Chapter 195
Discussing official business. It was something every lord would need to do. This is because by doing this, they would be able to summarize the events of a period and also plan for their next objective. That way they could make their own territory stronger! Liu Mang reluctantly got out of bed that morning as he was a sick person. However, Boss Lu told him not to be late and he was afraid to go against Boss Lu.
(TN: It is something like those Councils if you have played ROTK 13(?) Translations did not say a specific time so I guess it must be ‘whenever they are free.’ Or something.)
Liu Mang got up early in the morning and went to a well-preserved courtyard to rest. It was not the government office as that place was already destroyed. It was heavily guarded outside and the generals walk in one-by-one. Some of their faces were familiar. Shucheng has been captured and the Zhou family in Shucheng were also beheaded. Inciting rebellion was not something that could be tolerated and the Zhou family were punished according to the law. Even those in Jiangdong could not say anything to that.
Gao Shun and Chen Gong were the only ones to return. Zhang Liao was left behind by old man Chen to a.s.sume command at Shucheng. Zhang Liao’s presence could help deter thieves from attacking. As Zhang Liao could command and fight, there is less chance of things going wrong. Zang Ba was also left behind to help Zhang Liao deal with things. With these two, Shucheng would be safe from harm and anyone that tries attacking it would be asking to die.
Old man Chen, Chen Deng, and Gao Shun. These were old faces in the army. The new faces were Huang Zhong, Huang Xu, Gan Ning, Xu Sheng, Liu Kai, and his son. Originally Su Fei was supposed to be here but he has already been killed. Although his figure was not here, Gan Ning saved a seat in memory of his brother Su Fei.
"Begin the council!" As Lu Bu walked into the hall, everyone cupped their fist and addressed him. As Lu Bu’s number one henchman, Chen Gong gave a cough and announced the start of the council.
"Gentlemen, to summon you here must have been hard for you!" This was just courtesty. Even Lu Bu knows he cannot avoid it as they were in the relations.h.i.+p of master and servant.
"Well, that is enough!" Lu Bu waved to stop them. Lu Bu used to enjoy being a lord but now he was fed up with it. However, he was helpless and Cheng Gong would stop him. "Start the proceedings!"
"Milord!" Chen Gong was the first to step out. He cupped his fist and began talking. "In the battle for Lujiang, our army have chased away Sun Ce’s Jiangdong Army. However, our army and those in Lujiang are abusing their power and looting everything. If there is no proper governance, there will be a second and third battle and we may even be driven out."
"Abuse?" Lu Bu have noticed a lot but he was not as careful as Chen Gong. So even when Chen Gong was the one who break the news, everyone would need to provide support.
"Gongtai, you speak! The rest of you listen! See if there are any ideas to give."
"First!" Chen Gong pointed to everyone and spoke. "Milord, although Lujiang is not as big as Xuzhou, and we only have a few cities, it is of great importance that we recruit talented people to help us govern Lujiang!" What Chen Gong pointed out was the lack of scribes. Besides him, there was only Yang Hong and Chen Deng who could be considered a scribe. The rest were mostly generals. Generals are able to conquer the lands but in the end, the lands need to be managed. If the citizens could not even
survive, how could the ruler conquer the lands?
The reason Sun Ce’s Army could begin an attack so quickly and the reason why the news of the Zhou family’s rebellion came out late is because of the difference in intelligence. The reason Chen Deng almost died in Shucheng was all also because they did not have enough scribes. It would be impossible to govern territory without scribes. If they do not have their territories under control, they would not know what news came out or who reported anything. Besides that, scribes can bring the army taxes and provisions. Lu Bu’s current provisions were robbed from the n.o.ble’s houses. They could not constantly rob others. As a result, finding scribes for managing the territory is a top priority.
"These guys will not just appear like this!" Lu Bu frowned. Lu Bu has tried recruiting these people before but was always rejected as the famous people either considers him a snake or did not want to interact with a person that has bad reputation. Most scribes want fame. Only someone like Chen Gong was willing to follow Lu Bu. The rest just gave him a cold shoulder. He has failed to recruit anyone at Xuzhou and would probably fail to recruit anyone here as well. Lu Bu did not
"This!" Chen Gong was a bit embarra.s.sed. It was true that Lu Bu’s reputation was terrible. Almost all the old and well-known families in Lujiang was also eradicated. Although these families were corrupted, Lu Bu’s reputation as a butcher only spread further. With the Jiangdong n.o.ble’s declaration of war, Lu Bu became even more notorious. Those people that have heard Lu Bu’s nickname, Slave of Three Surnames, would never work for Lu Bu! Even if they were willing to work for Lu Bu, Chen Gong would not dare to use them! He would be afraid of the army being sabotaged.
Chen Gong became anxious. This is because the n.o.bles are the only one that were rich enough to go to school. They could only learn how to manage the land if they read books. But now all of them were killed.
"This problem can be solved by our Liu family!" Seeing Chen Gong’s difficulty, Liu Kai spoke up. "Milord, Kai is without ability but Kai has lived on this land for a long time. As far as I know, there is someone in Wan Cheng who can fit the requirements."
"There is?" Chen Gong thought it was strange. All the n.o.bles in Wan Cheng have already been beheaded. The only one remaining was the Liu family. Was Liu Kai talking about himself or his son? Chen Gong has chatted with Liu Neng before the council. Liu Neng had talent and was a promising young person. However, that is all it is. Chen Gong wanted working talents and not promising future prospects.
"It is not us, father and son!" Liu Kai saw Chen Gong’s expression of doubt and said. "In Wan Cheng city, it is not just us Liu family, but there is also a Lu, Han and Xu, these 3 families. These 3 families are ordinary and strange. The Lu family also have long history." Liu Kai spoke slowly to Lu Bu. (TN: Ordinary as in ‘not n.o.ble’. Strange as in not random citizens.)
