Chapter 1 A letter from home is worth ten thousand yuan
After Sun Jian's death, in the blink of an eye, thousands of trees became forests, the night was full of stars, and it was summer again.
After arranging everything in Henan, Chen Chong took Meng Jian, Fu Qian and several students back to Bingzhou.
They rode lightly across the river bridge into Hanoi, went up to Tianjing Pass and entered Shangdang County, and finally returned to Bingzhou after half a year's absence. Then he followed the Zhang River straight to Huguan, and turned northwest at Huguan. Walking on the Taipei River between the two counties.
Between the Yue Mountains. Looking far into the distance, you can see the green boundary monuments standing under the blue sky. But when we were going down the mountain and crossing the Fenhe River Valley, the weather suddenly changed, and the wind and rain roared in. The storm overnight was like a wild horse galloping along the valley.
, after the wind subsided at dawn, the obscure weather seemed to have covered an iron curtain, and the rain poured down, and it continued for several days, so that the Fenhe River surged and the original pontoon bridge was washed away. Due to the investigation, it turned out that
It was because the ship's cable at the end of the bridge was thin and it broke directly.
But for a while, there were no boatmen to ferry people out, and the land was muddy, so the travelers were unable to move forward. They all stayed in the Sun family's manor on the outskirts of Zhongdu, cooking and resting by fire.
One day when it was getting dark, the rain suddenly stopped, and a ray of golden sunshine came in from outside.
Chen Zhan woke up suddenly. He put on his clothes and went out. He saw the mountains filled with golden light of joy. Only then did he realize that there were several fishing boats on the brilliant Fen River. The fields stretched out on the plains, and the water seemed to be accumulated. The muddy water was black.
Signs of carriages and horses connected the villages in the stars. The water vapor was hazy and Chen Chong could not see clearly, but there seemed to be people riding horses on the road, there seemed to be bullock carts carrying wine jars, and there seemed to be farmers carrying hoes out to farm. It was calm and peaceful,
Not fighting in the world is like what Mr. Wu Liu later said about the peach blossom cave.
Since the failure to challenge Dong, Chen Chong has been arranging the aftermath in Henan. It was difficult when the armies gathered, and it was even more chaotic when they dispersed, resulting in a lot of disturbances. Chen Chong felt the intimacy of walking alone in the wilderness more and more every day, and wished he could fly over Taihang like a wild goose.
, stopped early at home in Jinyang, chatting with his wife at night. At this moment, in the embrace of the river at the foot of the mountain, is the Taiyuan Basin that people dream of, the land that the Han people worked hard like ants. Thousands of years ago, Jin
People entered the Jin Dynasty from Guanzhong, farmed in the vast mountains, and mixed with the barbarian barbarians. They experienced hardship and displacement, natural and man-made disasters, but they had no regrets and never stopped taking root.
Chen Chong couldn't help feeling solemn and said with a sigh:
"What a blessing! How magnificent! May God bless our land and our people, and be immortal! Eternal life!"
By the time it got dark the next day, the group was already on the way into the city. Chen Chong saw an oxcart coming slowly in front of him. Sitting behind the cart was an elder with a long beard in Confucian attire. It was none other than Yuan Taixueji.
Wine Zheng Xuan.
Chen Chong quickly ordered him to stop, dismounted from his horse, stood by the roadside, bowed his hands and bowed respectfully, and saluted the cart. Zheng Xuan asked the driver to stop, carefully looked at the man standing on the roadside and saluted, and finally recognized him.
, couldn't help shouting happily: "Ting Jian! Is that you?"
"It's Ting Jian, brother Kang Cheng, why are you here?"
"Well, Dong Zhuo was in chaos and the world fell apart. I led my disciples to escape from Luoyang. I originally planned to return to my hometown of Gaomi, but the moth thieves there were so violent that I couldn't go back. Fortunately, I met your father, and he suggested that I
When I came to your place, I made a divination and said that the sun would shake from below and it would be beneficial, so I came." After that, both of them laughed.
Zheng Xuan saw that Chen Chong and his accompanying disciples were all wearing military uniforms and leading horses. The mud on the horses' legs was covered with muddy water. He also joked: "Ting Jian and I have known each other for many years, and this is the first time I have seen you in military uniforms!"
At this point, he asked: "I heard that you led the army in Henan to preside over the war against Dong. How was the battle going?"
