Following Emperor Liu Chan's question, several curious eyes fell on Zheng Pu.
They were of similar age and both were nobles of the imperial court, so naturally they were quite curious about Zheng Pu, who had military exploits.
When Zheng Pu heard this, his expression froze.
It seems that he has thought about something that is unbearable to look back on.
"Had."
After being silent for a long time, he laughed at himself and slowly said, "The natives of Zang'an are barbarians, their customs are fond of ghosts and witches, and they have many taboos. When planning things, they will make alliances with each other. In the past, most of the people who I recruited troops to move to were from the Hu tribe, and they were not educated in etiquette. The people who don’t know how to be kings, in order to strengthen their hearts and show the trust of the court, follow the customs and curse the alliance with the elders of various tribes with ghosts and witches, kill chickens and dogs, drink their blood, and eat their hearts. The tribes who migrated north to Shu There are five of them, and I will make an alliance with them one by one."
呲~~~
This time, not only the emperor's eyes were filled with horror, but the others also shuddered after hearing the words.
When they looked at each other, their faces turned pale.
Even Guan Xing, who was behind Jiang Men, was secretly speechless.
He would rather be surrounded by three or five powerful enemies than drink blood, let alone five times in a row!
After a while, Emperor Liu Chan came to his senses and sighed.
"I tried to read history and saw that General Huo of the former Wei army marched out, but the Xiongnu retreated three thousand miles away. I thought it was because of the might of our great Han Dynasty that the Xiongnu could not defeat me and escaped. Today, I heard from Zijin that I can only recruit two schools of troops, among which There are so many ups and downs. It can be inferred from this that the Xiongnu controlled hundreds of thousands of people, and Wei Huo was able to drive out the North, how many hardships and evils would it have to face?!"
After sighing, the emperor seemed to have remembered something, and his face became angry.
"Moreover, Zijin has so humiliated himself to serve the country that some people are using their words to undermine him, saying that Zijin is stubborn and ruthless and should not be close to him. It is really hateful!"
Huh?
Someone actually criticized me?
Those who can enter the palace to visit the emperor and are at odds with me.
Could it be that he is Liu Yanxie, the Marquis of Duxiang?
If it is true, this old thief is really hateful!
Someone slandered me in the past. I thought he was old and had no intention of quarreling, but this old thief refused to give up. He really bullied me and dared not wield a sharp knife to retaliate!?
Immediately, a ray of light flashed in Zheng Pu's eyes.
The emperor, who was sighing to himself, and the rest of the people who were concerned, did not notice it.
Only Dong Yun, who was asked by the Prime Minister to make a daily record, stood upright in front of Zheng Pu, so he could capture this subtle change in expression.
He was also shocked.
He had heard that the Prime Minister said that Zheng Pu's temperament was similar to the old Yihou's filial piety and uprightness, "Yai Cani will be repaid".
However, he did not expect that Zheng Pu would not look angry after hearing this.
On the contrary, he clasped his hands and smiled.
He raised his eyebrows in mockery and said, "I have heard that if the trees are beautiful in the forest, the wind will destroy them; if they are piled up on the bank, the current will be turbulent; if you walk higher than others, they will be rejected by others." Now I am being treated as such. To say this is bad, is it because I am standing out from the crowd?"
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone laughed and made happy faces.
Zhuge Qiao, who was quite astute, smiled and pretended to be angry, "Zheng Jun said this with ulterior motives! An Neng compares himself to a crane, but he regards us all as chickens!"
He also asked the crowd to gather together and accuse Zheng Pu of making mistakes, and asked him to bow to him frequently and accuse him.
After having fun for a while, Guan Xing asked about many details of the war in Nanzhong and asked everyone to sit down and talk.
When Dong Yun saw this, he avoided it, took out the daily note from the cloth bag, and added a few strokes.
The book says:
Near dusk, when eating, the Puhu servants chewed their hair and drank their blood.
Shang was surprised, "Are all southern barbarians so evil?"
Pu said: "This is because there are few salt wells in Nanzhong."
I heard that the people in the south are in poverty and it is not good to sin against oneself.
Ask again, "Qing Fanan, is this the case?"
