Huaiyang City, the capital of Chen County, is like to be called "Chen" by local people. There is a "mulberry forest" in the city, and the leader of the city is called "Xia Zhong".
Xia Zhong escaped from Yangxia County thirteen years ago when Qin and Chu were at war. He lived in Huaiyang City and earned a living by trying to please the Qin officials.
, in charge of opening and closing in and out.
In those years, because many Chu men died at the hands of the Qin people, there were countless widows in Huaiyang. Zha Zhong was a bit older, but his appearance was not bad. After a few years of being alone, he married
He married a handsome Benli widow and gave birth to a son, who is now almost ten years old.
After more than ten years, Zha Zhong has gradually changed from a guest to a local. Although he looks honest and has always behaved calmly and does not argue with others, he is reliable, fair, and an elder. People in the village often come to him to resolve disputes.
.
Although he is a gatekeeper, Xia Juan's judgment has always been very sound, and no one can find fault with him. As time goes by, his prestige is getting higher and higher, and he was elected as the head of the district last year.
Zha Zhong was well respected in the community, and in the eyes of his neighbors, he was a person who knew how to live well. He got up very early every day, took a broom and swept the yard cleanly.
He also cultivated a small vegetable plot against the west wall of his house, divided the soil ridge into several pieces, and planted summer sunflowers, leeks and other crops.
After watering the vegetable field, Zha Zhong went to the stable he built by himself to feed the horse he had purchased after saving up for several years. He patiently fed it beans, cleaned it, and then gently stroked its neck.
, whispered a few words in his ear, and then returned to the yard, looking at the horses locked in the stables, in a daze.
Zha Zhong's wife also got up and saw her husband looking at the horse in a daze again, and she suddenly became very angry.
"You don't even know how to ride a horse, but you insist on buying it. I told you to hitch it to a plow and plow the fields. But you don't want to, so you just keep it for a living?"
"And that sword is also very expensive, but it is just hung in the house so that no one can see it. The horse and the sword combined are enough to buy a cow..."
Zha Zhong stroked his graying beard, glanced at his wife, and said contemptuously:
"You stupid woman, what do you know?"
The reason why Zha Zhong was willing to marry this widow was not because he controlled the widow, but because she had some shadow of his ex-wife Huang.
If Huang was here, she would definitely understand herself. After all, she was willing to spend all her mother's family's wealth to help her become the number one hero in Wei...
It's a pity that she was forced to death by the gangster Hei Fu and the Yangwu Zhang family!
His current situation is also like this horse.
"I am clearly a thousand-mile horse, but I have to pretend to be a pack horse, change my name to Zha Zhong, and be locked in a stable without being able to stretch my legs!"
Seeing that he dared to talk back today, Zhabdrung's wife immediately became excited and was about to argue with him with her hands on her hips when another voice came from the door.
"Sister-in-law Qiu, is brother here?"
It was Zha Zhong's younger brother who came in summer. He was more than ten years younger than Zha Zhong. He also wandered around for a while at first. Later, Zha Zhong broke away from the relationship and joined the government as a minor official. Now he and Zha Zhong are fighting for food.
The Zhong brothers have a deep love and come here often.
"Uncle Ji is here."
The woman glared at Zha Zhong and decided to argue with him again in the evening. Then she smiled and said, "You came so early today? Isn't it not Xiu Mu's turn?"
Xia Xia raised a few grass carp in his hand and said with a smile: "I have nothing to do. Come and see my brother and Aunt Qiu. I also want to see how my nephew is doing with the calligraphy I taught him last time."
The woman nodded: "I'm going to wake up Ao right now."
Zha Zhong named his son "Ao". From the age of six, he always asked his son to learn to read with Xia Zhong every time he took a break.
"It's okay, let the child sleep a little longer. I happen to have something to talk to my brother about."
Xia Zhong handed the grass carp to the woman and approached Zha Zhong. Zha Zhong understood and got up and took him into the house.
Cicadas are chirping in the mulberry forest, and people are coming and going in the lanes. They are all farmers carrying farm tools to work. The children are still sleeping soundly in the house, the woman is busy in the yard, disemboweling the fish, and the brothers come in to drink.
After taking two cups, the horse slowly chewed grass in the stable...
In the Huaiyang mulberry forest in early June, everything was as usual.
But the woman didn’t know that her husband Xia Zhong and her brother-in-law Xia Zhong were actually two important criminals of the imperial court who had had their wanted notices posted at the inner door for many years and had long since faded...
Zhang Er, Chen Yu!
…
"Brother!"
As soon as he entered the room, Chen Yu couldn't hide his excitement. He cupped his hands towards Zhang Er and said, "Congratulations, brother!"
Zhang Er glanced at him and said with a smile: "Where does happiness come from?"
