In mid-February, when Chenliu Qingxia Li Shang returned to Gaoyangli from Chenliu County (Chenliu Town, Kaifeng, Henan Province), his brother Li Shiqi was still wearing the big dark clothes, a Confucian crown on his head, and stood with his sleeves rolled up
Smiling at him in front of the inner door.
That smile was playful but not malicious.
From a distance, Li Shiqi asked: "Ah Shang, what official title did Xiang Ji grant you?"
Li Shang curled his lips and reluctantly whispered: "Country doctor."
"What?" Li Shiqi deliberately picked his ears: "What official?"
Li Shang became angry and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Country doctor!"
Li Shiqi smiled and said: "Then who became Chen Liugong?"
Li Shang said angrily: "Of course it's Chen Liuling."
Li Shiqi asked again: "Where is Mr. Qi? Who can get it?"
Gaoyangli, where they are located, is located at the junction of Chenliu County and Yongqiu County (Qixian County, Henan Province). Yongqiu used to be the seat of Qi State, so according to the Chu State system, a "county official" should be appointed in each of the two places, which is equivalent to the county.
make.
The township official is equivalent to the rural miser under the Qin system. Li Shang wanted to be the county magistrate but only got the title of township magistrate. Of course he was unhappy.
This time, Li Shang finally stopped yelling and took his brother back home. After closing the door, he gritted his teeth and said, "Master Qi, I will go to Xiang She (Liu She), the little boy of the Xiang family who smells like milk! I listen."
People say that he is the son of Xiang Xiang, Xiang Ji’s uncle.”
"I said that right."
Li Shiqi sighed and poured wine for his younger brother: "Xiang Ji is a young man who acts recklessly. Although he has the courage to do evil, he does not understand the ways of the world. He has no memory of other people's achievements and his sins. Victory
But you can’t get a reward, you can’t get a title when you capture a city, no one except Xiang can be used... You still don’t believe it!”
Li Shang was annoyed and pushed away the wine handed over by his brother: "Didn't my brother ask me to raise an army and take refuge with Xiang Ji? You also personally went to lobby Chen Liuling to surrender to the Xiang family. Why are you making fun of me now?"
Li Shiqi smiled and said, "Aren't I afraid that Chen Liuling will be too stubborn and refuse to surrender, angering Xiang Ji and making the same mistake as the Xiangyi Massacre?"
It turned out that since late January, Xiang Ji had defeated the Qin army Shejian and Su Jiao in Huaiyang, and began to move north along the chasm, attacking the city and taking out the territory along the way.
The Qin army suffered a new defeat, and the news that Feng Quji was innocently killed came from the rear. It had little desire to fight. According to Wang Ben's strategy, it gave up the difficult-to-defend plain area and retreated to Yingchuan, facing the danger of Cheng Gao.
Under this situation, the Chu army approached Chenliu and Yongqiu. Li Shiqi did not want the Chu army to swing down his butcher knife and turn his hometown into scorched earth. He thought that he could no longer be ambiguous at this time, so he asked his younger brother to rush to meet the Chu army's vanguard. He chose
Sneaking into Chenliu County alone, Xiao Zhi used emotion and reason to persuade Chen Liu to open the city and surrender to Chu.
Although due to the situation, Li Shang and Chen Liu had no choice but to surrender to Chu, Li Shiqi still did not think highly of Xiang Ji, thinking that his success was only temporary and would not last long.
Li Shang knew his brother's ambition and whispered: "Brother, you still think that this world will eventually be taken over by Marquis Wu Zhong?"
Li Shiqi said: "This is natural. Originally, the situation between the Northern and Southern Qin Dynasties was the same. However, I heard that the monarchs and ministers of Xianyang have been making stupid moves recently. They not only killed tens of thousands of palace maids and craftsmen, causing public outrage, but also killed the princes Gao and Feng Quji.
Now even the princes, ministers and soldiers of the three armies are in panic, and they have no intention to fight. The Chu army can easily sweep across the Liang Dynasty."
He talked eloquently, salivating: "In my opinion, Wuzhonghou will be able to defeat Wang Ben's army soon, raise soldiers from Jingzhou to attack Wuguan, raise soldiers from Shuhan to attack Qin, join forces from both sides to occupy Xianyang, depose Huhai, and take over
The soldiers of Qin will be able to use the country of the Four Fortresses and the Kingdom of Heaven to go out and kill and restore the six kings. The scene in which Qin destroyed the six kingdoms may be repeated."
"That being the case, if brother wants to join the black husband, then go ahead."
Li Shang gritted his teeth. Originally, Xiang Ji Huaiyang defeated the Qin army and his achievements were rumored to be miraculous. Like many heroes and light knights, he was enamored of this young hero. However, after joining the army, he could not get a satisfactory status, so he Very disappointed.
