Chapter 512 Yuan Long
On July 14, in the south of Dongpingling Mausoleum, there was the Xuzhou Army camp.
A heroic military officer was walking aggressively to the Chinese army's tent in the camp, where Wang Lang and other Xuzhou civil and military officials were drinking and singing.
This military official is none other than Chen Deng and Chen Yuanlong, a hero of Xuzhou, a hero of the Han family, and a man with the spirit of the lake and the sea.
At this time, he was twenty-three years old, a time of great strength, and he was also a powerful figure who advocated heading north to Qingzhou to fight against the Taishan Army.
The reason for this is precisely because there is hatred between the country and the family.
When Zhang Chong went north from Fenggao to conquer Jibei Kingdom, Chen Deng's father Chen Gui was the prime minister of Jibei Kingdom at that time.
Chen Gui finally died in office. He also presented the "Pinging Thieves Policy" to Liu Hong in Kyoto, but it was obvious that the court could not use it, allowing the Taishan army to enter the sea and be unable to control it.
Chen Gui's death may be the death of a loyal minister who sacrificed his life for Liu Hong. But for Chen Deng and the Chen family in Huaipu, it was the collapse of their pillars.
The Chen family in Huaipu was originally a family of two thousand stones in Xuzhou, but its ancestor Chen Qiu became a Taiwei during the Guanghe period, which finally brought the family to the doorstep of a noble family.
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. Chen Qiu was imprisoned and died because he was involved in the execution of Yang Qiu and others. After that, the Chen family process was interrupted.
However, at that time, the Chen family also had two brothers, Chen Yu and Chen Cong, Chen Qiu's sons, and three nephews, Chen Gui, as pillars. Therefore, Chen was able to maintain the situation for the time being.
The original division of labor among the three brothers was as follows: Chen Yu raised Wang, Chen Cong guarded the family, and Chen Gui served as an official. Among them, Chen Gui, as the official face, is the face of the Chen family.
But after Chen Gui died, the decline of the Chen family was inevitable.
Other clan families are full of retainers and old officials, so even if the elders die, the younger ones can still revitalize the clan. However, Chen Qiu's time as Taiwei was too short, and he failed to leave many political connections for his family's descendants.
Therefore, it is inevitable that the trees will fall and the hozens will scatter, and the people will leave and the tea will cool down.
And the Chen family also knew that flowers can last forever, so they withdrew all the clansmen in Kyoto to their hometown of Huaipu to shrink their power.
However, this contraction allowed the Chen family to avoid the chaos in Kyoto later, which was a blessing and a disaster.
After the Chen family withdrew to Huaipu, it was still the strongest clan here, controlling all aspects of the local area.
When Chen Gui was dying, he left a letter to his clan, saying that troubled times were coming and asking the clan members to make preparations in advance. Chen made two preparations.
The generation of Chen Yu and Chen Cong quickly chose to enter the shogunate of Mu Taoqian in Xuzhou, while the younger generation like Chen Deng practiced their military skills in their hometown to cope with troubled times.
Chen Deng is the most outstanding member of the Chen generation. When he was young, he had the ambition to help the world and the people. He was also well-read and well-educated in literature and art. He had comprehensive articles on all old classics. Coupled with his heroic character, he often interacted with heroes in his hometown and often had extraordinary remarks.
So the Chen family began to spread their wealth, recruit troops, and hand them over to Chen Deng. Those who think that the clan can flourish must be of this generation.
And Chen Deng lived up to expectations. He first imitated the stories of his predecessors and endured hardships so that he would not forget the revenge of killing his father.
Yes, he had long regarded Taishan's army as thieves, and he had to kill the thieves with his own hands to avenge his father.
Then Chen Deng sought the support of Zhao Yu, the prefect of Guangling.
Among the generations of scholars in Xuzhou, Chen Deng can only be regarded as a newcomer. There is a generation before him, among which Zhang Zhao, Zhao Yu, and Wang Lang are the most outstanding ones.
