Ji Han Liu Zhang

After it was agreed upon that Pu He would serve as Linqiong iron officer, Liu Zhang turned around and revealed his real intention: "Pu Jun, your son Pu Yuan seems to me to be very kind. I want to take him to Chengdu to train him. I don't know." Pu Jun agrees?"

Pu He, the patriarch of Linqiong Pu clan, who was extremely happy to have won the post of iron official, could no longer contain the joy in his heart. There was a smile on his face, and he even became somewhat flattering: " It is a blessing for A Yuan to be trained by Ming Gong."

This time Pu He excused himself without any courtesy. It was related to the future of his son Pu Yuan. As a father, he agreed without hesitation.

Pu He quickly motioned to Pu Yuan beside him. Father and son were heart to heart. Pu Yuan attended and thanked Liu Zhang: "Thank you very much, Ming Gong. Yuan is willing to serve Ming Gong."

Liu Zhang nodded with satisfaction. In history, Pu Yuan not only made achievements in smelting. According to Du You's "Tongdian": "Liang gathered the governors Liao Li, Du Rui, Hu Zhong, etc., and the inference was like a wooden cow and a flowing horse. According to this, Then people from Puyuan actually created it, and it was not Liang who created it himself." The rumored wooden ox and flowing horse may be Pu Yuan's masterpiece.

For a talented young man like Pu Yuan, who was a wizard in smelting and equipment, Liu Zhang planned to personally train him so that Pu Yuan could play a more important role than in history.

In addition, Linqiong is a small place after all, and it is not as good as the gathering of talents in Chengdu. If Pu Yuan grew up in Chengdu, he would have the opportunity to communicate with many talents from Shu, and he would be better than Linqiong in terms of gaining experience.

……

In a house where the Pu family in Linqiong lived together.

"I think that I, the Pu family of Linqiong, have been smelting for generations, but I have never been able to get an iron officer. I didn't expect that today, I would be able to get the iron officer position so easily... I, the Pu family, have been smelting my duty, and the iron wares I have made are It's excellent, the price is fair, and it's very popular among the people. A family that has accumulated good deeds must be happy!" Pu He's words revealed luck, and his tone was filled with joy.

As the leader of the Pu family in Linqiong, Pu He always wants to prosper the Pu family. However, although the Pu family has made some wealth from smelting, relying on sufficient wealth, they can stand among the wealthy families in Linqiong.

But the Pu family has money and a certain prestige in the Linqiong area, but since ancient times, wealth is not as important as power, and no amount of money is as good as holding power. The Pu family's official career has not been very smooth. This problem has always been Pu's And the heart disease of this Pu clan leader.

But as Pu He said, he never thought that Yizhou Shepherd Liu Zhang, who was passing by Linqiong, specially summoned him, the leader of a small wealthy family, alone and appointed him as Linqiong Iron Official.

What makes Pu He even more surprised is that his son Pu Yuan has won the favor of Yizhou Mu Liu Zhang and will follow Yizhou Mu Liu Zhang to Chengdu.

As a junior, Pu Yuan, who behaved well in front of Liu Zhang and never said much, spoke at this moment: "Father, I expect you to get the position of Linqiong Iron Officer, not only because of the excellent iron tools that I, the Pu family, forge. 's sake."

"Huh?" Pu He looked at Pu Yuan with a trace of doubt on his face. He asked, "Does Yuan'er have any insights?"

Pu He's eyes were gentle and his attitude was friendly. The Pu Yuan in front of him was the treasure in his hand, no one else. Although Pu Yuan was young, he was a mature man and he was very skilled in smelting and equipment. He regarded it as Pu's thousand-mile horse.

Pu Yuan looked calm and slowly elaborated on his views: "I, the Pu family, am in a lower-middle-class position among the wealthy families in Linqiong... Now Liu Yizhou is going to implement the ironware monopoly. If we identify Zhuo and Cheng, the heads of Linqiong's wealthy families, serve as iron officials. Zhuo and Cheng are already rich and noble, so they may not be willing to do their best to promote Liu Yizhou's iron monopoly. And I, the Pu family, need iron officials. If you have a glorious career, you will definitely use all your strength to work for Liu Yizhou."

Pu He nodded when he heard the words, and he agreed: "So Liu Yizhou wants to bring you Yuan'er to Chengdu, and part of it is to inspire his father, the Linqiong iron official, to do his best."

"Of course it is." Pu Yuan nodded. Regarding the fact that Liu Zhangyan favored him, anyone else would probably be ecstatic to hear that Yizhou Mu appreciated him, but he was a mature man, so he thought about it. The deeper meaning was that he did not think that Liu Zhang was optimistic about him, but he just felt that Liu Zhang wanted to win over the Pu family in Linqiong to do things.

