My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 417 Liu Zhang: A classic case of persecution delusion

After bidding farewell to Liu Biao, Liu Qi, Yi Ji and Zhuge Jun hurriedly left Xiangyang and sailed down the Han River. In just two or three days, they returned to Hanyang.

After a final night of rest in Hanyang City, the residence of Liu Qi, the "Prefect of Jiangxia", the next day he left Liu Biao's territory, crossed the river to Wuchang, and entered the territory of Liu Bei's army.

As soon as the group crossed the river, Liu Bei's Jiangxia governor Gu Yong received Liu Qi and his group and gave them a grand reception. He also gave Liu Qi a lot of food, clothing and daily necessities that he had never seen or used before, in order to reassure him.

Seeing that the officials under his uncle Xuande treated him with such courtesy, Liu Qi, who had originally been a little nervous about seeking foreign aid, finally felt relieved.

However, during his interactions with Gu Yong, Liu Qi felt a little embarrassed and a bit ashamed when he heard Yi Ji introduce that Gu Yong was also the "Prefect of Jiangxia".

After all, he was also the prefect of Jiangxia. The two major camps of Liu Bei and Liu Biao each had their own prefect of Jiangxia.

Fortunately, Gu Yong was very perceptive, and Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang had already made targeted personnel arrangements.

Seeing this, Gu Yong immediately explained to Liu Qi with a warm expression: "Brother Ji Bo, you are indeed very familiar with the situation under my jurisdiction, but this time you are not well-informed - I am no longer the governor of Jiangxia.

Two months ago, after the Battle of Runan, Zhuge Junshi advised the lord to transfer me to be the governor of Runan, and Wei Yan to be the commander of Runan, so that the civil and military forces can work together to defend Huaixi. Zhuge Junshi said that although Wei Yan was brave and courageous, he was too young after all, and a mature and steady civil official was needed to comfort the local area. I will take office soon.

Gu Yong had no talent for military strategy, but Liu Bei also knew that in the next few years, Runan and Huaixi would not be the main battlefields for the confrontation between Cao and Liu. If Cao Cao wanted to counterattack, he would not start from that piece of land. So Gu Yong only needed to appease the people and stabilize the front with Wei Yan.

If anything really happens, Zhao Yun and Gan Ning in Shouchun will naturally extend reinforcements to the east and west wings at any time, and it will be enough to delay the enemy for a while.

Yi Ji was not aware of this situation. He just helped introduce Gu Yong to Liu Qi because Gu Yong had not introduced his official title since they met. He was afraid that Liu Qi would not recognize him. He did not expect that Gu Yong deliberately skipped some questions and there was indeed a deep meaning behind it.

After finding out, Yi Ji laughed at himself and asked quickly, "I wonder what will happen to Wuchang, Xiakou and other places after Brother Yuan Tan is transferred away..."

Gu Yong: "We have the County Magistrate Xiang Lang, who will temporarily help take care of the county affairs. The other departments and offices are also doing their jobs, so what is there to worry about?"

Yi Ji was stunned: "Then there is no new appointment of...Jiangxia governor?"

Gu Yong raised his hand and bowed to Liu Qi: "Didn't Liu Jingzhou recommend the eldest son as the governor of Jiangxia a long time ago? Why does my lord need to appoint another governor of Jiangxia? My lord and Liu Jingzhou are allies, so why should we distinguish between us?"

Yi Ji and Liu Qi were also quite surprised when they heard this, but they did not show it on their faces.

Liu Bei actually no longer appointed the prefect of Jiangxia. Is this the first benefit of Liu Qi's active approach?

Thinking of this, Liu Qi felt more confident about this trip to join his uncle Xuande.

They only rested for one night in Xiakou, but they were already energized and eager to continue their journey and reach Pei County as soon as possible.

Gu Yong did not try to persuade them to stay, but just told them: If they left too early, they would have to stay in Pei County for a long time, because Liu Zhang's envoys had a long journey and would definitely arrive late. Liu Bei would probably wait until everyone arrived before making any big move.

Liu Qiyi thought it made sense and no longer objected to taking a leisurely walk along the way, sightseeing in the mountains and rivers.

……

The words are divided into two parts.

If Liu Bei wants to achieve the grand occasion of "all the relatives of the Han Dynasty in the world joining together to celebrate this great event", of course, neither Liu Biao nor Liu Zhang can be missing.

Therefore, the achievements of Sun Shao, who was sent on official business to Liu Zhang, were also very important.

While Liu Qi enjoyed himself in Xiakou for a few days and went down the river to the east again, Sun Shao in Yizhou had just arrived in Chengdu after hurriedly trying to catch up.

