Double penetration: This Three Kingdoms has dragon energy

Chapter 86 Zhuge's Secret Technique: Crouching Dragon's Strategy

"My lord, this is a brilliant plan. The Taishan aristocratic families and the Taishan Yellow Turbans are all at your mercy!

Please rest assured, my lord, I will definitely do this according to your request!"

After listening to Ji Qiu's plan, Yuan Huan couldn't help but sigh, then said in a deep voice.

Ji Qiu did not take credit for it, but smiled faintly and said: "This is not my strategy, but the strategy of military advisor Xi Zhicai!"

"I didn't expect that there is such a wise man under the lord's command. I will definitely visit him to seek advice someday!" Yuan Huan said in surprise.

Ji Qiu smiled and said, "Among the talented people under my command, there are more than just Zhicai.
There are also Fengxiao and Wenhe, both of whom are extremely talented and intelligent!

Even you, Yaoqing, have a lot of talent in your heart. You two can get close to each other in the future!"

"My lord, if you can recruit talented people from all over the world and use them for your own benefit, you will surely achieve great things!" Yuan Huan complimented.

……

Pingyang County, Baojiawu Fort.

Dusk fell over the high rammed earth walls, and the bronze bells on the eagle-beak wall made a clear and crisp sound.

This Wu Castle standing on the plain has an outer wall that is 36 feet high. The wall is rammed with loess mixed with quartz sand, and oak keels as thick as arms are embedded every three feet. The wall is densely covered with half-human-high observation holes, shaped like a honeycomb.

The moat under the wall was more than five meters wide, with sharpened jujube wood deer antlers inserted upside down in the river. A layer of dark green moss floated on the water surface, covering the caltrop net three inches underwater.

The four-cornered arrow tower is like a crouching giant beast. The outer wall is wrapped with three layers of iron sheets. The arrow windows are in the shape of an inverted trapezoid, wide on the inside and narrow on the outside. It can allow strong crossbowmen to shoot while half-crouching, but it is difficult for arrows to penetrate the outside.

There is a "stone chute" on the top of each arrow tower. The inclined chute made of bluestone slabs goes directly to the base of the wall. Fifty-pound granite balls are neatly stacked in the chute. By simply removing the wooden wedges, a rolling stone curtain wall can be formed.

The south city gate is particularly strict. The double-layer iron-clad solid wood door panel is more than a foot thick. Two door bolts as thick as buckets are placed behind the door. Three thousand-jin copper bells are hung on the gate tower, and the bell ropes are tied to copper bells as big as bowls. Any slight movement will cause the sound to shake ten miles away.

But once you pass through the doorway, you'll find a completely different world inside.

The main courtyard on the central axis has carved beams and painted buildings, with gilded auspicious beasts hanging high on the eaves. The columns are made of nanmu wood that is as thick as a man's embrace and painted with vermilion lacquer. Twenty-four glazed sheep-horn lamps are hung under the corridor. Whale oil is burned at night to illuminate the courtyard as bright as day.

In the main hall, the floor is paved with gold bricks and the walls are inlaid with Hetian jade screens. On the screens are embroidered "Pictures of Farming and Weaving" with gold thread. On the desk is a four-legged bronze tripod from the Shang Dynasty, in which Hainan agarwood is often burned.

There are three warm rooms in each of the east and west courtyards. There are hollow fire channels built in the walls, and the charcoal fire never goes out in winter. The floor is covered with wool carpets tributed from Persia. The window lattices are carved with twined flowers, and the silk covering the windows is painted with flowers and birds of the four seasons.

The rear house is even more luxurious. The beauty chairs on the second floor of the main building are all made of rosewood, and the railings are inlaid with jade and agate, forming patterns of "a bumper harvest" and "hundreds of children and grandchildren".

The step-out bed in the dormitory was as big as an entire room. The bed frame was carved with coiled dragons and sea of ​​clouds, and the bed rail was inlaid with twenty-four Hetian jade plaques, each of which was engraved with a sentence from the Book of Songs. A Shu brocade curtain hung above the bed, and tassels of oriental pearls hung from the four corners.

The underground secret room is two meters deep, with four walls made of blue bricks forming an arch structure. The entrance is hidden in a secret door behind the antique display cabinet. Boxes of gold cakes and silver ingots are neatly stacked in the room. Several rows of wooden boxes wrapped in cowhide stand in the corner of the wall, and the boxes are filled with armor made of fine iron and sharp ring-handled swords.

