Section 10 Rumors

Guan Feng blushed slightly and was about to speak when a guard came to report that Liao Li, a rushing from Guiyang, asked for a meeting. When Guan Yu heard this, he frowned his two lying eyebrows and stared at the guard standing in front of the door for a long time without saying anything. After a long time, he let go of Guan Feng's little hand and waved unhappily: "Let him come in."

Liao Li stood outside the door for a while, and then saw the guard who was passing the message coming out with his head down. Looking at his face, General Guan seemed to be unhappy again. He smiled disapprovingly, letting his followers wait outside, and walked in with the guards alone. When passing by the courtyard, he looked at Guan Ping and Guan Xing, who were sweating proficiently, and nodded slightly. Guan Ping and Guan Xing stopped, wiped the sweat while looking at the elegant young man, looked at each other, and started practicing harder. They worked so hard that they were not for Liao Li to see, but more because they were afraid that their father would come out to find them in a while. They were used to it. As long as their father met scholars, they would part with them at least six times in ten times. Today, this was sent by the lord. The father might give the lord some face, and the unlucky one was them.

Guan Yu sat upright in the hall, stroking his beard with one hand and holding a book with the other. He didn't raise his eyes and glance outside for a long time. Liao Li bowed and bowed in front of the hall: "Jingzhou Muslim is engaged in Wuling Liao Li, and has met General Guan."

Guan Yu raised his eyelids, read the book for a while, and then asked, "What's wrong with Gong Yuan coming here?"

"Happy event." Liao Li smiled slightly, not feeling uncomfortable at all.

"Hmph, what's the joy?" Guan Yu glanced at Liao Li, still reading his book.

"General Sun Zhongmou of the Cheqi and Cavalry, proposes marriage to his lord, and wants to marry the general's beloved daughter for his son Sun Deng." Liao Li seemed to be really talking about a happy event, as if he thought Guan Yu would be very happy to hear it. There was a layer of smile on his face. As he spoke, he took out Liu Bei's letter from his arms and handed it forward.

Guan Yu reached out to flip the book and stopped, and two sharp-edged gazes were blinking at Liao Li. He stared at Liao Li in a daze, not believing in his ears, and he was stunned for a long time before saying, "What did you say just now? Say it again."

"Sun Cheqi proposed marriage to his lord, wanting to marry the general's beloved daughter for his son Sun Deng." Liao Li's vest was sweating, but he was unwilling to show weakness. He forced the chill in his heart, raised his voice, and said again. Guan Ping and Guan Xing, who were practicing swords outside, heard it, ran in, looked at Guan Yu who was squinting and sneering, and were at a loss. They looked at each other and quietly retreated. They saw Guan Feng standing in the corridor in a daze. Seeing his sister in a daze, Guan Ping hurriedly stepped forward and comforted him: "Yingping, don't worry, your father will definitely not agree. How could he marry you to the baby who is still drinking milk?"

Guan Feng smiled sadly, ignored Guan Ping, shook his head and left on his own. Guan Ping and Guan Xing looked at her in confusion, and were about to persuade him again, when they heard Guan Yu shouting in the hall: "Nonsense, how can my daughter marry him? Who came up with the idea? Are you not afraid of Guan's sharp knife?"

Liao Li smiled faintly, looked at the angry Guan Yu, without saying a word. After Guan Yu finished drinking, he shook his head and asked in an orderly manner: "General Guan, although the general's knife is sharp, can he go straight to Moling and kill Sun Cheqi's head?"

Guan Yu was stunned and wanted to refute, but he felt that it was difficult to answer. Yes, his sword of ten thousand people was sharp, but this war was not a matter of one person and one sword. Of course, he could not kill Moling directly to kill Sun Quan's head. If he could, he would not stay here. However, Liao Li's words were obviously suspected of replacing the pillars, and what Guan Yu hated the most was these guys who were trying their best.

"Although Guan Yu cannot kill directly to Moling, it is easy to kill those ungrateful men." Guan Yu snorted coldly, shook his hand, squinted his eyes and looked at Liao Li's neck with a murderous intent. He didn't like these scholars, or did not like these self-righteous scholars at all. He thought that after reading a few books, he could lead the world and give guidance. With a few words of sour words, he could seize a high position. Not to mention Liao Li, even Zhuge Liang invited by his lord, Guan Yu did not take it seriously. He always thought that Liu Bei was too trusting. Not to mention Liao Li, even Zhuge Liang invited by his lord, Guan Yu ignored him. He always thought that Liu Bei was too trustworthy.

