feud

Wang Bing got off the boat and saw a piece of scorched earth that had been ravaged.

The history of Pingyang County can be traced back to the end of the Qin Dynasty and the beginning of the Han Dynasty. A man named Wei Bao followed Liu Bang and Xiang Yu to fight in all directions.One day someone gave the queen a fortune teller, saying that the queen was very handsome, and her son must be the emperor. Wei Bao was overjoyed when he heard that.At that time, the dispute between Chu and Han gradually heated up. Everyone believed that Xiang Jue would win, so the king of Western Wei rebelled against Han and joined Chu, and was captured by Han Xin to Xingyang, where he was killed by the Han general. The son of Emperor Han.

Cen Li’s grandfather, Liu Ge, used to set up his capital here. In just a few years from the fall of Zhao State to the establishment of Chu State, Pingyang has always been the capital of Zhao State. It is no wonder that Cen Li chose to come here. Although the foundation laid here is not deep, it cannot be easily shaken by Chu State, which has been established for half a year.

Revisiting the old country, everything is in ruins, even the lotus flowers that came all the way from the waterway are full of buds and dare not bloom.After Emperor Min succeeded to the throne, the seven kings raised their banners and turned against each other. The rebels, big and small, were all called heroes. All the heroes competed in the Central Plains together, leaving a piece of devastated land after the horses had trod.

The boatman was a dark, rickety old man with white hair and white beard, and a thin white child was tied on his back. After receiving Wang Bing and handing him enough money, he kindly reminded him: "Young Master is from the Central Plains, so you shouldn't come here." A place of right and wrong." After speaking, he plunged the bamboo pole into the water, and pushed the boat away from the shore skillfully, and the body on his back was shaken by his movement, like a marionette with a broken string. Leaning back, staring at Wang Bing with hollow black eyes.

"Let's go." Cen Li tugged at Wang Bing's sleeve lightly, "This was chosen as the capital by my grandfather, and it will be re-planned and rebuilt. Don't follow closely and be careful not to get lost."

Wang Bing hummed and let Cen Li drag him away.In fact, from the moment he left Liang Guo and set foot on a different place, what he saw was quite different from the clear mountains and rivers.He saw 15-year-old boys who couldn't even hold a knife and gun and were conscripted to fight; 80-year-old veterans only asked someone to send a scarf back to their hometown; Children on the street were beaten to death for grabbing a steamed bun, and cannibalism even occurred under the drought and natural disasters in June and July.

Most of the Liang people fled to the south and retreated to the north of the Yangtze River, and a small number of people who could not escape were slaughtered during the Liu Ge or Liu Kou period. The most miserable people now are the Huns, who were used as military rations by the Jie people who rose later.

"Qi Xiangmei and Mo Wankong are staying in Runan, are they really all right? If I were Chongyan, I would choose to break open in Runan and advance to Jiankang. I don't know the court...Whether Emperor Liang will be like that?" They were abandoning Runan like before, we should bring them out too."

"As soon as I find out that I'm gone, Chongyan will leave soon. That's what they said, and there are still members of our tribe in Runan, so there must be a few people left and Han...someone must take care of those who fled from Luoyang to Runan tribe."

Seeing Cen Liting, Wang Bing also stopped, looked down and saw a big rock, and went around, "I hope so, otherwise all the people in Runan County will be doomed if they fight together. Wait a minute...why are they fleeing to Runan?" Instead of going to Pingyang?"

Cen Li opened the way ahead, pushing aside the grass half a person tall, "Pingyang has long been in ruins, and Chongyan suffered heavy casualties when he passed through Pingyang. Now he is afraid of your soldiers in Daliang. The more dangerous the place, the safer. Go to Ru It’s better to be in the south than in Pingyang to be wary of the ubiquitous Chu soldiers.” Cen Li found a shady tree and handed a water bag to Wang Bing. the nearest village."

Wang Bing took the water and drank it, but returned it to Cen Li without the lid on, motioning him to drink too, and said: ""Huainanzi" records that 'Fen River comes out of Yanjing', surrounded by trees in Yanjing Mountain, felled from Yanjing Mountain All the timber is transported by Fenshui River, so it was probably a prosperous place in the past." After speaking, he took a step forward and walked forward.

Relying on the mountains to eat the mountains and the water to eat the water, since it depends on the Fen River for transportation, how can it take a day's journey to reach the villages built near the water?Needless to say, it was also because of successive years of war that the people near the Fenshui River were driven away.

Cen Li took the water bag silently, raised his head and drank a couple of sips, covered it and put it back on his waist, looked at Wang Bing, who was depressed, and said, "We've been on the boat for a long time, why don't we take a break before leaving? There's no rush. "

It is true that I am a little tired after sitting on the boat for a long time, but Wang Bing is not sad because of this.The sun was so high that it could dry people out, Wang Bing shook his head, turned his head and said: "I don't want to go now, it's not easy to go when the sun goes down, so let's rest at night."