Chen Yu held Zhang Er's hand tightly: "I'm glad that the boring days that we have been hiding in this little village for thirteen years in Huaiyang City are finally coming to an end!"
After experiencing so many ups and downs, Zhang Er is no longer an ordinary light knight who wears no hat and only uses his head to grab the ground.
"Only when you can bend and stretch, and endure humiliation, can you do great things. If your husband doesn't die, he will be famous!"
Relying on this wisdom, he was able to take advantage of the darkness under the lamp to assume the identity of a Qin official and survive until now.
So Zhang Er just asked lightly: "Not long ago, when I learned that the First Emperor died and the Southern Expeditionary Army rebelled against Qin, you said the same thing. But more than half a month has passed. How was Chen County in the past and how it is still now..."
Chen Yu said: "This time is different. I learned from the county officials who came from the south to ask for help. There is a rebel army, with thousands of people, coming from the south. They have captured Xiang County and crossed the Ying River! They are about to do it.
The troops are approaching Huaiyang!"
Zhang Er immediately turned his head: "Whose soldiers are these coming?"
"Is it Major General Xiang from Huainan?"
"Or is it the black man from Nan County?"
For the former, it is natural to actively cooperate and welcome them enthusiastically.
For the latter, Zhang Er may have to find a way to escape. After all, they are his enemies and they are sworn enemies!
Chen Yu shook his head: "No, the young general in Huainan is said to have conquered Shouchun and revived Chu, but the vanguard has not yet crossed Huaihe. The troops of the black bandits in Nanjun have only reached Ming'e and have not yet entered Chenjun."
."
Zhang Er frowned: "Who is coming then? Under whose banner?"
Chen Yudao: "They claim to be Xiang Yanhe...Gongzi Fusu!"
…
A few days later, when the garrison team, which had expanded to more than 3,000 people and included the young knights along the way, Lu Zuo, arrived at the outskirts of Huaiyang, Chen Yu found Zhang Er again.
"Brother, I tried my best to find out. There is a garrison team outside the city, and the leaders are named Chen Sheng and Wu Guang! They killed the escorting Qin officials in Linyang, called themselves captains and Sima, and beat Xiang Yan
The banner of He Gongzi Fusu has now been transferred to Xiang County, and the young knight Lu Zuo has many followers..."
After saying this, Chen Yuyou showed contempt on his face: "Although these two people know that they can't learn from Wu Ming, but Xiang Yan and Young Master Fusu... can these two get together? They are indeed Guizhou bosses in the field, and they are messing around."
Zhang Er stroked his beard and smiled and said: "Chen Sheng and Wu Guang are a little smart. They know that among the people who are fighting against Qin today, they are Major General Xiang from Huainan and the Hei Fu Dog Thieves from Nanjun. In order not to be attacked by these two armies.
, so they raised two flags simultaneously, and no matter which side captured Chen County in the end, they could immediately throw away the other flag."
"And these two people are very ambitious. Most people who kill the Qin officials who are escorting them will either die on the spot or defect to either side. But they turned around and went straight to Huaiyang. This is because the main force of the county soldiers is not there.
, I want to take advantage of it!"
Chen Yu asked for instructions: "What should we do? If the young general came, I would be happy to respond, but the sons of these two gangsters came..."
Humph, he has always been arrogant, but he is not willing to stoop to such a person!
Zhang Er was much more mature: "No matter who comes, if we don't want to put you and me at a disadvantage after the other party breaks the city, we must actively take action to gain greater leverage afterwards."
After Zhang Er paced and thought for a while, he looked at the sword that he had bought and hung on the wall but had never been unsheathed: "Inform the righteous knights and knights in the city to get ready!"
More than ten years ago, the two of them were invited by Zhang Liang to contact knights in the city and wanted to assassinate Qin Shi Huangdi, but unfortunately they did not dare to take action in the end.
These forces that were dissatisfied with Qin were hidden. Zhang Er was in the dark and Chen Yu was in the light. To this day, many people have infiltrated into the system. If the two brothers raise their arms, hundreds of people will respond!
On the next day, although the people in Huaiyang were panicked and his wife and children at home were also very scared, Zhang Er still only asked them to close the door and not come out. He himself used the excuse to help the county guard defend against the enemy and join a group of "righteous men"
The leaders were actually just people who butchered dogs, slaughtered sheep, played pipes, and sold bamboo poles, all gathered in Chen Yu's house in the city.
"Once Chen Sheng and Wu Guang break the city wall, we will go straight to the governor's mansion!"
After deciding on the plan, Chen Yu relied on his status as a food official and ran between the city walls and his family's house to deliver the news.
When he came back in the morning, Chen Yu said: "I went up to the city wall and took a look. Chen Sheng, Wu Guangzhi only has more than 3,000 people. They have simple equipment and ragged clothes. They only have a pole as a flag. They are currently cutting down bamboo and wood to make ladders outside the city."
