I practiced magic in the Three Kingdoms

After successfully annihilating Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao, Yanzhou was already stable, but this peace was only on the surface. Guo Jia and Xun You were both from Yingchuan and were familiar with the internal details of Yanzhou. They were worried that Wang Jing would misjudge the situation, so they reminded him together: "My lord, although Yanzhou is stable, there are still undercurrents lurking."

In fact, Wang Jing knew what was going on without Guo Jia's reminder.

Yanzhou is one of the nine ancient states and the orthodox birthplace of Chinese civilization. It not only has a long history, but also has countless heritages because it is located in the heart of the Central Plains.

Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the number of prominent families in Yanzhou far exceeded that of the remote prefectures and counties. This is why Wang Jian went to Bingzhou and Qingzhou respectively and established the Taiyuan Wang family and the Langya Wang family successively. The competition among Yanzhou, Yuzhou and Jizhou was too fierce.

Xun You also made a suggestion to Wang Jing at this time: "My lord, Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao are dead, Taishan has been pacified, and the remaining land of Jibei can be conquered by issuing an edict. But it is not easy to truly control Yanzhou."

"Do you two have any good ideas?"

Wang Jing looked at Xun You and Guo Jia. He didn't know much about the internal situation of Yanzhou, so he could only rely on his advisers to obtain intelligence.

"The local nobles are powerful, but if we ask one person to come out and defend Yanzhou for you, my lord."

Xun You and Guo Jia, unexpectedly, recommended a person to Wang Jing in unison.

"Oh? Who is it?"

Wang Jing was also very curious about who had such great ability.

"Cheng Yu Cheng Zhongde."

"It turned out to be him."

Wang Jing had naturally heard of Cheng Yu's name.

In the Three Kingdoms, he was a tough guy who could govern the people with his pen and kill the enemies with his sword. He was the only famous general among Cao Cao's five great advisers who was both talented in civil and military affairs.

What's even more rare is that Cheng Yu has even less moral bottom line than Jia Xu. In order to raise military funds for Cao Cao, he plundered his hometown, and when there was a shortage of food, he used human flesh as military rations.

From a moral point of view, there is no doubt that Cheng Yu is not a good person, let alone a good official. He is no less cruel than the cruel officials who squeeze the marrow out of people.

But from the perspective of those in higher positions, there is no good or bad official, it all depends on how they are employed.

A capable person like Cheng Yu is extremely talented and a ruthless character who dares to act. There is no doubt that it is most appropriate to use him to implement reforms in Yanzhou.

Xun You and Guo Jia also had sharp eyes and immediately recommended such a chosen person to him.

Xun You was very happy to see Wang Jing was willing to invite Cheng Yu out of retirement, and said with a smile: "My lord, I have met Brother Zhongde several times before, why not let me go and invite him."

Wang Jing waved his hand and said, "No, Cheng Zhongde has amazing talent. I should go and invite him in person to show my sincerity."

Dongjun, Dong'a.

Cheng Yu, who is already over fifty years old, still reads quietly at home every day, as if he is indifferent to the general situation in the world.

"Father!"

The eldest son Cheng Wu came back from outside in a hurry and shouted loudly as soon as he entered the door.

Cheng Yu frowned and scolded, "You are such a grown-up, but you are still so impatient. How can this be tolerated?"

Cheng Wu immediately accepted the advice respectfully and did not dare to refute: "Father, the battle of Mount Tai is over, and the Qihou army has returned to Changyi."

"Oh? Tell me the details quickly."

Cheng Yu put down the book and was obviously very interested in the specific circumstances of the Battle of Mount Tai. It was obvious that he was not really indifferent to the changes in the world.

Although the Cheng family is not a prominent family, they are also descendants of a famous family and have their own information collection channels, which allows Cheng Yu to know the major events in the world without leaving home.

Today, the Yanhan Dynasty is on the verge of collapse, and wars are frequent in various states. What concerns the world the most is naturally the civil war in Jizhou led by Yuan Shao in the north, and the rebellion in Yanzhou that Qi Hou Wang Jing has recently been involved in.

In the history of the Three Kingdoms, Cheng Wu, who had inherited his father's title and almost captured the elderly Zhao Yun alive in Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition, was still very young at this time, in his twenties and in the prime of his life.

Cheng Wu told Cheng Yu the details of the Battle of Mount Tai, and finally said in an excited tone: "Father, you really got it right. After Qi Hou arrived at the battlefield, he was not in a hurry to attack. Instead, he besieged the city for several days. In the end, he captured Fenggao without bloodshed and executed Zhang Miao."

