Liu Yu was thin, wearing a half-worn Confucian shirt, with his head bowed, his eyes half down, he didn't speak for a long time, and his slender face flickered in the flickering light. Liu He sat opposite him, looking at him with some concern, he had just told Liu Yu about what he saw at Zhang Fei's house, and also mentioned what Wen Hui had told him, judging from Liu Xiu's actions alone, Lu Min's trip to the valley seemed inevitable.

What made him even more embarrassed was that because of the appearance of Yan Rou of the burning clouds, the group of teenagers led by Zhang Fei was now in high spirits, and they were instigated by Liu Xiu's sentence "Famous generals are played", and they shouted that they wanted to follow Lu Min to investigate on the spot and make some preparations for the future battlefield.

"Father, these people don't know how to measure, they still cause trouble in Zhuo County, when they don't have a safe life, when they go to Shanggu, if there is a conflict with the Hu people, how can it be good?"

Liu Yu raised his head and glanced at Liu He, who was nervous, and a helpless smile flashed.

"What's the big deal? When did the Han and Hu people not conflict? ”

Liu He was stunned, and didn't know what to say for a while.

Liu Yu sighed softly: "Although this Liu Xiu is young, he is steady, and he knows how to list a topic, which shows that he has made some preparations." Lu Zhi accepted him as a disciple, and it seems that he has high expectations for him, so I can't stop him anymore. He was silent for a moment, and then asked with some confusion: "Why haven't you heard of such a young man before?" ”

Liu He was stunned for a moment, shook his head with a wry smile: "I heard that it is outside Zhuoxian County, although his father Liu Yuanqi has a little wealth, but he has no knowledge, Li Ding originally took a fancy to him, but his brother Liu Bei." I don't know why, this time I went to Peach Valley to learn from Lu Jun, Liu Bei didn't have any special performance, but this Liu Xiu suddenly shined, not only defeated Yan Rou, but was also accepted by Lu Jun. There are dozens of students in Peach Valley, and now he is the most prominent. ”

Liu Yu nodded thoughtfully, and said a little abruptly: "That Liu Bei I have also heard Li Ding say a few times, saying that although this son is young, he is quite ambitious, and his surname is open-minded, and his mind is different from ordinary people, but I think he is too young, and I want to wait for him to study for another two years before becoming Peng Zuo." By the way, have you met Liu Bei, what do you think of this person? ”

Liu He frowned, and thought for a while before saying: "If Liu Bei is a person, although his family background cannot be compared with Zhang Fei and others, his surname is not bad with Li Ding, if there is no Liu Xiu by his side, he is also a hero among those gentlemen, but now that the limelight is all stolen by Liu Xiu, he is not so conspicuous, but ......"

Liu He finished talking halfway, stopped again, and looked at Liu Yu tentatively. Liu Yu was stunned for a moment, and said with a little unhappiness: "If you have anything to say, what are you doing?" ”

"This ...... Liu Bei's family background is not good, it is said that it is still Liu Xiu's family to study in Peach Valley, but I don't think he is thrifty, not only good wine, but also a little lustful, it is said that he took a fancy to a beautiful maid of the Zhang family, if Liu Xiu did not agree, he would ask the Zhang family. ”

"Is that so?" Liu Yu's face sank, he was a little annoyed, and he didn't say a word again. He was a little suspicious of Li Xiang's recommendation of Liu Bei to him, and felt that it might not be because Liu Bei was a talent, but because Liu Bei's father and ancestor had some friendship with him, taking care of the feelings of his colleagues and taking care of his descendants.

However, Liu Yu didn't think too much about this matter, because he had seen too many such things, not only he had encountered them, but basically all officials had encountered them. Whether it is the history of the assassin or the Taishou, they will encounter this kind of problem of local heroes holding power, they are outsiders, and they are not familiar with the local situation, except for those well-known talents, they are usually not clear, and the matter of recommending talents to the court is naturally decided by these local heroes.

But this time, Liu Yu has some ideas of his own, he feels that this Liu Xiu is calm and methodical, and he is a rare talent among his peers, if possible, it is a good choice to recruit him to his side, or even recommend him to Jingshi. Of course, before that, he had to investigate again to see if this Liu Xiu was really worth his rejection of Li Ding.

