Longzhong is located in the north of Xiangyang City 35 miles, but administratively it belongs to Nanyang County, there is a hill because it looks like Wolong, so it is named Wollongong.

The Central Plains was in flames, and wars were frequent. However, the land of Jingchu was peaceful under the governance of Liu Biao, and although there were occasional wars, the turmoil was not the same as that of the four wars in the Central Plains. Therefore, many scholars from the land of Kyushu moved to Jingxiang for refuge, and the Zhuge Liang brothers were one of them.

Five or six years ago, Zhuge Liang's uncle Zhuge Xuan was appointed by Li Dao to seize real power by Zhu Hao, the Taishou of Yuzhang, and he could only leave Yuzhang with his family and come to Xiangyang to join his old acquaintance Liu Biao. Liu Biao was also interesting enough, and appointed Zhuge Xuan as the county magistrate of Deng County to govern the place.

But soon after, Zhuge Xuan became seriously ill and could not get out of bed, so he could only resign and return home, so he gave Zhuge Liang some coins and asked him to go to the countryside to buy a secluded house in order to recuperate.

Zhuge Liang took the money given by his uncle, wandered around Deng County for a while, and chose Wollongong in Longzhong.

The mountains and rivers here are beautiful, the folk customs are simple, the land is fertile, and the scenery is pleasant; It is 20 miles away from Deng County in the west, 35 miles away from Xiangyang in the south, and 60 miles away from Caiyang in the east.

So Zhuge Liang spent more than 3,000 yuan to buy a private house in Wollongong, and moved to Longzhong with Zhuge Xuan's family and younger brother Zhuge Jun. After living in Wollongong for a year, Zhuge Xuan fell seriously ill and passed away.

After Zhuge Xuan's death, he left behind his wife Yin, who was less than 30 years old, as well as his six-year-old daughter and infant son, who had no one to take care of. Afterward. A widowed man surnamed Cai, a local scholar in Xiangyang, fell in love with the widowed Yin family, and asked someone to come to the door to talk to the matchmaker, Zhuge Liang did not stick to the subtleties, and promised to marry his aunt and take away the two young children.

Since then, only the seventeen-year-old Zhuge Liang and the twelve-year-old brother Zhuge have been left in the house in Wollongong. Fortunately, Zhuge Xuan has a slight inheritance, so the life of Zhuge Liang's brothers is not very poor. Reading while plowing the land. He studied under the local Confucian Sima Hui. He made friends with local Confucian scholars such as Shi Guangyuan, Meng Gongwei, Xu Yuanzhi, Cui Zhouping, and Pang Shiyuan.

After Zhuge Xuan's death, Zhuge Jin once waded through mountains and rivers from Langya and came to Longzhong to pay his respects, so he knew Zhuge Liang's residence; This time I revisited my hometown. It didn't take much effort to find Longzhong easily. In order to avoid being too crowded. So he left his retinue at the inn. The horses rushed to Wollongong to meet their brothers.

When I came to Zhuge Liang's door, the sky was already dark. Ge Jin turned over and dismounted, standing in front of the door. There was a knock on the knocker.

"Who? It's coming, it's coming! ”

Hearing a knock on the door, there was a sound of brisk footsteps in the courtyard, and a teenager ran to the door while agreeing, and opened the courtyard door from the inside.

"Xiaojun, my brother has come to see you!"

It was none other than Zhuge Jun, who was thirteen years old, because he was not yet fifteen years old, so he didn't have a word, so Zhuge Jin called him by his name. After speaking, he gave the little brother a hug.

"Oops...... It turned out that the big brother was here, which was great! Zhuge Jun was overjoyed when he saw his long-lost brother, and he also hugged Zhuge Jin and cheered.

"Second brother? Big brother is here, come out quickly! While making love to his brother, Zhuge Jin turned his head and greeted Zhuge Liang in the room loudly.

At this time, Zhuge Liang did not have a servant boy to accompany him, and even if he did, children would not be able to cook. Therefore, the diet of the two brothers must rely on Zhuge Liang to cook himself, in order to solve, at this moment he was cooking in the kitchen, and after listening to his brother's shout, he put down the firewood and came out of the firewood room to check.

"Oops...... Sure enough, the big brother is here! ”

When it was confirmed that the person standing in front of him was none other than his brother Zhuge Jin, Zhuge Liang was also surprised, and he didn't know why his brother came to Nanyang from Langya?

"It's my brother here, it's so unexpected, come and sit in the house!"

The brothers reunited after a long absence, Zhuge Liang naturally couldn't ask his brother why he came first, so he enthusiastically let Zhuge Jin into the guest hall, sat down on the chair, and made tea and served it.

By the candlelight, Zhuge Jin looked at this brother carefully, compared with the previous year, Zhuge Liang, who was already eighteen years old, seemed to have grown a little taller, about eight feet or so, dressed in a white robe, elegant and handsome, and his every move revealed the demeanor of a calm general.

"Second brother, you are more mature than before, and you are more burly!" Zhuge Jin picked up the tea bowl, took a sip of tea, and praised him sincerely.

Zhuge Liang smiled: "Hehe...... I'm carefree, unambitious, eat and sleep all day, wake up and eat, it's normal for me to grow taller, but my brother's face has a sense of wealth and nobility, if Liang guesses well, is my brother an official? ”

"You, you...... is really smart, and he is wearing a coarse cloth robe for his brother, and you have actually seen through it! Zhuge Jin shook his head and smiled bitterly, admiring the second brother's observation.

