The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

Xun Zhen stood in the camp, surrounded by bright torches, and there were iron officials and slaves sitting or standing near and far.

His heart was up and down, and he was imagining it.

He said in his heart: "After more than ten years, two or three years of being an official, and forbearance until now, I finally have a part that belongs to me completely!"

All this is not easy to come by.

...

Counting down his trajectory since his entry into office: first Fanyang Pavilion, then Xixiang Qiangfu, then northern postmaster, and now county soldier Cao Ye.

How difficult it is to go from a small fighting official, to a man of Baishi Qiangfu, and then to a high-ranking official in the county and court, to now holding military power and having just completed the work!

In the tenure of Ting Chang and Qiangfu, he was self-denying, lived in the countryside, was honest and worked hard, bought mulberry seedlings for the people of the village with his own money, took risks in attacking strong thieves at night, rescued Lin Ting, and was resolute and decisive. , to kill the third clan, to kill the villagers, but also to break the prison in the Spring and Autumn Period, deliberately spread the reputation of their own, and at the same time respect the village elders, make friends with chivalrous men, and convince the tyrants.

After more than a year of hard work, he has won the respect and love of the villagers, the respect of the elders in the clan, and the title of "milk tiger". It was turned into a northern postal supervisor by the former prefect Yinxiu.

In his post as the postal supervisor in the north, he, as always, was generous and caring for the people, while severely punishing the tyrannical and filthy officials, further enhancing his own reputation and spreading the name of "Xunruhu" from the south of the county to the north of the county, and at the same time Officially on the stage of the gentry, when Xingxian went outside Dingling County, Li Ying's grandson Li Xuan personally greeted him at the county boundary and brought him into his home. The two talked freely for three days and two nights.

If his self-appointment to be the head of Fanyang Pavilion is compared to the "start" of his career, then entering the Li family is the first turning point in his career.

When Li Ying was alive, the gate of Li's house was called "Dragon Gate" by scholars. If any scholar could enter his house, it would be called "Yuelong Gate", just like carp transforming into dragon. Although Li Ying has passed away, the Li family is still very important among scholars in Yingchuan and even the whole country. Being able to make friends with Li Xuan shows that he is no longer just "Xun's son", but has become "Xun Zhen".

In other words, people no longer just respect his family name, but respect him as a person.

When he was just a "Xun family son", people respected the fame of Xun's ancestors, when he became "Xun Zhen", people respected his personal ability and fame. From then on, Xun's origin was just the icing on the cake for him.

The Xun clan in Yingyin was a big clan in the county, with many children. Take Xun Zhen’s generation as an example, with dozens of cousins, it is impossible for everyone to become a state hero, and it is impossible for everyone to be famous in the world. . For example, his cousin Xun Cheng, who likes to collect tiledang, is just a little famous in the county. After leaving Yingyin County, few people know him. At most, after getting to know him, he will say: "Oh! "Xun Zhen was like this before, but now it's different. When people mention him now, they will first think of the things he once did, and then they will think that he is "the son of the Xun family".

It is for this reason that he married the daughter of the Chen family in Xu County.

It is precisely because of this that after the former prefect Yin Xiu left office and the current prefect took office, although the prefect Wen had prejudice against him and did not like to see him, after the Taiping Dao uprising, he had to be reinstated and appointed as the county soldier Cao Ye. The heavy duty is entrusted to the military power of a county.

However, despite this, the thousands of county soldiers were only "entrusted" to him, and the military power was still in the hands of Prefect Wen.

Knowing that Prefect Wen was prejudiced against him, in order to avoid aggravating Prefect Wen's resentment towards him, during the defense of the city a few days ago, he worked hard and was humble and restrained. He would not leave the city for five or six days. How tired and sleepy, I immediately rushed to the prefect's mansion. After repelling Bo Cai, he became more cautious and courteous, and did not dare to be rude to Prefect Wen, and did not mention the unfair treatment he had received before, even when Prefect Wen suggested that he go south to attack thieves , knowing that this is an unreasonable request, knowing that this is a very dangerous task, he still did not refuse, but happily agreed.

All kinds of grievances brought immediate rewards: more than a thousand new soldiers and Wen Taishou promised to supply his hundreds of soldiers.

...

"It's hard to come by." He said with emotion.

