My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 59: Picking up a trainer before leaving
Among the three people who came suddenly to visit, Bu Zhi and Yan Jun were classmates of Zhuge Jin, but Wei Jing was not.

It’s just that Wei Jing and Bu Zhi are of the same age and are from Guangling, so they fled to Wu County together. Now that Bu Zhi has returned, he has brought him back with him.

Zhuge Jin quickly invited the few people into the house and asked them if they had met any local officials.

Bu Zhi also said frankly: "I have already met with the envoy Liu, and he has not abandoned us. He immediately appointed us as assistants and book assistants in various departments. Brother Yan has rich experience, so he will be directly appointed as an assistant.

My brother Wei and I are still young, so we can serve as assistants for a few months. The envoy also advised us that as long as we don't make any mistakes, we can be promoted to officials next year when we come of age."

Bu Zhi and Wei Jing are two years younger than Zhuge Jin. They are only nineteen this year. It is indeed a bit unconvincing to let them be directly appointed as officials.

Liu Bei did not care and directly gave Bu Zhi a deputy position of Cao to test the waters because Bu Zhi was a classmate of Zhuge Jin.

After a few pleasantries and encouragements, Zhuge Jin invited everyone to a meal and served a variety of delicious dishes. He also steamed a huge sea bass weighing seven or eight kilograms and seasoned it with scallions, ginger, and cooking wine.

This cooking method is both simple and surpasses the common practice at the time. People in the Han Dynasty generally boiled fish. It was not that they did not know how to steam it, but they thought that burning firewood took too long to generate steam, which was a waste of firewood and troublesome.

Bu Zhi and others felt that it was extremely delicious. They admired Brother Zhuge for his ability to enjoy life, but they were also curious.

Because in the process of arranging the banquet, Bu Zhi saw with his own eyes that although Zhuge Jin did not cook in person, he would occasionally give instructions on cooking. There seemed to be very few servants in his family, and no maids were seen.

Although poor people cooked for themselves these days, Zhuge Jin was already a captain with a salary of two thousand stones, which was obviously abnormal.

They didn't know that Zhuge Jin just couldn't stand some details of the ancients' cooking techniques, so he created this scene.

After the banquet, Yan Jun and Wei Jing reminisced about the past and then left.

Bu Zhi was close to him, and after staying to chat for a while longer, Bu Zhi could not help but remind him, "Brother Zi Yu, you are now in an important position, and a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen. Even if you don't have a family, don't you have a cook and maids around you?"

Zhuge Jin then casually explained, "Originally, there were some. At the beginning of the month, the family divided the property and gave them all away. I thought I would be leaving soon, so I didn't bother. It won't be too late to buy another property and maids when I get to Yuzhang."

Zhuge Jin is certainly not a simple person. He also wants to employ a group of professional people with clear division of labor to help him improve his work and life efficiency.

But I'm about to leave Guangling, so I don't want to bother with this little bit of time. I'll just have to endure it and it will pass.

Bu Zhi shook his head: "When you go to Yuzhang, you are unfamiliar with the place. How can you find someone to serve you attentively? It is better to bring some trusted friends with you.

I didn’t expect you to suffer so much. No wonder my uncle asked me to convey the message before coming here, saying that he wanted to express the Bu family’s gratitude. I thought it was not appropriate at the time…”

Zhuge Jin saw that Bu Zhi looked a little embarrassed as he spoke, and he roughly guessed what was going on.

Bu Zhi hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "My uncle said that it was thanks to Ziyu's good words in front of the envoy that all the sons of the clan, except me, were given more opportunities to be appointed as officials. There is only one orphan left in my fourth aunt's family, and she has relied on the envoy's money and food to support her.

Uncle learned that my brother seemed to have a good impression of my fourth sister. If my brother doesn't want to abandon her, he can take her away. She is still young, so let's not talk about whether she is a concubine or not. Just keep her by your side and let her clean and serve you."

Zhuge Jin was a little surprised and reminded him, "Brother Zishan, given our friendship, how could I take advantage of someone in distress?"

Bu Zhi: "How could I not know your character? This is not taking advantage of someone's misfortune. This is not something I thought of, but something that came up with my uncle. My fourth sister and I are not closely related, and it is not my turn to intervene in their affairs.

It's just that my uncle didn't have the chance to ask you in detail, so I had the chance to pass on a message. If I hadn't seen the desolate house today, I wouldn't have planned to speak. My fourth sister has lost her father, so this is the best of both worlds."

Bu Zhi's humble attitude, as if he was staying out of the matter and just delivering a message, made Zhuge Jin feel a little more relaxed.

He could see that Bu Zhi was not really interested in relying on nepotism to gain power, and he seemed very confident in his own abilities.

In this respect, he is very similar to Zhuge Jin - Zhuge Jin let his uncle set up a household and his stepmother return to her parents' home, allowing his uncle to take away his mother's will. This is because he did not want people to say that he, Zhuge Jin, relied on his stepmother's relationship to get to the top if his stepmother married a powerful man in the future.

With the strength of the Zhuge family, do they need this kind of thing?

As for the potential nepotism that might arise, of course, they were all given to the Song family, and the Zhuge family did not take a penny!
So Zhuge Jin understood it all at once, and Bu Zhi didn't want the world to think that he got to the top by selling his cousin.

Who among those with real abilities wants to be treated as a vase?

Zhuge Jin felt sympathetic for a moment, and sighed, "On this point, my dear brother agrees with me. But don't your three families have the same ancestor? Why is there still a saying of closeness of kinship?"

Bu Zhi briefly introduced two sentences: his father was born to a concubine, and he had the same father as his eldest uncle and fourth uncle, but his eldest uncle and fourth uncle had the same mother, so the eldest uncle had the final say in matters concerning the fourth aunt's family.