When Tao Qian first entered Xuzhou, he needed to seek support from the Xuzhou gentry, so he recruited Zhang Zhao, Zhao Yu, and Wang Lang. But these three people simply looked down on Tao Qian, an old revolutionary, and refused to accept it.
The angry Tao Qian directly detained Zhang Zhao, who had the least background, to threaten Zhao Yu and Wang Lang. Among them, the one Tao Qian values most is Zhao Yu.
Because this man showed strong military and political talents during the Yellow Turban rebellion, and was an unusual scholar who only knew how to talk, so Tao Qian valued him very much.
Later, Zhao Yu and Wang Lang were both coerced into taking office, and among them, Zhao Yu was appointed as the prefect of Guangling by Tao Qian.
This is a great job, because there are only five counties in Xuzhou, from north to south, they are Langya Kingdom near Qingzhou, Donghai County on the sea, Pengcheng Kingdom on Surabaya, Xiapi Kingdom on Huaihe River, and Zuo Yidaihai, Guangling next to the river.
Among them, Guangling is the largest county, and it can be said that Zhao Yu received this appointment with great importance.
And Zhao Yu was a man of good moral character, knowledgeable and righteous, and he took great care of Chen Deng, his descendant. Knowing that Chen Deng wanted to start a big army and avenge his father, Zhao Yu highly appreciated his heroism and often supported Chen Deng's armored soldiers.
In addition, another person also contributed to Chen Deng's recruitment, and that was the wealthy Mi family in Xuzhou.
To be honest, the Mi family has cooperated with the Taishan Army. They have previously raised military rations for the Taishan Army dormant in the mountain, but this was for the sake of money.
The Mi family is a wealthy family in the East China Sea. It has been a merchant of goods for generations, with thousands of children and guests, and a fortune of hundreds of millions. According to the Taishan Army, if the Taishan Army really comes to Xuzhou, the accumulation of their ancestors will be destroyed in one day.
Therefore, after learning that the heroes in the state were also members of the public family, Chen Deng planned to start a big family. Mi Zhu, the head of the Mi family, decided to bet on Chen Deng.
Mi Zhu was not a short-sighted businessman, but a typical scholar. He was graceful, generous, honest and elegant, and he was good at all things arching, horse riding, and shooting.
If it weren't for the fact that the family's status was not too low, Mi Zhu might as well be called the most handsome person in the state.
The Chen family is the top wealthy family in Xuzhou, and Chen Deng is even more outstanding. Of course, Mi Zhu knows this person.
So as soon as Chen Deng raised a flag to recruit troops, Mi Zhu visited Chen Deng many times and discussed with him the important matter of fighting against the bandits.
Mi Zhu said to his younger brother Mi Fang:
"The person who can protect my hometown in Xuzhou must be this person."
Therefore, Mi Zhu wanted to get married to Chen Deng, but unfortunately Chen Deng had a wife and Mi Zhu's sister was too young, so she just did it.
With the help of the Mi family's money, Chen Deng finally used his past social skills.
After hearing that Chen Deng was recruiting troops, many heroes from Guangling, Jiujiang, Wujun, Danyang and other places came to join him, including Jiangshang water bandit Jiang Qin, Guangling hero Gao Cheng, Xiapi hero Dong He and others.
They all admired Chen Deng's character. Even the overseas pirates knew about Chen Deng's recruitment and specially sent a group of Vietnamese slaves.
It can be seen that Chen Dengzhi is a hero from all over the world.
But just such a hero, he had previously fought with the craftsmen on a knife, and the knife was named "Qiu Duan".
Chen Deng's good friend Zhang Gong once saw Chen Dengru as a blacksmith breaking his forging blade, and ridiculed him for neglecting important matters and instead camped between the tongs of the furnace.
But Chen Deng said:
"Everything in the world is never big or small, nor is it difficult, it only depends on the intention. Before, I never knew how to use this sword, but now I can refine the sword. Before, everyone thought that I had never led an army and thought that I was just an armchair warrior. . But I just want to tell them that as long as I, Chen Yuanlong, want to do it, it is the same whether it is training soldiers or leading soldiers."