Thinking that in his previous life, although he could not be called indulgent and unrestrained, he was also a vigorous young man. How could he have been so forbearing and complacency like these years? More than ten years of traveling through his career and his desire to survive in troubled times changed him.

Xi Zhicai asked, "Zhenzhi, what are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking about training tomorrow."

It took two or three years of hard work to finally have a part of his own. Xun Zhen valued these more than a thousand new soldiers very much. He never wanted them to be wiped out in the attack of thieves south five days later. As the saying goes, one more drop of sweat is shed in peacetime, and one less drop of blood is shed in wartime. In order to preserve their lives as much as possible and preserve the strength of this part, they can only make more efforts in training.

Le Jin asked, "Training?"

"Oh, by the way, I have something to tell you. During the military meeting of the prefectural governor just now, the mansion has issued an order, ordering us to go south to attack the thieves. The time is set in five days."

"Five days later? Go south to attack thieves?"

Wen Ping, Jiang Qin, Gao Su, Cheng Yan and the others who were standing around suddenly burst into an uproar.

Xu Zhong has always been vigilantly paying attention to the surroundings. Although he remained silent at this time, he also turned his head and cast his eyes on Xun Zhen.

Chen Bao's face was also full of surprise, but he did not speak.

Jiang Qin asked, "How many men and horses did the mansion give us?"

Xun Zhen raised his horse whip and pointed around the iron officials and slaves around him: "Six songs, one thousand two hundred people, and a few hundred troopers, a total of two thousand people."

"Let's go south with more than 1,000 new soldiers? You gave us so many people? Xun Jun, I will go to Fu Jun and ask him to take his life back!" Wen Pin was furious and turned to leave.

"Stop him!"

Xu Zhong and Chen Bao, on the one hand, held Wen Pin.

Xun Zhen smiled and said: "Why, are you afraid? Zhongye, although you have not been crowned, you are always heroic. A few days ago, I went out of the city to attack thieves. There are more than ten soldiers, but the injury does not retreat. The city praises you as a 'major general', and the lord also praises you. What happened today?

Wen Pin injured his elbow when he went out of the city to attack the thief from Xun Zhen. He had not yet recovered. He was dragged to the wound by Xu and Chen, and he gasped in pain. Bai Shihong said indignantly: "Although Pin is young, he knows loyalty and righteousness. He died for loyalty and righteousness. A few days ago, Congjun went out of the city to attack thieves in order to protect the people in the city. Even if he died in the battle, Pin would not regret it. But today, the lord of the government ordered you to attack the thieves in the south, but he clearly wanted him to die! With more than a thousand new soldiers, how can we be an opponent of 100,000 people?"

Xun Zhen looked around and saw that everyone nodded in agreement after hearing Wen Pin's words.

He had already thought of this scene.

Even Zhi Ru Xun You expressed his objection to this matter, not to mention Wen Ping and others?

He asked everyone with a smile, and said, "It seems that everyone agrees with Zhongye's idea? You all think that the mansion is ours to die, and you don't want to go south?"

Jiang Qin said, "It's not that you don't want to go south, it's just that there are more than a thousand of us? Zhong Ye is right, I'm afraid we won't be able to beat Bo Cai!"

"The lord of the government has heard of your name, Jiang Boqin. I heard from Zhongye that the lord of the government asked him not long after he took office in this county: 'Who is Jiang Boqin in Xixiang, Yingyin'? Zhongye, How did you answer then?"

"The mansion did ask me, and I replied at the time: 'Jiang Boqin, the hero of Yingyin, who cares about wealth and loves righteousness, is anxious for people's difficulties, and is highly valued by the people of the county'."

"Well said! 'Wealth is good for righteousness, and people's troubles are anxious'. You, Jiang Boqin, the hero of Yingyin who is 'respected by the people of the county', is also afraid? Pocai is so scary?"

"It's not that I'm afraid of Pocai, but I feel that the government has given us too few people, and they are all new soldiers."

"Then what do you mean by 'a lot of people'?"

"If the officers of the county are also assigned to Xunjun, they may be able to fight against the bandits."

"If you also assign the commander to me, then let me ask you, who will guard Yangzhai? If Yangzhai is lost, you and I will lose the support of the rear, like a tree without roots, even if there are thousands of people, it will be A lonely army hangs alone. At that time, there will be thieves everywhere, so what will we do?"

