Chapter 923 Exposed
When Xiao Xiao saw that King Zhang, whom he mentioned about his eldest wife, had already made a noise, he found that the old man from Kyoto in front of him was not surprised, thinking that he had a different opinion, so he asked:
"Brother Ding, what do you think of this battle? Will this lady really be able to unify the country?"
Cao Cao did not answer his question, but picked up the fruits and vegetables on the plate and chewed them. Because they were too smooth, he ate them faster and faster.
Xiao Xiao also knowingly handed some game in front of him to Cao Cao, but Cao Cao shook his head and muttered:
"It will be bad for your stomach if you eat this."
Xiao Xiao then gave up, and then restrained his excessive hospitality and watched Cao Cao gobbling up the plates of fruits and vegetables.
After finishing a large plate of vegetables, Cao Cao began to eat some corn, which at least replenished his energy and energy.
With these things in his mind, Cao Cao began to tell Xiao Xiao about the situation in the world.
"Xiao Jun, do you know justice and injustice?"
The young Xiao Fan was about to say some pleasant words, but when he came to his mouth, he felt that they were out of place. He could only shake his head to express that he was too young to judge what righteousness was. ”
At this time, Cao Cao may have wanted to inspire himself and give himself a belief to support himself. The more difficult a situation is, the only thing people can rely on is this.
So Cao Cao's eyes were bright and he really spoke some truth to Xiao Fan.
But I heard Cao Cao say:
"There are righteousness and unrighteousness in this world. Confucius advocated benevolence, but Mencius advocated righteousness, just because he was in real troubled times. Only by emphasizing righteousness can we eliminate the source of trouble in the world. Only righteousness can defeat injustice, and there is Tao. A wise soldier is better than an unruly soldier.”
"Looking at the thief Zhang Datai, he can be an unjust person and raise unethical soldiers. Which of the methods he uses is not a matter of causing trouble to the general? And the two kings Chen and Sun of Pengcheng helped the Han Dynasty and raised righteous soldiers. , just because there is a way, is it okay to attack the way without a way? ”
Seeing what Cao Cao said so impassionedly, although Xiao Xiao thought it was a bit far-fetched, he did not object directly. Instead, he asked:
"That Mr. Ding, don't you know what righteousness is?"
After Cao Cao ate this meal, he was constrained by his status. He had to talk about Confucian principles without overly revealing his differences. After all, the man in front of him was a descendant of the old master from the previous dynasty, so he might have a complete understanding of Confucian principles.
So Cao Cao shook his head like a Confucian and said:
"What is righteousness? It is just what should be done by reason and what emotions should be done. Those who can distinguish right from wrong, understand the right and wrong, have the right reason in their hearts, conform to the laws of nature and human feelings, and keep the right path are called righteousness."
But Xiao Xiao frowned, and he asked Cao Cao doubtfully:
"Although the boy is remote, he often hears that King Zhang can be called 'righteous'. He is responsible, distinguishes right from wrong, and understands right and wrong. Isn't this exactly righteous? Why does Mr. Ding say that he is unjust?"
After hearing that Xiao Xiao already expressed some recognition of the Taishan Army, Cao Cao was already on guard, but he was still explaining:
"Xiao Jun, don't you know that there are big righteousness and small righteousness? Isn't it unjust to compare small righteousness with big righteousness?"
Xiao Xiao was confused and asked what was the difference between the two.
However, he heard that Cao Cao was still chanting, but his eyes were quickly observing the surroundings. He felt that the Xiao Xiao in front of him did not seem to be from their family circle, and he did not seem to understand how the core interests of these people were related to the Taishan Army. conflict.
"What is small righteousness? Zhang thief is like that. He divides land and land to win people's hearts with invitations, and makes big words to confuse the ignorant people. At the beginning of the rebellion, it is just for his own grudges. After a little more momentum, he distributes wealth to relatives and friends. If one person gains power, the village party will benefit. , the picture is still one village and one township.”
"And what is righteousness? It means that the thoughts and actions of people like Chen Jun and Sun Jun are related to the safety of the world and the country, and their survival and failure are related to the common people. The principles of governing chaos are what the country depends on, and they can give up. Small profits lead to great integrity, and it is the right thing to abandon the small way and stick to the right path. The ancient saying of "seek to benefit the country without caring about one's own life" is exactly what this person should do. ”
Cao Cao's words made the young man in front of him stunned for a moment. He looked at Cao Cao doubtfully and asked:
"Ding Jun, in your opinion, the Taishan Army is going to lose in this decisive battle?"
But Cao Cao shook his head and sighed:
"It's not always like this, but since I am lucky enough to know about this righteous war, even if I die there, I will be considered as dying for righteousness, so I would like to ask Mr. Xiao to lend me a good horse so that I can go to Pengcheng to participate In the end, no matter whether we win or lose, there will be no regrets.”
