After Chen Chong said goodbye to Guan Ning, the group originally planned to rush to Luoyang without stopping, and then complete the final handover with Kong Ming. Unexpectedly, just as they left the city, they encountered a strong wind blowing from the northwest, heavy snow, goose feathers, and white dust blocked the road.
The sky was dark and the ground was dark, and there was silver everywhere. When we arrived in Jinan, the heavy snow on the official road was already up to the knees. Everyone had to put on their big cloaks and lead their horses in the village pavilion to wait. In the distance, between the heavy snow in the east, it was okay.
I saw Mount Tai towering high in the sky, and the city wall of Jinan was covered in snow and fog.
Although Chen Chong couldn't see Mount Tai, he could not help but remember Mount Tai in his heart! How many of Dongping's experiences when he was young were here! I still remember Xuande once said that after he achieved success, he wanted to be enshrined in Mount Tai, but in the end he couldn't.
His wish came true, but even though he had accomplished the great cause of unification, he could not realize this wish for him. Unfortunately, this wish was not the only one that was not realized? Chen Chong thought of the many regrets that he had not had time to complete, and felt very sad.
Waiting until late October, the heavy snow stopped, and the group hit the road again, and found that the surroundings were already crystal clear! The snowflakes and dead trees were stuck together, and the branches formed beautiful ice cones like butterflies. The eaves of the roofs along the road were all covered.
There was a layer of ice with jagged icicles hanging on it, and the river was frozen! And the strong wind blew through it, and there was no more rustling of the trees, as if everything was frozen. Only people walking on the road, the sound of wafts coming from under their feet.
The sound of crunching ice and snow gave everyone a real feeling that they were still alive.
They followed the remnants of Mount Tai to the west, passing through Dafeng Mountain, Pingyin Mountain, and Huanding Mountain, and then came to Dongping County. At this time, Dongping County was no longer the Dongping County that Chen Chong knew, but Chen Chong still had feelings for it.
Very deep emotions. Sun Yong, the prefect of Dongping, heard that the prime minister had come from afar and hosted a banquet in hospitality. Chen Chong inquired about Dongping's current situation in detail. Sun Yong replied that people's livelihood has been relatively stable in recent years, but since Emperor Ling, Dongping has been successively beaten.
, leading to very few young adults. Although the migration of people from Huaibei in the past few years has made up for part of it, there were still too many widows and widowers before. The most difficult thing to solve was the orphans. They could not support themselves and maintain their families, and the pavilion chiefs could not travel around.
It was difficult to help, resulting in many orphans dying of poverty, or fleeing to become thieves. Chen Chong was very sad to hear this. He promised Sun Yong that he could borrow food from various counties in Hebei first, and the court would later transfer a batch of financial aid to bring peace.
account.
The next day he left Dongping and passed by Juye Ze. After the lake where Dayu set foot, another hundred miles away, there was Dingtao City. At this time, Dingtao City was already bustling with people, and the markets in the east of the city were full of people.
With the energetic cries and children's play, the bustle is as lively as that of big cities like Chang'an and Xindu. More than 20 years ago, an unprecedentedly brutal siege took place here. This siege determined the fate of the entire Han Dynasty.
Fate once caused the whole city to starve to death, with corpses lying hundreds of miles away.
When Chen Chong described this battle to Zhao Qiu and Chen Xiu, these juniors were extremely excited. They could no longer imagine the scene at that time, just as they could not imagine that they would grow old and die. They could only be excited about the miraculous victory in the mist.
What lingered in Chen Chong's mind was Zang Hong's dark, toothless smile before they parted ways.
When he came to Zang Hong's tomb after a long absence, Chen Chong put down a plum blossom in front of the monument, and then said softly: "Ziyuan, I'm here to see you." But what should he say next? Chen Chong didn't know. Thinking of Zang Hong's words before his death.
Chen Chong could only feel sadness when asking for help. Zang Hong asked him to marry Wannian and try to protect Liu Xie, but he seemed to have failed. Zang Hong suddenly learned that, would he blame himself? He thought of Zang Hong's prophecy about himself again.
: "You and I are the same kind of people, but your fate is too hard. If you die very late, it may not be a good thing."
Thinking about it this way, Ziyuan must have had a vague premonition of his own fate. Chen Chong stood in front of the invisible tombstone, his mind was churning for a long time, and then he said to the tombstone: "It's okay, I will be here to accompany you in a short time.
"
At this point, Chen Chong never stayed on the road again, and finally returned to Luoyang in mid-November. At this time, the eastern capital was also a bustling scene. After Wu was defeated, all the troops from the expedition returned one after another, and it seemed that there would be no more big battles in the future.
The officials and the people felt a lot more at ease. In addition, it was the winter leisure at this time, and everyone had a sense of joy and expectation that the prosperous age was coming. They were actively preparing for the celebration of New Year's Day, and there were sounds of firecrackers and grass burning everywhere.
However, the New Year's Eve this time was different from usual. When Chen Chong got out of the car and walked with Chen Xiu, many people recognized him and gave him gifts frequently. However, Chen Chong had been in power in Luoyang for many years, but there were few
It really surprised him that some people recognized him. After careful inquiry, he found out the cause and effect, and he didn't know who it was. He privately drew a portrait of Chen Chong and posted it in the hall to exorcise evil spirits. When the people of Luoyang saw it, they also
Follow the trend and imitate. When Chen Xiu learned about it, he was very dissatisfied and complained to the inquirer: "Your Excellency is the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, why don't these people know how to avoid taboos!" The inquirer replied: "Since the Prime Minister can protect the Han Dynasty,
, how can you not protect the people of the Han Dynasty?" Chen Xiu was speechless for a moment, while Chen Chong was very happy but also ashamed to reply: "If I could really do this, how could I dare to refuse? I'm afraid of letting everyone down.
