The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 138 Set sail, I am the kite and you are the thread

Daqiao restlessly caressed the rolled-up "Southern Journey Essays", which Sun Shao sent Shen Xuan to bring back when she returned to Jianye. She had read it countless times, and every word and picture in it was very important. He knows everything well, and can even describe the content of some paintings in detail.Reading two paragraphs of essays in this book before going to bed every day has become her habit in the past few months.

"Auntie, don't touch the book any more, or the cover will fall off." Zhou Yu pursed his lips and smiled, took the book from Daqiao's hand, stroked it gently: "They agreed to borrow me to copy it again." Yes, you have been refusing to let go. It’s all right now, big brother is coming back, there must be an updated book for you to read, just lend me to copy this one.”

Daqiao gave her a nasty look, and looked at the book in her hand with some concern: "Then you have to be careful, don't damage it."

"Auntie, don't worry, it won't be broken." Zhou Yu pouted, coquettishly, and his eyebrows fluttered: "Auntie, since I've been with you for so many days, can you do me a favor?"

"What can you do for me?" Daqiao looked at Zhou Yu with a half-smile, stretched out his hand to pinch her nose, and said with a loving smile, "You don't want me to help, I think you want someone to help you."

"Auntie, don't laugh at Yu'er." Zhou Yu lowered his head in embarrassment, and said in a low voice: "Although my calligraphy is not as good as his, I can barely read it, but the painting is too far behind. After several times, it won’t work after all, and I have to trouble my eldest brother. Now that my eldest brother has Yinping’s sister-in-law, he doesn’t like to play with us anymore. I’m afraid that my younger sister can’t work for him, only my aunt can use him.”

"I asked you to marry at the beginning, but you didn't marry, do you regret it now?" Daqiao smiled with both complacency and regret.Zhou Yu's face darkened, and then he laughed again: "No, Yu'er is not lucky."

"Sister, that's all you need to be proud of, Aman, there's no need to be happy with Yuer." Xiaoqiao said dissatisfied: "You should be blamed for this matter. You promised me at the time, but who knew that it would be delayed all the time?" Four, it will be delayed."

Xiaoqiao wanted to say more, Zhou Yu stopped her, wanted to smile, but couldn't, so he could only bite his lip and suppress his disappointment.At the beginning when Daqiao said that he wanted Sun Shao to marry her, she looked down on Sun Shao, but now it's the other way around, Sun Shao looks down on her. My heart is still uncomfortable.

Seeing Zhou Yu's ugly face, Xiao Qiao had no choice but to shut up, and the three of them were a little embarrassed.After a while, there was a sound of footsteps outside, Qiaoying walked in quickly, and shouted happily: "Madam, the young master and the young lady are back."

"Aman..." Daqiao's face brightened, and just as he was about to stand up, Sun Shao had already walked in with the help of Guan Feng, who was pot-bellied. Without speaking, tears fell.

"Mom, we're back."

Daqiao couldn't help crying too. She was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but stepped forward and hugged Sun Shao's head, holding her tightly in her arms. Tears dripped down on Sun Shao's head, sobbing uncontrollably: " Silly boy, you flew out, why did you come back?"

Sun Shao hugged the waist of the bridge with both hands, and swallowed: "Mom, you are here, how can I not come back. No matter how far I fly, I am still the same as the kite. The thread is still in the hands of my mother."

After hearing this, Daqiao was both moved and sad, with tears rolling down his face.Xiaoqiao also felt a little sad, but she was afraid that what they said would be too blunt, so she hurriedly stepped forward to persuade her, "Sister, Yinping is pregnant, let's sit down and talk, it's not a problem to always kneel."

Only then did Daqiao remember that Guan Feng was still there, so he quickly let go of Sun Shao, bent down to help Guan Feng, and showed a gratified smile on his tear-filled face, then turned his face down again, stared at Sun Shao and said, "You child, Yinping is pregnant, why do you still let her take the boat, in case something happens, what should I do?"

