Yang Qing had been to Zhuge Liang's residence before, but he had only delivered documents in the front yard a few times, and had never been to his house in depth.
For a prime minister of a country, the Zhuge family's mansion is not big. The main part is a three-entry courtyard, and the furniture and decoration are extremely simple and unpretentious.
Because Zhuge Liang and his wife are both knowledgeable people with elegant interests, the layout of the entire mansion can be considered well-proportioned and unique.
Accompanied by brother and sister Zhuge Qiao and Zhuge Guo, Yang Qing was drinking tea and watching fish in the pavilion next to the small pond in the back garden. The three of them were close in age and already knew each other well, so their conversation was very relaxed and casual.
Tomorrow Yang Qing will leave to take office in Yueqi County, so Zhuge Liang specially invited him to visit the mansion today and have a farewell meal together.
Zhuge Liang has not returned from the Prime Minister's Mansion, and Huang Yueying is busy preparing for dinner in the evening, so Zhuge Qiao and his sister are talking to Yang Qing.
"Bo Song, Soochow is such a talented person."
Zhuge Qiao lived in Soochow as a young man and had a certain understanding of the humanistic stories, customs and people of Jiangdong, so Yang Qing mostly talked about Soochow when he chatted with him.
After all, although the two countries are currently allies, Soochow is actually still the opponent of the resurgence of the Han Dynasty, but now they are united because of interests, so it is good to know more about them.
Zhuge Qiao smiled cheerfully and replied: "It is true that there are many heroes in Wu, but there are also outstanding people in Shu, and smart people are like crucian carp crossing the river. Just like Brother Yang, Qiao thought that there are few among the younger generation in Jiangdong who can compare with him. It’s worthy of you.”
Zhuge Qiao's life in Shu in the past few years has actually been somewhat unsatisfactory. He was originally adopted to Zhuge Liang when the relationship between the two countries was harmonious. At that time, Zhuge Liang and his brother Zhuge Jin both asked Liu Bei and Sun Quan for this matter in advance. It was agreed, so this move is still a good story about the good relations between the two countries.
However, since Sun Quan betrayed the alliance and attacked Jingzhou and captured Guan Yu in the 24th year of Jian'an, the alliance between the two countries broke down and the relationship deteriorated during the past four or five years. Zhuge Qiao, who was born in Jiangdong, became a little embarrassed in Chengdu.
Although others would not do anything extraordinary to Zhuge Liang due to his status, some people lost relatives due to the defeat of Jingzhou and Yiling, so their attitude towards him was not very friendly.
There were sarcastic words, sarcasm and abuse, so Zhuge Qiao spent the past few years at home serving his mother and taking care of his young sister and rarely went out.
Fortunately, since last year, Han and Wu have re-established their alliance, and the resentment in Shu against Soochow has dissipated a lot, and the criticism against Zhuge Qiao has also been reduced. This has made his communication in Chengdu smoother again.
Moreover, he had been crowned an adult last year, and it was already time for him to become an official and serve the country. I heard that the imperial court had recently planned to appoint him as the Prince Consort.
Yang Qingqian said: "Bosong is overrated. I have a mediocre talent, but I just learned from extraordinary teachers and am good at learning. There are so many talented people in the world. In the past, Cao Chong, the youngest son of Cao Cao, and Zhou Buyi, Liu Xian's nephew, were all He is a very smart child prodigy, and of course your brother Zhuge Ke who lives in Jiangdong, I heard that he has also been known as a child prodigy since he was a child. I can never compare to the intelligence of these three people."
Zhuge Guo nodded at the side and interjected: "Cao Chong and Zhou Buyi were indeed young talents. Unfortunately, one died of illness when he was only thirteen years old, and the other was killed because of Cao Cao's suspicion. It can be seen from this that precocious wisdom is easy to achieve. Yes, sometimes it is better for people to be mediocre and ordinary. Of course, the way of heaven is unpredictable, and Brother Yuanxun and others will have other opinions, and it is difficult to determine good or bad luck."
Zhuge Guo's words were somewhat out of the ordinary, and the other two people suddenly didn't know how to answer them.
Yang Qing was puzzled. He lowered his head and thought that Zhuge Guo had lived a carefree life since he was a child and his parents were very loving. How could this little lady feel like this?
He was about to say something to break the silence, but he looked up and saw Zhuge Guo looking at him with burning eyes. He was about to ask a question, but he saw her eyes quickly moving away, and at the same time she said softly: "Master Fu, you have to go thousands of miles away. The roads are not smooth and there are steep jungles and miasma everywhere, so we have to be careful."
Upon hearing this, Zhuge Qiao immediately agreed: "What Guo'er said is very true. King Gaoding Yi is fierce and cunning. Brother, you must be careful in everything."
