The two discussed for a while, then the guard came out of the cabin and brought two meals.
Seeing this scene, Lu Su's face suddenly fell, and he said to Zhou Yu beside him: "I have eaten this fish rice for less than half a month, and now it smells fishy when I smell it from a distance. Gong Jin, do you think we should find a place to eat it?"
Go to the shore and buy some fresh pork and roast chicken?"
"Whatever, if you are not afraid of delaying the big event, then I don't have any worries."
Zhou Yu had experienced military service and was not as picky about his diet as Lu Su. He took the boiled fish and rice from the guard, sat cross-legged against the railing along the boat, and started eating.
"If I had known, I would have asked Yan Ji to come to Yangzhou with me." Lu Su still opened his mouth and said, "Gong Jin, you don't know, the food cooked by my wife is so delicious."
"In this month, it would be nice to have some."
"Didn't you say that the daily life of the king is just two dishes and one soup? The master is so simple, but you, a minister, are still picky?"
"That's not what they said."
Lu Su was still waiting to complain, but Zhou Yu thought he was noisy, so he simply poured fish soup into the rice, stirred it slightly, took a few bites, and then stood up and walked to the other side of the deck, facing the river breeze.
, exploring the scenery on the shore.
At this time, they had arrived in Luo County, Jiangxia County. This place is rich in mulberry and hemp. There are forests of mulberry trees on both sides of the bank. It is almost winter and still lush. Zhou Yu saw a group of peasant women busy among them. He was moved by the scene and sighed: "The sunrise comes.
To work, to rest when the sun comes in, to dig wells to drink, to plow the fields to eat."
"What does imperial power mean to me?"
This is a very popular folk song in Guan Nei, "The Song of Fighting the Soil", which means that when the sun comes up, you go to cultivate the fields, and when the sun goes down, you go home to rest. If you dig a well, you can have water to drink, and if you grow crops, you will not be hungry.
, Such a life is so comfortable, who would envy the power of the emperor?
When Zhou Yu was young, he lived in Luoyang with his father. He heard the people humming this song in the alleys. Although the Han Dynasty at that time had already shown signs of decline, the traffickers and lackeys inside and outside the capital were still unaware of it.
I still feel that my life at home is peaceful and satisfying.
But not long after, even they no longer lived alone, and no one sang these songs praising a good life anymore.
Zhou Yu's voice was already gentle, and the long and emotional chant became more and more contagious. The voice spread far away, and the peasant women picking mulberry followed the sound and saw that it was a long and tall man.
The handsome young men immediately became interested, and all came to the shore, pointing towards the boat, as if they were commenting on Zhou Yu.
Forehead.
Zhou Yujun blushed and stopped talking quickly, but he could not help but feel a little complacent in his heart. Just as he was chuckling with joy, another voice came from behind: "Hey, what are you singing about? You have a weird accent."
But it was an inquiry coming from a large boat four or five meters away from the tender boat.
Since entering the river channel, this ship has been sailing in front of them. Because the other party is a sea ship, it is bigger and naturally heavier. It moves slowly, so the distance between the two parties is getting closer and closer. Today
Finally caught up completely.
At this time, a small window in the third-floor cabin of the building opened, and a beautiful girl with double buns was opening her dark almond-shaped eyes and waving her hand. Although her voice was much diluted by the wind, it still sounded like
The bells tinkled loudly and sweetly.
"It's just a ballad in the first pass."
Seeing that she was a beautiful woman, Zhou Yu immediately cheered up and replied loudly.
"Folk songs from Guan Nei?"
As soon as the girl saw how handsome Zhou Yu was, her eyes lit up, and she seemed to be more and more interested when she heard these words. She immediately waved her hand and said in a coquettish voice: "You are from Guan Nei
Are you a actor coming to Jingzhou? That’s great, I’m just bored.”
Then he pulled out the hairpin from his bun and waved it, "How about you come to my boat and sing? If you sing well, how about I reward you with it? It can be worth thousands of dollars."
From this question, it can be seen that the girl obviously does not have any common sense. If she enters Jingzhou from the north, there is no way she can take this channel into the river.
So it’s no wonder that girls regard Zhou Yu as a singing actor. After all, anyone with a discerning eye can guess that even if Zhou Yu is wearing ordinary clothes, just by looking at his demeanor and stature, he is definitely not a lowly servant.
.
Zhou Yu had a magnanimous spirit and was not annoyed at all. He smiled slightly and was about to make a few jokes when Lu Su happened to follow him, but he was displeased when he heard this.
He immediately snorted coldly and shouted to the young girl: "You girl, don't you have any guidance from your elders in your family? How could you be so rude when you speak out?"
"you"
Seeing Lu Su scolding him with a straight face, the smile on the girl's face immediately stopped.
She thought that since Zhou Yu and others came to Jingzhou from the Pass, they were also fleeing, and their life must not be easy. She asked him to sing songs and used the newly bought hairpin as reward. She had good intentions, but she ended up suffering.
