By the beginning of November, North Korea and China officially announced their plan to restore access to the Western Regions, and announced relevant candidates for the administration of the Western Regions.
In addition to Hu Zhen's duties as governor of Dunhuang and long history of the Western Regions, Shangshutai also planned to set up Xihai County near Juyanze, with Tuoba Xianbei's eldest son Tuoba Pigu as the governor of Xihai to recruit western Xianbei; in the original Liuzhong City, Jinman City, Shu Gaochang County was newly established on the basis of Le City, with Youzhou Tiankai as the governor of Gaochang; Yihe County was also established in Yinwu, Pulei, and Yinzhi, with Xiongnu Juqu Wujiu as the governor; and the left and right Wu were reestablished. Duan Gu and Wang Ling serve as the captains of Jixiao, with two thousand troops each. Shazhou will be established in the four counties of Xihai, Dunhuang, Gaochang and Yihe, and Hu Zhen will also serve as the governor of Shazhou. These are only candidates for officials with more than two thousand stones. The mobilization of officials and soldiers under them is even more complicated and will not be described in detail in the article.
Such a major personnel change is unprecedented since Yanxing's restructuring: personnel appointments come from all ethnic groups and counties in the country's borders, and the country's newly trained 40,000 Chinese troops are the main force. Among the tens of thousands of laborers accompanying them, there were as many as a thousand merchants, farmers, and craftsmen who could build cities on the spot after capturing the land. Even within the general's plan, he was planning to take a hundred Tai students with him to record what they saw and heard during the expedition to the west.
When the government and the public learned about this plan, they all discussed it secretly: "The country has not made such a big move in the Western Regions in more than a hundred years. I am afraid that only Emperor Sejong's first conquest of Hexi two hundred years ago can be compared with this." Of course, some people questioned the conquest. Westerners thought that this was just an expedition that was wasted and useless, but more people still praised it and said: "If we can really transform Kunshan and restore it to me [1], this trip will be remembered for thousands of years and leave its name." For eternity.”
But this will all happen in the spring of next year. What the country has to do now is to stock up on food, soldiers and armor and repair roads in Dunhuang. Therefore, in mid-November, Hu Zhen will take office with his entourage.
Before leaving, many generals from the Liang people gathered at Hu Zhen's house to have a banquet with him to see him off.
Of course, those attending the banquet this time include Dong Yue, Zhang Xiu, Wang Chang, Li Xian, Li Ying, Fan Lin and others. Except for a few direct descendants of Hu Zhen in the Forbidden Army, they are basically all former members of Dong Zhuo's Imperial Palace. . It's rare for everyone to get together in such an open and honest manner, and we are all very happy to be able to meet again at this time.
This group of people cooked cheese and roasted two lambs as they had done in Liangzhou in the past. They also brought two pots of wine and drank while singing. Time flew by unconsciously, and soon it was night. The lights in Chang'an also became sparse, but Hu Zhen's mansion was still as bright as day.
At this time, Wang Chang raised a wine cup to congratulate Hu Zhen and said: "After the death of the Grand Master, I thought that our generals would have no chance of glory and would not even survive. I did not expect that after ten years, I would still see Hu Du take up the post. It is really Let me be happy. In the future, when Governor Hu is promoted, I will have to take care of him more!" Hu Zhen used to be under Dong Zhuo's command and often supervised all the armies, so he was called Governor Hu by them.
Unexpectedly, after Hu Zhen had a drink, he forced a smile, and then said casually: "Achang is still too young. I am not promoted here. I am just going to suffer!"
Li Ying, who was next to him, couldn't help laughing after hearing this: "Master Hu is drunk! I also want to suffer this kind of crime, but the dragon head doesn't like it." Everyone also laughed when they heard it, and there was another round of persuasion to drink. .
However, Hu Zhen ignored the atmosphere and still waved his hand and retorted: "How do you understand? For most of my life, I have either led troops immediately or led people to farm fields. Now that I am nearly sixty years old, I am managing civil affairs. How can I do a good job? ?" He paused here and whispered in a low voice, "With a background of criminals like us, I don't know how many people are watching. Once I make a mistake, I'm afraid there will be a lot of criticism. I will be imprisoned according to the law, can you protect me?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone in the gathering immediately fell silent, and even the original joy at the banquet was gone. Only Zhang Xiu looked around and said cautiously: "Although Longshou is strict in enforcing the law, he must also be humane in his dealings. Didn't I hear that Longshou plans to let two students serve as Hu Du's staff, so why should Hu Du be upset?"
Hu Zhen said: "What can a few yellow-haired boys do?" He then sighed, "I tell you, I am waiting for these Liang people, who are so suspicious in the court, to be able to serve as officials in peace and stability. Stable career is God's blessing. Too much wealth is not a good thing. I am now in Chang'an. I can eat two pounds of meat every day. If I have nothing to do, I go to the south of the city to ride my horse and walk the dog. When I am happy, I go to have fun with the two beauties. It is no better than in Chang'an. Are you happy when the wind blows from the sky?"
Then he pointed to an empty seat next to the table and said: "I originally reserved this seat for Jia Wenhe. You see, he doesn't even come for fear of causing trouble. This is really smart. You should learn from him later. , being free from illness and disaster in the future is the greatest blessing." When it came to this, everyone thought about it, and felt that what Hu Zhen said was quite reasonable, so they encouraged each other to drink and drink heavily, but the difference from before was that, Even though the wine tastes sweet, everyone clearly feels that the glass is filled with bitter wine.
