Xiaoqi

"Yes. I never think that I am violent and bloodthirsty. Everything is driven by survival. In troubled times, there are many people who can't help themselves. I am no exception, and my brother is also among them. There has never been anyone in the world born to be bloodthirsty , bloodthirsty, but in order to pacify the troubled times, killing is indispensable, and only killing can end the troubled times and bring peace to the world.”

Speaking of this, Li Li looked disappointed, and sighed softly: "Since my brother mentioned the scuffle in Wancheng, you might as well tell me frankly. In fact, I am very dissatisfied with the result of the scuffle in Wancheng. My previous deployment was far from the expected result. To tell you the truth, brother, this is not the result I wanted. In my plan, after this battle, at least half of the seven princes fell, and the casualties of the soldiers should also be More than [-]. Only in this way can I pave the way for me to send troops to the Central Plains. I will unify the Central Plains within five years, clear up the world and calm the world within ten years. If you want to end the melee of the princes as soon as possible and reduce unnecessary casualties as much as possible, you must end the troubled times as soon as possible. , Reorganize the mountains and rivers, and rebuild a new order.

Only in this way is the blessing of the common people in the world. Killing is not born for the slaughter of living beings, but a way to seek peace.If you can quell the chaos of war without killing, you are willing to give up your fame and fame for your brother, disarm and return to the fields, and live in seclusion in the mountains and forests like a good brother, and the family will be reunited happily.

Unfortunately, this is just wishful thinking on my part.Once I give up my fame and the soldiers in my hands, I will die immediately and bring disaster to my family.But the troubled times are still chaotic, and it will last for a long time, decades or even hundreds of years, and finally exhaust the vitality of the Han nation, and become a place where barbarians and barbarians wantonly trampled and ravaged.This is a scene I would rather die than see, so while I still have this strength, I will do my best to end the troubled times as soon as possible, gods block and kill gods, demons block and eliminate demons; I don't hesitate! "

After listening to these speeches, both true and false, Kong Ming remained silent for a long time, looking at the endless mountains, rivers and plains, hoping to peep through the endless sea of ​​clouds with a pair of wise eyes to see the true meaning of heaven above the sky.

After a while, Kong Ming suddenly said, "Brother, what do you think of this hut in front of you?"

Li Li glanced at him sideways, and said softly: "This is a treasured land of geomantic omen, hidden dragons and crouching tigers, rare."

Kong Ming understood that the so-called geomantic treasure land is not only a place of seclusion, but also a place of burial.

"Now brother can declare his identity." After careful consideration, Kong Ming said solemnly.

Li Li's expression changed slightly when he heard the sound, an unconcealable joy flashed in his eyes, and he said kindly: "Young brother, you should think carefully about it. You have a bad reputation as a brother, and you are regarded as a traitor of the Han Dynasty by the emperor, officials and princes. They all want to get rid of my brother and hurry up. My virtuous brother is just as good as he doesn’t know my name, if he knows, my virtuous brother will have no way out.”

Kong Ming nodded lightly: "Thank you brother for reminding me, Liang is well aware of the pros and cons. I wonder if what brother said before still counts?"

Li Li nodded and said, "Of course it counts. You and I are brothers at this moment. After we reveal our identities, we are still brothers, and we are real brothers with different surnames."

"My elder brother's name is Li Li Li Wenchang, the great general of the world and the prime minister?" Kong Ming asked suspiciously.

"Exactly." Li Li nodded in response, and said with a smile: "I think there is no one pretending to be this name, and it must be me."

"Chen Liang pays his respects to the general and elder brother." Kong Ming bowed his body, and then said with a distressed face: "I have one more thing to ask you, my brother. There are many wives and concubines in my elder brother's house. Can you show your respect to my sister?"

"Ah! This"

Without waiting for Li Li to answer, Kong Ming said meaningfully: "My brother's parents died young, my brother is ignorant of common affairs, and the whole family relies on the eldest sister to manage the housework, which is very hard work. Therefore, my sister has been delayed until now when she is old enough to leave the cabinet. My younger brother and I are tired, and the youth is delayed, which really makes the foolish brother feel uneasy."

Li Li's complexion was jujube, and he said perfunctorily: "It's easy to say, hehehe! Everything is easy to say."

