Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 406 Zhuge
Zhuge Liang, courtesy name Kongming, was born into the Zhuge clan of Langya and later fled to Nanyang to avoid disaster.
Although the ultimate achievement of Shu Han was only to survive in a corner, Zhuge Liang has always been highly regarded by later generations. From the Jin Dynasty to modern times, he has been admired by countless people. The novel written in the Ming Dynasty also added to his legendary color.
Before the novel was written, Zhuge Liang was the only one of the Ten Sages of the Temple of Martial Arts who lived during the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period...
Although the Chu State had many civil and military officials, and had sufficient reserves of both the old and the young, Bai Tu still had some thoughts about Zhuge Liang.
After hearing Huang Chengyan's evaluation, Bai Tu became more and more convinced that Zhuge Liang was also a rare talent in the world of Chengji...
Although according to Huang Chengyan , there are now more than ten people who can be compared with him, but... Zhuge Liang is only twenty-one!
However, Lu Bu, who was standing by, was not happy after hearing this. He frowned and said, "Master Huang is trying to boost the prestige of others and destroy his own ambition. Will our Great Chu lose a young talent?"
"Yes, there are Minister Pang from the Ministry of Works of our Great Chu, Lu Ziming who is in charge of Donglai Port, Lu Boyan from the Governor's Office of Yizhou... as well as Sun Zhongmou, Wei Wenchang, Jiang Gongyan... There are also many young talents, but Kong Ming is indeed the one who impressed me the most." Huang Chengyan insisted.
"Great! It is heaven's help to our Great Chu that such a talented person is in Nanyang. Mr. Huang, what do you think, should you go there on my behalf, or should I go incognito tomorrow to visit him?" Bai Tu asked excitedly.
After all, Zhuge Liang was still young, and Bai Tu didn't want to raise the tone too high. If he needed to go in person to invite him, he would do so incognito. Otherwise, he could go in the name of the King of Chu with great fanfare... He had to invite him three times?
If this is how they treat the unknown Zhuge Liang, how will Bai Tu recruit other people in the future?
So you can visit me three times, but I have to go quietly...
Huang Chengyan heard this and said awkwardly: "Your Majesty wants to recruit Zhuge Liang, but I'm afraid... it won't work."
This is also why Huang Chengyan had previously questioned why Pang Degong and Sima Hui would actually mention Zhuge Liang to Bai Tu - a person who was almost impossible to be recruited by the State of Chu!
The reason was naturally not because of Huang Yueying. Huang Chengyan only mentioned the engagement to Zhuge Liang once, and Zhuge Liang only said that he could meet her. However, in the end, they didn't even meet and the matter was dropped.
But because...
“Based on my years of observing people, I know that Kong Ming has the ambition of Zhou Gong, which cannot be displayed in the Great Chu. And with Kong Ming’s temperament, if he cannot display his ambition, he would rather linger in the countryside all his life and never leave the mountains.” Huang Chengyan said, shaking his head regretfully.
"What is Duke Zhou's ambition?" Bai Tu read it again and then thought about it.
"Huh? He is good at interpreting dreams?" Lu Bu frowned and found that things were not simple.
Huang Chengyan: …
"No, I think if Kong Ming were to take office, he would only choose to assist the Han forces, and...his sentiments of Duke Zhou combine the virtues and achievements of Duke Zhou." Huang Chengyan explained to Lu Bu.
Although Huang Chengyan's words were very vague, Bai Tu was able to understand the general meaning by using his impression of Zhuge Liang as a comparison.
Zhou Gong's Feelings...
Who is Duke of Zhou?
Regardless of what happened in real history, in today's mainstream view, Duke Zhou represents orthodoxy and is the perfect person who returns power after taking it...
The Chu State is not considered orthodox now, and there is no room for anyone to take power!
In this situation, even if Bai Tu was sincere, it would be difficult to impress Zhuge Liang.