Li Xian was not without resentment towards Chen Chong because of Dong Bai's incident. He used Jiu Jin to say: "I don't think Chen Tingjian is as selfless as others say. Look at the people he uses, who is not someone he is close to? It's just that I have a good face and no courage, so I ended up like this. I think it's worse than the Grand Master! When the Grand Master is here, how can you allow Cao Hao to jump around?"
This brought out the pain in everyone's heart, and they all said: "Soldiers and soldiers have been bleeding all year round. How can we treat them with ordinary people's principles? We are fighting to the death under the flag, but we don't even let anyone take away any gold and silver. How can we How can we live on? You see, Sun Ce said he was his nephew, but didn't he act against it? Chen Tingjian is really not a good soldier!" As he said this, he began to miss the good days when Dong Zhuo conquered the two capitals and everyone was filled with gold, silver and beauties.
At this time, Hu Zhen asked everyone to be quiet, and then said to his old friends: "A man must take his own wealth, so what's the point of taking advantage of him with his mouth?" After that, he took Dong Yue's hand and said, "If you really feel dissatisfied, , when I arrive in Dunhuang, take control of the four counties, and have old Dong in the army, what can I do that I can’t do?”
This was so shocking that everyone was startled when they heard it. They suddenly sobered up and looked at Hu Zhen in disbelief. In this awkward atmosphere, Dong Yue slapped Hu Zhen's hand away and said after careful consideration: "What Hu Du just said was just a joke!"
Hu Zhen, still drunk, waved his hands and said, "Can it still be true? Otherwise, I said earlier that foreign positions are not as good as those in Beijing. Didn't you hear?"
Everyone was relieved and had a few more drinks until it was almost time before they dispersed.
But Huben Captain Zhang Xiu was restless and unhappy for a while when he returned home. His wife Hu was very strange when she saw this, so she asked him why. Zhang Xiu hesitated a little, then told his wife what he saw and heard at today's banquet, and said: "What Hu Du said is really scary. I don't know if it is true or not. If you say it is true, how can it be possible?"
Hu's face changed greatly after hearing this, and she said repeatedly: "This is not a trivial matter. You should go to Sili Mansion quickly and tell the matter to Longshou, so as not to cause trouble in the future and end up implicating you."
Zhang Xiu was doubtful and hesitated: "But if it is false, isn't this a false accusation? How will I gain a foothold among my fellow villagers in the future?"
Hu said: "But there is a slight chance that we have to put aside the relationship. Is it possible that only when a disaster strikes in the future will you regret it?"
Zhang Xiu felt that his wife was right, so he nodded and said, "Then I'll go tomorrow." Madam Hu brought him a robe, put it on him, and said, "How could anyone snitch in the daytime? What are you doing now?" Just go! If someone says it before you do, that's a bad thing."
Zhang Xiu had no choice but to take a thin horse at random and drive to Sili Mansion alone. At this time, Chen Chong had just fallen asleep. He was very surprised to hear that Zhang Xiu had announced something important, but he still welcomed him into a small house by the lake with great solemnity and made tea and talked with him. Zhang Xiu told everything he heard at the banquet, kowtowed and said: "I really don't know whether Hu Zhen's words are true or false, but even if they are false, these words are very treacherous and make Xiu sleepless and foodless, so he told him. I still hope that the envoy You are aware of this, but if this statement is false, I hope you will treat Hu Zhen lightly."
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Unexpectedly, when Chen Chong heard such news in the middle of the night, he was stunned for a moment. He took a long time to say: "I know about this, don't worry, the country just enacted a new law last year, just deal with it according to the law. The country will not treat loyal ministers badly, nor will it treat meritorious officials badly, but if there is a glimmer of hope, I will also I won’t kill people indiscriminately.”
Zhang Xiu breathed a sigh of relief and said goodbye to Chen Chong, who held a candle to guide him. Zhang Xiu went out and looked back to see Chen Chong standing among the plum blossoms. The fire was extinguished, but there was no sadness or joy on his face. Zhang Xiu couldn't help but whisper in his mind, but this time, he was purely worried about Hu Zhen.
The next day, Chen Chong ordered Tingwei Wang Xiang to arrest Hu Zhen and Dong Yue and search their residences in Beijing. If there are any signs of rebellion, he will be beheaded in accordance with the law. If not, Hu Zhen should no longer serve in the army. Chen Chong's original intention was to directly expel Hu Zhen, but his family assets would not need to be confiscated, and he would be allowed to live out his old age in peace. .
But what is unexpected is that after Hu Zhen was arrested and imprisoned, before Wang Xiang had time to hold a trial, Hu Zhen committed suicide in prison. He stripped off the gold spikes from his belt and drank it to death. There was no argument before his death, and he did not leave any last words. Only the jailer guarding his cell said that before his death, the cool man gave him the remaining belt and murmured in his mouth: "On the Summer Night" Fireflies, fireflies on summer nights..."
After Hu Zhen's last words were heard by the people of Chang'an, they quickly spread. Everyone said that Chen Chong had committed an injustice. They may not be able to understand the right and wrong, but the four words "Firefly on the Summer Night" are enough to move people.
For millions of people, the fate of life is like fireflies on a summer night. Maybe no one will notice or understand under the moonlight, but they are still fighting silently in their own way. Although in the past, they would kill and despise each other, there are also short and emotional moments like this, understanding that it was difficult to understand in the past. Understanding others.
[1] Taqian: refers to Taqian City, an important city in the Qiuci Kingdom. It was the former residence of the Protectorate of the Western Regions. Dingyuan Hou Banchao lived here for a long time and completed the great cause of connecting the Western Regions.
