After Sun Jian's death, in the blink of an eye, thousands of trees became forests, the night was full of stars, and it was summer again.
After arranging everything in Henan, Chen Chong took Meng Jian and Fu Qian back to Bingzhou with several students.
They rode lightly across the river bridge into Hanoi, went up to Tianjin Pass and entered Shangdang County, and finally returned to Bingzhou after half a year's absence. Then he followed the Zhang River straight to Huguan, where he turned northwest. Walking between the Taiyue mountains between the two counties. Looking far into the distance, you can see the green boundary monument towering under the blue sky. But when we were going down the mountain and crossing the Fenhe River Valley, the weather suddenly changed and wind and rain came howling. The storm overnight was like a wild horse galloping along the river valley. After the wind died down in the morning, the obscure weather seemed to be covered by an iron curtain, and the rain poured down like an iron curtain. It continued for several days without stopping, so that the water in Fenhe River surged, and the original The pontoons were washed away. Due to the investigation, it turned out that the ship's cable at the bridge head was thin and it broke directly.
But for a while, there were no boatmen to ferry people out, and the land was muddy, so the travelers were unable to move forward. They all stayed in Sun's manor on the outskirts of Zhongdu, cooking and resting by fire.
One day when it was getting dark, the rain suddenly stopped, and a ray of golden sunshine came in from outside.
Chen Zhan woke up suddenly. He put on his clothes and went out. He saw the mountains filled with golden light of joy. Only then did he realize that there were several fishing boats on the brilliant Fen River. There were stretches of streets on the wilderness, and the water seemed to be accumulated. The muddy water was black. The chariot and horse seals connect the villages of Xingluo. The water vapor was hazy and Chen Chong couldn't see clearly, but there seemed to be people riding horses on the road, there seemed to be bullock carts carrying wine jars, and there seemed to be farmers carrying hoes out to farm. Calm and peaceful, without fighting in the world, it is like the peach blossom cave heaven mentioned by Mr. Wu Liu in later generations.
Since the failure to challenge Dong, Chen Chong has been arranging the aftermath in Henan. It was difficult when the armies gathered, and it was even more chaotic when they dispersed, with a lot of chaos and chaos inevitable. Chen Chong felt the intimacy of walking alone in the wilderness more and more every day. He wished he could fly over Taihang like a cloud of geese and stop early in his home in Jinyang to chat with his wife at night. At this moment, in the embrace of the river at the foot of the mountain, is the Taiyuan Basin that people dream of, the land that the Han people like ants are constantly cultivating. Thousands of years ago, people from Jin entered Shanxi from Guanzhong, cultivated in the vast mountains, and mixed with the barbarian barbarians. They experienced hardships, displacement, and natural disasters, but they had no regrets and continued to take root.
Chen Chong couldn't help feeling solemn and said with sigh:
"What a blessing! How majestic! May God bless our land and our people and live forever! May we never grow old!"
By the time it got dark the next day, the group was already on their way into the city. Chen Chong saw an ox cart coming slowly in front of him. Sitting behind the cart was an elder with a long beard in Confucian attire. It was none other than Zheng Xuan, the former Taixue priest.
Chen Chong quickly ordered to rein in the situation, dismounted from his horse, stood by the roadside, bowed his hands and bowed respectfully, and saluted the ox cart. Zheng Xuan asked the driver to stop and carefully looked at the man standing on the roadside saluting. Finally he recognized him and couldn't help shouting happily: "Ting Jian! Is it you?"
"It's Ting Jian, brother Kang Cheng, why are you here?"
"Well, Dong Zhuo was in chaos and the world fell apart. I led my disciples to escape from Luoyang. I originally planned to return to my hometown of Gaomi, but the thieves there were so troubled that I couldn't go back. Fortunately, I met your father, and he suggested that I When I came to your place, I made a divination and said that the sun would shake from below and it would be beneficial, so I came." After that, both of them laughed. …
Zheng Xuan saw that Chen Chong and his accompanying disciples were all wearing military uniforms and leading horses. The mud on the horses' legs was covered with muddy water. He also joked: "Ting Jian and I have known each other for many years, and this is the first time I've seen you in military uniform!" Speaking of which, he asked: "I heard that you led the army in Henan to preside over the war against Dong. How was the battle?"
