Chapter 537 Chapter 0539 The tragedy of the Jiangdong family
The end of June and the beginning of July are the hottest times in Wu County.
Zhang Wen was convicted and dismissed from office because he was implicated in the Jianyan case. Even Luo Tong, who had many remonstrances against Sun Quan, personally interceded, but he could not change Sun Quan's determination.
When enumerating Jianyan's crimes, Sun Quan even mentioned the various resistances of the indigenous people in Jiangdong when the Sun family took control of Jiangdong, in order to insinuate that Zhang Wen was only interested in ulterior motives and had ulterior motives.
Then he used this as an excuse to suppress the Zhang family represented by Zhang Wen, in order to achieve the purpose of warning all the aristocratic families in Jiangdong.
From this, the officials of Soochow knew that Sun Quan was still suspicious of the Jiangdong family. However, Sun Quan had defeated Cao Cao and Liu Bei in the battles of Chibi and Yiling, and his authority had increased. He was no longer the young man he was when he first took charge of Jiangdong.
Coupled with these years, the Jiangdong family has been closely linked to the Sun family, making it difficult to separate.
Therefore, regarding Zhang Wen's case, everyone kept silent and no one dared to plead for mercy.
Zhang Wen also knew that if this incident continued, the impact would be widespread, so he closed the door to thank guests, did not see non-relatives and friends, and had little contact with others to avoid injuring innocent people.
On this day, Zhang Wen was studying at home. Suddenly a servant came to report, "Mr. Lang, the general of the country is here to visit."
Zhang Wen was startled, with a look of hesitation on his face, "Did General Fuguo say why he came here?"
“It is said that the old lady of the Lu family misses my wife and wants to invite her back to stay for a few days.”
Zhang Wen nodded, "In that case, go and invite the lady, and I won't show up."
The Zhang family and the Lu family are related by marriage. Zhang Wen's younger brother Zhang Bai married Lu Yusheng, the legitimate daughter of the Lu family.
Lu Yusheng is only fourteen years old this year, but he is the cousin of the forty-three-year-old Lu Xun, and the relationship between the two is not a simple cousin. This starts with Lu Xun's grandfather and Lu Yusheng's biological grandfather, Lu Kang.
Lu Xun lost his father when he was young, and he was raised by his grandfather Lu Kang.
Lu Kang was a descendant of the Lu family in Wu County. He served as the prefect of Lujiang during the reign of Emperor Xian. At that time, the world was in chaos, but he still took the risk of sending Xiaolian to pay tribute to the court. He was a rare person loyal to the Han Dynasty.
At that time, Yuan Shu occupied the Jianghuai area. Due to lack of food, he borrowed food from Lu Kang.
Lu Kang believed that Yuan Shu was rebellious and refused to interact with him. He also made war preparations to face the enemy.
Yuan Shu was furious and sent Sun Ce to attack Lujiang and surrounded the city of Lujiang.
Lu Kang won the hearts of the people in Lujiang. During this period, because some soldiers were away on vacation, they all returned to Lujiang after hearing the news. They even climbed the city wall at night to help guard.
Sun Ce attacked for two years before capturing Lujiang. Lu Kang also died of illness one month after the city was broken. More importantly, most of Lu Kang's clan members died in this battle to defend Lujiang.
Luckily, thirteen-year-old Lu Xun and Lu Kang's seven-year-old son Lu Ji were sent away early and survived.
Lu Ji is Lu Xun’s uncle in terms of seniority, but he is six years younger than Lu Xun.
After Lu Kang died of illness, Lu Ji inherited the position of head of the family, but it was actually the thirteen-year-old Lu Xun who helped him support the family, and the two of them could be regarded as dependent on each other.
At this time, Sun Ce entered Jiangdong and brutally suppressed the Jiangdong clan who resisted him.
The Jiangdong area such as Shengxian, Zhou Xin, Wang Sheng, Zou, Qian Tong, Gao Yan and other major people have been persecuted or even killed by Sun Ce, which caused a huge crack between Sun's and Jiang Dong family.
Later Sun Ce was assassinated and it is difficult to say whether the Jiangdong family was present during this period.
Before Sun Ce's death, the staff around him thought that he would choose his third brother Sun Xu, who had a similar personality to his and was known for his fierceness and determination, as his successor. Unexpectedly, Sun Ce chose Sun Quan instead.
