Human life and death are like flowers blooming and withering. At the end of life, the leaves fall into mud to nourish the blooming in the coming spring.
The same goes for the cycle of chaos in the dynasty. In troubled times, countless Guizhou leaders died, which crushed the old order, but became the foundation of the new dynasty.
It was precisely because Xun Yu had seen through the ups and downs that he expressed this to Cao Cao.
And when Cao Cao and Xun Yu were getting along with each other, a Yuqi came galloping from the upper reaches of Mushui. It was a letter sent from Jinan.
Cao Cao also knew that the knight who sent the feather message was Zhao Zi, Xia Houyuan's tooth general who was responsible for staying in Jinan. He was from Hanoi. After the fall of Hanoi, he followed a group of Jizhou soldiers south to the plains. Later, he was selected by Xia Houyuan.
As a goalkeeper.
Zhao Zi rode his horse along the marching road. After seeing Cao Cao, he held up his feathers and dismounted neatly to report:
"Ming Gong, General Xiahou has received a secret letter from Yuan Shijun."
Then he handed the silk book to Cao Cao.
When Cao Cao heard that it was the Mi Zha sent by Yuan Shao, he quickly took it and then glanced at it. Only halfway through, Cao Cao's brows were already furrowed.
After he finally finished reading, he handed the mizha to Xun Yu, and then said worriedly:
"The Central Plains is going to be in chaos, and Ben Chu is going to make the final move this time."
Xun Yu took the Mizha, first looked at the fire seal on the outside, and then looked at the ribbon buckle of the silk fabric. After seeing that everything was correct, he started to open it and read the contents inside the silk fabric.
Xun Yu read it very slowly, thinking as he read it. After he finished reading it, he understood why Cao Cao sighed like this.
Because Yuan Shao was indeed going to have a decisive battle with the remnants of the Yellow Turbans in Runan. In addition to saying this in his letter, Yuan Shao also looked forward to Shangluo's achievements with Cao Cao.
Everyone knows that the relationship between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao is better than half brothers. So when the two of them rose to prominence, people at that time regarded them as a party.
And in fact this is indeed the case.
Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and Zhang Miao of Yanzhou formed the Kanto Iron Triangle, constructing an iron curtain from Ruying to the East China Sea against the Kanto imperial court.
It was precisely because these three families were separated from the Guandong Court that the Guandong Court was now only succeeded by Gyeonggi, Jingzhou, Huaiyang and other places.
The final result is that the offensive and defensive momentum between Kanto and Kansai has changed.
Let’s not talk about the numerous attacks on the two capitals here, but let’s talk about the relationship between Yuan Shao and the Runan Yellow Turban.
This Runan Yellow Turban is indeed the Runan Taiping Taoist disciples in the past, and most of them even fought side by side with the Taishan Army in the Battle of Yingyang.
However, later Runan Qu Commander Peng Tuo died in battle, and these people were taken away by Xin Qu Commander Huang Shao, and they parted ways from then on.
Later, the Runan Yellow Turbans were jointly strangled by the local wealthy families and Wang Yun, and because of the internal discord, they inevitably fell into decline.
However, Taiping Road has a very deep foundation in Runan, and the structure of cruel oppression of small people by wealthy families within its territory has not changed. Therefore, rather than saying that the Yellow Turbans in Runan were destroyed, it is better to say that they took off their yellow turbans, put down their swords, and resumed their work.
Picked up a hoe and plow.
These people work in groups in Shenpo Gepi and still maintain the organization and beliefs of the past.
And when the oppressed Guizhou leaders and Tuili from the outside world went into exile, they continued to seek refuge in these paradises.
Even the remnants of the original Yellow Turban Army in Nanyang gradually moved eastward and flowed into the Runan area, which is more suitable for development.
The reason for this is that after Liu Biao was recognized by the counties in the state, Jingzhou could allocate more resources to strangle the Nanyang Yellow Turbans.
On the Runan side, because Wang Yun, the governor of Yuzhou, was driven to Beijing, the state was left vacant, and the county officials did their own thing, which also gave the remnants of the Yellow Turbans who were deep in the mountains and caught in the cracks a greater living space.
Once the Nanyang Yellow Turbans and the Runan Yellow Turbans began to merge, they immediately became the strongest local force in Runan. However, because these people were awakened to the political struggle of Taiping Road and only converted religiously, they never raised any troops to start Taiping.
the meaning of.
These people are willing to be farmers and build a paradise. This is their own idea. But obviously, this troubled world will not give them this opportunity, and everyone will be forced to be involved in this killing field.
After Yuan Shao took full control of Runan, Yingchuan, Liang and Pei, he, who had previously used and even tolerated these Yellow Turbans, began to attack the remnants of the Yellow Turbans entrenched in the Funiu Mountains to the Tongbai Mountains.
.
…
Runan, Tongshan.
This is Tongshan, a place where green forests used to be, but now it is a land cultivated by Taiping Taoists.
This mountain can be said to be an extension of the Tongbai Mountain Range in the south, and it is also one of the few dangerous mountains in Runan.
This place was originally built like a paradise by the Taiping Taoists, but after it was surrounded by Yuan Jun, it turned into a human tragedy.
The cold wind in the mountains was very strong, making the trees roar. It also rained today, which added a bit of coolness to the mountains.
