Three Kingdoms: I rely on system loopholes to survive

Although it is just the beginning of spring, there is no such thing as "late spring cold" in Cangwu. The sun at noon is still hanging in the sky at youshi, without losing its brilliance.

People like Zhongping travel on horseback for convenience, but after climbing the hill and looking at the dam all day, they feel that horses are of little use and are worse than walking.

After all, Guangxin is the seat of Cangwu, and is much larger than other county towns. Zhong Ping was sweating profusely, his inner shirt was soaked, and he just barely understood the structure of the dikes near the Li River.

Zhong Ping knew that he was not familiar with water conservancy, but he had some experience in Dongjun. As soon as he saw the ditches in the middle reaches of the Li River, he felt that something was wrong. Normally, canals were built to divert water for irrigating fields, and irrigation and drainage channels were either arranged adjacent to each other or alternately.

But what he saw was a crisscross of ditches and canals, with the river ditch being the only drainage channel, regardless of the distribution of fields. If the canals were not able to drain water during the flood season, the rice seedlings would certainly be damaged, and he did not know why no officials had repaired them until now.

After returning to the city, Zhong Ping went to the government treasury to look for the documents on farmland irrigation. Sun Qian happened to be dealing with the issue of hidden households and preparing to reorganize the household registration. Although he was also very busy, when he saw Zhong Ping entering the government treasury, he put down the documents at hand and came to help.

"I used to be a clerk, but this is the first time I have seen documents with such messy and illegible writing."

Sun Qian also had a headache. The local dialects and characters were different, and sometimes it was difficult for county officials to distinguish them. Sometimes they had no choice but to use characters that were similar in pronunciation and appearance. As a result, errors and omissions were often made when copying documents every year, making it even more difficult for later people to understand.

Zhong Ping was sweating profusely, and his sweat-soaked clothes were now so wet that water could be wrung out. He asked tentatively, "...What do you think of Jiaozhou?"

"No way."

Sun Qian shook his head directly: "If Bo Heng hadn't written to invite me, and the person I was assisting was the lord, I would never have come to this wild place in my life."

"Now that the imperial edict has been issued, it is a done deal and cannot be changed. Otherwise, in my opinion, you must plan to use Jingzhou County as your basic management for the future."

Zhong Ping began to lose confidence again and did not dare to continue the conversation. He was flipping through documents and adjusting his sleeves, pretending to be busy but not knowing what he was busy with.

"By the way, I heard from Mr. Kang Cheng in Yangzhou that you were writing a book?"

Sun Qian was very considerate and changed the subject.

Zhong Ping only remembered this incident at this time: "When I was helping the teacher edit a book, I discussed with the teacher about the method of studying. Those were some superficial ideas in my mind, but if I put them into words, it would inevitably make people laugh."

"Later, when I came to compile the teacher's old annotations on the Great Learning, the teacher asked me to compile the book based on his annotations. Although I was terrified, I also had the courage to leave a little knowledge."

Zhong Ping felt sad when he remembered that the half-written manuscript was still in Xudu. He ran too fast and forgot to take it with him. You know, he made some revisions bit by bit on Zhu Xi's "The Great Learning" based on the lectures of Cai Yong and Zheng Xuan on "The Great Learning"!

He originally wanted to use Wang Yangming's "The Great Question" as the transcript, and thus naturally introduce the method of studying "investigating things and seeking knowledge". However, upon closer inspection, he found that everything has a gradual approach. Since he had already tentatively proposed the theory of "the universe and all things are derived from reason" in front of Cai Yong, why not first apply Zhu Xi's teachings, release them to see the effect, and then specialize in Wang's teachings?

Forget it, it's lost. If I can't type it, I'll revise it again. Fortunately, I'm close to Mr. Kang Cheng now, so I'll memorize the manuscript in a few days and ask Mr. Kang Cheng and the teacher to take a look.

Zhong Ping consoled himself in his heart and couldn't help but asked with a smile: "Gong You asked this, are you going to debate with me?"

"Go! Go! Go."

Sun Qian waved his hand and said, "You and I both advocate modern literature, what is there to argue about? De Shu is interested in ancient literature, so if you want to argue, go and argue with him."

"But is it Chief Secretary Cheng Bingcheng?"

Zhong Ping thought of Cheng Bing's habit of quoting classics, and didn't find it strange.

"I remember that he was also a disciple of Mr. Kang Cheng. Why did he suddenly come to Cangwu?"

He couldn't help but make a joke: "Did you sell my face too?"

Sun Qian thought for a moment and said, "I'm not sure about this... But this must be the reason. After all, who doesn't know how much the teacher likes you? When your letter arrived in Yangzhou, the teacher personally asked us disciples if we were willing to go to Jiaozhou to realize our ambitions."

"In the past, Yuan Gonglu also sent people to invite us, the disciples of Zheng Xue, to become officials. Some of us went, but most of the brothers and sisters just waited and watched. After all... let's not talk about how Yuan Yangzhou is, but the intrigues among his advisers are troublesome enough."

"I think the teacher was just being polite to him, but he never advised his disciples to take the initiative to submit."

As Sun Qian spoke, a sour taste began to creep into his words.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhong Ping quickly grabbed a bunch of bamboo slips and tried to run away: "Gongyou, don't you still have household registration matters to deal with? I'm in a hurry to look at the water conservancy documents, so I'll leave first."

"wait."

Sun Qian grabbed Zhong Ping and looked him up and down: "Bo Heng, I'm not saying that you should hire some maids at home. You are sweating all over and your clothes are messy. If the master summons you now, wouldn't it be rude of you to do this?" Zhong Ping thought that he didn't have many clothes to wear. Now he could go home to take a shower and wash the clothes he took off. Why would he need to hire someone specially? But he also understood that Sun Qian meant well, so he agreed and disappeared in a few steps.

