Summary of the previous chapter: Ma Zheng returned, and the Ma family held a banquet to celebrate. After the banquet, Ma Xiaoquan called his eldest son Ma Xiao and Ma Zheng together and gave instructions to the two sons...
Ma Xiao and his younger brother Ma Zheng looked at each other and said in unison: "Xiao'er, please listen to your father's teachings!"
Ma Xiaoquan nodded and said: "Xiao'er, Zheng'er, this Ma family was founded by your father and me over twenty years ago. Although he didn't do much housework before, he never forgot to teach you that your mother
Dear, dad treats everyone equally and has never shown any favoritism...so...from now on, when dad is gone, you brothers should live in harmony. When encountering difficulties, brothers should face them together, do you understand?"
"Dad, we understand."
"Well," Ma Xiaoquan continued, "and your mothers, no matter which mother they are, they must be treated equally! There must be no favoritism, Xiao'er, you are the future head of the family, you must keep this in mind
Remember it!"
Ma Xiao nodded respectfully: "Yes!"
"Third...this is also the most critical thing at the moment..."
Ma Zheng answered: "Dad, the most important thing you want to say is Mao Gang?"
Ma Xiaoquan smiled slightly: "And Mr. Lu!"
"Mr. Lu?" The two brothers looked at each other, "Dad, I always hear you mention Mr. Lu. What kind of person is this Mr. Lu?"
Ma Xiaoquan frowned slightly, shook his head and said, "Father, I can't actually say, but one thing that is certain is... Mr. Lu must not be kept, and if he has descendants, he cannot be kept either...
..Dad will try his best to help you deal with Lu Xian, but... Lu Xian's descendants, I will leave it to you to deal with."
Ma Xiao has never had blood on his hands, but he is still worried about killing people. The "solution" his father Ma Xiaoquan said was to put it bluntly, he wanted to kill people.
Ma Zheng was different. During the days when he and Wang Dali were hanging out together, Ma Zheng would snatch food and clothing from others from time to time. During this period, there were many resistances. Whether it was others resisting him or he resisting others, the final result was
Ma Zheng survived, but the other party was killed by him.
Seeing Ma Xiao trembling a little, Ma Xiaoquan patted his eldest son's shoulder gently: "Don't worry, Xiao'er. With Zheng'er here, Zheng'er must be more willing to do such a job, right?"
Ma Zheng nodded and imitated his father to comfort his brother: "Brother, please don't worry. If you encounter any errands that require killing people in the future, just leave it to me."
Ma Xiao bit his lip and shook his head resolutely: "No, this is a troubled world. There should be ways to survive in troubled times. Dad, I will work hard to overcome it."
Ma Xiaoquan gave a bitter smile. If he didn't know that Ma Xiao would die in the future, he would really be very satisfied at this moment. But... who could be satisfied knowing that his son would die in the future?
"Hey," Ma Xiaoquan sighed, "As for Kun'er, he likes reading and is very suitable for an official career. Our Ma family cannot live without someone in the court, so Ma Kun, I have other plans for him... Well
... I think we should take him to meet someone tomorrow... As for Ma Qiang... he is your Qiniang's child. Qiniang wants to sort out the Baiyi Clan's documents.
Let Ma Qiang develop on his own, and dad won’t impose any restrictions. Xiao’er Zheng’er, what do you think of dad’s arrangement?”
The two sons thought for a moment and shook their heads.
"Okay! That's good!"
...
The next day, Ma Xiaoquan led his second son Ma Kun to Cao Cao's palace.
After meeting Cao Cao, Ma Xiaoquan recommended Ma Kun to Cao Cao.
Ma Kun is the best among Ma Xiaoquan's older sons in reading, but... his thinking is not very quick.
Ma Kun has a more stable personality. Although he is not as good as his brother Ma Xiao, he is still half a piece of rough jade. As long as such a person is carefully crafted, he will always shine one day.
Cao Cao looked at Ma Kun carefully and made his own calculations in his mind.
Cao Cao considers himself a hero, but his son may not be able to achieve his achievements. With the current world situation, it is temporarily impossible to conduct large-scale campaigns in the north and south. At present, Cao Cao is more seeking stability.
