When he received the letter, Chen Biao was pushing Chen Ying to teach elementary school students.
Chen Ying had just returned from the front line. Chen Biao asked Chen Ying to tell the primary school students the heroic stories of the soldiers on the front line to establish a heroic image for the primary school students.
Everyone should learn from the good. Instead of just talking nonsense, Chen Biao believes more in the driving role of real idols.
Hua Yun now reports to Yingtian Primary School on time every day and moves all the documents to Yingtian Primary School for review.
Because Zhu Yuanzhang said that it was just a matter of finding someone who could read to help Hua Yun, and he could just go to Yingtian Primary School to find someone. The teachers managed by Chen Biao were all trustworthy scholars, and some of them were taught by Chen Biao.
While Hua Yun secretly complained about her boss for not telling her earlier, she happily came to the elementary school to feel the joy of being surrounded by children.
With Chen Biao's introduction and guarantee, the primary school students were a little afraid of Hua Yun at first, but soon they became familiar with Hua Yun. On the left they called him Uncle Hua, and on the right they called him General Hua. Their little faces were full of admiring eyes.
Hua Yun thought very proudly, Humph, son, if you don’t please your father, I won’t want you to be close to me!
When Chen Ying just came back, Hua Yunben treated Chen Ying as his own nephew and was quite close to him.
Hua Yun became unhappy when he saw that Chen Ying had stolen the attention of the elementary school students surrounding him.
He also had to take time out to attend class and explain his glorious deeds.
Hua Wensun coughed weakly while holding Hua Yun back, fearing that Hua Yun would tell the children something that would cause her brain to burst and her intestines to spill out.
Hua Yun had no choice but to write a "teaching plan" in advance and let Hua Wenxun review it. If Hua Wenxun said one thing, he would argue with Hua Wenxun a hundred times.
Hua Wenxun, the adopted son, really cares about his father.
Zhu Yuanzhang's personal soldiers handed the two letters to Chen Biao. Chen Biao sat on Chen Ying's uninjured leg, opened the letters, and loudly warned Chen Chong, who was playing with sand with Chang Mao, not to suck his fingers.
"Huh? There's this?" Chen Biao, out of respect, opened the letter from his pen pal, Marshal Zhu, first. "Brother Ying, has General Chang screwed himself over again?"
Chen Ying looked at the letter and couldn't help but laugh: "He probably wants to offend the surrendered generals and get them to put pressure on the Marshal to let him return to the front line."
Chen Biao frowned. "Why is it that even though we've offended the surrendered general, our advance is smoother? Is Marshal Zhu testing me? Such a simple question, do you still need my answer? My idiot father might not understand, but how could someone as wise as the Marshal not understand? He must be testing me."
After saying that, Chen Biao put down the letter from his pen pal Zhu Dashuai and opened the letter from his parents.
His mother's letters were always about trivial matters and to let him know he was safe, something Chen Biao would read later. His father's letters began with "Biao'er! Help Daddy!" Even though there were no punctuation marks, Chen Biao felt like he was being bombarded with exclamation points.
At this moment, he really wanted to make a comic strip of Doraemon.
His dad is like Nobita, and he is like Doraemon. Whenever his dad encounters any difficulties, he starts to cry "Biaoer!", isn't he exactly like Nobita?
Chen Biao was amused by his own imagination.
Chen Ying watched Chen Biao grinning as he read his adoptive father's letter, and his smile couldn't help but grow wider: "Godfather is asking about this too?"
"Yeah." Chen Biao laughed. "Dad is really stupid. Isn't it obvious what General Chang did? Generals are generals, and soldiers are soldiers. There are only a few generals, but there are many soldiers and middle and lower-level officers. General Chang united the majority and isolated the surrendered generals with disloyalty. Later, the soldiers and middle and lower-level officers in the city learned that they would have a good life if they joined the Zhu family army, so why couldn't they find a new general for themselves?"
Chen Ying said, "It's not just that simple, right?"
Chen Biao smiled and said nothing.
For Marshal Zhu, this was enough. He would discuss the rest when his father returned home.
Chen Ying saw Chen Biao's thoughts and said, "Are you worried that the Marshal will open the letter you wrote to your godfather?"
Chen Biao immediately said, "I didn't say that."
Chen Ying said, "The Marshal won't open letters from home, you can rest assured about that. Besides, my godfather and the Marshal are not in the same army."
Chen Ying lied with his eyes open, but Chen Biao believed it.
But Chen Biao still said: "It's not an important matter, there's no need to mention it in the letter."
