The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 290
"What?" Lu Mao raised his eyelids and glanced at the panting servant Lu Bin, with an unhappy expression.

"It's true, the Patriarch is waiting outside." Lu Bin ran too fast, his face was flushed, his mouth was open and he was breathing heavily, but there was an undisguised joy in his expression.

Lu Mao was stunned for a moment, put down the "Dahan Gazette" in his hand, stroked his short beard under his chin, pondered for a moment, nodded and said: "Please invite him to sit in the hall and serve tea, and I will come when I change my clothes."

"Here." Lu Bin responded, turned around and hurried away.Lu Hao sat there for a while, with a bit of doubt in his expression.Lu Xun's sudden visit made him a little unexpected.Although he and Lu Xun are blood brothers, since he became an adult, he has set up his own family, and there is almost no contact between the brothers in these years.Lu Mao has always been worried about Lu Xun marrying Sun Xiuying and bowing his head to the Sun family. Lu Xun is the head of the family, so he can't say anything, so he can only express his dissatisfaction in this way.After Lu Xun married Sun Xiuying, although his official career could not be said to be smooth sailing, among the members of the Lu family, it was a rare smooth one, especially when he succeeded Lu Su as the governor of the western front recently. However, Lu Mao didn't want to be honored. Sun Quan enlisted him to be an official many times, but he rejected them all. He was even more stubborn than Lu Ji back then.

Since they established their own family, the brothers hadn't seen each other for nearly 20 years. When Lu Xun came to the door suddenly, Lu Mao felt very surprised. He knew that there must be something important about Lu Xun's willingness to bow his head and come to the door in person.However, he just couldn't think of any major issues that even Lu Xun couldn't solve, and wanted to run to his door.

Lu Hao hesitated for a while, but still couldn't think of any reason, so he got up and changed into a formal attire for meeting guests, and hurried to the main hall.Lu Xun was sitting in the hall, sipping tea slowly, Lu Bin had a smile on his face, looked at Lu Xun with adoring eyes, and when he heard Lu Mao's footsteps, he put away his smile and respectfully did it After a salute, he quietly left the hall.

"Brother... long." Lu Hao felt a little awkward, his body froze for a moment, but he still bowed to the end and made a big salute.

"Zizhang, sit down." Lu Xun glanced at Lu Mao, waved his sleeve lightly, motioned for Lu Mao to sit down.Lu Hao didn't think about anything, and subconsciously sat on the couch designated by Lu Xun. After he sat down, he felt something was wrong. He was the master here, how could the master listen to the arrangements of the guests.But it was very strange, just now I seemed to accept this role very naturally.

He glanced at Lu Xun and secretly praised him.

Lu Xun is 42 years old this year, but he takes good care of himself. Although his skin is not very fair, he is clean, with clear eyebrows and a calm demeanor. It didn't bring any changes to him, he was still so elegant, but there was an irresistible bearing added to his every move.

Lu Mao frowned, just as Lu Xun saw it.Lu Xun raised the corners of his mouth quietly, raised his teacup and signaled to Lu Mao: "Tea from Taihu Lake?"

Lu Hao's eyes tightened, and he glanced at Lu Xun, feeling a little unhappy.This tea is indeed from Taihu Lake, but it is not good tea. Good tea is very expensive. He can’t afford it. He can only buy second- and third-class tea. It is said that this kind of tea is usually sold to the north for barbarians to drink. of.Of course, Lu Xun also drank tea, and drinking tea has become a kind of elegant thing nowadays. A dignified and elegant person like Lu Xun is naturally a master in the tea ceremony, but the tea he drank was all high-quality tea. It would be the kind that Lu Mao entertained, so he had some doubts, but from Lu Mao's ears, this obviously meant a bit of disdain.

"I'm a commoner, and I can only drink some rough tea, which can't be compared with my brother." Lu Mao sneered, picked up the teacup and took a big gulp.

Lu Xun looked at Lu Mao's angry look, shook his head, and sighed: "It is true that I have never drunk such rough tea before, but soon I will only be able to drink this kind of tea."

Lu Mao froze for a moment, then looked at Lu Xun with suspicion.