In the past, this was called a refreshing autumn breeze, but now for the Taiping Taoists who were short of food and clothing, it was just adding insult to injury.
When the autumn rain stopped, the long-lost sun finally climbed up, bringing a touch of warmth to the disciples in Tongshan.
In a mountain gap sheltered from the wind, more than a dozen mountain sheds were erected haphazardly. At this moment, someone had come out, started to clean up the water, and dragged away some believers who had frozen to death in the mountain.
There are many dead believers, but rather than saying they are Taiping Taoists, they are refugees. These people all fled into the mountains from Gyeonggi, Nanyang or Runan.
These people fled to Tongbai Mountain to escape the sword, thinking that they had reached paradise, but their lives were taken away by a cold rain.
The clatter of corpses being carried and the sound of clearing away stagnant water mixed together, bringing heavy pressure to the gap in the mountain.
The pressure does not lie here. A heavy rain cannot kill these poor people. What really kills them is the Yuan army surrounding the mountain.
They didn't know why they all fled to the mountains, and people from the state, county, and county governments came to shout and kill them.
Could it be that they can't even beg for this last place of residence?
But not everyone goes into the mountains just to survive, at least not Deng Dang.
Deng Dang had only one purpose in entering the mountain, and that was revenge. He wanted to avenge Yuan Shao, avenge his brothers Paoze, and avenge the Lu family.
But unfortunately, there are very few people like Deng Dang. I thought that the Yellow Turban Army in the Tongbai Mountains was a force that could compete with Yuan Shao, but I never expected that these people only knew how to chant sutras and farm.
After that, Deng Dang, who had nowhere to go, could only stay with his former fiancée's brother, reciting sutras in various ways, and his life was like this, until Yuan Jun appeared again.
…
"Lu Meng, don't sleep, get up and help."
At this time, Deng Dang was shoveling water in the shed, while Lu Meng was sleeping soundly above him.
Hearing his brother-in-law's voice, Lu Meng quickly stood up and rubbed his face vigorously to wake himself up.
After that, he jumped down, as graceful as an ape.
When Lu Meng arrived at the mountain shed, he saw a blackened corpse leaning against the rock. He sighed and said nothing more.
Lu Meng saw many corpses like this during this period, and they all died of illness.
Since the mountains were besieged by Yuan Jun, there was first a lack of food and clothing, and then people began to freeze to death and starve to death in the mountains. And death brought death, more and more people fell ill, and some people carried it.
Such as Lü Meng and his brother-in-law Wang Dang.
There were also those who failed to carry it, like the person Lu Meng saw just now, and also like Lu Meng's sister.
Not many people were actually killed by Yuan's army, because those Yuan's soldiers were not willing to enter the mountain to clear them out, but after they surrounded the mountain, more people died.
If you are short of clothes, you can use leaves. If you are short of food, you can dig stems from the mountains. But people cannot be short of salt.
More and more people begin to suffer from swollen limbs and limbs due to lack of salt, becoming weak and fatigued, and finally never get up again.
More and more people are dying, but Lu Meng has long been used to it. As a young man, he probably sees death the most.
First, the Lu family was killed on the charge of colluding with the Huaihe River pirates. Then he and his sister were rescued by his brother-in-law. Then came the brother-in-law's robes. When they knew that their conquest was just a conspiracy, they were filled with indignation. Finally,
They were slaughtered by Yuan Shao.
It can be said that Lu Meng has become numb to death.
He only cried the night his sister left, and he never smiled again after that.
When he reached his brother-in-law, Lu Meng was about to help him when he heard Deng Dang say:
"You go to the mountains to look for herbal medicine. Old Pei still needs to take medicine."
After hearing this, Lu Meng couldn't help but said:
"Do you really want to take care of Lao Pei? It seems like Lao Pei can't survive."
The name of Lao Pei in their mouth is Pei Qing, with the courtesy name Yuan Shao. Just from this word, it can be seen that Lao Pei is not simple.
Indeed, Lao Pei was the former general of Peng Tuo at the head of the Runan Canal, but after several failures, he became disheartened and went to Tongshan to farm.
And Deng Dang and the two of them are He Lao Pei Jiepeng next to each other.
Deng Dang sighed and said to Lu Meng:
"Lao Pei was a good man. He shouldn't have died of illness like this. We should help him if we can."
But after hearing this, Lu Meng curled his lips and muttered:
"Don't good men deserve to die? During this time, have we seen many good men who are willing to die? This is a damn world."
Deng Dang was also speechless, and finally just sighed:
"If you can help, please help. If he survives, the three of us will be safer in Tongshan from now on. If we can't be saved, we can feel at ease."
Lu Meng grinned, but this time he did not object again.
After that, he went into the mountains to look for medicinal herbs. I don’t know if Lu Meng’s family had any background. In short, their family had some medical skills, and they had been collecting medicinal materials and selling them in the past.
So it was just right for Lu Meng to look for herbal medicine.
When Deng Dang and others in the mountain shed had almost cleared up the gap in the mountain, Lu Meng came back. He was covered in mud and had obviously fallen.
Deng Dang checked several times that Lu Meng was okay, and finally took the herbs in his hand, which were only a few bunches.
Lu Meng is sorry:
"It's not my problem. Nowadays, not to mention medicinal herbs in the mountains, even the tree roots are being dug up and eaten. These are the only ones we can find. Whether it succeeds or not depends on Lao Pei's life."