He was the scholar and suffered a great loss in negotiations with Sun Quan. Sun Zhongmou had already decided to fight Cao Cao to the end, otherwise he would not have gathered 30,000 elite troops so quickly and handed them over to Zhou Yu. Zhuge Liang thought he was smart, thinking that he had made three words to inspire Sun Quan to fight Cao Cao to the death. He was deceived and thought he had a plan and lost the initiative in negotiations. Therefore, the Battle of Red Cliffs was damaged in order to lose the generals, and finally he had to seize the four counties and gain a clever way of robbing people. Now that Liao Li said such a ridiculous word in front of him, he was still so vain and could not bear it.

Liao Li was still as if nothing had happened, and seemed to feel no danger at all. He was safe and unstoppable. He walked to the seat opposite Guan Yu, lifted up his clothes and sat down, picked up a teacup from the desk, poured some water from the small pot on the desk, and took it calmly to his mouth and took a sip. Guan Yu was a little overwhelmed by his calmness. Most scholars were like sifted when he drank it, and at least his expression would change drastically. Even if Zhuge Liang saw that he was so angry, he could not be so calm. It was the first one like Liao Li.

"I heard for a long time that General Guan ran for the lord and refused to refuse to die. Now it seems that the rumors are so unreliable." Liao Li sighed and shook his head with regret.

Guan Yu's phoenix eyes suddenly widened, and he couldn't hear anyone saying that he was unfaithful. Before Liao Li finished speaking, he rushed to Liao Li with one step, blocked Liao Li's neck with his big hand, and lifted him up as soon as he raised his hand. He was nine feet tall, but Liao Li was only seven feet tall, and he was lifted off the ground.

Liao Li didn't expect that Guan Yu was so domineering, and that such a hooligan could do the job of fighting. He was a little surprised for a moment, and his neck was stuck in breath, and his white face turned red. He grabbed Guan Yu's big hand with both hands and wanted to spread his hand away, but he, a scholar, was not Guan Yu's opponent. He used all his strength to rush Guan Yu, but he could not touch Guan Yu at all.

"I... am the lord's... the messenger..." Liao Li uttered a few words with difficulty. Only then did he regret not bringing his entourage in, which made no one hear the call for help now.

"Hmph—" Guan Yu snorted disdainfully, let go of his hand, threw Liao Li on the mat, turned his back, and stood proudly: "If you don't tell me why today, don't even want to walk out of this door."

Liao Li lay on the case, gasped for a while, then raised his head and stared at Guan Yu, and sneered: "The general pity a girl, ruined his lord's great cause, why are you talking about loyalty and death? They are just lies. Even if a girl is reluctant to leave, wouldn't it be even more impossible to take the general's life?"

Guan Yu was stunned for a moment, glanced at Liao Li, and saw that he was still scared and no longer dared to look at his eyes. He couldn't help but smile contemptuously: "What are you talking about? What does my daughter have to do with the great cause of the lord?"

Liao Li sat down, picked up the letter that fell in front of him and dusted it on it, raised his hand and handed it to Guan Yu: "The general will know after reading it."

Guan Yu stared at him for a while, took the letter and opened it. His face changed and his eyebrows frowned slightly: "Lord, do you want to borrow Cangwu from Sun Quan, Yu Lin?"

"Cangwu is south of Guiyang. Wu Ju is an official to Liu Jingzhou. He has always been incompatible with the brothers of the governor of Jiaozhou. Now that Bu Zhi has arrived in Jiaozhou, he will definitely clear Wu Ju. The old friends of the lord and Wu Ju will naturally need to be rescued. Cangwu is the barrier of Guiyang County. Once Bu Zhi is in the hands of Bu Zhi, Bu Zhi can attack Guiyang from the south at any time. How can the lord dare to rest assured to expedition to Yizhou in the west?"

"My lord wants to go west to Yizhou?" Guan Yu hesitated for a moment.

