My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 440 Asking for Land and House Yuan Xiansi

Zhuge Jin, along with Tian Yu, Zhou Tai and thousands of elite soldiers, rode north on horseback. In just a few days, they arrived in Qi County from Langya County.

Tian Yu and Zhou Tai were very reserved at first. They had rarely had the opportunity to be directly under Zhuge Jin's command before, and they were afraid that the orders of the number one civil official in their camp would be difficult to execute.

But after a few days of getting along, I gradually got used to it.

Tian Yu has not made any achievements in the past two years. The last time he took part in a war was the year before last when Xiahou Yuan invaded Donghai County. Guan Yu fortified the city and cleared the fields, leaving Tian Yu to help Mi Zhu defend Qu County.

At that time, Tian Yu did a good job of delaying Xiahou Yuan until his division's old soldiers were tired. Only then did Guan Yu bring Zhang Liao to fight a decisive battle in the field and severely injure Xiahou Yuan.

Guan Yu also credited him with merit and asked Liu Bei to promote him.

Unfortunately, after this battle, Tian Yu never participated in subsequent battles.

The next year, when Guan Yu counterattacked Cao Ren's Pengcheng County and other places, Chen Dao, Gao Shun, Zhou Tai and others all made contributions. Tian Yu was in an idle defensive position and was unable to make new contributions and be promoted to a lieutenant - but this was also Tian Yu's own request because his mother had passed away.

Historically, Tian Yu's mother was also the reason he left Liu Bei. In this life, it was because Zhuge Jin saved the day and Liu Bei did not suffer a catastrophic disaster in Xuzhou, and later he sent people to bring the families of Yuan Congwen and Wu from the north to the south, that Tian Yu stayed.

Tian Yu's mother was ferried south by sea in the second year of Jian'an, and lived in Guangling for five years. She died of illness the year before last, so she could be said to have enjoyed her old age.

As a military commander, Tian Yu should not have had to resign during wartime to observe mourning. However, Liu Bei was attentive and took care of his situation.

Just transfer him to those idle positions in the rear defense so that he doesn't have to go into battle.

Now that Tian Yu's mourning period was over and he was able to take on important responsibilities again, Liu Bei let him follow Zhuge Jin north.

Firstly, his ancestral home was Yuyang County, Youzhou. Now that Youzhou had returned to Liu Bei's hands, sending some old people who were familiar with the situation to do the work would help him better integrate and grasp the local situation.

Secondly, Tian Yu himself also wanted to move his mother's grave back to Yuyang for burial. It was said that this was also his mother's last wish before her death: if the General of Chariots and Cavalry could reunify the world in the future, or at least recover Youzhou, he would bury her back in her hometown.

In addition, Zhuge Jin also knew that Tian Yu had some experience in dealing with the Hu people in history, so he persuaded Liu Bei to do this favor for both public and private reasons.

He planned to let Tian Yu be in charge of the Hu-Han border market in Yuyang and the corresponding defense and security work after returning to Youzhou.

We must firmly guard Yuyang County and the Great Wall within Yuyang, and we must also strictly investigate whether the Hu merchants who come and go have violated the law and whether they have smuggled extra weapons and other goods.

As for the other accompanying general Zhou Tai, he did not have any other special assignment and was only responsible for protecting Zhuge Jin.

After Zhuge Jin arrived in Ji County, once Zhao Yun had to go out, Zhou Tai could also help take over the defense of Ji County.

Zhuge Jin selected his generals because he took into account that Zhou Tai was historically good at protecting his chief commander.

Three months ago, Chen Dao followed Liu Qi to Hanyang, helping Liu Qi to subdue Liu Biao's army in Nanjun and win over more of his own people. Liu Bei's camp lacked a general who could command the personal guards, so Liu Bei promoted Zhou Tai to try him out. This time Zhuge Jin was going on a long journey, so he asked him to go with him for half a year.

Theoretically speaking, Zhou Tai's transfer was a temporary secondment, because he took into account the possibility that Zhao Yun might leave Ji County in the future and asked him to take over for a while.

After Gongsun Du was defeated and Zhao Yun returned, Zhou Tai's mission was completed and he could return to Hefei to wait for orders.

Anyway, Liu Bei had been in Hefei for the past two years, so he didn't have to lead his troops in person, nor did he encounter any danger. He didn't need someone with strong martial arts to protect him. Liu Bei's martial arts were not bad either, and the occasional thieves in Hefei City were no threat to him at all. At most, he could just wear an extra set of iron ring chain mail soft armor when he went out.

