Tiger Owl

Chapter 64 Xu Wei of Lujiang
Gan Ning was delighted that Yin Mo and Li Zhuan had joined him. The Hall of Recruiting Talents had been established for half a month and had attracted many scholars, but almost all of them were unknown. Of course, this was normal, as historically the world was dominated by the gentry, and people from humble backgrounds rarely had the opportunity to rise to prominence. So how many famous people could there be?
Although they may not be famous, Gan Ning would try his best to employ those with genuine talent and ability. If there was really no place for them, he would give them a title and let them teach.

However, the reasons for Yin Mo and Li Zhuan's defection were different. Not to mention that Yin Mo himself had extremely high talent and learning, he also had a deep network of connections among the scholars in Jingzhou. His defection would inevitably attract other talents from Jingzhou to come and join him.

On the very first day, Li Zhuan made Gan Ning realize that he had struck gold. He easily solved the problem of the dragon bone waterwheel being difficult to operate, a problem that dozens of craftsmen could not solve, but which Li Zhuan, this genius, solved in less than two hours.

Gan Ning had many ideas, but he couldn't put them into practice. With the genius Li Zhuan, many of Gan Ning's ideas could be put into action.

Gan Ning immediately appointed Yin Mo as the Chief Secretary of Yuzhang Commandery and Li Zhuan as the Military Advisor in the Staff Office, in charge of military equipment research.

It should be noted here that Gan Ning had two sets of staff. One set was the administrative staff of Yuzhang Commandery, which included Lu Su as the prefectural assistant, Yin Mo as the prefectural chief secretary, Yang Xuan as the prefectural military commander, as well as the various departments and offices under the prefectural government and the county governments of each county.

Another team is the Staff Office, which manages the army. Lu Su was previously the Chief Secretary, but now he has been promoted to Military Advisor by Gan Ning. There are also many civilian officers, divided into six departments: Military, Law, Granary, Merit, Armor, and Garrison.

With everything in Yuzhang County on track, Gansu and Ningxia also ushered in a rare period of stable development.

Soon, Yin Mo wrote another letter to recruit a great talent, Jiang Wan, a famous scholar from Lingling County. Gan Ning was overjoyed and immediately appointed Jiang Wan as the county magistrate, and made Lu Su his full-time military advisor.

Meanwhile, the situation in Jiangdong also settled down. Sun Quan accepted Cao Cao's appointment and was appointed as the Governor of Yangzhou and General Who Subdues the Barbarians. He was also granted the title of Marquis of Wu. At the same time, in accordance with Sun Quan's nomination, the governors of the five commanderies of Wu, Kuaiji, Jiujiang, Danyang and Lujiang were appointed.

However, as a condition, Sun Quan's younger brother, Sun Yi, went to the court to serve as Assistant Commandant of the Right Army. This position was one of the Eight Commandants of the Western Garden, a prestigious post during the reign of Emperor Ling of Han. Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were both once among the Eight Commandants of the Western Garden. But now, the Eight Commandants were just honorary positions with no real power. In effect, Sun Yi became a hostage.

Of course, Sun Quan sent Sun Yi to Xuchang as a hostage in order to stabilize Jiangdong. After all, Sun Yi had previously received support from his mother, Lady Wu, as well as Zhang Hong, Hua Xin, and others, and was one of the destabilizing factors threatening Sun Quan's position.

After being placed under house arrest for several months, Sun Yi finally gave in and agreed to go to Xuchang. Zhang Hong left him a letter, telling him to make friends with famous scholars, since Xuchang had the most famous scholars.

Sun Yi headed north without hesitation.

To Sun Quan's disappointment, Gan Ning also received Cao Cao's support and was appointed as the governor of Yuzhang Commandery, which meant that Jiangdong lost its legitimate ownership of Yuzhang Commandery.

Left with no other choice, Sun Quan ordered Xu Qiu, the governor of Lujiang, to rebuild Wankou City at the confluence of the Wan River and the Yangtze River, so as to replace Chaisang as the bridgehead for Jiangdong to attack Jiangxia.

At the same time, Zhu Zhi was sent to Nanchang City for the second time. He had no choice but to agree to Gan Ning's conditions, temporarily acknowledging that Yuzhang County belonged to Gan Ning in exchange for Sun Fu.

The original small town of Wankou has been demolished, and a new town is now under construction, which will be three times larger than the original one. The project is being personally supervised by Prefect Xu Qiu.

Although Xu Qiu was Xu Zhen's nephew, he was not much younger than Xu Zhen. He was nearly forty years old and had served as the governor of Runan and the chancellor of Donghai. In the second year of Jian'an, the court appointed him as the Minister of Justice. On his way to take up his post, he was kidnapped by Yuan Shu. He escaped and returned to Wu Commandery at the beginning of last year. After Sun Ce took over Lujiang Commandery, he appointed him as the governor of Lujiang Commandery.

