The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 159 Volume Ten Thousand Victories!

Ma Chao's face was full of dissatisfaction.

The principles in the book are the principles in the book!
But the principles of the world are the principles of the world!

Even though he knew that he was about to be beaten up by Ma Teng, he remained calm!

Ma Chao glanced at Fa Zheng standing aside, thinking to himself that this so-called great scholar might not be willing to accept a student like him.
But that’s fine.

Ma Chao was used to being free and easy, and he hated it most when those famous scholars put on airs in front of him.

It is said that there is “education for all”, but why don’t you try giving them one five-zhu coin?

On the contrary, the Qiang people's way of taking revenge is most in line with the blood of young people!
……

Ok?
Ma Chao originally thought that the expression on Fa Zheng's face at this moment should be one of disdain and disgust.

Unexpectedly, Fa Zheng was looking at Ma Chao with surprise, as if he had seen some rare treasure!
Ma Teng was furious at this moment and wanted to blast Ma Chao out: "Get out of here immediately! You are such a rotten wood!"

Fa Zheng made a "tsk" sound and attended the meeting with great reluctance.

"Ma Liangzhou is wrong!"

"Your son is so smart and understands the words of the saints so thoroughly, why do you want to drive him away?"

Fa Zheng said: "Someone once asked Confucius, 'Repaying evil with virtue, what do you think of this?'"

"Confucius said: Since we repay evil with kindness, how can we repay kindness?"

"So, your son is able to understand the meaning of the sage. Isn't this considered smart? Or is it that you, Ma Liangzhou, are dissatisfied with Confucius and do not agree with his profound teachings?"

Ma Teng felt that Fa Zheng’s theory was twisted!
But these words were indeed said by Confucius. Although Ma Teng did not have a deep understanding of the classics, he still remembered the contents of "The Analects" clearly.

When Ma Chao saw that Fa Zheng had rendered his father speechless and that what he said was exactly what he wanted to say, stars immediately appeared in his eyes.

This was the first time he had found someone who shared the same interests with him in his style of dealing with people!

Most importantly, this person is a Han Chinese! He is also the descendant of a great Confucian scholar!

Ma Chao felt a little dreamy, so he asked Fa Zheng: "But don't the classics teach people to be magnanimous?"

Fa Zheng looked at Ma Chao as if he were a fool...

"Which book says this? Let me see it!"

"I just said that even Confucius did not believe in repaying evil with virtue, but rather repaying evil with justice."

"The so-called "repaying grievances with virtue" was originally just a passage from Laozi's Tao Te Ching, which says "do nothing, do nothing, taste nothing. No matter how big or small, repay grievances with virtue!" (Note 1)

"But even Lao Tzu, who advocated inaction, said this to remind people that 'great things come from small things, and much comes from little. To deal with problems, we must start from the easy places, and to achieve great things, we must start from the subtle places.' It does not mean that people should be forbearing and repay hatred with kindness!"

Fa Zheng said with disdain: "My grandfather always said that there are many people in the world who are not good at learning! These half-baked people are happy to show off their knowledge and use their insignificant knowledge to distort the words of the saints. This is why the world is in trouble and people's hearts are not as good as before!"

Ma Teng's breathing gradually became heavier: "So the principles in the classics are all like this?"

"Of course it is!"

Fa Zheng was extremely arrogant: "I studied poetry, books, rituals, music, and classics, not to make my mind less open-minded or my spirit less excited!"

"On the contrary! The world in books should be a sword in the heart! A knife in the palm! It can cut off all the troubles in the chest and sweep away the dust in the heart! How can the more you read, the more frustrated you become?"

At this moment, Ma Chao looked at Fa Zheng with admiration in his eyes!

Without Ma Teng's urging, Ma Chao bowed to Fa Zheng and said, "I hope you will accept me as your disciple!"

"No need! The age difference between you and me should not be too big, we should be friends as equals and learn from each other!"

Fa Zhengduan was very cool and heroic, and his heart was moved again by Ma Chao.

He walked up to Fa Zheng and raised a glass of wine to toast him: "Since that's the case, I'll drink with you!"

"good!"

"..."

Ma Teng raised his finger and pointed at Fa Zheng, his eyes questioning Wei Kang——

"Is this really the grandson of the famous scholar Fa Zhen?"

Wei Kang was also a little uncertain at this time.

"That should be it..."

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Wei Kang's letter was delivered to Chang'an and the emperor by the knights who traveled day and night on the second day.

After reading the letter, Liu Xie was a little surprised to see the names of Fa Zheng, Meng Da, and even Ma Chao on it, but he was relieved after all.

"The situation is set!"

As long as Ma Teng is willing to cooperate with the court and complete all the pre-war arrangements, it can be said that he has almost completed everything the court can do.

The rest of the matter will be left entirely to the soldiers on the battlefield, allowing them to complete the real decisive kill!

"Have the grain and grass from Jingzhou been delivered?"

This time, the imperial court also spent a huge amount of money.

He directly sold Liu Biao three thousand war horses and ten thousand kilograms of pig iron in exchange for a total of two hundred thousand shi of grain.

Otherwise, Jingzhou is said to be prosperous.

After giving out 200,000 dan of grain, Liu Biao also asked the court if it could sell him more war horses and pig iron, as he still had some grain in stock...

"Jingzhou is really rich!"

