After the rain, the dirt road is very muddy, mule carts walk very slowly, Zheng Yuming and Zhao Xuan two lines of horses, more than one-third of the usual time, before arriving in front of the village where Daxian lives.
In front of the village is a piece of good field, in which wheat and soybean and other grain crops are planted, and around the water source of the good field, there are several water wagons, which are driven by the wind, and the water is slowly poured into the ditch with the water of the river. On the ridge of the field, there are a few children grazing on the backs of cows.
"Since we've arrived at Daxian's doorstep, why don't you and I pay a visit to this reclusive and capable person." Zheng Yuming said the medicinal herbs purchase point, is in the village next door to the Daxian residence. Zhao Xuan and Zheng Yuming rode side by side on horseback all the way, and the two had a good conversation, Zhao Xuan did not want to just let Zheng Yuming leave, and proposed that Zheng Yuming go with him to pay a visit to Gongsun Daxian. Zheng Yuming's good conversation makes Zhao Xuan interested in recruiting him.
"Good, Chu will accompany Brother Liang to meet the Great Sage." Zheng Yuming gladly accepted the invitation, but in his heart, he was muttering about whether Da Niu had arrived early and whether he had lured Da Xian away. Zheng Yuming's plan was to send Da Niu to lure Gongsun away from his home, so that Zhao Xuan would pounce on him without success.
Da Niu walked briskly all the way to Gongsun Pan's courtyard gate, where Gongsun Pan was leading a donkey with a small child of about ten years old and was about to go out. Gongsun Pan looked to be around forty, with fair skin and a height of 170 centimeters.
"Sir! You're going out." Da Niu grinned as he took a look at Gongsun Pan going out, not bad, he didn't even need him to make up a reason, Gongsun Pan was supposed to go out.
"I was going to visit my friends, but with Da Niu here, I'd better visit my friends tomorrow." Gongsun Pan was also happy to see Da Niu.
"No no! Mister should still go and visit his friends, Da Niu will take his leave now." Upon hearing this, Da Niu waved his hands, if Gongsun Pan would not go out because of his arrival, how could Da Niu not show up at Gongsun Pan's door.
Gongsun Pan stared at Da Niu for a while, Da Niu had obviously come specifically to pay him a visit, but since he had come specifically to pay him a visit, why was he instead urging him to leave, acting as if he was afraid he would stay.
"Oh, the big bull doesn't need to say goodbye, I'm not going out today, thou have something to tell." Gongsun Pan's mouth slightly skimmed, leading the donkey back to the courtyard, he wants to see what kind of medicine the big bull gourd wants to sell.
The residence of the great sage was beside a mountain stream, over which there was a pavilion built of wood, in which was placed something in the shape of an earth huller, which was driven by the force of water and kept turning, and in which was placed the grain of corn.
Jung Yoo Ming glimpsed the wooden pavilion and knew that there was a water-powered shelling machine made by Gong Sun there. The spy sent by Huang Zhong to investigate Gong Sun Daxian was very careful and traced the mechanical diagrams inside the wooden house on paper and brought it back to Wang Du. Jung Yoo Ming was surprised to see the mechanical diagrams, which he could not even figure out to manufacture by himself.
"The Great Sage often goes out, and today I don't know if the Great Sage is at the residence." Zheng Yuming was afraid that something in the wooden pavilion would attract Zhao Xuan's attention, so he hurriedly rode his horse to block Zhao Xuan's line of sight.
"It should be there, I think, the gate to Da Xian's courtyard is wide open." Zhao Xuan pointed to a residential house in front of him. The dwelling was stone walled with a thatched roof, there were five or six rooms, in front of the house was a large courtyard, the courtyard wall was surrounded by one person high bamboo and wood. The firewood door of the courtyard was wide open, and one could clearly see a donkey tied under the acacia tree in the courtyard, which was Daxian's means of transportation to go out.
"Eh, good luck today." Zheng Yuming frowned, could it be that the big bull did not arrive before them? Yesterday it rained, the mule carts were muddy and difficult to walk on the dirt road, the walking speed was not as fast as if they had walked, counting the time, how could Da Niu have arrived before Zhao Xuan's arrival. Or arrived early, but failed to lull Daxian away?
Zheng Yuming and Zhao Xuan dismounted in front of the gate of the courtyard, and Zhao Xuan shouted inside the gate, "May I ask if Mr. Gongsun is here?"
"The humble house is humble, if the guest doesn't mind, he can go inside and have a sip of hot tea!" Gongsun Pan's clear reply came from inside the house.
"Then Mister Chu will have the honor of coming to the door to ask for a mouthful of hot tea!" Zhao Xuan laughed and took a big step into the courtyard.
Zheng Yuming followed closely behind Zhao Xuan was about to enter, suddenly glimpsed the courtyard door beam on a wooden stick shaking, and quickly raised his hand to remove the wooden stick to the courtyard door next to the wooden stick weight is not light, smashed into the head of the human head is likely to be head broken and bleeding.