At this time, Cao Cao said so much, and finally came back to his ultimate goal.
Borrow a horse and run to Pengcheng.
But Xiao Fan remained silent for a long time after listening to Cao Cao's generous speech.
He lowered his head and kept looking at the cup in front of him. Suddenly he raised his head and said this:
"Ding Jun, I regard you as a friend. If you want to borrow a horse, you can borrow it. Why are you trying to trick me?"
Cao Cao was stunned for a moment, not sure where he had coaxed him.
But Xiao Xiao was quite excited and said:
"The Taishan Army is not like this. Although I have never seen the Taishan Army, I have heard that they allocate land to the poor, let the people of the world wear clothes and keep warm, and do not commit harm wherever they go. They are true righteous teachers. How did you get to Ding Jun? What about the unjust person whose mouth becomes an invitation to buy people’s hearts?”
At this moment, Cao Cao understood that the boy in front of him was probably stupid in the mountain col, and he was afraid that he would not be able to figure out his identity.
At this time, Cao Cao already had a certain dislike for Xiao Fan in front of him. He seemed to be a collection of idiots who betrayed their own class.
So Cao Cao stopped pretending and snorted:
"Then who owns the fields allocated by the Taishan Army? Did they fall from the sky? If the Taishan Army can open up the mountains and cultivate fertile fields by themselves, and then allocate them to the heads of Guizhou and Tuli, then no one will say that they have a share. If they can't do it, Yes, just like in previous dynasties, it would be fine to allocate some wasteland to the Guizhou leaders for their own cultivation. But, they are taking the inheritance accumulated by our ancestors for nine generations? "
At this time, Cao Cao had already spoken very loudly, and he scolded Xiao Xiao in front of him:
"What reason does Taishan Army have to exchange wealth for nine generations?"
At this time, Xiao Xiao had been completely overtaken by Cao Cao and could only say:
"I often hear that wealthy families do harmful things to the people and are not good people."
Then he was greeted by Cao Cao’s sneer:
"It is true that it is harmful to the people. If this happens, I, Cao, will kill it with my own hands. But Zuo is just exchanging one life for another. What kind of life can exchange for this nine-generation inheritance?"
When Cao Cao finished saying this, his face froze, and he immediately realized that he had let something slip.
Looking at the dejected Xiao Xiao, Cao Cao's eyes became extremely cold, and he was already murderous.
But whether he didn't hear it or didn't react, Xiao Xiao still lowered his head and didn't speak.
Cao Cao had already grasped both sides of the table with both hands, ready to explode at any time and hit Xiao Fan's brain.
But at this tense moment, Xiao Xiao, who had been hanging his head, suddenly cried.
He cried and felt guilty:
"I have known for a long time that I am a cowardly and hypocritical person. Even if I know that what Taishan Army did is right, I can only argue with you here. I don't even dare to share my wealth with the poor people outside the dock. . Ding Jun, you are right, I am really too hypocritical.”
Listening to Xiao Xiao crying, Cao Cao kept weighing things in his mind.
If he kills this man at this time, he may not be able to escape, let alone get horses to go to Pengcheng. That's all. Listening to what this person said, he probably didn't hear his slip of the tongue, so he stabilized the person first and got the horse before talking.
So, Cao Cao unconsciously loosened his fingers and said comfortingly:
"Xiao Xiao, I was just like you back then, with a benevolent heart, and I couldn't bear to see the slaves in Guizhou suffer. But after I traveled around the world more, I realized that there is nothing that is not suffering? What do you think of those Taishan soldiers? Is there no distinction between superior and inferior? Just look at it. In a few years, the Taishan Army will be just as dirty as the current ones.”
"This human heart has never changed."
"So the fairness and beauty you pursue are nothing but the same as the mirror, the moon in the water. But this moment of beauty comes at the cost of your life, my life and the family property of our ancestors. Is this fair?"
"And like you and me, the food and clothing we use are ours. If it wasn't accumulated by our ancestors, how could we have wealth? So these have never been ours, and we are just holding it for future generations. Since we hold it for ourselves, how can we make our own decisions? What about selling the family business?”
Cao Cao really meant what he said. In order to stabilize Xiao Xiao, he felt that he had said the most words in his life, and he was also the most humble.
Cao Cao's words were useful. Xiao Xiao obviously felt disillusioned. He had to accept the reality that the Taishan Army had a direct conflict of interest with himself.
Their ancestors were able to open up a manor in the mountains and endured countless hardships. How could his unworthy descendants sell the family property?
So, Xiao Fan finally raised his head and looked at Cao Cao expectantly:
"Ding Jun, let's run to Pengcheng together."
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Cao Cao was overjoyed and finally persuaded you silly boy to come over.