After asking Ma Kun a few questions, Cao Cao nodded with satisfaction and said to Ma Xiaoquan: "Sir Shangxian, I have accepted your second son, but your second son is still young and needs some experience.
....How about I find him a teacher?”
Ma Xiaoquan said humbly: "I have this intention as well. Xiao Cao, what do you think of Chen Lin?"
Cao Cao asked: "Why does Master Shangxian like Chen Lin?"
Ma Xiaoquan smiled and said: "Because Chen Lin scolded you a long time ago..."
Cao Cao was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Haha... Master Shangxian still remembers the past. Yes, Chen Lin is indeed knowledgeable. Okay, then I agree, but...
.... Chen Lin is not in good health right now, so she’s afraid she won’t accept it?”
Ma Xiaoquan smiled slightly: "You don't have to worry about this, Xiao Cao. I have a clever plan of my own."
...
After leading their son out of Cao Cao's palace, the two came to Chen Lin's residence.
Chen Lin is sixty-one years old this year. Due to physical reasons, she rarely went to court a few years ago. Now she mainly cultivates at home.
When she heard that Master Shangxian was coming to visit, Chen Lin dragged her sick body out to greet him.
When he met Chen Lin, Ma Xiaoquan explained his purpose of coming straight to the point.
Chen Lin didn't want to accept a student at first, but thinking about her good relationship with Master Shangxian, she also fell in love with Ma Kun, so she immediately agreed to Ma Xiaoquan's request and accepted Ma Kun as a student.
When Ma Xiaoquan saw that Chen Lin's son was not around, he asked Ma Kun to live in the teacher's house and serve the teacher while studying with him.
Others don't know it, but Ma Xiaoquan knows something very important.
Chen Lin is sixty-one years old this year. According to historical records, Chen Lin died of illness at the age of sixty-two. In other words, Chen Lin will pass away in one year.
Under the current official system, although Cao Cao has issued several orders to promote talents based on merit, if you want to be justified, you still have to choose the safest way to promote filial piety and integrity.
To put it bluntly, promoting Xiaolian is just a formality, but this formality must be such that no one can gossip. With Ma Xiaoquan's current status, it is not impossible to rashly ask for an official position for his son, but if the official request comes, he is afraid that
He was also envied and reviled by others.
Instead of doing this, it is better to give his son a filial piety and integrity. Ma Xiaoquan thought about it for a few days and finally came up with this idea for Chen Lin.
As long as Chen Lin dies next year, and his son, as Chen Lin's student, takes advantage of the opportunity to be a filial and honest man, and then becomes an official, it will be more justifiable...
Thinking of this, Ma Xiaoquan breathed out heavily.
In his left eye, Yuan read Ma Xiaoquan's thoughts and couldn't help but sigh: "Ma Xiaoquan, you have really good intentions."
...
After solving Ma Kun's problem, Ma Xiaoquan shifted the focus of his goals back.
Now I have obtained the solar recorder, but I am missing a key and four square meters of gold.
Ma Xiaoquan now wants to find Yuan Fang as soon as possible, after all, Yuan Fang holds the key.
But... one thing that makes Ma Xiaoquan very unhappy is... Yuan Ming knows where Lu Xian is, but doesn't tell him.
Ma Xiaoquan really wanted to go out and search the whole city to find Lu Xian, but if he didn't catch Lu Xian in the first time, he might alert the snake. In this case, it might not be that easy to find Lu Xian again.
After much thought, Ma Xiaoquan decided to follow Yuan's words for the time being.
Anyway, as long as the source is there, Ma Xiaoquan is not afraid of Lu Xian causing trouble in Yecheng.
Of course, having said that, Ma Xiaoquan still reminded Cao Cao and asked him to take good care of Yecheng's security work.
...
In late June of the 21st year of Jian'an, the Xiongnu Nan Shan Yu Huyanquan suddenly wrote a letter to Cao Cao, saying that he would come to see the King of Wei.
The Xiongnu were located in Mobei and had fierce folk customs. Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, they had harassed the people many times, burned, killed, and looted, causing great trouble to the Central Plains.
Although Cao Cao has basically unified the north, the Huns in Mobei have always been a thorn in Cao Cao's side.
After reading Hu Yanquan's letter, Cao Cao decided to ask Shangxian Master Ma Xiaoquan for his opinion first.