Jiang Qin was at a loss for words, paused, and said, "After fighting for a long time, the bandit soldiers will be repelled. Qin heard that the bandit soldiers have gone south to the coast of Rushui, and Yang Zhai has nothing to do for the time being. Why rush south and hit the stone with eggs?"

"In your opinion, what is the best policy?"

"Your Majesty has already sent people to ask for reinforcements from the imperial court, and reinforcements will arrive sooner or later. I think that the current plan is to defend the city and wait for reinforcements. When the reinforcements arrive, they will join forces with them and go south to destroy the thieves. not late."

"Bo Qin, the people of the county praise you for 'lighting on wealth and loving righteousness, and rushing people's hardships'. Now, when Bocai soldiers face Rushui, they may go south to wreak havoc at any time. Hundreds of thousands of people in the south of the county look forward to you and me like a great drought. Yunni, you used to be in Xixiang, and you could only relieve the trouble of one person at a time, but this time, to attack the thieves in the south, you will relieve the trouble of hundreds of thousands of people at one time, and it is to relieve the trouble of half the county! If it is successful, then the world will admire the king's name, and the name of the king will be more than Guo Jie and Su Buwei. If things don't work, they will also be famous in the village and will be praised by future generations.  …, Bo Qin, you want to be a villager. A hero, a hero of a county, or do you want to be a hero of a county or a country?"

Guo Jie, the hero of the former Han Dynasty, is the idol of the Qing Xia of the Han Dynasty. Su Buwei is the most famous ranger in recent years. In order to avenge his father, he used his family wealth to raise swordsmen. He even dared to dig the tomb of the father of Da Si Nong, one of the nine ministers of the imperial court. , Gonglong Qiancheng", just on the point of revenge, "it is not superior to the members"? Stronger than Wu Zixu.

Qing Xia was still angry and committed suicide, and what he asked for was a name. Hearing Xun Zhen say that if he goes south to attack thieves, he will be "named more than Guo Jie and Su Buwei". The hero of the county, I want to be the hero of a country!" He pushed Wenpin and Jiang Qin away, squeezed in front of Xun Zhen, spat on the ground, and said contemptuously, "I heard it in Xixiang before. In the name of Bocai, a dog slaughtering Shuzi, what's so scary? Zhenzhi, you don't need to say it anymore, they don't dare to go, I'll go, I'll go south from you!"

There are rumors in the village that Bocai's ancestors were butchers, and the brothers Bocai and Bolian were in business and sold silk. Although Gao Su's family is also engaged in business, it does not prevent him from expressing his contempt for Bo Cai.

After Gao Su finished speaking, he glanced at Wen Ping again, and with a "bah" sounded, he spat on the ground again, crossed his waist, raised his chest and belly, and said to Xun Zhen, "Zhenzhi, although I am better than Gao Su. I don't know how to be loyal to some people, hehe, but I am not afraid of death! As long as you give an order, I will go south tomorrow!"

Wen Ping and Gao Su had long been in conflict, and the two often bickered. Gao Su was also reluctant to go south to attack thieves, so he didn't say a word when Wenpin was talking just now, but now he was excited by Xun Zhen, and he was willing to take this risk in order to be "famous than Guo Jie and Su Buwei". After expressing his stance, he suddenly thought of Wenpin, and he did not forget to laugh at him again. After speaking, seeing Wenpin's embarrassed appearance, he was very happy and laughed.

Wen Pin gritted his teeth, stared fiercely at Gao Su, and wanted to retort, but he felt that he was wrong. In the end, he turned his head back bitterly, held the sword in his waist, and said loudly to Xun Zhen: "As long as the hundreds of thousands of people in the south of the county can be relieved It is difficult, and I am not afraid of death, I am willing to go south from your lord!"

"How can a bird be inferior to a young man in Zhongye? I would like to go south from your lord."

"Brother Zhong, A Bao, how about you two?"

Xu Zhongyan said concisely and concisely: "When you go, Xian obeys." Xu Zhong's pseudonym Jiang Xian, so he named himself "Xian".

Chen Bao smiled slightly and said: "If there is no lord, there will be no praise today. I am willing to die for you."

"Wen Qian, how about you?"

