Ji Han Liu Zhang

In the second year of Jian'an, early November, Chang'an City, official residence.

Liu Zhang stood in the corridor, looking at the falling snow for a long time. He asked, "After I conquered Longyou and swept Hexi, is there any news in Xudu?"

Xun You, the chief clerk, was standing behind Liu Zhang, accompanying him to admire the snowy scenery. Upon hearing Liu Zhang's question, he spoke up: "My Lord, according to the information handed over by the spy in Xudu, the court, or rather, the Sikong Cao Cao who is in charge of the government, intends to send an envoy to confer the title of king on you again under the order of the emperor."

"Oh." Liu Zhang responded calmly. It seemed that Cao Cao wanted to put him on the spot and make him stand out from the crowd. "Anything else?"

"Except for the matter of the title of king." Xun You said slowly, "As for the important matters, the court thinks that Wang Yi, the governor of Henei, and Zhang Yang, the governor of Hedong, have not obeyed the king's orders and are suspected of usurping power, so they want to replace Wang Yi with Yuan Shao's nephew Gao Gan as governor of Henei and You as governor of Hedong, and Wang Yi and Zhang Yang will be summoned to the court to serve as officials."

Liu Zhang lowered his eyelids, looking thoughtful. After a moment, he asked Xun You, "What do you think of this matter, Xun Qing?"

Xun You shook his head and smiled, "Hedong is close to Jizhou, and Xun You is the governor. Henei is close to Guanzhong, and Xun You is the governor. In addition, Hedong and Henei are the key places of the three rivers... Cao Mengde's actions are too obvious. He wants you and Yuan Shao to fight in Hedong and Henei, so that he can sit back and watch the fight."

Liu Zhang nodded and said, "I agree with you. Cao Mengde has evil intentions and intends to stir up disputes between me and Yuan Shao, but his actions are obvious and can be easily seen through."

"It's a pity that the emperor is controlled by Cao Mengde. All the edicts and decrees are endorsed by the emperor and the court, and others can't say anything." Xun You sighed. That Cao Sikong was holding the emperor hostage to command the princes in Xudu, and every word and action was under the banner of the emperor. How unhappy it was.

"It is a blessing that Cao Mengde controls the emperor." Liu Zhang smiled and said, "Otherwise, if the emperor was controlled by Yuan Shao, with Jizhou's strength, who could fight against him with the emperor's orders?"

"Your Excellency's words make sense." Xun You also smiled and expressed his agreement, but he had one or two opinions of his own: "It's just that at the moment, Cao Mengde is more difficult to deal with than Yuan Shao... Just like the edicts that Cao Mengde issued to Guanzhong under the pretense of the emperor's order, they all seemed to be orders of conferring titles and commendations, but they were full of evil intentions and were an open conspiracy, which did great harm to Your Excellency."

"Do you think Cao Cao is better than Yuan Shao?" Liu Zhang, who had been standing in the corridor for a long time and felt a little cold, paced forward and walked towards the meeting room with Xun You, one after the other.

"Yes." Xun You nodded, first gave an affirmative answer, and then gave his own opinion: "Regarding the emperor's return to Luoyang, Yuan Shao was hesitant, and Cao Cao immediately made a decisive move to welcome the emperor. This shows that Cao Cao's judgment is better than Yuan Shao's. Secondly, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu are brothers who cannot get along. Otherwise, if the two Yuans join forces, the world will surely be taken by the Yuan family... Based on these two things, it can be seen that although Yuan Shao is strong, he is not as strong as Cao Cao. In the future, the biggest enemy of your lordship will probably be Cao Cao."

As they were talking, the two of them kept walking and came to the meeting room. Liu Zhang walked in first, followed closely by Xun You. Once inside, the servants considerately brought a charcoal stove. As the charcoal stove emitted waves of heat, Liu Zhang and Xun You felt their bodies suddenly warm up from the cold.

"Although Yuan Shao is inferior to Cao Cao, he is also a hero of the time and cannot be easily dealt with." Xun You added as he stretched out his hand to light the charcoal fire.

"Yes." Liu Zhang nodded: "Although Yuan Shao's judgment is slightly inferior to Cao Cao, he is also an extraordinary person because he can dominate Hebei and has unrivaled power."

Liu Zhang did not overly despise Yuan Shao, the loser of the chicken-eating contest in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. When reading history books, the most important thing is not to judge a hero by his success or failure.

After all, Yuan Shao's failure in history was the result of many factors, including Xu You's betrayal, Cao Cao's desperate attack on Wuchao, Zhang He and Gao Lan's failure to attack Cao's camp, Yuan Shao's short life, and the disputes between his successors Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang. If an accident had happened at any one point, Cao Cao would have been defeated by Yuan Shao. Cao Cao's victory was not a historical inevitability, but a fluke among flukes.

