An endless stream of refugees crossed the fields and stepped over the fence, coming from the northwest and going to the southeast. What they stepped on was uncultivated farmland.
Zhang Liang looked at the refugees' frightened eyes, stumbling steps, and despairing backs, and his brows knitted together.
These are refugees from the Sanchuan Jingsuo area. In the past, they were land that belonged to South Korea, and the residents were mainly Koreans. The Qin and Chu armies were facing each other on the Si River. Although there was no battle yet, the scouts and cavalry were fighting endlessly, which affected the whole country.
The livelihood of the people living hundreds of miles around.
"They chose the distance instead of going to Xinzheng. They continued to go south because they knew that Xinzheng would become a battlefield sooner or later..."
This is the wisdom of the people of Zheng and Han, and it is also the current situation of Zhang Liang's motherland. This troubled land has rarely had peace in the past six hundred years.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the four great powers of Qi, Chu, Jin, and Qin began to compete with the State of Zheng, and the State of Zheng was always trapped in the quagmire of great power competition for hegemony.
Zhang Liang had read classics thoroughly and knew that during the Spring and Autumn Period, about 300 wars occurred. Among them, nearly a hundred wars affected the Zheng State, with an average of one every three years. Of course, the Zheng State usually appeared as the target of being beaten violently.
Jin Fang Tubo is advancing into the Central Plains, Chu is also conquering the country, and the Northern Expedition is continuing. Chen, Cai, Zheng, and Xu should be the first to hit the target. Zheng's key point is especially the first. If China gets Zheng, it can reject Chu. If Chu gets Zheng, it can spy on it.
China. Therefore, Zheng, Jin, and Chu must compete for the territory.
The Battle of Chengpu, the Battle of Yanling, and the Battle of Bi were basically fought within the territory of the Zheng State. As the saying goes, where the division is, there are thorns everywhere. After each battle, it would take many years for the Zheng State to recover.
The people of Zheng once cried in those days: "It was a natural disaster for the Zheng Kingdom to be placed between the two great powers. The great powers did not add virtue, but used chaos to control them, so that their ghosts and gods could not enjoy their sacrifices, and their people could not enjoy the benefits."
The land is advantageous, and the couple worked hard to climb the pass, but they had nothing to complain about. "As a small country, in order to survive, it had to fight both ways, and only the strong would follow. During the Qin Dynasty and the Chu Dynasty, the world said that the people of Zheng were "greedy for profit like a duck, and forsaken trust like a piece of earth."
, it is indeed their helplessness.
Only in this way can we protect the people.
Han destroyed Zheng and moved its capital to Xinzheng, but it seemed to have inherited the curse of Zheng. For more than a hundred years, South Korea remained a small country, sandwiched among the great powers, trying its best to survive. Wei Qiang relied on Wei, Zhao Qiang allied with Zhao, and Qi Chu
When the Qin Dynasty was strong and prosperous, South Korea was a frequent visitor to Qin Lianheng's camp. Without him, South Korea was the closest to Qin. If it had not followed Qin, the Qin army would have arrived overnight.
Relying on this kind of unprincipled attachment and flattery, South Korea has occasionally had a few years of peace...
Whenever there is no war, Xinzheng people will seize the opportunity and enjoy life.
Qin and 洧 are in harmony.
The motorcade continued to move forward, the water flowed gurglingly, and Xinzheng was approaching.
Zhang Liang is very familiar with this river. Every early spring, when the spring water flows, young people in Xinzheng City will go out of the city in small groups and come to the Jishui River. Everyone is wearing brand new spring clothes and is dressed up.
Because the meeting in Mishui is a blind date meeting that everyone, regardless of wealth or status, can participate in.
The gentleman and the girl were chatting with each other, and the warrior and the girl were chatting with each other.
Zhang Liang and his younger brother were from a distinguished family. Their ancestors had lived together for five generations, and they were handsome. Zhang Liang, however, was more like a woman and behaved elegantly. He was the handsome man that all the ladies in Xinzheng City dreamed of back then. Everyone was young, and the scene was beautiful.
As for Shao Ai, countless women threw spoons of medicine to express their love.
The folk customs in Zheng area are lively and unrestrained. Men and women often invite each other with singing and dancing, and they have sex immediately. Outside, they are having fun. Zhang Liang once hugged him from left to right, walking around among the flowers, and there was something wonderful about it.
There is no need to say much.
It's a pity that his youthful debauchery is gone forever. Zhang Liang doesn't even know that those women who were close to him are still alive now...
The once clear water became turbid. Wang Ben's army and the Chu army fought here. Corpses piled up in the river, which became filthy and stinky. It even caused a plague. Zhang Liang came to Xinzheng, organized manpower, and managed to clean up the river with great difficulty.