……

"My lords, after crossing the Zi River, we will reach Linzi City. Go north for another sixty miles and cross the Ji River at Linji. Go another sixty miles and you will reach the mouth of the Yellow River. We are riding horses. If we hurry, we can get on the ship in one day."

That morning, when the army reached the south bank of the Zibo River and was waiting to cross the river, Tian Yu took out the map, looked through it, and reported to Zhuge Jin while they were waiting for the boat.

It is now late June, and the weather is quite hot even in the north.

Zhuge Jin sat in the carriage, fanning himself with a folding fan, but he still felt hot and no longer cared about his manners. He pulled out a large folding fan from his belt and threw it to Zhou Tai, who was sitting in the coachman's seat.

Zhou Tai took the fan and immediately unfolded it. He turned around and fanned Zhuge Jin violently with crude movements, as if he was blowing air into a stove.

Zhuge Jin felt a little cooler, and then he responded to Tian Yu: "It's so hot, and there has been no rain for several days. Why rush? Let Gongjin stay at the river mouth dock for one more day. We will travel in the morning and evening, and rest in the afternoon. Today is a good time to go to Linzi City and have a drink with Yuan Tan. We can also use the news that Cao's army was deceived by us to warn him."

After hearing this, Tian Yu immediately adjusted the marching plan.

However, in fact, Tian Yu did not need to worry about it. Because the troops had just crossed half of the river when they saw people and horses and ceremonial guards coming from the north bank of the Zibo River. It was Yuan Tan who went out of the city in person to meet Zhuge Jin and his party at the Zibo River.

Zhuge Jin had just crossed the river and hadn't even stood firmly on the shore when he saw Yuan Tan, wearing a light robe and loosening his belt, also holding a folding fan, coming over to chat with him about the past.

"My dear brother Ziyu, you have been traveling a long way. Now that you have come to Qi County, how can you not give me a chance and show your hospitality? Otherwise, Uncle Xuande will blame me for not being a good person when he hears about it. The weather is hot, please come into the city and rest."

Yuan Tan is slightly older than Zhuge Jin, and comes from a local vassal family, so there is nothing wrong with him calling Zhuge Jin his "brother".

Moreover, when he made friends with Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Liang had encouraged him to show his face in front of Yuan Shao, squeezing out Yuan Xi, so that Yuan Tan could at least get Qingzhou and Youzhou, and then fight for the rest. Yuan Tan had a good relationship with Zhuge Liang, and they were like foolish brothers. Now that Zhuge Liang's elder brother had come, of course he would treat him the same way.

To this day, Yuan Tan's dress and manners are still the same as those designed by Zhuge Liang. So even his folding fan and robe belt are similar to Zhuge Jin's, but he is a little uglier than Zhuge Jin.

"Brother Xiansi is too polite. I am just passing by. Why do you have to go so far to greet me?" Zhuge Jin did not hesitate to use a fancy sedan chair and had people carry it. He shook hands with Yuan Tan and went back to Linzi city together.

Yuan Tan was now freer and no longer had to worry about defense. He had already handed over the defense of all the counties bordering Cao's army to Liu Shu's generals.

He was only in charge of the small piece of land on the Shandong Peninsula east of Qi County, and was a hands-off manager of Qingzhou. He didn't have to worry about being beaten, so he ate, drank and had fun every day, and at most listened to reports on internal affairs.

The world is a dispute between Cao and Liu, and it has nothing to do with him.

The two men chatted and laughed as they entered the city. Zhuge Jin did not allow Tian Yu's thousands of men to enter the city. He only allowed Zhou Tai to bring five hundred elite armored guards with him. This was also to show his trust in Yuan Tan so as to avoid embarrassment to Yuan Tan.

Moreover, the five hundred armored soldiers that Zhuge Jin asked Zhou Tai to select were all equipped with the best equipment. All the armor was made of steel, and the breastplate was forged in one piece. The weapons were also steel-made horse-slashing swords and long halberds.

When Yuan Tan saw it, he was a little envious. These things were obviously better than the equipment that Liu Shu had given him as military aid. It was obvious that Liu Shu kept the best things for himself, and the ones he gave to other countries were of a lower grade.

The group soon arrived at the Qingzhou Mu Mansion, and Yuan Tan had various wild delicacies, fruits, and fish served as an offering of great hospitality.

