The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

Make up for the eleventh.

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It was decided that Xu Fu would lead the troops to the south of the garrison. Xun Zhen and Zhao Yun, Liu Deng, Xu Ji and others talked for a while, that is, the order was written and handed over to Xu Fu, so that he would go to the barracks outside the county tomorrow to select troops.

Zhao Yun, Xu Fu, and the others came back from a long distance. It was cold today, and there was no place to bathe on the road. They were all in the dust. Xun Zhen asked them to go to their house to bathe, and agreed to bring wine to them in the evening.

After Zhao Yun and others left, Cheng Jia and Chen Yi winked, knowing that Xun You and Xun Zhen hadn't seen each other for a long time, and they might have something to say to Xun Zhen alone, and they both also said goodbye.

Only Xun Zhen and Xun You were left in the hall.

"Gongda, what's the climate like in Hanoi?"

Xun You's mind was not on this. He was eager to know what happened in Ye County, so that Xun Zhen arrested Li Hu and put him in jail, but since Xun Zhen asked, he couldn't help but answer.

He replied: "Hanoi, one of the three rivers, is a famous county in the world. Since this dynasty, it has always been regarded as a land of arms and arms. The bamboos in Qiyuan are lush, and the mountains and rivers are solid and dangerous! It produces fine iron, and the people keep good horses. Although there are big thieves entrenched in the county today, because of the riots of thieves in the past, it is still called a wealthy man.”

Hanoi is one of the three rivers. Compared with Hedong and Henan, this county not only has developed agriculture and prosperous mulberry farming, but also in Taiping, "the people let oxen in the wild". In the most prosperous time, there were public and private iron officials all over the county, and as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, this was one of the world's well-known horse breeding grounds. The Book of Songs said: "The loneliness is in the suburbs of Jun", which is described here. of good horses. In addition to mulberry farming, iron production, and horse production, Hanoi also produces bamboo. There is a river called Qishui on the border between Hanoi and Wei County. Since ancient times, both sides of Qishui have been lush with bamboo forests. Qi Ao", Qi Zhe, Qi Shui, Ao Zhe, the place where the water bends, what the poem talks about is the bamboo forest in the area of ​​Qishui: "Zhanhe Qiao, green bamboo Yiyi", the lush bamboo forest has two advantages , one is beautiful scenery, and the other is military use: "folding bamboo to make arrows".

As early as the former Han Dynasty, Hanoi was a famous county of the empire. During the two Han Dynasties, this county was known as "completely rich". After Emperor Guangwu occupied this county, he said, "I will rise because of this" and appointed Kou Xun as the prefect of Hanoi. Kou Xun lived up to the heavy trust, and in Hanoi "cut down the bamboo of Qiyuan, raised more than 100,000 arrows, raised 2,000 horses, collected 4 million stone in rent, and transferred them to the army", which strongly supported the Han army's operations on the front line. .

All in all, Hanoi is worthy of the words "the land of the arms".

When Xun Zhen heard Xun You's description of Hanoi, he couldn't help but feel a little regretful, and he said to himself, "What if I go to Hanoi to be the prefect? ​​If nothing else, only the armor and weapons of my three thousand followers can be counted. If it's done, the knights under my account can also expand the scale."

Xun Zhen's subordinates had a lot of righteousness. There are currently more than 3,000 soldiers. If you want to support more than 3,000 soldiers, only money and food are not enough. You must have enough iron. Only with sufficient iron sources can all soldiers be equipped with armor. and handy weapons.

Xun Zhen served as an official in Zhao and Wei successively. Although Zhao and Wei also produced iron, it was limited by manpower, field and iron ore output. The output of iron was not as good as that in Hanoi. So Xun Zhen's 3,000-odd righteousness from now on, the weapons are almost complete, but the armor is far from enough, many soldiers do not have armor, even if there are armor, most of them wear leather armor,— —But even so, it may not be as good as the elite troops of the empire, but it is far superior to most of the county armed forces.

Armor and weapons are actually a bit easier to talk about, but the most difficult ones are military horses and knights.

