The bear child of the Red Chamber, Jia Cong

The king of Chu escaped from marriage, and the palace was in chaos.The bride is the daughter of the general's tiger, and couldn't bear this grievance, so she ran out to grab a horse and ran back to her mother's house.Her family didn't know what was going on, she was shocked when she came back, and hurriedly asked: "What's the matter?" The bride ran all the way back to her room with red eyes, opened the curtain and threw herself on the bed.Tears had just accumulated in his eyes, but before they could flow, he saw a piece of paper on the pillow shining brightly.I took a look at it in my hand, and it said: "You are helpless, and I am helpless; you are innocent, and I am innocent. Long-term pain is worse than short-term pain. Apologies, and sorry." What is the use of apologies?The bride burst into tears with a "wow".

Now her mother has rushed in and asked why.He looked up and saw the note, took it out and ordered someone to give it to the men.After a while, the brothers who were sending off the wedding came back angrily.Several men in the family passed the paper for a while, and they recognized the handwriting on it, which was indeed written by the king of Chu.The matter was clear, and the king of Chu put down his pick and ran away with Xiao.Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, no one knew what to do.

On the contrary, the father of the bride sneered and said, "It's fine if people who love beauty don't love country. He doesn't want it, but some people want it."

Just at this time, a door came in and said, "There are guests outside the gate asking to see you."

"Please come in. No matter who you are, please come in." The general said with his hands behind his back, "Remember to count and see how many can come today." Nai shook his sleeves and went to the study to wait.

At this moment, the inside and outside of Chu Wang's mansion was like a mess, and the Queen Mother had already passed out.Su Tao, the magistrate of Jingzhou, said: "Since I saw it not long ago, I can't go too far if I want to come, so let's look for it first." Everyone was at a loss for ideas, and they immediately opened up after hearing the words, and sent people out of the south gate to follow along the main road. past.Many veterans gathered in the hall to discuss matters.

After a while, an eunuch found a piece of paper in the Chu king's house, on which was written: "I don't want to be Empress Li, Song Huizong." It was the king of Chu's handwriting.

Su Tao looked at it and sighed: "That's good. It's a troubled time, and it's not easy for a benevolent master." After saying that, he went out with his hands behind his back, and walked away!Everyone was stunned.Wasn't he the one who reminded him to recover the prince?Could it be that he was cold-hearted?They looked at each other for half a day and let out a long sigh.

In the afternoon, the king of Chu didn't recover it, and the queen mother invited several important veterans to discuss the matter behind closed doors, but no result was reached.I heard that the threshold of the unmarried old father-in-law of King Chu has been stepped down.

That night, an old official was entrusted by the Queen Mother to meet Su Tao at the posthouse, but when he entered, he saw some burdens.Su Tao smiled and said, "I just packed it up, and I'll leave tomorrow morning."

The old minister hurriedly said: "When the country is in crisis, how can Mr. Su just leave like this?"

Su Tao said: "As a parent and official, it is Su's job to protect the people. Seeing that the flames of war are about to rise, the lower officials have nothing to do with it. The only priority is to protect Jingzhou."

The old minister was shocked, he held him back and said, "What is the meaning of Mr. Su's words? The flames are about to rise?"

Su Tao said: "From my point of view, don't go looking for the lord. What if you bring him back? He has no intention to be king, and he has no power to be the master. He can't sit on the throne at all. He still has a way out. , you will surely die when you come back.”

The old minister said: "That's why we must do our best to help."

Su Tao glanced at him indifferently: "Didn't I help you wholeheartedly before?" The old minister was dumbfounded.Su Tao said, "Everything in the world can't be accomplished with all our efforts. Now the prince has lost his military spirit, and there is no way to bring it back. Several uncles have their own abilities, and no one will obey the other. Ninety percent of them will fight against each other." Yes. The neighbors of Chu State are all powerful enemies, once the swords are used..." He sighed, "I don't know which one will attack."

The veteran said anxiously: "Lord Su, think of a way!"

Su Tao shook his head and said: "As the saying goes, when a scholar meets a soldier, it is hard to explain why. We are all scholars, and everyone else is a soldier. No matter how sharp your words are, you can't be slashed by someone with a knife. Brother Wang is young, even if you are a younger brother Brother may not agree to marrying someone. Besides, even if he agrees, there is no place to put his face on. Besides, the uncles are not fools. Whatever the Queen Mother can give, everyone can give. The only thing the prince is better than his uncle is his background. If the brothers of the prince can be brothers and sisters, why can't the brothers of the former king be brothers and sisters?"

"How...how is this good?"

Su Tao sighed: "Whatever is good. Go back and dig trenches to prevent enemy attacks." He looked up at the old official, "If you walk slowly, you won't be able to go." , hurried back to see the Queen Mother and other adults.

