Chengdu in Shuzhong. A lively banquet is being held in the mansion of Yizhou Mu and General Zhengshu, and the theme of the banquet is to celebrate the birthday of Sima Fang, the state pastor.

Sima Fang, who was already forty-five years old, looked untired, energetic, his eyes were like lightning, and he sat on the main seat with great dignity. On his right hand sat Jia Long, Ren Qi, Fa Zhen, Fei Shi, Xu Jing and others, and on Sima Fang's left hand sat the generals Zhang Ren and Yan Yan, the naval commander Gan Ning, and the lieutenants Gao Pei, Yang Huai, Deng Xian, Wu Lan, and Meng Da.

Although some time ago, Yan Yan led the army to lose half of his soldiers when he fought in Bingzhou, and was captured by Zhao Xing Lei Tong and Zhang Yi, but Sima Fang did not deliberately reprimand Yan Yan. After all, almost all of the Zhao coalition forces suffered losses, especially Dong Zhuo of Liangzhou, which was next to Yizhou, and the losses were even more heavy. In comparison, these losses of the Shu army were relatively small. After all, the number of soldiers killed in the battle was small, and most of them were captured in the chaos, and people could still be redeemed by other means in the future.

For Sima Fang, the loss of a second-rate army with an average combat power of 5,000 is really nothing to him with an army of 80,000. The outside world only thinks that Yizhou is a remote place, vast and sparsely populated, and it is difficult to keep too many troops. In fact, at this time, Yizhou governed Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and even parts of Myanmar and Laos, which not only had a huge population, but also rich in products, making it an excellent place to settle down.

After the Sima family completely controlled Yizhou, they vigorously carried out the reform of the national system, and gradually encroached on the uniforms of the barbarians entrenched in the southwest of Yizhou through the strategy of co-opting, dividing and attacking some, and now it has achieved initial results. Sima Fang had a unit under his command, formerly known as the Qingqiang Army composed of Qiang people in the northwest of Yizhou, and now joined the barbarian soldiers in the southwest of Yizhou, with a total of 20,000 people, and Zhang Ren personally served as the commander.

This army is fierce and brutal, hard-working, proficient in mountain and jungle warfare, specially used to suppress and deter foreign races in various parts of Yizhou, and has never shown the whole picture in front of the world, and even Zhao Xing, who has timely intelligence, has never known it, and it can be said that it is extremely hidden.

In the front hall, Sima Fang and a group of staff members were talking and laughing and drinking, and there was also a party in the backyard. I saw several people of different ages in the seat, all wearing the costumes of the children of official eunuchs, all full of energy, and were toasting an elderly man who was nearly 30 years old.

The elder who is nearly 30 years old is Sima Fang's eldest son Sima Lang (character), who is now serving as the Taishou of Hanzhong and supervising the northern military horses of Yizhou.

On Sima Lang's right hand sat a slender young man with a fair face, who looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old. This son is Sima Fang's second son Sima Yi (word Zhongda). Sitting on Sima Lang's left hand side was a young man of the same age as Sima Yi, whose name was Sima Sima Fu (character Shuda). On the outside of Sima Yi and Sima Fu, there were two and a half children sitting respectively, named Sima Kui and Sima Sui.

Historically, Sima Fang had eight sons, known as Sima Bada, the most powerful of which was naturally Sima Yi, the second in line, and the more famous were Sima Lang, Sima Yi and Sima Fu.

Today, Sima Fang's five sons gathered in the inner courtyard, which can be regarded as a celebration of their father's birthday, and it is also a rare gathering for several brothers.

As mentioned above, Sima Fang is very strict with the discipline and education of his children, and these children must behave properly and behave properly when they see their fathers on weekdays. After Sima Lang served as the Taishou of Hanzhong, he was away all the year round, and it was rare to return to Shuzhong to get together with his brothers.

During the conversation, Sima Yi complained to his eldest brother: "Now that Yizhou is employing people, although my younger brother is not talented and is nearly 20 years old, my father does not arrange a ministry, but only teaches me to study with peace of mind. If chaos is about to break out today, what good will it do to keep your head in books?"

Sima Lang was very surprised when he heard his younger brother bluntly say that the world was about to be in turmoil, so he said: "Now that the Han Dynasty is peaceful and the wind and rain are smooth, how can Zhong Da say that the world will be in turmoil?"

Sima Yi glanced at his brother meaningfully, as if to say, "I know, you know, and you came to ask me!" and then said indifferently: "The establishment of the Jin Kingdom, like a boulder pressing down on the top of the Han Dynasty, collapsed only in an instant. In the past, Emperor Ling died in Chang'an, and the three sons were lost, but now I only know that the third prince Liu Rong settled down and merged with the state, where did the other two fall?"

When Sima Lang heard his younger brother mention the disappearance of the three princes after Emperor Ling's death last year, he "chuckled" in his heart. At that time, one of the three forces involved in the kidnapping of the prince was personally sent by him from Hanzhong, and now the fifth prince Liu Khotan is being confined in an extremely hidden valley, and outsiders have no way of knowing. Seeing that his second brother was still unfinished between his words, with a hollow expression, Sima Lang guessed that Sima Yi might have seen some clues.

Sima Lang hurriedly interrupted Sima Yi's words and said, "Since the second brother is willing to come out and do things for the family, I will convey this intention to my father on your behalf, and my father will definitely agree when he knows about it!"

Sima Fu, who was only one year younger than Sima Yi, heard this, and hurriedly said: "Big brother, don't just take care of the second brother, younger brother, I also have to come out to do things, and I don't want to listen to the gentlemen's nagging and noisy all day long!"

Sima Lang thought about it, he had to talk to his father anyway, so he simply told the two brothers together, if he refused to agree, he would directly bring the two brothers back to Hanzhong. Sima Lang has never been worried about the abilities of Sima Yi and Sima Fu, and he even thinks that in time, the second brother Sima Yi will do better than him, the eldest brother.

By the time the feast had ended, it was nightfall. Sima Fang called his eldest son Sima Lang into the study, asked about the recent situation in northern Yizhou, especially Dong Zhuo's movements, and asked vaguely: "Is the son okay now?" The "son" mentioned by Sima Fang is the fifth prince Liu Khotan.

Sima Lang replied respectfully: "Everything is under control, and no one knows where Gongzi is hiding." ”

Sima Fang asked again: "Now that the Jin State has been established, we still have two generals and thousands of soldiers detained in the Jin State, I don't know what Boda can do?"

"You can send a person who is good at arguing to the Jin Kingdom to ask for it. Sima Lang replied.

Sima Fang then asked: "Who can take on this heavy responsibility under Ruguanwu's martial arts?"

"Runan Xu Jing is famous, good at words, and can go. Sima Lang said.

After listening to Sima Lang's answer, Sima Fang stroked the beard on his chin and said with a happy smile: "Wu'er has the name of knowing people, and he is a great weapon!"

"Thanks to the father's false praise, the child is ashamed. Sima Lang still said respectfully, "The second and third brothers are well-read and have splendid hearts, and now it is the time to employ people, why don't Dad let them come out to do things?"

Sima Fang, who was in a good mood, saw that the eldest son had put forward the suggestion of using the second and third brothers, so he nodded and said, "It's time for them to come out and practice." The Sima family's huge family business will have to be managed by your brothers in the future. ”

On the second day, Sima Fang gathered under the tent and announced the appointment of his second and third sons in public. Sima Yi entered Zhang Ren's tent and learned the way of commanding the army and governing the army; Sima Fu followed his eldest brother Sima Lang to Hanzhong, starting as a small official under the tent.