Zhang Gong was very curious and felt that Chen Deng was a hero, so he joined Chen Deng as his counselor.
In this way, Chen Deng relied on his personal charm, family reputation and his universal arrogance to finally pull out a tribe of two thousand people and build his own armed force.
For more than a year after that, Chen Deng was compiling and rehearsing the song, sharpening his sword, and decided to use it to fight the Taishan Army.
But now that Chen Deng finally had this opportunity, Zhou Mu finally made up his mind to support Qingzhou, and he, Chen Yuanlong, could finally avenge his father.
……
Chen Deng, full of resentment in his heart, led Jiang Qin and Dong He on the military road. Outside the big tent on the opposite side, a group of armored men holding halberds in front of the tent saw Chen Deng coming angrily from a distance. Their faces were bitter, but they still stepped forward to stop Chen Deng.
Chen Deng saw a young accountant at the front and snorted angrily:
"Zijing, get out of my way. This matter is related to the safety of Xuzhou and the future of the world. It is not something you can interfere with. Get out of the way quickly."
This man named Zijing is a rich kid from Xiapi named Lu Su.
Rich men like Lu Su were a powerful force in Xuzhou's army, but Chen Deng found this interesting.
Before he was in the army, he heard a group of halberd men outside talking.
These people are all talking about how they can buy some fields after this war. But only Lu Su said:
"The world is already in chaos, and the fields and soil are dead. No matter how much we accumulate, we will be in trouble. If we can win this battle, we might as well use the money to buy some prisoners of the Taishan bandits and take these people back to practice. I have always heard that This Taishan thief knows how to use his troops, and now is the opportunity.”
Lu Su and others, including the halberd commander in the army, were all sons of rich men, and their families were more or less connected. After hearing what Lu Su said, they all thought it made sense.
Chen Deng, who was listening in the next tent, felt that this man named Lu Su had extraordinary knowledge and was different from others, so he became a brother-in-law with him.
But now, even if his brothers are trying to stop Chen Deng, they can't.
After Chen Deng said that, he directly pushed away Lu Su's hand and went straight to the account.
At this time, Lu Su spoke:
"Brother Chen, how could I not know about the big thing you are talking about? I also understand what you mean about the world, but I really want to ask: If you really put it into the account, will you be able to accomplish this big thing? ?”
Chen Deng was silent for a moment. He did not turn back to Lu Su, but turned his back to him and said:
"Yes, what you said does make sense. As for sending troops, I may not make a decision even if I take the account, but is this what I have to consider? This is what Wang Shuai, Zang Shuai and others consider. All I have to do is If things don’t work out, I’ll tell you something else, but that’s not the reason for me to give up. I won’t feel at ease if I don’t.”
After saying that, Chen Deng glared at the dozen halberd warriors in front:
"You dare to stop me?"
Later, Chen Deng entered alone, and more than ten halberd warriors did not dare to stop him.
Jiang Qin and Dong He who were behind Chen Deng followed suit, especially Jiang Qin who used his shoulder to push the dazed Lu Su away, and then grinned at Lu Su.
But Lu Su didn't care about this. He was enlightened by Chen Deng's words.
Yes, things in the world can obviously be very simple. Just do what you can and do what you should do. As for the results, what are the consequences? If you just give up the beginning with a pessimistic attitude about the results, what is the difference between so-called smart people and those fools who are always confused?
At this moment, Lu Su suddenly understood why people like Chen Deng were called as heroic as lakes and seas.
Just because they always only ask about their true intentions, not the results.
Lu Su's growth was completed in an instant, and Chen Deng also strode to the front of the big tent.
At this moment, a clear voice came from the tent, and it was the voice of Wang Lang, the commander of the left army:
"Is that Yuanlong outside the account?"
As soon as these words came out, Chen Deng couldn't help but barge in directly.
