My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 2 This is the beginning of hell
Guan Yu was a man of his word. He promised to introduce Zhuge Jin, so naturally he had to fulfill his promise on the spot.

Song and others on the side couldn't help but feel a little frightened when they saw this, as all these unexpected events were completely out of their escape plan.

Zhuge Jin had no choice but to comfort her in various ways: "Don't worry, mother. Go home and rest today. I have my own way to escape. Maybe the envoy will see that my plan is brilliant and will be willing to send troops to escort us away in the future."

After saying this, he asked Shi Ren to send out a few riders to escort his mother and uncle home.

Only then did he follow Shi Ren in person and soon rode to the Guangling government office.

This place was originally the residence of Zhao Yu, the governor of Guangling and a subordinate of Tao Qian. But when Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou the year before, Guangling County also had a rebellion, Zhao Yu was killed by his general Zuo Rong, and many local wealthy families were slaughtered and looted. Then Zuo Rong took his property and the rebels and crossed the Yangtze River to the south and fled to Yangzhou.

After Liu Bei took over Xuzhou, the position of county governor was vacant for a time because Guangling was in ruins, and no one repaired the government office. It was only now temporarily used as the headquarters of Liu Bei's General Zhendong.

When Zhuge Jin was led to the front yard to wait, he even saw some servants repairing and piling up various decorations that were in line with the shogunate's style.

He couldn't help but smile bitterly and sigh, knowing that Liu Bei had no idea that the crisis was approaching and was still immersed in the joy of his recent promotion.

Even the move of retreating from Xuyi to Huaiyin might have been part of Liu Bei's plan, perhaps to dazzle the enemy and lure them deeper into his territory.

But this is not surprising, Liu Bei started from a very low point, and until the year before last he was only the Prime Minister of Pingyuan, and he was appointed by Gongsun Zan. Although he later received private approval from Tao Qian and actually controlled several counties in Xuzhou, he also "took those official positions" by himself.

It was not until last month, when Liu Bei led his troops to fight several battles with Yuan Shu, that Cao Cao saw that he could be won over and used, so he conferred on Liu Bei the titles of General Zhendong and Marquis of Yicheng in the name of the emperor. It was a huge step forward.

Because Liu Bei was temporarily granted the title while leading troops outside, he could not even wait to return to Xia Pi to raise funds to set up a government, and went straight to Huaiyin to experience the ecstasy.

Misfortunes often lie behind good fortunes, and good fortunes often lie behind misfortunes.

Liu Bei now does seem a little bit arrogant.

……

While Zhuge Jin was waiting outside, Shi Ren had already entered to report.

Liu Bei was checking military supplies and the accounts of the grain and grass warehouse in Huaiyin with Sun Qian, a member of the Household Department. After he finished, he turned around and asked Shi Ren what he wanted to do.

Shi Ren was annoyed that Zhuge Jin had caused troubles and squeezed Guan Yu, and also increased his workload, so he selectively said:
"There was a cowardly scholar who originally tried to leave the city to avoid the battle. After General Guan closed the city gate, he was unable to escape in time, so he suddenly changed his mind and said he wanted to offer advice, and even spoke wildly.

General Guan wanted to reprimand him, but was put off by his words and afraid of damaging his lord's reputation for being a man of virtue, so he had no choice but to promise to introduce him to the emperor.

After hearing one side of the story, Liu Bei frowned immediately, thinking that the other party was not a big shot and there was no need to be too polite.

He then touched his stomach and said, "I've been dealing with official duties for most of the day and I'm a little tired. Let the kitchen prepare some food and we'll meet while we eat."

……

Zhuge Jin was a commoner, with little influence. He was left out for a long time before someone took him in, which made him quite unhappy.

What was even more surprising was that when he entered the room, Liu Bei was holding a dagger and cutting a roasted deer.

The charcoal fire must have just been lit, and Liu Bei ate it just like eating Turkish kebabs in later generations, shavings off the outermost layer as it cooked and dipping it in black bean sauce.

He had very long arms, and he occupied a large grill by himself, wielding the dagger as he cut from the head to the legs of the deer without even having to stand up. It looked very easy and carefree.

It is impolite to receive strange guests during a meal, especially when eating with a knife.

Zhuge Jin didn't want to lose face, so he bowed and said lightly: "Langya Zhuge Jin greets the general. I have heard for a long time that the general does not like to read books and despises Confucianism like Emperor Gaozu. Today it is true."

From the Zhou Dynasty to the Qin and Han Dynasties, the ritual of bowing was complicated. When a person of lower status bowed to a person of higher status, he had to do the celestial bow; when people of equal status bowed, they had to do the temporal bow; when a person of higher status returned a greeting, he only had to do the earthly bow.

