Perhaps seeing that Zhuge Liang was not in a good mood, Princess Raoyang did not chatter with him. Even what Liu Yi and others said after they came, she did not tell Zhuge Liang. These clan members came here to hope that she would be well.
He advised Zhuge Liang not to do such stupid things again, which were harmful to others and not beneficial to himself, and completely useless. But after hearing Zhuge Liang's explanation again, Rao Yang was no longer worried.
Her husband would never do anything stupid. Her husband was the smartest person in the world.
When she brought the meal in front of Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Liang still seemed a little silent. He was thinking about something. Rao Yang was already very old, and Zhuge Zhan was already married. His child was four years old and had already gone to your hometown with his mother.
Shuang met his father. They were already grandparents. Even Emperor Xiaoxian had become a legend. As the legitimate daughter of Emperor Xiaokang, Princess Raoyang's status was quite high.
In the temple, even when Liu Qu saw her, he had to salute her and call her grandmother. As for Zhuge Liang, he was not willing to use his identity to do things. He would definitely make many people forget his identity. After Emperor Xiaokang,
Son-in-law, however, when necessary, as in today's temples, this status can play the greatest role. The officials in the temple dare to accuse Zhuge Liang of wrong policies, but few dare to directly attack Zhuge Liang himself.
Rao Yang's hair was gray and her face was full of wrinkles. However, she sat aside obediently and looked at her husband with a smile, but she was no different from those decades ago. Zhuge Liang was not in a hurry to eat. Since Liu Gong
After his death, he spoke a lot less and was often thinking. No one knew what he was thinking, but no one ever dared to interrupt him.
"Have a meal!", except Rao Yang.
After the two had a meal, Rao Yang talked about her son and grandson. She missed her son very much, "I have never seen you so cruel. I heard that you recruited a group of young people from Guishang. Then
Why not let Zhan'er come back with you? I heard that Kushan is very dangerous. The river will boil in the summer, and the urine will freeze in the winter... Let me tell you, you just let him grind,
He shouldn’t have been allowed to go to Kushan..."
Rao Yang's nagging did not disturb Zhuge Liang, "You don't understand, only in that kind of environment can he develop his abilities. He is very smart, but he is just too lazy. With such a lazy temper, he cannot accomplish anything.
I don't want him to waste his talents. In such an environment, if he doesn't do well, he will be left behind by others, and he will have to accept punishment and do well before he can return to Luoyang...
.”
While the two were chatting, a servant suddenly came over and told them that Yuan Yao wanted to see him.
Rao Yang was very happy. Yuan Yao and Zhuge Zhan had been playing together since childhood. Looking at this little guy, Rao Yang always felt as if he saw his own son. When Yuan Yao walked in, Rao Yang called him to his side.
, "Yao'er... How is your mother?" Yuan Yao paid a visit to the two of them, and then replied: "Go back to Master, my mother is fine..."
"You've come just in time...come and have dinner with us..."
"Master...I just finished eating..."
"Hey, young people, you should eat more, look at how thin you are!"
Yuan Yao originally came to Zhuge Mansion with a lot of questions, but in the end he didn't ask any questions. The confusion disappeared and was replaced by a belly full of meat. Rao Yang was so enthusiastic that he looked at him, It was as if he saw his own child and kept forcing him to eat. If Zhuge Liang hadn't been unable to stand it and tried to dissuade him, Yuan Yao might not be able to walk today.
Touching his round belly, Yuan Yao fell into deep thought.
"Tell me...what are you doing here?"
"Master, you know what you are asking..."
Zhuge Liang didn't say anything. He glanced at Yuan Yao and said, "Why are you so interested in this? You are still so young..."
Yuan Yao hurriedly said: "Master, I'm not thinking about myself, it's just that almost all the veterans in the temple are the most outstanding talents in the temple, especially you, Master, you are about to reach the required age. Is Master also planning to leave the temple and retire to his hometown? The temple is indispensable..."
"Yao'er... I will die too. Do you want to put my body in the temple when I die?" Zhuge Liang asked. When it came to this topic, Yuan Yao stopped talking about death. It was not a good topic at any time. Yuan Yao asked: "I just want to know why you do this..."
"Yao'er, the longer I live, the higher my status will be... No one dares to persuade me anymore, no one even dares to curse me. I let so many veterans leave today, but none of them None of them dared to speak to me face to face... All the ministers wanted to curry favor with me and flatter me. I never said anything, but I was surrounded by a group of people who wanted to help me and give me power in the temple. Stronger."
Zhuge Liang said some incomprehensible words, "I discovered that as I get older, I want to do everything by myself, and I feel that I can be the best at everything... Even if I don't want to, my power is there. It keeps increasing..."
"I understand..." Yuan Yao said, frowning, "So, Master will also leave the temple?"
"Um."
.......
The results of the imperial meeting spread throughout the country very quickly. Through Di Bao, the speed of the spread of information from various places was extremely astonishing. Of course, the territory of the Han Dynasty was still too huge, so this news had to go through at least several times. It took several months to reach Guishang, Ningzhou and other areas, or even longer. However, in the Central Plains region, these news caused a huge sensation just over a month later.
