Chapter 76 Rare to meet a destined person

Liang Heng came to open the door with an oil lamp in his hand. He only saw a horse, but he didn't see Cao Cao on the ground. He looked down and saw a man fainted.Liang Heng hurriedly yelled into the room: "Qing'er, mother, come out and help!" Liang Heng and his wife hurriedly carried Cao Cao to the house, lit the oil lamp, and saw that Cao Cao's face was ashen, and his body was sweating like rain. Boil water to make some thin noodle soup. After a while, the noodle dish was served, and Liang Heng and his wife brought a bowl to Cao Cao to drink. After a while, Cao Cao regained his strength, fell to the ground and bowed, thanking Liang Heng for saving his life.Liang Heng arranged for Cao Cao to sleep in the haystack on the stove. Cao Cao was very tired and fell asleep quickly.

Liang Heng went out again to get some fodder for Cao Cao's horses. The couple were suspicious of Cao Cao's origin, wondering why this official son came here? Early the next morning, Cao Cao met Liang Heng and explained everything to Liang Heng. Liang Heng sighed that there were only a dozen of his one or two hundred students left. Even if the students stay, it will be difficult to buy food again, so they can only return to their hometown for the time being, and come back when the new year is better. Liang Heng learned that Cao Cao was Cao Song's son, so he gave a brief introduction of himself.He is a native of Liang County, Shangqiu. He taught in a private school in Luoyang a few years ago. After the "party ban" disaster occurred, he was expelled from Luoyang by the government, and lived here to give lectures and chat.

Cao Cao heard that Liang Heng was from Liang County and was from the same town as Qiao Xuan, so he asked Liang Heng if he knew Qiao Xuan. Unexpectedly, Liang Heng not only knew each other, but also had contacts with Qiao Xuan when he was young. connect. Cao Cao told Liang Heng all about Qiao Xuan's recent situation. Cao Cao was very happy to meet someone familiar with Qiao Xuan in his hometown. Speaking of the local conditions, Cao Cao asked Liang Heng that the situation in Luoyang seemed to be fine, why are these places so desolate?Don't local officials care? Liang Heng said that the local government only protects officials, and who is willing to be an official for the people.Nowadays, scholar-bureaucrats are squeezed out, eunuchs are in power, and the emperor is vacant. If the world is not in order, chaos will inevitably occur.

Cao Cao was surprised, and asked Liang Heng if those officials didn't know that treating the people like this would have bad consequences? Liang Heng sighed: How could they not know that keeping their official positions is more important than keeping the country of the great man and the lives of the people. Cao Cao frowned, too surprised to speak. Why can't these officials understand that the country is gone, what kind of officials are they still doing?People can't survive and want to rebel. Where did the country come from? Liang Heng shook his head and sighed: Many officials who are expected by the common people are obsessed with exchanging positions for money, and they don't even care about the lives of the people.Let it count as a day.

Liang Heng told Cao Cao: This is close to Luoyang and will soon become a battlefield.If you come a few days later, I will also move out. Cao Cao frowned: The battlefield?Isn't frontier defense still good?General Duan also fought big victories a few years ago. What Cao Cao understood was the invasion of foreign enemies, while Liang Heng referred to internal strife. Seeing that Cao Cao didn't understand, Liang Heng smiled wryly and shook his head. At eight o'clock in the morning, more than a dozen of Liang Heng's students came to listen to his lecture. Their formal etiquette, simple clothes, thin faces, and firm eyes...the respect for Liang Heng made Cao Cao awe-inspiring.

Private schools are only inferior to government schools in terms of housing and school conditions. In fact, they study harder and harder.The children of private schools clearly know how difficult it is to get an official position through private schooling. This does not hinder their yearning for knowledge and their expectations for the future. The students heard that Cao Cao came from Luoyang, he was a graduate of Taixue, and he was the son of a great minister of agriculture.After greeting each other, they seriously sat around Liang Heng on the floor and listened quietly. Private school lectures are also divided into basic subjects according to the thirteen classics. In addition, there is a topic every day, which is asked by students and then explained by the teacher. In this way, teaching and learning benefit from each other.

Liang Heng's topic today is: Did Lao Tzu really leave the customs? When Liang Heng was explaining, he was tall and handsome, and his expression was detached, just like Lao Tzu was alive. The students asked questions one after another, did Lao Tzu come back after leaving the customs?Why did he go out in the first place?Is it a grand tour, or is it for investigation like Cao Mengde? The last question got everyone laughing. Liang Heng's explanations on every question were full of wit and approach, and he tried his best to learn.It seems that if a private school teacher wants to recruit students, he must have good skills.

Government school professors enjoy social prestige with subsidies and good salaries. They only have a few classes every day. They can go to other private schools to give lectures to make money, and they can also apply for special state funds under various names.Private school is not good, it is related to the husband's income and reputation, success or failure and right and wrong. Cao Cao learned a lot from Liang Heng's lectures.After class, Cao Cao and the students came to the house where they lived.Although it is a small and crude "Xuelu", it is similar to the "pigsty" that Cao Cao learned to build in his class.But the inside is tidy and clean, everyone's beds are neatly arranged, and simple toiletries are arranged in an orderly manner.

