At first, Yang Feng couldn't believe it when he heard the content of Nan Lai's good news.
This is not because he thinks that the combat power of the Geng Cang Army is mediocre, but that it has only been a mere year since the founding of the Yellow Turban Taishan. As a result, they were able to defeat the eight counties of Taishan, Langya, Jibei, Rencheng, Lu State, Donghai, Xiapi, and Pengcheng. This was a feat that Dong Zhuo and Chen Chong failed to achieve, and the Geng Cang generals were originally their subordinates. The general was defeated, so when he heard about it, he felt quite ridiculous.
But since the news has spread throughout the city, its authenticity cannot be disputed. Han Xian also discussed with Yang Feng that this was a good thing. They traveled thousands of miles to defect to Linzi. Of course, they hoped that the Linzi court would become stronger so that they could resist the powerful army in Guanzhong. Although he didn't know when Chen Chong and Liu Bei would leave seclusion, Yang Feng knew in his heart that this day would definitely come.
However, Linzi was so powerful that Yang Feng was not sure whether he could be used in more important ways. He asked Han Xian privately, but Han Xian was free and easy. He replied: Being alive so far is already a blessing from God, so why bother thinking about it so much? ? Just adapt to the circumstances.
And indeed it is. Yang Feng thought so, his tense mood gradually relaxed, and he no longer thought about these trivial matters. The group followed Wu Tong to the residence of General Zhang Rao. Unexpectedly, Zhang Rao paid great attention to them. As soon as they entered the house, they were immediately summoned. This was obviously because Zhang Rao specially made time for them.
Although Linzi now has a court and an emperor, everyone in the world knows that the emperor is nothing more than a puppet, and Zhang Rao, who is called a general, is actually the most powerful person in Linzi. Knowing that his identity was important, Yang Feng, Han Xian, and Dugu Qubei couldn't help but look at his appearance curiously after entering.
Zhang Rao is about forty years old, wearing a red purple robe and a flame red fox fur. There is a brazier with dancing sparks beside him. Under the dancing firelight, Zhang Rao is holding a book and frowning. After flipping through it, it appeared that his sideburns, beard and hair were very neatly groomed. Although Zhang Rao was strong and strong, in this scene, he looked more like a scholar than a warrior.
Fortunately, as soon as he raised his head and spoke, the barriers in everyone's hearts disappeared. Zhang Rao also looked at them a few times and said with a smile: "In the past few years, the dragon head has been rampant all over the world. There has been a debate in the army whether it is the credit of the merged people or the dragon head. As soon as I saw it today, I knew it. I will do it again in the future. There is no argument anymore, with three tiger-catching warriors like these, why worry about failing to achieve great things?"
The three of them repeatedly expressed their shame and said that they had been in such a miserable state all the way and how could they deserve such ridiculous praise from the general. Zhang Rao was still polite and chatted with them for a few words, and then asked about the specific situation of Guanxi when they left, as well as what Liu Bei and Chen Chong had done in the past few years. Hearing about Chen Chong's deeds of recruiting Bai Bo, he couldn't help but laugh: "How many times did it happen?" After many years, Longshou still remembers his original intention." These words made Yang Feng and Han Xian a little worried. After all, they rebelled against Chen Chong and were already known as disloyal. Zhang Rao's words quite meant that he admired Chen Chong.
Zhang Rao saw the reason and comforted him: "The three of you worked tirelessly and traveled thousands of miles to join the sect. It cannot be said to be dishonest. I will entrust the three of you with important responsibilities. It will also be in the name of respecting the religion and loving the Tao. You three should not Be suspicious.”
Just what position to entrust, Zhang Rao pondered for a moment, and then slowly said: "Today, Da Sima has received a good report. He has conquered Tao Qian and gained three new counties. I think all three of them know about it. But although Tao Qian died, the county There are still many bandits in Guangling, and Yuan Shu takes advantage of it. It is the time to use troops. If I send troops to stay, Yanzhou's troops will be slightly insufficient. Otherwise, the three of them will move their troops to Huaiyin to guard Xiapi, and they will have the power to suppress and expropriate. How about I provide military supplies until spring and keep half of the income and pay half of it?"