He said: "Although I only managed to get one village official, I still have thousands of people under my command. It is no problem to ask the Chu army for a customs clearance talisman. My brother can take a detour from the land controlled by the Chu state and go to Jianghan."
"My brother..."
Li Shiqi was speechless and reached out to touch his brother's head.
"I remember you didn't hit your head when you were young. Are you really stupid, or are you pretending to be stupid?"
Li Shang jumped up and said angrily: "You old drunkard, you really don't distinguish between good and bad. I'm helping you out of kindness, what are you going to do to me?"
Li Shiqi smiled and said, "I laughed at you for being confused. It's too late for me to go now."
"The scribes in Marquis Wu Zhong's army are probably overcrowded, especially Confucian scholars. I know that among this group of comrades, chasing power and wealth is like chasing flies chasing stinky smells. There must be many who defect to the wind. Even if I try to serve, there will be no success. I am recommended by someone, but I am old and sixty years old, so I may not be able to catch the eye of the person who greets me. But if I don’t discuss it with Marquis Wu Zhong face to face, how can he know my abilities?”
"It would be better for me to stay and wander among the six kingdoms. When Marquis Wu Zhong decides to attack the six kingdoms from the east, I will try to take refuge. At that time, I can present to Marquis Wuzhong the truth and falsehood of the six kingdoms. Which one is better? Attack first, who can die later? Only in this way can we catch up with the last carriage and be entrusted with important tasks!"
"That's it!" Li Shiqi raised his hand and said:
"Tomorrow I will ask Chen Liuling to express his merits for me, and he will also work as an official and a small strategist in Xiang Ji's power. Although he is not reused, he can move around freely!"
…
On the fifteenth day of February in the first year of the Second World War, Su Jiao, the captain of the Qin army who had suffered a huge defeat in Huaiyang half a month ago, returned to Wancheng tremblingly. He wanted to meet Wang Bi and state the Chu army's actions in Liang and Chen. new trends in time.
But he was blocked by Chang Shi Gantang.
"Don't hide anything from General Su."
Su Jiao was Wang Ben's right-hand man and the general he relied on more. Gantang pulled him and whispered: "Marquis Tongwu, he was so angry that he fell ill again..."
"Lieutenant is ill?" Su Jiao was horrified. In the battle of Huaiyang, they were inexplicably defeated by the opposing general Mang, and their morale plummeted. The reason why they were able to regroup in Yingchuan and Chenggao was because of the soldiers. I believe that with Marquis Tongwu at the rear, we will lose for a while, but we will eventually wipe out the rebels!
Now that Wang Ben was ill and unable to take charge, Su Jiao was horrified and felt as if the sky was about to collapse.
"Is it because... of the defeat on the front line?" He asked guiltily.
Gantang shook his head.
"Is that because of the affairs in the imperial court?" Su Jiao also heard the rumors that Xianyang killed Feng's family and killed Gongzi Gao. This was also one of the reasons for the low morale on the front line.
Gantang still shook his head and sighed: "Marquis Tongwu was angered by these two things half a month ago, and he only woke up two days ago. This time he fell ill again, but it was because of Mr. Hei..."
He then briefly told what happened a few days ago when Hei Fu held funerals for Feng Wuze, Feng's kidnapping, Gongzi Gao and others in Wanshan, Xiangyang, to vindicate the Feng family, and sent people to publicize the evil deeds of Hu Hai, Jie and Zhou.
"Hei Fu, are you complaining about the Feng family?"
As Feng Jie’s former friend, Su Jiao was simply shocked:
"Wait a minute, wasn't it the Hei Fu who used to create a rift and falsely claimed that Feng Jie had surrendered, which led to Feng being convicted of treason? Now he is mourning for Feng Jie! There really is such a shameless person in this world! Does he want to imitate King Gou Jian of Yue and cry for Wu Zixu?"
Gantang said meaningfully: "The reason why Gou Jian can cry for Wu Zixu is because King Wu Fu Chai did kill a loyal minister by mistake, and there is a villain in the country!"
Su Jiao coughed quickly: "Ah Tang, don't talk nonsense."
Gantang nodded: "In short, when this incident came out, people who understand the truth know that this is Hei Fu's plan to attack people's hearts. But ordinary soldiers, the head of Guizhou don't understand."
"Everyone only knows that Feng is indeed a loyal minister of the Qin Dynasty. Prime Minister Zuo was also very good to the soldiers in Wancheng. When the news of his death came, everyone was filled with indignation and cursed the court, but secretly praised Heifu for his understanding of justice and the distinction between public and private. Those
The stories deliberately arranged by the rebels, such as His Majesty being greedy for the beauty of the young master Gao's wife, Feng Jie's horse refusing to eat grass and dying, etc. are also secretly circulated in the army, and it is difficult to stop them..."
