Chapter 13 Everyone plays their own chess


    This night is a sleepless night for many people.


    Yuan Wei drove all the servants out at this time, and was alone in the study, setting up the chessboard, slowly placing pieces, and soon the end of the game was placed on the chessboard.


    The Eight Methods of Nourishing Qi have not been formally proposed in the Han Dynasty, but the Confucian way of calming the mind and nourishing Qi is already something that everyone who studies Confucianism must understand and follow. Talking by hand gradually became popular during the Han Dynasty and became one of the ways to nourish the nobles'' morale. Ban Gu even wrote a "Game Purpose" specifically for Go, which established the status of Go among high-level people in society at that time.


    Influenced by his brother Yuan Feng, Yuan Wei also preferred this approach. Once upon a time, the two brothers often sat and talked with each other. It had nothing to do with winning or losing, but only the friendship between brothers.


    ?? Yuan Wei''s old eyes actually gleamed a little when he faced this endgame.


    ?This game is the last unfinished game between him and his brother Yuan Feng, and today he is finally going to finish it.


    ?That night happened to be the time when the disaster of party imprisonment started. At that time, the entire city of Luoyang would be on fire all night long, soldiers and armor would roar, and countless literati from the Qing Dynasty would have their families broken up and their bodies missing.


    That night, Yuan Wei and Yuan Feng were terrified. They forced themselves to stay calm and sat facing each other in the hall, waiting for the unpredictable verdict. Fortunately, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty did not agree with the eunuch''s treatment of Yuan Feng, and the Yuan family was spared. But later, although his brother Yuan Feng was not dismissed from office, he was implicated for a while, and he failed to recover, eventually leading to his death due to depression.


    Since then, Yuan Wei has hated the eunuchs deeply, but what he can do is that the power of the eunuchs was overwhelming at that time, so Yuan Wei could only endure it.


    Tonight is just like that time, with fires filling Luoyang and soldiers running in all directions, but the difference is that this time it is the arrogant eunuchs whose heads fell to the ground.


    ?Years of planning have finally reached the final stage.


    Yuan Wei and He Jin didn''t have any hatred. Strictly speaking, the elite members of the gentry family usually hated their relatives to death if they could, but not many people really regarded their relatives as life-or-death enemies.


    Because all noble families know that relatives often change, and they may be in glory for a few years at most. When the favored person in the palace gradually declines in popularity and grows old, even the most prosperous relatives may one day fall.


    But eunuchs are different. Beauties are often replaced, but eunuchs are not often replaced!


    Yuan Wei waited for a long time and finally got the opportunity. When the new emperor ascended the throne and the older generation of eunuchs could not immediately get closer to the new emperor, he provoked conflicts between his relatives and the eunuchs, constantly adding fuel to the fire, and even resorted to using Yinzi, who had been lying in wait for many years, finally successfully pulled all his opponents into the abyss of death.


    The general who is a foreign relative will advance and die.


    All the eunuchs, Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and others died.


    Yuan Wei reached out and lifted up the black dragons on the chessboard one by one, throwing them to the ground. He raised his head high and watched the black chess pieces rolling around on the ground with contempt.


    A cold smile appeared on Yuan Wei''s lips.


    "It''s a pity that I can''t give it all..." Yuan Wei knocked on the two small black chess pieces in the corner of the chessboard, "It doesn''t matter, after all, the Dao is fifty and Tianyan is forty-nine, so these two people are very lucky this time..."


    "But...will you still be so lucky in the next game?"


    ****************


    A group of mighty soldiers and horses were winding their way. They were the soldiers and horses under Dong Zhuo''s command in Xiliang.


    At this moment, Li Ru and Li Wenyou were using a wind lantern in the carriage to set up a chessboard. The black and white chess pieces were fighting each other on the chessboard. I am among you, and you are among me. In the end, they both became a robber and a robber. living situation.


    Is the number of winners and losers fifty-fifty?


    ?? Li Ru held the chess pieces in his hands and carefully examined them to the point where he could no longer play. He snorted coldly and swept all the chess pieces aside.


    Since the old game can no longer be played, let’s start a new one!


    Li Ru opened the carriage door curtain and sternly issued an order: "Pass my military order, the left and right wings spread out twenty miles each, and raise more torches and flags to increase the momentum! The whole army speeds up and marches towards Luoyang! We must arrive at Luoyang before the eclipse tomorrow!" Those who miss the deadline will be killed!”


    ?Suddenly, Dong Zhuo''s army suddenly expanded and moved toward Luoyang City as quickly as a big net.


    **********


    ?Fei Qian and Cui Hou were also in the small courtyard hall, talking about a game of chess.


    ??Although the noise in the city gradually died down, after this commotion, the two of them were no longer sleepy. After meeting, they went to the small hall to play chess to kill time.


    “Brother Xian brought these two people back, I think they are either rich or noble, and I don’t know which family’s young master is in trouble...” Cui Hou took a picture of one of them and asked casually. Cui Hou didn''t put much thought into those two children. He estimated that the young master from a fire in Luoyang City just ran away in a panic.


    Fei Qian also answered casually: "I don''t know either, but seeing as the two of them are young and in shock, it''s hard to ask in detail. Let''s wait until dawn."


    Cui Hou let out a "ha" and said jokingly: "Brother Xian said that he is young. How dare I ask brother Xian, how noble is this year?" "I''m actually just a young man. In fact, I''m already sixty-five!" Fei Qian He was also very cooperative and said with a straight face.


    Cui Hou laughed loudly after hearing this, grabbed a handful of chess pieces and put them on the chessboard, "Okay, okay, I''m convinced, you win..." He then ordered the maids waiting on the side to go down and make some new tea and exchange for some pastries.