On that day, about the middle of the twelfth lunar month, Sun Shao had just arrived in Chengdu when he handed over Liu Bei's letter and waited for an audience with Liu Zhang.

Liu Zhang was a man of weak character and suspicious. He had encountered many setbacks in recent years and became more and more suspicious, becoming very hesitant in doing things.

He had not had any contact with the outside world for several years. When he suddenly heard that Liu Bei had sent someone to him, he didn't know whether it was a blessing or a disaster, and naturally he would not meet Sun Shao immediately.

Liu Zhang summoned Zhang Su, the deputy driver in charge of external liaison, and asked him in detail: "Liu Bei and Liu Biao have not had any dealings with our army for six or seven years. Now they suddenly send envoys to Shu. I wonder if this is a good omen or a bad omen?"

Zhang Su didn't know much about the situation, so he could only analyze the public information: "It is said that Cao Cao destroyed Yuan Shang, but Liu Bei also took advantage of the opportunity when Cao Cao's main force attacked Yecheng and defeated Cao Cao's army and seized the three counties of Xu and Huai.

This time, Liu Bei summoned all the Han clan members and officials to watch the ceremony on the pretext of rebuilding the tomb of King Liang Xiao in Mount Mangdang in Pei County and condemning Cao Cao for appointing the General of the Lieutenant ...

Liu Zhang didn't have any ideas after hearing this. "What do you think, Jun Jiao, should we do about this? There have been many troubles in Shu for years, and the news is blocked. I don't want to make enemies and bring trouble to myself. We should gather all the ministers to discuss these issues and see how to avoid them."

Zhang Su didn't know Liu Bei, and he had no feelings for him at all. Of course, he agreed with his master's words, so he agreed and asked in a businesslike manner:
"It is not good to ignore Liu Bei's envoy. Please tell me how to stabilize the situation."

Liu Zhang thought for a moment and asked, "What is the identity of the envoy?"

Zhang Su: "Sun Shao, the deputy governor of Yangzhou, is an old man who has served as the deputy governor of Yangzhou for many years. When Liu Yao was the governor of Yangzhou, he was the deputy governor. After Liu Bei became the governor, Sun Shao was still retained in his original position."

After hearing about the envoy's resume, Liu Zhang couldn't help laughing: "Hasn't he been the deputy governor for more than ten years? He is a strange man. He has not been promoted in all these years. Well, isn't this a coincidence? Jun Jiao, you are the deputy governor of Yizhou. Since the one who came is the deputy governor of Yangzhou, you should represent Yizhou and place him in the post house, treat him well and keep him stable. Let him see how prosperous the people of Yizhou are. Etiquette is indispensable."

Zhang Su accepted the order and went to entertain Sun Shao without saying anything else.

……

That evening, Sun Shao was tired from the journey and wanted to take a rest. As a result, local officials from Yizhou came and hosted a banquet for him.

Sun Shao worked in external relations and was often present at such drinking parties. He happily attended the banquet without any preparation.

When he saw the chief officer who was receiving him, Sun Shao looked him up and down. The other party was tall and white with an upright figure, but with deep nasolabial folds. The goatee on his chin and the short beard on his lips were connected together, and he was very delicately groomed.

Sun Shao didn't know the visitor's background, but based on his appearance, he felt that the other party was a selfish person who was only interested in protecting himself.

"I am Sun Shao, the deputy governor of Yangzhou. I wonder if you are..."

Zhang Su also bowed and said, "Zhang Su, the deputy governor of Yizhou, this is my younger brother Zhang Song."

Following Zhang Su's words and instructions, Sun Shao lowered his head and looked in the direction of Zhang Su's gestures. Only then did he see that there was another person standing next to him. He had not noticed him just now because he was too short.

Sun Shao couldn't help but be secretly shocked, but fortunately he was well-mannered and didn't show any flaws in his expression.

Sun Shao thought to himself, "How can there be such a short person in the world? And he can even be in charge of the liaison mission. There are so many strange people and things in Shu. And his brother is so tall and strong. How can they be so different from each other when they are born of the same mother?"

Taking into account that before he set out, his lord, Ziyu and Kongming had repeatedly told him to make friends with capable people in Shu and not to be arrogant, Sun Shao suppressed his temper and spoke gently and politely to Zhang Su and Zhang Song.

Nowadays, people in Yizhou have little knowledge of the external situation because of years of road isolation. They only know about some of the most significant changes, such as "Yuan Shao was destroyed, his son was killed, and Cao Cao was taken away by Liu Bei."

