When he saw Zhuge Jin walking into the mansion alone, Yuan Mai knew that the matter of recruiting Zhuge Liang was yellow, although he had been mentally prepared, but at this moment, a sense of loss still rose in his heart.

"Sima doesn't follow, Zhuge doesn't come, are these boss-level characters so difficult to collect? Don't push me to take the last step! Yuan Mai sat on the chair and let out a cry from the bottom of his heart.

Zhuge Jin walked into the conference hall with his head down, and bowed cautiously: "The lower official Zhuge Jin visited Lord Assassin Shi, this time he went south, although Liang Xi persuaded him to vote, but he failed to convince his brother, I am really ashamed, please assassinate Shi to condemn!" ”

Although it is a pity that Zhuge Liang was not invited, Yuan Mai also knew that it was not Zhuge Jin's responsibility, Zhuge Liang in history was ambitious, and he would definitely not be easy to become a leader before he saw the general trend of the world. He let Zhuge Jin go south to Jingxiang, originally just to conduct a preliminary test of Kong Ming, and he didn't have much hope of recruiting him to his command.

"Ziyu doesn't have to blame himself, everyone has their own ambitions, and you can't blame you for this matter!"

Yuan Mai comforted Zhuge Jin, and then gossiped with him about what he had seen and heard about this trip to Jingzhou, and asked him what he had seen and heard about this trip to Jingzhou, and whether he had any contact with other celebrities besides Zhuge Liang?

"Hmm...... My brother Kong Ming recommended a person to me, his name is Xu Shu, a native of Yingchuan Changshe, he was a ranger when he was a teenager, because he was brave and ruthless, he killed people in the township, so he fled for his life outside. My brother and I once went to visit his home, but unfortunately this Xu Shu went to Jiangxia to visit friends, and it took five or six days to come back, because of the busy official affairs in the state. So Jin didn't wait any longer, left him a letter, and returned to Hanoi. Zhuge Jin thought about it for a while, and then told Xu Shu about it.

"What? Xu Shu? ”

Yuan Mai, who has always been as steady as Mount Tai and does not move in the eight winds, heard this name, involuntarily stood up, patted the case with both hands, and almost touched the quiver on the table, but fortunately he was quick and grabbed it. to avoid falling to the ground. Scattered all over the place.

"Oops...... Ziyu, Ziyu, you missed a great talent! Yuan Mai sighed while tidying up the table that he had made a little messy.

Seeing the appearance of the lord's gaffe, Zhuge Jin was surprised. What kind of person is this Xu Shu? Could it be that Childe would be so out of shape?

Surprised. Zhuge Jin, who has always been sharp-tongued, stammered a little when he spoke: "It's difficult...... Could it be that this Xu Shu is really a talent? ”

Due to the hot weather, Yuan Mai was so excited that he saw sweat on his forehead. He picked up a bunch of chilled grapes from the bowl on the table, filled it into his mouth to cool down and quench his thirst, and after eating a few of them, he remembered that it was rude to eat alone in front of Zhuge Jin, so he beckoned Zhuge Jin to come and eat a few.

"The weather is very hot, Ziyu has been bumpy all the way, it's really hard, come and eat a few grapes to cool down!"

Zhuge Jin braved the scorching sun to drive for most of the day, his throat was already dry and smoking, and he didn't go home after entering the city, so he came to the "Pingxi General's Mansion" to report work, since Yuan Mai had a life, he was no longer polite, reached out and picked up a grape from the bowl, filled it into his mouth and ate it.

After the chilled grapes, cool and delicious, sweet and greasy throat, the entrance is shengjin, Zhuge Jin ate a few, suddenly refreshed, and couldn't help but praise: "This fruit is really refreshing after being chilled, Jin has never eaten this fruit since he was a child!" ”

Grapes are produced in the Western Regions, and Emperor Wu sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions to introduce grapes and pomegranates from the West, which enriched the fruit varieties in Chinese mainland. However, due to the fact that grapes and pomegranates are not widely used in the early stage of planting, these two fruits can only be enjoyed by high-ranking officials and nobles.

As for the origin of the ice cubes, it is much simpler. The climate in northern China is cold and frozen, so people store the ice cubes in the cellar in the winter, and take them out to make frozen melons and fruits in the summer to quench their thirst from the heat, and this practice has been handed down since the Warring States period.

After eating a few grapes, Yuan Mai stabilized his emotions and said irrefutably: "Ziyu, this Xu Shu is indeed a talent, and his strategy is not under Tian Feng, since Kong Ming recommended it to us, it means that we are destined for him, so we must do our best to take him under our command." You go home today to rest for a day, and tomorrow you will take your entourage to Jingxiang again, don't say that you will wait for ten days and eight days, that is, wait for three or five months, and you will also bring this Xu Shu back to Bingzhou for me! ”

Since Yuan Mai gave such an order with certainty, Zhuge Jin had no choice but to obey his orders and arched his hand: "Jin respectfully obeys the orders of the son...... But there is one thing, Jin doesn't quite understand, Gongzi has never gone south to Jingxiang, and this Xu Shu is just an unknown person, how did Gongzi know that he has great talent? ”

"Well...... this"

Zhuge Jin's question came suddenly, Yuan Mai couldn't answer it for a while, and Ai Ai ate a few grapes before he remembered someone, and pretended to be mysterious: "Xu Zijiang, do you know who it is?" ”

"But Runan Xu Shao, who is good at meeting people and tasting the heroes of the world?" Zhuge Jin asked rhetorically while eating grapes.

