Overall, the results of this northern expedition were in line with the pre-war plan. Although it cost tens of millions of dollars, in terms of battle losses, Zhou Buyi lost an astonishing 20,000 people with only a few thousand people lost, almost half of the young men of Murong's tribe were lost, and Wuhuan and Kuzheng were killed. The vitality of all government departments was also seriously damaged. The ministries in Yunbei looked at Hengguo's baggage convoy passing through, and they couldn't help but sigh: Has Lingbei in Liaodong been evacuated by Liwei Shanyu? Therefore, they also learned about the victory of the Han army, and before Zhou Buji withdrew his troops, they sent envoys to offer tribute and congratulate the Han army.
Zhou Buji returned all these tributes, expressing his strict military discipline and stipulating that no foreign money should be accepted. At the same time, he also said that if he wanted to congratulate him, it would be better to accompany the army to Luoyang, the eastern capital, to meet the emperor of the Han Dynasty together. Naturally, the leaders of the various ministries did not dare to delay. For example, Wuhuan Shanyu Tadun, Fuyu King Zu'an, and Hetu Neighbor Khan Muluke all expressed their willingness to follow the army southward to show their willingness to fight against the superior country. Tuoba Liwei's original intention was to send a congratulatory message. Seeing this situation, he had no choice but to follow the current and sent his eldest son Tuoba Siming to go south with him.
So the entire Northern Expedition army marched southward from Bingzhou in a mighty manner, flags fluttering, bells and drums opening the way, and the frontline sergeants reporting the good news of the victory to the people around them.
Halfway through the journey, Liu Xie had already received the reward. He was playing chess with Wei Xi in the side hall of the Tai Pavilion. After a rough reading, he was so happy that he didn't even care about playing chess. He took the reward and ran away wearing only his socks. When he arrived at the main hall, he smiled at Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and others and said: "Thanks to the strength of the officers and soldiers and your hard work, the Northern Expedition has been completed!" Then he circulated the victory report in the Tai Pavilion and said: "This battle can at least defeat the Northern Territory. Seven years of peace are enough for us to use force in Jiangnan."
Liu Xie then discussed the celebration ceremony with his ministers and planned to meet Meng Da, Zhou Buyi and the kings of Yunbei south of the river bridge. At the same time, he set up a hunting ground nearly twenty miles wide in Mang Mountain to reward the three armies.
Even the people of the capital were blessed by this. Yin Yangdan of Henan was ordered to impose a ban in Luoyang for several days and nights, and also gave cattle and wine to the elderly. It was the summer harvest in June, a time of busy farming, and people were harvesting wheat in the streets. The weather had been good all year, and this year's harvest was naturally excellent. Bundles of wheat were piled on the roadside, like mountains of gold. The people were extremely happy. , hearing the news of the victory of the army, naturally he was even more joyful.
At the same time, Chen Chong was also preparing to organize the wedding of his eldest daughter A Suo. After talking with Dong Bai, he inspected He Yan several times in private. Although as seen before, He Yan is flashy and good at criticizing people, but short on practical results. He can talk for several hours and seems to be in high spirits, but in the desk, he often falls asleep after being unable to sit for more than two moments. But if you think about it carefully, this is the common behavior of young people and their experience is still shallow. On the other hand, He Yan is a talented person, well-spoken, and getting along with him is like a spring breeze. He has never heard of any bad habits. As a son-in-law, there is really nothing to criticize.
The only shortcomings are that he is eager to become wealthy and likes to study alchemy. Following people's influence is also a common problem in the world. With Chen Chong's reputation, he has nothing to care about. It's just that He Yan often refines stones into powder and takes them to keep healthy, which makes Chen Chong not satisfied. So Chen Chong tried to talk to He Yan once, and He Yan understood. Immediately, there were no more rumors about him refining alchemy and seeking enlightenment.
