In the late spring afternoon, Shen Chen was sitting alone under the tree in front of the courtyard.
Sometimes he looked up to see the clouds rolling in the sky, sometimes he looked down to see ants and insects walking around.
Everything is changing, and he needs to change too.
In the morning in the academy, I listened to fellow academy teachers educating him on their backward and decadent values. It made me want to wash my ears.
But even though he felt uncomfortable, he couldn't forcefully fight back, otherwise he would basically be secluded from Shilin.
The atmosphere of impermanence of teachers has emerged in the late Han Dynasty. People can have multiple teachers, but if you openly resist the authority of the teacher and bully the teacher and destroy the ancestors, your reputation will be bad.
This was much more serious than cannibalism and massacre, because in the eyes of people at that time, cannibalism and massacre was not considered social death. Being unfilial to parents, disrespectful to teachers, and disloyal to the emperor was considered social death. The entire literati would despise you and your reputation would be ruined.
Therefore, Shen Chen could only endure it and forcefully reason with them, but he did not dare to tell everyone clearly that Cao Cao was not "serving the emperor in order to win over his subordinates", but "holding the emperor's hand in order to order the princes".
If he really said that, the word would spread out that Jingzhou Shilin's saliva would drown him.
Therefore, judging from the current situation, politically, even when Liu Biao was here, the road to rebel against Cao Cao in Jingzhou was not feasible. The capitulationists were too powerful to cover the sky with only one hand.
He could only find another way, and could not continue his activities under the slogan of being an enemy of Cao Cao. At the same time, he had to consider how to continue to mix in Jingzhou.
First of all, it is necessary to obtain Liu Biao's support.
There were surrender factions everywhere in Jingzhou, but Liu Biao was the only one who harbored treasonous intentions. After pacifying Zhang Xian, he began to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth, traveling like an emperor.
Therefore, he must be on the opposite side of the capitulation faction, and if he can get his support, he will at least have a place in Jingzhou.
Secondly, you must express your respect for the court and the emperor verbally. Even if you are against Cao Cao, you should not be too obvious, but should imply that Cao Cao is a traitor and controls the emperor.
After the Clothing and Belt Edict, this situation should be much better. At that time, we can openly publicize Cao Cao's humiliation of the emperor and use the Clothing and Belt Edict to endorse it.
But it was still a drop in the bucket. After all, eight years after the Yi Dai Zhao incident, Jingzhou Shilin should have surrendered. Only a handful of people defected to Liu Biao because of the Yi Dai Zhao incident, and this incident would not have much impact.
And these are just political positions.
In other battlefields, you must also carve out your own path.
Such as real war.
Using Nanyang as the base, he dealt with Cao Cao behind enemy lines in Guandu, making sure that he could not successfully win the Battle of Guandu.
There are also cultural and classical meanings, which must also have their own right of interpretation.
In this era, the power of cultural interpretation is always in the hands of aristocratic families, so it doesn't matter what they do in the interests of their own family.
Because in their mouths, dirty things will become fair and honest. Even if the people at the bottom are deceived, they have no place to reason.
Just like the deeds of some of the protagonists in the "Twenty-Four Filial Piety", in the eyes of future generations, they are like a group of crazy people.
In a sense, these things are a way for the ruling class and upper-class dignitaries in ancient feudal society to fool the people and make them turn traditional filial piety into blind filial piety.
Does this approach look familiar to future generations?
Some are like the white leftists in later Western countries, who are anti-intellectual, anti-development, and anti-economic. They only care about political correctness and ignore the feelings of most people.
Some of the stories in the "Twenty-Four Filial Piety Pictures" and other fabricated lies are tools used by the ruling class that has the power to interpret culture to turn the people into ignorant and crazy people.
In the eyes of later generations, the ancient life was beautiful, the ancients were kind and simple, the so-called Jian'an style, the legacy of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the literati, and the suave, all are nonsense.
That's all the life of the upper class, and has nothing to do with the people at the bottom?
Mr. Lu Xun once said that when you open a thick history book, there are two words written all over the book: "cannibalism." Great men also once said that feudalism is dark, decadent, and backward, and it suppresses the people. A big mountain above your head.
For ancient society, what is recorded in history are always the stories of the upper-class dignitaries. In addition to being enslaved by them like cattle and sheep, the common people basically will not even leave their names.
Therefore, feudalism is full of dregs everywhere. Just like the teachers and fellow disciples in Xianshan Academy, these values have been established since childhood and are difficult to change.
Although Shen Chen intended to reform, in the era when Mr. Shen and the great man lived, revolutionary thoughts had already arisen around the world. A large number of progressive young people could realize the dangers of feudalism, and only then could they finally overthrow feudalism and create a new era.
And what about him?
He is the only progressive young man.
The dregs of feudalism are deeply rooted.
To knock down this mountain is like a worm shaking a tree, how easy is it?
Therefore, he must consider that for the time being, he can only choose to follow the game rules and values of this world, and then find ways to change the rules until he slowly masters the rules and owns them.
To put it simply, it is to seize power first, wait until you reach a high position, and then carry out ideological and cultural transformation from top to bottom, slowly destroying this dark and corrupt mountain.
Therefore, Shen Chen must find a suitable method in politics, war, and culture in the future, temporarily adapt to the times, first follow the tide of the times, then gradually stand on the top of the trends of the times, and finally change the times.
Just saying that, but everything is difficult at the beginning, and he has no clue at the moment. His mind just feels like a blur, he can't think of anything, and he doesn't know what to do now, which is very annoying.
"So annoying."