Sun Shao shook his head helplessly. Just as he was about to explain, Guan Feng smiled and said, "Aunt, not only my husband misses Aunt, but I also miss Aunt. The child is about to be born, and I think that if Aunt is by my side, I will It's more peaceful in my heart." As she spoke, her eyes turned red, and she sniffed: "Where there is a husband and mother, there is a home."

"Good boy, well said, well said." A warm current surged through Daqiao's heart, and he carefully touched Guan Feng's belly, and just as he was stroking, Guan Feng's belly suddenly jumped, Daqiao immediately regained his spirits, and said with a smile : "The boy is so energetic, he actually knows how to kick people."

"I'm so energetic, I have to kick the drum for a while every morning." Guan Feng said with a sweet smile.

"Drumming every morning?" Daqiao looked at Guan Feng and then at Sun Shao in puzzlement.Sun Shangxiang, who had been wiping tears by the side, interjected, "The soldiers on the ship have to drill every morning, so naturally there are drums."

Daqiao glared at her dissatisfied: "It must be your fault, this time I went to Jiaozhou, but I was addicted to fighting?"

Sun Shangxiang rolled his eyes, smacked his lips, and wondered why you blamed me.

Several people entered the room and sat down, Sun Shao saluted Xiaoqiao again, and said sincerely: "Thanks to my aunt for being with my mother for the past six months, I am really grateful."

"What are you talking about? She is your aunt, but she is also my sister. If we sisters are not companions, do we need someone else to be companions?" Xiaoqiao smiled, rolled his eyes, and said, "Okay." Now, if you really want to thank me, do me a favor."

Sun Shao said with a smile: "Auntie is being serious, if you need anything, just tell me, why use the word help."

Xiao Qiao glanced at Zhou Yu: "I really like the essays you sent back on the trip to the south, please make a copy for me. How about it?"

Sun Shao had a bitter face, thought for a moment, and replied generously: "Dare not to follow orders."

"Then I'll wait." Xiaoqiao giggled and said, "I brought some good things back from Jiaozhou, and haven't you brought them out for us to see? We've been waiting here since we heard about you. gone."

Sun Shao smiled slightly: "Auntie, stay safe and don't get bored. Although there is nothing good, I can't forget my aunt."

Everyone couldn't help laughing out loud.Guan Feng, who was talking to Daqiao, saw that Zhou Yu had been silent, but his eyes glanced at Sun Shao from time to time, sensitively aware of something strange.She turned her eyes to Sun Shangxiang with some doubts. Sun Shangxiang touched his chin and nodded calmly.Guan Feng twitched her lips, a sense of superiority welled up, she said with a faint smile: "Husband, I think sister Yu's skin is fair and delicate, she must look beautiful wearing pearls, so we gave the box of Hepu beads to Yu'er Sister."

Sun Shao didn't understand for a while, he brought a few boxes of Hepu beads, and they were all high-quality beads with particles of more than one inch. The so-called "bronze mirror with full size, diameter jade Hepu beads" are all rare things. , he was not reluctant, but the gift he originally prepared for Zhou Yu was not this one, these were all for Daqiao.Now that Guan Feng said that, he couldn't go back on his word, so he had to ask someone to bring a brocade box. Guan Feng took it, pushed it to Zhou Yu with both hands, and said with a smile: "It's not a respect, but I ask my sister to accept it."

Looking at Guan Feng's smiling face, Zhou Yu felt a little uneasy in his heart. He took it and opened it. Inside was a bracelet made of ten round and plump Hepu beads, placed on the bright red silk, which looked peaceful and luxurious, but also There is no glare at all.She couldn't help being taken aback, and raised her hand to cover her small mouth: "This...how is this appropriate."

Xiaoqiao glanced at it, and was a little surprised. The ten Hepu beads were not only big, but also the same size. The price of this bracelet was no less than a hundred gold. As a meeting gift, it was indeed a bit too heavy, so he quickly declined. "It's better for you to keep these fine beads for yourself."

"It's okay." Guan Feng smiled softly: "Although this string of beads is good, the chain my husband gave me has a few more beads than this one, and it's bigger. Sister Yu'er has good skin, so it's just right for her to wear. I followed my husband to the South China Sea, but I got tanned. This is also my husband and I's heart, so I'd like to ask sister Yu to accept it."

