novelAbuy Chapter 96 Initial Settlement of Yuzhang
Chapter 96 Initial Settlement of Yuzhang
Chapter 96 Initial Settlement of Yuzhang
Lu Yong looked at it carefully for a while and thought to himself: This little guy in front of me is the Danyang Prefect of the Eastern Wu in history.
He wrote "Linhai Shuitu Zhi" (Records of the Land and Sea of Linhai), which describes the customs and culture of Yizhou (Taiwan), leaving behind the earliest written record of Taiwan for posterity.
He also led the Green Turban Army in a bloody battle at Banqiao, ultimately dying on the battlefield.
But now that he is growing up under Lao Liu's rule, his future fate will surely be completely different from that of history.
"Strategist?" Shen Yi called softly when he saw Lu Yong lost in thought.
Lu Yong came to his senses: "That's good. Take good care of him, and send him to a government school when he grows up."
"That's what I think too." Shen Yi nodded repeatedly, and then welcomed Lu Yong and Zhuge Liang into his home.
Since we just moved, we don't have much furniture yet, but we've already started using a high-legged table and bamboo chairs.
Shen Yi's wife brought tea and placed it on the stone table in the courtyard.
The teacup was made of coarse earthenware, and the tea soup was slightly yellowish with a faint burnt taste.
Lu Yong picked it up and took a sip.
Shen Yi said somewhat awkwardly, "Strategist, Kongming, the tea isn't very good, please make do with it."
Lu Yong put down his teacup and laughed, "It doesn't matter, I can't tell the difference anyway."
Zhuge Liang had just taken a sip and was savoring it when he heard Lu Yong's words and almost spat it out.
Shen Yi told his wife to prepare the meal.
Lu Yong stood up and stopped him, saying, "We still have official business to attend to, so we don't need to eat."
After saying that, Lu Yong took out a bag from his sleeve, stuffed it into Shen Ying's arms, and said, "This is for the child's good fortune, wishing him a safe and healthy growth."
"Strategist, you have already done me a great favor. I absolutely cannot accept this money." Shen Yi hurriedly reached out to take it out and return it to Lu Yong.
"This is for the child, not for you," Lu Yong said, glaring at him.
Shen Yi opened his mouth, his eyes reddening, but in the end he didn't refuse anymore.
He simply took a step back and bowed deeply to Lu Yong.
Lu Yong patted Shen Yi on the shoulder and said, "You can spend some time with your family today."
"Kongming is gone."
Shen Yi saw them off at the door, watching Lu Yong and Zhuge Liang's figures gradually disappear into the distance.
With tears in her eyes, Madam Shen said, "My husband, the strategist has treated us with the utmost kindness. You must serve him with all your heart."
Shen Yi put his arm around his wife's shoulder and said gently, "Don't worry, my wife, your husband's life has long belonged to the strategist."
Lu Yong led Zhuge Liang straight back to his residence.
Zhuge went to his study to continue organizing the teaching materials. He had already finished revising the "Thousand Character Classic" and had begun studying and organizing "Elementary School Mathematics".
Lu Yong went to the backyard, where Zhang Mo, Li Shi, and others were busy working on the woodblock printing.
"Old Mo, how's the woodblock carving going?" Lu Yong asked as he walked up to the wooden table.
Zhang Mo straightened up and pointed to a wooden board next to him.
The opening lines of the Thousand Character Classic are engraved on the board in reverse, with clear strokes, even depth, and very careful engraving.
"Strategist, this is the second version."
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"The previous piece was carved too shallowly in some places, so the ink color wasn't very even when printed. I reckon this one should be fine," Zhang Mo replied in a hoarse voice.
"You don't need to stay up until the wee hours every day. We have plenty of time, so a little extra time in the evening won't make a difference."
"That won't do! We will never forget the strategist's great kindness. We won't feel at ease unless we do more work!"
"————" Lu Yong was speechless, and rarely bothered to argue with them.