It is also known that after Yuan Shao died, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang were fighting in Hebei, and the Yuan family was so weak, it took Cao Cao six or seven years to conquer the whole of Hebei. This shows how much the Yuan family in Hebei had an advantage.

Speaking of Hebei, Liu Zhang mentioned the White Horse General Gongsun Zan: "How is Gongsun Zan doing now?"

Xun You replied, "Gongsun Zan has camped in Yi County and dug ten layers of trenches. He also built a fortress inside the trenches, each of which is fifty or six feet high, and built high towers on top. He wanted to use this to resist Yuan Shao, but he has been besieged by Yuan Shao. The situation is deteriorating day by day, and I am afraid that Yuan Shao will break through soon."

"Gongsun Zan is known as the White Horse General, but he dares not go into battle. He stays in the high tower and competes with Yuan Shao with his shortcomings. It is only a matter of time before he is defeated." Liu Zhang sighed and lamented the fate of the White Horse General Gongsun Zan.

After being defeated at Jieqiao and Baoqiu by Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan lost his will to fight and dared not engage Yuan Shao. He just built high towers, dug trenches, and pretended to defend himself.

Although Yuan Shao found it difficult to defeat Gongsun Zan for a while, Gongsun Zan's defensive posture was revealed, and even the dumbest people knew that Gongsun Zan would be defeated sooner or later, and following Gongsun Zan would lead to death.

"If Gongsun Zan is not defeated this year, he will definitely be defeated next year." Liu Zhang relied on his intuition to deduce the time when Gongsun Zan would end.

"Your Excellency is right," Xun You affirmed, and at the same time he told a detail of the battle between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan: "According to the detailed report, Gongsun Zan's other generals were surrounded by Yuan Shao, but Gongsun Zan refused to rescue them, saying that if he saved this one person, the others would only wait for reinforcements and would not fight. Therefore, Gongsun Zan's officers and soldiers were rebellious, and many surrendered to Yuan Shao, or led their men to flee from Yijing knowing that they were in a deadly situation."

"Gongsun Zan is in a critical situation right now, but he dares not abandon Yijing and leave. He is afraid that if he leaves, his army will suddenly collapse and lose its foundation, and will have to wander in the wilderness."

Liu Zhang seemed to have remembered something, and he asked, "Black Mountain Commander Zhang Yan has made an alliance with Gongsun Zan. Can Gongsun Zan send someone to ask Zhang Yan for help?"

"Of course there were." Xun You nodded: "Gongsun Zan sent his son Gongsun Xu to Zhang Yan for help, but now is winter, it is not the time to use troops, so Zhang Yan has not mobilized. It is estimated that he will send troops to rescue Gongsun Zan when spring comes next year." "In your opinion, can Gongsun Zan be saved by Zhang Yan so that Gongsun Zan can hold on for a few more years?" Liu Zhang asked Xun You for his opinion. As long as Gongsun Zan, who was stationed in Yi County, was not eliminated, Yuan Shao would not be able to send troops to all directions. Therefore, the existence of Gongsun Zan had one or two benefits for Liu Zhang.

Although Zhang Yan failed to save Gongsun Zan in history, the course of history to date has changed greatly. Liu Zhang was unable to grasp it for a while and could only rely on the analysis and judgment of his advisers to get a general direction.

Xun You shook his head slowly. "In my opinion, although Black Mountain Commander Zhang Yan has a lot of troops, claiming to have a million men, I'm afraid there are only tens of thousands of soldiers who can really fight. Most of them are women and children, who are not fit for a fight. I'm afraid they are no match for Yuan's army, which has defeated Gongsun Zan repeatedly and is in high spirits."

"Besides," Xun You analyzed from a psychological perspective, "If Gongsun Zan thought that inviting the Black Mountain Army would be able to attack Yuan's army from both inside and outside, the envoy he sent would not be his son Gongsun Xu... You guessed that Gongsun Zan knew that he would not be spared if the Black Mountain Army came, so he sent Gongsun Xu to the Black Mountain Army, hoping that after the fall of Yijing and the defeat, Gongsun Zan would leave a bloodline so that there would be no one to offer sacrifices to in the future."

"Gongsun Zan has no will to fight and is in despair. The situation is clear. Unless something unexpected happens next year, Gongsun Zan will be defeated by Yuan Shao." Xun You gave his final opinion. He was very pessimistic about Gongsun Zan's survival.

Liu Zhang nodded, his fingers tapping lightly on the table: "It's a pity that our army has been mobilized for many years, and the treasury is short of food and supplies, but we can't help Gongsun Zan. Otherwise, with Gongsun Zan in Yijing, Yuan Shao will have a thorn in his side and it will be difficult to free up his hands."

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. This wise saying is very useful when the world is in turmoil. Although Liu Zhang has no relatives or friends with Gongsun Zan, now he and Gongsun Zan have a common enemy, Yuan Shao, so he and Gongsun Zan can naturally get closer and become allies.

