Three Kingdoms

The journey from Danshui to Shangxian was smooth and hassle-free.

Naturally, the people Cao Zhen arranged on the land route failed to wait for Pang Tong, and similarly, Wei Yan also did not wait.

When Wei Yan learned that Pang Tong had arrived in Shang County safely, he breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time he was a little angry. After all, he had been preparing for so long, but it was no longer needed!

Pang Tong actually mobilized Cao's army with just a trick, and arrived at Shang County with seemingly ease.

However, when Wei Yan found Pang Tong in Shang County, Pang Tong easily dispelled Wei Yan's anger with just one sentence.

"Chang Wen, there are changes in the Western Regions..."

Wei Yan was stunned for a moment, and his attention was immediately drawn away.

Soldiers and soldiers often follow orders, so whether to fight or not, or whether they run around for a long time but do nothing big. For them, even if they have some opinions, they are often relatively one-sided, because the soldiers' perspective is that of being It's limited, they can only see so much.

To some extent, Wei Yan's thinking mode is still a bit like that of a soldier. On the way back, he smacked his lips more than once, feeling that he was pretending to be practicing military training, but then it turned out to be real military training. This made him seem to be worried about gains and losses, as if the result of the big prize he was looking forward to did not come out, or the pot was emptied out by some mountainous person who doubled up forty times or fifty times at once.

But let him tell Pang Tong that we are not going back, but should stay and fight with Cao Jun before leaving. Wei Yan couldn't say this.

After all, what General Fei Qian told Wei Yan was to let Wei Yan cooperate with Pang Tong and help Pang Tong escape when necessary. He did not mean to let Wei Yan go to war with Jingzhou.

Now Pang Tong relied on his own strategy to successfully mobilize Cao Zhen, switching from land to water, and then from water to land, gently and skillfully swaying his body out of the danger. Wei Yan can't tell Pang Tong, Pang Lingjun, you are like this No, I haven’t even gone on stage to sing, is this the end? How about Pang Lingjun go back to Wancheng and walk again?

Perhaps in history, when Wei Yan is older and has more meritorious deeds, he may become a replica of Guan Laoer because of his pride, but now Wei Yan is not so arrogant. Although he is a little disappointed, he has not given up because of it. Face, refused to escort Pang Tong all the way north, back to Guanzhong.

However, on the way back to Chang'an, Wei Yan still couldn't hold himself back. He went to Pang Tong and asked, "Pang Lingjun, please forgive me for being presumptuous. Is it possible that Lingjun can receive news from Chang'an even in Wancheng?" 』

Wei Yan guessed it was a carrier pigeon, but using a carrier pigeon to convey the news of increased prices made Wei Yan think it was unlikely, and even a bit extravagant.

Homing pigeons have their conveniences, but they also have limitations. In order to ensure that the information is not lost, carrier pigeons are generally duplicated, that is, the same information may be released in two copies at different times to ensure that the information will not be lost during the return of the carrier pigeon. . Even if there are no natural enemies of homing pigeons, such as the hunting of various hawks and eagles in the northwest, the homing pigeons may not be able to fly back due to magnetic field chaos at certain times, or some problems of their own...

Therefore, using homing pigeons can indeed deliver messages quickly, but the cost is too high.

It’s understandable to convey certain major events, but it’s a bit wasteful to convey news about price increases, isn’t it?

But if it wasn't homing pigeons, what other method would it be?

Wei Yan couldn't figure it out, because he had been keeping an eye on Shang County for a while, and even on the entire Danshui line. If there was any other way of transmitting information, it would be impossible to hide it from him, so he was very confused.

Pang Tong looked at Wei Yan and said with a smile, "Why does Chang'an need to send a special message about this?" 』

Pang Tong's answer made Wei Yan even more confused.

Wei Yan frowned and asked, "Since you haven't received the news, how did you know that there were changes in the Western Region?" Please clear up your doubts. 』

At this time, Wei Yan was not blaming, but asking for advice.

Wei Yan was from a relatively humble background and was not from a powerful family. In addition, he did not read many books, so he did not know much about some scriptures, and he had no way to chat with those who were well-read in poetry and books, so He didn't have many friends from the noble family.