Each person has a mat, an adobe wrapped in cloth as a pillow, and a thin quilt.Some of the mats are torn, and the quilts are still patched. There may be only a little cotton wool, but this does not prevent these objects from being as insignificant as the owners who use them. The new forces of the imperial court are not only in the capital, but more in the folk!Many of these students have no chance of official career in their lives.Cao Cao felt that the country was wasting talents and lives! On the third day, Cao Cao bid farewell to Liang Heng and his disciples, and went to Caoyang, Jia, and Hangu Pass.Liang Heng's wife prepared a cloth bag for Cao Cao.There are three days' food and a little money in the bag, which is enough for Cao Cao to travel around and use it frugally. He should be able to return to Luoyang safely.

Cao Cao took the cloth bag, and Liang Heng's family was already in difficulty, how could he still take away so much money?Cao Cao knelt down to thank him, determined not to ask for money, and only willing to leave about one day's worth of food. Liang Heng helped Cao Cao get up, and said earnestly: Meng De, he is very good at home, but it is difficult to go out.Young people, you want to go on a grand tour and see what's going on in the world, that's fine.But remember, you can only help others better if you save yourself. Cao Cao nodded, knowing that Liang Heng was warning him not to give all the food and money to others easily.

Liang Heng wants Cao Cao to greet Qiao Xuan when he sees him. They will move to Hongnong Mountain, open up forests, cultivate themselves, and avoid the coming troubled times. Later, Cao Cao marched west to Zhang Lu, passed by Hongnong, and went to the mountains to look for Liang Heng, but unfortunately he never heard from him again.Cao Cao is like turning over the lives of Liang Heng and those private school children. He only sees the part that has just been completed, but he can no longer see the end. Cao Cao is probably the student Liang Heng has taught for the shortest time. Saying goodbye to Liang Heng, Cao Cao felt even more heavy.On the road with Liang Heng's dry rations and a meager fee, he saw the people's livelihood in decline along the way, and there were always poor people who fell to the ground and died on the side of the road. The large government households in Mianchi and Caoyang areas were full of granaries, and merchants took the opportunity to drive up prices, making the people even more miserable.Walking to a small town called Gan Tian, ​​whether it is sweet or not, there are sorrows everywhere.There were poor people selling their sons and daughters everywhere on both sides of the street. When Cao Cao passed by, he heard a voice begging for a sale: "Young official, buy a slave and go back. You can only buy a dog or a chicken." Suddenly, there was crying in front of him. Cao Cao led his horse to look, and saw a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl crying on the old woman who had just died. The girl named "Chun" was surnamed Liu. Five of the seven members of her family died of starvation, and only her old grandmother was left with her to survive.Liu Chun originally wanted to sell himself to exchange food for his grandmother for a few days, but his grandmother died of starvation in the street. Liu Chun was heartbroken, and saw Cao Cao leading the horse coming with hazy tears. He ran to Cao Cao and knelt down, begging him to buy her and bury his grandmother. Cao Cao was in a dilemma. He only had two days' worth, so how could he have money to help others?The poor onlookers begged Cao Cao together, hoping to help Liu Chun. Compared with eating, Liu Chun's grandmother's burial is more important.Cao Cao bought a mat and paper money, borrowed a shovel and a trailer, and dragged the old man to the wilderness for burial.Cao Cao wanted to say goodbye to Liu Chun, but Liu Chun knelt down and begged Cao Cao to take her with him. Liu Chun's eyes revealed an expression of eagerness to repay his gratitude, and he kept kowtowing to Cao Cao: Master, the slaves are your animals, and wherever you go, the slaves will go.If there is no food on the road, the slaves can beg for their masters, and the slaves can take care of the masters, wash, mend, feed the horses and cut grass for the masters. The master must bring the slaves. Cao Cao looked at Liu Chun, who said six "servants" in one breath, at least she was educated and knew how to address them appropriately.However, due to suffering from the disaster for too long, her size is not commensurate with her body, her hair is dry, her cheeks are fleshless, her chest is flat and her waist is thin, except for her voice and miserable eyes, she will be a living thing, not a woman. Cao Cao waved his hand: The journey was difficult and inconvenient. Just as Cao Cao turned to leave, Liu Chun asked Cao Cao with tears in his eyes: "Master, you don't want slaves. Is it true that slaves can dispose of their own lives at will?" Cao Cao nodded. Liu Chun burst into tears: the whole family of seven has only one slave and maid, and now the slave and maid don’t want to live anymore, so it’s better to go to the underworld to get together with the family as soon as possible. Liu Chun was about to stick out her tongue as she said that, she wanted to bite her tongue and kill herself.Cao Cao was so frightened that he ran over in a hurry and stopped Liu Chun: "Don't mess around." Liu Chun couldn't hold back his tears, and said to Cao Cao: From now on, slaves and maids can live one day, and their lives are given by their masters. Slaves would rather be cows than horses, but also to repay their master's kindness. Cao Cao was embarrassed, and Liu Chun followed him to repay his kindness.Besides, she is a weak woman, where can she go.Cao Cao remembered what Qiao Xuan said, don't hurt a life. Cao Cao led the horse, and Liu Chun sat on the horse.Although she refused to ride to death, Cao Cao asked her to ride at the master's order, so she dared not obey. Cao Cao was in a dilemma, he couldn't support himself, how could he bring another living?The two begged along the way, struggling to survive.Liu Chun cared for Cao Cao in every possible way. If it wasn't for being too young, he would have taken better care of Cao Cao's mother than Cao Cao's mother was alive. Cao Cao took Liu Chun westward to Caoyang, and then passed through Jiajun and Hongnong. Cao Cao didn't dare to stay, so he went all the way to Hanguguan.What tribulations await this improvised pair of master and servant on the road ahead?