Although Zhuge Jin was a commoner, he regarded himself as a guest and was not subordinate to the other party. If he bowed to the emperor, it would seem that he was shamelessly asking for an official position and wanted to enter the system.

Liu Bei was originally instigated by Shi Ren and had a preconceived notion that Zhuge Jin must be a flatterer and opportunist.

Seeing that the other party was neither humble nor arrogant, gentle and elegant, eight feet tall and good-looking, he felt a little regretful for looking down on him.

There is no way, in this era, appearance is still very important. He has similar genes to his second brother Zhuge Liang, so his temperament is naturally outstanding.

Although his face is a bit long, it does not hinder Zhuge Jin's handsomeness - Takeshi Kaneshiro's face is also long.

Liu Bei wiped his hands quickly, stood up calmly and bowed: "Everything in the army is kept simple, and etiquette is not taken into consideration. It is not like Emperor Gaozu's disrespect for Li Sheng - Young Master, don't be too rigid."

As he spoke, Liu Bei took out a dagger from somewhere, threw it away, and motioned Zhuge Jin to sit opposite him and eat together.

Zhuge Jin saw that Liu Bei was arrogant at first but respectful later. After a moment's hesitation, he guessed that there was probably a villain involved in the communication process. He did not take it seriously, sat down straight, took the knife and started cutting.

The "Records of the Three Kingdoms" said that when Liu Bei was in Pingyuan County, he treated even assassins with courtesy, which made the assassins feel embarrassed to take action. Now it seems a little credible.

After Liu Bei sat down again, he also asked while roasting: "I heard that in the Zhuge clan of Langya, there was a Mr. Jun Gong a few years ago. He was well-known in Qingxu and was invited by Ying Shao, the governor of Taishan County, to be his chancellor. I wonder how to address him as Shao Jun?"

Zhuge Jin put down his knife and bowed to the north: "It is the first examiner."

Liu Bei nodded slightly: "So you are the descendant of Mr. Jun Gong. I wonder what you want to teach me today?"

Zhuge Jin repeated what he had just said to Guan Yu.

Because it was the second time he said it, his words and expressions became more sophisticated.

Liu Bei stroked his mustache and asked thoughtfully, "Although I allowed Yuan Shu to attack Huaiyin, I actually had other plans. Why do you rashly conclude that our army should not hold out against Yuan Shu for a long time?"

In fact, Zhuge Jin could not come up with a very rigorous argument. This kind of repetitive talk about strategic predictions often makes sense both positively and negatively.

But he already knew that Zhang Fei would be attacked by Lu Bu, so he tried his best to move in that direction and work backwards from the result.

So he pretended to analyze:
"Since ancient times, the method of holding each other's position has been beneficial to those who have established their power and virtue, but not to those whose foundation is not stable. Although the general is said to be in charge of the five counties of Xuzhou, before he was appointed by Tao Gong, he was only the prime minister of Pingyuan, so his foundation is really too shallow.

The only two counties that the general could completely control so far were Xiapi and Pengcheng, plus the recently captured Guangling. The rest of Langya, Zang Ba and Sun Guan, refused to obey the general's orders.

Mi Zhu, Chen Deng, and Cao Bao are all powerful people in Donghai, Guangling, and Xiapi. If they are willing to work together to assist the general, the three counties will be safe. If the general and Yuan Shu are in a stalemate for a long time, it will make them suspicious and waver, and worry that the general cannot resist Yuan Shu, and then it will be easy to cause trouble.

In contrast, although Yuan Shu was brutal, his strict military laws made people fear him but not his virtue. His four generations of three officials were not equal to his reputation for benevolence and righteousness in a few years. Even if Yuan Shu led the army for a long time, no one dared to betray him easily. Only the general could see it. "

Liu Bei listened patiently and frowned. He felt that what Zhuge Jin said seemed to make some sense, but there were also negative examples in history.

Moreover, he let Yuan Shu in to fight in order to lengthen Yuan Shu's food supply route and shorten his own food supply route, using the strong city to consume the tired enemy while at the same time not causing damage to the relatively rich and peaceful hinterland of Donghai and Xiapi.

When the time was right and the enemy was exhausted, Liu Bei felt confident that he could launch a counterattack and encircle the enemy.

He would not talk too much about these specific details with Zhuge Jin, as long as he knew them in his heart.

This was the first time the two of them met, how could they easily leak military secrets?

So Liu Bei just found another excuse to test whether the other party had real talent and knowledge: "When Emperor Gaozu and Xiang Yu were in a stalemate in Xingyang, Liang and Ping both advised Emperor Gaozu to be patient, while Fan Zeng advised Xiang Yu to fight quickly.

