Fall In Love with the Technology Tree

Until under the city gate of Xu County, Zhuge Liang couldn't figure out where the mysterious destination Cao Zi said was.

The sky light dimmed again, and the whistling airflow gathered dark clouds, forming a huge gray-black vortex over the city. The branches on both sides of the road swayed wildly, making a crackling sound like a broken joint. Compared with the ruthless natural environment, the hard and silent city walls are more human, and even the iron armored arrows on the wall stacks give people an indescribable sense of security.

"It's home." Ah Sheng told the children, and then instructed the ox cart to follow the long line into the city.

Lü Meng was surprised: "Isn't it Cao Zi's Xu County? Why do you have to wait in line?" One sentence: "I have never seen General Sun need to queue up to enter Jiangling."

A Sheng raised his left hand and pointed forward: "There is a short monument at the root of the city wall, you can go and see - Ah Liang also."

Lu Meng didn't know why, but he still pulled the little brother out of the car.

The dwarf monument is really just a dwarf monument, there is not even a grass roof to cover the rain, and it is exposed on the roadside. The stone is cyan and almost black, with moss crawling on the bottom, it is as hard as a city wall, and it is as silent as a city wall. Even the fonts above are old-fashioned:

"In the fifth year of Chuping, the city was rebuilt on the order of the Second Duke to welcome the Emperor of Han. , twenty-five long streets, and government buildings, granaries, dwellings, wine houses, etc., until the completion of the construction in six years, only in October and March. This is unique in the world, only the common people's merits: carrying water and controlling soil, exhausting stones and quarrying wood, all night long , to welcome the summer and send off the cold, and Jiejie [Note 1], more than 100,000 people, and some of the victims, twenty and seven. Therefore, the stone record is to show the nameless, and the meat-eaters abstain. The heart of the people is like water, and water can be Carrying a boat can also capsize."

The following is a dense list of names, mostly with words such as "chicken", "dog", "pig", or surname plus ranking, such as "Chen San", "Wang Da" , and even the surname could not be verified, and only wrote words such as "Nanlai", "A village", "A local craftsman" and other words to describe the origin.

Lü Meng's eyes fell on the bouquet in front of the monument, before asking, "What does Cao Zi mean?"

Zhuge Liang yawned on the spot, and two tears came out of the corners of his eyes. "Let's go." He turned around lazily and tugged his feet.

Lü Meng was pulled back by his younger brother, but reluctantly turned back to look at the city gate. There was a lively scene there, the convoy collecting military rations was blocked at the door, and a brand new iron-clad door was slowly being lifted up and installed on the door shaft with the sound of neat horns. The onlookers cheered loudly, as if it was the new door of their own adobe house, and they were proud.

"It turned out to be replacing the city gate, no wonder the elder's team has not moved for a long time." Lu Meng said to himself, and then continued to carry forward his spirit of holding on to a question, "I I seem to understand a little bit, but I can't say it. Brother, you are smart, tell me. What does Cao Zi mean?"

"Look at those people." Xiao Liang imitated Ah Sheng and pointed with his left hand, "I am so happy to change the city gate because they think this is their Xu County. Only in Cao Zi's Under the rule, this is their Xuxian, not Cao Zi, that is someone's Xuxian."

"Ow! So if the war rages here—"

The two of them said in unison: "People's hearts can be used!"

The children were smiling when they returned to the car. The feeling of many people standing with you is very empowering. However, they came with a small tail - Zhuge Liang's old friend Mi Zhu.

"Zhu sees Duke Zhonghua." A ruddy man in a brocade robe greeted Ah Sheng in front of the ox cart, "I just saw Master Zhuge at the gate of the city. Master Zhuge has grown a lot taller. , I don't even dare to recognize it, but fortunately I came over to have a look, so I didn't disrespect Duke Zhong Hua."

"Master Mi, are you okay?"

"It's all good. I came out of Xuzhou this time and brought 20 cars of kelp kelp and 10 cars of refined salt. The school and the medical hall received 30%, the government offices along the road received 30%, and the last 4 He became a quartermaster from Juancheng, but in the blink of an eye, the business was done." Mi Zhu smiled, "We are a family that uses business to pass on the business, and making money is still at the bottom, one is to be honest, and the other is to serve the country. That's fine."

Providing military supplies for Cao Jun, and later on, he also contributed to the Yuan campaign. This is political capital.

"Then I can't let the Mi family make a loss-making business," Ah Sheng smiled, "The boys may have arbitrarily lowered the price, I will make up for them."

"No, no, nothing." Mi Zhu repeatedly denied, and invited Ah Sheng to dinner at night, but Ah Sheng declined:

"I just returned to Xu County, and I'm going to see the old master. And the battle is urgent, brother is waiting for me in Juancheng, and I will stay here for three days at most."

Mi Zhu lamented loudly, until Ah Sheng promised to accompany him when he went north to Juancheng, and then he left. As soon as Mi Zhu left, Ah Sheng's face sank, and he called a guard and said, "Go to the servants of the Mi family to inquire about the purchase price of kelp and salt. Someone has pressed the price of Mi Zhu."

As soon as the guard nodded to leave, he was stopped by A Shi next to him: "Take off, uniform."

The elder brother of the guard looked embarrassed by being called by the head teacher: "Instructor Shi, you have to change your clothes before inquiring about the news, you understand."

"Take off, now." The woman in black was ruthless.

Senior guard: ...you are the instructor and you have the final say.

In the end, the poor guard walked in a tattered single coat, and his back was very pitiful in the strong wind. However, A Shi was still gloomy: "I want to go." Since she met A Sheng in Xiangyang, she has been completely idle.