"Although there are many thieves and soldiers, they are all rabble. Although our army is small, all of them are brave. Bo Cai, a dog slaughterer and a gangster. Your Majesty, my county is named Zhenzhou Prefecture. Wuhe, with the prestige of the king, is the only one who strikes the waves. Although it may not be easy to win, it will not lead to defeat. Advance and follow it, please be a pioneer."

Xun Zhen had the grace of knowing Chen Bao, and the grace of Le Jin.

Of the six songs, five of them have already agreed. It is impossible for Le Jin to oppose it alone. He not only no longer opposes it, but also invites him to be a pioneer, showing his courage.

Xun Zhen looked at him and thought: "Six people agree, five people just say 'willing to obey' or 'willing to die', only Wen Qian briefly analyzed the enemy and me, he is clearly analyzing, in fact It's to boost morale in disguise!"

The courage of the moment is unreliable. Although Gao Su and the others changed their opinions, most of them were only motivated by Xun Zhen's words just now. . Le Jin thought of this, which is very good.

Xun Zhen smiled and said: "Wen Qian is right. The thieves are a mob, there are no camps, and there are no queues to speak of. When encountering battles, they swarm up, and when they are defeated, they are scattered like birds and beasts. One hundred thousand thieves/people. One hundred thousand scattered people, what is there to be afraid of? The lord asked us to send troops in five days. I have set a training protocol, as long as you can act according to this protocol and practice well in these five days New pawn, I dare not say that we will win a big victory here, but at least we will return with a small victory."

"What's the charter? Please show me."

"Don't worry. Wait until Xiao Xia and Xiao Ren buy the quilt back."

After finishing the six songs, Xun Zhen turned his eyes to the side, and summoned Qi Hun, who had retreated from the crowd, and said with a smile, "You heard about the matter that the ruler of the government ordered me to go south to attack the thieves, right?"

"heard it."

"What do you think? Do you dare to go south from me?"

There are only 100,000 people in Bo, and there are only 2,000 people on their side. Among these 2,000 people, there are hundreds of people who have not been replenished. Qi Hun is not a fool. It is normal to be afraid and reluctant. After some analysis and Xun Zhen's additions, he felt a little more confident, and replied: "Xunjun, you have been to Tieguan, and you know that I and other Tieguan prisoners deal with iron and fire every day. The sun has not yet risen, and the furnace has been opened, the moon has risen and the work has not stopped, the food is not full, the clothing is not covered, and several people die almost every month. No matter what, I wish Congjun to die."

"Haha, why do you want to die! When you go south from me, I will definitely not let you die in vain, not only will I not let you die in vain, but also, if you give credit to you, I will also ask Fu Jun to waive your sentence. , give you the reward of money, and when the war is over, Ren Er and others will return home. Not only for you, but also for those iron officials and slaves, as long as they can make meritorious deeds, they will also be exempted from their slave status, rewarded with money, and released as a Good people."

Qi Hun asked in surprise, "Really?"

"I will go to the prefectural government tomorrow and ask the prince to agree."

The two Han dynasties ruled the world with "benevolence and filial piety", and there were often amnesties, but the amnesties often came with additional conditions, that is, "redemption", which had to be redeemed with money or silk. The folk proverb says: "A thousand pieces of gold will not die, but a hundred pieces of gold will not be punished." Without money, you cannot be forgiven. The prisoners in Tieguan's prisoners are all poor. If they weren't poor, they wouldn't be sent to places like Tieguan. Where would there be money to atone for their crimes? Only serve the sentence honestly. Another example is what Qi Hun said: "I know that I and other Tieguan prisoners deal with iron and fire every day." The working environment in Tieguanli is very bad, and it is not an exaggeration to exaggerate how many people die every month. Words, otherwise, there would not have been many incidents of iron officials killing officials and causing chaos.

Now that I have Xunzhen's promise, if you make contributions on the battlefield, you will not only get rid of the rest of the sentence, but also get rewarded. No wonder he was pleasantly surprised.

He bowed down in front of Xun Zhen again and said, "If this is the case, this lousy life will be handed over to you!"

"Qi Hun, my Han family's most important military merit, the old system: without military merit, you can't be named a prince, and you can't be a minister unless you are a prince. Today's wave of thieves is in chaos, the county is in turmoil, and it seems to be in danger, but it is rare for my generation. It's hard to beat thieves, and you have a chance to gain fame. You are now the 'team leader', and our 'team leader' is only a temporary appointment, and it can't be done in the imperial court, but as long as you can make military achievements in the future, wait for me to report After that, let alone spare you your sentence, even if you are given a real 'team leader' position, why is it difficult, why not!"

