My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 365: Tian Shi Meng Chang is far from being able to reach
Guo Tu was such a fence-sitter that, seeing the strength of Liu Bei's camp and Yuan Tan's gradual decline in the past year, he completely decided to abandon his former master and become Liu Bei's vanguard.

This was indeed a bit beyond Zhuge Jin's expectations before he met Guo Tu.

He knew that Guo Tu was a man who was careful to protect himself, but he never expected that he could protect himself to this extent.

In this case, once everyone has talked it out, the follow-up work will be simple.

Guo Tu thought that once the terms were agreed upon, Zhuge Jin would immediately let him go back to report, but Zhuge Jin treated him the same way as always and still made Guo Tu go through the entire process, allowing him to stay a few more days to see the changes in Langya County under Liu Bei's rule.

By the way, he visited the speed and efficiency of the newly trained carrier pigeons in Liu Bei's camp in transmitting information. In front of Guo Tu, he wrote a letter to Liu Bei for instructions, asking Liu Bei to personally reply in writing, asking what conditions each of them could give to Guo Tu, Xin Pi and others if they surrendered in the future and persuaded Yuan Tan to surrender.

Guo Tu felt that this kind of thing seemed a bit unnecessary, but Zhuge Jin was very serious. He wanted Guo Tu to truly believe that all the conditions promised by Liu Bei would be fulfilled, and that they were of very high value and not just for temporary deception.

Guo Tu felt that his horizons were broadened. He had been engaged in intrigue and deception for most of his life, but he had never seen a prince who absolutely kept his word.

Even when Yuan Shao was alive, he would only make big promises to his meritorious officials. When faced with an emergency, he would make excessive promises. After the crisis was over, when it came time to reward the meritorious officials, he would always give a little discount. It was not like Liu Bei, who could not promise people casually, but once he promised, he really intended to fulfill it in full.

But to be honest, when it comes to distinguishing rewards and punishments, Yuan Shao is not a great leader. In this respect, he is not as good as Cao Cao.

Cao Cao was a man who clearly distinguished between rewards and punishments, but he never kept his word. In terms of the distribution of benefits and rewards, Cao Cao was very clear, very much in the style of the Legalists, but when it came to keeping his word, he was quite deceitful.

Of these two points, Yuan Shao failed to achieve even the first one, Cao Cao achieved the first one but not the second one, and Liu Bei intended to achieve the second one as well, at least Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang would ask him to do so.

(Note: In history, after Liu Bei's death, Zhuge Liang was in full control of Shu for nine years, which can also be regarded as "clearly distinguishing rewards and punishments" and "keeping promises". Cao Cao implemented the first half, with only rewards and punishments but no integrity, while Zhuge Liang had both rewards and punishments and integrity.

That is why Chen Shou dared to comment on Zhuge Liang when writing about the Jin Dynasty: "Those who are loyal and beneficial to the times will be rewarded even if they are enemies; those who violate the law and neglect it will be punished even if they are relatives; those who admit their guilt and show their feelings will be released even if the crime is serious; those who make eloquent remarks and make excuses will be killed even if the crime is minor. Those who have no complaints despite the harsh punishments and policies are because they are fair-minded and their advice and warnings are clear."

I have always disagreed with Yi Zhongtian's statement that "Zhuge Liang's Legalist rule is very similar to Cao Cao's Legalist rule, and they are both outstanding representatives of the Legalist rule in the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period." I think that even if we only compare the Legalist rule, Zhuge Liang's Legalist rule is much better than Cao Cao's Legalist rule.)
After realizing the integrity of Liu Bei and the Zhuge brothers, Guo Tu patiently observed the counties for several days, and observed from the bottom of his heart: How much progress has Langya made under Liu Bei's rule compared to more than a year ago under Yuan Tan's rule, and how much has the people's livelihood improved?

And when he saw the prosperous scene of Rizhao Port, with commercial fleets coming in and out, selling steel products, porcelain and bronze wares from the south in a steady stream, and bartering with sea merchants who were transporting war horses back from Liaodong.