Because in the end, he finally understood that the Sun family wanted to establish a foothold in Jiangdong and could not rely solely on force.
"To raise the people of Jiangdong, to decide the opportunity between the two formations, to compete with the world, you are not as good as me; to promote the talents and talents, and to do their best to protect Jiangdong, I am not as good as you." His last words have been clearly expressed. Got what he meant.
Obviously, Sun Ce was not optimistic about Sun Xu, who had a similar personality to his own, and believed that Sun Quan was capable of handling the relationship with the Jiangdong clan, a key issue that determined the future of the Sun family.
Sun Ce's vision was still very accurate, because Sun Xu also followed in his footsteps and was assassinated to death soon after.
Sun Quan, on the other hand, showed extraordinary political means.
Not only did he employ a large number of talents from the Jiangdong family, he even married them.
More importantly, he began to use various means to divide the Jiangdong family.
Lu Xun and Lu Ji are typical examples.
Sun Quan married his niece, Sun Ce's daughter, to Lu Xun, who had a relatively gentle temperament, and cultivated him as a backbone of Soochow, allowing the Sun and Lu families to turn their enemies into relatives on the surface.
On the other hand, he repeatedly suppressed the upright Lu Ji. After pacifying Jiaozhou, Sun Quan sent Lu Ji, the head of the Lu family, to serve as the governor of Yulin County in Jiaozhou.
This term lasted for ten years. Lu Ji suffered from miasma and epidemic diseases and was not accustomed to the climate and soil, which caused hidden diseases. Not long after returning to Jiangdong, he died of illness at the age of thirty-two.
Unlike Lu Xun who persuaded Sun Quan to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor, Lu Ji inherited his father's loyalty to the Han Dynasty and considered himself a Han official throughout his life. The year he died was the year before Cao Pi usurped the Han Dynasty.
He left his last words on his sick bed: There was Lu Ji, a scholar of Han Dynasty in Wujun, who studied "Poems" and "Books" when he was young, and played "Li" and "Yi" for a long time. When I was ordered to march south, I encountered misfortune due to illness and misfortune. I was so sad!
It means that Lu Ji, a man of great ambition in the Han Dynasty, who had read poetry and books since childhood, was ordered to conquer the south (Jiaozhou), but he did not expect to contract a bad disease and suffer misfortune in his life.
Then he left a prophecy: From now on, thirty-nine years from now, the cars will be on the same track, the books will be on the same page, and the Han Dynasty will be revived. I can't wait to see it.
Lu Ji and Lu Xun had been dependent on each other since childhood. Although they were not flesh and blood brothers, they had a relationship that was far beyond that of flesh and blood. However, before Lu Ji died, he entrusted his two sons and one daughter to be raised by his compatriot Lu Mao, instead of Sun Quan's beloved son Lu Ji. Lu Xun.
This shows that the two people had to part ways because of their different paths and incompatibility.
This is a different life choice between two people, and it is also the survival rule of a large family - each chooses his own master, each chooses his own path, and shares risks.
Lu Ji’s daughter is Lu Yusheng.
She was named Yu Sheng because she was born in Yulin County when Lu Ji was the governor of Yulin.
Lu Yusheng was thirteen years old last year and married Zhang Wen's younger brother Zhang Bai. Unexpectedly, Zhang Wen was dismissed from office only three months after the marriage, his family was also implicated, and Zhang Bai was exiled to Jiaozhou.
Jiaozhou is prone to miasma and epidemic diseases. Zhang Bai was unable to adapt to the climate and soil, so he fell ill and became bedridden soon after arriving in Jiaozhou.
Fortunately, a country turtle appeared in the world at this time, and it happened that Zhang Bai's brother Zhang Wen happened to have had correspondence with this country turtle for a long time.
What’s even more coincidental is that this country bumpkin happened to have the idea of Jiaozhou Sugar Cane and wanted to take advantage of the Zhang family’s connections.
So after a long circle of connections, Zhang Bai received careful care from the Shi family in Jiaozhou. After experiencing a near-death experience, he finally survived.
Zhang Bai, who originally died in a foreign land in history, not only lived well because of the butterfly effect caused by a certain country turtle, but even became a guest of the Jiaozhou scholar's family.
Became a middleman in the sugar cane trade between Jiaozhou and Dahan.
This year, due to Shi Hui's rebellion in Jiaozhou, Zhang Bai started to work part-time as a smuggler, secretly organizing refugees to run to Nanzhong, and they were so happy.
