Chapter 7128 Returning a Favor

Chapter 7128 Returning a Favor
Around 7 PM, the group left Shanglin Garden under the protection of palace guards and went home in their respective carriages.

"Master." After Sun Qian entered his home and washed up, the steward quickly presented him with the various visiting cards that had been delivered to the gatehouse that day. Sun Qian casually picked up one of the visiting cards and found that it was from Bing Yuan, the governor of Qingzhou. He couldn't help but sigh and admit that he was impressed by these people.

Bing Yuan is the kind of person who is both morally upright and capable, yet when faced with this situation, he still formally presented a formal letter of invitation to discuss the matter with Sun Qian.

To be honest, as soon as Sun Qian saw the visiting card, he knew what Bing Yuan would say, and he could even predict the course of their conversation. After all, all bureaucrats are the same in this matter.

The level of their positions doesn't really matter. As long as they can come to Sun Qian's place, their rhetoric and routines are all the same, and their reasons are all very formal.

Of course, Sun Qian believed in Bing Yuan's morality and ability, and that this matter was definitely not for his own benefit.

However, Sun Qian only glanced at it twice, sighed, and put the visiting card back into the stack of visiting cards. At this stage, it was not the right time to talk to these people.

"Do you have any special visiting cards? If not, just tell them I caught a cold," Sun Qian asked his old steward after putting Bing Yuan's visiting card back.

The steward quickly presented Zheng Xuan's visiting card. Sun Qian was speechless when he saw the card. Who was Zheng Xuan? Putting aside his status and position, just one thing was enough to explain everything: Zheng Xuan was Sun Qian's teacher.

A teacher needs a visiting card to see a student? What a load of rubbish!
"I'm going to wash my face. If the teacher arrives, open the door and let him in. If the teacher hasn't arrived by midnight, then wait until tomorrow." Sun Qian glanced at the visiting card, which didn't mention a time, and already knew why his teacher had come. He then turned to his steward and gave instructions.

"Yes, Master." The steward nodded quickly and then put away all the other visiting cards.

In this world, as long as one is human, there are some things one cannot refuse.

As for what constitutes going too far, to be honest, it depends on one's own status and the status of the people who come to visit.

On the other side, Fa Zheng returned and found his father still sitting in the main hall waiting for him. He was somewhat speechless. To be honest, Fa Zheng had always respected his father over the years, but he felt that his father was a bit too old-fashioned.

"Father." Fa Zheng stepped forward and bowed.

Fa Yan pointed to the seat next to him, and Fa Zheng didn't say anything, but sat down directly.

"The thing I asked you to inquire about before." Fa Yan was somewhat helpless, realizing for the first time that he was indeed getting old, and that his son was indeed quite capable.

"After chatting with Chen Zichuan, I found out that I was indeed left in Chang'an. Ah, I want to go to the Ganges!" Fa Zheng showed no composure whatsoever in front of his father, only a crazy feeling. Seeing this, Fa Yan almost hit Fa Zheng a few times with his cane.

"Shut up!" Fa Yan said in a deep voice. "You are different from the other ministers under the Grand Commandant. You are basically the Grand Commandant's trusted minister left to the future emperor. Therefore, you cannot have any scandals on your record. You can be dissolute in your youth, but there are some things you absolutely cannot get involved in."

Fa Yan hadn't realized this before, but after Fa Zheng returned in the last two years, although he did a lot of things, his authority was actually being encroached upon by Guo Jia. In particular, he wasn't allowed to handle many shady matters. Fa Yan then realized that Fa Zheng was being left to A Dou as a regent.

What does it mean to have a regent minister who is equivalent to a founding marquis? It means that the Legalists have the potential to become a powerful family that shares the fate of the nation.

Therefore, Fa Yan has been warning Fa Zheng not to act recklessly for the next ten years, to keep himself clean as much as possible, to demonstrate his moral character, and not to be like a scoundrel who laughs and jokes all day long.

Fazheng was also helpless about this. Although he was very interested in the appointment of the regent, he preferred to go to the Ganges to kill and make great achievements. Even though he had already gone there once before and achieved decisive results, completely establishing the territory of East and West Varanasi and killing Rahul, Fazheng felt that with the experience he had gained over the past few years, he could do even better.