This condition can be described as extremely tolerant, far better than the three of them thought. They looked at each other and thanked Zhang Rao immediately. Especially Han Xian, he said to Zhang Raohao: "Since I have been appreciated by Duke Ming, I will go to Huaiyin and I will capture four beasts for Duke Ming to repay the favor."
"Four beasts?"
"Three scorpions! One deer!" Zhang Rao laughed when he heard this. The three deer mentioned by Han Xian were Sun Ben, the nephew of Sun Jian's son, Sun Xiang and Sun Fu, both of whom were generals under Yuan Shu, and Yilu naturally refers to Yuan Shu and Yuan Gongdao. If Han Xian can really capture these three leopards and one deer, Yuzhou and Huainan will be within easy reach. Zhang Rao helped them up one by one, feeling quite relieved. He thought: If everyone had the heroic spirit of Guanxi, the world would not be stable.
Yang Feng and the others stayed at the General's Mansion that night. Before dawn the next day, Zhang Rao personally led them to the palace to meet the saint.
Although it is said to be a palace, in fact the palace walls are not yet completed, and many places are still very simple, with only some fences built on the loess. The armed guards paraded back and forth and saluted Zhang Rao and his party. Yang Feng noticed that the guards looked very relaxed and did not have many solemn emotions. Going inside, he finally saw a large hall with a pool next to the hall. Many soldiers were transplanting willows by the pool. He didn't know how many willows there would be in the coming year. Survive.
After waiting for a while in front of the palace, more officials arrived one after another, about eighty people. However, they did not have unified court uniforms. The literati wore their own Confucian clothes, and the warriors wore their own armor. Each had different colors according to their preferences. They chatted about the recent current situation in front of the palace in twos and threes.
Yang Feng listened attentively, but unfortunately he didn't hear much of value. Then he carefully looked at these senior officials in Linzi. These senior officials were all in their thirties or forties and had no airs. They all looked happy when talking about the war in Xuzhou with each other. The only thing that surprised him was that there was a young man among them who was calm and composed, while the officials were vaguely trying to avoid him. Before he could ask who this person was, a scribe from the palace came out and said that the emperor was ready and the court meeting could begin.
The ministers entered the palace, leaving only the three of them waiting outside the palace. This was because the etiquette between monarchs and ministers was not yet clear, and Zhang Rao still needed to introduce them. Yang Feng thought he would wait for a long time, but unexpectedly, in only a quarter of an hour, someone took them into the palace.
Before they could clearly see the layout of the palace, they heard the emperor's voice and hurriedly knelt down to salute and listen to the appointment of the three of them being read out. The edict appointed Dugu Qubei as the Chanyu of the Xiongnu, Yang Feng as the General of Zhendong, and Han Xian as the General of the Conquest of the East. The responsibilities were as Zhang Rao said last night. After reading the edict, the three stood up to thank them, and Zhang Rao signaled them to withdraw. , and then continue today’s court meeting.
For Zhang Rao, the addition of Bai Bojun was an unexpected surprise, but what was more important was the aftermath of the Battle of Xuzhou and how to deal with the overall changes in Kansai's formation.
Speaking of which, the reason why the Gengcang Army was able to capture the three counties of Xuzhou so easily was mainly due to the unsatisfactory war in Yanzhou. I thought that after the formation killed Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, the Gengcang Army could capture Yanzhou in one fell swoop, but I didn't expect that Cao Cao resisted like this. Resolutely, several consecutive attacks failed to achieve the desired results, and nearly half a year was wasted. So Zhang Rao discussed with Guan Hai, Xu He and others, and changed his strategy. Under the guise of a large-scale attack on Yanzhou, he collected ships in the river to intimidate Cao Cao, and at the same time cleared the road through the mountains and forests to Xuzhou.
When the preparations were completed in July, Guan Hai led the Gengcang Army to suddenly move south. More than 100,000 troops suddenly passed through Dazhe Mountain and crossed Pengcheng State. Within four days, they surrounded Tao Qian in Xiapi City, and the other counties were unable to parry. , fell one after another. While Tao Qian was defending Xiapi for two months, he broke out several times to ask for help to no avail, and the food in the city was almost exhausted. Under internal and external siege, he finally committed suicide and his son, Tao Shang, held his head and surrendered to Kaicheng.
"God's Coming"
The magnitude of this victory far exceeded everyone's expectations. In addition to the harvest of territory and materials, many celebrities were also captured from Xiapi, including the Zhong family of Yingchuan, the Yin family of Nanyang, and the Liu family of Henan.
