The 47th Movement of "Moonlight Sonata"

  "A talent for retreat, yet he has never been known in the provinces and counties. This is a loss for the governor!"

  Such a talent, yet he hasn't made a name for himself. What are the local officials even doing?

  Then, the three of them talked about the recent trend in the literary world. After hundreds of years of evolution since the Han Dynasty, the rigid and stereotyped fu poetry that emphasized antithesis had gradually declined. A new poetic style was emerging on the current literary scene. Whether it was ancient four-character poems, five-character poems, or even seven-character poems, people were exploring them.

  At this point, Zhang Kuang's heart moved slightly.

  These days, when he was bored, he also recalled countless poems and lyrics of later generations, thinking about whether he should become a "literary copier" once. However, after all, it's been a long time, and many poems, Zhang Kuang only remembered a little bit. Only a few dozen can be recited from memory. So, this idea does exist, but Zhang Kuang has never put it into action.

  But now, Zhang Kuang, facing the small half-moon in the sky, moved Wen Chao Gong's heart.

  He stood up tall and laughed loudly, saying:

  "Today with great wisdom by my side, I too can't help but let out a loud and wild cry!"

  After finishing speaking, according to Han people's custom, Zhang took out his treasured sword and started practicing a set of sword dance. While dancing, he loudly chanted:

  "Beside the bright moon, when shall we have our next meeting? I raise my cup and ask the blue sky."

  Unaware of the Heavenly Emperor's Palace, what year is it tonight?

  I wish to ride the wind and go, but high places are hard to bear the cold.

  Dancing with the clear shadows, as if in the human world.

  Chang'e had no sorrow, why must she leave at the full moon?

  People have joys and sorrows, partings and reunions, the moon has its phases of darkness and light, fullness and emptiness. These things are difficult to complete since ancient times.

  "May we all be blessed with longevity and share the beauty of the moon together, though thousands of miles apart!"

  Having finished reciting, Zhang Kuang sheathed his sword, with a look of great satisfaction on his face. He asked Chen Deng and Xie Xuan:

  "How is it? Does my poem still enter your ears?"

  Xie Xun was extremely surprised, but because of his close relationship with Zhang Kuang, he didn't dare to praise him openly, so he just said faintly:

  "Excellent! Far surpasses Xie's!"

  Chen Deng sank into thought for a moment, then suddenly stood up and bowed to Zhang Kuang, saying loudly:

  "Today, you can see what 'sitting in a well and looking at the sky' means! Although your classical literature is not refined, however, in poetry, you have already 'set up a solitary flag'. The ancients said: 'Within ten steps, there must be fragrant grass', that's you!"

  Although your learning is not too profound, your poetry skills are quite impressive and can already be considered a master of the time!

  This evaluation has both praise and criticism. However, with Chen Deng's arrogance, being able to say this is already a pretty good evaluation. Zhang Kuang firmly believes that as long as he persists in continuing the "Wen Gao Gong" business, once those dozens of excellent poems from past dynasties appear from his hands, he will absolutely be evaluated by contemporary scholars as a "Poetic Immortal of the Generation".

  After all, these poems are condensed masterpieces of Li Bai, Du Fu, Su Dongpo and other poets throughout the ages!

  Feasting and feasting, Chen Deng's true nature was still a captive. The next day, Zhang Kuang sent a messenger to inform the Xuzhou army of one sentence, and then openly broke camp and set off under their noses.

  Although Cao Hong was depressed in his heart, he had to hold down his temper and follow twenty miles behind the Heavenly Balance Army, escorting them all the way. In the current situation, since the Xuzhou army did not have a complete victory over the opponent, they could only maintain temporary peace with the opponent.

  Fortunately, it's not difficult for Cao Chen and his wife to invite a commoner from nearby Qingzhou.

  If it were in a time of great peace and prosperity, this might have attracted the attention of the authorities. But with the Yellow Turbans everywhere, the disappearance of one or two ordinary households would not have any consequences. Even if the authorities noticed, the powerful clans could use excuses like "Yellow Turban army" or "encountering bandits" to deceive them.

  So, Zhang Kuang led his two thousand or so men, where were they going?

  The answer was revealed more than ten days later.

  Taishan Prefecture governs 13 counties: Fenggao, Bo, Liangfu, Juping, Ying, Shanyu, Laiwu, Ge, Nanwuyang, Nancheng, Fei, Mou and Hua. In the first year of Zhongping (184 AD), there were over 10,000 households and 486,000 people in the prefecture. The prefecture is vast with mountains, among which Mount Tai, the most famous one, is the first of the "Five Sacred Mountains".

