By October, everything started to fall into place.
The houses of the victims in Taiyuan have been cleared out, and the people in Laoying settled in first and went home. After two months of operation of the paper mill, Yang Hui and Xu Shu's experience was sufficient, and there was no need for Chen Chong to interfere again. The army expansion also went very smoothly. In one month, Chen Chong recruited 3,000 Hunu and 5,000 Handing. The number of soldiers in Xihe County finally exceeded 10,000.
The new magistrates of Taiyuan County also arrived one by one. Before taking office, without exception, they all made a detour to Xihe to greet Chen Chong with the disciple's ceremony. Chen Chong was very happy to see them and said to them repeatedly: "If you encourage me, the country will use Wudang." In the union!". He couldn't help but be unhappy. These were all Gods of Wealth. Just by looking at the leader of the convoy when they came, he knew that by next spring the money and food would be available for farming.
Yu Fan came the last, but gave the heaviest gift. He specially presented Chen Chong with a pot of red coral, which was a rare treasure his father obtained in Ninan County. Chen Chong had no use for it, so he gave it to Liu Bei. Liu Bei liked it very much, so he gave it to Pu Zhenmeilu as a gift. The whole body of the coral is like blood, and the tips are as white as jade. When bathing in the sun, if it is covered with gold foil, the Hun princess is very happy.
The only thing that needs attention is that Chen Chong still needs to go to Linxian County Water Canal from time to time to control the quality and safety. But in general, the county no longer needs Chen Chong to intervene in everything, and Chen Chong rarely has some free time.
But he still couldn't take any time off, and Yuvluo kept him worried. The time for the Xiongnu tribes to pay tribute this year was approaching, but due to emotions and reasons, most tribes were absolutely unable to make up for the tribute. Wei Yan often heard about this when he followed Shi Sang to redeem slaves. He came back and said to Chen Chong: "Mr. Chen, I heard that the new chanyu has issued an order that if all the tribes cannot pay tribute this year, the king will be detained and the people will be sold. slave."
Chen Chong had never heard of such a ridiculous move. He was choked for a moment. He didn't know whether to say that Yuvluo had business acumen or that he had bad new ideas. He could only ask Wei Yan: "Do you have a good essay writer?" I heard, where did the new chanyu sell the slaves?"
"The tribes of Xianbei, the tribes of Xiliang, the Black Mountain bandit army, and the great clans of Jizhou." Chen Chong couldn't help sighing in his heart every time he heard this sentence. He covered his face and thought for a moment, then asked Wei Yan to go to Jinyang to summon Liu Bei, and they all came together Head to Meiji.
Today's Meiji has changed greatly. The market outside the city has been abandoned. There are not many merchants along the way, but Hun knights can be seen constantly coming and going in front of them.
Chen Chong still remembers the scene when he went to Meiji Market for the first time. The scene was full of vitality. The vitality was brought by words. But Meiji in front of him was silent. Although there was still an endless stream of people coming and going, they only walked in a hurry, as if they were all soldiers, entering Meiji as if they were entering a camp.
But Meiji is certainly not a military camp, or Yu Fuluo is far from satisfied with a military camp. When Chen Chong could see the city, he found that the city wall of Meiji City was busy. The wall that was originally only one foot was now more than two feet long. There were horses and chariots and slaves around carrying stones and earth materials in an endless stream. Apparently, Fu Luo planned to build this city into a city that was not inferior to Jinyang.
The city guards of Meiji were all familiar with Chen Chong, and knowing that he was the prefect of Xihe, they let him go. After Chen Chong and his party entered the city, they did not go to see the new Shanyu first. Instead, they went to Liu Xuan's house.
Liu Xuan is now the king of Zuo Ri, with thirty to forty thousand followers under his command. However, his brother, citing his young age, handed over all his followers to his henchmen to manage them. Therefore, Liu Xuan mostly stayed at home and was occasionally called by his brother to the king's tent to ask for advice.
Since there was nothing to do, Liu Xuan sent people to buy paper, and he copied the scriptures and recited the meanings. Occasionally, he gathered the Hun nobles in Meiji and explained Sinology to them with Liu Bao. Hearing that Chen Chong had recruited many wise men to Taiyuan County, he was also planning to go out to the county next month for a study tour and make friends.
When Chen Chong arrived, he was copying the "Buddha's Sutra on the Four Noble Truths" which he obtained from Baima Temple. The study tour experience in Luoyang made Liu Xuan not only interested in Sinology but also Buddhism. At this time, Buddhism still focused on Hinayana, and the priority was not to save others, but to save oneself. Now that Liu Xuan's biological father has suffered an unexpected event, and there are constant turmoils in the family, he can only feel far away from the suffering in the world and gain self-liberation when he recites Buddha's name behind closed doors.
When he saw Chen Chong, Liu Xuan was very surprised. He first asked the Buddhist scriptures and said: "Sir, I read the Sutra of Ten Dreams of King Buli Xianni translated by him, and I know the evil and horror of the end of the Dharma. However, the World Honored One preached the Dharma to save the world. How to rectify the Dharma?" It takes a thousand years to form a Dharma, and a thousand years to form a Dharma?"
Chen Chong didn't like to talk about Buddhism, but he still replied: "The meaning of Buddhism is that the three poisonous minds of all living beings are greed, anger and ignorance, so it is difficult to spread the Dharma. But in my opinion, it is just that the world is different, tomorrow The Buddha is not the Buddha of today, and the Buddha of today is not the Buddha of yesterday. I translate the Buddha's Dharma just to let the world know the meaning of saving oneself."
