Wei Ni

As the county seat of Yan State and the seat of the Youzhou Inspectorate, Ji County had a relatively dense population compared to other places in Youzhou, and there were many post stations outside the city connecting the counties.

There is one on the bank of the water (Yongding River).

Xiahou Hui and his party, who came from a long distance, stayed here.

However, after being informed by a troop sent ahead by Guanqiu Jian, he took a few of his troops to a small pavilion by the water and waited.

It was already after the autumn harvest. Although it was not yet cold, the wind was no longer hot and dry, and the surroundings were slightly desolate.

The pavilion was also dilapidated.

Probably due to the war in the past, the wood of the railings and the like had long been burned or collected as firewood, and only the rammed earth that had been trampled hard silently told of the past.

There was no place for Xiahou Hui to sit down.

Simply, I walked deeper into the water's edge, watching the migrating wild geese resting and playing on the water out of boredom, while silently thinking about what I would do after I got to Yuguan.

When the imperial edict of exile arrived in Yecheng, it also brought a private letter from Emperor Cao Rui.

There are two contents.

First, it clarified Gongsun's responsibility to attack Liaodong, with him as the leader and Guanqiu Jian as the deputy.

The other was to assign Qian Hong's army, which led a thousand Wuhuan cavalry, and Zhang Hu and Gongsun Yi, who led a thousand Youzhou cavalry, to his command, so that he could solve the two prerequisites for attacking Liaodong: to surrender the remaining Wuhuan tribes in the northwest of Liaoxi and to make preparations for crossing the Liaoze.

Therefore, the question he is considering now is how much time he has to act.

Youzhou was bitterly cold and had a remote territory. He would have to work twice as hard to accomplish these two tasks, and he also needed the support of the Liaoxi prefect. If the Liaoxi prefect was difficult to get along with, it would be a problem for the forty troops under his command to eat and wear this winter, let alone do anything.

Although, Guanqiu Jian would definitely help him solve these trivial matters.

But considering that he had only been in office in Youzhou for a short time, and he and Cao Rui were the ones most anxious to attack Liao, Xiahou Hui was unsure whether he could persuade Guanqiu Jian to slow down his actions.

Well, Guanqiu Jian, who had only been in office for more than half a year, had already begun to impeach Gongsun Yuan and list his crimes to the court.

In order to have a legitimate reason.

Previously, Gongsun Yuan refused the title of King of Yan appointed by Sun Quan and sent the heads of Jiangdong envoy Zhang Mi and others to Luoyang. He was then appointed as the Grand Marshal and given the title of Duke of Lelang. He continued to hold the title of Governor of Liaodong and command all the counties. In name, he was still a subject of Wei.

Of course we cannot punish him without guilt.

"Has Zhiquan already missed home when he first arrived in Yan?"

Just as Xiahou Hui was pondering, a joke interrupted his thoughts.

When he looked back, he saw that it was Guanqiu Jian who had arrived and was looking at him with a smile in the pavilion. The soldiers he brought with him were busy taking tables, rush mats, wine and meat from the carriage.

It turned out that the reason he arrived late was that he was waiting for the food to be prepared.

"No."

Smiling, Xiahou Hui walked up to the pavilion and said jokingly, "To be honest, Brother Zhonggong, I was wondering if you invited me to meet him outside the city. Could it be that you were reluctant to give me some wine to welcome me?"

"Haha~"

Guanqiu Jian couldn't help but shook his head and laughed, "If I knew that Zhiquan looked at me like this, I would have come here empty-handed." After saying this, he extended his hand and invited him, "Come, Zhiquan, sit down. Since Zhiquan doesn't want to enter the city, let's go on a picnic and chat today."

"Okay, Brother Zhong Gong, please."

The two men sat opposite each other at the same table, each raised their wine cup and greeted each other several times.

After their respective troops finished their work and consciously left, Guanqiu Jian sighed, "Some time ago, Your Majesty recorded what Zhiquan said about attacking Liao and I learned that Zhiquan had the idea of ​​attacking Liao as early as last year. I am ashamed. I thought it was I who suggested the attack on Liao, but it was Zhiquan who mentioned it to Your Majesty first."

"Hey, we are all seeking to benefit the country, so why should we distinguish between early and late?"

Waving his hand, Xiahou Hui chuckled and said, "Besides, I was in Huainan at that time, and I just asked Your Majesty to transfer me to Youzhou to serve. If it weren't for Brother Zhonggong's suggestion to attack Liao, how could I have achieved my wish? From this, it can be seen that the attack on Liao was still promoted by Brother Zhonggong." At this point, he raised his wine cup to invite a glass, and then changed the subject and asked, "Well, by the way, brother has been in Youzhou for more than half a year, I wonder if everything is going well?"

"It's OK."

He raised his cup and drank it all in one gulp, Guanqiu Jian smiled brightly, "The former governor, Wang Shijun, was quite talented and handled everything properly. After I took office, I also visited various counties and saw that the people were all safe and the soldiers were not slacking off, but the warehouses and arsenals were not very full. However, Youzhou has a small population and poor production, so it is not surprising. And I have already reported this matter to the imperial court. At the latest before the beginning of spring next year, there should be soldiers and armor transferred from Jizhou, so as not to delay the war."

Before the beginning of spring next year?

As expected, you still insist on using troops next year~
Xiahou Hui nodded and said "hmm", but did not speak immediately. Instead, he put his hand on his chin and rubbed his beard, thinking about how to persuade him tactfully that it was too hasty to raise troops next year. But Guanqiu Jian did not give him this opportunity.

