In the early morning of the seventh day of March, the weather was still a little cold, but the mountains in Guanzhong had completely shed the spring snow, revealing a green and yellow color, just like the wheat seedlings in the nearby fields. The busiest time in spring has passed, and farmers
We were free again, so we made an appointment with each other.
I prepared my hunting bow and sword and planned to go into the mountains to collect some wild animals. So on both sides of the road, women weaving bamboo baskets could be seen everywhere. Above their heads, migratory birds returning from the north had also built new nests, and there were many nests along the road.
Their joyful singing made Chen Chong, who was riding among them, also feel happy.
In the past four years, he has been in charge of the center and left all military matters to Liu Bei.
Since there is no need to lead the army in battle,
Naturally, there is no need to ride horses. But Chen Chong still rode out of the city from time to time.
One is to imply that he is always ready to fight and dare not relax even a little. The other is that he has been sitting in a cramped house for a long time, which makes him feel depressed. Only by galloping in the wind can he feel relaxed.
But now that he is a highly respected minister, he can no longer travel alone as he did when he was young. The staff accompanying him at this moment include Tian Zhao, Wu Yu, Li Yi, Yang Xiu and others, and there are more than ten soldiers guarding him.
Riding horses on the road, many pedestrians took the initiative to avoid them. Even if they were walking slowly, no one around them dared to step forward. This made Chen Chong feel slightly lonely and thought to himself: There seemed to be many people accompanying him, but he
But it seems like I am alone.
But this sentiment lasted only for a moment, and he was forgotten about it in an instant. Chen Chong knew clearly what he was doing.
He also knows who his companions are, and he also knows the consequences of his actions. Experience tells him,
Time spent regretting is the most meaningless. Only by constantly moving forward can we go further.
They walked all the way to Kunming Pond. When they arrived, it was already three o'clock in the morning. The rising sun had only a faint outline in the clouds, but the sky was already clear. They could see white clouds, clear wind, clear water, and green water, which was refreshing. Chen Chong walked along the east bank of the willow forest.
As I walked, I saw two brown stone statues, so I stopped here for a while.
Although Yang Xiu was good at writing, he was not good at riding horses. At this time, he was out of breath when he got off his horse. His two horses were fighting and he could not stand upright. He asked Chen Chong: "Ming Gong, although I have traveled in the past, I can only leave the city for two seconds."
, why did you walk for most of an hour today?"
Chen Chong glanced at him and said with a smile: "Dezu is only twenty years old, the age when his blood is surging. Are you complaining now? How many more years will it take?
You guard one side, and then run rampant across Mobei, strangling Shi Yanran!"
Yang Xiu sighed and said, "Then Mr. Ming has found the wrong person."
"Dezu is saying that I look down on you?"
Yang Xiu said: "Xiu is a general's talent. Ming Gong gave Xiu a pommel and horse. This is naturally a misunderstanding."
Yang Xiu's self-explanatory boast made everyone laugh. After Chen Chong stopped laughing, he turned to look at the Kunming Pond in front of him and explained the purpose of his trip: "At the beginning of last year, Fuzhong built the Gaode Canal on the north bank of the Weishui River. In another two months, I'm afraid it will
The construction is almost finished. The construction of the canal went smoothly and I saved a lot of money. I was thinking about what to do with it, so I came here to take a look."
Everyone heard the words and immediately felt something. Kunming Lake was built during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu. At that time, there was a provocation from the Kunming Kingdom in the southwest, and it was necessary to use the navy to cross the Dianchi Lake. Emperor Xiaowu used the lowland as the basis, dug four areas of water to fill it, and made it three hundred hectares.
The large pool was used for navy training and was named Kunming Pool.
It's just that Kunming Pool is man-made and not naturally formed. After the Ming Dynasty, the four water channels were blocked and the water could not be conveyed enough. Then it shrank by nearly half. It was far from the vast smoke and boundless sky and Han Dynasty at that time. Sili Xiaowei said this
When we mentioned rebuilding the Kunming Pool, I am afraid that we were planning to build a large water tank. But there were no troubles in the south, so there was no need.
Li Yi suddenly remembered something and said to Chen Chong: "Ming Gong, at the beginning of the year, your Majesty sent Zhao Yilang to talk to him, saying that the palace was in disrepair and had many dangerous walls. He wanted to get a little money to rebuild the palace. Ming Gong said so.
Kanto postponed it on the grounds of tight expenses. But now that we have more money, we should repair the palace first, otherwise His Majesty may be resentful."
Chen Chong waved his hand and said with a smile: "You don't need to worry about this. I have already told His Majesty that the palace does not need to be anxious. The country has already decided, and the government will have more taxes. If the Kunming Pool is rebuilt, one can train the navy, and the other can provide fertile land."
Irrigating the fields, and when the war subsides, you can also build a palace here to escape the summer heat. It is really a multi-purpose thing, and Your Majesty has no objection."
