In the winter of the third year of Xiping of the Han Dynasty (AD 174), the cold wind howled at Lulongsai, the strategic point in the north of Youzhou.
Outside the fortress, a large camp that could accommodate thousands of Xianbei soldiers stood at a strategic intersection several miles away. On the left was a mountain protruding from the Yanshan Mountains, and on the right was Luanshui. In winter, the mountains looked particularly dark.
, and Luan Shui looked particularly white, and when they were reflected two by two, they actually showed a chilling aura.
What stands in sharp contrast to this camp is naturally the tall and majestic Lulong Sai in the south of the camp.
Lulongsai was later known as Xifengkou, a natural pass on the Yanshan Mountains. The terrain on the south side of this place is gentle, with an altitude of only two hundred meters. When you get to the north side, it suddenly rises to a height of one thousand meters above sea level.
A huge pass was carved out by the Luanhe River in the middle of Duzhong, allowing carriages and horses to pass through unimpeded. It has always been the main passage outside the Great Wall and into the North China Plain.
In such a location, the Han Dynasty was certainly not blind, so the defense line here was built to be impregnable, especially Lulongsai, which is facing the main road. Everything was made of stone strips. The city wall was more than five feet high, and the wall
A three-foot-high watchtower was also built on top.
This is the world-famous Lulong Tower.
Standing downstairs, this is probably what it means to be tall and majestic, with a majestic momentum that can only be blocked by one man.
At this time, in the towering Lulong Tower, in a clean and sunny room dedicated to officers, there were more than a dozen large boxes piled up, and a tall man, about eighteen or nineteen years old, who could barely be considered a young man,
He was sitting alone in front of the desk at the door, staring blankly at the window in trance.
"Three Kingdoms?" I don't know how long it took, but the young man named Gongsun Xun finally couldn't help but sighed helplessly in his heart. "Is the world going to be in chaos in about ten years? The world of this big man is obviously
…Anyway, it’s really incredible.”
By the way, a few years ago, in the face of a plague that swept half of Youzhou, my mother, who was frightened by a typhoid cough at the time, finally couldn't help but tell herself what kind of time traveler she was, and what kind of time traveler she was.
It is said that the Han Dynasty will perish, the dragon and the snake will rise together, and the Three Kingdoms will soon be in chaos...
Then, there was the Yellow Turban Uprising, Guandu Chibi, Soochow Four Dudu, Five Tiger Generals, Five Sons of Good Generals, and the wife Cao and Da Qiao Xiao Qiao. I talked about it for two months.
s story.
She even said that her clan brother named Gongsun Zan would become one of the few princes in the world when he was more than thirty years old, and he would also be a giant in the early Three Kingdoms period. With these statements, she was regarded as a posthumous child, and at that time naturally...
...Well, of course there is no doubt about it.
The reason is very simple. For a young man who lost his father when he was young, who else can he trust if he doesn't trust his own mother?
In fact, although Gongsun Xun's mother is usually a bit out of touch, if you think about it carefully, she is indeed very competent and powerful.
Although she was just a widow with a child, and was initially rejected by the elders in the clan because she killed her husband, she was able to withstand the pressure to open a business on her own and buy a big house for her family.
Industry. Not only that, after making money, she also went around to help the tribesmen, be charitable, and even funded many tribesmen who became officials to run the officialdom... Now, she has long been a highly respected elder in the tribe, Gongsun Auntie.
In addition, she was also literate herself, and she personally initiated Gongsun Xun's education, allowing him to read and digit from an early age, learn to read and write, and even encourage him to ride horses, shoot arrows, dance with sticks, and so on.
Let me ask, how could Gongsun Xun not believe the words that such a mother said when facing the epidemic, which were almost like a will?
But later on, on the one hand, Gongsun Xun’s mother, known as Gongsun Auntie, survived the plague that killed countless people and was still alive and kicking. On the other hand, as Gongsun Xun grew up, he first went to Liaoxi with the help of his late father’s connections.
The county governs Yangle City, where I became a county official. I worked hard in the officialdom for two years, and then gradually rose through the ranks with the help of my family's power, my mother's money, and my own arithmetic skills. Now I am only eighteen or nineteen years old.
But he has already achieved the rank of 200 shi, the deputy history of the Accounting Office (that is, the deputy chief in charge of the statistics office)...
Although Gongsun Xun has a bright future, he can't help but have some doubts and avoidance of his mother's statement... I don't know if it is the 'adolescent rebellion' that his mother talks about every day.
However, it goes without saying that just a few months ago, Gongsun Xun's doubts and avoidance suddenly disappeared completely! Because he really witnessed a miracle.