Xu Qiu had two sons and one daughter. His eldest son, Xu Mao, served as the magistrate of Yuyao County, and his second son, Xu Peng, was an official under Sun Quan. He also had a young daughter, Xu Wei, who was thirteen years old this year. She had loved fortune telling and divination since she was a child, and the famous Taoist priest Yu Ji even took her as his last disciple.

Xu Wei was betrothed to Sun Yi when she was young, but Sun Yi was hot-tempered and simple-minded, and Xu Wei did not like him. This time, Sun Yi was sent to Xuchang as a hostage, and Madam Wu wanted her to go to Xuchang with Sun Yi. Of course, Xu Wei refused, so she fled back to Lujiang to find her father.

"Father, I'll only be gone for a few days. I'm going to Longhu Mountain to see Master. I promise I'll be back soon. Besides, I'm going with Third Brother. Aren't you worried?"

Xu Wei stayed in Lujiang for a few days, but soon became bored. Just then, one of her cousins ​​was going to Nanchang to look for a job and would stop by Lujiang to visit their uncle. Xu Wei was tempted to go with her cousin to Nanchang for a few days.

The excuse of visiting her master at Longhu Mountain was obviously made up. Her master, Yu Ji, only came to see her once a year, taught her a set of exercises, and then left. She herself did not know where her master was.

Xu Qiu served as an official away from home for many years. His second wife, Xie, passed away not long after giving birth to their daughter. The daughter was taken care of by her aunt, Sun, from a young age. Sun treated her as her own granddaughter and loved her dearly.

Xu Qiu knew his daughter was exceptionally quick-witted and had a highly skilled female bodyguard, so there was no need to worry too much. Besides, his nephew would also be there to look after her. He agreed, "At most a month, don't go too long."

Xu Wei jumped up with joy, "Thank you, Daddy!"

Xu Wei then remembered something and instructed his father, "I did a divination yesterday, and it says that there will be war in the east soon. You must not go to Jiujiang County."

Xu Qiu chuckled, not taking it to heart. Besides, he had been busy building the city recently and wouldn't be going to Jiujiang County.

Be careful on your way home!

Xu Qiu arranged a passenger ship with a value of 1,000 shi (a unit of weight), and Xu Wei set off with his cousin.

Xu Wei's cousin, Xu Shu, came from the Yingchuan Xu clan. He was thirty-two years old and had come to Jingzhou a few years ago to seek refuge. At the same time, he wanted to find a job in Jingzhou, but he came from a poor family and had not been recommended for the civil service examination. Liu Biao did not even give him a chance to interview.

Xu Shu recently received a letter from Yin Mo, in which Gan Ning invited him to Yuzhang, which made Xu Shu feel flattered. So he came to Lujiang to ask Xu Qiu for his opinion.

Just then, Xu Zhen decided to place his bet on Gan Ning as well, putting all the Xu family's poor sons on Gan Ning, so Xu Qiu encouraged Xu Shu to go to Yuzhang County to seek development.

Xu Shu finally made up his mind and set off with his younger cousin, Xu Wei.

The advantage of the Thousand Stone Passenger Ship is that the cabins are relatively large and can be divided into two. Xu Shu can live in one half by himself, while Xu Wei and the female guard Qin Yan can live in the other half.

Qin Yan is about twenty years old, with a height of 1.8 meters, dark skin, and a physique as strong as a man. He is extremely skilled in swordsmanship, proficient in swimming, and loyal to his master. Since Xu Wei was eight years old, Qin Yan has been responsible for protecting her.

Gan Ning also saw her last year in Xuchang. At that time, Qin Yan helped Xu Wei ashore, and Gan Ning thought she was a servant.

Qin Yan sat cross-legged in the cabin, her eyes closed in meditation. She spoke very little, and often her sharp gaze was her way of saying what she wanted to say.

Xu Shu felt uneasy. He smiled from next door and said, "Little sister, could you tell my fortune and predict my future?"

Xu Wei laughed and said, "It's fine to do it for fun, but you have to do it seriously. Not today?"

"why?"

"Fortune telling requires a special opportunity, such as encountering a peculiar person, witnessing a peculiar event, or having a sudden inspiration. Only then can one burn three sticks of incense and calmly perform divination. However, there's no need to divine Third Brother's future. I've performed divination for Gan Ning, and it's an auspicious omen for him. Coupled with his unusual double pupils, this man is destined to be one of the great rulers of the world."

Xu Shu chuckled to himself; this little cousin, though young, spoke with an air of maturity beyond her years.

"You know Gan Ning?"

“I met him in Xuchang last year. He brought the imperial seal to the capital. He had a really strong presence. I guess I had a bit of a connection with him.”

"I see!"

Xu Shu suddenly realized that his younger cousin's insistence on going to Nanchang was probably because she wanted to find Gan Ning.

(End of this chapter)