Three Kingdoms

Xu County.

In a blink of an eye, the celebration has arrived.

When the celebration in Xu County was underway, Liu Xie, the protagonist of the celebration, was not in the main hall at this moment, but in a quiet room in the palace.

The emperor Liu Xie wore a royal robe and a crown on his head. The Tongtian crown is seven inches wide and one foot and two inches long. It is rounded in front and wrapped in vermilion-green silk and satin. The upper part is black. Jade beads are connected in series to form a curtain shape, which is hung at the front and back of the crown. It hangs four inches in front and three inches in back. Inches, these jade beads in the front and back must be twelve white jade beads in total. Patterns representing the sun, moon, stars and other twelve chapters are embroidered on the crown gown with gold and silver threads. The top of the crown is black and the bottom is vermilion, the ribbon is colorful, and the boots are on the upper feet, and even the boots have patterns that represent auspiciousness.

Wearing such a set of crown clothes is actually quite difficult. There are more than a dozen people serving in front and back. After putting it on, you can't move much and can only sit quietly. After all, clothes in the Han Dynasty were tied with belts, without buttons or other fixing methods. Therefore, if they moved too much, the clothes would not only be uneven and wrinkled, but also loose and collapse, naturally losing their dignity.

As the emperor, Liu Xie not only could not watch the opening of the vaudeville and other lively performances before the celebration, he also had to sit quietly in this small quiet room alone, boring and lonely, waiting for the auspicious moment. 's arrival

Fortunately, Liu Xie was somewhat used to boredom and loneliness, so he closed his eyes and sat alone in the quiet room.

In the quiet room, agarwood burned quietly in the incense burner, the fragrance lingered faintly, and everything seemed silent.

The hustle and bustle is outside.

Silence is within.

Just like a celebration is a celebration, the excitement has nothing to do with the tranquility here.

The Huangmen eunuch standing outside the quiet room would secretly glance at Liu Xie from time to time.

As a servant of the royal family, or a vassal of the imperial power, the life and death of the Huangmen eunuchs are tied to Liu Xie, or the emperor of the Han Dynasty...

Of course, as vassals, they can also choose other emperors to serve, but for most emperors, they will basically train their own team. As the legacy of the previous generation of emperors, these people often end up not being very good, so For them, the only hope is Liu Xie. The authority of the eunuchs comes from the emperor. The emperor is strong, so naturally these eunuchs are also strong. But the problem is that the emperor is not strong now. The imperial power is not strong.

In the corridor, a small yellow door came hurriedly. When he got closer, he was glared at by the eunuch at the door of the quiet room. He immediately slowed down, walked to the eunuch quietly and whispered a few words.

In fact, Liu Xie was awakened by the sound of footsteps. His eyelids moved slightly and he slowly opened his eyes, "Has the auspicious time arrived?" 』

The eunuch at the door quickly replied, "Your Majesty, the auspicious time is coming." Your Majesty, please take off. 』

Liu Xie nodded, "Good." Living in a quiet room, it is difficult to meditate. 』

The eunuch hurriedly stepped forward and helped Liu Xie stand up, "Your Majesty, the river is now clear and the sea is flowing, and the princes and people are congratulating you. Your Majesty is upright and youthful, just like the rebirth of the rising sun. The great Han Dynasty is resurrected, and the advancement of the Spring and Autumn Period is all under your control." Why should Your Majesty be overly worried? 』

Although the eunuch's words of comfort to him may not have been expressed accurately or well, Liu Xie still smiled and didn't pay much attention to it. He also patted the eunuch on the shoulder and said, "The ancestors left After all, this family fortune cannot be lost in my hands... I know you want to comfort me, but in this messy situation, how can I feel at ease? 』

Liu Xie is really worried these days.

As the emperor, Liu Xie wanted to control the overall situation all the time.

It's not that Liu Xie had much hatred for powerful officials like Cao Cao or Fei Qian, but his authority was declining day by day. As an emperor, he naturally had irreconcilable natural conflicts with such powerful officials.

