Chapter 273 Composition
To be honest, Zu Lang doesn't really believe in such superstitious things.
After all, neither Taoism nor Buddhism had been spread in the Han territory for a particularly long time, and even the entire set of theories had not developed to a particularly complete state.
They had a strong appeal to the common people who were originally under the annexation and oppression of the nobles and powerful families, perhaps because they were looking for spiritual sustenance. However, this was not the case for Zu Lang, who called himself the "Marshal of Jing County."
So he naturally did not believe that the spread and development of Buddhism in Guangling County of Xuzhou would result in Sun Ce suffering divine punishment.
If these words reached Qiao Yan's ears, it would sound more like a joke.
If there really is such a thing as karma and divine punishment in this world, Zuo Rong, who used preaching as a means to deceive the people, is undoubtedly more likely to be punished than Sun Ce, who simply did not strike the right balance in dealing with the gentry.
Zuo Rong relies on the fact that no one can or no one thinks of exposing his true face, which is why he is still doing well today, acting like the spokesperson of Buddhism in the southeast.
However, although Zu Lang didn't quite believe this, he still planned to go to Xuzhou.
Anyway, if we translate what Zuo Rong asked his subordinates to say into human language, it would be roughly as follows:
I'm going to hold a Buddha Bathing Festival. If you come and visit me, I'll help you fight (curse) Sun Ce.
There's nothing wrong with that.
Today's local Buddhism does not even restrict people's habit of eating meat, and naturally there is no restriction on drinking alcohol.
Zu Lang thought about the rumors that had spread from Guangling County to Danyang earlier, and guessed that the supply of these two items would be indispensable for this Buddha Bathing Festival. The food and drink there might be much better than what he had in Jing County. So he might as well go and take a look, and take his men to have a few meals.
But his action was immediately reported to Zhou Yu.
"Zulang went to Guangling?" Zhou Yu raised his eyes and looked at the person who brought the news, a hint of surprise flashed across his face.
Because the Shanyue were the number one destabilizing factor in Yangzhou and were more straightforward than those noble families who might stab them in the back, after Sun Ce went south to Yuzhang, Zhou Yu had people keep a close eye on Zu Lang and the others to prevent them from suddenly switching from defense to offense and catching them off guard.
The information about the surveillance was sent back by his confidant, so it is absolutely credible.
But Zu Lang's sudden move was not to harm Sun Ce, but to head north to Xuzhou.
The reason why the powerful landlords are powerful landlords is related to the close relationship between them and the land they own. Under normal circumstances, they should not go out.
But even Zhou Yu had to admit that Zu Lang had chosen a very suitable time to travel.
When the new emperor of Chang'an ascended the throne, Zhou Yu went to Chang'an and made a deal with Qiao Yan while congratulating Liu Yu on his ascension to the throne.
Yangzhou will provide one-third of the increased production in exchange for Bingzhou's grain planting experience.
Since Yangzhou was a newly conquered territory by Sun Ce, it was much easier for Sun Ce to implement these planting methods than it was for Yuan Shao.
But no matter what, this was the first year of implementation, so apart from mobilizing troops to support Yuan Shu a while ago to prevent Yuzhou from falling into Yuan Shao's hands and exposing Yangzhou to attacks from all sides, Zhou Yu was almost entirely responsible for internal military training and agricultural supervision.
If he was asked to take advantage of Zu Lang's temporary departure to launch a siege on the Shanyue, he could only say that he couldn't do it.
Firstly, his food reserves were not enough to support him in fighting on two fronts while supporting Sun Ce's southward advance. Secondly, Shanyue was not a simple force. Even without Zu Lang, he could still have Zhang Lang.
Rather than uprooting Jing County's power and letting others gain the upper hand, it is better to keep the troops in place for the time being.
But Zu Lang's going to Guangling was not an ordinary signal, and Zhou Yu's temporary inaction did not mean that he would turn a blind eye to Zu Lang's behavior.
Theoretically, Xuzhou is also their enemy, so he must find out who invited Zu Lang to go to Xuzhou.
Will this sudden invitation have a subversive impact on Yangzhou?
Zhou Yu counted the affairs on his hands and made several decisions.
Please ask Zhang Zhao to temporarily take over the internal affairs of Jiujiang, Danyang and Wujun, and Lu Kang will assist him.
Han Dang, who did not accompany Sun Ce on the expedition to Kuaiji, cooperated with Zhang Zhao to suppress Yan Baihu's former subordinates in Wujun. Ling Cao, who was transferred to him by Sun Ce, was responsible for continuing to keep an eye on the Shanyue in Danyang County.
Afterwards, Zhou Yu went to Xuzhou alone.
