"After you leave Waihuang, don't go to Jiyang, don't go to Taoqiu, I heard a report from the doorman, saying that those two places are being besieged by the two armies of Hanoi and Dongjun of Qin, and it is not safe."

One day in late February, outside the north gate of Waihuangcheng, Zhang Er was bidding farewell to his father-in-law, wife, and eight-year-old son Zhang Ao.

Zhang Er was in the prime of life, thirty-seven or eighteen years old, with a black face and a long beard, wearing a light gauze coat, a small leather bun crown on his head, and a long sword hanging from his waist.

He is a native of Liang in the Wei Kingdom, with a lonely background and a poor family, he was a little ranger in Liang City when he was young, and he wandered the streets all day long, because he liked to act chivalrous and righteous, and he also got a reputation of "good righteousness".

Zhang Er's fate was changed in the thirtieth year of King Anjiao of Wei (247 BC), when Wei was attacked by the Qin army and was in danger. At the repeated request of the King of Wei, Xinlingjun, who fled to Handan for stealing talismans to save Zhao, finally ended his ten-year exile in Zhao.

Under the expectation of the military and people of the Wei State, Gongzi returned to Daliang and shouldered the heavy task of cooperating with the Qin Dynasty!

It was a time when Zhang Er recalled it twenty years later, and he was still fascinated. Xinlingjun accepted the appointment of the king of Wei and became a general. He contacted the countries of Shandong and formed a coalition of Wei, Chu, Zhao, Han, and Yan to attack Qin, defeating the Qin army in Hedong, forcing the Qin general Meng Fu to retreat to Hangu Pass, and the Qin did not dare to go east for several years.

The success of this joint attack on Qin made Xinlingjun famous all over the world again, and the guests were overflowing!

It was also at that time that he relied on his reputation of "good righteousness" to defeat many competitors, devote himself to the disciple of Xinling Jun, and become his doorman!

Although, he was just a guest and mingled among the thousands of diners of Xinlingjun. Not only can it not be compared with Hou Huan and Zhu Hai, the two heroes of Xuanhe Daliang City, but even the face of Xinling Jun has only been seen from afar a few times.

In Zhang Er's eyes, Xin Lingjun, the master of the door who could only look up from afar, was getting thinner and thinner.

The ambition of the prince of Xinling was high, but the reality of being suspicious of the King of Wei made him indulge in lust, and he became weaker and weaker, and finally left for the west......

After Xinlingjun's death, except for some guests who insisted on staying in front of his grave, the rest of the thousands of guests were almost all dispersed in one day.

Zhang Er, who lost his master, also lost his job, scattered among the people, and became a ranger in Lilu again. But at this moment, the Wei State has been declining under the pressure of the Qin State, and the livelihood of the rangers who are not engaged in production is becoming more and more difficult, and the contradictions between the rangers of different gangs are becoming more and more acute.

Ten years ago, Zhang Er killed someone when he was in charge of Daliang, so he had to leave Daliang and go to Waihuang County, 200 miles to the east.

This was the second time his fate changed.

Wai Huang is two hundred miles east of Daliang, the most famous rich man in the city is the Huang family, Huang Weng has a daughter, is a well-known beauty of Wai Huang, but it is a pity that the trust is not a person, Huang Weng married the old Huang family, a noble birth, but a mediocre scholar.

The lady of the Huang family is not only beautiful, but also arrogant, she can't stand her husband's mediocrity and stupidity, so she did a big thing that shocked Waihuang County: run away!

She ran to one of Huang Weng's guests, and it just so happened that Zhang Er was also hiding from the Wei government's house at the guest's house. This guest was kind to Zhang Er and intended to be a matchmaker, so he said to the Huang woman: "I must ask for a virtuous man, except Zhang Er, no one is compatible with a lady!" “

So under the introduction of the guests, the Huang woman met with Zhang Er. Although Zhang Er was born in poverty and was still an outlaw, he was handsome and burly, and because he had mixed under Xinlingjun, he was well-informed and talked very well......

During the Warring States Period, the people's customs were open, men and women interacted relatively freely, and marriage did not pay attention to women's morality from the beginning. It is a common occurrence for a husband to take the initiative to abandon his wife, or for a wife to abandon her husband.

So the Huang lady ended her marriage with her mediocre ex-husband and remarried Zhang Er.

Zhang Er is desperate, poor and helpless, and now there are rich beauties who are willing to commit themselves to marrying, it is really a pie that fell from the sky, and immediately agreed to this marriage.

Wei is not as good as Qin, although there are also written laws, but human relations are everywhere, as long as the money is enough, open up the joints of the Liang court, even the crime of homicide can be exempted.

So under the Huang family's internal and external efforts, Zhang Er really got away with it!

Not only that, but he also began to give full play to the advantages of being a guest of Xinling, and with the support of his wife's family, he squandered money and fought for righteousness, and made friends with heroes, so that young men from far and near came to him. So Zhang Er went down from the former Xinling to become the owner of today's door, known as the first hero of Waihuang.

