Since Zhuge Liang left Zhuge Xuan, he took refuge in Nanyang, Jingzhou. In the past six months, many things have happened in the world. News came one after another, some of which were beyond Zhuge Liang's expectations. As a result, his previous views on the general trend of the world also had incredible changes.
Misjudgment.
He looked at the map and couldn't figure out why the world's form had changed so much, so he simply threw it aside.
Through the bamboo window of the thatched cottage, the clear chirping of birds could be heard from time to time in the empty mountains and deep valleys outside. Zhuge Liang remembered that he had removed weeds yesterday and there was no need to go to the ground today, so he took a roll of bamboo slips and leaned on the bamboo couch beside the bed.
In his eyes, the scene outside the window seemed to have turned into the mountains and rivers on the map. Zhuge Liang couldn't help but think of his uncle who had just passed away. He couldn't resolve the worries in his heart, so he rapped on the head of the bed gradually while chanting in a low voice.
What he sang was Liang Fu's Yin, a Yuefu poem he composed himself. When he sang it, it was circulated up and down, just like music.
Although Zhuge Liang was young, just sixteen years old, he had already grown quite tall, powerful, and his voice was loud. As he went to the back, the chanting became louder and echoed in the valley, like the roar of a tiger or the roar of a dragon.
generally.
There were sounds of people outside the thatched cottage, and then there was a knock on Chai Fei's door. Zhuge Liang went out to greet him and found that several friends were coming. He opened the chai door and saw them one by one. He smiled at a few of them and said, "You guys came early today."
.”
The leader smiled and said: "With the world in mind, he lies high in the autumn and chants in harmony, just like a crouching dragon. You can call Kong Ming a Crouching Dragon."
The speaker was Xu Shu, who was born in Yingchuan since Yuanzhi. He escaped after avenging someone in the sixth year of Zhongping. In the second year of Chuping, he came to Jingzhou to take refuge. He made many friends, studied classics, and became more and more refined in his learning.
After hearing this, the other two people clapped their hands and smiled and said, "This is a very good number."
Shi Tao, named Guangyuan, and Xu Shu were both from Yingchuan. He fled to Jingzhou with Xu Shu to study.
Meng Jian, courtesy name Gongwei, was from Runan and came to Nanyang to avoid trouble.
Although these three people were much older than Zhuge Liang, after they met by chance, they were all impressed by Zhuge Liang's talent and learning, so they called them friends and were known as the Four Friends.
Now when Zhuge Liang saw Xu Shu praising him, he couldn't help but humbly said: "When it comes to planning the world's fortunes and having a plan in mind, Liang is still far from it."
"In the past six months alone, what has happened in the world has been far beyond our expectations. There have been many omissions and miscalculations. I am really ashamed."
He welcomed the three people in. After Xu Shu sat down, he sighed: "It is true that in the past ten years, the world has been in a state of flux, and heroes have shown their prowess. Now the situation in the world has changed rapidly, and there are faint signs that a war is about to break out. Two years ago,
Who could have expected it?"
Several people expressed their deep agreement, and Shi Tao said: "The changes in the world all depend on the victory or defeat of several places and the strategies of several people. Who do you think is the hero in the world today?"
Meng Jian raised his hand and said, "I'll start by throwing some bricks and mortar!"
Everyone laughed and said, "Gongwei speaks first."
Meng Jian then said: "Hebei Yuan Benchu, the fourth generation and the three princes, has many old officials, and dominates the three states. He can be said to be a person who stirs up the world with a single move."
Everyone listened and nodded one after another
Meng Jian added: "The Huainan Yuan Highway is fully equipped with troops and food, occupying Yuzhou and Yangzhou, and peeking into Jingzhou can be a powerful enemy for Yuan Benchu."
While everyone nodded, there was also a trace of worry on their faces. Nanyang is the gateway to Jingzhou. If you want to conquer Jingzhou, you must first capture Nanyang. And Yuan Shu is powerful and has long planned Jingzhou. Sooner or later he will attack, where everyone lives.
, I’m afraid it’s not safe anymore.
Xu Shu sighed: "This past year in Nanyang has also been a troubled year. The return of the emperor caused a series of events, which have affected us all this time, and the results are really unexpected."
