Liu Bei and Chen Chongzhi stayed in the river until midnight. When they returned to Lin County, the county was enforcing a curfew. They simply did not enter the city and rested directly at the county soldiers' garrison outside the south of the city as usual. Unexpectedly, Yang Feng had been waiting here for a long time and invited Chen Chong and Liu Bei to have a banquet. The two were busy for a day and were indeed hungry, so they readily agreed.
But Chen Chong said: "Commander Yang, you are not allowed to drink alcohol in the army, we should set an example." Yang Fengwei was stunned, and then said with a smile: "No wonder Fu Jun wins every battle, I know the reason."
Several people went to Yang Feng's tent together. Yang Feng ordered his men to bring the roasted beef and mutton cakes, and changed the wine to buttermilk. Although buttermilk had a strong fishy smell and was not used to drinking by ordinary scholars, it had a unique flavor. The taste is very refreshing and satiating. After eating for a while, Yang Feng turned to Liu Bei and said with a smile: "Mr. Liu Fu, I am actually entrusted by others to deliver gifts to others."
The gift in return was a thin bow, the strength of which was no more than half a stone, but the bow was slender and painted with vermilion paint, and the bow body was painted with three sun patterns, which made it really beautiful. Liu Bei felt that it looked familiar, but couldn't remember where he had seen it before. However, Chen Chong had seen it many times, and he recognized it as Pu Zhenmeilu's waist bow at a glance. Only then did Yang Feng understand the whole story.
Pu Zhenmeilu left in the evening. Although she was a Huns woman, she did not need to observe some etiquette, but it was not appropriate to stay in the military camp until night. Liu Bei felt dumbfounded when he received the gift from the girl. He had slender arms and could shoot a three-stone bow. This waist bow could only be kept as a gift, and he had to be teased by his friends.
Chen Chong asked him with a smile: "Is there any gift you would like me to give in return?" Liu Bei glanced at him and said angrily: "I would like to give her a coral, but I don't have any money. Is Ting Jian willing to help?"
Having said that, he still found a piece of jade, which he picked up in the stream on Longshan Mountain. It was yellow-green in color. When placed next to the candlelight for a while, it could shine through itself, like a firefly. At this time, he was wearing a jade stone. There was not much treasure, but this stone was quite rare, so it was handed over to Chen Chong as a gift in return.
Yang Feng returned to Baibo the next day. Before leaving, Chen Chong asked him to tell Guo Da: In November, he will go to the Baibo counties. He hopes that the Baibo army will prepare early. If there is anything illegal, he will still punish him severely. . After hearing this, Yang Feng was shocked. The Baibo army had long been used to it. They didn't know how to govern the people. They just wanted to avoid causing trouble. Among the five commanders, he and Han Siam had the worst military discipline, so he could only bow his head and respond repeatedly, as if it was a matter of course.
I stayed with Liu Bei for a few more days until the excavation of the ditch was completely on track. He then began to recruit troops. Zhang Yi died in the previous quelling the rebellion, which allowed him to temporarily command the county soldiers he mobilized in Bingzhou. After the war, the county soldiers from other counties returned to their original counties, leaving only the original three thousand Xihe County troops. Soldiers, if Chen Chong wants to make a difference, he can only build the army from scratch.
Ding Ying Jian'er was originally from Taiyuan, and Chen Chong was not allowed to recruit him as a rule. Even if he moved people to eat in other counties, he had to report to the court for approval. Chen Chong had killed him first and then reported it, and the emperor didn't bother to pursue it. He just issued an edict saying: "Do not take any food." Died in a disaster." So even though there were all strong men in front of him, Chen Chong could only find another way.
In troubled times, the easiest thing is to recruit a strong man, but Chen Chong has no such idea. He first asked Wei Yan to contact Shi Sang and ask him to go to the Xiongnu tribes with money to redeem slaves. Then he asked Xu Ci to post announcements in each county. Anyone who joined the army would be granted three acres of farmland on both sides of the newly built canal next year.
