The Duke of Shu Han began guarding Jingzhou in place of Guan Yu.

Chapter 70 Prosperity, all can prosper
"How can we eat it all?"

"Could you be an ant that knows nothing of taste?"

Zhuge Ke slapped the table and burst into laughter.

Miwei wanted to explain to the other party that ants can also sense smells.

But I'd probably be seen as an oddball.

sidewalk:

"Oranges are sweet and sour, and I certainly like them."

"But the bitter orange is warm in nature and pungent in taste, and can break up stagnation and dissipate stagnation."

“I had a strange illness before, and the renowned physician Zhang from Jiangling used bitter orange as medicine to cure me.”

Therefore, it means "all eat".

Upon hearing this, Fei Yi burst into laughter.

Zhuge Ke opened his mouth as if to curse, but no words came out.

Miwei certainly knew the reason.

Now, the two of them had just been depicted as phoenixes and unicorns, donkeys, mules, swallows, sparrows, wheat, and stone mills.

They may seem bizarre and unusual, but they all use objects to convey meaning.

These are the techniques of "metaphor" and "evocative imagery" commonly used in poetry.

That is, metaphor and association.

So, regarding Zhuge Ke's question just now...

The point is not whether anyone has actually eaten both southern oranges and northern trifoliate oranges at the same time.

But he never expected that he had dug a pit for himself.

Coincidentally.

I met a guy who actually ate both of them.

Or rather, eating with a reason and justification.

This is similar to...

Someone said, "I've eaten more salt than you've walked roads."

The other person replied that you have diabetes.

We're not on the same wavelength.

Zhuge Ke had always prided himself on his quick wit and talent; how could he possibly accept this?
After a few moments of stunned silence, they launched another attack:
"How many people in the world are like you, who 'eat everything'?"

Mi Wei immediately replied, "I'm afraid there are tens of thousands."

"Let us not forget the great epidemic that swept across the country three years ago."

"How many people can't afford food or medicine?"

“I have heard that many tribes of the Wuxi barbarians have been wiped out, but this is little known to others.”

"If they could know this from beyond the grave, would you ask them if they wanted to 'eat it all'?"

That must be what I'm thinking.

Zhuge Ke sneered inwardly, but didn't take it seriously.

Because he concluded that Mi Wei was deliberately going off-topic again.

Even Fei Yi couldn't help but step forward and tug at Mi Wei's sleeve as a reminder.

One unexpected move can be considered a brilliant stroke.

But doing too much of it would seem like deliberately making people look foolish.

Instead, it falls into a lower category.

However, Mi Wei's Qi was already at its peak, and he couldn't stop for even a moment:

"As for the difference between southern oranges and northern trifoliate oranges, I consulted Doctor Zhang about this matter back then."

He said that knowledgeable doctors can more or less discover that oranges and trifoliate oranges are not in the same family. It's just that ordinary people are not familiar with their medicinal properties and mistakenly think they are the same species.

"I then asked, why don't the doctors publicize this matter?"

"Dr. Zhang said there was no need for that."

"When people are hungry or thirsty, eating oranges can save them; when they are sick or have boils, eating bitter oranges can also save them."

"Isn't this enough?"

"And then I understood."

Miwei paused for a moment, then popped a segment of orange into his mouth.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the game.

The two young people remained silent and composed.

Even Ma Liang and the others put down their wine cups and turned to look.

All intelligent people keenly realized that Mi Wei had not actually gone off-topic.

After moistening his throat slightly, Mi Wei continued:
"For Yu Yanzi, in order not to fail in his mission, oranges and trifoliate oranges could be of the same species even if they had different tastes."

"For doctors, in order to distinguish the medicinal properties, even if orange peel and trifoliate orange peel look similar, they must be differentiated."

"For someone who is about to die, as long as it can save their life, who cares about the differences? Just eat it, isn't that enough?"

"This is the principle of seeking common ground based on needs and reserving differences based on interests!"

The words fell.

Fei Yi clapped his hands on the spot: "Brilliant!"

Everyone else also fell into complete silence.

At this point, everyone understood Mi Wei's subtext. While there were still powerful enemies in the north, the situation was gradually revealing an opportunity due to the critical illness of the warlord.

Shouldn't the Liu and Sun families seek common ground while reserving their differences and join forces to launch a northern expedition?

How can we be as short-sighted as Mr. Sun before, only focusing on the small plot of land in front of us?

Thinking of this, Fei Yi felt inexplicably embarrassed.