According to your argument, Xiang Yu was a descendant of a general of Chu, and his prestige was high, but Emperor Gaozu only rose to become a village head. After a long stalemate, shouldn't the people under Emperor Gaozu's command be unstable? In fact, why was Xiang Yu repeatedly harassed by Peng Yue and deserted by his relatives and friends? "Zhuge Jin subconsciously wanted to refute directly when he heard this. But when the words came to his lips, he realized that some words would not be able to separate relatives, and saying them directly would easily backfire.

He could only take a deep breath, suppress his urge to complain, and change his words to be more euphemistic:
"If we use common sense, Emperor Gaozu certainly should not have fought Xiang Yu in Xingyang. But Emperor Gaozu was able to win in the end because he knew how to appoint the right people, and appointed Xiao He to guard Guanzhong. This ensured that there was enough food and manpower in the rear, but no bandits would rise up.

Without Xiao He's talent, the stalemate in Xingyang would have been more disastrous than beneficial - and in my opinion, Zhang Yide and Chen Yuanlong today are both far inferior to Prime Minister Xiao."

Zhuge Jin could not say that Zhang Fei and Chen Deng were incompetent in guarding the household, as that would offend people, so he had to praise Xiao He, which was absolutely politically correct in the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bei was speechless. He thought seriously for a while and thanked him solemnly:
"I appreciate your kindness, sir. But the battle plan has been set, and it is inconvenient to change it hastily. However, I will send someone back to Xia Pi to tell my third brother to be more careful and listen to Chen Yuanlong's advice, and report the war situation. This will prevent the civil and military officials in the rear from being unaware of the progress of the war and causing people to become uneasy over time."

Seeing that Liu Bei had said so much and was willing to partially adopt his suggestions, Zhuge Jin didn't know what to say.

If Zhang Fei could be reminded and Cao Bao could not be disturbed, perhaps the situation could be turned around. As long as Xia Pi was not attacked, there would be no problem if Guangling continued to fight as it was now.

Anyway, the primary purpose of coming here today is to do a favor and create a safer environment for myself and my family.

Seeing that this small goal had been initially achieved, Zhuge Jin could only sigh imperceptibly and prepared to get up and say goodbye.

Liu Bei had a high EQ. Seeing him sighing awkwardly, combined with what Shi Ren had just said, he immediately guessed:
"It seems that you still don't have confidence in me. In that case, I won't bother to try to persuade you to stay. I heard that you were planning to leave the city today? I will be selected as a cavalry unit to escort you away at dawn tomorrow.

Sir, don't mind. These soldiers were not sent specifically for you. I was going to send a messenger back to Xia Pi to remind my third brother. This is just a side job."

When Zhuge Jin heard this, he shuddered all over and felt a little embarrassed.

I have to admit that Liu Bei's emotional intelligence in dealing with people is indeed extraordinary.

From just a few expressions, he could tell that Zhuge Jin was worried about the safety of his family, and he offered to send troops to escort them.

In order to prevent Zhuge Jin from feeling that he owed someone a favor, he specifically said that he just did it casually.

However, Zhuge Jin had already done everything he could do, so it was inappropriate to say too much, so he bowed his hands and thanked him sincerely:

"Then I'd rather obey your command than be disrespectful. I wish the general to make up for the shortcomings and finally win the game."

Liu Bei escorted him to the door and said, "What you said today came out of your mouth and entered my ears. Please don't leak it. This is related to the morale of the army, so we must be careful."

When saying this, Liu Bei's tone was stern and without any emotion, completely lacking the easy-going and sincere demeanor he had just had.

There are rules for treating soldiers and there are rules for managing the army. They cannot be confused.

Zhuge Jin also showed a serious look and promised solemnly: "General, who do you think I am? Since ancient times, everyone has to die, and the people cannot stand without trust. Since I am offering advice privately, I naturally know the importance of it. Once I leave this door, I will not say a word again.

I have something to say in return, General: Since you know to keep such speculative words that could shake the morale of the army a secret, I hope that if you encounter real bad news one day, you will pay more attention to blocking and delaying it. "

……

After Zhuge Jin left, Liu Bei continued to eat barbecue and quietly pondered how to write a warning letter to Zhang Fei and Chen Deng.

Less than a cup of tea later, there was another sound of hurried footsteps outside. Liu Bei knew it was Guan Yu without even looking up, after all, no one else was qualified to barge in directly.

As soon as Guan Yu entered the room, he saw his elder brother grilling meat, so he unceremoniously picked up the unused dagger on the table and reported the city defense deployment while cutting the meat:
"Brother, today is a great day! Earlier this morning, I intercepted and killed a group of spies that Ji Ling had sent into the city. I also used the city gate to fake chaos and shouting by burning firewood inside the city gate.

