The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

"Why is the dog barking so noisy? There are officials at the door. Clothes go out to respond, and the government remembers that they want to get money. The officials are angry and angry. They look at the house, but there is nothing to do at home. My neighbors are running out of words. Money is so hard to come by, it makes me feel alone!"

This is a five-character poem written by the people of Shu during the reign of Emperor Huan of the current dynasty, which ridicules current affairs.

At that time, Li Sheng, a native of Henan County, was serving as the prefect of Ba County in the middle of Shu. He was greedy for money and heavy money, and he kept urging levies. wrote such a poem to ridicule him.

The word "dog bark" is mentioned in the poem. In the poems of contemporary people, the word "dog bark" is usually associated with "excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes." For example, the people of Wei County once composed a song to praise Cen Xi, who was the governor of Wei County at that time. This Cen Xi has a great background and is the great-grandson of Cen Peng, a man from Nanyang, a hero of ZTE. When he was the prefect of Wei County, he recruited wise men and did not disturb the people, so the people sang for him: "Dogs bark don't be alarmed, and yak grows under their feet." There are no thieves in the county, and the county government does not send people to collect miscellaneous taxes, so even if the dog barks, the people are not afraid.

The villagers live together in the village, and many people have dogs that guard the hospital. When strangers such as county officials enter the house, the dog will inevitably bark, especially at night, when the night is quiet. It's really scary when a dog barks.

But he said, why do the officials of this county come at night so often? But it is because the villagers may not be able to find people during the day, and the villagers go out to work, so they come to block people at night. The poem mocking Li Sheng is about the night. However, the officials came without notice at this time, which not only disturbed people's dreams, but also frightened people. stylistic.

This poem is about Li Sheng, the prefect of Berkshire, but now in the minds of Xuzhou people, Tao Qian is almost like this image.

Xun Zhen ordered Liu Bei to kill the state official. The nominal reason was: "Although the pavilion chief is humble, the rank is fighting for food, and he is also a Han family official. What power does the state official dare to kill Han officials?"

It seems that it is to maintain the majesty of the Han family, but it is not.

His main reason is for his own interests.

There was no other way, he had to ask someone to kill the state official.

Why?

Because the food is what Tao Qian wants, and at the same time, the food is what Xun Zhen wants.

As the meeting with Dong is imminent, the army must have food, and food must be there. Tao Qian is so urging the expedition, the prefecture can be enriched, the soldiers can be raised, and the food and drink can be eaten without worrying about it, but if the food is gone The prefectural government, what should I do with the Guangling County government?

In other words, what should Xun Zhen, the new prefect of Guangling, do?

This is a fundamental contradiction.

Having said that, this is certainly a fundamental contradiction, but if there is no such thing as a murder by a state official, Xun Zhen may be able to slowly find a solution to this contradiction, but now that a state official is involved, he will There is no way to solve it slowly.

If he ignores it, there will be two consequences.

One is that when Tao Qian and Zhe Rong heard about this, they would definitely despise Xun Zhen because of this.

It can be foreseen that once Tao and Cheng despise Xun Zhen, even if Xun Zhen wants to have a good relationship with them and Tao Qian, it will be useless. You know, Tao Qian is a very arrogant person. He has the ability himself, so he looks down on people who are incompetent. Even Zhang Wen, who is a general of chariot and cavalry and a captain, he dares to be in because he looks down on the actions of others. He was embarrassed and publicly humiliated at the banquet at the end of the collection, not to mention Xun Zhen?

At that time, if Xun Zhen wanted to gain control of Guangling's grain, there would inevitably be a very fierce competition with Tao Qian, and there might be a lot of trouble. Now put away the thought of "wanting to have a good relationship with Tao Qian", and simply retaliate, give him a slap in the face, and tell him not to despise himself.

Of course, as a county, the relationship with the state cannot be too rigid. There is a saying: slap a slap and give a sweet date, then after giving this slap in the face, you can send someone separately to the state capital to visit. Tao Qian, show Yuan Shao's face, show Sun Jian's friendship, etc., and then show your "difficulties" and "sincerity" to see if you can mend the relationship.

If you can, it's better not to.

If you can't, then there's nothing you can do. Xun Zhen has done everything that should be done. It's not him who is at fault, and no one can pick it out.

This is one of them.

And the other two.