“You are the youngest among that group. Even Zhuge Liang is not much younger than you, and you are actually the same age. In terms of seniority, you have an advantage over Zhuge Liang, so just be yourself,” Fa Yan solemnly advised.

"I'm not suited to be prime minister," Fa Zheng said helplessly.

"Hmph, just because you're not suitable doesn't mean others won't let you gain experience." Fa Yan said in a muffled voice, "If you really don't want to be one, you'd better arrange everything early on. Otherwise, it would be terrible if someone pushed you to face off against Zhuge Liang. Since ancient times, the ministers entrusted to the crown prince by the late emperor have all been selected from among the top three. If you really don't want to be one, you'd better step aside early on."

Fa Zheng was silent for a while, then looked up at Fa Yan, and after a moment nodded silently, saying, "I will pay attention to this. We must avoid going up against Zhuge Kongming."

Fa Zheng initially had some provocative thoughts, but later he realized that he and Zhuge Liang were not on the same path. Zhuge Liang followed the path of prime minister, while Fa Zheng was more suited to the path of grand commander. Moreover, Liu Bei had served as grand commander, and if Fa Zheng were to inherit the position, it would have a special significance. Therefore, as long as Fa Zheng did not deliberately cause trouble, no one could do anything about him.

"Sigh, back then, everyone worked together, but now everyone has their own ideas," Fa Zheng said with a sigh.

“It’s not just a personal issue, but also the corporations behind them. Your own limitations determine the limits of the corporations behind you,” Fa Yan said, shaking his head. “Frankly, it’s already quite remarkable that you can maintain such a relatively stable and unshakeable situation.”

“After all, the country hasn’t really been founded yet, so there’s still room for maneuver. In addition, Chen Zichuan has been trying his best to maintain the balance of power and suppress certain malicious intentions. Of course, the most important thing is that he is too capable and can offer unimaginable benefits. Otherwise, it would be impossible to be as stable as it is now.” Fa Zheng shook his head and said.

“That’s a celestial being, the Lone Moon. You’d better be careful,” Fa Yan said very seriously.

Fa Zheng glanced at Fa Yan and sighed inwardly. Even his father felt awe towards Chen Xi. To be honest, how many people still viewed Chen Xi with respect now?

However, Fa Zheng did not feel any awe towards Chen Xi. He thought Chen Xi was indeed strong, but unlike others, he did not feel that profound inhumanity from Chen Xi.

In Fa Zheng's memory, Chen Xi was still the older brother who would specially teach him some things when he took him to the battlefield for the first time. Although, upon closer reflection, both he and Chen Xi were really naive back then. In other words, Chen Xi was also growing, just very quickly.

Therefore, Fazheng's perception of Chen Xi has never changed. What do you mean by "lonely moon," "celestial being," or "saint"? I'm so familiar with him, and you say it like that makes me want to laugh. Can you take the filter off a bit? If you see Chen Zichuan like this, you'll never catch up with him in this lifetime.

“Oh, right, there’s something else…” Fa Yan asked tentatively.

"Well, one of the three horizontal lines will pass through Fufeng, and one of the five vertical lines will also pass through. This is the best I can do," Fa Zheng said casually, deliberately highlighting his own contribution while speaking. As for whether he actually made any effort, they wouldn't ask, right?

Anyway, I said I fought for it. When the road is actually built there, that's what I fought for. Does anyone dare to ask Sun Qian if I, Fa Zheng, actually asked him or not?
What a joke!
"Very good, at least now we can give our fellow villagers an explanation." Fa Yan said excitedly. Compared to other things related to his Legalist school, this thing was related to their ancestral home. As long as they were great Confucian scholars, they all had some integrity in cultivating themselves, managing their families, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world, as well as the idea of ​​helping others when they were successful. In Fa Yan's view, the rumored three horizontal and five vertical roads were the best opportunity to help his hometown. After all, he had seen a lot over the years and knew that building roads was the right way.