A scholar is a scholar after all.Rao Su Tao has already reminded, this group of people is still not in a hurry.After discussing for most of the night, the queen mother was going to personally go to apologize to the father-in-law of the king of Chu the next day.Su Tao drove out of the city gate early in the morning and left in a hurry.Little did they know that Su Tao's actions yesterday had attracted the attention of many people, many of them were staring at him.Seeing him running away, the watchers went back to tell the masters one after another.In less than half an hour, dozens of officials ran away as if fleeing.Some adults in the post house didn't know what happened, they quickly packed up their things and ran away when they saw others running away.At noon, the city gate was blocked by soldiers, and people were not allowed to enter or leave at will.The queen mother went to make amends to her unmarried in-laws, but she was placed under house arrest and never released.

In the next few days, what Su Tao said somehow spread throughout the city, and everyone heard about it.The common people can endure anything, except war.The ancients said that it is better to be a dog in a prosperous world than to be a person in a troubled world.To fight a war is to catch the strong men, kill and set fire, and the corpses are scattered all over the field. Men and women are killed.Originally, the life of Chu State was more difficult than that of other countries. Now that the war is about to be fought, why not run away?Those who have a family business are fine, and those who are poorer roughly packed some luggage, and lined up at the gate of the city since midnight, waiting for the gate to open the next day so they can leave.

Those who escaped were originally dilapidated households, and they all hoped that the world would be in chaos, not only that their families were dilapidated, but that they would soon spread the news to all parts of the Chu country.The people's hearts, which had never been chaotic, were actually chaotic.Since last year, people have been motivating people from all over Chu to go to Nanyang to open up wasteland, because Nanyang is far away and few people go there.As soon as the news that the civil war was imminent came out, many people couldn't stay still.It is still those who have no property who run the fastest: anyway, they have no money or land in their hometown, and it is impossible to let some uncle Wang catch a strong man and die on the battlefield; it is better to go to Nanyang to try his luck.Immediately, a large number of Chu people went south, wanting to go to Nanyang.

Naturally, the capital became more and more chaotic.The several uncles didn't leave, arguing about who should sit in that chair every day in Chu Wang's mansion, but they refused to accept each other.The queen mother was imprisoned, and the brothers of the king of Chu were left alone, and they also went about their own way.The king of Chu, who had already escaped from marriage, couldn't care about him anymore. The government didn't pursue him or look for him, they just regarded him as dead.All the veterans were helpless.

One day, a man was having dinner in a small restaurant in the city. When he heard people talking about the affairs of the country, he also said: "Now that things are up to now, it's better to follow the way the capital city used to be when you divide the land and rule."

A scholar commented: "Combined to be strong and divided to be weak. Chu State is not big at first, if it is divided again, wouldn't it be given to Wu State and Yan State to swallow?"

"Wu Guo and Yan Guo have a big vision now, and they still don't look down on such a small land as Chu." The man said, "Aren't the kings and uncles of our Chu country right now? We can't tell which one is the master. As the saying goes , It’s the mules or the horses that come out for a walk. Each governs a place, and it will be known in a few years. If you say that the land is small, it doesn’t matter how strong or weak it is. Lu is small, right? Let’s fight against others in Chu Try? There are many small countries in the left and right of Chu State, and there are several small countries in the territory, so it’s okay to divide them. It’s better than internal fighting. If these dozens of masters fight, the people will all go to the next door to the Yan State—the King of Yan sent troops to go there Foreign countries have seized territory, and the population will be the most scarce in the next few decades."

A merchant in the restaurant said: "According to me, it is better to go overseas than to fight in such an idea place as Chu State. The land that King Yan wants to fight is hundreds of times that of Chu State! King Yan Where can the family eat?"

The man said: "The king of Yan clearly intends to immigrate from other countries. A lot of people have already escaped outside. Once these king uncles start fighting, the king of Yan will probably wake up laughing from his dream. Even if the king uncles fight When the state of Chu comes, it is useless to guard the land without anyone to cultivate it."

A scribe in the corner suddenly sighed: "It's just that there is no way to stop them."

The man said: "Stop? People's hearts are like a flood, how can we stop it. Even if the princes and uncles join hands and shout in the street, we don't fight~~ How many people heard it? How many people believed it?"

The scholar just now frowned and said, "Is there really no way to calm people's hearts?"

The man said: "Unless all the kings, uncles and brothers work together to establish a reasonable new king."

Even the waiter in the shop couldn't help but ask, "What is a reasonable new king?"

The man said: "The youngest brother of the lord is only eight years old. If he is established, it is obvious that it is only a strategy to slow down the army. All families are not ready yet. As long as they are ready, they will have to go to war immediately, and the battle is terrible. It was a hard blow."

The scribe in the corner twitched his eyebrows and said, "Maybe this little prince can become a great weapon?"

The man smiled and said: "Sir, you are a scholar, and I am a reckless man. Even if I don't believe it, will you believe it? Since the prince loves that Empress Xiao, he would rather run away with her than to escape marriage. Why don't you make her his wife?" Concubine? Isn’t he the lord of the Chu Kingdom? Lady Xiao is also the daughter of a great Confucianist. In previous years, her status might be higher than that of the one who has not worshiped now.”

