Chapter 217 Farewell, Phoenix's Ambition After staying in Longzhong for one night, Qin Zhen and others got up at dawn the next day and prepared to return to Xiangyang City. This is also because in ancient times people worked from sunrise to sunset and rested from sunset to sunrise. Although everyone was happily discussing philosophy, it was time to go to bed at the hour of Xu in the evening. Because Cui Jun, Meng Jian and Shi Tao lived close to each other, they left one after another when they saw that the time was almost up. Only the brothers Pang Tong and Pang Lin stayed behind. They all slept together for the night. The next day, when they saw Qin Zhen returning, they all came to see him off. I saw that Pang Degong was not as strong as Huang Chengyan, just a skinny old man. Sima Hui was dressed in Confucian clothes, with long flowing beard, looking like a hermit. The brothers Pang Tong and Pang Lin were both dressed as scholars, similar to Zhuge Liang. However, Pang Tong was not as ugly as rumored, and the description of Pang Tong's ugliness was also fiction. In fact, Pang Tong looked honest, quite similar to Xun You. He did not seem to have any talent, but he had an extraordinary demeanor.

Sitting together with Zhuge Liang, one can see that their styles are different. Kong Ming is relatively capable of handling practical matters and is very methodical in his work. Pang Tong was more elegant, good at conversation, and not so practical. At this time, everyone gathered together and said goodbye reluctantly. The three old men escorted everyone all the way to Longxia. Qin Zhen smiled and said: "I have sent you a thousand miles away, but we must part ways. I have official business to attend to, so I will not trouble you to send me off again!" "You three can stay here, we will leave soon!" "I have bothered you for one night, but I have no valuable gifts to give you. I only have a copy of the Chronicles of All Nations as a gift." "This book contains what I have learned from the oral accounts of merchants from all over the world over the years. It records the customs, traditions, myths and legends of all nations in the world." "You three elders can treat this as a book of strange stories and read it in your spare time!" As he spoke, he gestured behind him and Chen Dao hurriedly handed over a book. This book was originally written by Qin Zhen and is equivalent to a general history of the world. It records a large number of various civilization processes that are impossible to know in this era. After paper was invented, the first thing Qin Zhen did was to have people copy the books he had written one by one to facilitate future printing and publishing. Therefore, the volume he gave out now is also a handwritten version, and the original version is still at home. But even so, Pang Degong and others felt like they had found a treasure when they saw it. Because everyone chatted all night last night, and they didn't talk about any scriptures, but about everything under the sun. This happened to be Qin Zhen's strong point, and he was the one who talked most of the entire night, and everyone listened. The customs of ancient Greece, Rome, Arabia and other countries were revealed by Qin Zhen. Even Pang Degong, Sima Hui and others were stunned by the trick, and even their desire to live in seclusion from the world faded a lot, and they wanted to drive there to take a look in person. But Qin Zhen made it clear that due to the civil strife in the Kushan Empire in Central Asia, the land route was cut off and the only way to travel there was by water. This put an end to the three old men's desire to explore the west. However, after finally opening their eyes and seeing the world, the old men were naturally fascinated.

