Chapter 194 Comrades

All the peach and plum blossoms are in bloom, leaving only green grass.

With the confluence of snow water flowing down from the mountains, the original trickling stream has become cheerful, ding-ding-dong-dong composing the music of late spring, bumping against the rocks and winding eastward.

The leisurely fishing in this scene at this time should make you feel excited.

But Zheng Pu was obviously in a bad mood.

With one hand holding the fishing rod that had been taken away by the fish, and with one hand supporting his jaw, he frowned.

He thought about the request from Qin Mansion's nephew for a long time alone, but he couldn't find a way to have both sides.

He would not be foolish enough to recommend to Prime Minister Zhuge Liang that He Zhi should be appointed as the governor of Xiping; if he did not agree with the recommendation of other Yizhou officials, it would definitely hurt the feelings between the Qin and Zheng families.

It's not like losing a bad reputation.

But when others talk about it after dinner, it is inevitable that they will say that the Zheng family does not miss the friendship between their fathers.

Alas, that’s all.

I wrote a letter back to my brother and asked him to ask the Qin Mansion if any of his nephews would be willing to come to Longyou to serve. I will try to figure it out. Xiang Lang is still in charge of the Tianshui Prefect, and it is a small matter like recruiting more assistants.

, you will still be somewhat friendly with me.

Furthermore, after the Silk Road on the Western Front leaves the Huangshui River Valley, it is the sphere of influence of Xihai Shaodang Qiang. I would like to ask Qiang King Mangzhong to provide some conveniences to the Qin family caravan, which can be regarded as protecting the Qin family's affection in Mianzhu.

Already?

However, the two combined together only took care of the Qin family.

After this incident, other Yizhou officials will probably exclude me.

Ha~~~

Zheng Pu chuckled secretly, and shook his head helplessly.

He picked up the fishing rod casually, slowly put on the bait, and threw the hook into the stream again. Then he closed his eyes and rested his mind, feeling the tranquility of the spring breeze blowing by his ears.

The position of the Governor of Xiping is just like fishing bait.

All the officials in the imperial court who were involved in the interests of the Silk Road were caught fish.

So does he, but he doesn't want to take the bait.

Even from now on, we will isolate ourselves from other rural parties.

"Zi Jin closed his eyes when fishing, but he wanted to imitate Jiang Taigong when he fished with a straight hook?"

I don't know how long it took, but a smiley teasing came from the side.

Zheng Pu opened his eyes and looked sideways. It turned out that Qiao Zhou, who was serving as a wine worshipper in Liangzhou Academy, had arrived at some unknown time.

The two of them have known each other for a long time.

Even each other's families are used to visiting each other.

Based on this, the cousin Lu Huang, the owner of this place, did not send anyone to inform Zheng Pu when Qiao Zhou came to visit. He just asked Qiao Zhou to come to the creek to look for him.

"The joy of fishing lies in fishing, so what does it mean to imitate the ancients?"

Putting down the fishing rod, Zheng Pu did not get up. He just stretched out his hand to signal Qiao Zhou to sit on the ground. After glancing at the sky, he retorted, "It's getting late. Brother Yun Nan is here just to enjoy the evening meal, right?"

"Ha, Zijin's temperament is still so mean!"

Qiao Zhou, who already knew each other's temperament well, was not moved when he heard the words, but replied with a smile.

After he sat down inelegantly cross-legged on the ground, he slightly shook the small cloth bundle in his hand and said, "I brought some food here to prevent you from being stingy and noisy!" After a pause, he continued to add a sentence of contempt,

"Zi Jin's family is well-off, and the salary of General Pingbei is very high, but now he is even poorer than me! He is truly a prodigal!"

"Haha~~~~"

Hearing this, Zheng Pu did not refute, but just smiled helplessly.

He is indeed very poor.

Although the salary of a general with a heavy title is higher than that of a prefect with two thousand dan, and every time he goes out with an army, he returns with a great victory and captures a lot, and is rewarded with a lot of money by the court in accordance with the law, he still cannot make ends meet.

Just raising livestock and retinues completely depleted his salary.

As for the silks, money, etc. that were rewarded by the imperial court, they were all used to provide compensation for those who died in the battle, were injured and retired, and to take care of the livelihood of Paoze's orphans.

I have been an official for many years and have accumulated countless achievements, but I have never used half a five-baht coin to supplement my family income.

On the contrary, they often draw funds from home for daily expenses.

Even Zhang Bao, my wife's brother, couldn't stand it.

