Lu Meng is fourteen years old this year, as big as Pang Tong. In terms of birthday, he is two months older than Pang Tong. In terms of height, he is at least half a head shorter than Pang Tong. Chen Dao was most touched that he could lift Lu Meng up with one hand, and was light and not weighed. Seeing that he was so afraid that Sun Ce would drive him away, his heart was inexplicably soft. But he said nothing, just hugged Lu Meng tightly with his arm so that he would not fall off the horse.

Lu Meng felt Chen Dao's concern, his nose sore, and his eyes turned red.

"I'm only fourteen years old, why don't I go to study?"

"My family has a low family. No matter how good I read, I can't become an official. It's better to be a soldier and eat food. The general's recruitment order means that the superiors can seek peace, the superiors can defend their homes, and the subordinates can seek wealth. I just want to seek wealth."

Lu Meng was frozen in the wild all night and hungry all night, and was cold all over. While talking, he blew his nose clean and had no place to wipe it. He had to wipe his four fingers on his turn. His four fingers were dirty, so he could only hold it in his hand, but he refused to wipe it on Chen Dao's cloak. When Sun Ce saw it, he took out a handkerchief from his arms and handed it over.

"Use this one."

Lu Meng took the handkerchief and said quietly: "General, I... are dirty."

"I'll give it to you." Sun Ce took off the cloak and handed it over, asking Chen Dao to wrap Lu Meng up, and asked someone to take some dry food and water for Lu Meng. Lu Meng took the cloak and wrapped it tightly on his body. As soon as he took a bite of dry food, tears came down. He forced himself to hold it down, choking his neck so hard that he stretched his neck, but he didn't care to stop and drink water. Sun Ce didn't speak, and watched Lu Meng swallow voraciously while walking, secretly sighing in his heart. Among the famous generals of the Three Kingdoms, Lu Meng is the most utilitarian, because he was born in a very poor background, not only because of his low status, but the key was that he was poor and so poor that he couldn't even eat. If not, how could a child of fifteen or sixteen go to the army?

Poverty and humbleness are hard to live in. If you get rid of mistakes, you can make a contribution to wealth. This sounds sad. If you get rid of mistakes, you can make a contribution to fate. This means to be lucky. It is purely a gambling life. Even with his brother-in-law, he was bullied a lot and eventually killed people. He was not easy to kill, but he was really unbearable and had no way out, so he could only fight back.

Runan is a big county, with complete water conservancy facilities, and various water ponds can be seen everywhere, with thousands of hectares of fertile land, and it is also a gathering place for party and famous people. With morality, it shouldn't be like Lu Meng, but the fact is that it is so cruel. The poor people in Runan are no less than other places, otherwise there wouldn't be so many people who became Yellow Turban Army, and their duration is not shorter than those poor places.

Famous scholar? I'm apologizing!

Sun Ce knew very well that famous scholars looked down on him, and he looked down on him, but because of the situation, it was impossible to achieve success in one battle, so he could only move forward slowly. He could not take any action against the Runan family for the time being, but this day would not be too far away. Sooner or later, he would have to deal with them and seize the land that they had annexed. Land annexed is a chronic disease, no matter how they annexed it. Average land rights are also a necessary means, and the only difference is slow or urgent, robbing or redeeming.

"General, keep me, I can do anything." Seeing Sun Ce silent, Lu Meng asked uneasily: "I... Although I failed the assessment, my skills are no worse than those county soldiers. This lord can testify for me."

Sun Ce looked at Dian Wei, and Dian Wei nodded. "It's indeed a good seedling, very flexible, dares to fight and fight. Although it's not up to the standards of the Yicheng camp, it's much stronger than the county soldiers. If you practice hard for a few years, it won't be bad."

Sun Ce tilted his head and looked at Lu Meng for a while. "Have you read a book?"

Lu Meng's eyes dimmed, he slowly lowered his head, tightened his cloak and said nothing.

"I'll send you to the Nanyang Martial Arts Hall."

"Thank you for your kindness, General, I won't go." Lu Meng bit his lip tightly and shook his head. "I... can't afford to read books, can't afford Shu Xiu, and can't even afford his own food and clothing."

Sun Ce smiled and reached out to pat Lu Meng's head. "You don't have to worry about these things, I will solve them. You can study there for three years. When I come back, I will take the exam for you. I will let you become the senior official as many people as you can."

Lu Meng was stunned and looked at Sun Ce blankly. Chen Dao shook him and whispered, "I'm stupid, I'm not grateful to the general." Lu Meng woke up from a dream, turned over and rolled off the horse, lay on the ground and kowtowed. If Chen Dao hadn't reacted quickly, he had pinned his mount and the war horse almost stepped on him.

Sun Ce also held his mount and turned over and dismounted. In this era, it was not like kowtowing at any time in the future. Kowtowing was a real big gift. Under normal circumstances, even if you see the emperor, you would not be so heavy. At most, you would touch the ground with your forehead. You would never be so heavy or loud. He helped Lu Meng up with his own hands, and someone led a horse and rode alone by Lu Meng. Although Lu Meng was nervous, he climbed up carefully with Chen Dao's help. His little face turned red with excitement and his speech was a little incoherent. He said whatever Sun Ce asked, and he wanted to tell Sun Ce everything he knew.

From Lu Meng's mouth, Sun Ce learned that there were many bandits at the junction of Runan, Lujiang and Jiujiang counties - mainly concentrated in Yingkou and Shaopi. They were limited in strength and dared not take any large-scale operations. They just occasionally robbed the merchant ships passing by or stole some things to make a living. Shaopi is a famous water pond within a hundred miles nearby. If Sun Ce's family came by boat, they would definitely have to pass Shaopi. Even if they did not come by boat, they might stay near Shaopi. If they did not have enough escort force, they would most likely meet these people.

When Sun Ce heard this, he immediately became concerned. It would be fine if anything else. The prefect of Jiujiang Zhou Ang and the Sun family were not in the way. If he had evil intentions and wanted to pretend to be a bandit and rob, it would be a big trouble. Even if Zhou Ang was a gentleman, he would not do such a thing, and he would not meet bandits.

"Are you familiar with those people?"

"I don't know much." Lu Meng felt a little embarrassed. "I only know a few people."

Sun Ce did not ask. Needless to say, this kid must have known them, and maybe he will play a guest appearance in it for a few days. He called Jiang Gan and asked him to take Lu Meng and the 100 knights to the front station, and returned to his hometown to recruit heroes under his banner. Jiang Gan is from Shouchun, Jiujiang, and a little famous man. He has some appeal. More importantly, he announced that he was about to arrive in Shaobi, which deterred people who might have unfavorable ideas to the Sun family, including but not limited to Zhou Ang and those bandits.

Jiang Gan was just right and led Lu Meng away.
Chapter completed!