"It may not be possible to go directly from Fufeng, but we can build a road to it." Fa Zheng said very seriously. He was not sure if it was possible to go directly from Fufeng, but Sun Qian gave a definite answer. Even if it was not possible to go directly, they could build a road to it, which Fa Zheng thought was already enough.

"Son, have you gone crazy from studying too much?" Fa Yan asked Fa Zheng with great confusion.

Fa Zheng was stunned for a moment, not understanding what his own father meant by saying this.
“You can’t directly control large-scale national construction projects like the Three Horizontal and Five Vertical Lines. You only have the power to make suggestions on such things. But at your level, is it a problem to relocate the urban area when starting construction in Fufeng?” Fa Yan looked at Fa Zheng as if he were looking at a stupid donkey.
"Oh, oh, oh." Fa Zheng was taken aback. He had forgotten about this procedure because he hadn't been to the grassroots level for so many years. If I can't come over, I can go over to the other side, right?

Just like when Fa Zheng was the prime minister of Qi, he moved the city of Linzi to the county road, which led to the rapid development of Linzi.

“Sigh, you’re so stubborn. If you’re not going to the Ganges, you’d better go down to the grassroots level and see for yourself. It seems you’re becoming a bit ignorant about basic agricultural knowledge,” Fa Yan said to Fa Zheng with some doubt.

Upon hearing this, Fa Zheng stroked his chin, recalling the western tour plan that Chen Xi had previously rambled on to him about. He thought that if things didn't work out, he could go on the western tour with Chen Xi himself.

As for my own work, I have Xun Chen, Zhang Zhao, and Chen Qun, right? Even if I'm not one of them, I'm still capable of running away. Look, Chen Xi can run away, so can I, right?

“You should spend more time at the grassroots level. I feel like you’re standing too high now, and you can’t see things clearly down there.” Fa Yan glared at his son, making sure that the things he had instructed him to do were done properly, then got up with his cane and left. “I’m going to rest now, you should rest early too.”

"Okay, Father, I'll see you off." Fa Zheng got up to help Fa Yan, but Fa Yan looked disgusted and told Fa Zheng to get lost, indicating that he wasn't old enough to need help.

On the other side, Sun Qian sat in his study, flipping through books on bridge and road construction, waiting for his teacher to arrive. Although Sun Qian had told his steward that if his teacher did not arrive before midnight, he would wait until tomorrow, Sun Qian knew very well that his teacher would definitely come.

At 3:45 PM, Zheng Xiaotong personally drove his grandfather to Sun Qian's place. This time was chosen by Zheng Xuan himself. Although Zheng Xiaotong thought it was meaningless, after all, his grandfather was Zheng Xuan, the Confucian master of the world. Every move he made would be watched. Such a late-night private meeting was not a good thing for a Confucian master.

“Grandfather, we’ve arrived.” Zheng Xiaotong stopped the carriage, looked around, and saw that Sun Qian’s side was indeed quiet. He immediately got out of the carriage, set up a stool, and prepared to help his grandfather out.

Meanwhile, the doorman, who had been waiting for Zheng Xuan without resting, quickly notified the steward and opened the door to welcome Zheng Xuan inside.

Sun Qian rushed over to greet him upon receiving the news, while Zheng Xuan simply smiled.

“Teacher, there’s really no need for that.” When Sun Qian arrived, Zheng Xuan had already entered the gate. As a student, he should have gone out to greet him, but Zheng Xuan walked in first. After all, in Zheng Xuan’s words, using his position as a teacher to pressure someone was not in line with Confucianism. And talking about so-called “propriety” was just hypocrisy. So Zheng Xuan entered the gate by himself.

Therefore, when Sun Qian received the message from the steward, he rushed over, only to find that Zheng Xuan was already in front of the courtyard.

“This matter is already indecent, and I’m making things difficult for you. How can I be a teacher?” Zheng Xuan shook his head, his eyes clear and bright. He knew what was indecent, but there were many indecent things in the world, and there had to be a sense of priority.

"It's not that I'm being difficult; without my teacher, I wouldn't be where I am today." Sun Qian reached out to support Zheng Xuan, saying with a touch of emotion, before helping Zheng Xuan towards the study.

