Ji Han Liu Zhang

Wuzhangyuan.

Liu Zhang asked Xun You to write a reply letter and give it to Hu Che'er. In addition, he rewarded Hu Che'er with fifty gold coins. Liu Zhang personally escorted Hu Che'er to the camp gate and said before leaving: "You can reply to Zhang Huqi. I know what Huqi wants. You can make a plan early and work together to get rid of the two thieves Li Jue and Guo Si for the country and restore peace to Guanzhong."

"I will report back myself. Please rest assured, Liu Yizhou. I will have a reply soon." Hu Che'er bowed and agreed, respectfully accepting the order from Liu Zhang.

After saying this, Hu Che'er took a few steps back, bowed to Liu Zhang and said goodbye, then jumped on his horse and galloped away.

After bidding farewell to Hu Che'er, Liu Zhang glanced at the sky and saw that the eastern sky was already turning pale. The golden morning light shone through the clouds, painting half of the sky golden.

The dark night was gone and day was about to dawn.

"Xun Qing, Fa Qing, you two must have been tired at night. You two should go and have a rest and catch up on your sleep." Liu Zhang turned around and expressed his condolences to Xun You, the chief clerk and military advisor, and Fa Zheng, the military advisor.

Xun You was gazing at the rising sun, lost in thought for a moment. Hearing this, he came back to his senses, bowed his hands and thanked Liu Zhang, saying, "Thank you, my lord. I usually sleep little, but I'm not very sleepy, so I don't need to make up for the sleep."

Fa Zhengze, who had always been somewhat excited since he entered Guanzhong and returned to his homeland, shook his head and said, "Mingsong, only lazy people need to sleep more. People who seem to be upright don't need to make up for any sleep."

After a kind word of comfort, seeing that Xun You and Fa Zheng both rejected the offer, Liu Zhang did not force them. He took Xun You's hand with one hand and Fa Zheng's hand with the other and led the two of them towards the central military tent.

"Since Erqing can't sleep, let's wash up and have breakfast."

By the time Liu Zhang, Xun You and Fa Zheng washed up and had breakfast, it was already bright in the sky. The sunlight penetrated the curtain of the central army tent, illuminating the tent very brightly. Wu Ban tactfully led a few servants to extinguish the lights that were lit at night.

Now that the sun is out, there is no need for candlelight.

At this time, the curtain was opened, and Peng Ying, the military officer, and Zheng Du, the military officer, came in hand in hand. When Peng Ying took a look at the people in the big tent, he chuckled and said, "I thought I got up early enough, but I didn't expect that Xun Zhubu and Fa Xiaowei got up earlier and arrived earlier than me. It seems that I am not working hard enough. I still need to work harder."

Peng Ying laughed at himself, and Zheng Du echoed him: "What the military officer said is true. Xun Zhubu and Fa Xiaowei are so dedicated to their work. You and I can't help but appear lazy. We should push ourselves."

Fa Zheng smiled and shook his head helplessly. He asked, "Mr. Peng and Mr. Zheng, please stop talking nonsense. Xun Zhubu and I arrived here earlier than you two for a reason... You haven't eaten yet, right? Let's eat first."

"Oh, what's the reason?" Peng Ying asked Fa Zheng while serving himself millet porridge.

Fa Zheng did not answer immediately. He first exchanged a glance with Liu Zhang, who was in charge of the group. When Liu Zhang nodded, he replied, "Last night, General Zhang Ji sent his lieutenant Hu Che'er to pay a visit to you. Since Xun Zhubu and I were close, you called me and Xun Zhubu to receive Hu Che'er together... Hu Che'er said that Zhang Ji was willing to submit to you and work together to kill the two thieves Li Jue and Guo Si."

