Chapter 238: National Master, the Armored Beast is born! [Votes requested]

Youzhou, Youbeiping County.

This place has been a border county since ancient times. To the north is the territory of nomadic tribes, and wars are frequent here.

At this time, a border town in Youbeiping County was filled with the sound of killing.

On the top of the city wall, a short general leaped forward like the wind.

An enemy general swung his sword at him, but he suddenly accelerated, crashed into the enemy's arms, and pushed the enemy down from the city wall.

With the man off balance in mid-air, the short general used his fingers like knives to stab the man's throat.

The enemy general was killed before he even hit the ground.

The short general used his body as a cushion and his body shook slightly after falling to the ground.

Below the city wall, there was also a battlefield, where Wuhuan cavalry were fighting with the Yanzhou army.

The little man turned over and jumped up, fiercely rushing towards a Wuhuan soldier on horseback.

After a while, the Wuhuan soldiers fell off their horses.

The short general spat out a mouthful of blood foam, which was mixed with flesh and blood.

He fought ferociously and when he attacked his opponent, he would bite off a piece of flesh from his opponent's throat.

This short general had a violent temper and soon returned to the city wall.

He was Le Jin, a brave general under Yanzhou who was always the first to climb the city walls in battle.

In fact, the battle was not that intense. Yanzhou had the advantage and took the initiative to attack the city.

But this is how Le Jin fought, and both our enemies and ourselves were terrified.

Huang Zhong led his troops to attack this border town which was previously controlled by Yuan Xi, the second son of Yuan Shao.

Yuan Xi was taken away by the Wuhuan people, but the rest of his troops were still stationed in the city.

When Cao's army attacked, the Wuhuan people also sent troops to assist in the defense.

Le Jin had previously participated in the Battle of Guandu and came to Youzhou after the battle, serving as a vanguard general.

Cao's army launched the offensive in the morning, and by the afternoon, the outcome was decided.

The soldiers defending the city fled.

Xianyu Fu, who was responsible for instigating internal support and opening a city gate to lead Cao's army into the city, quickly walked towards Le Jin who had returned from the fighting on the city wall.

"Wen Qian, you are really brave in battle." Xian Yu Fu said with admiration.

Le Jin washed the blood off his face and asked, "Is there anything to eat?"

Xian Yu Fu hurriedly asked someone to bring over a piece of bread.

"We have already controlled most of Youzhou. We can station troops in this border town, which is strategically located and can be defended. We can take a break now."

Xian Yu Fu: "The governor has sent a message to the entire army, saying that most of the generals from all sides will return to receive their titles. Wen Qian, when do you plan to leave?"

Le Jin shook his head: "If I go back now, I won't be eligible for the title.

I want to defeat Youzhou and accumulate merits in every battle, so that I can have a chance to be promoted to a general when I return."

Xian Yu Fu was surprised and said, "The commander who commended you said that you, Wen Qian, always lead the army in battle. Since you took command of the army, you have fought 21 battles, big and small, without losing a single one. With your bravery, why can't you be appointed as a general?"

"It's enough to be a general, but not a great general."

Le Jin said:
"We have many talented generals in Yanzhou, including General Huang, General Taishi, General Zhao, and General Zhang... The first thing to consider when appointing a general is merit, and the second is personal courage and military strategy. I seem to be inferior to them in all these aspects."

"I heard that the governor of the state wants to confer titles on the Ten Tigers of Yanzhou and the Five Elite Generals. After receiving the titles, they will all be qualified to lead troops independently. I want to fight for one."

"If not now, then next time."

"Fight further east and see if there is a chance to capture a few cities."

----

The sunlight shines in from the window.

Cao Cao stood at the door of the study to greet Zheng Xuan.

According to Zheng Xuan's status, Cao Cao should at least welcome him to the gate of his mansion.

With Yuan Shao's reputation, he personally went out 300 miles to welcome Zheng Xuan.

Well, when Liu Bei came, Yuan Shao also went out two hundred miles to meet him.

But Cao Cao was not very fond of Zheng Xuan. This old man was a Confucian scholar and talked about the theory of destiny.

Cao Cao strictly abided by the laws when governing.

