In a secluded place in the bamboo forest, in an elegant small house, an old man with gray hair and beard was standing between the hazy light and shadow, preaching and teaching to two young men with tied hair.
The old man has an elegant demeanor, is wise and open-minded, and shows the demeanor of a wise man who understands the world with every move of his hands and feet;
The two young men have different bodies and looks, but they both have extraordinary temperaments. One is extraordinary and has a friendly attitude, but also gives people a sense of alienation; the other is elegant in manners and calm in temperament, which makes people think...
Be convinced and follow.
"Our school is good at the emperor's mind, but this knowledge is extremely sensitive. It requires you to think about the problem from the emperor's perspective, to figure out the emperor's thoughts, and to control the behavior of the officials. Therefore, it is easy to be affected by the emperor and the emperor at the same time.
The suspicion and exclusion of officials, as well as the jealousy and plotting of hostile forces! And the more you show off your abilities and show your abilities, the stronger the suspicion, exclusion, jealousy and plotting become...
Frankly, Ziyu, what do you think, in this situation, how should we stand in the world? Should we put our talents and realize our ambitions first? Or should we pretend to be foolish and clumsy and protect ourselves first?"
The young man with an extraordinary temperament did not hesitate and immediately replied: "The first thing to do is to show your talents and realize your ambitions! If you can't fully show your talents and realize your ambitions, why should students follow the teacher to learn this knowledge?
Isn't it because of choking? As for those suspicions, rejections, and jealousies and plots, we can all find ways to solve them. When soldiers come, we can stop them, and when water comes, we can cover them up!
Students believe that the ideal situation for Confucian scholars of our school is to find a wise master like Liu Xuande who is formidable and generous, knows people well and has deep faith in himself, and assists him wholeheartedly. With the help of this wise master,
The master realizes his own ambitions, and then retreats bravely after the work is completed to avoid subsequent disputes over interests. As the saying goes, 'Zhuge Liang divides the world into three parts, and Liu Bowen unifies the country'. These two sages are both role models for our generation."
After hearing this answer, the old man couldn't help but smile and asked: "What if you don't find a wise master who is worthy of your help?"
The young man with an extraordinary temperament replied again: "Then hide yourself from the court, pretend to be stupid and clumsy, and protect yourself first!"
The old man shook his head and commented: "Although there is some taken-for-granted childishness, this kind of childishness is not bad! However, you need to pay attention to one thing, that is, you must not just look for a wise leader and assistant, but you should also look for a wise leader.
Be a responsible and decisive hero! The Ming Lord will only trust you in normal times, but the hero can protect you at critical moments, protecting you from jealousy and conspiracy, and letting you use what you have learned without any scruples...
...Frankly, you are good at planning for others, but not good at planning for yourself, so this is particularly important to you!"
The young man named "Tanchang" thought for a moment, nodded and accepted the instruction: "Students, please keep this in mind."
But the next moment, he shook his head and sighed, saying: "It's a pity that most of the time, the wise master and the heroic master cannot have both!"
The old man smiled and said: "Then it depends on your own choice."
Then, the old man turned to look at the other young man and asked, "Ziyu, what do you think?"
Facing the old man's inquiry, the young man named "Ziyu" looked blank and remained silent for a long time.
In the end, he hesitated and said: "Students also hope that they can show their talents and realize their ambitions, but they do not want to be the loser and be hated and suspected by others; however, if they blindly hide their talents and pretend to be ignorant, it is not only a waste
After losing what they have learned all their lives, they will still be looked down upon by others, which is also not what students want...
Therefore, students don’t know how to choose. If they have to choose one of them, students may put their own safety first... Compared with the regret of not being able to realize their ambitions, students are still more resistant to unpredictable dangers and troubles!
"
After hearing this answer, the old man couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, with a somewhat regretful expression, and even a hint of guilt.
After a moment of silence, the old man commented: "Actually, in the idea of being a teacher, there are many correct answers to this question, whether it is to show talents and realize ambitions first, or to pretend to be stupid and keep oneself first,
There is no miscalculation, it’s just due to different personal temperaments, so the final choices are different. However...only your indecisive and self-contradictory answer is wrong!"