Just like in history, Wei Yan respected Guan Yu very much, and had no conflicts with Zhao Yun. At the same time, he complained about Zhuge Liang's repeated refutations of his suggestions, and did the work he should do. The conflict between him and Yang Yi was particularly obvious. Perhaps he also had conflicts with some literati in Sichuan and Shu in history, but this is unknown.

At the moment, Wei Yan admires Fei Qian very much, and at the same time, he is also very humble towards resourceful people like Xu Shu and Pang Tong. Of course, if Pang Tong relied entirely on Wei Yan to be rescued this time, Wei Yan's attitude towards Pang Tong might be different.

Pang Tong smiled, and did not deliberately sell things, but said slowly: "Wen Chang, Wancheng is the distribution center for goods from the north, south, east and west, and the price changes are the most significant... Although I live in Wancheng, I naturally know Chang'an. The price of goods has changed... In the Western Region, the prices of spices, wine and other goods have increased significantly... There is no sign or reason for this, so it is speculated that there must be changes in the Western Region. 』

Because of the Dahan Chamber of Commerce, the prices of goods in Chang'an are generally relatively stable. It is certainly impossible to say that the Dahan Chamber of Commerce did not know about the sudden huge price fluctuations. But if the Dahan Chamber of Commerce knew about it, it means that Fei Qian knew about it, and the Dahan Chamber of Commerce did not make any explanation or action, so It naturally shows that there must be some changes that are unknown to ordinary people.

Wei Yan suddenly realized, "That's it!" There are also examples in the lectures in the martial arts hall where you can know the changes in the enemy's army by observing the fluctuations in the enemy's food prices! It turns out it can be used here! Taught, taught! 』

Pang Tong nodded, "The examples in the martial arts hall are all based on actual combat, which is a great initiative of the Lord. If the article leader can understand them thoroughly, he will be able to understand the battlefield and gain insight into the enemy and ourselves." 』

Wei Yangong cupped his hands and said, "Thank you very much for your advice!" Yan Dingran concentrates on research! But what happened in the Western Region? 』

Pang Tong was silent for a while, then shook his head slightly, "I'm not sure...but we'll know when we get to Chang'an...just speed up!" 』

Wei Yan looked at Pang Tong who looked somewhat tired and said, "Your Majesty, your body..."

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. Pang Tong waved his hand and said, "I'm just a little tired from the journey. Naturally, I can take a good rest when I get to Chang'an... Speed ​​up the speed. The sooner you get to Chang'an, the sooner you can rest." 』

Seeing Pang Tong's insistence, Wei Yan said nothing more and went aside to give the order.

Pang Tong looked up at the sky, where white clouds were floating.

Pang Tong sighed slightly. In fact, he didn't seem to know anything about the Western Regions as he told Wei Yan. He also guessed a thing or two, but Pang Tong knew in his heart that this matter in the Western Regions seemed to be just a problem of Lu Bu, a matter of one place in the Western Regions, but in fact it was not, but people like Lu Bu, as Things like the Western Regions.

It's a matter of this world.

The wind flies and the clouds move.

Is this the drifting of people's hearts or the vicissitudes of time?

The white clouds in the sky are unpredictable, turning into a tiger for a while and a rabbit for a while.

On the other side, under the buttocks of the rabbit turned into white clouds, Liu Xie was also looking up at the sky.

Observing the sky every day has almost become a daily habit for Liu Xie.

He is the emperor. At least that's what he thinks. So, is it reasonable for the Son of Destiny to get some information from the sky?

Liu Xie was eager, but he was also afraid.

Although the word information is not as thoroughly studied by later generations, for the people of Han Dynasty, I don't know when they started to pay more and more attention to it.

Needless to say, Fei Qian in Guanzhong, perhaps it was because of him that the entire Han Dynasty's demand for information went to a higher level.

Unknowingly, almost all the people in the upper class subconsciously began to form their own information network and collect relevant information, even if this action was somewhat inefficient, or there was information due to personal abilities. Deviation, but at least the current hunger for information from the outside world is much higher than in history.

It turns out that the big man is not the "world"...

The person who was most impacted by this concept was naturally the Emperor.

The Son of Heaven, the Son of Destiny, the Lord of the World. But suddenly one day, the world was expanded, and suddenly it was discovered that there were places that the "Emperor" could not manage and could not touch. So what was the original theory of the "Emperor"? Followers will naturally have various doubts.

