NOVPUBCao Song was very wealthy. According to historical records, he had spent a billion coins to buy his way into the position of one of the Three Dukes. Generally speaking, purchasing an official position could pay for itself within three harsh months. However, Cao Song wasn’t too harsh, and recouping his investment within a year was no problem for him. In the following years, it was still possible to rake in several billion coins.
In any case, Cao Song packed up and took away everything, with over a hundred carts of money, grain, and baggage. Obviously, with such circumstances, the return journey would be slow, and it was quite unlikely to reach Chenliu in Yanzhou in one or two months.
"Zixiu, Anmin, you two take your younger brothers and leave first. Meng De and the others must be eagerly awaiting your return. I will accompany your uncles and follow slowly with the baggage train." With over a hundred carts of money and grain—which was no small matter—and moving only a few dozen miles a day with frequent stops, they hadn’t even reached the East Sea after more than ten days. The younger members of the Cao family had long grown impatient, so Cao Song didn’t see the need to keep these youngsters close to himself any longer. Instead, he decided to let the guards escort them to Yanzhou.
"Yes, Grandfather!" Cao Ang said excitedly, and then, without hesitation, he took Cao Pi, Xiahou Shang, and the rest of the boys and dashed off. If the dawdling continued, these restless boys would sooner or later run off on their own.
Subsequently, Cao Ang, the eldest son of Cao Cao, and Cao Anmin, the eldest son of Cao De, led a group of young lads from the Cao and Xiahou families, along with three hundred guards on horseback, and all disappeared in a cloud of dust.
"Xiahou Ba, why are you leaving with them?" Cao Song asked, somewhat surprised as he looked at the ten-year-old Xiahou Ba. All his brothers and cousins had run off, so why didn’t Xiahou Ba go with them?
"Grandfather gave the guards to us, but doesn’t Grandfather need guards himself?" Xiahou Ba shook his head and said. Despite his young age, as the outstanding son of Xiahou Yuan, he had already displayed a distinct air of promise, much superior to that of his elder brother Xiahou De and cousin Xiahou Mao.
"Hahaha, Xiahou Ba, don’t worry. Your grandfather will be safe in Xuzhou. Your great uncle is the hero who defeated Yuan Shu. Xuzhou itself is affluent and not plagued by too many bandits. Once we reach the East Sea Commandery, as long as Tao Gongzu isn’t foolish, he will surely send troops to escort me to Yanzhou. If any mishap befalls us on his territory in Xuzhou, your great uncle will not let Tao Gongzu off easily," Cao Song laughed proudly.
"Oh, is that so?" Xiahou Ba scratched the back of his head. Although he didn’t fully understand, he more or less grasped that his elders would not have any safety issues.
"So, Xiahou Ba, do you want to stay with your grandfather, or chase after your brothers?" Cao Song asked with a smile, quite satisfied with Xiahou Yuan’s son.
"Umm..." Xiahou Ba looked at Cao Song somewhat sheepishly.
"Go on, go on, you’ll feel constrained staying with us," Cao Song could tell what Xiahou Ba was thinking, so he ordered someone to bring a horse and assigned a dozen guards to send Xiahou Ba off to catch up with his brothers.
As it happened, Cao Song’s decision to send away all the young ones in the clan preserved a good number of the Cao family bloodlines; otherwise...
Meanwhile, Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Jin had managed to get close to Li Youu by leveraging the connections their father had made when he was an official at Mount Tai. Before long, both Zhuge brothers found their way into the Library Pavilion relying on their own knowledge and talent.
"Would Zhuge Xiaoyou be willing to serve as an official in Fenggao?" Li Youu was very pleased with a young and promising student like Zhuge Jin. As for the concern that an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old might be too young, Li Youu felt no pressure whatsoever. Even Fa Zheng had been put to work by Guo Jia, Jia Xu, and Chen Xi as a child laborer when he was only sixteen. For outstanding youths, Li Youu had no qualms about absorbing them if they had the ability.
