Three Kingdoms: Daily settlement helps Liu Bei revive the Shu Han dynasty.

Chapter 121 Saying no with the mouth, but the body says yes

The morning after Wang Lang and Yu Fan arrived in Wanling, Gu Yong, the head of the Gu family of Wu County, also quietly appeared outside Wanling City.

He was not dressed in fine clothes and only had one attendant with him, keeping a very low profile.

The last time Gu Yong visited Wanling was two years ago.

At that time, the governor of Danyang was Sun Ben.

At that time, the city walls of Wanling were not high, and the streets were muddy.

Shops were sparsely populated, and the people inside and outside the city were mostly thin and emaciated.

He remembered that it was raining heavily when he entered the city that day.

The carriage wheels got stuck in the mud, and it took several servants a long time to push them out.

Standing outside the city gate, he could hardly believe his eyes and rubbed them hard.

The city wall is no longer the original rammed earth wall.

All the walls were covered with hard bluestone bricks, and the gaps between the bricks were filled with lime and glutinous rice paste, making them impenetrable to knives and axes.

What surprised Gu Yong the most was that every few dozen steps along the city wall stood a hollow watchtower.

Those watchtowers protrude from both the inner and outer sides of the city wall, are wider at the bottom and narrower at the top, and are hollow inside.

Arrow slits were opened on all four sides of the platform, which could be used to hide troops for observation and to store weapons, forming a unique feature with the city wall.

Where the city wall is straight, a platform with a horse-face protrusion appears at intervals, completely eliminating blind spots for shooting at the base of the wall.

The pheasants and butterflies on the parapet were arranged in a neat row, and there were eyelets between each crenellation, allowing archers to shoot down from a high vantage point.

At the city gate was a moat more than three zhang wide, filled with fresh water from the Shuiyang River.

"Isn't this city defense set up a bit too exaggerated?" Gu Yong clicked his tongue in surprise.

After observing for a moment, Gu Yong stepped onto the drawbridge and passed through the city gate.

Upon entering, a bustling, vibrant atmosphere immediately greets you.

He spotted a bookstore not far to his left and walked in.

The bookstore was packed with people.

The store was bigger than he had imagined.

Several rows of wooden shelves stood against the wall, neatly stacked with books bound with new paper.

A long table was placed by the window, where several young men who looked like scholars were looking down at their books, occasionally whispering to each other.

An old shopkeeper sat behind the counter, his head down, writing accounts on new paper.

Gu Yong walked to the wooden shelf and casually pulled out a book.

The cover is printed with the three characters "Thousand Character Classic", and below it is a line of smaller characters "written by Lu Yong and Zhuge Liang".

Looking at the two names, he couldn't help but think to himself, "As these books spread far and wide, in just ten years, as long as there are still people reading, their names will be remembered."

He turned to the title page and his fingers paused slightly when he saw the lines of small print.

The characters were neat and uniform in size, with clear strokes and even ink.

There were no errors or omissions from beginning to end, nor were there any ink spots or corrections commonly found in handwritten copies.

He flipped through a few more pages, and every single one was like that, with every word arranged so neatly it looked as if it had been carved in.

Gu Yong closed the book and then took out another copy of "Huainanzi," which still had that familiar font and layout.

He stood in front of the bookshelf for a long time, changing books one after another, while scholars came and went, but he was completely unaware.

Gu Yong put the last copy of the Analects he had read back on the shelf, but his heart was already ice-cold.

He suddenly understood why Lu Yong ignored these so-called top families.

Because once these books and paper have spread to every corner of the world, and once children from poor families and ordinary people can all read and write, how many more years can the advantages of established families continue to be relied upon?

"Sir, would you like to buy a copy?"

The guy had been watching him for a long time, but he hadn't bothered him before because he saw him reading a book.

Gu Yong had already put the book back when he came up and asked with a smile.

Gu Yong snapped out of his daze, took out a money pouch from his sleeve, and asked, "How much is a set of the Four Books and Five Classics, and a copy of the Thousand Character Classic?"

""

"A set of the Four Books and Five Classics costs one string of cash (one thousand coins), and a copy of the Thousand Character Classic costs fifty coins," the shopkeeper replied.

Upon hearing this, Gu Yong's hand holding the money pouch trembled slightly.

This price is so low, it's practically outrageous!

