My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 236: Riding on the Footbridge to Fight Sun Zhou

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

Although Cao Cao used various means to block the news, it is estimated that the real motive of the Xu Du mutiny and even the important element of "forged edict" were delayed for a month or so before being known to the princes outside.

But there is no doubt that long before Dong Cheng took action, there was already a person in the Han Dynasty who knew that Dong Cheng was about to take action, and also knew that this action would definitely be accompanied by "resigning from the order of His Majesty." This person was Zhuge Jin in Wuhu.

(Note: The original text of "Records of the Three Kingdoms" reads "resigned and accepted". Chen Shou did not make any judgment on the authenticity of the secret decree, but only truthfully reported the objective behavior, "Dong Cheng said he accepted the decree.")
Finally, on the 20th day of the first lunar month, Zhuge Liang summarized the latest intelligence he had collected and sent a letter to his eldest brother by express ship.

At that time, there were still nine days before Dong Cheng and Lu Bu officially took action.

However, Zhuge Liang's letter has captured two key pieces of information:
First of all, when Sun Shao went to Xudu last time, he only gave Dong Cheng two sets of chain mail, and Dong Cheng gladly accepted them and also hinted at his intention to make friends with Liu Bei.

Secondly, the Xudu court had already responded to Liu Biao's closure of the Yangtze River by sending Cao Hong to Wancheng for rotation, while allowing Gao Shun to go out and participate in the mission of suppressing the rebellion in Gongdu of Runan.

Zhuge Jin received the letter six days later, on the 26th day of the first lunar month, which was three days before Dong Cheng and Lu Bu took action.

Based solely on this letter and his own knowledge of history, he concluded that things were about to break out.

As a result, Zhuge Jin became the first person in the world to be prepared for war. He knew better than anyone when the war would begin.

This is not considered cheating. As a prophet, with so much intelligence support, it is normal for him to make a judgment at the last minute.

"I asked my second brother to send two pieces of chain mail to Dong Cheng through Sun Shao. After Dong Cheng was killed, these things would definitely be confiscated by Cao Cao during his house search. If Dong Cheng was more capable and started a rebellion directly and used these weapons, it would be even more conspicuous.

Sooner or later, Cao will find out that the Lord has a good relationship with Dong Cheng. Even if Cao is slow, I am sure that I can let him know at the most appropriate time. At that time, he will definitely issue an order to Sun Ce in the name of the emperor, asking Sun Ce to deal with us.

As long as our army is relaxed on the outside and tight on the inside, pretending not to be on guard against Sun Ce and pretending that the river defense is relaxed, maybe it will be effective at that time... Well, the river defense must be relaxed recently, otherwise if Cao Cao's secret envoy to Sun Ce fails to reach Moling, Sun Ce will have no excuse to attack me, wouldn't that be counterproductive?"

After reading the secret letter from his second brother, Zhuge Jin burned the letter on a fish oil lamp while secretly thinking about something.

I remember that three years ago, when he just sent the first batch of secret scrolls and "health products" to Aliang, he also taught Aliang to use cow ghee to light lamps, which would make them brighter and protect his eyesight.

Today, this old recipe has become obsolete - no matter how bright the cow ghee is, it is not as bright as the whale oil lamp. It’s just that the ancient navigation technology was too weak to systematically hunt whales.

Later, as the fishing industry in Guangling, Danyang and Lujiang counties became more and more developed, especially after the start of gillnet fishing the year before last, Zhuge Jin discovered that fishermen would naturally catch a lot of fat aquatic animals because the ecology of the Han Dynasty was so good.

In this case, Zhuge Jin asked the government to set a relatively fair price for oil recycling, as a way of recycling waste.

The price cannot be too high. If it is higher than the price of mandarin fish and sea bass, it will encourage fishermen to specifically catch fat animals.

Fishermen will not go out of their way to catch it unless it happens to be cheaper than delicious fish meat, but will just take it if they accidentally catch it.

When Zhuge Jin was reading or burning letters, no one, even those closest to him, dared to approach him.

After the letter was completely reduced to ashes, Xiaoqiao quietly came over and asked him to rest early.

Zhuge Jin looked at the two girls meaningfully, and said calmly, "I will go to Guangling County for an inspection tomorrow. During these days, you should listen to Master Lian and take good care of Madam."

To deal with Sun Ce, we must not only hold on to Wuhu in Danyang County, but also be wary of Guangling in the north.

