"Although Guan Yu is a martial artist, he also knows the word loyalty and righteousness. As the saying goes, he can capture good trees by choosing trees. He can meet his master by choosing his ministers. Guan Yu's lifelong wish is enough. From now on, Guan
My life is Brother Liu's fate. Guan's body is Brother Liu's body. But by driving me, I will never have two minds."
"Me too."
"Me too."
"I swear that I will share weal and woe with my brother, stay with him all our lives, and never leave him even in life or death."
"Me too."
"Me too."
"You Yu's words will be killed by both heaven and man."
"Me too."
"Me too."
Chen Mu's face was expressionless, like a repeating machine without emotion.
"Brother."
"Brother."
"Brother."
Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Chen Mu raised their hands and shouted one after another.
Liu Bei burst into tears and said movedly: "Second brother, third brother, fourth brother!"
The four people held their hands tightly together and said in unison: "I don't want to be born in the same year, the same month and the same day, but I want to die in the same year, the same month and the same day!"
After saying that, the four of them burst out laughing, laughing with tears in their eyes, hugging each other and crying with joy.
"It's a pity that it's raining heavily outside and the sky is getting dark. Otherwise, we can go to my peach garden and worship heaven and earth to become sworn brothers on the spot. That way our love as four brothers will not be in vain."
Zhang Fei laughed so loudly that the dust on the beams fell to the ground.
Liu Bei said with a smile: "Third brother, don't be impatient. It's not too late to talk about the sworn brotherhood until the rain stops in the morning. What the fourth brother said just now made me clear the clouds and I was suddenly enlightened. Why don't you come over and sit down first and continue to listen to what he has to say."
The four of them sat down and Chen Mu said: "Just now we mentioned that the eldest brother plans to recruit local braves to bring down thieves and bring peace to the people. The third brother wants to sell the family's property. Can we help him with all his money?"
"Exactly."
"This is the next best choice."
"Oh? Why?"
Liu Bei asked confused.
He has great ambitions and is naturally unwilling to surrender to others, so he wants to form his own army and do something great.
It just so happened that during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the imperial court ordered local powerful people to form their own armies to fight against rebellion. As long as they had military merit, they could be awarded official positions, and there was no need to mention filial piety and integrity.
For a down-and-out noble like Liu Bei, who was not even from a humble family, it was a huge opportunity. That's why Liu Bei wanted to respond to the court's call and do something big.
Chen Mu smiled and shook his head: "Brother, why can't you understand the current situation? The imperial court is fatuous, and the emperor sells his official positions. The officialdom is dark, and official corruption is rampant. The promotion of filial piety and integrity has been monopolized by wealthy families, and it is very difficult for ordinary people from poor families to rise.
, it is almost impossible to be awarded an official position without a monetary bribe."
Liu Bei wondered: "That's why I want to form Xiangyong, achieve military success, and start a career."
"The problem is that you don't have any background, and no one in the court can speak for you. The same credit, in the hands of those children of aristocratic families, is the magistrate of the lower county with 400 shi, and even the magistrate of the upper county with 600 shi, Yilang
, Jun Cheng, Du Hou. If I get into your hands, at most I will be awarded a 200-stone county lieutenant, and there is a risk of being dismissed from my post in the future. It is really not a good way to advance."
Chen Mu recalled what he had seen before about the furious whipping of postal officers. The TV series and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms said it was Zhang Fei who did it, but in fact it was Liu Bei. Emperor Zhaolie's temper was very bad in the early stage, and his fighting ability was not weak, at least.
He is a first-class warrior, otherwise he would not have participated in a battle of the level of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Lu Bu and still escaped unscathed.
Liu Bei thought for a while and said: "My lifelong wish is to govern a land, protect the environment and the people, and make the people live a better life. I don't expect an official position, even if I am a county captain, as long as the people live and work in peace and contentment, it is not impossible."
.”
"But the bigger the official position, the more places he manages, and the more people he protects? People with high moral character may not dislike the size of the official position, but they cannot abandon more people. The eldest brother has good moral character, so naturally
It doesn’t matter how big the official position is, but wouldn’t it be better if I could be a bigger official and protect more people? Isn’t this what eldest brother wants in his life?”