Leaving the treasury, the government office was not far away. Officials could be seen coming and going in the official residence and temple gate. Zhong Ping had previously asked Guo Yuan, who lived in the same alley as him, to bring him a bowl of cold cake from the city for dinner. Therefore, he did not take a detour from Liesi today, but went straight back to his residence in the alley.

Guoyuan had a lot of things to do and usually didn't come back until nightfall. Zhongping pushed the door open and went home. The yard was empty. The weeds had just been cleared a few days ago, and today they seemed to have grown taller. Zhongping wondered if he could clear a piece of land to plant some flowers when he had time.

Zhong Ping had only lived here for two days, and many of the furniture was incomplete. In addition, the house was not big, and Zhong Ping could not think of buying anything to fill it up. He drew a few buckets of water from the water tank by himself, and when he closed the gate, he remembered that he did not have a bathtub.

Fortunately, the weather was not cold. He put on wooden clogs and poured water directly over his head in the yard. After repeating it twice, he felt refreshed. Zhong Ping threw the clothes he had taken off into a basin and soaked them in water, preparing to wash them when there was wind in the evening.

All the bamboo slips he brought back were spread out on the table. Zhong Ping wiped his hands clean and found a quick-drying cloth to wrap his hair, making sure no water would drip and wet the bamboo slips before he began to look at them carefully.

Originally, Zhong Ping thought that no one would come to visit him, so he could just do whatever he wanted at home. Therefore, he wore a robe and tied up the hem to prevent it from getting dirty by the water in the yard. Unexpectedly, he heard a knock on the door, so he had to hurriedly put on an outer robe and went to open the door.

"Lord Xuande?"

The person standing outside the door was Liu Bei. This was indeed beyond Zhong Ping's expectation. He originally thought that Guo Yuan had come back early today and brought him food.

"Please come in quickly."

Zhong Ping quickly moved aside and said, "Why is Lord Xuande here today? I was not prepared. This is really rude."

"I was the one who came to visit unexpectedly, so I was the one who was impolite first."

Liu Bei smiled and held up the food box in his hand. "Yesterday I met Zini in the market and heard that Boheng was not used to Guangxin's food and only ate cold cakes and wild fruits. I was really worried, so I asked my wife to prepare some food. Boheng did not come back at noon, so I thought that he had not eaten outside. I just asked Gongyou in the mansion and learned that Boheng had returned, so I brought another bowl of fish soup."

Zhong Ping was somewhat flattered, and he cleared the bamboo slips on the table, leaving some space. He said, "I am used to eating corn and rice at home, and my diet is monotonous. I have just arrived in Guangxin, so I do have many inconveniences. I think it will be fine in a few days. How dare I trouble Lord Xuande like this?"

Liu Bei opened the food box, took out a dish of rabbit meat, a dish of pickled vegetables, a bowl of hot noodle soup and fish soup, and placed them neatly on the table: "This is also my inconsiderateness. I never thought that Bo Heng was young, wandering alone, and was already bumpy. Now he has not been nursed, so naturally his spleen and stomach are out of balance."

"I wonder if these will suit Boheng's taste?"

Liu Bei looked apologetic and held Zhong Ping's left hand earnestly. "I have seen Bo Heng's hard work. These days, I have issued an order to the government offices. Anyone with virtue and talent, regardless of their background, can be appointed to an official position. When the number of officials is sufficient, they can share some of the miscellaneous tasks..."

Zhong Ping was indeed hungry. He held the bowl in his right hand and took a sip of the fish soup. He almost cried the moment he swallowed it.

coriander!

God knows how long it has been since he drank fish soup with coriander! The last time he drank it was probably before he traveled through time.

Liu Bei saw tears flashing in Zhong Ping's eyes. Although he didn't know what had happened, he held Zhong Ping's hand tightly, with some comforting meaning, and waited quietly for Zhong Ping to speak.

Zhong Ping probably knew that coriander was still considered a precious spice, so he was reluctant to continue drinking it. He put down the bowl and remained silent for a long time. After a while, he looked up at Liu Bei and said, "This fish soup..."

He hesitated for a moment and said, "When I was young, there were elders in my family who were also good at this cooking method. Later, we were separated by war and I haven't tasted it for several years. I feel sad."

In fact, Zhong Ping didn't know how to make up a story. After all, he grew up in Luoyang since he was a child. He could only say that they were relatives. After all, there was the Dong Zhuo Rebellion in the middle. Naturally, no one except Zhong Ji could verify the matter.

Liu Bei nodded and made note of Zhong Ping's preference in his heart.

This coriander was a gift from Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping who came with Zhong Ping. They came from Hanoi with their family property, among which happened to be a batch of spices that they had traded with the Zhen family but had not yet sold, so they brought them along this time.

Mrs. Gan was a good cook. She heard that coriander could remove fishy smell, so she tried adding it when stewing fish soup. After Liu Bei tried it, he felt that the taste was more delicious, so he specially added an extra dish of fish soup to the food box today. Unexpectedly, it happened to suit Zhong Ping's preference.

"Since Boheng likes fish soup, he can come to Bei's house to eat in the future. Bei can also show his authority as an elder and supervise Boheng to eat on time. What do you think?"

Liu Bei joked and patted Zhong Ping on the shoulder.

Under normal circumstances, Zhong Ping would have refused no matter what. But now, looking at the fish soup at hand, with the familiar yet unfamiliar taste still lingering in his mouth, Zhong Ping couldn't say a word of refusal, but nodded seriously.

He finally understood why Zhang Han of the Western Jin Dynasty had such thoughts about water shield and perch...

(End of this chapter)