"No matter what Liu Yizhou thinks, it is gratifying and congratulatory for my father to be the iron official of Linqiong. With my father in the position of iron official, I, the Pu family, can be compared with the Zhuo family and the Cheng family, and I have the smelting skills in my hands. Under the authority of the matter, both the Zhuo family and the Cheng family have to let me, the Pu family,... light the lintel and prosper the Pu family, starting from today."

Pu He smiled, and what Pu Yuan said pleased him very much. Thinking that Pu Yuan would follow Liu Zhang to Chengdu in the near future, Pu He said with a kind face: "Yuan'er, although Liu Yizhou may be because of You want me to work hard, so I take you to Chengdu, or maybe Liu Yizhou really thinks highly of you... But let’s not care about the truth, we just need to work hard and serve Liu Yizhou well.”

Last year, Liu Zhang pacified Badi, and then conquered Nanzhong, spreading his prestige to Bashu. Regarding Liu Zhang's glorious deeds, Pu He's ears have almost become cocooned after hearing about Liu Zhang's glorious deeds. Faced with the opportunity given by such a prominent figure as Liu Zhang, Pu He consciously must seize it no matter what. After all, the best chance for a family to prosper is to follow a promising Ming Gong.

As for the name of a person and the shadow of a tree, Pu He believed that following Liu Zhang was the right choice. The prosperity of his Pu family would be tied to Liu Zhang in the future. With Liu Zhang, both would prosper and suffer.

"My child understands." Pu Yuan responded solemnly with clear eyes.

……

After staying in Linqiong for three or four days, Liu Zhang began to return to Chengdu. In the early morning of this morning, Liu Zhang came to the city gate of Linqiong County and prepared to say goodbye to Linqiong.

All the officials of Linqiong County, big and small, were all neatly dressed, showing off their most exquisite services and showing their most energetic style. They gathered on both sides of the city gate to send Liu Zhang off to Chengdu.

On one side of the crowd, Pu Yuan was saying goodbye to his father Pu He. Although he was young and mature, Pu Yuan was more or less sad when he left his hometown and said goodbye to his father. There was a flash in his eyes. Jingying bowed to Pu Yuan solemnly: "Father, please take care of yourself. It's a shame that my child can't serve you and fulfill your filial piety."

Pu He stretched out his hand to help Pu Yuan and warned him carefully: "Yuan'er, as long as you work hard in Liu Yizhou and achieve something, you will be showing your greatest filial piety to your father... My father is already middle-aged, and he is in his middle age. Time is running out, thoughts are passing by, and Pu's family fortune will be handed over to you sooner or later. You should encourage it and study hard in Chengdu. You should learn a talent and inherit Pu's family fortune." ." Pu Yuan was helped up by Pu He and bowed down again. He responded sincerely.

The carriage was about to say goodbye to the Linqiong County Magistrate, and he casually told Linqiong County Magistrate a few words, telling Linqiong County Magistrate to live well, love the people, and strengthen Linqiong's smelting industry. Liu Zhang caught a glimpse of Pu He and Pu Yuan bidding farewell to each other in tears at the corner of his eyes. The affectionate scene between father and son couldn't help but make Liu Zhang feel something.

Not long after, Liu Zhang and others started to leave. The Linqiong County magistrate led the officials of Linqiong County and bowed down to send Liu Zhang off, the Yizhou shepherd.

Liu Zhang, who was sitting comfortably in the carriage, did not have much leisure time. At this moment, he was also busy. On the slightly swaying carriage, he took out a pile of silk books and began to review them.

This pile of silk books was delivered from Chengdu. The chief official Wang Shang thought it was slightly important and needed Liu Zhang to read the silk books. Most of them involved military measures and adjustments to the promotion and dismissal of officials.

‘I don’t know when I will be able to steal half a day’s leisure. ’ The busy Liu Zhang sighed with emotion from the bottom of his heart.

But Liu Zhang didn't have much free time. It had been more than a year since he traveled to the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He was still wandering around Shu, and even Hanzhong Zhang Lu couldn't handle it. The throat of Shu was in Zhang Lu's hand. For Liu Zhang, who was determined to unify China and pacify the barbarians, he felt that the progress was somewhat slow.

Although he was a little anxious, Liu Zhang also knew the truth. The food must be eaten one bite at a time, and the road must be walked step by step. If the steps are too long, it is easy to break the egg.

As far as the present is concerned, Liu Zhang feels that he is quite capable. He has settled Badi and Nanzhong, and eliminated the internal hidden dangers - Liu Mao and Zhao Wei. Now all the people in Bashu are supporting him. When you make great achievements.

‘Zhang Lu, the rice thief, is here. ’ Liu Zhang raised his head, which was lowered to read the silk book, and looked northward, locking his eyes on Zhang Lu of Hanzhong, the master of Tianshi Dao and the leader of Wu Dou Rice.
-
  Nanzhong, Xinggu County.

