Yuan Yao took a sip of wine: "Why does Chen Gongcao care about the military?"
Chen Jiao shook his head: "No, I am in charge of personnel affairs. What I care about is the selection of officials, not the military."
"Since Quan Rou is the captain of northern Danyang, the military system of captains in this county will also change in the future."
"Will the Grand Governor move Zhang Kai to be the Commander-in-Chief of Southern Danyang?"
Yuan Yao laughed: "If I remember correctly, this should be Chen Gongcao's first time meeting the governor face to face to discuss important matters."
"Previously, you told me about the evaluation and selection of officials through Yuan Huan. By the way, why didn't Yuan Huan come this time?"
Chen Jiao raised his hand and said: "Six county magistrates died in just a few days, and countless officials were replaced. People's hearts are inevitably in panic."
"Yuan Juncheng was in the county government to appease the officials and the people, but he couldn't get away, so he ordered him to come down and report the matter to the governor!"
Yuan Yao nodded: "That's right, you can't hide such a big thing even if you want to."
Chen Jiao: "So this is the post of captain of southern Danyang?"
Yuan Yao thought for a while: "I have another appointment for Zhang Kai. The post of Danyang Captain will be concurrently filled by... Huaiyi Colonel Tai Shici!"
Chen Jiao frowned and said, "Captain Danyang?"
Yuan Yao said domineeringly: "Yes, it's not the northern captain or the southern captain. There is only one captain in Danyang, and that is Taishi Ci!"
"He, Sun Ce, commends whoever he says he will commend? I, the governor, won't give him the honor!"
"Quanrou? No matter who is behind him, I don't recognize him!"
Chen Jiao was startled, and then he understood.
It seems that this is Yuan Yao's counterattack!
"I heard from Yuan Huan that you have been diligent and diligent since you took up the post of meritorious officer. Not only have you kept an eye on all the officials in office, but you have also inspected a group of talents who can be reused?"
"Prime Minister Yuan Jun is boasting!"
Chen Jiao said modestly: "But I did find a batch of useful materials, and I hope the governor will take a look at them!"
As he spoke, Chen Jiao took out a silk letter from his arms and handed it to Yuan Yao.
Yuan Yao took the recommendation form and read it roughly.
There are a total of nine names on the silk book. Each name is followed by a four-character or eight-character general comment, and finally the recommended official title.
"What's this crossed out with a red pen...?"
"Oh~ That one was Liu Yao's old subordinate. He used to serve as the Wuhu Commandery and was quite talented, but now he has been killed..."
"Oh, I see."
Yuan Yao then looked down one by one, until he saw the eighth person, Yuan Yao's eyes suddenly locked on that person's name.
Danyang County thief Cao - Deng Dang.
This person is actually not famous. The one who is really famous is his brother-in-law, Lu Meng.
Chen Jiao arranged these nine people in three categories: upper, middle and lower.
Deng Dang belongs to the lower class.
Chen Jiao's overall evaluation of him was: the courage of ten men, solid and reliable.
To translate, he is an honest person with no special strengths but pretty good skills.
The proposed official position was Danyang County Lieutenant.
Yuan Yao thought for a while, then pointed at Deng Dang and said: "Except for this person, everyone else's appointments will be according to your plan!"
"promise!"
Chen Jiao first cupped his hand, then looked at Deng Dang's name, and asked in confusion: "Is there anything wrong with this person?"
"nothing!"
"Transfer him directly from Danyang County to be the captain of Wanling County."
"yes!"
…
After Chen Jiao reported his work to Yuan Yao, he was about to resign.
"Wait a minute, the governor has one more thing to do."
Yuan Yao suddenly spoke up.
"Excuse me, Captain."
"I know you are from Guangling, and Guangling County is across the river from Wu County. I wonder if Chen Gongcao is familiar with the people with the four surnames in Wu County?"
Chen Jiao only thought about it for a moment, then nodded and said, "I don't think we are acquaintances. I just know a few of the four surnames."
