Chapter 16 I Am Very Optimistic About You

"Are you Ma Youchang?"

At the gate of the Public Security County House, Ma Su looked calmly at the black-faced man in front of him who looked like an iron tower and asked questions to him.

With the information given by his brother Ma Liang, Ma Su had already found the No. 1 person in his mind just by looking at his appearance and tone of voice:

Zhang Fei, Liu Bei's lieutenant general, also named Yide.

"Return to Zhonglang General, a certain Ma Su, from Yicheng."

Zhang Fei raised his eyebrows and said, "Wrong! I am now the General of Zhenglu! Let's do it again."

Ma Su bowed slightly and said, "General Zhenglu, a certain Ma Su, a native of Yicheng."

Zhang Fei laughed loudly and patted Ma Su on the shoulder: "Ma Su, do your best, I'm very optimistic about you!"

No, your expression doesn't mean you are optimistic about me at all, you are still laughing! Ma Su shouted in his heart.

Under Ma Su's calm face was Ma Su's aggrieved heart.

He had read poetry and books since he was a child but preferred military books. His fourth brother Ma Liang was famous for his talents and was recruited by Liu Jingzhou to serve as a soldier. The nineteen-year-old Ma Su was very envious.

So after some pleading, the fourth brother finally gave Ma Su the opportunity to serve as an official! And he was still beside the famous Zhuge Kongming!

After following his eldest brother to Gong'an County, Ma Di met Zhuge Kongming. But what was different from what he expected was that Kongming was very affectionate towards his eldest brother Ma Liang. After holding hands and chatting, Ma Liang asked Ma Liang to verify the tax situation of Wuling County this year and asked him to do so. Records of visits to the countryside, a standard practical position.

As soon as his eldest brother Ma Liang left, Kong Ming's smile became polite and he said lightly, "There is still a vacancy for a concierge in the Public Security County House. If it is convenient for you, Changru, you can take over for a few days so that you can get familiar with the inside and outside of the Public Security County." Then he sent Ma Su to guard the county. The door is open.

I, Ma Su, have been studying military science for twelve years, and now I am reduced to a servant!

After the grievance, I just couldn't understand why I seemed so famous?

Today, after Duke Xuande came over and asked his name, he stared at himself for a while and then shook his head and went in.

Although General Zilong and General Huang did not stop, they looked at him with curiosity in their eyes.

General Guan didn't ask anything. He patted himself on the shoulder and went in, as if the two of them knew each other well.

But this General Zhang seemed to have a problem with him and went out of his way to make things difficult for him!

Ma Su was confused about this. Why did he seem so famous? Or is it that the eldest brother is familiar with these generals?

Within the public security county government, this side office has now become a secret place. Only the four generals Zhang, Zhao, and Huang can pass without Liu Bei's handwriting.

Kong Ming even moved his office here directly and spent more than half of his time in this side hall every day.

Zhang Fei pushed the frozen persimmon toward the fire and said:

"This Ma Su doesn't look very smart."

"General Zhang must have made things difficult for Ma Su!" Zhao Yun chuckled: "I think he was not dissatisfied when he was humiliated by Kong Ming. He is indeed not an ordinary person."

"Isn't it just to look at the gate? I, Old Zhang, can do that too!" Zhang Fei snorted: "The main thing is that I think if it weren't for him, the military advisor wouldn't have died so early. The military advisor would have died early, and Adou, the one who didn't live up to expectations, would have died early." No one cares, Adou..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Liu Bei slapped his forehead and wanted to block Zhang Fei's mouth with persimmons.

For the time being, Zhang Fei, who kept his mouth shut, was forgotten.

Liu Bei folded his hands and huddled around the stove to keep warm like an old farmer. Although it didn't snow in Gong'an County, it was still cold in winter, especially when the coldness seemed to penetrate deep into his bones. He cleared his throat and said:

"The main purpose of calling everyone here today is to formally announce that Guan Yunchang will be added as General of the Dang Kou, Zhang Yide will be added as the General of the Conqueror, Zilong Qian will be the General of the Rebellion, and Huang Han will be promoted as the General of the Conqueror."

Several people held their hands in confusion, and their voices were not unified: "Thank you, brother/lord."

In fact, everyone knew about this before, and Liu Bei had been thinking about it for a long time. The request for the reward had been sent to Xudu, and it was basically a done deal.

