Chapter 39: Iron Rod Supporters

  After hearing Huang Yueying's words, Zhuge Jun came to Ma Chao's room.

  Ma Chao was somewhat perplexed; he had just left and now he was back again.

  After hearing Zhuge Jun's words, Ma Chao and his wife were overjoyed, thinking to themselves: "Ling'er is a good girl, and it would be a blessing for our son to marry her. This way, we will have close ties with both the Sun and Liu families, which is more than we could ask for."

  Ma Chao said, "Alright, neither I nor your sister-in-law have any objections. Let Ma Dai stay behind and attend the auction before leaving. If you are willing to let him stay, I don't have any objections either. Just as my younger brother said, let them get to know each other better. If they themselves are willing, we will help facilitate this matter."

  After finishing, he called Ma Dai to his presence and said in front of Zhuge Dan: "If you can marry the sister of my sworn brother, it will be an honor for our Ma family. You must treat her well, otherwise I won't forgive you."

  Ma Dai's face lit up with joy, and he solemnly vowed: "If Miss Zhuge is willing to marry me, I will use my life to protect her. Absolutely not let her suffer any grievances!"

  Ma Chao and his wife left, Zhuge Jun and Sun Shangxiang saw them off for thirty miles before reluctantly bidding farewell.

  The next day, Zou Bo came.

  After reading Zhuge Liang's family letter, Zhuge Jun and his family warmly entertained him. They arranged for him to stay overnight that evening.

  Holding Zhuge Liang's family letter, Zhuge Jun felt a bit of a headache.

  Liu Bei occupied the four counties of Jingzhou, which can be considered as having his own foothold. However, after going through the war, the economy suffered severe damage. Except for the connection with Jiangdong, all other places were adjacent to Cao Cao's territory, making it extremely difficult to develop business. Therefore, the financial situation was very tense.

  Mi Zhu and others had experience in business, but only in the traditional management of grain, cloth and other aspects. In times of war, trade routes were blocked and could not play a big role. Zhuge Liang said to let his brother think of ways to help Liu Bei.

  Now Zhuge Liang has his own great ideals and does not want to help Liu Bei develop and grow.

  Huang Yueying came to discuss with him and he asked her: "What do you think of this matter?"

  She said: "What else can we do? Your second brother is working under Liu Xiang's command, we can only help them, see if there's any way?"

  He can't tell Huang Yueying about his plan yet. It's not that he doesn't trust her, nor is it that he doubts her ability, but the first principle of secrecy is that the fewer people who know, the better. His own strength is still far from being exposed.

  He understood her feelings and as a wife, helping her husband was only natural. He had originally planned to launch the distillery project after the auction, but now that Huang Yueying asked him to, he thought of saying forget it and just hand over the technology to Liu Bei and his men instead. But such a lucrative industry would bring so much help to himself, and how important it was for his own plans.

  He is very contradictory. Now he doesn't give it to Liu Bei, but in a few days he will produce it himself. How does Huang Yueying see this? How does Zhuge Liang see this? How does Liu Bei see Zhuge Liang?

  Huang Yueying saw that he wasn't speaking and felt a bit unhappy. Because she had heard him say before that he had other skills, and she also believed that he could invent other skills. Now with plenty of money at home, adding more would be just gilding the lily, and giving it to her second brother wouldn't affect anything either. So she said: "Xiao Jun, your second brother is in trouble now, Liu Xiangyu is kind and righteous, they are good, can save many people, can you help them a bit?"

  In his plan, Huang Yueying is one of the most important figures and currently the only person he trusts. He cannot let her have any doubts or misgivings. He made up his mind to reveal his dreams to her completely.

  "He said, 'Sister-in-law, wait a minute.' He stood up and walked to the door, instructing the maids and servants in the corridor: 'Today, I have something to discuss with the second madam. No one is allowed to disturb us. Whoever comes will not be seen. Nor is anyone allowed to approach the second madam's room. Those who disobey will be severely punished.'"

  The people below had never seen him speak so severely before, and they knew it must be a matter of great importance, so they immediately nodded in agreement.

  He walked back and closed the door of the room. Huang Yueying heard his instructions to the servants below, and asked him in surprise: "What's wrong, being so careful?"

  He poured a cup of tea for her and himself, sat down and said to her: "Sister-in-law, I have something important to tell you. Before saying this thing, I'd like to ask you a question first. What do you think of Liu Bei?"

  As a woman, she had no good feelings towards Liu Bei, who looked down on women. However, Huang Yueying was a person who knew how to prioritize the bigger picture and wouldn't evaluate a political figure based on her personal preferences. Liu Bei was skilled at winning people's hearts and appeared as a benevolent man in many people's eyes; she also thought so. Therefore, she said: "Liu Xianxiong is a benevolent man who can treat his people well. Otherwise, why would your second brother assist him?"

  He patiently analyzed the situation of the new wild people following Liu Bei to Jiangxia in detail. Huang Yueying listened with her mouth wide open and thought: "This Liu Bei is too ruthless, for his own benefit, he actually took tens of thousands of civilians as a bet, betting that Cao Cao would not dare to kill them. He's also too sinister."

  "Since Dong Zhuo took control of the government, the warlords such as the Yuan brothers, Lü Bu, Zhang Yang, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Quan, Ma Teng and Liu Biao have been fighting each other. Which one of them is not for their own interests? In which battle were ordinary soldiers not killed or wounded, and ordinary people not suffering? Which one of them can bring happiness to the common people?"

  Seeing Huang Yueying digesting his words, he sipped tea and waited slowly for her.

  Huang Yueying thought for half a day and said gloomily: "Since Liu Bei is also such an unbearable person, what can your second brother do?"

  He described a social system where everyone in future generations would be equal. Huang Yueying listened with utmost longing.

  He continued to say: "To achieve this social system, the premise is to achieve peace, and the premise of peace is national unity. Liu Bei has been in power for over 20 years since he started his army, but he has achieved nothing. Even if you add the assistance of his second brother, do you think he can eliminate Cao Cao, Sun Quan, Liu Zhang and Ma Teng, and unify the country?"

  Huang Yueying was speechless, and the answer in her heart was already certain.

  He looked at Huang Yueying's gaze towards himself and told her his plan.

  Huang Yueying looked at her younger brother, not particularly surprised, but with a sense of excitement. Over the past year, she had watched him grow step by step, not only accumulating wealth, but also training his own team and gaining powerful allies like Sun Shangxiang and Ma Chao. According to his plan, combined with Zhuge Liang's wisdom, it was possible to create something truly magnificent.

  She looked at him and said firmly: "Xiao Jun, just do it like this, I support you. No matter what the final outcome is, I won't regret it."