Lu Yusheng, who originally became a widow at the age of fourteen in history, is still staying at the Zhang family with peace of mind, waiting for the return of her husband.
At this time, when she heard that Zhang Wen asked her to see Lu Xun, she immediately came to Zhang Wen's study and bowed first, "I have something to say that I want to tell my elder brother. I wonder if your elder brother can spare the time?"
Zhang Wen knew that although this younger sibling was a girl, she was a determined and insightful woman. He did not dare to be rude at the moment, so he quickly stood up and returned the courtesy, "Brother and sister, please speak."
"Kang Fu once reprimanded Brother Cong for his lack of moral integrity as a scholar and for being flattered by the Sun family. His intention to separate from Brother Cong has become clear. If I follow my brother to Guining, wouldn't it be unfilial?"
"Brother Cong came here to meet my concubine, but actually he wanted to see his brother. Although I know that my brother wants to avoid suspicion, brother Cong is now deeply respected by the Sun family. If the Sun family orders this trip, the eldest brother will avoid it. If you don't see me, wouldn't you offend Sun even more?"
“I am planning for the Zhang family, so it would be better for me to ask my eldest brother to go out and meet my brother.”
The words were polite and reasonable. Zhang Wen was speechless for a long time, and then he stood up and bowed deeply to Lu Yusheng, "I was careless."
Immediately I straightened my clothes, went out to the front hall, saluted and apologized to Lu Xun who was waiting inside, "Wen is really rude for keeping the general of the auxiliary country waiting for so long."
"Huisu doesn't have to be like this. I came here this time as a member of the Lu family of Wu County, not as a general supporting the country." Lu Xun looked behind Zhang Wen, but didn't see Lu Yusheng, and looked a little disappointed, "I don't know. Where is my little sister?"
“Brother and sister asked Wen to tell Brother Boyan that she will go back to visit the old lady in two days.”
After Lu Xun heard this, the look of disappointment on his face became even stronger, and he let out a long sigh, knowing that his cousin still didn't want to meet him.
At the thought of this, he couldn't help but show bitterness on his face, nodded, and said, "In that case, please help Huishu send more people to protect her when the time comes."
“That’s natural.”
Lu Xun looked at Zhang Wen's calm and unconcerned look, which was different from the high-spirited look when he returned from Shu. He felt deeply and asked, "Wen Huishu has been content with farming and studying in the past two years. I wonder if he can gain anything." ?”
Zhang Wen smiled slightly and said, "I gained a little."
"Oh?" Lu Xun heard this and asked with great interest, "Do you gain from farming, or do you gain from reading?"
This question had a special meaning. Zhang Wen glanced at Lu Xun and thought that Lu Boyan came here with the same intention as his siblings said.
“There is something gained from reading, and there is something gained from farming.”
Lu Xun nodded, "I am guarding Jiangling. All the personnel and materials between Wu and Shu pass through the Jiangling area, so I often hear that Huishu has many correspondences with talented people in Shu. Huishu can sharpen his knowledge with talented people, and gain from reading. , that’s the law of nature.”
As he spoke, a gleam flashed in his eyes, he leaned forward and asked softly, "Huisu's brilliance in articles, arguments and arguments, and outstanding crowns are rare in the world."
"Anyone who can keep writing with Huishu must also be a highly talented person, but I don't know how this person compares with Deng Bomiao (Deng Zhi), Chen Xiaoqi (Chen Zhen), and Fei Wenwei (Fei Yi) who were envoys to Jiangdong. ?”
Zhang Wen took a deep look at Lu Xun, was silent for a long time, and then said, "Wen has never met this person in person, but we have known him for a long time. When it comes to literary talent, let alone Deng Bomiao and others, even I consider myself inferior. "
Lu Xun looked shocked, "I didn't expect Huishu to admire this person so much!"
Zhang Wen let out a long sigh, with a look of fascination in his eyes.
“I am not admiring him, but he is indeed extremely talented, and his writing is unique and unconventional. If there is anyone in the future who can be compared with Cao Zijian, the talented and talented Cao Zijian from the north, I think he will be the only one.”
Cao Zijian was also named Cao Zhi.
Since Emperor Xiaowu only respected Confucianism, Confucianism has always occupied a dominant position in thought. The so-called poetry and Fu are just a vassal of Confucian classics.
