My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 230: Not Wuxia Ayan

Because he had been too isolated from the news recently, Xiang Lang was naturally shocked and didn't know how to respond when he heard Wei Yan's sudden statement.

Fortunately, he immediately realized that he had no right to decide on this matter, so he immediately asked the farmhand to invite Wei Yan to sit for a while, and then he hurried inside and told Huang Chengyan everything about the situation.

Huang Chengyan was also very surprised when he heard this. After calming down, he stroked his beard and thought to himself:

"I originally delayed going to Wuchang in order to wait and see and avoid upsetting Brother Jingsheng. But after this unexpected incident, I had no choice but to go.

Wei Tunzhang has already revealed his intention to surrender. If we decline or delay, the news will be leaked and he will be punished by Zhang Yun. It will be like King Xiang harming Cao Wushang, which will damage the reputation of the General of Chariots and Cavalry for being a good person.

However, if he left like this, he would still have to take along two garrisons of Jingzhou soldiers to "turn to the light". This would hurt Brother Jingsheng's reputation, further strain his relationship with the General of Chariots and Cavalry, and would not be conducive to the subsequent cause of suppressing the enemy.

Well, why don't I leave a letter in the manor after I leave, and leave a few farmhands waiting for us. In a day or two, when Brother Jingsheng finds out that we have escaped, he will naturally send someone to look for us. I hope he will calm down after reading the letter."

Huang Chengyan's thinking was indeed much more mature and prudent than Xiang Lang, and he took all aspects into consideration.

So he did what he said, and immediately wrote a short letter to Liu Biao, the content of which was nothing more than:
"We did not intend to disobey the order to seal the river and leave without saying goodbye, or to damage the laws of Jingzhou. This law is really unpopular, and the people of Jingzhou are full of complaints and the soldiers are alienated. We cannot ignore the lives of those who come to surrender and seek empty reputation, so we leave secretly to save face for both sides. I hope you will think about it carefully and make peace with the general as soon as possible to fight the national crisis together."

After finishing writing, Huang Chengyan packed up again and left with Wei Yan and others early the next morning on the two naval ships patrolling the river.

……

It was very fast to get from Xiangyang to Wuchang by going downstream along the Han River. After only three days and two nights, Wei Yan's troops, using both sails and oars, successfully arrived in Wuchang.

They were the navy responsible for patrolling and sealing the river, and they were on duty on the day they left. Of course, they would not be intercepted if they stole the goods, and the whole process was very safe.

Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang were quite surprised, because the other party came at full speed and they had no time to send messengers in advance. Naturally, Liu Bei could not go to Wuchang Wharf to greet them.

Huang Chengyan had already landed at the dock before someone rushed back to the city to report the news. Liu Bei hurriedly got on the carriage and slowly put on his shoes. When he arrived at the city gate, Huang Chengyan, Xiang Lang and Wei Yan had already arrived.

"Mr. Huang, how are you? You've worked hard these days!" Liu Bei came up to him with a beaming face. His face looked rosy, but in fact he didn't know there would be guests that night, so he drank too much while watching the singing and dancing.

Huang Chengyan and Liu Bei exchanged greetings and immediately helped to introduce him: "This Xiang Lang is from Yicheng County, Xiangyang, and he is one of Mr. Shuijing's best disciples. He has delayed until now because he needed to refuse Liu Jingzhou's invitation first.

The two Tunzhangs Ma and Wei were also from Yicheng County, Xiangyang and Yiyang County, Nanyang, respectively. They were originally assigned by Liu Jingzhou to Huang Zu and Zhang Xiu. After Huang Zu was defeated and Zhang Xiu surrendered to Cao, they were transferred to Zhang Yun's army.

Seeing that Zhang Yun was doing evil, plundering and harming the people, they were unwilling to serve the Jingzhou army. We had met them once before when we were intercepted by Fengjiang. When they knew we were coming to Wuchang, we took the initiative to join them and abandoned the dark and joined the light. "

Finally, Huang Chengyan introduced several other disciples of Pang Degong who followed him, but none of them were recorded in history books, so there was no need to describe them one by one. After all, Sima Hui and Pang Degong had so many disciples, and not all of them could become officials and leave their names behind. There were always some small fish among them.

