More than half a month has passed since Liu Bei's death. The Xuzhou family in Xiapi City has basically completed the replacement of land and industries in accordance with Chu State's "One Tax Law" and "Qi Min Law".
The aristocratic families and landowners who were burdened by tenant farmers and servants were removed in the blink of an eye, and they now owned the land that they could make their own decisions. This was beyond the reach of Liu Bei, no matter how frivolous he was.
People's hearts are an elusive and invisible thing, but in Xuzhou, which originally supported Liu Bei and resented Sun Ce, it seemed to have become visible to the naked eye.
Sun Ce appointed General Gan Ning as the shepherd of Xuzhou. Thirty thousand troops had already returned to Jingzhou. A few days ago, Sun Ce was also going to return to Jianye with a squadron of thirty thousand troops. Xuzhou's army had been integrated several times and the recovered wounded soldiers were added. The new soldiers who surrendered and surrendered left Gan Ning with about 50,000 troops.
A small fishing village in the north of Xuzhou.
Guan Yu sat weakly on a small bamboo bench by the river and closed his eyes.
"Why did the general return to Xuzhou? There is no hope of improvement in Xuzhou now. If the general goes to defect to Cao Cao, he will have a chance to avenge the King of Han in the future!"
The speaker was an ordinary soldier named Zhou Bo who broke out with Guan Yu. Zhou Bo was originally a villager in this small fishing village before he joined the army. Now that the Han army has collapsed, the villagers just regard Zhou Bo as a deserter. There is no wanted order from the government, so Zhou Bo naturally goes back to fishing to make a living.
He never expected that Guan Yu, who had already crossed the river and headed north, would return to Xuzhou.
Guan Yu still closed his eyes and remained unmoved, not knowing what to think.
"Zhou Bo, please bring my head to Gan Ning."
What could be more terrifying than this sentence?
Zhou Bo knelt down on the ground with a bang and said with a trembling voice.
"General, I, although I don't want to continue serving in the army, I have never betrayed the general."
Guan Yu sighed, opened his eyes, and reached out to help Zhou Bo.
"Get up, I know you didn't betray me, otherwise this fishing village would have been surrounded by the Chu army. I'm not kidding you either. After I commit suicide later, you can chop off my head and give it to Gan Ning. In this way, I will be clean with him."
Zhou Bo had just been helped up by Guan Yu. After hearing this, he immediately knelt down and cried.
"Even if the King of Han is dead, why should the general be so depressed?!"
"The general's martial arts are unparalleled. He has the talent to navigate the world and hold up the sky and the sea. As long as he has his life left, he will not be able to go anywhere in the world. Cao Cao, the king of Wei, was also a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty in the past. He became the king only after he sacrificed himself to the emperor and suffered a disaster. If the general goes to surrender , must be relied upon by the King of Wei. If you return to Xuzhou one day, you can not only make great achievements, but also avenge the King of Han. Why do you want to come back and seek death? General!"
Guan Yu rarely showed a trace of pain on his face, but after a moment he regained his calm expression. He stood up and helped Zhou Bo up again and said.
"My eldest brother broke his promise and ambushed the Chu army. Now that the Chu army has come to take revenge, what revenge can I take?"
"It's my fault that I didn't persuade my eldest brother. This is the only time my eldest brother made a mistake in his whole life. But it's not his fault. He really wants to revive the Han Dynasty. Rather than carving up several counties and cities in Wei, if he can win the Chu land , the revival of the Han Dynasty is truly just around the corner."
"It seems like Zhuge Liang doesn't have one either?"
"Hahaha, in the end, I can't tell who was wrong."
Zhou Bo looked shocked and opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.
Guan Yu didn't expect Zhou Bo to say anything. After all, he was just a low-level soldier.
What Guan Yu said was just for himself.
"When birds are about to die, their cries are sad; when people are about to die, their words are also kind. I have always wrongly blamed Zhuge Liang."
