Chapter 70 Chapter Seventy

This chess move made Guan Xiu, who was sitting on the top of the chessboard, seem to be sitting still. After sitting for nearly an hour, his frowning brows were condensed into a pimple, and he didn't move at all; his stiff expression was like a sculpture.Whenever there is a duel between masters, bystanders often cannot guess their calculations.Sometimes only within minutes and seconds, their thoughts travel through time and space like a powerful and unconstrained style.Perhaps the chess game thousands of years ago, or the hand-talking thousands of miles away, all suddenly became the fibers of his thoughts.In an instant, the chess pieces on the chessboard come and go, and the infinite possible interpretations are arranged one by one... After a long time, the monk let out a long breath, as if he had experienced a century of thinking, and he seemed exhausted physically and mentally.

"Brother, I lost, haha, wonderful! It's wonderful!" Following Guanxiu's relieved expression, Wei Zhuang on the opposite side of the chessboard also showed a happy smile: "Master, you are too merciful." The two masters looked at each other and smiled, then they both picked up the tea bowls in front of them and took a small sip. Wei Ai, however, was still watching the game between his brother and Master Guanxiu by the chessboard.Although he is not as skilled as his elder brother, he is still an expert.At the moment when Guanxiu was thinking, he didn't stop thinking.He had already had one or two tricks in mind to resolve his brother's wonderful move.He originally thought that Grandmaster Guanxiu, who was one move ahead, would have a better move, or at least be able to see his moves.Unexpectedly, Guanxiu surrendered so easily.

Guanxiu seemed to see Wei Ai's thoughts, and asked with a smile: "Mr. Wei has been paying attention for so long, does he have a better number of steps?" Wei Ai said politely: "In front of the master, how dare my younger brother fight with the axe. It's just... I don't understand why the master didn't mention this one to solve his burning eyebrows. If you mention this one, you can live in the corner. If the master gets this corner, you can advance Attacking and retreating can be defended, it may not be impossible to live the whole game, so how can you give up lightly?"

"Third Master Wei's chess skills are improving so fast!" He and Wei Zhuang looked at each other for a moment, and there was relief and joy in seeing Wei Zhuang's eyes.The friendship of these years has made an eminent monk who is proficient in poetry and painting and a talented scholar who is famous all over the world become close friends.Often in such a look, they complete all the communication.Guanxiu took a sip of jasmine tea, smacked his lips, and said to Wei Ai with a smile: "I have also considered the idea of ​​the third master just now. If this continues, there will indeed be a stalemate in the middle game. The best result will be The poor monk can still win for half an eye. But, after that, every move of my chess is for survival, and every move is for victory. This is not a gentleman playing chess. On the other hand, Brother Ling, the chess style is elegant , The layout is reasonable, the style is free and easy, down to the situation on the board, I have been impressed. When I say that I lost, I lost the demeanor of chess, the integrity of chess, and the character of chess. Losing these, it is better than fighting. It would be a pity to lose half an eye when it comes to counting pieces. Playing chess is like setting the world's game. It is not about winning or losing in one city and one pool, but in subduing the people spiritually, it is in conquering the world with virtue."

Brothers Wei Zhuang and Wei Ai listened attentively to Guan Xiu's opinion.Wei Zhuang interjected: "The master said that the king's virtue obeys the world, but the world loses his virtue and favors martial arts, and the king's virtue cannot be obeyed, so what?" "My brother is talking about the current emperor. The emperor has not lost his virtue, but the emperor Li Tang has been licentious for many years. The fortune of the Tang Dynasty has declined and his vitality is about to die. Today, the emperor alone can turn the world around. The rise and fall of the world, since ancient times, the long-term must be united, and the long-term must be divided. , is common sense. I know that my brother is a Tang official, so I can't help but feel sad at this time."

"Hey, the master said that Li Tang's energy is exhausted, and I also feel it. The poor emperor, the first Mingjun, is not at the right time. I just don't understand. If one day the Tang Dynasty falls, who will be the king of the world?" "Actually, why do kings have to figure out Zhengshuo. Since ancient times, if a king puts the people first, he can leave his name forever. The world is so big that those who can have the territory of the four seas may not be able to have the hearts of the people of the four seas..." Guanxiu said here, Suddenly fell silent.Several people in the room couldn't help but feel a little sad when they thought that the once extremely powerful Empire State Building was already crumbling.Guanxiu raised his head and looked at the furnishings of Wei Zhuang's study: a few new thread-bound books were stacked neatly in one corner of the desk, and the green smoke of Western Region incense was slowly lingering from the small incense burner in the other corner.A pot of lush asparagus bamboo is placed on a root carved stand in the corner.Just one or two years ago, this place was still a deserted thatched cottage. After Wei Zhuang's meticulous care, the thatched cottage where the poet sage lived was full of vitality.And what is even more gratifying is that its new owner is also a talented scholar from Shaoling.

Following the gentle trajectory of the cigarette across the desk, Guan Xiu couldn't help but stare at the carefully framed long scroll hanging in the middle of the wall.Following the small script, Guan Xiu silently read: "In March of Zhonghe Guimao, the flowers outside Luoyang City are like snow..." After reading just one sentence, he couldn't help being surprised-this is clearly Wei Zhuang's famous song , How could it hang in the main hall so sharply. "This "Qin Fu Yin"..." "Oh, Ruyin likes it, she copied it and framed it herself. Why, does Master think something is wrong?"

"Oh, there's nothing wrong with my brother hanging his own works in his house. It's just that I haven't noticed some unfavorable voices in court recently?" "The master is afraid that someone will use some lines in my article to make a big fuss in front of the king? I was also worried about this before. Now that I have gotten along with the king for a long time, I feel that the king is open-minded, so a villain like this can mediate right and wrong. I There is no scruples." "It's best like this, brother, you should be more careful in everything."