Since he is the emperor, why is there a place that does not belong to the emperor? Is there another "Emperor" in a place that does not belong to the Emperor of Han Dynasty? If there is an "Emperor", who is the real "Emperor"? Or maybe this "Emperor" may not really be the so-called "Son of Destiny"?

Under the influence of these trends of thought, Liu Xie was naturally the first to bear the brunt.

On the one hand, he was terrified because he felt that the luster on his body was mottled and the fragrance was losing. On the other hand, he was very hungry to get more information. He was afraid of knowing this external information, but at the same time, he was eager to know.

This is a whole new world, a world beyond his imagination.

"Your Majesty..." A soft call interrupted Liu Xie's thoughts.

Liu Xie slowly turned his head and saw Huangmen eunuch holding a pile of letters.

"What... is this?" Liu Xie asked.

The Huangmen eunuch lowered his head, "This is the patrol record that Dong Xunfeng presented to His Majesty..."

"Wanderer?" Liu Xie was almost stunned for a moment. He had almost forgotten this matter, "These letters are all Dong Xunfeng's?" 』

Normally, due to the limitation of the medium, the number of words in the seals is generally not very large. However, the Huangmen eunuch is currently holding more than a dozen books of seals. Could it be that Dong Yu wrote them all by himself? of?

Before there was a large amount of Guanzhong paper, letters were all written on bamboo slips or wooden slips, and high-ranking officials had access to silk, but they were limited by the materials and few wrote long essays.

But now Dong Yu's appearance broke Liu Xie's understanding.

Because there are indeed a lot of them, a big stack, and Liu Xie also saw that on the watch seal, it seemed that there was a special subtitle, "Inspection Records Part 1, Part 2" or something like that.

The Huangmen eunuch lowered his head and said, "Reply to Your Majesty, this is exactly the letter from Dong Xunfeng in Guanzhong." 』

"Wanderer..."

Liu Xie smiled slightly. He has appointed many official positions, including low-class part-time officials such as the patrol officer, and even Liu Xie himself did not pay attention to them. If Dong Yu hadn't sent so many letters back this time, he would have forgotten about Dong Yu.

Liu Xie's impression of Dong Yu was actually very average.

Because Dong Yu spoke very straightforwardly, Liu Xie even found it a bit harsh.

Dong Yu came forward to advise Liu Xie, asking Liu Xie to "reinforce the government and appoint talented people", and at the same time "revitalize the local area and support the people", and "make politics clear and unify the princes", etc...

So much so that Liu Xie was still smiling at the beginning, but later his smile slowly changed.

Now, when Liu Xie suddenly heard the name Dong Yu, his first reaction was who is this guy? That's right, Liu Xie actually didn't have much of an impression of Dong Yu left, even though he personally gave Dong Yu the title of patrol envoy.

Patroller, haha, patroller.

Liu Xie teased helplessly in his heart. Now that he is the emperor, he does not need the approval of the Chancellor and does not need to go through the procedures of the Chancellor to appoint these unpopular official positions. Anyway, it is the kind of official position that does not receive a salary, and Shangshutai is too lazy to care about this kind of official position.

What does a big man lack most?

No, what is Liu Xie lacking most right now?

Talent! Especially "loyal" talents!

When Liu Xie discovered that his title and identity were not immune to harm, nor could people bow their heads and worship him, he began to recruit "talents". Of course, limited by his own growth, environment, and personal experience, it was not very smooth at the beginning...

Well, even now, it's still not smooth, like suffering from hemorrhoids and constipation.

Dong Yu's surname was Dong, the Queen Mother Dong's, but the relationship with the Queen Mother Dong was not too close. They were of the same clan, but not the same clan. However, this little relationship made Liu Xie hold on tightly. Although he and Dong Yu When we first met, I didn't feel very good, but Liu Xie still endured it.

Liu Xie is so short of people.

Dong Cheng was the "talent" Liu Xie was looking for at the beginning, because Dong Cheng was from the lineage of Empress Dowager Dong, and he was considered one of his own who knew everything. But the problem is that Dong Cheng, like Dong Zhong, doesn't have much talent. He is just like a young child walking around in the busy city with money in his heart. Soon he not only lost his life in the chaos, but also caused Liu Xie's original plan to be seriously affected. of frustration.

