Ji Han Liu Zhang

Chang'an, official residence.

Compared to the past few years when we were busy with wars and battles, we couldn't sleep well, couldn't eat well, and had to close one eye and keep the other open when we fell asleep.

But Liu Zhang now has some free time, because of years of war and the suffering of the people. Now it is time to rest and recuperate with the people.

Therefore, in the first three months of the third year of Jian'an, Liu Zhang stopped fighting, let his horses go to the southern mountains, focused on domestic governance, and planned the cause of reviving Guanzhong with all his heart.

While governing Guanzhong, Liu Zhang continued to pay close attention to the general situation in the world. In the world today, the only two people who could compete with him for supremacy were Yuan Shao of Hebei and Cao Cao of Yanzhou, and these two received his special attention.

In addition, there are many heroes in the universe, including Sun Ce of Jiangdong, Liu Biao of Jingzhou, Lu Bu of Xuzhou, Yuan Shu of Huainan and others.

Sun Ce was based in Jiangdong. At the time when Jiangdong was underdeveloped, the most he could achieve was a separatist situation. If he wanted to compete for supremacy in the Central Plains, it would be extremely difficult.

Liu Biao of Jingzhou was just a guest of conversation, and there is no need to say anything about him; Lu Bu of Xuzhou was once famous for his bravery, but in Liu Zhang's opinion, Lu Bu could not escape the historical fate and was defeated and killed by Cao Cao; Yuan Shu of Huainan was defeated last year and Shouchun was captured. He is already dying and can do nothing.

As for Liu Zhang's fellow clansman, the indestructible little cockroach Liu Bei, he is now under the command of Cao Cao and serves as the governor of Yuzhou. He has not yet gained a place in the world, and his future is indeed uncertain.

Therefore, the general trend of the world today is nothing more than the struggle for supremacy between Yuan, Cao and Liu. Similar to the situation of Yuan and Cao competing for supremacy in the north in history, now with the addition of Liu Zhang, there is one more variable, and the future is hard to predict.

"Yuan, Cao, Liu." Liu Zhang muttered to himself as he stood in the corridor. He looked towards the courtyard in front of him. It was the time when the grass and trees were growing, but the snow at the end of last year had completely disappeared without a trace.

"Ming sir?" The personal guard Wu Ban did not hear Liu Zhang's mumbling for a moment, so he asked.

Liu Zhang turned around and shook his head to indicate that nothing was wrong. Seeing this, Wu Ban naturally ignored the matter.

Walking towards the left wing of the official residence, Liu Zhang ran into the chief clerk Xun You head-on.

"What's going on outside?" Liu Zhang asked when he saw Xun You looked a little anxious.

Xun You bowed his hands in a gesture of respect, and then responded to Liu Zhang's words: "Mr. My lord, the news sent by Xudu earlier has come true... Cao Cao has abused his power and used the emperor's order to appoint Yuan Shao's nephew Gao Gan as the governor of Hedong. Now Yuan Shao has sent Gao Gan to Shangdang County to take up his post in Hedong."

It's started! Liu Zhang sighed in his heart when he heard this. Now he was competing with the Yuan and Cao families for supremacy. The three forces were like water and fire. They looked at each other with eagle eyes and wolves, trying to swallow each other up.

Now Cao Cao, taking advantage of his position as the emperor, made a brilliant move. He appointed Yuan Shao's nephew Gao Gan as governor of Hedong, thus bringing Yuan Shao's forces closer to Liu Zhang in the hope of creating discord between Liu Zhang and Yuan Shao.

Liu Zhang saw clearly the evil intentions behind Cao Cao's move and admired him. Cao Cao was indeed a man of great talent, and he used the emperor's wisdom to the fullest. "Gongsun Zan has not yet been eliminated, but Yuan Shao is so impatient to reach out to Hedong. It's a bit too hasty." Liu Zhang responded, and he looked down on Yuan Shao's actions.

"Also, Yuan Shao couldn't see that Cao Cao's move was a strategy of driving the tiger to devour the wolf, and he intended to create a rift between me and the Yuan family and fight in Hedong, so that Cao Cao could sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight and reap the benefits."