Cheng Wu was very excited and looked at his father with admiration.

Cheng Yu has always had his own unique insights into the general situation of the world, and he can always predict the results, which makes Cheng Wu admire him very much.

But at the same time, Cheng Wu was also very puzzled: "With my father's talent and knowledge, why didn't he want to serve as the governor of Liu?"

The Governor Liu mentioned by Cheng Wu was naturally the deceased Liu Dai.

Speaking of this, Cheng Wu couldn't help but feel regretful: "If my father had helped, how could the governor die at the hands of a few rebels, and Yanzhou change its master?"

Cheng Yu sighed upon hearing this, then shook his head and said, "Although Liu Gongshan is a filial and benevolent man, he is not a wise leader in troubled times. He has a pedantic personality and no ambitions. If I go to him, not only will I not be able to achieve success, but I will probably be dragged down by him and die without a burial place."

When Liu Dai was on good terms with Yuan Shao, he sent someone to invite Cheng Yu to come out of retirement.

But Cheng Yu was not optimistic about Liu Dai. In the end, he just gave him a few ideas and then refused to take up the official position on the grounds of poor health.

Because of this matter, Cheng Wu stayed at home and felt regretful for a long time. After all, if Cheng Yu became an official, it would be of great benefit to both the Cheng family of Dong'a and himself.

Seeing the turmoil in the world and the various princes fighting for supremacy in the Central Plains, Cheng Yu still sat at home reading all day, which made Cheng Wu hard to understand. He couldn't help but ask curiously: "Who else in the world can be called a wise leader in my father's eyes?"

Cheng Yu put his hands behind his back, frowned and thought, then sighed and said, "In this world, I have only seen two people who can be called wise leaders."

"Two, who are they?"

"One of them is General Cao Cao, who is a first-class man in both civil and military affairs. If anyone can end the chaos and pacify the world, he has the greatest chance of success. If that person hadn't appeared..."

"That person? Is it Marquis Qi that father is talking about?"

The more Cheng Wu listened, the more curious he became. After all, he had met Cao Cao, and he could indeed be called a rare hero in the world. Whether in spirit or courage, wisdom or strategy, Cao Cao had a personal charm that could make people captivated.

"Marquis Qi Wang Jing, he is also the second person I want to talk about who can be called a wise leader."

Cheng Yu's eyes were full of leisurely gazes. "Although Wang Jing was born into a famous family, he was only the second son in the family. Yet, at such a young age, he accomplished such an unparalleled feat. Even as a father, I always find it incredible when I think about what he has done."

Cheng Wu obviously admired Wang Jing very much: "Father always predicts things like a god, but he often fails with Qi Hou. It seems that he is your nemesis."

Cheng Yu's face twitched when he heard this: "Are you itching for trouble again?"

After saying this, he skillfully picked up the cane beside him, ready to teach his son a lesson on the price of saying the wrong thing.

Seeing his father raising the finger-thick cane, Cheng Wu immediately begged for mercy: "Father, please don't do it. I know I'm wrong!"

"Don't worry, wait until your father finishes beating you, then it won't be too late for you to admit your mistake."

Cheng Yu's eyes were fierce. The brat in front of him was getting more and more arrogant. Now he even dared to make fun of his father. If he didn't teach him a lesson, he would not know who was in charge of this family.

Seeing that Cheng Wu was about to eat another meal of braised pork with rattan sticks, fortunately his younger brother Cheng Yan came to the rescue in time: "Father, there is a guest outside the door who wants to see you."

"Who?"

"He...he said his last name is Wang and his given name is Jing."

Cheng Yan seemed to be too excited and couldn't even speak clearly.

Cheng Yu was also shocked, and even forgot about beating his son. He threw away the cane in his hand and immediately ordered: "Such an honorable guest, follow me to go out and greet him."

Cheng Yu has his own pride, but that doesn’t mean he is a rebellious person.

Cheng Yu could certainly look down on and treat Liu Dai like a good-for-nothing, and he was even too lazy to take up the official position when the other party invited him to do so.

But Wang Jing is different!
In Cheng Yu's eyes, Wang Jing is more powerful than Cao Cao and more likely to unify the world!

Therefore, when he heard his youngest son Cheng Yan say that Wang Jing was coming in person, he immediately went out to greet him respectfully. The gate of the Cheng family mansion suddenly opened.

Cheng Yu personally went out to greet him, bowed and saluted: "I am Cheng Yu, your humble servant, and I am honored to meet Marquis Qi."

