Chapter 7 eloquent

"Say! Are you a Liangzhou soldier?" "When will your soldiers arrive here?" "Stop talking nonsense with him, kill him!" "Where did your companion report to?" This group of villagers kept shouting and questioning me, Cao Cao heard a half-knowledge: It seems that this group of people regarded me as an officer of the Liangzhou Department, and hurriedly opened their mouths to explain, but everyone kept shouting and didn't listen to his explanation at all. "Stop making noise! ​​A person's life depends on the sky, let him argue and make a decision." At this time, the man from Zhiye came from behind, and the villagers really listened to him, and immediately fell silent.Cao Cao quickly explained: "I am not a soldier, but a passer-by."

The man smiled and said, "Don't you want to deceive us, you are with that soldier, do you think we are indifferent?" Cao Cao thought he was talking about Yuan Shu, and quickly teased: "He is a deserter from Luoyang. , I met on the road, but it’s just the same road.” "This statement is absurd! Today's deserters rob everyone they meet, and grab money when they see it." As he spoke, he took out a golden hairpin and shook it, "You and I have a hairpin, its quality is gold, its color is good, and its appearance is beautiful. , If you encounter deserters, you will be taken captive. Why don't you be the only one who doesn't rob you? It must be you who have a good ear with him!"

Then he picked up Cao Cao's parcel from the ground, and said, "Your horse has stirrups and bells, but if everything is hidden, it must be an officer disguised! Am I right?" Cao Cao is really about to cry right now, this guy is incoherent but his mind is very good, I am afraid that they will regard him as a member of the Xiliang Army, so he has to tell the truth that he escaped from Luoyang, but he dare not reveal his identity and identity. first and last name.After hearing what he said, the man suddenly scrutinized Cao Cao's face, and suddenly shouted, "Er Naixiao Cavalry Captain Cao Mengde?"

"no no!" "Shut up! I went to the temple (Yamen) this morning. The meritorious Cao said that the three escaped officials in Luoyang will cause great harm. I have seen their graphics. You are Cao Mengde, the leader of the criminal officials!" Cao Cao's heart was cold at that time, and he said with a wry smile: "It's amazing...what kind of official are you? Why do you go in and out of the county government?" The man patted his chest proudly: "I am the head of the pavilion here!" Under the system of the Han family, counties are set up under the county, and there are townships under the county. In the township, ten li is a pavilion, and loyal and prestigious people are elected as the pavilion chief.In fact, he only cares about the law and order of ten miles, and has no salary to speak of. He is a small role at all, and Cao Cao's big boat capsized in a small river ditch.

The head of the pavilion called the villagers to disperse, picked five strong young men, escorted Cao Cao, led his horse, and turned him to the government.Cao Cao sighed unceasingly, and escaped from the land of Henan in sight, but was arrested by such a sour little official. Looking back on how he deceived Dong Zhuo in the past, he would have to be disemboweled and broken into pieces when he was sent back to Luoyang.Is there no way? Cao Cao was tightly bound, and there were five other men who were holding him, pushing and shoving him, making his hair disheveled, and it was impossible to escape.He saw that the pavilion chief was leading the way, stepping and swaying three times to pretend to be elegant, and he became more and more energetic, so he shouted: "Stop resting! Stop resting! The road is difficult, it's impossible, I can't walk."

He intended to be sarcastic, but he didn't know that such nonsense actually fit the mind of the pavilion chief. He turned his head and said, "I heard from you, knowing that you have traveled a long distance here, and when you go to the temple when you are young, you will inevitably suffer from shackles. Rest for a while." It is expected that the head of the pavilion has some prestige in the village, those men are obedient and immediately push him to sit down, and several people also sit on the ground, taking water bags to drink. A burst of hope arose in Cao Cao's heart: This pavilion chief is also a reasonable person, if I know the benefits and disadvantages of him, I might not be able to get away.So he sighed: "Master Tingchang, has your village ever been harmed by beasts in Liangzhou?" The pavilion leader ignored him, but the man beside him said, "Does that matter? The neighboring villages were all killed by those beasts." They were robbed, and the villagers fled to other places if they had no way to survive. Our village is still a good fortune teller. The head of the pavilion donated all the cattle and sheep in the village, and took a lot of money to escape, but I don’t know when they will come again. "

"Hey! Master Tingchang, do you know why I, Cao Cao, escaped from the capital?" The pavilion chief still ignored him and turned his face away.Seeing this, Cao Cao asked the men beside him, "Do you know?" Several people looked at each other in blank dismay. "Since Dong Zhuo came to Beijing, he has abolished the emperor, murdered the empress dowager, slaughtered all the officials, and raped the court ladies. All the loyal and good people have been killed, and the people of Luoyang have no escape. Let me tell you, the Xiliang soldiers who looted your area are him. Brought by Dong Zhuo. The reason why I escaped from the capital was not just to run for my own life. I want to go back to my hometown and raise my troops to kill King Qin of Luoyang in the future, so as to relieve the suffering of the people!" Cao Cao said earnestly, "I don't want to go here and be captured by you Wait, this is also the end of my destiny. But if the Dong thief is not eliminated, how many innocent people will die, and how many villages will be destroyed and the common people will be killed!" The men couldn't help feeling sad when they heard this, but the pavilion chief said Still refused to look back at him.