"How can you tolerate your lord if you don't take Yizhou, just relying on the four counties in Jiangnan?" Liao Li felt a little puzzled. If you don't understand such a simple truth, how could he be the prefect of Changsha in such an important position.

Guan Yu was not a fool. He quickly understood the purpose of Liu Bei's borrowing Cangwu and Yu Lin, and of course he immediately understood the purpose of Sun Quan's marriage. He was really unwilling to let him marry his daughter to the baby who was still breastfeeding. However, if he did not agree to Sun Quan's marriage, Sun Quan could not rest assured that he would not lend him the second county easily. Liu Bei might be able to force him, but it would definitely be better to borrow the second county safely. The two families fought to the end, and the only one who got the advantage was Cao Cangshu who was watching the fun in Jiangbei. When it came to Cao Cangshu, Guan Yu couldn't help but touch the long sword of the enemy in his waist, and a kind of humiliation arose. It was not that he had never lost the battle, but that was the defeat of losing face and the inner world at Xiling City, which really made him remember it fresh and could not forget it.

Guan Yu hesitated, and his straight back loosened a little. He turned around and looked at Liao Li, sitting on the mat, his face changed, and he didn't say anything for a long time. Seeing that he was hesitating, Liao Li smiled: "The general doesn't have to worry. The marriage is just a temporary solution. Sun Deng is only four years old. It will take at least seven or eight years to get married. I don't know how much will happen in seven or eight years. By then, the lord might have taken Yizhou long ago and stood with Sun Quan and Cao Cao, so why should he be under someone else's roof?"

"You mean..." Guan Yu's eyes lit up. Yes, that boy is only a few years old. I'll just agree. He can't marry him immediately. At least he has to wait until he is ten years old. The so-called marriage is just a sentence. When the lord takes Yizhou, he will find an excuse to pay the debt.

Seeing that Guan Yu understood what he meant, Liao Li smiled and nodded, and stopped talking nonsense. Guan Yu suddenly felt relieved and his mood immediately improved. It had no effect on his lord's great cause and no harm to his daughter. For him, it was the best of both worlds. He was very happy and smiled at Liao Li very rarely: "Gong Yuan, Guan Yu was reckless just now, please don't blame him."

Liao Li was still scared and would not provoke Guan Yu again. Since the matter was made, he would not stay any longer. He asked Guan Yu to write a marriage letter and rushed back to Guiyang soon. Liu Bei was overjoyed when he heard the news and immediately replied to Sun Quan, and at the same time revealed his plan to transfer Guan Yu to Yulin. When Sun Quan received the letter, he immediately sent a letter to Bu Zhi and gave up Cangwu and Yulin. The original Cangwu prefect Wu Ju was originally an old acquaintance of Liu Bei, so he naturally didn't have to move anymore. Yulin prefect Lu Ji transferred him back to Moling and sent him to another position.

In May of the 16th year of Jian'an, Guan Yu arrived in Yulin. Liu Bei moved his troops to Wuling, prepared his troops to enter the Jingke County in the southern part of Yizhou. At the same time, in Fuling County in the north, the Banyan Man led by Peng and Pu Shou and the Wuling Man under the command of Ma Su had already become a pot of congee. After learning that Liu Bei was about to enter Jingke, Pang Tong quickly handed over the news to Xiangyang.

Cao Chong was still in Xiangyang. The expo that was originally planned to be held in March was not expected to be expected to be inadequate in advance, and many merchants from all directions were beyond the intentions of the organizers Liu Ba, Cai Mao and others. The proposer Cao Chong was an idle person who only took the initiative and did not care about specific matters. Xiangyang was suddenly overcrowded and almost lost control. The expo was naturally postponed. Liu Ba led a group of people from the Nanjun Prefectural Office to hit the back of the head and finally got the matter basically done. He decided to officially start in early June for half a month.

Cao Chong, who originally planned to return to Yizhou at the end of March, delayed his trip. If it were just for the expo, it would not have made him feel a headache. Most importantly, the debate at Xiangyang Academy was deviated.