This is Wubao, the home of an aristocratic family. It can defend against a vast army from the outside, and enjoy the splendor of a feast from the inside. It has both the strong barriers of the northern frontier fortress and the splendor of the southern family. It is truly a solid and luxurious paradise in troubled times.

Wubao Study.

The leaders of the Yang, Zang and Bao families, the aristocratic families of Mount Tai, gathered together.

The person in charge of the Yang family is Yang Xin, the legitimate son of the head of the family, Yang Xu.

The person in charge of the Zang family is Zang Jie, the father of the head of the family, Zang Ba.

The person in charge of the Bao family is the head of the family, Bao Xin.

Because the person in charge of the Bao family was the only legitimate head of the family, Bao Xin was elected as the spokesperson for the Taishan family.

Bao Xin held the letter he had just received from Yuan Huan in his hands, read it several times in succession, and couldn't help laughing.

Yang Xin asked, "I wonder what Yuan Yaoqing wrote in the letter that made my uncle so happy?"

"Yuan Yaoqing is gone, and Ji Qiu's problem has been solved. Isn't this a good thing?" Bao Xin said happily.

Zang Jie was stunned and asked, "Ji Qiu's problem is solved? But he hasn't even arrived in Taishan County yet, how can it be solved?"

“It was precisely because he was late in arriving at Taishan County that he was dealt with!

It can be said that Ji Qiu was also cunning. He must have sensed the danger of Taishan County through some channels, so he stayed in Chenliu County and refused to come to Taishan County.

But he was the Taishan County Magistrate, responsible for suppressing the Yellow Turbans in Taishan. How could he stay in Chenliu County for a long time?
What's more, he obtained Chenliu County by deceitful means, which made it completely unjustifiable!

"Situ Yuan seized on this weakness and launched an offensive in the court, forcing the emperor to dismiss Ji Qiu from his post as Taishan County Magistrate and summon him back to the capital!" Bao Xin said.

Yang Xin was overjoyed and said with a smile, "Ji Qiu has been dealt with just like that? Then we don't need to continue preparing for the battle against Ji Qiu. We've made a huge profit this time!"

As a powerful family in Taishan County, Bao Xin and others are actually the ones who least want Ji Qiu to take over Taishan County.

Because they knew very well that nothing would happen if a henchman like Ji Qiu came to Taishan County.

It's nothing more than finding various ways to plunder local wealth for the emperor.

Normally, this kind of plundering is actually aimed at the lower-class people.

But where do the lower-class people in Taishan County have any money?
All the money had long been plundered by these wealthy families.

Therefore, in order to meet the emperor's KPI, the emperor's henchmen had to exploit the local wealthy families.

This is the fundamental reason why Yuan Wei was able to mobilize the aristocratic families in Taishan County to work for him and make things difficult for Ji Qiu with just one letter.

Otherwise, even if Yuan Wei was the head of the Yuan family and the leader of the aristocratic families in the world, he would not be able to directly command the aristocratic families in Taishan County.

However, although they have common interests, it is the Yuan family that takes the lead in this matter, so the Yuan family still has to pay a fee.

Yuan Huan had already paid them this fee in advance, which was a batch of relatively precious dragon weapon materials.

After receiving this labor fee, the Taishan families naturally prepared to fight Ji Qiu.

But now I heard that Ji Qiu has been dealt with and will not come to Taishan County.

The labor fees that have already been received will naturally not be refunded.

The labor fees will not be refunded, but there is no need to fight.

Isn't that pure profit?

No wonder Yang Xin was so happy.

Bao Xin laughed and said, "That's not all. Yuan Yaoqing also mentioned in the letter that he had previously gifted the Taishan Yellow Turbans 100,000 dan of grain and fodder in order to win them over!
This amount of food and fodder is enough to feed the Yellow Turbans in Mount Tai for two years.

And now, only three months have passed, and there are still at least 70,000 to 80,000 dan of grain and fodder stored in the Yellow Turban camp at Mount Tai!"

"Seventy or eighty thousand dan of grain?!"

Yang Xin Zangjie's eyes suddenly lit up and his breathing became heavy.

This is a huge fortune.

The Yuan family is worthy of being the number one family in the world. They are indeed wealthy and powerful. They can easily spend 100,000 stones of grain!

But isn’t it a waste to let those moth thieves eat all this white food?

It should be used to support the noble families!
The Taishan family and the Taishan Yellow Turbans were originally hostile to each other.