"Have you read the oath of the Four Kings Alliance?" Lu Xun put down his cup, raised his head, and looked directly at Lu Mao.Lu Mao nodded, "Dahan Gazette" and "New Book of Mountains and Seas" are rare luxuries in his life, and he knows every article on them clearly.He can almost recite the oath of the Four Kings mentioned by Lu Xun. This is the article he and his friends talked about the most recently, and he was still re-reading it just now.

"The four kings made an agreement not to attack each other again. The Kingdom of Wei will soon go to the north, and the Kingdom of Shu is also planning to conquer the southern borders to put down the rebellion in Yizhou and Yongchang. Zhang Fei, the general of Shu, will withdraw to Zigui in the near future, and I will also return to Jianye. gone."

"The western front is not defending?" Lu Hao was very surprised, the Shu army just withdrew?Sun Quan sent Zhang Yi back, but even if they didn't fight, they wouldn't take any precautions against each other.

"At this time, whoever dares to start a war is the one who can't get along with the emperor and the country of Yue. Who dares?" Lu Xun laughed at himself, with a bit of helplessness in his laughter: "Even the country of Wei dare not fight with the country of Yue. Against it, let alone me, Wu Shu."

Lu Mao suddenly smiled, very happy, he understood Lu Xun's reason for coming.The State of Yue demonstrated its mighty military power during the alliance in the East China Sea. At the same time, it respected the Son of Heaven and was at an unrivaled height in terms of morality and strength. The three kingdoms of Wei and Shu did not dare to oppose him at this time, so they could only accept the armistice agreement. It is agreed not to start a fight, so Wei State is going to go to the north, and Shu is going to go to the south, but what about Wu?Wu has nowhere to use troops, at least in the short term, there is no battle to fight, so these big-tailed generals—especially the Jiangdong generals have become the most dangerous people.Why raise so many soldiers when there is no battle to fight?In the future, Sun Quan will definitely use various opportunities to gradually take back the military power, and at the same time, what will be taken back will be the food towns distributed to everyone to raise soldiers. In other words, Lu Xun will be the first to be abolished.

One of the most important reasons is that Lu Xun's wife is the sister of Yue Wang Sun Shao.Sun Shao's three sisters, the eldest sister Sun Yuanying married Gu Shao of the Gu family, because Gu Yong went to Luoyang and the Gu family left Jianye, so she went to Yue State to be with her son Gu Tan, and the second sister Sun Yuying married Zhu Zhi's son, Zhu Ji, has been dismissed by Sun Quan recently. It is said that Zhu Ji saw that his official career was uncertain, and was planning to go to Yue to see the situation. Lu Xun, who married Sun Xiuying, could not escape this influence. The relationship, the relationship with the Gu family, cast a shadow over Lu Xun in Sun Quan's mind.

"When the king called me back to Jianye to report on my duties, he asked Zhuge Ke to find some kind of porcelain clay in Yuzhang. He said that he wanted to open a kiln to burn porcelain. This was done in cooperation with the State of Yue, and all the fired porcelain was purchased by the State of Yue." Lu Xun His tone was still unhurried, and he couldn't hear even a trace of worry, but Lu Hao frowned.Sun Quan has been sparing no effort to promote the officials from Huaisi to balance the Jiangdong family. Gu Yong was sent by him to Luoyang as the prime minister. Surprisingly, Zhuge Jin did not become the prime minister as expected. Instead, the position of prime minister was It fell on Bu Zhi's head.But now, after hearing what Lu Xun said, Lu Hao understands that the purpose of suppressing Zhuge Jin is to give Zhuge Ke a chance. If both father and son are important ministers, it will cause criticism to some extent. Now that Bu Zhi is the prime minister, it is important to promote Zhuge Ke. At that time, the resistance would be much smaller, and in this way, the Huaisi forces would have mastered both civil and military forces.

Sun Quan gave Zhuge Ke a good source of money and put Lu Xun aside, the meaning of which is already obvious.Thinking of this, although Lu Mao was dissatisfied with Lu Xun, he still became worried. After all, it was related to the interests of the Lu family.

"Your Majesty, aren't you afraid that my Lu family will also go to Yue?"

Lu Xun finally showed a satisfied smile. He knew that although Lu Mao was very honest, he would definitely not ignore it when it was related to the future of the family.He nodded slightly: "So although he asked me to reduce the number of soldiers, he increased my food counties."

