Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 609 Energetic
The next morning, there were drizzles in the sky.

After taking a bath, Zhang Fei put on new clothes and a military cap, and then was led by a guard to see the black bear.

The list of gifts presented included two falcons, ten Donghu horses, twenty Donghu bows, twenty sable furs, one hundred kilograms of ginseng, and eight hundred sable tails.

The shogunate members recited the gift list, and a group of guards brought some gifts.

The black bear looked at the two falcons. He had no interest in falconry.

No matter how good a falcon is, it cannot be as easily used as a Taoist soldier like Lu Bu.

When the ceremony was over, Black Bear raised his arm to signal, and the temporary ceremonial officer beside him sang loudly: "Please take your seat."

Zhang Fei then stepped forward and sat down on a round stool, and the ceremonial officers and guards left.

Another group of guards came forward with a table full of dishes and placed it in front of Zhang Fei.

Black Bear finally spoke: "How is the war with Dongyi going?"

"The great Sima has great power. All the Eastern Yi countries have sent envoys to make peace, but our lord, the General of the Conquering the Yi, refused to accept them."

Zhang Fei was calm as he narrated: "The traitor Cao Cao sent his navy across the sea, intending to ally with the Dongyi people; the traitor Yuan Shang trained his navy in Bohai and formed an alliance with Ke Bineng. Our Liaodong is isolated and attacked from three sides. I heard that there is a steam train in Guanzhong, which can travel hundreds of miles a day and carry tens of thousands of pounds. It is a powerful weapon for the military. My lord sent a foreign minister to ask for this weapon."

"Since you know it's a national treasure, you should know it won't be easily passed on to outsiders."

Black Bear picked up the chopsticks and the rice: "I am not stingy, but I am worried that this will be exposed to the outside world, and Tai A will be controlled by others. Let's not talk about this today. We are tired from the journey, so let's eat first."

"I have come here specially for this purpose, and I would like to ask the Grand Marshal to show me the way."

Zhang Fei had no appetite for gourmet food. The dishes on his table were mainly stir-fried dishes, which looked delicious and tempting. He continued, "My lord is willing to exchange the Dongyi captives for the steam engine."

"Then we can discuss this matter after the Dongyi captives arrive."

Black Bear lowered his head to eat. He had been too generous to Liu Bei in previous times, so this matter must be stopped.

It's impossible to turn against each other, we just need to clarify each other's positions.

Seeing that Black Bear was concentrating on his meal, Zhang Fei had no choice but to pick up his chopsticks and eat. He drank half the pot of wine. When he saw Black Bear finish his second bowl of rice and wipe his lips with a handkerchief, Zhang Fei put down his chopsticks as well.

He then spoke up: "I heard that the Grand Marshal wanted to attack the Qiang people in Hehuang?"

"Yes, I have mobilized the troops of the twelve counties, with Zhang Xiu, Ma Chao, and Gan Ning as generals, with a total of more than 100,000 soldiers."

Black Bear smiled, he guessed what Zhang Fei wanted to do.

Although there are more than 100,000 troops, only a little over 30,000, or even less than 20,000, can actually be deployed to the front line.

The 30,000 troops under Gan Ning's command are only responsible for food supply and will only stay in Yuzhong.

Those who penetrated deep into the Hehuang Valley were Zhang Xiu, Ma Chao, and the Badi volunteer troops from Hanzhong and Wudu.

Excluding the garrison troops along the way, the number of troops participating in the battle on the front line is unlikely to exceed 30,000.

The young and middle-aged population of the Sheng Qiang people gathered in the Hehuang Valley is only about 70,000 to 80,000.

With their current equipment and morale, Black Bear couldn't think of where else something could go wrong.

Seeing Black Bear's confident answer, Zhang Fei didn't feel comfortable taking the initiative to suggest working.

He took a step back and said, "The steam locomotive is a treasured device of the imperial court. Can I have a look at it from a distance? I have no intention of spying on secrets, I just want to see if it is real. If it is really beneficial to state affairs, I will tell my Lord Xuande the truth."

"It's not difficult."

Black Bear thought for a moment and said, "I will be going on a tour of Shanglin Garden in two or three days, and the general can come with me then."

"Yes, I will wait for the notification from the Grand Marshal."

Zhang Fei agreed, and seeing a minister approaching, he stood up and bowed, "I'll take my leave."

The black bear stretched out his arms and swung them in a fake gesture. Zhang Fei took a few steps back and followed the ministers out.

Guards came in immediately and removed the tables and stools.

Black Bear turned his head to look at Fa Zheng beside him: "I can't give him the steam engine easily, how should I return the gift?"

