Liu Jian had already inquired about the date when Gongsun Zan would take office in advance, and estimated that he would arrive within these three to five days, so he bought gifts and called Zhang Fei and Jian Yong to welcome him with him.

In this way, the four people took a group of servants and headed toward the official road in the northeast.

Normally speaking, when Gongsun Zan came to Zhuo County from Liaodong direction, he would definitely stop in his hometown of Liaoxi County. After returning home to visit relatives and paying homage to his elders, he would then go to Jixian County to see his prefecture, and finally make his way to Zhuo County.

"Coming here from Jicheng, the terrain is flat, high in the west and low in the east. Unless they take the Juma River waterway, they will probably take the loess road in Gu'an." Jian Yong said to Liu Jian very confidently.

"Why is Xianhe so sure?"

Jian Yong had a proud look on his face and began to boast happily.

"Although I have never met the Gongsun County Lord, from what Ajian described, I know that although he is a commoner, he has an arrogant character and has no children. It seems that such a person came to take office, how could he come quietly by water?

He is eager to let everyone know that he, Gongsun Zan, has become a king of Qianshi County!"

After saying that, Jian Yong looked at Zhang Fei as if to show off: "Brother Zhang Xian, do you think what I said is right?"

Zhang Fei was too lazy to pay attention to him, but looked at Liu Jian inquiringly.

Liu Jian thought carefully for a moment and nodded in agreement.

Jian Yong's idea is very correct.

Because of his background, Gongsun Zan has always been treated poorly by the Gongsun clan in western Liaoning, and the good resources of the clan have never been available to him.

Now that all the hardships have come to an end, he finally got rid of the shackles of a commoner step by step and moved towards the elite class of the Han Dynasty. His suppressed heart was released, and naturally he will not keep a low profile.

Not beating gongs and drums, but using drums and horns to shake the sky to promote Man Na, it is already considered very cultivated.

"In this case, let's camp at the main road by the Juma River and wait there for Gongsun Bogui to arrive."

Zhang Fei said: "I will arrange for people to find a good place to set up the felt tent!"

Zhang Fei's family farm had many disciples. This time to welcome Gongsun Zan, Zhang Fei also brought several servants with him.

They say they are servants, but they are actually bodyguards.

Liu Jian and Liu Bei's family came with five people, five horses, and a cart loaded with belongings and gifts. Jian Yong's family was poor, so he was the only one who came with no horse.

Zhang Fei brought ten servants, eleven horses, and an ox cart carrying daily necessities.

Despite Zhang Fei's young age and his background as a butcher, his parents were very supportive of Zhang Fei's friendship with a young man like Liu Jian.

That was Lu Zhi’s disciple—a man of culture!

Whatever Liu Jian does, the Zhang family is willing to follow him!

Zhang Fei sent his men to find a place near the Juma River in the dense forest to set up a felt tent, and then arranged for his servants to be divided into three groups to conduct an inventory within several miles of the nearby area.

As for what to investigate... well, the environment of sleeping in the wild in the Han Dynasty was different from that of later generations. Let's not mention the bandits and grass for the moment, let's just talk about wild animals, which are by no means rare.

Tigers, wolves, leopards, jackals and other fierce beasts these days, you really can encounter them when you go out. It is better if you travel in groups, but if you travel alone and accidentally encounter tigers and wolves outside, it is really terrible.

It is certain death.

Especially at night, you must check the area around the camp before setting up camp, because wild animals come out at night.

The group of people rested by the Juma River. After a while, it got dark, and the people who went out for patrols came back one after another. Zhang Fei then asked his men to make a fire to cook rice and rice. He also ordered his men to take out the dried pork they had brought with them and share the preserved fruit with everyone.

"The Biography of Liu Dan, King of Yan Ci" written in the Book of Han Dynasty says, "The swarms of pigs in the toilet will damage the stoves of high officials" and "the toilet is also used to raise pigs".

During this period, pork had changed from food to a tool for accumulating fat. High-ranking people or nobles generally chose meat instead of pigs, and cows did not dare to be killed under normal circumstances. Therefore, the meat of high-level people was fish, sheep, and chicken.

,dog'.

But this is only for high-ranking people. For ordinary people, it is difficult for them to eat a meal of meat. How can they choose between pigs and pigs? Even if the pork has a fishy smell, it doesn't matter.

No matter how fishy it is, it is still meat.

Liu Jian ate a piece of dried pork and found it a bit hard to swallow, so he stopped eating.

He turned around and counted the people present, counting back and forth, and found that three were missing.

"Why are there three people missing?"

Zhang Fei tore into the dried meat and said without raising his head: "A team of people who were sent out to investigate just now have not returned yet, so just wait!"

Liu Jian looked up at the sky and frowned: "I just asked them to patrol the surrounding area for several miles. As long as there are no traces of tigers and wolves, they can come back. Do you want it to take so long?"

Jian Yong joked: "Have you really encountered a tiger?"