Lu Mao curled his mouth, but said nothing.It is good to increase the number of food towns, but farming alone cannot make a fortune. In the past, Lu Xun and the others were able to make a fortune because they had soldiers in their hands. With soldiers, they can not only fight wars, farm land, but also do business. Now Wu and Shu are good friends. In order to reduce the number of soldiers, the land cannot be planted in the first place, and increasing the number of food cities will have no other benefits except to fix the people more tightly on the land.

"Then... what's your plan brother?"

"I hope you can go to Yue country." Lu Xun said lightly.

"Me?" Without further ado, Lu Mao shook his head repeatedly, and categorically rejected: "I can't be a courtier to Sun Ce's son."

"Uncle Cong's family is in Yue State." Lu Xun responded.

Lu Mao was stunned for a moment.It's true that the Lu family and the Sun family have feuds, but the most direct one is not theirs, but Lu Ji's. Now Lu Ji is willing to work for Sun Shao, and has been the doctor of Yue State, Now that he is the dean of Funan College, if Lu Ji can bow his head, what else can he not bow his head to?The reason why they didn't bow to Sun Quan before was that Lu Xun was responsible for the future of the Lu family. Now Lu Xun is obviously unsustainable. Besides him, Lu Mao, who else in their team can take on such a heavy responsibility?

Lu Mao looked at Lu Xun, not knowing what to say for a while, but suddenly, he understood the pain that Lu Xun had been hiding in his heart for these years, and now, these pains came to him, and he couldn't avoid it.The future of the family is above everything else, and there is no need to discuss it, and it cannot be discussed.

Lu Hao was silent for a while, then nodded slowly, with his head lowered, as if he was under an invisible pressure and couldn't breathe.

"Okay then, get ready and go to Wu County in a few days to go with Zhang Wen."

"Zhang Wen is leaving too?" Lu Mao was very surprised.

"He didn't say he was leaving." Lu Xun stood up and dusted his clothes: "However, the Gu family has already left, he has no hope, and he has to go if he doesn't. He is a person who wants to save face, and he can't turn this corner. You Go to persuade him and give him a step down, which can also be used as an advancement."

Lu Mao had to admit that Lu Xun was very thoughtful, and he guessed Zhang Wen's thoughts very accurately.

"Okay." Lu Hao no longer hesitated, as if he wanted to reaffirm, he nodded heavily: "I will definitely persuade Zhang Wen to leave."

"I believe you can do it." Lu Xun smiled, and looked at Lu Mao again for a moment, he looked very carefully, as if he wanted to engrave Lu Mao's appearance in his heart, that kind of focused gaze made Lu Mao very ashamed, He was about to get up and say something, but Lu Xun waved his hand, turned and left.

Lu Hao straightened up, raised his hand to stop Lu Xun, opened his mouth, but didn't call out, in a moment, Lu Xun had disappeared outside the door.Lu Mao sat back dejectedly, feeling lost.

Lu Mao didn't hesitate, he immediately packed up his luggage and set off for the country of Yue. While he was packing up the things at home, he contacted Chen Rong, Pu Yangyi and others who were usually close friends. Unexpectedly, these people also had the same idea, and they hit it off right away.They first went to Wu County and found Zhang Wen. Zhang Wen was still hesitant, but after being persuaded by Lu Mao, he didn't insist, and followed him to Qiantang.Along the way, they saw a lot of scholars they didn't know. Some of them were locals in Jiangdong, some were exiled in Jiangdong, and some even came from Jiangbei. Some think that the state of Wu has no chance to make achievements. Some people think that the state of Yue has a more relaxed policy on scholars, and the king of Yue is more respectful and virtuous than the king of Wu.Although the thoughts are different, the direction of progress is the same. Even those who were hesitant in their hearts are calm when they see this situation. Everyone does this, which shows that their choice is correct.

After arriving at Qiantang, Lu Mao dragged Zhang Wen to find Lu Ji first. Zhang Wen's younger brother, Zhang Bai, was Lu Ji's son-in-law. When he arrived here, of course he had to pay a visit first.Unexpectedly, they were in vain. The Lu family's mansion in Qiantang had changed owners. When they asked, they found out that the Lu family had moved to Zhuya a year ago.They then went to Gu Yu, the imperial historian, Zhang Wen's younger sister married Gu Cheng of the Gu family, Gu Yong went to Luoyang, Gu Cheng's mother and son went to Qiantang with Sun Yuanying, and temporarily lived in Gu Yu's mansion.