Hearing the words of concern from the two brothers and sisters, Yang Qing was very moved. In order to reassure the two of them, he smiled and replied: "Thank you Bo Song and Madam Zhuge for your concern. I am always very afraid of death, so I will be careful. "
"Oh? So it turns out that Lord Yang, who volunteered to go to the wilderness, is also a person who is afraid of death?"
Yang Qing followed the sound and saw that it was Huang Yueying who came behind everyone at some point.
Hearing her teasing him, Yang Qing smiled slightly and replied: "Madam, Qing is also a mortal, how can he not be afraid of death? It's just that sometimes he has to forget life and death."
Huang Yueying nodded when she heard this, and said: "Okay, you will take office tomorrow, and I won't talk about life and death at this moment. The prime minister has come back and invited you to talk in the front hall."
Before it was time to go on duty, Zhuge Liang returned to the mansion early in order to practice for Yang Qing. Huang Yueying knew that her husband had something to say before leaving Yang Qing, so she took the Zhuge Qiao brothers and sisters to the canteen to arrange a meal.
"How about, are all the preparations ready?" Zhuge Liang asked, shaking his feather fan.
Yang Qing replied: "Everything is ready, just waiting to set off tomorrow morning." Zhuge nodded and said: "I heard that you are not only poaching people these days, but you also went to Sijin Zhonglang's Mansion to ask for a batch arms?"
Yang Qing did not say hello to Zhuge Liang about this matter. Hearing him ask about it now, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. He rolled his eyes slightly and replied: "This is because Pu Gong saw that it was difficult for Qing to go to Yueqi County, so he gave some weapons to support him. Used for self-defense.”
"Self-defense? You know how to make excuses." Seeing Yang Qing use self-defense as an explanation, Zhuge Liang couldn't help but snorted: "Did Zhang Junsi sue me?"
This was something Yang Qing didn't expect, and he couldn't help but secretly complain that Zhang Yi was too stingy. He just asked for some weapons, but he actually complained to the prime minister. It really didn't mean that he was from the same lineage as the prime minister.
Zhuge Liang said again: "Why, are you feeling guilty? You want to leave such a large number of weapons. Zhang Gong also serves as the commander of the army. It is his responsibility to report to me."
Of course Yang Qing knew this truth and responded with a smile: "It's clear."
"Just understand." Zhuge Liang said: "Now that you have the weapon, you must use it well to ensure that you are safe on the city."
Yang Qing straightened his back, clasped his fists and said, "No, Prime Minister, don't worry, Qing will do a good job to protect the country and the people."
"Alas, the main reason for the rebellion in Nanzhong was not the barbarians' disobedience to the king. In fact, it was the decline of the Han Dynasty and the sluggishness of the central government that led to Yong Kai, Meng Huo, Zhu Bao, and other powerful local officials who had different ambitions and tried to separate themselves from Nanzhong and claim the throne. Dominate. Therefore, when you go to Yuesi County, the most important thing is to handle the relationship with the local powerful."
After Zhuge Liang finished beating Yang Qing, he began to seriously remind him of the affairs of Nanzhong: "We must not only show him power, intimidate the powerful, and reshape the authority of the court, but also show him kindness, appease the people, and win the hearts of the scholars. .”
Seeing Yang Qing nod his head, Zhuge Liang knew that he knew his intention, and said: "In addition, the common people of the Han and Yi tribes are often oppressed by the powerful commanders. As long as the power of the powerful can be restrained so that they can live and work in peace and contentment without being oppressed, this way The common people will turn their hearts to the imperial court, and then Nanzhong will have long-term peace and stability. This is what you have always advocated, and I don’t need to say more, you will handle it properly."
Yang Qingdao: "Don't worry, Prime Minister, the Qing Dynasty will grasp the strength of it. I will try out the established strategy in Yueqi County first. After the army goes south to quell the rebellion, the Prime Minister can improve it. In this way, South China can achieve great governance, and the country can There will also be a stable rear area, and we can focus on heading north."
In the past few months, Zhuge Liang and Yang Qing had discussed the strategy of the Southern and Northern Expeditions countless times, and they had already been in the same mind. When the matter of South China was mentioned, the two of them were in such a lively conversation that they forgot about it.
It wasn't until Zhuge Qiao came in to invite them to dinner that they realized that the sky had darkened.
Since Zhang Qian emptied the Western Regions during the reign of Emperor Wu, many unseen vegetables and fruits such as cucumbers, coriander, garlic, etc. were introduced to the Central Plains by envoys and merchants, greatly enriching the food on the people's tables.
Tonight, Huang Yueying cooked a sumptuous dinner herself. Her cooking skills were very good. Yang Qing devoured the meal and left until he was full.
