Before Deng Zhong finished his "consoling" words, Liu Xiu suddenly answered: "It's not that I failed to kill the barbarians, but I have been counting in my mind how many barbarians I have killed!"
Hearing this, everyone present was startled. Deng Chen was the first to clasp his hands and laugh, and the others were stunned for a moment, and then also laughed.
A relative of the Deng family asked: "Master Liu, are the barbarians really like the legends, killing people without batting an eye and drinking blood like they do with their hair?"
Liu Xiu suppressed his smile, nodded seriously, and said: "When my eldest brother and I arrived in Hanzhong, Yizhou, we had only a thousand rebels in total, but the number of barbarians who fled to Hanzhong was as many as 20,000!"
His words aroused the interest and curiosity of everyone present.
People were surprised and asked: "More than 20,000 barbarian troops?" "A thousand rebels versus more than 20,000 barbarian troops, can this battle still be fought?" "This is simply an egg hitting a stone!"
Liu Xiu said: "If you think that the barbarians are just foolhardy people, you are totally wrong. The cunning of the barbarians in using their troops is not inferior to that of us Han people!"
As he spoke, his eyes scanned everyone's faces one by one, paying careful attention to their reactions.
Today's world is no longer dominated by the Han clan. It is a very serious mistake to call ourselves Han again. Once it reaches the court and the government, it will cause loss of head at worst, and it will be a prison sentence at worst.
.
However, no one present had much reaction to Liu Xiu claiming to be Han. Instead, people focused on the war in Yizhou.
"Master Liu, please tell me how cunning the barbarians are?"
Liu Xiu said: "Twenty thousand barbarian troops secretly hid in Ganyou Mountain in Hanzhong. Their target was actually Hanzhong County. You must know that the grain, grass and baggage of the capital army at that time were all stored in Hanzhong County. Once Hanzhong County was attacked by barbarians,
If the army breaks through, the consequences will be disastrous, and the 100,000 capital troops may even be in danger of being annihilated. At that time, Hanzhong County knew nothing about the 20,000 barbarian troops so close at hand. The entire military strength of the county and city was
The county army plus the rebels total only 10,000 people."
Hearing this, people's hearts started to rise. Neither the county army nor the rebel army had much fighting capacity, and there were only 10,000 people. How could they defend the county city?
Although people knew very well that the Hanzhong County was not captured by the barbarian army, they still couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Liu, did the barbarian army capture the county?"
"Yes, have you conquered the county or city?"
Liu Xiu smiled bitterly and said: "At that time, Lord Duwei only knew that there were barbarian troops hiding in Qianyou Mountain, but he did not know the specific strength of the barbarian army. Lord Duwei was eager to perform his duties and led the county army and most of the rebels.
He rashly approached Qianyou Mountain in order to wipe out the barbarian army in the mountain."
"It's over! It's difficult for 10,000 people to defend the city against 20,000 barbarian troops. Taking the initiative now is tantamount to seeking death!" Deng Yi shook his head and sighed.
Deng Yi, whose courtesy name was Wenqing, was of the same generation as Deng Chen. Their blood relationship was a little distant, but their friendship had always been deep.
Deng Zhong smiled calmly and said: "Our side obviously won this battle. Otherwise, wouldn't the current Hanzhong County City have fallen into the hands of the barbarians?"
After speaking, he glanced at Deng Yi triumphantly and cursed inwardly, "Idiot!"
Deng Yi didn't look at him, as if he didn't hear his sarcastic remarks. His eyes kept falling on Liu Xiu, waiting for him to continue.
Liu Xiu said: "Brother Wen Qing is right, we lost this battle."
Hearing this, Deng Zhong's face suddenly turned red. He frowned and said, "How is that possible? If we lose this battle, the county will inevitably be captured by the barbarians!" But in fact, Nanyang County had no control over it. I haven't heard of any news that Hanzhong County was ever captured by barbarians.
Liu Xiu also ignored Deng Zhong. He looked around at everyone present and said: "In this battle, our army was ambushed by barbarians in Ganyou Mountain. Ten thousand soldiers were in the mountains and forests, and were surrounded by 20,000 barbarian troops. One After the battle, the captain died in the battle, the leader of the rebel army died in the battle, and of our 10,000 soldiers, only more than a thousand of them escaped from Ganyou Mountain alive."
By the time he finished speaking, the hall was completely silent. Some people were sighing, and some even had red eyes.
Deng finally swallowed his saliva and said unconvinced: "With only more than a thousand defeated soldiers left, how can we possibly defend the county in the end? Mr. Liu is not fooling us, right?"
Liu Xiu said: "It was these more than a thousand brothers who fled back to the county town, temporarily summoned the strong men in the city to participate in the defense of the city, and withstood the five-day strong attack of 20,000 barbarian troops. In these five days, the county town The city walls are stained red with blood." As he spoke, he turned to look at Deng Zhong and said calmly: "Yuanpeng asked me just now how many barbarians I killed in total. It really takes me a long time. Only then can we count clearly!”
When Deng finally heard this, his face turned red, and everyone else couldn't help stroking their palms and praising him profusely.
Liu Xiu did not show any trace of pride or complacency. He said quietly: "The suffering of the people in Hanzhong is far beyond our imagination. The barbarians have no food and actually feed on humans. The barbarians are certainly terrible, but the capital army is even more terrible. In order to achieve meritorious service, the Capital Army actually massacred local people and lied about military merit. More than 3,000 people in Zhushan County, Hanzhong were massacred by the Capital Army. The Capital Army cut off the heads of the people and handed them over to the court, falsely claiming that they were the heads of barbarians. Wherever the capital's army passed, lives were devastated and corpses were everywhere."
