"Brother Hu, you are such an amazing talent. You can actually come up with this idea. I was right about you. I knew that you and Brother Xia were both very talented, so I recommended them to my nephew."
Uncle Zhu Shouren praised Hu Wei highly, and even praised Xia Qiang for his good conduct.
"Haha, it is thanks to Brother Zhu's insight and recommendation of talents to your nephew that we have the opportunity to realize our ambitions."
Hu Wei also complimented Zhu Shouren.
"That's true. Thank you, Brother Zhu. If it weren't for Brother Hu's recommendation, we wouldn't have been able to meet such a great figure as Lord Zhu." Xia Cha also echoed.
The three of them praised each other, their self-confidence increased significantly, and they divided the work contentedly.
Xia Qiang was responsible for keeping watch at the window, paying attention to people coming outside and giving timely warnings; Hu Wei and uncle Zhu Shouren were responsible for searching the general's tent for the books that Zhu Ping'an had read yesterday and the papers on which he had written.
In fact, they didn't need to look for it, as there was a pile of books on the candlestick made by Zhu Ping'an.
One of the books was still placed in the middle, but the pages were closed. It was obvious that Zhu Ping'an had just read it.
Uncle Zhu Shouren and Hu Wei saw the book on the table at a glance and looked at each other.
"No doubt about it. This is the book my nephew read this morning. I remember the blue cover. I noticed my nephew reading a book with a blue cover this morning. It must be this book."
Uncle Zhu Shouren took the lead and picked up the book on the table, saying with confidence.
"Yes, that's right. I also remember that Mr. Zhu seemed to have flipped through a blue book this morning. It should be this one."
Hu Wei also nodded, he also had some impression.
Uncle Zhu Shouren quickly flipped through the book and saw a slight crease on a page. He couldn't help but pat the book and said to Hu Wei and Xia Qiang with a proud look on his face, "There is a crease on this page. My nephew must have found something interesting and folded a corner to mark it so that he can continue reading next time. When I was at home, I went to my second brother's house to see my nephew's study. There were many pages with creases in his study. Each page with a crease was quite worn out, because my nephew often read it."
"Well, that's right. Brother Zhu really knows Lord Zhu. This page is indeed three times older than the other pages. Lord Zhu must have stayed on this page for a long time." Hu Wei walked forward, flipped through the book, and nodded affirmatively.
"Let me take a look while there's no one outside." Xia Qiang, who was watching from the window, couldn't help it anymore, so he ignored the wind and came over to take a look.
The three of them gathered together and studied the page of the book.
"What is there on this page that is worth your reading over and over again?"
Uncle Zhu Shouren read it through, touched his head, and for a moment couldn't tell what important content there was on this page.
"This book is a collection of memorials submitted to the emperor. This page is a memorial submitted by a censor named Zhang Kongwu of the Song Dynasty after his inspection of Sichuan Province. It covers many aspects including politics, economy, and people's livelihood. However, what attracts Lord Zhu must be the records about military affairs." Xia Qiang said, touching his chin, comparing the contents of the book and the previous and next pages.
"Oh, let me see, um, the military content in here..." Uncle Zhu Shouren was inspired and immediately lowered his head to look for that sentence.
"'There is a general in Bashu named Zhang Hao, who has the style of the military saint Sun Wu who trained his troops in front of the Wu palace. You can entrust him with important tasks as appropriate...' This is the only sentence related to military affairs in this memorial. Is it worth reading for so long, my nephew?!"
Uncle Zhu Shouren found it quickly, then shook his head in disappointment.
"Haha, Brother Zhu, it must be this sentence that attracted Lord Zhu's attention." Hu Wei said with a smile.
"Yes, that's it." Xia Qiang also echoed.
"Is there any deep meaning in this sentence?" Uncle Zhu Shouren looked at the two of them puzzledly and asked.
"Brother Zhu, do you know the story of the military saint Sun Wu training his troops in front of the Wu Palace?" Hu Wei asked his uncle Zhu Shouren with a smile.
"Ahem, I didn't sleep well last night, and my head is a little dizzy. I can't remember it for a while." The uncle coughed and said shamelessly.
In fact, he only read the Four Books and Five Classics or some forbidden books that did not describe matters between men and women. As for historical books such as historical texts, he thought they were of no use to the imperial examinations, so he basically never read them and was too lazy to do so.
When Hu Wei and Xia Qiang saw Zhu Shouren's expression, they knew that he didn't know, but they didn't expose him.
"Brother Zhu, the story goes like this. In order to test Sun Wu's ability, the King of Wu deliberately selected more than 100 palace maids for Sun Wu to train, including the two most beloved beauties of the King of Wu."
Hu Wei preached to Zhu Shouren.
"Sun Wu is very lucky, he has a hundred palace maids to serve as his assistants..." Uncle Zhu Shouren chuckled.
Hu Wei and Xia Qiang were speechless.
"Sun Wu divided the palace maids into two teams, the left and right, and appointed the two most favored concubines of the King of Wu as the captains. He explained the military order and said that anyone who disobeyed the order would be punished by military law. The palace maids responded well, but they felt it was new and fun. During the drill, they did not listen to the orders, laughed out loud, and the formation was in chaos. Sun Wu repeated the military order again and again, but the palace maids still did not listen to the order. None of them behaved properly. Their bodies trembled, they laughed out loud, and the formation was in chaos. The two concubines even laughed so hard that they almost sat on the ground. So Sun Wu ordered according to military law to behead the two concubines as a warning to the public."
Hu Wei continued to preach.
"Ah, he wants to kill the King of Wu's two favorite concubines? What can the King of Wu do?" Uncle Zhu Shouren asked in surprise.
"That's right. When the King of Wu saw that Sun Wu was going to kill his concubine, he immediately sent someone to tell him that he knew Sun Wu was good at military operations and asked him to pardon his two concubines. However, Sun Wu refused mercilessly, saying that a general in the army was not subject to the king's orders, and insisted on killing the two concubines. Then, he appointed the leaders of the two teams as captains and continued to train the troops. When Sun Wu was training again, all the palace maids did not dare to disobey Sun Wu's military orders, and strictly followed the military orders, moving forward and backward, left and right, advancing and retreating, and crawling. The battle formation was in good order. Sun Wu asked the King of Wu to review the troops. However, the King of Wu was sad because his two concubines were killed and was unwilling to go. Sun Wu then met the King of Wu in person and said, "To enforce discipline and to distinguish rewards and punishments clearly is the common practice of military strategists and the general rule for generals to manage the army. Soldiers must be treated with dignity. Only in this way will they obey orders and win the battle." The King of Wu's anger subsided after hearing this. After reviewing the palace maids, he found that the orders were enforced and disciplined, and he was like a strong army. His anger completely dissipated and he appointed Sun Wu as a general."
Xia Qiang continued Hu Wei's words and slowly told the rest of the story.
"Oh, I understand. My dear nephew is not so much interested in this sentence in the memorial as he is in the story of Sun Wu training his troops in front of the palace. In this story, Sun Wu emphasized that only by being dignified over the soldiers can the soldiers obey orders and follow them. In other words, my dear nephew wants to emulate Sun Wu..."
After hearing this, uncle Zhu Shouren suddenly realized.
"Brother Zhu, you are wise." Hu Wei praised with a smile.
“Hehe, no, no…” Uncle Zhu Shouren waved his hands with satisfaction and laughed.