And the contradiction between them is simply irreconcilable.

Because what the Taishan family wants is to turn all the land in Taishan County into their own private property and all the people into their own slaves.

But the problem is that they cannot turn all the people into their own slaves.

Because the land in Taishan County is not enough to feed all the people in Taishan County, a large number of people are destined to be expelled by them.

The Yellow Turbans of Mount Tai were actually composed of the people who were expelled by them.

In order to eat and survive, these people had no choice but to rob the property of the wealthy families.

When Yuan Huan was around, there was pressure from Ji Qiu outside, and Yuan Huan used the Yuan family's resources to reconcile the two sides, allowing them to reach a short-term cooperative relationship.

But now that Yuan Huan is gone and Ji Qiu's problem has been solved, there is naturally no need for the Taishan family to continue to maintain a cooperative relationship with the Taishan Yellow Turbans.

"Yuan Yaoqing is also from an aristocratic family. He told us about this matter, and it seems that he is on our side.

If nothing unexpected happens, those Yellow Turban bandits probably don't know that Yuan Huan has left.

We should seize this opportunity, catch them off guard, and wipe out the Yellow Turbans at Mount Tai in one fell swoop!" Zang Jie said with a smile, twirling his beard.

Bao Xin smiled and said, "Mr. Zang's words make sense, but this matter is not urgent. Before that, we must contact Zhuge Juncheng first."

"Why contact him? Does my uncle still expect him to send troops to help?
I heard that he was seriously ill and was about to die. I'm afraid he is now arranging his funeral.

How can I care about these things?" Yang Xin frowned.

As Guo Jia said before, the entire Taishan family power was originally composed of four forces.

They are the Yang, Zang, and Bao families, plus the Zhuge family who directly controls the government power of Taishan County.

However, compared with the close cooperation among the Yang, Zang and Bao families, the Zhuge family kept their distance from them from the beginning.

He neither supported Ji Qiu's entry into Taishan County nor supported them to unite against Ji Qiu.

The attitude is always vague and the position is moderate.

This attitude naturally caused dissatisfaction among the three families and the Yuan family.

However, after some investigation, they discovered that Zhuge Gui, the head of the Zhuge family, was seriously ill and on his deathbed.

The foundation of the Zhuge family in Taishan County was Zhuge Gui.

As soon as Zhuge Gui died, the Zhuge family would be immediately removed from Taishan County.

Under such circumstances, it is understandable that Zhuge had no energy to participate in their activities.

That's why the three families did not directly turn against the Zhuge family.

But all subsequent actions were no longer notified to the Zhuge family.

But I don’t know why Bao Xin suddenly remembered to inform Zhuge.

"That's because the current situation is different from before."

"We were fighting against Ji Qiu before, which had nothing to do with the Zhuge family."

"After all, the Zhuge family doesn't have much property in Taishan County, so they can just sit back and watch."

"But now we have to clean up the Yellow Turbans on Mount Tai!"

"And once we wipe out the Yellow Turbans on Mount Tai, it will be a great achievement!"

"But this great achievement will not fall on you, nor on me." "It will only fall on Zhuge Gui!"

"After all, he is the Taishan County Magistrate and the current nominal controller of Taishan County."

"Zhuge Gui has gained such a huge benefit for nothing, how can he not give something to compensate you and me?" Bao Xin said confidently.

After listening to Bao Xin's words, Yang Xin and Zang Jie both nodded in agreement, thinking that what Bao Xin said made a lot of sense.

Is there any such thing in this world where you only get benefits without putting in any effort?
Even people like them who were born into a noble family were not qualified to just take benefits without working for them, let alone others!

……

Fenggao County, Zhuge Mansion.

Compared with the luxurious Bao's Castle, the environment here is undoubtedly much simpler.

This is because this place is not Zhuge's Wu Castle, but the residence of the Taishan County Magistrate.

This kind of official residence, whose owners rotate regularly, is naturally not as carefully decorated and cared for as Wu Castle, where the family has lived for generations.

The reason for coming here is that the Zhuge family's status is not high.

The origin of the Zhuge family is actually in Yangdu, Langya.

According to records, during the Han Dynasty, a family surnamed Ge moved from Zhu County to Yangdu County. Because there was already another family surnamed Ge in Yangdu County at that time, in order to distinguish themselves from each other, this family from Zhu County changed their surname, taking the "Zhu" from Zhu County and adding it to the front of the surname Ge, it became "Zhuge".