Chen Ying shook his head: "Let's talk to Godfather and let him know what's going on. Otherwise, with Godfather's personality, he might misunderstand and act rashly."
Chen Biao thought about his silly father's character and frowned: "Indeed."
Although he didn't know what his father would do, he was very sure that his father would do it.
Thinking of this, Chen Biao could no longer sit still and hurried home to write a reply.
The worst possible scenario that Chen Biao anticipated was that his father read his reply and thought that everything was simple and that he could do it. General Chang happened to be clamoring to return to the front line, so his father did General Chang a favor and took the blame himself.
It is not known whether General Chang was able to accomplish this because he had the right time, place, and people. If General Chang had not had a reputation for brutally killing prisoners, the contrast between his current kindness to prisoners would not be so great, and people would not believe that the Zhu family army could really transform generals into people who treat soldiers well.
They trusted General Chang, not only because of the precedents set by General Chang in Quzhou and Chizhou, but also because of the example of General Chang himself.
Just as he said in the play, General Chang's process of changing from a bad guy to "wanting to be a good guy" and working hard for it inspired the prisoners to seriously and actively carry out labor reform.
Even if it were Marshal Zhu himself, he would not be able to do this.
After Chen Biao casually answered his pen pal Zhu Dashuai’s question, he seriously analyzed to his father why Chang Yuchun was able to achieve success.
As he wrote, his desire to talk was aroused, and he began to talk about some far-fetched and imaginary truths.
For example, let his father reread the heavenly book he wrote.
"The deepest reason for this is that the soldiers themselves believe they should be equal to their commanders."
"Confucius established ethical principles solely to guide human behavior, not to suggest that anyone was inherently noble. If he believed this, he wouldn't have established private schools during the Spring and Autumn Period, when only the nobility could study. Among his 3,000 students were commoners and even slaves."
“But later generations, in order to rule and maintain their own power, transformed simple behavioral guidelines into high and low honors.”
"In this chaotic world, the lives of soldiers are worthless. A general can surrender and still enjoy a comfortable life under a new lord. Is this fair? This is how the world works, but deep down, people are bound to be unwilling to accept it and think it's unfair."
"The soldiers didn't understand much about the principles, and they didn't even understand their own real needs. They just instinctively chose to believe that they, the surrendered soldiers, were equal to the surrendered generals and that they were all subject to labor reform."
"Human needs have several levels. Having enough food and clothing is one, feeling treated equally is another, and then realizing one's own value, independent of others' judgment, is the highest level. Scholars do not fight for the present, are not afraid of life and death, and strive for eternal fame. This is the highest level they seek."
"Dad, you're confused because you underestimate these soldiers. You think the soldiers' minds are just concerned about who they can follow to get enough food and clothing, but these soldiers foolishly chose the second level of needs. They didn't join Zhu Yuanzhang, but General Chang, who treated them equally, and the Zhu family army, which had a general like General Chang who treated them equally."
Chen Biao put down his pen and thought for a moment before continuing, "Dad, you don't understand this. Marshal Zhu rose from a small fry to the position of marshal, so he must understand. That's why he sent General Chang. Don't show off my letter to Marshal Zhu."
Chen Biao thought for a while and wrote another 500 words praising Marshal Zhu.
If Marshal Zhu opened his letter home and saw how disgustingly he praised her, he would definitely not have any less favorable impression of her, right?
The letter reached Zhu Yuanzhang.
He first opened the letter Chen Biao wrote to Marshal Zhu and commented: "My son is just trying to please Marshal Zhu."
He proudly opened the letter Chen Biao had written to him and said, "Looking at the number of words, I know my son loves me the most."
The other insiders and staff rolled their eyes. "Oh, right, right, right? If your son doesn't love you the most, who does he love the most? Well, it must be Madam Xiuying."
Liu Ji asked impatiently, "What did Biao'er write?"
Zhu Yuanzhang pushed Liu Ji away and said, "Let me see first! You can see after I see!"
Zhu Yuanzhang read the letter carefully, sometimes frowning in thought, sometimes showing an expression of sudden realization, which made others scratch their heads.
Zhu Yuanzhang finally read to the end of the letter, and his pensive expression turned into a resentful one, looking extremely aggrieved.
"Biao'er, Biao'er, what's wrong... Alas!" Zhu Yuanzhang's expression kept changing, and finally he closed his eyes, thinking that out of sight, out of mind.
Liu Ji tried to snatch the letter, but Li Shanchang got it first.