I don’t know when it started, but someone proposed that the retro system should be carried out to the end. Not only should the three-metric system of prime minister be implemented, but also the five-level feudal division should be implemented. The so-called five-level feudal division refers to the fifth-level feudal title of Duke, Marquis, Bozinan, who is below the king and above the marquis. This is the title of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. After Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms and changed the feudal system to the county system, the five-level feudal division was abolished, with only two levels of king and marquis. Now, taking advantage of the trend of restoring the ancient prime minister system in the early Han Dynasty, the five-level feudal division has inadvertently raised the issue, and the reason has made opponents dare not oppose it easily.

Prime Minister Cao turned the tide and saved the Han Dynasty. He made great contributions to the Han Dynasty's country. Could it be that he could only be granted the title of a county marquis?

When this remark first appeared, Cao Chong didn't care much. First, he advocated freedom of speech to a certain extent. As long as he did not speak of rebellion, he did not want to interfere too much in the academic debate initiated by Xiangyang Academy. Second, he felt that this county marquis really could not satisfy Cao Cao's wish. Even if he was not a king, it was always a good opportunity to flatter him. Unexpectedly, when he hesitated, others thought that this was a good opportunity to flatter. Originally, the words spread in private had become the most lively topic in Xiangyang. The news spread to Xu County and Yecheng at an incredible speed. The emperor and the Prime Minister's Mansion almost sent official documents to Cao Chong, the general of Zhennan, almost at the same time, asking the Prime Minister's Mansion to return to report his duties. The Prime Minister's Mansion's tone was a little better, but the emperor's tone was much worse. The previous kind of pampering Cao Chong had become much weaker. From the edict that carefully wrote words and sentences, Cao Chong could almost feel the emperor's surprise, disappointment and anger.

Cao Chong was very annoyed. He was furious when he was in the General's Mansion of Zhennan and asked Zhang Song to find out who did the good thing immediately. The news was too strange. It would have been fine if it was just spread in Xiangyang, but why was it at this time and it had been spread to Xuxian and Yecheng so quickly? If someone hadn't been pushing it secretly, this coincidence would have been too surprising.

Zhang Song was already very troubled to collect military intelligence from Jiangnan. At this time, he received this task again and was so busy that his eyes fell into a trap. On the middle of the night on the third day, he walked to Cao Chong's study with a footstep like a ladder like a cloud.

Cao Chong was discussing the upcoming expo with Liu Ba. When he saw Zhang Song, who was pale-faced, walked in and quickly asked him to sit beside him. Before he could speak, he raised his hand and asked someone to send him a cup of ginseng tea and handed it to Zhang Song's hand: "Yongnian, drink this cup of ginseng tea first. Why are you so tired? Your eyes are pandas."

Zhang Song grinned silently. He knew that Cao Chong had nothing to do, so he liked to draw an animal called panda chewing bamboo. He also heard Cao Chong say that this animal is in the mountains of Yizhou, but he had never seen it before. Later, when Cai Yan saw the painting painted by Cao Chong, he said that this might be the fierce leopard mentioned in the Shanhaijing. Legend has it that he could feed on iron, but Cao Chong didn't care about this. He just liked to draw two panda eyes to mock the two ladies of the Cai family who had been fascinated by the fresh play of mahjong recently.

After drinking two sips of ginseng tea, Zhang Song felt much better. As for whether ginseng tea really worked, or whether Zhang Song was satisfied with Wang Su's envious eyes, it was unknown. Anyway, his back was straightened up. Clearing his throat, Zhang Song took out a few pages of paper and handed it to Cao Chong: "Young Master, the names of the people I found here who first mentioned the topic of the fifth-class ban. There were eight people, six of them were from Jingzhou and Shanyang. They were not very familiar with each other, and some even had a very evil relationship. But before they talked about this topic, they almost went to Liu Zhongyu's mansion."

"Liu Zhongyu?" Cao Chong's brows frowned. Liu Cong was figuring out new things in the workshop all day long. It was rare to hear his opinions on political affairs. How could this suddenly appear?

"Well, I asked these people, and they said they heard what Liu Zhongyu said, and the young master once said that the White Horse Alliance, which Emperor Gaozu said, could not be crowned kings, was really unreasonable." Zhang Song hesitated a little. He looked at Wang Su and Cao Chong again. Cao Chong was stunned for a moment, and immediately understood: "You said, it might be okay."

