I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 450: Jingzhou Affairs

For celebrities like Huang Chengyan and Pang Degong who have neither lack of money nor fame, it would be better if they were treated well by local officials, but it doesn't matter if they don't have any, because they don't have the desire for a career in politics anyway.

You can just be indifferent to it.

Moreover, even if Zhang Xian ignored them, what about the county magistrates and county heads in various parts of Changsha County?

Jingnan lacks powerful families with a solid foundation. Most of the famous people in Jingzhou are in Jingbei, and Huang Chengyan and Pang Degong are the most outstanding among them.

Even if you don't ask famous people to say a few good words about you, at least don't let others say bad things about you.

But... the group looked at the bustling ferry with people coming and going. Their whereabouts were no secret, but no one at the scene paid any attention to them.

"Gentlemen, please make way and don't block us... Thank you very much, thank you very much!"

Well, someone still cares about them.

Pang Tong was only sixteen years old at the time, the youngest person in the group. His self-esteem was the strongest at that time, and he felt somewhat dissatisfied when he was treated like this.

He couldn't help but complain: "Is there no one here?"

When Pang Degong heard his nephew's words, he was not angry. Instead, he said, "We were originally entrusted by Liu Annan to come here, first to study, and second to help the people who migrated south. If someone comes to greet us, we will be flattered and grateful. If no one comes to greet us, it is also reasonable. How can we complain!"

Upon hearing this, Pang Tong honestly admitted his mistake, but he no longer had a good impression of the Xiajun County Magistrate who did not appear on the scene.

Huang Chengyan had not expected that Zhang Xian had such great prestige in Changsha County that there was no one to welcome him. After thinking for a moment, he suggested, "I heard that Zhuge Ziyu, who proposed the Lishe Law a few months ago, is in this county. Why don't we go there first to see what the person who proposed this good law looks like?"

"Good!" replied Pang Degong.

As for the several disciples who followed them on their study tour, they didn't say much.

A disciple named Yuanzhi stepped out and easily asked the soldier guarding the ferry for directions.

This Yuan Zhi is naturally Xu Shu.

But after Xu Shu came back, he had a question in his mind: "Although the magistrate of Xiajun County did not send anyone to greet us, I saw that the ferry was in good order and the people were polite. I don't know if it has always been like this or just now."

Pang Degong said: "Since you have doubts in your heart, then just watch carefully in the next few days!"

"If it's just shiny on the surface, it won't last long."

"Yes!" Xu Shu replied.

Half a day later, the group followed the road indicated by the garrison soldiers and finally found Changxiangli where Zhuge Jin was.

This time, someone finally came to greet us.

Zhuge Jin and Jia Kui, who were in charge of Changxiangli and other three villages, learned in advance that Pang Degong and others would be coming, and came together to greet them.

They also took into consideration the group's hard work during the journey and enthusiastically prepared meals for them.

But there was no wine - "Now that Changxiang Village has just been built, there are many things to be done. In order to establish a simple and simple style, there is no wine in this village. I hope you don't mind."

Pang Degong and others did not come here to drink, so they didn't care when they heard this.

Hearing that the food they were eating this time came from the homes of the local people, Pang Degong said, "In this case, we cannot eat the food of the people for free... Yuanzhi, we will pay the people later, and we must not treat them unfairly."

Zhuge Jin replied, "Nowadays, every extra penny in the countryside means less hardship for the people, so I won't refuse it."

"Yes, that's what a true gentleman does." After praising him, Pang Degong asked curiously, "What will Ziyu do if we don't ask for payment after we finish our meal?"

Zhuge Jin and Jia Kui smiled at each other and said, "Then we'll have to use up the limited salary Liang Dao and I have."

"Again?" Pang Tong said aloud.

Zhuge Jin smiled bitterly and nodded.

Pang Degong was interested again after hearing this and asked, "Ziyu, can you please tell me who you and Liang Dao spent your salary on before?"

Huang Chengyan interrupted, "Why, are you planning to make up for it yourself?"

"If you let me know who it is, then that's fine."

"If you knew, wouldn't everyone in the world know? If so, I'm afraid no one will want to come here in the future. How will Tzuyu earn money for food?"

"Well, I won't ask."

"I shouldn't have asked."

Zhuge Jin was stunned by the childish argument between the two celebrities.

Huang Chengyan noticed this and said with a smile, "Don't be surprised, Ziyu. We have lived in the mountains for a long time and often joke with each other. Look at our disciples, they are all used to it."

