Chapter 61 Under the Grape Trellis

  "Alright, I hereby confer upon you the title of 'Wei Feng Da Jiang Jun' (Great General of Mighty Wind), and grant you a 'Wei Feng Da' command token. You shall serve as my high-ranking imperial guard."

  "Ah, thank you so much!" Winter melon head was about to rush forward and grab Liu Zhang again, but Wang Xiu hastily blocked him and shouted: "Don't know the rules, not even thanking the master?"

  "Thank you, Master?" The gourd-headed man's eyes rolled around and he immediately kowtowed, knocking his head on the ground with a series of loud thuds.

  Except for the artisans, a total of 57 people were retained to serve in Chengdu, and the rest who were eliminated were sent back to their hometowns to serve. As the number of workshops increased, there was an extreme shortage of craftsmen, and almost all the craftsmen who took the test were retained.

  Xu Jing took the first place in the examination, but Xu Jing had no real talent or learning, and he was also a speculator who floated on the surface. He was not suitable for heavy use, but he was one of the leaders of the Confucian forest. Not giving him a heavy appointment would chill the hearts of scholars. After discussing with Fa Zheng, Liu Zhang appointed Xu Jing as the Taicang Boshi, which is an official position with a very high salary rank. The governor saw that everyone had to perform subordinate rituals, but there was no real power, just writing official funeral orations and mourning texts.

  Qin Hui was appointed as the second-in-command, delegated as the Long Historian.

  Gan Ning topped the military exam and was appointed as a naval commander, using his original pirate fleet as the foundation. He trained a navy of no more than 2,000 men in Fuling. Since there were hardly any water battles in Yi Province, Liu Zhang didn't need to waste money on this. The 2,000-strong navy was just for future use after going down the Yangtze River so that they wouldn't be completely ignorant about naval warfare.

  Wei Yan was exceptionally recruited and appointed as a General, assisting Zhang Ren in commanding the Eastern State army. Liu Zhong did not think that anyone was born with a rebellious bone, Wei Yan was just an arrogant person who relied on his talent, and indeed he had real talent.

  If we say that there is a reverse bone, if it's really like Zhuge Liang said, then at most it would be just growing an extra occipital bone similar to Duan Yu's, and if Nanhai Crocodile God saw it, who knows how happy he would be.

  。

  The medical examination ranked Zhang Zhongjing first, Liu Zhang had not expected that a half-century-old Zhang Zhongjing would come to participate in the exam, and he was also a divine doctor. Moreover, after promising to establish a medical institute to serve the people, Liu Zhang did not expect Zhang Zhongjing to agree to stay.

  Actually, Zhang Zhongjing also had his own thoughts. Zhang Zhongjing was a person who liked quietness. He treated the common people's illnesses on one hand and devoted himself to writing his medical book on the other. However, after Zhang Xuan, the governor of Changsha, died, Liu Biao thought that the time to pacify Jingnan had arrived and led a large army to besiege Changsha. But after two years of fighting, there was still no sign of the war stopping, instead, it formed a stalemate situation. How could Zhang Zhongjing devote himself to writing books in such a chaotic situation?

  Besides, Liu Biao in order to win the hearts of the people of Jingnan, several times invited Zhang Zhongjing, who was born into a noble family and had a high reputation among the common people, to take up the post of governor of Changsha. Zhang Zhongjing repeatedly refused, but could not withstand Liu Biao's three visits, four visits to his thatched cottage, every day he was annoyed. This time coming to Yizhou is also considered to be avoiding Liu Biao's official appointment.

  Zhang Zhongjing didn't have as many worries as Zhou, after what he had seen and heard in Yizhou, Zhang Zhongjing felt that Liu Zhang still cared for the people, and since Yizhou was remote, there wouldn't be any major chaos. If he could stay at the official medical institute, one, he wouldn't need to worry about the operation of the institute; two, he wouldn't need to worry about his own life; three, he could treat the common people; four, when he was busy writing books, other doctors could take over for him, which was much better than before when he was alone at home, doing everything himself, from gathering herbs to making medicine, day and night seeing patients.

