My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 33 Everyone has their own secrets
It was almost the end of August when Zhuge Jin finally set out from Guangling County and headed north to carry out his mission as an envoy to Lü Bu and the imperial court.

The entourage consisted of three hundred people, including the guard commander specially assigned to him by Liu Bei, Chen Dao, Marquis of Qujun, and some other clerks and assistants.

The soldiers brought by Chen Dao were all elite Bai Li soldiers under Liu Bei's command.

When Zhuge Jin was reading books in his previous life, he was quite curious about the Bai Li soldiers and there were various different opinions.

Now that I have observed it myself, I have discovered that these Bai Li soldiers are not from the same source, nor are they specially trained. They are just representatives of Liu Bei's early elite soldiers, and everyone has white feathers on their iron helmets as decoration.

In terms of the type of troops, these Bai Li soldiers could all ride horses and had good mobility. At the beginning, many of them were Wuhuan Hu cavalry brought by Liu Bei from his hometown of Youzhou.

But after fighting for so many years, the number of soldiers in Youzhou's hometown became fewer and fewer, and Liu Bei also needed to replenish his troops, so he recruited those Danyang soldiers who were relatively good at horse riding into the Bai Li soldiers to serve as guards.

However, these troops were not as good as the elite cavalry in charge and fighting, and in horseback archery. However, their melee combat and archery skills were pretty good, making them suitable for being "bodyguards for rapid maneuvers and breakouts", but no longer suitable for being the vanguard in a decisive battle.

The total number of Liu Bei's remaining Bai Li soldiers was less than a thousand. He was willing to send two or three hundred to serve as bodyguards for Zhuge Jin and let Chen Dao lead them personally, which showed that he attached great importance to him.

The group first followed the waterway of the Hang Canal and slowly arrived in Huaiyin. That day was already the second day of September.

Counting the days, it has finally been a full month since Zhuge Jin traveled to this world.

Outside Huaiyin City, Guan Yu had long heard that Zhuge Jin was going north to carry out a mission, so he was waiting for him at the canal dock in advance and held a banquet for him.

Zhuge Jin and Guan Yu actually only spent two days together.

Since Zhuge Jin broke out of Huaiyin, he counterattacked Guangling in the following month, while Guan Yu was wounded by an arrow in the decisive battle of Huaiyin and has been guarding and recuperating here, protecting the northern gate of Liu Bei's territory. The two never met again.

However, Liu Bei and Zhang Fei have become very familiar with Zhuge Jin over the past month.

Guan Yu only heard from his elder brother's various letters about what miracles Mr. Zhuge had created and what great things he had accomplished for everyone, and so he was fascinated.

He felt increasingly regretful for his initial disrespect.

It can even be said that because of Zhuge Jin's change, Guan Yu even restrained his original habit of looking down on scholars and warned himself:
In the future, you must listen to the other person patiently and give him a chance to show his true ability and knowledge. Once you are sure that he is a corrupt scholar, it is not too late to despise him...

At this moment, finally seeing Zhuge Jin again, Guan Yu suppressed his inner excitement, personally stepped on the gangplank on the dock, and helped him off the boat with personal courtesy.

"General Guan, there is no need to do this. It is really unworthy." Zhuge Jin also felt a little awkward and said modestly.

"You deserve it! How can I not deserve it! Sir, you have a loyalty to our army. You even have to redeem our families this time. I, Guan, will never forget it! Please come into the city and have a rest." Guan Yu's attitude was firm and would not be questioned.

Zhuge Jin could not refuse, so he had to have a meal with Guan Yu. During the banquet, Zhuge Jin reminded Guan Yu: "General, the wound is only 20 days old, so you should drink less wine. Did you clean the wound thoroughly? How is it healing now?"

Guan Yu quickly bowed and replied, "It's no problem now. I've been wounded by arrows five or six times in my life. The doctors around me treated me very skillfully and cleanly. The wound has healed now, so drinking is fine."

Zhuge Jin's face darkened: "If the general doesn't agree with me, then I won't drink either."

Guan Yu had no choice but to say that he would listen to the master. He was not as fond of drinking as Zhang Fei, and he was just drinking with him out of courtesy. In this case, he was happy to eat only meat.