Shen Chen scratched his head vigorously. He didn't know whether it was because he had too many thoughts or because he felt that he had no purpose. He was so confused that he couldn't calm down for a moment.
"Maybe I should find someone to talk to. Maybe I can change my mind and someone can help me come up with ideas."
He raised his head and looked at the sky, with countless thoughts in his mind and muttering to himself.
Ever since I said goodbye to Zhuge Liang by the river when I returned to Huangmenting during the annual vacation at the end of last year, there has been no news from Zhuge Liang for more than three months.
I just came back from Nanyang today. I originally wanted to go back to the academy first and then go to Longzhong in two days, but now it seems that I should go to Liu Xian's residence in the afternoon to ask about Zhou Buji's affairs, and then I can go directly to Longzhong in the evening.
She made up her mind, and while she was thinking about it, Ms. Cai shouted at the door: "Ah Chen, let's eat first."
"good."
Shen Chen called Zhou Buyi and went to the front hall to have dinner first.
After eating, he took Zhou Buji out to Xian Liu's mansion.
Liu Xian and Deng Hong are colleagues, and both work for Liu Biao. They should be at work now, but they will get off work soon, so they go to the mansion to wait.
Unexpectedly, after arriving at Liu Xian's residence, Zhou Buyi's mother was there. It turned out that Zhou Buyi's father died of illness, and Liu Xian was afraid that his sister and nephew would have no one to take care of them in Lingling, so he took them to Xiangyang.
Seeing Zhou's mother, Shen Chen cupped his hands and said, "Auntie."
Seeing Zhou Buyi come back, Zhou's mother was surprised and said: "Buyi, why are you back?"
Zhou Buji said: "I don't want to study in the academy anymore. I want to study with Brother Achen. His knowledge is better than the teacher."
Zhou's mother's face suddenly darkened. She was about to teach him a lesson when the sound of a carriage sounded outside the mansion. Mr. Liu actually left work early. He hurriedly got off the carriage. When he saw Shen Chen and Zhou Bujie, he also wondered: "Ah Chen, No doubt, what are you doing here?"
Shen Chen smiled bitterly and said: "Master said that my knowledge has surpassed his, so he asked me to leave the mountain and go down the mountain."
"oh."
Liu Xian thought for a while and said, "I'm afraid you fought with Cao Cao in Nanyang and offended that guy."
Compared with Song Zhong Wang Can, Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and other Jingzhou surrender factions, although Liu Xian later became the Minister of Cao Wei, he was the kind of person who was loyal to whomever he served.
For example, Liu Biao later sent him to Xuchang to meet Cao Cao. At that time, Cao Cao had already won a complete victory in the Battle of Guandu and almost captured the entire north.
After Cao Cao met Liu Xian, he blamed Liu Biao and insulted Liu Biao, which made Liu Xian very angry. In public, he sternly refuted Cao Cao's accusations against Liu Biao. He was mainly loyal and had some character.
Now there are countless surrender factions in Jingzhou, and those who support Liu Biao like him are only a few. But perhaps because of this, Liu Biao values him, and others like Deng Yi and Han Song were punished by Liu Biao.
Seeing that Liu Xian had guessed the reason, Shen Chen didn't hide it, nodded and said: "Everyone has his own ambitions. Master Shijun and others think that Cao Cao is Duke Zhou or Huo Guang, who can restore the Han Dynasty, but I think Cao Cao is Wang Mang or Dong Zhuo, just manipulating power. , so there are some differences. By the way, Mr. Shizong, why is it worth leaving so early today?"
Liu Xian slapped his forehead and said: "Yes, I have to hurry up. Let's not talk about it for now. Your uncle is still waiting for me. I will go back to pack a few clothes first. It may take a few days to come back."
"what happened?"
Shen Chen was puzzled, it seemed like Liu Xian was going on a business trip with his uncle?
Liu Xian walked home and said: "Yinyi is critically ill, and the situation may not be good. Youshuo and I will go to Longzhong to take a look first."
After saying that, he already entered the house.
Shen Chen was shocked. Zhuge Xuan was critically ill?
When did this happen? Why haven’t I heard of it before?
I suddenly remembered that Zhuge Xuan died of illness this year, and then the sixteen-year-old Zhuge Liang and his two brothers went to Nanyang in person.
Communication was very inconvenient in this era. He went to Nanyang for three months, but he didn't know that Zhuge Xuan had been in poor health since the beginning of this year.
The last time Deng Hong came back to report to Liu Biao about the battle in Nanyang, Zhuge Xuan kept coughing. Now more than half a month has passed, and his health has not improved.
Due to the special nature of the times, once a person gets sick, it is not known whether he will recover. Therefore, when the illness is serious, his family members will be notified as soon as possible and come to see him for the last time.
Among the many Han bamboo slips unearthed in Dunhuang in later generations, there are many family letters from Dunhuang officials. They are basically letters to notify relatives in distant places when family members are sick. Often, the person has died before the letter is sent.
Therefore, Zhuge Xuan didn't feel very good about himself now, so he sent people to inform his friends Deng Hong and Liu Xian. In addition, he also sent people to notify Zhuge Liang's two sisters.
Although Shen Chen and Zhuge Xuan had a good relationship, he was a junior after all and had no direct relatives. Zhuge Liang was a relatively strong person and would not seek help from his friends when encountering setbacks, so no one informed him.
But even if no one informed him, he still had to go.
So after hearing about this, he entrusted Zhou Bujie to Zhou's mother. He immediately got on the carriage and asked his servants to take him to Longzhong.