The soldiers are careless and the generals are empty. -----"Battle to the South" by Li Bai of Tang Dynasty
Talking about Chen Long and Liu Bei, a discussion about heroes while boiling cucumbers and wine seemed to attract Guan Yu's favor towards Chen Long. Liu Bei was very generous on the surface and said goodbye to Chen Long, but did not propose to join the army. Chen Long knew the elegant meaning after hearing the song, and understood that Liu Bei was already wary of him. He couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, as the saying goes, how can one mountain accommodate two tigers?
That night, Chen Long rushed to the imperial army and horse camp. A large number of nominal subordinates surrounded Chen Long, and the sound of flattery was everywhere. Chen Long was anxious to see Zhang Ning, but he couldn't be kicked away by his subordinates directly, so he had to pretend to be calm and greet him. In fact, the ground he was stamping on was almost cracking, and he wanted to fly to Zhang Ning's side.
Finally everyone dispersed, and Chen Long walked into his tent with a few arrows, surrounded by soldiers guarding him. At a glance, Zhang Ning was seen covering the sheets, and he hugged him quickly, comforting him: "The third uncle is unwilling to cooperate with me. The army and horses are always called yellow scarf thieves. The army lacks common ideals and concepts, so it is difficult for a tree to stand alone. One cannot die. Resurrection, it’s just a pity that my second uncle died.”
Zhang Ning cried again and couldn't say a word. Chen Long comforted him in every possible way, and Zhang Ning finally fell asleep while crying. Chen Long covered his beloved wife with a sheet and walked out of the tent. After the rain, the sky cleared and the sky was filled with stars. He couldn't help but take a deep breath of fresh air. Suddenly he saw a shooting star flying by. He silently prayed in his heart: "Father-in-law." The spirit in heaven should protect Zhang Ning’s life and safety.”
It was drizzling early the next morning, so Chen Long gathered a few of his men and asked them to assemble the army and set off. Before departure, Chen Long did his homework and made the departure ceremony vigorous and lively. He also took Zuo Feng to the stage to swear an oath, which made Zuo Fengling smile from ear to ear and immediately wrote a memorial with specific words. Chen Long was not afraid of hard work and immediately set out to suppress the bandits without waiting for food and grass to be ready. Showing his loyalty to the emperor, he reported directly to the court without mentioning it.
Guangzong City has long been filled with mourners. If Lu Chang hadn't arrived in the city in advance to encourage everyone, they would have dispersed long ago. When Chen Long's army arrived, they barely resisted for two days. On the early morning of the third day, a white flag was hung high, and the fake Zhang Jiao's body was delivered to Chen Long.
Chen Long didn't wait for the generals to take a closer look, and ordered his generals to fake the body with the owl's head, and put it in an iron cage for public display. The remaining five thousand Yellow Turban troops fled and dispersed. Only less than a thousand troops surrendered, but Zuo Feng's memorial described it as a great victory over tens of thousands of owl leaders. All the generals are tacitly aware of this, so who would think that the credit is too great?
After Guangzong's play was performed, Chen Long ordered the army to stay where it was, and handed it over to the generals. He only took Zuo Feng's thousand guards and his own soldiers, and carried the fake Zhang Jiao's head, blowing and beating along the way. The generals who defended the city went out to congratulate him one after another. While the banquet continued, they made a lot of fair-weather friends who were loyal to the imperial court. At the banquet table, there were many people like Kong You, the governor of Yuzhou, Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, Wang Kuang, the governor of Hanoi, Zhang Miao, the governor of Chenliu, Zhang Chao, the governor of Guangling, Qiao Mao, the governor of Dongjun, Yuan Yi, the governor of Shanyang, and Bao Xin, the prime minister of Jibei. He could compete with the later Dongdong Alliance.
We walked this way for more than half a month before we arrived at Hulao Pass. The good news was delivered to the emperor long ago. When the emperor saw that Chen Long had won an unprecedented victory and wiped out all the main forces of the Yellow Turbans in Jizhou, Long Yan was overjoyed and asked Jian Shuo to go to Hulao Pass in person to greet the victorious army in recognition of Chen Long's achievements. Jian Shuo held Chen Long's hand. Seeing Chen Long's proud face, he suddenly said softly: "Wen Long's victory is originally a happy event. But when your relatives are in power, you still have to be careful of their hidden arrows."