Although the local poor did not grow enough food to eat, they could still make up for some of their hunger with fruits and seafood, and they could also sell them to sea merchants as supplies in exchange for linen and silk brought in by sea merchants, so that most of the local people in the counties could ensure that they had enough clothes to cover their bodies.

Don’t underestimate the fact that “cloth clothes cover the body”. Although the common people in ancient times were called “cloth clothes”, most of the time, the poor could not afford to wear clothes. If there were several people in a family, they might only have one or two sets of patched clothes, which would be worn by whoever went out.

People who stayed at home would just go naked, or grab some straw to keep warm, or even hide in straw piles when it was cold. In the Han Dynasty, cotton was not even popular, so there were no quilts. The poor could only use rags of hemp and stuff them with some fillings as quilts.

Now, everyone in the counties had clothes to wear, even the most tattered and cheap linen clothes, which was enough to shock Guo Tu.

He couldn't understand why local farmers could just plant some sour wild fruit trees on the hillside and then pick the fruits and sell them to sea merchants at high prices in exchange for cloth.

Guo Tu privately judged others by himself and thought that Zhuge Jin was trying to win people's hearts, learning from Mengchangjun to buy favors and be nicer to the people in his fiefdom, and deliberately doing business at a loss to benefit the people.

But when he thought he could show off his knowledge based on this knowledge and praised Zhuge Jin for his good tactics, generosity like Mengchang and foresight in replacing Qi with Tian, Lu Su who accompanied him on the inspection rolled his eyes and said that he was flattering the wrong person.

(Note: Before the Tian family replaced the Jiang family and the Lu family to rule Qi during the Warring States Period, several generations of Tian family had been lending money at low interest rates to benefit the people, using fair weights and measures to avoid taking advantage of the common people, in order to win the hearts of the people of Qi.)
Fortunately, Lu Su was kind-hearted. Although he knew that Guo Tu was judging others by his own standards, he did not publicize it and only taught him privately:
"General Guo, what you said is wrong. What do the princes need to buy favors and loyalty? The counties are not as good as Mengchangjun's Xueyi! When the princes do things, they are good at taking advantage of the situation and never do things that go against common sense by selling low and buying high.

It is human nature to pursue profit. How can one last long if one acts against the laws of nature and human nature? These sea merchants buy fresh fruits at high prices because people who sail all year round have loose teeth, blood loss, and many diseases.

In recent years, Mr. Yuan Hua, a famous doctor in Xuzhou, was entrusted by Mi Zi Zhong of Donghai to study the root cause of blood septicaemia in Hanghai Yalong. With the advice of the princes, he discovered that it was because the patient had only eaten rice, dried meat, fish and shrimp for a long time, but no fresh fruits and vegetables.

Mr. Yuanhua also deduced that there must be something in fresh fruits and vegetables that would make people sick if they didn't eat it for a long time. Encouraged by the princes, Mr. Yuanhua also conducted experiments and finally summarized a fairly accurate medical theory, which he taught to many sea merchants under Lord Mi for free, saying that the more sour the fruits and vegetables, the better the effect of relieving seafaring diseases.

That’s why when sea merchants pass by Rizhao, they buy more sour fruits that are easy to preserve. The sourer the fruit, the longer it can be kept fresh at sea, and the more expensive it is. Why would the princes need to go to Rizhao to buy favors? "

The principle that Lu Su relayed was actually "Vitamin C fights scurvy", but he just couldn't use those professional terms that had not yet been invented.

The saying “the sourer the fruit, the more resistant to scurvy” may not be accurate, but the ancients did not have the conditions to conduct more precise experiments and could only understand it in this simple and crude way.

In reality, many people have this illusion, simply because orange plants have a high vitamin C content, and lemons are the sourest and most effective, plus the traditional perception that "good medicine tastes bitter".

But if we don’t limit it to oranges, this conclusion doesn’t hold true. Kiwis are not sour at all, but they have a higher vitamin C content than lemons, the highest among all fruits.