Last year, when the Chu army withdrew, they were like locusts passing through the border. They ate up all the grain reserves in Xinzheng and left the city with rice, stone and thousands of coins. Zhang Liang could see that many people were fishing for fish and shrimp in the water, and he saw a team coming from a distance.
, the first reaction is to run away.
They were panicked, like scattered gulls and swallows, because they didn't know whether the incoming troops were the Chu army, the Qin army, or bandits. Even if the city was right next to them, it couldn't give them a sense of security.
But some did not run away. A woman tried to approach the convoy, but was stopped by the attendants. However, the woman recognized Zhang Liang, stepped on her feet and shouted:
"Are you a gentleman from the ovary?"
Zhang Liang was stunned by the call he had not heard for nearly twenty years, and ordered his attendants to bring the woman over.
The woman Jing Chai wore a sarong, her hands and feet were wet. She was holding a seven or eight-year-old child with a bun in one hand and a dustpan in the other. She had obviously been searching for fish and shrimps in the water just now. Seeing Zhang Liang now, she felt a little at a loss as she stroked
My hair is dry and tangled, as if it were tangled, and the more I comb it, the more tangled it becomes.
"Who are you……"
"My concubine is Yan, and she lives in Xili, Xinzheng. The gentleman in the ovary may not remember me, but I remember the gentleman."
Seeing that Zhang Liang was still confused, she said: "When I was on a spring outing in Jishui, I was favored by Mr. Zhongjun of the Zhang family. I was going to take me as my concubine. However, Mr. Zhong died and the matter was settled. Mr. Zifang
He even left me money and silk, asking me to find a good family to marry..."
Zhang Liang remembered that this was one of the women with whom he and his brother attended the meeting in Mishui and had an ambiguous relationship with him. She seemed to be making out in the bushes. When Zhang Liang found her, she was disheveled and ran away with her face covered.
opened.
It is normal for the sons of nobles to take concubines as concubines, and they can just arrange for the housekeeper to take care of it. Unfortunately, they were born in an era of drastic changes. In that year, Qin destroyed Han. Zhang Liang's younger brother was more staunch than him, and participated in the secret of eradicating Korean traitors.
The Ranger organization was surrounded by Qin officials. Before his death, he committed suicide in order not to harm the family...
Although Zhang Liang obtained his body through bribery, he was unable to bury him publicly. The family even had to pretend that his younger brother had gone to study in a foreign country and ordered Zhang Liang to remain as before. His blood could only drip from his heart...
As scenes from the past emerged, Zhang Liang nodded: "Then what happened next..."
The woman said: "I married to a neighboring county and gave birth to two sons and two daughters. Later, my husband died in the war and one son died of illness. The two daughters had to be given away. I went back to my parents' home in Xinzheng and barely made a living. I didn't think I could survive."
See you again, gentleman."
She spoke very calmly, without much compassion, nor did she pretend to be pitiful to Zhang Liang. She was as calm as if a piglet died and two puppies were given away...
Because they have seen too many deaths, they are numb and accustomed to it. Even they themselves don’t know when they will fall down and never wake up again.
But Yan had some regrets about what happened when she was young: "I was not lucky enough to serve Zhongjun."
She touched her rough face and felt a little sad: "I am old, like a withered mulberry leaf. I am ashamed to see Zhongjun."
She also looked at Zhang Liang's appearance and said with emotion: "The gentleman is just like he was before. He is as beautiful as Yao Ye and has an extraordinary bearing. If Mr. Zhong is still here, he will be like this."
How popular were the Zhang brothers back then? No woman wanted to be a husband, no virgin wanted to be a scholar, and those who abandoned their in-laws and wanted to run away, stood shoulder to shoulder...
Zhang Liang didn't want to listen anymore. Seeing that the child Yan was holding was sallow and thin, he asked someone to give her a bag of grain. He also caught a glimpse of the coveted eyes of some refugees around him, and asked someone to escort Yan back. When she couldn't survive, he came
Find him.
But when the woman thanked her profusely and said goodbye, Zhang Liang couldn't hold back and asked her something he had been holding back for a long time.
"You think it's good to go over there."
"Is it better now?"
The woman replied matter-of-factly: "Of course it's better when Korea is still here."
She looked at the Mishui in front of her, where Zheng Ren's youth once flowed, with a somewhat nostalgic look in her eyes: "At that time, Mr. Zhong was also here."
Zhang Liangdao: "I'm asking about the ten years when the Qin people ruled Han, and now."
The woman thought for a while and replied: "It's better to have ten years!"
She couldn't give any big reasons, or examples of past peace and present wars. She could only point to Wei Shui and said:
"I'm afraid you, Mr. Zifang, don't know that after I returned to Xinzheng, I asked the people there. They said that from the twenty-fourth year to the thirty-seventh year, the Jishui ladies' meeting was able to last for thirteen consecutive years.