It's going really well. In just two days, he recruited 200 Hu people and 500 Han people. With this situation, he expected to achieve the goal of expanding the army by 10,000 within one month. However, a piece of news came from the court at this time, which added some variables to Chen Chong's subsequent policy.
The new shepherd of Bingzhou was selected. After nearly two months of consideration, the imperial court finally found a person with both ability and political integrity: he was the former Guangwu Ling of Yanmen County, the captain of Wuji School in the Western Regions, the governor of Bingzhou, and the governor of Hedong. , General Dong Zhonglang, current General Polu, Marquis of Zhuxiang, Commander-in-Chief of Zhengliang, Chen Chong and Liu Bei’s old superior, General Dong Zhuo and Dong Zhongying.
The court's thinking is easy to understand. Dong Zhuo served as an official in Bingzhou for several times, and was once a subordinate of Zhang Huan in Sanming in Liangzhou. Zhang Huan repeatedly put down rebellions in Bingzhou and won the hearts of the people. Dong Zhuo also made outstanding achievements when he inspected Bingzhou. If there is an official who must be selected from the two thousand stones today who can serve as Bingzhou Mu, it must be Dong Zhuo.
But in practice, the appointment was not a success. The Dongping Army repeatedly had conflicts with Dong Zhuo's command in Jizhou and was not in harmony, and Dong Zhuo was bound to retaliate against his enemies. He now held the important position of shepherd, just like the previous Han kings during the time of Emperor Wen, who could decide all matters in the state without going through the court.
The most important thing is that the chief envoy of the Blood Massacre Qianqiu Pavilion was Dong Zhuo. Once Dong Zhuo took office, the attitude of Bai Bojun was really difficult to predict.
This made Liu Bei very worried about this. He thought that few in his army could be offended by birds, not to mention the Baibo army, which would inevitably cause a lot of troubles. Thinking of this, he rushed back to Taiyuan overnight to reorganize the army, planning to invade the Black Mountain bandits as soon as Dong Zhuo took office, and both sides would keep a close eye on each other.
Chen Chong was not worried about this because he knew Dong Zhuo's character. Nowadays, Bingzhou is not a hot cake, and things are complicated. Although Bingzhou Mu has great power, if it hinders his governance, it will also damage his official career and reputation. Dong Zhuo was ambitious and wanted to achieve success in one fell swoop, so he would never accept this appointment. He continued to govern as usual and continued to recruit and expand the army.
But then something unexpected happened.
It is true that Dong Zhuo did not come, but there are procedures for not coming. He used the excuse that the war in Xiliang was tense. Although Huangfu Song had already taken office, the generals were not familiar with each other yet and it would take some time before he took office. So he sent thousands of his family members and soldiers to Bingzhou to settle down. To show sincerity.
Now that Taiyuan was exhausted and uninhabitable, the group went directly from Hedong to the territory of Xihe. Four days after the transfer order was conveyed, they rushed to Lishi on the tenth day of September. Chen Chong didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he received the news, so he could only put down his affairs and go five miles out of the city to greet him.
The leader of the team, Chen Chong, recognized him as Duan Xuan and Duan Zhongming from Wuwei Guzang. Duan Xuan was a gentle and self-loving man, abiding by his ministerial integrity and not making friends with others, but only doing his duty. He was one of the few generals under Dong Zhuo who had no quarrel with Chen Chong.
The two hugged each other and laughed. Duan Xuan was also unceremonious and immediately gave Chen Chong the answer: "In two months, the Xiliang generals will jointly submit a petition to persuade Dong Gong to stay. Previously, Dong Gong's family has been entrusted to Ting Jian to take care of you."
Chen Chong had no choice but to agree and follow Duan Xuan to meet Dong Zhuo's family members one by one. Dong Zhuo's old mother is still alive, and she has two sons and two daughters, and her children have five sons and seven daughters. Now they are all here.
Dong Zhuo's mother is now in her eighties, and her eyes and ears are a little dizzy. When Chen Chong entered the car in front of him, he was mistaken by the old lady as Duan Xuan's younger brother. Chen Chong did not explain, but only asked the old lady what she liked to eat and told her a few interesting things he had heard. Feeling tired and sleepy, Xu Xu fell into a deep sleep again.