A good knight is rare, and a good military horse is even rarer. There are many horse-producing areas in Jizhou, such as Changshan, Zhongshan and other counties in the north, all of which produce good horses, but Zhao and Wei are not good places for producing horses. There are only more than 400 cavalry, - when following Huangfu Song to discuss the Jizhou Yellow Turban, Xun Zhen saw the Xiliang iron cavalry brought by Dong Zhuo, it was really "people like iron, horses like dragons", thousands of iron armored knights galloped past, like an iron cavalry The flow is also like, daunting.

I just hope that one day in the future, my subordinates will also have such a galloping and shining iron cavalry!

Xun Zhen thought so.

After asking about the customs of Hanoi, Xun Zhen asked again, "How are the scholars in Hanoi?"

Xun You replied: "Hanoi is rich in humanities, and scholars are like clouds. Among the counties, Wen's scholars are the most outstanding."

Wen is Wen County.

Xun Zhen said "Oh" and said, "Are there any famous people in Wen County?"

"Wen has a man whose surname is Chang, whose name is Lin, and whose courtesy name is Bohuai. Although his family is poor, he does not take it from others. He is innocent by nature, young and filial. When he was seven years old, his father's party came to visit him and asked Said: 'Is Bo Xian here?' Bo Xian is also Chang Lin's father. Chang Lin did not bow when he heard about it. His father's party reprimanded: 'Why don't you worship?' Chang Lin replied: 'You are my father My friend, although I should respect you, but you call my father's name in front of me, why should I worship you? 'Congzhi is so filial!"

Xun Zhen had never heard of Chang Lin's name, but after hearing this story about Chang Lin's childhood, she became interested in Chang Lin and asked, "Where is Chang Lin now? Have you ever been an official?"

Xun You replied, "Changlin loves to learn, and now he is a living being. I have heard that he often brings scriptures to farm crops, and his wife gives him food. Although he is in the field, he respects each other like a guest."

"When you go to Hanoi this time, can you see him?"

"He also went to pay tribute to Duke Zhang. You met him in Xiuwu, and we had a great conversation."

"What's his reputation in Hanoi?"

"Although his family name is not obvious due to his poverty, he himself is quite famous in Hanoi."

Xun Zhen said in his heart, "According to what Gongda said, this Chang Lin seems to be a man of filial piety and righteousness. He is quite famous in Hanoi, and his family is poor..." He considered for a moment, and then thought, "Hanoi products Iron, horse production, if I can bring this person under my account, maybe it will help me?"

This would have to change someone else. After listening to Chang Lin's deeds, he might have at most two words of admiration, but Xun Zhen was different, and he immediately had the idea of ​​recruiting this person. The reason why I have this thought is not for any other reason, but for the iron and horses of Hanoi.

Hanoi produces iron and horses. Xun Zhen is very jealous, but he has no acquaintances in Hanoi. He, the prefect of Wei County, cannot send people to Hanoi to buy iron and horses, so if he wants to get some iron and horses from Hanoi, he will Someone from Hanoi has to help him.

From Xun You's brief description of Chang Lin, Xun Zhen felt that Chang Lin was a suitable candidate.

There are three reasons: First, Chang Lin is quite famous in Hanoi. If he doesn't have fame, he has no influence in the local area, and it is useless to recruit him; second, Chang Lin is filial and righteous. Anyone who values ​​righteousness, as long as you treat them with sincerity. , usually can be rewarded with sincerity; the third is that Chang Lin’s family is poor. Chang Lin is not only famous in Hanoi, but also a Confucian scholar who is eager to learn, but so far he has not entered the officialdom, perhaps because of his “poor family” and “family reputation”. It is not obvious", such "children of the poor" are far easier to recruit than the children of the famous nobles.

The more I thought about it, the more I felt that Chang Lin should be recruited, but...

Xun Zhen attacked the case with her fingers and thought: "The case of Li Hu has just been released, and I don't know how the Zhao family will fight back. If Zhao Ran writes to Zhao Zhong for help, Yuan Shao, Duke Huangfu, Mr. Liulong and others can't save him. In my words, maybe I will stay in the position of Weijun prefect for a long time, and from this point of view, it seems useless for me to recruit Chang Lin..."

