What is Qian Jin Zi?

  "My surname is Sun, first name Qian, and my courtesy name is Gongyou. I am currently studying under Zheng Shangshu. The other day, I happened to pass by Pengcheng and learned that Chen Yuanlong from Donghai was staying in your army, so I came to pay a visit."

  "Is Chancellor Zheng not Zheng Kangcheng of Beihai?"

  "That's right."

  Zhang Kuang had some impression of Sun Qian, who seemed to be a diplomat under Liu Bei's command. However, his understanding of Zheng Xuan and Zheng Kangcheng did not come from later generations, but rather from the current era.

  If we were to rank the most famous scholars of the great Han dynasty, Zheng Xuan and Zheng Kangcheng could be placed in the top position. Their reputation even surpassed that of Cai Yong and Cai Bujia, who had once been honored as "Imperial Teachers". Sun Gan having studied under Zheng Xuan is even more glorious than the students of Peking University and Tsinghua University in later generations.

  However, no matter whose student you are, wanting to exchange for Chen Deng's personal freedom always requires paying a sufficient price.

  After exchanging a few words with Sun Qian, Zhang Kuang found that if he were to engage in a debate, he would indeed not be a match for his opponent. Since this was the case, he did not say much more to him. After inviting out Chen Deng and having him meet with Sun Qian, Zhang Kuang forthrightly presented his own conditions.

  5,000 bushels of grain, 2,000 catties of iron materials, plus a family and a Zhang Kuang that the person wants to find.

  "Zhang Jun, how dare you be so contemptuous of me?"

  Zhang Kuang's terms were not low. But before the envoy Sun Gan could speak, Chen Deng, who was sitting aside, suddenly stood up and said loudly:

  "Grain costs 600 coins per dan, iron goods cost 80 coins per jin. In total, it's just over 3 million coins, which is equivalent to 160 'jin' of gold. How cheap it is!"

  At that time, the "gold" referred to one catty of gold. Since everyone liked to cast gold into ingots, one catty of gold was usually an ingot. At the official price, an ingot was worth 10,000 coins. However, at the current market price, an ingot could be exchanged for 20,000 coins and two mace.

  Sun Gan almost rolled his eyes at this. He had never seen a captive who would deliberately raise their own ransom. Zhang Kuang was also greatly surprised, thinking that when Caesar was kidnapped years ago, there seemed to have been a similar scene. It can be seen that the temper of a genius is somewhat consistent across ancient and modern times, East and West.

  "What does Yuan Long mean by this?"

  To match Chen Deng's performance, Zhang Kuang took over.

  "My child is worth a thousand pieces of gold, so I must have a thousand pieces of gold to redeem her. You can increase the amount of grain and iron, make up a thousand pieces of gold, then it's worthy of my daughter."

  At least it's worth thousands of dollars, only then is it worthy of my value!

  As for Chen Deng's arrogance, Sun Gan had already heard about it. Now that he has met him in person, although he didn't say anything on the surface, he was already scolding him in his heart.

  Faced with such a favorable condition, Zhang Kuang remained unmoved and smiled:

  "Actually, Yuan Long is already worth a thousand gold coins!"

  "Oh?"

  Chen Deng was somewhat unexpected. However, he was also a quick-witted person and immediately reacted:

  "You're saying that one household used for exchange can be worth nine hundred pieces of gold?"

  Zhang Kuang said with a smile:

  "This family has a kind mother, who is deeply just. There is also a young son, whose sense of justice stands out. Although he is not yet an adult, this family's value is already worth more than a thousand pieces of gold! Chen Yuanlong, your own value far exceeds a thousand pieces of gold!"

  After Zhang Kuang said that, Chen Deng seemed to be satisfied. As a result, Sun Gan, who did not get the opportunity to play, had to serve as a messenger and returned to the military camp of Xuzhou Army to report the result.

  "...Isn't this also too strange?"

  After listening to Sun Qian's words, Cao Hong was stunned for a moment and said in a low voice.

  "There must be something fishy going on here!"

  Cao Jiao listened and thought about Chen Deng's temperament, subconsciously making such a judgment.

  "This family, could they have a feud with the other party? This yellow turbaned fellow, actually willing to spend 800 gold to exchange for such an ordinary civilian family?"

