Chapter 3 Chapter 1 Yellow Turban Thief

At the end of the later Han Dynasty. About 1,780 years ago. There is a walker. Except for a sword on his waist, his clothes are extremely ragged, but his brows are beautiful, his lips are red, his eyes are bright, his cheeks are full, his face is smiling, and there is no trace of meanness. This man was about twenty-four or five years old, sitting alone in the grass with his legs crossed tightly. The river flows slowly, and the breeze gently brushes the temples. At this time, it is the cool autumn and August. Here is the bank of the Yellow River, low loess cliffs. "Hey—" someone shouted from the river.

"Young man over there, what are you looking at? What are you waiting for? It's not where the ferry docks!" said the fisherman on the small fishing boat. The young man showed his dimples, nodded and said, "Thank you!" The fishing boat drifted downstream.The young man remained where he was, motionless.He sat cross-legged, his gaze never wavering. "Hey, hey, people who go out!" This time, someone passed by and greeted him.It was probably a farmer from a nearby village, one of them was holding the chicken legs and the other was carrying farm tools on his shoulder.

"I'll just wait there early or something. Recently, some villains called Yellow Turban Bandits have been running around. You will be suspected by the government." The young man turned his face and said: "Understood, thank you!" He returned the salute honestly, but he didn't intend to get up. Young people can't get enough of the Yellow River that has been flowing for thousands of years. "Why is the river so yellow?" Looking carefully at the water by the river, it turns out that the water is not yellow, but the yellow sand particles mixed in the water as if crushed by a whetstone.

"Ah, this soil is also..." The young man scooped up a handful of earth's soil with his hands, and cast his eyes fixedly on the distant northwest skyline. It is these tiny grains of sand that make up the land of China and turn the water of the Yellow River yellow.This sand is blown from the Central Asian desert.Tens of thousands of years before the beginning of human history, this sand was continuously scraped and accumulated into the earth, creating the vast yellow land and the Yellow River. "My ancestors also went down the river..." Where did the blood flowing in my body come from?He imagines distant roots.The Han nationality who pioneered the Central Plains also came here by crossing the mountains and mountains of Asia that blew the sand.They gradually multiplied in the Yellow River Basin, drove away the uncivilized Miao people, cultivated agriculture, revitalized industries, and planted thousands of years of culture here.

"Forefathers and ancestors, look at me! No! Spur me! I, Liu Bei, must revitalize the Han people and defend the blood and peace of the Han people!" The young Liu Bei bowed to the sky, as if swearing to the sky. At this moment, someone stood behind him and yelled, "You suspicious-looking guy! But the Yellow Turbans?!" who?Liu Bei was startled and looked back. The person who scolded him said, "Where are you from?!" He couldn't help but grab the back of his neck. "..." Liu Bei took a closer look, and he was probably an official, with the official seal of the county government on his chest.In the recent social turmoil, even local officials are usually armed.One of the two officials was holding an iron bow, and the other was wearing a half-moon gun.

"From Zhuo County." As soon as the young Liu Bei answered, the man then asked, "Where is Zhuo County?" "Ah, I'm from Lousang Village, Zhuo County, and I'm still living in Lousang Village with my mother." "What are you doing?" "Weaving mats and making curtains for sale." "Oh, so it's a peddler." "yes." "But you..." The officer suddenly let go of the back of Liu Bei's neck as if hiding something dirty, and stared at the sword at his waist. "This sword is also decorated with gold rings and Langgan beads! How can a mat seller have such a sword?! Where did you steal it?"

"This is my father's relic, not stolen." The answer is honest, but righteous.As soon as the officer caught Liu Bei's gaze, he immediately averted his eyes and said, "But, you have been sitting here for a long time, what are you looking at? There is no way to avoid suspicion. It just so happened that a group of yellow scarf thieves attacked the neighborhood last night. You ran away with your belongings. You look quite honest, you don’t look like a villain, but we can’t help but suspect it.” "You're right...Actually, I'm waiting for the Luoyang boat, and I heard it's coming down today."