Zhang Song was puzzled when Wang Yong became Cao Chong's confidant again, but he was impressed by Cao Chong's ability to win people's hearts, so he did not doubt it. He continued: "But I found out again that they did not know what the young master said from Liu Zhongyu's mouth. Liu Zhongyu rarely went home, and even when he went home, he rarely received guests. These were all mentioned by a fellow villager who had been staying in his mansion recently. This man was very quarrel, quick-talking, and very contagious. He came from Lujiang, lived in Liu Zhongyu's mansion for a few days, and went to Yecheng in April."

"Damn it." Cao Chong cursed, "Where did the boy come from?" He led Xiangyang City astray in a few words, almost making Old Xun Yue so angry: "What's his name? Did you find it?"

"I asked Liu Zhongyu." Zhang Songying said: "His name is Yiji, and his courtesy name is Jibo. He is from Shanyang. He came to Jingzhou to rely on Liu Jingzhou. In the 13th year of Jian'an, the Prime Minister decided to Jingzhou. He followed the people who fled south across the river and fled to the south of the Yangtze River."

"Yi Ji?" Cao Chong thought for a long time before he remembered the inconspicuous name in the Three Kingdoms. This guy was not wandering in the south of the Yangtze River. He clearly followed Liu Bei. He returned to Xiangyang to stir up the flames. Of course, he had no good intentions. Now he ran to Yecheng again. This news was naturally brought by him. Oh my god, the rumors arose. Free speech always comes at a price. No wonder so many politicians have to unify their thoughts as soon as they come to power.

"I understand." Cao Chong smiled bitterly and shook his head: "This guy is a spy, who is here to make trouble." He paused and looked at Liu Ba: "Zichu, I suspect that this is the bad idea of ​​Liu Bei and Kong Ming, and that he is here to make things difficult for us."

Liu Ba's expression remained unchanged, touching his bearded chin for a while and thought, "Young Master, this is a bad thing, and it's also a good thing. Since things have come to this point, it's useless to hurry up. You might as well push the boat, explore the emperor and the prime minister's meaning, and see what they think." He turned to Zhang Song and said, "But Yongnian, you have to work hard and send someone to control this Yiji immediately. Therefore, those who have come into contact with him and the first to spread this topic must be controlled. If the wind is wrong, they are the young master's shield."

Zhang Song blinked his eyes and immediately understood what Liu Ba meant. He nodded heavily: "Don't worry, sir, I will notify Li Yuanji as soon as I go back. From now on, this Yiji wants to die, and it will not be so easy."

Cao Chong looked at Zhang Song who was gritting his teeth, laughed secretly, raised his hand and patted Zhang Song on the shoulder. He felt that Zhang Song was hurting his hands, and couldn't help but frown and said, "Yongnian, why are you so thin recently? Isn't you so dizzy when you get busy and don't even have to eat?"

Zhang Song laughed tiredly, shook his head and said, "It's okay, I'm used to it."

"You're used to you." Cao Chong was annoyed, "Starting tomorrow, I'll go to Master Zhang's medical school in three days and let Master Zhang take time to check it out for you. How can you do this at a young age?" He turned his head and said to Liu Ba: "That's the same. You are officials, not doing practical things in detail. You should leave some things to your subordinates. Don't be afraid that they can't do it well. If you really get tired of you, they still have to do things? Being a good official not only requires you to be able to do things by yourself, but more importantly, it's better to make the people below do things. Although Yang Weigong has a little bad personality, he still has it. You have to let him do it, just control his sphere of authority. If you can't do it, you don't feel at ease, and you don't feel at ease."

Although Liu Ba and Zhang Song were slammed by Cao Chong, their hearts were warm. Zhang Song's eyes were a little wet. He lowered his head and wiped away the wetness in the corners of his eyes by bowing his hands: "As the young master's order, I will go to Master Zhang tomorrow."

"Well, that's how it's like." Cao Chong thought for a while, raised his hand and took out a pack of ginseng from the cabinet, and stuffed a piece of it into Liu Ba and Zhang Song's hands: "Take it and cut it into thin slices and make tea, and you can only have one slice a day, otherwise it will be counterproductive. The most important thing is to pay attention to rest and combine work and rest. From tomorrow, I will send someone to take care of your diet."
Chapter completed!