My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 91: The Reasons for Starting a War Are as Many as You Want
"I was actually mentioned directly by the Emperor's will... I can become the prefect of Danyang County at the age of seventeen? But my elder brother became the governor of Danyang and the general of Pingyue at the age of twenty-two. It turns out that in troubled times, as long as you have soldiers and territory, the imperial court's canonization is almost a decoration..."

After following Liu Bei back to the Guangling government office and listening to Liu Xie's order brought back by Sun Shao, Zhuge Liang could not calm down for a long time and kept thinking about all sorts of things.

Although he remained polite and accepted the order and thanked the emperor for his kindness, the young man's worldview was inevitably impacted to a considerable extent.

Fortunately, Liu Bei was also present and seemed to understand Sun Shao's feelings very well, so he helped to smooth over the situation and ordered the guest department to set up a welcoming banquet immediately to welcome Sun Shao.

At the banquet, Liu Bei took the opportunity of toasting to walk up to Zhuge Liang and whispered to him while drinking:
"In today's world, there are countless young people who have been promoted to official positions. Moreover, you have the ability to govern the country and maintain peace. Why should you be bound by worldly views?
Didn't you see that Sun Ce gained power by joining the rebellion the year before last, and last year he instructed the pseudo-Wujun prefect Zhu Zhi to recommend his second brother Sun Quan as a filial and honest official, and appointed him as the magistrate of Yangxian County, and this year he promoted him to the rank of Fengyi school lieutenant - what virtue and ability does Sun Quan have? He was a county magistrate at the age of 15 and a school lieutenant at the age of 16?

I remember that your brother is only one year younger than Sun Ce? You should be one year older than Sun Quan. By comparison, your brother was a lieutenant at the age of 21, and you were a county magistrate at the age of 17. It was only natural. Nowadays, officials are made up of rotten wood. Don’t you think that people with real talents and knowledge who truly serve the country can be allowed to govern the country?”

Zhuge Liang was originally a little uneasy, but after being enlightened by Liu Bei's comparison, the only bit of reservation he had was completely relieved.

With his intelligence, he can certainly understand these principles, but he is still too young and not mentally prepared, so he needs others to help him build up his mental strength.

"Sun Quan, such an unknown man, was able to become a colonel at the age of sixteen, so why can't I be a county magistrate? Thank you for your guidance, General!" Zhuge Liang bowed solemnly.

He came out of retirement ten years earlier, and his relationship with Liu Bei seems to be becoming increasingly difficult to summarize.

Although Liu Bei still had many professional questions to ask him, Zhuge Liang also had much more life experience and psychological construction problems than in the parallel universe, and he needed Liu Bei's guidance.

……

After receiving the imperial decree to confer the official title, Zhuge Liang had no choice but to go to the Song residence again that night to tell Song Xin and the Song family the good news.

"Aunt Song, I am now the prefect of Danyang County, appointed by the emperor. My eldest brother is the governor of Danyang and the general of Pingyue. I remember that when my father was alive, he was also the prefect of Taishan County. Now I have finally reached the position that my father held."

Zhuge Liang said all this with a respectful attitude and a calm tone.

Even though Song knew that her son had made great progress recently, she was still a little bit unbelievable when she heard the news. She was stunned for a long time before she hugged Zhuge Liang and cried bitterly.

"Isn't it because he conquered the territory and proclaimed himself so? Nor is it because he was recommended by the General of the Southern Expedition? Is it because of the emperor's decree?" After crying for a long time, Song finally remembered to confirm and wiped away her tears.

"Of course there is. The imperial edict was brought back from Xudu by Sun Biejia and has been handed over to me. I will take it to Yuzhang and pass it on to my uncle and elder brother." Zhuge Liang said as he carefully took the imperial edict out of the vermilion lacquered bamboo tube and held it in his hand for Song to review.

Song's hands were shaking and her fingers were curled up as she wanted to grab something, but she didn't dare to. She just read the imperial edict with her hands suspended in the air. Then she felt as if all her strength was drained away and she collapsed.