Chen Mu responded cleverly.
This is the art of speaking.
Many people say that Liu Bei is hypocritical and hypocritical, but regardless of whether his benevolence and righteousness are true or not, let's just assume that he is hypocritical and hypocritical. Then he must at least promise to do some benevolent and righteous things in exchange for reputation.
So as long as you keep this in mind and tell him that the bigger the official position, the more people he can serve and the more he can demonstrate his benevolence and righteousness, you can naturally convince him easily.
Liu Bei was indeed convinced by Chen Mu's words and nodded in agreement: "What my fourth brother said makes sense, he deserves to be the queen of Qu Nihou."
Chen Mu smiled.
He time-traveled into the body of a person with the same name and inherited the memory of his predecessor, letting him know that he was a descendant of Qu Nihou Chen Ping.
However, Chen Ping's descendants are not high-ranking officials, but common people, even poorer.
What were the children of poor families during the Eastern Han Dynasty?
He is a down-and-out noble.
And he was not a down-and-out aristocrat like Liu Bei whose family was so poor that he often needed help from his clan uncle, but a down-and-out aristocrat who was rich and official but did not have a high political status.
For example, Liu Bei's grandfather, Liu Xiong, served as the county magistrate of Liubaishi. His official position was neither big nor small, and he could be called a poor family. But this was not the case for Liu Bei's generation. Because he had no official position, he could only be called a commoner. The poorer he was, the poorer he was.
poor.
The descendants of Chen Ping, Marquis of Qu Ni, were originally marquises for generations, with prominent families and noble family backgrounds. However, when the fourth generation committed crimes, they were expelled and their descendants were demoted to commoners. The title of Marquis Qu Ni was also completely lost in the long river of history.
However, although the family status is no longer there, at least the descendants have been reproduced. It turns out that Chen Mu is the thirteenth generation grandson of Chen Ping, the Marquis of Qu Ni, and his roots are upright and Miao Hong.
After Chen Mu traveled through time and learned about the current era and situation, he began to make plans for himself.
Qu Nihou can barely be considered a brand after that.
Considering that troubled times are coming, I am a weak scholar with no power. I do not have the power of a noble family, and I do not have the skills to fight against ten thousand enemies. If I want to live in peace and contentment without being hacked to death at any time, I have to
Find a strong backer to ensure the safety of your life.
And this backer must be strong, such as the three final winners, Wei, Shu, and Wu.
Although you can also find other people, such as Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, who are relatively strong in the early stage. With their strength and Chen Mu's foresight in the future, it is not impossible to make suggestions for them and help them turn the tables.
However, Chen Mu's background determined that it was impossible for him to stand in a high position in front of the disciples of these powerful families and influence their decisions.
Jushu Tianfeng is the best example.
Therefore, he had to find someone as his backer who would not discriminate against the children of the common people, such as Cao Ahao, who had Guo Jiaxi Zhicai who was from a commoner background but treated them extremely well.
However, Lao Cao is in Luoyang. Although I don’t know how far the straight line distance is from the county seat to Luoyang, I heard from people in the county that it would take several months to walk, and it would take ten and a half months to ride a horse. When I think about it, I have no power to tie a chicken.
Chen Mu gave up the idea of looking for Lao Cao as to what would happen to a frail scholar who walked all the way for several months to Luoyang in these troubled times.
There is no need to consider the remaining Soochow. That place is far away from Youzhou, and it may not be possible to reach it in a year.
Therefore, Chen Mu had only one choice - Liu Bei.
Today's Quni County was renamed Puyin in the early Eastern Han Dynasty. Puyin County happened to be only 100 kilometers away from Zhuo County. It was so close that it could be reached in two days, and the official roads were wide, people came and went, and troops were stationed.
At least you don't have to worry about running into bandits and road bullies while walking, and suddenly the people are gone. It's much safer than going further away.
As for how to find Liu Bei, it's easy, just find Zhang Fei.