The war in the Central Plains caused many people to be displaced and move to the south for refuge.

Compared with Yizhou, which had poor transportation, and Jiangdong, which had a hot and humid climate, Jingzhou was undoubtedly the first choice for most people. The influx of a large population, coupled with the abundant land in Jingzhou, really made Liu Xie envious...

Xun Yu was now increasingly powerful in the Secretariat and had been qualified to enter the palace at any time to report on government affairs. He often came with Jia Xu to meet the emperor.

"Your Majesty, 120,000 dan of grain has been transported to Chang'an. We have begun to recruit civilians to transport grain and open up a grain route from Guanzhong to Longyou."

We bought 200,000 dan of grain from Jingzhou, but when we got to Chang'an, only 120,000 dan of grain was left...

Of these 120,000 shi of grain transported to Longyou, it is estimated that only 70,000 to 80,000 shi would remain.

Such terrible losses also made Liu Xie truly realize what it means to burn money.

No wonder the civil servants in later generations complained about the empty treasury when they heard about war... It turns out that the transportation of grain alone could cause such a huge deficit.

"I had thought that if we bought so much food from Jingzhou at once, we could keep the army in Longyou for a while longer. But now it seems that Wen Ruo is indeed a talented person who can assist the king. He calculated that day that the war could only last for three months, but now it seems that he can last even one day."

The deadline of "March" is really the limit of what the court can do.

Even if we replace it with Xun Yu's "King's Assistant" level processor, we can only achieve this at best.

Xun Yu handed the official document in his hand to the emperor.

"In fact, we could have transported a few thousand more tons of grain."

"It was just that when the grain transport team from Jingzhou passed through Nanyang, some grain was robbed by a group of bandits from Shangyong. Fortunately, General Zhang Ji stationed at Wuguan sent troops to rescue them, and Liu Jingzhou also sent his lieutenant Wen Pin to the rescue, and they were able to repel the bandit army and prevent greater losses."

Shangyong direction?

Liu Xie immediately thought of Hanzhong behind Shangyong.

But Liu Xie immediately shook his head.

Hanzhong is a precious land and has not suffered from natural disasters like Guanzhong, so there should be no shortage of food. Zhang Lu is unlikely to provoke the imperial court.

It should be just an ordinary rebellion by bandits.

"Just ask Zhang Ji to pay more attention. The food supply route to Jingzhou is extremely important and must not be interrupted at will."

After issuing the last decree, Liu Xie put down the official documents.

"In that case, let's go!"

However, there was a small episode before the expedition.

The child was born.

When Lu Bu saw his children before going to the battle, he was delighted.

It had already been decided that the child would take the emperor's surname, Liu.

But when it comes to naming, I must definitely strive for it!

After discussing with Dong Zhuo, the two uneducated warriors gave the child an extremely auspicious name:

Win!
Victory of victory!

It is actually a good omen to have such a child born before the war breaks out!
Since it is a good omen, we should naturally double the joy and name the child "Sheng"!
When Liu Xie heard this name, he almost vomited blood.

Liu Sheng?

King Jing of Zhongshan?

No wonder Liu Bei advised Cao Cao to kill Lu Bu at the White Gate Tower.

Liu Xie, who had originally not intended to intervene, came up to the two of them personally and threw a copy of "The Genealogy of the Han Royal Family" in their faces.

Only then did the two realize that they had violated a taboo as their name was the same as that of Emperor Xiaojing's son, Prince Jing of Zhongshan.

Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu were originally still admiring their own literary talent and gave themselves the good name "Sheng".

But now that they heard that there was already such a person in the Liu clan, they both felt a little depressed.

"Your Majesty, can you change the name of the Zhongshan Jing Wang? I think the name Sheng is really nice. It's auspicious!"

?

Liu Xie was so angry! If it weren't for the fact that Lu Bu was a great general, he really wanted to have someone drag him out and beat him with a stick!
"Fengxian, don't talk nonsense!"

Dong Zhuo scolded Lu Bu, then turned to Liu Xie and said, "It is a great honor for me to have a son in my old age. Just give him a humble name. It does not need to be rich and powerful, as long as he is healthy and free from disasters!"

Liu Xie nodded with satisfaction.

"This is the right way for the Grand Master to be so enlightened! I wonder what name the Grand Master wants to take?"

"How about calling him Liu Bingyi? He is healthy and free from all troubles! How wonderful!"

"..."

Liu Xie was completely disappointed with the two men and finally decided to make the decision himself.

Even though Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu had a child, he shouldn't be jumping around here. Not only did he take the child's surname, but now he even took away the right to name the child.

However, due to his extreme distrust of the two, Liu Xie decided to be a dictator for once.

"Liu Wansheng!"

"For the country, victory over the enemy is inevitable! For oneself, victory over disaster is inevitable!"

Counting the dates, the day when the child was born was almost the day when the battle of Hedong was won.

Now in this second battle, I hope that this child named "Wansheng" can really become a witness to the revival of the Han Dynasty and witness the Han Dynasty's upcoming ten thousand victories!
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Note 1:

Do nothing, do nothing, taste nothing. Big or small, how much or how little. Repay grievances with virtue. To plan something difficult is easier than to start with the easy, to do something big is easier than to start with the small. The most difficult things in the world must be done from the easy; the most important things in the world must be done from the small. - "Tao Te Ching·Chapter 63"

(End of this chapter)