Seeing such treatment, her beautiful eyes became misty with anger. She rubbed her nose and retracted her head.
After a while, the girl's figure appeared again, arriving on the deck, dragging a young man in his thirties with him.
"Senior brother, they are the ones who insulted me!"
The girl pointed at Zhou Yu and Lu Su, stamped her feet repeatedly, and said bitterly: "Looking at these two people, they are not good people. They may be thieves. Please arrest them quickly and send them to the official when they get to Xiangyang."
The man who was called senior brother seemed to be used to the cunning of young girls. With just a glance, he could see that Lu Su and Zhou Yu were both extraordinary people, especially Zhou Yu's appearance and demeanor. Even he couldn't help but admire it secretly, and immediately said:
"Don't talk nonsense."
Then he raised his hands to Zhou Yu and Lu Su and smiled and said: "My sister is rude, she has the temper of a child, you two must not argue with her."
The young man looked at Zhou Yu with admiration, but he didn't know that Zhou Yu was also moved in his heart when he looked at the young man.
Because this person's appearance is also very handsome, and he is not the feminine beauty of a Confucian scholar. His eyebrows and face are more heroic, which almost reminds Zhou Yu of his close friend Sun Ce. He immediately takes a liking to the young man and quickly hands him over.
Return: "No problem."
Until the tender boat passed the building boat, I could still faintly hear the brother and sister arguing, "If the eldest sister was here, she would have listened to me and caught these two thieves long ago."
"Nonsense, don't take a closer look. The young man looks ordinary in his clothes, but his belt is made of fine velvet. How could he be a actor? He misunderstood others and didn't realize he was wrong."
"What's wrong with Xilong? It's not like our Qiao family doesn't have any."
As the boat sailed farther, the sound gradually became less clear. Lu Su looked back again, looked sideways at Zhou Yu and said, "This man has really good eyesight."
"More than just eyesight."
Zhou Yu thought of the detail he had just seen. When the young man raised his hand, he showed his thumb with a green thumb. He smiled slightly and said in a deep voice: "He should be an extremely powerful shooter!"
Unconsciously, we have entered the winter solstice in November of the first year of Jian'an.
Folks have attached great importance to the Winter Solstice Festival since the pre-Qin period. During the Han Dynasty, it was even regarded as a major festival second only to the New Year's Day. "Book of Etiquette of the Later Han Dynasty" records: "Before and after the winter solstice, gentlemen settle down and keep quiet, and all officials do nothing.
"Not only that, but also select "capable people" to play the drum, harp, sheng, and the rhythm of yellow bells to celebrate.
According to the tradition, the "Hello Winter" ceremony was held, and after worshiping heaven and worshiping gods, Wang Zheng held a banquet in the palace that night, summoned all the ministers to gather together, and even granted a two-day holiday.
On the second day, Wang Zheng also wanted to relax, so he made an appointment with Guo Jia and other close ministers, and took Xu Fang, Wu Sheng, Gu Jian and others with him to leave the palace in disguise and go on a small tour, which could be considered as having fun with the people.
After leaving the palace, we walked not far and turned into the street, where we saw a huge crowd and a buzz of people.
Shouchun was originally the capital of Jiujiang and had always been prosperous and prosperous. It had not been long since the Wang Zheng restored this place. Even though some damage and casualties were almost all concentrated in the outer city, the inner city was unscathed. After entering the city, the military discipline was strict.
The Heavenly Army has never disturbed the people, so the change of the King's Banner on the top of the city had little impact on the people.
In addition, the winter solstice is a big festival in Han Dynasty, so there are quite a lot of people out and about today, some calling for friends and some bringing their families. They are crowded with each other and sweating like rain.
There are many small stalls set up on both sides of the street. They sell sugar cakes, date cakes and other snacks, as well as lanterns, clay figurines and other things. There are many people gathered in front of each stall, especially
Most of them are children. Looking at the delicious and fun things, they can’t walk one by one. For those with money in the family, the adults are generous and buy whatever they want. For those without money, the adults do their best or buy whatever they want.
Don't do it less, or use other things to divert attention, and don't want to make the children unhappy on this good day.
Seeing this scene, Wang Zheng nodded slightly, then suddenly remembered something, and asked Guo Jiadao on the side: "I remember Lu Ji once mentioned that the government office had specially prepared some snacks, clothes, etc., and planned to distribute them to the poor families in the city. This
Is the matter done?"
As the prefect of Jiujiang, the more festive it is, the less free Lu Ji will be. Therefore, he is not with Wang Zheng today. Guo Jia knows a little about this matter. Hearing this, he replied: "My lord, we were divided yesterday afternoon."
"What do the people say?"
"Of course I am very happy. There were several officials from the city sitting next to me at the banquet last night, and I heard them talking about it. They said that under this kind of virtuous government, the people in the city were all grateful to the lord, and everyone called the lord a benevolent lord.
."