Pang Tong lowered his head slightly, seeming a little embarrassed.

After learning that Zhuge Jin was from Langya, Huang Chengyan asked, "In the past, there was a Zhuge Biejia in Jingzhou who once served as the acting governor of Jingzhou. I wonder what kind of relationship he has with you?"

Zhuge Jin replied: "It is my uncle."

Upon hearing this, Pang Degong praised: "Sure enough, all of them are gentlemen."

At that time, Huang Chengyan and Pang Degong had no plans to become officials. They had some interactions with Zhuge Xuan but not in a deep way.

But overall, Pang Degong and Huang Chengyan had a very positive view of Zhuge Jin, who came up with the idea of ​​mutual assistance among the villages and communities.

After the meal, Xu Shu gave more money as Pang Degong had said.

Now, Zhuge Jin was more motivated to take Pang Degong and his party to check the homes and fields of the people of Sanli who had immigrated here.

If he had to pay that much for every meal, he would wish this group of people could live here forever.

But when they reached Changnanli, a man suddenly blocked their way, bowed his head, and shouted: "I have been wronged, please help me get justice!"

"My land was seized by someone, and I have no way to seek justice!"

"We, the common people, don't know where to go!"

The man cried and wailed while calling for help, causing a huge commotion.

Pang Degong and Huang Chengyan looked at each other, and both realized that the matter was not simple. They immediately looked at Zhuge Jin - even if you are Zhuge Xuan's nephew, if you really oppress the people, they will never sit idly by.

The two of them tacitly chose to wait and see.

Although the two were entrusted by Liu Biao, strictly speaking, they were just commoners. However, if someone treated them unfairly, they would have to bring up Liu Annan's name.

The teachers did not speak and the disciples were also very quiet.

Zhuge Jin and Jia Kui were both confused at this time.

The Sanli immigrants under their jurisdiction totaled just over 300 households, with less than 1,500 people. It seemed like a lot, but these people all followed them from Changshan County, supporting each other along the way. They couldn't say they could all call out their names right away, but they were familiar faces.

But the person in front of them was someone they had never seen before. He was not from Sanli at all, let alone occupying their land.

Zhuge Jin was the one who reacted faster. He asked directly, "Where are you from? What hometown?"

“My home is right here!”

The people who had been attracted by this man's earlier movements and had come to watch began to talk about what he had said.

Seeing this, the man cried even louder - "It's a pity that my family originally lived here, but people from the county temple came, demolished my house, took away my land, and drove me out..."

"This is my home!"

The onlookers heard what the man said and had different thoughts. Some sympathized with him, some thought that the land they were farming was stolen and they were worried about whether they would have to return it in the future, some criticized him in order to protect the land they had obtained with great difficulty, and some even wanted to take action directly.

The scene suddenly became lively.

Fortunately, Zhuge Jin and Jia Kui were very prestigious among the people and they calmed them down in time, thus avoiding bloodshed.

Then, Zhuge Jin asked in front of everyone: "You said this place belongs to you, do you have any evidence?"

Zhuge Jin actually realized that something was wrong from the beginning. Initially he suspected that this was a citizen from another village who came here to seek justice, but subsequent developments directly proved that this person came here to cause trouble.

However, Pang Degong and Huang Chengyan were present, so Zhuge Jin could not confirm whether they had any connection with this person, so he could only make some tentative attempts.

Moreover, Zhuge Jin still trusted the magistrate of Xiajuan County where he worked.

"We have the land deed as proof!" The man took out a piece of ancient-looking bamboo board from his arms, but he did not present it to Zhuge Jin. Instead, he turned to Pang Degong and Huang Chengyan who were watching coldly on the sidelines and asked, "Please be a witness."

But neither of them reached out, and Pang Degong could not stand it any longer, so he said, "Since you are here to seek justice, you should hand the evidence to someone who can help you seek justice."

The man was a little embarrassed and could only reluctantly hand over the deed to Zhuge Jin.

Zhuge Jin took it and looked at it——"Su? Su Qiang?"

But when he looked carefully, he found that the year recorded in the deed was actually during the Yongjian period.

After asking, I found out that it was from seventy years ago.

The man said, "I am Su San, and the person on the deed is my grandfather. To be honest, the latest deed has been taken away and destroyed by the evil officials in the county temple. Now I can only show you the old deed. If it is destroyed again, I will have no evidence to use."

After listening to this, Zhuge Jin understood what was going on.

