The end of June and the beginning of July are the hottest times in Wu County.

Zhang Wen was convicted and dismissed from office because he was implicated in the Jianyan case. Even if Luo Tong, who had many remonstrances against Sun Quan, personally interceded, he could not change Sun Quan's determination.

When enumerating Jianyan's crimes, Sun Quan even mentioned the Sun family's control of Jiangdong and the various resistances of Jiangdong's indigenous tribes against the Sun family, in order to insinuate that Zhang Wen only had different intentions and had ulterior motives.

Then he used this as an excuse to suppress the Zhang family represented by Zhang Wen, in order to achieve the purpose of warning all the aristocratic families in Jiangdong.

From this, the officials of Soochow knew that Sun Quan was still suspicious of the Jiangdong family. However, Sun Quan had experienced the Battle of Chibi and the Battle of Yiling, and had defeated Cao Cao and Liu Bei in succession. His authority had increased and he was no longer the young man he was when he first took charge of Jiangdong.

In addition, over the years, the Jiangdong family has been closely linked to the Sun family, making it difficult to separate.

Therefore, regarding Zhang Wen's case, everyone kept silent and no one dared to plead for mercy.

Zhang Wen also knew that if this incident continued, the impact would be widespread, so he closed the door to thank guests, did not see non-relatives and friends, and had less contact with others to avoid injuring innocent people.

On this day, Zhang Wen was studying at home. Suddenly a servant came to report, "Lang Jun, the general of the country is here to visit."

Zhang Wen was startled, with a look of hesitation on his face, "Did General Fuguo say why he came here?"

"It is said that the old lady of the Lu family misses my wife and wants to invite her back to stay for a few days."

Zhang Wen nodded, "In that case, go and invite the lady, and I won't show up."

The Zhang family and the Lu family are related by marriage. Zhang Wen's younger brother Zhang Bai married Lu Yusheng, the legitimate daughter of the Lu family.

Lu Yusheng is only fourteen years old this year, but he is the cousin of the forty-three-year-old Lu Xun, and the relationship between the two is not a simple cousin. This starts with Lu Xun's grandfather, Lu Yusheng's great-great-grandfather, Lu Kang.

Lu Xun lost his father when he was young, and he was raised by his grandfather Lu Kang.

Lu Kang was a descendant of the Lu family in Wu County. He was the prefect of Lujiang during the reign of Emperor Xian. When the world was in chaos, he still took the risk of sending Xiaolian to pay tribute to the court. He was a rare person loyal to the Han Dynasty.

At that time, Yuan Shu occupied the Jianghuai area and was short of food, so he borrowed food from Lu Kang.

Lu Kang believed that Yuan Shu was rebellious and refused to interact with him. He also made military preparations to prepare for the enemy.

Yuan Shu was furious and sent Sun Ce to attack Lujiang and surrounded the city of Lujiang.

Lu Kang won the hearts of the people in Lujiang. During this period, because some soldiers were away on vacation, they all returned to Lujiang after hearing the news, and even climbed the city wall at night to help guard.

Sun Ce attacked for two years before capturing Lujiang. Lu Kang also died of illness one month after the city was defeated. More importantly, most of Lu Kang's clan members died in this battle to defend Lujiang.

Fortunately, the thirteen-year-old Lu Xun and Lu Kang's seven-year-old son Lu Ji were sent away early and survived.

Lu Ji is Lu Xun's uncle in terms of seniority, but he is six years younger than Lu Xun.

After Lu Kang died of illness, Lu Ji inherited the position of head of the family, but it was actually the thirteen-year-old Lu Xun who helped him support the family, and the two of them could be considered dependent on each other.

At this time, Sun Ce took control of Jiangdong and brutally suppressed the Jiangdong clan who resisted him.

The wealthy families in the Jiangdong area, such as Sheng Xian, Zhou Xin, Wang Sheng, Zou Ta, Qian Tong, Gao Dai, etc., were persecuted or even killed by Sun Ce, which caused a huge rift between the Sun family and the Jiangdong family.

Later Sun Ce was assassinated and it is difficult to say whether the Jiangdong family was present during this period.

Before Sun Ce's death, the staff around him thought he would choose his third brother Sun Xu, who had a similar personality to his and was known for his fierceness and determination, as his successor. Unexpectedly, Sun Ce chose Sun Quan instead.