The thatched cottage game is still the same, and the two sides of the Jinjiang River are as colorful as before.It seems that everything shows a kind of quiet and peaceful.This peaceful and prosperous situation unique to Western Shu seems so incompatible with the wars and turmoil in the world.It seems that there is a kind of haze hiding energy under such prosperity, which may erupt at any time. In the spring of the fourth year of Tianfu in the Tang Dynasty (904 A.D.), a letter capable of shaking Sanchuan came to the hands of King Wang Jian of Shu as scheduled.After several times of hesitation, Zhu Wen finally decided to force Li Ye to move eastward to Luoyang, taking a crucial move to completely control the royal family of Li and Tang.A large number of former officials of the Tang Dynasty, including Zhang Jun and Prime Minister Cui Yin, were massacred in Chang'an.Seeing that the general situation was over, Li Ye secretly sent envoys to send a silk edict to Wang Jian, king of Shu, Yang Xingmi, king of Wu, and Li Keyong, king of Jin, in an attempt to recover.Wang Jian held out the silk, and the trembling handwriting on it immediately reminded the emperor of the crisis of life and death.

There seems to be only one road ahead of Wang Jian, and that is to move across the world and conquer Zhu and Wen.However, even Zhang Ge, who had a deep hatred for killing his father with Zhu Wen, understood that this kind of conquest can only stay on a moral level, or it can be said to set an example for the princes of the world: the king of Shu is loyal to the Tang Dynasty, and Zhu Wen He is the traitor who is about to usurp Tang Dynasty. As soon as the call to action came out, Li Maozhen and others responded.Zhu Wen ordered Zhu Youyu, the eldest son of Zhenguojiedu, to be the commander of the camp.Later, Zhu Wen personally led an army to challenge Li Maozhen from the west of Daliang.But if Wang Jian wants to fight Zhu Wen to the death, he needs to cross Li Maozhen's territory, or at least the Qin and Shu armies trust each other and unite as one.However, Wang Jian still remembers the brutality of the war with Li Maozhen in the invasion of Shannan area.Although in Wang Jian's eyes, Li Maozhen is just a clown in troubled times, he has to rethink his relationship with Li Maozhen at this moment.

Zhu Wen's strength in the Central Plains is too great, even Li Keyong, the one-eyed dragon outside the Great Wall, was defeated by him.It is indeed a fantasy to take this opportunity to defeat Zhu Wen.What's more, Qin and Shu have accumulated grievances from the First World War in Shannan, which makes it difficult for each other to trust each other.If the lone army goes deep and Li Maozhen suddenly turns against Zhu Wen, the consequences will be disastrous. The three adopted sons around him, and the three most important generals—Zong Ji, Zong Kan, and Zong Bi—all tried their best to encourage him to regroup, and took advantage of the opportunity of the crusade against Zhu Wen to wipe out Fengxiang's Li Maozhen.The reason is simple: the fierce battle before was because the natural barriers in Shannan had become an impenetrable line of defense, which caused the Shu army to lose troops and generals.Now that Shannan has been included in the territory under the rule of King Jian of Shu, the problem of attacking Fengxiang from Xingyuan is much easier.Moreover, after a short period of training, Sanchuan has recovered his former combat effectiveness, and with the newly accumulated more than 10,000 war horses, in the eyes of the three battle-tested generals, capturing Fengxiang, and even capturing Li Maozhen alive should be a sure thing. In addition, the greater temptation is: once Li Maozhen is eliminated, the land of Qinlong will be placed under the rule of the King of Shu.Expansion of territory will not only continue to accumulate wealth and expand power, but will also establish new feudal towns.To become the future envoy of Fengxiang Jiedu, this kind of temptation is enough to attract Wang Zongji, Wang Zongbi, and even Wang Zongkan who are inflated in their desire for power. Perhaps, it is precisely because of this level of interest that Wang Jian needs his other right-hand men to give him new insights at this moment.His gaze naturally turned to his brother-in-law Zhou Dequan.As the saying goes, the most beautiful is the homeland; the closest is the relatives.The love between him and the Zhou family over the years has made Zhou Dequan gain unprecedented trust just like his biological brother.Moreover, decades of life and death have made him feel at ease whenever he has virtue and power at critical moments-this sense of at ease is different from the peace of mind Zhou Xiang gave him: Zhou Xiang can give him courage And strength, because Zhou Xiang's wisdom is a key to him to open the door to victory; while virtue and power can comfort his tired body and mind.When the generals who straddle the horses and kill them return to their homes, they often feel empty and lonely. What they need most at this moment is the comfort and encouragement of their relatives.Zhou Dequan often plays the role of this kind of relative. Dequan shook his head.He knew that he couldn't give his brother-in-law any tricks, and it also involved the interests of several generals that his brother-in-law relied on the most.He just turned his eyes to Feng Juan who was at the side calmly - after Zhou Xiang left, this stubborn old man completely represented wisdom. From De Quan's eyes, Wang Jian understood everything, and asked respectfully, "I wonder what advice Mr. Feng has?" "The King of Shu wants to listen to my opinion? That is, you can't defeat Qin!" Such a decisiveness is exactly Feng Juan's style and style, which also made the three generals beside him feel nervous. Wang Jian is in a conflict: he is eager to take Li Maozhen's Fengxiang as his own, but he vaguely feels that this is a bit of a failure.But if he let go of such a good opportunity, it would be difficult for him to find a reason to convince the soldiers and even himself.Perhaps what he needs is Feng Juan's resolute attitude; what is more needed is sufficient reasons to support this resolute attitude.