Seeing Lu Mao and Zhang Wen, Gu Yu and the others were very happy, and Lu Shi and Gu Cheng were also very happy. Zhang Yuying was also overjoyed to see her brother, so Gu Yu hosted a banquet in the mansion to entertain them.At the banquet, everyone was chatting and laughing, and Gu Yu said to them, you should have come a long time ago. Our Yue Kingdom lacks nothing, but people. In order to increase the population, the king has thought of many ways. Talents like you, he is more It is thirsty for talents.He especially said to Zhang Wen, Huishu, I am not talking about you. If you had come to Yue country earlier, I am afraid that you would be the imperial doctor today. How could I still have a chance.One sentence made Zhang Wen a little embarrassed.

Seeing that Zhang Wen was uncomfortable, Gu Yu changed the subject and told them that the king is not in Qiantang, he is on the island of Qiantangkou, and he is practicing tactics with the East China Sea Fleet and South China Sea Fleet who have not yet returned to their station after participating in the exercise. All the scholars who come to the country of Yue are now received by the prime minister's mansion. You can wait in Qiantang, or you can go to the island with the merchant ships. Anyway, there are many merchant ships that come and go every day, and it is very convenient. I am from the country of Yue Merchants have the habit of picking up tourists for free. You don’t even need to pay for food, so you can go to the island safely.

After discussing with Zhang Wen, Lu Mao and Zhang Wen decided to go to the Prime Minister's Mansion to meet Yu Fan first, and rushed to see Sun Shao, which seemed too impatient and inconsistent with their identities.Two days later, when they arrived at the prime minister's mansion, they were startled. There was an endless stream of people coming and going in the prime minister's mansion, and there were gentle or arrogant scholars from all over the place. After waiting for an hour, they saw the busy man. The somewhat embarrassed Prime Minister Yu Fan.

Seeing Zhang Wen, Yu Fan was stunned for a moment, and then burst out laughing. He turned around from behind the desk with agility that didn't match his age, grabbed Zhang Wen, and narrowed his eyes narrowly. , stroked his beard and said, "Zhuzi, are you finally willing to come?"

Zhang Wen grinned in embarrassment, and was thinking about how to answer Yu Fan, but Yu Fan clapped his hands and laughed loudly: "The old man counted his fingers the day before yesterday, and he knew that something good is coming. There are talents, but I didn't expect it to be you. Well, whoever let me see you first, I can't help but keep silent. Huishu, how about making some time in the prime minister's mansion, how about being a planner?"

Zhang Wen was surprised, Ji Xiang is an important position in the prime minister's mansion, he is the prime minister's right-hand man, he just arrived, Yu Fan let him be Ji Xiang, what an honor it is.After thinking for a while, he agreed.Yu Fan saw him, laughed, pulled him in, and said, "You may also know that the prime minister of Yue Kingdom respects great responsibilities, not only does he manage a lot of affairs, but also he is reviewed every year when he reports on his duties. It is also the most detailed. Although the planner in the past was shrewd and capable, but in front of the golden abacus of the Lu family, he made some mistakes every year, which made me feel ashamed to follow behind. Now it’s all right, with you as a big Talented man, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief."

Zhang Wen was baffled, but Lu Hao, who was following behind, understood: "Gong Yu, do you think it's Bo Ji?"

"Who else could it be if it wasn't that girl?" Yu Fan rolled his eyes, obviously hating Lu Shan for a day or two. "That girl has good calculations in her mind. Even an old official can't hide it from her. Even if you do a little bit of tricks, you can never get past her. There is a saying in my country of Yue, don't be afraid of the king's anger, but be afraid of it." Lu Shan checks the accounts."

"Account checking?" Zhang Wen and the others were a little confused. "Isn't the prime minister's office responsible for the plan? Why is there someone else to check?"

Yu Fan glanced at Zhang Wen and showed a smug smile. That feeling made Zhang Wen feel that he had fallen into a pit.