It turned out that He Jin wanted to take the opportunity to kill all the eunuchs, which had long been an open secret among his relatives and eunuchs. However, He Jin's mother Wuyang Jun and He Jin's sister Empress He did not agree, which made He Jin hesitate. He didn't dare to take action. Jian Shuo reminded Chen Long to pay attention to his relatives' hidden arrows, which were actually out of good intentions.
What Jian Shuo didn't know was that He Jin still had illusions about Chen Long and hoped that Chen Long would become his assistant. Therefore, Xu You's trip to Lingling was precisely to find out Chen Long's true identity and to win over Chen Long. If it was discovered that there was no deep connection between Chen Long and the eunuch, He Jin would naturally use coercion and inducement to take Chen Long's power into his own pocket.
Late at night, there were only two people in the tent, Chen Long and Zhou Buyi. Chen Long frowned slightly and said to Zhou Buyi: "Yuan Zhi, how do you think we can get out of the whirlpool of eunuchs and relatives and stay out of it?"
Zhou Bujie also frowned this time, completely losing his alert reaction. After a long while, he slowly said: "I really want to keep a low profile this time. It's best to let them fight until both sides lose."
Chen Long saw Zhou Buyi's rare frown and knew that this matter was very difficult to handle. Zhou Bujie continued: "You are bringing Zhang Jue's head back to Luoyang this time. I am afraid that the eunuch group and the relatives group are waiting for you to express your loyalty. If one side does not receive your confession, they will include you in the other side's list. camp, and it is the target of priority to be eliminated. After all, killing you, the red man who came before the saint, will definitely serve as a warning to others."
Chen Long felt a headache after hearing this, and for the first time he doubted whether Guo Jia's strategy for him was a bit eager for quick success. After thinking for a while, he said: "Then we can only show loyalty to both parties?"
Zhou Busuo chuckled when he heard this, and said: "Both sides have expressed their loyalty, so I'm afraid it can only be kept in the dark for a while. If the matter is not kept secret and the news is leaked, I'm afraid we won't be able to see the sun the next day."
Chen Long also smiled bitterly, scratched his head and said: "It's no good if you don't show your loyalty, but it might be worse if you show your loyalty. Since you definitely can't get any favors, how about pretending to be sick and returning to Lingling?"
When Zhou Buji saw Chen Long scratching his head, he subconsciously felt his scalp itching. He raised his hand and scratched his head and said, "Then you don't want the reward from the court? Anyone with a discerning eye will see that you are trying to avoid the fight between your relatives and the eunuchs, and you don't want to offend both sides. But both If you don't offend me, you will offend me. From now on, I guarantee that the lord will no longer have a seat in the court."
Both of them fell into an awkward silence for a moment. Zhang Ning just opened the curtain and entered the room, but the guards did not dare to stop him. Zhang Ning saw at a glance that the two men were there with sad faces and no signs of husbands. He couldn't help but smile for the first time and said: "How come a general and a child prodigy both look like this?"
Chen Long hurriedly hugged his beloved wife and asked her to sit down. Knowing that she was resourceful, he repeated the analysis he had just made with Zhou Buji, which silenced the beautiful Zhang Ning.
Chen Long thought to himself, as the saying goes, three cobblers are as good as Zhuge Liang. It seems that the three of us are not even as good as cobblers. Thinking of this, we burst into laughter.
Zhang Ning's mood was obviously much better. When he saw Chen Long suddenly sneered, he raised his hand and patted Chen Long and said, "It's not serious, but do you have any good ideas?"
Chen Long didn't have any good ideas. He was just about to say that we should show off at the first sight, and he was afraid of his bachelor's words. Suddenly, he saw Zhang Ning frowning and listening. He calmed down and listened carefully. Sure enough, there was a rush from far away. The sound of horse hooves reached outside the tent in a moment.
Chen Long heard that they were two strong horses. Zhou Buyi had already gone out of the tent to check. He was overjoyed. In the light of the torch, there was a tall, thin and handsome man with shawl and long hair. He was very talented, suave and charming. Who was he if he wasn't Guo Jia? ?
