Time flies by like a white horse, and the passing years are like the running water of Longtou. In the blink of an eye, autumn turns to winter, and two months have passed since the battle of Longshouyuan ended.
In early November of the third year of Chuping, heavy snow had already fallen. The mountains from Dashanling to Shouyang Mountain were covered with snow. The canyons in the mountains and the Wei River plain were all white, with the occasional one or two. The foraging fox ran across the hard river ice shivering.
The more than a hundred riders led by Wei Yan were like a zigzag black line, traveling through the desolate white world. They wrapped their horses' hooves with cowhide, climbed uninhabited mountains, crossed waist-deep snow-covered deep valleys, passed Aocang into Han Valley, passed through Mianchi Xin'an, crossed the rugged mountain roads of Hongnong, and crossed the Tao River. The snow-covered mountains finally set foot on the land of Guanzhong.
After another three days of galloping, Wei Yan finally crossed the Wei River via the Wei Bridge and headed south to the Changxin Palace in the north of Chang'an City. This was the first time he saw Chang'an City. The majestic city walls prompted him to stop for a moment. After looking up and down curiously, he couldn't help but sigh: "It's really a strong city in the world." Then he murmured to himself: "I heard that General The battle with Chen Jun is in the south of the city, so we have to take time to see it." After making plans, Wei Yan finally calmed down and asked the guards at the city gate for directions: "Where is Sili Xiaowei's mansion? "
After getting the answer, he immediately walked through the West Market, entered the city from Hengmen, and went south through Huayang Street. After walking for three miles, he could clearly see Guigong on the west and Beigong on the east. Between Beigong and Huayang Street are the residences of garrison officers, while between Guigong and Huayang Street are a large number of official residences, which look like the palace's wings from a distance.
However, most of the official residences were idle. Only a few official residences were extremely busy with a constant flow of people coming and going, so they were very conspicuous. Wei Yan easily found the Sili Xiaowei Mansion.
Sili Xiaowei's Mansion is located at the junction of Huayang Street and Hengwenchi Road. Walk five hundred steps to the southwest and you can see the North Tower of Weiyang Palace. However, Wei Yan didn't care about this. He just asked people to go in and report, and then admired the layout of the mansion gate with great interest. In fact, the layout is roughly the same as that of other official residences, except that there is a peach charm hanging on the door on the right, with four big characters written on it: "I regret that the future will be short." Following Chen Chong's teachings over the years, I have been reading all the time. When I saw the fonts on the peach charms, my thoughts were like flying, and I recognized that it was Cai Yong's famous Fei Bai Shu in the literary world.
While admiring, Shi Xushu, the captain of the Sili school, came out. Seeing Wei Yan's appearance, he couldn't help but smile and said, "Wen Chang, you have been familiar with classics for these years, can you still lift a sword?" When Wei Yan saw him coming out, he also said with a smile. He laughed immediately, regardless of the dust on his uniform, he hugged him with his riding crop, and then he smiled back after letting go: "Whether it's the art of war or the butt, you can't compare to me now."
Although Chen Chong himself was not good at martial arts, Xu Shu was very good at swordsmanship in private. When he was working in Xihe, he often used his free time to compete with Wei Yan in swordsmanship. Since they were similar in age and had the same hobbies, they soon became sworn friends. Talk about it. Since the failure to challenge Dong, Wei Yan has been staying in Henan with Guan Yu. He and Xu Shu have been separated for two years. Now that they met, they were extremely happy in their hearts.
After reminiscing about old times, Xu Shu glanced behind Wei Yan and asked, "Have you brought everyone the teacher asked for? Was everything going smoothly along the way?"
Wei Yan said with a smile: "I never give half a discount on anything you want, sir. Don't worry! Is Mr. Chen free now?"
“You are free even if you say you are free, and you are free even if you are not free.”
"What is this nonsense."
"Just go and see and you will find out."
After saying that, Xu Shu saw many of Wei Yan's followers stamping their feet in the snow with their hands folded. He quickly called for a small official to take those who had no errands to stay first. There were only three people left among the hundreds of riders. Xu Shu nodded. He said softly: "Come in with me."