Then he met Dong Zhuo's two sons, Dong Qi and Dong Cen. Now Dong Zhuo is already fifty-three, and his two sons are over thirty and have no worries about food and clothing, but they are both incompetent and incompetent in literature and military affairs. Neither of them is as good as his nephew Dong Huang. Dong Zhuo simply prevents them from entering the official career and is a happy couple. San people.
The two of them were obviously often lectured by Dong Zhuo because of this, and Chen Chong only felt that they had a little inferiority complex. When they met, they saluted Chen Chong repeatedly and did not dare to look at him. However, Chen Chong made all arrangements as guests pleased. When Chen Chong stayed with them, he could clearly feel that they were very afraid of him. He didn't like this atmosphere, so he left early.
The female family member behind Chen Chong couldn't see each other, so he turned around and asked Duan Xuan how many people there were. Duan Xuan replied that there were eight female dependents and fourteen children. Then he took out another hundred gold to Chen Chong and sincerely asked again: "I have asked Ting Jian a lot in the past two months."
Chen Chong could not refuse several times, so he could only accept the sigh and said: "I will use all the money for Dong Gong's family." While he was having a headache, a young girl jumped down from the carriage shaft, pulled Chen Chong's robe and asked, "You are Ying Ying." Chuan Chen Chong?"
The voice is as gentle as a warbler, but the tone is quite rude. Chen Chong couldn't help but turn around and saw the girl looking up at him with her hands on her waist.
This girl looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old. She was over six feet tall and could reach Chen Chong's chest. Looking up, her cloud-like high bun showed a wave of smoke in her eyes, her cherry lips were as fat as fire, her skin was as jade as snow, and her posture was so charming and innocent that she suddenly seemed not to be the most beautiful person in the world. But her clothes are full of worldly nobility. She wears a purple brocade robe with tight sleeves, a crimson skirt with a curved skirt, a gold bracelet on her wrist, and green beads around her neck. There is also a small wooden sign tied between the green beads. Chen Chong saw clearly that it was Sanskrit, pronounced Tongna, which means "the name of all Dharmas cannot be obtained".
Duan Xuan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he saw her. He was obviously troubled by the girl. He introduced to Chen Chong: "This is the eldest daughter of Dong Qi. She is famous as Dong Bai. She is fourteen years old. She has always been the most loved by Duke Dong."
This last sentence does not need to be explained. Chen Chong already knew it when he saw the wooden sign. The Sanskrit wooden sign can only come from the White Horse Temple. The foreign monks in the temple would not do it easily. Only a lot of money can be paid to a few enlightened ascetics to pray for blessings. Chen Chong then smiled and replied to Dong Bai: "I am Chen Tingjian of Yingchuan. I wonder what the girl wants from me?"
Dong Bai didn't answer, he stretched out his jade hand and grabbed Chen Chong's left hand, took it out from his wide sleeve, kneaded his broken finger, and said curiously: "I heard people in Hedong say that you are an official who is stupid and doesn't know how to adapt. If you break your finger, Gain the trust of others and become a nine-fingered governor. I heard Aweng say that you are wise beyond the past and present, so I thought it was just a rumor, but who would have thought it was actually the truth!"
Chen Chong looked calm when he heard this, and took out the broken finger from Dong Bai's hand. He was not angry, but smiled and said seriously to Dong Bai: "Girl, some things cannot be measured by wisdom and foolishness. Confucius said: 'Heard the Tao in the morning, and died at night. 'That's it.' Mencius said: 'Life is what I want, and righteousness is what I want. You can't have both. The one who sacrifices life for righteousness.' You are still young, but you will understand later."
Dong Bai hated people saying she was young. She couldn't help but blush, and said loudly to Chen Chong: "Aren't you just talking about children? There is no reason to hurt yourself and think you are smart!"
Chen Chong couldn't help but laugh. He stretched out his hand to rub Dong Bai's silky hair and said with a smile: "When you grow up, you will know that childhood is the happiest time in the world."
