Chapter 6 Chapter 5 The Dead

Nanzheng City. Jiang Wei sighed, put down the brush in his hand, and collected the documents on the voucher into a pile.He flipped the wick casually, and couldn't help feeling a burst of emotion.Time passed faster than the Wei River, it seemed like it was yesterday that he followed the prime minister to the expedition, and he was already in his early fifties this year.From a high-spirited young man to a grey-haired veteran, the twists and turns and experiences during this period are beyond words. Every time Jiang Wei thinks of these things, he can always think of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, and then he will feel that he is simply Feng Tang and Li Guang.Although he is now a dignified general of the Shu Han Dynasty, if one's ambitions cannot be realized, what is the point of having a high official position and noble salary?

At this time, there were three light knocking sounds from outside the window, and Jiang Wei immediately put away his intoxicated expression of remembering the past, and returned to a gloomy and serious look, and said in a deep voice, "Come in." The door opened with a creak, and a petty official in his thirties came into the room.He looked sideways frequently with his eyes, and his manner was very cautious. "Xiao Gao, did you find the dead man so quickly?" Jiang Wei asked, and the little official called "Xiao Gao" showed a half helpless half hesitant expression, and said hesitantly: "Go back to the general, I found it, but..."

"But what?" Jiang Wei's face sank, he hated this kind of sloppy style very much. "But...that man is sixty-three years old." Seeing Jiang Wei's face getting more and more ugly, Xiao Gao quickly added, "He insisted on seeing the general, and said that if the general didn't see him, he would be sorry for the great cause of the Northern Expedition of the Shu Han ..." "Oh? What a big tone, tell him to come in, I want to see what kind of character he is." When Jiang Wei heard this sentence, he suddenly became interested.He waved his hand, Xiao Gao hurried out of the house, and soon led in an old man wearing a bamboo hat.

After entering the house, the old man took off the bamboo hat without saying a word.By candlelight, Jiang Wei saw that the old man was wearing an ordinary coarse cloth Tsing Yi, his hair and beard were already grey, his face was full of wrinkles, permeated with pain and vicissitudes, but those wrinkles seemed to be chiseled with a stone ax of the Shu Road, every time All the lines are outlined with incomparable rigidity.This person must have lived in Longxi for a long time, Jiang Wei thought to himself. Jiang Wei signaled Xiao Gao to leave, then reached out to dim the candlelight, stared at him for a long time, and then said coldly: "Mr., do you know who I want to call?"

"Dead man." The old man answered very briefly. "Does the old man know what a dead man is?" "When you risk your life, you are the master, and you are not afraid of death, such as Yu Rang, Nie Zheng, and Jing Ke in ancient times." Jiang Wei nodded, and said sarcastically: "These three are dead men, you are right. But old man, you are already sixty-three, do you still think you are qualified for this responsibility?" "A dead man focuses on his aspirations, not his shape." "The most important thing for a dead man is his loyalty." Jiang Wei replied, and at the same time put his body in a more comfortable position, "Let's put it this way, I don't trust a dead man who comes to his door to show his loyalty. It usually starts with deception. Ended with a trick."

In the face of Jiang Wei's straightforward approach, the old man's expression did not change at all. "You don't need to trust me. You just need to know that what you want to do is also what I want to do. Our goals are the same, and that's enough." "Oh?" Jiang Wei seemed to be smiling. He leaned forward, as if he was interested in what the old man said. "Tell me, what do I want to do?" "Kill Fei Yi." Jiang Wei stood up "Huo" when he heard these three words, and shouted angrily, "Bold! How dare you try to assassinate my important official of the Shu Han!"

The old man seemed to have expected Jiang Wei's reaction long ago. Standing in the shadow of the room with his arms folded, he said slowly, "Isn't this what the general wants to do?" "Ridiculous! Wen Wei is the mainstay of my Shu Han, what reason do I have to mess with the country?" "This point, the general himself should be clearer than I am. Who repeatedly suppressed the general's suggestion of the Northern Expedition, and who is only willing to give the general 10,000 old and weak soldiers, so that the general has nothing to do in the Longyou area?"