There is a river surface of 600 miles between Guangling, Danyang and Wujun, and it is possible to cross the river at any place.

Zhuge Jin had confidence in the defensive ability of Guangling Prefect Chen Deng, but Chen Deng had not been in good health recently, apparently due to eating too much sashimi in his early years.

Although he had listened to Zhuge Jin's advice and stopped eating freshwater fish three years ago, it ultimately only delayed the onset of this chronic illness for a few more years. He still had to see a famous doctor to be cured.

To be on the safe side, Zhuge Jin had to check Chen Deng's situation before the war. He also had to inspect Guangling County's farming results last winter to see if Chen Deng had made good use of the winter labor service to improve his war preparedness as planned.

Moreover, Zhuge Jin had not kept Chen Deng's illness a secret since it broke out last winter. Now that he was crossing the river under the pretext of visiting a patient, even if Sun Ce's spies heard about it later, it would not arouse alarm. Instead, they might suspect that Chen Deng's condition had worsened, and that Zhuge Jin was worthy of a personal visit.

In Wuhu, with Guan Yu and Lu Su present, there is no need to worry about Sun Ce suddenly losing his composure.

Daqiao and Xiaoqiao had no idea what their master was thinking, and they didn't want to know too much, so they just agreed meekly and said they would listen to Master Bu Lianshi in the future.

Last autumn, Zhen Mi became pregnant more than half a year after her marriage. Perhaps she was eager to leave an offspring for her husband, so she often consulted her sister-in-law Zhuge Zhi on some medical issues.

Zhuge Jin originally thought that Zhen Mi was young and worried that it would be bad for her health, so he wanted to wait a little longer. But Zhen Mi insisted on avoiding the safe period, so Zhuge Jin had nothing to say, so he let it go and respected her choice.

As Zhen Mi became ill, Zhuge Jin's anger had to be supported by Daqiao alone. Finally, with the arrival of the new year, Zhuge Jin saw that Xiaoqiao and Bu Lianshi had grown older, so he no longer hid his anger.

Zhuge Jin knew that if she didn't formally recruit Bu Lianshi, then when she was asked to command the big and small bridges, she would not be in a legitimate position and would have no confidence - what identity did she have to manage two elderly maids who had an affair with their master?

At this point, Zhuge Jin's harem was completely stable: Zhen Mi was his wife, Bu Lianshi was his concubine, and Xiaoqiao and Daqiao were the daughters of criminals and slaves. When Zhuge Jin thought about having to deal with Sun Ce, Zhou Yu and Sun Quan alone, he felt very distressed.

But when he thought that he could fight while doing other things, Zhuge Jin felt refreshed again.

This sense of conquest is unimaginable to ordinary people.

……

After comforting his concubines and maids, Zhuge Jin took a boat to the north the next morning, sailed down the river to inspect, passed through Yang and Chu counties, and arrived in Guangling two days later.

At the Guangling wharf, the civil and military officials of the county who had received the news in advance came to greet Zhuge Jin, but Chen Deng did not show up.

Zhuge Jin saw from afar that the leading civil and military officials were Chen Qun and Chen Dao. He knew that Chen Deng's illness had not yet fully recovered and he was probably staying at home to recuperate.

However, Donghai County Governor Mi Zhu did not show up either, which surprised Zhuge Jin a little. Although Mi Zhu was not an official from Guangling, he should have work to report to Zhuge Jin.

Given Mi Zhu's cautious nature and his unwillingness to offend anyone, he should not have been rude.

With a bit of suspicion, Zhuge Jin said to the civil and military officials who greeted him at the dock, "Thank you for your hard work," and then Chen Qun accompanied him into the city.

The group soon arrived at the prefectural government. Zhuge Jin went straight into the courtyard and saw Chen Deng and Mi Zhu coming to greet him. Chen Deng looked a little pale, but he was able to move without any difficulty. Mi Zhu, who was standing next to him, was in good health, but his expression was awkward.

Zhuge Jin was stunned for a moment, then he realized: Chen Deng deliberately pretended to be seriously ill. Could it be that he wanted to lay some foreshadowing so that he could use it whenever needed later?

Zhuge Jin did not point it out, but motioned Chen Deng and Mi Zhu to go in first without any emotion, and asked casually:

"Yuanlong's illness should be cured, right? I heard that you have found a great doctor like Yuanhua (Hua Tuo) to treat you. If you can't get better, it will ruin Mr. Yuanhua's reputation."