Now seeing Qin Zhen presenting him with a book, Pang Degong stroked his beard and said: "If we talk about the most learned people in the world today, there is really no one better than Qin Xiaoyou!" "We only treated you to a meal, but you gave us a piece of heaven and earth. This gift is more valuable than gold, silver and jewels. We are really ashamed to accept it!" Qin Zhen listened, shook his head and smiled: "Mr. Pang, I feel ashamed to accept this. This gift is a gift to me as your teacher. Please teach me more in the future!" "You wouldn't accept this gift from me and then refuse to take up the post tomorrow, would you?" After hearing this, Pang Degong, Sima Hui and others looked at each other and burst into laughter. In fact, Qin Zhen expressed his intention to open a university yesterday. Originally, the two had no intention of leaving the mountain, but Qin Zhen was too talkative. In addition, the university established by Qin Zhen was unprecedented, so the two of them could only temporarily agree like Huang Chengyan. Now seeing Qin Zhen mentioning this, Sima Hui smiled and said: "Don't worry, my friend. We are your friends and will lend you a helping hand!" "In fact, I think this university is quite interesting. Even if you don't want to go out, you should go and take a look!" "If Mr. Pang insists on not going, Cheng Yan and I will force him to go!" Huang Chengyan saw this and stopped Pang Degong's hand. "That's right, even though we are old, we should still look around!" "I'm just worried that this old man doesn't want to go far, so Decao and I will take him away!" Listening to the words of his two old friends, Pang Degong could only smile helplessly. He was a person who liked the Taoism of Huang Lao and really did not like being restricted. Seeing that both of his old friends wanted to go and take a look, he had no choice but to nod and agree. After everyone said goodbye, Qin Zhen and others crossed the Mian River and headed towards Xiangyang City. Along the way, Pang Tong's brother Pang Lin naturally pulled Qin Zhen aside to ask questions. For example, do Egyptian mummies really exist? Does the legendary Penglai Island exist? Are all foreigners blonde and blue-eyed? Qin Zhen looked at this curious little brother and answered his questions one by one. Behind Qin Zhen, Pang Tong looked at Qin Zhen who was talking, and couldn't help but asked Kong Ming: "Mr. Qin is only a few years older than the two of us. Where did he get all this knowledge?" "Did Mr. Qin ever go out to sea on a ship when he was young?" When Zhuge Liang heard this, he smiled and said: "I don't know either. If Shi Yuan has any questions, why don't you ask me in person?" Upon hearing this, Pang Tong smiled bitterly and said:

"If there are questions, they are countless and inexhaustible!" "The King of Qin is far away in Huainan, and the mission will only last a few days." "Asking about it now is just asking some superficial questions." "But after Qin Jun leaves, how will these questions be answered?" To be honest, Pang Tong now also wanted to follow Qin Zhen and ask him questions like Pang Lin did. But the problem was that he had too many questions in his mind. But Qin Zhen's conversation all night not only opened up a new world for him, but also brought up a lot of questions! This directly impacted Pang Tong's underlying worldview. It made sense to him, but he found it difficult to convince himself. This kind of knowledge is not like the knowledge of Sima Hui and others, where once you ask, there will be no more doubts; Qin Zhen's knowledge is the kind that the more you ask, the more doubts you have, and the more detailed your search is needed to understand it. In essence, he was an extremely studious person, just like Zhuge Liang. This feeling of being unable to understand was like millions of ants crawling on his body, which was even more painful than killing him! So he is very conflicted now. He wants to ask Qin Zhen for advice, but he feels that there is too little time. He was afraid that Qin Zhen would leave in the middle of the question, and then he would suffer unbearable torment. Seeing Pang Tong like this, Zhuge Liang touched his shoulder with his elbow and said with a smile: "If that's the case, why are you worried about going to Huainan, Brother Pang?" "To be honest, Brother Pang, what you have said now is just the tip of the iceberg!" "The real avenue is the books written by the master, all of which are kept in his home in Shouchun." "Every time Liang borrows it to read, he feels enlightened!" "I know you love to learn. If you go to Huainan, we can discuss the Dao every day. Wouldn't that be great?" Pang Tong listened to this and said with a smile: "Kong Ming has become a bad person. Why are you mocking me like this and trying to lure me into a government position?" To be honest, he hadn't seen Zhuge Liang for a long time, and he felt that Zhuge Liang had changed a little. In the past, Zhuge Liang was a true gentleman who was honest and spoke his mind. Now, honesty is still the same, but it has become much more flexible than before. Just like at this moment, he was clearly trying to lead him to serve Liu Bei, but on the surface he was only inviting him to go to school. This was not Zhuge Liang's previous style of doing things! Seeing this, Zhuge Liang could not let Pang Tong laugh at him, so he said with a smile: "I know that Shi Yuan has the talent of a great man, so I will recommend him to my lord. This is the way to do things!" "Besides, you and I are good friends. Seeing that you are confused, I should help you solve it. This is for personal reasons!" "Both of them have no intention of hiding anything, and both are clearly distinguished between public and private. Why not?" "It's just that Shi Yuan has lived in Xiangyang for a long time and has been influenced by those corrupt scholars, so he thinks I have ulterior motives."