"Oh, is it possible that some relative came here by boat?" "No, I was waiting to buy some tea." "tea?!" The official widened his eyes. Officials don't know the taste of tea yet.Because tea is given to dying patients, or to people of considerable esteem.People think tea is so expensive and precious. "Who is it for? Is there a serious patient at home?" "There is no patient. My mother likes to drink tea all her life. But the family is poor, so it is rare to buy it for her. No, I have saved some scraps of money after doing business for a year or two. I want to buy some for her. It is a gift for this trip. "

"Yeah, it's admirable! I also have a son, but how can he let his father and mother drink tea! Just look at him..." The two officials looked at each other, as if dispelling their doubts about Liu Bei, they walked away while chatting. The sun is setting. The evening sky turned dark red, and Liu Bei faced the red Yellow River in meditation. "Ah, I saw the flag on the ship! It must be the Luoyang ship." After a while, Liu Bei said to himself.Then Liu Bei stood up from the grass, set up the awning with his hands, and looked upstream. The boat slowly went down the river, reflecting the setting sun, and the dark shadow of the boat approached slowly.The Luoyang ship is different from ordinary passenger ships and cargo ships, and can be recognized at a glance.Numerous bright red dragon tongue flags were rolled up on the mast, and the ship building was painted colorfully.

"Hello—" Liu Bei shouted, waving his hands. But the boat ignored him, and slowly turned the rudder, brushed and lowered the sails, and drifted on the river, drifting to the shore far away. There is a Linhe village with hundreds of families. Liu Bei was not the only one waiting for the Luoyang boat today.The shore is bustling with people.Brokers leading horses, farmers loading local yarn and cotton on chicken carts, peddlers who put animal meat and fruits in baskets and wait for buyers... After receiving the Luoyang boat, the small village is about to become a market. In the upper reaches of the Yellow River, the capital of Luoyang, there is now the palace of Lingdi, the twelfth emperor of the Later Han Dynasty. Almost all the rare and cultural essences are produced there and sold all over the country.