The second is: the state officials killed a pavilion chief of Guangling under Xun Zhen's eyes, let alone a pavilion chief, he was an ordinary commoner. Are people innocently killed? If he sits and watches, not only Tao Qian and Zhe Rong will look down on him, but the county officials and scholars in Guangling County will also look down on him, and they will feel that he is weak and can be bullied. very unfavorable.

Therefore, no matter from which aspect, from the fundamental contradiction between "food" and the state government, or from the "governance of the county", the big problem that will be faced, that state official, Xun Zhen, must be killed.

His murder was actually for Tao Qian, Zhe Rong, and county officials and county people.

Having said that, if this state official was killed, the county officials and the county people would think that Xun Zhen was a strong and caring official, so what would be the reaction of Tao Qian and Zhe Rong? What will happen if the relationship with the state breaks down and cannot be repaired?

First, let's talk about Tao and Zhe's reaction. Needless to say, they were definitely furious.

But what can they do if they are angry?

Xun Zhen was not at fault, Tao Qian had no way of impeaching Xun Zhen, and he could not avoid Xun Zhen's position.

I can't get rid of my position, how could he be Xun Zhen?

As for if he can't make up for the relationship with the state, it's not a big deal. Although Tao Qian now has the edict in hand, has soldiers and horses as the backing, and has the yellow turban outside, he is self-reliant. He is now the dominant force in the state, but He will soon have to ask Dong. After asking Dong, the princes will fight in chaos. Since Xun Zhen has come to Guangling, then at that time, Xuzhou will be the first goal he needs to consider. Let me ask: Xuzhou is already his goal, Does it matter whether the relationship with the state is good or bad? Obviously it doesn't matter.

However, having said that, at that time, the relationship with the state capital will no longer be important, but for now, Tao Qian is after all a major state, and the relationship with the state capital cannot be too bad. It was for this reason that Xun Zhen did not order Liu Bei to kill the state official and send his head to Tao Qian, but ordered Liu Bei to send it to Zhe Rong.

As Yuan Sui and Zang Hong said, now all the grains in the three counties in the south of the prefecture are collected and transported by Zherong. Then just pretend that this state official has nothing to do with Tao Qian, and send his head to Zhe Rong. This is not only a declaration of his own "sovereign power", but also a face for Tao Qian.

Of course, just giving such "face" is definitely not enough. Therefore, while Xun Zhen ordered Liu Bei to kill people, he had already decided that as soon as he arrived at the prefecture, he would immediately send someone to the prefecture with gifts to meet Tao Qian. .

As mentioned above, if the audience is useless, Tao Qian will hate Xun Zhen because of this, and Xun Zhen can't do anything about it.

Xun Zhen is no longer the young man who was just starting out. He now has capital, ability, fame, and some background. If Tao Qian must oppose him, he is not afraid, and he can also consciously. It is not known who will kill the deer if it can handle it.

…

Although Guangling is located in the southernmost part of the empire and faces the sea, the road transportation facilities in the territory are still very good.

In the pre-Qin period, after the first emperor ruled the world, he divided the world into thirty-six counties, and the area of ​​Guangling belonged to Jiujiang county at that time.

On the grounds that "the princes were first broken, Yan, Qi, and Jing were far away", the first emperor urgently needed to strengthen transportation to consolidate unity, so on the basis of the transportation in the Warring States Period, he devoted himself to the establishment of a national transportation network, "determining the defense of Sichuan and the defense of the barbarians." "Removing dangers and obstacles", after renovation and communication, the roads of various countries during the Warring States Period were incorporated into the road system on a national scale. At that time, more than ten major traffic arteries crisscrossed were built. The entire newly unified empire was completely run through.

These roads are still in use to this day.

For example, in the state of Zhao, where Xun Zhen served as a lieutenant, there is a part of one of these roads in its territory, namely "Handan Guangyang Road"

One part, this Handan-Guangyang Road existed during the Warring States Period, and it was of great significance at that time. This road passes through Hedong, Shangdang, or from Hanoi north to Handan, Guangyang, and Youbeiping. , directly to the land of Yanzhao,

It is a major traffic road parallel to Taihang Mountain. During the Warring States Period, Handan, the capital of Zhao State, and Jidu, the capital of Yan State, were on this communication line.

There are avenues built during the First Emperor’s time in Zhao State, as well as in Guangling County.