The two walked into the courtyard and clearly saw Gongsun Pan sitting in the center of the hall house, and beside him, kneeling on his knees was the uneasy-looking Da Niu.
The courtyard of Gongsun Pan's residence was large, and the path from the courtyard gate to the hall house was paved with gravel, and it was through the gravel path that Zheng Yuming and Zhao Xuan walked to the entrance of the court house.
On the gravel path in front of the court house, a broom was lying diagonally in the center, Zhao Xuan's feet were long, and he took one step to cross over. Zheng Yuming bent down to pick up the broom and put it under the eaves.
"Liang Xuan of Chen Guo meets you, sir." Zhao Xuan entered the court room and saluted Gongsun Pan.
"Lu Chu Yu meets you sir." Zheng Yuming followed Zhao Xuan and saluted, but his eyes glanced at Da Niu and found that Da Niu looked even more uneasy, Zheng Yuming saw Da Niu's demeanor and estimated that both his own and Zhao Xuan's identities were already known by Gongsun Pan. Followed Zheng Yuming in the wood first will be the court house smelled all over, to determine that there is no danger, before next to the master's legs squatting guard.
Gongsun Pan had already risen to welcome the guests, a smile on his face. "The two of you please take your seats."
Gongsun disk home furnishings are simple, against the wall there are wooden shelves, on which most of the display is bamboo parchment, a little white paper.
Zheng Yuming and Zhao Xuan each knelt on the futon at the lower end of the host, and Gongsun Pan's boy came up and poured two cups of hot tea for the two.
"Mister isn't from Wu, right?" Zhao Xuan picked up the ceramic bowl and put it to his mouth for a sip.
"Not bad, Pan is a native of Feng Ho." Gongsun Pan nodded, although he had settled at the foot of Qimen Mountain for nine years, he still spoke with the accent of his hometown. Fenghao was the capital of the Great Qin Dynasty, many great families resided there, and Gongsun Pan's family was a famous great family.
"Feng-ho is a hundred times more prosperous than Qimen, how come Mr. Feng-ho is willing to live here?" Zhao Xuan questioned with a smile.
"Pan doesn't want to get drunk and die, and is here in the clear." The aristocrats in the city of Fenghao were intoxicated by the prosperous and vile life, but Gongsun Pan was very worried in the middle of it. In the capital city of the Son of Heaven, from the families of the world to the Son of Heaven of Qin, each one of them focused on enjoying themselves, and neither cared about the people's livelihoods nor defended themselves against the rise of the neighboring vassals, and Gongsun Pan's concerns were not resonated with the Son of Heaven, and under the disappointment, Gongsun Pan began to travel to the vassal states.
As a result of a dozen vassals traveled down, found that the vassals and nobles of the king's attitude towards life is similar, depressed, walking to the foot of the Qimen Mountains, like the beautiful scenery here, love the simplicity of the people here, settled down in this place.
Zhao Xuan tried. "Mr. Great talent, should not be wasted here, should seek out a bright master to show his talent, Liang heard that the crown prince of Zhao is thirsty for talent, Mr. can go to Zhao to show his hand."
"Prince of Zhao?" Gongsun Pan stroked his beard and sneered, "That's just a despicable person."
Zhao Xuan's face darkened on the spot, "Crown Prince Zhao is known for his courtesy, how could he be a despicable person?"
"The destruction of Wei by the Prince of Zhao at the end of last year is proof of this!"
"That was the Duke of Wei's fit to insult the Crown Prince of Zhao first, and only then did the State of Zhao raise its troops to shed its shame!" Zhao Xuan's anger rose and he opened his mouth to argue.
Gongsun? glanced contemptuously toward Zhao Xuan. "So the State of Wei should be appropriated by the State of Zhao?"
Zhao Xuan calmed his emotions. "Then Wei was not all destroyed by Zhao, Wu also occupied a quarter of Wei's land, according to Mr. Meaning, Duke Ming, who is in charge of Wu, is also a despicable villain?"
Gongsun Pan laughed and glanced at Zheng Yuming, who was kneeling on one side. "Not bad, that Gong Gong Ming and Prince Zhao are one and the same."
Zheng Yuming's mouth opened into O, originally listening to Gongsun Pan counting Zhao Xuan listened to a very enjoyable, do not want to turn the tables, said to his head.
"How so?" Zhao Xuan's heart was slightly comforted, it seemed that Gongsun Pan did not have a problem with him alone.
"It is said that Gong Zi Ming is a bright gentleman, but is it a gentleman for such a gentleman not to help Wei restore the country, but to reach an agreement with Prince Zhao to divide Wei's land?" Gongsun Pan shook his head and spoke righteously.
When Zhao Xuan heard this, he was greatly disappointed in Gongsun Pan in his heart. It seems that Gongsun Pan's reputation as a great sage is really in vain, as Zheng Yuming said. Gongsun Pan's political opinions are too naive and pedantic.
