Chen Xi wasn't aware of Zhuge Liang's thoughts. If he knew, he would probably laugh uncontrollably. Escaping all the world's schemes? Since the beginning, he had lost count of how many times he miscalculated. If it weren't for always preparing for things to go wrong, he didn't know how many times he would have failed by now. But perhaps it was this very mindset that made others think he was always prepared...
After that, the two didn't speak much, traveling eastward in an open carriage under Hua Xiong's protection. Meanwhile, Lu Su's secret letter and signed military orders were being sent to Beihai at the fastest possible speed.
Traveling swiftly, with hundreds of cavalry escorting them, they encountered no incidents and soon crossed Langya State into Qingzhou. On their way through Xuzhou, Chen Xi overheard many criticisms of Li You's inaction, and of course, many local noble families had once again started making trouble.
"Your Zhuge family moved, huh?" Chen Xi asked, puzzled. In this timeline, Cao's forces hadn't invaded Langya, so why would the Zhuge family move?
"Yes, the Zhuge family has moved. The Zhuge family is no more," Zhuge Liang sighed. He still found it strange that such a large family had been split in two because of his brother Zhuge Jin's anger.
"What happened? I was interested in your brother. If Cao Cao isn't an option, he can come to us—I'd warmly welcome him," Chen Xi asked, baffled. The Zhuge family had no reason to relocate.
Zhuge Liang sighed and explained the situation in detail. Essentially, Zhuge Jin had rebelled against the family's orders, refusing to join Cao Cao. He had said that anyone who wanted to go to Cao Cao could, but he certainly wasn't going.
Although the issue had initially been suppressed by Xun You, the local noble families who had taken note of the incident knew the truth. Afterward, Liu Bei's extensive promotion of the matter and Cao Cao's defeat led everyone to believe that Cao Cao was finished. Those famous scholars who had previously feared Cao Cao now openly praised Liu Bei, further tarnishing Cao Cao's reputation.
This was why, despite Cao Cao awakening his potential, no one came to join him. His reputation had been nearly destroyed. Even Sima Lang, who had already joined him, felt conflicted, and if not for his sense of duty, he might have left already.
On another note, after Chen Xi absorbed the split-off factions of the Chen family, some capable noble officials gradually joined Liu Bei. For example, Xun Yu's third brother, Xun Yan, and Xun Yue.
These two weren't any less capable than Chen Qun, but they had evidently not received support from the Xun family. The reason was that Xun Yue's political and legal philosophies were based on a principle of "teaching"—meaning that people needed to be educated before discussing politics and law; otherwise, it was all empty talk.
Xun Yan, on the other hand, had conflicting ideas with Xun Yu. Xun Yan didn't think much of Xun Yu's vision of selecting loyal and capable individuals to assist the Han dynasty and then returning power to the court after success.
Xun Yan's stance was, "By then, who would still listen to such instructions? Loyalty is merely a matter of insufficient incentives for betrayal. Instead of dealing with a power struggle later, why not install a Han relative from the start? Even if the Han dynasty is replaced, it's still an internal matter. What's the big deal about a dead emperor?"
So, Xun Yan nearly caused a rift in the Xun family with his ideas. Xun Yu absolutely couldn't tolerate such thinking!
In the end, Xun Yan and Xun Yue were effectively banished from the Xun family. But when Liu Bei's speech at the altar reached them, the Chen family didn't hesitate to allocate their own people who aligned with Liu Bei's ideology to join him.
As a result, the Xun family sent over these two banished figures, along with a group of Xun family members who shared their ideas. Large families like this inevitably had internal divisions.
When Xun Yue arrived, Liu Bei talked with him for an entire night and then assigned him to work with Man Chong on legal matters. Liu Bei found that Xun Yue had an even deeper understanding of the law than Man Chong. As for Xun Yan, Liu Bei sent him to manage Donglai in Qingzhou and help establish ports.
In short, with a shared ideology, Liu Bei now had quite a few competent noble officials at his disposal. It's remarkable how the noble families at the end of the Han dynasty were so complex that they even produced individuals who undermined their own foundations.
Perhaps it was because the large families had grown too powerful and no longer knew which direction to take. Xun Yue, with his ideas that threatened the foundation of the noble families, was somehow still tolerated.
Evidently, the Zhuge family was no different. Zhuge Jin adamantly refused to join Cao Cao. If it were just him, it might not have mattered, but with the Zhuge family's influence, he would have eventually been forced to join. Over time, he might have been softened.
But in the end, Zhuge Jin didn't just rebel against the family; he led a split. Zhuge Jin took half the family's influence and left with those who shared his views, determined to rebuild the Zhuge family. As for the original Zhuge family, who knew who would come out on top in the end?
This left Zhuge Feng and the rest in an awkward position. The two sides were evenly matched, so a family civil war was out of the question. That would just make the Xuzhou noble families laugh.
So Zhuge Feng and his faction decided to move the remaining family members to Jingzhou, where the Pang and Huang families were. They could thrive there. As for lacking talent, wasn't Zhuge Feng's son, Zhuge Dan, also a genius? If he wasn't as good as Zhuge Liang, he was still as capable as Zhuge Jin. It might take another five to eight years, but the Zhuge family could wait.
As Zhuge Liang recounted the story, Chen Xi couldn't help but think that Zhuge Jin was being unreasonable. If the family had split, why bother staying? He could have come to their side in Taishan. Even if he didn't want to, he could have stayed in Xuzhou as a prefect or something. What was the point of all this drama?
"So what's your brother's situation now? Where is he? And you, which side of the Zhuge family do you belong to?" Chen Xi asked curiously. Zhuge Jin was still quite valuable.
"He seems to have gone to Yuzhou, and there's talk of him heading to Sichuan. As for me, I belong to the Zhuge family, but not to either side," Zhuge Liang replied with a frown.
Chen Xi was taken aback. Zhuge Liang was ambitious. After the family split, he still wanted to rebuild it. Were all the noble families of this era like this? But it was a good thing, after all.
"If you're not aligned with either Zhuge faction, then work hard. I'm not lacking in wealth, but building a new family is something I'm still figuring out. If you're aiming for that, you're on your own," Chen Xi said with a smile.