And not only one, but two.

One is the "Three Rivers Tokaido".

In the thirty-fifth year of the first emperor, "the stone was established in the East China Sea, and I thought it was the East Gate of Qin." "Qu" refers to Quxian County, which is now the Quxian County of Donghai County in Xuzhou. There was a big businessman in Xuzhou with a wealth of 100 million yuan and a child servant. Ten thousand people, Xun Zhen came to Xu this time

In the state, there are several people he wants to recruit, and this giant is one of them. This person is Mi Zhu from Qu County. The "Qin Dongmen" was in Mi Zhu's hometown, and the first emperor Li Shi was in the border of Qu County. , the road that I walked on was

It is the Sanchuan Tokaido, which goes eastward from Guanzhong to the seaside.

There is a long section of this road that runs parallel to the Yellow River, and this section that runs parallel to the Yellow River is also called "Chenggao Road".

The area that this avenue runs through is economically developed and densely populated, both in Qin Dynasty and now. For example, Xunzhen's "hometown" Yingchuan is on this road. , this road has always been

It is the transportation trunk line with the largest transportation volume, and thus it has become a way for military strategists to compete for the first place. In the past, during the period of Chu and Han competition, Liu Bang's army and Xiang Yu's army had attacked and defended and advanced and retreated, and they repeatedly competed according to this way.

Strictly speaking, this "Three Rivers and East China Sea Road" cannot be regarded as passing through Guangling County. Guangling County is only a little bit involved with it, but another avenue built during the first emperor's time runs from north to south and runs through the whole of Guangling. County, which is "Namkai Road".

Most of these avenues built during the First Emperor’s time started from Xianyang and led to all parts of the empire, but two of them did not. They did not pass through Xianyang. One was the North Road and the other was the Binghai Road.

The North Road was built on the basis of the Warring States Great Wall after the Qin reunification. When a new Great Wall defense line was built on the basis of the Great Wall of the Warring States Period, due to the needs of construction and fortification, a traffic road that traversed the east and west appeared along the Great Wall. Named North Side Road.

The Binghai Road refers to a traffic avenue built along the coasts of the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea. This avenue intersects with the Sanchuan Donghai Road and the Handan Guangyang Road. This kind of material plays an important role in directly supporting the central autocratic regime. The northern section of this road was called "Banghai Road" after the Zhongxing period.

This parallel sea road connects the Linhai prefectures of Yang, Xu, Yan, and Qing states. Kuaiji, Langya, Taishan and other prefectures and states are all on this road, and Guangling is also on this road.

These avenues built by Qin have been expanded and improved in the former Han and the current dynasties, and further extended with the expansion of the territory.

Although it is said that there is no such avenue from Guangling County to Xiapi, there is a branch road from Guangling to Xiapi that branches off from the Sanchuan Donghai Road. Via this branch road, the county seat from Guangling to Xiapi is also in Xiapi County. Very convenient.

Xun Zhen and the others stood on the road and watched from afar, watching Liu Bei and the four or five knights galloping to the village pavilion.

When they reached the outside of the crowd, Liu Bei and the knights did not dismount. The two knights stepped forward and separated the crowd. Then Liu Bei drove the horse forward.

Looking around in the crowd, he was probably asking the villagers about the situation and who killed them.

Soon, he should have learned who the murderer was from the villagers, and saw him standing up with his sword immediately, as if he said a few words aloud, this should be an announcement of Xun Zhen's order, and then, Then I saw him acting like a quarrel, commanding left and right, following

The few knights on his left and right immediately ran on their horses. The villagers and the state officials are divided into two groups. They are in an antagonistic situation. On one side are the nearly 100 villagers, and on the other are the state officials and his dozen or so followers. These four or five

The knight galloped into the governor and his entourage.

The state official and his entourage, looking at their posture, actually wanted to resist.

Xun Zhen looked into the distance and saw that some of them drew their swords, and some of them turned and ran back. The governor and his entourage were also riding horses, but they were not on horses now, and their mounts were behind them. The people who ran back were obviously smarter, knowing that they were the opponents of Xun Zhen's knights on foot, so they ran back and wanted to ride a horse, and then fight against Xun Zhen's knights.

However, Xun Zhen's knights were all veterans in the battlefield and had been in battle for a long time. How could they be given this opportunity to split up a horse? Xun Zhen and the others could clearly see that this horse should be Guan Yu.