After shaking his head again and sighing, the old man blamed himself: "Back then, you secretly found me as a teacher, hoping to become my disciple. My teacher saw that you were not only extremely talented, but also had an excellent temperament, so I didn't think much about it and just put it to the test."
After that, I directly accepted you as my disciple... But now that I think about it, if I accept you as my master, I will actually harm you!
You are a descendant of the Lu family. It can be said that you are from the family. Your uncle, Mr. Mingde, is no less talented and knowledgeable than his teacher. However, the Lu family's family tradition is inherited from the Yangming Xinxue, which talks about the unity of knowledge and action.
Becoming a sage is a matter of cultivating one's moral character and advising others to do good. However, the knowledge of being a teacher is full of speculation about people's hearts and calculations of interests. It is believed that everyone in the world is pursuing profit, and it is reasonable to throw profit as bait.
It can be said that they are completely different and incompatible!
You have inherited two knowledges with completely opposite concepts at the same time, so you will naturally fall into a contradiction and be unable to extricate yourself. Your talent and talent are extremely high, not inferior to Tan Chang at all, but your academic progress is obviously not as good as Tan Chang. When faced with a choice
You are always indecisive... Sigh! It seems that my teacher not only failed to preach to you and resolve your doubts, but also became an obstacle in your path. I am really ashamed!"
After hearing this, the young man named "Ziyu" bowed his head and remained silent, while the other young man named "Tanchang" also sighed with regret.
The old man took a deep look at "Ziyu" and reminded: "Ziyu, I don't know how to help you get out of this predicament, but I must remind you that when you face a choice in the future, if you can't make a thorough decision,
Clear your head and strengthen your determination. You must not risk everything and put yourself in danger! You must reserve a way out for yourself at any time! Otherwise, I am very worried. This kind of indecisive and contradictory mentality will sooner or later
It will hurt you!"
Ziyu was silent for a long time again, and finally nodded: "Student understands! No matter what you do in the future, students will reserve a way out for themselves and will never put themselves in danger at will!"
After hearing "Ziyu"'s promise, the old man's expression finally calmed down.
The next moment, whether it was the small house in the forest, the wise old man who taught his disciples earnestly, or the classmates who were looking at him with concern, all became blurry, and then turned into countless mottled lights and shadows.
Quickly dissipates invisible.
*
"Master! Master? Wake up! Wake up!"
At the call of his confidant Lu Ping, Lu De slowly opened his eyes and gradually woke up from his nap.
After waking up, Lu De looked around blankly, as if he wanted to find the old man and his classmates in the dream, but found that it was already late at night, and he was in the countryside, hiding in a sheltered position, his body
Leaning on a stone.
Seeing Lu De's sleepy look, Lu Ping frowned and scolded: "How can you sleep here in the wilderness, sir? If I hadn't woken you up in time, you might have caught the cold!"
After a while, Lu De finally woke up completely, shook his head and said with a bitter smile: "I just wanted to close my eyes and take a rest, but I didn't expect that I fell asleep directly... and had a nightmare."
Lu Ping was stunned and asked: "What nightmare?"
Lu De laughed at himself: "There are two unscrupulous disciples who have violated their teacher's instructions and teachings one after another. The teacher has long seen through their shortcomings, but they still can't help but want to fly moths into the flame. It can be said that they are self-defeating.
Taking death... is ridiculous!"
When the ancients chose words, they basically followed three principles, either "synonyms are consistent", "opposites have opposite meanings", or "meanings are consistent".
The epitome of Zhao Shancai is "Tanchang", which was taught by his mentor He Ming, which follows the principle of "opposite meanings". "Shancai" means outstanding talent like a mountain, and "Tanchang"
It means that your destiny is smooth, no different from ordinary people.
As for Lu De, his nickname is "Zi Yu", which was given by his uncle Lu Sirui. It follows the principle of "mutual meaning". "Yu" means gestation. Combined with Lu De's name, it is
It means to accumulate virtue.
As for the old man who appeared in Lu De's dream, he was naturally the former crown prince and grand master He Ming.
When He Ming was still alive, he repeatedly told Zhao Shancai that after he left the army, it would be best to find a responsible and capable leader and assistant who could protect him and protect him from external risks. Unfortunately, Zhao Shancai chose to assist him in the end.
