My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 82 Zhuge's Mission
February 20th, Chaisang.

Generals such as Guan Yu and Chen Dao were still continuing their purge of the southern counties of Yuzhang, but order around Nanchang County had been restored by this time.

After the news was passed back to Chaisang, the Zhuge family did not hesitate. After a brief discussion, Zhuge Xuan decided to go south to take up the official county seat.

Today is the day when the Zhuge brothers see their uncle off.

For safety reasons, Zhuge Jin asked Gan Ning to select the 800-man Jinfan Battalion from his own army to escort him - because the large-scale fighting had ended, this trip could be taken by water, from Pengli Lake through the Gan River directly to the city of Nanchang.

There were very few defeated soldiers and vagrants on the water. Even if there were any, they would be nothing but food in front of Gan Ning's 800 Brocade Sail Battalion and were definitely safe enough.

After arriving in Nanchang, Gan Ning will garrison there for a while. Once Zhuge Xuan has completely stabilized the situation in Nanchang, Gan Ning can come back.

"Uncle, have a safe journey. If you need anything after arriving in Nanchang, just send someone to Chaisang to let me know and I will make the arrangements. You will be escorted by Xingba along the way, so don't worry, uncle."

At the pier east of the city, Zhuge Jin bowed respectfully and said goodbye, not forgetting to say some polite words.

I thought that this kind of words would not get a response from my uncle, but I didn't expect Zhuge Xuan to be so polite to his nephew. After thinking about it for a while, he actually thought of something missing and said casually:

"I have seen the accounts of the seizures in Nanchang and other places. Zuo Rong looted a lot, but there is still a lot of wealth left. There should be no shortage of money and food.

However, I heard that when Zuo Rong passed through the territory, he killed and looted scholars from aristocratic families and was merciless to officials of the imperial court. When he took over the counties, there were only a few county magistrates and county magistrates appointed by the imperial court left.

This thief actually wants monks to govern the local area, which is definitely not acceptable. After I arrive, I will need at least five or six county magistrates, a dozen county lieutenants and county chancellors to regain control of the situation, and I will also need to find ways to recruit talented people.

I wonder if Ah Liang knew any wise exiled northern scholars or those who had never served in government when he was in Jingzhou? He doesn’t need to be a great sage, as long as he can be a county magistrate.”

When Zhuge Jin heard his uncle speak, he was a little worried that he would be given another task.

No one expected that the last sentence was to ask for someone to be an official, which made Zhuge Jin laugh.

These days, there is a shortage of everything, except exiled scholars who want to become officials.

The imperial court's appointment system is now half collapsed, so we should be thankful that the county magistrate appointed by the imperial edict can take office smoothly.

As for county-level officials, unless it was a territory directly governed by Cao Cao, the appointment and dismissal of county magistrates in other places were all decided by the prefect.

However, in most counties, due to the existence of local powerful people and aristocratic families, the prefects had to cede interests to these families.

But the situation in Yuzhang was very special. Zuo Rong had previously put a knife to people's necks to force them to convert, so the families that adhered to Confucian beliefs suffered particularly severe losses.

Zhuge Jin immediately realized that this was definitely a good thing!
With so many vacancies for county magistrates and county clerks, are you still afraid that you won't be able to attract young and promising talents?

For example: Pang Tong, who is now acquainted with his second brother and has some academic overlap with him, made his debut more than ten years later than his younger brother in history, so he looked down on the county magistrate who started out as a county magistrate.

But Pang Tong is only nineteen years old now. If he asks A Liang to write a letter and asks him to start as a county magistrate to practice his skills, Pang Tong, who is not yet famous, may not have the determination to refuse!

By extension, there are a lot of young talents that can be won over.

Thinking of this, Zhuge Jin couldn't help wanting to express his gratitude to his uncle, and quickly took on the responsibility and promised: "Uncle, don't worry about this matter! As for the shortage of officials in the counties and Caos of Yuzhang, Aliang and I will definitely work hard to recruit talents."

