Chapter 25 5. Heroes are of one mind but different comrades

On an empty sandy beach by the Changning River, Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang walked side by side, walking slowly.Under the bright silver moonlight, the beach is as white as a thin layer of frost and snow.Their tall and slender figures are projected on it, stretching out straight like two poplar trees, very long... Liu Nuo and Niu Jin each led four dead soldiers silently standing in the distance, carefully guarding their surroundings.Although both Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang secretly had superb martial arts skills, as personal bodyguards, they still dare not forget their bounden duty at all times, and dare not slack off in the slightest.

"Thank you, Zhongda, for playing tricks in many ways in Cao Ying during this period of time, which has helped us to finally win the battle against the Cao bandits!" Zhuge Liang put away the goose feather fan in his hand, and thanked Sima Yi very sincerely. "It's not yet the moment of final victory in the Battle of Chibi! Kong Ming, you thanked you too early!" The smile on Sima Yi's face was very shallow. It's just a 'live drama', not to mention any 'secret assistance'." "According to Liang's calculations, on the afternoon of the 20th of this month, there will be a southeast wind blowing on the river from You hour, and it will last for two days and two nights. It’s a good time—I hope Brother Zhong Da will make early preparations for this.”

"Okay. Just let go and burn, Yi will be able to retreat." Sima Yi raised his eyes, looked at the sparkling silver waves on the river, and let out a long breath, "After this battle, Yi I'm going back to Xudu. Let's say goodbye tonight, I don't know when you and I will meet again?" Hearing Sima Yi say this, Zhuge Liang felt as if his heart had been hit hard, and it shook very violently.In the past few months, he and Sima Yi have exchanged letters and letters. Although they rarely met, the two of them came and went, asked and answered, and talked and smiled. melt.This deep love can be described as different bodies and one heart, close relatives and close friends.If Sima Yi really left at this point, where would I find such a close friend?

Zhuge Liang hesitated for a long time, and finally couldn't help but asked: "Actually, Zhongda didn't have to return to Xudu in such a hurry. Why don't you take this opportunity to stay? Stay with Uncle Liu Huang with Liang and others, and work together to help Kuangfu Han room, and built the world-class feats of Zhang Liang, Chen Ping, Xiao He and other sages!" When Sima Yi heard this, his expression was solemn, but he secretly sighed in his heart.Zhang Liangzhixun, Chen Pingzhigong, Xiao Hezhirong, are they in my Sima Zhongda's eyes?What I, Sima Yi, want to achieve is the first-class imperial career of Qin Shihuang, Han Gaozu and other founding heroes—I am afraid that Uncle Liu Huang will not give me such a grand development space!

He restrained his thoughts, and smiled slightly on his face: "In the Xudu Weiyang Palace, His Majesty, Yang Taiwei, and Xun Lingjun are waiting eagerly for Yi to go back and report the victory to them personally. Why should Kong Ming be so reluctant to part? Uncle Liu Huang held up the flag of righteousness, bowed to lead the volunteers, wiped out the rebels, captured Xudu, the day when Cao Cao gave the head, wouldn't it be the time when you and my brothers meet?" "This...with Mr. Sima being so wise and virtuous, can it be possible that Cao Cao has the military power in Xudu and is so powerful that it will be difficult for Yang Taiwei and Xun Lingjun to win even though they have all kinds of strategies? Zhongda, why do you want to be buried for His Majesty, this... the Lord of the Middle Ages like Dr. Kong Rong?" Zhuge Liang still persuaded unwillingly, "My family's Emperor Liu is orthodox in the Han Dynasty, and he is as close as Emperor Guangwu. He has the demeanor of a virtuous man who loves the people like a son, and the emperor's virtue of being ambitious, undefeated, and struggling repeatedly. Where is the Lord?"

"There is an old saying: a virtuous gentleman enters an official position, not because of his ruler, not because of his friends, but because of his way. Today, His Majesty is in a dangerous situation, and is waiting for loyal ministers and righteous men from all over the world to come and serve. Yi has read the books of sages and sages since he was a child, and only the word "loyalty" is the first word, and he will not hesitate to die! Yi, Xun Lingjun and Yang Taiwei used literary attack skills to deal with Cao thief in the court, while Kong Ming and Liu Huangshu were free to fight in Sifangzhou County Wouldn't it be better to use the art of martial arts to echo each other from afar——with internal and external forces?"

