Chapter 272: The Hero Goes North
Xiangyang, Yingfeng Pavilion.
"Shiyuan, be careful on the road." Liu Bei took Pang Tong's hand and said reluctantly.
Pang Tong, who had a high forehead and a strange appearance, was deeply moved and said solemnly: "My lord, don't worry. I will be back soon. It will only take two or three months."
"During this trip, the General will inspect the situation of Tianze's administration and military equipment to help the lord's cause!"
Liu Bei patted Pang Tong's hand and said, "Shi Yuan, please put yourself first and don't put yourself in danger. I am waiting to accomplish great things with you!"
"Don't worry, my lord, I'll leave now!" Pang Tong said casually.
Looking at Pang Tong's departing back, Liu Bei's eyes were filled with reluctance.
"My lord, should we just let Shi Yuan go like this?" Chen Qun said with some hesitation.
"It doesn't matter. I trust Shi Yuan, just as I trust you, Changwen." Liu Bei said with a smile.
Chen Qun felt warm in his heart: "My Lord, I am not worried about Shi Yuan, but Tian Chengshou."
"Then there's nothing to worry about." Liu Bei sighed slightly and recalled the loyal and kind brother he had when he was studying.
"The fact that Shi Yuan can come here means that Tian Chengshou has no intention of hindering us."
"Although Tian Chengshou has evil intentions, his character is trustworthy. Since he has set up the signboard of 'Jixia Academy', he will not easily destroy it himself."
Although Tian Ze, Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and others were mortal enemies, they also had some sympathy for each other.
Especially for Tian Ze's magnanimity and courage, all the princes in the world were impressed.
When he had such an advantageous position, he was able to voluntarily give in and consider the overall situation for the sake of the people of the world. His reputation for benevolence is even better than that of Liu Bei.
This feeling becomes even stronger after comparing the plight of the people under Tian Ze's rule with that of the people under the rule of other princes.
As a descendant of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bei had a very complicated attitude towards his former brother Tian Ze, but he had complete faith in his character.
"That's right. Shi Yuan, Lu Zijing, Fa Xiaozhi, so many heroes can actually be handed over to others. Tian Chengshou is indeed 'silly and cute'."
"But if it weren't for this, it would be hard to see the grand occasion of 'a hundred schools of thought contending'."
"Three hundred million mu of fertile farmland! Wow, Tian Chengshou's hand is really big!"
Chen Qun sighed.
If Liu Bei couldn't leave him at this time, he would have wanted to see such a prosperous world.
The competition among hundreds of schools of thought for the top spot has entered its final stage. Lu Zhi announced to the world that the final ranking would be decided on March 3, along with the reward promised by Tian Ze.
There are 300 million mu of farmland, and the family ranked first can get 10% of it, and the subsequent families will get a share in decreasing proportion.
As long as you make it into the top ten, that means you have tens of millions of acres of land. Who wouldn’t be tempted?
In such a prosperous era, coupled with the reputation that Tian Ze had accumulated over the years, heroes from all over the world spontaneously went north.
Even someone like Pang Tong, who is already a minister, would go there if he is not in a hurry for the current matter.
Lu Zhi set the time at this time for certain considerations.
Last year's massive war and huge natural disasters have meant that this year's war will not break out too early.
Not only the princes in the Central Plains need to recuperate, even Tian Ze is still busy with the resettlement of the people in Jizhou and Bingzhou and the start of water network construction.
In winter, because the soil is hard, it is not suitable to start large-scale construction. Although various places are busy, most of them are doing some planning and preliminary work, waiting for the big work to start in the spring.
Lu Zhi held such a grand meeting at this time in order to avoid the regret of missing out on the world's heroes. Especially for young heroes like Pang Tong, although they were entrusted with important tasks by their lords, they were not in urgent need and could still spare some time for the time being.
If this were not the case, some of the hundreds of schools of thought would inevitably lack true leaders and would be dissatisfied.
The various princes watched the heroes of the world heading north, but did not take any drastic actions.
Because they knew very well that Tian Ze looked kind now, and that was because he was trying his best to restrain himself for the sake of the overall situation.
Once they really take action, Tian Ze will be so angry that he will not care about anything, and it will be a catastrophe for them.
Besides, all the princes are prominent figures, and because of Tian Ze's existence, they are mostly superficial allies among them. It is not worth doing such a shameless thing.
It just so happened that Pang Tong was heading north, and when he arrived in Yecheng, he happened to meet Fa Zheng who had also come from afar.
"Military strategist, Pang Tong." Pang Tong bowed with a scrutinizing look in his eyes.
"Fajia, Fa Zheng." Fa Zheng nodded slightly and returned the greeting. His eyes were deep and sharp, as if he could see through people's hearts.
Although the two had never dealt with each other in the academy, they had heard of each other's existence.
When Fa Zheng saw this short and fat man with a strange appearance but extraordinary temperament, he immediately guessed Pang Tong's identity.
Pang Tong also immediately guessed Fa Zheng's identity after seeing a rebellious man who looked sinister and difficult to deal with.
There was no way around it. The image and temperament of the two were extremely rare and outstanding even in the Jixia Academy. Even Zhuge Liang could not compare to them.
After all, among the scholars, it is not uncommon to see handsome men with extraordinary temperament. Whether it is the elegant Xun Yu, the clear-eyed Cui Yan, or the heroic and free-spirited Lu Su, they all have outstanding looks and extraordinary temperament.
On the contrary, people like Fa Zheng and Pang Tong are rare.
"Xiaozhi is heading north from Liangzhou. It seems that the Legalists are determined to win this battle!" Pang Tong said meaningfully.
"Same here, Shiyuan, aren't you here too?" Fa Zheng said indifferently.
"I don't know what the rules of this competition are. After all, we have different strengths. You won't let me compete with Xiaozhi in matters of law, right? If I do, I will definitely admit defeat." Pang Tong said.
"You will know when you go there. Since Lord Zigan has announced it to the world, there must be a relatively fair law. Otherwise, it would be difficult for us to tell who is better."
"Since you and I are together, why don't we go together?"
"It is your wish, I dare not refuse!"
The two of them then traveled north together, and they surprisingly got along quite well with each other.
Birds of a feather flock together. Weirdos always like to play with weirdos, and these two are typical examples.
Pang Tong didn't care about Fa Zheng's personality, and Fa Zheng didn't care about Pang Tong's appearance. The two felt that they had rarely met a normal person, and a normal person with some talent at that.
Although Fa Zheng was born in the Legalist school and had a deep family tradition, he was more interested in military strategy. If it weren't for the dissuasion of his elders, he might have even competed with Pang Tong for the position of the chief military strategist.
Both of them are good at military strategy, and their positions in their respective camps are relatively similar, so they naturally have many common topics.
There were many cases like these two. Many of the scholars heading north had a pleasant conversation with each other, and there was no sign of conflict between their camps.
However, after arriving at the Jixia Academy, the students from various schools immediately returned to their camps and confronted each other.
The originally harmonious atmosphere disappeared in an instant, replaced by a strong smell of gunpowder, as if a war without smoke was about to begin.
(End of this chapter)