He picked up the wooden board, examined it for a while, and said, "Here, let's try printing one."
"Alright!" Zhang Mo replied, fixing the wooden board to the table.
Then brush on a thin layer of ink, carefully cover it with a piece of bamboo paper, and finally press it down gently with a palm brush.
After a moment, he held his breath, lifted it up, and held it up to Lu Yong: "Strategist, how was the effect?"
Everyone looked over.
The text on the paper was clear and the ink was even, giving it a neat and pleasing appearance.
"Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful!" Lu Yong exclaimed with a smile, then reached out and took the paper.
"How much time do you estimate we'll need for the rest?"
Zhang Mo's smile vanished instantly. "Strategist, it takes five or six days to carve just one page of this woodblock. To print the complete 'Thousand Character Classic,' we'll probably need to carve over fifty blocks—"
"No rush, let's finish the first version first." Lu Yong folded the printing paper and put it into his pocket.
"Here you are."
Yuzhang Prefecture is located eighty li southeast of Nanchang City.
Guo Jia was sitting on a large rock, eating a dry biscuit and drinking a sip of wine.
The person squatting next to him is Jiang Qin.
There were still many dried bloodstains on Jiang Qin's armor, indicating that there had been several battles before.
The bandit leader who occupied Poyang was named Peng Hu. He had been entrenched by the lake for five years and at his peak had more than two thousand men under his command.
There was another group in Linchuan, led by a bandit named Zhang Jie. Originally a remnant of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, they later fled to the Gan River to plunder merchant ships.
Guo Jia swallowed the dry biscuit with difficulty and said, "Once Peng Hu and Zhang Jie are eliminated, the situation in Yuzhang Commandery will be basically stable."
"Military Advisor Guo, how did you know Peng Hu was hiding in that cave?" Jiang Qin couldn't help but ask.
"Peng Hu's fleet always went southwest on its journeys, and the water level of the ships would drop on the return trips."
This indicates that he transported the looted supplies out and hid them somewhere upstream.
I sent scouts to investigate all the places upstream where they could hide things, and they found the cave where they hid their supplies.
"We wiped out Peng Hu's stronghold. The only place he can go now is that cave."
Jiang Qin clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Your subordinate has learned a great deal."
Guo Jia picked up a wine gourd, took a sip, and asked, "Are the ambush troops set up?"
"We've already laid an ambush halfway there!"
"Very good," Guo Jia said with a smile. "Once Zhang Jie's reinforcements enter the ambush, wipe them out first. Then go to the cave and eliminate Peng Hu!"
Once we eliminate the two largest bandit groups entrenched in Yuzhang County, the rest will be no threat.
Just then, a scout rode up on horseback.
"Military Advisor Guo, there's a secret letter from you!" The knight dismounted and pulled a bamboo tube from his robes.
Guo Jia took the bamboo tube, removed the sealant, and pulled out the letter from inside.
The moment Guo Jia unfolded the letter, he was stunned.
He looked down and examined the paper closely; it was smooth and translucent white.
On one side of the paper, there is a large character for "paper" and a smaller character for "Chinese". The ink is very clear and there is no smudging.
Turning to the other side reveals the contents of Lu Yong's secret letter to Guo Jia.
Guo Jia did not look at the contents of the letter immediately, but instead carefully read it over and over several times.
The texture of the bamboo curtain was faintly visible on the paper, but it was smooth and even, far superior to any paper he had ever seen before.
After reading the letter from beginning to end, Guo Jia couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Such exquisite paper, yet it costs less than two coins per sheet!"
"This Lu Huai'an is about to start digging up the roots of powerful families!"
Jiang Qin, who was standing nearby, became very curious and couldn't help but ask, "Strategist Guo, what important matter are you planning to undertake now?"
"Focus on suppressing the bandits." Guo Jia folded the paper and put it in his pocket. "You wouldn't understand what's going on in Huai'an."
"Oh." Jiang Qin scratched his head and didn't ask any more questions.