Several people walked into the mansion, first took off their cloaks, and then put on the prepared round-collar brocade robes, and then went deep into the mansion. After passing the front yard, the Sili Xiaowei Mansion suddenly became quiet. There was a small lake in the backyard. At this time, the lake surface was covered with a thin layer of ice. There was a small building on the shore of the lake. There were plum trees in front and behind the small building. The plum blossoms were in full bloom. , stained with bits of ice and snow, bright white and white, making the small building feel like a fairyland.
As soon as he walked into the house, Wei Yan first saw the papers piled three feet high, and then he saw Chen Chong's hair bun buried among the papers. Xu Shu called Chen Chong twice first, and then Chen Chong raised his head as if he had just woken up from a dream. When he saw a few people entering the room, he stood up and said with a smile: "What a coincidence, come and sit on the bed next to it, tea is being made there." "
Wei Yan was extremely happy when he saw that Chen Chong was still as usual. As Chen Chong sat on the bed, he couldn't restrain his joy. He didn't even notice that the tea he was handed was very hot. He drank it in his mouth and it was extremely hot. I couldn't bear to spit it out, so I held it in my mouth until my tongue was burned and numb. Chen Chong looked at Wei Yan's figure like a father. He saw that he was tall and strong, with firm and clear eyes. He had both the courage of a warrior and the determination of a scholar. He couldn't help but secretly thought: "We haven't seen him for two years, and Wen Chang already looks like The pillar of the country." Wei Yan looked at Chen Chong, who smiled at him, and he noticed that there were many fine wrinkles in the corners of Chen Chong's eyes! After all, he was already thirty-two.
Wei Yan was full of things to say and ask, but in order to show his determination, he still held back. Chen Chong asked the others to sit down and handed them tea. Then he turned to Wei Yan and asked, "Were you okay when you came here?"
Wei Yan shook his head and said: "There are a few of us here, how can it be bad?"
Chen Chong knew that he would be wrong, so he handed him another roasted Bashu taro and said with a smile: "Of course I know how you are. I'm asking you, did you check out the disaster relief on your way here? Did anyone freeze or starve to death?" A place for people.”
Only then did Wei Yan understand, and he felt quite embarrassed, and replied: "I was in a hurry when I came here, so I didn't pay attention. But the journey was smooth, I didn't see any robbers, and I saw a few porridge shacks, so there must be no major disaster." "
"Which profession should I do?" Chen Chong shook his head and sighed, and warned him: "The most fearful thing about doing things is the word "presumption". Whether it is marching in the army or doing political affairs, you must pay attention to details and be meticulous in everything, so that you can make no big mistakes."
After hearing this, Wei Yan did not answer, but silently gnawed the taro, and retorted in his heart: I am very careful when I am in charge of war. However, these words only stayed in my stomach and were not spoken out.
Chen Chong looked at the way he lowered his head and knew that he didn't listen, so he smiled slightly. However, this was not a matter for him to enter the customs, so he did not force it, and turned to the topic and said: "Yun Chang wrote to me about Yanzhou. war, but many things are difficult to describe in writing. You should have seen greater combat power this year when you fought with Yun Chang. How was it compared to the previous battle against Dongping?"
When talking about this topic, Wei Yan was obviously talkative a lot. He put down the taro and quickly replied: "Of course it is much stronger than before, but to say how difficult it is to defeat is to deceive oneself and others. Most of the enemy troops are not at the level of ordinary county soldiers, let alone more powerful than before. Qiliang people are still far inferior to Baima Yicong."
"Then according to Wen Chang, Geng Cang is not a strong army, so how can it win repeatedly in this year?"
"Of course, there are elite troops for a strong attack, just like Cao Shijun's tiger and leopard cavalry. But if it is difficult to deal with, it is naturally because of its large number of people. When General Guan and Cao Shijun join forces, the strength of the troops is only four times higher. It’s just one of them, it’s normal to be more mature without breaking.”