Pu said: "It is the custom of the Southern Barbarians to curse the alliance with ghosts and witches. I recruited soldiers and moved to their homes, followed this custom, and joined the barbarians in killing chickens and dogs, drinking their blood and eating their hearts."
The emperor was sad and sighed, "Sad man, I don't know how difficult it is unless I take personal responsibility for everything. I know your merits when you attack the south, but I don't know how difficult it is for you!"
At this point in the recording, Dong Yun's hand holding the pen struggled slightly, but he still collected the ink and gave up.
In the end, he resisted and did not record in the book the blunder of Emperor Liu Chan and the strange look on Zheng Pu's face.
Those who slander others are pitiful!
Moreover, Zijin did not show any anger on his face.
It's better not to think about yourself and catch the wind and shadow, which will disturb the Prime Minister.
After a while, the rice was ripe, and the servants came to invite them to eat in the evening.
When dining out, keep everything simple.
Wash the bacon, slice it, steam it on rice, then serve it with pickled salted vegetables in a jar, and boil a lot of miso soup, which is a meal to satisfy your hunger in the evening.
The emperor, who has been well-dressed and well-fed since childhood, does not seem to dislike him.
Sitting on the bed, holding a large pottery bowl, he chatted and laughed with everyone while eating.
Or in other words, the emperor felt that the etiquette of eating without respecting the rules of eating, not talking about eating and sleeping, and enjoying the picnic with everyone were quite novel to the emperor.
Well, he didn't forget to ask his retinue to deliver a meal to the postman in the next door room.
It’s not just a reason for being kind-hearted.
What's more, he still remembered that Zheng Pu advised him that after the evening meal, he could talk to the postmen and learn about the customs of Li Shu.
Show it well first, and then you will win people's favor.
Such a simple principle, he, who came to the throne at a young age, understood it well without the need for others to persuade him.
However, when he came back from chatting with the postman, he felt a little depressed.
For the postal post directly connected to Baishui Pass from Chengdu, the postmen were all retired soldiers due to old age, disability and other reasons.
The postmen here were originally from Nanjun, Jingzhou. Their entire clan lived in a small village and made a living by farming, fishing and hunting.
In the past, General Sun Jian went north to fight against Dong, and killed Wang Rui, the governor of Jingzhou. As a result, the counties and counties in Jingzhou fell out of control, and a group of clan thieves started to rebel. Many towns were massacred, and the captives took their wives and plundered food and supplies.
This is a place where the whole family of post soldiers live together, and it is inevitable.
He and his brothers were young at the time, so they escaped into the water and swam to escape the disaster.
Displaced, they make a living by foraging for wild fruits and begging.
Later, Liu Biaodan rode into Jing and killed the clan's thieves and bandits. After several years, he was able to pacify both the inside and outside, and the provinces and counties were at peace.
They surrendered to the army to seek food to survive, thinking that they could find peace here.
However, Liu Biao died of illness, and Wei Wu and Cao Cao led his army to the south. Because of Cao Cao and Liu Biao, they fought in Nanyang many times. Seeing that the Wei army caused heavy killings, they followed their former lord to Jingnan.
The subordinate general was Feng Xi, the leader who died in the Battle of Yiling.
At the beginning, this postman followed his late lord Liu Bei to Shu and went through many battles against Liu Zhang, including the battle of Hanzhong, which was the last part of his military career.
One of his arms was cut by a soldier of Cao's army, and he could no longer use his left hand.
However, he is still lucky.
His brother who died with him slept with his eyes closed forever outside Mianyang County in Hanzhong.
Later, the former Lord Liu Bei ascended the throne as King of Hanzhong and built a post post to convey military information. He became one of the post soldiers, received a meager salary, and was granted nearly a hundred acres of land by the imperial court.
This is also what made Emperor Liu Chan so depressed.
He couldn't understand that his clan brother died in battle and he was disabled, but in exchange for land that was just enough to feed his family, ragged clothes, no meat, and no room for living in a thatched hut, why did this postman still feel grateful to the imperial court?
He even claimed that the eldest son of his family practiced martial arts diligently every day and would be recruited as a soldier when he reached adulthood.
Could it be that human life is as cheap as an ant?