Zhuge Xuan nodded and got on board: "Then I'm relieved. You should pay more attention to these things. Alas, I have been investigating the current situation of the famous scholars and prominent families who were killed by Zuo Rong these days. It is really shocking.

Ziyu, have you heard that in the year or so since I was defeated by Zuo Rong, how many famous people in Yuzhang were killed by him, or died of poverty and illness after their wealth was plundered? Without mentioning the distant past, let me just tell you one that moved me the most:
Even Xu Shao and Xu Zijiang, who held the "Monthly Review" and said that Cao Cao was "a capable minister in a peaceful era and a treacherous hero in a chaotic era", died last year due to being forced and trapped by Zuo Rong! I was trapped in a small county in Xi'an at the time and didn't know any of this. Now that I have the news, I just found out."

Zhuge Jin originally didn't care about the life and death of these aristocratic families and celebrities. But after hearing the name "Xu Shao", Zhuge Jin immediately realized that this person must be important, and perhaps he could be used if he dug deeper.

He immediately asked, "Oh? Is this true? I'm sorry I didn't pay enough attention to this, but isn't Xu Shao... from the north? How did he get to Yuzhang?"

Zhuge Xuan was originally a famous scholar who was devoted to ideals. If his nephew asked him about the details of government affairs, he might not be able to tell him, but when it came to talking about the anecdotes of these famous scholars, he was very knowledgeable.

Zhuge Xuan immediately started to talk: "Xu Zijiang is from Runan, the same hometown as Yuan Shao. He was famous in Ruyang in his early years, so Cao Cao paid a lot of money to ask for his evaluation. As for Xu Zijiang's return to the south, it was because of the chaos in Yanyu a few years ago, and he first went to Xuzhou to join Tao Qian.

Afterwards, Cao Cao attacked Tao Qian, and he followed the Guangling rebels south to join Liu Yao. Later, Liu Yao sent Zhu Hao and Zuo Rong to our Yuzhang, and Xu Zijiang also followed that time. But after Zhu Hao was killed, he also fell into despair and died in poverty, illness and imprisonment. "

"Is that so? Thank you for your guidance, uncle." Zhuge Jin listened to his uncle's teachings without any expression, then respectfully bowed to see Zhuge Xuan's boat off the shore.

As he watched the fleet sail south, Zhuge Jin kept chewing on what he had just said: This General Xu was also a character similar to Zhu Hao, sent by Liu Yao, but ended up in a desperate situation because his colleagues mistakenly believed in Zuo Rong...

An idea suddenly occurred to Zhuge Jin.

Although Xu Shao is not a powerful figure, he is very famous.

The fact that Cao Cao brought valuable gifts to ask for his evaluation shows that what he said was highly circulated and was top public opinion.

Although Xu Shao is dead now, if he still had relatives alive, they could send him some gifts, take good care of him, and then find a recorder to dig out some of Xu Shao's "last words", wouldn't that be a big selling point?
If Xu Shao’s last words were “The most blind thing I have done in my life is to join Liu Yao. How could Liu Yao be so unable to distinguish between the wise and the foolish and trust a mad dog like Zuo Rong, causing me to be implicated and killed” and so on.

How much of a blow would such a will have on Liu Yao's reputation? Even if Liu Yao was thick-skinned, how would the court view him if such words reached Cao Cao's ears?
The more Zhuge Jin thought about it, the more he felt that this matter had potential, so he decided to make proper arrangements later.

"It seems that Liu Yao didn't live long in history? It seems that he died of depression in the past one or two years? Or did he have a serious illness? However, if he could really live another year, it would be quite troublesome, because he would have lived until Yuan Shu became emperor.

This time point is too delicate, it is better for him to die before Yuan Shu proclaims himself emperor. In this way, the position of Yangzhou Mu will be vacant first, and then Yuan Shu will proclaim himself emperor... Even if he does not die, as long as this "Xu Shao's last words" are exposed, Liu Yao will not have the face to be the governor of Yangzhou. He is not good at judging people, and he has led thieves into the house. The news will be known to the world...