Although Zhang Fei's education level is not high and he can only say "I am the same", he likes to be arty and his family is rich. He is looking for a teacher. I heard that Chen Mu is the successor of Chen Ping, and there are many things left by Chen Ping hidden in his family.
He was very knowledgeable and talented, so he couldn't help but be overjoyed and let Chen Mu stay.
In the past two months, Chen Mu and Zhang Fei had been chatting happily and had a very good relationship. This time Zhang Fei met Guan Yu and Liu Bei on the street.
They came to their home, drank and talked together.
There were two more people with similar interests, so Zhang Fei naturally had to call Chen Mu out to accompany him. As a result, everyone became happier and more excited as they chatted. It would be better to choose a different day and sworn sworn brothers on the spot.
This is why the Taoyuan Three Brothers, which was supposed to be the meeting of three macho brothers, ended up with a strange, weak scholar mixed into it.
And now, it's time for Chen Mu to make plans for his sworn brothers Liu Bei and Liu Xuande.
"Brother, recruiting soldiers by yourself not only requires a lot of money, but also won't get much credit. It is not a good idea. Therefore, if you want to fulfill your wish, become a high-ranking member of the party and protect the local people, you must find a backer."
Chen Mu said slowly: "With a backer, your merits will be recognized. With a backer, you don't have to worry about the risk of being dismissed in the future. Only then can you have a foothold in the court and a foundation."
Liu Bei wondered: "But I don't know any high officials."
"How not?"
Chen Mu smiled slightly: "Your teacher Lu Shangshu is pretty good."
"Master?"
Liu Bei wondered: "Master Shijun is now a minister and is collating Confucian classics in Luoyang. If I go to him, I'm afraid I won't be able to help him much."
"hehe."
Chen Mu shook his head: "Now that the world is in chaos, the imperial court will definitely send troops to exterminate the Yellow Turbans. There are not many people who can be high-ranking generals in the imperial court. Duan Zhao, Huangfu Gui and others died just a few years ago. Zhang Wen, Qiao Xuan and others are too old. Zhang Yishou and Liu Bingzhou
Yuzhen Youzhou cannot move lightly, and Geng Bi, Fu Xie, Gaixun and others are not qualified enough. The only people left who are qualified enough to lead the army are Huangfu Song, Lu Zhi, Zhu Jun and others, so I guess
Your teacher Lu Shangshu must be among them."
In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient, and if it was less important information, it would sometimes take several months to be transmitted.
It is only March of the first year of Zhongping, and the Yellow Turbans uprising just happened last month. The imperial court sent Huangfu Song, Lu Zhi, and Zhu Jun to lead the crusade in early March, more than ten days ago. Of course, the news has not reached Youzhou.
Come.
"If it is really Master, I would naturally be willing to follow him to kill enemies and make meritorious deeds, but I'm afraid..."
Liu Bei hesitated because he was afraid that Chen Mu's judgment would be wrong and his time would be wasted.
Of course Chen Mu knew his concerns and analyzed: "It doesn't matter even if the imperial court does not use Lu Shangshu. Now the main force of the Yellow Turban Army is in Yingchuan. The Julu area, especially Julu, is the home of the bandit Zhang Jiao. Zhuojun is here
The Yellow Turban Army on the side is just a small force and not something to be afraid of. Even if they are wiped out completely, they will not achieve much success. If we go to Julu, we will have the opportunity to achieve greater achievements."
"this......"
Liu Bei looked at Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
Before Guan Yu could speak, Zhang Fei shouted anxiously: "Oh brother, what are you still hesitating about? The fourth brother is right, there are only a few thieves in Zhuojun? If we catch them all, it won't be enough for me, old Zhang, to stuff his teeth. Let's
So you recruited troops, bought horses, killed the giant deer, captured old Zhang Jiao alive, and accomplished such a great feat. Isn't the emperor happy to grant you the title of a marquis?"
"I think it's okay."
Guan Yu stroked his long beard and nodded.
"good."
Liu Bei slapped the table at that time and said excitedly: "Then go to Julu!"