Ships from Luoyang come here every few months, loaded with a wide variety of goods, along the Yellow River, and stop at places with markets such as small towns, villages, and tribes along the coast for trading. The Luoyang boat also stops at Linhe Village. The extremely noisy and busy trading began and continued until nightfall. Liu Bei wandered among the noisy crowd.He worried that the tea he was going to buy would fall into the hands of brokers.Because once it falls into the hands of a merchant, the price will be extremely high.I am so shy in my pocket that I can't afford it anyway. In the blink of an eye the transaction is over.Brokers, farmers, and peddlers also disappeared into the darkness in twos and threes. Liu Bei saw a businessman on the boat and hurried to him. "Is there any tea for me? I want tea." "Oh, you said tea?!" The Luoyang businessman turned to him grandly. "Unfortunately, we didn't bring cheap tea. There are only good teas on board that are priced by the piece." "Okay, I don't want a lot." "Have you ever drank tea? Local people boil leaves and drink them. That's not tea." "Yes. Please sell me real tea." Liu Bei's voice was full of eagerness. He also knows very well how valuable and expensive tea is, and this thing has never been found in the local area. It is said that the seeds of tea were brought from distant heat, and the number was very small. It was not until the Zhou Dynasty that it became a secret drink in the court.In the Han Dynasty, it was only picked in the harem tea garden, and the output was very small; among the people, only a small amount of cultivation was carried out in the territories of the dignitaries, which was extremely rare. There is another saying.According to legend, Shennong tasted all kinds of herbs every day and passed on food to the world, but he often tasted poisonous weeds.Since he got the tea, he can detoxify immediately by chewing the tea, so he loves the tea. In short, Liu Bei understands how absurd it is to buy tea in his own capacity. However, seeing Liu Bei's eager expression and earnest explanation of why he wanted to buy tea, the Luoyang businessman also seemed a little tempted, and asked, "In this case, I can sell you some. But, I'm sorry, do you have any money?" ?” "Take it with you." Liu Bei took out the skin bag from his arms, grabbed the silver and broken gold together, and put them all into the hands of the merchant without hesitation. "Oh..." the businessman said while estimating the weight in his hand, "It's true! But it's almost all silver. You can't buy much good tea with this amount of money." "As much as you want!" "Is that all you want for tea?" "I want to see my mother's smiling face." "What business do you do?" "Weaving mats and curtains." "So, it's not easy for you to save this little money." "After saving for two years, I cut down on food and clothing..." "Sounds like I can't say no to you. But it's not worth the money. Do you have anything else?" "I'll add this." Liu Bei untied the Langgan beads hanging on the fringe of the sword and handed them over.The Luoyang businessman glanced at it, showing that Langgan didn't care much about it, but said, "Okay. For your filial piety, the tea is sold." After a while, he took out a small tin can from the cabin and handed it to Liu Bei. The Yellow River dimmed.The stars in the southwest twinkle like the eyes of a demon cat.Look carefully at the light of the star, hazy with iridescent halo. This is an ominous sign of chaos to come. This is the constellation that people are afraid to see these days. "thank you!" The young Liu Bei held the small tin can in both hands, and bowed to the shadow of the boat that was about to leave the shore.His mother's happy face flashed in his eyes. However, there is still more than a hundred miles from here to Lousang Village in Zhuoxian County, my hometown, and I have to spend a few nights on the way. "Just rest tonight," he thought. Looking across to Hecun, two or three lights were shining.He went to a small inn in the village to stay. midnight. The innkeeper hurried to wake him up.When he opened his eyes, the door was filled with red flames.In the sweltering steamer heat, something was burning and crackling. "Ah! Is there a fire?" "Young man, it's the Yellow Turban Thieves! Those brokers who deal with the Luoyang boats are living in the village tonight, and the gangsters have set their sights on..." "Oh... a thief?" "Young man, you have also made a deal with them. The first thing that group targeted was the broker who stayed overnight, and it's our turn next. Run through the back door." Liu Bei quickly put on his sword. Looking at the back door, the surrounding area has been burned.The animals groaned strangely, and the women wailed under the flames and fled in all directions. The earth is as bright as day. Looking again, figures like yakshas wield spears, spears and iron sticks, and kill travelers and villagers when they see them, depicting a horrible picture of hell. If you can see it in the daytime, everyone in the gang of evil spirits is wearing a yellow turban behind their buns—the name of the yellow scarf thief comes from this.Originally China's most noble national color - the color of loess, has now become a symbol of evil spirits that makes good people shudder at the first sight. "Ah, it's too miserable..." Liu Bei said to himself, "Maybe it's God's will to let me stay here to catch up with this matter, let me save the poor people for the sky...you bastards!" As he spoke, holding the sword in one hand, he kicked open the door and was about to jump out.But then think about it: wait a minute! There is an old mother in the family, a