At noon, Chen Yuer arrived and said: "The rebels have begun to attack the city. They are coming fiercely. The soldiers of the county have no intention of fighting. Brother, let us take action!"
Zhang Er, however, was sharpening his sword by himself, shaking his head and saying, "No hurry, just wait."
In the afternoon, Chen Yusan arrived and said: "Jun Chen is not here, and the county guard is timid and hiding in the official temple. Dujun Cheng puts on his armor and leads the county soldiers out of the city camp to fight with Zhan Qiaomen! Brother, we are taking advantage of the emptiness in the city.
Let’s start something!”
Zhang Er still shook his head: "Wait a little longer."
Chen Yu was anxious: "Brother likes to wait. More than ten years ago in Huaiyang, if my brother hadn't stopped me and told me to wait and wait, even if I couldn't assassinate Qin Shi Huang, I could at least kill that thief Hei Fu with the sword.
!”
But Zhang Er smiled: "If you kill Hei Fu out of impatience, who will raise the flag of righteousness for the first time in the world today and attract all the attention of Qin Dynasty?"
"Rely on Chen Sheng and Wu Guang from outside?"
He waved his hand and urged Chen Yu: "Let's go and find out more!"
Sure enough, in the evening, Chen Yu came back a little discouraged and said:
"The men of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were really a mob, but they were repelled by Chen Juncheng with more than a thousand people. Chen Juncheng was also injured and had retreated to the city. I think the losses of the county soldiers were not small."
"really."
Zhang Er shook his head and yawned: "It seems that Chen Sheng and Wu Guang will not be able to enter the city today. Let the two and three sons go home and rest."
Chen Yu said, "Brother, why don't we take advantage of the two tigers to fight, follow Bian Zhuangzi's example, and capture Huaiyang ourselves?"
"How do you know that there are only two tigers in Huaiyang?"
Zhang Er’s order was non-committal: “Let’s disperse and we’ll talk about it tomorrow!”
…
The next day, Chen Yu came to the mulberry forest with a pale face and greeted Mrs. Qiu who had gotten up early to cook as usual.
But Mrs. Qiu's face didn't look good. When Chen Yu wanted to find Zhang Er, she pointed to another room angrily: "In the guest room!"
Chen Yu got into the guest room, came to Zhang Er's couch, and bowed to him.
"What's wrong?" Zhang Er seemed to be in a deep sleep. He turned over after a while and saw his brother.
Chen Yu said: "Jun Cheng died this morning due to excessive injuries."
Zhang Er sighed: "Oh... it's such a pity. The county magistrate is a brave man. Once he leaves, the morale in the city will be low. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang are attacking the city again? Why didn't I hear the sound?"
Chen Yu gritted his teeth: "They ran away!"
Zhang Er was stunned: "Victory was imminent but he ran away? Why?"
Chen Yu sighed: "Because a Qin army of three thousand people came from the northeast. It turned out that Dangjunjun was ordered to lead troops to move south to assist Chenjun in strengthening the defense of Huaibei. He happened to arrive last night."
"The troops of Dangjun were stationed in the east of the chasm, while Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were in the west of the chasm. They could see each other's fire from a distance. Chen and Wu had already lost a battle at Qiaomen, and saw the troops of Dangjun arriving. They didn't know how many there were, so
Fleeing south."
"The Dangjun commander sent his chariots and cavalry to chase him. Chen Wu's garrison soldiers suffered heavy casualties all the way to the left. It looks like they won't come back again..."
Chen Yu said fearfully: "Fortunately, we listened to my brother and didn't do anything last night, otherwise..."
After Zhang Er was silent for a while, he lifted the quilt and found that he was sleeping with his clothes on, still holding the sword firmly in his hand!
He actually didn't sleep all night, and he just pretended to be asleep.
The old horse, who had been trapped in the stable for a long time, hesitated for a long time, pacing around the room, but then he laughed again.
"My brother, although you have read many books, there is only one sentence that I like the most."
"A gentleman hides his weapon in his body and waits for the time to move. What's the disadvantage?"
Zhang Er hung the sword back on the wall, patted it, and said with regret: "It takes half a mile to travel a hundred miles. I have been waiting for more than ten years. Is there still a few months left?"
But seeing that the world is about to be in chaos, there will definitely be many people in various places rebelling like Chen and Wu in the coming period, so it is time to take the initiative.
Anyone can get Huaiyang, but it cannot fall into the hands of the black man!
Zhang Er pondered for a long time and said to Chen Yu: "Send someone to Shouchun to deliver a message to Major General Xiang in Huainan, saying that Zhang Er and Chen Yu are willing to help him capture Chen Ying and contribute a share to the revival of Chu and the six kingdoms.