Li Shanchang had much more experience than him, so Liu Ji had no choice but to continue waiting.
Li Shanchang's initial expression was the same as Zhu Yuanzhang's. After reading the letter to the end, he covered his mouth with his sleeve to hold back his laughter and handed the letter to Song Lian.
Liu Ji rolled his eyes. Damn it, do we have to judge by seniority just to read a letter?!
When Song Lian also began to hold back his laughter, it was Liu Ji's turn because several other literati who had come to Zhu Yuanzhang before Liu Ji had been placed in other armies to help.
Although Liu Ji could only read ten lines at a glance, all the content written by Chen Biao was engraved in his mind. When he was about to fall into deep thought, Chen Biao's calligraphy praising Marshal Zhu came into his sight.
"Pfft..." Liu Ji laughed unceremoniously, "It's clear that Biao'er admires you very much. My Lord, when you asked the prince to write the letter on your behalf, weren't you pretending to be too omnipotent? You actually caused Biao'er to misunderstand you like that."
Zhu Yuanzhang opened his eyes, glanced at Liu Ji, and then continued to close his eyes to escape.
He couldn't accept that Biaoer thought he was a stupid father, but Marshal Zhu was very smart!
Aren’t they all the same person?
Li Shanchang finally suppressed his smile and said, "Well, my lord, what Biao'er said is very reasonable. We know what to do next. It just means that General Chang will have to work hard for a while. But my lord, Biao'er's letter is too shocking. You must keep it safe after reading it."
Li Shanchang did not ask Zhu Yuanzhang to burn the letter because he knew that Zhu Yuanzhang had carefully kept the letters written by Chen Biao and was reluctant to burn them.
Li Shanchang suspected that after Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he would probably set aside a warehouse specifically to store the letters between him and his son.
Zhu Yuanzhang finally opened his eyes and said, "Biao'er is a god who has descended to earth. He always said that all people are born equal and no one is born noble. What is noble is family background, property, and power, not the person himself."
Zhu Yuanzhang lowered his head and pondered for a while, then laughed: "Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers actually born with different species?"
The others remained silent.
Chen Biao's ideas were actually already present in our ancestors.
To sum it up in one sentence, "Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers born into a certain family?"
It's just such a simple truth, but they rarely think of it unless they encounter it, because they have been accustomed to the moral principles that have been passed down for thousands of years.
If they had read Chen Biao's letter before seeing the heavenly book, they would definitely feel uncomfortable, but they would not know why they felt uncomfortable.
But with the heavenly book in front of them, they saw the problem more clearly, so they became indifferent.
Seeing that they were silent, Zhu Yuanzhang spoke again: "You don't need to persuade me. I know that it is impossible for everyone to be equal in this world now. Take me for example. I have fought for so long. Shouldn't my descendants and I enjoy ourselves a little? I think most people think the same way."
"To be honest, Chang Boren's prisoner reform labor policy wasn't fair either. As long as surrendered generals passed the labor reform, their merit in surrendering the city could still allow them to become generals. Aside from all that labor reform, generals remained generals, and soldiers remained soldiers. Nothing much changed."
Zhu Yuanzhang lowered his head again, was silent for a while, and then laughed out loud.
But just because of this, the soldiers were willing to take the risk and chop off the general's head to join Zhu's army.
That's all.
Their thoughts and desires were truly humble. But even though they were so humble, even I, a general who had also come from humble beginnings, only realized this after Biao'er reminded me.
Biaoer's letter may not be praising Marshal Zhu, but he thinks that Marshal Zhu really should understand this matter.
He, Zhu Yuanzhang, should know about this matter!
Zhu Yuanzhang stood up from his chair and said, "Gentlemen, accompany me to the prisoner-of-war camp for a walk."
Li Shanchang and the others bowed their heads and said, "Yes, my lord."
…
In Pingjiang City, when Chang Yuchun was already looking forward to Zhu Yuanzhang pulling him back to the front line from the rear, Zhang Shicheng and others found out the details of the Battle of Yingtian between Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang.
Zhu Yuanzhang was well prepared. Not only had he made preparations long beforehand, he also used a tactic of sowing discord to eliminate Zhao Pusheng, Chen Youliang's trusted general, and then tricked Chen Youliang into an ambush. Later, whether due to a combination of timing and location, or perhaps Zhu Yuanzhang's accurate calculations, Chen Youliang, who had once been able to fight, happened to encounter low tide, and his entire army was wiped out.
This battle seems to be full of coincidences, but behind the coincidences is the shrewdness and scheming of Zhu Yuanzhang and his advisers, which is chilling.