The other person was Zu Lang, who was obviously here to protect Guo Jia. It turned out that Guo Jia was very satisfied when he heard that Chen Long had returned to the court with a great victory and that his clever plan had been sold. He immediately followed Chen Qun to Lingling. Suddenly he felt restless. After thinking about it carefully, he had expected that Chen Long would encounter the problem of who to be loyal to after entering Luoyang. The two traveled under the stars and at night, asking about the route of the victorious army, and searched all the way. Fortunately, Chen Long walked very slowly and finally found Chen Long's tent in front of Hulao Pass.
Chen Long was overjoyed and took Guo Jia into his tent. He saw that his demeanor was as good as before, but his face was full of dust. Chen Long smiled and said: "Fengxiao, you must have some clever ideas to teach me when you come here. Come quickly and tell me."
Zhou Buyi wanted to repeat the discussion in detail, but Chen Long didn't mention it at all. He only asked Guo Jia about his plan. He understood that Guo Jia had already anticipated Chen Long's current predicament and came here specifically to offer his advice this time, so he stopped. Without saying anything, everyone was looking at Guo Jia.
Seeing that everyone was looking at him eagerly, Guo Jia was not polite. He sat down and said, "My lord, let me have a bottle of wine to quench my thirst first. Oops, I'm dying of thirst." Everyone's glasses were broken to the ground, and the atmosphere gradually relaxed. stand up.
Chen Long raised his hand angrily and gave Guo Jia a clue. He hurriedly asked someone to get Guo Jia wine, and then told Zu Lang to rest first. But Zu Lang refused to leave, and said with cupped hands: "My lord, I have sent Military Advisor Guo. There is no capable person to protect Master Chen, so I have to go back now." Chen Long was moved and said: "Brother, you have worked hard. Okay, it's rare for you to be thoughtful. In this way, you come in and have a glass of wine together, and I'll ask someone to prepare some side dishes, and eat before we leave." He said and pulled Zu Lang in.
Zu Lang had never seen such a courteous and virtuous lord, and he was moved to tears. When he entered the tent, he saw Zhang Ning and hurriedly bowed and said: "Mother!"
Chen Long smiled and said: "Feng Xiao, look at how polite Zu Lang is. He is much better than you as a military advisor." Guo Jiajun blushed and quickly stood up and said, "Hello, mistress!"
Zhang Ning put on the airs of a mistress, nodded slightly and said thank you for your hard work. After a while, the food and wine were served. Guo Jia drank and said: "The power between the eunuch group and the foreign relatives group is not balanced now. The foreign relatives are strong and the eunuchs are weak. Does your lord agree?"
Chen Long thought and said: "You can say that. But eunuchs are more favored and protected by the emperor. The emperor regards Zhang Rang as his father and Zhao Zhong as his mother. How could he watch his relatives kill his parents? So, eunuchs Having the emperor in hand seems to be more advantageous."
Guo Jiadao: "So there are two key figures here, who can influence the emperor and the eunuchs' decisions; they can also influence He Jin and influence the relatives' decisions."
Chen Long followed the train of thought and said, "Are you talking about Queen He and Lord Wuyang?"
Guo Jia praised and said: "My lord Mingjian. After my lord arrives in Luoyang, as long as you find a way to hide under the wings of Lord Wuyang and Queen He, naturally no one will dare to touch you again and buy precious time."
Chen Long smiled and said, "He Miao?"
Guo Jia nodded and said: "I have expressed my loyalty to Lord Wuyang and Queen He. The eunuch group and the concubine group will worry about gains and losses. They can't grasp the Lord's sincerity for a while, so they are afraid of killing the wrong person and making Lord Wuyang and Queen He dissatisfied. It's hard to influence the emperor. On the one hand, Wuyang Jun and Zhang Rang have a close relationship. On the other hand, Wuyang Jun is He Jin's mother, and Queen He is He Jin's sister, so they all treat He Jin well."
Chen Long was already laughing: "Thanks to Fengxiao coming to give me some advice late at night, so what if I bought time?"
Zhou Buji also laughed and said: "Of course as soon as I get the title of Jingzhou Governor from the Emperor, I will grease my feet and go to Jingzhou to take office, hahaha!"