Like the First Emperor, he ruled the country according to law.

[Zheng Xuan, courtesy name Kangcheng, was born in Gaomi, Qingzhou. He was a Confucian scholar and classics master in the late Han Dynasty]

Zheng Xuan is now sixty-seven years old.

But his cultural realm is unfathomable, he doesn't look old at all, he is wearing a green robe and has a tall stature.

Zheng Xuan had a calm temperament. He walked into the study and exchanged greetings with Cao Cao.

In his eyes, there was still a child's pure thirst for knowledge; his pupils were dark and lively, without any of the turbidity and vicissitudes of an old man.

He also has another identity, he is Lu Zhi's senior brother.

In his early years, Zheng Xuan entered the Imperial College to study under Zhang Gongzu, and also studied ancient classics with Ma Rong.

After his studies, he returned to his hometown and gathered students to teach. He had thousands of disciples, which was a unique school of thought since the Spring and Autumn Period.

He came from a poor family when he was young and was not from a scholarly family, but he eventually became a great scholar.

In his later years, the world was in turmoil, but he remained loyal to his husband and refused to take up an official position. No one asked him to come out of retirement.

But for some unknown reason he was persuaded by Yuan Shao, and there are many different opinions about this.

Zheng Xuan annotated all the Confucian classics.

This is quite impressive, as he devoted his entire life to organizing ancient cultural heritage.

He was a master of Confucian classics and wrote many classics and treatises, which are known as "Zhengxue".

[His Theory of Seven Polities in Astronomy uses the context of writing to correspond to the weather, geography, and human destiny, and can accurately predict changes in weather and seasons.]

Predicting the weather and seasons, this old man can make weather forecasts just like Zhuge Liang... Cao Cao thought.

"What does Zheng Sinong want to see me for?"

Zheng Xuan smiled before he spoke, and stroked his graying beard:
"I observed the atmosphere of the governor's mansion last night and was shocked."

"I have seen it once before. I was in Qingzhou at the time, looking southward towards Xuzhou, and saw a ray of purple rising into the sky like a canopy. The aura was indescribably noble. It was a sign that a wise and virtuous ruler had been born, causing heaven and earth to manifest."

"I later learned that it was the night when the governor of the state conquered Xuzhou, and thus the weather conditions of heaven and earth were affected."

"The two times I saw him, he was a governor of a province." Cao Cao thought to himself: Is Zheng Xuan trying to flatter me?

What Zheng Xuan said did seem like flattery.

"Based on the past few years in Yanzhou, after the governor occupies Jizhou, he will implement a series of reforms on land and farming, return the land to the people, and encourage farming."

Zheng Xuan said calmly: "What the governor is going to do is very different from Yuan Benchu's previous relaxed attitude.

When he was in power, the nobles took all the benefits. If the governor wants to do something, he will have to take away the benefits from the nobles, and there will definitely be many obstacles. "

Cao Cao was unsure of the meaning of Zheng Xuan's words and remained silent.

Zheng Xuan continued, "I want to be a pioneer and cheer for the governor."

Cao Cao's heart moved.

Zheng Xuan was respected and admired by people who were eager to learn all over the world.

Although he himself came from a poor family, he had thousands of disciples, more than 30 of whom were taught by him, and more than half of them were from top families.

Zheng Xuan's influence among the gentry was unmatched in his time.

If he is willing to take sides, then controlling Jizhou and Youzhou will greatly reduce resistance, which will be of great benefit to Cao Cao.

But there is no such thing as free benefits.

"Why do you want to help me?" Cao Cao asked.

"I am not helping Yanzhou. The world belongs to everyone in the world. If the governor gets thousands of miles of mountains and rivers the next day and promotes my Zheng learning, what do you think?" Zheng Xuan said.

It turns out that this old man wants to be a national teacher, leave a name for himself through the ages, and spread his teachings...

It was after observing the weather several times that Zheng Xuan was certain that Cao Cao had the potential to dominate the world.

He first made a long-term investment, hoping that after Cao Cao came to power, he would make him the "national teacher" and make Zheng's school of thought the national school of thought.

His academic thoughts are beneficial to the ruling class.