"How did the test of the curved plow and the round car go?" Liu Bei asked Zilong.

Although it was originally planned to work with Zilong to see the effect, towards the end of the year, Liu Bei's affairs gradually increased and he was unable to do anything. In addition, Zilong had always been reliable in doing things, and finally took over full power.

Because the handle of the new plow was curved and the water wheel was perfectly round, they were simply called curved plows and round wheels.

"A great success! The people praised it a lot!" Zhao Yun was very excited when he said this. At the same time, he cupped his hands and said to Zhuge Liang: "There were many things that were unclear when it was first built. Fortunately, Mrs. Huang sent someone to send me the notes. The craftsman has completed the work according to Mrs. Huang’s notes, and the Lord can check it out later!”

"Mrs. Huang is good at this?" Liu Bei was very surprised.

"Zhuo Jing has been skilled in craftsmanship since he was a child." Kong Ming said modestly: "After seeing the drawings of the round cart and the curved plow that night, I stayed up late to study and completed it within three days."

"How talented he is!" Liu Bei praised: "Allow a team of women to work with Mrs. Huang to study the skills. After that, if there are technical drawings for the light curtain, they will be sent to Mrs. Huang as soon as possible."

"I would like to thank my lord on behalf of Zhuojing." Kong Ming bowed and thanked him, and then took out a letter:

"Lord, this morning, I received a letter from Jiangdong."

"Oh?" Liu Bei opened the letter from Kong Ming's hand and read it quickly. As he read, the surprise on his face became clear:

"Zhou Gongjin wrote to invite me to be a disciple of Dan. Jiangdong wants to betroth Marquis Wu's sister to me so that we can have a good relationship and the two families will be reconciled."

If there was no light curtain, the civil servants and generals would be happy at this time, but now that they heard the news, there was inevitably a layer of worry on their faces.

Among them, Zhang Fei is the most irritable:

"Bah! If you really want to reconcile the two families, you should send my sister-in-law Sun here directly!"

The black-faced man jumped up and said, "As long as the eldest brother gives the order, I am willing to be the vanguard to march into Dantu! Even if we turn Dantu upside down, we must find the arsonist Lu Xun, and then use fire..."

Zhang Fei was stuck for a moment and didn't know what to say. To be honest, Lu Xun really didn't do anything wrong at the moment.

Liu Bei was very moved, and then waved his hand to signal Guan Yu to throw Zhang Fei out.

Zhao Yun's thoughts were quite delicate: "My lord, Jiangdong must be guarded. Yun, please bring the white horse and follow the righteous to protect the lord."

Guan Yu and Huang Zhong looked at each other and clasped their fists and said:

"My lord, Yu/Zhong, please be the lord's personal guard!"

Liu Bei did not answer for the time being, and looked at his military advisor. Kong Ming's eyes were also full of worry.

At this moment, Ma Su reported from outside the door: "My Lord, the military advisor has an urgent letter, and the messenger claims to be an old friend of the military advisor in Jiangdong."

After two breaths, Liu Bei's steady voice came: "Show it in."

Ma Su bowed and walked into this mysterious side hall holding the letter.

Unexpectedly, this side hall was ordinary enough, not full of confidential pictures and texts as rumored in the mansion. Now, several people under Liu Bei's rule were warming up around the stove like chatting, but the atmosphere seemed a little tense?

Before Ma Su finished thinking, Liu Bei stood up and took the letter, and at the same time patted Ma Su on the shoulder encouragingly: "Ma Congshi, work hard under the military advisor, I am optimistic about you!"

Although it was the same words as Zhang Fei, it sounded completely different to Ma Su. The Lord really thinks highly of me!

So the generals in the hall saw the newcomer bowing his body tensely: "I am willing to die for my lord!"

Guan Yu and Huang Zhong stroked their beards and laughed, while Zhang Fei hid aside and muttered: "I have never seen you so serious when I praised you..."

During the Battle of Chibi, in order to better deal with Cao Cao, Sun Quan moved the capital from Kuaiji to Dantu (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu), and moved the capital to Moling (now Nanjing) in 211. In 212, Moling was renamed Jianye. In 229, he proclaimed himself emperor in Wuchang and established his capital in Wuchang (now Ezhou). In his later years, Sun Quan eased the conflict with Shu Han and moved the capital to Jianye again. It was very troublesome.