Specifically, this miracle is his clan brother Gongsun Zan. That is, the one who came from a very bad background and often needed support from his own family. Although he is handsome and has a loud voice, he also has a very bad temper...well, that one
'The giant warlord of Youzhou in the Three Kingdoms (the original words of Gongsun Xun's mother)'.
It is said that half a year ago, Gongsun Zan was hampered by his future, so he finally went to the county and became a small official like himself... It is the custom these days that when the county governor recruits officials, he must choose local rich families, and Gongsun Zan
The Gongsun family is the largest family in western Liaoning. Basically, Lingzhi City among the five cities in western Liaoning was opened by the Gongsun family. Therefore, if the descendants of the Gongsun family want to become officials after tying their hair, the door is always open.
High and low, just different starting points.
As for his clan brothers Gongsun Zan and Gongsun Bogui, his starting point was exactly the same as his own two years ago. He was basically a junior official, the kind who stood at the door and delivered messages - in other words, he was different from the chief planner he is now.
I don’t know how far behind the deputy history officer is!
However, just because of his handsome appearance and loud voice, his clan brother who used to live in his own shop and slept across from him was directly attracted by the newly arrived Governor Hou from this county and hired him as his son-in-law!
Why?!
I have been an official in this county for two years. I have a higher official position, I am younger, and I am also tall, tall and handsome, okay? In the words of my own mother, I have the arms and waist of a wasp, and a dignified appearance. I will also be a tiger in the future.
You are a famous general! Why can’t you take a fancy to yourself?
And speaking of the hard conditions of being well-matched, is it okay if you also have the surname Gongsun? Even your family is many times richer than Gongsun Zan’s family. If the county magistrate really promises his daughter to him, he can spend hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for it.
Betrothal gift!
It’s really a billionaire and a fortune, the kind that won’t be discounted or bragged!
You know, the Amway brand founded by my mother-in-law has been in business for nearly 20 years. Lingzhi City, where the Gongsun family in western Liaoning is located, guards Lulongsai, a key point connecting Hebei and Northeast China. Adding the two together, the Amway brand basically has a monopoly.
It handles most of the business in Liaodong, and the semicolon drives all the way from Lelang to Yecheng!
The so-called ginseng from Korea, the horses from Liaodong, the maids from Sanhan, the horse slaves from Wuhuan, the chestnuts from Youbeiping, the grain and silk from Hebei, and the ironware from Qingzhou, in the words of my own mother, as a member of a wealthy family, in
Doing business in the Han Dynasty was just like picking up money!
You said 100 million, how could you not come up with it?!
In fact, how could Gongsun Xun, who had been an official for two years, not know that this was the fundamental reason why his family's status in the clan became more and more important - the Goddess of Wealth of the entire Gongsun clan was here!
Of course, what Gongsun Xun didn't know was that the clan didn't think of taking over the business to do it themselves at first, but after doing it, they found that when it came to doing business, it seemed that the widow who was known as Gongsun Auntie was the first-class expert.
.The whole clan worked hard, but the income they earned was not as much as what this Gongsun lady shared.
So, about twelve or thirteen years ago, when Gongsun Xun was still wearing his hair, the Gongsun family including the main family in Liaoxi, as well as the Liaodong branch and Donglai branch reached an agreement and officially handed over the business to him.
My mother took care of the business as a whole, and the clan distributed the dividends in proportion. From then on, my family's status in the clan became more prominent.
But... So, but, back to the present, the Governor Hou did not like Gongsun Xun, who had a rich family, but he liked his loud-voiced clan brother Gongsun Zan. This is exactly what his mother said when she had a cold.
Exactly the same!
And what’s even more shocking is yet to come. About ten days ago, the clan brother Gongsun Bogui, who had just gotten married with the support of his mother and was given a nickname by the elders of the clan, was suddenly given a leave by his father-in-law, Prefect Hou——
He also wrote a handwritten letter asking him to go to Fengshi Mountain in Luoyang to find Lu Zhi, a great Confucian and famous official in Youzhou, to study the scriptures!
This was exactly the same as what his own mother had said back then. Gongsun Xun couldn't help but feel cold all over, and he didn't dare not believe those ghost stories!
In fact, Gongsun Xun can still recall what his mother said to her face a few days ago after calling him back to Lingzhi from the county seat:
"You already knew some things during the epidemic, and I didn't bother to hide them from you. Now you know why I didn't let you go to Qingzhou to study the scriptures with Zheng Xuan, right?"
"Of course you have to learn the Classics. I finally understand. This thing is the academic certificate of the Han Dynasty. If you don't learn this thing, you won't be able to become a high official, and you can't avoid it."
"Zheng Xuan is very powerful. Of course I know that. He is from the same school as Lu Zhi, but his reputation in Confucian classics is higher."
