Chapter 7 The third section stands at thirty

On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, Liu Lin gathered Li Yu, Zhang Can and others, the great men of the Zhao state, and led hundreds of chariots and riders to guard Wang Lang. They rushed into Handan City early in the morning, occupied Zhao Wang's palace, and at the same time sent people to arrest Geng Chun.Geng Chun led the crowd to resist, but he had no choice but to recruit all the soldiers from the Zhao state. When they saw Liu Lin, Li Yu, Zhang Can and others, they immediately turned back.Geng Chun was caught off guard, and fled in a hurry, thinking that Liu Xiu was in the north, why not meet Liu Xiu first, and then pay attention.

Geng Chun traveled alone day and night to Zhending City, and finally caught up with Liu Xiu.Geng Chun went straight to Liu Xiu's residence, and as soon as he entered, he ran into Deng Yu.Geng Chun asked, "Where is Duke Ming?" Deng Yu said, "I'm having a drink with King Zhending, Liu Yang." Geng Chun said, "I want to see Duke Ming!" Deng Yu shook his head, and refused, "No, you can't." Geng Chun said angrily: "The military situation is urgent, so there is no room for delay!" Deng Yu said with a smile: "Brother Geng, don't be upset. I will take you in after Ming Gong leaves the banquet." After speaking, he ordered Geng Chun to be taken into the wing to rest.Geng Chun traveled thousands of miles, did he come here to rest!He lashed out at Deng Yu on the spot and said, "Can you take responsibility for a big mistake?"

Deng Yu didn't change his smile, and said, "Brother Geng, don't worry, I can take responsibility!" Deng Yu's words had come to this point, Geng Chun lost his temper, sneered a few times, and resentfully went to the wing to rest. The Zhending Wang Liu Yang who was exchanging cups with Liu Xiu in the hall, more precisely, should be the former Zhending Wang.Since Wang Mang's change of dynasty, Liu Yang's Zhending Prince has long been abolished, and Liu Yang is now a commoner.However, the Liu Yang family has been king in Zhending for generations and has ruled for more than a hundred years. Even though Liu Yang is now without an official or title, his prestige and influence in Zhending is still unmatched.After Wang Mang's downfall, Liu Yang recruited even more troops, gathering hundreds of thousands of people under his command.It can be said that if Liu Yang is settled, Zhending is also settled.Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that Liu Xiu will attach so much importance to Liu Yang, and he must make him return home having a good time with the wine.

An hour later, Liu Yang said goodbye, Liu Xiu smiled all over his face, and sent him out in person.Liu Yang drove away, and Liu Xiu turned back to enter the mansion, but when he turned around, there was no smile on his face. Deng Yu went up to Liu Xiu and said, "Geng Chun came from Handan. I saw that King Zhending Liu Yang was there, so he made a claim without notifying him. I ordered him to wait in the wing room first." Liu Xiu glanced at Deng Yu, nodded in relief, and said, "You have handled this matter very well. Since Geng Chun came, it is obvious that Handan has changed. Liu Yang, who has a hundred thousand soldiers, has ulterior motives. If he is allowed to Knowing that there is an accident in Handan, there is no guarantee that he will not take advantage of others' danger, which will be harmful to us."

Geng Chun walked back and forth in the wing room, taking seven steps from the window to the door, and seven steps from the door to the window, as if he had spent ten long years in prison before Liu Xiu and Deng Yu showed up.When Deng Yu saw Geng Chun, he was the first to apologize and said: "I offended you just now, so I hope Brother Geng will not blame you. Brother Geng and King Zhending have an uncle-nephew friendship. When King Zhending sees Brother Geng, he must know that Handan has fallen. Guan Ming's public security is in danger, so Brother Geng has to be wronged to avoid it for the time being."

Hearing what Deng Yu said, Geng Chun immediately felt relieved.Geng Chun's mother came from the royal clan of Zhending. Although she and Liu Yang were cousins ​​from the next generation, but in terms of seniority, Geng Chun really had to call Liu Yang an uncle. Words, not alarmist. Liu Xiu asked Geng Chun, "If Handan fell, could it be that Liu Lin made trouble?" Geng Chun replied: "Not only Liu Lin, but also Wang Lang, who claimed to be Liu Ziyu, the son of Emperor Cheng, to confuse people's hearts." Liu Lin's rebellion was expected by Liu Xiu as early as, and it was not a problem at first, but now with the addition of a fake Liu Ziyu, things will become a little tricky.Liu Xiu asked for more details. Geng Chun had just escaped from Handan, and he couldn't tell why. He just urged Liu Xiu: "Master Ming, please send troops from prefectures and counties to return to Handan to wipe out the rebel party. Once the rebel party grows stronger, it will not be easy." system."