Having said this, everyone was speechless and followed Chen Chong around the pond to examine the terrain. After decades of low tide, Kunming Pond has been covered with reeds, and wild ducks and rabbits can be seen coming in and out of it from time to time, but they are still afraid of people.
The sound of horse hooves drilled back and forth in the reeds, causing the green gauze tent to sway back and forth.
A green duck feather floated to Chen Chong's face, which suddenly reminded him of the years in Taoyang, Zhuo County. On a whim, Chen Chong turned to his followers and asked if they wanted to go hunting? The accompanying soldiers were equipped with arrows and hunting bows.
, of course they all said yes. But the staff like Yang Xiu had a lot of sad faces. It was already difficult for them, the juniors of the Third Assistant, to be able to ride a horse, so why talk about archery and hunting?
So the scene was very chaotic. To this day, Chen Chong's archery is still not good, and he can only shoot a half-stone bow. He is far inferior to Liu Bei and Guan Yu, but among this group of people, he is considered superior. Only Tian Zhao and Wu Yu are Bingzhou
He was born into a farmer's family and practiced bow all year round, so he was able to hit eight out of ten shots. After half an hour, the team of about 20 people only managed to get more than 30 rabbits and a dozen wild ducks, most of which were from the fields.
.
Everyone walked to the west bank of Kunming Pool. It was almost midnight, so everyone stopped to rest. Tian Zhao was not happy, so he cut the rabbit meat into strips and threw them to Wu Yu. He said, "Ah Yu, look for
I sharpened a wooden pole and put the meat on it. Let you see how I shoot a vulture." Everyone was surprised when they heard this. Chen Chong explained that teenagers in Bingzhou often play like this.
Wu Yu put the sharpened wooden pole through the flesh and raised it high to attract the vultures. Unexpectedly, after a while, he actually saw several black shadows appear in the sky, circling around them.
At this time, Tian Zhao drew his bow and nocked an arrow, and when the vulture came down to grab the food, he released the arrow. Tian Zhao fired three arrows in a row, and then the sound of falling objects was heard one after another. Everyone looked intently, and it turned out that he had actually shot two arrows.
However, a vulture was hit by an arrow in its wing. It was fluttering and struggling on the ground, causing dust to fly. Its fallen feathers were dancing in the wind, but it couldn't fly. When Tian Zhao saw this, he laughed and asked Chen Chong how his archery skills were.<
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When they reached the south bank of Kunming Pool, the sky gradually darkened, and suddenly the clouds became dense, and a heavy spring rain began to fall. Chen Chong said, "I've seen it almost, let's go back." The group put away their bows and arrows and urged their horses to move faster.
OK, I was walking to a shallow slope when suddenly a white shadow jumped out from the reeds next to me and ran forward.
"It's a white deer, pure white!" Yang Xiu said excitedly, and then he hit his mount with a whip and galloped away in pursuit. Everyone followed behind and ran to a house together, bypassing several hillsides, and saw that the deer was white.
The shadow ran towards the reed swamp. It seemed that I was back around Kunming Pond. There were puddles everywhere, but the so-called white deer was missing.
Although the spring rain was not heavy, it still made me feel wet and cold after being wet for a long time. I don’t know who cursed secretly. As soon as the words fell, a roar came from the reeds nearby, and several tall, ferocious-looking dogs pounced.
Wu Yu was startled. He tightened the reins with his left hand and drew the bow with his right hand. When the horse's hoofs were steady, he was ready to shoot the arrow.
"Wait!" Chen Chong shouted to Wu Yu. He noticed that the reeds began to move again. Soon, another person emerged from the reeds behind the dog. "Hey", the person just came out.
After shouting at the group of dogs, the big dogs that were so vicious just now suddenly became quiet. They ran back to the man and started wagging their tails at him.
The man stopped with his cane, ordered the dogs to lie down, and scolded: "You are rude, you didn't see the real dragon here!" The dogs seemed to understand their master's words, and they lay on the ground and whimpered for mercy.
The man chuckled, leaned on crutches, and walked up to salute everyone. Chen Chong saw that he seemed to be very old, with his small eyes squinted. It was already dark and he couldn't see his true appearance. But his hair and beard were all gray, and
He is short and thin, wearing a gray linen robe and a pair of straw sandals on his exposed feet.
The old man said: "It's hard for little dogs to meet new people, and they have little knowledge. I hope you will forgive me." Wu Yu drew back his bow and waved his hand at him.
"Xiao Ke's thatched cottage is nearby. If the adults don't mind it, you can go under it to take shelter from the rain or have a glass of wine to warm up."
Everyone looked at each other, and Chen Chong said: "That's fine, I'm bothering the old man." They got off their horses, led the horses and followed the old man into the reeds. The dogs were now very well-behaved, jumping ahead and running ahead. When they came out,
Reed, there really is a thatched hut in front of it. It is built in an open area surrounded by water on three sides. Only then did I realize that the reed bush just now is the only entrance.