So, the two of them talked about their itinerary, because today was already more than half of the day, and Xiao Fan also needed to deal with these loose ends. Then the two of them decided to spend one more night at Wubi and set off for Pengcheng tomorrow.
……
The night was starry and Xiao Fan couldn't sleep, so he stood in the courtyard with his clothes on and thought deeply.
what to do?
Listening to Cao Cao's snoring next door, Xiao Fan made a difficult choice.
Yes, he already knew that the so-called "Ding Wei" during the day was Cao Cao who disappeared in the decisive battle of Qingzhou.
How was Cao Cao exposed?
There were too many, not just from his own words.
Cao Cao's height was already very eye-catching, and he spoke such a standard Luoyang Zhengyin. He came out of the mountains and looked like he was on the run.
Not to mention that magnanimity.
The reason why he was said to be speechless by Cao Cao during the day was not because he was unreasonable, but because he really couldn't say a word in front of Cao Cao and faced with this man's power.
In fact, Cao Cao himself had forgotten that for a long time, he had been one of the best chess players in the world. He had such great ambitions and great causes in his heart, and his demeanor had long developed a domineering air.
Even if Cao Cao was at this moment, he could not hide his domineering aura.
But these are not the most direct. In fact, Xiao Fan recognized Cao Cao at the first sight.
The reason is very simple. There is a charcoal drawing in the county that is almost 99% similar to Cao Cao's face.
Those portraits by the sketch master of Taishan Army are really amazing. How can they be so similar to each other?
So Cao Cao thought he was hiding, but in fact he had nothing to hide.
One thing Cao Cao didn't know was that Lanling had actually been occupied by the Taishan Army at this time. However, because of its meager strength, it only occupied the county and could not go to the countryside.
But even so, a remote rich man like Xiao Fan knew that the blue sky above his head would eventually be replaced by a yellow sky.
So when the Taishan Army asked the wealthy families in the county to enter the city, almost everyone refused to go.
Are they afraid that the Taishan Army will give them a one-pot meal? At this time, the credibility that Taishan Army had accumulated came into play.
In fact, these are all false. At this moment, Lanling, which is located among the mountains, has been completely surrounded by the Taishan Army. Do they have other options?
The local tycoons in Lanling, including Xiao Fan, all went to the county temple, where they were told two things.
One is that people like them only need to donate their land, and all their family wealth will be left to them, and all the benefits will be the same as those in Guizhou, so they no longer have to worry about recourse in the future.
This is really a sign of mercy from the Taishan Army. If Lanling hadn't been in the middle of the decisive battle between the Taishan Army and the Xu and Yang Allied Forces, and Zhang Chong was afraid that his policy would be too harsh and push these local snakes to the enemy, he wouldn't have been so lenient. of conditions.
Compared with these Lanling local tycoons, those children of Hebei local tycoons who have been relegated to another book and have no political future for a long time are really miserable.
But things are better to do well than to do things in a timely manner. It’s all about fate.
Another thing was that the Taishan military garrison general gave them a picture with Cao Cao's head on it.
This person told these people that once Cao Cao was discovered, anyone who provided information would be rewarded with a hundred gold coins. Those who could offer his head would be given an eighth-level official status. Those who could offer prisoners would be awarded a sixth-level military general status in addition to a hundred gold coins.
It can be said that this is the highest reward since the formation of the Taishan Army. Anyone who can catch Cao Cao can really say that he will reach the sky in one step.
It is said that such a super-standard reward was given by King Zhang, which shows the king's thoughts.
Faced with such a high reward, is Xiao Fan excited? Heartbeat.
But he didn't intend to make a debut.
In fact, the Xiao family is already in quite a decline, but the elegant words and etiquette passed down from the family still show the glory of their family in the past.
Therefore, in order to revitalize the family, Xiao Fan should capture Cao Cao.
But Xiao Fan understood what his family had always believed in, which was the word "righteousness".
For a reward, asking him to betray a nobleman who fought for the Han Dynasty would be unjust, and he, Xiao Fan, could not do it.
It's one thing to welcome Taishan's army for the sake of family inheritance; it's another thing to sell people to gain wealth.
He had a reason for doing the former, but he did the latter because he was afraid that when he went to see his ancestors after his death, he would be embarrassed to see them.
So Xiao Fan planned to pretend to be confused from the beginning, settle Cao Cao, and then send him to Pengcheng.
But after getting in touch with him during the day, I realized that Cao Cao was indeed a hero, and he was too decisive in his killing.
It seems that I still have to accompany Cao Cao to Pengcheng tomorrow, otherwise I am afraid that he will become suspicious again.
But at this moment, Xiao Fan didn't know that Cao Cao had already opened his eyes while sleeping next door and stared at him.
What an icy cold light it was.