What he said implicitly was to emphasize that he was not selling his sister. At most, he was the uncle selling his niece, and he was just delivering the message.

Seeing that he was so eager to distance himself from the matter, Zhuge Jin responded straightforwardly, "In that case, I won't be hypocritical. I just don't know if your sister feels wronged. I don't like to force people to do things against their will, nor do I like to see the elders of the clan sacrifice their orphans."

Bu Zhi: "That shouldn't be the case. Fourth sister is young and ignorant, but she should think you are a modest gentleman and can be approached. I know that. Uncle has also asked her, and she doesn't object. And I have heard in the past few days that you seem to be very opposed to 'talking about marriage before going on a diplomatic mission or commanding troops'. The righteous men under the command of Liu Shijun in Guangling City all said that you think such talk is unlucky -

So, my uncle said that the fourth sister is not a lady from a wealthy family, but a girl from a poor family, a humble girl. If you like her, you can take her away directly without any gift."

Zhuge Jin finally struggled for a while, and finally figured out many obstacles. He made up his mind and said, "Then I will be frank. Your sister is too young. It is impossible for her to be your wife. I am already twenty-one, and I will be twenty-two after the New Year.

I was unable to marry in the past two years because I was fleeing and wandering around. When I settle down in Yuzhang, I will definitely find a wife. I can't wait that many years.

I am the eldest brother in the family. If I don't find a sister-in-law for my younger brother and sister, the affairs of the house will be out of order, and there will be no one to help with the chores of arranging my sisters' future marriages.

Therefore, I can only wait until your sister reaches the age of marriage and give her the status of a concubine. Before that, I will keep her by my side and not let her do rough work. "

Bu Zhi also nodded in agreement. He conveyed the message, exchanged a few empty formalities, and then stood up to take his leave.

This time he chose to work directly for Liu Bei instead of Zhuge Jin, also wanting to prove himself.

So I am gathering my courage now, hoping that when we meet next time, I will have made some achievements, so that we can be on equal terms in front of my old classmates.

……

After Zhuge Jin sent Bu Zhi away, he did nothing else that day but stayed at home to rest and thought quietly all night.

The next day, he went to the Bu family to confirm the situation with Bu Long first, and then went to Xu's and Bu Lianshi's homes.

At Bu Long's place, he learned that the other party had good intentions and was even told that it didn't matter whether she was a concubine or not in the future and that he could just take her away.

Zhuge Jin then added only one final question: after he took Bu Lianshi away, would her widowed mother Xu be able to return to her parents' home and would there be someone to support her.

Bu Long said that she had no family, but if there was no one to take care of her, the Bu family would give her food to eat. She didn't give birth to a son, only a daughter, and if her daughter was taken away, the Bu family didn't want her to remain a widow.

Zhuge Jin thought about it and suggested: "In this case, I will find a wife or concubine for the guards and officers around me, and persuade them to remarry so that they can go to Yuzhang with their husbands. How about that?"

Bu Long quickly expressed his gratitude and said that Xu was a widow who was almost thirty years old, and she was lucky to be the concubine of the guard officer beside Zhuge Jin.

But Zhuge Jin still respected the opinions of the parties involved and forced Bu Long to go to his brother's sister-in-law's house to confirm first. Only after getting the other party's voluntary answer did Zhuge Jin start to arrange it.

Without saying anything, he went to find Chen Dao, who was sent by Liu Bei to protect him, and said, "Shuzhi, I remember that you followed Lord Xuande in the battles for two years and have not married yet, right?"

Chen Dao quickly admitted it.

Zhuge Jin said bluntly: "Recently, a classmate and good friend of mine gave me a maid, but her mother is a widow and has no one to rely on. Although she is about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, three or five years older than you, she is not ugly.

You don't have to marry a wife, just take a concubine first, so that you can have someone around you who knows your feelings. If you agree, I will not give in and let my family look down on you.

I will tell Brother Xuande that you have accumulated merit so you should be promoted from Marquis Qu to Military Commander. If you take a concubine as a Military Commander, the Bu family will not feel ashamed. "

Chen Dao and Tian Yu had similar positions in the army, but because Chen Dao originally led Liu Bei's trusted guards and personal troops, which were smaller in number, his military rank was one level lower.

But in fact, the strength of Qu Junhou, who led the Bai Li soldiers, was no weaker than that of Jun Sima, who led the miscellaneous troops.

This time, Zhuge Jin wanted someone to take a concubine, so he took the opportunity to say a good word for Chen Dao and get him promoted to a higher military position that had been stuck for a long time.

"Thank you for your kind words! I will never forget your kindness!" Chen Dao didn't care about taking a widow who was a few years older than him as a concubine. When he heard that he could get a promotion at the same time, he agreed immediately and gave Zhuge Jin a great gift.

Zhuge Jin was very satisfied.

Not only did he get rid of the troublesome widow, but Chen Dao would also stay with him all year round. This way, Xu would have plenty of opportunities to see her daughter in the future, and the mother and daughter would not be separated.

Liu Bei stayed in Guangling for the past two years and never went out. He did not need to go to the battlefield in person or be protected by guards.

Zhuge Jin brought Chen Dao to Yuzhang for Liu Bei's own good, to give him a sense of urgency and encourage him to find Zhao Yun as soon as possible.

After everything was settled, Zhuge Jin asked someone to take some money and property to Xu's place, which was considered to be a decent show.

Three days later, Xu hastily remarried to Chen Dao as a concubine.

Of course, Zhuge Jin took Bu Lianshi back to his home, and for now she could only be raised as a maid for a few years.

(End of this chapter)