The grass in the open space around the house was cleared away, and many vegetables were planted nearby. The old man led everyone into the hut, and then lit a fire in the middle. The room was small, and the fire pot did not have much carbon. The old man said a little apologetically
: "There are too many reeds, which can easily ignite the fire. Please forgive me for not letting the fire get too big."
Then the old man took out a wine jar from under the bed and several pottery bowls. He placed the bowls in the middle, picked up the wine jar and poured wine. Everyone found that he was not looking at the wine bowl with his eyes, and the wine was flowing.
The wine flowed out, but was not sprinkled outside. Tian Zhao stood up gently and waved it in front of the old man's eyes. The old man didn't seem to notice. The old man put the wine jar down and said softly: "Yes, my eyes are about to fall asleep.
But I can still see a little. I can see the surrounding area for miles around more clearly than you!"
Chen Chong patted Tian Zhao and gave him a slightly reproachful look. Then he turned to the old man and said, "Does the old man live here alone?"
The old man chuckled and replied: "Yes, there was a war in Guanzhong a few years ago. My wife and son were all dead, so I came here to avoid the war."
"Then life is not easy!"
"How could it be? There is no tax here, and the surrounding areas are wetlands and the soil is very fertile. I grow some vegetables and let these guys help me catch some game, and I live a good life."
When Chen Chong heard this, he thought that he planned to rebuild Kunming Pool, which would probably be flooded and affect the old man's livelihood. He felt a little guilty in his heart, and he whispered: "Old man, are you willing to live in the city?
”
"In the city?" The old man sighed and said, "You are nobles, and you are still interested in hunting here. But Xiao Ke is an ordinary citizen and blind. How can he gain a foothold in the city? Forget it.
Forget it, forget it, this place is still clean. If something goes wrong here, with these guys accompanying me, I can always find a place to live." As he said this, two big dogs ran over and stuck out their tongues to lick the old man's face.
Palm, the old man couldn't help but laugh.
"The old man speaks so clearly, he is really like a god." Chen Chong was also very emotional after hearing this. He summoned his entourage and planned to leave a fur coat as a reward for being a guest.
The old man smiled and continued: "When I was young, I learned fortune-telling and some speaking skills from others, so I pretended to be open-minded, but in fact I just comforted myself and didn't regret it."
When Yang Xiu heard that he had learned fortune telling, he suddenly became interested and asked the old man: "You can't see, how do you read faces?" The old man smiled and said: "Xiao Ke, you can read faces. Master, do you want to try it?"
"Yang Xiu smiled and stretched out his hands in front of him. The old man said "offense" and started from his shoulders to his fingers. After touching, he was silent.
"How is it?" Yang Xiu asked.
The old man sighed and said: "Young Master is extremely smart and rich, but his life and death are hanging by a thread. It's not like he has a long life!"
Yang Xiu sneered, obviously not taking it seriously. The remaining people heard what he said was so weird, so they all stepped forward to ask him to read his fortune. Only Chen Chong couldn't move. After everyone finished touching, everyone got the prophecy, and they all said it was true.
There is great wealth and honor, so everyone is happy.
At this moment, the rain stopped and the sunshine gradually came through. Chen Chong led everyone to thank the old man and prepared to leave. Before leaving, Yang Xiu suddenly turned around and asked: "Old man, you said you can't see, can you meet me?"
What does it mean when you say there is a real dragon here?"
For a moment, everyone fell silent and looked at Chen Chong and the old man.
It took the old man a long time to say: "Although I am blind, I can still see Qi in my eyes."
"Angry?" Yang Xiu frowned.
"The Qi of the Five Virtues. You are just a gray mist in my eyes, but there is clearly a fire dragon hovering in it, swallowing the sun and the moon, shining brightly, making my eyes unbearably painful."
"Do you mean to serve the emperor?" Yang Xiu asked again. As soon as the words came out, Chen Chong sternly stopped him: "Dezu, don't talk nonsense!"
Unexpectedly, the old man laughed, waved his hands and said: "No, no, the circulation of the five virtues is a natural principle. The dragon is a dragon, and the emperor is the emperor. That is different. The fire dragon in my eyes is the fire virtue.
It is a dragon that swallows up the sun and the moon and uses its body as fuel to continue the virtue of fire. Ten years ago, I saw that the virtue of fire in the world was declining and new virtues were not born, so I took refuge here. Unexpectedly, I saw this real dragon, fire.
Virtue has been revived again."
Chen Chong heard this and asked, "How long do you think the virtue of fire lasts?"
The old man said: "It is not advisable to change your destiny against the will of heaven. When the real dragon dies, the virtue of fire will decline again." At this point, the old man burped and said: "When people get old and drink wine, they suddenly like to say
I hope you adults won’t mind these drunken words.”