Chapter 210 - Discussing official business (1) (1/2)
Chapter 210 Discussing official business (1)
Translated by Gamer @ endlessfantasytranslations.com
(鲁 Lu Su. 陆 Lu Xu. And 吕 Lu Bu. All different Lu’s. What a big headache.)
Discussing official business. It was something every lord would need to do. This is because by doing this, they would be able to summarize the events of a period and also plan for their next objective. That way they could make their own territory stronger! Liu Mang reluctantly got out of bed that morning as he was a sick person. However, Boss Lu told him not to be late and he was afraid to go against Boss Lu.
(TN: It is something like those Councils if you have played ROTK 13(?) Translations did not say a specific time so I guess it must be ‘whenever they are free.’ Or something.)
Liu Mang got up early in the morning and went to a well-preserved courtyard to rest. It was not the government office as that place was already destroyed. It was heavily guarded outside and the generals walk in one-by-one. Some of their faces were familiar. Shucheng has been captured and the Zhou family in Shucheng were also beheaded. Inciting rebellion was not something that could be tolerated and the Zhou family were punished according to the law. Even those in Jiangdong could not say anything to that.
Gao Shun and Chen Gong were the only ones to return. Zhang Liao was left behind by old man Chen to a.s.sume command at Shucheng. Zhang Liao’s presence could help deter thieves from attacking. As Zhang Liao could command and fight, there is less chance of things going wrong. Zang Ba was also left behind to help Zhang Liao deal with things. With these two, Shucheng would be safe from harm and anyone that tries attacking it would be asking to die.
Old man Chen, Chen Deng, and Gao Shun. These were old faces in the army. The new faces were Huang Zhong, Huang Xu, Gan Ning, Xu Sheng, Liu Kai, and his son. Originally Su Fei was supposed to be here but he has already been killed. Although his figure was not here, Gan Ning saved a seat in memory of his brother Su Fei.
“Begin the council!” As Lu Bu walked into the hall, everyone cupped their fist and addressed him. As Lu Bu’s number one henchman, Chen Gong gave a cough and announced the start of the council.
“Gentlemen, to summon you here must have been hard for you!” This was just courtesty. Even Lu Bu knows he cannot avoid it as they were in the relations.h.i.+p of master and servant.
“Well, that is enough!” Lu Bu waved to stop them. Lu Bu used to enjoy being a lord but now he was fed up with it. However, he was helpless and Cheng Gong would stop him. “Start the proceedings!”
“Milord!” Chen Gong was the first to step out. He cupped his fist and began talking. “In the battle for Lujiang, our army have chased away Sun Ce’s Jiangdong Army. However, our army and those in Lujiang are abusing their power and looting everything. If there is no proper governance, there will be a second and third battle and we may even be driven out.”
“Abuse?” Lu Bu have noticed a lot but he was not as careful as Chen Gong. So even when Chen Gong was the one who break the news, everyone would need to provide support.
“Gongtai, you speak! The rest of you listen! See if there are any ideas to give.”
“First!” Chen Gong pointed to everyone and spoke. “Milord, although Lujiang is not as big as Xuzhou, and we only have a few cities, it is of great importance that we recruit talented people to help us govern Lujiang!” What Chen Gong pointed out was the lack of scribes. Besides him, there was only Yang Hong and Chen Deng who could be considered a scribe. The rest were mostly generals. Generals are able to conquer the lands but in the end, the lands need to be managed. If the citizens could not even survive, how could the ruler conquer the lands?
The reason Sun Ce’s Army could begin an attack so quickly and the reason why the news of the Zhou family’s rebellion came out late is because of the difference in intelligence. The reason Chen Deng almost died in Shucheng was all also because they did not have enough scribes. It would be impossible to govern territory without scribes. If they do not have their territories under control, they would not know what news came out or who reported anything. Besides that, scribes can bring the army taxes and provisions. Lu Bu’s current provisions were robbed from the n.o.ble’s houses. They could not constantly rob others. As a result, finding scribes for managing the territory is a top priority.
“These guys will not just appear like this!” Lu Bu frowned. Lu Bu has tried recruiting these people before but was always rejected as the famous people either considers him a snake or did not want to interact with a person that has bad reputation. Most scribes want fame. Only someone like Chen Gong was willing to follow Lu Bu. The rest just gave him a cold shoulder. He has failed to recruit anyone at Xuzhou and would probably fail to recruit anyone here as well. Lu Bu did not want to be given the cold shoulder again.
“This!” Chen Gong was a bit embarra.s.sed. It was true that Lu Bu’s reputation was terrible. Almost all the old and well-known families in Lujiang was also eradicated. Although these families were corrupted, Lu Bu’s reputation as a butcher only spread further. With the Jiangdong n.o.ble’s declaration of war, Lu Bu became even more notorious. Those people that have heard Lu Bu’s nickname, Slave of Three Surnames, would never work for Lu Bu! Even if they were willing to work for Lu Bu, Chen Gong would not dare to use them! He would be afraid of the army being sabotaged.
Chen Gong became anxious. This is because the n.o.bles are the only one that were rich enough to go to school. They could only learn how to manage the land if they read books. But now all of them were killed.
“This problem can be solved by our Liu family!” Seeing Chen Gong’s difficulty, Liu Kai spoke up. “Milord, Kai is without ability but Kai has lived on this land for a long time. As far as I know, there is someone in Wan Cheng who can fit the requirements.”
“There is?” Chen Gong thought it was strange. All the n.o.bles in Wan Cheng have already been beheaded. The only one remaining was the Liu family. Was Liu Kai talking about himself or his son? Chen Gong has chatted with Liu Neng before the council. Liu Neng had talent and was a promising young person. However, that is all it is. Chen Gong wanted working talents and not promising future prospects.
“It is not us, father and son!” Liu Kai saw Chen Gong’s expression of doubt and said. “In Wan Cheng city, it is not just us Liu family, but there is also a Lu, Han and Xu, these 3 families. These 3 families are ordinary and strange. The Lu family also have long history.” Liu Kai spoke slowly to Lu Bu. (TN: Ordinary as in ‘not n.o.ble’. Strange as in not random citizens.)
“Lu family?” Chen Gong’s eyes became bright. “But Minister Lu left the Lu family?!”
“Precisely!” Liu Kai opened his mouth. He would not be able to conceal the Lu family. Willing or not, the Lu family will eventually appear in front of Lu Bu. Rather than wait for it to happen, he might as well recommend them now to earn a bit of favour.
The man in Chen Gong’s mind was Lu Xu who had a beautiful appearance.