Cao Cao said again: "One of Dong Zhuo's subordinates, Guo Aduo, enjoys killing people. Every time he washes the village with blood, he will take all the women captive, and the men will kill all the hanging heads. I'm really afraid that he will kill him in the area of ​​Zhongmou. But what should I do?" Everyone's faces turned green with fright: "This is what to do." "Can you let me go? I will raise my troops and rescue you!" Cao Cao looked around them earnestly, "This is not only to save you, but also to save all the poor people in the world. If Dong Bandit can be eradicated, Then the court can be reorganized. There are no eunuchs in the court now. We will wait for the ministers to assist the world before we can cultivate moral government. Everyone will not have to worry about rebellion, labor, and famine! Don’t you hate Dong Zhuo? I am the person Dong Zhuo wants to kill the most , I won't lie to you..."

Several men whispered to each other, and finally one of them said to the pavilion chief: "What he said is also reasonable, don't we..." The pavilion chief finally couldn't help it: "Du! People, the yamen servant must have asked after hearing this, how can we answer! Don't listen to this man's nonsense." Cao Cao looked up and laughed. "What are you laughing at?" Cao Cao didn't answer, but laughed to himself. "I ask you what are you laughing at?" The pavilion chief got angry. "I laugh at you for being ignorant of current affairs, unable to read well, not very knowledgeable, and pretending to be smart!"

"You're talking nonsense!" The pavilion chief was finally squeezed to the point of speaking. "I'm not talking nonsense, you're just a big bastard, you don't understand anything!" Cao Cao continued to provoke him. The pavilion chief was so angry that he raised Lao Gao with a slap, put it down again, and muttered: "A gentleman uses his mouth but does not move his hands, a gentleman uses his mouth but does not move his hands..." "What kind of gentleman are you? You haven't studied at all!" "I am poor and ambitious, and I have been familiar with poetry and books since I was a child. If it weren't for my poor family and low status, I would have become a high-ranking official!" The pavilion chief paced back and forth angrily.

"You can't be a high official, you are not even worthy of the current pavilion chief and small official!" "You, you, you... talking nonsense, talking nonsense, spouting feces, and the smell is unbearable!" The pavilion chief was so angry that he jumped on his feet and cursed, tears were about to come down. Seeing that he was extremely angry, Cao Cao turned to say with a pleasant face: "My lord, please sit down and listen to me. I told you to listen to the two pavilion chiefs and small officials to see if you are comparable." "Say it! Let's see what tricks you can come up with!" He sat down. Cao Cao cleared his throat and said: "In the old days of Qin Dynasty, there was Liu Ji, who was born in the land of Peifeng, and was also a pavilion chief. Qin Wang Yingzheng was tyrannical for no reason. He built the Great Wall in the north and built A Fang in the west. He conscripted all the people in the world to serve in corvee, and seven out of ten died. The tragedy was unspeakable. Liu Ji imprisoned the peasants and dismissed all of them on the way. Later, Mangdang Mountain killed the white snake uprising, he entered the pass to destroy Qin, and Jiuli Mountain ambushed Xiang Yu from all sides, and finally ruled the world." "You are talking about my Emperor Gaozu, how can ordinary people in the lower officials reach him?" The pavilion chief shook his head again and again, but he was not as angry as before. "Okay, let's not mention it, Grandfather Gao, let me tell you about a little official." Cao Cao said again, "In the past, when Emperor Guangwu was diving into the dragon, he defeated Wang Mang's million soldiers in Kunyang. But the false emperor was envious of the virtuous and capable, and made great contributions. I didn't reward him, but ordered him to go through Hebei, and he really wanted to do harm. At that time, there was a rebel family in Hebei, named Wang Chang, whose power spread all over the remote Hebei. A city of 100,000 households was enfeoffed. I, Lord Guangwu, had to flee again and again, and was trapped in Jizhong. At that time, there was a small official at the south gate of the city. Who?' Open the south gate and let Lord Guangwu go. Later, Lord Guangwu destroyed Wang Chang, fixed Chimei, punished Kuixiao, and took over the land of Shu to rule the world. Master Tingchang, let me ask you, if it wasn’t for that mere official Open the door and indulge, how can you and I live in the post-Han world now? This mere official, you can do it?" Cao Mengde spoke eloquently, and the pavilion chief was sweating profusely, as if he was sitting on pins and needles, he was speechless. After a while, he got up and said, "Shame on you! Shame on you! This world is chaotic, and it is not appropriate to restrain the heroes of the world. I have offended you." After saying this, he untied Cao Cao himself. Cao Cao thanked him again and again, saying that he would return with his troops.The head of the pavilion returned Dawan horse and Qingzhi sword to him, and guided him on the way back to the south. Cao Cao tried to impress this man with some rhetoric, but he was afraid it would not last long, so he dared not stay for a while, so he galloped away on his horse and went straight for more than ten li, leaving the border of Zhongmou County, before he breathed a sigh of relief.