My younger brother Lü Fengxian

Chapter 278 Three visits to the thatched cottage
The autumn weather is clear and sunny.

Lu Yi did not use such good weather to handle government affairs. Instead, he took his brothers Lu Bu and Gao Shun for a walk on a small road in the countryside of Julu, Jizhou.

Nowadays, Lu Yi is busy with government affairs. Every day when he opens his eyes, he has to take care of more than 100,000 mouths eating, drinking, defecating and urinating. He no longer has the leisurely time he had when he first traveled through time.

However, ever since he had tasted the power, Lu Yi enjoyed it very much. He did not feel it was hard at all, or that he needed others to supervise him to work.

A real man cannot live without power for a day.

And someone like Lu Yi, who is ambitious and unwilling to be inferior to others, naturally needs power even more.

He was not here for fun, but for himself.

In fact, in order to recruit this person, Lu Yi has visited him for the third day today.

The fact that Lu Yi put aside his heavy and important government affairs and traveled across states and counties three times to seek talents shows what kind of great sage Lu Yi wanted to invite.

"Brother, I heard that you have been to my house twice in the past six months but have not been accepted. If you count this time, that's three times."

"Brother is now a prefect of a county, second only to the nine ministers, and a real 2,000-stone official. What kind of talent is he? Brother has humbled himself to you, yet you are still unwilling to be loyal to him? Do you need to bring us along to come here three times?"

In the team, Lu Bu finally couldn't bear the resentment along the way and complained to Lu Yi.

"Haha, what Fengxian said is very true. This person is indeed a man of great talent. If I can get his help, not only Bingzhou, but even Hebei can be taken!"

However, Lu Yi was not angry at all for being rejected twice in a row. Instead, he agreed happily, as if it was reasonable.

"Gao Shun, you have come here with my brother once. Who is this person that my brother values ​​so much?"

Seeing that he could not convince Lu Yi, Lu Bu turned to Gao Shun and asked about this man's origins.

"I only know that his name is Tian Feng, and he was originally an official in the Taiwei Mansion. Later, I don't know why he suddenly resigned and returned home. Since then, he has never served in the government. I don't know anything else."

Gao Shun was somewhat dissatisfied with this man's arrogance, as he had rejected his trusted elder brother twice. However, he had a stern personality and did not like to show his dissatisfaction.

"You two, please stop it!"

Lu Yi, who had been on his way, was worried that Lu Bu and Gao Shun would ruin his plan, so he finally stopped in dissatisfaction.

"Mr. Tian Feng is a rare talent, his wisdom and strategy are first-rate in the world. He originally had a promising future, but he hated the darkness of officialdom and was dissatisfied with the eunuchs' abuse of power, so he resigned and returned home. Even though the three ministers invited him to serve several times, he refused to serve. I am just a small county governor, so it is normal for me to be rejected."

"Don't even mention three visits. As long as Mr. Tian Feng is willing to serve, I will fight for him even if he visits me thirty times!"

"Wow!"

"Brother, you think too highly of this person. Could it be that his knowledge is even higher than that of the public official?"

"In my opinion, he is just another person who seeks fame and reputation. Perhaps he was forced to return home because his true colors were exposed under the command of the Grand Commandant and he could no longer make it. Otherwise, why would he give up his job as an official in the court and stay in a thatched cottage all day long?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Bu couldn't help but curl his lips and spoke to Lu Yi in an exaggerated manner.

"Ok?"

But Lu Yi just gave him a cold glare, which scared Lu Bu so much that he shrank his neck and kept silent. Only then did Lu Yi sigh and continue on his way.

Soon, Lu Yi and the other two stopped in front of a few crude thatched huts made of thatch and yellow mud. This was Tian Feng's residence.

Tian Feng was a man of strong character and justice. He never used his conscience to make ill-gotten gains. Relying only on the meager salary he received as an official, he was naturally poor and had no place to live.

After Lu Yi stopped, he did not go to Tian Feng's house immediately. In order to leave a good impression on Tian Feng, he carefully tidied up his clothes outside Tian Feng's door, which were a little messy due to his hurried journey.

While he was tidying up his appearance, he did not forget to warn Lu Bu and Gao Shun behind him.

"Remember, Mr. Tian Feng has an arrogant temper. When you meet me later, please show respect to me as my disciple, especially Fengxian!"

"Put away your bad temper in front of Mr. Tian Feng. If you make Mr. Tian Feng unhappy because of you, I will show you how I will deal with you when I return to Bingzhou!"

"understood!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Bu quickly agreed honestly, no longer showing his previous arrogance.

"Cough cough..."

"Excuse me, is Mr. Yuan Hao home?"

"The junior Lu Yi is visiting with gifts!"

Lu Yi walked forward and knocked on the door, which was more like a broken wooden board picked up from somewhere than a door. Not long after, a scholar in his thirties with a thin figure opened the door and came out.