I lured Ji Ling into taking the risk and rushed forward to seize the gate. When he was very close, I fired all my crossbows. In this battle, at least more than 200 of Ji Ling's cavalry were killed or injured!"

Guan Yu spoke with great joy and gesticulation, and Liu Bei praised him frequently.

After eating a few slices of meat, Guan Yu noticed that the handle of the dagger in his hand was greasy.

He thought of the encounter he had with Zhuge Jin at the gate of the mansion just now, so he asked, "Brother, have you seen the crazy boy that Shi Ren brought back?"

Liu Bei poked the charcoal fire and said, "You brought him here without even asking his name? His name is Zhuge Jin, courtesy name Ziyu, and he is from the Zhuge clan of Langya."

Guan Yu was slightly unhappy. This knife was indeed the one that his elder brother had used to treat that fellow to meat. So he snorted and explained:

"There were many people at the city gate at that time, and I was squeezed and had to introduce him. I think this man has some knowledge, but unfortunately his intentions may not be right. The strategy he proposed may be just a warning from the strategists."

Liu Bei raised his hand to stop Guan Yu's speculation and commented impartially:
"Zi Yu's advice just now may not be entirely correct, but as long as someone is sincere and willing to help me, no matter how talented or smart they are, I should treat them with courtesy. As for their selfish motives, so what? Who in the world doesn't have selfish motives?"

Guan Yu nodded and said nothing.

The two brothers drank boiled wine and ate roasted deer while discussing military affairs, and before they knew it, the night was getting darker.

It was already the hour of Xu, and it suddenly started to rain heavily outside, accompanied by thunder and lightning. Liu Bei felt bored, so he ordered someone to clean up the food table, spread out paper and grind ink, and prepared to write a warning letter to Zhang Fei, and then rest.

However, at this moment, there was a sudden commotion of people and horses outside the mansion gate.

Liu Bei put on his robe and stood up, looking into the courtyard, only to see a dark figure covered in rain in the darkness. When he got closer to the light, he realized it was Zhang Fei.

Liu Bei was stunned: "Why are you here, my dear brother? How is Xia Pi?"

Zhang Fei fell to his knees with a thud: "Brother! I'm sorry! Xia Pi is lost!"

Liu Bei was in a trance for a moment, and Guan Yu quickly held him up and asked sternly on his behalf: "How could it be lost? Where is your sister-in-law?"

Zhang Fei's face was ashen. He pounded his hands on the ground in grief. His knuckles were bleeding. He cried out in hatred, "It's lost too! It was Cao Bao who colluded with Lu Bu to rebel! Brother, I am sorry for you. Since I have brought the letter, I shall die to atone for my sin!"

After saying this, he wanted to draw his sword and commit suicide.

Seeing this, Liu Bei suddenly regained his senses, rushed forward, snatched the sword and threw it to the ground. He was stunned for a while, then sighed:

"As the ancients said, brothers are like limbs. If limbs are severed, how can they be reconnected? Although Xia Pi has been lost, my dear brother, it is just a momentary mistake. Why should he lose his life halfway?"

Upon hearing this, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were so moved that they burst into tears.

Liu Bei should have cried along with them, but at this moment he suddenly remembered Zhuge Jin's reminder and slapped his thigh, saying, "Third brother! When you entered the city this time, did you tell the soldiers guarding the city? Does anyone else know that Xia Pi was lost?"

Zhang Fei was stunned and quickly replied: "Only Shi Ren, the gatekeeper on duty at the North Gate tonight, knows."

Liu Bei felt a surge of adrenaline, and saw a glimmer of hope to nip the bad news in the bud, so he quickly ordered:
"Quick! Yunchang, you personally take the people there and replace all the soldiers on duty at Shiren and the North Gate. Have them stationed separately and not allow them to contact outsiders! Be sure to block the news! Arrange for them to escort Ziyu's family out of the city tomorrow morning! And... Gongyou, Gongyou!"

Liu Bei called out several times before Sun Qian hurriedly entered. Liu Bei grabbed Sun Qian's hands, shook them solemnly, and ordered urgently: "Go and invite Zi Yu! He must be a great fortune teller! Now that things have come to this, I will ask him if he has any good ideas to save the situation!"

Zhang Fei was confused and couldn't help asking, "Who is Mr. Ziyu?"

Liu Bei shook his head in dismay: "This man was able to predict that you might lose Xia Pi before you did. His talent is at least not inferior to that of Qing Zi Guanjun!

Alas, if I had discovered this great sage a few days earlier, I might have been able to avoid today's disaster. It's really God who doesn't bless us."

(End of this chapter)