Chen Chong smiled bitterly. He looked at the disciples around him and said to Zheng Xuan: "Although we have conquered Luoyang, we have not reached Xijing after all. It can be considered a small victory."
Zheng Xuan didn't understand war. He only felt that recovering Luoyang was a major event. He was overjoyed and said, "Okay, okay! It seems that I will be able to give lectures in Dongdu again soon!"
Zheng Xuan made an appointment with Chen Chong to discuss scriptures at his house in a few days, and then the two of them bowed and said goodbye.
Chen Chong quickly entered the city and went straight to the county mansion. Liu Bei had been waiting for him for a long time. The two of them were very happy to meet again, but Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were not around, so they had some regrets and asked each other why.
Liu Bei said about the situation in Hedong: "Although the great event has been defeated, Hedong is still in my hands. The prince is afraid of Dong Zhuo's conquest, so I have to let Yide temporarily stationed in Anyi. As long as there are still soldiers who can fight, all the soldiers who are going with him will stay. We are here, and all the soldiers who came back are injured."
Chen Chong said about the situation in Henan: "When I withdrew my troops, Yuan Jiujiu felt that Henan was a piece of white land and it was useless, so he threw Henan to me. This land could not be given to Dong Zhuo, so I could only send troops to garrison it. It happened that in March the clouds were growing. When he came back with his army, he actually brought 60,000 refugees from Guanzhong, so I asked him to arrange for the refugees to farm in Henan and commended Yunchang as the Yin of Henan."
At this point, both of them were sighing. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had always fought with them in the same army, but now that they had experienced drastic changes, they had to start leading an army on their own. Even Wei Yan, who had been with Chen Chong all year round, now also led the army. With three thousand men, he was stationed at Hangu Pass.
Then the follow-up of the remaining Allied forces was discussed.
Gongsun Zan and Tian Chou have led the remaining troops back to Youzhou. Before Tian Chou left, he promised Liu Bei that if they planned to challenge Dong next year, Da Sima would continue to send troops to accompany them. But Gongsun Zan told him privately that Dong Zhuo's power had become established and could not be eradicated by using weapons, so he should just stick to the borders and wait for the right time.
"In this way, we still can't count on the allies in Youzhou." Chen Chong remembered that the jujube coalition forces had returned to various prefectures and counties. Yuan Shao, as the leader of the coalition, had returned to Bohai. I am afraid that there would soon be a turmoil in Youzhou and Hebei. Although Liu Yu I am still willing to work hard to defeat Dong, but I am afraid that I will soon be powerless.
On the other hand, Tao Qian sent a letter saying that the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou were becoming more and more rampant, and he still hoped to mobilize his troops back first, and wait until the situation in the state got better before discussing how to fight against Dong. This was also human nature, and Chen Chong couldn't stop him, so he Also agreed.
Speaking of this, Chen Chong thought of what Zheng Xuan said about the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans blocking the road, and sighed to Liu Bei: "It seems that the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans have become stronger after you left." Thinking that his father, uncle and others were all in Pingyuan County, but in the past six months, they had been There was no letter from home, and no instructions for Tao Qiuhong and others to evacuate, which made him even more worried. Fortunately, before coming, he had sent an envoy to Pingyuan to deliver a message. The letter told Chen Ji that if Pingyuan couldn't stay in Pingyuan, it would be better for them all to live in Jinyang, which would save him trouble.
Finally, the two of them talked about the thing they least wanted to talk about. Regarding the aftermath of the Baibo Army, Liu Bei said slowly: "The more than ten thousand Baibo soldiers who followed me south are now dead, and only a few dozen people have escaped. Yang Shuai and Han Shuai were seriously injured and have now returned to Yuanyang to recuperate. Yuan Zhi also blames himself for this and is now recuperating in Lishi."…
Chen Chong was silent for a long time after hearing this. He said: "Shuai Guo is a strong man from the north. He has taken good care of me since I entered Xihe. Now that Hongnong died in battle, he also died for me. These great benefactors, It is really difficult for me to repay you, but the matter has come to this and is irreversible. After Guo Shuai died in the battle, there was another reshuffle on Bai Bo's side, so I will be the one to comfort him."
"What are you going to do?"