It's just a pity that Liu Xie has to rely on powerful officials to deal with the situation in the world. Whether it's Cao Cao or Fei Qian, if there are no powerful officials sitting in charge, people like Dong Zhuo will mess up and destroy without any rules. I can't stand the trouble...

This is true for Cao Cao, and it is the same for Fei Qian.

As an emperor, he increasingly felt that balancing the ministers was an important task. Just like Xiao Wenjing suppressed the vassals, Liu Xie had made this matter his first priority. If Guanzhong is strong, it is necessary to help Cao Cao suppress Fei Qian. If Cao Cao is domineering, it is necessary to restrict Cao Cao through Guanzhong.

It's better to cultivate some talents of your own...

Liu Xie took a breath and exhaled slightly.

This, on the other hand, is the most difficult.

Liu Xie originally wanted to use Kong Rong's matter to weaken and divide him in front of everyone during the celebration. Unexpectedly, Cao Cao had already finished the matter before the celebration, so that no one from the surrounding noble clans even gave a shit. , which makes it difficult for Liu Xie to handle.

However, after so many years of hard work, Liu Xie has become more mature. He knows that if he is not fully sure and acts rashly, he will probably cause chaos. Therefore, if something is immature, it is best not to act rashly.

Just like the old eunuch said, just rely on yourself to be young and endure.

After all, he is the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, and he is not a very stupid Emperor of the Han Dynasty.

He is me, a loner.

Others can be friends with others, but they cannot be friends with others, and they cannot be friends with others.

Therefore, he has to worry about the Han Dynasty after all. No matter what changes happen in the future, his ultimate goal is to revive the Han Dynasty. For this goal, he can give up everything, including temporary tolerance and temporary dignity.

Now Liu Xie feels that he is obviously unable to handle various local affairs personally. He still needs the help of local princes and nobles, so he must constantly identify and promote talents so that the children of these nobles can succeed generation after generation. Take over the affairs of governing the country.

As long as he is still the emperor of Han Dynasty.

As long as he is the protagonist in this celebration...

……|··|*~●……

More than a hundred miles east of Xu County, there is a river called Jishui.

This river is not as famous as the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, but it actually has a lot of history.

According to legend, the Yellow Emperor once established a tribe in the Mishui area, named Youxiong. At that time, the river was still nameless, so Huang Di's subordinates suggested adding three dots of water before the word "you" with Xiong's family name. Huangdi agreed and decided on the name of the first river named by an emperor, Jishui.

Going down the Mishui River, probably less than a hundred miles, we arrived at Xinji County.

This place was once prosperous and was an important county in the Spring and Autumn Period of Zheng and South Korea. However, times have changed and it is now a bit old.

There is a saying in the Book of Songs, "Qin and water are flowing together." The gentleman and the woman were together. 』

Perhaps the boys and girls back then would have thought that Mishui was a place with beautiful scenery and beautiful scenery, but now, only filth and aging remain.

Chang Fang came to Xinji.

Chang Fang is the guard captain of Xu County Guanyi.

He and Chen Bin covered each other, but most of the tasks that required going out were done by him.

As the intelligence center in Xu County, Chen Bin received a request from the county below, so he forwarded it to Chang Fang.

Originally, Chang Fang had some trouble trying to get out of Xu County. After all, people from the Cao family were often watching around the post station. But fortunately, Xu Ju took away a lot of attention, and Wang Chang and others also came from time to time. Moving around, the power originally used to monitor Chen Bin and Chang Fang was greatly reduced. In addition, the celebration was about to be held, and it was the most chaotic time inside and outside Xu County. Chang Fang easily left Xu County and rushed all the way to Xinji .

The staff in Xinji reported a very important matter.

At this moment, Chang Fang was wearing an ordinary coarse cloth robe, a bamboo hat, and a sweat scarf tied around his neck. He was dusty and dusty, and he was not much different from other pedestrians on the road.

His destination was a wine shop in the east of Xinji City.

He had never been to Xinji before, but he knew this place and that there were personnel stationed here.