"Yes, yes, yes...... That's him! Yuan Mai took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped the sweat beads on his forehead, and said affirmatively.

In fact, Yuan Mai only remembered that Xu Shao's expression was called "Zijiang", and he also knew that his most famous allusion was to give Cao Cao an assessment of "the traitor of Qingping, the hero of the troubled times", but he couldn't think of his name for a while, if it wasn't for Zhuge Jin's reminder, even if he racked his brains, I was afraid that Yuan Mai wouldn't be able to think of Xu Shao's name.

"A few years ago, this Xu Shao once came to my Yuan Mansion as a guest, and I once heard him talk about the world's figures, among which he once mentioned Xu Shu, saying that he has a strategy!" Yuan Mai said while spitting out the grape skin.

"Oh...... I see. Zhuge Jin nodded, looking suddenly enlightened.

Xu Shao is very famous in this era, and many heroes and heroes look for him, and he even boasts that Xu Shao is amazing, so it is extremely mysterious. In fact, this guy is just an ordinary staff member under Liu Xuan, who is just familiar with the art of face-to-face, but after being put on a mysterious halo, Yuan Mai lifted him out as a shield, which is reasonable.

Even Yuan Mai's nonsense lies also solved another doubt in Zhuge Jin's heart, that is, the conversation with Zhuge Liang when he went to Xiangyang. The two brothers once discussed that their uncle Zhuge Xuan and Yuan Shao did not have a relationship, so it is impossible for Zhuge Xuan to praise their brother to Yuan Shao It is not true, now that I think about it, Yuan Mai can know their brother's name, maybe it has something to do with this Xu Shao.

"Yuan Gongzi is so sure that Kong Ming has great talent, could it be that Xu Shao also recommended him strongly? If so, it seems that the second brother may really have some ability! Zhuge Jin finished eating the grapes, took out a handkerchief, wiped the juice on his mouth, and muttered to himself in his heart.

Yuan Mai was afraid that Zhuge Jin would not persuade Xu Shu, and admonished: "When you see Xu Shu, you say that I admire him very much, if he is willing to vote, the civil and military positions, he can choose by himself, the civil officials can be too guarded, long history, and the military positions can be served as partial generals, as he chooses." ”

"No!" Zhuge Jin bowed down to receive the order, "Jin has a day off today, and will set off for the south tomorrow, and he will definitely bring this Xu Shu to Hanoi to Gongzi." ”

"Okay, then you can go back to the house and rest!"

Yuan Mai waved his hand to signal Zhuge Jin to retreat, and when he walked to the door, he remembered something again, got up and called: "Ziyu go slowly, I still have something I forgot to tell you!" ”

Zhuge Jin had no choice but to turn around again, bow down and say, "Please show the son!" ”

"In the land of Jingxiang, there are many talents. When you go to Xiangyang this time, not only do you have to invite Xu Shu to me, but also some hermits from Xiangyang, if you are lucky enough to meet, you must try to recruit them. I'll write you a note with the names of these talents, and if you come across them, you won't miss them easily. ”

As Yuan Mai spoke, he lifted his pen and ink and wrote a string of names on the paper: Xu Shu, Pang Tong, Wei Yan, Huang Zhong, Li Yan, Huo Jun, Ma Liang, Ma Yan......

Everything that Yuan Mai could think of, whose place of origin or scope of activity was in Jingzhou, was written on a piece of paper by him, and he listed a long list, and finally even added the names of Jiangdong generals such as Gan Ning, Lu Su, and Ding Feng, and I didn't know that these talents had not yet served under the final lord, regardless of him, first tell Zhuge Jin to let him know in his heart, this is his own trick.

"Jin must follow the instructions of the son, if you meet the characters on this note, Jin will try her best to recruit!"

Zhuge Jin took the note, glanced at it, saw a long list of names, and bowed down to receive the order.

But he muttered to himself in his heart, if this Xu Shao is a master of physiognomy, it is simply unbearable in front of Yuan Maigongzi, could it be that Yuan Gongzi has a strange art of divination in the past and the present, and divination of the future?

The next day, Zhuge Jin brought his entourage and disguised himself as a pharmacist to go south again, preparing to go to Xiangyang to recruit Xu Shu again. In the next few days, Yuan Mai focused his attention on Yecheng in the east, and he didn't know how he would react if he set fire to the temple, and would he be moved by the wrath of thunder?

But for a few days, Yecheng was quiet. A scout spied on confidential information, saying that Yuan Shao sent Feng Ji to investigate the burning of the temple, and came to the conclusion that it was set on fire and looted by Montenegrin thieves. Yuan Shao originally wanted to conquer the Black Mountain Army, but was dissuaded by Yuan Shang, and was gathering troops to prepare to attack Cao Cao in the south.

I didn't expect things to go so smoothly, why did Feng Ji and Yuan Shang think that the temple was burned by the Black Mountain thieves, did they have another inside story, or were they really deceived? Yuan Mai was not sure for a while.

But Yuan Shao didn't mention the matter of grain and grass for a long time, and he didn't say how to deal with his marriage with Zhen Mi, and the letter was like a mud cow entering the sea, which made Yuan Mai puzzled.

However, he made such a big mess and snatched Zhen Mi back, since Yuan Shao did not pursue the matter, Yuan Mai did not dare to ask again. The lack of food and grass matter, or slowly find a way to solve it, there must be a road before the car to the mountain, with the wisdom of this son, it is impossible to be stumped! (To be continued......)