Chen Mu and Jushu seemed to hit it off immediately, and they chatted for a while, and soon they were chatting together, talking and laughing.
About two-quarters of an hour later, Liu Bei led his troops back. He looked unhappy. The whole team was dejected and morale was low. It was obvious at a glance that they had either lost the battle or failed to catch up with Zhang Jiao.
However, Chen Mu estimated that it would be very difficult for Zhang Jiao's remaining soldiers to defeat Liu Bei's team with high morale, so it was probably the latter who was just disappointed because he failed to capture Zhang Jiao.
As expected, Liu Bei came to Zong Yuan and many other generals, and said apologetically: "General Zong, Bei has neglected his duty. He never thought that after passing Nanmeng Township, there is the Ming River. There is a pontoon bridge on the river, which allowed Zhang Jiao to escape to the other side.
Cut the rope first and break the bridge, making it impossible to pursue."
At this time, if the clan members wanted to find a scapegoat who did not completely annihilate Zhang Jiao, Liu Bei would be a good choice.
But it was a pity that Liu Bei was Lu Zhi's favorite disciple. He had made great achievements in repeated battles and had already gained a reputation in the army. The clan members did not want to offend Liu Bei and his immediate superiors, so they had no choice but to console themselves and said: "It doesn't matter, Zhang Jiao is defeated and the whole world will be conquered."
There is no place for him to stay, and he cannot run far."
The two chatted for a few more words.
Chen Mu reminded from the side: "Brother, I have other things to do."
"oh."
After being reminded by Chen Mu, Liu Bei remembered another thing and said to the clan member: "General, then Bei will go and do something first. This is also what the master ordered."
"Go ahead."
The clan member nodded, it was related to the Emperor's royal secrets, and he didn't want to get involved in it at all.
Jushou on the side was very curious and asked: "My dear brother, now that the war has been settled, what else needs to be done?"
Chen Mu smiled: "If you are curious, please come with me and have a look."
"Isn't it convenient?"
"It's not a big deal."
"Then I will go and join in the fun."
Jushou agreed, mainly because he saw that Chen Mu was planning to go to Jize.
This place is the junction of Jize and SAARC. He has to go home anyway, so he might as well drop by.
On the way, Chen Mu introduced Jushou to Liu Bei. Hearing that Liu Bei was the disciple of Lu Zhi, the commander-in-chief of the imperial army, and a clan member of the Han Dynasty, Jushou was very enthusiastic, and the two had a great conversation.
Along the way, officers and soldiers one after another lazily captured prisoners and slowly headed towards Guangping.
Jushu wondered: "I don't know why, the morale of the officers and soldiers is not high. They could have wiped out all Zhang Jiao in one fell swoop, but they were afraid to move forward. They either waved flags and shouted, or stabbed them with spears, and did not dare to fight up close. It's really strange."
What a strange thing."
Chen Mu smiled and said: "Dong, brother, have you ever heard of a truth?"
Jushou asked curiously: "What's the truth?"
“When a person pursues the necessities of life, he is often diligent and brave; when a person pursues the consumer goods of life, he often becomes lazy and meek; when a person pursues the luxuries of life
When the time comes, the person becomes weak.”
Chen Mu raised his head and glanced at the gray sky. The rain had eased a lot, so he put away his umbrella, slightly feeling the slight chill in early summer, and said slowly.
Jushou thought thoughtfully: "If a person is so poor that he has no food to eat, he will try every means to survive. When he has some money, which can provide him with food and clothing, his previous hard work will slack off a lot. When he has more money
When he was young, he began to be greedy for life and afraid of death. Is this the truth?"
"good."
Chen Mu nodded: "These soldiers turned out to be Northern Army soldiers from Gyeonggi Sili. They joined the army just for a living, but they also had families, so they were very brave during the war, sacrificing their own lives and killing the enemy with all their might. Wait for them
After winning some battles and gaining some credit and trophies, their morale will be lowered. When they have enough money to live a worry-free life as a family, do you think they are still willing to risk their lives?"
"I see."
Before Jushou could speak, Liu Bei suddenly realized: "No wonder the master told me before that this battle has reached its limit and I must find a way to kill Zhang Jue. It turns out that he has also expected that the vigor of his soldiers has been exhausted."
, I hope this battle will be completed in one battle."
In ancient wars, in order to motivate soldiers, many generals would reward the three armies after attacking a city, and would even give orders to allow soldiers to vent their anger on women and rob property at will in the city.
Although Lu Zhi's army was a regular official army, it was impossible to issue orders for soldiers to ravage the people. But looting the property stolen by the Yellow Turban Army was an unspoken rule that everyone, including Lu Zhi, acquiesced to. Otherwise, he would not even have Wei.
If the county cannot defeat them, the morale of the officers and soldiers will definitely be lower than that of the Yellow Turban soldiers without any training.
And all the way from Wei County, there were more than ten battles. The officers and soldiers were so full of money that they no longer even looked at the ordinary five baht money. They either grabbed "silk", "silk", "silk" and "silk".
Cloths such as silk, or high-value items such as gold, silver, beads, and jade.
For them, this money is enough to feed and clothe their family and support their family. If they don't have a family, they can consider using this money to marry a wife and have children. With worries about their future, they naturally lose the courage to kill the enemy desperately.
After understanding this truth, Jushou sincerely admired him: "Brother Yu, although he has been a minor official for several years and is used to the calculations of people in the market, he has forgotten the great truth involved. Zigui's talents are not as good as mine."