Chen Deng said breathlessly, "It's actually fine. I just need to recuperate. Tzuyu won't blame me for not going to the pier to greet you even though I'm clearly fully recovered."

Zhuge Jin laughed and talked: "This is 'being prepared for any eventuality', what's the point of talking about it!"

Chen Deng was stunned, then gently patted Mi Zhu beside him: "Zi Zhong, what did I say? Don't worry! How could Zi Yu not see through our conspiracy!"

Mi Zhu smiled awkwardly: "I was indeed worrying too much. Since Zi Yu is here today, he should be here to inspect the defense? Is there really something going on in the southeast?"

Zhuge Jin: "I received the secret order from the lord and the letter from my brother the day before yesterday. I estimate that it will be within one or two months. And I estimate that once Xuzhou is unstable and civil strife breaks out, Cao Cao will definitely worry that we will ally with Yuan Shao, and will reward Sun Ce heavily and let him take action.

So now that the news of Yuanlong's recovery has not spread, let's continue to pretend to be sick. I just don't know where Mr. Yuanhua is? If you don't recover for a long time, it will be bad for his reputation. Will he be willing to stay in Guangling for a few more months to help us? The consultation fee is not a problem. "

Hearing that Zhuge Jin had drawn inferences from one instance and was the first to think of this question, Chen Deng couldn't help but sigh: "Mr. Yuanhua traveled all over the country, mostly between Yuzhou and Xuzhou, and occasionally went to Yangzhou. Last year, Yuzhou was plagued by war, so he temporarily only traveled to Xuzhou and Yangzhou.

Before this, I was seriously ill and no one else could cure me. I looked for people everywhere to see me. When Mr. Yuanhua heard that I had a strange disease, he was excited and came back to Guangling from hundreds of miles away to see me. Later, he made me drink a thick garlic soup and other spicy ingredients, and forced me to endure the spiciness and force myself to drink it. As a result, I vomited and had diarrhea, and there were many thin and long red worms.

But Mr. Yuanhua said that this disease is difficult to cure in one go. I have been forcing him to stay for more than half a month with excuses. If I want to keep him longer, I am afraid that money will not be enough to persuade him, so I have run out of tricks. "

While explaining, Chen Deng described his condition to Zhuge Jin.

Chen Deng's first-hand account was also somewhat different from what was said in Chen Shou's "Records of the Three Kingdoms. Biographies of Prescriptions and Techniques", but Zhuge Jin believed that Chen Deng's first-hand description was the truth.

According to Chen Shou's writing, Chen Deng's parasites were all vomited out, which is obviously not in line with medical common sense. Digestive tract parasites, whether tapeworms, nematodes or roundworms, cannot be vomited out of the mouth, at least they are excreted.

It is possible that Chen Deng had vomiting and diarrhea after taking the anthelmintic, but the parasites were most likely excreted. It is understandable that the ancients, who did not know medicine, spread the rumor that the parasites were vomited out for dramatic effect.

In history, Hua Tuo did practice medicine between Xu and Yang in recent years.

The cases recorded in the "Records of the Three Kingdoms. Biographies of Prescriptions and Techniques" alone include Chen Deng, the prefect of Guangling, Xu Yi, the governor of Guangling, Yan Xin, the magistrate of Yandu County under Guangling County, the wife of the prime minister of Pengcheng, and Mei Ping, a military officer of Guangling County.

Therefore, it was natural for Chen Deng to find Hua Tuo and there was no need for him to cheat.

After listening to Chen Deng's entire retelling, Zhuge Jin couldn't help but stroke his beard and said, "If you want to find an excuse to keep Mr. Yuanhua, I have a way. Isn't he a good doctor? Last autumn, when Aliang and I were in Xiapi and Guangling for a few months, we were studying Laomian and Qujue.

I think Mr. Yuanhua would be interested in Aliang's manuscript of Qujue Lun. We can also make an exception to provide Mr. Yuanhua with the yeast, beer medicine, lactic acid bacteria, acetic acid bacteria and other isolated products isolated from the Qujue laboratory for his study.

With these baits, isn't it easy to keep him for a few more months? As for the outside world, just spread the word that it was because Brother Yuanlong was critically ill that Mr. Yuanhua was forced to stay for several months. It's so perfect, how can outsiders find out the truth?"

Zhuge Jin didn't believe that when Guangling County was the only "microbiology laboratory" in the world, there wouldn't be enough space for a mere Hua Tuo to stay.

(End of this chapter)