"In that case, I'm relieved. Liang'er, you can go and accompany your elder brother to do great things. In this chaotic world, you should benefit the people. I don't need to worry about you anymore. Seeing how you are doing today, I have nothing to worry about about the Zhuge family's affairs. I won't ask about it anymore in the future. By the way, I just want to ask you a question. Can you agree to it on behalf of your elder brother?"

Zhuge Liang bowed respectfully and said, "Aunt Song, please give your instructions."

Song: "I am not worried about your marriage with Jin'er. Even if you marry a noble lady, you can still take concubines in the future. But Zhi'er and Lan'er, I don't want you brothers to sacrifice their happiness for the sake of marriage.

The Zhuge family has already achieved its current status, and fame and wealth are insignificant. If you want to obtain it, you can only rely on your real ability. For Zhi'er and Lan'er's marriage, just find someone who is good to them and has good character and appearance. Even if the husband's family is poorer or has a lower status, it doesn't matter. We don't expect their husband's family to help them!"

Zhuge Liang: "Of course! My elder brother has already said that when he marries his sister, he only looks at her appearance, not her status or wealth."

Song nodded: "Then I am relieved. You brothers, do whatever you want in the future, don't worry about me. If Gan Mei comes to ask for help again in a few days, I will take this job and help her teach her daughter. I am a woman, and I have done something. I hope I will not fail in my mission."

……

The water control project of the Hang Canal was initially on the right track, and the Zhuge family was further conferred titles by the imperial court.

According to Liu Bei's original plan, it was time to let Zhuge Jin cooperate with Guan Yu, Gan Ning, and Taishi Ci to swallow up the six counties in southern Danyang first and deal with Zu Lang.

Zhuge Liang had temporarily completed the mission of his visit to Liu Bei. He hoped to return with the imperial edict in person to make his elder brother and uncle happy, and to resolve the issue of Zu Lang as soon as possible.

Although Liu Bei was reluctant to let go of Zhuge Liang after spending the past two months together, he also knew that theoretically he should not force Zhuge Liang to stay now. It would be better to relax and let him go for a while.

Anyway, as long as the situation in Danyang County is reversed, even if Moling City (Nanjing) is not taken back from Sun Ce, he should be able to be promoted to the governor of Yangzhou.

As the governor of Yangzhou, he would definitely not place the headquarters of the General of the Southern Expedition in Guangling, but would try to move it to Danyang. Then he could legitimately recruit Zhuge Jin, the governor of Danyang, and Zhuge Liang, the governor of Danyang, to discuss matters with them every day.

On April 25th, Liu Bei saw Zhuge Liang and his party off and shed tears as they parted.

He, Zhang Fei, Mi Zhu and Chen Qun continued to train soldiers and farm in Guangling, and there were many things they could do. In the following months, they could make full use of the results of flood control, recruit refugees to settle and reclaim land, expand production, liberate the labor of the canal workers, and use these surplus manpower for industrial and agricultural production.

Even if there is no war, Guangling County's potential for subsequent development is enormous.

Once Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, the people in other areas of Lianghuai became destitute and large-scale migration occurred. Liu Bei had to lay a solid foundation first so that he could handle the refugees who flocked here from Huaibei by Yuan Shu.

After sending Zhuge Liang away, Liu Bei did another thing. He temporarily sent away Jian Yong, who he had said he would send to Hebei last year.

Mi Zhu's ship had been improved to be able to withstand waves and turbulence, and it also used hemp-beating technology. Tian Yu and others no longer stopped Liu Bei from going to Youzhou to bring back his family. This task was given to Jian Yong, who was relatively familiar with Hebei. Liu Bei also asked him to find Zhao Yun no matter what means he used.

It’s a pity that Jian Yong is not a time traveler, and he doesn’t know how many potential talents there are in Youji who have not yet entered officialdom, so other initiatives to poach people cannot be counted on for the time being.