"Zhang Ji attacked Rangcheng in Nanyang and died, and his nephew Zhang Xiu garrisoned in Wancheng. Although he reconciled with Liu Jingzhou, the Xiliang soldiers are fierce, and Nanyang is afraid that things will be troubled from now on."
Everyone felt the same, and couldn't help but feel a lot heavier.
Shi Tao said: "If there really is a fight, we weak scholars will not be able to withstand the disaster. I'm afraid we will have no choice but to go to Jingzhou to study."
Several people were moved, but Zhuge Liang sighed: "The world is so big that we can avoid disasters everywhere, but if the world is full of military disasters, where can we hide?"
After hearing this, Xu Shu smiled and said: "Kong Ming rarely has great ambitions and has the world in mind. Since he thinks so, why not join Ming Zhu and do something great?"
After hearing this, Kong Ming shook his head and said: "Most of the princes in the world are self-interested in enclosing land. It is difficult to call them the masters of the Ming Dynasty."
Meng Jianqi asked: "Are the two people I just mentioned not qualified?"
Kong Ming said calmly: "Yuan Jiujiu is extravagant and poisons the people. He has ulterior motives and is not a Ming master."
"Yuan Benchu was fond of fame and achievements, was suspicious of others, and had no tolerance for others. It is difficult to call him a master of enlightenment."
Meng Jianqi said: "Kong Ming has a very high vision. He made his emperor Liu Jingsheng ride into Jingzhou alone. His courage was extraordinary, he turned the tide from the fall, and rejected Jingzhou alone. Can he be called the master of Ming Dynasty?"
Zhuge Liang sighed: "Liu Shijun did have a heroic attitude back then, but now that he is the leader of the defense, he may not be able to step out of Jingzhou and influence the general trend of the world."
After hearing this, Meng Jian asked again: "Cao Cao, Cao Mengde, has a distinguished family. He has welcomed the emperor and has many fierce generals under his command. He values talent over virtue. He recruits talents from all over the world, especially those from Yingchuan. Can he be called the Lord of the Ming Dynasty?"
As soon as he said these words, Xu Shu quickly wanted to interrupt. Zhuge Liang's face suddenly darkened, "Talent is valued more than virtue, but interests come first. People are shameless. If a person has no virtue, he is no different from a dog!"
"If things go on like this, most of his subordinates will inevitably be profit-seeking and unjust. Villains will form cliques, and they will cause trouble and become the laughingstock of the world."
"Sending troops to slaughter the city and eating people as food will seriously harm the harmony of heaven and earth. If you don't accumulate evil virtues, you will be punished."
Xu Shu smiled bitterly. Meng Jian had hit a wall. Zhuge Liang was massacred by Cao Cao because of his hometown Langya. Although these words were not unfair, there was some personal sentiment in them.
I'm afraid that according to Zhuge Liang's character, he would not vote for Cao Cao if he voted for anyone, right?
Meng Jian also realized that he had made a mistake and said hurriedly: "According to Kong Ming's opinion, how many Ming Lords in the world are worthy of surrendering to?"
Xu Shu smiled and said: "All the princes in the world are governors and governors of the state. If you count them one by one with your fingers, there are not many left."
Everyone began to discuss one by one, but in the end they discovered that the strength of the remaining people was far inferior to the two Yuans.
Zhuge Liang just sighed: "Everyone has its merits, and everyone has its shortcomings."
"Liu Yao is indeed heroic and chivalrous, but he is seriously ill and he is afraid that Yangzhou will fall into Sun Ce's hands."
"Sun Ce's Jiangdong tiger and wolf are good at attacking cities and territories, but they are not good at defending them. I'm afraid there will be some trouble."
"On the other hand, Liu Yuzhou comes from a humble background and can make friends with loyal and righteous people all over the world, so he may not be able to achieve success."
"There is another person, if given time..."
He suddenly remembered a person and immediately shook his head and said, "You can't see through this person even with bright light."
Shi Tao asked curiously: "Who is it?"
Zhuge Liang replied: "Xuzhou Mu Yuan Xianyi."
After Xu Shu heard this, he asked curiously: "That concubine of the Yuan family?"
"Although he has done a lot of great things in the past two years, how much power can he have in the bitter cold land of Youzhou?"