At this time, Zhang Er's ambition also became more and more inflated, not satisfied with just being an underworld boss, he entered the political world with the support of his wife and guests, and was appointed as a foreign yellow order by the Wei government by bribery and lobbying.

The former outlaw fugitive has been transformed into a parent official of Wai Huang, which is something that will never happen in the Qin State, but it is not surprising in the Six Kingdoms.

Because the Six Kingdoms are different from Qin, the vast number of people under the aristocratic government are a relaxed society, and the spirit of chivalry is extremely heavy. The rangers traveled between countries, and they pinned their trust on the nobles, which contributed to the style of raising scholars in various countries.

In addition to the four princes who have passed away, the prince Dan and others of the Yan Kingdom, they are either the sons of the royal family, or high-ranking officials and wealthy families, living in the national capital, and have a unique territory to be feuded and regurgitated, and the guests under them come from all over the country and even foreign countries, the number is in the thousands, they are the ranger owners who are powerful enough to enemy the country, and they can be called national heroes.

The second-level rangers are Zhang Er's kind, they are either natives and rich, or they are travelers who are closely related to the wealthy, living in counties, with assets, rangers within a county, admiring and attached to their doors, the number of people can be counted in tens of hundreds, and they can be called county heroes.

In the Six Kingdoms, the distance from the county hero to the county official is not far away, and the county hero Zhang Er, who is destined to be wanted and arrested in the Qin State, whether it is a ranger in the underworld or an official in the white way, is like a fish in water! His reputation not only surpassed Waihuang County and the Wei capital Liang, but also transcended the national borders and became a well-known celebrity in the Liang, Chu and Zhao capitals.

It's a pity that Zhang Er's good life didn't last a few years, and now, the third turning point in his fate seems to be coming.

In January, the Qin general Wang Ben attacked Wei, and Daliang was besieged.

In February, the Qin state of Zhongqiang marched eastward, occupied Chenliu in mid-February, and divided his troops to attack neighboring counties.

Waihuang County, which is only fifty or sixty miles away from Chenliu, is not immune.

Zhang Er had also heard that the Qin State hated rangers the most, especially the county chivalry with great influence like him, who was directly regarded as the "five beetles" (dù) that harmed the country, and was denounced as "Confucianism and literature to mess with the law, and chivalry to violate the prohibition with martial arts". After all, the chivalrous atmosphere is rooted in human nature and is a laissez-faire nature that is unwilling to be constrained by social groups, and it is simply the natural enemy of the Qin State's laws and regulations!

Once the Qin army occupies Waihuang, Zhang Er will definitely be arrested, and even lose his head.

So, before the Qin army arrived, Zhang Er hesitated between leaving and staying.

But in the end, he chose to stay.

"Since I was appointed by the King of Wei as the Outer Yellow Order, I ate Wei Lu rice and wore Wei Yin's official uniform, so I can't abandon the city and leave."

Zhang Er said to his wife, children, and guests.

"I should believe that I am like a tail, and I would rather die holding the pillar in the stormy waves than give up and live!"

But behind this awe-inspiring righteousness, there is actually Zhang Er's own selfishness.

He learned one thing from Xinlingjun: if there is take, it will be given, and if there is kindness, it will be repaid, and it is righteousness; What is promised, must be done, the difficulty of saving people, not avoiding life and death, is about faith. Xinyi, this is the basis for the survival of the chivalrous in the world, without these two things, they are not bullshit.

For Zhang Er, what is more terrible than death is the fall of his reputation after years of hard work.

So he must stay, at least resist for a while, and let the world know that the famous man Zhang Er has not failed the Wei State!

But the wife and children have to be sent away first.

After finishing the long memories, Zhang Er patted his wife's hand and continued to instruct: "You wait to go to Yangwu County first, it is still safe there, hide in the county, if the Qin army occupies that place, don't panic, the Qin people suddenly come here, it must be difficult to find out the origin of the people from all over the place, just pretend to be locals." When the fighting subsides, Chen Yu will send someone to pick you up and take them to Zhaodi......"

Chen Yu, who is also a native of Daliang, is good at Confucianism, and is a friend of Zhang Er, because he is more than ten years younger than Zhang Er, so he takes care of his father.

Now Chen Yu is in Zhaodi, he is well-known in the local area, he has a field and a house, he is the most trusted person in Zhang Er's life, and he can be entrusted with his wife.

After sending his wife away, Zhang Er did not stay outside the Waihuang City for a long time, but asked his cronies to guard the secret tunnel to escape, and he himself walked to the mansion.

Since he decided to stay and resist, he must at least repel the first round of attacks of the Qin people, but Zhang Er knew that the force of Waihuang County itself might not be able to fight against those Qin troops.