Xinji County is like most cities in the Han Dynasty. The north of the city is the rich area, the south is the slum area, and the east and west of the city are where ordinary people live. The so-called ordinary people generally have a standard, which is a family that allows their children to have more time to play.

Poor children become masters early, not because they want to, but because if they don't work, they have nothing to eat. In the face of survival, playing or not naturally takes a back seat.

In the east of Xinji City, you can still see children chasing and playing on the street, which shows that the people living here have a decent living standard, and the wine shops will have some business. If they live in slums, most children have to work with adults and do things within their capabilities. It is a luxury to have food and clothing every day, let alone have spare money to buy drinks.

Cao Cao had banned alcohol before.

The ancients banned alcohol mainly for three reasons. The first is to save food. Whenever the year is bad, rulers often take measures to prohibit alcohol; the second is to stabilize order. When the number of cases of causing trouble and disrupting social order due to drinking too much increases, the court will often consider prohibiting alcohol; the third is to worship heaven and eliminate alcohol. When disasters occur, in order to show respect to the gods, rulers will often fast and eat vegetarian food. They will also suspend luxuries such as drinking and pay respect to the gods in order to eliminate disasters.

But Cao Cao's alcohol ban didn't last long.

Even in order to avoid the limelight, the gentry children used secret codes when drinking in private. They used "sage" to refer to the poor quality liquor, "sage" to refer to the better quality sake, "Taizu banned alcohol, but people" He drank it secretly, so it is difficult to talk about wine. White wine is regarded as a sage, and clear wine is regarded as a saint."

Anyway, an alcoholic can think of any way to drink.

Later, Cao Cao's economic situation improved a lot after the war between Yuan and Yuan, and the alcohol ban was gradually relaxed. What's more, this ban on alcohol is often also a ban on ordinary people. Those who are officials or have some connections still drink constantly. Even during the period when Cao Cao's prohibition on alcohol was enforced, for example, Xu Miao "drank privately to the point of intoxication." Someone happened to come to him with something, and the drunkard responded by saying "the sage"...

When Cao Cao found out, he was furious and wanted to punish him. Fortunately, others interceded and Xu Miao was spared from punishment. Later, Cao Cao's son Cao Pi came to the throne and joked with Xu Miao about this matter, "Isn't he a saint?" 』

So in fact, this alcohol prohibition is just that.

The population in Xinji County is neither too many nor too few. According to what he had learned before, Chang Fang soon found the edge of an unnamed pond in the east of the city.

No one knows the exact name of this pond.

Maybe this pond once had a name, but the people around it only care about whether the pond can be used to fetch water and wash. As for what the name is, it doesn't matter at all.

There should be running water in the pond, so it is not too dirty, but the surrounding environment is still not very good.

After all, cattle and horses drink water here, clothes and tuberose are washed here, and there are no wells at home, so they can only come here to fetch water for cooking...

There are three locust trees beside the pond.

Chang Fang looked at it and nodded secretly, yes, this is it.

After walking under the locust tree, Chang Fang inspected the streets not far away.

Not far away, there is a wine shop.

The girl in the wine shop was standing at the counter, serving drinks to the customers.

After Chang Fang waited for the wine-selling customer to leave, he slowly walked forward.

The female recruiter saw Chang Fang and showed her habitual smile, "What would you like, sir?" We have some new corn wine, would you like to try some? 』

Chang Fang looked at the waitress, then stretched his head and took a look inside the store, "Where's your shopkeeper?" 』

The female recruiter was stunned for a moment, but she didn't say anything more. She yelled at the top of her lungs, "Shopkeeper, we have a customer!" 』

Someone in the back hall of the wine shop responded. After a while, a person came out and came to the counter. He looked Chang Fang up and down, "This brother..."

"I want some Western Rose Peach Wine." Chang Fang said, "Not much, just come to the twelve altars first." "Chang Fang has never been here before, and everyone doesn't know him, so it's impossible to bring out the token as soon as they meet. He can only tell the secret code first."