However, Liu Zhang is currently powerless. He has been waging wars for years and has no peace for several years. His treasury is now empty. Although he can defend himself, it is difficult for him to send troops on a long expedition.

Needless to say, sending troops from Guanzhong to rescue Gongsun Zan requires passing through Henei and Hedong. There is Wang Yi in Henei and Zhang Yang in Hedong. Although the two are small warlords who control a county, they still require time and energy to deal with them.

As for asking Wang Yi and Zhang Yang to borrow a road for passage, it was unlikely to happen after the incident of using the false road to attack Guo. Wang Yi and Zhang Yang were probably worried that Liu Zhang was pretending to rescue Gongsun Zan but was actually going to attack them, so they did not dare to lend them a way.

As it was, whether from the perspective of Liu Zhang's current capabilities or from the perspective of the rescue channel, rescuing Gongsun Zan was an unrealistic idea, and Gongsun Zan's defeat was foreseeable.

However, Liu Zhang decided to do something. Although he could not mobilize troops, diplomacy could sometimes play a greater role than mobilizing troops. He instructed Xun You, "Send an envoy to Black Mountain commander Zhang Yan to establish a good relationship with Zhang Yan. Zhang Yan is not on good terms with Yuan Shao, so who knows, Zhang Yan might be useful in the future."

Adhering to the idea of ​​trying his best, Liu Zhang made a decision.

Time flies, and the years are golden. It soon came to the end of November in the second year of Jian'an. In this month, a major event was being prepared, that is, the marriage between Liu Zhang and Huang Quan's sister Huang Wan.

In the first year of Xingping, with the help of Dong Fu, the governor of Yizhou, Liu Zhang and Huang Wan made an engagement. However, Liu Zhang declined on the grounds that the revenge for his father and brother had not been avenged. He was determined to avenge his father and brother first and then marry Huang Wan.

By now, Liu Zhang had conquered Guanzhong, killed Li Jue and Guo Si, and then pacified Longyou and settled Hexi. The entire Guanxi area was under Liu Zhang's control. At this time, Liu Zhang could marry Huang Wan in peace and happiness.

At present, Dong Fu, the governor of Yizhou, who was the one who arranged the wedding, has arrived in Guanzhong and will preside over the wedding he arranged. Huang Wan's brother, Huang Quan, the prefect of Hanzhong, who is like his elder brother to his father, rushed to Chang'an from the Ziwu Road when his sister Huang Wan was about to get married.

Liu Zhang's group was all in a state of joy and happiness about this marriage. For example, Dong Fu, as the matchmaker, was happy; Huang Quan was also in a good mood because he had solved a problem, not to mention that his brother-in-law was Liu Zhang.

In addition, officials from Yizhou, such as Wang Shang, Gan Ning, and Zhang Ren, were all very happy to have a mistress from Yizhou. After all, geographical divisions always exist, and people from the same place are naturally closer. How could Wang Shang, Gan Ning, Zhang Ren, and others not be happy to have a mistress from the same state?

Furthermore, there were the civil and military officials in Guanzhong and Longyou that Liu Zhang had recently conquered, such as Jia Xu, Zhang Xiu, Ma Chao, Yan Xing and others. They were also happy about Liu Zhang's marriage. After all, it was a happy thing for them to receive some rewards from Liu Zhang's wedding.

In short, all the civil and military officials under Liu Zhang were immersed in happiness, and as a person in the game, Liu Zhang was in a good mood. Marrying Huang Wan would tie the common people of Yizhou firmly to his chariot. At the same time, the disappointment of the common people of Yizhou would be alleviated after he moved the capital to Chang'an. After all, marrying Huang Wan showed that Liu Zhang's foundation was still the common people of Yizhou.

Another person involved in the game, Huang Wan, was only eighteen years old. She was full of youth and happiness. She got what she wanted to be married to Liu Zhang. She had waited for three years for this, and now it finally came to fruition.

Since the war had just ended and the treasury was empty, Liu Zhang's wedding was grand, after all, all the famous civil and military officials from Guanxi had gathered in Chang'an, which was quite impressive. However, the specific details of the wedding were very simple, and all the items needed for the wedding were not very expensive, but simple.

After all, the world is in turmoil, the four seas are in strife, the people are suffering, and the scholars are in poverty. Under such circumstances, Liu Zhang couldn't make the wedding too grand and extravagant. It was Huang Wan who was well-behaved. Considering the current turbulent situation and the empty treasury, she took the initiative to suggest that the wedding didn't need to be too grand and extravagant.

"A virtuous wife is hard to come by." Liu Zhang gave a good evaluation of Huang Wan's actions. As the saying goes, a virtuous wife brings less trouble to her husband, and a virtuous wife plays a huge role.

The wedding was going on, the guests were feasting outside, and Liu Zhang entered the bridal chamber.

Entering the bridal chamber, the moon is low over the eaves, and the dim moon shines on the tent. (End of this chapter)