He stood outside the tent and replied warmly:
"Back to Wang Shuai, it's Mo Jin."
After that, Chen Deng heard footsteps inside the tent, and then he saw the tent open, and a handsome minister with a face without a trace of wrinkles suddenly appeared in front of Chen Deng.
This person is Wang Lang, the coach of the Xuzhou Army going north this time.
Wang Lang smiled and pulled Chen Deng into the big tent. At this time, there were some disheveled dancers in the big tent who had not had time to retreat and were retreating.
Chen Deng looked at the generals in the tent, especially those of Zang Ba's Langya generals. Their faces were even redder, and some even took off their outer clothes, looking like wild beasts.
Seeing this, Chen Deng couldn't bear it anymore. He slipped Wang Lang's hand away, bowed his head, and asked seriously:
"Commander, our army has been here for three days. In the past three days, our army has not sent out a single soldier. They are all drinking and singing. The morale of the army is low. I would like to ask, Commander, the people of Xuzhou have sacrificed their blood for us, so is this what we are doing? ”
As soon as these words came out, the whole place fell silent. Even Zang Ba, who was at the top on the right, put the wine baron on the table and then looked at his nose and heart without saying a word.
Seeing the young and energetic Chen Deng questioning him like this, Wang Lang couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
But he didn't scold Chen Deng because he knew what Chen Deng was going to say. He actually blamed him for his old commander and his lack of patrol.
But the juniors blamed him for not knowing military affairs, but Wang Lang knew that these people didn't know politics.
The reason why the troops could not be sent out was not because of military issues, but actually because of Xuzhou's internal affairs issues.
Wang Lang belonged to the pro-Han sect in Xuzhou. He studied under Yang Ci, a great scholar in Guanxi. When he was young, he knew the classics well and became a doctor.
The current Xuzhou gentry circle can be roughly divided into three factions. One faction is the pro-Han faction such as Wang Lang and Zhang Zhao. They generally serve in the central government, and their families are more or less two thousand stone families. In short, The ties with the central government are deep.
People of this group are also the mainstream in Xuzhou today. They surround Zheng Xuan and have always maintained their responsibility of providing taxes to the Eastern Han Dynasty.
In addition to Wang Lang's faction, there is another faction called the local faction. These people are all local powerful, wealthy and talented people in Xuzhou.
They saw that the world was in chaos and the Han Dynasty could no longer protect Xuzhou, so they decided to protect themselves. These people are Chen Yu, Linyi Wang family, Langya and many Liu families in Pengcheng.
The main purpose of these people is to maintain peace and stability in Xuzhou, and they are quite supportive of Tao Qian. Tao Qian, an old man, can still protect Xuzhou, but when he gets old, these local factions will inevitably find another master.
After all, what they want is the stability of Xuzhou, and they don't care who will maintain it.
A surname of Tao is acceptable, a surname of Cao is a pity, and a surname of Liu is even more acceptable.
In addition to the pro-Han faction and the local faction, Tao Qian's own Danyang faction.
Tao Qian himself was from Danyang. After taking control of Xuzhou, he promoted a large number of people from the same clan and hometown, such as Cao Hong, Cao Bao, Xu Dan, Zhang Jie, Lu You, and Zuo Rong.
These people all rely closely on Tao Qian and are Tao Qian's base in Xuzhou. But these people are almost all from the Wu family. They can rush to kill in front of the battle, but they cannot care for the rear.
Therefore, the current situation in Xuzhou is that Tao Qian needs the local faction to provide money and food, and the local faction also needs the force of Tao Qian's Danyang faction to protect Xuzhou.
In this process, Tao Qian's identity was granted by the Han Dynasty, which in turn gained the support of the pro-Han faction.
Therefore, from the current point of view, Xuzhou's troika seems to be able to run in parallel.
But only Wang Lang, who was promoted to be the best, understood how fragile this structure was.
Let me ask, can these soldiers under his command be sent out?
(End of chapter)