As for other minor matters, the Shu people were basically in the dark because of the lack of information. For example, the people of Shu had almost no idea about the current livelihood and economy of the outside world, and whether there were any new ingenious technologies or rare toys in recent years, unless the merchants in Jingnan had already sold the goods to Yizhou.

So the two sides just chatted for a while, and the brothers Zhang Su and Zhang Song felt that Sun Shao was knowledgeable.

Seeing that they still had many small questions about local customs and practices, Sun Shao asked his attendants to bring a box and take out some small gadgets that were special products of Wuchang, which were either porcelain, polished crystal, or exquisitely structured brass gilt machinery, all of which had some practical value, as gifts.

Zhang Su was a little nervous. He felt that in such an occasion, if he accepted gifts from people in Yangzhou before the matter was settled, it would easily arouse suspicion from his lord if word got out, so he began to evade responsibility.

Sun Shao quickly explained in a casual manner: "These are just a few things that can be bought for only a few thousand coins in Wuchang. It's just a normal exchange of gifts. Shao brought a few ships with him this time. If you want, every official in Chengdu can give them to you. There's no need to be shy."

Zhang Su and his brother felt their eyes were opened, so they picked up each item and asked about it in detail. Sun Shao didn't know how to explain the uses of these things, not to mention that his original intention of coming here was to stimulate the curiosity of the people of Yizhou to go out and see the world, so he deliberately did not elaborate. Finally, he asked his servants to take out several boxes of books and distributed a few books to each of the brothers Zhang Su and Zhang Song.

Zhang Song took it and took a look. They were all books he had never heard of before. They should be new works. Something like "Records of Jiangnan Scenery" was obviously written for fun and had no educational value at all.

However, the handwriting format of his and his elder brother's two sets of books was almost the same, which made him curious: "For someone to use such high-quality paper to copy these casual notes repeatedly, it must be very attentive."

Sun Shao immediately laughed: "Of course they were printed, hundreds or even thousands of copies, it doesn't take much time. Because Wuchang is now a prosperous place for culture and education, the printers had nothing to do after printing the Thirteen Classics, so they started printing the Pre-Qin philosophers and modern people's notes."

Zhang Song was shocked again when he heard this.

In recent years, they have also felt that the books sold from Jingzhou have become cheaper and cheaper - to be more precise, they have felt the rise of this new industry. Because before, no one sold books at all. Whoever needed a book would copy it himself, or hire a few retainers or family members to help copy it. There was no such business or industry at all.

However, Zhang Su and Zhang Song only knew that books were being sold in Jingnan, and they had no idea how these books were produced. In addition, book buyers rarely bought the same book several times, so they would not wonder why books with the same content were written in exactly the same font.

After all, this thing has only appeared in Jingzhou for three years, and Shu is isolated, so it is not surprising that the whole story is only understood now.

Consumers don't care about the specific production methods of manufacturers.

After looking through it for a long time, Zhang Song finally found some notes introducing new products from Jiangdong. The more he read, the more curious he became, and he couldn't help but sigh a few times.

Sun Shao followed his curiosity and guided him: "Brother Ziqiao, you seem to be well-read, why are you so closed-minded and don't know about the changes in folk customs outside Yizhou in recent years?"

Zhang Song felt a little ashamed, and didn't care about exposing his family's shame in private, so he continued the conversation: "These things should have appeared not long ago, right? In the past two years, my Shu has been particularly isolated, and my lord has become more suspicious and worried. He has closed the borders and blocked the roads. There is nothing we can do about it."

As soon as Zhang Song finished speaking, Zhang Su's expression changed and he shouted in a low voice: "Zi Qiao! Stop talking!"

After scolding his brother, Zhang Su explained to Sun Shao with a smile: "It's nothing, Mr. Changxu should have heard about it. Three years ago, the governor of Ba County, Zhao Wei, rebelled and led the troops of Ba County to attack Chengdu, which lasted for more than a year.

My lord relied on the Dongzhou soldiers to fight to the death to repel Zhao Wei, and drove him back to Jiangzhou in the sixth year of Jian'an. He held his lair for several months, but was eventually killed by his generals and presented his head to my lord. After Zhao Wei's rebellion, my lord was extremely sensitive to any disturbance in the Sanba area to the east.

Many officials were replaced, and officials in the three Ba areas were strictly prohibited from using the convenience of controlling the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River to interact with Jingzhou. After all, before Zhao Wei's rebellion, he had reconciled with Liu Biao of Jingzhou before he started his rebellion. My lord was also worried that the officials in Ba would bring in foreign enemies... Alas, these family scandals are not worth mentioning. "

(End of this chapter)