"I heard that he has been using troops for several years, but his strength has never exceeded five thousand. He can only serve as a vassal under Yuan Benchu. I'm afraid it will be difficult to achieve anything independently, right?"
Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "Soldiers are not the problem, the key lies in what they did and what they accomplished."
He thought about what happened in Feixian County that day and remained silent.
Xu Shu and others saw that Zhuge Liang was in a daze and did not bother him. They discussed and deduced on their own, and finally discovered that in the end, the world will still be fought between two Yuan Dynasties.
Several people turned to Zhuge Liang and said, "Whose hand does Kong Ming think the world will eventually belong to?"
Kong Ming looked sarcastic, "Yuan Gongli? I'm afraid he will be the first to die next."
Everyone was shocked, "Yuan Jiujiao claims to have an army of 300,000, which is much more than the 100,000 Jizhou Army. Why did Kong Ming say this?"
Kong Ming said categorically: "The Han Dynasty has not yet been destroyed, and there are many loyal people in the world. Yuan Gongliu risked the disapproval of the world to stand on his own, but he is seeking his own death."
"If they are evil-minded, they have already begun to deploy on the border of Yuzhou, thinking of destroying them and strengthening their strength."
"So according to my opinion, Cao Mengde, Liu Xuande, Liu Jingsheng, and even Sun Bofu may all rise through this."
"But I'm afraid Liu Jingsheng has no intention of expansion, and the rest..."
Thinking of this, Zhuge Liang was suddenly startled. The Yuan family's fierce tiger only occupied Guangling and could only attack Yuan Shu from Liu Bei's Xiapi. It seemed that there was no chance.
But the Jingzhou pastoralist who had just been granted the title of Mu by the Han Dynasty...
Is it planned in advance?
Zhuge Liang's face became solemn. If he wanted to predict the general trend of the world, it seemed that he could not miss this person. After all, he had far underestimated Yuan Xi's role in it several times before!
Zhuge Liang once again thought of Yuan Xi's thankless efforts to save the people in Feixian County, and thought that this person was completely incompatible with Yuan's style of conduct.
Next, you have to take a closer look at how the world has changed and whether some of the people are really hiding something.
Xiapi, Xuzhou.
Zhang Fei angrily threw the bamboo slips with the information on the ground and said angrily: "This Yuan family is going too far!"
"He is Xuzhou Mu, then who are we?"
"We became his subordinates?"
Guan Yu glared at Zhang Fei, "This edict was issued by the emperor with his seal. Are you saying that the emperor did something wrong?"
After hearing this, Zhang Fei said calmly: "That's not what I meant, I just feel aggrieved!"
"We clearly agreed that Xuzhou would be divided among the three families, but in the end we were taken advantage of!"
Liu Bei sat at the top, waved his hand and said: "Third brother, please be patient, things may not be as you think."
Seeing Zhang Fei sit down angrily, Liu Bei sighed: "I just realized that status, especially the status of emperor, is so important."
"But we woke up too late. We are one step behind and cannot blame others."
"Besides, Yuan Xianyi may not have aimed at this position from the beginning. His own Youzhou was given to Zilong by imperial edict."
Hearing this name, Zhang Fei's face became even stiffer. At first, Liu, Guan, and Zhang were brothers. In Zhang Fei's view, Zhao Yun was considered an outsider, and Zhang Fei looked down upon him.
But unexpectedly, in less than three years after Zhao Yun transferred to Yuan Xi's command, he became the general of the Quartet and the shepherd of Youzhou!
This is a position that Zhang Fei never dared to imagine in his life. Zhao Yun can sit on an equal footing with Liu Bei, and this is not a state pastor like Liu Bei who went to the palace privately, but a personal seal with the emperor's seal!
When the emperor returned to the east, he was chased by Li Jue and Guo Si, and the ministers were completely disgraced. Anyone who came to rescue him at that time would be rewarded, especially when Bai Bojun was named the general of the four directions. The emperor's title became a joke.
Then something unexpected happened. Lu Bu, Cao Cao, and Yuan Xi joined forces to welcome the emperor, which actually restored part of the prestige of the Han Dynasty. The emperor's title also changed from a laughing stock to a hot topic with everyone's eyes!