All the people present here are smart people, and they immediately recognized the taste. The smile on Zhou Yu's face froze suddenly. She glanced at Guan Feng, and then at Sun Shao.Although Sun Shao didn't know Zhou Yu's thoughts for him, he could still hear a little bit of the meaning in these words, and he didn't know what to say for a while, so he had to echo: "Yes, Yu'er should accept it. , and this is also a little bit of our heart."

Zhou Yu took the brocade box and bowed generously: "Thank you, brother and sister-in-law, Yu'er is very grateful." Then he bowed to Daqiao: "Auntie, Yu'er feels unwell, so I will leave first." After finishing speaking , without waiting for Daqiao's consent, got up and hurried to go.

Xiaoqiao was a little displeased, but he couldn't say anything. He smiled awkwardly, got up and chased him out.Daqiao looked at Guan Feng with some reproach, and was about to say a few words to her, but when he saw her pitiful appearance and her stomach, he had no choice but to swallow the words again.

After the chatter, Daqiao said to Sun Shao with some anxiety: "Since you are back, you should go to the supreme one quickly. He has sent people to ask you several times, and it seems that he needs to find you for something."

Sun Shao hesitated for a moment: "He knows our itinerary, why come here to ask?"

Daqiao hesitated to speak, he didn't speak for a long time, but urged: "I don't know, you should ask him yourself."

"Here." Sun Shao responded, motioned Guan Feng to take out the new sailing diary, and put it in front of the bridge with both hands: "Mum, this is the battle record of Xu Wen's expedition. Quite interesting."

Daqiao nodded again and again, took it over and took a look, and saw that the cover of the book was a little worn, and the corners of the book were also curled up, as if someone had rubbed it for a long time, and suddenly felt a little lost, she glanced at Guan Feng, and said with a smile: "You seen it already?"

Guan Feng nodded: "That's right. Apart from watching the illusions and singing and dancing of the Daqin people, I just watched this to relieve my boredom. Mom, it's all about what my husband has seen and heard. It's very interesting. It's the same as Shan Hai Jing."

Daqiao originally had some complaints about Guan Feng, but when he saw her beaming when she talked about Sun Shao, he couldn't help but blame himself.The relationship between Guan Feng and Sun Shao is so good. Of course, Guan Feng should have read what Sun Shao wrote first. What kind of anger is he doing?It's just that she was spoiled and coquettish, and deliberately stimulated Zhou Yu, but it was a bit unfeminine, and she had to beat her up when she found time.Although she thought so in her heart, Daqiao always felt a little awkward, and she couldn't tell what kind of feeling it was, in short, she just didn't like Guan Feng very much.

After all, the Guan family is still a warrior, so it is not suitable to be a housewife.A thought suddenly popped up.Daqiao's heart moved, and he turned his eyes to Sun Shao thoughtfully, only to see that Sun Shao just looked at them with a smile, and when he saw her looking over, the corners of his mouth twitched, his eyes were full of joy of reunion after a long absence, that undisguised The attachment made Daqiao feel warm in his heart.

……

"Is Jiaozhou fun?" Sun Quan asked casually while flicking a quick note.

Sun Shao grinned happily: "There are many things in Jiaozhou that are different from Yangzhou. If you say it is fresh, it is quite new."

"It's fresh?" Sun Quan approved an official document, put down his pen, blew the black mark, handed it to Zhu Ji, then looked at Sun Shao and said with a smile: "It's only been a few months, but it's really darker. "

Sun Shao laughed loudly: "My lord, I am very white in Jiaozhou, and most of the people there are not black."

"Really?" Sun Quan smiled, crossed his fingers on the table, and looked at Sun Shao with a smile on his face: "Is the naval battle interesting?"

Sun Shao scratched his head, thought for a moment, and said, "It's interesting, but also dangerous. Last time we supported Lord Bufu with Wei Ziqi, there were dozens of battles along the way, and some were easily captured, but there were also some who were almost turned over by pirates. Thinking about it now, I’m still in a cold sweat.”