He paid the money, handed the book to his attendant to put away, and then turned and walked out of the bookstore.

The sun was shining brightly outside, and the number of people on the streets was increasing rather than decreasing.

Standing at the entrance of the bookstore, he suddenly realized that he might have really stayed in that secluded mansion in Wu County for too long. "If I stay in Wu County any longer, I'm afraid I'll really become a frog in a well."

Thinking of this, Gu Yong straightened his clothes and walked straight toward the governor's mansion.

Four guards stood watch in front of the governor's mansion.

Gu Yongzheng was about to step forward and hand over his calling card when he caught a glimpse of three people walking out of the alleyway next to him.

The man at the front was dressed in a blue cloth robe and wore a straw hat pulled low over his head.

-

But Gu Yong recognized the figure at a glance.

"Zhu Xiumu?" Gu Yong called out.

The man paused, slowly removed his straw hat, revealing a young face—it was Zhu Huan.

He looked a little embarrassed, but quickly regained his composure and cupped his hands, saying, "Master Gu, what a coincidence."

Gu Yong's lips twitched, and he cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, replying, "What a coincidence."

Before the two could exchange more than a few words, footsteps sounded behind them again.

Zhang Dun emerged from another alley, holding a feather fan in his hand, looking quite relaxed.

Upon seeing Gu Yong and Zhu Huan standing at the entrance of the governor's mansion, he stopped in his tracks.

The three looked at each other, speechless for a moment.

Finally, Gu Yong spoke first, asking, "Are you two also here to visit Liu Yuzhou?"

Zhu Huan closed his bamboo hat: "On the way—"

Zhang Dun forced a smile and said, "Just strolling around, nothing more."

19

After they finished speaking, the three of them fell silent again.

Seeing the three men standing at the entrance of the governor's mansion, one of the guards finally couldn't help but ask, "Gentlemen, do you have something to report?"

Gu Yong sighed and bowed to the guards, saying, "Gu Yong of Wu Commandery has come to pay his respects to Governor Liu Yu." He then presented his visiting card.

Zhu Huan then cupped his hands in greeting: "Zhu Huan of Wu Commandery has come to pay his respects to Governor Liu Yu."

Zhang Dun also cupped his hands in greeting: "Zhang Dun of Wu Commandery has come to pay his respects to Governor Liu Yu."

Both of them then presented their calling cards.

The guards dared not delay and immediately went in to report.

The three stood at the door, none of them speaking.

Previously in Wuxian, when they left Wucheng, they all vowed that they would wait for Lao Liu to personally summon them.

But then, they all secretly ran off to Wanling City.

We're all sixth in line, no one is superior to anyone else, and no one should laugh at anyone else.

In the main hall of the governor's mansion, Liu Bei was sitting and chatting with Xu Kun, Zhuge Xuan, Wang Lang, and Yu Fan.

Instead of tea, what was placed before them was Liu Bei's treasured "Drunken Immortal Brew," a modified version from the workshop.

Liu Bei personally poured wine for the four of them before saying, "Yesterday I received a letter from Huai'an urging me to send someone to take over Kuaiji as soon as possible."

At this point, Liu Bei looked at Wang Lang and asked, "Mr. Jingxing has been operating in Kuaiji for many years and is familiar with the local customs and conditions—"

Before he could finish speaking, Prefect Wang Lang interrupted, "My lord, you should choose someone else. I don't want to go back to Kuaiji."

After two nights of sleeping side by side, the relationship between Liu Bei, Wang Lang, and Yu Fan became much closer.

They spoke much more freely.

Liu Bei was slightly taken aback, and Xu Kun and Zhuge Xuan also looked at Wang Lang.

Wang Lang stared into Lao Liu's eyes and said very solemnly, "I have spent half my life as an official, from Luoyang to Kuaiji, doing nothing but governing the prefectures and managing the administration."

Only now has Lang Cai truly found a place where he can realize his ambitions.

Liu Bei understood.

Xu Kun and Zhuge Xuan both smiled slightly, as if they had already guessed what Wang Lang was about to say.

Sure enough, Wang Lang then expressed his thoughts: "I do not covet high positions!"

I only wish to dedicate my remaining strength and energy to Chongwen Academy, to put the "Four Lines of Hengqu" into practice to the very end!

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