Emperor Liu Chan didn't know why, so he asked.
But I didn't expect that the reason stated by the postman was even more tragic.
"The only good thing about a humble person is this life! Instead of starving to death and freezing to death, it is better to use his life to gain it! Now he has nearly a hundred acres of land, which can feed his family. If he has a salary and food, he can live in peace in his old age.
Why don’t you know enough to be evil?”
Of course!
Emperor Liu Chan's unhappiness was due to his sudden discovery that the world outside the palace was completely different from that in which he was imprisoned.
In the palace confinement, he has carriages and horses when going out, palace people coming in and out, fine clothes and beautiful decorations, meat to eat, wine to drink, quilts to sleep in, entertainment to have fun, no cold in the morning, no heat in the morning, all kinds of peace and happiness, it seems.
Peace everywhere.
However, outside the palace confinement, the concubines were obedient and willing to fight for food to satisfy their hunger.
What’s more, even though I had to fight for food, I was so grateful that I shed tears of gratitude!
Is this the difference between superiority and inferiority?
Didn't Chen She's statement that "Princes and generals have the talent to be in love with each other" also inspired countless people to seek the title of marquis?
Not to mention, there are even more people who started their business with the late emperor, as well as veterans who later followed him to Shu, and even more of them came from poor families!
After saying goodbye to the postman, when he returned, Dong Yun, who was accompanying him, saw his gloomy complexion, so he said in relief, "Mr. Liu, the world is in turmoil, wars are frequent, and the common people are in chaos and living on food, this is God's blessing."
"Well, I know that Xiu Zhao's words can be penetrated by the whip."
Nodding slightly, the emperor smiled rather forcefully and waved his hand, "It's night, let's take a rest."
After saying that, he turned around and went into his house to sleep.
In fact, there was still a doubt in his mind.
He wanted to know that the post soldier wanted to send the eldest son of the family as a soldier in the future to accompany the army in the expedition. Is this to restore the Han Dynasty and conquer the evil in the Central Plains?
Or is it to gain nearly a hundred acres of Susukada evil for the family?
Naturally, this is a question that I want to ask, but I haven’t asked it yet, and I can’t ask it either.
And the answer seems to be known to oneself, but one does not want to know it.
Alas, it should be both, right?
After reaching a far-fetched conclusion, Emperor Liu Chan put down his thoughts, rolled up his clothes and fell asleep.
But he didn't know whether it was because the straw on the wooden board was so noisy, or because it had been so long since he had slept alone on his pillow. He tossed and turned for a long time, but he didn't feel sleepy at all.
Simply, he stood up and walked out, watching the night to calm his mind.
As soon as he came out, he saw Zheng Puzheng dancing in the court with a sword.
"Zi Jin also has no sleeping evil?"
With a smile on his face, Emperor Liu Chan stepped forward and asked.
Hearing this, Zheng Pu put away his sword and returned with a smile, "However, the night has been long, and I thought that I didn't practice sword practice this morning, so I came to dance."
"good."
The emperor nodded in praise, his interest suddenly aroused, and he waved to his retinue not far away. After getting the sword, he said, "I haven't practiced sword practice for a long time, so now I'm dancing with Zijin."
After dancing, the emperor was out of breath, but he felt very happy.
It seemed that the depression in my heart had all dissipated as the cold wind cut through me.
Passing the sword to the retinue, the emperor turned his head and asked with a smile, "I heard that Zi Jin admonished Qiao Yun to go south to Bashu and declared against Wei's tyrannical rule. Is this an evil plan for the Northern Expedition?"
"Of course, I just want to arouse the common people's hatred towards the enemy, so that the soldiers know why they are fighting."
Do you share the same hatred?
After thinking for a moment, the emperor suddenly smiled and changed the subject of the conversation, "I wonder if Zijin can bring her bamboo flute when she comes out this time?"
"ah?"
Zheng Pu was stunned for a moment, then nodded, "Yes. I wonder, Mr. Liu, what song do you want to listen to?"
"Sing in the wind."
The emperor had turned around and put his hands behind his back, looking at the mountains and rivers of the Han Dynasty shrouded in the dark night, and said in a calm tone, "I want to sing with you."