The left prince Zhu Heyu.
Although Zhu Heyu has a good nature and is willing to trust Zhao Shancai without reservation, he may become a wise master after growing up, but he is not able to protect Zhao Shancai or protect Zhao Shancai from danger, so Zhao Shancai quickly
He was plotted against and died a violent death.
As for Lu De... he doesn't think that he has a way out now, and that in the future he will only have to go to the dark side.
Thinking of this, Lu De shook his head slowly, his expression becoming more and more self-deprecating.
Next, Lu De did not intend to explain his true thoughts to Lu Ping in detail. He just stood up holding the stone behind him and looked up into the distance.
At this moment, it was already late at night, and Lu De was in the countryside east of Nanjing City.
Within Lu De's field of vision, a group of taciturn and cold-tempered strong men were gathering on a dike. They kept wielding shovels, trying to dig down the dike under the cover of night!
This group of strong men were part of the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers that Zhu Hejian entrusted to Lu De to command and mobilize.
Not far downstream of the embankment that these "chao Feng" warriors are trying their best to dig down is the Huangzhuang farmland in Nanzhili.
It is the rainy season now, and the river level is rising rapidly. Once this dam is dug down, it will definitely cause a large-scale flood, quickly destroying all the farmland in Huangzhuang downstream!
This is also part of the plan Lu De proposed to Zhu Hejian, which is to secretly destroy the upstream embankment of a certain imperial village, causing the imperial village to suffer flood disasters and completely lose all harvests, and then point the suspicion of destroying the embankment at the southern Zhili territory.
The wealthy Jin gentry took the opportunity to reverse the direction of public opinion controlled by the wealthy Jin gentry!
In fact, although the eunuchs of Huangzhuang in Nanzhili are all domineering and evil-doing people, the wealthy gentry are definitely the best in this regard. Whether it is bullying the people or occupying fertile land, neither of them is innocent.
But because the wealthy gentry controlled the public opinion of the government and the public, the eunuchs of Huangzhuang attracted all the public resentment. The wealthy gentry pretended to be innocent victims. Under such circumstances, if Zhu Hejian favored the eunuchs of Huangzhuang, he would naturally
Damage one's own reputation.
Therefore, only by making the Huangzhuang eunuchs also become victims and completely confusing the situation, while the Jin gentry and wealthy families are under suspicion, can Zhu Hejian have legitimate reasons to support the Huangzhuang eunuchs and suppress the Jin gentry and wealthy families without worrying about his own reputation.
The damage was too great.
The plan proposed by Lu De coincided with Zhu Hejian. In addition, Lu De was not only very familiar with the distribution of cultivated land and the topography of Nanjing, he could also use the Lu Family Villa outside the city to hide the whereabouts of people.
, so Zhu Hejian handed over this task to Lu De, and also gave Lu De a bronze medal, so that Lu De could directly mobilize some of the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers.
After Lu De used this bronze medal to contact the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers, he asked them to conceal their whereabouts, left Nanjing City in batches, gathered here under the cover of night, and then assigned the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers to start digging.
Destroy dikes.
At this time, looking at the "Chaofeng" soldiers who were struggling to excavate the embankment, everyone was enthusiastically waving their shovels, but they were all silent and did not make any sound. Lu De couldn't help but have a trace of fear in his eyes.
.
The ability and training of these dead soldiers are far beyond Lu De's imagination. And with Zhu Hejian having such a group of dead soldiers working secretly for him, it's no wonder that they never leave any flaws.
After observing carefully for a moment, Lu De asked: "How is the excavation progress? How long will it take before the embankment breaks and causes a flood?"
Lu Ping replied: "Three cracks have been dug out now. The dam is constantly being impacted by the river water, and the three cracks are also expanding. So in about an hour, the dam will completely collapse!"
After hearing this, Lu De couldn't help but be stunned. He looked up at the position of the moon in the sky and asked in surprise: "The progress is so fast? I should have just taken a nap for half an hour! I thought I would have to wait until Yin Shi to completely excavate it.
Dam, but according to the current progress, maybe the task can be completed in about three quarters!"