Wang Jing and Xun You also came forward to greet him, with a gentle smile on their faces, making people feel as if they were bathed in spring breeze: "I am really sorry for the inconvenience of coming to visit you today, sir."

During the conversation, Cheng Yu secretly observed and found that Wang Jing was slightly different from the image he had in his mind.

His features were handsome yet sharp, his figure tall but not fat, his expression amiable and smiling, but every move he made exuded an air of arrogance that was unparalleled.

Behind a pair of sword-like eyebrows, there is a look of disdain towards the whole universe, and his cultivation makes people feel like they are looking up to a mountain.

Cheng Yu himself also learned martial arts, although he had only entered the fourth realm of martial arts, but his spiritual cultivation had already reached the level of a Confucian master, and was not much inferior to Wang Yun at the time.

Even if Wang Yun did not hold the position of one of the Three Dukes at that time, he would probably not be a match for Cheng Yu if they really competed in thinking ability.

Precisely because he had reached the Grandmaster level in spirit refining, Cheng Yu could feel from Wang Jing a surging force as violent as the rivers and seas, so violent and powerful that he was simply inhuman.

Based on this point alone, Cheng Yu could be sure that the person in front of him was definitely Wang Jing himself, and not some fake Xibei product.

Cheng Yu politely invited Wang Jing and Xun You into his home, and also asked people to prepare tea and cakes.

The tea is stir-fried clear tea, boiled with mountain spring water and served in a ceramic cup.

Wang Jing looked at it and immediately smiled and said, "Mr. Cheng is thoughtful."

At that time, the mainstream way of drinking tea was still a hodgepodge of tea soups. The trend of drinking plain tea was started by Wang Jing in Luoyang. However, he did not expect that this trend of drinking plain tea had spread to Yanzhou.

Cheng Yu must have known that I like to drink plain tea, so he made such preparations.

This shows that the other party is also a caring person.

Wang Jing savored the fragrant tea in the cup. The refreshing tea aroma made him feel good. At the same time, he also felt that the purpose of this trip was probably achieved.

The three of them drank tea and discussed world affairs, each expressing their own views and opinions.

Cheng Yu was particularly interested in Wang Jing's reforms and asked the most questions, including Wang Jing's attitude towards the aristocratic families: "May I ask Lord Qi, in your eyes, are the aristocratic families in the world really all cancerous?"

In troubled times, rulers and ministers choose each other.

Wang Jing wanted to test Cheng Yu's talent, and Cheng Yu naturally wanted to test Wang Jing's mind and temperament.

Cheng Yu was not the first to ask about Wang Jing's attitude towards the aristocratic families, but Wang Jing's answer was always the same: "Those who are stubborn and unwilling to change are naturally cancer, and I will cut them off with my sword. But as long as they are willing to accept my rules and new policies, I am not a dictator, and I will never be stingy with the benefits that should be given."

Seeing Wang Jing's sincere tone and sincere eyes, Cheng Yu understood what was going on and was convinced: "In this case, Yu will pay his respects to the Lord."

Wang Jing was overjoyed to have such a famous general who was both civil and military, and immediately helped Cheng Yu up from the ground: "Zhongde, I appoint you as the governor of Rencheng, and please guard the gate of Yanzhou for me."

As soon as he arrived, he was appointed as the governor, and he was appointed to a strategic location like Rencheng. This was definitely a sign of trust and reuse. Therefore, Cheng Yu had a serious expression and said, "I am willing to go through fire and water for my lord, even if I die."

Xi Zhicai was in charge of Dongping, and Cheng Yu was in charge of the city. With these two wise men guarding the gate of Yanzhou, and two powerful generals, Xu Huang and Dian Weihe, it could be said that the city was as solid as a rock.

As long as the four of them cooperate well, the Northern Army's forces left in Yanzhou will be enough to deal with the threats from Kong Rong of Beihai and Tao Qian of Xuzhou.

And Cheng Yu did not disappoint Wang Jing. As soon as he took office, he immediately started to cultivate land in the local area, showing extremely strong political skills. Those noble families and powerful people who dared to secretly obstruct were severely beaten by Cheng Yu and the Qingzhou soldiers who had just surrendered. Many heads were killed, and in the end they were all subdued by him.

Cheng Yu vigorously promoted military farming and did not hesitate to infringe on the interests of aristocratic families for this purpose.

For a time, the wealthy families in Rencheng complained, but the poor people applauded.

The hundreds of thousands of Qingzhou soldiers who surrendered were also properly settled by Cheng Yu. Those who refused to obey were killed, and those who obeyed were comforted. His methods were a combination of hardness and softness, and he used both kindness and force. Soon, he achieved some political achievements.