widowed old mother who lives in the world relying on her son. Yellow Turban thieves are not only here.They are like locusts swarming all over the world, jumping over beams and causing chaos. With the bravery of a sword alone, it is difficult to kill a hundred thieves.Even if one hundred thieves are killed, the world cannot be saved. Once you make your mother sad, what if you exchange your own life for the lives of a hundred thieves? ! "Yeah, didn't I swear to the sky on the bank of the Yellow River today?" Liu Bei covered his eyes and escaped through the back door. He ran continuously under the night, and finally came to the mountain road far away from the village. "It should be fine." Wiping his sweat, looking back, the burned Linhe Village looked like a spot of fire smaller than the bonfire at the end of the wilderness. Looking up at the sky, compared with the universe with white rainbow-like nebula, the mountains in this world, the length of the Yellow River, and the vastness of the Central Plains are, rather, pitifully small existences. What's more, the insignificance of human beings-if the insignificant self... Liu Bei lamented that he was insignificant and powerless. "No! No! With people, there is a universe! Without people, the universe is just empty. People are greater than the universe!" He roared at the sky with selflessness. Of course also.Of course also. He felt as if someone was talking, but when he looked back, there was no one there. Just under the shadow of the trees there is an old Confucian temple. Liu Bei stepped forward and kowtowed to the temple. "Yes, as early as 700 years ago, Confucius was born in the state of Lu, and he turned the troubled times into troubled times. He lives in people's hearts and saves people's souls. He has proved the greatness of human beings. Confucius established the world with literature, and I want to save the people with martial arts. .In today's dark world, let the yellow ghosts jump on the bridge to cause chaos, only before the widespread use of martial arts, to establish peace on the earth with martial arts!" The sentimental young Liu Bei only said that there was no one around, and he couldn't help saying passionately as if swearing at the Confucius Temple. At this moment, someone in the temple laughed loudly. "Wow ha ha ha ha……" "Ahahahaha..." Liu Bei was taken aback. Just as he was about to stand up, a man kicked open the temple gate and rushed towards him like a leopard. "Hey, slow down!" He grabbed the back of Liu Bei's neck. At the same time, another big man kicked the wooden statue of Confucius towards Liu Bei from the temple, and cursed: "You bastard, you don't even care about this thing?! How can it be great?!" The wooden statue of Confucius had its head and neck broken, and its head was in a different place, rolling on the ground. Liu Bei was extremely frightened, thinking to himself that he had encountered a villain. There are two giant men in front of them, with yellow scarves wrapped in a bun, wearing iron armor, leather shoes on their feet, and huge swords across their waists. No need to ask, they are the Yellow Turban bandits.And the boss can be seen at a glance from his face and clothes. "Dafang, what should I do with this guy?" The man who grabbed Liu Bei's neck asked the other one.The man who kicked the wooden statue of Confucius replied: "Let him go. If he escapes, he will be killed immediately. Under my nose, can he escape?!" After speaking, he sat leisurely on the white marble in front of the temple. Dafang, Zhongfang, and Xiaofang are the titles of Fangshi (sorcerer, prayer teacher), and also indicate their rank.Among the accomplices of the Yellow Turban Thieves, it refers to the generals. But the main general Zhang Jiao doesn't call him that.For Zhang Jiao and his two younger brothers, they should be honored as "Great Teacher, Zhang Jiao, General of Heaven", "Zhang Bao, General of Earth", and "Zhang Liang, General of People". Under them, set up the so-called Dafang and Zhongfang generals to organize the troops.The man sitting in front of Liu Bei is Ma Yuanyi, the leader of Zhang Jiao's Yellow Turban bandits. "Hey, Gan Hong." Seeing Gan Hong's worried look, Ma Yuanyi said arrogantly, "Bring that guy to the front. Yes, come to me." Liu Bei was grabbed by the back of the neck and pulled to Ma Yuanyi. "Hey, country bumpkin!" Ma Yuanyi glared at Liu Bei and said, "You just made a big oath to the Confucius Temple, are you serious or crazy?!" "yes." "A 'yes' can't be fooled. What did you say just now to crusade against the yellow devil beasts. Who are the yellow devils? What do you mean by beasts?" "Nothing special." "How could anyone make a fool of yourself?!" "Walking on the mountain road is too lonely. I just talked nonsense in order to drive away the fear. I walked while talking." "Are you telling the truth?" "yes." "Where are you going, in the middle of the night?" "Go back to Zhuo County." "There is still a long way to go. At dawn, we have to go to the town in the north. We were woken up by your boy, and I am afraid that we will never be able to sleep again. It happens that we have luggage and can't get it. You carry me luggage, come with us. Hey, Gan Hong!" "Hey." "Let this guy carry the luggage, you take my half-moon gun." "Is this the way to go?" "After Lingzi, it should be dawn. By then, those people will have finished their work for tonight and will catch up with us from behind." "Let's leave some marks as we walk." Gan Hong wrote something on the temple wall, and tied a yellow scarf on the branches of the roadside every half a mile he walked... Dafang Ma Yuanyi rode leisurely on the horse, walking in front.