten kilometers.
A large number of Xiangyang people live on the land here, and most of them are aristocratic families. For example, the Pang family, Kuai family, Cai family, etc. of Xiangyang.
When Liu Biao first came to Jingzhou, he relied on these three aristocratic families to gain a foothold.
Now, since Pang Ji, who helped Liu Biao conquer Jingzhou, died of illness, Pang Degong is unwilling to serve as an official, so at the official level, Cai and Kuai are the main ones.
However, most of these two clans lived in the city, and the large area of land outside the city near the Han River was mostly inhabited by the Pang family and other ordinary people. In later generations, there was an inner ring road in Xiangyang, near the Dongjin Bridge, and the Pang family ancestral hall.
The boat that the grandfather and grandson were traveling on was not an ordinary small boat, but a large boat that could accommodate hundreds of people. At this time, a large migrating clan happened to come from Guanzhong. Although it was not as good as the thousands of people in Huangmenting, there were still about a hundred people.
Deng Hong and Shen Chen talked with the migrating troops on the road and learned that they were from Shangluo, Guanzhong, and their surname was Zhang. Since this year, Guanzhong was in chaos, and there was no one left in Dingkou, so they had to move to Jingzhou.
After asking, I found out that the clan surnamed Zhang was considered powerful in Shangluo. The family owned more than 200 hectares of land and barely survived last year's severe drought. But starting from this year, the situation in Guanzhong has deteriorated.
The main reason was drought, plague, locust plague and other issues, and the secondary reason was internal discord among Li Jue, Guo Si and others.
At the beginning of this year, Li Jue killed Fan Chou, causing the conflict to become public. The two sides called on their friends to attack each other in Chang'an City and around Chang'an, making the entire Guanzhong people miserable.
The key point is that they gave up the fight and sent troops to plunder the people. The people were not rich to begin with, but now it is even worse. Even the powerful can't hold on and have no choice but to leave their homes.
During the interrogation process, Shen Chen got a key piece of information: Emperor Liu Xie was kidnapped by Li Jue, while Guo Bin held Yang Biao, Zhang Xi and other ministers hostage.
It seems that history is still moving forward according to his own course, and nothing has changed because of this little butterfly from Xuzhou.
Maybe it almost changed.
For example, if Cao Ren is killed, Cao Cao may have huge changes in his future battles.
But in that case Liu Bei's situation would be very bad.
Therefore, Shen Chen could only swallow his breath for the time being and wait for an opportunity in the future to avenge Zeng Yang's hundreds of relatives.
After the grandfather and grandson disembarked from the boat, they said goodbye to the Zhang family, then took the donkey cart and drove slowly towards Xiangyang City.
This city, which would be in turmoil for more than a thousand years in the future, was experiencing rapid growth in population due to the chaos in the north.
Yizhou and Jingzhou are two of the few relatively stable areas at present. As a result, all industries are prosperous, commerce and trade are developed, and there are countless foreign merchants and immigrants from north to south, bringing prosperity to this ancient city.
After entering the city, you will see a variety of market scenes. Walking along the East Street, there are many shops on the left and right, street vendors selling their goods and shouting, and countless businessmen and people passing by.
There were very few beggars in rags on the streets. Compared with the countless miserable human beings we saw along the way from Xuzhou, Jingzhou was considered a short-lived land of peace and tranquility, without any worries about the world.
What's more important is that this is far from reaching its peak. Liu Biao has just conquered Jingzhou less than four years ago. In the past few years, there has been a severe drought in the north, but the weather in the south has been relatively smooth, and the grain output has remained stable, creating this prosperous age.
A few years later, when Liu Biao completely pacified Jingnan, the forces and the overall strength of Jingzhou had reached a very high level, with more than 100,000 men in armor, even more powerful than Cao Cao at that time.
Going south from East Street to the governor's residence in the city, Deng Hong asked the guard for a report. When he learned that the Deng family's descendants had finally arrived, Liu Biao ordered them to be taken to the central hall.
After entering the middle hall, what is surprising is that besides Liu Biao, there are several people in the middle hall, and one of them is actually an acquaintance.
Zhuge Xuan.
After Deng Hong and Shen Chen entered the door, they first saluted Liu Biao and said, "Hong, I have met the envoy in the morning."
"sit."
Liu Biao looked around and introduced: "These are the descendants of the Deng family who migrated from Xuzhou, Deng Hong, named Youshuo, and his grandson Shen Chen. I saw that they were talented, so I conquered them."
After that, he pointed at someone and said: "Deng Hongchenchen, let me introduce you to you. This is my chief clerk, Kuai Liang, whose courtesy name is Zirou."
The two looked over.
I saw Kuai Liang sitting in the first seat under Liu Biao's right hand. He was obviously of high status. He was about forty years old, with a clean face, a goatee, and sharp eyes.
"I've seen Master Kuai's book."
The two of them saluted.
Kuai Liang also nodded in greeting.
Liu Biao pointed to another person and said: "This is my Zhizhong engaged in Deng Yi, whose courtesy name is Zixiao."
"I met Deng Zhizhong."
Deng Hong asked curiously: "I wonder if Zhizhong is a new savage?"
Deng Yi replied: "I am from Zhangling."
"oh."
Deng Hong said nothing.
The Deng family in Nanyang is a wealthy family, but it does not mean that all people in Nanyang named Deng are descendants of Deng Yu.
For example, Deng Ai may not be a descendant of Deng Yu, and there are other people named Deng who may have been in the same family 800 years ago, but are now distinguished from the descendants of Deng Yu.
Liu Biao continued to introduce: "This is my special job, Liu He, whose name is Laozhi."
Liu Laozhi?
Shen Chen next to him looked surprised.
Deng Hong greeted him politely and said, "I've seen you before."
Shen Chen reacted quite quickly and immediately followed suit.
Liu He didn't pay attention to this, and nodded in greeting.
The last person is Zhuge Xuan.
Zhuge Xuan said with a smile: "I would like to introduce you to you, Youshuo and I have known each other for a long time."
"You have known each other before."
Liu Biao was very surprised. He suddenly slapped his forehead again and said, "Oh, by the way, look at my brain. Yinyi came from Xuzhou, and so did Youshuo. Could it be on the way?"
Zhuge Xuan nodded and said, "We met in Yuzhang. If it weren't for Ah Chen, I'm afraid Xuan would have become the ghost of Liu Yao's sword."
"What happened?"
Liu Biao asked.
Zhu Ge
When his army arrived in Yuzhang, if I had not written to him a long time ago, he would not have returned to Jingzhou safely."
When everyone heard his words, their eyes suddenly changed when they looked at Shen Chen.