Liu Bei did not discriminate against people based on their reputation, and he treated everyone with kindness and comfort.

Wei Yan was the most nervous among the crowd. He came from a humble family and was not a scholar. He had joined the army at a very young age and worked his way up through years of hard work to become a grassroots officer. He was afraid that Liu Bei would look down on him.

You have to know that a garrison commander can only lead a hundred people, and Wei Yan was promoted to garrison commander only two months after Zhang Xiu surrendered to Cao. Liu Biao showed favor and won over those Nanyang soldiers who did not surrender to Cao with Zhang Xiu in order to stabilize them. Before that, people like Wei Yan could only lead dozens of soldiers.

Liu Bei on the other side was the General of Chariots and Cavalry! He was ranked third among all the generals of the Han Dynasty, after General Yuan Shao and General Cao Cao.

So much so that when Wei Yan opened his mouth to defend himself and explain his purpose, his voice was trembling.

Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang also noticed that the young man was nervous. In the end, Zhuge Liang changed the subject first to ease the atmosphere: "Captain Wei looks very young. He can't be younger than me. How old are you?"

Wei Yan immediately bowed his head and said, "How dare I compare myself with Lord Zhuge... I am only eighteen this year and have been in the army for four years. When Zhang Ji left Wuguan and fought with Liu Jingzhou at Rangcheng, Liu Jingzhou conscripted me to join the army in Nanyang."

In the novel, Wei Yan is described as having made his debut very early, giving people the illusion that "Wei Yan already had a high status in the Jingzhou army before Liu Biao died."

But in the official history, Wei Yan did not come to prominence until Liu Bei occupied southern Jing and prepared to enter Sichuan. Before that, he was a low-level officer. In terms of age, he should be younger than Zhuge Liang, and belonged to the late-stage generals.

Otherwise, after the Battle of Wuzhangyuan in history, Wei Yan would not have felt that he should take over from Zhuge Liang and continue the Northern Expedition, because he had long felt that he was younger and lived longer than the prime minister.

At this moment, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang were amazed to hear that he was only eighteen. At this age, he was two years younger than Zhuge Liang. And if we go back, he was drafted into the army at the age of fourteen? His first battle was when Zhang Ji was shot and killed by Liu Biao's garrison in the Battle of Rangcheng?
In such a chaotic time, if other princes invade, recruiting soldiers would be like draining the pond to catch fish. He has to go to the battlefield at such a young age.

Liu Bei patted Wei Yan on the shoulder and said, "I didn't expect that you, at such a young age, already have four years of military experience. However, fighting a war cannot be achieved just by bravery. Now that you are in Wuchang, you should go to the academy to borrow books and study on your own when you are free from military duties. If you don't understand something, ask someone for advice. It will definitely be of great benefit."

Wei Yan didn't expect that the General of Chariots and Cavalry would encourage him in person. He immediately burst into tears of gratitude and agreed first.

In fact, he was full of doubts. For example, he didn't understand what it meant to borrow books from the academy to study on his own. Is there any place in the world where people can borrow books? Aren't they afraid of losing them? And can there be someone to help answer questions?

However, Wei Yan was of low status, and he did not dare to ask Liu Bei immediately if he had any questions. He just forced himself to write down what he did not understand, and then asked other people of lower status secretly later.

It was impossible for Liu Bei to encourage Wei Yan alone, after all, there were so many people here today, so he just said a few words to each of them, and then ordered the people from the Guest Cao to take over, welcome him and settle him down.

At the end, Liu Bei just casually allocated the official positions and benefits to everyone: Xiang Lang had already been agreed to be the magistrate of Wuchang County for a while, and the salary would be adjusted in the future depending on his performance.

Wei Yan suddenly appeared, and he had only been the head of the garrison for two months, and he was only 18 years old. He would not be promoted for the time being, and would be retained in his original position. The dozens of Jingzhou soldiers he brought with him also continued to follow Wei Yan and retained their organization.