The team rate is only fifty people, which does not seem to be many, but it is already a "official" with a rank of more than a hundred stones. Qi Hun swallowed his saliva, fell on the ground, kowtowed forcefully, and said, "May I die for you! May I die for you!"

"Haha, haha. Hurry up, hurry up." Xun Zhen lifted him up again and asked, "Qi Hun, how many years have you been in Tieguan?"

"Two years."

"Two years? How many people in Tieguan do you recognize?"

"I don't know many people in other iron officials, but I know everyone in Yangcheng iron officials."

Yingchuan Tieguan had three workshops, and Qi Hun was in the Tieguan in the suburbs of Yangcheng.

"Okay! I don't know most of the soldiers in the camp. Since you know a lot, come with me and be a guide for me. Let's go meet them, how about that?"

The camp where Tieguan disciples and slaves stayed was built according to the Art of War under the personal command of Xun Zhen.

He is now in the camp where Le Jin is playing, and there are five songs he has yet to watch.

When marching and fighting, it depends on the life of the soldiers, and if you want to get the life of the soldiers, you rely on a reward and a punishment. Ming reward." "Right punishment" and "clear reward" are complementary to each other. It is not possible to punish without reward, nor reward without punishment. Only punishment without reward will lead to resentment in the army, and only reward without punishment will lead to arrogance in the army. Comparing the two, the "right punishment" may be more important than the "clear reward", because if the soldiers cannot fear me, they cannot be driven to fight with the enemy.

Everyone knows the importance of "correct punishment", but for a new army, it is very inappropriate to impose severe punishments as soon as the army is completed, because it will cause resentment among the soldiers. "Sun Tzu" says: "If a soldier is punished without being personally attached, he will not accept it; if he is already attached but cannot be punished, it will not be used." Xun Zhen had read many military books, and naturally knew this principle.

Therefore, he ordered Xiao Xia and Xiao Ren to go to the city to buy quilts, and then told Qi Hun that he was going to send a letter to the prefect to avoid prison sentences for those who made meritorious deeds. In order to make the new **** "attach" to him as soon as possible.

...

In the cold night, Xun Zhen refused the thick coat that Cheng Yan brought him, and did not ride any more horses, only wearing black official clothes~www.wuxiaspot.com~ walking on foot in the cold night wind, with Qi Hun As the leader, under the guards of Le Jin, Wenpin, Jiang Qin, Chen Bao, Gao Su, Cheng Yan and others, they toured the remaining five camps one by one.

Every time a song came, he would first call the officers of the song to encourage him, and then he would call in the officers and disciples of the song, and those who were brave among the slaves, just like he was with Qi Hun before, he was kind and happy, and he didn’t take his own life at all. proud of their identity, but treat them as equals and reward them with fame. In the middle of the night, I walked through the six songs.

The iron officials, disciples and slaves in these six songs first had the grace of joy and progress, but now I see him being stern and valiant in appearance, but he is approachable and approachable, and asks for warmth. For him, I am willing to die for him, at least everyone respects him when he is mentioned in private.

...

Xiao Xia and Xiao Ren bought enough quilts from the city, Xun Zhen ordered them to be distributed to the Qu Chang of each song, and ordered the Qu Chang of each song to hand over the quilts to Tieguan disciples and slaves in person.

...

When building the camp, Xun Zhen also built a barracks for herself. Said to be a barracks, that is, simply set up a tent with a few pieces of coarse cloth.

After patrolling the battalion and distributing the bedding, he handed down the general order, called all the officers above the team rate into the account, held a meeting, explained the training regulations to them in detail, and asked them one by one until it was confirmed. They all understood correctly, and the meeting was dismissed.

At this time, the long night has passed, and dawn is breaking in the east.

After a night of sleepless nights, Xun Zhen showed no signs of fatigue.

He put on a thick coat, walked to the entrance of the tent, raised his head with his sword, and looked at the splendid sunrise in the east.

Xun You and Xi Zhicai also stayed up all night, standing behind him. Xi Zhicai said: "The training regulations have been explained to the teams, and the formal training will begin today. Five days later, if you go south to attack thieves, whether you win or lose depends on the results of the next five days!"