"I can't defeat Dong this year. I think the situation is average, so I can only rest for a year and wait until next year to fight again. But Dong Zhuo won't wait for us. He will probably invade our western territory this year. We will have to rely on Bai Bo. Therefore, I plan to move the state capital to Yuanyang and reorganize it to remove the bad and keep the good. Otherwise, I may not be able to serve as a weak soldier."
Liu Bei asked again: "What about Hedong? I see there are quite a lot of big families there, and I'm afraid you need to go and appease them."
"Moving to the state capital is not a quick thing. There is always time to go."
Liu Bei nodded and said, "That's fine. I'll leave these to you, and I'll be in Taiyuan to recruit troops and prepare for war."
After the two talked, Liu Bei left Chen Chong to have dinner with him at home. Chen Chong remembered Sun Jian's conversation before his death and refused at first. He laughed and said: "I have been with Zhao Ji for many years, and I came back today, but I haven't met her yet." I’ve met you and stayed with you, I don’t know how she would complain!”
When Liu Bei heard this, he stopped forcing him and stood up to see him out. He smiled and said, "You don't have to worry so much. Li Rong told me that my brothers and sisters did complain a lot about this, but they were not against you, but towards me!" When he arrived at the door, Liu Bei took out a letter from his chest and handed it to Chen Chong, saying: "This is the letter from Duke Yizhen to me. I have asked me to deliver it to you. It is said that it was sent to you by Duke Cai."
Chen Chong hurriedly took it. This letter was written in February, and it is now May. I don’t know how many people have forwarded it in the meantime. The envelope is torn and the paper is yellow, but the handwriting on it is still clearly visible. The strokes in the letter are still clearly visible. The silk is white and seems to be written with a dry pen. It is Cai Yong's famous Feibai calligraphy in the literary world.
After riding back home, Cai Yan saw that Chen Chong had returned intact. Before she could be happy, Chen Chong pulled her into the study. The two sat down together to read Cai Yong's letters.
Cai Yong's letter was very long, and because he didn't know if he would ever meet again, he described a lot of content, as if it was a final entrustment. At the beginning of the letter, he said that everything was well with him in Chang'an and asked Chen Chong not to worry. He was now highly regarded by Dong Zhuo. Even if Chen Chong raised an army to attack Dong, Dong Zhuo was not angry because of it. However, he was still worried when he thought that his three daughters were gone. He had trouble sleeping and eating all day long, so he asked Chen Chong about Cai Yan'an and hoped that he would treat Cai Yan well.
After talking about Cai Yan, Cai Yong talked about his other two daughters by the way, saying that when he was in charge of Xihe, he married his second daughter Cai Zhenji to Yang Xu's son Yang Di. Yang Di was a descendant of Taiyang's family, and Chen Chong could contact her. , may become a big deal, and the third daughter Cai Huiji stayed in his hometown in Chenliuyu County for him. Cai Yong hoped that Chen Chong would take her to Jinyang. As for the remaining clan members, it would be best if they could take care of them. If not, don't force it.
After talking about family matters, Cai Yong talked about his regrets. He had written many articles and countless Confucian classics in his life, but after thinking about it carefully, the "Han Ji" he wrote in Dongguan was the most meaningful, so he planned to study it for a long time. "Han Ji", but now he is "full of frost and snow, his heart is exhausted and his mind is exhausted", and he doesn't know whether he can complete it during his lifetime. If unfortunately he dies on the way, I hope Chen Chong can inherit his unique skills and complete "Han Ji".
At the end, Cai Yong comforted Chen Chong again, hoping that he would work hard and not think about himself. After all, life and death are common things in the world. Then he advised Chen Chong not to take risks easily. If many things cannot be accomplished suddenly, it is better to plan them slowly. The top priority is harmony between husband and wife and the birth of a son as soon as possible. He is nearly sixty years old and has not yet seen his grandchildren. This is really unbearable.
The signature is "Tai Shi Gong's Gate Dog Cai Yong".
Chen Chong read it once and then again. Cai Yan's face was filled with tears after hearing his father's words, which were like asking an orphan. Chen Chong also felt as if something was stuck in his throat, and his emotions were even more difficult to understand. He put the letters in a lacquer box and put them on the highest bookshelf for collection. He then comforted his wife, and the couple After dinner, they lay on the couch with each other in their arms, chatting all night, and fell asleep very late.
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