It is indeed a virtuous policy, and it is a virtuous policy of borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha.
Now that Wang Zheng has been reduced to borrowing grain, he will naturally not spend the little surplus grain to relieve the people at this time, so this matter is actually Shen, calling two aristocratic families to take the lead, and asking the gentry and gentry in the city to contribute money to provide grain.
The purpose of the effort was to please Lu Ji, the newly appointed governor of Jiujiang, but in reality it was to please Wang Zheng and help Wang Zheng win over people's hearts.
The meaning of Wang Zhengwen's words was to ask Lu Ji whether he had done anything, but in fact it was to confirm whether these big business owners actually took action after they said their nice words.
After all, he had heard too many "fake charities" in his previous life, so of course he also kept an eye on it.
Now when he heard what Guo Jia said, Wang Zheng nodded, thinking that these people were quite sensible, but on the surface he said calmly:
"It doesn't matter whether we are benevolent or not. Living in troubled times is our luck, but it is the people's great misfortune."
"Once a hero draws his sword, another ten years of calamity will follow for the common people. We were supposed to continue to expand territories this year, but it made life more and more difficult for the people of the two states. Naturally, we feel guilty. We should at least let them be happy during the festival.
"
"Wherever the division comes from, thorns will grow. After the army passes, there will be bad years."
Hearing this, Guo Jia was slightly moved and nodded repeatedly: "The Shouchun War has just ended, and people's livelihood will inevitably be difficult. There is nothing we can do about it. If my lord has such a heart, it is true benevolence and righteousness."
"Besides, my lord has only been in Jiangdong for a short time, and the local people are having a hard time. In the final analysis, the fault lies with Yuan Shu in the past, not my lord."
"otherwise."
Wang Zheng shook his head and said: "When I was in Xuzhou, I also despised Yuan Shu. However, after entering Jiangdong, I looked at Yuan Shu's old affairs. Although he had shortcomings in running the army and using troops, he still had great achievements in domestic affairs and people's livelihood.
, if Xuzhou is not acted too hastily and its ambitions are expanded, perhaps the people's livelihood in Jiangdong will be much better than it is now."
Although Wang Zheng took away Yuan Shu's inheritance and took possession of his widow, Wang Zheng actually didn't have much ill feelings towards Yuan Shu. After all, he was actually pretty good to him since they met.
After personal contact, Wang Zheng's inherent impression of the Skeleton King also changed a lot.
It is true that Yuan Shu was not good at fighting, but not being good at fighting does not mean that he is not good at anything. At least during his reign, the people in Jiangdong lived well, and the territory was even more prosperous. This was also a major reason to support his ambition to become emperor.
It’s just that people’s calculations are not as good as God’s calculations.
Yuan Shu never expected that as soon as he became emperor, a rare and very large drought would suddenly break out in the land of Jiangdong with developed water conservancy!
After the severe disaster, a great famine should have occurred in the Jianghuai region in the second year of Jian'an. This greatly damaged Yuan Shu's strength before the "World Attack", and made his defeat certain.
Hearing this, everyone looked at each other, not knowing how to respond. Wang Zheng could praise Yuan Shu, but they could not. Only Guo Jia pondered for a moment and nodded:
"Of course Yuan Shu has certain talents. Otherwise, how could he have made such a clever move to go south after the defeat, and could even gain a foothold in Jiangdong as a northerner. If the lord didn't let the tiger leave the mountain, he would have let this person go first.
When people are born in Shouchun, I am afraid that if we want to seize Jiangdong, we will have to spend a lot of effort."
While they were talking, several children suddenly appeared from the crowd in front of them. They walked back and forth, chasing each other back and forth, and suddenly came straight towards Wang Zheng and his party.
Seeing that the leader was about to bump into Wang Zheng, the expressions of several guards changed and they reached out to take out the weapons hidden under their clothes, but Wang Zheng waved his hand to stop them.
He touched the head of one of the children, and immediately turned sideways with a smile, asking everyone to step out of the way for them.
Seeing the children running away yelling, Wang Zheng's eyes became softer, he turned around and continued to walk slowly with everyone, and continued the topic just now: "Feng Xiao is right, I went to the countryside a few days ago,
After walking through many villages, I was deeply touched."
Wu Sheng on the side asked: "How does Ah Zheng feel?"
Wang Zheng had said it first. Since he was in disguise today, he shouldn't be too formal. Others might just agree verbally, but Wu Sheng immediately climbed up the pole and didn't even call him "general".
"As I said just now, life is not easy for the people."
Naturally, Wang Zheng would not be surprised and said in a deep voice: "The other one, when talking to the people, he often hears them mention Yuan Shu, and every time he mentions it, he must be respectful and polite, and he calls him "Junhou". This tells me
It’s a great feeling.”
As the losing party, not only Yuan Shu, but also Yuan Shao also had a good reputation among the people of Jizhou under his rule.
In terms of reputation at the bottom, Cao Cao should be the worst among the princes.