The most gratifying thing is that Guan Hai also discovered that among them was Cao Song, the father of Cao Cao, the current governor of Yanzhou. Cao Song had previously held the position of Taiwei Sangong, and could be said to have the highest official rank among the prisoners of Gengcang Army. He was captured in this battle, regardless of It is extraordinary in terms of political significance and war significance. Guan Hai described it in a letter: "Cao Song was as fat as a pig and as timid as an ant. When he saw me, he bowed his head and begged for mercy. I didn't know that there was a bit of romanticism in him." These ridicules Although the words are expressive, the contempt and disdain for Cao Song can also be expressed on the back of the paper.
What was discussed at this court meeting was how to deal with these celebrities.
Wang Du of the Inner Palace suggested: "Since Your Majesty has inherited the throne in Linzi, it is a good time to show your embrace. In dealing with people, you must be more outstanding than the two emperors Huan Ling, kiss the gentlemen, and stay away from the villains. If you have a clear name Those who are outsiders should be kept in the palace and entrusted with important tasks. If they are notorious, let them redeem themselves with money."
After hearing this, Taiwei Wu Ba opened his mouth and asked: "If they are gentlemen and beautiful women, we will be useful, but if they are villains, why should we let them live? The people in Guizhou hate the rats to the bone, and they all skin them and kill them, just because the rats steal food. Endangering food and clothing, how can we condone it now that we have caught the great rat of the country?"
Wang Du said: "The Taiwei's principles are not unreasonable in peacetime, but now that the world is undecided and all the heroes are rising together, we are in Qilu, a place of four battles. It is appropriate to make friends with generosity and not easily make enemies everywhere. We also hope that Taiwei will I understand."
But this could not convince Wu Ba, and the two were at a stalemate on this topic for a while. Seeing this, Zhang Rao stepped forward to preside over the discussion and discuss the next topic first.
At the end of August, the Liang army was destroyed, and the news that Chen Chong and Liu Bei had taken control of Chang'an spread to Hangu Pass. The counties in Guandong were in an uproar. Many people expected that they would win, but they could not expect that they would win so neatly. In contrast, Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan, who had started fighting since February, have not yet ended the war. Those in Guandong Prefecture who were loyal to the Han Dynasty were all delighted and sent envoys to Guanzhong to inquire about the news.
For Linzi, this news is obviously not to be underestimated. Zhang Rao personally met with Han Siam and Yang Feng to learn the details of Kansai from Baibo Army. At this time, he made a judgment and said: "The battle of Kansai, the two sides will The army is using all its strength, even if Longshou wins, the victory will be miserable, and there will be no major war in a short time."
As soon as he finished speaking, Sikong Xuhe said immediately: "So what? We have all personally experienced the power of Dragon Head. Back then, when he and Liu Bei were outnumbered, they were still able to force the wise master Daliang to surrender. Today he has taken over. How could the government be inferior to what it was then? If it were allowed to develop a little and lead its troops out of the border, I'm afraid there would be no place for us and others."
This statement was really harsh, but no one present could refute it. Zhang Rao continued: "That's what I mean too. You can't achieve anything by sticking to your guns. Only by fighting continuously can you survive. But how to fight now and where to fight are what we should do." Things to think about.”
At this time, he called a young man to come forward and salute everyone. Everyone recognized the young man and returned the salute one after another.
The young man stood still in the hall and said slowly: "The great ancestor conquered the world with the danger of Guanzhong, and the ancestors conquered the world with the wealth of Hebei. Today, Guanzhong is owned by Liu Chen, and Hebei is owned by Yuan Shao. However, they regard each other as enemies. This gives We have the opportunity to develop and grow. We can choose one of the two to be an enemy, and we can choose one to be a friend. Since you think Liu and Chen are the greatest threat, we will easily join forces with Yuan Shao in the north, and then use all our strength to attack Yan and Chen. Yu, go down to Luoyang to seal the mountain pass, then Xu Tu Jiangzuo, become the foundation of the overlord, and get a glimpse of the situation of the world."
Everyone was overjoyed when they heard it and said it should be like this.
After the court meeting ended, Zhang Rao pulled Liu Ye and said with a smile: "I have Ziyang, I am really more powerful than a tiger."