Wei Yan's garrison was temporarily assigned to Gan Ning's army. As there is no war going on at the moment, Wei Yan was sent to the academy to attend a "literacy class" for a few months. While he is still young and has a strong learning ability, he should learn as many characters as possible as soon as possible to ensure that he can understand all the military documents by himself without having to ask others for new characters. He can then learn other military history knowledge slowly later.

Wei Yan was very grateful after hearing this arrangement. He also knew that promotion was not the most important thing at the moment. The fact that his superiors were willing to make arrangements for his study and growth showed that they had expectations for him, so he must seize the opportunity.

……

After the reception and settling-in were completed, Wei Yan and Xiang Lang went to the newly established Wuchang Academy a few days later to adapt to the environment.

It had been almost a month since Sima Hui and his companions first arrived. The first building of the library, which was still under construction, had finally been completed. The diversion trenches around the lake were still being dug, and the water from the Yangtze River branch canal that flowed into Liangzi Lake from Xiakou had not been introduced, and the diversion outlet was blocked by a cofferdam.

The first batch of dozens of wooden bookshelves have been moved into the library. Because the building has high ceilings to ensure good lighting, the bookshelves are also made very high to avoid wasting space.

The entire library building has bookshelves in the middle and reading areas and tables and chairs around the windows. This prevents the bookshelves from blocking sunlight, makes full use of natural lighting, and protects readers' eyesight.

Each shelf is more than ten feet high and can hold seven or eight layers of books.

When Wei Yan and Xiang Lang walked into the library for the first time, they were shocked by the solemnity before them, and a desire to worship and learn arose in their hearts.

"With such a high bookshelf, how can one reach the books on the top two shelves? Would it require a giant who is ten feet tall?" Wei Yan couldn't help but have wild thoughts when he looked at the depressing height of the bookshelf.

Fortunately, he quickly solved his doubts by observing the people around him. In the distance, there was an administrator pushing a ladder with four wheels at the bottom and inclined wooden steps on both sides. When he reached the location where he needed to put the book, he climbed up the mobile ladder to take it.

When Wei Yan saw this ladder that he had never seen before, he thought it was very professional, and further felt that the knowledge contained in the collection of books here must be extraordinary.

"General Chariot and Cavalry was able to personally encourage me to study last night. I can't waste this opportunity. In the next few months when there is no war, I must learn all the commonly used characters! If someone asks me again, they can see my progress!"

Wei Yan mustered up his courage and went to ask the library administrator: "Excuse me, sir... I wonder what I need to do to read books in this library? I just came here yesterday, and Lord Zhuge also encouraged me to learn more..."

The librarians here are actually Yin Mo and Li Ren, the teaching assistants of Sima Hui. Currently, this library building has just been built, so they are asked to take shifts to manage it first, and then gradually improve the management system. Yin Mo is on duty today.

Yin Mo saw that Wei Yan did not look like a scholar, but he did not make things difficult for him. He just said in a businesslike manner: "Anyone who is a good family and has a clear understanding of the classics can go to the library to study, but they must put the books back to their original places after reading. The shelf shows which book and which scripture is stored.

Traveling scholars who do not have a county registration pass must first register at the academy to have their background examined before they can enter the library to read. There are few people now, so just read directly. If there are many people, you have to queue up to register and you will be told when it is your turn to enter the library.

As for borrowing books, all the civil and military officials under the command of the General of Chariots and Cavalry, the Governor of Yangzhou, and the Governor of Jiangxia can enter the library to borrow books with a token. The number of books that can be borrowed at the same time varies according to the rank of the person. The account will be recorded, and the person can only borrow new books after returning the old books. "

When Wei Yan heard this, he asked a little embarrassedly: "I am just a captain of a garrison under General Gan...May I borrow it?"

Yin Mo: "The village chief is the lowest level person allowed to borrow books. He can only borrow one volume. He has to keep a record and pay it back before he can borrow again."

Wei Yan then said that he first borrowed a volume of "Er Ya" to learn some literacy skills, and then took a volume of "Zuo Zhuan" and sat down in the library to read them.

He had never read Zuo Zhuan, so he could only start from scratch with "Duke Zheng Defeats Duan in Yan".

(End of this chapter)