"It's just political disagreement, but it's all for the cause of revival. Wen Wei and I have no personal grudges." "Oh... is the general going to sit and wait for Fei Yi to deal with the general? You should know how he is." The old man's words made Jiang Wei, who had an angry expression, fall into silence.Fei Yi's reputation in the outside world is known as calm and friendly, but Jiang Wei, who has experienced decades of experience in the Shu Han officialdom, also knows his true personality. After the death of the prime minister, the conflict that broke out was the dispute between Wei Yan and Yang Yi. In the end, Fei Yi, who used the name of mediation, first deceived Wei Yan's trust, and then used Yang Yi's hand to get rid of Wei Yan in the name of suppressing the rebellion; He also secretly played Yang Yi's complaints, forcing him to commit suicide; then squeezed out Wu Yi, and let Wang Ping, who belonged to his faction, sit in the military.These are what Jiang Wei sees.After that time, Fei Yi's calm and ruthless methods left a deep impression on him, and he never dared to underestimate this smiling fat man again.

Although Jiang Wei was not affected much by relying on his status as the successor of the prime minister, he has been deliberately suppressed by Fei Yi.He called for the Northern Expedition many times, but the memorials he gave were all sincere in tone, and he did not dare to be a little violent in his words, for fear of challenging Fei Yi's authority and being persecuted. Now that the old man hit Jiang Wei's sore spot, he had to put away the anger he had shown in that show, and rethink what the old man said. "...Well, let's not talk about this for now..." Jiang Wei twitched his lips, waved his hands, and sat back again. "Then, old man, why did you kill him?"

"My reason for killing him is stronger than yours... The reason why I have lived in Longxi until now is to kill him. In fact, I also want to kill Wang Ping, but unfortunately he has already died of illness." The old man said without hesitation, and Jiang Wei noticed that his eyes became sharper in an instant, and at the same time became interested in his strong hatred. "Tell me your reasons, I think this is the basis of our mutual trust." Jiang Wei said. The old man nodded, walked to the front of the table, picked up a brush, wrote two characters on the white paper laid out, and gave it to Jiang Wei.