Yuan Yao became curious: "For example?"
"The Gu family, Gu Yong, the Zhang family, brothers Zhang Dun and Zhang Yun, I have some friendship with these three people."
"As for the Zhu family, I rarely have any dealings with you; as for the Lu family..."
Chen Jiao glanced at Yuan Yao as he spoke: "Several of my old friends from the Lu family were all killed in the battle of Lujiang."
After Chen Jiao finished speaking, Yuan Yao also understood the meaning in Chen Jiao's eyes.
Because Lu Kang had been the governor of Lujiang for a long time, most of the Lu clan once lived in Shucheng, Lujiang.
However, because Yuan Shu had an enmity with Lu Kang and sent Sun Ce to besiege the city, nearly half of the Lu family died in the war.
Now listening to the hidden meaning of Chen Jiao's words, he must have close contacts with some people from the Lu family in Wu County!
No wonder he refused to accept the recruitment and appointment of Yuan Shu and Sun Ce. It turned out to be a grudge!
"What do you mean by the Governor's question?"
Yuan Yao scratched his head: "You are the master of talent selection. You should understand what I mean."
How could Chen Jiao not understand what Yuan Yao meant.
From the moment Yuan Yao asked him if he recognized the four surnames in Wu County, he guessed what Yuan Yao wanted to do.
"The governor wants to recruit the four surnames in Wuzhong?"
"right!"
Yuan Yao made no secret and said: Sun Ce himself has no ability to recruit people from the world, how can I sit back and watch the jade become dust like him? "
Taking a deep breath, Chen Jiao said with complicated eyes: "Brothers Zhang Dun and Zhang Yun, I can write a letter to persuade them, but as for whether they are willing to come to Danyang to join the Grand Governor, I can't guarantee that."
Yuan Yao pretended to be relaxed and said: "It's okay, I won't force it. They can come and go as they please here under the command of this governor!"
Zhang Dun and Zhang Yun, Yuan Yao really didn't like them much.
This Zhang Yun is not that Zhang Yun. He is not Liu Biao's nephew Zhang Yun. He has the same name as the two Zhang Zhaos.
If Yuan Yao cares about anyone, it is only Zhang Yun's son - Zhang Wen, the future crown prince of Sun Wu.
But now Zhang Wen should be less than three years old, so what can he do if he is recruited?
Chen Jiao added: "Gu Yong is the magistrate of Shangyu County. I'm afraid that even if he wants to come, he won't be able to come."
Yuan Yao also nodded: "Sun Ce is now living in Kuaiji and is vigorously renovating the place. As the representative of the Jiangdong family, Gu Yong will be good if he can save his life."
"In order to avoid causing trouble to him, we will not contact him through letters."
A strange light flashed in Chen Jiao's eyes, and he couldn't help but cupped his hands and said: "The Governor is really considerate of everything!"
"Just so-so!"
Yuan Yao was a little disappointed.
It seems that the hope of directly recruiting Zhu Huan and Xiao Lu Xun through Chen Jiao is gone.
"You should be careful during this period and see if there are any people here who know the Zhu family and the Lu family. I am very interested in the Zhu family, Zhu Huan, and the Lu family's Lu Ji and Lu Xun..."
"yes……"
Chen Jiao could only nod in agreement.
At the same time, there was another thought in his mind: Yuan Yao and Sun Ce, from the point of employing people, have already made a judgment call!
It cannot be said that Sun Ce was poor at employing people, but his background greatly limited his employment ideas.
Because they were born into a humble family, Sun Jian and Sun Ce were both good at discovering and using powerful heroes from lower backgrounds, but at the same time they were afraid that the influence of aristocratic families would threaten their authority and erode their power. Therefore, Sun Jian and Sun Ce were There are many atrocities committed against people of aristocratic families.
In fact, this cannot be completely blamed on Sun Jian and Sun Ce. From Sun Ce's perspective, this is actually completely understandable.
Take Xu Kun and Zhou Yu as examples.