  After weighing the pros and cons, Zhang Zhongjing readily agreed to Liu Zhang's request with only one condition: the medical institute would serve the civilians rather than the military.

  Aguda's medical skills were second to none, Zhang Zhongjing had the heart of the people, but Aguda was only for his own good future. His medical skills were exactly what was needed on the battlefield: setting bones, reconnecting bones, and treating external injuries. With a little modern military knowledge, one can understand that having a medical team in the army can reduce casualties. Liu Zhang opened a special hospital for Aguda, where he not only treated civilians but also taught new doctors. Qualified doctors would follow the army on expeditions.

  Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, Liu Zhang invited all the selected candidates, including craftsmen, each of whom was given a set of clean uniforms. Now that there is a shortage of craftsmen in Yizhou, it is necessary to raise the status of craftsmen so that more people will engage in craftsmanship.

  But wearing uniforms is the first step to improving one's status, Liu Zhang wants people to see in the future that those who wear artisanal uniforms are a group of people who can drink and dine with scholars, hold high salaries, and enjoy court subsidies.

  The banquet was very harmonious, except that the scholars were not very happy. Zhou Bu Yi and Xiao Fu Rong sat opposite Xu Jing together, Xu Jing dared not lift his head all along, but Zhang Zhong Jing was the most active, holding a wine cup to ask for advice from every doctor, and got drunk before the banquet ended.

  Until the banquet ended at midnight, Liu Zhang ordered his soldiers to help those who were drunk back to rest and left with Fa Zheng, followed by Xiao Furan and Zhou Buyi.

  Upon arriving at the mansion, Xiao Furan and Zhou Buyi were about to return to their rooms when Liu Zhang called out to Xiao Furan, "Furan, you go back first, I want to have a word with Buyi."

  "Oh." Xiao Furan glanced at Zhou Buyi, who smiled and nodded slightly. Xiao Furan then returned to her room.

  After Xiaofang left, Liu Zhang also stopped talking to Zhou Yiyu and walked with Fa Zheng to the grape arbor in the courtyard. The autumn night breeze was neither cold nor hot, and it felt especially cool on the back of his neck.

  The lotus root brought three cups of tea. Fa Zheng took one and put it down, saying to Liu Zhang: "Sir, is it true that you said the troops will depart for Hanzhong after three months?"

  "What do you think?" Liu Zhang said, blowing away the tea leaves on his cup.

  "It's false, but I don't understand why Master would tell a lie."

  Liu Zhang said casually while drinking tea: "The governor of Bashu, Pang Xi, has colluded with Zhang Lu. Before the Double Ninth Festival, troops will advance into Xichuan."

  "Heavens!" Fa Zheng took a deep breath: "Pang Hui has actually colluded with Zhang Lu, then they must have nearly a million troops, while we have less than 500,000, the situation is precarious."

  "What I'm worried about is not Pang Hui and Zhang Lu, they are mediocre people. Even if we have 200,000 troops, I can still exhaust them in Western Shu. What I fear is the internal situation. If we fight against Pang Hui and Zhang Lu on the front line, what if the aristocratic families in Chengdu rebel?"

  Fa Zheng furrowed his brow and pondered for a long time, then resolutely said: "There is no other way, we can only solve Pang Xi before the combined forces of Pang Xi and Zhang Lu, block Zhang Lu's army outside Jiameng Pass, and dispel the aristocratic family's speculative thoughts. However, this is too difficult."

  "Yes." Liu Zhang sighed: "Unless heaven sends divine soldiers, how can Pang Xi's 20,000-strong army be quickly resolved? Once discovered by Pang Xi, they will inevitably accelerate integration with Zhang Lu, and we will miss the opportunity."

  Liu Zhang fell silent for a moment, then turned to Zhou Buji who was sitting beside him, enjoying the moon and drinking tea, and said: "Buji, you may be young, but your talent surpasses others. What plan do you have?"

  Zhou Bu Yi held the teacup with both hands, listened to Liu Zhang's question, and chuckled while drinking tea. After a while, he raised his head and said, "Sir, just say what you want to say, isn't it tiring to beat around the bush like this?"

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