Lu Ping explained quickly: "Shortly after you hid here to rest, sir, and saw that the excavation of the dam was not going smoothly, I was about to ask for your opinion, but a scar-faced man suddenly appeared. This man
It was obvious that he had great prestige, so he just stood aside with his arms folded and looked cold to supervise the work. Everyone did not dare to spare any effort and worked hard to dig, so the progress suddenly accelerated."
At this point, Lu Ping showed a hint of fear in his expression, and said: "Except for the hideous scar on his face, that scarred man didn't see anything outstanding, but when he looked at me,
I felt like I was being stared at by a hungry wolf and a tiger, and I couldn't help but tremble with my legs... That scarred man was definitely not an ordinary person."
After Lu De pondered for a moment, he waved his hand and said, "Let's go! Let's go see the scar-faced man."
After saying that, Lu De took the lead and walked towards the embankment, while Lu Ping was still willing to do so, but he had no choice but to follow behind reluctantly.
After a while, Lu De saw the scarred man who was supervising the work with his arms crossed.
Just as Lu De said, this scarred man looks ordinary, but once you get close to him, an instinctive sense of crisis and horror will gradually arise deep in your heart. Even a calm person like Lu De can't help but feel...
Secretly shocked.
But Lu De still stood beside the scar-faced man with a calm expression. After closely observing the excavation progress on the embankment for a while, he turned to the scar-faced man and asked: "Your Excellency, your surname is high? It seems that you are also the seventh prince."
subordinate, but why didn’t you show up before? And why did you wait until now to show up?”
The scarred man also turned to look at Lu De.
This look... is like a butcher looking at the livestock to be slaughtered with a knife, thinking about where to cut.
But the next moment, the scar-faced man had a smile on his face and explained: "My name is Jiang Xiao, I am also a member of 'Chaofeng', and I was also a veteran of 'Chaofeng' when it was founded. Mr. Lu was ordered to mobilize 'Chaofeng'
While the man was working, I was performing another task, so I never had the chance to meet Mr. Lu. I waited until yesterday evening, and finally completed the last task completely, and then rushed over overnight to help.
"
After finishing speaking, Jiang Xiao raised his finger and pointed at the busy people on the embankment and said: "They are all members of 'Chaofeng'. Nearly half of them were personally selected by me to join 'Chaofeng', and almost all of them have accepted
My training, so I personally watch over them, so they don't dare to be lazy."
"Chaofeng..." Lu De murmured to himself: "The third son of the nine sons of Longsheng is the eldest son of scale insects. He is prone to danger and good hope in his life. He often uses his shape as a decoration on the corner of the palace! What a good name! Meaning
Profound, what a great name!”
Before this, out of consideration for avoiding suspicion, although Lu De directed the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers to do things, he always understood his duties and did not inquire about any unnecessary information from the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers.
It was only then that Lu De finally learned the name of the organization "Chaofeng" after Jiang Xiao took the initiative to mention it.
Jiang Xiao deliberately leaked information about the "Chaofeng" organization to Lu De, obviously wanting to take advantage of the opportunity to test, and he had been secretly observing the changes in Lu De's expression.
Under Jiang Xiao's temptation, Lu De remained silent for a long time.
In fact, Lu De was actually more interested in the name "Jiang Xiao" than the name "Chaofeng".
Xiao? Xiao? Xiao? Or Xiao?
After thinking for a moment, Lu De simply got straight to the point and asked: "How long has this 'Mocking the Wind' organization been established?"
Lu De believed that he should show some curiosity at this time, otherwise it would be too much.
*
And just when Lu De and Jiang Xiao were testing each other, on the official road more than ten miles to the east, two teams of people were rushing towards Nanjing, one behind the other.
The front group was headed by the three Zhao family aides, Ouyang Bo, Guo Min, and Qian Bodao. After receiving the news that Huo Zhengyuan was in danger, they left Suzhou City before the city gates closed in the evening, and they had been traveling all night.
, wanting to arrive in Nanjing as soon as possible to meet Huo Zhengyuan.
As for the group behind them, headed by Hu Xiao, they secretly followed Ouyang Bo, Guo Min and others, maintaining a close distance.