"Alas, Jin feels too dull to achieve greatness and cannot accept what the master has offered," Zhuge Jin replied, having been struck by the accomplishments of younger kids recently, spoke with such sincerity that Li Youu took it for truth. Without extending further invitations, he simply told Zhuge Jin to come to Fenggao after maturing in his studies, praising Fenggao as an ideal place for him.
In other words, although Li Youu greatly admired the youth Zhuge Jin, the latter’s tone evidently showed he was inclined to become a hermit. Hence, Li Youu did not press him further. Of course, this was also because after a brief chat brimming with ideas, Li Youu was eager to deal with official duties and did not pay too much attention to Zhuge Jin’s intentions. Thus, Zhuge Jin easily sidestepped Li Youu’s invitation.
According to Li Youu’s principles, if he truly knew Zhuge Jin possessed Spiritual Talent, he wouldn’t care whether the other was pretending to be a hermit or not. He would either keep him for himself or bind Zhuge Jin and absolutely would need to keep him.
Inspired by the way of thinking that came with Zhuge Jin, Li Youu’s intelligence seemed to have improved a bit. He began to notice some blind spots he had previously ignored, and his work became smoother.
When Sima Lang and Sima Yi entered through the official channels, they found Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang were already searching for books on the shelves.
"Brother Boda, Zhongda, you two have also arrived," Zhuge Jin said with a smile.
"Since Ziyu has arrived early, have you found a book to your liking?" Sima Lang asked with a smile on his face, a warmth even Zhuge Liang could feel.
"Brother Boda, using your own Spiritual Talent to entice others is not a good thing," Zhuge Jin, who had just felt goodwill towards Sima Lang, remembered his Spiritual Talent and snorted in dissatisfaction.
"Fair said, fair said," Sima Lang reined in his Spiritual Talent and continued with a smile, "I wonder if the two of you have found any books of interest."
"Move aside, move aside, don’t block the way!" Second Miss Cai stopped the handcart, hands on her hips and glared unhappily at the four men blocking her path.
"May I inquire, miss, what are these books?" Sima Lang asked warmly.
The previously fierce Second Miss Cai couldn’t help feeling a bit shy in the face of Sima Lang’s smile, "I am of the Yangcai Clan, in charge of management here. These books are some new military books and miscellaneous pieces, perhaps?"
"May we take a look?" Sima Lang politely requested, while Zhuge Jin also kept an eye on Second Miss Cai. He had noticed during his previous visit here that there weren’t any military books; the main content was classic books. The actual military strategy and political strategy books were all with Cai Yan and one needed her permission to borrow them.
"Um..." Second Miss Cai pondered for a moment, "I suppose it’s okay. Chen Zichuan said these are just some less important books. They should be fine. Um, if you want to look, quickly take one each, just don’t let my sister find out."
Zhuge Jin, indifferent, followed behind Sima Lang and picked out a book, of course, not without expressing his thanks, "Brother Boda, your Spiritual Talent really comes in handy."
Sima Lang pursed his lips and said nothing, leading his brother away. He didn’t hold high expectations for the book he held; after all, Second Miss Cai had said these were not very important. Nonetheless, he thought, as long as it’s a book, what’s there to be dissatisfied with?
Well, this cart of books by Second Miss Cai was compiled based on modern theories by Chen Xi, who catered to the whims of the era. In this time, a hundred thousand words counted as a book, and Chen Xi could speak a hundred thousand words in a day. Then, letting Fan Jian write them down was also a way to keep him busy. Afterward, a little organization would make it a book brimming with wisdom...
After all, the essence of two thousand years of wisdom could easily produce something that would shock people of this era. But it was clear that Chen Xi was messing around, creating some books with such large contradictions that they were almost laughable. He didn’t bother to revise them, as these books were meant to inspire the people of the time, not to write classics. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to qidian.com to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