It's nothing more than that the local tyrants and powerful people colluded with local officials to assign some wasteland to their own names. It was not developed before for various reasons, but now that it has been developed, they want to use this opportunity to make profits.

Even the lowest quality land could be sold for five hundred coins per acre, let alone so much land.

There is no doubt that their previous attempts were ruthlessly rejected by the current county magistrate.

This time, the arrival of Pang Degong and others representing Liu Biao gave people with ulterior motives an opportunity.

It was no big secret that Changsha Prefect Zhang Xian was at odds with Annan General Liu Biao.

After thinking this through, Zhuge Jin first returned the old land deed that the other party had been staring at, and then asked bluntly: "Before I brought so many people here, there was no arable land here. The current fields were all reclaimed bit by bit by the people here."

"As for your land deed which is from many years ago, the land has been abandoned for a long time, and it should be taken over by the government!"

As soon as Zhuge Jin said this, he immediately attracted the approval of the onlookers.

Zhao Erhe, who had just become the second elder in the village, couldn't wait to show his presence. He shouted, "You occupying the fields without cultivating them is much more hateful than occupying the toilet without taking a shit. Don't let me see you in the future. I will beat you every time I see you!"

Soon, the onlookers unanimously demanded that the man be driven out of their fields.

Zhuge Jin arrived at Changshan County with untold hardships and had to face robbery by bandits. He also brought the people of Changshan County here with untold hardships to settle down. It is true that he is a gentleman, but he has experienced so many things along the way. How could he be willing to be bullied by such a villain?
Moreover, he had experienced a lot along the way, and he knew very well that people like this must be beaten down as soon as they show up, otherwise he would suffer instead of killing the snake. If he didn't make him pay the price today, he would continue to make trouble next time.

He is still here now, but when he leaves in the future, who knows how he will bully the people here?

Thinking of this, Zhuge Jin was unwilling to let the man go. He immediately gave an order: "Capture this man. I will personally send him to the county temple and hand him over to Chen Mingting!"

Upon hearing this, the people rushed forward and tied up the man tightly.

Zhuge Jin then turned around and said to Pang Degong and Huang Chengyan: "This matter is not a big deal, but it is not a small deal either. If it is not dealt with in time, I am afraid that the people will have doubts."

"Next, I will ask Liang Dao to lead the way for you gentlemen. I hope you will not be offended."

Zhuge Jin made this choice to give Jia Kui a chance.

In the past six months, he has been living with Jia Kui day and night, and he knows very well that Jia Kui is very talented, but he is not well known because of his poor family background.

Although Zhuge Jin had not been in Luoyang in the past six months, he often corresponded with Zhuge Liang and knew that Zhuge Liang had met with Princess Wannian several times when he was away.

As the elder brother of the future prince consort and having met the emperor, he said with pride that he did not lack the opportunity to become famous.

Jia Kui could naturally sense Zhuge Jin's intentions. He was about to swear secretly to keep this matter in mind, but he didn't expect Pang De to say it out loud.

——"Speaking of which, along the way, not only the villages that migrated south, but also the local villages are well organized. We really want to meet the county magistrate..."

Jia Kui: “…”

In the end, the two of them led the way together.

Along the way, while chatting about everything, Zhuge Jin also had a deeper impression of the disciples brought by Pang Degong and Huang Chengyan.

Xu Shu also known as Xu Yuanzhi, Meng Jian also known as Meng Gongwei, Shi Tao also known as Shi Guangyuan, and the youngest one, Pang Tong also known as Pang Shiyuan.

In fact, when Zhuge Jin first saw Pang Tong, who had a rather peculiar figure and appearance, he thought of an old friend he had met in Luoyang.

On the way, Zhuge Jin mentioned this person.

"Could it be Wang Zhongxuan who wrote Luoyang Fu?"

"That's right! Wang Zhongxuan and my brother are good friends. They used to go to Imperial College and Hongdumen School together." Zhuge Jin said with some pride.

But he thought again that Zhuge Liang's recent letter said that Wang Can gave up his bright future as the Imperial Secretary and instead chose to join the unpopular School Affairs Department, which made him find it a little difficult to understand.

But Zhuge Liang was supportive of this.

Zhuge Jin thought, maybe this is why they can be so good friends!
Pang Degong said: "I originally thought that it was rare for the Zhuge family to have a talent like Ziyu, but I never thought there would be another talented person!"

Huang Chengyan also stroked his beard to show his agreement.

Zhuge Jin also admitted it and said proudly: "My brother Zhuge Liang is more talented than me."

(End of this chapter)