"Here." Wang Bing shook his hand and said, "If I don't go, I'll go first."

Cen Li smiled, stretched out his hand and gently grabbed Wang Bing's wide sleeve like a butterfly's wing, and led him to continue walking.

This action was a little funny, but Cen Li was very useful, as if he was leading an ignorant child home.If this person didn't pay attention, he would get bruises all over his body. Cen Li was also afraid, so he stopped holding onto him, afraid that he would be blown away by the wind like a illusory bubble.

Night, inside Jiankang Palace.

After reading the letter sent by the governor of Yuzhou, Chen Huai felt mixed feelings.

Under the rank of Majesty, Wang Hong is reporting the achievements made since the implementation of the Overseas Chinese Prefecture, County and County System, most of which are due to Liu Ge and Chongyan's inhumane oppression and crazy national revenge. Under Wang Hong's orderly organization, the rapid increase in population not only deepened the conflict between the northern and southern gentry, but also opened up more land. These newly reclaimed lands were taken from the original old place names as the territories of the northern refugees, and thus became the new homes of the expatriates.

Although the indigenous gentry complained about this, compared to accepting it, resistance has become less intelligent.Chen Huai had an elite army left by the late emperor, even if Chongyan faced this army, he would be terrified. Moreover, their leader, Gu Jia, had already expressed his attitude to join the Liang court, so everyone could only slander in their hearts, kneeling in the hall and feeling distracted.

"Prime Minister, all the children of the Wang family are talented and knowledgeable. I want your younger brother to go to Yuzhou to defend against the enemy. How about it?"

When there is no one else, Chen Huai does not call himself "Zhen" in front of Wang Hong.

Yuzhou is located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and borders the state of Chu. Letting the Wang family defend against the enemy is actually handing over military power to the Wang family in a disguised form, or Wang Hong, the prime minister and the commander of Chinese and foreign military forces.

Instead of centralizing power, the emperor handed over military power, which made Wang Hong a little at a loss.Wang Hong also knew that Chen Huai, the emperor, was wronged. He was not recognized by the southern gentry, and he was criticized by the northern gentry because of rumors about his unorthodox background.

This was something Chen Huai had wanted to do for a long time, and once he decided, he had to do it.Wang Hong was in a daze, and bowed down after a while: "Thank you, Your Majesty Long En, on behalf of my foolish brother."

Chen Huai laughed softly, he just wanted to give Wang Hong more bargaining chips, so that he would not have to humble himself in front of Gu Sizquan, and would no longer have to make compromises between the northern and southern gentry.

"Then it's settled. I'll announce it to the officials tomorrow morning." Chen Huai could barely suppress the thought of going down to help him up, and frowned slightly, "Are you... busy recently? Except for the court meeting, you don't come to look for him I……"

"I heard from Shang Shuling that you often took the nobles of the old Wu to hold banquets by the Qinhuai River, and even learned the Wu language from Gu Siquan... I know these are moves to win them over, but you, can you take a look at me? ..." Don't leave me in the cold palace until I can't stand the torment of longing and tell you to enter the palace again and again.

The more Chen Huai spoke, the softer he was. He knew it was childish, but he just couldn't stand it.Obviously he became the emperor for Wang Hong, why did he still want to see Wang Hong get close to others!It shouldn't be like this, they are like this now, it's better to be in Langya County, even if he was just the king of Langya at that time, Wang Hong was just an ordinary person without official title.

He regards Wang Hong's dream as his own, disregarding all gossips and open guns and dark arrows, becoming the emperor in troubled times, cleaning up the old mountains and rivers, but no one told him what went wrong, and Wang Hong seemed to be getting farther and farther away from him. It's getting farther and farther away.

"Your Majesty, I'm convicted. I...will change it." Wang Hong drank with Gu Siquan and vomited all night last night. In order to prevent the aristocratic family from encroaching on the fields, he went to the fields from time to time to survey the fields under the scorching sun, and his head was still a little dizzy. He even forgot to ask how the situation in Yuzhou was.

"I got a ginseng today. It was brought back from Yizhou by General Yiyi together with the victory report. I will send it to you later." The servant of Huangmen brought the ginseng and brought it to Wang Hong. After Wang Hong thanked Long En , I heard Chen Huai continue: "[-] soldiers are stationed in Yizhou. I plan to transfer half of them to support Yuzhou. Runan County must not lose it a second time."

"Han Kuang, the captain of the northern part of Runan County, is still more capable than the governor. At that time, he will be promoted to an official position, and then he will be condemned to the nine army of Chariot General, Yuhe Wang Chen Cheyun, with [-] soldiers, three land and water, and Han Kuang's festival." After a while, Wang Hong. Added: "I think this plan can protect Yuzhou."

