Chapter 58: Entanglement

  "What instructions does your lordship have?"

  Xu Chu and Zhao Yun entered in response, bowing their hands to await orders.

  Luo Zheng waved his hand and smiled: "Zhong Kang, Zi Long, dispense with the formalities. The emperor sent you here to arrange for the hundred slaves that were sent as a gift from heaven. I see that there are also several women among them who are quite beautiful. If Zhong Kang or Zi Long take a liking to any of them, they can be taken in as concubines."

  "Thank you, sir."

  Xu Chu was overjoyed and hastily bowed his head in respect.

  Zhao Yun's expression was calm and he didn't show much interest in women.

  Luo Zheng continued: "As for the remaining ones, if there are still unmarried young men among the Zhong Kang tribe, they can be taken in first, but only two per person. If there is a surplus, men under 40 can also choose one as a concubine."

  Xu Chu was overjoyed and hastily thanked him again.

  Although the Xu family is a big clan, it's impossible for every single member of the clan to be wealthy.

  There are many people in the clan who are not well-off and live a very difficult life, with more than a dozen men still unmarried.

  Now that Luo Zheng has given all the women bestowed by the emperor to the Xu family as wives and concubines, how can he not be invigorated.

  At that time, Gan picked four beautiful young girls around 15 or 16 years old as maidservants, who also served Wu Zhen, the eldest daughter of the Wu family living in the inner courtyard. Xu Chu also chose two beauties as his concubines.

  As for Zhao Yun, he was completely unmoved and seemed somewhat uninterested in women.

  Luo Zhen secretly praised Qi, but did not force him, and finally personally selected two beautiful maids to send to serve Xun Yu's wife.

  It wasn't until nightfall that they opened the gate and sent the remaining women inside.

  This time Zhao Yun also entered and learned of the existence of the vegetable garden for the first time.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, even if Zhao Yun was brave, when encountering such an absurd and unbelievable thing, he was also very shocked.

  Luo Zheng smiled and explained for a while, but Zhao Yun still found it hard to believe for a moment.

  However, looking at Luo Zheng's eyes again, there were a few more changes.

  The large earth ball hung high in the sky, and the idle Xushi tribe people and more than 500 workers were all lying on the ground in a daze, with almost nowhere to stand except at the entrance.

  Thousands of people squeezed into such a small area, it's really crowded and unbearable.

  Many people are on the verge of getting sick from being cooped up, and don't want to be locked in this birdcage all day. Fortunately, these foolish commoners have a deep-seated fear of Luo Zheng, so although they're suffocating, no one dares to make trouble.

  More than ninety women came in, one by one, and were so frightened that their faces turned pale and their lips white, shaking uncontrollably as if they were about to faint.

  Xu Chu called over all the bachelors in his clan, and surprisingly there were more than 70 of them. More than half were young men aged 17 or 18 who had not yet reached marriageable age, or had reached it but had not yet had time to take a wife.

  "When recruiting soldiers, they are selected by age, with the oldest first and the others following afterwards."

  Xu Chu let out a loud shout, and over 70 people immediately formed up in ranks of their own accord.

  Most of them were followers of Xu Chu and became members of the Xuzhi tribe, who were given priority in selection.

  Those in front rubbed their hands excitedly, while those behind them turned green with envy.

  Each person selects one first; if there are any left over, they select a second round.

  According to Luo Zheng's allocation plan, Guang Gun can choose two, and if there are any leftovers, it will be the turn of others.

  But for now, there are over 70 Guan Han, and each person can't even get two. As for those who already have a wife, the Xushi Hanzi can only stare blindly and drool.

  Soon, a man in his twenties named Xu Hu chose a beautiful maid.

  This is a girl of about sixteen years old, with a delicate face and an air of refinement, surprisingly from a family of scholars.

  He was over the moon with joy, his mouth almost twisted into a smile. He originally had a wife, but she and their child died in an epidemic six months ago. Before he could even remarry, he unexpectedly got the chance to marry the young lady from a wealthy family.

  Look at that delicate skin and those sparkling big eyes, it feels like there's a fire burning in my heart.

  The Xus were also a large clan, but they were merely landlords and not members of the aristocracy.

  In the eyes of those aristocratic and powerful families, these landlords were actually not much more noble than those common people.

  In this era, the big families valued door-to-door matches, and for a landlord family like the Xus to want to marry a young lady from a scholarly family was simply unthinkable, they would be ridiculed as a toad trying to eat swan meat.

  Xu Hǔ was taken with this beautiful maid, who looked like a young lady from a scholarly family. No wonder he was excited and couldn't stop grinning.

  Women are not many, but they are absolutely not few either.

  The men from the Xu family had already picked out their favorites while waiting in line, because they couldn't exceed ten breaths of time, these bachelors could only roughly glance at them first, then quickly screen out a few targets and finally confirm.

  The first round passed quickly and the second round began.

  Only eighteen women were left, and only the first eighteen bachelors got two women each.

  As for what was left, it was divided into one share each, and everyone was delighted with a smile on their face.

  A great man once said, "What is there for a real man to worry about if he has no wife?"

  It's just nonsense when it comes to ordinary people.

  The aristocracy selects women like clothes, can pick out beautiful ones, and is not delighted with a new set of clothes.

  But ordinary people can't even get a wife, what other power do they have to pick and choose. Being able to have a woman warm the bed and bear children is already very good, who wouldn't be excited, so some wise men are simply talking nonsense.