If he had a few more brave and resourceful men under his command who could accurately judge the situation and respond accordingly after arriving in Xuzhou, he would not have to make this trip in person.
What he didn't know was that Lu Su, who was supposed to be his confidant, had been given to Tao Qian by Qiao Yan long ago. Lu Meng, who was said to be "no longer the A'mon of Wu", was only thirteen or fourteen years old and was completely useless. This left him with no one to use when facing this unexpected situation.
Fortunately, Yangzhou today is no longer the same as it was when Sun Ce first arrived, and there is still a month or two before the autumn harvest, which gives him some time to travel.
So when Zu Lang led a group of brothers to Guangling County to get free food and drinks, such a yellow bird followed behind him.
But probably, no matter how much everyone on the Xuzhou stage thinks they are the oriole, they will not realize that there is another mechanism to capture the oriole behind the scenes.
For Chen Gui who was in Xia Pi, it was very likely that the two merchant brothers who had just arrived in Xuzhou were from the Huang family of Langzhong as he had guessed.
Although the two of them did not give such an introduction to themselves, during Chen Gui's casual chat with them, he deeply felt that the temperament of these two people could not come from a small family.
The elder brother is steady and responsible for controlling the overall direction, while the younger brother is talkative and careful, and is responsible for making friends. The housekeeper brought by the two of them also reveals a signal in his conversation - he is well educated.
Chen Gui, who did not like dealing with businessmen, did not feel that there was much commercialism in the conversation after hearing about the composition and quality of their goods and their hope to get some advice from Chen Gui. Instead, he felt that there was a different kind of wisdom of survival among merchants.
So he also gave advice to Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting: "The two counties in Xuzhou that are most likely to be able to take up this batch of goods are Donghai County and Guangling County."
These two counties are relatively the most developed economically.
Chen Gui took a sip of the new Shuzhong tea that the two of them had given him as a gift, and said, "I don't recommend you choose Donghai County."
"Donghai County is also home to Tan County, the seat of Xuzhou. The so-called "upward influence" is most evident in this place. Recently, the governor of the state likes cotton clothes. Although the number is still small, it is still a big deal. With the trend, Shu brocade cannot be sold at a high price here."
"Comparatively speaking, Guangling County has fewer problems in this regard, but we still have to pay attention to the location of the sales."
When Chen Gui said this, he frowned slightly. "Some people are used to doing things away from other people's eyes, and they often do things that bully the good and fear the evil. In short, if you think your guards look like capable people, you can make the appropriate colors of these Shu brocades into monk robes and sell them to Gaoyou. If you want to wait and see, you can go to Haixi and Sheyang first."
Qiao Lan replied: "Thank you Mr. Chen for your advice."
Chen Gui's advice really helped them a lot.
The “some people” he was referring to who bullied the good and feared the evil were, of course, the ambitious Zuo Rong.
The Buddhist temples built by Zuo Rong were built near Gaoyou and were distributed in the central and southern parts of Guangling County, but there were almost no such temples in the north adjacent to Donghai County. It was clear that he was acting like the emperor was far away and Tao Qian had no right to interfere with him.
What’s even more interesting is that Zhang Yi, the former Guangling prefect who had just stepped down at this time, was in Sheyang County of Guangling.
Following Chen Gui's advice, Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting finally had a logical reason to take action.
Qiao Ting took most of the floral cloth and green pottery among the goods to Tan County.
After all, Tao Qian's "the emperor's preference" only affected the price of Shu brocade, but did not affect the other goods they brought. After all, Tan County was the provincial capital of Xuzhou, so it had no effect on the prices of the Luoyang specialties they brought.
The more prosperous Xuzhou is, the more it can probably consume this batch of goods.
The fact that Qiao Ting was able to contact Chen Deng because of Chen Gui's previous "guidance" was in line with her previous considerations on where to start in Xuzhou.
Of course, this was still to make friends with Xuzhou officials as a businessman, and did not go against Qiao Yan's requirements of her.
On the other hand, Zhang Yi, who was unemployed at home, learned that a wealthy businessman from Shu had come to the same street.
When he came back from strolling outside with his hands behind his back, he heard that his wife had gone out to buy a lot of things.
Zhang Yi looked at the pile of red and yellow fabrics, printed batik patterns, and pottery with green backgrounds and patterns, and felt a headache. He couldn't help but say, "What's the point of buying all these things? Don't you think the colors are too... too bright?"
"What do you know?" His wife glanced at him. "You haven't had good luck since seven or eight years ago. According to your starting point as a disciple of the Yuan family and your age, even if you are not sitting firmly in the position of prefect, you should be able to serve as an official in the capital with the support of the people. But you ended up becoming the prefect of Guangling—"
"That's fine, at least it's still north of the Yangtze River, not a barbarian land. What about now?"