But before that, Lord Xuande must also make some more achievements in Yangzhou, preferably before Liu Yao is about to die, to give the court a reason to promote him to replace Liu Yao, so the timing must be very good..."

On the way back to the city, Zhuge Jin kept thinking about this matter and gradually formed a vicious plan.

As soon as he arrived at the mansion, he asked someone to call his full-time messenger Tang Guang (the one who had sent the letter to Zhuge Liang in Jingzhou before) to tell him something. At the same time, he also called his second brother Zhuge Liang to tell him something else.

……

After a while, Zhuge Liang and Tang Guang arrived one after another. Zhuge Jin asked them to sit down and talk, because Tang Guang's matter was relatively simple, so he explained it first.

"A Guang, I have another task for you. Go back and look for the relatives of Xu Shao and Xu Zijiang. If they have a son still alive, that would be great. Send him to me. I will give him good food and drink, good land and a beautiful house, and support him for the rest of his life.

If there are other relatives, just keep an eye on them and don’t let them talk nonsense. Anyone who is willing to come to us can be given a comfortable meal.”

Tang Guang immediately obeyed the order and said he would do it right away, but Zhuge Jin stopped him again.

"Don't worry, I haven't finished yet. After finishing this matter, I may ask you to go to Jingzhou again in a few days to help Aliang deliver a letter. As for what to write in the letter, I will tell Aliang later.

By the way, I have been busy for many days and have not summoned you. You are out there pretending to be a businessman and asking around. Is there any new news?"

Zhuge Jin was very good at using Tang Guang to contact and rescue people, so starting from the end of last year, he gave him some capital and ships while Tang Guang was free, allowing him to go out and investigate under the cover of being a merchant.

Tang Guang was originally the captain that Mi Zhu wanted to hire, so he knew a little bit about business and acted quite well. It's just that he would lose money occasionally in business, but Zhuge Jin didn't care and just regarded it as a fee for intelligence.

At this moment, Tang Guang heard the question and hurriedly reported: "At the beginning of the month, several merchant ships I sent to Jingzhou came back and said that in the first month, Cao Cao launched an attack on the coalition forces of Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu. I thought it would be a fierce battle, but within ten days, Zhang Xiu betrayed Liu Biao again and surrendered directly to Cao Cao!"

Zhuge Jin had only asked casually at first, but after hearing this, he suddenly had an idea and continued to ask casually, "That's it? Zhang Xiu was born in Xiliang, and he is fickle. Will he be content in the future?"

Tang Guang was shocked when he heard the young master's words. He was even more amazed at the young master's prediction: "Young master is a divine predictor, knowing everything! It really came true! Zhang Xiu surrendered, but it was just a pretense. Later, I heard that he rebelled and attacked Cao Cao again on the grounds that his uncle Zhang Ji's widow was taken by Cao Cao.
Cao Cao was defeated and returned, and his bodyguard Dian Wei and his eldest son Cao Ang were both killed in the battle! Zhang Xiu angered Cao Cao and had to surrender to Liu Biao again. The two sides fought a great battle and suffered heavy losses on both sides.

When Tang Guang finished speaking, the look he gave Zhuge Jin was one of reverence as if he were a god.

Zhuge Jin asked a few more questions about other things, and Tang Guang told him everything. However, in the first two months of the second year of Jian'an, there was not much news in the world, and it was not possible to find out about places far away for the time being, so there was not much else to say.

At most, he added, "This month, Lu Bu finally became fickle again and formed an alliance with Yuan Shu, but this alliance was only aimed at Cao Cao, not Lord Xuande, and the envoy was Chen Deng."

After hearing all the news, Zhuge Jin nodded and signaled the other party that they could leave.

As Tang Guang left, Zhuge Liang couldn't help but marvel at his elder brother's ability:

"Brother, are you so good at judging people? You can even figure out the temperaments and talents of all the heroes in the world? He can even figure out which generals of the Xiliang Army are fickle?"

Zhuge Jin also noticed the change in Zhuge Liang's expression. He was rarely proud for a moment and asked gently, "Second brother, what do you think the impact of these two pieces of news will have on the general situation of the world?"