When the news reached Changyi, Wang Jing read the intelligence sent by the secret guards and immediately felt that Cheng Yu was a very capable person. The key point was that he dared to fight and was very resolute in executing orders, not afraid of offending people.

In comparison, although Jia Xu was known as a poisonous scholar and had many plans to bring disaster to the country, he often did so out of necessity for the sake of self-protection.

On weekdays, Jia Xu is well versed in the art of keeping a low profile. He avoids putting in any effort if possible and rarely takes the initiative to do things that offend others. It is no exaggeration to say that he is a good man.

On the contrary, people like Cheng Yu who are usually polite to everyone are the real ruthless people. Once he starts to fight, he often shows no mercy.

However, Yanzhou is a place where aristocratic families gather together and it is also a place of war. If one wants to implement Wang Jing's reforms and new policies, he really needs a strong man like Cheng Yu.

Seeing Wang Jing in a good mood, Guo Jia also smiled and said, "It seems that Cheng Zhongde is indeed very capable."

Wang Jing also admired Cheng Yu's ability to do things: "Fortunately, Fengxiao and Gongda recommended talents to me, otherwise I would not have found such a great talent."

After Cheng Yu settled hundreds of thousands of Qingzhou soldiers in Rencheng and implemented Wang Jing's land policy in the local area and established a military system, Wang Jing promoted him and gave him a raise, allowing him to step onto a bigger stage and get the opportunity to display his strengths.

At this time, because Cheng Yu implemented the military farming policy in Rencheng, some latent forces within Yanzhou began to converge secretly.

Changyi City, Beijia Mansion.

Wang Yu sits in the play with a gloomy expression on his face.

At the guest table, Xu Si, Wang Kai, Wang Gong, Xu Xi, Mao Hui and others also remained silent and had serious expressions.

After waiting for a long time, no one spoke, so Wang Yu had to speak first: "Silence can't solve the problem. I'm sure everyone knows about Rencheng's incident. Tell me, what should we do now?"

As a military commander, Xu Xi had the worst temper: "Besides killing people, what else can we do?"

They used to be Liu Dai's subordinates, and originally thought that Liu Dai was a waste and could not accomplish anything, so they secretly conspired with Chen Gong to welcome Cao Cao to Yanzhou.

However, as fate would have it, Cao Cao came and went, and the person who took control of Yanzhou became the plague god Wang Jing.

Although Cheng Yu was successful in developing military farming in Rencheng, the local farmland had already been divided up. So where did the land come from?

Naturally, they could only take it from the aristocratic families. Anyway, the reasons were ready. Which aristocratic family did not conceal the declaration of land? Did they not evade taxes?

There are even many lands that were obtained through unscrupulous means and often cannot withstand inspection.

Cheng Yu was also decisive. He confiscated every person he found, and sent troops to wipe out anyone who refused to obey, and confiscated their property and exterminated their clan. As a result, he had tortured the local wealthy families to death.

For the aristocratic families, touching their land and property would be like cutting into their flesh.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Xu Xi wants to kill someone.

After hearing this suggestion, Wang Yu shook his head and said, "Killing people won't solve the problem."

Xu Xi was immediately dissatisfied: "Could it be that at this time, you are still thinking about the old feelings?"

Wang Yu had a good personal relationship with Cheng Yu, and it was he who recommended Cheng Yu to Liu Dai for official service.

But friendship is not as important as family interests. Now Cheng Yu is insisting on his own way and implementing Wang Jing's new policies, and the two have long become enemies.

Wang Yu looked at Xu Xi like a fool: "You said to kill people, what do you have to kill? Cheng Yu has 300,000 Qingzhou soldiers in Rencheng, what do you have? You don't even have a brain!"

"What did you say? Say it again!"

Xu Xi was so angry that he wanted to draw his sword, then he felt around his waist for a long time before he realized that he didn't bring any weapon with him when he came in.

Seeing that the problem had not been solved yet, the internal quarrel broke out first, and Xu Si had to step in to mediate: "Alright, we are all family, are you arguing and quarreling to make a fool of yourself?"

Seeing Xu Si come out, Xu Xi was still a little unhappy, but after cursing for a few words, he sat down again.

When it comes to wisdom and strategy, everyone present thinks Xu Si is the best.

Therefore, at this time, everyone is willing to listen to his advice and cast their eyes on him: "Do you have a countermeasure? If it is not stopped, it will not be long before the new policy spreads from Rencheng to the entire Yanzhou." (End of this chapter)