  "This matter is only feared to be difficult! If this family is a local tyrant, how can I hand them over? Gong You, you are in Qingzhou, have you ever heard of this family?"

  Sun Qian sat up straight and replied:

  "This person's surname is quite unusual; if he had any reputation, I must have heard of him. However, after thinking about it for a long time, I still couldn't recall anyone with this name."

  "Big brother, don't bother about so much. Just inform Chen Hanyu to let him go and 'invite' the person over, then exchange with Chen Yuanlong!"

  Cao Hong thought for a moment and nodded his head saying:

  "It can't be helped then. Gong Yu, it's up to you this time."

  Sun Qian loudly promised:

  "I have long admired 'Ben Zou's Friend' He Bosu, this trivial matter is hardly worth mentioning!"

  He Boqi, also known as He Gong. At that time, he was one of the famous scholars in the world and had a close relationship with Yuan Shao, who treated him like an elder brother. Although he was wanted by the imperial court represented by eunuchs during the "Dong Zhuo's disaster", he could still move freely between states and counties and contact other party members. People at that time admired his character and called him "a friend who can be relied on in times of need".

  As for Chen Deng, after showing off his arrogance once, he sat in front of a table with various bowls and plates, thinking to himself:

  Originally, I was going to give you tens of thousands of bushels of grain, making it hard for you to bear, and forcing you to divert a large number of troops to collect and transport them, slowing down your march. After I return, using these grains as bait, leading the main army, one stroke will break through your camp. This is the plan of "Abandoning Grain to Defeat the Enemy".

  Since you have realized it and can bear not being greedy, I will let you off for now...

  At this time, Chen Deng had no intention of being a prisoner, but instead sat on the mountain slope with Zhang Kuang and another yellow-haired youth, sipping tea and chatting while appreciating the moon.

  At that time, drinking tea was not very popular among scholars. In fact, the word "tea" had not even appeared yet. Chen Deng, who was considered a worldly and knowledgeable person, savored the bitter taste of the water in his wooden cup, thinking to himself:

  This Yellow Turban general is quite peculiar, he actually likes to drink this bitter-tasting "tiao"? This is a medicinal herb...

  Is this person suffering from some "unspeakable illness"?

  Zhang Kuang felt pleased with himself and said to the two people in front of him:

  "This tea, oh no, it's actually very beneficial for the body! I also only managed to get a little bit of it when I passed through Liang country!"

  Another blond-haired attendant was none other than Bo Zai's son, "Golden Lion King" Xie Xun.

  Xie Xun and He brothers thought that Bo Cai had died after they broke through the siege. However, soon after the Battle of Sunpu, news of Sun Jian beheading Bo Cai spread quickly, leaving Xie Xun and others filled with regret.

  If Zhang Fei had followed Sun Jian after the Battle of Xiangyang and sent troops to support him in time, he might have been able to rescue "General Bo"

  Due to self-blame, Xie Xun, who was already suffering from exhaustion, suddenly fell ill. After more than 20 days of recuperation, he slowly recovered. Today, because Zhang Kuang captured Chen Deng and realized his own weakness in classical studies, he pulled over Xie Xun, who had read extensively on the subject, to accompany him and avoid embarrassing himself.

  So when Chen Deng talked about various classics, Zhang Kuang shut up with great self-awareness, and Xie Xun answered on his behalf. Xie Xun was indeed a versatile and talented person, although he was only 17 years old, he could still talk freely even in front of a scholar like Chen Deng.

  After talking for a while, Chen Deng was also shocked and commented on Zhang Kuang:

  "A talent for retreat, yet he has never been known in the provinces and counties. This is a loss for the governor!"

  Such a talent, yet he hasn't made a name for himself. What are the local officials even doing?

  Ps: When Caesar was young, he was once hijacked by Cilician pirates. The latter demanded 20 talents as a ransom. Caesar ridiculed them for not knowing who they had captured and asked the pirates to demand 50 talents. During the 38 days waiting for the ransom, Caesar had to stay with the pirates. He joked with them that after his release, he would definitely send them all to the cross.

  When Caesar was released, the first thing he did was to organize a fleet and capture all the pirates who had taken him. Perhaps because the pirates had not treated him badly, Caesar had their throats cut before crucifying them in order to shorten their suffering.

  Also PS: Another historical general is about to debut. Who is it? If you're interested in guessing, please leave a comment in the review section and get some rewards!