Liu Bei was ordered by Xun Zhen to kill and go to Xiapi. After Guan Yu heard about it, he volunteered to go with Liu Bei, but Xun Zhen did not refuse. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are both serving in Xun Zhen's army. They have similar positions and similar treatment.

It's just that one is more "honored", and the other is real power. Zhang Fei has real power, so he can't leave his body and can't go to Xiapi with Liu Bei and Guan Yu. As for Jian Yong, he did not follow Liu Bei either, but Liu Bei understood him, Jian Yong

Although he could ride and shoot, he was not a warrior after all. He was very tired after rushing all these days. Liu Bei asked him to follow Xun Zhen, so that he could get to Guangling County as soon as possible and have a good rest, so he did not let him follow.

Guan Yu quickly caught up with the two men who were running towards the mount, galloping horses galloping past them, waving a ring knife, and easily beheaded them to the ground.

At the same time, the few knights who drew their swords were quickly killed by the remaining knights.

In the end, only three people were left standing there.

One of the three was wearing a crown, which should be the state official.

Xun Zhen and the others looked at him: Liu Bei didn't move just now. He sat on the horse and watched the knights kill them calmly. At this time, all those who resisted were killed. He sat upright on the horse, standing high

Xia Di said a few words to the state official, and he didn't know what he was saying, but it was expected that he was scolding him for killing him, or reading Xun Zhen's order to him again. The state official was quite timid. , although surrounded by Xun Zhen's knights

- Guan Yu and the others returned to Liu Bei's left and right after the cavalry and killed the people, and surrounded the state official and the remaining two people in the middle, but the state official seemed not to be afraid at all. I mean, it looks like it's still rushing.

Liu Bei shouted loudly, but the shouting was useless. Liu Bei drew his sword, sprinted forward, and slashed with his sword.

If it were someone else, such as Dian Wei and Jiang Qin, he might have killed the remaining two state officials' followers, but Liu Bei was not a man who killed indiscriminately. Xun Zhen didn't ask him to kill all the people on the state officials' side. If he killed them, he didn't kill the remaining two who never resisted, and let them escape.

Guan Yu dismounted, went to cut off the head of the slain state official, and handed it to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei tied it to the saddle, and said a few words to the villagers. Then he turned his horse and bowed to the place where Xun Zhen was from afar. After that, he left the village pavilion with the accompanying knights. Following Xun Zhen's order, he hurried to Xiapi.

The villagers outside the village pavilion stayed in place for a while, looking like someone was talking, and soon there was a commotion. These people swarmed up and ran towards the side of the road.

When they arrived at the edge of the road, Dian Wei and the others hurried forward to block them out.

These villagers couldn't get on the road, so they knelt down on the field beside the road and kowtowed to thank Xun Zhen.

Many people shouted loudly, some called "Mingfu God", some called "Kow Xie Mingfu", etc., and so on.

They shouted that Xun Zhen was "Ming Mansion", but it was obvious that Liu Bei had told them Xun Zhen's identity.

Xun Zhen separated Dian Wei and the others from the isolation, stepped forward in person, helped the old men who were kneeling at the front of the villagers one by one, and said, "The state officials have acted recklessly and killed the villagers without authorization. This is also the crime of the state officials! I am deeply ashamed!"

The old man from the village asked, "What's wrong with Mingfu?"

"I am ashamed for not being able to stop it earlier!"

When the villagers heard it, they were immediately moved, and the old man said, "The Ming Palace has just arrived, and it was not there at the time, what's wrong with the Ming Palace!"

After talking to the villagers, Xun Zhen gave an order to take the money and give it to the family of the slain pavilion leader, so that he could bury the pavilion leader and count it as a settlement fee for his family, and praised the pavilion leader as a To stand out for the people, he is a good official,

He promised to promote and praise him. This pavilion chief has a young son who is not yet a man. Xun Zhen used the county government to pay for the young son's tuition and living expenses, and let him go to the county school to study. The old people among the villagers, the relatives of this pavilion

We, and other villagers, saw Xun Zhen act like this, they were moved to tears, and they were still watching until Xun Zhen's team left, saying to each other that a Ming Jun who loved the people had finally arrived.

Xun Zhen looked back in the car and saw from the car window that the villagers were kneeling on the side of the road.