Chapter 120: Reading the Spring and Autumn Annals at Night
After the party, everyone drank to their heart's content and walked back staggeringly.

Old Zhu could drink quite a lot, so after he finished drinking, he followed Tang Wu, who was still sober, to see everyone out. The two of them did not rush back to the house to rest, but stood outside and talked.

"Zhongba, I didn't ask you in detail just now. You follow the General Pingnan and are in charge of three counties. How high of an official are you? Are you the emperor's son-in-law?"

Old Zhu had gained some understanding of Dayan's military system during this period, so he explained to him: "Let's put it this way, there are only a dozen generals in Dayan who are higher than General Pingnan. And General Pingnan is only fifteen years old."

"What? What did you say? Only fifteen? Is that reliable?" Tang Wu found it a little unbelievable. As the old saying goes, a man without any beard on his lips cannot be trusted.

His son Tang Yun is in his twenties and has not yet married. It’s not because the Tang family is too poor to afford a wife, but because Tang Yun has high standards and doesn’t like ordinary girls.

There are quite a few men in the village who are in their twenties and have not married. Even more of them cannot afford to marry a wife, and even if they can, it is difficult for them to support her.

After all, there are many refugees these days, and sometimes a bowl of rice can be exchanged for a woman, but it is not easy to eat a bowl of rice every day.

Old Zhu said, "What's unreliable about that? They are from the Longxi Li family, so they are of high rank. Their ancestors were all high-ranking officials, and they learned to be officials since they were young. The general is in charge of three counties, and his Ayetang Duke is in charge of a state. Do you know where Yizhou is? That's where our general Li's Ayetang Duke is in charge. I heard that it was the place of Zhuge Liang and Liu Xuande in the past."

Tang Wu was surprised and said, "What? Zhuge Liang's place? Then I know. The storyteller said that Yizhou is the land of abundance. There are silks and satins everywhere, called Shu brocade. It is said that the common people can have enough food every day."

Old Zhu smiled and said, "Okay, Uncle Tang, you also know Shu brocade."

Tang Wu said: "After all, I have been the head of the village for so many years, and I often go to the county, so I have seen some of the world, but it is not as good as Chang'an, which you have been to. I heard that Chang'an is very big?"

Old Zhu nodded and said, "The block in Chang'an is much bigger than our village. The blocks added together are bigger than the county town. There are more than a hundred blocks in Chang'an. If you go to the East Market and the West Market, there are thousands of shops selling goods. You can't finish shopping there in three days."

Old Zhu was talking excitedly and Tang Wu was listening attentively. The two of them walked outside for a while, then returned to the house, poured themselves some wine and drank while talking.

"I must visit Chang'an if I have the chance."

Tang Wu sighed after listening to it.

Old Zhu said with a smile: "Uncle Tang, with your skills in pistols and sticks, you can join the army with us. How about becoming a captain and commanding 200 soldiers for us? If you make achievements in the future, you can become a general. Who knows, we may live in a mansion in Chang'an or Luoyang."

After hearing this, Tang Wu did not agree immediately, but asked: "Zhongba, you are recruiting soldiers, not to send us to Liaodong?"

Because he felt that it was a little unusual. Old Zhu's words were so good, could he be recruiting soldiers for the court and sending them to Goguryeo?

That's no different from committing suicide. If you die so far away, your soul won't be able to come back.

Old Zhu immediately shook his head upon hearing this: "What are you talking about, Uncle Tang? How can we cheat our fellow countrymen? Besides, I haven't heard that the Saint is going to Liaodong to fight Goguryeo. Anyway, during this period of time, he must have been in the Jianghuai area. The general told me to recruit soldiers as soon as possible to eliminate the bandits. He shouldn't be going to Goguryeo."

Tang Wu nodded and said, "As long as we are not going to Goguryeo. Then I have a deal with you, Chongba. Everything else is fine. We can go to help you, but if we have to go to Goguryeo to die, I won't do it. I would rather lead the young men to become bandits and die in the countryside."

Old Zhu patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Uncle Tang. If the imperial court really wants us to go to Liaodong to die, we will just rebel against them." Tang Wu was relieved to see that Old Zhu's attitude was so firm.

"Okay, then Chongba, let's do it. We'll do it with you. Tomorrow I'll go to the surrounding villages and ask them to come to you if they want to be soldiers and eat food."