Now... now I have become a white-collar worker.
Even if one met an emperor like Emperor Ling of Han who was relatively moody and happened to say something wrong, it was rare for people to directly strip him of his official hat.
After all, anyone who can get to this position must have some complicated interpersonal relationships.
As long as you don't get involved in the fights between scholars and eunuchs, and don't join the side of the arrogant and domineering relatives of the emperor, the degree of demotion will generally be limited.
It just so happened that Zhang Yi encountered a confrontation between the two courts, which was the first time in the four hundred years of the Yan and Han dynasties.
It's true to say that this is bad luck.
Seeing that he had no intention of rebutting, his wife continued, "It just so happens that the newly arrived merchant brought with him a lot of goods from Luoyang in addition to Shu brocade. Whether it's floral cloth or green pottery, they all have lively and festive designs. Buy some and put them at home to bring you good luck."
Zhang Yi couldn't help but mutter, "Luoyang is no longer the imperial capital. Wouldn't it bring more bad luck if we buy goods from Luoyang?"
But when he thought of Luoyang, a trace of regret appeared on his face, and he swallowed the words back.
While accepting the assignment and moving several potted plants in his home to new green pots, he listened to his wife continue to say: "It's funny, this is a fierce bandit who attacks Buddhism in Guangling. Even outsiders know about it. When asked why he only came to Sheyang, the merchant was hesitant to speak. But old Tao Qian didn't know about this and let him do whatever he wanted here."
"We just held the Buddha Bathing Festival once in April, and now we're holding it again in June. What's the logic behind this? It can't be that according to their Buddhist rules, two months count as a year? If that's the case, why not let him perform a show about how crops mature within a month?"
Zhang Yi didn't reply.
He didn't know whether he should say that Tao Qian certainly knew what Zuo Rong had done, but the current situation was more favorable to Tao Qian, or he should say that if Zuo Rong could really make the crops mature in January as his wife said, he would be too lazy to stay here and wait and see.
After moving the last flowerpot and a few green pottery jars into the kitchen, Zhang Yi walked into the house with his hands behind his back.
But halfway through the walk, he heard his wife say, "I'll go out again after dinner."
Zhang Yi's eyelids jumped, "You haven't bought enough yet?"
"No, I went to listen to people's stories." She replied proudly, "Because this Shuzhong area has always been cut off from the outside world, it's rare for a Shu businessman to come. I went to listen to some interesting things, such as how the Grand Marshal and Liu Yizhou hunted in Hanzhong and expelled Zhang Lu. Since the host is from Langzhong, Baxi, he must know these things."
When Zhang Yi heard the three words "Grand Sima", he felt his face turn pale before he even heard Qiao Yan's name.
Regardless of whether her action of piercing his official hat with an arrow could be considered as showing mercy compared with Qiao Yan's later battle record, the psychological trauma it caused him was no less.
"Why would a businessman be responsible for telling you a story? Don't be sold out by others."
His wife's voice came from behind him, "You underestimate me. Of course, it's because I know people in Sheyang who can afford Shu brocade and can help them find buyers. By the way, do you want me to come back and repeat it for you?"
Zhang Yi quickly rejected his wife's suggestion.
He had no intention of adding more unpleasant news to his already troublesome life.
This series of jokes made him realize that there was a new person among his neighbors, but he did not doubt the other person's identity at all.
After satisfying the gossipy impulse of Zhang Yi's wife, Madam Zhao, Qiao Lan recorded all the information he had learned from Madam Zhao in a notebook he carried with him.
Now is not the time for her to start messing things up.
If the water wasn't muddy to begin with, how could her harpoon be effective?
She took out the note that Jia Xu had handed her before he left, and saw the four words "sitting and watching from the sidelines" written on it as a reminder. She thought that her actions today were somewhat risky, and decided to restrain her behavior.
Fortunately, Zhang Yi's current situation has made him lose some of his sense of crisis, but when the situation in Xuzhou becomes confusing, he will also become alert.
She needs to be more cautious.
Although Qiao Yan was worried about Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting going to Xuzhou, he also knew that this was a necessary test for them to embark on their career path.
After all, there are still many guards around, so it is not difficult to evacuate Xuzhou safely.
If they had not gone through this tempering, they would only be disciples of Jia Xu and Li Ru and not themselves.
Meanwhile, in Chang'an City, there was also a test for the younger generation.
Because Ma Lun had caught a cold last year and recovered, she has never returned to her pre-illness condition. Even with Hua Tuo in Leping, he can only keep her body in a relatively stable state.