It’s not interrupted, I’m really envious..."
"Thirteen years."
Zhang Liang was stunned. It is unbelievable. It has been six hundred years since Zheng Guo established a foothold in this land and then South Korea made it its capital. To this day, the land of Zheng and Han has never enjoyed such a long period of peace.
Peace……
Thirteen years of peace are really a luxury for the Zheng State, which is subject to war every three years, and for South Korea, which is subject to Qin troops crossing the border every four or five years!
Zhang Liang was speechless for a long time, and finally shook his head and walked towards the city.
The city also heard the news of Zhang Liang's return, but the welcome along the spacious avenue was not like the welcome they received when they "recovered" Xinzheng a few months ago. Whether it was the hungry people sitting on the roadside who looked at his carriage coldly.
.
The excitement brought about by the restoration of the country was incomparable to the pain of hunger in the belly. The Koreans quickly put "recovery" behind them. This political victory did not bring benefits to ordinary people, and a series of turbulences followed.
, which made them miss the peaceful days when the Qin Dynasty ruled.
With refugees running outside, Xinzheng is also in decline. At that time, Xinzheng was the most prosperous and famous city in the world, but now its doors are closed and people are panicked.
This scene is so similar to when Nei Shiteng came to attack Korea...
In the year when Korea fell, Zhang Liang was only ten years old. He was very young and vigorous. He raised his sword to kill the Qin people. If his uncle hadn't asked his servants to tie Zhang Liang up, he would have been shot to death by Qin's crossbow along with the group of knights.
It's on the street.
When Ye Teng entered Xinzheng as a conqueror, Han Wangan surrendered with all his civil and military officials. At that time, some indignant Koreans also questioned Ye Teng:
"As a minister of Han, why do you want to destroy Han!?"
"Destroy Han?"
It is said that Ye Teng laughed and said:
"That's right, I will destroy Han Sheji and capture Han Wang An."
"But I also saved the people of South Korea and saved millions of people from the disaster of weapons. From this point of view, I destroyed South Korea, but I also saved South Korea!"
This kind of rhetoric about traitors to Korea and saving the country was naturally not accepted by Zhang Liang, a radical Korean restorationist.
When he finalized his revenge list, he said: "The one who deserves to die the most is Qin Shihuang, followed by Ye Teng!"
But now, Zhang Liang had to admit that in those more than ten years, Xinzheng had indeed gained a rare breather and stability.
It is a pity that the restoration of Zhang Liang and others did not bring peace to Xinzheng, but instead brought pain, war, and even greater crisis!
Qin and Chu will fight decisively in the Central Plains, and South Korea and Yingchuan are the battlefields sandwiched in the middle...
The curse and nightmare that has enveloped Zheng and Han for six hundred years, the dark cloud called war, has always been there. It was briefly dispersed by the sun, but it condensed again and became thicker and thicker...
When the thunder sounded and the spring rain fell, Zhang Liang finally made a decision.
"Bring Li Shiqi! I have something to ask him!"
…
The unlucky Li Shiqi was put under house arrest after his identity was revealed by Zhang Liang in that pavilion. He was locked in a sealed carriage and dragged along to Xinzheng. Now that he was finally released, he started clamoring for a drink.
"Yingchuan is even short of food, let alone wine."
Zhang Liang asked his attendants to step aside and sat across from Li Shiqi. After a long time, the two of them suddenly laughed.
"When did Zifang guess the identity of my spy Qin?"
"I knew it from the beginning."
Zhang Liang pretended to have everything under control, and said to Li Shiqi: "You have a lot of information that is useful to me and the State of Chu." "Should I have someone torture me, or did you say it yourself?"
Li Shiqi said lazily: "How can my old bones withstand the torture? Just ask the ovary."
Next, it was time for Zhang Liang to ask questions. When did Li Shiqi enter Qin and why he rebelled against Wei and joined the black army, Li Sheng had to tell him one by one. "Of course it is because good birds choose trees to roost in." Li Shiqi said
Disapprovingly. "Oh? Do you think Hei Fu is the master?"
"At least he looks more like the Lord of the Ming Dynasty than Xiang Yu's uncle and nephew." Li Shiqi smiled and said, "What do you think Zifang does?"
Zhang Liang ignored it and only asked him the question he was most concerned about after spending a long time:
"Let's talk about it, what kind of person is Mr. Hei?"
Li Shiqi became more energetic now. He stood up and cupped his hands toward the west and said, "Xia Gong is a benevolent and virtuous man. He has great ambitions and can restrain his selfish desires! He is a true saint!"
"He is quite like Yu who cast nine tripods to eliminate the floods." "It is also like the Duke of Zhou who opened the Zhou Dynasty eight hundred years ago and established the rituals and music!"