"War, that's it. Otherwise, how can you say that soldiers are fierce and dangerous?" Sun Quan smiled lightly: "Before you were not allowed to fight, you were crying and shouting to lead soldiers. Now that you have led soldiers, you know how it feels. Right? How about it, are you still interested?"

Sun Shao smiled wryly, pulled out General Henghai's seal from his waist, and placed it in front of Sun Quan with both hands.Sun Shao glanced at it, but didn't reach out to pick it up.

"I don't want to fight anymore, it's still worth doing business."

Sun Quan didn't speak, and swept Sun Shao's face with some green eyes.Sun Shao's face was calm and his eyes were calm, but there was no hypocrisy to be seen.He nodded secretly, took a look at General Henghai's seal, then threw it back on the case, and smiled disdainfully: "The old thief thought that with a Jiaozhou Mu and a General Henghai, we could separate our uncle and nephew. , now if he knows this is the result, I don't know how he will feel."

Sun Shao curled his lips and remained silent.He basically didn't believe what Sun Quan was saying, otherwise, he wouldn't have traveled thousands of miles to call him back from the South China Sea.He waited quietly, waiting for Sun Quan to reveal his purpose.

"Your Uncle Ji passed away. The elders of the clan want to take this opportunity to gather their relatives. I have no choice but to call you back." Sun Quan said with some regret: "I originally wanted to keep you in the South China Sea, Bu Zhi The battle form says that you didn't fight well, that's just..." He suddenly laughed, and looked at Sun Shao with a strange look, both admiring and amused: "It's just that you fought too insidiously."

Sun Shao couldn't help laughing, he wiped the corners of his mouth, and said with a smug smile, "I can't help it either, if Lord Bufu hadn't supported my ten boats, I would only have Shiwei Five broken ships, not even a small pirate, had to pretend to be Cui Qian's subordinates. But..." His face sank, his expression became serious, and even Sun Quan couldn't help but put away his smile: "My lord, I I feel that the Shi family is too powerful to deal with. They hooked up with the pirates and made the pirates more prestigious than the navy. I worked as the prefect of the South China Sea for a few days, and spent a few days in Yishi, and then came to Xuwen I went there again, and felt it was a pity. The barbarian merchants were afraid of pirates, and a large amount of goods were processed on the spot in Xuwen. Coupled with the extortion and robbery by pirates and sailors, the business tax in our hands was only [-]% at most. If we can If the arrogance of the pirates is suppressed, Jiaozhou can become the supreme treasury."

"Is there such great potential?" Sun Quan asked in surprise.

"Yes." Sun Shao snapped up his fingers, reported a series of numbers like a few treasures, and finally said: "Pirates are still rampant now, barbarian merchants have doubts, and at the same time the losses are not small, Panyu City has such What about Jiaozhi, Nichinan, and Hepu? Needless to say, let’s triple the income. What if we control the pirates again? There will always be double the income, right? Not to mention, From these few items alone, the business tax can be doubled. With this money, why is the supreme being so tight?"

Sun Quan was stunned. He knew from Bu Zhi's report that most of Jiaozhou's income was still in the hands of Shi Xie, but he did not expect such a large amount.He stroked his beard in silence.As Sun Shao said, he is really tight now. Most of the land in Yangzhou and Jingzhou under his control has been distributed to the generals. The financial resources he controls are really limited, which makes him timid in doing things. Dare to restrict the generals, but you have to restrict the generals.If Jiaozhou can be controlled as soon as possible, then most of this increased financial resources will be his, and his power will be developed rapidly, and his strength will be able to break the current deadlock.

Unexpectedly, Sun Shao went around Jiaozhou and brought back this information, which is much more considerate than Bu Zhi.Sun Quan looked at Sun Shao with a serious expression, and suddenly felt a little emotional. Did he really want to be a businessman?If this is the case, it might not be a bad thing to put him in Jiaozhou.

"Besides the business tax, there is one more thing worthy of your attention." Sun Shao was still in the mood, and then gave Sun Quan a surprise: "The area around Rinan and Jiuzhen is fertile, and it is a good place to grow rice. It’s not small, if these counties can be taken from the Shijia, the supreme will have another Wu county, and the food problem can be greatly alleviated.” He drank his saliva, and then said: “I learned from the barbarian merchants. I learned from the mouth that in the sea to the south, there are many islands, and there are many areas rich in rice. Moreover, the people living there are all barbarians without a ruler. To be the supreme granary."