Zhang Shixin said sarcastically, "You all said Zhu Yuanzhang is nothing to be feared, but I think he looks like a serious threat."
Zhang Shicheng's staff remained silent and didn't even look at Zhang Shixin.
Zhang Shixin was holding his breath and wanted to explode on the spot, but Zhang Shicheng glared at him. Fortunately, he knew to give face to his elder brother and endured it temporarily.
Zhang Shicheng said, "My brother is right. I used to think he was nothing to fear, but now it seems he's going to become a serious threat to me. Perhaps I should write to the Yuan court and ask them to focus their attention on Zhu Yuanzhang?"
Some of Zhang Shicheng's staff praised Zhang Shicheng for his wisdom, but Shi Er, Chen Ji and others remained silent.
Robben wanted to speak several times, but his teacher Shi Er stopped him with a look, so he could only shut his mouth in confusion.
After Zhang Shicheng finished talking about writing a letter to the Yuan court asking the Yuan court to send troops to attack Zhu Yuanzhang, he put the matter aside and talked about supplying food to the Yuan court.
The chaos in the world was accompanied by a great famine. The Yuan capital was filled with starving people, and even the lives of the Yuan Dynasty nobles were affected.
The Yuan court hoped that Zhang Shicheng would provide grain to Yuan Dadu. Many of Zhang Shicheng's staff opposed this, but Zhang Shicheng finally decided to provide the Yuan court with 110,000 dan of grain every year, saying, "I am now a minister of the Yuan Dynasty and should be loyal to the emperor and patriotic."
Zhang Shicheng said to his opponents, "Don't be reluctant to give up this little bit of food. The Yuan emperor took my food and will definitely make me a prince. Compared to those who declared themselves kings, I, who was made a king by the emperor, am the true and legitimate prince."
The staff members all complimented him, even Shi Er and Chen Ji complimented him with their eyes closed.
Robben wanted to say something again, but Shi Er pulled his sleeve and he shut his mouth sadly again.
After Zhang Shicheng made the decision, he dismissed his staff.
He was going to discuss poetry and songs with a group of talented scholars and a group of female scholars. Now that he could read a few words, he could write decent poems and received praise from the talented scholars.
Shi Er and Chen Ji said goodbye in front of Zhang Shicheng's residence and took their students into the carriage.
As soon as the carriage curtain was lowered, Robben asked anxiously, "Teacher, why don't you let me speak to refute the lord?"
Before Robben finished speaking, Shi Er coughed several times. The more he coughed, the more painful it became. The veins on his forehead bulged, as if he was going to cough out his heart and lungs.
Robben was frightened and quickly took over Shi Ershun's recitation.
The carriage swayed, and Shi Er finally caught his breath.
Without saying a word, he handed a letter to Robben.
Robben opened the letter and found it was actually a letter from Song Lian to Chen Ji.
In the letter, Song Lian greeted his junior fellow student Chen Ji as a senior brother, and then elaborated on the changes that happened to the people after Zhu Yuanzhang implemented the well-field system and women's feet were liberated. He also talked about how Chang Yuchun, the former "mass murderer of tens of thousands of people", was sent by Zhu Yuanzhang to the rear to appease the people and prisoners of war, and had a good reputation.
Song Lian also said that Chang Yuchun was just a little nicer to the soldiers, and some soldiers killed the defending generals and surrendered the city. They walked into the prisoner-of-war reform camp with smiles on their faces, waiting for Chang Yuchun to lecture them.
Song Lian finally said, "I am puzzled. Could you please help me solve this puzzle?"
The words on the letter were small, the light in the carriage was dim, and the carriage was shaking. After reading the letter, Robben felt a little pain in his eyes and tears came out unconsciously.
"Teacher..." Robben said sadly, "Are you going to give up on the lord?"
During the Battle of Gaoyou led by Zhang Shicheng, Robben was 24 years old, at the prime of his life, and his thoughts were the most passionate.
When Robben was a teenager, he followed his father to Suzhou and Hangzhou to seek survival, and happened to witness the Battle of Gaoyou.
Zhang Shicheng led the only thousand or so cavalrymen left in Gaoyou City out of the city gate, killing millions of Yuan Dynasty troops and forcing them to flee in panic. Although he only saw the tip of the iceberg while hiding in a safe place, Zhang Shicheng's heroic attitude has been firmly engraved in his heart.
Robben is well-versed in history books, and his favorite is "Records of the Three Kingdoms".