  The common people are after all the majority, they have to eat and support their families, it is impossible to demand that they have such a high ideological level.

  If the common people really have such a high ideological realm, then they might as well not engage in labor, and even not plant land, but go to study philosophy or do scholarly work. In that case, this society would not need to develop either.

  Luo Zhen also instructed Xu Chu, "They are all poor women, let the clansmen treat them with kindness and try not to beat or scold them."

  "Roger."

  Xu Chu responded with a sound and hurriedly went to remind his clansmen.

  Luo Zheng took Zhao Yun on another stroll around the vegetable garden, sampling several varieties of melons and fruits that didn't exist in this era.

  The newly opened seven mu of land has already produced fragrant melons and fruits, the most planted corn and wheat have also headed, and high-yielding crops such as potatoes and sweet potatoes are even more lush and leafy, making people happy to see.

  The cucumber seedlings have also produced small cucumbers as thick as fingers, tender and green, emitting a fresh fragrance.

  Zhao Yun gazed with eyes wide open in wonder and admiration.

  He had never seen such things before, let alone eaten them.

  At this moment, Luo Zheng felt that his master had become even more mysterious in his heart.

  Unconsciously, Zhao Yun's subconscious resistance in his heart also faded a lot.

  It wasn't until they left the vegetable garden that Luo Zheng's eyebrows gradually furrowed.

  Xu Chu spoke bluntly and asked: "My lord, what is troubling you?"

  Luò Zhēng sighed: "Although Luoyang is good, it's not a place to stay for long!"

  Although Zhao Yun liked to think deeply, he didn't know what Luo Zhen was thinking in his heart and it wasn't good for him to interrupt.

  Lu Zheng said, "There are still over a thousand people in this general's hands waiting to be resettled, but Luoyang is not a place to stay for long. There will come a day when we have to leave, so this general has never released them."

  Xu Zhu said: "The lord is now also the General of the Han Dynasty, with a rank equal to that of the provincial governor. Why not ask the Prime Minister to grant him a state pastor's position and go to the local area to serve as a state pastor? Wouldn't it be easy to settle these people?"

  Zhao Yun shook his head slightly, this matter is not so easy.

  Lu Zhen said coldly, "The Great Han has thirteen states, except for Si Li, the remaining twelve states do not listen to the imperial court's orders. Liangzhou is occupied by Ma Teng and Han Sui, Bingzhou is controlled by the aristocratic families, Zhang Ji was appointed as the governor of Bingzhou but did not dare to take office, you think it's easy to be a governor just because one is sent out? This general will never think of going to the Central Plains to be a county magistrate or governor!"

  Xu Chu did not understand: "What is this for?"

  Zhao Yun replied, "The lord leads the army in the Central Plains, burning and killing, plundering everywhere. The targets are all local tyrants and aristocratic families. If the lord goes to the Central Plains to take office, those aristocratic families will not rise up to attack, let alone support the lord."

  "This..."

  Xu Chu suddenly understood and was left speechless.

  Lu Zheng rubbed his brow and said, "Dong Zhuo may have grand ambitions, but he is not the material for an emperor. Even if no one kills him, in ten or twenty years, he will still pass away, and at that time, the Western Liang army will still disintegrate. When the world falls into chaos, it will be a time of heroes competing with each other, and we must have a foundation to stand on. Therefore, rather than staying in Luoyang, it is better to leave early and find a place to settle down."

  Xu Zhu's face showed no change in color, this fierce man had a very simple way of thinking, whatever Luo Zheng told him to do, he would do it.

  As for other things, it's not something he needs to rack his brains over, nor does he want to.

  Zhao Yun was shocked, Luo Zheng's words were somewhat rebellious and treasonous, it could be said that he had openly revealed his ambition.

  It's just been a short time since Luo Zheng took office, and it's not good to express any opinions yet.

  Ruo Zheng said: "Yanzhou, Yuzhou and Jizhou cannot be gone, the remaining places are only Xuzhou, Qingzhou, Jingzhou, Youzhou, Jiaozhou, Liangzhou, Bingzhou, Yizhou and Yangzhou. Xuzhou is held by Tao Qian, Jingzhou is occupied by Liu Biao, Yizhou is occupied by Liu Yan, Jiaozhou is remote, Youzhou, Bingzhou and Qingzhou are not the foundation of a successful event, Liangzhou is a place of war, only Yangzhou is left."

  Zhao Yun couldn't help but say: "The Governor of Yangzhou, Liu Yue, has a reputation for being virtuous and is also a member of the imperial family. Our lord cannot go there."

  Lu Zheng nodded, the Yangzhou aristocratic families were too powerful, and with what he had done in Central Plains, it was impossible for him to get their support. After weighing his options, he was left with only Liangzhou.

  Liangzhou has a complex population and has been plagued by war for years, and the power of the aristocratic clans has almost been completely purged.

  Only by going to Liangzhou can one avoid being controlled by the aristocratic clans.

  The problem is that Liangzhou is the least populated of the 13 states of the Great Han, and after the scholar-officials were baptized, although there were fewer local strongmen, there were even fewer people who could read and write, it's really a mess.

  Even if one can stand firm on their feet, it is extremely difficult to govern a place well.

  Not to mention that Liangzhou is currently occupied by two extremely powerful warlords, Han Sui and Ma Teng.

  To stand firm in Liangzhou, one must confront these two warlord forces head-on.

  Luo Zheng didn't have enough strength to deal with the chaos in Liangzhou and was a bit worried.