Having said this, Wei Yan paused and said with admiration: "Although the enemy soldiers' fighting strength is ordinary, the enemy general's troop deployment is beyond imagination. General Guan and Cao Shijun are not ignorant of soldiers, they can guess When the enemy uses troops, 45 out of 10 will be used in good times, and 1 or 2 out of 10 will be used in bad times. The enemy's deployment is like a horse in the sky, and there is no trace to be found. Our army did not expect the incident in Xuzhou. When we learned about it, it was too late to use troops. "
When Chen Chong heard this, he remembered what Yunchang had written in his letter: "The enemy's army is very cunning and deceitful. It moves like a machine, but it is difficult to respond to the urgent arrow." He was extremely surprised for a while, thinking that the Linzi court What kind of talent is there in the army who can play tricks on Guan Yu and Cao Cao to this extent?
At this time, Wei Yan gave a strong "Alas", sighed, and asked Chen Chong: "Mr. Chen, now Cao Cao has come to the court to ask for help. We are in dire need. In your opinion, when can we send troops? Where are the Qing and Xu thief armies?" Before Chen Chong could answer, Xu Shu replied first, "Chang Wen, we only used large numbers of troops this year. The aftermath has not been dealt with yet, so we won't be in a hurry for a while." Wei Yan immediately showed a look of disappointment. color.
Chen Chong did not follow Xu Shu's words. He took a sip of tea and exhaled a mouthful of white mist before laughing and saying, "I'm already trying to solve the matter. Otherwise, why would you bring Mr. Hu and Mr. Dong here?"
After that, Chen Chong turned to Hu Zhen and Dong Yue, who had been sitting aside for a long time, and said, "You two have been working in Henan for the past two years, and everything is fine."
Hu Zhen and Dong Yue, who had been captured by Sun Jian when they challenged Dong, nodded repeatedly. Although they wanted to stand up, when they saw Chen Chong defeating the Liang army, they unconsciously bent down and said with an embarrassed smile: "Meng Long's head will not give up. I have led people to farm in the past two years and have gained a lot of experience."
"That's good." Chen Chong put down the tea cup and said slowly to them: "Originally, we agreed in Henan that as long as you farm for five years, I will keep you innocent. Now two years have passed, and Yunchang also wrote to me. , I am relieved to say that you are not guilty of anything, so last month, after I reported to the Emperor, the Emperor is willing to give you a chance to redeem yourself and make meritorious service. If you do well, it is not an empty promise to reinstate your official position. Are you willing to do it?"
Dong Yue and Hu Zhen looked at each other, not daring to agree immediately. After a moment of hesitation, Dong Yue asked first: "May I ask Longshou, what is the errand?"
"The Sword Comes"
"After the August battle, the Liang army was scattered. Most of them were captured by me, and many became bandits. Now a large part of the Liang army retreated from Chencang to Wudu, gathering the rest there. It is said that they are fighting with Han Suima again. There are hidden dangers if Teng and others join forces. So I hope that you two will go to the Yi County area to recruit old troops and be responsible for matters related to farming and defending against enemies. What do you think?"
The two of them looked at each other again, and both saw the excited look in each other's eyes, so they no longer hesitated, bowed and saluted: "You will definitely fulfill your mission!"
Chen Chong chatted with several of them for a few more words, and asked them to go to a side compartment to rest first, preparing to follow him into China and North Korea tomorrow, where he would explain the situation in Guandong in detail, and then he immersed himself in the documents.
After leaving the house, Wei Yan asked Xu Shu, "What is Mr. Chen doing? How can he accumulate so much?"
Xu Shu shrugged and replied: "They are all the imperial edicts and prison documents left by Dong Zhuo and Wang Yun. There are many people involved in them, and it is easy to offend the ministers. The teacher had to entrust other chores to us and handle these matters personally so that we can understand them better." The details before and after were given to show that he was fair in handling matters. In the past two days, more than thirty cases have been retried. But there are still more than 500 people imprisoned in the past three years, so the teacher has a lot to do!"
Hu Zhen and Dong Yue were listening and thinking: I heard before that Liu Bei was appointed as the general, the governor of Bingzhou, the marquis of Qixian County, and the military governor of the world. He established a government in Jinyang, and Chen Chong was appointed as the captain of the Sili school. He was granted the title of Shizhong and recorded the affairs of the minister. Everyone in Kanto thought that the political situation in Chang'an had been completely stabilized, but now it seems that it may not have fully won the hearts of the people.