So the marriage was decided. By the time the Northern Expedition returned to Beijing, the two parties had already exchanged betrothal gifts and betrothal gifts, and the specific date of the wedding was set in two months. As soon as the news came out, hundreds of officials in Beijing congratulated him one after another. Even the emperor sent a pair of South Sea pearls and a "Blue Bird to the West Mountain" to express his feelings. Naturally, these were all based on Chen Chong's identity and status. Many of them were People privately commented: "He Lang's marriage is really like a fish leaping over a dragon's gate!" But how useful it is in fact is a story for another day.
And just as the Chen Mansion was making intensive preparations for this, an uninvited guest suddenly came to the house.
The person who came had a beard on his face, a military uniform, and was covered in dust. When he first arrived at the gate of the mansion, he only brought one man and one horse with him, and a pure black long knife was strapped to his waist. After dismounting, he held the knife and raised his head to look at the door of the mansion for a moment, with an uneasy look on his face. Finally, he went up the steps to the door, saying that he wanted to pay a visit to the mansion.
The guard at the door didn't know his identity. Seeing that he was about thirty years old, and his boots and saddle were covered with mud, he thought he was from the prime minister's military career. Although it was shabby, it was not uncommon among visitors to the Prime Minister's Mansion, so he asked for the visitor's name and official position. Unexpectedly, when the man was about to answer, he suddenly seemed to be stuck by something. He was silent for a long time and finally said nothing. The guard asked again and again, and got tired of waiting, so he simply sent him away. Unexpectedly, after the man came down the steps, he held the horse and refused to leave, so he stood in front of the house.
Zhao Qiu happened to come to the mansion to ask Chen Chong that day. When he passed by the gate of the mansion, he felt that the man's figure looked very familiar. He couldn't help but take a second look and chatted a few words with the guards. As a result, after the guards told him about this man's strange words and deeds, he turned around to take a closer look, and suddenly realized something. He pointed at the man and said, "Hanzhen, why are you back? You didn't even send a letter to say anything!" Then he said to the guards: "Come and meet the young master!"
Only then did the guards realize that the person who came was actually Chen Zhang, the eldest son of Prime Minister Chen Chong! It's just that he served in the army in Beifu for four years and never returned home. In the past few years, the guards around Chen Chong changed again, so naturally no one recognized him. But why didn't he take the initiative to give his name? The guards were all very strange. Because Chen Chong kept silent on weekdays, no one knew about the rift between the prime minister and his son. In the end, they could only make unreasonable guesses: Maybe the young master had been away from home for many years and was timid for a while near his hometown!
When Zhao Qiu and Chen Zhang entered the mansion, they looked up and saw Dong Bai who was pruning branches by the stone spring.
Dong Bai recognized Chen Zhang at a glance. He was very surprised for a moment, but then showed a happy smile. She put down the begonia on her hand, stood up and walked slowly over and asked: "When did you come back? Are you alone? Can you go?" It was quiet, but I still miss Ah Cai very much!" Then he said, "It seems like yesterday that you and Chen Shi came to my house to play together when you were young. Now you are such an adult. Time flies so fast."
Facing his stepmother's kindness, Chen Zhang was at a loss and reluctantly agreed. But he could not call Dong Bai his mother, so he called her aunt because Dong Bai was the adopted daughter of his grandfather Cai Yong.
Dong Bai saw that he was dressed in dust and looked like a traveler, and asked again: "How many days will you stay at home when you come back this time? Have you eaten? You must be tired from the journey. You go and prepare to take a bath first. I will give you some." I have some new clothes at home, just in time to change into."
When Chen Zhang heard these kind words, he couldn't help but feel ashamed. He hurriedly whispered: "I can't stay for a few days without my aunt's help. This time I just came to visit. I have made an appointment at Baima Temple to stay. This time it is just I want to come back and take a look..." But what to look at? He stopped again.