Because in the end, he finally understood that if the Sun family wanted to establish a foothold in Jiangdong, it could not rely solely on force.

"Give up the people of Jiangdong, decide the opportunity between the two formations, compete with the world, you are not as good as me; promote the talents, and do their best to protect Jiangdong, I am not as good as you." The last words have been clearly expressed. Got what he meant.

It was obvious that Sun Ce was not optimistic about Sun Xu, who had a similar personality to his own, and believed that Sun Quan had the ability to handle the relationship with the Jiangdong clan, a key issue that determines the future of the Sun family.

Sun Ce's vision was still very accurate, because Sun Xu also followed in his footsteps and was assassinated to death soon after.

Sun Quan, on the other hand, showed extraordinary political means.

Not only did he employ a large number of talents from the Jiangdong family, he even married them.

More importantly, he began to use various means to divide the Jiangdong family.

Lu Xun and Lu Ji are typical examples.

On the one hand, Sun Quan married his niece, who was also Sun Ce's daughter, to Lu Xun, who had a relatively gentle temperament, and cultivated him as a backbone of Soochow, allowing the Sun and Lu families to turn their enemies into relatives on the surface.

On the other hand, he repeatedly suppressed the upright Lu Ji. After pacifying Jiaozhou, Sun Quan sent Lu Ji, the head of the Lu family, to serve as the prefect of Yulin County in Jiaozhou.

This term lasted for ten years. Lu Ji suffered from miasma and epidemic diseases and was not accustomed to the climate and the soil, which caused hidden diseases. Not long after returning to Jiangdong, he died of illness at the age of thirty-two.

Unlike Lu Xun who persuaded Sun Quan to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor, Lu Ji inherited his father's loyalty to the Han Dynasty and considered himself a Han official throughout his life. The year he died was the year before Cao Pi usurped the Han Dynasty.

On his sick bed, he left his last words: There was a scholar of the Han Dynasty named Lu Ji of Wujun. !

This means that Lu Ji, an ambitious man from Wujun in the Han Dynasty, had read poetry and books since he was a child and was ordered to conquer the south (Jiaozhou). However, he contracted a bad disease and met with misfortune in his life.

Then he left a prophecy: From now on, in twenty-nine years, the cars will be on the same track, the books will be on the same page, and the Han Dynasty will be revived. I can’t wait to see it again.

Lu Ji and Lu Xun had been dependent on each other since they were young. Although they were not flesh and blood brothers, they had a relationship that was far beyond that of flesh and blood. However, before Lu Ji died, he entrusted his two sons and one daughter to be raised by his fellow clansman Lu Mao, instead of Sun Quan who deeply valued him. Lu Xun.

This shows that the two people had to part ways because of their different paths and incompatible intentions.

This is the different life choice of the two people, and it is also the survival rule of the aristocratic family - each chooses his own master, each chooses his own path, and shares the risks.

Lu Ji's daughter is Lu Yusheng.

Because she was born in Yulin County when Lu Ji was the governor of Yulin, she was named Yusheng.

Lu Yusheng was thirteen years old last year and married Zhang Wen's younger brother Zhang Bai. Unexpectedly, only three months after the marriage, Zhang Wen was dismissed from office, his family was also implicated, and Zhang Bai was exiled to Jiaozhou.

There are many miasmas and epidemics in Jiaozhou. Zhang Bai was unable to adapt to the climate and soil, so he fell ill and became bedridden soon after arriving in Jiaozhou.

Fortunately, a country turtle appeared in the world at this time, and it happened that Zhang Bai's brother Zhang Wen happened to have had correspondence with this country turtle for a long time.

What's even more coincidental is that this country bumpkin happened to have an idea for Jiaozhou Sugar Cane and wanted to take advantage of the Zhang family's connections.

So after a long circle of connections, Zhang Bai received careful care from the Shi family in Jiaozhou, and finally survived after experiencing a near-death experience.

Zhang Bai, who originally died in a foreign country in history, not only lived well because of the butterfly effect caused by a certain country turtle, but even became a guest of the Jiaozhou scholar's family.

Became a middleman in the sugar cane trade between Jiaozhou and Dahan.

This year, due to Shi Hui's rebellion in Jiaozhou, Zhang Bai began to work part-time as a smuggler, secretly organizing refugees to run to Nanzhong, which was a joy to watch.