Xun You sighed softly: "Yuan Shao is not a mediocre person. Moreover, even if Yuan Shao can't see it, his advisers should be able to see the evil intentions behind Cao Cao's appointment..."

Then Xun You changed the subject and analyzed, "It's just that Yuan Shao came from a prominent family and was always arrogant. He didn't take Guanzhong seriously, so he sent Gao Gan to Hedong without caring about anything, hoping to gain the upper hand and control this important place in Hedong so that he could march into Guanzhong in the future."

Liu Zhang nodded, and then he asked: "In your opinion, will Wang Yi, the governor of Hedong, give up his post and hand over the seal to Gao Gan?"

The current governor of Hedong is Wang Yi, with courtesy name Wendu. He is from Niyang in the north and is a student of the former Grand Commandant Liu Kuan. He is from the same school as Gongsun Zan, who is on the verge of death in Yi County. He has served as the governor of Hedong for several years and is well-loved by the officials and the people as well as the nobles in the county.

Therefore, Liu Zhang sent a decree to the court to dismiss Wang Yi from the post of governor of Hedong and replace him with a senior official. He felt that it would be difficult to achieve this at a time when the court's prestige was not strong, and there might be trouble.

"I'm afraid he won't give it up easily." Xun You pondered for a moment and gave his opinion: "Wang Yi has a good reputation and has served as the governor of Hedong for a long time. He is loved by the people in the county. Although the court has issued an order, Wang Yi may use the excuse that the country is not settled and the officials and people are reluctant to leave as an excuse to refuse the court's order. At the same time, he will close the border and prevent Gao from visiting Hedong."

"Your opinion is the same as mine." Liu Zhang nodded with a faint smile. He also held the same opinion. If the prestige of the imperial court was at its peak, perhaps Wang Yi would not dare to disobey the imperial court's order. But now that the imperial court's prestige has been damaged by Dong Zhuo, Li Yu and Guo Xingjian, most of the princes in all directions do not take the imperial court's order seriously.

Moreover, there were many excuses for not obeying the imperial edict, just like when Emperor Ling was seriously ill, he was worried about Dong Zhuo, so he issued an edict to appoint Dong Zhuo as the governor of Bingzhou, and at the same time asked Dong Zhuo to hand over the army to Huangfu Song.

However, when Dong Zhuo received the imperial edict, he did not obey it. Instead, he wrote a letter to explain that the soldiers under him had known him for a long time and were reluctant to give up their military power because they were only willing to obey his orders and follow him.

Therefore, Liu Zhang thought it was unlikely that Wang Yi would honestly hand over Hedong to Gao Gan. Wang Yi would write to the court and make excuses not to give up the post of Hedong governor. As for Gao Gan who came to take up the post of Hedong governor, he would probably not get what he wanted.

"Speaking of the imperial edict conferring the title of governor of Henei on Xunzi, according to a letter from Shen Mi who is stationed in Tongguan, it is said that the emperor's envoy has arrived in Tongguan and will arrive in Chang'an soon to present the edict to Xunzi." Liu Zhang brought up another operation of Cao Cao.

At the same time, Liu Zhang teased Xun You, "Are you interested in taking up the post of governor of Henei?"

Xun You smiled faintly and said, "How dare I refuse the imperial decree? However, I'm afraid that Zhang Yang, the governor of Henei, is not willing to give up the post of governor and hand over the seal to You."

Liu Zhang laughed out loud when he heard this. He said, "Zhang Yang, the governor of Henei, and Wang Yi, the governor of Hedong, are really giving you a headache now."

"The Sanhe area is located in the center of the world, and it is a place that military strategists must fight for. However, Wang Yi, Zhang Yang and others have no military strategy, so it is difficult for them to defend the counties under their names. If they hesitate for a moment, it will be a disaster for their families and the whole clan." Xun You sighed lightly, lamenting the fate of Wang Yi and Zhang Yang. (End of this chapter)