"General of Cavalry? It's really unfortunate for the Han Dynasty that such an important position as General of Cavalry was given to a rebellious thief from Liang Province like Zhang Ji... A lunatic like Zhang Ji who has bullied the emperor and threatened the ministers in the past deserves to be killed and exterminated, and even his three clans must be exterminated." Peng Ying put down the bowl and chopsticks that he had not even taken a few bites of, and said angrily.

"Not to mention Zhang Ji's surrender, which shows that he is a shameless man who does not know loyalty and righteousness. He actually betrayed Li Jue and Guo Si, who were born in Liangzhou with him, and shook his head and tail towards you, my lord."

Peng Ying used his usual angry temper and angrily criticized Zhang Ji and his current position as General of Cavalry. Then he frowned, thought for a moment, and said suspiciously.

"The generals of Liangzhou have never known loyalty. Their oaths are like farts, which will be blown away by the wind... It is hard to tell whether Zhang Ji's surrender is true or not."

"That's right. People's hearts are hidden. If Zhang Ji was a loyal and righteous man, there would be nothing suspicious about his surrender. But the Liangzhou bandits live close to the Qiang and Hu people, and they are vicious and not like Han people. It is hard to guarantee that Zhang Ji will surrender." Adjutant Zheng Du echoed.

Liu Zhang felt a little troubled when he saw the attitudes of Peng Ying and Zheng Du. After pacifying Guanzhong, he would definitely take over Liangzhou and recruit a group of Liangzhou scholars and generals. However, his important officials seemed to have discrimination and prejudice against Liangzhou scholars and generals to varying degrees. By that time, it would take some effort to integrate the civil and military forces under his command.

However, it is no wonder that Peng Ying and Zheng Du were prejudiced against Zhang Ji, who was born in Wuwei County of Liangzhou. They believed that Zhang Ji's intentions were unpredictable and the truth of his surrender was unclear.

The truth is that the people of Liangzhou had suffered great misfortune. First, it was the traitor Dong Zhuo, and later Li Jue and Guo Si, who messed up the political situation of the Han Dynasty, causing people all over the world to resent Liangzhou. Under such circumstances, it was strange that Peng Ying and Zheng Du could have a good impression of the people of Liangzhou.

On the other hand, Liangzhou was close to the Qiang and Hu peoples, and lived among them, so it was influenced by the Hu customs and was not very familiar with Confucian classics. Therefore, in the era when Confucian classics were flourishing, although the people of Liangzhou were relatively strong in martial arts, they were in a low political position. There were few great scholars and celebrities from Liangzhou who cheered for Liangzhou, which led to the declining reputation of the people of Liangzhou.

"What do you think, my lord?" After quickly eating a few mouthfuls of millet porridge and drinking the whole bowl, Peng Ying hurriedly asked Liu Zhang for his opinion.

Liu Zhang said, "There was a letter of proclamation before, which stated that only Li Jue and Guo Si would be killed in this battle, and the rest of the surrendered would not be questioned. Therefore, I accepted Zhang Ji's request and agreed to his surrender."

"My lord, we absolutely cannot let Zhang Ji surrender..." Peng Ying's face immediately showed anxiety when he heard it. He was about to speak, but when he was halfway through his words, he saw Liu Zhang waved his hand to stop him.

"Mr. Peng, don't worry. Zhang Ji's surrender is just a envoy expressing his intention. There is no clear sign yet. So although I have agreed to Zhang Ji's request, I will not completely believe what Zhang Ji says. I plan to wait and see what he does before making a final decision." Liu Zhang knew what Peng Ying was going to say next, so he stopped Peng Ying first.

"You are worrying too much. With your wisdom, you will definitely not be deceived by Zhang Ji." Peng Ying said angrily.

"This is also what Zhang clearly stated in his previous manifesto. Now that Zhang Ji has surrendered, I should accept him and not break my promise to others." Liu Zhang brought up his reputation. A man cannot stand without trust. In the chaotic times at the end of the Han Dynasty, credit was also extremely important.