If Liu Xiu, a participant in the war who went to Yizhou in person, had not told such a shocking thing, they would not have believed it.
People stared at Liu Xiu with their mouths agape. After a long while, Deng Yi slapped his table hard and said sternly: "The reckless thieves have no moral principles, and the reckless army is a bunch of beasts worse than pigs and dogs!"
Deng Zhu rolled his eyes, waved to Deng Yi and said, "Wen Qing, be careful what you say! Be careful what you say!"
"We are all old acquaintances here and there are no outsiders. What are we afraid of?!"
While Deng Yi and Deng Zhu were talking, Liu Xiu and Deng Chen were also carefully observing the reactions of others.
Deng Feng, who had been silent all this time, suddenly stood up and said in a loud voice: "Father, I think Uncle Yi is right, reckless thieves and reckless soldiers are just a bunch of beasts that are worse than pigs and dogs!"
While speaking, he rolled up his cuffs, revealing his fists covered with scars and thick calluses. He glanced at everyone present with lightning eyes and said quietly: "If anyone dares to leak even a single word of what I said today, I, Deng Fengneng, will spare him." , but my fists can’t spare him!”
In Xinye, Deng Feng was known as a desperate man, a master who would risk his life in fights. Even the 'little bully' Wang Jin was afraid of him when he saw him, let alone others?
Everyone present said one after another: "Don't worry Yuan Zhi, we will never leak a single word of what we heard and said today!"
"Yes, Yuan Zhi, don't worry. Whoever dares to inform us will not be spared by any of us!"
After hearing everyone's opinions, Deng Feng nodded with satisfaction.
Deng Chen laughed, waved to Deng Feng, and said, "Yuanzhi, sit down. Those attending the banquet today are all close friends and distinguished guests of my Deng family. How can you be so noisy and shouting like this?"
Deng Feng, who even Deng Zhu could not discipline the winner, listened very much to Deng Chen. After hearing his uncle's words, he scratched his hair and sat back on the mat.
Deng Chen glanced around and said with a smile: "Yuan Zhi is young and impulsive. If there is anything rude in his words, please bear with me!"
"Oh, Brother Weiqing is so polite!"
"Yes, Brother Weiqing said that, but it's too unreasonable!"
Anyone who can be invited to the banquet today is either a relative of the Deng family or a close friend of Deng Chen. Even Cai Shaogong has a deep connection with the Deng family.
Next, everyone kept asking about what Liu Xiu saw and heard in Yizhou.
Liu Xiu took the trouble to tell the story. Some things he would exaggerate to some extent, while some things he deliberately concealed.
He didn't mention anything about capturing Xie Sang, the leader of the Xie tribe, which could make him stand out in front of others.
He mainly talked about the brutality of the capital army and the barbarians, how miserable the situation in Yizhou was, and how difficult the lives of the people were, which subtly aroused people's dissatisfaction with the Xinmang imperial court, thus creating feelings of common hatred and hatred.
He spoke vividly, and everyone listened with emotion. People like Deng Feng and Deng Yi who were already dissatisfied with the imperial court were filled with hatred after hearing Liu Xiu's story.
When Liu Xiu's narration came to an end and everyone was drinking and sighing, Deng Yi suddenly remembered something, turned to look at Mr. Cai, raised his hands and said, "Mr. Cai!"
"Wen Qing!" Cai Shaogong smiled at Deng Yi.
Deng Yi said: "Cai Gong is very knowledgeable about metaphysics, especially prophecy. He is very knowledgeable and well-known far and near. I wonder if Cai Gong can understand the future destiny of the country through prophecy?"
The implication is, can this new Mang court last long? If not, how long will it take before it collapses?
After hearing Deng Yi's question, everyone stopped talking and looked at Cai Shaogong, including Liu Xiu, Deng Chen and others.
Cai Shaogong looked at Deng Yi, but smiled and said nothing.
If Mr. Cai Shaogong had not understood the fate of the country, he could have shaken his head and denied it, but he smiled and said nothing at this time. It was obvious that he had really understood something. Deng Yi and Deng Feng were both short-tempered, and they said in unison: "Mr. Cai , you should talk about it!"
Mr. Cai asked with a smile: "You want to know?"
Isn't this nonsense? Not only the two of them want to know, but everyone present doesn't want to know.
Deng Yi and Deng Feng nodded repeatedly and looked at Mr. Cai intently.
Cai Shaogong was silent for another moment and asked lightly: "Do you know that there is a strange book in the world called "Chi Fu Fu"."
Hearing this, everyone present was filled with astonishment. "Red Fu Fu"? What kind of book is this? I have never heard of it!
Liu Xiu was secretly frightened and took a breath, but he did not show it.
Cai Shaogong looked around at the people present and said word by word: "From this wonderful book, I have realized that in the future, the country will not be named Wang, but will be named Liu. The person who can be the emperor will be named Liu Xiu." .”
After he said this, the scene was completely silent. This prediction was so shocking! So, is the Xinmang court really not going to last long? Is Wang Mang’s throne really going to end?
Deng Zhong couldn't help but swallowed his saliva, cleared his throat twice more, and asked cautiously: "Is Liu Xiu the Duke of Cai mentioned, the Grand Master of the country?"
The Grand Master he was talking about was the Grand Master Liu Xiu whose original name was Liu Xin and later changed his name.
Cai Shaogong looked at Deng Zhong, picked up the wine glass, and took a slow sip of wine without saying anything more.
Seeing that the atmosphere at the banquet was a bit awkward, Liu Xiu looked up and smiled, and asked in a joking tone: "How did Yuanpeng know that it wasn't me, Liu Xiuhu?"