Zhuge Jin couldn't have predicted this kind of thing in advance and written it into a file and handed it to Jian Yong, because that would have aroused suspicion. So if he wanted to tap more talents in Hebei, he could only wait for the next opportunity, when Zhuge brothers could directly intervene in the deployment. This time, he could only target Zhao Yun.

The two groups of people were dispatched separately, and Guangling once again entered a cautious state of farming and self-defense. There is no need to elaborate on daily affairs.

Zhuge Liang sailed upstream for only seven or eight days before reaching Chungu County - to his surprise, he originally thought he would have to sail all the way to Pengze County before reaching his elder brother's sphere of influence.

But he did not expect that as soon as he arrived in Chungu County, which was nearly 200 miles away from Pengze County, he found that new cities had been built in some places in Chungu County, and the flags of the Zhuge family had been hoisted.

Zhuge Liang couldn't help but be curious: Has Big Brother already started? Has he already conquered a county in Zulang? What on earth did Big Brother do while I was away?
……

On the other hand, in Yuzhang County, Zhuge Jin has certainly not been idle since Zhuge Liang left at the end of February.

On the one hand, he was busy with the post-war work of pacifying the people and allowing the people of Yuzhang to return to the rhythm of their daily livelihood as soon as possible, while on the other hand, he asked Guan Yu to train troops and reform surrendered troops and prisoners of war.

At the same time, Zhuge Jin did not forget to make some small innovations in technology and engineering to speed up the progress of farming construction.

By the way, it could also provide some excuses for forcing Zu Lang to become a rebel and directly occupying Zu Lang's six counties. You readers with clairvoyant eyes may know that when Sun Shao later went to Xudu as the deputy governor of Yangzhou, the imperial edict he brought back included an order authorizing the Zhuge family to assist Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou, in suppressing the rebel Zu Lang.

But in fact, the "Zu Lang's disloyalty" mentioned by Sun Shao when he went to Xudu to ask for orders was fabricated at the time, and Zu Lang had never done those bad things.

It's just that Zu Lang's IQ is too low, and Zhuge Jin had already thought of how to frame him, oh no, not how to fish. He was sure that he could say certain things first, telling Zu Lang what bad things he had done, and Zu Lang would definitely do it obediently in the future.

Therefore, it is reasonable to have a two-month time difference.

It would take a long time to send the memorial to Xudu and back. Cao Cao would not find any flaws, because by the time Cao Cao came to investigate, Zu Lang had already done it and was killed.

…These words may sound a bit confusing and brain-burning, but they are easy to understand if you look at the actual operations.

On the second day of March, only ten days had passed since Zhuge Liang last set out for Guangling. From the direction of Jingzhou, several merchant ships sailed down the Yangtze River to Chaisang to visit Zhuge Jin.

These merchant ships were in charge of Tang Guang, a messenger sent by Zhuge Jin. The guests on the ships were naturally the scholars from Jingzhou who were willing to visit Yuzhang and seek official positions after reading Zhuge Liang's previous letters of recruitment.

Zhuge Jin attached great importance to it. He put aside the internal affairs at hand and went to the Yangtze River wharf north of Chaisang City in person to welcome him.

There were three groups of passengers on the three boats, all of them with their families, so the whole family needed to take one boat.

Huang Chengyan and Huang Yueying got off the largest boat at the head - but Huang Chengyan was not here to seek an official position. He had a relatively high status and was a brother-in-law of Liu Biao, so how could he possibly come to Yuzhang to be a county magistrate?

So Huang Chengyan just said that he came to Yuzhang to travel and stay temporarily to take his daughter to see the world.

Zhuge Jin naturally tried his best to be courteous to Huang Chengyan. He knew that the Huang family had set their sights on his younger brother and wanted to marry him to Aliang. Although they had not yet said this and had to wait until Aliang came back next time, everyone knew it.

Zhuge Jin selected a farm outside Chaisang City and gave it to Huang Chengyan, along with the farmhouse and land, and also built a mansion for the Huang family in the city.