A Sheng was speechless.

"He's not as good as me." A Shi continued to think. The eldest man, his personality is still the same as when he was a child.

A Sheng had to pat her on the back: "Let's go, it's our turn to enter the city gate."

So A Shi swung his whip, and the wheels of the ox cart squeaked and turned, crossed the moat, passed through the doorway under the city wall where echoes could be heard, and followed the spacious Xuegong Road all the way north. Probably because the weather was too gloomy, but it was as if the sun had already set. In this season, hundreds of flowers wither, and the lotus, which should have been the top one, is also dejected because of the cloudy weather and the cold current, but the Lycoris [Note 2] planted by the only monk and lecturer in Xu County has bloomed. The brightest colors in this dim season.

The motorcade turned on a path on the west side of the Academy, gradually leaving the school district with many shops, and finally arrived at the gate of a mansion in the west of the city. Tall ginkgo trees stand in the dim sky. A handsome middle-aged man under the tree with a restrained and dignified smile reminded Ah Sheng of Xun Jing he met when he first arrived in Yingyin.

At the door of the door, Zhu Zhu, who was tied with two small tugs, couldn't wait to run out, and threw himself into Ah Sheng's arms: "Second Uncle, Second Uncle, you are back. Zhuzhu misses you."

She interrupted like this, dispelling Ah Sheng's sudden sadness. A Sheng touched his little niece's hair, and when he looked up, he saw a string of radish heads standing behind the door. The oldest Sun Quan had reached the minimum age for admission to the Academy, and the youngest Cao Zhang couldn't reach the door. Lock. Cao Pi is an old fried dough stick, and there are also new faces. Sun Yi, who was forcibly sent by his mother to Xu County.

"Have you caused any trouble for Duke Ci Ming?"

The children said in unison: "We don't, we are very good."

Xun Yue was amused by this skilled appearance. "Zhonghua, go into the house, and then slowly reminisce. Uncle Six has prepared a dinner party for you, and invited Cai Jijiu and Cai everyone to accompany you. You can't refuse."

Asheng got out of the car and let the two disciples and Xun Yue greet him before entering the room surrounded by the children.

"Cai Yan returned to Xu County? I knew that the epidemic area in Hedong was lifted, but I didn't expect her to be so decisive. Did the Wei family trouble her?"

"The husband has passed away, there are no children, the old man is supported by her husband's brothers, can the Wei family find a reason to keep people? Even if the Wei family wants to keep people, she goes home to honor her father. It's just right. And Duke Cao sent a team of tigers and leopards to pick them up..."

…

This visit to the Xun family has a special meaning for Zhuge Liang and Lv Meng. They offered tea to their master Xun Shuang, discussed the seniority ranking with the children of the Cao family, and smashed Xun Jing's tablet. head.

"This is my brother and I's mentor." Ah Sheng introduced to the disciples, "In the past, there was no school and no suitable school. When we were eight years old, we gave it to our grandfather. After he finished his filial piety, he went to Yingchuan to study. Because he was an eunuch, he was despised by aristocratic families and ran into walls everywhere. Only Master Xun took us in. I will remember this kindness for the rest of my life. It’s a pity that I was not by his side when he passed away.”

Zhuge Liang looked at the tablet of Xun Jing with awe. "If only I had the ability to know people like this—what happened to those noble families that you once looked down upon?"

A Sheng pondered for two seconds: "Most of them are holding swords and pens." Those noble families who looked down on us in the past are now either working for my brother or me.

Zhuge Liang couldn't help laughing: "So if only I had the ability to know people like this."

Xun Jing has passed away, but Xun Shuang is the living master. Although he is already very old, at the age of sixty-five years old, his beard and hair are all white, and he may leave at any time in a dream. At the banquet, other people's plates are full of grilled sea bass, and Xun Shuang is minced fish and tofu soup. According to himself, he has been a little angry in recent days, and his teeth hurt so much that he couldn't bite the flesh.

In contrast, Cai Yong is much tougher, eating meat and drinking to the fullest, and it is impossible to tell that he has just passed his sixtieth birthday.

Xiao Liang and Xiao Meng also met the famous Cai Zhaoji. It's not as beautiful as I imagined, but in terms of temperament, it really lives up to its reputation. In a blue-and-white uniform, she looks like a lotus flower from the dust.

"I went back and forth to teach at the Academy." She sighed when she toasted Ah Sheng.

A Sheng laughed: "How does it compare to before?"

"It's more comfortable than before. When I wasn't out of the cabinet, I didn't dare to talk to the older students for fear of being suspected of melon fields. Now they look like juniors."

A Sheng frowned indiscernibly, but immediately stretched it out and asked in a joking tone: "Zhao Ji is at home now, the matchmaker is about to step over the threshold, right?"

Cai Yan hesitated for a while before replying: "I don't want to marry again, it's good in the Academy. At least these few years, I want to spend more time with my father."

Cai Yong was already a little drunk at this time, and when he heard his daughter talk about the topic of remarriage, he patted the table and said: "Zhonghua, you tell Meng De, let Zhao Ji and I die. Well, I don't have a few years to live."

This involves Cao Cao again?

Asheng didn't show anything on his face, but he had already noticed something wrong in his heart. The water in Xu County is very deep. Some people are pressing Mi Zhu's price, and some people are forcing Cai Zhaoji to remarry.

Note 1: Diligent forward, vigorous and upward look.

Note 2: Safflower Lycoris, Manzhu Shahua; White Flower Lycoris, Datura. It is the one commonly known as the other side flower. Introduced as a Buddhist flower, it likes yin.