Liu Xiu pondered for a moment, and replied: "Liu Lin and others will not succeed in the end. Handan is under the jurisdiction of Jizhou, and it is the responsibility of Mu Pangmeng of Jizhou to wipe out the rebellious party in Handan. I have been appointed by the imperial court to take charge of the overall situation in Hebei, and the itinerary for the northward trip has been decided. , should not be changed because of it.” Seeing that Liu Xiu had made up his mind, Geng Chun couldn't persuade him anymore, so he said: "Handan is lost, and I would like to follow Ming Gong to the north."

Liu Xiu said with a smile: "The Qing family is the surname of Julu, and the one who can stabilize Julu for me is none other than Qing. Please go back to Julu, and I will meet you on the day I return." After finishing speaking, he ordered Deng Yudao, "It is really determined not to stay for a long time, inform the subordinates, and set off immediately." Outside Zhending City, Liu Xiu and Geng Chun waved goodbye.Geng Chun returned to his hometown in the south, while Liu Xiu and his party continued to go north. At sunset, they had already left the border of Zhending and arrived in Wuji County of Zhongshan Kingdom, where they stayed in Chuanshe.

Feng Yi, Yao Qi, Ji Zun, Zang Gong, Wang Ba and others, who had been holding back all the way, joined hands to admonish Liu Xiu—to raise Ben's life, return to Handan, kill Wang Lang, and punish Liu Lin.Liu Xiu smiled but didn't answer. He asked people to set down the banquet and ordered the generals to sit down.Liu Xiu personally poured wine for the generals one by one, raised their glasses and said: "Today, the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, is my birthday. You should drink this cup to the full for my birthday." Although everyone had followed Liu Xiu for a long time, no one knew Liu Xiu's birthday was today, so they were caught off guard and drank it in panic.Liu Xiu poured wine for the generals again, raised his glass and said: "After today, I will be thirty. I am in my early thirties, half my life is over, and it is sad to think about it. The first half of my life is over. Right and wrong, success or failure, honor or disgrace, all matter. Don’t chase after. The rest of your life is uncertain, dare to work hard with you.”

When all the generals heard the words, they were all excited, and they drank with their heads held high, wishing they could swallow their cups. After drinking for three rounds, Liu Xiu said again: "I am deeply grateful that you have been with me so far and have never left. You can really share adversity with me and support life and death. Today, please open your heart to you. You know Go?" Some of the generals nodded, some shook their heads. Liu Xiudao: "Life is like chess, and people are also like chess. When I was in Luoyang, I had only one breath left in this chess. Zhu Yu and others only needed to spend one hand to sentence me to death and wipe me off the chessboard." Go. Now that I have come to Hebei, with all the kings following me around, my chess has lasted a few more breaths, but it is still not a live chess. Why? Because there are no eyes. As long as there are no eyes, it cannot be called a live chess. Eyes What is it? The eye is the base. Ask yourself, I have been in Hebei for more than a month, where is the base?"

The generals are silent.As Liu Xiu said, they passed by along the way, wherever they went, they were "welcome, warmly welcomed", and when they left, "go well, go well, don't see you off, don't see you off".With a flick of your sleeves, you can neither take away a cloud nor leave a speck of dust behind.After operating in Hebei for more than a month, they are still just a group of strangers. Liu Xiu said again: "The so-called Hebei is nothing more than Youzhou and Jizhou. I have been in Hebei for more than a month, and I have not gone out of Jizhou. But Jizhou Mu Pangmeng and Shangshuling Xie Gong are all from the Green Forest Army and are Zhu Tuo's confidantes. , lead the troops stationed in Jizhou, obviously to seek thieves, but in fact it is a constraint on me. Now Handan mutiny, Jizhou will be chaotic. Pang Meng and Xie Gong are bound to come forward to deal with it. The court has always been afraid of me. If I send troops to rescue the disaster , not only is there a suspicion of competing with Pang Meng and Xie Gong, but he is also afraid that he will give others a handle and bring disaster on himself in the future. In this case, you might as well go north to Youzhou and watch the changes. If we can't, if we want to live, our eyes must be in Youzhou." The generals are worshiped.