In the eighth year of Jian'an, three major events occurred in Jingxiang, including joys and worries.

In the first case, the Zhennan general who was over sixty years old and Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao was suddenly crowned as the Great Sima by the imperial court, which was indeed a good gift for Liu Biao, who had always been a good name, and even took the Jingzhou soldiers to laugh at several cities abandoned by the Cao army in Nanyang, and tacitly reached a peace agreement with the Cao army.

Some well-intentioned people began to speculate whether General Zhennan was afraid of the strong power in Guanxi, and had planned to unite with Cao Cao in the Central Plains to balance Yan Yan in Guanxi.

The second incident was that the Jiangdong forces led by Sun Quan once again posed a threat to Jingzhou.

In the fifth year of Jian'an, Sun Ce was assassinated, and Jingxiang celebrated with their foreheads, thinking that they had eliminated the major trouble of their henchmen, and the counties of Jiangxia could sit back and relax from now on. Unexpectedly, in less than three years, Jiangdong once again posed a threat to Jingxiang.

The younger brother Sun Quan recruited talents, trained soldiers and horses, quelled the rebellion internally, and fought against Shanyue externally.

But the impact of the above two major events is too far away from the daily life of the people of Xiangyang City, and what has recently made the streets and alleys talk about it is the third major event, Yizhou Liu Zhang sent an envoy Zhang Song to Xiangyang.

Although Jingzhou and Yizhou used to be bitter, and now it is a good thing to be able to turn hostility into jade silk, but what can arouse heated discussions among the people of Xiangyang City is obviously not the political twist and turn, but many interesting stories and stories about Zhang Song, the envoy of Yizhou.

It is said that Liu Biao met Zhang Song that day, and saw that Yizhou came to make him look unattractive, and he also had a little contempt in his heart, but this Zhang Song was able to learn and be good at arguing, and he refuted Liu Biao in the scriptures in a few words, Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and others argued with it, and they were also defeated one after another, Zhang Song was unforgiving, and satirized that there was no one in Jingzhou, which made Liu Biao angry, and Jingzhou talents were indignant, just for the face of the alliance between the two families, so they couldn't bear it and put it on hold for the time being.

For many days after that, under the instruction of Liu Biao, Zhang Song stayed in the post house, and there were Jingxiang scholars who went to see him every day, in order to debate the scriptures with Zhang Song, refute Zhang Song, and get back the face lost by Jingxiang's monarchs and ministers that day.

As a result, Zhang Song became famous in Xiangyang City, and some classic passages of his debate with others also spread in the streets and alleys.

Just when everyone thought that they wanted to let this Zhang Song leave triumphantly, a young man suddenly came outside the post house, he was dressed simply, and his appearance was not amazing.

After two hours of arguing, Zhang Song, who was arrogant and arrogant, was finally defeated in front of the young scholars, and he was not angry, but admitted that he had lost convincingly, and claimed that he had finally met his confidant in Jingxiang.

And as soon as this matter came out, it suddenly became a topic that everyone in Xiangyang City was vying to talk about, and the young scholar who refuted Zhang Song and earned face for Jing Xiang, his identity was also known to everyone, and it turned out that this person was Pang Shiyuan, who was famous in Nanzhou.

In the end, even the state capital was alarmed, and Liu Biao also specially sent the state bus to get rid of Pang Tong, but unfortunately Pang Tong politely refused on the grounds of serving his parents, but he did not know Zhang Song, the envoy of Nayizhou, and the two had the same smell, and they became friends.

···

Xiangyang City, inside the post house.

"Come on, Ziqiao, have another drink, the Central Plains is poor, even the new capital Juancheng can't compare to the wealth of Xiangyang, you go out of Xiangyang City, but you can't drink this kind of alcoholic wine anymore!"

Zhang Song also sent an envoy to Juancheng and the Son of Heaven on this trip, and his friend Pang Tong came to the post house to see him off, and Zhang Song happily set up a banquet to entertain him.

The two have similar temperaments, each admires each other's talents, and between the staggered plans, they don't realize that they are already drunk.

Zhang Song, who was drinking up, couldn't help but sigh when he heard Pang Tong's words, he held the wine jug, and didn't care about Pang Tong's presence, he borrowed wine to drown his sorrows, and poured wine on his clothes, but he still didn't care.