Ma Lun felt that instead of coming to Chang'an to take over the position of Grand Historian, it would be better for him to stay in Leping, train a new batch of technical talents, and recommend Ren Hong to the court as the candidate for Grand Historian.
This recommendation can be said to be a severe test.
You know, going from Lingtai Cheng to Taishi Ling is not just a step.
Although the Grand Historian was only an official position with a salary of 600 stones, equivalent to the salary of twenty meritorious services that Xi Zhicai despised back then, this was already a court official who appeared in public in a serious manner, unlike the Lingtai Cheng who worked as an assistant in a special department.
It has only been three short years since Ren Hong started to get involved in Lingtai-related astronomical and meteorological observations and data calculations.
To be more specific, two years and ten months.
Ma Lun's position as Grand Historian was conferred by Liu Hong himself. Because of her background as the daughter of Ma Rong and her outstanding relevant knowledge, she did not cause dissatisfaction among others. However, if this position was directly handed over from master to disciple to Ren Hong, a female official who used to only tidy up clothes, someone would definitely express dissatisfaction!
Qiao Yan said to Ren Hong solemnly, "I will not provide you with any job assistance in this matter. You can only rely on yourself to withstand these doubts, but I also believe in Mrs. Ma's expectations of you, so I will suppress those denials based on age and gender."
"Whether you can truly soar to the sky depends on your own performance."
After hearing the first half of Qiao Yan's words, Ren Hong's eyes did not show any sign of hesitation. When she heard the second half, there was even a bit more determination on her face.
From the time she left the Han Palace and changed her name to now, everything she has learned and thought has been an attempt to change her own destiny, and she will certainly not take a step back now!
Qiao Yan looked at Ren Hong's back as he left after he made a promise to her that he would never back down, and smiled as she leaned against the railing.
The summer heat rises, the sky is high and the air is clear, it is the time when all things flourish.
The talents under her are also thriving, and one can't help but feel excited by this sight.
She does not want these names that shine so brightly in the original history to exist only as beneficiaries of an advantageous situation, but rather hopes that they and they will be a huge wave in this era of change.
This is the case with Qiao Lan, Qiao Ting and Ren Hong.
This is especially true for the students in Leping Academy!
These people were surrounded by the mountains of Leping and received a lot of news from Chang'an.
Especially those who are the most outstanding or the most talented.
In order to prevent some information from leaking out, Qiao Yan even specially asked someone to set up a library in Leping Academy as a place for their communication.
Any news received from Chang'an or even from various states that was judged to be worthy of their knowledge would be sent to the mailbox here, where one person would take it out and read it to the rest of the people.
This is also to maintain their sensitivity to the world situation and their breadth of knowledge.
Of course, the topic here recently is probably more about Chang'an.
When the new emperor ascended the throne and the Hongwenguan was completed, some of them went to Chang'an to watch the ceremony. Pang Tong came to Leping at that time, which was almost half a year ago.
Pang Tong also informed Qiao Yan in advance that he had made a decision and lifted some information restrictions on him.
Unfortunately, the completion of Chang'an New Road in May prevented them from going there.
Although everyone present had seen what cement looked like, it was still a pity that we didn't get to see other people's reactions to this road.
Another regret is probably -
"If we were there, how could Wang Zhongxuan be the only one to win the essay contest on Chang'an New Road?"
These words were said by Pang Tong, who always had a high spirit.
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Lingju suddenly rushed into the study and spoke loudly. "Okay, let's stop discussing the Chang'an Road calligraphy and painting collection event! Look at this!"
Everyone looked towards her and saw that she was holding a piece of paper in her hand.
To be precise, it was a piece of letter paper.
Xi Zhicai followed Lu Lingju and walked in slowly. He felt a little helpless about this overly energetic big sister of the academy.
This child's overly vigorous spirit will eventually be thrown onto the battlefield.
Fortunately, there is something that can distract their attention.
Seeing that everyone's eyes were looking in her direction, Lu Lingju cleared her throat and said, "Your Excellency has assigned us a composition topic."
Lu Yi and Zhuge Liang had been asked by Qiao Yan to discuss the issue of beast-based troop formations, so they inevitably had a bad premonition.
However, Qiao Yan was still very serious in assigning the task this time.
At least, just like her essay collection activity in Chang'an, it was a collection based on practical considerations.
At the same time, this was not a composition solicitation issued to all students in Leping College, but only to those potential stocks that she was optimistic about.
Considering that it was indeed unusual, even those who were too young were temporarily kicked out.
The content of this composition is called——
How to subdue Gongsun Du.
It was not Gongsun Zan, but Gongsun Du, the governor of Liaodong at that time.
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