When Huang Chengyan saw that Zhuge Jin's attack was so powerful, he felt a little humble and embarrassed, but in the end he was moved by Zhuge Jin's sincerity and accepted it.

During the meeting, Huang Yueying kept hiding behind her father. She was also afraid to meet Aliang's eldest brother. She was afraid that his eldest brother would think that the Zhuge family was rising too fast and would look down on the Huang family.

However, Zhuge Jin's generous and courteous treatment made Huang Yueying feel a little relieved, so she stayed outside the city with her father and waited for Aliang to come back.

In addition to Huang Chengyan, the other guests on the two boats were Pang Tong and Meng Jian.

One of them was nineteen years old and the other in his early twenties. They had not yet become famous. They came to Yuzhang to seek official careers after receiving an invitation from Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Jin didn't bother to be polite with them and directly asked them to start from the grassroots:

"Brother Pang, I will appoint you as the magistrate of Poyang County and Brother Meng as the magistrate of Pengze County. You will be divided into two counties in the easternmost part of Yuzhang and bordering Danyang. Pengze is second only to Chaisang in importance, and it controls the mouth of the lake between Pengli Lake and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Poyang is the hub of the Po River and the key point to resist Zulang of Jing County. You must both be careful in governing the people and guarding the land with caution."

Pang Tong and Meng Jian immediately accepted the order: "Thank you, Brother Zhuge, for your trust."

Zhuge Jin asked again, "Does Brother Pang have a courtesy name?"

Pang Tong was only 19 years old, and he was supposed to have no courtesy name. But at this moment, Pang Tong responded: "My uncle heard that I was going to become an official, so he gave me the courtesy name 'Shi Yuan' in advance."

Zhuge Jin nodded and said, "From now on, I will call you my brother Shiyuan. Your affairs here are particularly important. Before you came, I had already been in Poyang to control the Po River and build a road upstream along the river into the mountains. I have a good plan. When you arrive in Poyang, you must cooperate well, recruit civilians for labor service, or hire Shanyue guides, and prepare food and supplies. Nothing should be missing."

Pang Tong was still a little confused, he didn't expect to receive such a specific task right after arriving. But he also liked to show off his talents, so he felt a little excited.

……

A few days later, Huang Chengyan, Pang Tong and Meng Jian were settled down, and Pang Tong and Meng Jian also took office smoothly.

Zhuge Jin had nothing to worry about in Pengze County, so he just gave a brief explanation and then left it to Meng Jian to try his luck.

In Poyang County, things were more important. Zhuge Jin himself left Chaisang and came to Poyang to handle things with Pang Tong.

Pang Tong had just arrived and was not familiar with the situation. As soon as he arrived in Poyang County, he went straight to the county government office and took a quick look at the county register.

He found that Poyang County was extremely large. Although the county seat was at the mouth of the Poshui River and not far from Pengli Lake, the entire Poshui River basin, all the way to the mountains in the upper reaches and the border with Danyang County and Kuaiji County, belonged to Poyang County.

(Note: Poyang County is equivalent to the later Jingdezhen and the northern part of Shangrao, a semi-prefectural-level city. Jiangxi was not well developed during the Eastern Han Dynasty, so the remote counties were very large. In history, fifteen years after Jian'an, Sun Quan combined Poyang County with Shangrao County and Yuhan County to establish Poyang County.)

However, given its large area, the population is relatively small.

Of the county's total population of 80,000, about 50,000 to 60,000 are concentrated around the county seat, in the narrow river valley plain in the lower reaches of the Poshui River, and along the banks of the Pengli Lake.

Along the banks of many mountain tributaries in the middle and upper reaches, an area more than 300 miles long from east to west and more than 200 miles wide from north to south, is home to a total of more than 20,000 people - of course, these are all registered residents.

If we count the Han people who fled to isolated villages in the mountains and were not found by the court, and also count the Shanyue people, the number is estimated to be more than 100,000 mountain people.