With a laugh, Guan Yu pulled out the sword from his waist and put it on his neck.
"General! General!"
Zhou Bo was startled and quickly reached out to grab Guan Yu's right hand.
"Get out of the way!"
Guan Yu showed an angry look and threw Zhou Bo two or three steps away with a flick of his arm. He glared at Zhou Bo and continued.
"Tell Gan Ning that I owe him this head. It's settled! If he gives you a reward, just take it and live a good life."
Zhou Bo knelt in front of him and cried.
"General, why are you doing this?"
Guan Yu didn't answer him anymore, a stream of blood spurted out from his neck, and Guan Yu fell down.
······
Jianye City.
This is a quiet courtyard in the inner city. The layout of the courtyard is simple and exquisite. The strange thing is that the people walking around the courtyard are not servants, but soldiers.
At this time, Xu Shu was gently playing the piano against the small fish pond outside the house. There was a sound of the door opening behind him, but he ignored it.
After playing the song, I heard a moving voice behind me stroking my hands and praising it.
"Mr. Yuan Nao is so good at playing the piano! He's so elegant!"
Xu Shu's hair stood on end when he heard the voice, and he quickly turned around to look. As expected, he was not a lobbyist from Chu State, but a pretty girl.
"Big man! Why are you here!"
He exclaimed in surprise in the first half of the sentence, but lowered his voice in the second half. For a moment, he couldn't tell what method the girl used to get in.
I saw a girl dressed in red, lying very inelegantly on the only bench in the room. A sword was leaning on the edge of the bench. The girl was holding a plate of winter dates in her hand and eating non-stop.
It was Pingting, a giant of the Mohist family.
"It's not the emperor's palace. The world is so big, where can I, Renxia of the Mo family, not go?"
Pingting looked at Xu Shu with a half-smile, but Xu Shu was choked and speechless for a moment.
"Why didn't you speak, sir?"
Xu Shu turned away and looked at the ground and replied.
"I have nothing to say."
After a moment of silence, Pingting asked.
"Sir, are you still unwilling to serve in Chu State?"
Xu Shu looked at Pingting and said firmly.
"A loyal minister will not serve my two lords. The King of Han treats me with sincerity, and I will die in service to my lord."
Pingting glared at Xu Shu and sneered.
"I studied in a Confucian academy for several years, but my martial arts did not improve, but I learned a lot about the mistakes of Confucian scholars! Then didn't Zhuge Liang also serve Liu Biao and Liu Bei?"
Xu Shu suddenly became anxious and argued.
"Kong Ming doesn't count! Is Liu Biao worthy of being a king?"
Pingting directly threw a winter date at it.
With Xu Shu's skill, he could have avoided it, but for some reason, he knelt down and refused to dodge, and was hit squarely.
Pingting's face turned even colder, she gritted her teeth and said bitterly.
"You're as stupid as a pig! You still speak for others. That old man Sima Hui boasted about his protégé's 'crouching dragon and phoenix chick, who can settle the world'. Who are you?"
Xu Shu said sarcastically.
"Kong Ming and Shi Yuan both have real talents and learning, and they are indeed superior to me."
A ray of blue light entered his eyes, as if a pool of clear water flew up and condensed into a sword in the girl's hand. His heartbeat almost stopped at this moment, but before his body had time to react, the tip of the sword had stopped at him. side of the neck.
At this time, when he looked closely, he saw that there was no blue at all. The sword was completely black and natural, with no sharp edge at all. However, Xu Shu did not dare to move.
Pingting frowned and looked coldly.
"Are you trying to piss me off to death and take over my position as a giant?"
Xu Shu swallowed his saliva and said.
"Big man, I'm not"
"Shut up!"
Pingting gave Xu Shu a hard look, making him stop talking, then sheathed her sword and turned around.
"Walk."
After that, Pingting kicked open the door and walked out. The soldiers standing outside the door ignored her.