The chaotic times at the end of the Yuan Dynasty are comparable to those at the end of the Han Dynasty. Heroes from all over the world are rising up. It is a good time to aspire to become a king and build a career.
After the Battle of Gaoyou, his lord would only be Zhang Shicheng.
Robben originally thought that his teacher should be the same.
The teacher even prepared to write a book praising the peasant uprising for Zhang Shicheng and refute Zhang Shicheng's anti-Yuan stance.
At that time, the poor salt farmers threw the lives of their entire families behind their backs, and were determined to follow Zhang Shicheng to live and die together. Such Zhang Shicheng was definitely not a rebel, but a hero.
When did all this change?
Could it be that the Battle of Gaoyou exhausted the lord's heroism?
Robben absolutely does not agree with this!
Shi Er looked dejected.
When Chen Ji showed him the letter, he began to fall ill.
He thought that as Zhu Yuanzhang's power grew stronger and Zhang Shicheng became more and more corrupt, his illness might become more and more serious until he was terminally ill.
Shi Er murmured, "Wait, wait a little longer. Wait for the day when the lord wakes up. Now everything is not too late."
Robben said anxiously, "Since the teacher doesn't intend to leave the lord, why are you stopping me from admonishing the lord?!"
Shi Er was silent for a moment, then laughed a raspy laugh. "My lord, your generals have all laid down their armor and returned home. My lord has no intention of attacking anyone now. If you want me to take the risk of attacking Zhu Yuanzhang, I will not agree and may even take my anger out on you. As for the grain shipped to Dadu...my lord's fleet has already departed."
Robben's eyes were wide open, his back seemed to have no strength, and he leaned dejectedly on the backrest of the carriage seat, swaying with the shaking of the carriage, as if he was in a small boat in a storm.
Seeing his disciple like this, Shi Er coughed a few more times, smoothed his chest, and said weakly, "My lord, it's not wrong for you to do this. My lord, if you don't want to rashly become an enemy of Zhu Yuanzhang, then you can't offend the Yuan court. If my lord can recuperate, live in peace for a few years, and accumulate strength, you may be able to compete with Zhu Yuanzhang for the world."
Robben closed his eyes, tears falling from the corners of his eyes. "Teacher, you previously prevented our lord from joining forces with Chen Youliang because Chen Youliang was ambitious and, if he won, he would immediately launch an attack on Pingjiang, putting our lord in imminent danger. But allowing Zhu Yuanzhang to gain power is like drinking poison to quench thirst."
Shi Er said, "The poison can be cured, but dying of thirst means instant death. Furthermore, I didn't expect Chen Youliang to be so useless, and Zhu Yuanzhang to be so powerful, that the battle could be ended in an instant. As long as they fight for a while, I don't know how long, it will only take more than a month... no, even just half a month! We have a way to weaken them both at the same time!"
Robben burst into tears: "But is God's will not on our side?"
Shi Er sighed and wiped the tears from the corners of his favorite disciple's eyes. "Guanzhong, do you really think that Zhu Yuanzhang's growing power despite the world's infamy was truly due to heaven's will?"
Shi Er pointed at the letter in Robben's hand and said loudly: "It's the will of the people!"
Robben shuddered, opened his eyes, and looked blankly at the letter in his hand.
Shi Er said, "You and I served as our lord's advisors because we saw the public opinion he shouldered during the Battle of Gaoyou. But what about now? Public opinion is not in Pingjiang City."
He excitedly opened the car curtain.
Outside the carriage window, shops were bustling with activity, and many men in fine clothes were coming in and out with their pretty wives;
In the gaps between shops, there are people in tattered clothes or even naked shivering in the cold wind of mid-autumn. Some people are motionless, and it is unclear whether they are sleeping soundly or will sleep forever.
It was a festive occasion, and the men in fine clothes, with their crowns and flowers on their hair and powder on their faces, looked very dashing.
A hunchbacked old woman, with trembling hands, asked passers-by on the road if they wanted to buy the chrysanthemums in the basket. She only wanted to exchange them for a steamed bun or even a handful of bran, but she was pushed to the ground by the servant of a man in gorgeous clothes. The chrysanthemums in the basket, still covered with dew, rolled to the ground and were trampled into the mud.
"Please be kind, please be kind..."
The Washington
"How can a wild flower on the roadside be on my master's head! Liar, get out of here!"
The man in fancy clothes pinched the butt of the woman next to him.
"Master, I still like wild flowers, but I only like this one."