There were not many greasy dishes on the table, probably because of the hot weather and poor appetite, so most of the dishes were light, fresh and sour. Even the wine was replaced with rare Western wine, which was refreshing. I don't know how many years the Yuan family has been storing it.

Since the chaos in Liangzhou at the end of the Han Dynasty and the rise of Dong Zhuo, it has been difficult for wine from the Western Regions to flow into the Central Plains. So even though the dignitaries in the world know that wine is the most precious drink in the hot summer, and it can make people less irritable, few people can get it. Yuan Tan can still take out the aged wine to entertain guests, which means that the Yuan family had stored it at least fifteen years ago.

Because the alcohol content of wine is not high, unlike white wine, which can remain unchanged for decades, Zhuge Jin could already taste a slight sour taste when he drank it, but the quality was still fine.

Zhuge Jin couldn't help but remember that wine should be chilled when it's slightly sour, so he asked casually, "This wine has been aged for a long time. Since it's meant for drinking in the summer, does your house have any ice cubes to chill it?"

Yuan Tan was originally quite pleased with his hospitality today, thinking that he had brought out Western wine that even Uncle Liu couldn't afford, but he didn't expect Zhuge Jin to be an expert and drink iced fruit wine in summer. He quickly asked the maid to dig some crushed ice stored in the winter from the ice cellar buried deep underground, put it in a basin, and then soak the wine pot in it.

After a while, when I took it out to drink, I found that the sour taste was not as obvious as before, and it became clearer and more refreshing.

Yuan Tan could not help but wonder, "Where did you drink this kind of wine from the Western Regions before? How come you even know this wonderful method?"

Zhuge Jin smiled calmly: "That's not the case, but sour things taste better when they are chilled, and they are not easy to irritate the nose. This is also the law of nature."

Yuan Tan sighed, "The Zhuge family really knows everything. They know how to make something taste good even if they have never tasted it before. I am not afraid of you making fun of me. I actually want to show off this fine wine in front of you.

After all, this wine has been highly sought after by dignitaries since the reigns of Emperors Huan and Ling. Back then, Meng Tuo bribed Zhang Rang, the head of the Ten Eunuchs, with a jar of Pu Tao wine, and he actually squeezed out Zhang Huan, who had military merit in Pingliang, and was appointed as the governor of Liangzhou. Now it seems that my pretentiousness has made you laugh."

Zhuge Jin: "Zhang Huan fought hundreds of battles but still failed to win the title, Meng Tuo won Liang Province with just one ton of grain. They favored the treacherous and distanced themselves from the wise. This is why the Han Dynasty fell. Whenever I discuss this with my lord, I sigh and hate Huan and Ling.

But the wine itself is not guilty, the fault lies with those who are obsessed with extravagance and fear that they cannot show off their wealth. If we drink this wine just for its refreshing taste, what does it matter?"

With just a few casual words, Zhuge Jin put himself and Yuan Tan in the simple position of "paying for the use value", and drew a clear line between himself and those "showy nouveau riche".

Yuan Tan felt a little ashamed and didn't know how to respond for a moment. After all, he felt that he was more or less showing off.

Fortunately, Zhuge Jin found a way out for him in the next sentence, very naturally: "Brother Xiansi naturally wants the clear and refreshing taste of the rambutan wine. In fact, although the roads to the Western Regions are cut off now, it is not impossible to brew rambutan wine in the Central Plains.

I think the land of Qingzhou, Donglai County, is very suitable for growing rambutans. In the future, when Donglai can be self-sufficient in grain, we can plant more grapes on the slopes, and we Han people can make our own fine wine without having to go to the Western Regions to buy it. In the future, the people of Qingzhou will also be grateful to Brother Xiansi."

Zhuge Jin was not making random remarks. In later times, Shandong could grow grapes and make wine. The grapes used in the Changyu wine produced in Yantai are from Yantai and Penglai.

Now the Han Dynasty could get grape seeds from the Western Regions and slowly propagate them in the Shandong Peninsula, and they would be established in a few years. However, in the years of war, they could not grow too much of these things, and they still had to focus on food.

Yuan Tan was also very happy to hear this. He always believed in what the Zhuge family said.

Although he had the impression that grapes could only be grown in the hot and arid Western Regions, but since Brother Ziyu had spoken, if they could be grown in Donglai, then they could definitely be grown.