"Why don't you go to the Upper Valley too?" Liu Yu had made up his mind and said to Liu He: "Watch more and talk less along the way, and then come back and tell me." Lu Min doesn't have to do anything, Lu Zhi has been in office for three years, and he can be appointed as a man and enter the official career. This Liu Xiu's family background is average, I'm afraid that the opportunity to become a talent is limited, if he is really a talent, I might as well give him a chance, and it can be regarded as seeking talent for the country. ”

Liu He nodded, his thoughts were similar to Liu Yu's, and he felt that Liu Xiu was indeed good, and if he could absorb it and become a protégé, it would also be a good choice. Although Wen Hui didn't say it, he already sensed that Wen Hui might suggest that his father summon Liu Xiu to the Taishou Mansion. According to the habits of the Han, the protégé of the deceased between the sponsor and the recommended person is a very important relationship, and it can absorb a real talent, which will also be of great help to the recommender's future career.

Liu Xiu didn't know that he had become the object of Liu Yu's investigation, and he had been very busy in the past two days. He prepared two large pieces of paper questions, pestered Yan Rou and asked them for half the night, and finally sorted out three or four thousand words of records, but he was still not satisfied - although Yan Rou was well-informed, his footprints alone were limited after all, and the grassland was so big, he could not be all-encompassing, for example, he didn't know much about the situation of the Wuhuan people outside the Saiwai, he only knew that the Wuhuan people were now very close to the Xianbei people, on the one hand, they were subordinate to the Han people, and they received the rewards of the Han every year but they were not at ease. There are often shadows of these Wuhuan people. They were very familiar with the situation of Dahan and helped the Xianbei people a lot.

Yan Rou had dealt with the Wuhuan people relatively little over the years, and the information he knew was a little outdated, so he suggested that Liu Xiu go and ask the merchants who often went to the Wuhuan Mountain area to do business. He recommended two Zhongshan merchants who sold horses, one named Zhang Shiping and the other named Su Shuang, saying that they were more aware of the situation of the Wuhuan people.

Liu Xiu was somewhat familiar with these two names, but he couldn't remember where he had heard them. However, now that his reputation is gradually rising, his self-confidence has increased greatly, and he is no longer so reluctant to deal with strangers, plus Liu Bei and Zhang Fei as companions, and carrying Yan Rou's signboard, he generously went to ask for a meeting.

Zhang Shiping was not in Zhuo County, but Su Shuang was, he was very surprised by Liu Xiu's visit, after listening to Liu Xiu's intention, and carrying the two names of Lu Zhi and Yan Rou, Su Shuang was very enthusiastic, and introduced to Liu Xiu in detail the situation of the Wuhuan people he knew, and then recommended some other businessmen to him.

Liu Xiu was overjoyed, made a detailed record, and then went to visit those people recommended by Su Shuang in turn, some of them were in Zhuo County, he asked them very politely, and those who were not in Zhuo County, he also tried his best to find out when they might come to Zhuo County, and then come to visit.

After returning to the mansion, Liu Xiu integrated the collected information again, summarized the categories, and wrote a thick stack of drafts. He couldn't transcribe it alone, so he could only grab Liu Bei and Zhang Fei to make them tired, one sighed, and the other had a sad face, as if he was mourning. Liu Xiu had no choice but to agree to Liu Bei to enjoy the gentleness of that beautiful maid, and then explain some basic skills of painting to Zhang Fei, which summoned their enthusiasm and finally completed it before Lu Min rushed back.

Lu Min's face was not very good when he came back, but when he saw the thick volume of records, he suddenly came to his senses.

"You wrote that?" Lu Min said in surprise as he looked at it.

"The three of us put it together together." Liu Xiu said modestly: "If it weren't for the Zhang family's invitation, I wouldn't have been able to do this." From listing the topics to taking notes, to organizing and copying, the three of us did it together. ”

Lu Min raised his head and glanced at Liu Bei and Zhang Fei who were standing aside, nodded with satisfaction, and quickly lowered his head to look at the words, his joy was overflowing, and it took him a long time to read it in a hurry, and he let out a sigh of relief: "Deran, with this information, we are finally not busy in vain." ”

"Busy in vain?" Liu Xiu heard that something was wrong, looked at Lu Min's face again, and asked worriedly, "Sir...... Disagree? ”

"I didn't say I didn't agree." Lu Min was a little gloomy, "He just cares about me and doesn't make it difficult for others." ”