"This is Tong's heart, not Liang's heart. Why do you misinterpret my intention like this?" After hearing his chatterbox, Pang Tong shook his head and smiled again, thinking that Kong Ming and Qin Zhen were truly a perfect match. Both of them are good at verbal debate, one can plan and the other is good at implementation. With these two people under Liu Bei's command, he is really not something that ordinary princes can resist. But he is different from Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang is a genius in domestic affairs, while he is good at military affairs. Now that Liu Bei already has talented people like Qin Zhen, Liu Ye, and Xu Shu under his command, he might be afraid it would be difficult for him to make a name for himself. So if he wanted to join Liu Bei's army, he had to make some achievements first. Although Liu Bei is going to attack Jiangdong now, it is obvious that there is no place for him to use his talents. Instead of going to Huainan to live a lazy life, it is better to wait in Jingzhou first. When Liu Bei encounters difficulties, he will come forward to rescue him. The effect will be far better than surrendering now! After thinking about it for a while, he smiled and said to Zhuge Liang: "Although I have the desire to learn, I am not in your position!" "No matter what you say, I won't go." "I just don't believe that if I don't go, your army won't come to Jingzhou." “Even though I have extensive knowledge, it will not be too late for me to continue learning when the time comes!” When Zhuge Liang heard this, his smile froze for a moment, and he understood Pang Tong's hidden meaning. First of all, it is certain that Pang Tong intended to join their army. But Pang Tong felt that the time was not right yet and that they would surrender only when they reached Jingzhou. Combining the two, we can infer that Pang Tong might very well regard Jingzhou as a stepping stone for his promotion! "Brother, do you really want to do this? You must know that the road to study is difficult, it is better to start early rather than late!" "My Lord is a man of tolerance and generosity, and you are also a man of talent." "Why do you want to waste your time like this and wait until another day to learn?" His meaning was very simple. He directly stated that my lord Liu Xuande thinks differently from you, and Mr. Qin is also the kind of person who promotes talents. Now is a good time to seek refuge, there is no need to wait until that time. However, when Pang Tong heard this, he refused to give in and just smiled and said: "Kong Ming once said that Shi Guangyuan and Meng Gongwei both became county governors, but Ru Zhi just smiled and said nothing." "My ambition is similar to Kong Ming's, and neither of them can be expressed in words." "Everyone has his own aspirations. There is no need to persuade Kong Ming anymore!" As soon as Pang Tong said this, Zhuge Liang was speechless. His ambition was to become a figure like Guan Zhong and Yue Yi, and Pang Tong obviously felt the same way. What kind of people are Guan Zhong and Yue Yi? In a sense, they are the present Qin Zhen. It's not about how talented you are, but about having enough autonomy. In other words, Pang Tong did not want to be promoted by Qin Zhen, but wanted to reach Qin Zhen's level with his own abilities. It doesn't mean that I have to compete with Qin Zhen, but at least I won't live under Qin Zhen's protection.

Zhuge Liang really couldn't say much about this ambition. After all, he and Pang Tong are good at different things. Even if he has no military achievements, he will be able to reach the pinnacle sooner or later. If Pang Tong did not have sufficient military merit, he would never reach Qin Zhen's status. Thinking of this, he stopped trying to persuade her and just smiled and said: "If you follow Shi Yuan's words, this road is very difficult. I hope to encourage you together!" He then changed the subject to another aspect, and when they reached the city of Xiangyang, they went their separate ways. When Qin Zhen saw Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong talking together, he naturally asked Pang Tong what he thought. When Zhuge Liang heard this, he briefly recounted the conversation between the two men. When Qin Zhen heard that Pang Tong intended to stay in Jingzhou and wait for the right opportunity, he smiled and said to Zhuge Liang: "I heard Fu Gongti say that Tong was half a hero, and Pang Degong praised him as a phoenix chick." “At first I did not understand its meaning, but now I see that a hero has not yet fulfilled his ambition, so he is called half, and a phoenix has not yet spread its wings, so he is called a chick.” "Since he wants to wait for him in Jingzhou, we might as well wait for the Phoenix to spread its wings!" Naturally, he could understand Pang Tong's reluctance to go. After all, in the original process, Pang Tong was eager to achieve success and personally led the troops to attack the city, and was killed by a stray arrow. Although the timeline has changed now, Pang Tong's determination to achieve great things has not changed. Not wanting to follow him around is not a bad thing! On the contrary, if Fengchu is left in Jingzhou, there might be some surprises when they take over Jingzhou in the future. He is looking forward to it! While talking to Kong Ming, he also came to the yamen and, under the leadership of Kuai Liang, walked into the mansion again. . (End of this chapter)