Gantang looked anxious: "Because of this, Tongwu Hou fainted again, and it has been half a day."
At this moment, the guards hurried out and whispered beside Gantang: "Marquis Tongwu is awake! I want to see Chang Shi!"
"Please wait a moment, General Su." Gantang hurriedly entered, but when he saw that the bone-shattering Wang Ben had to be supported by others before he could sit on the couch, his eyes suddenly became sore, and he stepped forward and paused: "Captain!"
Wang Ben waved his hand and asked about business matters first.
"Ahem...do you have any urgent military affairs during this half day?"
Gantang said: "No, it's just that Su Jiao has returned from Yingchuan and wants to report the Chu army's movements. Can he come to see me?"
Wang Ben shook his head, raised his head and took a deep breath.
"Shang Jun said."
"Any way to fight."
"It must be based on political victory!"
"If the country's political affairs are completely defeated, no matter how hard we fight on the front line and win every battle, we will be like Wei Wuji, Li Mu, and Xiang Yan..."
"It's all in vain in the end, it's useless!"
He clenched his fist and pounded the bed: "Heifu has always been good at taking advantage of fire to rob. The case of Mr. Feng and Mr. Gao has been exploited by the rebels. Now the three soldiers are panic-stricken and have no fighting spirit. The matter has reached a critical moment. Wang Ben,
There is one thing that must be done!”
"Gantang, prepare some pen and ink, I want to report to Xianyang Palace!"
After Gantang spread out the paper, Wang Ben took a sip of water, paused for a while, and then slowly dictated:
"Your Majesty, I dare to pay my respects again."
Then there was nothing more. Wang Ben stared for a while and then pointed at Gantang: "I don't remember what Han Fei said about traitorous ministers. You write it down."
Gan Tang was no less intelligent than his father Gan Luo, and he immediately reacted: "Is it from the chapter "Treachery and Regicide"?"
Wang Ben nodded: "Yes!"
Gantang then read while writing: "Han Zi said that all treacherous ministers are those who want to obey the master's will to gain the favor of relatives and friends. Therefore, if the master is good, the minister will praise him; if the master is hateful, the minister will destroy him.
...Therefore, the master must be shielded from above, and the minister must be focused on the lower one. This is called a minister who is good at mastering!"
After writing this, he already understood Wang Ben's thoughts and said excitedly: "Marquis Tongwu, how about writing like this next?"
Gantang read in his mouth and wrote as fast as he could: "As a wise man like Duke Huan of Qi, he also has the ability to change teeth, prescribe prescriptions, and make tricks to serve as a fawn. He obeys the superior righteousness, steams rice and serves food to gain the trust of Duke Huan, and is good at political affairs."
, blocking the upper and lower levels, harming the loyal and good externally, and causing chaos to the principles and disciplines."
"The doctor's order, Zhao Gao, is a descendant of Zhao. Thanks to the benevolence of the late emperor, he was promoted to a loyal minister. However, he did not want to serve the country, but was ignorant of reason. He was greedy and pursued profit without stopping. He ranked his power as the second priority and pursued his desires.
Infinitely, flattery can actually be used in important ways, and the world knows this."
"Gao, today's teeth are easy to change! Today, Gao has even more evil ambitions, dangerous rebellion, isolating China and foreign countries, and jeopardizing His Majesty's prestige. His ambition is like Tian Chang's prime minister. He is slandering the Feng family. The son is high, and his relatives are in pain."
, if the enemy is quick, it will be like Wu Dazai's victory over the country!"
"When I hear this, if I doubt my king, I will endanger the country; if I doubt my husband, I will endanger the family. Your Majesty is young, and the things he mistakenly punished are all the fault of Zhao Gao. The world is in turmoil, the three armies are restless, and rumors are everywhere, and they all blame Gao.
. Only by beheading Gao in a hurry to thank the people, the people's hearts will be at peace, and only then will the Qin State be protected."
"Good, great good, what you wrote is exactly what I wanted to say."
Wang Ben looked at the young Gan Tang with emotion, as if he saw the heroic appearance of his father Gan Luo. If that talented young man had not died young, he would have become the mainstay of the Qin Dynasty, and perhaps he would not have to stand up to the sky alone like this.
He stretched out his hand: "I should write this last sentence myself!"
Gantang lowered his head, held up the pen with both hands, and his tears fell on the ground.
Wang Ben supported his right hand with his left hand, tremblingly, but with great strength, he wrote four words on it:
Crooked and crooked, like the remains of his body.
Each word was written into the paper, just like his determination!