Hearing that Sima Yi still refused so politely, Zhuge Liang had countless thoughts in his mind.Regardless of whether Sima Yi has the sincerity to be loyal to the Han Dynasty, but he has the ability to shake the world, which is the most worrying.Who can be sure that after returning to Xudu, he will remain loyal to the Han Dynasty in the future?What if one day he still rebelled against Han and voted for Cao?Then, isn't he his strongest opponent in Cao Fang's camp... Thinking about it, the corners of Zhuge Liang's brows twitched slightly, revealing a hint of murderous intent. At this time, Sima Yi turned his back as if nothing had happened, looked up at the bright moon in the night sky, and said leisurely: "Mr. Zhuge, we really have a romantic relationship. Yi had a classmate in the 'Ziyuan Academy' back then. My friend, his name is Hu Zhao, and his character is 'Kong Ming', and your Zhuge Jun's character is also 'Kong Ming'. Moreover, when I met you in Jingzhou this time, Yi deeply felt that 'it was like old friends at first sight', and I couldn't bear you... Yi will always keep in mind every little bit of getting along with you during these days! You should also know that if people like you and me, in this world, there are no friends who listen to the music, if there are no rivals who love each other , that is really too lonely, too sad..."

After hearing these words, Zhuge Liang's heartstrings trembled suddenly, and his eye sockets suddenly became hot.The faint hostility gradually faded from his eyebrows unconsciously. Sima Yi turned around again, and stood upright gracefully, his clothes fluttering gently in the evening wind.He stared at Zhuge Liang, and said slowly: "Brother Kong Ming, in Yi Yi's opinion, the contenders in the world are not about fame, rituals, or power, but the support of the people. Otherwise, no matter how good the famous weapon, no matter how pure the orthodoxy, no matter how powerful the power is, it will not make you achieve something—this may be Yi's greatest advice to you in your life."

Zhuge Liang smiled indifferently, and said softly: "Where the fame and orthodoxy lies, is where the people's hearts lie—I'm afraid Zhongda's understanding of these is a bit biased!" "That's right. 'Where there is fame and orthodoxy is where the people's hearts are.'——this sentence, Yi also thought it was correct before." Sima Yi stared at him with bright eyes, and there was a hint of innocence in his tone. A kind of metal-like rigidity, "However, later, an old incident that Yi witnessed with his own eyes shattered Yi's understanding."

"Oh? What kind of past events will shatter Brother Zhongda's understanding?" "Seven years ago, when Yi served as the governor of Hanoi County, he went to Yehe County near the border of Jizhou to handle business affairs. Yehe County is located at the junction of Yuan and Cao's two families. People live in the hail of bullets, and every day Living a precarious life, it was very bitter... Yi was walking on the street that day when she was suddenly stopped by a peasant woman. She said that her family had been hungry for three days and three nights and had nothing to eat. She knelt down Begging me on the ground, begging me to give her a bowl of rice, not for herself, but for her son and husband. I felt sorry for her, so I took out a few rice balls from my bag and put them in her broken earthenware bowl She was waiting for them on the side of the street with the broken pottery bowl. At this time, the neighbors who went to the mountain to dig wild vegetables with her family ran over and told her in a panic: her son and husband were killed by tigers on the mountain. Killed."