Lu Yusheng, who originally became a widow at the age of fourteen in history, is still staying at the Zhang family with peace of mind, waiting for her husband to return.

At this time, when she heard that Zhang Wen asked her to see Lu Xun, she immediately came to Zhang Wen's study and bowed first, "I have something I want to say to my elder brother. I wonder if your elder brother can spare the time?"

Zhang Wen knew that although this sibling was a girl, she was a determined and insightful woman. He did not dare to be scornful at the moment and quickly stood up to return the courtesy, "Sisters and sisters, please speak."

Only Lu Yusheng was heard saying, "Although my surname is Lu, my name is Zhang Lu now, and she is already a member of the Zhang family. Even if it is because my mother misses her at home, I can go home on my own, so there is no need for my brother to pick me up?"

"Kang Fu once reprimanded Brother Cong for his lack of moral integrity as a scholar and for being flattered by the Sun family. His intention to separate from Brother Cong has become clear. If I follow my brother to Guining, wouldn't it be unfilial?"

"Brother Cong came here this time, in the name of meeting my concubine, but actually he wanted to see his brother. Although I know that my brother wants to avoid suspicion, brother Cong is now deeply respected by the Sun family. If the Sun family orders this trip, the eldest brother will avoid it.

If you don't see me, wouldn't you offend the Sun family even more?"

"For the sake of the Zhang family, I think it would be better to ask the eldest brother to go out and meet the younger brother."

The words were polite and reasonable. Zhang Wen was speechless for a long time. Then he stood up and bowed deeply to Lu Yusheng, "I was careless."

Immediately, he straightened his clothes, went out to the front hall, saluted and apologized to Lu Xun who was waiting inside, "Wen is really rude for keeping General Fuguo waiting for so long."

"Huisu doesn't have to be like this. I came here this time as the Lu family of Wu County, not as the general of the auxiliary country." Lu Xun looked behind Zhang Wen, but didn't see Lu Yusheng, and looked a little disappointed, "I don't know.

Is my little sister safe?"

"Brothers and sisters asked Wen to tell Brother Boyan that she will go back to visit the old lady in two days."

After hearing this, Lu Xun's face became more disappointed, and he let out a long sigh, knowing that his cousin still didn't want to meet him.

When he thought of this, he couldn't help but show bitterness on his face, nodded, and said, "In that case, please help Huishu send more people to protect her."

"That's natural."

Lu Xun looked at Zhang Wen's calm and unconcerned look, which was different from the high-spirited look when he returned from Shu. He felt deeply and asked, "Wen Huishu has been content with farming and studying in the past two years. I wonder if he can gain anything."

?”

Zhang Wen smiled slightly and said, "I gained a little bit."

"Oh?" Lu Xun heard this and asked with great interest, "Do you gain from farming, or do you gain from reading?"

This question was very meaningful. Zhang Wen glanced at Lu Xun and thought that Lu Boyan came here with the same intention as his siblings said.

"You can gain from reading, and you can gain from farming."

Lu Xun nodded, "I am guarding Jiangling. All personnel and material exchanges between Wu and Shu pass through the Jiangling area. Therefore, I often hear that Huishu has many correspondences with talented people in Shu. Huishu can sharpen his knowledge with talented people and gain from reading.

, that’s the law of nature.”

As he spoke, a light flashed in his eyes, and he leaned forward and asked softly, "Huisu's brilliance in writing, argumentation, and outstanding concubines are rare in the world."

"Anyone who can keep writing with Huishu must be a highly talented person, but I don't know how this person compares with Deng Bomiao (Deng Zhi), Chen Xiaoqi (Chen Zhen), and Fei Wenwei (Fei Yi) who were envoys to Jiangdong.

?”

Zhang Wen took a deep look at Lu Xun, was silent for a long time, and then said, "Wen has never met this person in person, but we have known him for a long time. When it comes to literary talent, let alone Deng Bomiao and others, even I consider myself inferior.

"

Lu Xun looked shocked, "I didn't expect Huishu to admire this person so much!"

Zhang Wen let out a long sigh, with a look of fascination in his eyes.

"I don't mean to praise him, but he is really talented. His writing is unique and unconventional. If there is anyone in the future who can compare with Cao Zijian, the talented and talented man from the north, I think it will be him."
To be continued...