"I think these two words should be enough." Jiang Wei took the copybook and looked at it. He was startled, and hurriedly raised his head to look at the old man's face again. This time he vaguely remembered that he seemed to have seen this person many years ago. He went to Nanzheng in Xicheng. On the way, he was still young at that time... and the old man's next story also started from there. When the old man finished telling the story surrounded by those two words, Jiang Wei was dumbfounded and could hardly believe it.He didn't expect that there was such a thing hidden behind that incident, and he didn't expect that the long-dead person would suddenly appear in front of him today. He originally put on a high profile, but now he became at a loss. He stretched out his hand and patted the old man's shoulder. After thinking for a long time, he found a sentence that he thought was more appropriate: "I think if nothing like that happened, Maybe the person in this seat today is you..." "Hehe, it's all about the number of days, the number of days." The old man didn't seem to care about these things at all: "How about it, General Jiang, can you trust me now?" "yes." Jiang Wei nodded, and at the same time solemnly stated as if justifying his actions: "This is for the prime minister's great cause of the Northern Expedition." "Yes, for the Prime Minister." The old man's expression seemed to have changed, but Jiang Wei didn't know what kind of emotion was hidden behind the wrinkles and pockmarks. In April of the fifteenth year of Yanxi, there was a wave of small waves on the border of Shu and Wei, which had been silent for a long time.A Han army led by General Jiang Wei of the Han Guard went deep into the Wei territory, attacked Xiping County of Wei State with the cooperation of the Qiang people, and then retreated hastily before the reinforcements of the Wei army.In this attack, a Zhonglang named Guo Xun in the state of Wei was captured by the Shu army, and all his followers were killed. This time the military operation did not have any substantial gains, but to the surprise of the Shu Han officials, the captured Wei Guozhong Lang will show great sincerity and take the initiative to show respect to the Shu Han.The Shu Han court, which has always regarded itself as "orthodox", has always been extremely tolerant of enemy generals who surrendered.Xia Houba, the former general of the Wei State, received grand treatment, so Guo Xun also received special treatment. Although Guo Xun's appearance is not good, his face is full of pockmarks, but his attitude is modest and his conversation is extraordinary, which is quite popular with all the officials of Shu Han.After he was received by Emperor Liu Chan, he was immediately named General Zuo.You know, this is the post that the late Hou Xiang Hou Machao once held. Then Guo Xun was left in Chengdu.He is low-key, calm and measured, but he is very clear about the temperament and hobbies of the officials. What's more rare is that he is very familiar with bureaucratic affairs, as if he has lived in Shu for more than ten years.There is no reason why such a person should not be reused, and soon the general Fei Yi stationed in Hanshou began to notice this person. Guo Xun has outstanding ability and does not take credit for it, and his temperament is similar to that of Fei Yi; on the other hand, he seems to have a lot of hostility towards General Wei Jiang Wei.This is a good pawn for Fei Yi, it would be a pity not to get it into his account.So he began to win over Guo Xun consciously, and wrote several letters to him one after another, talking about major events in the world, and the latter replied one by one. Fei Yi admired the political opinions and writing style revealed in the letters. At the end of the year, Fei Yi finally obtained the permission to open the government office, and became the third person in Shu Han to open the government office after Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wan.He immediately made a list of aides and staff he wanted to enlist, and Guo Xun's name was among them. In the early spring of the 16th year of Yanxi, Guo Xun and more than a dozen other officials who had been conscripted rushed from Chengdu to Hanshou, where Fei Yi founded his mansion. General Wei Jiang Wei and other high-ranking officers also arrived at the same time, making a special trip to this place. Congratulations to a proud general.Fei Yi, who was very happy, decided to hold a banquet to celebrate the glory of opening a mansion. This time the scale of the banquet was very large, and the level was quite high, because all the important figures of the Shu Han were present.The banquet was very lively. The host set up dozens of tables in the open space inside and outside the Hanshou Zhishang, which were filled with guests from all over the place who came to congratulate.Not to mention senior bureaucrats, even ordinary petty officials have a place to enjoy this rare feast.Dozens of servants shuttled non-stop between the banquet, carrying wine and food in and out, extremely busy. Dozens of glamorous dancers danced lightly with the accompaniment of the band, and danced the seven-pan music that has been popular in Liangchuan since the Han Dynasty. I saw them shuttle between the seven pans, with their red shoes in sync with the beat of the drums, and their hands Swinging, the long sleeves are waving like flowing clouds, elegant and erratic, like a fairy descending from Kunlun Mountain.While drinking, the audience gave them applause and praise without hesitation. "Hehe, Boyue, this time I will be the director of the mansion, and I will ask for your help in the future." Fei Yi said to Jiang Wei while sitting in the banquet. Jiang