Such a dangerous situation of "poor mountains and bad waters" could not help but cause Pang Tong to misunderstand, and he took the initiative to ask:

"Brother Zhuge, you attach so much importance to the governance of Poyang County that you personally come here to supervise it. Are you trying to find hidden households and catch those who do not pay taxes or serve in the mountains and valleys and register them as common people? Or do you want to forcibly recruit the Shanyue people to become Danyang soldiers?

Excuse me for being blunt, but these two policies are a bit hasty at the moment. Perhaps it would be better to wait until the situation stabilizes before doing these things. Now that the Han people and the Shanyue people are being pushed into a corner, there are Yuan Shu, Zu Lang, and Sun Ce outside Yuzhang. If there is another internal conspiracy, it will be difficult to deal with. "

Zhuge Jin listened to Pang Tong's advice and just laughed: "Shi Yuan, you think too much of me. I asked to focus on governing Poyang, not just the population. The population can be rectified at any time, there is no need to rush.

I came here to mine the copper in the mountains upstream of the Po River. According to my survey, there must be copper in the mountains upstream of the Po River, and the copper should be not far from the river. It’s just that the locals are not familiar with mining, so they don’t know it even though they are in a treasure mountain.

When Pang Tong heard this, a strange look flashed in his eyes for the first time. In the two days before, he just thought that "Aliang's elder brother is easy to talk to and treats people with sincerity", but he didn't see that Zhuge Jin had any extraordinary abilities.

Now it seems that at least he is a person with unique skills and ideas.

Pang Tong finally got excited and analyzed: "Mining and refining copper, is this for minting coins? However, this method will take some time to pay back. How can we tell where the copper mines are among the vast mountains?
Anyone with a bit of foresight can see that Yuan Shu and Cao Cao are at loggerheads and increasingly irreconcilable. In my opinion, Yuan Shu's desperate move will only last a few months at most.

Brother Zhuge, why are you taking such a slow approach right now? Investing your manpower and money in other things, even training the troops and preparing for a war against Yuan Shu, would produce results faster than this."

Zhuge Jin shook his head with a wise look in his eyes: "It's not surprising that you think so, but firstly, I have my own trick to find the copper mine faster. Secondly, to make a profit from the copper mine, you don't have to wait until the copper is successfully refined. As long as there are some clues and it seems that it can be successful, and then spread the word, you can naturally get benefits immediately..."

Zhuge Jin did not elaborate after saying this. He also wanted to test Pang Tong's IQ.

This time Pang Tong finally came to his senses: "Money can attract people's attention. You want to spread the news that you have found copper to lure the surrounding Shanyue people to covet this place... Could it be that you want to frame Zu Lang for rebelling against the Han Dynasty? As far as I know, Zu Lang originally occupied Jing County and other six counties to defend himself. He did not serve any governor, but he did not rebel openly.

But if Zu Lang was greedy for money and took the initiative to attack the governor appointed by the court, the situation would be very different... However, with Zu Lang's ambition and patience, he should not immediately take action for a copper mine that he had only heard of, right? "

Zhuge Jin patted Pang Tong on the shoulder and said, "Shi Yuan, although you have strategies, they are just for now. Maybe you don't know the situation in Yuzhang well enough. It will get better in time.

You can't think about it this way: Zu Lang might be able to hold back, but can all the chieftains of the Shanyue tribes under him hold back? Are there no particularly greedy ones who are easily taken in?

And since Zu Lang is the common leader of the six counties of Danyang and the Shanyue tribes in the northwest of Yuzhang, the actions of any tribe below will be blamed on him!

Unless a certain tribe provoked the imperial court, Zu Lang would decisively sell out the tribe to the imperial court, behead its chieftain, and send the tribesmen to the imperial court as Danyang soldiers.

But as long as he still wants to subdue the Shanyue tribes in the two counties, he will not do such a thing that will destroy his prestige. He will definitely choose to fight us to the end, hoping to threaten us with force not to pursue the matter. By then, he will be completely finished. "

(End of this chapter)