"That's right, the prime minister's office is responsible for the planning of each county, but there is another auditor in Yue State called Zhizhi, who is directly managed by the king. Revenue and expenditure, especially the corruption of two thousand stone officials is the top priority of their review. Because the girls of the Lu family like to wear embroidered clothes, they are also called embroidered clothes. Well, you must understand the meaning of this .”

Zhang Wen and the others looked at each other and understood the meaning.Embroidered clothing refers to a kind of official position that appeared in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It is an envoy directly appointed by the emperor. They have nothing to evade, and they are directly responsible to the emperor. Although the embroidered clothes are different now, their purpose is the same. According to Yu Fan, they are targeting officials, and they are high-ranking officials. Similar, but based on the assessment of accounts, it is obviously clearer than the previous broad responsibilities.All illegal incidents, in the end, have nothing to do with profits. Corruption and bribery is one of the most important contents. Generally speaking, officials who are not corrupt or accept bribes, even if there is something wrong, most of them will not be too outrageous.

"Okay, okay, don't be nervous." Seeing that Zhang Wen and the others looked uneasy, Yu Fan couldn't help laughing, "The embroidered clothes are aimed at preventing villains from gentlemen. As long as you do things impartially, you will find these embroidered clothes Zhizhi will not cause any trouble to you, but will make you feel more at ease. At least you don’t have to worry about your boss suppressing your test results because you haven’t received your tribute. Of course, if you want to use your power for profit, I advise you to do it as soon as possible. Leaving Yue Kingdom, before they find you, I will deal with you first, so as not to be found out by Xiu Yi Zhizhi, I will not look good."

Zhang Wen and the others laughed quickly. They had families and businesses, and a few wanted to make money through corruption.

Zhang Wen was the long history of the prime minister's mansion, but Yu Fan did not arrange for Lu Mao's official position. He said to Lu Mao, don't worry, now our country of Yue needs a lot of talents, and someone like you will definitely find a suitable position.You can wait in Qiantang for a while. Anyway, my Yue Kingdom is about to move its capital, and there will be a large number of ships to help the various prefectures relocate. You can go with them. If you can’t wait, you can also rush to see the king. Lu Ji and his younger sister Lu Shan are all by the king's side, you can look for them first to see if they are still short of manpower, if there is a suitable position, you will not have to wait for a unified arrangement.Lu Hao originally wanted to wait, but later found that more and more scholars came to Qiantang from all over the world every day, and he couldn't sit still anymore. He bid farewell to Zhang Wen and placed his family in Qiantang first. A friend rushed to the island by a merchant ship.

After arriving at the mouth of the sea, Lu Hao easily found the camp of the King of Yue. As soon as he notified him, a young man came out, who was Lu Ji's eldest son, Lu Hong.As soon as he saw Lu Mao, Lu Hong affectionately pulled him in.When Lu Ji was in Yu Lin, Lu Hong, his younger brother Lu Rui and his mother stayed in Wu County. After their mother passed away, Lu Mao took care of their brothers, so Lu Hong was very excited when he saw Lu Mao.

"Brother, you are finally here." Lu Hong said as he walked.

"You know I'm coming?" Lu Mao smiled.

"Isn't this obvious?" Lu Hong smiled brightly: "Brother, you don't know why Gu Gong went to Luoyang, do you?"

Lu Mao's heart moved: "Is it King Yue's idea?"

"It's okay, it's not." Lu Hong looked around, lowered his voice and said, "Actually, even if King Yue doesn't suggest it, King Wu will find other ways to push Gu Gong away from the position of prime minister. King Wu With Goujian's tolerance, one can share adversity, but not prosperity. Now that the world is at peace, how can he tolerate forces that are above the royal power? The four surnames in Wu County are very popular, and it is self-evident that he suspects them."

Lu Mao's brows trembled, and he suddenly thought of Lu Xun. Did he also feel the crisis, so he let himself go to Yue to lay the foundation in advance?While thinking about it, Lu Mao followed Lu Hong and walked in, and came to Sun Shao's boat. Before entering the cabin, he saw Sun Shao and a young man standing on the railing surrounded by a group of people.Sun Shao smiled and listened intently, while the young man was talking in Luoyang official dialect, eloquently. After listening to a few sentences, Lu Mao found that although he could hear everything they said clearly, But he didn't understand what they said.

Helix?geometry?gear?What's the meaning?
(End of this chapter)