Liu Xie once thought that he was the emperor, so no matter how small his order was, it was as big as heaven to his ministers, but he had to accept the reality later. Even if someone really said that no one dares to disobey the emperor's edict, in fact it was mostly just words. After leaving the main hall, these ministers would still do whatever they were supposed to do.

The more Liu Xie lives, the more painful he becomes.

Now Liu Xie feels that when he was happiest and happiest, it was when he was a child. Growing up is full of pain, and Dong Yu and others are the lights that Liu Xie seeks when he feels the pain.

Even if it is a little, weak, or even slim...

So when Liu Xie met an honest man like Dong Yu, he naturally felt a little emotional in his heart. Although Dong Aiqing was not very talkative, he still did practical things. At least he really regarded the "patrol patrol" as a It's the same thing!

Look, there are so many rumors!

Liu Xie flipped through the pages and sighed in his heart. It is true that people cannot be judged by their appearance. Dong Aiqing is mediocre in appearance, but how well the words are written and how detailed these things are described...

What a mistake!

Liu Xie sighed like this again in his heart. When he appointed Dong Yu and a large group of gentry disciples as patrol envoys, he just wanted to shoot three strokes with anyone who had dates or not. He couldn't keep them anyway, so he might as well keep them as a free favor, or maybe yes……

Mix in some sand.

Liu Xie felt that Dong Yu was a nerd, and Dong Yu himself said so. He wanted to go to Chang'an not to find a job, but just to study. Because he found that Chang'an had more books than Xu County.

Liu Xie really wanted to jump up and shout that those books were mine, mine!

At least it used to be!

That guy moved it from my library!

But when the words came to his lips, Liu Xie would swallow them again, and then they would roll in his stomach and become a wave of resentment that slowly spread out.

The princes of the world took away more than just books from his house?

So when faced with Dong Yu's general disciples who wanted to "study" in Chang'an, Liu Xie smiled and said, "Okay, very good, studying very well", and then gave these people the title of "Patrol Envoy" The name means that after these people arrive in Chang'an, in addition to studying, they can also report back the local customs and so on.

It doesn’t cost any money anyway.

Well, strictly speaking, it's not completely free of charge. There are still some rewards, but no salary. Patrolling Envoy is just a fictitious title and does not have any rank. Of course, there is no need to pay a salary. Even the rewards are in the accounts of the Shaofu, so there is no difficulty in the Shangshutai. For such a fictitious title, Liu Xie is willing to grant it Just block a few and treat them like children...

Well, just think of it as practice.

But now, no one thought that there was a serious person among these patrolling envoys who had no salary and no one thought they were serious things at first!

Is this a wolf mixed in with a pack of wolves, or a wolf mixed with a pack of wolves?

"Huh... this is really..." Liu Xie looked through the pages and let out a long sigh, "Dong Aiqing is so loyal... If this big man could be like Dong Aiqing in the whole dynasty, instead of being a person who works against the will and eats the corpse, Why am I a big man like this? Why am I like this..."

The eunuch of Huangmen lowered his head and pretended not to hear.

Dong Yu's patrol record was written from the time when Dong Yu entered the Heluo area...

"One rumor. In the vast distance, I crossed Heluo. The fields are full of weeds and no one is around. The river is flowing and the ridges are staggered. The yellow sand is diffuse, the wind is sad and the sun is shining. There are few people inhabiting it for thousands of miles. The villagers told them that this was the place where Dong was attacked in Shandong. When the three armies were overthrown, ghosts often cried, and you could hear them when the sky was cloudy. 』

Liu Xie sighed slowly.

"Hearsay 2." In panic, I stayed in Luoyang. The sound of the watch in the middle of the night is covered with cold dew. The river is turbulent and the water ice is difficult to cross. The sky is high and the sky is high, and I don’t know the way back. Rats roam inside, majestically gnawing at the bones. The family’s food supply is over-consumed, and the rats are living in peace..."

Liu Xie put the second letter back, and then let out a long sigh again, with a really embarrassed look on his face, "Oh, hey!" 』

After stopping for a while, Liu Xie finally calmed down and picked up the follow-up rumor record again to read. However, the further he looked back, the more serious his expression became. Later, his body became a little stiff and the corners of his mouth tightened...