The main force of Wei was already in January, and was defeated by Wang Ben's army that returned from Chen Ying, and the remaining tens of thousands of people were besieged in Daliang, and it was difficult to protect themselves.

Most of the thousands of Ding Zhuang in the city are untrained, and although they can make noise, after the real fight, it is difficult to rely on.

Therefore, Zhang Er can only use the two hundred county soldiers in the county, and if he adds the two or three hundred disciples under him, he may be able to barely fight......

Zhang Er must convince them! Persuade those light heroes from all over Liang, Chu, and Qi to serve themselves to the death!

……

An hour later, in the Waihuang Zhang's house, Zhang Er asked the servants to open half of the wine in the mansion, kill pigs and sheep, gather all the guests in the courtyard, set the wine and sing, but did not talk about the enemy, but affectionately told the deeds of the son of Xinling.

"The son is a man, benevolent and a corporal, a scholar is not virtuous, he is humble and courteous, and he does not dare to be proud of his wealth and wealth. Scholars fought for thousands of miles to return to it, causing 3,000 diners to ......"

Zhang Er picked up the wine cup and sighed: "Under the ear door, at its peak, there were only three hundred people, which is not as far away as Gongzi...... Although Childe is gone, every time I think about it, I feel that he looks up to him! ”

Yang Zhi Migao, Zhang Er still heard this sentence from Chen Yu, who is good at Confucianism.

The doorman beat their chests and sighed: "The son is really heroic!" It's a pity that we can't see it. ”

Zhang Er smiled and said something else.

"Qin Po Zhao Yu Changping, Pingyuan Jun asked for help from Wei, but the King of Wei did not want to save him. Xinling Jun persuaded each other hard, but he couldn't convince the king of Wei in the end, and he didn't want to die in Zhao, so he invited guests to ride more than 100 cars, and wanted to go to the Qin army with guests and die with Zhao! ”

"When it was, Hou Huan killed himself to send his son, and Zhu Hai waved a golden hammer to kill Jin Contempt, and this is why Xinling Jun stole the talisman to save Zhao who shook the world!"

The doormen admired again and got up, most of them were from humble backgrounds and their words were vulgar, but to sum up, there were only two words of the afterlife.

The bones of the arson are fragrant, and they are not ashamed of the world!

Zhang Er saw that the atmosphere was gradually warm, and knew that the time was ripe, so he put the wine down and loudly agitated: "Second and third sons, although the matter of Xinling Jun can not be seen again, but today, Qin Wai Daliang, and attacked the counties with partial divisions, I have heard Hou Xiang's report that there is a Qin army of more than 1,000 people, which is approaching Waihuang twenty miles away, and tomorrow will come!" “

He pulled out his sword and said fiercely: "As the Huang Ling of Wei Abroad, it is the responsibility of the king to guard the land, it is for the faith, and it is for the sake of righteousness to protect the people from being poisoned by Qin Kou." Therefore, do not abandon the city and leave, and steal your life, now I am willing to follow the example of Xinling Jun, but invite all the guests, stick to Waihuang, resist the Qin army, and die with the city! Are the second and third sons willing to follow? “

When the guests who were still arrogant just now heard this, they were all a little stunned, and the local and foreign yellow people were also down, quite a little eager to defend their hometown, but those guests from Chu, Qi, and Zhao were a little hesitant and hesitated, not everyone of them had faith and righteousness, and most of them came to eat together. It's okay to be a thug for Zhang Er, but if you want to risk your life for him, you have to weigh it.

Seeing this, Zhang Er sighed lightly, put down the wine glass and said: "In the past, Zhao was Lian Po, and when he lost power, the guests were gone. And reuse for the will, the guest returns. Lian is not angry, and the guests said to him, the husband of the world is in the market, and the king is powerful, and I will follow the king, and the king will go if he is not powerful, which is also ...... reasonable."

"I didn't expect that I would have such a day?"

As soon as these words came out, those guests were immediately indignant.

A big man with a high nose and a beautiful beard got up angrily, this man was in his early thirties, and he was already half drunk because he had always been a good drinker.

Dahan wiped the residual wine on his beard, and said loudly in his unique Chu State Peisi accent:

"I have always respected the name of Xinling Jun, and I heard that Zhang Jun is an old guest of Xinling, and the ambition of the step-son, so from Pei Shang to here, I eat under Zhang Jun's door. Although he has only been a guest for a few months, the husband should keep his promise and keep his promises, and now the owner of the door is in trouble, as a guest, how can he abandon him? ”

He arched his hand and said loudly: "If Zhang Jun wants to lead the people to Qin Kou, Liu Ji of Pei County, he is willing to follow!" I don't regret dying! ”

Having said that, what Liu Ji was thinking about was not wanting to repay with death, but ......

"The Qin people are powerful, and they are the ones who kill the Qin people, and they are worthy of the wine and meat of Zhang Er, so they should run away!"