Chapter 916 Offer a good plan and follow the plan

Wancheng County Governor's Mansion, seven princes walked out of the mansion in twos and threes, and after a short exchange of greetings, they rode away on their horses.

It has been three days since the melee in Wancheng. This was the first meeting of the seven princes after the war, and it ended within half an hour.

On the Dongmen Street, Yuan Shao rode his horse with a gloomy expression. Zhang He and Gao Lan led more than [-] personal soldiers to protect them, and went straight out of the East Gate to return to the camp.

"Gongze, Your Majesty has just appointed Liu Bei as Xuzhou Shepherd, Yuan Shu as Yangzhou Shepherd, Cao Cao as General Conquering the North, and Sun Ce as General Pingnan. I was appointed Sikong and Liu Biao as Taiwei, but I was rejected by both of them." Turned off the horse. , Yuan Shao strode into the big tent of the Chinese army, and said to Guo Tu who was following behind him without looking back.At this time, Xu You and Guo Tu were walking side by side. After hearing Yuan Shao's words, Xu You's expression suddenly changed, and he subconsciously took a step behind, letting Guo Tu go first and follow into the army tent.

Noticing that Xu You deliberately lagged behind him by half a body, Guo Tu smiled slightly, turned his head and slightly raised Xu You's hand to express his gratitude.Seeing this, Xu You was a little dazed, and hurriedly bowed his hands to return the salute. He was surprised, and he was a little unpredictable about Guo Tu's words and deeds in the recent period. It was completely different from before, as if he had changed himself.

After the lord was seated, Guo Tu said with a smile on his face, "The princes who came to greet him this time all received rewards, why didn't Lu Bu get any rewards?"

"Lv Bu? Hehehe!" Yuan Shao laughed dumbfounded when he heard the words, and his laughter was a little cold. After a little bit of laughter, he said with a disdainful expression: "Now Lu Fengxian is just a bereaved dog, living under Liu Bei's tent, leaning his nose and breathing, lingering on his last breath. The reason why this time To regard him as a vassal along the way is nothing more than seeing Li Thief’s army suppressing the border. It is the time to employ people; if Li Thief leads the army to attack Nanyang County, so that he can lead the troops to resist the Xiliang Army. That’s all. Otherwise, Lu Bu will have nothing. The foundation. Two without a city, what qualifications do you have to discuss with me?"

Guo Tu nodded approvingly, and was not in a hurry to reply, but turned to look down at Xu You.Xu You understood immediately, and said, "The scuffle between the princes has just ended. At this time, the emperor is rewarding the princes of the towns. It is nothing more than to resolve the conflicts between the princes. To avoid another war."

Before Xu You could finish speaking, Yuan Shao raised his hand to indicate that he didn't need to say any more. He shook his head and interjected, "Ziyuan's words are wrong. This time rewarding the princes of the towns is not as simple as resolving disputes. In fact, Your Majesty doesn't care about the disputes among the princes. The melee, the reason why he is so generous is to order the princes of the towns to attack Li Li in Xiliang. In the discussion in front of the palace just now, His Majesty has already brought up this matter in public. He has also drawn up an edict to seek thieves. Order the world The state shepherds, governors, and county guards of all states and counties raised troops to attack Li thief.

It's a pity that none of the seven princes came forward to accept the edict, even Liu Biao acted like a turtle, and the other princes naturally avoided it, who would take over this hot potato.Therefore, the crusade against Li thief came to an end without a problem, so it can only be put on hold for the time being and discussed later. "

Seeing that he didn't understand Yuan Shao's true intentions, Xu You's cheeks felt slightly hot.Smiled embarrassingly.After Yuan Shao finished speaking, he continued, "The Son of Heaven is young after all. If you don't do anything, it is too easy to think about the crusade against Thief Li. Today, the world is chaotic, and the princes of each town are doing their own thing. Unless forced to, who is willing to provoke Li Thief easily? It’s ridiculous that our emperor thought that all the towns and princes would obey his edicts, don’t you know that the era of one order and the echo of heroes has long gone forever?”

Yuan Shao nodded with deep understanding, and said with emotion: "In the past, the eighteen princes fought against Dong Zhuo. The reason why they won in the end was not the concerted efforts of the princes in all towns, but the discord within the Xiliang Army and the actions of veteran officials in the court. Internal response caused Dong Zhuo and his Xiliang army to suffer, forcing him to retreat to the western capital Chang'an in order to protect himself. However, the current Xiliang army is no longer what it used to be. For several years, the Xiliang army has been built like an iron barrel, unbreakable. It is because of this that we have lost our battle against the thieves with the princes of the Central Plains, and lost our soldiers and generals.