Chen Huai noticed that Wang Hong's words were only used to protect Yuzhou, but not to retreat the enemy.

Chen Huai ordered someone to bring a map, thought about it, and ordered someone to give Wang Hong a copy, "The east side of the lower reaches of Yingshui River is the place where [-] soldiers and horses from Chongyan are stationed. , and then [-] soldiers from Yizhou and Han... what?"

Wang Hong replied, "Han Kuang."

"Han Kuang. Combine the [-] soldiers from Yizhou with Han Kuang, and attack from front to back..."

"Your Majesty, Yizhou is far away from Runan County, and the far water cannot save the near fire. I fear that the Yizhou army will arrive, and the soldiers will be exhausted and unable to fight any more." Even when Wang Hong refuted Chen Huai, his tone was flat, as if there was nothing in this world. It's useless to make him nervous, there's nothing he can't fix.

Chen Huai laughed, "If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have handed over the elite soldiers left by the late emperor to you."

he knows!He did it on purpose!Wang Hong opened his eyes wide in disbelief, his chaotic thoughts became clear at once, and his chaotic and sluggish brain finally realized that Chen Huai wanted to give him the command of Daliang's most elite troops, and everything he gave to his brother was fake. It was for my younger brother to go to the front to fight, and I was planning in the midst of the strategy.

"Your Majesty, you can't. At this time, the interior of Daliang is still unstable. If all these elite soldiers are sent to Runan County for support, Jiankang will become an empty city. Those southern big clans will not let this opportunity go. Absolutely not!" Wang Hongshao Being so out of control in front of Chen Huai, he looked a little annoyed, although his brows were slightly frowned, there was no need to shout, he seemed very restrained.

"You have already arranged all the high-level refugees going south. With them, those people dare not really rebel. Now that I am sitting on the throne, I don't have to go out to parade in the streets to establish prestige, and I am not afraid of those people calling me a Wild species, this is all thanks to you. And I didn't ask you to leave Jiankang..."

Chen Huai swallowed his saliva, looked at the loyal minister with his head lowered and his eyes fixed, he couldn't taste it: "...You are here, you are better than thousands of troops, Gu Siquan dare not touch me."

"Your Majesty... don't be afraid of [-], just in case. Pen and mouth are also sharp weapons. If those people unite with scholars to resist, I will..."

"You won't protect me?"

"Naturally."

"That's fine."

Wang Hong choked for a moment, then abruptly changed the topic, "...Yuan Ping is waiting to return to Jiankang, and he just entered the city last night, and now he is in the minister's residence, he is ill and cannot come here lightly, so I ask you to greet His Majesty on his behalf."

Chen Huai waved his hand, followed Wang Hong's words, and teased a few words: "Okay, I don't know him yet? He even finds it troublesome to give him an official position, and he doesn't see him a few times a year. The emperor is still busy."

The atmosphere eased a lot. Chen Huai continued to study the marching route with a map, and Wang Hong did the same. The two expressed their opinions from time to time.

An hour had passed since this discussion. Chen Huai rubbed his sore eyes, and said wearily, "The matter of the military pay is another troublesome account. Let's discuss it with the officials tomorrow morning." But Wang Hong was not allowed to step down.

"..." Wang Hong stood there for a long time. Discussing about raising troops and fighting a war required concentration so that there would be no mistakes. He was already exhausted and just wanted to go back and have a good sleep, but he hadn't waited for Chen Huai's order to let him go back.

A bad premonition rose from Wang Hong's heart.

"Minister...retire"

"Wait a moment."

Chen Huai got up from the dragon couch and ran to Wang Hong in three steps at a time. Wang Hong subconsciously took a small step back when he heard the sound of hurried footsteps. The place.

For some reason, Chen Huai just had a premonition that if he took another step closer, Wang Hong would immediately turn around and flee from here.

Knowing that this subconscious action must have hurt Chen Huai, Wang Hong immediately knelt down and prostrated himself on the ground with his head on the back of his hands, his voice was a little muffled, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, the monarch and his ministers have righteousness, but there are also differences. I dare not overstep."

Chen Huai opened his mouth, pursed his lips, and clenched his hands hidden in his sleeves into fists. After a long while, he let out his breath and said, "I don't like the title 'Your Majesty'."

"Go back."

"I...resign."

The moment Wang Hong got up, his eyes were black and white, he shook his head, only dared to look at the cold floor, he bowed indiscriminately, and backed out.

After a long time, in the empty hall, Chen Huai stretched out his hand, folded his hands together, interlocked his fingers, and made a gesture of entrapping something.

Chen Huai foolishly kept this action in a daze for a while, unable to cry, he could only smile helplessly.It turned out that he couldn't even hug that person.