    After the maid had gone far away, Cui Hou wiped the corners of his eyes that were stained with tears from his smile. He left the table and bowed to Fei Qian with a straight face: "I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Young Master! The Cui family will continue this friendship today. Once Mr. Lang has his way, the Cui family will Must obey!”


    Fei Qian quickly helped Cui Hou up, "Can you accept such a great gift from your brother?"


    "You deserve it! To be honest, brother, this recipe is as good as nectar to my family after a long drought." Cui Hou nodded with a wry smile, "Don''t look at it now, in fact my Cui family has already It was the foreign force that did it.”


    “How could it be so?”


    ?Cui Hou nodded and slowly explained to Fei Qian.


    ?Every family has sutras that are difficult to recite.


    The Cui family originally originated from the surname Jiang. The ancestor was Jiang Taigong, and the originator was the Shennong clan of Emperor Yan. Ji Zi, the eldest son of Ding Gongji, the king of Qi in the Western Zhou Dynasty, once lived in Cui Yi, and his descendants took Yi as their surname. The surname Cui in Shandong. , so Linzi, Shandong Province is the birthplace of the Cui family.


    ??However, in the process of the Cui family''s expansion, Cui Lie''s branch was quite successful in business, accumulating continuously over the generations, and slowly developed from Shandong to the Heluo area, and took root in Luoyang.


    By the time of Cui Lie''s generation, the Cui family lineage in Shandong had already declined, and the position of head of the family fell to Cui Lie''s lineage.


    ?Of course there is a fierce competition here, which is unknown.


    Cui Lie, who won the competition, originally had a fortune. At that time, Cui Lie was a good businessman and a scholar. When he first became a disciple, he was really in the spotlight. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. As Cui Lie was beaten by the eunuch, losing his official position was not considered as repayment. His home was confiscated and 80% of his wealth was lost. Cui Lie fell ill and eventually passed away.


    ??Although Cui Lie passed the position of head of the family to Cui Yi before his death, this position was no less than a hot potato at this time because there were already side branches eyeing the position of the head of the family.


    The head of the family has a high status in the entire family. In ancient times, the head of the family had control over the family tree and the family ancestral hall. It can be said that he had a very lethal power to the people within the family - the power of elimination, which was no less than life or death for the disciples of the ancient family. power.


    ??Therefore, he had already lost his official position and lost his fortune. If he loses his position as the head of the family at this time, then Cui Yi and Cui Hou will be completely reduced, and there will be no chance of success.


    Fortunately, Cui Lie still had a lot of popularity in the court, so Cui Yi was able to temporarily keep his position as the head of the family. However, the popularity will fade and one day it will eventually run out. Therefore, in order to maintain Cui Yi''s position as the head of the family, the Cui family has not known how to deal with it in recent years. How much money was spread out, not only to maintain the manor''s manpower expenses, but also to make friends with the ministers of the DPRK and China. In a few years, even the family fortune was almost emptied.


    But these high-ranking officials and nobles in the court basically do not pay attention to ordinary gold and silver. They only like some rare treasures. But these rare treasures are not weeds in the fields, so how can they be found everywhere?


    As a last resort, the Cui family could only collect them from everywhere. Every time they collected one, they basically paid tribute to the high officials in the court.


    ? Fei Qian nodded secretly, I see. No wonder there are rumors that the Cui family designs deceptive treasures. It seems that this is the reason.


    Now, with Fei Qian''s method of improving the glass making method, the Cui family has embraced a hen that can lay golden eggs. First of all, they no longer need to search for treasures like headless flies. Their own glass is a treasure. ; Secondly, it also opened up a new way of making money, changing the situation where the Cui family''s income exceeded their income, which was of great help to stabilizing the position of the head of the family.


    Perhaps Fei Qian may have other secret recipes, but for the current Cui family, consolidating what they have and seizing what they have is the most important and correct thing. Therefore, after the master craftsman in the family tried it out, he confirmed Fei Qian''s colored glaze. When the secret recipe had a miraculous effect on improving the color and brightness of the glass, Cui Yi simply made the decision to make friends with Fei Qian.


    This is also in line with the consistent rule of the aristocratic family - family comes first.


    ??If it weren''t for the fact that Fei Qian was just a branch of the Fei family, Cui Yi would even have to come out in person to express his thanks. Cui Hou and Fei Qian explained clearly the reasons behind the Cui family, and did not ask Fei Qian how he obtained this recipe or what other methods there were. In this way, in addition to expressing gratitude, there was also This has two meanings: one is to show that the Cui family will no longer be on guard against Fei Qian and will treat each other with sincerity; the other is that they will no longer be greedy about the origin of Fei Qian''s secret recipe and will keep it secret.


    As for what Fei Qian needs from the Cui family in the future, the Cui family will naturally measure it based on the value of the secret recipe and give equal or more rewards.


    ?Of course, these so-called measurement standards will all depend on the status of Fei Qian and the Cui family in the future. For example, for a poor person who is about to starve to death and a rich person who is full of food and drinks every day, the same meal will of course have different meanings for the two people.


    ?At this time, the maid outside the door brought freshly brewed tea and some cakes, and asked if she would like to prepare some toiletries since it was almost time for the rooster to crow.


    Upon hearing this, Fei Qian and Cui Hou knew that the long night had quietly passed and a new day had come. Fei Qian raised the tea bowl and saluted Cui Hou, "Brother Yongyuan, how about taking this tea to bid farewell to the old days and celebrate the new beginning together?"


    Cui Hou reacted immediately and raised his tea bowl: "Xian brother is indeed a wonderful person! Let''s bid farewell to the old days and celebrate the new beginning together!"


    (End of this chapter)