Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 99
After rectifying the family tradition, the servants of Zhuge's family no longer dared to be lazy and play tricks, and all of them worked honestly.

Soon Zhuge Xuan's funeral was properly arranged.

After the "small mortuary" was over, the servants flew to various places in Jingzhou to report the news of Zhuge Xuan's death to his former friends and tell them to come to express their condolences.

The people who came yesterday were actually relatively close. Zhuge Xuan was an official in Jingzhou for many years before his death, and he made many friends. Nanyang, Nanjun, Jiangxia, and even the four counties of Jingnan have official families who are his friends, so the people who need to be notified Much.

During this period of time, Zhuge Liang, with the help of Sister Zhuge, Kuai Qi, Pang Shanmin, Shen Chen and others, arranged the mourning hall for condolences, and purchased a large amount of spices for the funeral.

At the same time, they rented the houses of the surrounding villagers to make banquets, set up a large number of table cases in the vestibule, and hired a mourning band in the yard to promote.

On the third day, close relatives and friends began to come to express their condolences. For example, Deng Hong, Liu Xian, Kuai Liang, Huang Chengyan, Cai Zan, Cai Yan, etc. who came once a few days ago had to come again with gifts. It's called a funeral.

After several days in a row, Zhuge's house became a lot more lively.There was an endless stream of people who came to express their condolences every day, and some even came from other places. Even Liu Biao, the shepherd of Jingzhou, did not come in person, but he sent his confidant Cheng Qi to express condolences on his behalf.

The four brothers and sisters of Zhuge Liang wore filial piety clothes every day, knelt down in front of the deceased, and did the work of reception and vigil.

Because at that time condolences were not in the coffin, but the dead were placed on a mat covered with spices.

A filial son has to guard his relatives, pay attention to their daily changes all the time, do a good job of anti-corrosion and deodorization treatment, and at the same time have to thank the guests, so this work is still very exhausting.

Under such circumstances, the Zhuge sisters fell ill one after another, either because of a serious illness, or because they were too tired and weak.Then Zhuge Jun also fell due to his young age, and in the end only Zhuge Liang was left to hold on.

Shen Chen was not a direct relative, nor was Zhuge Xuan's disciple, so naturally he couldn't wear filial piety instead, so he helped welcome guests at the door.

Kuai Qi and Pang Shanmin each replaced their wives, and accompanied Zhuge Liang in filial piety to thank the guests and give Zhuge Xuan antiseptic and deodorant treatment.

The so-called anti-corrosion and anti-odor is actually to scrub the body with wine every day, then sprinkle spices, wrap it in silk cloth, and finally put ice cubes around the dead to cool down.

This work was done every day. At that time, the alcohol content was not high, but it was barely usable, but Shen Chen sent someone to bring distilled alcohol.

The highest degree of distilled alcohol can reach 96 degrees, but that is the industrial level.

After the Yuan Dynasty, the distilled wine was generally at 40-60 degrees, and repeated distillation could reach 70-80 degrees, which can just play the effect of alcohol sterilization.

Before Shen Chen prepared these to disinfect the wounded soldiers on the battlefield, and now they come in handy.

It's just that there are too many people coming.

Although the Zhuge family is not a top-notch family, once they got married with the Pang family of the Kuai family, the status of the Zhuge family among the aristocratic families in Jingzhou also increased.

Secondly, Zhuge Xuan himself has been an official in Jingzhou for many years and knows many people, so there are countless mourners.

At that time, coming to the funeral didn't mean calling and notifying, and everyone came to have a meal together.

Due to the inconvenience of information and transportation in ancient times, relatives and friends in remote places have to travel long distances if they want to come here.

It may take more than ten days from the notification to the funeral for a distance of two to three hundred kilometers.

So at that time, it was not uncommon for the great families of the aristocratic family to stop for ten days and half a month, or even longer.

Now the Zhuge sisters and Zhuge Jun have fallen one after another, Kuai Qi and Pang Shanmin often take turns to rest, only Zhuge Liang is still struggling.

Every day, there are receptions, vigils, alcohol wipes for Zhuge Xuan, and constant replacement of ice cubes.

Although there are many people to help, it is inevitable to feel tired.

