Guo Da also received the official document from Xihe, informing him that former general Dong Zhuo would take office as the governor of Bingzhou. After hearing this, he neither became angry nor depressed, and looked the same as usual. It was just that he couldn't eat that day, and at night the soldiers heard the sound of sharpening knives from his room.
The next day, Chen Chong sent a private message to Guo Da. Chen Chong specifically said in the letter that Dong Zhuo would not take office now. Only family members would come to stay in Lishi for a while, so he should not worry.
Guo Da felt disappointed. On the fourteenth day of every month, he would travel to various counties, but today he was lying on the bed, turning the knife back and forth in his hand, and looking at his face against the knife. The blade was cold, bone-chilling in the autumn wind.
So he rode out of Washi. Compared with last year, there were many fewer Washi garrison soldiers, only about seven or eight people. However, the popularity has not decreased. According to the agreement between Chen Chong and Guo Da, there are no checkpoints here. Many people from Quyu and Yuanyang trade here, forming a small market. These garrison soldiers moved here. Maintain local security.
The leader of these garrison soldiers is famously called Wang Mao, but he is much older than the other garrison soldiers. He has a full head of hair, a tall body but a stooped body. All the exposed skin is full of wrinkles, and only a pair of eyes still have a penetrating look. Light. When he saw Guo Da, he was sitting on a pebble, resting with a gun in one hand. Before Guo Da could start, he laughed and said, "Guo Shuai, you should be in Sanchuan County at this time, why are you here free?"
Guo Da tied his horse to a willow branch nearby, found a pebble on the spot to sit on, and said to Wang Maotaixi: "Master Wang, I feel depressed in my heart. There is nothing happier in this life than a house full of relatives and friends. But in this life, You cannot control your fate, but looking around, you are the only old man I still know."
Wang Mao was originally from the Yuan clan in Changshan, and he was born into a well-known clan in the township. However, when he was forty-two years old, he felt cold and was affected by Zhang Jiao. His illness was cured and he joined Taiping Taoism from then on. Later, Zhang Jiao sent him to Xihe to preach, so he dispersed his family wealth in Lishi and built Taiping Taoist Temple, where he treated diseases and preached, becoming the first Xihe Fuzhu. The Baibo Army is what it is today, thanks to Wang Mao's preaching.
However, after Zhang Jue died of illness, Wang Mao resigned from his command and hid in the army on the grounds of old age and incompetence. All Baibo affairs were transferred to Guo Da. However, everyone in the army still respected him quite a bit, and would bring wine and meat to him from time to time to ask him about current affairs.
Wang Mao knew that Guo Da was extremely self-disciplined, so he must have been worried when he came to find him. Guo Daguo said to his grandson: "Dong Zhuo has a blood debt and a deep hatred. I have always cherished it and hated it because of my incompetence. Now his relatives are gathered in Lishi, and I am unmoved. I am afraid of betraying the trust of my colleagues, and I am also afraid of it." I have repeated discussions, can Master Wang teach me?"
Wang Mao opened his mouth, pointed at Guo Da's teeth first, and then his tongue, and said with a smile: "Zhonghuang Taiyi once said, the best thing is like water. My teeth are hard and my tongue is soft. Guo Shuai, I am nearly seventy now, look at my teeth. There is no oneness, but the tongue is still as flexible as ever. I hope you can be as soft as your tongue instead of as strong as your teeth. If you and I can't survive, our actions will be in vain."
At this point, Wang Mao comforted him and said: "Now, except for you and me, there are less than a hundred people left in our army who have moved to Hebei. They can't survive, so what can they do? Dong Zhuo has served as a high-ranking official in Bingzhou for several times to provide peace and stability to the country. , expelling Xianbei, it can be said that he has made great achievements in battle. There are many of his old vassals up and down the state, and the people miss his kindness. If you kill him, you will not only be disadvantageous to Chen Longshou, but I am afraid there will be more discord in your army and ours."
Only then did Guo Da feel relieved. A new restaurant had opened in Wa Shi. The two of them ordered two plates of Hu biscuits, a plate of mutton head meat, and a pot of wine, and reminisced about the past together until the sunset. When the dawn moon peeked out of the clouds, Guo Dafang said goodbye to Wang Mao and rode home slowly along the waves of the Wan River.
The benefits of joining the imperial court can be seen with the naked eye. Except for the war in March and April this year, Baibo's soldiers and civilians have been working hard to cultivate Longmu. As Guo Da walked along, he saw that only the harvested wheat stubble was left in the barren fields. The villages he passed still had swaying lights. On the flat land in front of the huts, wheat ears were drying in every house. A gust of wind brought smoke, and Guo Da could still get rid of it. I can vaguely distinguish the aroma of wheat noodles.
By the time he returned to Huanyang City, it was already Haishi. Eight guards at the south gate were on duty, but they looked ungrateful. One of them was teasing two yellow dogs with a mutton leg bone. Several people were laughing and surrounding them. The yellow dogs were circling back and forth between the people, their tails not moving. Spin and spin.
When Guo Da entered the city, he deliberately dismounted and criticized them: "Now that the curfew has been lifted and the New Year is approaching, the city is prone to flooding and riots. You should work harder." Before he finished speaking, a yellow dog hugged his legs and feet and squatted down. Sitting on the boot and licking the back of Guo Da's hand, Guo Da couldn't help but smile, gently rubbed the dog's head and turned around to leave. When he returned to the side room alone and saw the snow-like knife on the table, he suddenly realized that he had not gone out with the knife.
Guo Da picked up the knife again and looked at his face from the blade. Just as the autumn wind poured in from the hall door, he couldn't help but close his sleeves and looked back inside the room. He was the only one standing alone in the empty hall. He suddenly regretted his refusal. Shanyu proposed marriage not because he liked Pu Zhenmeilu, but because he felt that the room was a little deserted.