It seems that this star is not last night.

Cen Li added some dry firewood to the fire, and glanced at Wang Bing who was sitting under the big tree outside the broken thatched hut.

There used to be people living here, but after Liu Ge came, the Liang people fled. The Xiongnu were nomads, and they had not entered the Central Plains for a long time, and they didn't know how to chop firewood to build houses.

"I guess you like to watch the stars." Cen Li came out and sat next to Wang Bing. The moonlight was sifted by the leaves and sprinkled holes on Wang Bing.

"The stars change, and the world is impermanent. If you understand the astrology, you can know the destiny. Unfortunately, it is very difficult." Wang Bing retracted his empty gaze, turned his head to look at the person beside him, his brows were soft, slightly curved into crescent eyes, "appeared in the evening The brightest star in the west is called Chang Geng, and it is really bright there."

Cen Li looked in the direction he pointed, there were many stars there, and he couldn't find which one Wang Bing said.

"As soon as the sky dawned, it appeared in the eastern sky again, because it sometimes shines in the west and sometimes in the east. People respect and fear the Chang Gung star. It is a lucky star and a curse star, but it will always be the brightest star in the night sky."

Cen Li looked at Wang Bing tenderly.

"It has two names, Chang Geng Xing at night and Qi Xing during the day..."

Qiming?Qiming?

It seems like a distant memory. Where have you heard the word Qiming? Where is it?Cen Li tried his best to search for these two words in his memory.

However, Wang Bing didn't give him much time to recall, and said in a lazy voice with a slightly hoarse voice: "I'm sleepy, go to sleep, and I'll have the energy to go on the road tomorrow."

Cen Li had always been on his side, and after hearing what he said, he put the matter aside, and after silently saying "Qi Ming" twice in his heart, he pulled Wang Bing's sleeve into the room.

The couch has been cleaned up by Wang Bing, and Wang Bing is already very tired after walking for half a day. In the past, no matter how poor his health was, he could keep up with the army and even ride a carriage back and forth a few times. Now... it seems a little powerless.

Cen Li slept outside with his back against Wang Bing. He didn't dare to hug Wang Bing when he was awake. Speaking of which, every time he got close to Wang Bing, he was awake alone, and Wang Bing was vaguely unconscious. , I don't know if Wang Bing still remembers those things after waking up, anyway, they also tacitly kept silent afterwards.

After a while, there was a shallow and even breathing sound from the side.The prairie nation rolled on horseback when he was young, and he has excellent physical strength, and because of Wang's illness, he can't walk fast. For him, this half-day journey is as easy as going out on a green trip.

Cen Li turned over very lightly and slowly, and was actually facing Wang Bing, which surprised him, but it was only for a short while, he knew that he shouldn't disturb people who are not deep sleepers at this time, But his hands were already resting lightly on Wang Bing's thin shoulders involuntarily.

This action lasted for an unknown amount of time, and Cen Li seemed never to be satisfied, but he heard the person on the other side shout in a crying voice: "Father..."

However, the person still had his eyes closed, and there was a slight tremor in his hands. If it wasn't for his hands on Wang Bing's shoulders, it would have been impossible to tell that Wang Bing was shaking. Cen Li's chest seemed to be hit by something, and he was about to When he patted him on the back to comfort him, Wang Bing suddenly sat up!

Cen Li was really startled, sat up too, and asked aloud, "Wang's disease?"

Cen Li looked carefully at Wang Bing's face, and found that his eyes were cloudy, his expression was in a trance, and he was haunted by a nightmare.Wang Bing was muttering something, and Cen Li could only hear it clearly when he got close.

"My father is not a traitor..."

"Don't kill my brother, save him, Dad...don't come here..."

It's not that I haven't heard Wang Bing's sleep talk before sleeping with him, but it's the first time that something as terrifying as tonight, Cen Li was completely stunned and didn't know what to do.

What can be done?All this is his father... No!All made by himself!If Chongyan had been caught earlier and advised his father not to send troops, nothing would have happened.He would never see this man in the Luoyang military camp, nor would he be redeemed by a small act of his in Shanyin, nor would he be brought to a foreign country full of barbarians like now.

All his suffering came from himself, and Cen Li suddenly felt that he was not qualified to comfort him at all.

After a long time, Wang Bing suddenly stopped crying without tears, as if he had engaged in an extremely complicated inner struggle, perhaps he called softly tentatively: "Cen Li?"

His expression was still in a trance, and at the same time as he said this name, Cen Li had already gently embraced him in his arms without words.

Cen Li hugged him and lay down, gently patted his back with one hand, with a very patient tone, as if a devout believer prayed to the gods, over and over again.

"I'm here, don't be afraid, I'm here, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, don't be afraid..."