I was so ashamed that I thought Mi Wei didn't understand the principles of metaphor and allegory, and that I was just being foolish.

Actually, they were already "in the mood" from the very beginning!

He certainly didn't believe in the pretext of "enlightening himself through dialogue with the divine doctor Zhang."

It was merely Mi Wei using the other person's words to express his own ambitions.

This is precisely the "xing" technique most frequently used in poetry and prose!
How could Zhuangzi have actually seen the Kunpeng soaring ninety thousand miles into the sky?

How could Confucius really be stumped by a child playing in the mud?

Everyone's competing!
It's all about prosperity!
The pre-Qin philosophers had already mastered this approach to a high degree.

This Mi family's Awei is truly someone to be looked at with new respect!
Zhuge Ke realized he was in the wrong, and his momentum immediately weakened.

We can only try to find a solution from another angle:
"Are you perhaps trying to say, 'The world is bustling, all for profit; the world is in turmoil, all for gain'?"

All you care about is profit!

Having come this far, Mi Wei could certainly understand the other party's subtext.

But he put down the orange peel, straightened his posture, and said solemnly:

"Guanzi said that people come together for profit, which is certainly true."

"But the friendship between gentlemen is based not only on interests, but also on aspirations and morality."

"For example, the King of Hanzhong, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, the military advisor, and my master!"

"It's like Sun Quan, Zhou Yu, Lu Zhishen, and your father!"

"In the past, when you elders were in peril, you risked your lives and traveled thousands of miles to form an alliance against Cao Cao and to restore order to the world. Isn't this a perfect example of morality and self-interest coexisting?"

Upon hearing this, Zhuge Ke finally fell silent, then his face showed resentment.

Miwei bringing up his father's example was indeed a bit of a blatant attempt to cheat him.

Apart from the specifically emphasized "Sun Cheqi" being debatable, the rest is simply irrefutable.

Otherwise, what exactly is the significance of the Sun family's three generations of management of Jiangdong?
Are they just a bunch of opportunists who come together for profit and then break up for the same reason?

Zhuge Ke dared not and could not say such things!

That's the reason he was so indignant.

He was actually defeated by this person who couldn't write poetry!

"Ke! You have lost your composure, step back!"

Upon hearing his father's words, Zhuge Ke inexplicably felt a sense of salvation.

He hurriedly grabbed the still-wet ink of the "Ode to the Grinding Stone," covered his face, and left.

Meanwhile, the quick-witted Fei Yi had already secretly tucked the "Ode to Wheat" into his sleeve.

Pretend that you haven't written anything at all.

The farce ended with Zhuge Ke losing face and Zhuge Jin's attempt to set the tone backfire.

Even the seasoned Zhuge Jin couldn't help but sigh slightly at this moment.

Pointing at Miwei, he said to Ma Liang:

"Now I know why Mi Zifang refused my lord's offer to recruit him."

"If I had known this would happen, I should have recommended the miraculous doctor from Jiangdong to Mi Zizhong back then!"

Ma Liang was taken aback upon hearing this, then burst into laughter:
"Brother, your words are too blunt. I don't know whether to accept them or not!"

Then I also looked at Miwei.

For some reason, he thought of his younger brother, Ma Su, who had already entered officialdom.

It's not that the two look alike.

Instead, it was said that the King of Hanzhong had privately remarked that Ma Su was a man of exaggerated words, reminding himself, as the elder brother, to keep a closer eye on him.

The Miwei before us seems to have a completely opposite personality to Youchang.

What is Ji Chang thinking about?

Upon hearing Zhuge Jin's question, Ma Liang pointed at Mi Wei and turned around to say:

"To be honest, my brother, this boy once claimed that in a dream he received the method of establishing an everlasting peace from the late Emperor of the Han Dynasty, in order to restore the Han Dynasty and the world."

At the time, Fei Gongju (Fei Shi) thought he was just joking, but later he shared the anecdote with the king and the other gentlemen.

"But looking at it today, I'm afraid it might not be fake!"

Zhuge Jin was also taken aback upon hearing this, and then chuckled as well:

"You've put it bluntly, I won't accept it!"

He certainly didn't think Ma Liang was joking, nor would he take Mi Wei's jest seriously.

He simply understood that Ma Liang was using this as an excuse to emphasize Liu Bei's legitimate status as a member of the Han imperial family.

It's still in the "prosperity" stage.

After this brief exchange, the two seasoned veterans smiled knowingly.

Then we drank the wine, and then we peeled the oranges.

As for the two surrendered men, no one cared anymore.

(End of this chapter)