Such a painful lesson is still vivid in our minds, and the lessons learned from the past are in front of us. Who will repeat the same mistakes and do what they know they can't do?However, the Son of Heaven is so eager to send troops to crusade against Thief Li, but it reminds us that the matter of welcoming Jizhou must be done as soon as possible, and there should be no further delay, so as not to have long nights and dreams, and be preempted by others. "

Guo Tu understood what he said, and said: "My lord's words are very true. In the past half a month, four of the seven princes have expressed their intention to rob the emperor and hundreds of officials. One is Cao Cao of Yanzhou. This person On the surface, the lord is the leader of the horse, but in fact he is secretly full of ghosts and ambitions, and he is also the first prince to lead his troops to Luoyang to pick him up.

The second is Liu Bei from Xuzhou. He originally planned to take advantage of the time when the emperor and the officials were in trouble, and sent troops to welcome him to show his loyalty, so as to recognize his ancestors and return to his clan, and confirm his identity as the descendant of the Han empress; unexpectedly, all the royal genealogy remained in Chang'an , so that it is impossible to prove his identity.So Liu Bei retreated to the next best thing, and even wanted to coerce the emperor to order the princes, and compete with the lord for the ownership of the emperor and the officials.

The last person was Lu Bu, who lived under the fence. This time he was simply pulled away by Liu Bei to help out, trying to deter the princes from all walks of life.Little did they know that although Lu Bu was a martial artist, Chen Gong, the military advisor under Lu Bu's command, was extremely resourceful, so he would definitely not be willing to work for Liu Bei, and he might not have other ideas. "

Speaking of this, Guo Tu paused, and after taking a breath, he said confidently: "We are the ones waiting for the last princes. Yesterday afternoon, I learned that Xun Yu under Cao Cao's tent had a secret appointment with Dong Cheng. Lixiang Wine Shop had an appointment with Zhongchang servant Dong Hong. Moreover, our army's secret work also found out that Xun Yu had been in frequent contact with hundreds of officials during this period, and his purpose was already very obvious. The emperor moved to Yanzhou."

"Oh, is there such a thing?" Yuan Shao heard that his expression changed, his expression was very surprised, and there was a strong look of worry in his eyes, and he said in surprise: "It seems that Cao Mengde has already walked in front of us, and he is determined to win the emperor and all the officials. Gongze, we can’t wait any longer, we must act as soon as possible, and we must persuade the emperor to go to Jizhou before Cao Cao, otherwise my wait will be in vain, and tens of thousands of soldiers will die.”

Guo Tu nodded happily with a calm expression, and said with an unpredictable smile: "My lord, don't worry, I have a good plan, and it is currently in progress. Whether it succeeds or not will be decided tonight. If everything goes well, I will definitely ask Cao Mengde to do it for us." Marriage, nothing to fetch water from a bamboo basket, nothing to rejoice."

"Huh? It turns out that Gongze had a plan long ago, but the plan he presented earlier?" Yuan Shao asked in amazement.

Guo Tudao: "It's just as my lord expected. I contacted Dong Hong last night, and gave him the heavy gift prepared by my lord. This made him overjoyed, so I revealed to my lord that the emperor originally intended to go to Jizhou. High hopes. At the same time, Cao Cao in Yanzhou is also actively planning, trying to steal the emperor secretly, and then bring all the officials back to Yanzhou after a fait accompli. Cao Cao’s move coincides with the strategy dedicated to the lord, so we wait You can use your strength to pick up the emperor in the same way."

"Hahaha! Well, well, it's so good." Yuan Shao laughed heartily, his eyes narrowed, as if he had seen Cao Cao's horrified and disappointed appearance, so he felt extremely refreshed and applauded repeatedly.

Taking advantage of Yuan Shao's good mood, Guo Tugong said: "To ensure everything is safe, please discuss with Liu Biao in advance, ask him to help escort all the officials to Jizhou, and tell the city gate guards not to be troublesome. If so, I am [-]% sure that I will dare to pick up the emperor before Cao Cao, and help my lord to achieve greatness."

