"The great fortune of heaven cannot be preserved by your talent." [Book of Wei]
East of Chang'an City.
After the imperial edict of amnesty was issued, Yang Feng was no longer in danger. With the protection of Sili Lieutenant Dong Cheng, he was granted the title Zhonglang General of Xingyi and stationed in the east of the city with thousands of his troops. During the whole day, except for
The necessary training for the soldiers is to hide in the camp and indulge in vocal music.
On this day, Yang Feng was having a drink in his tent when he suddenly reported that someone claimed to be an old friend and asked to see him outside the camp.
Yang Feng became suspicious and said, "I have never had an old friend in Chang'an. Has this person ever given me his name?"
"This man is dressing up as a man. He didn't say his name, so he said his character is Zhengfang." The tent official replied, taking something out of his arms and presenting it; "This is what the man asked me to forward to the general. He said it was
The general will know after seeing it."
Yang Feng opened the package and found a neatly folded piece of yellow silk inside.
Seeing this piece of yellow silk, Yang Feng couldn't sit still. He looked frightened and opened the piece of yellow silk with trembling hands.
There were four big characters written on the yellow silk, which pierced Yang Feng's eyes like needles.
‘Zhonghuang Taiyi’
"Where is that man now?" Yang Feng grabbed the piece of yellow silk and said anxiously: "Take me to see him quickly!"
Zhonghuang is the color of yellow. Taiyi is the noble god of heaven. The two are collectively called Zhonghuang Taiyi, which means the god in yellow clothes. He is the messenger representing the Emperor of Heaven, second only to the Emperor of Heaven. It is also the folk belief at that time.
The Taoist god is worshiped by the great sage Zhang Jiao and the Yellow Turbans.
This yellow silk is used for sacrifices on the altar, similar to the tablet of the god. At the beginning of the Yellow Turban Uprising, all Zhang Jiao's disciples had this yellow silk, leading the tribe, and they were famous among the devout Yellow Turban believers.
of influence.
Yang Feng was born in the Baibo Yellow Turbans. He was a trusted general of the Baibo Army leader Guo Tai. As a former middle-level member of the Yellow Turban Army, how could he not recognize this yellow silk? It is a pity that after Mrs. Guo died, he did not know the yellow silk in his hand.
Without a token to command the troops, and without a leader of sufficient prestige, Bai Bo's remnants were dissatisfied with each other, each occupied the top of the mountain, and attacked each other all day long.
Bai Bo's army went downhill from then on and failed to recover. It was at this time that Yang Feng went down the mountain and surrendered to Li Jue.
As far as Yang Feng knows, since Zhang Mancheng, Guo Tai, Zhang Niujiao and others died in the battle, only the Black Mountain Army Chu Feiyan in the world still has a piece of yellow silk that Zhang Niujiao passed to him before his death. Otherwise, Chu Feiyan may not be able to survive in a short time.
Within a short period of time, all the commanders in charge of the Montenegrin Army were convinced by him.
Now a piece of yellow silk suddenly appeared here, making Yang Feng feel surprised and wary. What surprised him was that this mysterious Taoist suddenly came to look for him. He must have taken a fancy to the thousands of soldiers and horses in his hands and his status in the court.
He wanted to have something up his sleeve. But what made him wary was that he had finally come ashore clean and now he really didn't want to deal with these people anymore, for fear that contact with them would arouse suspicion.
Now that the Taoist had blocked the door, in order to prevent things from getting out of control, Yang Feng, with a trace of curiosity in his heart, went to the camp gate to greet him in person.
The Taoist man was tall, old and thin, standing like a bamboo pole outside the camp gate. He seemed to be just over half a century old, but he was full of energy, his eyes were bright and lively, and his temperament was elegant.
Yang Feng said "ah" and suddenly realized, he quickly brought this person into the tent to chat.
This man was a disciple of Zhang Jiao. He often rode a green ox to and from Shangdang, Hedong and other counties. With his outstanding intelligence and skills, Zhang Niujiao of the Black Mountain Army and Guo Taifeng of the Baibo Army were treated as guests and often served as guests.
To give advice. Yang Feng had been ordered to receive the other party several times. Unexpectedly, the other party had never appeared again since Mrs. Guo's death, but he actually saw him here today.
Qing Niujiao chuckled and said, "I didn't expect that General Yang would become the Xingyi Zhonglang General of the imperial court as soon as we said goodbye to Baibo Valley."
"It turns out that it was Mr. in person, so I apologize for the lack of etiquette." Yang Feng said in surprise, "I wonder where Mr. has been traveling in the past two years. Why did he appear in Chang'an?"
The green ox horn caressed his beard and said with a smile: "Why, after becoming rich, you no longer want to take care of those who were in trouble in the past?"
"Don't dare, don't dare." Yang Feng said this verbally, but he still did not relax his vigilance in his heart. As far as he knew, Qingniujiao was not a person who loved fame and wealth. On the contrary, he respected the Yellow Turban doctrine everywhere, and all of his hundreds of dead soldiers were
The devout believers cannot be compared with other Yellow Turbans who have now become bandits.
For such a Puritan-like figure, it is impossible to share wealth with him. He must have some ulterior motives. Yang Feng braced himself and consciously had to deal with it carefully.
But Qing Niujiao's next words shocked Yang Feng: "The world is difficult now. In the whole Guanzhong, only the general's place is safe. That's why I came to seek refuge with the general. I hope the general will take care of him for the sake of 'Zhonghuang Taiyi'"
."
Yang Feng did not answer this question directly. Instead, he asked something else: "Sir, do you think the great virtuous teacher's method is still feasible today?"
This problem is very acute for Qingniujiao. The first batch of loyal believers who believed in Taiping Dao have withered away except Qingniujiao. Now, although there are still yellow scarf remnants in Hedong, Shangdang, Qingzhou, Yuzhou and other places, they have been beaten.
It was Huang Tiandang who set up the banner, but what he did was murder and swindle.
More and more speculators and desperadoes turned the vigorous Yellow Turban Uprising into an unspeakable bandit rebellion. This was not only contrary to the teachings of the Yellow Turbans, but also ran counter to the beliefs in Qing Niujiao's heart. Every time he thought about this, he felt sad.
.
If he hadn't been desperate this time, he wouldn't have lowered his head to find Yang Feng.
Qing Niujiao said in deep thought: "Everything happens according to destiny. I'm just doing my best."
Yang Feng wanted to distance himself from Qingniujiao and said: "Since I have surrendered to the imperial court, I have nothing to do with the past. Today I remember the friendship in the past and treat you to a good meal and a drink. Please don't do it again in the future."
Let me down."
Qing Niujiao's expression changed. He suppressed his anger and sneered, "If I don't embarrass you, won't anyone else embarrass you? Don't look at the current calm of the court. You rely on Dong Cheng's protection and no one is targeting you. But
To put it bluntly, firstly, you are not an official from the imperial court, and secondly, you are not a close associate of Dong Cheng’s men. If things change in the future, let’s see how you save yourself!”
Yang Feng was originally a person without any ideas. When Qing Niujiao said this, he immediately lost his composure and said in a panic: "What do you mean by this, sir?"
"There are recent rumors in Chang'an City that the country has promised to adopt Dong Cheng's daughter as its queen, but now there has been no movement." Qing Niujiao was very satisfied with Yang Feng's reaction and said with a look of having everything under control: "If I
You guessed it right, this rumor must have been started by Dong Cheng himself, in order to build momentum and remind the country to 'keep its word'."