Zhuge Liang got up at four or five o'clock in the morning almost every day, and worked until midnight to one o'clock in the evening, with an average sleep of only two or three hours. Whether it was Shen Chen or other relatives and friends, they felt distressed.

But he is the head of the family, and after Zhuge Xuan died, he became the pillar, so even if everyone persuaded him to rest well, they had to continue to hold on to prevent himself from falling down.

As a result, the funeral took half a month, and it was finally buried in the coffin on March 22, and the official burial on the 23rd ended the funeral.

After Zhuge Xuan was buried, Zhuge Liang returned home, and before returning to his room to sleep, he collapsed on the ground and passed out.

Everyone rushed to help him to the room, and called a doctor for diagnosis and treatment.

Fortunately, the doctor said that it was not a serious illness, just like Zhuge sisters and Zhuge Jun, they were just overworked, but their bodies have reached the edge, and they must not hold on any longer. They must take a good rest, otherwise there will be serious problems.

For this reason, Shen Chen made the decision and asked the servants to take care of Zhuge Liang's daily life first. He and Zhuge Jun were responsible for the aftermath of Zhuge Xuan's funeral, such as dismantling the mourning hall, registering the gifts left by the visitors, counting the expenses of the past few days, and paying for the band, cloth, etc. Shops, spice shops and other shops to check out and so on.

It was not until the morning of the third day that Zhuge Liang woke up faintly. That is to say, he passed out the afternoon of the day before yesterday, slept all day yesterday, and slept until the morning of the third day, sleeping for two full days and two nights.

When he woke up, he saw Anu guarding him, and set up a floor beside the bed. In fact, the servants of rich families in ancient times were generally not treated as human beings. When guarding the master, they were often counted as shifts for 24 hours and were not allowed to rest. In order to obey the master's orders at any time.

But these child servants are all servants raised since childhood. They have been with them for many years and have deep feelings. They are also considered half masters. Therefore, before Zhuge Jun saw them standing beside Zhuge Liang and leaning on the wooden couch drowsy, he asked them to make beds. sleep on the floor.

Zhuge Liang didn't wake up Anu. Anu is a 12-year-old girl with two braids. There are many virgins like them at home. After more than half a month, they are exhausted and need to rest.

Walking out of the house and looking at the sky, the sky outside seems to have just dawned, and it is still a little gray. It should be at the beginning of sunrise, that is, around five or six o'clock in the morning. The door of the study next to him is open. A little fire seemed to have just been extinguished, which surprised Zhuge Liang.

When he came to the study, he saw Shen Chen sitting by the desk, crackling and calculating.

Many people think that during the Eastern Han Dynasty or the Southern and Northern Dynasties, what actually appeared was the prototype of the abacus, a simple abacus that could only be used for addition and subtraction.

The real abacus appeared in the Yuan Dynasty, and it was not widely used until the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.But this thing itself has no technical content. Shen Chen learned it when he was in elementary school, so he made it early.

To settle accounts this time, he asked someone to go to Deng Hong's house to get an abacus. Zhuge Liang didn't know what it was, so he said strangely, "Brother, what are you doing here?"

"Oh?"

Shen Chen turned his head, saw Zhuge Liang, and said with a smile: "Brother is up?"

Zhuge Liang came over and saw the abacus in front of Shen Chen, and writing on the other side with a bamboo slip and a brush, and said, "I feel much better after a night of sleep. Brother, is he settling accounts?"

Shen Chen wrote another note on the bamboo slips, and said: "Brother didn't sleep for one night, but for two days. You are too tired during this time, so you should take a rest. The past half month has indeed cost a lot. , but it’s all settled now.”

"Two days?"

Zhuge Liang murmured, then suddenly looked at Shen Chen in surprise and said, "In two days, have you calculated the expenses for this half month?"

Shen Chen smiled slightly: "There are some special methods, I will teach you next time."

Although the mathematics in the Han Dynasty was relatively developed, there were classics such as "Xu Shang's Arithmetic", "Du Zhong's Arithmetic", "Zhou Bi's Arithmetic", "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic", etc., but the calculation method was not simple.

Calculus can only be used for simple addition and subtraction. The above calculation methods of multiplication and division require a lot of energy, and often rely on the brain to do calculations. The calculation process is very simple, and only the questions, solutions and answers are written on the bamboo slips.