"So it's the Lord himself. I'm honored to be here."

"However, I am only a resigned official, and I cannot bear to see you neglect your official duties for so many times. I appreciate your kindness, but Yanmen's government is busy and you still need to be here. I am afraid that my humble room will pollute your feet, so I will not invite you in. Please take the gift and go back."

Although the scholar spoke humbly, his words revealed an air of arrogance. He did not give Lu Yi any face at all and was even unwilling to invite Lu Yi in for a cup of tea.

"You are such a sour scholar! How dare you be so rude to my brother!"

What Lu Bu hated most was someone disrespecting his brother.

Back then, even though the Lu brothers were just two commoners in Jiuyuan, he dared to follow Lu Yi across counties to cause trouble for the Zhang family in Mayi for the sake of his brother's face.

Now he is a captain appointed by the imperial court, stationed at a border post. How can he ignore Tian Feng's rude words?
He immediately frowned and was about to get angry.

"Don't be rude, Fengxian!"

Seeing this, Lu Yi thought to himself that something was wrong and quickly interrupted Lu Bu's scolding. He was now beginning to regret his decision to bring Lu Bu along this time in order to show greater sincerity.

"But brother, this person has the audacity to disrespect you so much time and again. I just can't stand it anymore!"

"Have you forgotten what I said when I came here?"

"Why don't you apologize to Mr. Tian Feng?"

Although Lu Yi knew that Lu Bu was devoted to protecting his master, Tian Feng was of great value to him. It was not easy for him to have an army of 100,000 and he could not afford to lose him.

He now has no shortage of generals under his command. Gao Shun, Gao Lan, Hou Cheng and others are all brave generals of the time. Future famous generals like Zhang Liao and Zhang He will be able to enter officialdom smoothly within a few years, and Lu Bu is recognized as the number one general in the late Han Dynasty.

However, what is lacking is civil officials and counselors.

Especially a top talent like Tian Feng.

On the way here, Lu Bu once joked that Tian Feng couldn't be stronger than Chen Gong.

However, Tian Feng's performance in history is indeed better than Chen Gong's.

Chen Gong assisted Lü Bu in defending Xuzhou, but he still couldn't save it. However, Tian Feng assisted Yuan Shao in defeating Gongsun Zan, a fierce man from Youzhou, and dominated the whole Hebei Province. Moreover, Tian Feng had advised Yuan Shao to welcome Emperor Xian before Cao Cao controlled Emperor Xian, and adopted the strategy of serving the emperor and making the disobedient serve him.

It’s a pity that Yuan Shao did not follow Tian Feng’s strategy.

Later, Tian Feng repeatedly offered advice, especially when Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were fighting for the Central Plains. He advocated using the natural advantage of size to consolidate the foundation for several years to further widen the gap in fighting power between them and Cao Cao. This was the advice of a wise and experienced man, but unfortunately Yuan Shao did not adopt it. Instead, he chose to adopt the strategy of a quick battle proposed by Feng Ji and others. In the end, he was defeated and killed, and his family was wiped out. The foundation that could have been used to build ancestral temples and the country was seized by Cao Cao. Even his daughter-in-law could not be saved, and was forcibly taken as a concubine by Cao Cao's son Cao Pi.

Such a great talent is now missing in the wild. Lu Yi said that he wanted to convince him and recruit him. Otherwise, wouldn't it be a waste of his more foresight than other people?
Therefore, seeing that Lu Bu did not listen to his repeated warnings and was about to commit violence again, Lu Yi was naturally very annoyed.

"I spoke out of turn, please don't blame me!"

Although Lu Bu was annoyed, since his beloved brother had spoken, he had to suppress his anger, turned his head away, and casually bowed as an apology.

"I, Lü Bu, was rude and disrespectful. I beg Mr. Tian Feng to forgive me."

Lu Yi also quickly apologized on behalf of Lu Bu, hoping to minimize the negative impact.

"Oh?"

Who would have thought that Tian Feng would let out a light exclamation when he heard this.

"I have heard that in the Heisei War between the imperial court and the Xianbei last year, there was a general who was so brave that he not only defeated dozens of Xianbei generals in a row, but also killed Tan Shihuai's grandson Fuluo Hanyi on the spot. He was also called Lu Bu. I wonder if he is the same person as your brother?"

"Humph, it's Lu!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Bu snorted coldly, his face full of pride.

"Since you are a brave general who fought against the Xianbei to protect Hebei, please come into my humble abode for a chat!"

Contrary to Lu Yi's expectations, Tian Feng was not angry at Lu Bu's arrogance. Instead, he chuckled and stepped aside, opening the door to Lu Yi for the first time.

"There's a show!"

"It seems like it was the right decision to bring Fengxian with me this time!"