Seeing Xiahou Hui's silence, he didn't know whether he had expected it or misunderstood, and said directly, "I forgot to inform Zhiquan. I have already selected the troops to attack Liao and actively practiced martial arts in preparation for war. There are a total of 30,000 infantry and cavalry. Among them, there are about 6,000 Xianbei and Wuhuan cavalry who surrendered, including Qian Hong's troops. The rest are all infantry, except for the more than 1,000 cavalry of Zhang Hu and Gongsun Yi's troops."

After that, he asked, "I know that your majesty has appointed Zhiquan to lead the Zhenhu Division. The three battalions of Xiandeng, Heyi and Zhenyue are all selected from the central army, so their combat effectiveness is beyond doubt. But I don't know much about the Huyue Battalion led by Zhiquan, and I wonder if he will be able to take charge next year?"

ok~
He first said that he was fully prepared, and then asked if Xiahou Hui's troops were ready for battle.
Isn't this just to shut Xiahou Hui up?

No matter how much Xiahou Hui wanted to slow down the war, he couldn't say that his second brother was incompetent.

And even if he did say it, Guanqiu Jian might claim that Emperor Cao Rui had newly established the Huyue Division to garrison Liaodong after the war, and directly suggested that Xiahou Hui use it as an auxiliary force to transport food and fodder!

"He will definitely be able to fight."

Therefore, Xiahou Hui could only follow his words and answer, "My brother has served in the army for many years. Although his achievements are few, he is still competent in commanding the army and urging the soldiers to practice martial arts."

"Ha, that's great!"

As expected, upon hearing this, Guanqiu Jian clapped his hands and praised, "Zhi Quan and his brother are both talented people, and they are worthy of being the descendants of the founding heroes of the Wei Kingdom! By the way, Zhi Quan, His Majesty has told me to cooperate with Zhi Quan in matters such as recruiting the remaining Wuhuan tribes in the northwest of Liaoxi and preparing to cross the Liaoze. After Zhi Quan goes to Yuguan, if he needs anything, no matter what, he can send someone to inform me, and I will not shirk and will do my best to mediate!"

Come on!

If I say that it is too early to attack Liao the following year, it would be considered as me being unwilling to serve the country.

Xiahou Hui sighed in his heart, knowing that things could not be changed, so he could only nod his head and thank him, "In that case, I would like to thank Brother Zhonggong first. To be honest, I have thought about it on the way to Youzhou, and I am still anxious about how to deal with these two things. Now that I have heard Brother Zhonggong's advice, I have nothing to worry about!"

"Hahaha~ Zhiquan is really a wonderful person!"

Guanqiu Jian, in a very good mood, praised again, and then talked with great interest about the trivialities of his military preparations after coming to Youzhou, and also took the opportunity to inform Xiahou Hui of the situation in Youzhou.

Xiahou Hui listened attentively.

Sometimes he nodded to show that he understood, and sometimes he interrupted to ask a question.

The two of them chatted back and forth, having a very pleasant conversation for half an hour.

After the two wine bags were drunk without them noticing, which also meant that the meeting was almost coming to an end, Guanqiu Jian finally talked about his actual support for Xiahou Hui. As the governor-general of Youzhou, he had already informed the governor of Liaoxi and the garrison commander with the emperor's oral order, asking them to obey Xiahou Hui's orders in the future.

In other words, in addition to the two cavalry units of Qian Hong and Zhang Hu, Xiahou Hui also had full authority to supervise Liaoxi County.

Xiahou Hui was very grateful for this sincerity.

After hurriedly expressing his gratitude, he also took the opportunity to ask about the situation of the Liaoxi governor and the garrison commander.

The current governor of Liaoxi is Fu Rong.

A native of Yuyang, Youzhou, he was the prefect of Yanmen after Qian Zhao. He had many political achievements and a good reputation.

Later, Emperor Cao Rui asked Tian Yu to manage Bingzhou and concurrently serve as the governor of Yanmen, so he was transferred back to Luoyang, and he was also sent as an envoy to Liaodong to confer the title of Duke of Gongsun Yuan. If Xiahou Hui wanted to know about Banhaidao, Liaoze, and Gongsun Yuan, he would be the best person to consult.

The current commander stationed in Liaoxi is Wang Qi.

He is from Donglai, Qingzhou, and has served in Youzhou for some years. He is a very self-disciplined and responsible person.

He is very obedient and will execute orders without hesitation once given.

Moreover, Qingzhou Donglai and Liaodong have always been connected by sea. Since he took office in Liaoxi County, he specially found some people who had stayed in Liaodong in his early years from his hometown as his entourage, so that they could analyze intelligence on the situation in Liaodong at any time.

It can be said that although he had never been to Liaodong in person, his understanding of the situation there was not much worse than that of the prefect Fu Rong.

"Zhi Quan, this is roughly the situation in Liaoxi. Lord Fu and Lieutenant Wang are both easy to get along with. Although Your Majesty has sent Zhi Quan to guard Yuguan in the name of exile and has no imperial seal to command the county magistrates and generals, the two of them will certainly not disobey their orders. Zhi Quan does not need to worry about being constrained."

After briefly introducing the personnel of Liaoxi County, Guanqiu Jian also said, "I had a banquet with Your Majesty before, and I also roughly knew Zhiquan's style of doing things, so I also gave Zhang Hu and Gongsun Yi the responsibility of inspecting the border. If Zhiquan personally goes to Liaoze to survey the terrain or goes to Liucheng and Changli to meet the Wuhuan tribe, you can use their names and let them lead the troops to go with him. But."

At this point, he paused, and then continued with sincerity, "However, I hope Zhiquan will act with caution and not put himself in danger and waste the success of the Liao campaign."

uh~
I no longer seek fame and fortune and take risks!

Hearing this, Xiahou Hui was slightly embarrassed, and hurriedly made a solemn promise, "Brother Zhonggong, don't worry! I know the seriousness of the matter, and I will not act recklessly! (End of this chapter)