Wei also smiled, raised his glass and replied meaningfully: "Wen Wei is expected this time, and I can only admire him. I look forward to more development under the general's command in the future." "Well, that's natural, isn't the general and I always working together happily?" Fei Yi laughed loudly, stood up holding the big toast, and walked down the stage.Now he is truly under one person and above ten thousand people, just like Prime Minister Zhuge back then.When he saw the expressions of Jiang Wei, Dong Yun and others during the banquet, his sense of accomplishment became more fulfilling and satisfying. He wandered among the noise, frequently greeting the guests.Everywhere he went, the guests stood up one after another and toasted him, and he cheerfully returned every toast, his face flushed from drinking unconsciously, and his footsteps became a little buoyant.However, his mood became more and more cheerful, until his body couldn't bear the drunkenness, he staggered to find an empty chair and sat down. Just then, a person approached him. "General Fei?" The man said to him, Fei Yi opened his eyes, desperately trying to sit up straight to see, but couldn't sit up anyway, so he had to ask vaguely: "Uh, uh, your honor is..." "Oh, next is Guo Xun." "Guo Xun... Oh, it's you, oh, oh, it's really rude, nice to meet you." "Where, it's my fault that I didn't come to visit the general until now." While talking, Guo Xun took another three steps closer.Fei Yi was very happy, struggling to remember to speak, but unfortunately he couldn't do what he wanted.Guo Xun smiled, came to the drunk general, and bent down.At this time, the surrounding area was still very lively, the banquet reached its climax, and the noise of the guests also reached the highest point.Everyone was interested in having fun, but Fei Yi, the protagonist of the banquet, was temporarily ignored, and Jiang Wei was the only one who looked at this side coldly through the passing crowd. Fei Yi suddenly heard Guo Xun say something in his ear, the voice was so soft that he couldn't hear clearly, so he turned his head away in confusion, signaling to say it again.Guo Xun lowered his head again and repeated his words. This time, Fei Yi heard clearly, his pupils dilated for an instant, and his whole body froze there.This is half because of the stimulation of his nerves by that sentence, and the other half is because Guo Xun stabbed him in the chest with a sharp knife. It was a servant who first discovered this change. He saw Guo Xun slowly pull out the knife from Fei Yi's chest, and then stabbed it in again. He couldn't help but screamed in panic.Guo Xun kept the knife in Fei Yi's chest, and slowly stepped back two steps, as if wanting to appreciate this masterpiece carefully, a wonderful smile appeared on his pockmarked face. The happy atmosphere of the banquet was interrupted in an instant. Some people were at a loss with their wine glasses, and some people fled out following the screams of the maikos. The noise suddenly turned into chaos.At this time, Jiang Wei suddenly stood up in the VIP seat and shouted sharply: "Don't panic, protect General Fei!" The guards, who had just woken up from a dream, picked up their weapons and rushed towards Fei Yi and Guo Xun.They were surprised to find that four of General Jiang Wei's personal soldiers were faster than them, and they had already surrounded Guo Xun with big swords in their hands. Guo Xun calmly turned his face away, looked at Jiang Wei at the VIP seat, and nodded.Jiang Wei made a gesture with a blank face, and the four soldiers immediately shouted: "Avenge General Fei, don't let the assassin go!" He raised the knife and fell, knocking Guo Xun who had not resisted to the ground. into meat paste. No one knew what Guo Xun was thinking at that time, except Jiang Wei. This assassination shocked the ruling and opposition parties of the Shu Han Dynasty. Emperor Liu Chan and many officials lamented Fei Yi's death.Everyone believed that this was undoubtedly a conspiracy by the pseudo-Wei, because Guo Xun was originally from Wei, and Fei Yi was too wary of people.General Wei Jiang Wei, who was in charge of the investigation, later wrote a letter saying that Guo Xun originally intended to assassinate the emperor, but because the emperor was heavily guarded, he turned to General Fei as his target.Hearing these words, Liu Chan felt fortunate while being sad. The court of the Shu Han Dynasty granted Fei Yi the posthumous title "Jing", which means the code of goodness, in recognition of his achievements during his lifetime. Then the body of the unfortunate general who was assassinated was buried in a magnificent manner. They all sent people to express their condolences.At the funeral, General Wei Jiang Wei delivered a speech on behalf of the officials, saying: "There has never been an official who has brought us such a long-lasting peace like you." After Wei Guo heard the news, he was puzzled at first, and then overjoyed. He immediately made Guo Xun Marquis of Changle and let his son inherit his title.A few months after this, an official document submitted to the imperial court in Longxi pointed out that a body suspected to be Guo Xun himself was found near Xiping, and the body seemed to have been dead for at least a year. This document, which contradicted the official statement, did not attract anyone's attention, because at that time, the attention of Wei Guo was attracted by another matter. The border urgently reported that Jiang Wei, the general of the Shu Hanwei, suddenly launched an attack on the Longyou area, which was the largest since Zhuge Liang's death.The offensive and defensive battle of Longxi in the post-Zhuge Liang era officially kicked off.