Seeing this, Lu Yi had an idea and immediately seized the opportunity to step in.

"You two should stand here and not act rashly."

After entering, he found that Tian Feng's house was really shabby and the limited space might not be able to accommodate three big men like him at the same time. So he gave some instructions to Lu Bu and Gao Shun, and followed Tian Feng in alone.

"My humble abode is simple, so I don't have any tea to offer. Please drink some well water to moisten your throat."

After the two of them sat down as host and guest, Tian Feng simply poured Lu Yi a glass of well water, once again confirming that this guy was not pretending to be poor, but was really poor.

While taking the cup of water, Lu Yi quickly observed the furnishings in the room and found that apart from a row of relatively normal bookcases and a large number of books in them, the house was bare.

However, this also made Lu Yi, who was accustomed to the extravagance and corruption of officials since he traveled through time, couldn't help but respect Tian Feng in his heart.

Apart from Tian Feng, the only other honest person that Lu Yi could remember was Lu Zhi who was far away in Luoyang.

However, Lu Zhi is already a half-step saint, and with his current reputation and achievements, even if Lu Yi is now the governor of Yanmen County, he is not qualified to recruit him.

However, the Tian Feng in front of him was different. When Yuan Shao came to recruit Tian Feng, apart from his family background of three generations of officials, he was only the prefect of Henei. Now that he was also the prefect of a county, he naturally had the opportunity to recruit Tian Feng.

"Si is a shabby house, but I am Dexin!"

Lu Yi seized the opportunity and immediately shamelessly plagiarized a famous saying by Liu Yuxi of later generations.

"This is a humble room, but my virtue is fragrant..."

Master Liu's famous saying really worked. Tian Feng was slightly stunned when he heard it. After he chewed on Lu Yi's words carefully, the look in his eyes when he looked at Lu Yi again became a little gentler, no longer the cold and arrogant look that kept people at a distance.

"I, Tian Feng, am just a barbarian, and you, Lord, are a high-ranking official who governs a region. Why do you have to lower yourself to come to my cheap suburbs so many times?"

After a brief silence, Tian Feng suddenly looked directly into Lu Yi's eyes and asked directly.

"Haha, Mr. Yuan Hao refused to even let me in the first two times. Why did he change his mind today? I think it's not just because of my brother's military exploits, right?"

Lu Yi asked back with a smile.

"Since the Lord has already visited me three times, there is no doubt that he will come back four or five times in the future. I am just thinking about you and don't want you to return empty-handed every time."

Tian Feng also laughed.

"That's easy. I have been wanting to invite you to come out of seclusion for a long time. I just want you to go back to Yanmen with me this time."

Lu Yi also went straight to the point and once again invited Tian Feng to serve as an official.

Tian Feng sighed and shook his head when he heard this: "I have seen the darkness of the officialdom and have given up the idea of ​​becoming an official. I am afraid that you will return empty-handed again."

"I want to ask for your help, just like asking for rain after a long drought. The heaven and earth can bear witness to my heart, and the sun and the moon can shine upon it. Why don't you want to give me a chance?"

Lu Yi and Tian Feng's words hinted at rejection, and they immediately played the emotional card.

"I am extremely grateful for your kindness, but I just want to stay in my humble room for the rest of my life, studying and not caring about worldly affairs."

Tian Feng still refused to give in after hearing this.

"Even if you don't care about me, do you want to abandon the hundreds of thousands of people in Yanmen County?"

Seeing this, Lu Yi immediately stepped up and played the sympathy card.

"Oh? How do you say this?"

"Also, as far as I know, Yanmen is a bitterly cold place. Even before the Xianbei invaded last year, there were only tens of thousands of people. Why did the Lord of the Mansion say there were more than a hundred thousand?"

Tian Feng was indeed a man of extraordinary wit. Upon hearing this, he immediately caught the unreasonable point in Lu Yi's words and asked.

"To be honest, sir, after the Xianbei invaded last year, Hebei suffered a great loss of life and countless people suffered this misfortune. Although the Xianbei were defeated and retreated, they left behind millions of starving people in Hebei."

"I couldn't bear to see the people starve to death, so I sold my property to help them and took in 100,000 refugees in Pingcheng and my hometown Jiuyuan."

"It's just that I'm a young man with limited knowledge and am afraid I can't manage it. I hope you can help me!"

"Well, you have saved countless lives, which is a great achievement for the present and for future generations. I admire you."

Upon hearing this, Tian Feng couldn't help but nod in admiration repeatedly. The look in his eyes when he looked at Lu Yi became different again, which rekindled the fire of hope in Lu Yi's heart.

However, Tian Feng's subsequent long sigh ruthlessly extinguished the fire of hope in Lu Yi's heart, and the house fell into silent silence again.

……

(End of this chapter)