So "good for health" does not necessarily come at the cost of "unpalatable". Of course, the Han people had not yet cultivated kiwi fruit for artificial cultivation, so this is just an empty talk (the origin of kiwi fruit is China, but it was not recorded by Li Shizhen until the Ming Dynasty. Kiwi fruit grows in the south, and Li Shizhen discovered it in Jiangxi)
After listening to this, Guo Tu was also refreshed and had a new understanding of the changes in Langya under Zhuge Jin's rule.

Being able to take advantage of the situation, people's desire for profit and resource allocation for local construction to such an extent is much better than Mengchangjun and the Tian family of Qi.

The Zhuge family was the one that truly benefited both the government and the people by governing the land of Qi and Lu. They improved the welfare of all people by developing productivity and allocating resources rationally without killing. Xin Pi, who came with Guo Tu, was originally only responsible for leading the way and making connections. After a few days of close observation, he also personally experienced the huge difference between Langya County under Liu Bei's rule and under Yuan Shao's rule, and the rapid changes.

Xin Pi had no more baggage than Guo Tu. When he was under the Yuan family, his position was not high and his official position was not big. He was just a small official under Yuan Tan. He could do the same under Liu Bei and maybe even get promoted. Now that he found a wise leader who was better to the country, the people and himself, why didn't he make up his mind to surrender?

A few days later, as Guo Tu and Xin Pi were more thoroughly convinced, Zhuge Jin's plan to send a messenger to Liu Bei to ask for negotiation terms also came to fruition.

This time Zhuge Jin paid more attention to it and asked the messenger to travel 400 li a day, from Zhuxian to Hefei in three days. And the return journey of the pigeon still only took one day and one day, so all added up, there was a reply in less than five days.

In the reply letter, Liu Bei naturally wrote that "if Guo Tu and Xin Pi come to surrender, and if we persuade Yuan Tan to surrender in the future, we can swear to guarantee them certain treatment. As long as Yuan Tan does such and such, we can ensure that the Yuan family will be enfeoffed as marquises for generations and will not be deprived of it, and we can also give Yuan Tan's descendants other additional benefits."

Of course, this letter cannot be shown to Yuan Tan yet, as that would be too blatant. It would be fine to show it to Guo Tu and Xin Pi, who have already decided to surrender, so that they can have an idea in their minds, work harder, and be more active in persuading Yuan Tan after returning.

As long as they believe that Liu Bei will eventually fulfill every promise he made in his private message to Zhuge Jin, that is enough.

As for the content of the letter, whether it was really written by Liu Bei, or Zhuge Jin secretly suggested that he write so when he wrote to ask for instructions, or whether it was written by Zhuge Liang who was by Liu Bei's side, it is not known to outsiders.

Zhuge Jin also solemnly opened Liu Bei's promise in front of Guo Tu and Xin Pi, explaining as he did so:

"General Guo, dear brother George, let's read this article together. I haven't even removed the wax seal yet. I'm waiting for you to come together."

Guo Tu and Xin Pi quickly said that how could they not believe it, and it didn't matter even if they demolished it first.

Then, Zhuge Jin read out Liu Bei's promise in summary:
"As long as Master Yuan is willing to follow my Lord to support the Han Dynasty and punish the traitors, we can ensure that Master Yuan's lineage will be hereditary as a county marquis. The Yellow River will be like a belt, and Mount Tai will be like a whetstone, and all of our descendants will be included."

The first sentence is the basic condition of Liu Bei. He did not say "As long as the Han Dynasty lasts, your title of marquis will last as long as the country lasts", because people in the Han Dynasty did not like to say this.

And "The Yellow River is like a belt, Mount Tai is like a whetstone" means "If one day the water flow of the Yellow River becomes small and dry up to be as small as a belt, and Mount Tai is worn down by wind and sun to be as small as a whetstone, this promise will still be valid." This is a direct copy of the words in Liu Bang's White Horse Oath.