Sima Yi's voice suddenly became extremely cold: "Does Kong Ming know how that peasant woman reacted at that time?" Zhuge Liang was slightly stunned. Sima Yi said in a cold voice: "The peasant woman was taken aback. With a flick of her wrist, the rice balls in the broken pottery bowl fell to the ground. At this moment, with a 'boom', those neighbors who were talking to comfort her Suddenly they saw the rice grains spilled on the ground, and they all turned green eyes and rushed to the ground desperately to grab them! She also came back to her senses immediately, screamed, and threw herself to the ground like crazy, desperately throwing those rice balls to the ground. She picked up the rice and stuffed it into her mouth, for fear that others would snatch it away. She just lay on the ground without saying a word, swallowing her tears, and slowly ate all the rice and dust on the ground." At this time, even Zhuge Liang, who has always been calm and self-sufficient, was deeply moved.Sima Yi's gaze became surprisingly soft again: "Since that day, I, who have read the classics, understood a most basic truth: what the common people need most is not famous utensils or orthodox etiquette, but A portion of food and clothing, a portion of peace. And, from that day on, I fell in love with a passage in "Mencius": "In a five-acre house, if there are mulberries under the tree wall, and a woman's silkworm, then An old man is enough to wear silk. Five hens and two hens, if the time is right, the old man is enough to not lose his flesh. A field of one hundred acres can be plowed by one man; a family of eight is enough to have no hunger.' I think so A scene should be the ultimate goal for us scholars and gentlemen to go out of the mountains to become officials and make contributions. What do you think, Brother Kong Ming?" Zhuge Liang was quiet for a moment, and then said politely: "This, Brother Zhong Da said is very true. The country is based on the people, and the people depend on food. Liang has the deepest understanding of this point..." Sima Yi looked at him with an unnatural expression, but his face was as calm as water.Zhuge Liang "kidnapped" 100,000 Jingzhou expats in Changbanpo, Dangyang, based on his ambition of "recovering the Han Dynasty, reducing rebellion and chaos"; and I, Sima Yi, "kidnapped" 40,000 innocent sailors in Chibi. It is on the basis of our Sima family's great cause of "emerging suddenly and turning the world around".In this sense, we are all the same kind of people, and we are all forced by our own mission to use hands stained with other people's blood to start a new era of "the world is divided into three parts, and the tripartite confrontation"; moreover, we coincidentally I sincerely hope that this new era will finally end in my own hands... Then, if we can do our best to relieve the plight of the people and relieve the suffering of the people, wouldn't it be the only way for us to clear our "debts"? "Good motives, good means, good effects", this "three-in-one" model, is our pursuit at the top of the list all the time; evil means can be used occasionally, but try not to use them as much as possible... Moreover, forcibly "kidnapping" others on an empty and distant goal in the name of morality may achieve temporary success, but it is difficult to reach the end of victory.Will Zhuge Liang understand this in the future?He may understand this, but he will not admit it - otherwise, he would not be Zhuge Liang.At this moment, Sima Yi felt that his thoughts had drifted far, far away, and a slight self-deprecating smile could not help but appear on the corners of his lips. "Liang Su heard that a gentleman 'gives words to others' - what can Zhong Da teach me when I parting?" "Teach you? Yi dare not do it." Sima Yi pulled back his thoughts, pondered for a while, and then slowly said, "In Yiyi's opinion, after the Battle of Chibi, the most direct problem for you and Uncle Liu, Kong Ming, is no longer how to resist Cao Cao, but how to resist Cao Cao." It should be how to skillfully deal with Sun Quan in Jiangdong. Sun Quan has always been ambitious. After the victory in Chibi, he will definitely take advantage of the momentum and become the second "Cao Cao". Tuojin——In the space where he is so ambitious and aggressively expanding, you and Uncle Liu Huang can use Jiangxia County as a base to go straight to Changsha, Guiyang, Wuling, Lingling and other counties in the south of Jingzhou, and win a foothold of your own Yi believes that with Uncle Liu's popularity among the people and Kong Ming's resourcefulness, their Jiangdong Sun Clan's competitiveness is not as competitive as yours for the time being in Jingzhou! As for the "hard bone" of Jiangling City, you can let it go. Give Zhou Yu, Lu Su and the others to 'gnaw'..." When he said this, he cast his gaze toward the night sky to the west: "Also, Yizhou, a dangerous and important place, is really the last 'foundation' left by the heavens for Uncle Liu. Don't let Sun Quan, Zhou Yu and the rest Get there first and grab it." Zhuge Liang turned pale when he heard that.As the so-called "heroes see the same thing" - Sima Yi's words actually coincided with his own "Longzhong Dui" strategy, every bit of it!This person is really unpredictable! Before he could react for a moment, Sima Yi had already walked slowly in the direction where the watery and moonlit flowers on the beach came and went, and his voice came gently with the night wind: "Brother Kong Ming, Yi will bid farewell tonight. Don’t bother to send it away! Here is a special box of gifts, and I hope you can accept it.” "Hey! Zhongda! Zhongda!..." Surprised, Zhuge Liang turned his head inadvertently while shouting, and saw that Liu Nuo and the four dead soldiers of Liu Jun were walking over carrying a large mahogany box.When he arrived in front of him, Liu Nuo said, "This big box was brought over by Niu Jin and his men just now..." Zhuge Liang waved his hand hastily—Liu Nuo understood, stepped forward to lift the lid of the box, only to find a living person bound inside! "No doubt?" Zhuge Liang was taken aback when he saw it, and hastily turned around to look where Sima Yi was going - he had already disappeared without a trace.There are only two rows of deep footprints left on the moonlight-plated sandy beach, extending far to the end of the night...