The room was silent.In prosperous times, martial arts are not as good as literature, and in troubled times, literature is not as good as martial arts.If the eight-year-old little brother can ascend to the throne safely and win the support of all the kings, uncles and brothers, why should the king of Chu run away from marriage?

The merchant sighed: "If the state of Chu uses this kind of self-deception strategy, I think it will not be able to coax the people."

The man said: "This strategy has not been able to coax the people since ancient times, but the people in ancient times couldn't help it. Today is different from the past. They can't afford to provoke and hide. All other countries are safe. Hide in the country of Yan and endure some wandering days. The king of Yan pacified the foreign countries, and it would be good to open up wasteland in the past."

The scribe said with emotion: "There have been many strong men in Chu since ancient times. Now that the country is in great trouble, do the people just want to escape?"

The merchant said with a smile: "How can the ancient Chu State be the same as the present Chu State? It has only been a few years since the world was divided into feudal states? I travel all over the world, and I often can't remember which piece belongs to which prince. I only remember the province. "

The scribe was dumbfounded.That's right, the state of Chu has been established for less than eight years, and it has not yet experienced a generation of enlightened rulers, and the neighboring countries are all stronger than this country, so how can the people die in behalf of the king of Chu?I heard that there is going to be a war, why don't you run faster?

The merchant said again: "I heard that after the spring of this year, many people from all over the Chu country moved to Nanyang."

Another person who has been silent all this time said: "Our area has been gone for a while. At the beginning of the year, the cocoa tea business in Beijing was on fire, and it was frighteningly expensive. Anyone who can get the supply can make a lot of money. Java in Southeast Asia Both China and Malay produce cocoa tea, and both of them were brought down by me from the pirates in recent years. The population is extremely small, and there is a shortage of people.”

The man said: "I heard that the weather over there is extremely hot, I'm tired of that. If I emigrate overseas, I'll just wait for King Yan to come to North America and buy some Kunlun slaves to start a gold mine."

The scholar asked: "Kunlun slaves? Could it be the Kunlun slaves in the legends of the Tang Dynasty? Are there still ones today?"

The man said: "I don't know about the legend, I have heard it from people. Westerners have occupied South and North America for 150 years. They have few people, how can they open up so many wilderness? The population of the West, no matter how big it is in the West, Regardless of status, slaves or criminals, when they arrive in America, their identities will be cleared as free citizens and not slaves; those who usually work in the fields or mines are all bought Kunlun slaves. Since there were Kunlun slaves in the Tang Dynasty, but they disappeared later, It must be that the western side wants more, and the human teeth are sold to them."

The merchant immediately came to his head: "If King Yan conquers North America, who will those Kunlun slaves belong to?"

The man laughed and said, "Naturally he belongs to the king of Yan. Can the generals fight a battle for nothing?" Nai sighed, "It's really refreshing to be a soldier in Yan. In the old year, there was a general of Jin who led the army. To vote for Yan."

The merchant said: "Why did I hear that the general of Jin State was ordered to rob Yan State, and went too far to the vicinity of the capital, so that General Gan Lei of Yan State captured him alive?"

The man waved his hand: "How can such a fool be a general? That man led him there because he heard that there was a war going on in Yan."

Another person said: "Nowadays, when these princes send troops abroad, they all kill and set fire to rob things."

The shop waiter said: "I heard from the guests from the north that the Liao King's people bribed the Russian king to go to the West to rob and make a lot of money!"

Everyone took a look at me and said nothing, and stopped talking about Chu State.The scribe in the corner had cloudy eyes, and after eating some food and wine, he put down his chopsticks and shouted, "Check out." Then he walked away quickly.

This person is an important staff member next to an uncle king of Chu State.Hearing these words on the street today, my heart suddenly became a mess.People's hearts have been scattered.Even the capital is like this, let alone outside?In today's Chu State, it is really difficult to keep a population.He then told Uncle Wang what he heard in the restaurant.

Uncle Wang walked around the house with his hands behind his back for half a day, and said, "I'm afraid we have to build a fence on the border, and the people are not allowed to go over it."

The staff smiled bitterly and said: "The border is long, King Yan and King Wu both intend to seek the population of Chu State, and they are both stronger than Chu State; Chu State sees that there is still infighting. It is easy for Yan and Wu to tear down the wall, and the hearts of the people of Chu are becoming more and more unstable. Already." He paused, "Besides, I'm afraid that some soldiers will vote for Yanwu, maybe some will vote for Lu Kingdom."

Uncle Wang sighed: "What should I do? It seems that the little bastard who was discussed yesterday will not be successful for a while."

The staff said: "I'm afraid it will be impossible to establish him, even the common people on the street can't be coaxed." After a long time, he said slowly, "My lord, I think that what the common people said has some truth."

Uncle Wang asked, "Which commoner said that?"

The staff member approached him, and slowly whispered: "Divide the land and rule."