Chen Chong smiled bitterly. He looked at the disciples around him and said to Zheng Xuan: "Although we have conquered Luoyang, we have not reached Xijing after all. It can be considered a small victory."
Zheng Xuan didn't understand war. He only felt that recovering Luoyang was a top priority. He was overjoyed and said, "Okay, okay! It seems that I will be able to give lectures in Dongdu again soon!"
Zheng Xuan made an appointment with Chen Chong to discuss scriptures at his house in a few days, and then the two of them bowed and said goodbye.
Chen Chong quickly entered the city and went straight to the county mansion. Liu Bei had been waiting for him for a long time. They were both very happy to see each other again, but Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were not around, and they had some regrets. They asked each other why.
Liu Bei said about the situation in Hedong: "Although the great event has been defeated, Hedong is still in my hands. The prince is afraid of Dong Zhuo's conquest, so I have to let Yide temporarily stationed in Anyi. As long as there are still soldiers who can fight, I will stay.
We are here, and those who came back are all wounded soldiers."
Chen Chong said about the situation in Henan: "When I withdrew my troops, Yuan Jiujiu felt that Henan was a piece of white land and it was useless, so he threw Henan to me. He could not give it to Dong Zhuo, so I could only send troops to garrison it. It happened that in March, Yun Chang
When he came back with his army, he actually brought 60,000 refugees from Guanzhong. I asked him to arrange for the refugees to farm in Henan and commended Yunchang as the Yin of Henan."
Speaking of this, both of them sighed. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had always fought with them in the same army, but now they had experienced drastic changes, and they had to start leading an army on their own. Even Wei Yan, who had been with Chen Chong all year round, now also led an army.
With three thousand men, he was stationed at Hangu Pass.
Then he talked about the follow-up of the rest of the Allied forces.
Gongsun Zan and Tian Chou had led the remaining troops back to Youzhou. Before Tian Chou left, he promised Liu Bei that if they planned to challenge Dong next year, Grand Sima would continue to send troops to go with them. However, Gongsun Zan told him in private that Dong Zhuo's power was already established, not
What can be eradicated with swords and weapons is better to stick to the borders and wait for the right time.
"In this way, we still can't count on the allies in Youzhou." Chen Chong remembered that the jujube coalition forces had returned to their respective states and counties. Yuan Shao, as the leader of the coalition, had returned to Bohai. I am afraid that there would soon be a turmoil in Youzhou and Hebei. Although Liu Yu
I am still willing to work hard to defeat Dong, but I am afraid that I will soon be powerless.
On the other hand, Tao Qian sent a letter saying that the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou were becoming more and more rampant, and he still hoped to mobilize his troops back first, and wait until the situation in the state got better before discussing how to attack Dong. This was also human nature, and Chen Chong couldn't stop him, so he
I also agreed.
Speaking of this, Chen Chong thought of what Zheng Xuan said about the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou blocking the road, and sighed to Liu Bei: "It seems that after you left, the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou became even stronger." Thinking that his father, uncle, and others were all in Pingyuan County, but in the past six months, they had lost their lives.
There was no letter from home, nor did he ask Tao Qiuhong and others to evacuate, which made him even more worried. Fortunately, before coming, he had sent an envoy to Pingyuan to deliver a letter. The letter told Chen Ji that if he stayed in Pingyuan,
If you don't want to go down, it's better to come and live in Jinyang, which will make him less worried.
Finally, the two of them talked about the thing they least wanted to talk about. Regarding the aftermath of the Baibo Army, Liu Bei said slowly: "The more than ten thousand Baibo soldiers who followed me south are now all killed, and only a few dozen people escaped.
Yang Shuai and Han Shuai were seriously injured and have now returned to Yuanyang to recuperate. Yuan Zhi also blames himself for this and is now recuperating in Lishi."
Chen Chong was silent for a long time after hearing this. He said: "Shuai Guo is a strong man from the north. He has taken good care of me since I entered Xihe. Now that Hongnong died in battle, he also died for me. These great benefactors,
It is really difficult for me to repay you, but what has happened is irreversible. After Guo Shuai died in the battle, there was another chaos at Baibo, so I will be the one to comfort him."
"What are you going to do?"