The shopkeeper's eyebrows twitched, "My guest, this Western Region peach wine is worth a lot of money. Twelve jars are not a small amount. Does your guest really want so much?" 』

"It's okay. I drink a lot. I drink a jar an hour and finish it in a day." ” Chang Fang laughed and said, as if he was joking, “But less is fine. How many altars do you have here?” 』

The shopkeeper whispered: "To be honest, sir, there is no jar here." 』

Chang Fang waved his hand and said, "You don't even have a restaurant, why do you still open a wine shop?" 』

The shopkeeper stretched out his hand to invite, "Sir, please forgive me... If you are really interested in purchasing, you might as well come in and discuss in detail..."

Western rose peach wine is expensive. If it is in Xu County, or in a relatively large county, the wine shop may have some inventory, but how can a small wine shop like Xinji sell peach wine?

But let’s just say that there is no such thing. Sometimes, the transactions these days are not settled with cash at hand. In many cases, they are also purchased through subscription. So if you want to make a reservation at a wine shop first, there doesn’t seem to be any problem.

Chang Fang nodded and followed the shopkeeper in.

After entering the inner hall of the wine shop, the shopkeeper stretched his head outside the door and looked at the corridor windows to see that no one was there. Then he asked Chang Fang hesitantly: "Sir... what are you..."

Chang Fang then took out the token representing his identity from his arms.

The shopkeeper took a look, moved closer to the light again, carefully checked the code on the token, then breathed a sigh of relief, handed the token back to Chang Fang, and then whispered: "I have seen the inspector..." 』

Chang Fang nodded, put away the token, and then whispered: "Are you Cheng Erlang?" Is this a real name or a pseudonym? 』

Chengjiro replied: "I have been using this name for many years in Xinji... As for my real name, I have forgotten it..."

Chang Fang was silent for a while, "Okay, let me ask you, you reported something abnormal in the north of the city and needed help from experts to check. What happened?" 』

Cheng Erlang nodded and said, "There is a family in Fuanli in the north of the city. The family does not seem to have much property, but the expenses are quite large, and the food and clothing are of the highest quality..."

Chang Fang frowned a little after hearing this.

The north of the city is a wealthy area, so food and clothing are of the highest quality. Is this an abnormality?

"These are nothing at first..." Cheng Erlang continued, "But once, when I was going to the north of the city to deliver drinks, I happened to see Xun Lingjun's son disguised as a simple man and entered the house..."

Chang Fang frowned and said, "Do you recognize Xun Lingjun's son?" 』

Cheng Erlang's originally bent waist straightened a little, "Not to mention he is the son of Xun Lingjun, I recognize most of the gentry sons in Yingchuan. Do you want the inspector to test him?" 』

Chang Fang thought for a moment and waved his hand, "Continue." 』

Xinji is not too far from Xu County. As an intelligence officer who has been in Xinji for many years, it is indeed entirely possible that he knows important people in Yingchuan, including their children.

Of course, there are also people who are born face-blind, such as Brother Dong, who are less suitable to be intelligence officers.

"The Xun family is very big in Yingchuan, so it's normal for them to be more or less related to each other..." Cheng Erlang said slowly, "I didn't care at first... but then, I happened to meet that person. The husband of the family just tried a few words. He originally wanted to see how he was related to the Xun family, but he never thought... The husband of the family not only denied that he was related to the Xun family, but also looked a little flustered... I just got suspicious..."

"Um? Chang Fang frowned.

Generally speaking, if a small county like Xinji in Yingchuan can have any connection with the Xun family in Yingchuan, it is something worth boasting about. How can it go out of its way to deny it and look flustered?

"I just felt strange, thinking that maybe I was wrong. What I saw that day was not Xun Lingjun's son..." Cheng Erlang continued, "But just a few days ago, I saw Lingjun's son coming... …』

This is somewhat interesting.

Chang Fang understood.

Situations like this are indeed worth reporting.

Chang Fang thought for a moment and said, "In this case, I will gather some experts to investigate!" 』