I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 452 It smells so good
As much as Zhang Xian ignored Pang Degong and Huang Chengyan in the past, he is just as nervous about them now.

In this era, the relationship between disciples and teachers is self-evident. Zhang Xian was not discouraged after being rejected by Xu Shu and others. After knowing that several people had real talents and knowledge, Zhang Xian showed a respectful attitude.

People often use the relationship between husband and wife to illustrate the relationship between the ruler and his subjects. In the county, the relationship between the prefect and the county official is also a ruler and his subjects to some extent.

From this perspective, abusing your wife is fun for a while, but chasing her will lead to a funeral.

Chen Rong saw all this and smiled in his heart.

Since he came to Changsha County, he has been very supportive of the prefect Zhang Xian. However, this is Zhang Xian's third term as the prefect of Changsha. He has accumulated great prestige in the county, and the tough side of his character is becoming more and more apparent.

Chen Rong felt that if things continued like this, something would go wrong sooner or later, and he happened to meet Pang Degong and his group. Under his guidance, the current situation emerged.

If this could make Zhang Xian reflect on his own behavior, it would not be in vain.

On the other hand, Zhang Xian's enthusiasm was ultimately just like the love of flowers but the flow of water.

Others might be ecstatic because of the attention paid to them by the two thousand stone officials. At that time, people had the tradition of leaving their hometown to seek famous teachers. Xu Shu and others were not from Jingzhou, but they came here to become disciples because they had great ambitions.

But then again, as non-locals, no matter how talented they are, they cannot be selected as filial and honest officials or outstanding talents in Changsha, so their future is not bright.

So, after visiting the county seat of Xiajuan County the next day, Pang Degong and his party returned to the three villages under the jurisdiction of Zhuge Jin.

Previously, they had not stayed here for long because of the trouble caused by the Su family. Now, after they had a preliminary understanding of Zhuge Jin's style of doing things, they became more interested in the proposer of the village society.

They are looking forward to seeing what kind of charm the village will unleash under Zhuge Jin's organization.

After all, for contemporary Confucian scholars, the harmonious relations among the villagers that they expect cannot be maintained solely by clan bloodlines.

Mutual assistance among villages and communities, regardless of blood ties, relies on people's moral character and interpersonal relationships, and the government only plays a guiding role.

This kind of society is very much in line with the ideals of Confucian intellectuals, and is even better than clan society.

"Today, the village community seems to be independent of the clan, but a family that has reproduced for three or four generations cannot be underestimated in the village. It is still difficult to avoid determining the distance based on blood ties."

After seeing the neutral attitude and academic achievements of Pang Degong and others, Zhuge Jin no longer concealed his thoughts and spoke out about a problem he had encountered. He also hoped that Pang Degong, Huang Chengyan and several of their talented disciples could help him come up with a better solution.

Before anyone else could speak, Pang Tong could not wait to answer: "That's easy. When arranging accommodation, just separate people with close blood relations as much as possible. Over time, the degree of closeness between neighbors will be unknown!"

Zhuge Jin replied: "But now that the people have just arrived here, they will instinctively stick together with those they are familiar with. If we rashly and forcibly separate them, it may be detrimental to stability."

Pang Tong retorted: "How can we give up long-term peace for the sake of temporary stability?"

Zhuge Jin smiled and said nothing.

Xu Shu answered for Zhuge Jin: "If we are not at peace now, how can we expect long-term peace? The only solution now is to wait until the next generation separates and lives separately. By then, the people who have moved here will have made up their minds, and this method can be implemented."

Pang Degong commented: "Yuanzhi's words are good, Ziyu is a gentleman, Shiyuan still needs to work hard."

They could come up with answers to some questions, but there were other questions that even Huang Chengyan and Pang Degong had no other solutions to. For example, they were worried that the elected village elders might not represent the voices of all the people, or that the village elders would use their status to bully the people... These problems also existed in the clan.

In short, as a newly established community, the problems it faces are complex and there is still a long way to go.

The rule of Zhuge Jin and Jia Kui did not disappoint the group. The people were full of enthusiasm and looked forward to a good harvest next year.

However, after his initial setback, Pang Tong, with his fighting spirit still undiminished, became very interested in these issues and wanted to stay to see how things developed. However, since his study abroad had just begun, he was also concerned about whether his rash request to stay would bring trouble to his uncle Pang Degong, so he kept this thought to himself and did not bring it up.

Finally, after paying for the meal more than ten times, Pang Degong and his party finally decided to leave.

It is reasonable for Zhuge Jin to do a good job here, but that may not be the case in other places.

When leaving, Pang Tong was quite reluctant.

Not only to these three miles, but also to Zhuge Jin himself.

He would sometimes ask about Zhuge Jin's old friend in Luoyang, Wang Can, who had the same unique appearance and talent as Zhuge Jin.

Although Wang Can was now famous for his poems and essays at a young age, Pang Tong boasted that his talent was not inferior to Wang Can. Even so, he liked to listen to Zhuge Jin's stories about Wang Can, from which he could feel that Wang Can had also been troubled by his appearance.

Therefore, although they had never met, Pang Tong already felt a sense of mutual admiration with Wang Can through Zhuge Jin's narration.

"Shi Yuan, do you want to stay?"

Pang Tong, who was packing his bags, heard what Pang Degong said and widened his eyes in disbelief, as if what he had just heard was an hallucination.

"I originally agreed with Ziyu to keep you here for a few months. For this purpose, I even left three months' worth of food money. But if Shiyuan doesn't want to, I will go to Ziyu to get the money back."

Pang Degong was about to leave, but was immediately stopped by Pang Tong.

Pang Tong asked: "How does uncle know..."

Pang Degong laughed. Given Pang Tong's age, his so-called disguise could be seen through at a glance.

He smiled and explained: "This trip is to let you gain experience. Compared with Yuanzhi, you are at a disadvantage in age and have experienced too little. Now that you have feelings here, it is useless to move forward, so you might as well stay."

Pang Tong nodded in agreement.

That day, Pang Degong and his party continued to head south.

On the way, Huang Chengyan asked Pang Degong why he wanted to keep Pang Tong. Pang Degong replied: "Shi Yuan is still young and thinks highly of himself. He has seen Ziyu's rule, and I'm afraid he will not be satisfied with what he sees in the future. Instead of encouraging his arrogance, it is better to let him stay with Ziyu and learn from Ziyu's humble style."

"When I saw Zhuge Ziyu, I thought of Zhuge Biejia. The Zhuge family is really a family of gentlemen." Huang Chengyan said with a smile, "It's a pity that I don't have a good girl of the right age. Otherwise, Ziyu is still unmarried and would be a good son-in-law."

The group left with a smile.

(End of this chapter)