Zhuge Jin casually gave two pointers: "If there are arrow wounds in the army in the future, you can use the gauze that has been cooled after boiling to clean them. And the pot should be covered, and you can't open the lid and let it cool quickly. I am well versed in astronomy, geography, medicine, divination, and astrology. If you listen to me, you will see miraculous results."

Zhuge Jin was too lazy to explain the principles of disinfection and microorganisms to the other party, because there was too much prerequisite knowledge to be popularized.

Fortunately, his intellectual prestige was high enough, so he could give a straight answer. Guan Yu quickly said that he would handle it in the same way in the future and try his best to treat the wounded according to the teacher's instructions.

……

Zhuge Jin stayed in Huaiyin for a day and hurriedly continued his journey north the next day.

Guan Yu personally went out of the city to escort him across the Huai River and then across the Si River. It took a whole day to return.

Along the way, Zhuge Jin did not see any of Lu Bu's troops. He asked his guards to wear low-key robes to cover their armor. It seemed that he was also fighting wits and courage with the air.

However, this detail also reminded Zhuge Jin: It seems that although a whole month has passed since Lu Bu's surprise attack on Xia Pi City, Lu Bu still has not been able to completely control the three central counties of Xuzhou.

At least when he reached Ling County, sixty miles northwest of Huaiyin, he had not seen any of Lu Bu's troops.

Zhuge Jin tried to send a small number of his followers into the city to investigate, and when they came back, they told him that Lü Bu had not sent troops to take over the county, but had sent messengers to pass on the message a dozen days ago. At that time, the magistrate of Ling County did not open the city gates, but only expressed his willingness to submit to Lü Bu on the top of the city wall, and Lü Bu's messenger went back to report.

Chen Dao, who was standing by, could not hold back after hearing this report, and challenged Zhuge Jin to fight: "Sir! It seems that the magistrate of Ling County may still be loyal to the lord, but is just pretending to be submissive to Lu Bu. How about we take over the county? This will also be considered a merit."

Zhuge Jin stopped him and said, "Don't make trouble now and anger Lu Bu. At most, send someone to tell the magistrate of Ling County that if he still cares about his former master, he should acquiesce and allow the families of the soldiers who want to move to Guangling to go."

From the fact that Lu Bu has not yet sent troops here, it can be seen that he is currently busy taking over various places and does not want to provoke the General Zhendong. "

Just from these clues, Zhuge Jin had already judged the progress of Lu Bu's territory digestion and his mentality of "picking the soft persimmon first".

Xuzhou is a whole state. Even if you exclude Guangling in the south and Langya in the north, there are still three large counties. It would be great if you can visit every county in a month. If you want to occupy it militarily, it is not easy.

This is not a game. As long as Xia Pi City is captured, most of the central area of Xuzhou will belong to Lu Bu.

After further understanding the situation, Zhuge Jin relaxed a little. He traveled safely for another three days, passing through Xiang Yu's hometown, Xiaxiang County, and then to Xia Pi.

When he was in Xiaxiang, he finally encountered Lü Bu's garrison. So he did not provoke them, and asked all the guards to put on robes to cover their armor, and let the fleet return. The group rode on land to complete the last 80 miles.

Xiaxiang County is close to the Sishui River. If you continue to take the water route, you cannot bypass the county.

On the morning of September 6, when the group arrived at a village outside Xia Pi City, Zhuge Jin ordered them to stay there in a low profile, and then sent people to Xia Pi City to try to contact Chen Deng and Jian Yong.

Some people may have been curious before, why did Liu Bei not send Jian Yong when he lacked a foreign affairs envoy?
This is actually because Jian Yong did not follow Liu Bei to the Huaiyin army at the beginning. He also stayed in Xia Pi to guard his home.

When Zhang Fei lost the city and tried to break out, he had no time to care about Jian Yong at all, as he was also trapped in the city.

It was just that Jian Yong held a civil service position and his family members were not considered captives, so Lu Bu did not make things difficult for him after entering the city, just like Lu Bu did not make things difficult for Chen Deng.

In this case, it saves Zhuge Jin the trouble.

For the sake of his own safety and the success rate of his work, he certainly would not go directly into the city to ask to see Lu Bu, but would contact an insider first.

After a while, it was unknown what method Chen Deng, who was now deeply trusted by Lu Bu, used.

In short, he got a carriage, took Jian Yong with him out of the city, and headed straight to Shushui Town in the southeast suburbs to meet Zhuge Jin.

(End of this chapter)