The Xu family from which Xu Kun was born is a wealthy family in Wu County. Although it is not as good as the four surnamed families in Wuzhong, it is still a wealthy family in the county. Its reputation in Wu County is not comparable to that of the small Fuchun Sun family.
After Sun Ce crossed the river, he recruited troops aggressively, but many of the soldiers from Wu County chose to join Xu Kun's camp.
You are Sun Ce. Do you feel comfortable when you see this phenomenon?
Therefore, it is not surprising that Sun Ce often used Xu Kun's troops to conquer, and kept consuming and suppressing him until Xu Kun finally died in Jiangxia.
If it comes to Xu Kun, who was born into a local wealthy family, Sun Ce was afraid that he would be too powerful to overwhelm his master.
For Zhou Yu, who came from a wealthy family, Sun Ce was even more afraid!
Afraid of Zhou Yu taking his place!
With the strength of his family alone, Zhou Yu can raise an armed force of thousands of people at any time!
Not to mention that the Lujiang Zhou family had great influence both in the court and in the local area.
Unlike Sun Ce, who was a general who killed bandits and a governor of Kuaiji, he had to go through life and death for Yuan Shu.
If Zhou Yu wanted to be an official, whether it was his uncle who was a courtier next to the emperor, or Yuan Shu, they would pursue his filial piety and make him an official!
With such a talented and famous subordinate who was not inferior to his own, it was no wonder that Sun Ce did not dare to let Zhou Yu accompany the army on expeditions and take over the military power, but sent him to guard the place.
Therefore, throughout his life, Sun Ce never reused anyone from the family. At most, Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong, who had no roots in Jiangdong, were promoted as counselors to check and balance the local noble families.
Sun Ce himself was well aware of the limitations of this.
That's why he left this sentence to Sun Quan before he died: Lead the troops east of the Yangtze River to fight decisively between the two formations, and fight for balance in the world. You are not as good as me; but you can appoint talents and let them do their best. Keep Jiangdong, I am not as good as you.
Only by relying on the accumulated prestige of Sun Jian and Sun Ce could Sun Quan change Sun Ce's employment strategy and make Sun Wu stand in the southeast.
But compared to Sun Ce, Yuan Yao has no worries about hiring people!
The Yuan family of Runan, who has "four generations and three nobles" and "all the disciples and old officials in the world", can suppress the existence of all the aristocratic families in an era!
As a direct descendant of the Yuan family in Runan, Yuan Yao never worried that his background was not high enough, nor was he afraid that he would not be able to suppress anyone's popularity!
Generally speaking, the higher the family background, the more likely it is that people think highly of themselves.
What people of Yuan Yao's background should actually worry about most is that they will "negotiate" and "emphasis on family background over talent."
But it is obvious that Yuan Yao is not as pretentious as his father. Instead, he treats nobles and poor families equally, and only thinks of those who are useful!
As the saying goes, you can only know something when you see something small, and you can see the whole leopard when you peep into it!
Perhaps just from the employment of people, we can predict the outcome of the battle between Yuan Yao and Sun Ce.
Chen Jiao thought so.
"Not only people from the four surnames and eight tribes in Wuzhong, but there are also many scholars who have taken refuge in Jiangdong, such as Bu Zhi and Wei Jing..."
"I will give you a list tomorrow. You can follow the list and send someone to deliver a letter to them, inviting them to come to my place."
Yuan Yao started talking: "Also, although Liu Yao and Xu Gong were defeated, they still have many old officials and people hiding."
"You can prepare a pardon for me and send it to all the counties in the three counties east of the Yangtze River. I am willing to pardon these people for their previous crimes of rebellion."
"As long as they report to the person who sent the message to the county office before June, I will guarantee that no one will harm their lives!"
"There are a few names of Liu Yao and Xu Gong's old men. You should also remember them, such as Ru Shiyi, Sun Shao, Teng Zhou... If these people show up, they will be lured here quickly!"
"..."
"By the way, is Jiang Gan back?"