Yuan Shao nodded and said with a smile: "This matter is easy to hear. I have known Liu Biao for many years and have a close personal relationship. I think he will not refuse such a small matter. After all, he has no heart to compete for the emperor and all officials, so everything is easy to handle, just a matter of little effort." .Let me rest for a while, then go to Liu Biao's barracks to discuss this matter with him. Hehehe"

"My lord is wise!" Guo Tu and Xu You looked at each other and bowed.

small dividing line

While Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were actively planning, Liu Xie sat on the main seat in the inner hall of the backyard of the Sheriff's Mansion and watched Dong Cheng walk away until his back disappeared.

"Father Zhong, all the officials in the court have been admonishing me these few days, persuading me to move to Yanzhou, go to Cao Cao's rule to establish the imperial capital, and reorganize the court. I don't know what Father Zhong wants?" After Dong Cheng left, Liu Xie waved Dong Hong, who was standing beside him, sat down and asked softly with a lot of concerns.

Hearing Liu Xie calling himself "Father Zhong", Dong Hong quickly waved his hands to indicate that he dare not overstep and cannot bear it, so he humbly lowered his head, his eyes were very melancholy, as if hiding unspeakable sadness.But Liu Xie had no way of discovering this scene.On the contrary, every time Liu Xie saw Dong Hong bowing his head and refusing, Liu Xie felt inexplicably lost, but he trusted Dong Hong more and more in his heart, and regarded him as the only confidant he could trust.

From the moment Liu Xie remembers, Dong Hong has been by his side, taking good care of him, never complaining, never getting bored, taking care of him meticulously for more than ten years, until now.After more than ten years, although the two were called monarchs, ministers, masters and servants, they were in love with father and son, shared joys and sorrows, shared adversity, never left each other, and talked about everything.Therefore, in private, Liu Xie often referred to Dong Hong as "Father Zhong", but Dong Hong never agreed, always abided by his duty, and never acted presumptuously.

And this is precisely the precious quality that Liu Xie valued and reassured the most, so he relied more and more on Dong Hong, just like a child relies on his parents, never leaving him for a moment.

Facing Liu Xie's inquiry at this time, Dong Hong said timidly in a low voice: "This old servant only knows how to serve His Majesty, how could he understand such important military and state affairs, so he dare not talk too much, please forgive me."

Chapter 917 Mirror Flowers, Who Are the Flowers Red?

Liu Xie frowned slightly, and his expression was very displeased, but seeing Dong Hong's submissive appearance, he felt helpless, uneasy, and couldn't bear to blame him.Today, there are too few loyal courtiers like Dong Hong, they are rare, and they should be treated kindly, and loyal ministers should not be chilled.

After finally calming down, Liu Xie calmly said: "There are no outsiders here, only you and me. Therefore, Father Zhong doesn't have to worry about it. He can speak out as much as he thinks. From Father Zhong's point of view, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao Which one is better, which one can I trust?"

Dong Hong looked embarrassed after hearing the sound, hesitated for a while, and then said in a low voice: "Forgive me for speaking bluntly, Fang today, His Majesty can't trust anyone except himself. Nowadays, the princes of all walks of life who can survive are not good people. , there are very few princes who are ambitious, truly loyal to the Han Dynasty and have the ability to rejuvenate the Han Dynasty, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they are rare."

After a pause, Dong Hong raised his eyes to look at Liu Xie's face, but saw that he was staring at him with burning eyes, listening attentively.The moment the four eyes met, Liu Xie smiled and nodded, giving him a look of approval, encouraging him to continue talking.

Dong Hong felt uneasy, and wanted to talk about other things, avoiding the main point, but Liu Xie didn't intervene at all, which made him unavoidable, and he could only look directly at the key issues.

"If Your Majesty insists on asking this old slave to comment on the merits of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, then this old slave will speak up boldly. If your words are inappropriate, please forgive me."

Liu Xie smiled frankly: "Father Zhong is worrying too much. It's okay to speak out, it doesn't matter if you are right or wrong, I want to listen to the truth."

Dong Hong nodded respectfully.Respectfully said: "I heard that the famous scholar Xu Shao once said: 'Cao Mengde is a capable minister in the world and a traitor in troubled times'. I wonder if your majesty has heard of this?"