Peng Ying nodded: "What you said is right, regardless of whether Zhang Ji sincerely surrenders or not, if he sends an envoy, he should be accepted...but we should listen to his words and watch his actions, and we should be careful in dealing with everything, so as not to fall into the trap of the Liangzhou thieves."

Zheng Du, on the other side, did not eat as fast as Peng Ying. He had just finished a bowl of millet porridge. He put down his bowl and chopsticks and bowed to Liu Zhang and said, "Mingsir, whether Zhang Ji's surrender is true or false, we may be able to do something about it."

"What do you mean?" Liu Zhang asked with great interest. He has always been interested in the strategies given by the little poisoner Zheng Du. After all, Zheng Du's strategies often break some bottom lines.

Zheng Du bent his eyes like a fox, showing his big white teeth, and said slyly: "The scouts of Li Jue and Guo Si are patrolling and investigating various places every day... You can send a rider with a letter to Zhang Ji to deliberately run into the scouts of Li Jue and Guo Si, pretending to be captured by Li Jue and Guo Si's scouts, and then insist that Zhang Ji is really surrendering to you, and lie that we are negotiating with Zhang Ji to deal with Li Jue and Guo Si." "In this way, even if Zhang Ji is pretending to surrender, Li Jue and Guo Si will know that Zhang Ji is pretending to surrender to you, but at that time, Li Jue and Guo Si will inevitably suspect Zhang Ji, thinking that Zhang Ji surrendered to you in reality by pretending to surrender. Then let them fight each other and make a mess of it."

Peng Ying felt something was wrong when he heard this and said hesitantly, "But if Zhang Ji really surrenders, wouldn't that ruin Zhang Ji's support?"

"It's bad, that's all." Zheng Du said nonchalantly, "It's really inconvenient to accept someone like Zhang Ji under your command. It's better to let Zhang Ji fight Li Jue and Guo Si to the death and wear down the Liangzhou bandits."

"Not appropriate." Xun You shook his head. "If Zhang Ji really surrenders, it will be like what Peng Bingcao said, which will ruin Zhang Ji's inner support. It will also hurt the confidence of those who intend to surrender to you in the future, and make them think that you are too suspicious of those who surrender... Now is the time for you to uphold justice in the world, so it is inconvenient to use some small tricks."

Xun You had a far-sighted vision. He was not optimistic about Zheng Du's strategy, thinking that it was only for short-term gain and had no long-term plans, and was not a good strategy.

"But we can also observe Zhang Ji's sincerity later. If Zhang Ji has no sincerity in surrendering, then we can implement this strategy." Although Xun You is cautious, he is not pedantic. As a wise man, he likes to take targeted measures according to the current situation.

"The chief clerk's words are mature and should be so." Zheng Du was facing Xun You, who was from the Xun family of Yingchuan and was famous throughout the country. In addition, Xun You was out to protect Liu Zhang's reputation. After thinking for a moment or two, he nodded in agreement.

After everyone agreed, Liu Zhang spoke up and made the final decision: "Now the heroes in Guanzhong have heard the news and are coming to our aid. Li Jue, Guo Si and other Liangzhou bandits and the generals in Guanzhong can only defend a few remaining cities... Once the wings of Li Jue and Guo Si are completely cut off, they will be defeated one day."

"But as we wait and see, time is on our side."

Just as Liu Zhang said, the nobles in Guanzhong heard the news and took action, or it could be said that a large part of the nobles changed their stance according to the wind. Given the current decline of Li Jue and Guo Si, they all attached themselves to him, and either sent envoys or hostages to Wuzhangyuan to express their willingness to submit to Liu Zhang.

Liu Zhang accepted them one by one and comforted them.

Among the group of children of wealthy families who had surrendered to him, he saw a man who was not well-known but had a distinguished family background.

Wei Kang, a native of Jingzhao, came to submit to him on behalf of the Jingzhao Wei family.

