Volume 2: The King's Way Chapter 156 Important Mission
"That's right, my uncle is Pang Degong... My lord, did you hear my uncle mention me?" Pang Tong said somewhat awkwardly.
If Pang Tong was willing to save his face and ask Pang Degong for recommendation, he wouldn't have ended up in such a miserable situation. However... on the one hand, his self-esteem was at work, and on the other hand, his uncle's personality was rather "special", so Pang Tong didn't really want to use the back door.
"No, Mr. Pang Degong and I...are just spiritual friends. But after reading your resume, I found that you have outstanding talents and are being underutilized, so I checked your background." Bai Tu said.
Pang Tong's eyes lit up when he heard that... To be honest, they became even more terrifying after that!
"My lord, you have a keen eye!" Pang Tong didn't know whether he was complimenting Bai Tu or bragging about himself, but he was not humble at all.
But he was sincere. After all, what Zhou Yu asked him to do were all chores that required no technical skills. Even Pang Tong himself was almost in despair. He didn't understand how Bai Tu discovered his amazing talent from drawing tables, copying official documents, etc.?
"Ahem, it's just... I still don't quite understand your abilities. Can you introduce yourself?" Bai Tu asked.
Pang Tong is only seventeen years old this year. He is a rising star with little fame. When Bai Tu faces him, he doesn't have to flatter him like he does when he faces Hua Xin and other famous scholars.
After hearing Bai Tu's question, Pang Tong hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Mr. Bai, have you ever heard of the Ten Volumes of the Heavenly Book?"
Pang Degong warned him not to reveal the matter of the Heavenly Book to anyone unless it was the leader he had truly made up his mind to choose and follow for the rest of his life.
However, Pang Tong originally admired Bai Tu, especially now that Bai Tu had the "sharp eye to recognize talent" and promoted him. This made Pang Tong, who had always been looked down upon because of his appearance, "favorability" towards Bai Tu soar, and he directly told Bai Tu the truth ...
Although Pang Tong died young in history, especially in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he was a top strategist as famous as Zhuge Liang.
Because he died early, the only military achievement he could show off was the great battle of "Assisting the Lord in Entering Shu". However, this battle can be said to be the foundation for the establishment of Shu Han!
"Entering Shu" was not a battle, but like "King Wu's conquest of King Zhou", it was a comprehensive contest from internal governance, diplomacy, to military strength, demonstrating Pang Tong's strength as a top strategist.
It was not surprising to Bai Tu that such a hero would have a heavenly book...
And... "The Book of Heaven Volume Five: Reading"? It makes sense. After all, "fate comes first, luck comes second, feng shui comes third. If you are ugly, you need to read more"!
However, Bai Tu was also amazed by the unique strategies that Pang Tong learned from the "Reading Scroll".
Lu Su had searched extensively for historical materials before, and even borrowed the "Clan Chronicles" of the Lu family, from which he discovered some deeds of the person who was suspected to be the owner of the heavenly book.
According to Lu Su's speculation, the same volume of heavenly book, every time it comes out, the abilities that are comprehended by different owners, or the direction in which the heavenly book works, should be different.
The most favorable evidence is that Lu Xun, as the successor with a high affinity with the "Feng Shui Scroll", was discovered by Lu Su and had access to the heavenly book in advance. However, what he comprehended from the heavenly book was not "observing the earth's energy" but "the ultimate formation" - a strategy of coordinating the use of troops and tactics to make the maximum use of the terrain.
If "observing the earth's energy" is a strategic application, then "absolute formation" is to use the changes in the terrain in a tactical sense...
No matter which direction you try to comprehend the Heavenly Book, there will be differences in quality. There is only the most suitable direction, not the best direction.
However, Bai Tu was indeed astonished by Pang Tong's understanding of "Reading Scroll". In addition to the basic "multi-tasking of the mind", Pang Tong's advanced application of "Reading Scroll" was obviously inclined towards "simulation", or in other words, replacing "traveling thousands of miles" with "reading thousands of books"!
"Mr. Pang Degong thinks... Shi Yuan's ability should focus on military strategy?" Bai Tu asked with a burning gaze.
Bai Tu was the second person Pang Tong had ever met after his uncle who looked at him in this way.
"Yes, uncle said that my ability can reduce the cost of 'growth', and 'war is a major event of a country, a place of life and death, a way of survival and destruction, and it must be carefully considered'. It is the event with the highest growth cost, the most dangerous, and the most important thing." Pang Tong said.
To some extent, what Pang Degong said does make sense. Zhao Kuo, who was good at talking about war on paper in the pre-Qin period, is the best example.
The price of his growth was the lives of hundreds of thousands of Zhao soldiers, and he himself did not have a chance to show his growth...
If it were Pang Tong, this would not be the case.
Before Pang Tong became the "chief planner of entering Shu", his "most prominent" political achievement was to be Zhou Yu's assistant and to give him funeral service after his death...
After he defected to Liu Bei, he was appointed county magistrate, but he also behaved in a lazy manner.
However, it was such a "rookie" who eventually became the core strategist for Liu Bei's entry into Shu.
However, in Bai Tu's opinion, it would be a waste to use Pang Tong's abilities in military affairs!
Bai Tu originally thought that the books he wrote ( according to the hard drive files) would have to be put aside for a long time. After all... he couldn't even understand many of them.