Zhuge Liang didn't really want to show off, so he reminded him first: "Brother, you may have something else to talk to me about, right?"

Zhuge Jin: "It doesn't matter, let's talk about it together. The important matter I came to you for is also related to foreign affairs, which is nothing more than winning over or alienating the princes of the world.

The world is in turmoil right now, and perhaps if we put a few things together, they will lead to something even more earth-shattering.”

Zhuge Liang touched his chin and said carefully: "If you want me to discuss this issue by changing the strength of the princes.

In my opinion, these two events will definitely cause the princes of the Cao Cao-Yuan Shao camp to temporarily stop fighting and lose their momentum, while the princes of the Yuan Shu-Sun Ce camp will become more motivated and satisfied.

When Zhang Xiu defeated Cao Cao, Cao Cao suffered the most. When Lu Bu joined forces with Yuan Shu to deal with Cao Cao, Cao Cao suffered the most. Cao Cao had held the emperor hostage for more than half a year, and it was finally the first peak of backlash from all sides.

If the situation continues to develop, perhaps more of the former armed forces that have suffered losses in the relocation of the capital to Xu County will also find ways to collude with Yuan Shu to rebel against Cao Cao, and Yuan Shu... Brother, I remember you told me several times that you think Yuan Shu will become emperor.

If things continue to develop, and there is more and more favorable news for Yuan Shu, I am afraid that it will really prompt Yuan Shu to finally make up his mind. "

"You are worthy of being my younger brother!" Zhuge Jin was very satisfied with his second brother's answer. Of course, he knew all this a long time ago, but he copied the answers, while Zhuge Liang figured it out on his own after a little guidance from him.

Zhuge Jin praised him generously and continued, "With these two chips, Yuan Shu is probably completely arrogant, and the shadow of his defeat by Lord Xuande last year has been completely swept away.

However, he has not yet taken the step of becoming emperor. But it doesn't matter. We still have several chips in our hands. When to release them depends on our own preferences: Ah Liang, why don't you guess how many chips we have in total?"

Zhuge Liang had just seen his uncle off, so he had also heard what Zhuge Xuan said about Xu Zijiang.

Combined with what his elder brother had just said, asking Tang Guang to find Xu Zijiang's family and take good care of him, he made some guesses and had a clue.

Zhuge Liang carefully considered his words: "When Xu Zijiang died, he must have complained a lot and lamented the misfortune of famous scholars. The people who were responsible for his misfortune and 'could not distinguish between loyalty and treachery' were none other than Zhu Hao and Liu Yao.

But Zhu Hao was already dead, and his brother Zhu Fu was also killed in Jiaozhou in the same year, so the entire line of General Zhu was extinct, so there would definitely be no dirty water thrown on the Zhu family. Could it be that the eldest brother wanted to use Xu Zijiang's last words to make Liu Yao feel ashamed?

It is said that Liu Yao had almost no place to live due to a series of defeats, and his soldiers and generals were dwindling. Only Taishi Ci and two or three thousand remnants were left to survive. Liu Yao was so angry that he fell seriously ill. If his reputation was really humiliated again, I am afraid that something bad would happen.

By then, the position of Yangzhou governor that Yuan Shu had been competing for will be vacant, and Yuan Shu will certainly think that this is another great victory for him and that he has eliminated a strong enemy. At that time, I am afraid he will be so arrogant that he will commit treason. "

Zhuge Jin was very satisfied, but he felt it was not enough, so he continued to ask: "What else?"

Zhuge Liang thought further: "What else? Then it is only our Zhuge family that will send a little gift to Yuan Shu to express our hope to maintain peace with Liu Xun of Lujiang on the other side after pacifying Yuzhang?
"My uncle was once an official of Yuan Shu. Although we have actually made up our minds to keep our innocence intact, Yuan Shu is so arrogant that he will inevitably think that my uncle is trying to show goodwill and return to his family."

Zhuge Jin let out a long sigh: "Yes, you guessed it all. We still have these two chips in our hands, and we can play them out when I say so."

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(End of this chapter)