"I can't defeat Dong this year. I think the situation is average, so I can only rest for a year and wait until next year to fight again. But Dong Zhuo won't wait for us. He will probably invade our western territory this year. We will have to rely on Bai Bo. Therefore,
I plan to move the state capital to Yuanyang to reorganize it and get rid of the bad and keep the good. Otherwise, I may not be able to serve as a weak soldier."
Liu Bei asked again: "What about Hedong? I see there are quite a lot of big families there, so I'm afraid you need to go and appease them."
"Moving to the state capital is not a quick thing. There is always time to go."
Liu Bei nodded and said, "That's fine. I'll leave these to you, and I can safely recruit troops in Taiyuan and prepare for war."
After the two talked, Liu Bei left Chen Chong to have dinner with him at home. Chen Chong remembered Sun Jian's conversation before his death and refused at first. He laughed and said: "I have been away from Zhao Ji for many years. I came back today, but I haven't met her yet."
I’ve met and stayed with you, I don’t know how she would complain!”
When Liu Bei heard this, he stopped forcing him and stood up to see him out. He smiled and said, "You don't have to worry so much. Li Rong told me that my brothers and sisters did complain a lot about this, but it's not against you, but against me!"
When he arrived at the door, Liu Bei took out a letter from his chest and handed it to Chen Chong, saying: "This is the letter that Duke Yizhen gave me. He asked me to give it to you. He said it was sent to you by Duke Cai."
Chen Chong hurriedly took it. This letter was written in February, and now it is May. I don’t know how many people have forwarded it in the meantime. The envelope is torn, and the paper is yellow, but the handwriting on it is still clearly visible, and the strokes in it are still clearly visible.
Silk and white, as if written with a dry pen, it is Cai Yong's famous Feibai calligraphy in the literary world.
After riding back home, Cai Yan saw that Chen Chong had returned intact. Before she could be happy, Chen Chong pulled her into the study. The two sat down together to read Cai Yong's letters.
Cai Yong's letter was very long. Because he didn't know if he would see each other again, he described a lot of content, as if it were a final entrustment. At the beginning of the letter, he said that everything was well with him in Chang'an and asked Chen Chong not to worry. He was now deeply loved by Dong Zhuo.
Even though Chen Chong raised troops to attack Dong, Dong Zhuo did not get angry because of it, but he was still worried. When he thought that his three daughters were not around, he had trouble sleeping and eating all day long, so he asked Chen Chong about Cai Yanan and hoped that he would be well.
Treat Cai Yan.
After talking about Cai Yan, Cai Yong talked about his other two daughters by the way, saying that when he was in charge of Xihe, he married his second daughter Cai Zhenji to Yang Xu's son Yang Di. Yang Di was a descendant of Taiyang's family, and Chen Chong could contact her.
, may become a big deal, and the third daughter Cai Huiji stayed in his hometown in Chenliuyu County for him. Cai Yong hoped that Chen Chong would take her to Jinyang. As for the remaining clan members, it would be best if they could take care of them. If not, don't force it.
After talking about family matters, Cai Yong talked about his regrets. He had written many articles in his life and countless Confucian classics. However, after thinking about it carefully, the "Han Ji" written in Dongguan was the most meaningful, so he planned to study it for a long time.
"Han Ji", but now he is "full of frost and snow, heart failure and mental exhaustion", and he doesn't know whether he can complete it during his lifetime. If he unfortunately dies halfway, I hope Chen Chong can inherit his unique knowledge and complete "Han Ji".
At the end, Cai Yong comforted Chen Chong again, hoping that he would work hard and not think about himself. After all, life and death are common things in the world. Then he advised Chen Chong not to take risks too often. If many things cannot happen suddenly, it is better to take things slowly.
Pictured. The top priority is harmony between husband and wife and the birth of a son as soon as possible. He is nearly sixty years old and has not yet seen his grandchildren. This is really unbearable.
The signature is "Tai Shi Gong's Gate Dog Cai Yong".
Chen Chong read it first and then again. Cai Yan's face was filled with tears when he heard his father's words as if he were leaving an orphan. Chen Chong also felt like there was a lump in his throat, and the emotions in his chest were even more difficult to understand. He put the letter in a lacquer box and put it on the highest bookshelf for collection.
Then he comforted his wife. After dinner, the couple lay on the couch with their arms around each other. They chatted all night and fell asleep very late.