In the days that followed, Guo Da also relaxed. A few days ago, he was still diligently repairing the city. During these days, he invited several Confucian scholars to ask them for advice on literacy and reading. When the conversation got excited, Guo Da invited them to have a dinner together. Stay in the mansion. The people of Huanyang occasionally saw him walking slowly along the Wan River with a peaceful expression, so they talked privately: It turns out that even a warrior like Guo Shuai, who has a heart as hard as stone, can also enjoy the mountains and rivers.
On the ninth day of September, Guo Da rode his horse up Huanghao Mountain as usual. Autumn is coming to an end, and the mountains are covered with withered basil and shrubs, but there is also no shortage of yellow chrysanthemums. The surrounding cities, soldiers and civilians all came to the mountains to have a picnic, and the autumn wind blew the smell of meat.
Guo Da also received an invitation from Han Xian and Yang Feng, but he declined, saying that he was not feeling well and was not suitable for banquets. At this time, he was on the mountain, trying to find a bunch of dogwood trees among the chrysanthemums. It was getting colder now, and counting on his fingers, there had been no dogwood trees in Xihe for five years. After all, he found nothing, so he sat on the top of the mountain and watched the water coming and going between the two sides of the mountain.
He immediately saw a man holding a horse waving to him on the mountainside, and then slowly walking towards where he was sitting. The man was far away and he couldn't see his face clearly, but his figure was familiar to him. He tried to recall, but couldn't. As a result, when the man left and came up, Guo Da saw his eyes, and he remembered with horror the identity of the man in front of him.
The man was wearing a military uniform, carrying a bow and arrow on his back, a knife on his waist, a lunch box in one hand, and a wine flask in the other. His appearance had changed drastically from the last time we parted, but Guo Da still recognized him. He took the initiative to shake hands and asked him, "Brother Peng, why are you here?"
The man put down the food box and wine bottle, stared at Guo Da for a moment, and then said with emotion to Guo Da: "I haven't seen you for four years. I almost don't recognize you." He tied the horse's reins in the bushes and said to him again. He said with a smile: "Four years ago, your eyes were full of murderous intent, but as clear as water. Now your eyes are calm, but a little more turbid."
Guo Da looked at him and said with emotion: "Why don't I recognize Brother Peng?" The man sat on the ground, opened the food box, took out the cup and chopsticks, and asked: "Where have I changed?"
Guo Da also sat on the ground with him and recalled: "Brother Peng, you were the proud disciple of Master Daliang back then, and you made great achievements. But you are not proud of your reputation. When you kill the enemy, you take the lead, and when you retreat, you take the rear. , all the commanders in the sect would put you first. At that time, your eyes were as bright as a torch, and everyone often joked that you could burn water into fire."
The man filled the glass with wine for him, poured a glass for himself, and said with a smile, "What now? Can it extinguish flames and turn them into smoke?"
Guo Da could only drink this glass of wine. The wine tasted fishy and bitter, and it was not freshly brewed sake. After several difficulties, Guo Da finally swallowed this mouthful of bitter wine. The man looked at the clouds, and his words seemed to be floating in the air. He asked Guo Da: "I have something important to do in Lishi. As colleagues, Guo Da, can you help me once?"
Hearing the word "Li Shi", Guo Da's eyelids jumped slightly. After he calmed down, he asked: "What does Brother Peng want to do?"
The man took out his knife, inserted the blade into the ground, and said to him: "I have a lot of regrets in this life, but I can only think about one thing that has caused me tossing and turning." He punched the handle of the knife angrily, and said in a suppressed tone: "As a Taiping Taoist, I , How could you not avenge the great wise master and kill the thief Dong Zhuo!"
Guo Daben had thousands of words to say, but he choked up for a moment after hearing this. It took him a long time to squeeze out one sentence: "The traitor Dong is not in Bingzhou at this time. If he is, why does Brother Peng need to take action?"
The man sneered and said, "So what? Now that most of the Dong family is here, I am about to follow Su Buwei's example and kill all my relatives, chop the bones into pieces, and make the Dong thief panic all day long, just in time to make him die of fear. !”
Guo Da could only reply: "Now that Chen Chong is in charge of Xihe, he has written to me specifically not to worry about this. He must have made a record of this. Brother Peng's trip may not be easy."
Unexpectedly, the man sneered, stood up and sneered at him: "How can we not think twice about the assassination? I had already looked at Lishi from a distance beforehand. The residence of Dong Thief's family was built by my sect. According to the common sense in the sect, the house was built by my own hands. There must be a secret passage in it. I came here to ask you where the secret passage is! Since I entered Huanyang, I have seen you leisurely all day long. I am afraid you are not tired of fame and have forgotten the numerous corpses in Qianqiu Pavilion!"
As soon as these words came out, Guo Dayu sat on pins and needles. He immediately stood up and said angrily: "Guo's fame is nothing but dirt! It's just that I have nearly 100,000 people, and my life and death depend on Chen Chong. The current situation in Bingzhou is complicated. If Brother Peng doesn't do this, if it doesn't work, , then put all my subordinates to death! What can I do!"
The man hesitated when he heard the words, then Taixi sat down, took out a bunch of dogwood from his arms, and said in a daze: "Guo Da, what you said makes sense. Then I will wait for Chen Longshou to travel far, and then wait for the opportunity to act. He paused and then said firmly: "After the matter is completed, I will die and it will have nothing to do with you and others."
Seeing that his eyes were as dark as rain and his words were so passionate, Guo Da was speechless. He sat with him on the ground again, raised his cup, and drank the wine in one gulp. The drinks were bland.