After all, the bamboo slips are written in such a way that it is almost impossible to do specific calculations.Therefore, mathematics at that time was very obscure and difficult to understand, and even the simplest "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic" was confusing.

Zhuge Liangliang nodded and said, "Brother, you have worked hard for the past two days, and you haven't slept all night?"

"No, I got up early."

Shen Chen said: "Yesterday, I ordered everyone to deal with the last things. I went to bed at sunset in the evening. When I woke up at three o'clock in the morning, I wanted to settle the accounts first."

"You don't start to settle accounts until three quarters a week?"

Zhuge Liang was surprised again, which meant that Shen Chen had settled the accounts of the past half month in less than an hour, which was too fast.

Shen Chen knew why he was surprised, so he waved his hands and said, "I'll teach you next time, let's not talk about this, brother, how does your body feel?"

"It's okay, it's much better."

Zhuge Liang sat cross-legged beside him, and seeing that he was still making calculations with his abacus, he said, "I've been wanting to ask brother, what are your plans after you leave the academy?"

"Are you going to?"

Shen Chen recorded another bill that had been calculated, raised his head and looked at the ceiling, thought for a while and said, "I plan to make a statement first."

"Li Yan?"

"Well, the ignorance of the world is due to the ignorance of the world's principles. I want to speak out to warn the world."

"Are you going to write a book?"

Zhuge Liang was very curious. At that time, if people spoke up, they would write books to spread their theories, such as Yang Xiong.

So although he did the very politically incorrect thing of joining Wang Mang at the time, he still had a lot of support in the Eastern Han Dynasty. For more than a hundred years, there were countless disciples and old officials, and the influence was far-reaching.

Shen Chen nodded and said: "I have this idea, but before that, I must become famous in Jingzhou, otherwise no one will come to me to learn."

"Is it famous in Jingzhou?"

Zhuge Liang thought for a moment, then suddenly laughed: "I heard that you are an enemy of the imperial court, I am afraid that the big families will not help you make a name for yourself."

At that time, fame and talent were actually secondary, and family background was the most important.

Pang Tong was unknown before, but Sima Hui's words that Pang Tong was the top celebrity in Nanzhou could make him famous.

The problem is that Sima Hui didn't start a live broadcast and told everyone in front of Jingzhou that Pang Tong is very talented, so how did this word spread?

Naturally, it was because the Pang family was helping behind the scenes.

And Xi Zhen.

Pang Tong himself was called "Fengchu" in history, and later he helped Liu Bei take Sichuan with many strategies.

Even if he died early, he still proved his talent.

At the time, Xi Zhen's reputation was second only to Pang Tong and above Ma Liang, but he later defected to Liu Bei, but did not show any ability.

After entering Sichuan for more than ten years, there was nothing special about him, and finally disappeared in the history books.

Is it because Liu Bei didn't know people well and didn't reuse him?

Naturally not.

The most powerful thing about Liu Bei is his knowledge of people, and he treated Xi Zhen well, so he was appointed as the prefect of Guanghan.

But even so, he did not emerge, let alone spread the word.

So this can only prove that Xi Zhen is actually mediocre.

Fame is all fueled by the family.

Shen Chen's family background is very poor, and he is an outsider in Jingzhou. The most important thing is the battle of Nanyang, which offended a large number of surrender factions.

How easy is it to become famous?

However, Shen Chen looked at Zhuge Liang with piercing eyes and said: "It's okay, I have already thought about it, if they don't help me to make a name for myself, then I will step on their heads, only incompetent mediocre people are afraid of others' criticism. "

Zhuge Liang looked at his firm eyes, nodded slightly and said: "Brother has such ambition, I am ashamed of my brother, what can I do for help?"

Shen Chen said: "I'm still thinking about the way, please help me, brother."

"it is good."

Zhuge Liang said: "Then I will help you make a statement."

　The update may be unstable in the past two days, and I will not go back until the 7th.Now in my hometown, I still have to attend a classmate’s wedding. In the last two days, because the time is not fixed, I may only update 4000 words or even ask for leave. There is really no way, please bear with me.But don’t worry, I will make up for the few changes. For example, if I only change 4000 words tomorrow, I will owe 2 chapters. Wanzi, and the subsequent content will also be climaxed. The protagonist is about to win Jingchu and stand on the top of Jingzhou Shilin. Please look forward to it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)