"Master Huang has made a perfect summary. Kong Ming is indeed a bit... a little weird, but he is indeed very powerful. In terms of military formation alone, the odds of winning against him and I are only fifty-fifty. In other aspects, I am far inferior to him." Xu Shu also said this at this time. It seems that he has also become acquainted with Zhuge Liang.
Bai Tu sighed silently in his heart - Huang Chengyan and Xu Shu both said so, and he also understood that Zhuge Liang was different from the Lu Su at the beginning.
Although Lu Su was optimistic about Sun Ce at first, he was just optimistic about him. It was not that he and Bai Tu were incompatible on fundamental ideas.
Moreover, Zhuge Liang lost his father when he was young, and Bai Tu probably couldn't find anyone to recognize him...
Of course, Bai Tu was not too upset, he just felt a little emotional. After all, the current Chu State did not need a Zhuge Liang.
"Then I'll go visit this little Zhou Gong tomorrow... Yuan Zhi will accompany me." Bai Tu finally decided.
"If the king is not in a hurry, he can wait until the first day of the new year... Usually, he has a lot of good friends who get together at Kong Ming's place on the first day of every month. People like Shi Tao, Cui Jun, Meng Jian, etc., are all talented and knowledgeable. Shi Tao is also my fellow villager and he usually respects the king very much, but he missed the provincial examination before." Xu Shu suggested.
It is true that the previous chaos in the Central Plains caused many children from poor families and even wealthy families to come to Nanyang to avoid disaster, which gave Bai Tu more opportunities to conquer new places.
At this time, there were less than ten days until the first day of July. Bai Tu readily agreed upon hearing this...
Even if Zhuge Liang has no intention of visiting the State of Chu, Bai Tu will have to show his intention, and... with Shi Tao and the others, Bai Tu's trip will at least not be in vain!
On the first day of July, Bai Tu took Xu Shu and went to Longzhong in casual clothes. The number of guards accompanying them was rarely reduced to less than ten people, because... Lu Bu also followed this time.
Although Xu Shu repeatedly assured that Zhuge Kongming and others would not do anything bad to the King of Chu, in Lu Bu's view, since Zhuge Liang might be loyal to the Han Dynasty, he had to be on guard!
With two extraordinary generals, Lu Bu and Huang Zhong, following him, Bai Tu didn't know how he could be assassinated...
In addition to Lü Lingqi, who served as the head of the guard and also served as the queen, Bai Tu's golden secretary, Shangshu Lang Zhang Chunhua, even Cao Bang came along, which was rare.
As he was about to leave the State of Chu, Cao Bang prepared to write one last play, which would be based on the theme of the King of Chu's western tour and his recruitment of outstanding talents. When he had met Sima Hui and Pang Degong before, the occasion was too formal and Cao Bang did not cause trouble. However, this time they were all relatively young talents, so he naturally wanted to follow them and collect some information.
It was July, and the weather was just beginning to cool down. After arriving in Longzhong, I could still hear some songs in the fields. According to Xu Shu, they were all composed by Zhuge Liang...
This did serve as a reminder to Bai Tu that, although there were more and more people who had time to watch the show, they were still a minority, mainly due to the rise of workshops, which had gathered a large number of laborers near the city.
Labor songs and the like are the ones that are truly closest to the vast majority of farmers!
"An Guo! Do you know how to write a labor song... the kind of tune that encourages yourself while working?" Bai Tu asked Cao Bang.
"This... I've heard some of it too. If it's just writing, it shouldn't be difficult. It's just that ordinary people may not recognize what I write, so they may not change their previous habits." Cao Bang said cautiously after thinking about it.
This kind of promotion is actually easy, but...
"Hey, Anguo...it would be great if you didn't leave! I don't see any girl you like, I'll introduce you to someone."
Seeing Bai Tu started to talk again, Cao Bang simply gave him a cold look and stopped talking.
Bai Tu had not given up on this journey and wanted to keep Cao Bang...