Xu Shu was greatly surprised, chased after him, and asked.
"Sun Ce is actually willing to let me go? Juzi, he, he didn't make it difficult for you, right?"
Pingting swayed, holding the hilt of the sword with her slender fingers, almost pulling out the sword again, she gritted her teeth.
"As long as you never serve in another country, Sun Ce promises to let you go."
Xu Shu was surprised.
"Young Master, you didn't even ask me to agree just now."
Pingting's smile is as bright as a flower.
"If you dare to make me break my trust, I will kill you myself!"
A few drops of cold sweat ran down Xu Shu's back. The Mo family's promise, a promise worth a thousand dollars, was no lie. Of course, he had no plans to become an official for other kings, so he followed him silently when he saw this.
After leaving the courtyard, there was a burly man and an elegant scholar holding four horses waiting at the door.
Seeing the two people coming out, the big man laughed.
"Hahaha! Yuan Zhi, when you go back today, you have to stay drunk with us!"
Several people met again after a long absence, exchanged a few words and then hurried back to drink.
Everyone mounted their horses, but Pingting asked them to go back first while she turned around and went in another direction. Although everyone was a little confused, they did not disobey the giant's order.
Pingting walked slowly and thoughtfully on her horse. When the noise behind her disappeared, she arrived in front of the palace.
The meeting hall of the royal palace.
Sun Ce, Zhou Yu, and Ji Shu sat in their seats in perfect glyphs, and the desks were piled high with documents.
Pensions paid to the families of dead soldiers, the impact of the burning of grain and grass in Jiangling, the appointment and dismissal of Xuzhou officials, etc. There are too many things that need to be dealt with in this battle, and only these three people can decide all the major events in the Chu Kingdom.
"Report, the Mohist giant Pingting wants to see you."
Huh?
The three of them were stunned for a moment, knowing that they had met before.
"pass."
After all, he is the leader of the Mohist family. As a king, Sun Ce must not neglect his posture.
Seeing the guards leading Pingting in, Sun Ce asked with a smile.
"Why did Miss Pingting leave and come back? Could it be that Xu Yuanzhi refused to agree to this request?"
Pingting shook her head and cupped her fists.
"Your Majesty has such a merciful act, but if Xu Yuanzhi refuses to accept it, I will kill him without using your sword. I came here to give you a sword."
After saying that, Pingting looked at the guards in the palace. The guards stepped forward and took the sword that Pingting handed over with understanding, and then took it forward and presented it to Sun Ce.
In fact, there was a rule that before entering the palace, weapons should be placed outside the palace for the guards to keep, but the Mohist giant's entry with a sword was considered a special courtesy from Sun Ce to the Mohist family.
Sun Ce was a little confused, so he pulled out his sword to check, and saw a flash of blue light, revealing a dark sword blade, and Sun Ce's eyes shone.
"What a sword!"
He couldn't help but play with the sword carefully, and then said with a smile.
"Miss Pingting, the sword is indeed a good sword, but is it not enough to repay the favor of Xu Shu and Guan Yinping with just one sword?"
Pingting in the hall remained calm after hearing this and just said lightly.
"Has the king forgotten the Mo family's favor for helping the Jiangling garrison defend the city? With this Zhanlu, it is more than enough to repay the king's favor."
It was indeed a great favor from the Mohist family to help Taishi Ci defend Jiangling, and it also allowed Ji Shu and Zhou Yu to see the strength of the Mohist family. Only then did the two persuade Sun Ce to agree to let Xu Shu and Guan Yinping go and then sell the Mohist family a favor. Of course, the three of them were not in a hurry to let the Mo family pay back, and even wished that the Mo family would owe them a little longer.
"What! Is this sword Zhanlu?"
Sun Ce had no reaction yet, but Zhou Yu almost jumped up and said with a happy face.
"Enough, enough, more than enough."
Pingting glanced at Zhou Yu, then said goodbye to Sun Ce and left.