Seeing this, Pang Tong grinned, "Ziqiao, Ziqiao, why did you get up with such a sad face, you need to know that you have the heavy responsibility of the covenant, and after meeting the Son of Heaven, you will definitely be promoted to a knight, and you will be more and more important when you return to Yizhou." What is like me—alas,"

"Snort-" Zhang Song sneered at Pang Tong, "With your Pang Shiyuan's talent, if you want to become an official or an official, it's just a matter of one or two sentences, you just see that the state pastor Liu Biao is old and useless, and he is a dog who guards the household, so he is unwilling to go out of the office." ”

As he spoke, Zhang Song slapped the wine jug and said to himself:

"So the sorrow in my heart, you can understand it best. With my Zhang Ziqiao's talent, if I am driving under the command of a hero, it will not be difficult for the world to be calm, but I am running for the hands of mediocre people, and the talent in this chest cannot be displayed. In the future, if you are slandered, you will inevitably end up with a corpse in a different place! ”

"Wow!" Pang Tong seemed to feel the same way, he rolled his eyes and asked:

"Who does that Zi Qiao think, who is the hero of the world?"

"Yan Yanming in Guanxi, Cao Mengde in the Central Plains, is a hero in the world." Zhang Song burped, crossed his fingers, and said with a mouthful of wine.

Pang Tong smiled when he heard this, "Zi Qiao's words are fallacious, Yan Yan pretended to take advantage of the Guanxi soldiers and armor to run rampant in the world, but one of them, Cao Cao held the Son of Heaven hostage, treacherous and loyal, and he was also Dong Zhuo and Li Dao, these two people are nominal people, according to me, this hero of the world, there should be someone else!" ”

···

Outside the city of Xiangyang, Longzhong.

In the grass house of the Zhuge family, several friends, old and young, sat together with books in their hands, talking about what had happened in Xiangyang City recently.

"Zhang Song is an envoy with the respect of his ministers, the advantage of his tongue, and his arguments, there are many strong words and reasoning, but he is just a villain who can speak well. When we study the scriptures and rule the world, how can we imitate them in their sophistry? Pang Shiyuan argued with him, even though he won with clever words and gained a little false fame, but his deeds have fallen to the bottom level, which is very unwise! ”

Cui Zhouping, the eldest in the grade, was the first to speak, commenting on the matter of "Pang Shiyuan's argument against the envoy of Yizhou" that has been discussed in the streets and alleys of the city recently, he shook his head and sighed, thinking that Pang Tong, a young man, disregarded his identity and took advantage of his tongue, and competed with a villain like Zhang Song for the length of his words for a while, which was very unwise, and he was simply losing his identity, and seemed to have gained some reputation, but this would only cause more disdain and contempt for other Jingxiang celebrities.

Meng Jian and Shi Tao nodded when they heard this, they also thought that Pang Tong seemed to have earned a lot of fame in this matter, but he would be despised by many Jingxiang celebrities.

Zhuge Liang on the side shook his head, and didn't seem to agree with Cui Zhouping's opinion. He was majestic and handsome, although he sat on the pu mat together, he was still half a head taller than the others, at this time he shook his head slightly, and the other three immediately noticed, and successively cast inquiring eyes, Cui Zhouping opened his mouth and asked loudly:

"Kong Ming, do you think I'm wrong?"

Zhuge Liang smiled slightly and said:

"Pang Shiyuan, this person, all the gentlemen have seen it, the ambition is great, how can it be a fool who invites the name of the moment, he is by no means untargeted, this move must have a deep meaning, but we and other people in the mountains and wilderness can't know the inside story, you should wait and see what happens."

Listening to Zhuge Liang's words, Cui Zhouping couldn't help but groan, and Meng Jian nodded again and said with a smile:

"Well, it's still Kong Ming who can see it through, he only thought of Pang Shiyuan's clever words and arguments before, but now think about it carefully, if Pang Shiyuan is a man who sells his name and seeks profit, then the state government bus will be removed, he is afraid that he will be happy to do so, so why should he serve his parents and refuse to go."

"Eh, Pang Shiyuan is not the state capital, it may not be really unintentional, I think he sees that Liu Jingzhou in the city is just a good dragon of Ye Gong, and he is unwilling to succumb to it and drive for him. I heard that Pang Shiyuan intends to go to Jiangdong! ”

Shi Tao took over the topic, and Meng Jian, who also lived in Jingzhou, also felt the same way, and said in agreement:

"Indeed, Liu Jingzhou is old and has no heart in the Quartet, and Pang Shiyuan's wise and resourceful people will not be willing to use it. Jiangdong Sun's family, the younger brother and brother, is quite sharp, if Pang Shiyuan goes, he may be able to be reused, but Jiangxia Huangzu is afraid that he will have trouble sleeping and eating from now on. ”

"Not necessarily." Cui Zhouping said: "I heard the mountain people say that General Zuo Liu Bei once went to the Pang family to pay respects, and Pang Shiyuan also praised him for his outstanding posture and the strategy of a king and a tyrant who also lived in Xiangyang. ”

Pang Tong as the most famous young talent in Jingxiang, his topic inevitably caused a discussion among everyone present, Zhuge Liang listened quietly on the side, and when they mentioned Liu Bei, the general of the left, his mind moved, and suddenly pulled out a letter from the book next to him, and said:

"Gentlemen, Yuan Zhi has sent a letter."