Although Liu Bang's White Horse Alliance was not fully implemented in the end, and Zhou Bo and Zhou Yafu were still dealt with during the reigns of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, most people still had a good ending, and these two sentences have not been discredited today.

Guo Tu and Xin Pi would not bother with the details of these metaphors.

Then, Zhuge Jin continued to read, that is, other supplementary clauses besides the "minimum guarantee clause", those that require conditions to be attached and are better treatment than the "hereditary county marquis".

"As long as Young Master Yuan can still represent the Yuan family and does not surrender before the defeat, he can obtain this hereditary county title. My lord is kind and does not want to take advantage of others' misfortune, nor does he want to force friendly forces.

But the latter conditions are also common sense: that is, when the eldest son of Yuan surrendered, the larger the territory he had, the better the treatment of his descendants in the future. If he was defeated by Cao Cao or Yuan Shang and only had one or two counties left, he would only bring an empty signboard to the Yuan family, and the best he could be given was a hereditary county marquis.

If Young Master Yuan can surrender with his current territory, my lord has also considered a condition. He can allow Young Master Yuan and his eldest son to actually take charge of the administration of a state in the future, for life.

If the eldest son of Yuan can still publicly denounce Yuan Shu and Yuan Shang as rebellious sons of the Yuan family, the eldest son is willing to cut off ties with other branches of the Yuan family and declare that other branches are not the Runan Yuan family. Then, my lord is willing to ensure that the Yuan family accumulates the honorary title of three dukes for ten generations - of course, General Yuan is already a three duke for four generations, the general himself is the fifth generation, and the eldest son himself is the sixth generation.

The eldest son and his son can both hold the honorary title of Three Dukes and actually control a state. When it comes to the eldest son's grandchildren, they will hold the honorary title of Three Dukes and the actual title of County Marquis, but they are not guaranteed to hold power. The honorary title of Three Dukes can be passed on to them for another three generations, so in total, the Yuan family will have had Three Dukes for ten generations."

In other words, what Liu Bei promised was just another "four generations of three officials". As for the so-called ten generations, the first four generations were already history, the fifth and sixth generations were earned by Yuan Shao and Yuan Tan themselves, and Liu Bei only extended the term to seventy, eighty, ninety and tenth generations. Moreover, the seventh generation was Yuan Tan's son, who could be a state official with real power, while the eighty, ninety and tenth generations were purely honorary titles, with treatment but no power.

After hearing Zhuge Jin's detailed explanation and Liu Bei's detailed writing, Guo Tu felt that Liu Bei was serious, otherwise he would not have bargained so carefully.

If you didn't intend to give it in the first place, why would you bargain for it?

And it sounds like a good deal. Yuan Tan currently only has a little more than one and a half states. If he surrenders and is promised to govern Qingzhou forever, and only gives Bohai County in Jizhou and the western part of Youzhou to Liu Bei, then Yuan Tan can at least keep 60% of his territory and put it in his pocket.

Guo Tu couldn't believe it: "Can they really treat me so well?"

Zhuge Jin immediately gave the sweet talk and then followed up with the stick: "I haven't finished yet, this is a condition that can only be achieved if Master Yuan returns immediately, but I don't think it's possible for him, he must still want to struggle.

Therefore, I also wrote in the letter that if the eldest son of Yuan did not return immediately, and his prefectures and counties were conquered by Yuan Shang or Cao Cao, his descendants would lose the honorary titles of the Three Dukes for every county they lost. If Bohai in Jizhou, Zhuojun, Guangyang, and Yuyang in Youzhou were all lost, then the honorary titles of the Three Dukes for four generations of his descendants would be lost.

If he lost Youbeiping as well, his son's generation would no longer have the power to actually manage Qingzhou's government affairs. If he lost Liaoxi as well, there would be no guarantee that Young Master Yuan himself would be able to hold power in Qingzhou for life.

Anyway, the later you come, and the worse off you are when you come, the lower your treatment will be. The first to rise up will be rewarded, and those who come later... this is also natural."

(End of this chapter)