Old Zhu nodded when he heard this, "But he also reminded me, Uncle Tang, although we are not going to Liaodong to die, we have to fight as soldiers in Huainan. Bandits are everywhere now, and we have to fight if we are told to. We will recruit soldiers and fight whoever the general says to fight. You must think this through clearly."

Tang Wu laughed when he heard this, "Of course, we all know that joining the army is to gain wealth through military merit. If you don't go to Liaodong, it's because if you go there, you will die and your body will be buried on the edge. It's not easy to be a soldier of the court in Huainan and fight some bandits, right?"

Old Zhu laughed and said, "Uncle Tang, you are quite calculating. You are right. The soldiers of the imperial court are all in armor, and their swords and spears are sharp. It is easy to beat the bandits. But General Li has done me a great favor. What is this called? It is the favor of knowing someone and meeting someone. It is just like Liu Xuande's favor to Zhuge Liang in the book. Liu Xuande invited Zhuge Liang three times, which is called "three visits to the thatched cottage". Of course, I am not as good as Zhuge Liang. General Li also invited me twice. This shows that he thinks highly of me, Zhu. In the future, whoever General Li wants me to fight, I will fight. Uncle Tang, we are all from the same village. You dare not hold me back when the time comes."

Tang Wu frowned upon hearing this, and then said, "Zhongba, what you said is true. We Huainan people have been tough since ancient times, and every family practices martial arts. We will never embarrass you in the matter of fighting. But you just mentioned Liu Xuande, the emperor's uncle, and Zhuge Liang. We have heard of them in books. Liu Xuande..." Tang Wu paused, looked around, and then whispered, "Liu Xuande became a saint and an emperor. Zhuge Liang was the prime minister. What is that called? He is second only to the emperor and above ten thousand people."

Old Zhu was stunned for a moment, "Uncle, do you mean that General Li wants to be the emperor?"

Tang Wu was also stunned, thinking, wasn't it you, Zhu Yuanzhang, who said you were Zhuge Liang and General Li was Liu Xuande? He invited you twice, so how come it became me who said it?

Then, Lao Zhu came back to his senses and warned, "Don't talk nonsense. If this gets out, you'll lose your head. Uncle, don't tell anyone what we said today."

Tang Wu was speechless, but he nodded quickly: "Zhongba, you are right, but you must not say this to anyone."

But at this point, Zhu's mind became active again, "Let's not talk about whether General Li can be the Prime Minister. Uncle, you said that I can't even read, how can I compare with Zhuge Liang? I thought about it, I definitely can't compare with Zhuge Liang, and I can't be the Prime Minister."

Tang Wu's face twitched after hearing this, but he quickly thought: "Chongba, you are definitely not as good as Zhuge Liang. He was very smart and knowledgeable, but Liu Xuande also had Guan Yunchang, the gatekeeper god. He was a great general who flooded seven armies and killed Yan Liang in the midst of thousands of troops."

When Old Zhu heard about the beheading of Yan Liang, he was excited: "I heard from a storyteller that Guan Yu beheaded Yan Liang in the midst of thousands of troops to repay Cao Mengde for not killing him, and then returned to his old master Liu Xuande. He clearly distinguished between gratitude and resentment, and was the most loyal and righteous person in the world."

Tang Wu said: "Yes, that's the case, Chongba, I heard that Guan Yu likes to read the Spring and Autumn Annals at night. Although you can't read now, why don't you hire a teacher to teach you to read the Spring and Autumn Annals in the future?"

When Old Zhu heard this, he nodded immediately. "Uncle Tang is right. Although we can't be Zhuge Liang, we should learn from Guan Yu and read books, and read the Spring and Autumn Annals."

So, Lao Zhu had his own goal. If he couldn't be Zhuge Liang, then he would be Guan Yu!
But when he thought of this, Zhu Yuanzhang was still a little confused. If I become Guan Yu, what will General Liu and Brother Zhang do?

General Liu’s surname is Liu, Liu Xuanji, which is just one character different from Liu Xuande. Brother Zhang’s surname is Zhang. Could it be that the three of us are the three great sages Liu, Guan, and Zhang?

But what about General Li? Is General Li Zhuge Liang?

This is not right. General Li is General Liu's superior, so he should be the most senior.
It’s a bit messy, no, I have to start from the beginning.

However, reading the Spring and Autumn Annals at night must be put on the schedule as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)