  At that time, the Five Mountains were not entirely the same as the current Five Mountains. Mount Tai was the Eastern Mountain, Mount Hua was the Western Mountain, Mount Heng (also known as Tianzhu Mountain) was the Southern Mountain, Mount Heng was the Northern Mountain, and Mount Song was the Central Mountain. However, regardless of which dynasty's account, Mount Tai has always been called "the most revered of the Five Mountains".

  The mountainous and treacherous Taishan County has always been a place where bandits are rampant. Especially in recent years, with the increasing number of disasters, the burden of taxes has become heavier, and the outbreak of epidemics has led many poor people who have lost their homes to flee into the mountains of Taishan and become thieves.

  In order to defend against the harassment of mountain bandits, the powerful families in Taishan County naturally also had to heighten their fortifications, train private soldiers and strengthen their own military strength.

  Under such a chaotic situation, the ruling power of local officials naturally declined greatly. To the extent that some powerful and wealthy families even began to secretly collude with mountain bandits, eliminate dissidents, and expand their own power. As for the officials in the counties, facing the powerful and wealthy families' aggressive momentum, they could only be humble and cautious, and protect themselves.

  These things were all told in detail by Zhang Kuang to Yu Jin, a native of Taishan, on the way.

  Under the "escort" of Xuzhou Army, Tianping Army can be said to have come all the way unimpeded and arrived at Taishan County. However, due to Han law, state and county troops were not allowed to cross borders arbitrarily and go to other places to attack bandits.

  Zhang Kuang skillfully utilized this Han law all the way, first detouring through Yuzhou and Xuzhou, shaking off the troops of Yan state led by Bao Xin, and then using this law to force the troops of Xuzhou to station at the border of Taishan County, not daring to enter lightly.

  Otherwise, if someone investigates this behavior, it will be a good target. Lightly, they will be fined and demoted, severely, they will lose their official position and go to prison, it's not just talk.

  Taishan County, is Zhang Kuang's current destination.

  Relying on the undulating terrain of Mount Tai, with more than 2,000 people under his command, he lurked in the mountains for four or five years, and took the opportunity to train his troops. After a few years, the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou and Xuzhou launched another rebellion, and then he came out of the mountains to recruit these hundreds of thousands of Qing-Xu Yellow Turbans.

  At that time, the current Han emperor should have been overthrown, causing a huge mess that would attract national attention. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhang Kuang could occupy the land to develop, divide and conquer, and defend himself.

  After Dong Zhuo weakened the ruling power of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Lu could take advantage of the instability of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao in Guandong to make a fortune for himself and lay the foundation for his future unification of the country.

  But will things go as smoothly as he thought?

  The Tianping Army had just entered Taishan County when they encountered a considerable trouble. That is, the numerous fortresses scattered throughout Taishan County.

  Because the Heavenly Peace Army had no foundation in Taishan Commandery, and the local Yellow Turbans were also suppressed by the powerful private armed forces of the great clans, they could not stir up any waves. Therefore, the Heavenly Peace Army must first open a breakthrough.

  Zhang Kuang glanced at the fort in front of him that refused to hand over a thousand bundles of grain and fodder, and said to Dian Wei who was fully armed:

  "Zi Wan, you're on!"

  Due to his bravery in the Battle of Lone Father, Dianwei was once again awarded the title of "Hundred-Man Commander". Since his battle with Sun Jian, the "Tiger of Jiangdong", Dianwei's confidence had grown greatly. He didn't take this small and unimpressive fort very seriously. He opened his throat and loudly promised:

  "Master, look at that family's house!"

  After finishing speaking, Dianwei waved the double iron halberd in his hand and beckoned to his subordinates who were also wearing double armor, riding horses at the forefront, advancing towards the fort.

  "This is indeed a hero of great bravery!"

  Chen Deng stood beside Zhang Kuang, without a hint of consciousness as a captive. Because Chen's family had been handing over 5,000 dan of grain to the Tianping Army in batches during this period, Chen Deng was becoming more and more free by Zhang Kuang's side. Although nominally he was still a prisoner, he could already be considered half a friend of Zhang Kuang's.

  Of course, Zhang Kuang believed that if one day the Tianping Army and Chen Deng's army clashed, this guy would not have any idea of giving up. Moreover, due to Chen Deng's understanding of the inside information of the Tianping Army, his danger was even greater than others!

  PS: Paying respects to Su Dongpo's family!

  Excuse me for my limited writing skills... If you feel that the adapted version is not good enough, please forgive me...