Chen Jiao remembered it and replied: "Chief Jiang just came back last night. Because he arrived in the middle of the night, he didn't have time to inform the governor."
Yuan Yao nodded: "That's right!"
"Then you send someone to find him later and let him rest for another half day. I want him to go on another mission."
Chen Jiao: "..."
At the same time, Kuaiji County and Shanyin County.
Shanyin was originally the seat of Kuaiji County and Wang Lang's base camp.
After Sun Ce defeated Wang Lang, he took himself as the prefect of Kuaiji and planned to live here permanently in order to control everything in Jiangdong.
"Master Shaofu, good news, there is good news from Danyang!"
A handsome young man strode into the Kuaiji County Mansion, his face filled with joy.
There was a young man practicing his sword in the courtyard. Hearing the sound, he put away his sword, turned around and said with a smile:
"Gong Jin, didn't I tell you before? You and I are good friends and have a brotherhood!"
"You can just call me by my first name, no need to use honorifics!"
The handsome young man is Zhou Yu and Zhou Gongjin.
Not long after Sun Ce entered Kuaiji a month ago, Zhou Yu resolutely came to join him.
Sun Ce was surprised at first and asked Zhou Yu why.
However, Zhou Yu did not tell Sun Ce about the humiliation he received from Yuan Yao in Shouchun. He only said that he had given up the Lujiang Zhou family business and was willing to assist Sun Ce to achieve hegemony from now on!
Sun Ce was overjoyed when he heard this. He immediately asked Zhou Yu no more questions and directly worshiped Zhou Yu as Jianwei Zhonglang General.
To show his trust, Sun Ce dispatched two thousand soldiers and fifty horses as Zhou Yu's troops!
But Zhou Yu is not here for free prostitution.
After the two exchanged pleasantries, Zhou Yu expressed his interests to Sun Ce, especially emphasizing Yuan Shu's distrust of Sun Ce and Yuan Yao's real purpose of sending troops to Danyang.
Sun Ce had also long seen that Yuan Yao's arrival was evil and had the intention of plotting against Danyang County.
But he could only choose the bigger one from the two watermelons, and occupy Kuaiji County first.
Now that Kuaiji County is in hand, it's time to consider how to drive Yuan Yao out of Danyang County!
Zhou Yu took advantage of the situation and came up with the strategy of "the tiger occupies the east of the Yangtze River"!
The content of this strategy is how to eliminate dissidents, install cronies, and cultivate power in Jiangdong.
Sun Ce didn't say anything, but just followed the instructions one by one.
And now, it seems it’s time to receive the results!
"Hey, when it comes to military and political matters, I am a subordinate, and the king is the master. How can we treat each other as brothers?"
Zhou Yu pretended to be serious about etiquette.
Sun Ce did not insist anymore. He held the sword behind his back and said, "But have all the arrangements been made for the counties in the northern part of Danyang?"
"Exactly!"
Zhou Yu nodded with a smile: "Quan Rou, Huang Gai, Lu Fan, Ling Cao and others have all taken office smoothly!"
"Except for Danyang County, all the counties and cities north of Wanling have been owned by the Shaofu Lord since then!"
Sun Ce was keenly aware of the conversation, but he still smiled heartily and said, "Without Gong Jin advising me, how could I occupy these counties?"
Zhou Yu said humbly: "Wherever it goes, it all depends on the wise decision of the young master and the concerted efforts of all the generals!"
Sun Ce nodded and changed the subject: "But has something changed in Danyang County?"
"Haha, it's not a variable, it's just a small problem."
Zhou Yu explained: "This county has a new county magistrate, and we cannot execute him on false charges like other counties."
"Moreover, this person is quite cautious and refuses to leave the city easily. My backup plan of sending someone to pretend to be a bandit to lure him out of the city and then ambush him didn't work either."
"But Mingfu Lord, don't worry, it's just a small Danyang City. Let me use some tricks to take it down completely!"
Zhou Yu looked like he was in control.