Zhuge Liang said with a smile: "Brother will sit and drink tea for the time being, I'll go to the kitchen to cook a few specialty dishes, and our brothers will chat while drinking!" ”

After speaking, he took out a dozen coins from his sleeve and gave them to Zhuge Jun, and ordered: "Third brother, you go to the grocery store in the village to buy some dishes and wine and come back, I will have a good drink with my eldest brother tonight!" ”

"Okay!"

Zhuge Jun took the copper coin, said to Zhuge Jin, "Big brother, drink tea for the time being, I'll come when I go", and then turned around and walked out of the courtyard happily.

Seeing Zhuge Liang cooking in person, Zhuge Jin asked ashamedly: "Second brother, you are more than eighteen this year, why haven't you married a wife yet?" ”

In this era, the eldest brother is like a father, since there is no father, it is the responsibility of the elder brother to arrange the marriage for the brother, and Zhuge Jin is naturally ashamed in his heart if he does not marry a daughter-in-law for his brother.

Zhuge Liang smiled "hehe": "Don't worry, don't worry, a lazy person like me has not been able to stand on his own, if he marries a wife and has children, what will he use to support them?" is still living a life of idle clouds and wild cranes alone, and if it goes down for another three or five years, it is not too late to marry a wife at the age of twenty-five or sixteen! ”

After a pause, he asked his brother again: "By the way, eldest brother, you and your sister-in-law have been married for two years, right?" Remember that before my uncle died, I don't know if I gave birth to a son and a half daughter for our Zhuge family? ”

Zhuge Jin shook his head a little depressed: "Alas...... I don't know why, your sister-in-law has never been pregnant, and she is really ashamed of her parents' spirit in heaven. ”

Zhuge Liang was a little unexpected, and hurriedly comforted his brother: "It's okay, it's okay, there are many talents in Jingxiang, I know a few medical craftsmen, their Qihuang technique can help childless couples have joy as soon as possible, another day I will go to ask for a medicine for my brother to come back, and I will definitely help my brother to enter the department as soon as possible." ”

It didn't take much effort, Zhuge Liang cooked a table of sumptuous dishes. This wise man who was deified in Luo Guanzhong's pen as "wise and almost demonic" is not only smart and strategic, but also has practiced good cooking skills after living alone for several years. Zhuge Jun served the meat he bought, poured wine for the two brothers with a wine jug, and listened to their conversation below.

After three rounds of drinking, Zhuge Jin slowly explained the reason, and finally advised: "Second brother, it's rare that Yuan Gongzi is so important to you, so you can go to Bingzhou with me, Yuan Gongzi is a person who does what he says, he said that if you want to be too guarded, you will definitely not break your word." ”

Zhuge Liang said in surprise: "It's strange, the second uncle has never been to the north of the Yellow River when he was alive, and Yuan Benchu thinks very highly of himself, how can he have a long talk with a lower-level official like the second uncle?" How did this Yuan Gongzi know about my situation? It's puzzling! ”

Zhuge Jin listened to Kong Ming's words, and he was also puzzled, and after thinking hard, he couldn't think of a reasonable explanation, so he could only say: "Duke Yuan used to be an official in the capital, maybe he met the second uncle at that time, not necessarily!" ”

Rao is Zhuge Liang is extremely smart, and he couldn't think of an answer, so he had to give up this question. He said with a regretful face: "Brother, it's not that the younger brother refuses to save your face, it's just that I really have no plans to become a leader, I just want to live a leisurely life of idle clouds and wild cranes, and I am not used to those cumbersome etiquettes in the court, you go back and thank Yuan Gongzi for me!" ”

Zhuge Jin also knew his brother's temper, and he didn't plan to convince him with a meal. After dinner, the three brothers shared the same bed and talked to each other for a long time, and did not fall asleep until late at night.

For a few days, Zhuge Jin slept in the same bed with Zhuge Liang, trying to convince him, first, he could go back to his son, second, he could also seek a good future for his brother, and third, he could also let Zhuge family glorify their ancestors, which was really a happy thing.

It's just that Zhuge Liang's belief is very firm, no matter how good Zhuge Jin is to say or persuade, he just doesn't agree to go out, and in the end he is forced to be helpless, so he said in his heart: "Brother, our brothers are not outsiders, so I will talk to you about my heart." The reason why I refused Yuan Gongzi's recruitment was not only because I didn't have the idea of becoming a leader, but also because I was not optimistic about the Yuan family! ”

"What? Not optimistic about the Yuan family? Zhuge Jin couldn't help but be stunned and said in surprise.

Zhuge Liang nodded, his eyes revealing an unusually confident gaze: "Yes, I am not optimistic about the Yuan family!" ”

Zhuge Jin had an expression of disbelief, and he really didn't believe that these words came from his brother's mouth: "Hehe...... Kong Ming, what are you kidding? They all say you're smart, I don't believe you'll say such stupid things! Looking at today, although there are many princes, who dares to look at Yuan Gong's back? After destroying Gongsun Zhan, Yuan Gong had already controlled Jiqingyou and the four prefectures in his hands, ruled more than 5 million people, and the land was vast and fertile for thousands of miles. The fierce generals under his command are like forests, the strategists are like rain, and there are more than 400,000 armor, who can compete with the princes of the world? Why did the second brother say this? ”

"Huh...... Brother Hugh will be on fire, and listen to the foolish brother for you! Zhuge Liang shook the feather fan in his hand, smiled, and said unhurriedly. (To be continued......)