And isn’t Pang Tong in front of us the best technology developer?
Not only can it be equivalent to quickly training a high-level all-round expert, but also... it can transfer all the trial and error costs of turning theory into reality into the consumption of Pang Tong's mental energy!
Pang Tong looked at the white map nervously, feeling that... his lord's eyes were weird.
"It seems that Shi Yuan is a versatile person..." Bai Tu said.
"I don't dare to call myself a genius. I just... like to read." Although Pang Tong's eyes were full of pride, he was still very restrained in front of his lord.
"Then I have three development paths here: upper, middle and lower. Shi Yuan can choose one of them." Bai Tu said.
Pang Tong was even more excited when he heard this - I can still choose? The Lord really values me! Five years... no, three years later, I must make that "look-at-the-face Yu" know what it means not to despise the ugly young!
"Next, I will appoint you as the magistrate of Fuchun County... You should know something about the situation in Fuchun County, right? As long as you can make achievements in the next two years, you can be considered for the position of prefect... or even a higher responsibility in the future."
That is the way to govern a region...
Although Pang Tong in later generations looked down on the county magistrate appointed by Liu Bei and was almost kicked out because of slacking off, in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Pang Tong showed his multitasking in front of Zhang Fei and solved all the backlog of government affairs and criminal cases in one meal, which earned him attention. However... Pang Tong is only seventeen years old now, and has already been valued by Bai Tu, so he will not do anything deliberately to attract attention.
The situation in Fuchun County was also different from that in ordinary counties. Not only was it the hardest hit by the disaster, but it was also the beginning of the Xu Dynasty. It was a time of chaos and a lot of work needed to be done. If one really had talent, it would be easy to achieve results.
Of course, if we don’t have enough capabilities, we won’t be able to resolve Fuchun’s current situation.
However, after hearing this, Pang Tong was not moved. He was very confident in his ability in government affairs, but... he felt that this was not the direction that could best utilize his strengths, and his lord also said that this was the "lower path".
"In the middle route, Shi Yuan worked hard to station troops at Ruxukou... to attract the common people and guard against Hefei. It would be even better if he could stabilize his position in Chaohu. If he could make a name for himself here, Shi Yuan would definitely have a seat in the Privy Council in the future." Bai Tu said.
Pang Tong's eyes lit up when he heard this. He naturally knew what the Privy Council was - a department independent of the six ministries, in charge of the military affairs of the General of Chariots and Cavalry's Mansion!
Moreover, compared to going to Fuchun, leading troops at Ruxukou obviously has a wider range of capabilities, and naturally... more contributions can be made.
Ruxukou is close to Chaohu Lake to the north, and there is Chao County next to Chaohu Lake. At that time, it was just an inconspicuous small county. It was not a military fortress or the base of Chaohu navy built in later generations to guard against Eastern Wu. Further north is Hefei.
When stationed in Ruxukou at this time, the main responsibility is naturally to attract refugees, but the extent to which this can be achieved makes a huge difference. What if... Hefei can be taken directly, wouldn't "Look at the Face Yu" be scared silly?
Pang Tong's face was full of excitement, but this was only the "middle road". His curiosity about the "upper road" temporarily suppressed the urge to immediately request to be released from Ruxukou.
"The bottom lane shouldn't be too difficult for Shiyuan, but the middle lane will be a bit of a challenge if he wants to do his best... As for the top lane, well... I don't know if I can do it." Bai Tu deliberately kept it a suspense.
Just when Pang Tong was becoming interested, he saw Bai Tu sending someone to bring back a few books.
"Shi Yuan, you can give it a try and finish reading these books. After that... I have an important task to entrust to you. In the future, there will be many important tasks entrusted to you. By then, I won't have to work so hard to take on the positions of the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Industry myself." Bai Tu looked at Pang Tong expectantly.
Pang Tong saw that the so-called "going on the road", which seemed to be the "most difficult" choice in Bai Tu's words, was actually studying?
He was somewhat puzzled, but also full of confidence. When he took the book handed over by Bai Tu, he said, "My lord, what book is this? I have read many rare books of Mohism from my uncle. Maybe I have read them..."
Pang Tong also understood that since Bai Tu mentioned the Ministry of Works, it meant that these should be books about Mohism.
However, solubility, evaporation, specific heat capacity... The composition of seawater...
Pang Tong couldn't wait to look at the catalog, and then found out... he had never read it, and didn't even understand it at all!
Unlike the heavenly book, he knew every word in the catalogue, but when they were combined together, most of them became unfamiliar words.
However, Pang Tong was still full of confidence and even a little excited - he hadn't read a book for a long time, and it seemed that it contained knowledge that he had never encountered!
It doesn’t matter if you can’t understand the table of contents. On the contrary, it makes Pang Tong interested in the main text, and he didn’t mention going to Ruxukou for the time being.
Bai Tu was relieved when he saw this. He was worried that Pang Tong would look down on these "strange and ingenious skills". He would have to educate Pang Tong first. Science and technology are the primary productive forces and the foundation for changing the times...
Otherwise, if you force Pang Tong to do the work, he will just slack off!
But after deliberately whetting his appetite, although in Pang Tong's eyes, these inexplicable things are not as important as the national affair of "military affairs", but... Pang Tong still wants to challenge himself to see if it is really as difficult as his lord said!