It was not until the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty that social turmoil caused traditional Confucianism to decline and lose its dominant position. Only then did literature, poetry, and poetry get rid of the shackles of Confucian classics, and then rapidly rose to form the Jian'an literature that had a profound influence on later generations.
The literary movement known as "Jian'an Literature" by later generations was originally a rebellion against the classics of the Han Dynasty: "Before the elegant cup of beans, on the graceful bed mat, I wrote a heartfelt song with my pen, and talked and laughed with Mo Yiyi".
Literati at this time paid attention to indulgence of feelings, free creation, innovative literature, and did not follow the rules of their predecessors.
Cao Zijian is the master of Jian'an literature. Most of his articles are in five characters, and he is recognized as a model of articles in the world.
In Zhang Wen's view, Feng Mingwen's writing style is more varied, ranging from Yuefu style to the seven-character style commonly used by Cao Pi. He can be regarded as a late comer.
What is even more valuable is that compared to Cao Zijian, who had a comprehensive collection of works, Feng Mingwen was able to create a new style of writing, which was more valued by Zhang Wen. If he can produce a few more poems of the same level, then it is not false to say that he can be compared with Cao Zijian.
Lu Xun couldn't help but take a deep breath when he heard Zhang Wen's analysis, and asked, "What is his talent in governing the world?"
"He is good at construction and management. I heard that the people of Shu have benefited from him a lot."
“Where’s his strategy?”
“He is known as Xiao Wenhe, so he must be a good planner.”
Hearing this, Lu Xun sighed and said, "Feng Mingwen is only nineteen years old. He is so impressive. He will definitely be a hero in the future."
"Since Boyan knew it was him, why did he come to ask me?"
Zhang Wen was not surprised at all that Lu Xun knew about Feng Mingwen, he was just curious why the other party came to him specifically to ask about Feng Mingwen.
Lu Xun did not hide anything, and explained, "Jiangling is short of military rations this year. I have opened up wasteland in Jingzhou and obtained the curved shaft plow from Shu. I think it is very suitable for use."
"I later learned that this thing was made by Feng Mingwen, who has the same name as the author of "The Road to Shu" and "Changgan Xing" that are sung in Jiangdong today, so I came here to ask."
Zhang Wen heard Lu Xun talking about the Quyuan Li, and there was a hint of sarcasm on his face, "Do you know that when I returned from Shu, I offered this to the Lord of Wu?"
"Is there such a thing?" Lu Xun was surprised, "The king attaches great importance to farming. If there is such a thing, how can..."
At this point, he paused again.
Zhang Wen was dismissed from office. One of the charges was that he praised the other party when he was on a mission to Shu. The king felt that this was an act that insulted Wu.
If he can't even praise Shu, then most likely the king will not even look at the things he brought back from Shu, and they may have been destroyed long ago.
"Bo Yan also knows that in the past two years, I have used a curved shaft plow to cultivate my own fields. How much less manpower and animal power have been used? How much has the output increased?"
“I don’t know.”
“In the past, a horizontal plow required at least two people and two oxen, and a curved shaft plow only required one person and one plow, but the grain yield could be increased by 10%.”
Lu Xun suddenly stood up and asked, "Is Huisu serious about this? Can farming with a curved shaft plow really increase yield by 10%?"
"Why should I hide it from you? If you don't believe me, you can go to the fields on the farm and have a look."
“I have to go take a look, otherwise I will feel uneasy.”
Lu Xun said.
The Zhang family's farm is not far away. The two of them went out without taking a car, and they arrived not long after walking.
At this time, the rice ears have been filled with pulp. Although they are still green, they have begun to droop.
The rice in Zhangjia obviously grows better than elsewhere, and there are more millets on the ears.
Lu Xun walked around the farm and found that everything was the same. Then he stopped and his face lit up with joy. "If this is true, it seems that there is no need to worry about Jiangling's military rations next year."
This curved shaft plow is not only convenient for farming, but also saves animal and manpower. It can even increase grain production. It seems that it should be promoted well back home.
In this way, Jingzhou can become a grain-producing land again. Why worry about the lack of military rations like at the beginning of this spring?
Thinking of this, Lu Xun secretly thought, it would be fine if Feng Mingwen of Shu had great literary talent and was good at creating.
But if, as Huishu said, he is good at business and can benefit the people, and is also good at strategy, then he is really a character, and it seems that he needs to pay close attention to it.
(End of this chapter)