The Mandate of Heaven theory can echo Cao Cao's ruling status as the true dragon emperor.

Therefore, Yuan Shao had to get Zheng Xuan to join his side to offset Cao Cao's support from the emperor.

However, Cao Cao refused and said, "Zheng Sinong, just stay at home and study. Your Zheng learning is not useful for what I am doing."

Zheng Xuan was stunned.

He boasted that he had seen through Cao Cao's needs and that was why he went to recommend himself.

It was rejected.

Cao Cao: "Not only do you want to promote Zheng's school of thought and seek a good reputation after your death, you also want to use Zheng's school of thought to spread widely, gather the fortune of the literary tradition, and achieve the realm of a semi-saint, or even a saint, is that right?"

Zheng Xuan was not discouraged and continued, "I am called the Minister of Agriculture. I can sense the weather and help with farming. Does the governor know about this?"

Cao Cao still shook his head.

Zheng Xuan thought for a moment and then said, "The governor governs the army and enforces the law strictly. However, he disdains the concept of destiny, so he despises my dependence on him."

"The governor has misjudged me. What I call the Way of Heaven is just a workaround to please the imperial power and the people in power."

"If the governor doesn't like the idea of ​​destiny, I can change it to let people follow the rules and respect the principles of law, so that people will be good and follow the traditions of the ancient saints."

"What do you think of what I said?"

Cao Cao was also a little surprised.

Since ancient times, Confucianism has emphasized integrity. People with integrity are stubborn and dare to argue with anyone they meet and will never turn back easily.

Zheng Xuan, a great Confucian scholar and a semi-saint revered as a teacher by later generations, was actually so smooth that he had no idea what integrity was?

Even the direction of academic research and core arguments can be changed at will?

Cao Cao still couldn't figure out Zheng Xuan's thoughts.

Two quarters of an hour later, Zheng Xuan said goodbye and left the mansion: "This governor is a wonderful person, he will not tolerate any calculations from others."

“Master…” Cui Yan stood aside.

"Let's go first. If he doubts my purpose, he won't agree to what I ask for. Let's take it slow." Zheng Xuan got on the carriage.

In the palace, Cao Cao also commented on Zheng Xuan: "This great scholar rushed to be a...licker, I always feel that something is not right."

But from another perspective, Zheng Xuan may have really read the book thoroughly and was not bound by form.

If you like me, I will make some adjustments. I no longer care about the superficial intention.

Cao Cao thought for a while, then took out the two armored beasts.

It feels like the armored beast could revive at any time.

But it seems like something is missing.

Cao Cao tried it, trying to integrate his luck into it, and then took out the Xiantai Seal and moved closer, but unfortunately there was no reaction.

"Provincial Governor, I have a solution."

Dian Wei and Xu Chu, two big heads, poked their heads in from the doorway and stared at the armored beast in Cao Cao's hand.

Two men stepped forward and one of them took an armored beast from Cao Cao.

Xu Chu said: "My childhood playmate caught a hedgehog and it curled up into a ball. Any animal of this kind will open up if you soak it in urine."

grass……

Dian Wei snatched Xu Chu's armored beast away:

"I know how to wake this armored beast."

Xu Chu sneered, "You want to feed it with donkey meat to see if it is hungry?"

Dian Wei saw Yin lying on the window, followed to watch the fun, came to it, and when Yin was not prepared, he quickly pulled out one of its tentacle.

Yin shrank his head back, but was unable to avoid it.

Dian Wei took Yin's beard, probed into the gap of the secret armor beast's scales, and moved it back and forth.

Xu Chu curled his lips: "This thing is ticklish, can you wake it up by tickling it? I..."

Wow!

The secret armor beast that was tickled by Dian Wei suddenly trembled, and all its armor leaves closed.

What a reaction...even Cao Cao was stunned.

The armored beast is difficult to wake up no matter how hard you try, and all it needs is a whisker to tickle it?

The next moment, the armor plates of the armored beast opened again, and it stretched out its body in Dian Wei's hand, with its belly facing up.

Cao Cao and his companions immediately noticed something special and looked at the belly of the armored beast together.

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(End of this chapter)