Liu Xuanda was so impressed that he asked, "I don't know why you are here, sir?" Chen Chong looked at him, then calmed down and said frankly, "I came to see how your brother has been governing recently. I have heard from various ministries recently. Start paying tribute, how is the situation?"
Liu Xuan was speechless when he heard the words. He hesitated for a while and didn't know where to start. After sorting out his words, he slowly explained the current situation:
Nowadays, it cannot be said that there are no tribes that can pay tribute, it can only be said that there are only a few. Those who can pay tribute are basically noble surnames from generations, that is, the Huyan family, the Lan family, the Qiulin family, and the Xubu family were originally related to this. He has three noble surnames, but because of Che You, all his wealth was plundered, and he has no idea where to start.
"I heard that the Xubu clan, Dangyu clan, and Huyan clan were all guarding the border at Yanmen for the Chanyu, and they also had to pay such tribute?" Wei Yan couldn't understand it after hearing this, and asked: "Isn't the Chanyu afraid that the three tribes will betray and join him? Xianbei people?"
Liu Xuan could only explain to him in detail: "These three tribes are considered to be the majority among the tribe, but they are not worth mentioning in Xianbei. Moreover, Xianbei has always looked down upon our tribe. Once they surrender to Xianbei, the nobles of the three tribes will only be slaves for life." As a maidservant, I want to be an ordinary person but cannot get it. As long as the masters of the three tribes are wise, they will never join Xianbei no matter how hard my brother forces me."
Chen Chong was noncommittal about this. He sat down on Liu Xuan's bed and asked him seriously: "Shize, I heard that Shan Yu issued a decree saying that all tribes can be sold as slaves to pay tribute. Is this true? ?”
Liu Xuan suddenly had a look of shame on his face. He didn't dare to look directly at Chen Chong for a while. After a long time, he lowered his head and said, "It's true. It's just that my brother insists on his own way. I can't persuade him..."
Before he could finish speaking, Chen Chong interrupted him and said directly: "Shi Ze, when I was lecturing at Taixue, I talked about the bad governance of the past dynasties. Have you forgotten?! I have said many times that the king has not been taken seriously since ancient times, and the common people should never be taken lightly. . During the Three Dynasties, there was no distinction between superior and inferior among the Xia, and there was no distinction between kings, ministers, kings and people. All people were born the same, but they grew up differently. Why? It’s just that human nature has shortcomings and all virtues have been damaged. We should make up for the shortcomings, how about it? Can you use people as goods? Sell them into slaves!"
Liu Xuan didn't dare to reply, so he could only repeat: "Students, please remember."
Having a rough understanding of the Xiongnu at this time, Chen Chong did not want to criticize Liu Xuan too harshly. He knew too well that it was easier said than done. Even he himself can't help but feel troubled. It is obvious that he can no longer use common sense to persuade Fulo.
Other than that, the simplest way is to forcefully replace Shan Yu. However, if Ti's army meets, Yu Fuluo's command will be stronger than when Xu Bu Che You, and with the military strength of Xihe at this time, Chen Chong can't do anything.
"In this case, there is only one way left." Chen Chong made up his mind. After saying goodbye to Liu Xuan, he stopped admonishing the new chanyu and left Meiji directly with Liu Bei, Wei Yan and others.
"Ting Jian, why don't you argue with Shan Yu again?" Liu Bei was very puzzled by this. He knows Chen Chong very well. He is a person who is too principled. To many people, Chen Chong looks like a mother-in-law, and is even very annoying. As long as there is a chance of being reasonable, Chen Chong will not use force, just like Quanbo will never eat scavengers. Rat-like.
But Chen Chong shook his head and analyzed: "There is no need for this. Yufuluo's administration will never stop due to the court's persuasion, otherwise he will lose all his prestige. What's more, in his eyes, we are the direct victims of old Shan's death." Because now he is interfering in his administration in every possible way, which can be said to be a new and old hatred. If we go further, we will definitely force Yu Fuluo to rebel."
At this point, Chen Chong's tone gradually became colder and he said decisively: "In this case, before forcing him to rebel, we might as well contact a prince of the Xiongnu privately and cooperate with him with great righteousness.
Yufu Russell is curious about the treasures. We can find the treasures and ask him to send a dead man to assassinate him under the guise of offering treasures. After this is done, we can use the imperial edict to calm the chaos and convene in Meiji. The princes of the Xiongnu will elect the virtuous king as the Chanyu. In this way, the disaster will be eliminated immediately! "
Liu Bei and Wei Yan looked at each other, but after careful consideration, they felt that there were no loopholes. They still couldn't help but admired it: "What a plan! It is indeed a good plan!"
Now that he had decided on a strategy, Liu Bei immediately began to prepare to implement it. Along the way, he and Chen Chong considered the candidates for the Hun princes to support, and finally decided to contact Huchuquan first. After all, as Liu Bei was the general protecting the Huns, it was his duty to contact Huchuquan to inquire about Yanmen's defense, but he could do it with great fanfare. , and the three tribes under his command are suffering from the oppression of Furuo this time, and they will definitely not object to this matter.
It was just a perfectly planned plan, but something went wrong at the first step.
It cannot be said that there was a flaw in the plan. To be precise, it was Chen Chong who encountered an accident.
Before he could walk back to Lishi, he saw Qin Yilu waiting anxiously outside the city gate from a distance, looking around, obviously waiting for him. He greeted Qin Yilu, and Qin Yilu hurriedly took three steps and two steps. , came to report to him: "Master Chen, the matter is urgent!"
"An assassin is marching into the city to assassinate Dong Gong's family! Now they are using the old lady as a hostage to confront General Duan's guards in the palace!"