Officials from various places were either angry or happy, and they were all different. At the same time, Sun Quan, the servant of the official government, became busy, because all the officials who reached the age of age in various places were dismissed, and their positions needed someone to fill their positions. The workload of this project is huge, from Zhang Fei at the Supervisory Station, to Man Chong at the Xingfu, to generals such as Guan Yu and Zhang Liao in the army, and even local officials such as Zhou Yu...
These people are all going to be dismissed, and no one is sure whether such a move will cause anything bad. Everyone is a little anxious, especially since this kind of dismissal involves the military. If it is veteran generals from various places, , disobeying such unreasonable dismissal... Thinking of this, the ministers cursed Zhuge Linggong in their hearts, why bother to make trouble for everyone? If there is any problem, you Zhuge Kongming will be the sinner of the Han Dynasty!
Why are you so anxious to do it? Wouldn't it be better to wait for a while and wait for these old generals to give up their positions before executing it? Everyone really doesn't understand why Zhuge Liang, who has always been cautious, would be so reckless and hasty!
Fortunately, after a few months, in the fifth year of Tianji, nothing major happened anywhere.
However, someone came to tell Zhuge Liang that Chen Lin was dead.
He died in the mansion, and the imperial doctor's order did not find out the real cause of his death. He only knew that after leaving the temple, he had been in a very depressed mood, and gradually stopped speaking. He sat in the courtyard all day long, Just like that, he sat and fell asleep.
Zhuge Liang felt a little uncomfortable. He felt a little guilty. He had a vague feeling that he had killed Chen Lin. However, this thought was quickly dismissed from his mind. Everything he did was never for himself. , first of all, they continued to expand outside the Great Wall, and even left behind the elite brigades of the North and South Army. They also continued to build cities outside the Great Wall for annual corvee labor, in order to prevent enemies outside the Great Wall.
Including the many reforms in Guishang, the prefectures and counties, the temples, and even the final treatment of the old ministers, all were to avoid the decline of the Han Dynasty. After eliminating all conditions such as external troubles, internal troubles, powerful ministers, and unfaithful kings, Zhuge Liang believed that the Han Dynasty would be destroyed. He can definitely continue his glory. As for the future, he has no choice. He is already old and there is only so much he can do.
Soon, all the old ministers and generals from all over the country rushed to Sili. The first one to arrive was Zhou Yu from the Overseas Prefecture. Zhou Yu looked particularly irritable. As soon as he arrived in Luoyang, he was anxious to see him. Zhuge Liang, and looking at his expression, no one dared to take him to see Zhuge Linggong. In the end, Yuan Yao came forward and took him back to his mansion. The two of them didn't know what they said, and they chatted for a while. After a whole day, Zhou Yu's inner anger seemed to have subsided.
There was no thought of looking for Zhuge Liang again.
Gradually, old generals such as Guan Yu, Zhang Liao, Ma Chao also returned to Luoyang. These generals seemed to be even more irritable. On the first day they arrived in Luoyang, they arrived at the Zhuge Mansion. Zhuge Liang went out to greet him. , brought these people to the courtyard, and treated them well, but almost everyone came here fully armed, especially Guan Yu, who was like an enraged tiger. After entering the door, his eyes never left Zhuge Liang in front of him. .
Zhuge Liang was very calm. He looked at these people and asked with a smile: "You guys come here like this, do you want to compete with me in martial arts?"
"I heard that Duke Ling Zhuge thinks that we are old and weak, so I want to come and show him whether we are weak!" The person who spoke was Guan Yu. In fact, Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang have a very good relationship, especially In the past, they had conquered Kushan together. Zhuge Liang played a very important role in that battle and made close friends with the generals of the Northern and Southern armies. However, when Zhuge Liang proposed the retirement system, these old friends had already been All were offended.
"Hahaha, I have never said that. Even if General Guan is twenty years older, I will definitely not be your opponent." Zhuge Liang said nonchalantly, ignoring the threats of these people, and instead pulled him enthusiastically. He looked at them and asked them to sit down one by one. Then the servants brought various delicacies and drinks. Zhuge Liang did not drink alcohol, and Guan Yu was not in a hurry to question or take action.
He watched coldly as Zhuge Liang prepared the meal for them, sat on the upper seat, and took a sip of wine.
Suddenly, Zhuge Liang coughed violently. He didn't know how to drink. Zhang Liao couldn't help but smile. His originally solemn face softened a lot at this moment. He also took the drink in front of him and drank it all in one gulp. With him taking the lead, the rest of the people were not polite, eating food and drinking wine. Apart from anything else, these things are really much better than those in the frontier fortress. Staying in the frontier fortress for a long time makes these meals even more delicious. .
Zhuge Liang looked at everyone with a smile and did not say anything about retirement. Instead, he asked about the situation in various places. He coughed from time to time and covered his mouth with a piece of cloth. He was very curious about the situation in various places. In response to his inquiry, Guan Yu They all answered one by one, and everyone chatted for more than two hours. Everyone was very happy after eating. However, no one pressed Zhuge Liang again. When Guan Yu led everyone away, someone finally realized that something was wrong.
"General Guan, that's not right! Aren't we here to avenge Zhuge Liang this time??"
Guan Yu paused and thought of something. He shook his head and said, "There is no need to argue with him anymore..."
In the mansion, Zhuge Liang sat alone at the banquet. He took out the blood-stained cloth and looked at it for a long time before hiding it in his sleeve.