Fa Zheng bowed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, Liaodong is cold and poor, so you can give us Shu brocade and goose down brocade robes as return gifts. Three hundred hundred swords forged in Hancheng can be produced, and twenty sets of armor made in Sijin Mansion can be selected." "Well, send someone to prepare the return gifts, and allocate all the ginseng sent to Zhongnan Mountain to develop new medicines."

Black Bear stood up, walked to the side door, and continued, "Mr. Cai's posthumous letters have been compiled into a book. Go to Cai's Academy to withdraw a set and send it out together. The two falcons will be split into two, one for Ma Chao and one for Liu Qi. The Donghu horses will be sent to the breeding farm as a reserve of horse breeds."

"Yes."

Fa Zheng agreed. Even if he couldn't remember these things, the several secretaries who accompanied him could help him sort them out.

Returning to the office hall, Black Bear looked at the two trays of documents piled on the desk. They didn't look like much, but in fact they were more than the two baskets of bamboo slips he had before.

It seems that all aspects of the matter need to be dealt with now, but most of them are daily chores that require his approval and go through the process.

Often, just drawing a circle is enough, but if you are careless, your chicken may be stolen.

He didn't feel annoyed. Anyway, he didn't plan to let anyone help him govern the country before the performance evaluation next year.

Even if it was just a daily greeting from a centurion, he would respond.

In recent years, centurions have gradually begun to learn to read and write. In the beginning, most of them needed the scribes to hold the pen, but now they can hold the pen themselves and communicate with him.

At the beginning, the centurions dictated and the clerks took notes. Since the superiors and subordinates were not familiar with each other, there was too much spoken language and ceremonial greetings also took up a lot of space.

By now, the writing format of these centurions has become more unified.

It was a routine to start with a greeting. In addition to the work content, he would start to talk about things happening around him, from a ewe giving birth to two lambs at once, to a conflict in the commune in the jurisdiction, to a baby born in the jurisdiction who wanted him to name it, to hearing about a conflict in the family of a nearby official. All of these would be written to him.

It’s not that the centurions are bored, but they have to write three letters a month at least. After talking about their work, they have to talk about things happening around them.

Even the preaching of Tianshi Dao was repeatedly mentioned by the centurions, who did not like Tianshi Dao.

In terms of personal beliefs, the Baihu group tends to be Taiping Dao.

However, the core missionaries of the Taiping Dao are now in Yizhou and the border counties, promoting the Taiping Dao beliefs among the Badi and other Hu tribes and building grassroots Taoist organizations.

In Guanzhong, the Taiping Dao backbones who stayed behind were divided into three parts: one part studied medical classics and medicinal herbs in Mount Zhongnan, one part participated in the training of Qinghua Guards, and another part traveled around practicing medicine and looking for suitable Taoist children.

Young people from Guanzhong area can come to Chang'an University to make a living during the slack season. They have to be at least twelve years old. Those younger ones are either gifted and tall, or they can only make a living from this university and have no other options.

Therefore, children and young boys between the ages of seven and twelve in the homes of the common people near Guanzhong became the first choice for these Taoist doctors to recruit as Taoist children.

Taoists also have corresponding standards for selecting Taoist children. At least their parents must be Taoists and actively participate in sacrifices in nearby mountains and rivers.

A child must participate at least nine times for selection.

Every time a mountain or river is sacrificed, one either has to clear rivers and dredge canals, or assist in road construction and tree planting. Neither of these is an easy job.

If parents or elders die or become disabled during the sacrificial activities, their children will be given priority.

The young Taoist children collected and selected by the wandering Taoist doctors would also be divided up, either to be trained together in Mount Zhongnan or to be sent to various Qinghua Guards camps to work as child laborers.

A centurion could send him a letter, and anyone, even the most junior green-robed Taoist, could write him a letter.

So after a full meal, the black bear took the time to read quietly, occasionally writing replies with an ink-filled fountain pen.

Over the past few years, his Jin Jianshu calligraphy has improved rapidly and started to move towards the running script and cursive script stage.

This is a tough job for the secretarial desk, as they have to copy these letters every day.

The copy was filed and sealed, and the original was returned to the sender with Black Bear's reply.

The negative effect of being familiar with every detail is that Black Bear can sleep well after finishing his daily duties.

Things like boredom and insomnia are rare nowadays.

Fa Zheng could only sit on the side, handing over rolls of official documents and letters, waiting for Black Bear to read, annotate and reply.

The official documents after the reply were pushed aside, and a dozen copies were taken aside by the secretary on duty, and copied and filed by the secretaries and clerks on duty.

Finally, the originals are classified, sealed, and sent back via the postal system the next day.

(End of this chapter)