Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

"What I saw in the Talent Recruiting Hall during the day was also interesting." Wang Zheng put down the wine bowl, threw a few roasted beans into his mouth, and chewed them with a crunching sound: "I thought I had to answer some questions before I could see the General of the Cavalry, but I didn't expect that I would see you and me just by saying my name."

Gao Zhen put down his wine bowl and picked up the meat with chopsticks. He stopped when he heard this and said, "I thought they must have gathered quite a few famous people from Liaodong. My brother and I are also somewhat famous. If not, why would I accompany you on this trip? Wouldn't that be asking for trouble?"

Wang Zheng chuckled, looking at his companions who were eating with their mouths full of oil: "I actually hope that I am an unknown person, so that I can test whether they are sincere or not." Suddenly he asked out of the blue: "Do you regret it?"

"Hmm..." Gao Zhen tried hard to swallow the food in his mouth. He pounded his chest twice and drank some wine to swallow the food. "What are you regretting?"

Seeing Wang Zheng's eyes looking outside, the strong man understood what his companion meant and laughed: "I don't want to follow a master who has no humanity."

Wang Zheng laughed, reached out and picked up the wine pot, raised the spout and poured the wine into his open mouth: "Shouldn't you say now that those who are attached to their families are incompetent, those who are ruthless are true heroes, and those who achieve great things should be like Liu Ji?"

"It's a good thing that the king is affectionate." Gao Zhen sneered: "If the king is ruthless, wouldn't the subordinates be more worried? I only care whether he will let me show my talents, and the rest..." He shrugged: "Who cares."

"Yeah..." The lazy young man opposite turned his head to look at the street, his eyes flashing with unreadable emotions: "Everything will be clear tomorrow."

Just as the two were about to say more, they heard footsteps nearby, and then a strong aroma of meat rushed into their noses. A roasted leg of lamb was placed in front of their table. "Here is the leg of lamb you requested, please. It costs two hundred and twenty coins."

The lamb leg was quite big and roasted till golden brown. It was still sizzling because it was fresh out of the oven.

"..." Wang Zheng's face froze for a moment, and he subconsciously touched his stomach with his hand. He estimated that the amount of food in front of him was enough to feed two or three adult men, but he was already 70% full and couldn't eat any more.

Looking up at Gao Zhen, whose expression also changed, Wang Zheng blinked and suddenly showed a wicked smile. He reached into his pocket and took out the money and handed it over. He looked at Gao Zhen and said, "Brother Gao, the roasted lamb leg you asked for is here. I don't have as good an appetite as you and I can't eat any more. Please--"

As the vendor walked away, he gestured to the lamb leg and said, "To thank you for accompanying me around these past two days, I'll treat you to this lamb leg. Come on, don't be polite, eat as much as you want."

Gao Zhen's facial muscles twitched. He leaned on the table with both hands and looked for a long time. He raised his head and looked at his unscrupulous friend who was smiling: "Can't I pay you back?"

"no!"

Loud laughter rang out in the restaurant.

……

The night passes.

He went shopping and had fun with his wife, daughter and apprentices, and slept with beautiful women at night, but happy times were always short.

When the sun rose, Lü Bu woke up on time, washed, and ate, then walked into the lobby. He was tall and sturdy, wearing a scarlet cape, holding the ring-handled sword handle at his waist with his manicured hands, and his eyebrows were full of heroic spirit. In the lobby, Li Zhu was standing aside, and two people were standing in the middle. When they saw Lü Bu walk in, they bowed and saluted.

"Greetings, General of the Cavalry."

"No gift."

The approaching figure created air currents, and when he stopped, his cloak was still swaying. He held the hands of the two men with his strong hands and said, "I have heard that Liaodong is full of talented people. Yesterday, I boldly sent a document to recruit talents. I didn't expect that you two great talents would be willing to come. I am really delighted. Come, please take a seat and let's talk in detail."

Wang Zheng and Gao Zhen felt flattered for a moment. They had imagined the scene of meeting Lu Bu, but they did not expect this man to be so enthusiastic. He actually held their hands and led them to sit down. Yu Cheng hurriedly brought them the hot tea and pastries he had prepared.

Wang and Gao sat down next to Lu Bu and watched him turn around and sit behind the table. They glanced at the documents piled up half a person high on the table, glanced at each other, and heard the other person say, "I have always been straightforward and don't like hypocrisy and courtesy. Now I have just established myself in Liaodong. I wonder what you two can teach me?"

Listening to the question, the two people sitting there had the thought that it was indeed coming. Wang Zheng looked more serious and spoke first: "Liaodong is located in the border area, with steep mountains and rivers and rich resources, but it is also coveted by the barbarians from all directions. Now there are the dangers of the Jurchens inside and the worries of the Liao invasion in the west. If we want long-term peace and stability, we need to take both internal and external factors into consideration and act pragmatically, only then can we achieve great governance."

Seeing that Lu Bu's expression did not change much, he continued, "I think there should be five strategies. The first is to pacify the people and establish a good government. Liaodong is a land where many different ethnic groups live together and the customs of the people are different. We need to implement a good government to pacify the people. I think that schools should be set up to promote education so that the people of all ethnic groups can be assimilated. At the very least, we should make people understand and trust each other. Only in this way can we resolve conflicts and make the people serve the monarch."

"Second, we need to build defenses. In addition to the plains, Liaodong also has many mountainous and dangerous places. We should build castles and beacon towers to strengthen the border defense. We should recruit strong men, train elite soldiers, set up military farms, and store food and grass for emergency use. Coastal areas need to be defended to prevent disturbances from pirates."

"Third, encourage trade. There are many important sea and land routes around Liaodong, so it is advisable to develop trade and transport goods from all directions. Set up commercial ports and encourage merchants to come and go. The most prosperous trade can not only enrich the national treasury, but also increase people's income and improve their lives. However, we must also be careful that merchants use money to disrupt politics. Greed for money will gradually erode the integrity of officials, and greed will lead to the loss of justice. There is no greater danger for the country than this."

"Fourth is the gain and loss of talents. The general set up the Talent Recruitment Hall to recruit talents. Although this is a good move, it seems too one-sided. It would be better to set up both civil and military examinations in parallel with the imperial examinations. As long as the general keeps making progress on the front battlefield, there will be countless virtuous people willing to serve him in the rear."

"Finally, I think we should follow the strategy of King Zhao of Qin, making friends with distant countries and attacking nearby ones. In the current situation, we are competing with Jin for the ownership of Liaodong, and there is the danger of invasion by Liao. In the distance, Song and Goryeo are far away and difficult to reach. It would be better to make friends with both in exchange for support of food and equipment, which would be much easier than for the general to face Jin and Liao alone."

Then Wang Zheng bowed and said: "This is just some nonsense from me. I hope the general will forgive me."

"No." Lu Bu raised his eyebrows and looked at the young man opposite him seriously: "I think what you said makes sense. Although I have some ideas in my mind, I can't list them as clearly as you do."

He stood up and bowed to the young man: "Thank you for teaching me, sir. I hope you can join me in my house and help me with my great cause. I will treat you with all my heart and seek common development."

Wang Zheng was delighted: "This is my wish. I will do my best to achieve it, even until my death."

Lu Bu smiled with satisfaction, and looked to the side with excited tiger eyes. (End of this chapter)