"I know exactly what I taught you. Your current abilities are your own; I was at most your guide." Zheng Xuan remained calm in the face of the high praise offered by Sun Qian. He was indeed a pragmatic person in this regard.

Sun Qian smiled upon hearing this, helped Zheng Xuan into his study, helped Zheng Xuan sit down, added a few more pieces of smokeless coal to the stove, and then draped a bearskin cloak over Zheng Xuan's shoulders.

"It's chilly at night, teacher, please don't catch a cold." Sun Qian poured Zheng Xuan another cup of yellow wine that had been kept warm on the stove before finding a seat for himself.

“Chen Zichuan said that few people live to seventy, and I am already eighty. It is already very good that I am like this. Whether I catch a cold or not is more like fate.” Zheng Xuan picked up his wine cup, took two sips, and said with a sense of open-mindedness. He had not had many opportunities to see Sun Qian in recent years, but every time he saw him, he would feel that things had changed.

Sun Qian was not Zheng Xuan's best student, and he was not even outstanding in his studies. However, his current achievements have made Zheng Xuan take notice. He did not have any supreme scriptures or thought that should be the most important thing for all people. He had witnessed the collapse of the empire and the era when, under the shadow of hunger, all propriety and morality were nothing but rags. The prosperity in reality made Zheng Xuan more convinced.

"Teacher, may you live as long as the evergreen pine of Nanshan Mountain." Sun Qian smiled and poured Zheng Xuan another cup of warm yellow wine, then took the map from the desk and handed it to Zheng Xuan.

Zheng Xuan opened the map quite naturally and saw a road in the middle that started from Donglai and passed through Beihai. He was taken aback. He had thought about how to bring it up and also thought that it would put Sun Qian in a difficult position. But he had been prepared when he came. Face is important, but sometimes, you really have to let go.

“Teacher, this was planned from the start,” Sun Qian said with a smile. “I’m also from Beihai. Although I can’t do too much, I can’t do nothing either, so you don’t need to worry.”

Sun Qian was also a Confucian. Although he may not fully agree with Confucian theories nowadays, he still had the idea of ​​helping others when one is successful. He was perfecting this concept by building roads. The reason he built a road for Beihai was simple: it was his hometown.

"Gongyou, you were the one who designed and planned the entire three horizontal and five vertical system, and Chen Zichuan was just reviewing it?" Zheng Xuan slowly loosened his grip on the map and asked very seriously.

Sun Qian pondered for a moment after hearing this, and finally nodded slowly. There was no point in hiding things from his teachers that they had already deduced.

“In that case…” Zheng Xuan lowered his head and pondered for a while before speaking, “In that case, you are already in great danger. If Chen Zichuan were to step down, you would become the target of everyone’s criticism. Your current power is comparable to that of Lu Zijing back then, and you are also self-sufficient, making you more stable than Lu Zijing was back then.”

Sun Qian remained silent for a while, but in the end he still didn't say that Chen Xi would give him a hand before stepping down so that he could have a smooth handover. Even if Sun Qian was stupid, he actually knew how much real power he had with so many legions and a nearly self-contained road, logistics and transportation system.

To put it bluntly, only Liu Bei and Chen Xi are still alive. Without these two, Sun Qian, with his stature, could have already challenged for the throne.

Other male-oriented novels would rebel if they had 50,000 troops, but Sun Qian now commands a million soldiers and is completely independent. In a normal male-oriented novel, if he didn't aim for the top, his subordinates would probably be dissatisfied.

“As long as you know what’s going on.” Sun Qian’s silence was enough for Zheng Xuan to understand. He then naturally changed the subject. “Originally, I was planning to show you some special skills this time, like throwing a tantrum or something. But I didn’t expect you to have prepared them so early. It makes this old man look a bit undignified. So, let me tell you something.”

"What is it?" Sun Qian asked, looking at Zheng Xuan's serious expression with some curiosity.

"Tell Chen Zichuan to be careful, lest he get caught in a compromising situation," Zheng Xuan said earnestly, and Sun Qian instantly became extremely solemn.

Lying down, lying down