Such expectations.”
Everyone was talking and laughing like this, and slowly led the carriage and horses to the door of the house. As a result, the atmosphere suddenly became dull. Chen Chong guessed the reason, and immediately stretched out his hand and said: "Abai, don't blame Zhongcheng and the others.
, It's all God's will." Dong Bai, who had been waiting in front of the door for a long time, quickly came over and took his hand. While carefully looking at Chen Chong's eyes, he continued to blame him relentlessly: "You mean,
God wants to torture me!"
"It's God who has treated me well and allowed me to meet you!" With that said, Chen Chong coaxed his wife and asked his entourage to disperse quickly.
Hearing that the Prime Minister was back, Pang Tong, who was originally serving in the Prime Minister's Mansion, also came to report on their duties and talk about the recent situation in Luoyang: At this time, Zhuge Liang had led the remaining troops back to the capital and was stationed in the Xinzheng area;
The prisoners have all been sent to Youzhou to work in the fields; this year's autumn gifts have also been collected, but the accounts will probably not be sorted out for a few days... Chen Chong listened to them talking for a long time, and as usual gave out from time to time
Some opinions, but after the topic was finished, Chen Chong suddenly said to several people: "I plan to resign as prime minister and transfer my position to Kong Ming. What do you think?"
Pang Tong and others were stunned after hearing this. Wei Xi reacted the fastest and immediately answered: "Prime Minister, you must not do it! The Prime Minister is the pillar of the country, and the two ministers who were appointed by the late emperor to assist the country have suddenly resigned.
, it will inevitably arouse irrelevant suspicions from others, and it is not good for the country and the people, so we should be careful!" Then Huan Jie followed up and said: "If the prime minister wants to resign, he should return the government to the emperor. How can he pass it on to Zhuge Kongming?
"Zhuge Kongming is extremely prosperous, but his qualifications are not deep. If the prime minister arranges it like this, I am afraid it will harm him." Wang Xiang and Pang Tong were silent, neither opposing nor approving. The atmosphere was so heavy that Chen Chong knew it.
, I’m afraid this conversation will end in vain.
After everyone went out, Chen Chong speculated on the mentality of these people. Wei Xi, Huan Jie was an old minister promoted by Liu Xie, and he was not very close to him. He just offended the old minister, so he was on his side. Now he is not
It is natural to support Kong Ming as the prime minister. However, Pang Tong and Wang Xiang are both their students, but they are silent today and do not express their opinions. This is really a bad sign. They probably also oppose Kong Ming in their hearts, but they can't say it openly.
Just came out. But what was the reason? Probably jealousy. Especially Pang Tong. Before his southern tour, he got very close to me. In the past few months, he had been presiding over the affairs of the Prime Minister's Palace, but in the end he fell behind Kong Ming.
, he was probably very unconvinced.
Chen Chong originally thought that as long as Pang Tong could support Zhuge Liang, it wouldn't matter no matter how many people opposed him, but under the current situation, he couldn't help but be careless. So he summoned Zhuge Liang that night and planned to ask him for his opinion. After hearing the details in the mansion,
Afterwards, Zhuge Liang's expression remained unchanged and he replied in a very low tone: "Teacher, what they said is quite reasonable. Although the students defeated the Sun family this time, I'm afraid there are still many people in the court who are dissatisfied and feel that it is reasonable."
Yes, it’s not enough, you might as well let the students do the work for a few more years, and then they can convince the public.”
Chen Chong was very pleased to hear that he was not impatient or impatient, but he also knew that his body might not be able to hold on for long, and Zhuge Liang's identity must be determined as soon as possible. So he shook his head and said, "It's still too slow. If it's decided within a year,
If you don’t come down, I’m afraid you won’t have another chance in the future.”
Zhuge Liang understood what he meant. After thinking for a moment, he made up his mind and said to Chen Chong: "In this case, there is only one way left. If you trust me, please entrust me to conquer the Liao bandits. I will succeed within half a year."
, once again bring victory to the country!"
When Chen Chong heard this, he hesitated in his heart. He helped Zhuge Liang up and smiled at him: "If we can really wipe out the Liao bandits and eliminate the border troubles, it will naturally be the best choice. Others in the court will have no reason to stop it. But this is the case.
It's a long way to go, but are you really confident that you can succeed?"
Zhuge Liang immediately replied: "Cao Pi has little literary talent, but no military strategy. It is only thanks to Cao Zhen's assistance that he invades and attacks every year, and he has been able to hold on to this day. However, the people in Liao are small and the land is few, so they cannot fight for a long time. If I set out in the first month,
With the navy as the logistics, he arrived in Liaodong in April and harvested their green wheat. He was short of food and had no choice but to go out to fight with me in the field. I can conquer the south of the Yangtze River with my eagles and soldiers, and I have elite military strategists.
The battle? Before June, we will definitely win! Teacher, just wait for my victory report, and I will be able to return to Gyeonggi Province before October next year!" As he spoke, Kong Ming seemed to be sure of victory.
Chen Chong was also moved. He touched the smooth desk and finally grabbed Kong Ming's hand. Then he sighed to him and said: "I am lucky to accept you as my disciple in this life. I, Chen Chong, just let go."
Do it! I will start preparing for this tomorrow, but remember, you must go and come back quickly!"
Why is it so urgent? Chen Chong doesn't know. Although he is blind, his diet is still healthy. Dong Bai has seen a doctor and said that there is nothing serious about his body. But Chen Chong still can't forget the sad scene of the yellow swan falling into the water.
, and then there is a lingering premonition: my end is coming soon.