Liu Qi left Longzhong and asked his personal soldiers to escort Xu Shu back to Wancheng, while he himself returned to Xinye.
Huang Zhongyan said, "On the way just now, I saw the military advisor hesitated several times as if he was about to speak, as if he had something to hide."
Liu Qi sighed: "When it's time to speak, he will speak naturally."
Huang Zhong frowned and said, "Just now in Longzhong, the boy called the military advisor 'Yuanzhi'. I guess his identity is suspicious."
Liu Qi smiled and said, "The title is just a code name. As long as the military advisor sincerely helps me and does not harm others, it will be enough!"
Huang Zhong nodded slightly, and the two of them came to Xinye, which was currently managed by Huo Jun, Sun Qian and Yi Ji, and handed over the list of recent recruits.
Liu Qi looked at them one by one. Although he recruited a lot of people, none of them was famous. Basically, all the celebrities in Nanyang had been recruited.
As for whether there will be any dark horses on this list, it depends on their respective abilities and performances.
Times make heroes. Those who have not left their names in history are not necessarily incompetent, it’s just that the opportunity has not yet arrived.
Even those who left their names behind were only short-lived. For example, if the young general from Qu'a whom Liu Qi met had been reused, perhaps the situation would have been different.
No one can predict the impact of the butterfly effect!
What's more, Liu Qi has already changed history. While the overall situation remains unchanged, he is collecting as many talents as possible.
After looking at the list, Liu Qi asked, "Has Deng Ai been found?"
This time I went to Xinye not to look at the list of names, but came specifically for this famous general from the late Three Kingdoms period.
Yi Ji replied: "There are three people who meet the requirements, but none of them is called Deng Ai. Please check it yourself, General."
When setting out for Fancheng, Liu Qi asked Yi Ji and Deng Zhi to send people to search. Although the Deng family was a large family in Xinye with countless side branches, it should not be difficult to find a stuttering child around ten years old.
Moreover, Liu Qi had an even more peculiar requirement, which was that the son had to lose his father at a young age and depend on each other for survival!
This made the two of them wonder for a time whether Liu Qi had the same hobby as Cao Cao!
After the news of the missing person spread, it caused a sensation in Xinye, and the rumors became more and more outrageous, until it was said that the person was looking for Liu Biao's illegitimate son.
"Bring them all in!" Liu Qi suddenly remembered that Deng Ai later changed his name.
After Cao Cao pacified Jingzhou, he forcibly relocated people to fill the population gap in the Central Plains. Deng Ai changed his name after he arrived in Runan.
A casual word from a superior may very likely determine the fate of thousands of people.
Soon three teenagers were brought in, the oldest was twelve years old and the youngest was seven years old. All three were dressed up carefully.
One of them was wearing a rough linen coat, which was even patched, but it was also washed cleanly.
Liu Qi is the eldest son of the governor of Jingzhou, and he became famous in one battle. What an honor it is to meet him
Even those who originally laughed at other children's stuttering were envious, not to mention their own parents, who naturally paid extra attention.
Looking at the three people, Liu Qi asked with a smile: "What are your names?"
The older one clasped his fists and said in a very serious manner: "Here, here, here... I am Deng Deng Deng... Man~" Then he twitched the corner of his mouth fiercely.
The younger ones quickly followed suit and said, "I... my name is... Deng, Deng Ming!"
Liu Qi nodded slightly. His eyes were actually always on the child in coarse cloth. Deng Ai's branch had long been in decline, otherwise he would not have become a cowherd.
He stood alone behind the two of them, looking a little inferior, with his head lowered and pinching the corner of his clothes.
As the saying goes, a poor man has low aspirations. Add to that his stuttering and he must have been laughed at a lot.
"It's your turn!" Yi Ji saw the child lowering his head and stepped forward to remind him.
The young man clenched his fists, his chest rising and falling, and took a deep breath. He suddenly raised his head and shouted, "My name is Ah Niu!"
"What?" Liu Qi was surprised, "You don't stutter?"
"General, Deng Aniu has been a stutterer since he was a child. He, he, he..." The headman who brought him here was so anxious that he stuttered. He pointed at the young man and said sternly, "You, you better speak properly!"