Later, the Zhuge family gradually grew and became a prominent family in the local area. Zhuge Feng, the Inspector of the Imperial Guard during the reign of Emperor Yuan of the Western Han Dynasty, was a member of the Langya Zhuge family.

However, after Zhuge Feng, the Zhuge family of Langya never produced another high-ranking official with the rank of two thousand stones.

For families in the Han Dynasty, whether or not there was an official with a salary of two thousand stones was a very important label.

The lowest standard for being a noble family is that there are high-ranking officials with a salary of 2,000 stones in the family for generations.

A family whose ancestors produced high-ranking officials with the rank of two thousand stones, but who no longer has such officials, is called a poor family.

As for families whose ancestors have never produced high-ranking officials of the rank of two thousand stones, no matter how rich and powerful they are, they are just local nobles.

In the case of the Zhuge family, there was no high-ranking official with a salary of two thousand stones after Zhuge Feng, but there were many officials such as county magistrates and county lieutenants with a salary below two thousand stones.

So although they cannot be called a noble family, they can still be ranked among the top among the poor families.

In the bedroom.

Zhuge Gui, despite his illness, sent the angry Bao Xin away, and then called his two sons to his bedside.

He actually has three sons.

The eldest son, Zhuge Jin, is fourteen years old this year.

The second son, Zhuge Liang, is seven years old this year.

The third son, Zhuge Jun, was still in swaddling clothes and was only two years old.

But now only Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang serve him, while Zhuge Jun stays with his mother in his hometown of Yangdu.

Zhuge Jin was a taciturn young man, dressed in a blue shirt, with a strong scholarly air.

He is not particularly handsome, with a long face that resembles a donkey.

However, he has a steady and generous temperament, which makes people unconsciously feel trust in him.

Zhuge Liang was dressed like a child, with two pigtails. Although he was only seven years old, he was already very handsome.

Especially a pair of smart eyes, as if they can see through all the mysteries of this world.

Zhuge Gui sighed softly at Zhuge Liang and said, "Liang'er, I have truly offended Bao Xin this time. I hope everything turns out as you expected. Otherwise, I'm afraid there will be no place for our Zhuge family in Taishan County anymore!"

Just now, Bao Xin came to visit Zhuge Gui to discuss with him the matter of sending troops to suppress the Yellow Turbans in Mount Tai.

According to Bao Xin, the three great families of Mount Tai will make every effort this time and will surely make sure that the Yellow Turbans of Mount Tai will be killed without a burial place!

But the credit will not fall on the three major families of Mount Tai, but on Zhuge Gui, the prefect of Mount Tai.

Since the Zhuge family had gained such a huge benefit for nothing, they certainly couldn't just give nothing. They had to contribute something.

Either send troops directly to fight, or provide the food and fodder needed for the battle.

You must choose one of the two!

To be fair, Bao Xin’s request was not excessive. If it were based on Zhuge Gui’s own ideas, he would have agreed to it.

But unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang secretly told him that he must not agree to Bao Xin, let alone get involved in this matter, otherwise the Zhuge family would inevitably suffer heavy losses!
To outsiders, it was completely unbelievable that the words of a seven-year-old child could influence Zhuge Gui's decision.

But Zhuge Gui knew that his son was extraordinary!
It was simply because Zhuge's ancestors accidentally acquired a secret acquired skill called Crouching Dragon Strategy of the Sky!

This secret technique can be used to observe the stars and predict good and bad luck.

It is said that if one cultivates to the peak of the first level, one can even have the ability to change destiny.

It’s really amazing.

But the difficulty of practicing this secret technique is directly proportional to its power.

Practicing this technique does not require any special resources, but it does require the talent of "Wolong" and knowledge of mathematics.

Ever since the Zhuge family acquired this acquired secret technique, no one has ever been able to practice it successfully.

However, the inheritance that had been cut off for hundreds of years finally blossomed in the hands of Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang actually possessed the legendary talent of Crouching Dragon. At the age of seven, he showed a strong talent in mathematics and learned a lot of mathematical knowledge.

With the talent of Sleeping Dragon and knowledge of mathematics, Zhuge Liang truly mastered the secret art of Sleeping Dragon's Strategy of the Sky and possessed the ability to observe the stars and predict good and bad luck.

So he offered advice and suggestions to Zhuge Gui many times and helped him a lot.