Aiwu Jiwu persuaded him to leave some of his salary to buy a house in Tianshui Ji County, so that his younger sister Zhang Yan would not have to stay in the Lu family's villa every time she came to Longyou.

Naturally, Zheng Pu turned a deaf ear to his persuasion.

After his late father asked his brother Zheng Yan to succeed him and split the family, his own family merged with his mother's family with the surname Lu, so why should they be separated from each other?

If you buy a house and move out to live in it, it would be inappropriate.

He casually picked up the wine bag on the ground and drank it. He wiped it with his sleeve and handed it to Qiao Zhou. He took the small bag and said, "I wonder what brother Yun Nan brought to eat? I happen to be a little hungry."

“You’ll know after you see it.”

Qiao Zhou didn't take it personally. He took the wine bag and took a big gulp. He belched loudly before answering slowly.

Why is eating so mysterious?

Raising his eyebrows in surprise, Zheng Pu opened the small cloth bag and took a look. It turned out to be several hard biscuits.

Pancakes are made from flour, and noodles are mixed together; Hu pancakes are made from large mangoes, and are also topped with flax (sesame).

Not a rarity.

Previously, Emperor Ling loved Hu cakes, so all the people in the capital ate Hu cakes.

In addition, there are many kinds of wheat and chestnuts in Longyou, and Hu cakes, which are made without any technical content, can be seen everywhere.

However, flax from the Western Regions is rare and expensive, and ordinary people cannot afford it.

For example, if you use Qiao Zhouzhou Academy to offer wine as a salary, you can't eat it many times either.

What we eat every day are "wheat cakes" without flax.

As for the common people in Li~~~

Living in the northwest, you are lucky to have a full stomach, so why don’t you expect hu biscuits!

He picked up a piece and tore off a small piece and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly and feeling the light fragrance of flax. Zheng Pu was a little confused, "Is Brother Yunnan greedy for ink or accepting a banquet from a wealthy family? Why is there such a thing?"

Bring the biscuits?"

Also let Qiao Zhou, who is reaching out to take the cake, have a meal.

He works as a government official in Qingshui Department, so where does he get the opportunity to be corrupt?

Oh no, with his character, how could he do such a thing as being greedy for ink?

Even though he knew Zheng Pu's temperament well, he still glared angrily and said angrily, "I actually bought it with a few days' salary and used it to feast with Zijin. This is how Zijin repaid him!"

"Hey, I won't be quick to talk today, I don't know when I will have the chance."

Still vague, Zheng Pu showed a smile on his face, "Brother Yun Nan is here, is it the Prime Minister's permission to come here?"

"Nothing can be hidden from Zijin."

After being slightly stunned, Qiao Zhou suddenly smiled, closed his eyes and let out a long sigh of relief before answering happily, "Yes, Prime Minister approved of me."

He will return to Shu.

Since the end of last year, he has been writing frequently to ask for answers after Liangzhou Academy went back to offer wine.

The reason is ridiculous.

It's not that he was negligent or made any mistakes, but that he did a great job.

It was so good that even he himself did not dare to stay in Longyou anymore.

He came to Longyou to take up the post. On the one hand, he took over the position of the aging archer. On the other hand, it was Zheng Pu's old plan: let him, who had a profound family education, come to preach the theory of destiny that "cao Pi who rebels against Wei Wei and usurps the Han Dynasty will be punished by heaven."

At first, when he preached, people were just skeptical.

However, the successive deaths of Cao Rui's heirs against the Wei Dynasty, the consecutive victories of the Northern Expedition of the Han Dynasty, the great epidemic in Xiaoguan, and the continuous heavy rains during Cao Zhen's attack on Hanzhong made people slowly begin to change their minds.

Perhaps, after four hundred years of accumulated power, the Han Dynasty really has a manifest destiny?

This is what people think.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain clearly the "coincidence" of so many things.

Things took a turn for the better in the spring of this year when Wei Cao Rui's daughter died at the age of one month.

This incident not only made the literate Qianghu tribe in Liangzhou and the people in Guizhou Province of Sanfu in Guanzhong become convinced, but even the aristocratic families in Guandong began to have vague doubts.

Some good people even claimed that Cao Rui's third son, Cao Yin, who is not yet one year old, should be born soon.

Inevitably, Qiao Zhou, who first proposed the destiny of heaven, was like a "sage" walking in the world in the eyes of the Lishu people in Longyou, who predicted the future!
To be continued...