Liu Bei was startled: "Xianhe, don't talk nonsense. The two counties have great officialdom. Where did the tigers come from?"

Jian Yong said nervously: "These days, animals can still make a living, what else is impossible! Besides, in this wilderness, not to mention wild animals, there is no way to know whether there are ghosts or ghosts lurking there."

The gloomy look on his face and the deliberate lowering of his voice really made people feel frightened.

Liu Jian reached out and snatched the dried meat from Jian Yong's hand: "If you continue to trouble people's hearts, stop eating it and go to the river to keep vigil!"

"Just kidding! I'd better eat honestly." Jian Yong took back the dried meat from Liu Jian with a mean smile.

Liu Bei's face turned a little pale, and he didn't know if he was really frightened by Jian Yong.

"Deran, if those people don't come back so late, will something happen?"

Liu Jian raised his head to look at the sky, feeling uncertain.

"It's already dark. It would be disadvantageous for us to search separately at this time. If there are wild beasts nearby, human night vision is not as good as those beasts... Just wait a little longer!"

During the next period of time, everyone eating around the campfire was silent.

Everyone looked serious, and from time to time someone would look up to see if the three lost people were back.

Until mid-day, no one was seen.

All of a sudden, everyone couldn't sit still.

Zhang Fei was the first to stand up and asked Liu Jian: "Brother, let's go find someone!"

Liu Jian realized the seriousness of the matter, and three people disappeared without incident. This was unjustifiable.

He stood up and glanced back and forth at everyone present - except for the three missing people, there were still fourteen people.

"It's too dark. If you act so rashly, you don't know what you might encounter, whether it's an animal or a bad person... You have to decide on someone to take charge first."

Speaking of this, Liu Jian looked at Jian Yong, then winked at Liu Bei, indicating that Jian Yong recommended Liu Bei as the leader.

Jian Yong immediately understood: "Hey! What other options are there? We, the Four Tigers of Zhuo County, have always been led by you, so naturally we have to listen to your orders!"

Zhang Fei reacted very quickly and directly clasped his fist at Liu Jian: "I only obey my brother, and I will put him first!"

Liu Bei also said: "Deran, the person in charge is none other than you."

The leading young masters all spoke, and those who followed followed naturally.

Liu Jian glared at Jian Yong fiercely, but saw the other person smiling at him shamelessly.

Afterwards, Liu Jian had people put out the bonfire, bring dry food, and at the same time have people wrap up the horse's mouth, and the group headed west.

Logically speaking, searching in groups would be most efficient. However, Liu Jian was afraid that the fourteen people would be separated in the dark and something unexpected happened later, so it was better to act together so that they could take care of each other at critical moments.

Liu Jian, Liu Bei, Zhang Fei and others all held swords.

In the Han Dynasty, long swords were not something anyone could afford. In the early Han Dynasty, there was a saying that "sell a sword to buy an ox, sell a knife to buy a calf", which shows that iron is valuable, especially swords made of good iron, which are treasures coveted by many scholars.

.

Family members like Liu Jian, Liu Bei, and Zhang Fei only had four-sided Han swords that were not complicated to make. As for the eleven companions, they held ordinary short blades.

Although Liu Zhou tried his best to urge Liu Jian and Liu Bei to study classics, they did not fall behind in martial arts. Scholars in the Han Dynasty were very popular in practicing martial arts. There was no distinction between literati and warriors. All individuals, if conditions allowed, would practice bow and horse.

Especially the men from the border counties regard archery as the foundation of their lives.

During the day, the three missing servants went to the west to investigate, so Liu Jian and the others also searched west first.

In the dark night, Liu Jian asked Jian Yong quietly: "Just now I asked you to recommend Xuande as the person in charge, why didn't you listen?"

Jian Yong's expression looked surprised under the light of the torch: "Didn't you ask me to recommend you?"

"When did I say that?"

"You didn't say it, but your expression made it clear that you meant it."

The muscles on Liu Jian's face twitched a few times.

He really couldn't figure out which action Jian Yong misunderstood when he winked secretly?

Is there something wrong with my own eyes or is there something wrong with Jian Yong's eyes?

"Hush! Brother, please be silent!" Zhang Fei suddenly lowered his voice.

"what happened?"

"There's someone in front of us, coming for us!" Zhang Fei whispered.

Jian Yong raised his head and looked at the dark distance - it was silent and dark, with nothing in it.

"There's nothing. Are you trying to scare me?" Jian Yong said carelessly.

"Don't say anything!" In this situation, Liu Jian felt that Zhang Fei was much more reliable than Jian Yong - even though he was only fourteen years old.

"Brother Zhang Xian, are you sure there is someone? It's not a beast?" Liu Bei asked with a frown.

Zhang Fei said firmly: "The distance is a bit far, but it must be people. If it is a beast, it will definitely make some noise when it sees these many torches. I guess there is someone ambushing us in front! But there should not be many of them, otherwise we will be unprepared.
To be continued...