"I'm not bragging. With your mother's management, as early as three years ago when you first tied your hair, you could find dozens of wealthy families in Qingzhou who were directly related to Zheng Xuan. They recommended you as a disciple. Why?
Are you holding back from learning?"
"It's very simple. Going to college depends not only on the faculty, but also on the classmates. Do you know how much connections you have when you have Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei as classmates? There are not many top potential stocks in the Three Kingdoms, and there are only two in Youzhou, one in the early stage and one in the late stage.
, I have prepared it for you now!"
Then, as expected, my mother prepared several carts of goods for herself, including high-end goods such as Shu brocade and pearls, and asked her to personally escort dozens of guests to the county town to bribe the prefect Hou.
Let yourself be able to follow your elder brother Gongsun Zan, who has already settled down, and go to the Fengshi Mountain in Luoyang to study the classics with the great scholar Lu Zhi.
And then?
And then I was trapped in Lulongsai!
Damn the Xianbei dog, he didn’t come early and he didn’t come late. He came to Koubian at this time. He had to rush to give gifts and bribes before the end of the year! He was going to Luoyang to study scriptures! And he was going to meet the legendary Liu
Big ears!
Moreover, my mother has gone to great lengths to help her plan her future this time - after she comes back from studying the classics, she can plan to become a senior planner with a rank of three hundred stones, and then go to Luoyang with the three-year senior planner system.
, get a job as a third-level minister. As long as you can become a third-level minister, you will be a court official with 600 dan. If you improve your political performance, you can go straight to 2,000 dan!
Not to mention the subsequent troubled times of the Three Kingdoms, how to keep the surname intact, the chief accountant, the third minister, six hundred stones, two thousand stones... These things, as a person who has already tasted the taste of power, I really want to try.
If a man is born in this world, if he doesn't make two thousand stones and be the head of a county, wouldn't his life be in vain?
However, at this critical moment, he was blocked by a group of Xianbei dogs in Lulongsai. He had not moved for six days! If he waited until the New Year, he would not have time to catch up with his clan brother Gongsun Zan.
What to do with the car? Although money and silk are very useful, they may not really be able to buy the face of two two thousand dan officials... What if the opportunity is missed and the county magistrate is not willing to write a letter of introduction? Or what should I do?
After writing it, he rushed over. Lu Zhi waved his hand and said that this period of students is full, what if he doesn’t accept them anymore?
So, you damn Xianbei dog! You want to ruin your own future?!
"Brother?" Just when Gongsun Xun was thinking wildly and complaining about others, the door was suddenly opened, and a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes was swept into the house with a cold wind.
"Ah Yue." Gongsun Xun finally came back to his senses. "Aren't you on the city tower observing the enemy camp with our clan uncle? Why are you here at this time?"
"There is someone." Gongsun Yue, who had thick eyebrows and big eyes, sat down slightly excitedly. "Brother, the person you asked me to ask about before happened to be seen by me."
"Who?" These words were said without any clue, and Gongsun Xun was naturally confused.
"Han should be Han Yigong!" Gongsun Yue responded quickly. "He is the one I told you last year. The one who has the best bow and horse in our city, and is recognized as the best in physical strength in the village. As soon as I said that, you will
Let me help you keep an eye on it. This time when you came back, I thought about bringing him to you to see, but I never found him... I didn't expect that I met him in Luronce. It turned out that he was doing it.
What a long cavalryman."
"Han should be Han Yigong." Gongsun Xun was thoughtful, and then suddenly stood up. "Han should be Han Yigong?!"
"Yes." Gongsun Yue nodded. "You are indeed the person your brother is looking for, right?"
"Wait a minute." Gongsun Xun walked around and shook his head repeatedly. "Han Dang... Han Yigong! The name and title are right. I think it might be this person. But shouldn't this person be from Jiangdong? This belongs to the Jiangdong Tigers.
Minions. How can I be from Liaoxi, and I hear you say, and we are from the same hometown?!"
"Yes," Gongsun Yue nodded calmly. "We are the Lingzhi people. Where is Jiangdong? What is Jiangdong Tiger? Is my brother talking in his sleep?"
Gongsun Xun was stunned and speechless - the appearance of this person, is his mother's prediction right or wrong? Or is it purely a coincidence?
Work hard to hear and reach the princes, in order to survive in troubled times... This wheel of history really comes as it comes!
"When Emperor Ling was established, the counties on the edge of the Three Prefectures of You and Liang were not raided by the Xianbei bandits for a year, and countless soldiers were killed." - "Book of the Later Han". Volume 90. Biography of Wuhuan and Xianbei. 80.