"Inside the sea?" Sun Quan gasped, feeling a little amused: "Is it worth it to mobilize people to transport rice into the sea?"

"What's wrong?" Sun Shao disagreed: "The sea looks very dangerous, but those barbarians can row a small boat to get there. We have warships that are thousands of times stronger than them. Why can't we go there? The Supreme doesn't know. I saw a lot of barbarian boats in Xuwen this time. I really didn’t know them. I was shocked when I saw them. They are also called boats? Compared with our boats, they are just child’s play. But, it’s just like this boat, Yuanyuan They kept transporting the goods from Xiyi to Jiaozhou, and then continuously transported the goods from Jiaozhou back to Xiyi. The wind and waves along the way were so big, but they still enjoyed it. Why? Of course, it was because of the profit. We have such a A good ship can reduce the risk by several percent, but why is it still stuck in the port? If we send a fleet of ships to do business, who can compare with us?"

"The sea is vast, how can it be so easy." Sun Quan still didn't believe it.

"Of course it's not easy, but barbarian merchants can do it with such a broken boat, why can't we?" Sun Shao waved his hand disapprovingly: "It depends on human effort. When I accumulate more capital and buy a few more boats, I plan to go to do business like this."

"Is it for this purpose that you want Yu Fan and Lu Ji?" Sun Quan smiled, as if I knew you had no good intentions.Sun Shao also laughed, and patted his head in embarrassment, feeling embarrassed that Sun Quan had seen through his thoughts. "This matter is actually a matter of public and private convenience."

"Why both public and private?"

"I need someone to help me locate in the sea. However, the navy needs it more than me." Sun Shao smiled and said seriously: "The current sea charts are not only crude, but also have many mistakes. With the wrong map, how to go to the sea?" Fighting? How can you win a battle?"

"This is indeed a problem." Sun Quan nodded sympathetically, sighed, took out a letter from the case and threw it in front of Sun Shao: "Bu Zhi also mentioned this matter in the letter, saying that the last battle was a failure. , failed to complete the work, because the chart in his hand was wrong. He also asked to send people who are proficient in astronomy to Jiaozhou to help redraw the chart, and there is another thing, that is, he wants you to go to Jiaozhou again. "

Sun Quan looked at Sun Shao, but Sun Shao just glanced at him, and then continued to read Bu Zhi's letter.He had told Bu Zhi in advance not to mention his merits too much, but Bu Zhi really listened to his words, and only mentioned a sum in it, without saying too much.He put down Bu Zhi's watch, and moved the corners of his mouth, looking a little preoccupied.Sun Quan looked at him and didn't speak. Sun Shao finally said: "Actually, it doesn't matter whether I go or not. The key is to send a few people who are not from the Shi family to help Mr. Bufu. He can trust now." There are too few people. Without the help of trustworthy people, no matter how powerful Mr. Bufu is, he will not be able to deal with that old fox Shi Xie."

"Who do you think is more suitable?" Sun Quan put away Bu Zhi's letter and asked casually.

"How do I know this?" Sun Shao replied cleanly, and then pointed to the people next to him: "There are so many capable people around the Supreme, you can send anyone, like Zhou Xun, like Zhu Ran, like Gu Gong, or Zhuge Jin is also fine. In short, don’t send me.”

Sun Quan was stunned for a moment, then looked at Sun Shao in a daze, and after a while, he smiled: "Why can others do it, but you can't?"

Sun Shaoli said bluntly: "My wife is about to give birth, and I want to accompany her. In addition, I have so many goods to sell, I have to go to Chengdu, and I have to go to Yecheng. It won't take a year or a half. How can I handle it all?" How can I have the time to help him conquer pirates? Even if I become the governor of the South China Sea, my annual salary is not enough to pay for a ship of goods for me, so I am not interested in this kind of loss-making business."

(End of this chapter)