"What does sir think a king has to do in order to rule the country well?" Zhao Xuan still had hope in his heart, wanting to hear good advice from Gongsun Pan's mouth.
"Well, as long as the ruler of the state governs the country in strict accordance with the Zhou Rites, he can surely make a country strong." Gongsun Pan lightly threw out a sentence.
"Mr. High Opinion!" Zhao Xuan's mouth was perfunctory, he was completely disappointed in Gongsun Pan, if the Zhou Ritual was feasible, the Great Qin Son of Heaven wouldn't have become increasingly unappreciated.
After realizing that Gongsun Pan wasn't the talent he was looking for, Zhao Xuan didn't want to waste any time here and took a chance to say goodbye to Gongsun Pan. Zheng Yuming came with Zhao Xuan, and when Zhao Xuan said goodbye, he had to leave with him.
"Chu Di has extraordinary insights, it is too much of a waste to use it for business, why don't you go with Liang to join Prince Zhao in the Kingdom of Zhao, that Prince Zhao is thirsting for talent, you and I will be heavily utilized if we go there!" Zhao Xuan gave up Gongsun Pan, but did not want to give up Zheng Yuming, and wanted to lobby Zheng Yuming to Zhao.
"There is an ancestral tradition in the family that the clan's sons and daughters are not allowed to engage in politics if they are less than thirty years old, so I dare not violate it." Zheng Yuming was now thinking of getting rid of Zhao Xuan quickly so that he could return to Gongsun to ask what was going on, Gongsun Pan's behavior was unusual, and the insights he said did not match what he had investigated.
"It is a pity! I've finished this buying trip and I'm going to go to the State of Zhao to join the Crown Prince of Zhao, Chu Di must go to the Crown Prince's Residence to meet with him in the future if he arrives in the State of Zhao to do business." Zhao Xuan sighed regretfully. Zheng Yuming's age seemed to be around twenty, still early to be thirty.
When they reached the intersection of the village, Zheng Yuming and Zhao Xuan clasped their fists in farewell, and the two groups walked separately. Estimating that Zhao Xuan's carriage team had already gone far away, Zheng Yuming returned to Gongsun Pan's doorstep with Ma Ren, Huang Zhong and the guards.
"My lord! Sir things are almost packed, we can make the journey today." Da Niu, who came out of the courtyard gate, was elated.
In the courtyard, Gongsun Pan was standing under the eaves, directing the two children to pack up their things.
"Mr. Gongsun has decided to go to the royal capital?" Zheng Yuming was stunned, he hadn't even started his lobbying yet.
"Your Excellency passed Mister's test, that Zhao Xuan didn't, haha!" Da Niu slapped his stomach and laughed.
"A test? When was there a test?" Zheng Yuming puzzled.
Gongsun Pan inside the house heard the sound of talking at the door and came out towards Zheng Yuming with a bow, "Gongsun Pan has met you, Pan would like to follow you down the mountain."
"Mister's willingness to come down is a blessing for the people of Wu." Zheng Yuming's heart rejoiced as he easily obtained a talent.
"The people of Wu are truly blessed to have Gongzi." Gongsun Pan looked deeply at Zheng Yuming. The wooden stick that was about to fall on the courtyard door and the broom in the center of the pathway were all intentionally placed there by Gongsun Pan, who wanted to see Zheng Yuming and Zhao Xuan's reaction. As a result, Zhao Xuan was oblivious to the wooden stick above his head and ignored the broom on the ground, while Zheng Yuming removed the dangerous wooden stick and picked up the broom on the pathway and put it aside. From these two small things, we can see that Zhao Xuan is selfish and self-interested, while Zheng Yuming is kind and benevolent.
It turns out that Gongsun Pan found Da Niu demeanor is different, immediately returned home to ask questions, Da Niu originally Gongsun Pan on the respect, Gongsun Pan did not take much effort to know the ins and outs of things, know that the Prime Minister of the State of Wu and Zhao's crown prince two people want to come to invite him to come down from the mountain to the civil service.
Zheng Yuming and Zhao Xuan's reputation is quite good, Gongsun disk heart also moved down the mountain to do some career ideas, for the reputation of Zheng Yuming and Zhao Xuan almost, Gongsun disk want to use their own way to examine, screen out their own later to serve the Lord.
From Zhao Xuan striding across the broom, Zheng Yuming stooping down to pick up the broom, Gongsun Pan had already made a decision in his heart, and in the next talk with Zhao Xuan, he intentionally made himself appear mediocre, so that Zhao Xuan would lose interest in himself and take the initiative to leave.
In the month of May, the court of the King of Wu underwent institutional reforms, and the royal court was divided into six divisions, namely, the Department of Civil Affairs, the Department of Industry and Commerce, the Department of Finance, the Department of Security, the Department of Ceremonies, and the Department of Education, and Gongsun Pan was appointed the Director of the Department of Education.