Volume 2: The King's Way Chapter 155 Pang Shiyuan
I am Pang Tong, with the courtesy name Shiyuan, and I am from Xiangyang, Jingzhou.
My family was very rich, and we had so much land that we needed the help of more than ten tenants to cultivate it all. My family was very poor, and before the emergence of white paper, we couldn't even afford books.
I am very ugly and have been able to scare other children to tears since I was young, but I am very smart and have a photographic memory!
I have a very powerful uncle, Pang Degong.
When I was fourteen, I looked at my face in the stream... Actually, I thought I looked pretty good, but I just didn't take care of myself. I wanted to save time and go to study with my uncle.
Then, there were ripples on the water, and a large fish that looked to be more than ten pounds leaped with all its might, floating in front of me with its belly exposed...
Could this be so scary... so handsome?
I was very angry and wanted to grill the big fish.
However, when I cut open the fish's belly, I found a bamboo book inside. I didn't recognize any of the words on it, but I could understand them.
Is this fish sending me a book?
So I buried the fish and took the book home. Later... my uncle told me that this was called the Heavenly Book. Such a powerful book has nine volumes!
Even my uncle couldn’t understand the book, but I could, so I knew it was “The Heavenly Book Volume Five: Reading”.
Before I had the official seal, I had learned my own unique strategies from it, such as being able to multitask while reading; using imagination to simulate the practical application of knowledge in books; and... when reading the manuscripts of some great sages, I could feel the will of the deceased sages...
After my uncle found out, he said that my strategy was very rare and could help me avoid the situation of "talking about war on paper", so he began to focus on teaching me the art of war. In four years, I have read thousands of books, half of which were the art of war collected by my uncle!
At this time, Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou, wanted to recruit me to be a county Gongcao, which was an assistant official in the prefect's office.
That’s when I saw…
"Killing one man is like killing my father!"
The man in the news is so great.
This... is Bai Gong, right? If Bai Gong paper had appeared earlier, I might have read more books. Now many "poor people" who are in a similar situation as my family and don't have a good uncle can also read.
No one knows better than me how useful "books" are. In the future... the world will be very different!
After bidding farewell to my cousin, I came to Yangzhou. I did not ask my uncle for a letter of recommendation for me, but went directly to the Naxian Hall. After scaring the clerk to tears, their director came out personally to test and teach me.
Looking at my appearance, he seemed reluctant, but still recommended me to the Ministry of Personnel, and finally I was assigned under Zhou Yu.
Mei Zhou Lang? Oh, nothing more than that!
I thought Zhou Gongjin could discover my talent, but now it seems that this guy is just relying on his good looks to look down on me...
Several months have passed and I haven't been given any chance to show my abilities. And...it seems like he doesn't like me at all?
Just yesterday, Zhou Yu was promoted to the governor of Poyang, and he did not select me to accompany him, but just asked me to serve in Wan County.
He is obviously a guy with no vision. Could it be that Bai Gong is also like him, judging people by their appearance?
If I continue like this, I might be buried in Wan County... Should I go back to my uncle to ask for a letter of recommendation? It's a bit embarrassing... Or should I make a big news to attract Mr. Bai's attention?
Pang Tong was very conflicted, but at this moment, Yu Fan, the prefect of Poyang County, came to Pang Tong personally and informed him that Bai Gong wanted to summon him to the general's mansion. At the same time, Pang Tong's "file" had also been transferred to the general's mansion.
Before leaving, Pang Tong went to see Zhou Yu specially.
"Next time we meet, I will let you know that I am just good-looking!" Pang Tong said to Zhou Yu unconvinced.
"Oh." Zhou Yu. Rolling eyes.jpg.
…
Half a month later, Bai Tu met Pang Tong at the General of Chariots and Cavalry's mansion.
Bai Tu had already started paying attention to Pang Tong after he had just reported to the Naxian Hall.
Although he became famous much earlier than Pang Tong in history, but... they have the same name, surname, courtesy name and place of birth, this is definitely not a coincidence!
This is the biggest fish that has been caught since the opening of Naxian Hall!
However, when Bai Tu saw his name, he found that he had been assigned to Zhou Yu's command, so while he secretly said "what a good fate", Bai Tu did not "separate" him and Zhou Yu.
Pang Tong is only seventeen years old this year, and his uncle has not yet praised him as the "crown of scholars in Southern Province". He has also not reported his relationship with Pang Degong. In general... he is still just a nobody.
Bai Tu firmly believed that no one's talent is innate, so he did not force Pang Tong to come over. He thought to himself that it would be good for Pang Tong to help Zhou Yu first and learn from him.
In history, Pang Tong first served as a minor official in Xiangyang, then defected to Sun Quan, and finally to Liu Bei who valued him.
Although Zhou Yu in history failed to discover Pang Tong's potential and was even dismissed from his official position, but... objectively speaking, it was also because Pang Tong died of illness not long after Zhou Yu served under him, so it was understandable that he failed to discover his talents.
Bai Tu's praise of Zhou Yu's "magnanimity" to Hua Xin and Wang Lang was not nonsense. Both the historical Zhou Yu and Bai Tu's current third brother are actually very magnanimous. They are also able to recognize talents from the grassroots and promote them greatly.
Originally, Bai Tu thought that the two would get along very happily and Pang Tong would not be buried.
After careful observation, it was found that Pang Tong was having a miserable time under Zhou Yu. It was not that Zhou Yu made things difficult for him... On the contrary, Pang Tong hoped that Zhou Yu would make things difficult for him and give him some opportunities to perform. However, Zhou Yu treated him the same as other ordinary clerks and never assigned any important tasks to him.
Whether Pang Tong wanted to stir up trouble, attract attention, or stand out and make Zhou Yu look at him differently, he had no chance.
This time Zhou Yu didn't even plan to take him to Poyang, but instead planned to leave him idle in Wan County...
Therefore, Bai Tu was no longer polite and directly summoned Pang Tong.
"Tong, meet the lord!" Pang Tong said excitedly to Bai Tu as soon as he came in.
To some extent, Bai Tu is his idol, and... Bai Tu personally summoned Pang Tong when Pang Tong was about to ask his uncle for help.
Although Pang Tong didn't understand why he was discovered by "Bo Le" when he clearly had no chance to perform...
"Shiyuan, no need to bow. Hahaha, when I saw your name in the Naxian Hall before, I paid close attention to it... Your uncle is Pang Degong, right?" Bai Tu asked.
In fact, even without asking, Bai Tu could be sure that this was definitely the Pang Tong he was familiar with!
Ugly, with very prominent facial features, eyes that are bright but only as big as beans, nose that looks like it will choke if it raises its head on a rainy day, lips that look like they have just been sucked by an orangutan, with gaps in teeth visible when it opens its mouth, and a pair of eyebrows that look like a failed tattoo, as if it is performing some peerless swordplay...
But... Pang Tong's definition of himself seemed to be problematic. He was meticulous in dressing himself, wearing a green shirt and a flowing hairstyle. If you looked at his back, he could easily be mistaken for a handsome man!
Of course, Bai Tu didn’t care whether he was ugly or not. He cared more about Pang Tong’s current abilities… Could it be that he was attracted by his personal charm before he even finished his studies?
Otherwise, why would Zhou Yu look down on him so much?