Liu Zhang knew a little about Wei Kang. He remembered that Xun Yu's biography mentioned Wei Kang, "Taizu thought Yu knew people, and all those he promoted were qualified, except Yan Xiang, who was appointed to Yangzhou, and Wei Kang, who was appointed to Liangzhou, and they were defeated and died."

Here, Wei Kang was one of the people recommended to Cao Cao by Xun Yu, and he was listed alongside Yan Xiang of Yangzhou, both of whom were incompetent in their positions.

Wei Kang is indeed incompetent.

In history, in the 17th year of Jian'an, when Wei Kang was the governor of Liangzhou, facing the powerful attack of Ma Chao, he was too soft-hearted to bear the injuries of the officials and civilians. So after Ma Chao asked for peace, Wei Kang agreed and opened the gate of Ji County to welcome Ma Chao.

But Wei Kang forgot that Ma Chao was a person who could even ignore his father Ma Teng, so how could he keep his oath? Once Ma Chao entered the city, he ordered Yang Ang to kill Wei Kang and the prefect, which deteriorated the situation in Cao Wei's Liang Province.

"This is a good man, but he is not someone who can be of great use." Liu Zhang made a conclusion in his heart while receiving Wei Kang attentively.

He planned to give Wei Kang a position in the shogunate and not let Wei Kang serve in the border counties. After all, with Wei Kang's talents and temperament, he was not suitable for fighting and killing, and he could not be cruel enough to face this chaotic world.

As for the position that Wei Kang would be given in the shogunate, Liu Zhang was planning to give him a higher level, after all, Wei Kang's family background was truly outstanding.

The Jingzhao Wei family, during the Western Han Dynasty, had three consecutive generations, Wei Xian, Wei Xuancheng and Wei Shang, who were the three highest officials in the country. The family then became a famous family in Guanzhong. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was known as the Three Auxiliary Crowned Clan, and was a first-class aristocratic family in Guanzhong.

However, as far as Liu Zhang knew, the Wei family's most glorious time was not now. It was during the Tang Dynasty that the Wei family reached its peak.

A popular saying in Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty said: "Weidu in the south of the city is five feet away from the sky."

The Old Book of Tang, Biography of Wei Shu, states: "Some people say that since the Tang Dynasty, no clan has been more prosperous than the Wei family."

The Jingzhao Wei family can be said to be a noble family that has existed for hundreds of generations.

Needless to say, there was a person in the Jingzhao Wei family who Liu Zhang was interested in - Wei Xiaokuan, the defending general of Yubi, Gao Huan's Happy City. He made Gao Shenwu sick after a battle and died after singing the "Sila Song".

It can be said that Wei Xiaokuan decided the fate of Northern Qi and Northern Zhou with one battle, which is fascinating to think about.

The descendants of the prominent families in Sanfu like Wei Kang came to submit to Liu Zhang, which represented the attitude of the aristocratic families in Guanzhong and the hearts of the people in Sanfu, all of whom belonged to Liu Zhang.

Therefore, Liu Zhang would not be arrogant and treat Wei Kang disrespectfully because of the bad comments about Wei Kang in history, which would make Wei Kang feel despised.

The so-called gods came down to earth to ask about the land, and the Wei family is the land of Guanzhong, and they are the people that Liu Zhang needs to treat well.

"Mr. Wei, please." Liu Zhang raised the wine glass and greeted Wei Kang.

Wei Kang smiled and raised his glass as well, but his glass was slightly lower than Liu Zhang's: "Mingsir, please."

After drinking the wine, Wei Kang felt cool both physically and mentally, and the heat disappeared immediately. Following the order of his clan, he rushed to Wuzhangyuan, and met Liu Zhang, the governor of Yizhou. As the rumors said, Liu Zhang of Yizhou was kind and loving, and did not care about red tape. He looked like a wise ruler.

The people of Guanzhong are blessed. (End of this chapter)