The pretty girl laughed shrilly, covered her nose with a silk handkerchief, and said she was disgusted by the old woman's stench and asked someone to drive her away.
"How can such a person appear on the street? He will affect the master's mood!"
The old woman was kicked and rolled on the ground, her fingers reaching for the basket with difficulty.
It seemed as if she would take the basket with her even if she left. The basket might be the only "valuable" item left in her house.
Her intention was seen by the pretty woman, who whispered something to the man in fine clothes, raised her small foot in exquisite Luo shoes, and stepped towards the basket.
Robben yelled: "Stop, stop!"
Before the carriage stopped, Robben jumped off and fell straight to the ground, unable to get up for a long time.
The man in fancy clothes recognized the decoration of the carriage and knew that it was an aide to Zhang Shicheng. He cursed him bad luck, waved his hand, and left with the pretty woman and attendants.
Shi Er's carriage finally stopped.
He got off the carriage and helped Robben who had fallen to the ground.
Robben stumbled towards the old woman: "Grandma, Grandma?"
Robben tried to help the old woman up: "I'll take you to see a doctor!"
The old woman stared at the trampled basket and raised her trembling hands.
Looking at the erosion marks on her hands, one could tell that she must have worked as a salt farmer for a long time.
The old woman's cloudy eyes suddenly became clear, and her voice was very clear: "Is the nobleman from Zhang Gong's place?"
Robben choked up: "Yes!"
The old woman asked, "Could you please ask Mr. Zhang for me? He said that if we follow him, the salt farmers will no longer suffer. All five of my sons died in battle, and my only grandson is starving to death. Why should we continue to suffer?"
After she finished speaking, she rummaged through her bosom, pulled out a broken silver hairpin, and handed it to Robben: "Ask for me, ask for me..."
She looked at the silver hairpin with nostalgia, and her clear eyes gradually lost their luster.
Some people stopped to watch on the street, while others covered their faces and left.
The shopkeeper also came out to watch and sighed, "I have an old mat here. It's better to wrap the body and bury it than to leave it in the wilderness. Alas."
After saying that, he shook his head and went into the store to get the mat.
Robben stood up angrily and was held down by Shi Er.
Shi Erdao: "What do you want to do!"
Robben clutched the half silver hairpin that the old woman had chosen to keep even if she starved, and said, "Ask for an explanation for her!"
Shi Er said calmly, "That man just now was the lord's son-in-law, Pan Yuanshao, whom I have impeached countless times! What explanation do you want?! What explanation can you ask for?!"
Because he was young and had not yet become one of Zhang Shicheng's core staff, Robben did not know Zhang Shicheng's confidants very well. He looked blankly in the direction where the man in the gorgeous clothes left.
Shi Er wrapped the mat for the old woman and said, "Hurry up and find out where the old woman's grandson is. If you go too late, her grandson will become a pile of meat in the pot!"
Robben helped the old woman wrap the mat with a numb look on his face.
But after wrapping himself in the mat, he still ran towards Zhang Shicheng's mansion without even noticing that his shoes had fallen off.
Shi Er sighed, told the servant to hold the old woman, and went to look for the old woman's grandson.
A few days later, Luo Ben was awarded a thousand taels of gold and silver, and Pan Yuanshao was forced by Zhang Shicheng personally to apologize to Luo Ben.
Zhang Shicheng was impressed by Robben's kindness and promoted him as an exception.
Luo Ben was appointed as an envoy by Zhang Shicheng. He first went to Yuan Dadu, and then to Han Song, Chen Youliang, Zhu Yuanzhang, Fang Guozhen, Chen Youding and other forces. He signed friendly treaties with these forces, agreeing that they would not invade each other and to gather information at the same time.
Before Robben left, Shi Er, Chen Ji, Liu Liang, Lu Yuan and other real talents among Zhang Shicheng went to see him off.
Shi Er sighed, "Guanzhong, why are you doing this? The journey is exhausting, the fighting is chaotic, it's too dangerous!"
Robben bowed and said, "Teacher, I still firmly believe that the Lord will return to his original appearance. Hasn't the Lord already begun to open the warehouses to rescue the people? I am willing to serve as the Lord's vanguard. This is a job I asked for myself."
Chen Ji patted Shi Er's shoulder and said to him, "Trust Guan Zhong. It's good for the young people to go out and take a look. Take a good look at us old people, especially over there. Come back and tell us."
Robben couldn't help choking up when he saw that Chen Ji, although not yet fifty years old, had completely white hair.
He bowed repeatedly before boarding the boat leaving Pingjiang.