Zhuge Gui, as the county magistrate, was seriously ill, but he was still able to control the situation in Taishan County after the death of the Taishan County prefect and the previous county lieutenant, and prevent major chaos in Taishan County. This was all thanks to Zhuge Liang's assistance.

So when faced with Zhuge Liang's guidance again, he did not dare to take it lightly and obeyed his orders completely!

Even if it means completely offending Bao Xin and other Taishan aristocratic families, it would not matter!

Zhuge Liang looked at Zhuge Gui's haggard expression and said in a childish voice, "Don't worry, father. You did the right thing!
Although the child does not know why, but when observing the stars at night, he finds that the three major families in Mount Tai are all very bad omens and will not live long!
As for me, the Zhuge clan, the only way to avoid harm is to keep a distance from them!"

“Since the three great families all have signs of great misfortune, I’m afraid that Taishan County is about to undergo earth-shaking changes.

In such a major change, can we stay out of trouble just by keeping a distance from the three major families?
In my opinion, it would be better for me to directly submit a letter of resignation and then take you away from Taishan County." Zhuge Gui coughed twice with difficulty and gasped for breath.

In fact, he didn't care. He knew his own body well and was afraid that he couldn't hold on for much longer.

No matter how big the changes are in Taishan County, it will only make him die a few days earlier. It doesn't matter.

But he couldn't let his two sons be trapped here.

Both of his sons are outstanding.

Especially the second son Zhuge Liang, I am afraid that the future glory of the Zhuge family will depend on him.

It must not be destroyed here!

But Zhuge Jin shook his head decisively and said, "Father is seriously ill. Leaving Taishan County at this time will undoubtedly cost him his life!

As human beings, how could we do such a thing that is outrageous to both humans and gods!
This must not be done!"

"Yes, father, maybe you don't believe it, but I really didn't lie to you.

I see that those three great families all have bad omens, but this Taishan County has good omens!
We, the Zhuge family, also have auspicious signs.

Staying in Taishan County will not only protect you from harm, but will actually lead to prosperity!" Zhuge Liang also advised.

In fact, this was not the first time he said this, but Zhuge Gui never quite believed it.

They thought this was a reason Zhuge Liang made up to prevent him from leaving Taishan County due to illness.

The aristocratic families are the foundation of a place. If even the aristocratic families are in great trouble, how can the common people at the bottom of society survive?
How is it possible that the local noble families suffer great misfortune while the local area is prosperous?
This is complete nonsense!
However, faced with the unanimous opposition from his two sons, even he, as a father, was helpless.

After all, he is now seriously ill, and many of the daily affairs of the county magistrate are actually handled on his behalf by Zhuge Jin.

The decision-making power on important matters was actually in Zhuge Liang's hands.

……

While the Taishan families were making their own plans, Ji Qiu was not idle either.

He took Zhang Ning, Dian Wei, Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun, and set out for Ren County under the protection of the personal guard battalion and the cavalry battalion.

And Ren County is the territory of the Yellow Turbans of Mount Tai!

Ji Qiu's attitude towards the Yellow Turbans of Mount Tai has changed slightly.

Initially, when he was appointed as the Taishan County Magistrate, his attitude towards the Taishan Yellow Turbans was to use both suppression and appeasement, with suppression as the main approach.

This was because his reputation was not high at the time, his military strength was not strong, and he had no connection with the Yellow Turbans in Mount Tai.

The Yellow Turbans of Mount Tai will not submit to him. He must first completely wipe out the elite forces of the Yellow Turbans of Mount Tai and defeat them completely before he can subdue them.

But with the end of the Battle of Chenliu, he gained some reputation in this world.

The reorganization of Chenliu greatly enhanced his military strength.

Of course, the most important thing is that he mastered the Taiping technique and subdued Zhang Ning.

He became the second generation leader of the Yellow Turbans with complete orthodoxy.

This gave him the foundation to subdue the Yellow Turban forces in an organized manner.

So his attitude towards the Yellow Turbans at Mount Tai became a combination of suppression and appeasement, with appeasement being the main approach!

Ok,
We have to fight.

If we don't fight, we won't be able to establish our authority, and we won't be able to completely subdue the Yellow Turban forces!

Ji Qiu was not willing to be just a nominal leader of the Yellow Turbans and watch his subordinates do evil things in his name.

What he needs to do is to completely crush the Yellow Turban forces, chew them up, and turn them into his own nutrients!

(End of this chapter)