He is now idle and has nothing left except his hobbies of eating, drinking and having fun. The stock of Pu Tao wine left by his father Yuan Shao will soon be finished, so he has to get seeds and grow them himself in Donglai.

Mi Zhu's maritime business is so big. If the world is peaceful again in the future, if his Qingzhou can produce wine, it will be just right to sell the wine, which is still very expensive now, at a low price to the coastal states and counties. Even if his descendants are "three dukes for ten generations", they can still rely on the manor to become a wealthy family. Regardless of whether they have real power or not, at least they will never lack money.

He naturally asked a lot of questions about the details of growing and brewing grapes, and Zhuge Jin was happy to answer them for free without arguing with him about the gains and losses.

Yuan Tan's status, willing to focus on "seeking land and asking for houses", is what Liu Bei wants. This shows that Yuan Tan has completely lost his ambition.

He wanted to make money, to enjoy a better quality of life, and to see all the luxurious and enjoyable things in the world. Liu Bei would definitely satisfy him completely.

……

In this way, Yuan Tan chatted with Zhuge Jin about many "strange and tricky" things related to luxury and enjoyment, and felt that he had gained a lot.

He cordially invited Zhuge Jin to stay in Linzi for a few more days, but in the end Zhuge Jin only stayed for one day on the grounds that he was busy with military and political affairs.

Yuan Tan was inevitably a little unwilling to accept this: "Since it is Youzhou, the affairs are so urgent, why don't you set off north a few days earlier, so that you can escape the summer heat in Youzhou in advance, and I can entertain you for a few more days."

Zhuge Jin explained: "I know that Youzhou is hotter in May than in June, so it's a good time to go north to escape the heat. Besides, I have to worry about the strategy of false and real, and stabilize Cao Cao. If I go north too early, Cao Cao will be alert and think that my army is going to make a big move in Youzhou."

Yuan Tan was unaware of Zhuge Jin's strategic deception of Cao Cao. When he brought it up, he realized that Zhuge Jin had done a lot to stabilize Cao Cao, and he couldn't help but feel more submissive.

Of course, Zhuge Jin also knew his limits. If he could say something that would make Yuan Tan feel that Liu Bei trusted him, he would say it.

There is no need to say some things. If you don't say it, Yuan Tan won't know that he is hiding something, so just don't say it.

Even if some of the information was spoken, Zhuge Jin would remind them at the right time, "This is a military secret. Just listen to it, brother, and don't leak it. In case Cao's army reacts and takes advantage of the situation to attack Youzhou in the future."

Yuan Tan certainly wouldn't gossip for no reason. He is no longer in charge of military affairs, so there is no need for him to argue about these things with his civil servants.

Zhuge Jin's frankness to him also made him feel that Uncle Liu had no intention of completely marginalizing him or cutting him off from the outside world.

He immediately said that he knew the seriousness of the matter and kept his mouth shut. Some things are forgotten after hearing them, and I am too lazy to remember them.

Zhuge Jin also gave a final hint, asking Yuan Tan to prepare more military rations in case of emergency in subsequent sea operations. In any case, Liu Bei would not treat him unfairly, and if he asked for something, he would definitely compensate him with other money and gifts.

Yuan Tan agreed readily and said he would cooperate in everything he did.

The next evening, when the sun was setting in the west, Zhuge Jin and his entourage, who had slept enough during the day, had a leisurely dinner and were then personally escorted out of the city by Yuan Tan.

By traveling at night to avoid the daytime heat, Zhuge Jin traveled a hundred miles in one breath, crossed the Ji River at midnight, and arrived near the mouth of the Yellow River at dawn the next day.

At the end of the morning at noon, the sun was getting hotter and hotter. Zhou Yu's ship had been waiting for a long time. He immediately and respectfully took Zhuge Jin on board and hid in the cabin to avoid being exposed to the scorching sun.

This time, Zhuge Jin went north to coordinate the fight against Gongsun Du. He relied on Zhao Yun on land and Zhou Yu on sea. The main generals of these two armies were both his brother-in-law.

Gongsun Du should feel honored to be valued and cared for so much by the Zhuge family.

-

PS: The New Year is coming soon, so I am in a relatively calm state of mind and cannot think of any plots that involve intense confrontations.

The past few days may be more daily, farming, no killing and intrigue. The plot of fighting Gongsun Du will probably start at the beginning of the year, please forgive me.

It’s New Year’s Day, so there’s no fighting or killing.

(End of this chapter)