"hehe."
Chen Mu lowered his head and seemed to be looking for something along the road. He glanced around and said with a smile: "Young man and brother, don't be humble. I know that my brother has great talents and great ambitions. Now it's just a temporary failure. I don't know.
What are your plans for the future, brother?"
Jushou let out a long sigh and said, "What else can I do? Now that Jingxian County is still in the hands of the Yellow Turban thieves, I can only return to the village and wait for orders from the court to see if the court will recruit me again in the future."
"Then I wish my brother a bright future and look forward to receiving the imperial decree soon."
Chen Mu responded casually, as the saying goes, "It is foolish to talk superficially and talk deeply." He knew that Ju Shou did have a strategy, but in this era and the future, no matter how far-sighted people are, they can only see that the situation in the world is not good.
, but it is unimaginable that it is already the end of the dynasty and it is a dream to recruit talents.
Therefore, build a good relationship first. After the Dong Zhuo Rebellion in the future, the situation will begin to become clearer, and the elites in the world will naturally understand when it is time to defect to whom and what to do. This is the so-called timing.
To put it simply, it is not the right time to help Liu Bei recruit Jushu. It is not that Chen Mu is jealous of talents. After all, he has a natural advantage, that is, Liu Bei's sworn brother. With this relationship, he does not have to worry about any differences.
Instead, he hopes to have more talents to help him share the burden.
"What did the fourth brother find?"
Liu Bei saw Chen Mu suddenly stop and look at the reed field next to him in trance.
Dozens of soldiers were sitting beside the reeds, looking around. When they saw them approaching, their eyes suddenly became wary, and their hands unconsciously grabbed the weapons next to them.
Chen Mu was silent for a moment and said to them: "Let's go. You can't touch these things. Don't make mistakes out of greed."
The leading soldier yelled, "Who do you think you are? Get out of here."
"Seeking death."
Chen Mu shook his head and said to Liu Bei: "What the angel wants is here. If these people stop it, they can be killed."
The imperial court sent out officers and soldiers this time. Lu Zhi led these soldiers to fight all the way from Wei County to Julu. They had fought more than ten sieges. The soldiers had looted a lot, so they should be satisfied.
If you are still greedy and want the emperor's money, you are seeking your own death. No one else can blame you.
Liu Bei nodded and slowly pulled out the male and female swords. There was still dark red blood on the tip of the sword, filled with murderous intent.
Behind him, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were approaching slowly with dozens of troops and weapons in hand, looking unkind.
Seeing that something was wrong, the group of soldiers immediately shouted into the reed swamp: "There are thieves who want to steal our things, come out quickly."
There was a rustling sound in the grass, and in a moment dozens of officers and soldiers came out cursing and numbering in the hundreds.
It seems that this group of soldiers must have robbed the carriage carrying gold and silver property in the melee. However, the total amount of these items was too large. They were afraid that their superiors would plunder them when they took them back, so they thought of burying them on the spot. The money and silk were so touching.
Chen Mu let out a long sigh and pulled the confused Jushou back dozens of steps.
Soon the sounds of clashing weapons, angry curses and fighting began, accompanied from time to time by wailing sounds caused by weapons piercing the flesh. After about five or six minutes, the sounds gradually dissipated and returned to calm.
Liu Bei was splashed with blood again. Raindrops hit his raincoat, and the blood on his body flowed down with the rain, dripping from the hem of the raincoat into the mud.
"It's a pity that he was originally a good man of the imperial court, but he misled himself because of his temporary greed."
Liu Bei shook his head. Fighting with the Yellow Turban soldiers was a matter of course for the officers and soldiers to kill thieves. Fighting with the officers and soldiers was like fighting against each other, which he really couldn't bear.
But these things were originally requested by the angels. They were the money used by the emperor to redeem King Anping. If ordinary soldiers had thoughts about these things, they would definitely suffer disaster. Even if Liu Bei didn't kill them, Lu Zhi and Wang Jun would fall.
In my hands, these people still met the same fate.
It can only be said that when people have time, they should be content and happy. There is no need to die on the battlefield, as long as you get rich. If you still think about getting rich overnight, you are afraid that your heart will be insufficient and it will strangle yourself to death.
"Go and move everything out."
Chen Mu said.
Liu Bei said to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei: "Second brother and third brother, you go."
The two nodded and led dozens of soldiers into the reed swamp. After a while, pairs of people walked out carrying more than thirty large wooden boxes.
Liu Hong spent a lot of money to redeem King Anping, a total of 50 million yuan.
Converted to gold at the official price, it is 5,000 kilograms. Even at the black market price, it is about 3,700 kilograms. Converted into the measurement units of later generations, it should be between 1.1 tons and 800 kilograms.
However, the annual output of gold in the Han Dynasty was only 400 kilograms per year. Of course Liu Hong was not wealthy enough to give all the gold, so most of it was offset by gold, silver, jewelry, jade, jade, cloth and silk, with a total weight of about two to three tons.
In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, this amount of money was enough for one person to buy officials all the way from Bai Shen to the position of prefect of two thousand shi.
Chen Mu looked at these wooden boxes with very pleased eyes.
All the planning has finally paid off.
From taking refuge in Lu Zhi to now risking his life and fighting hard, he can finally feel more stable.
Although he was the one who took the blame and sent Liu, Guan, and Zhang to death, as a mental worker, it is only natural that he should be paid reasonably.