"Oh, bring it to me and I'll take a look."

As a native of Jizhou, Cui Zhouping, who lives in Jingxiang, has been quite concerned about the situation in the north recently, and when he heard that Xu Shu, who was studying in the north, actually sent a letter, he immediately became interested, and hurriedly got the letter from Zhuge Liang's hand, and took the lead in reading it.

It is also strange to say that when Cui Zhouping read the letter, his face was sometimes solemn, sometimes happy, and in the end, he was a little stunned, he handed over Xu Shu's letter to Meng Jian and Shi Tao, and said angrily:

"Ji Shi reappeared, Yi Di invaded, but I didn't expect that this Yuan brother didn't want to protect the territory and the people, compete for fame and fortune, kill each other, and abandon the sergeant of the state. Alas, fortunately, Xu Shu is safe and sound, and he has already been born in Bingzhou, what he has learned in his life can be displayed, and the person who is a confidant dies, which is also a rare blessing in this troubled world! ”

Cui Zhouping spoke, Meng Jian, Shi Tao also quickly read Xu Shu's letter, it turned out that Xu Shu was thousands of miles away, sent someone to send a letter, in addition to informing his former friends of his recent situation, and explained to everyone the situation in the north today, but also thought that now is the time for everyone to exert their ability to help the world and the people, and want to invite people who live in Jingzhou and have no way to serve the country to go north together and make contributions in the troubled times.

Several people read the letters, each with their own thoughts. These northern scholars who lived in Jingxiang were originally because of the endless wars in Hebei, the Central Plains and other places, in order to save their lives, they left their hometowns and fled to Jingzhou for thousands of miles, but in Jingxiang, Liu Biao only trusted Cai, Kuai and others, and many northern scholars had no way to display their skills.

Seeing that the situation in the north is gradually becoming clearer, everyone does have the desire to choose the master, supplemented by him, and make contributions in the troubled times, but in the final decision, it is inevitable that they are still hesitant, so they have not set off for the north.

Nowadays, the Yuan brothers are fighting among themselves, and Cui Zhouping's hometown will inevitably suffer from military disasters, he frowned, looked up and saw Zhuge Liang, his heart moved, and suddenly asked:

"Kong Ming, although you married a wife and started a family in Xiangyang, you are also from Beizhou, Yuan Zhi strongly invited you to go north in the letter, promising to introduce you, I don't know if you have any intention of moving?"

When Meng Jian and Shi Tao heard this, they also set their eyes on Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang has lofty ambitions, comparing himself to Guan Zhong and Le Yi, although he is not recognized by everyone for the time being, and his reputation is not as good as Pang Shiyuan, who was born and raised in Jingxiang, but these few people know his true talent.

Zhuge Liang understood everyone's thoughts, laughed, and shook his head.

"Liang bows and cultivates Longzhong, I am used to being lazy, but it is not as ambitious as Yuan Zhi's sword and book, and making meritorious contributions to the marquis, if you want to go north, why do you need to ask me, just go to it, with the talents of the king, Shi Jin can go to the assassination history and the county guard, it is not difficult!"

Where are you willing to believe, and then said a few more words to try it, but Zhuge Liang kept his mouth shut and did not reveal the slightest rumor, Cui, Meng, and Shi could only give up when they saw this, so they each had a heavy heart and left the Zhuge family one after another.

After the three of them left, Zhuge Liang turned into the inner room, and his wife Huang was in the room.

"Cui, Meng, and Shi Sanjun, if you don't stay for dinner, you're already gone?"

Zhuge Liang smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"They are in a hurry, and it is useless for me to force them to stay."

Huang's mind moved, and he also understood Zhuge Liang's voice, thinking of Zhuge Liang's recent behavior, he couldn't help but smile and said:

"The concubine is not only Cui, Meng, and Shi Sanjun, but even your husband has been worried recently, I'm afraid that I will also be disturbed by Xu Jun's letter."

Zhuge Liang gets along with his wife day and night, knowing her intelligence, he can't hide it from her, so he can only laugh and say:

"The saint is afraid of the small, and the fool is afraid of the light. Bright talent is not as good as the Chinese people, how can it be exempt from vulgarity! ”

···

Night, moon and stars.

An uninvited guest visited the mansion of General Liu Bei in Xiangyang City.

In the secret room, Liu Bei looked at each other in the candlelight, and said with a smile:

"Sir has been famous lately, and even though he is in the ranks, he often hears about him, which is gratifying."