The young man pursed his lips, looking very angry, and said with a red face: "Sir, a gentleman respects others' virtues and praises others'...beauty. Why do you... take pleasure in his...others' shortcomings?"
"How dare you!" The village head was furious and stepped forward to hit him: "Good boy, you don't know how high the sky is and how deep the earth is."
"Stop!" Liu Qi shouted, waving his hand and saying, "Leave only Deng Aniu and his son, and send the rest back."
Yi Ji immediately ordered someone to take the other two children out and have them sent back home by the police.
Liu Qi already had an idea in his mind. Even if this boy was not Deng Ai, his temperament and knowledge alone showed that he was a promising talent.
Soon a middle-aged woman came in, and seeing that the child was fine, she came up and hugged him tightly.
Liu Qi asked with a smile: "Deng Aniu speaks the words of ancient philosophers, so he must have studied and learned literature. I wonder who taught him?"
Deng's mother answered carefully, "There were some classics in the family. Although my late husband died young due to illness, I have been teaching him to read, hoping that he will become a successful person in the future."
Liu Qi smiled and said, "In the past, Meng's mother moved three times, which was passed down as a beautiful story. You stayed poor and raised your children, which is quite like Meng's mother."
Deng's mother smiled with relief: "Although Ah Niu is slow in speech and dull in tone, he can learn to read and write quickly. It's worth all my hard work."
Yi Ji asked in confusion, "Is this the person Dalang is looking for?"
"That's right!" Liu Qi explained, "I was keeping vigil for my uncle in the city that day, and I had a dream at night. My uncle asked me to find the stuttering child of the Deng family. He will become a great man in the future and help me revive the Han Dynasty. Your son is much braver than his peers, so he must be the one who answered my dream."
Yi Ji was also surprised and reminded: "But his name is not Deng Ai!"
Liu Qi looked at the mother and son and said with a smile, "Your son has an ordinary appearance like wormwood, but a noble heart like orchid. How about I name him Deng Ai?"
"Thank you, General, for the name!" Mother Deng was flattered and hurriedly pulled Deng Aniu to kneel down: "Hurry up and thank the General."
Although Deng Aniu didn't understand what was going on, he saw that Liu Qi had no ill intentions, so he knelt on the ground and kowtowed obediently.
"This... this is also possible?" Yi Ji widened his eyes.
Deng Ai could not be found, but he was given a name now. Is this a trick
Liu Qi said, "This matter has caused a lot of uproar. If he stays in Xinye, he will inevitably be disturbed. You guys pack up and I will send him to the Rang County Academy to study."
Deng's mother replied, "To be honest, my mother and I depend on each other for survival. At first, we thought the government was conscripting us for labor service, so we had already packed our bags and left the house, preparing to flee to another place."
Liu Qi sighed and said, "Don't worry, everything will be fine in the future. I will also ask someone to treat Deng Ai's stuttering."
"General, your kindness is so great that my mother and I are willing to repay you with a gift of grass and a ring!" Deng's mother knelt on the ground again and couldn't help crying with her hands covering her mouth. She had suffered so much for this child for many years, but finally she had made it through.
"Okay, you guys go to the inn to rest first and leave the city tomorrow morning." After finding Deng Ai, Liu Qi felt relieved.
During the turbulent times of the Three Kingdoms, many heroes emerged, but there were only a handful of people who were both civil and military talents who could charge into battle and give advice. The most famous were the old enemies Deng Ai and Jiang Wei.
Although becoming famous requires opportunities, anyone who is recorded in history must be a genius.
Deng Ai was a self-taught cowherd who was comparable to Jiang Wei, who came from an aristocratic family. If he was carefully trained, he would surely reach a higher level.
"Da Lang, since it was Envoy Liu who sent you a dream, you shouldn't be so rash." Yi Ji believed Liu Qi's words.
Liu Qi smiled and said, "My uncle said in my dream: This person is born like a rough jade, and still needs to be carved."
Yi Ji pinched his beard and was skeptical: "Is this man a rough diamond?"
Liu Qi nodded seriously and said, "It's obvious that he is!"