Cuan Wu, a descendant of the Cuan clan of Nanzhong, drove a fast horse and led several followers, galloping on the road. He kept urging the horses under him to speed up.

Not long after, Cuan Wu arrived at the garrison of the Cuan tribe. He was about to rush to the gate of the camp. He followed the military regulations that no fast horses could gallop in the military camp. He reined in the horse and skillfully pulled the galloping horse. It stopped and stopped right at the gate of the camp.

Cuan Wu jumped off the horse and handed the horse's reins to the soldiers who came up to hold the horses. Then he walked towards the Chinese army's tent without stopping.

Cuan Wu, who opened the curtain and stepped into the Chinese army's tent, did not report the news he had brought back immediately. Being thirsty, he picked up the kettle on the desk and poured a glass of water into the Qi Er cup. After finishing the drink in one sip, he felt that it was not satisfying enough, so he simply put down the lacquer-eared cup, picked up the kettle, and drank like a cow at the mouth of the pot.

"Comfortable." After drinking most of the bottle of water, Cuan Wu wiped his mouth carelessly, wiping off the water droplets on his mane-like beard.

"What did Governor Gao say?" After seeing Cuan Wu full and drinking water, Cuan Wen asked Cuan Wu, a clan brother, about Gao Yi, the Commander-in-Chief of Gaojiang, about his opinion on the documents they handed over.

The content of the document mentioned in Cuan Wen is that the Cuan family planned to capture a Tongshan area occupied by the Soyi people, hoping to obtain the approval of Gao Yi, the governor of the surrender.

In the past, the wealthy families in Nanzhong did not have much interest in opening up territories. They considered it to be working hard for the imperial court. In addition, even if they obtained the land in the hands of the Soyi, it would be guarded by officials dispatched by the imperial court. For the wealthy family, they tried their best, but there was no benefit at all.

And since Liu Zhang pacified Nanzhong last year, he issued the policy that the wealthy families of Nanzhong would capture the sacred land in the hands of the barbarians and build cities or build forts to guard it, so that they could serve as officials in the land for generations. The experience of the wealthy families of Nanzhong in developing A great excitement.

However, Liu Zhang's generosity somewhat made the wealthy families in Nanzhong somewhat hesitant. After all, this kind of system similar to enfeoffment is not very popular nowadays when the county system is the mainstay, and it is not in line with the theme of today's times.

But due to this hesitation, after Liu Zhang's army returned to the north, a wealthy Nanzhong family named Huo in Yunnan County attacked and killed the Yi tribe in a river valley, occupied the fertile valley in the hands of the Yi people, and obtained the support of Gao Yi, the governor of Gao Yi. After approving and appointing the candidate for Shanghehe County Magistrate submitted by the wealthy family surnamed Huo, this hesitation suddenly disappeared.

In the land of Nanzhong today, a group of wealthy tribes in Nanzhong are like hungry wolves, looking at the Soyi tribes that occupy fertile lands or mines around them, intending to seize the fertile land from these Soyi tribes. lands and mines producing gold and silver.

The Cuan family was naturally involved in this slightly crazy craze, eyeing the Yi tribe that occupied a silver mine in Xinggu County, intending to seize the silver mine and make it the Cuan family's property.

But before that, the Cuan family needed to inform Gao Yi, the governor of Gaojiang, and get Gao Yi's approval before going to use the knife or gun to show respect for Gao Yi, the governor of Najiang who was in charge of Nanzhong.

"What else can we do? Governor Gao naturally agrees. In fact, let me tell you, we don't need to inform Governor Gao. It's not a big move. It's just an attack on the Yi tribe with more than a thousand people and a silver mine. That's it... According to other Nanzhong wealthy families in the past, the operation was over. After occupying the silver mine, they could just inform the High Governor. Why do we need to inform them? It has made me tired on horseback during this period of time, running back and forth. "

Cuan Wu used his careless temper. After informing Cuan Wen about the attitude of Gao Yi, the surrendered governor, he complained at the same time and complained for himself: "When will we mobilize thousands of people to attack and destroy more than ten Yi tribes?" , such a big move deserves to be notified to the High Governor."

Cuan Wen shook his head angrily and pointed at Cuan Wu, his clan brother: "Our Cuan family is different from other wealthy families in Nanzhong. The head of the family (Cuan Xi) is now the governor of Xinggu County and is in the officialdom. You should proceed with caution. Even if you are capturing the silver mine, there is no need to inform you. But with such an announcement, Governor Gao will know the respect that my Cuan family has for him... You should put away your lazy temper and just go back and forth. , considering your physique, it’s just like a spring outing.”

Cuan Wen, who had finished educating Cuan Wu, solemnly said: "The master of the family has entrusted the task of capturing the silver mine to you and me. There should be no oversights. Everything must be done carefully." (End of Chapter)