"Lu family?" Chen Gong’s eyes became bright. "But Minister Lu left the Lu family?!"
"Precisely!" Liu Kai opened his mouth. He would not be able to conceal the Lu family. Willing or not, the Lu family will eventually appear in front of Lu Bu. Rather than wait for it to happen, he might as well recommend them now to earn a bit of favour.
The man in Chen Gong’s mind was Lu Xu who had a beautiful appearance.
When his father died, he became an official. At one time, when there was a famine, Lu Xu was asked by the Yin Xing to hand out porridge. As he handed out porridge, he asked for their names. After the event, Lu Xu was asked as to how many people received the food. Lu Xu immediately answered that there were 600 people. He even said their names without errors. Yin Xing appreciated his talent and promoted him.
When Lu Xu fell sick, he was discharged and returned to his land with a few followers. At this moment, Chu w.a.n.g Ying secretly plotted a rebellion and was searching for talented individuals. His rebellion was found out by Yin Xing and Yin Xing was sent to prison.
Lu Xu also went to the prison in the capital for interrogation along with a few others. Most of them could not bear the pain and died leaving behind Lu Xu, Liang Hong and Si Xun who was tortured until their bodies were ulcerated, yet they did not say anything. Lu Xu’s mother went to the capital to visit she could not visit the prison. In the end, she made meals and pa.s.sed it to the guards to give it to Lu Xu. Even though he was filled with bruises, Lu Xu’s expression did not change as he wept. Those interrogating him were surprised and asked him the reason. He answered. "My mother came but I could not meet here. That is why I cry." The man who interrogated him was furious and thought that the guards outside pa.s.sed the information to him. Lu Xu told him
"This is the food that my mother made so I would know that it is my mother who visit me. No one told me anything."
"Why did you know your mother is the one that made this?"
"My mother cut the meat in squares and her onions are 1 inch long. I know because of this." After questioning the mother, they found out about Lu Xu’s achievements and in the end, the emperor pardoned Yin Xing but banned him from becoming an official.
(TN: I myself am very confused as how Lu Xu’s achievement became Yin Xing’s pardon. I double checked the raw/translation and decided that Yin Xing was not Lu Xu’s other name.)
When Lu Xu was fifty years old but he has several children. His eldest son is Lu Chou who was the governor of Guangling and had talent. After that, there was Lu Kang who was the governer of Lujiang.
They were two of the few people who helped the refugees of the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Lujiang.
But these two are dead! Lu Xu Lu Shangshu was dead for almost 100 years. Lu Kang has also died in Wan Cheng’s prison thanks to Sun Ce. As a result, even the Lu family was depressed.
"Although they were mostly dead, they left behind Lu Jun Lujicai. He was someone who is famous even in Jiangdong and Jingzhou." Liu Kai said as he faced Lu Bu and Chen Gong.
"Lu Jun Lujicai?" Chen Gong was not familiar with this name but he thought of it at a different angle. How did the Lu family start to decline? It was Sun Ce. As Sun Ce was the one that caused the decline of the Lu family, Lu Bu could put them in important position and tell the world that he was willing to tolerate those that were persecuted by Sun Ce. There would be a lot of these kinds of families at Jiangdong. For example, Yan Baihu of the Yan family and w.a.n.g Lang of the w.a.n.g family. If they see Lu Bu treating the Lu family kindly, they would also obtain ideas in their head.
They would also not need to be afraid of the Lu family betraying. This is because the Lu family and Sun Ce’s hatred for each other would not be solved so easily. This means that unless Sun Ce is dead, the Lu family will not be an official in Jiangdong.
After Sun Ce’s death, Sun Quan appeased the n.o.bles to earn their support and show his generosity. He reused the Lu family and the Lu family did not disappoint him. The two men, Lu Xun and Lu Ji made large contributions to Jiangdong.
In the end, Lu Xun was made a military commander as a reward for his meritorious service. It could be said that Lu Xun was one of the reason Jiangdong could survive for so long.
"Lu family?!" Liu Mang suddenly thought of it. "The Lu family of Lujiang, Wancheng!" He stood up and walked to Liu Kai. Liu Mang cupped his fist and asked. "Elder brother. Is this the Lu family with Lu Xun and Lu Ji?"
(TN: Wiki told me Lu Ji, who was 5 years younger than Lu Xun, is his uncle.)
Liu Mang did not know which Lu family they were talking about but he knew that in the 3 Kingdoms era, there was an extraordinary Lu family. (TN: I am confused myself. Too many Lu)
"N? Hanyang. Where did you hear about them?" Liu Kai felt that it was strange. How did the Little Lord learn so much about the Lu family?
"Really?" Liu Mang was shocked. He never expected it to be true. It was really that Lu family. Liu Mang did not even explain to Liu Kai as to how he found out about the family as he couldn’t say that he learned about Lu Xun and Lu Ji from a TV drama.
"Oh I know. You must have found out from that story!" Liu Kai guessed.
Lu Ji was six when it happened. He followed his father, Lu Kang, to see Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu took out tangerines to serve the guests. Lu Ji hid the tangerines. When they left, he accidentally dropped the tangerines and it rolled on the ground. Yuan Shu ridiculed them. "The Lu came to my home and when you leave you dare to hide my tangerines?" Lu Ji replied to him "My mother likes to eat tangerines. I want to take this for her to eat!" Yuan Shu was surprised to see the little boy being so filial.
A person who is filial and repays kindness is someone who would not betray you. This is the kind of talent the Lu Bu’s Army needs.