If she stayed in Wei County for a long time, then Xun Zhen would flee to the rivers and lakes, and she would have no time to get iron and horses in Hanoi.

Xun Zhen thought again: "However, having said that, if Zhao Zhong can't help me or heal my sins, then the iron and horses in Hanoi will still have a lot to do."

After thinking about it again and again, I finally decided: I can't give up the benefits that may be obtained because of the unknown future. He finally decided that he had to give it a try and see if he could recruit Chang Lin, as he would have nothing to lose anyway.

He therefore said: "Gongda, you know me, I have always been thirsty for virtuous people, and now I hear about Changlin's people and deeds, it's really a pity that such a pure and honest person was abandoned in the countryside. Now, since Hanoi can't use him, do you think I can use him?"

Xun You was stunned. He didn't expect that Xun Zhen would suddenly say this, but who is Xun You? Extremely smart. He quickly understood Xun Zhen's true intentions, and said in his heart, "Your Majesty must be a good horse and a fine iron in Hanoi." He understood Xun Zhen's intentions, and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, he didn't say anything. Although he is thirsty for thinking about talents, Changlin is not a scholar from Wei County, and if you want to recruit him, I am afraid it will not be easy."

The practice of the two Han Dynasties: the chief officials of the county usually only use the scholars of the county to serve in the county, and the scholars of the county usually only serve in the county. Xun Zhen was the prefect of Wei County. If he wanted to use Hanoi scholars, even if he wanted to, Chang Lin might not be willing.

Xun Zhen also thought of this, he said: "The imperial court does not consider me despicable, and gives me the title of Yingyin. Some time ago, I appointed Yuanzhi as a concubine, and the position of family chief is still vacant. I want to invite him. Chang Lin is my prime minister, what is your intention?"

"...This is feasible."

"That being the case, I would like to ask your minister to write a document for me, and tomorrow I will send someone to Wenxian to invite Chang Bohuai."

It was a very simple matter to write the removal of documents, Xun You replied: "No."

At this point, Xun Zhen has already asked about Hanoi's customs and scholars, and now we can talk about business. Xun You was about to mention Li Hu's case, but heard Xun Zhen slowly ask: "Chang Lin is from Wen County, Gongda, I heard that there is another scholar in Wen County named Sima Fang, who lived in the first year of Zhongping. I asked for the Yellow Turban from Duke Huangfu, and I heard Meng De's words in the army: Meng De was able to serve as a lieutenant of the northern part of Luoyang at the age of 20 because he was recommended by this man. Gongda, you are going to Hanoi, have you met this person before?"

"Sima's family is two thousand stones. Sima Fang's father was the prefect of Yingchuan, his ancestor was the prefect of Yuzhang, and his great-grandfather was the general of the expedition to the west when he was Emperor An, and his family is a famous family in Hanoi. Sima Fang is now The official is away, and I have not seen him in person when I went to Hanoi this time, but I have met a few of his family’s children at Xiuwu Zhang’s house.”

"I heard that Sima Fang had many sons, so I can see his sons?"

"Does Sima Fang have many sons? I don't know that. I didn't see his sons, only two of his sons."

"Zhang Taiwei is the hope of Hanoi. Now he has unfortunately passed away. Sima Fang is an official, and he didn't go. His sons didn't go either?"

Xun You didn't know why Xun Zhen was so interested in Sima Fang and Sima Fang's sons, and replied, "I heard Sima Fang's two servants say that Sima Lang's eldest son, Sima Lang, was named as the eldest son of Twelve a few years ago. He is a boy boy at this age, and he is not at home now, and the rest of the children, such as Sima Yi, are still young, so they have not gone to practice martial arts."

"Oh, I see."

Xun Zhen said in her heart, "It turns out that Sima Yi's age is still childish. ... Also, if he was not much younger than Meng De, Xuande, and Wentai, in the end it would not be his turn to steal the world."

Xun You saw that Xun Zhen finally had nothing to ask, so he coughed lightly, and then let out the doubts and worries that had been in his heart for a long time. After being sent to prison, after being assigned to the county, I heard that Li Hu died of illness in prison, ... Junhou, what the **** is going on?"