Dong Bai understood what he meant, shook his head slightly and said: "Hanzhen, no matter what, he is your father and you are his son. You have to go see him, and he will not deny you. Life is alive." , only blood ties are unbreakable, you should always go see him first, he was very lonely during your absence." She was afraid that she would not be able to convince Chen Zhang, so she added: "Besides, the child slave is still in his room I’m middle school literate.”
Chen Zhang smiled, then sighed. After a moment of silence, he made up his mind and finally said to Dong Bai, "Then I'll trouble my aunt to lead the way."
As I was walking, a melodious flute sound gradually floated in front of me, like the breeze blowing through the willows and the spring rain moistening the grass buds. Chen Zhang could tell that the tune he was playing was a tune from Chu Ci, which was adapted from Qu Yuan's "Nine Songs". The person who played the tune was his father, Chen Chong.
Dong Bai knocked on the door gently, and the flute sound stopped. Then Chen Zhang heard slow footsteps coming from behind the door, as heavy and clear as the sound of a drum. With a "squeak", the door opened, and a soft but old-fashioned face appeared.
When Chen Chong saw Chen Zhang, his eyes showed a bit of shock, but his face did not move at all. However, when he looked at Chen Zhang's attire, the corners of his mouth showed some curvature. He stepped aside and said: "It's hot outside, come in and talk. .”
When Chen Zhang came in, he saw a child lying on the table, playing with a straw man. Of course it was Chen Xiu. When Chen Xiu saw a stranger among the visitors, he turned to Chen Chong and asked, "Father, who is this uncle?"
Chen Chong did not answer and turned to look at Chen Zhang. Chen Zhang was also speechless. The atmosphere in the room was extremely depressed. Zhao Qiu on the side was the one who smoothed things over and said, "Silly boy, this is your second brother!"
Chen Zhang then took the words and said yes repeatedly, then stepped forward and took out a package of candied fruits from his pocket, handed it to Chen Xiu, and rubbed his head.
Then the father and son sat at the table, planning to chat. But in fact, as soon as the two sat down, they felt the huge gap and pain between each other, which almost made both father and son feel suffocated. What should the two of them say? Pretend nothing happened? Yes, both of them have reached the age where they can hide their emotions. No matter what they have experienced, at least at this moment, they can pretend to be harmonious. So they carefully avoided the previous gap and talked about some innocuous topics.
Chen Chong asked him: "Why did you return to Beijing this time?"
Chen Zhang said: "The emperor came and asked me to go to Beijing to report on my duties. Next month, I was transferred to Xiangyang. He said that Xiangyang should be separated from Nanyang into a separate county, and I was asked to serve as the prefect."
Chen Chong realized that this was Liu Xie's preparation for the Southern Expedition in advance. Then he asked: "I heard that you lost the battle the year before last. The most important thing in the army is effectiveness. If it is not so, it will not be able to convince the public. Is it okay for you to defend this important place?"
Chen Zhang replied: "Yes, but I also made some friends. When something happened, I would discuss it with everyone, and nothing went wrong from then on."
When Chen Chong heard this, although he didn't show it on his face, he was still somewhat satisfied in his heart. He said slowly: "If you can discuss matters with everyone and learn from everyone's strengths, you won't make any big mistakes. But the war is unusual after all. For many unexpected situations, you must be prepared yourself and dare to make judgments."
They then chatted about some details of military affairs and national strategy. Although Chen Zhang could not say that his answers were fluent, he could still say something meaningful. Before he knew it, it was dinner time. Chen Zhang had a meal at home and said goodbye to Chen Chong and Dong Bai. Chen Chong did not persuade him to stay, and when he let Chen Zhang go, he couldn't tell what he felt in his heart. He thought, what would the spirit in heaven think for ten thousand years? Maybe this would be enough. Although he has taken a long detour, at least now it seems that this child is finally on the right track. It can be seen that as long as people experience more ups and downs, people will always be better. Can understand some truth.
