The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 158 Chapter 158
As soon as Zhang Yan, Tai Shici, Zhang Hong and others landed, they saw more than ten riders coming from a distance. The leader was wearing a loose robe, with hair tied on top of his head and a crown. He has a green beard, and the attendants he brings are all dressed in black clothes, with a saber tied around his waist.

The dozen or so riders glanced at Zhang Yan and the others who were landing, and a faint smile appeared on the face of the leader. With an order, he led the people to gallop down from the high hill.

Zhang Yan had just set foot on the ground of Jiangdong, he was not familiar with the place where he lived, and he didn't know whether the ten or so riders were enemies or friends.Therefore, Zhang Yan asked Tai Shici to lead his army to intercept and be ready for battle at any time.

Tai Shici led more than 20 spearmen, blocked the main road, put the spears in unison, and waited for the formation, and asked loudly: "Who is coming, tell me your name!"

Seeing this, the leader hurriedly stopped, and asked loudly: "I am the governor of Yangzhou, and my surname is Xue Mingli. I am here to pay my respects to Mr. Zhang!"

When Tai Shici heard this, he returned to Zhang Yan's side, clasped his fists and said, "My lord, you are Liu Yao's subordinate!"

"Let him come over!" Zhang Yan said.

"Here!"

Tai Shi Ci responded, turned around and shouted at Xue Li: "Master Xue, my lord is here to invite you!"

As soon as the words fell, the more than 20 spearmen who were blocking the outside immediately withdrew a path, Xue Li got off his horse, let his subordinates stay where they were, and walked straight to the shore.

Zhang Yan sat on a rock by the bank, saw Xue Li walking towards him, and looked at him carefully, and before Xue Li could speak, he asked first: "I heard that Master Xue is from Pengcheng, Xuzhou. ?”

Xue Li nodded, and said, "Responding to Zhang Shijun's words, I am not only from Pengcheng, Xuzhou, but also served as Prime Minister of Pengcheng."

"No wonder your name sounds so familiar, it's my ex!" Zhang Yan laughed.

Xue Li was stunned for a moment, and asked, "What? Zhang Shijun also served as Prime Minister of Pengcheng?"

"Well, right after Cao Cao's first invasion of Xuzhou."

Xue Li said in surprise: "This is really a coincidence. I left Pengcheng half a month before Cao Cao invaded Xuzhou."

"When I took over as Prime Minister of Pengcheng, I once heard a small official mention Mr. Xue, saying that Mr. Xue left Pengcheng suddenly for some unknown reason... If Mr. Xue hadn't left Pengcheng back then, maybe we would have met again Woolen cloth."

Xue Li said: "Don't mention the past, it's hard to describe in a word. The reason why I left Pengcheng was also forced by Tao Shijun. I really had no choice but to leave."

"Coerced by Tao Shijun?" Zhang Yan asked curiously.

As soon as Xue Li mentioned this matter, he became very angry, so he told Zhang Yan the whole story.

Speaking of it, there was no conflict between Xue Li and Tao Qian. In the final analysis, it was caused by the power struggle between the prefect of the Han Dynasty and the prefecture.

The Han Dynasty divided the country into thirteen supervisory regions, namely one Sili (central region directly under the Central Government) and twelve prefectures.Sili has a Sili Xiaowei, who has a very prominent position and is responsible for supervising all officials of the imperial court and offenders in the counties near the capital except the Sangong.Each prefecture has a governor, who is used to monitor local political conditions, accept cases, and assess officials.

There are also clear regulations on the powers of the governor, that is, "six articles of imperial edict to inspect the state". The big clan annexed the land and opposed its rampant in the countryside.[-]. "Two thousand stones do not follow the imperial edict, follow the old code, double the public to ask for private interests, follow the edict to keep profits, invade and fish the people, and gather them for adultery." That is to crack down on the illegal behavior of senior local officials who use their power for personal gain.[-]. "Two thousand stones are not sympathetic to prison, they kill people in the wind, they are punished when they are angry, they are rewarded if they are happy, they annoy and brutally kill Li Yuan, they are sick for the people, landslides and rocks are cracked, and the truth is false." That is, to attack the local area. Unfair law enforcement by senior officials.

[-]. "The election of two thousand stones is not fair, Afu loves it, and my virtuous dotes on it", that is, to crack down on local senior officials who tend to favor themselves when examining scholars.Five, the sons of the two thousand stones rely on their parents and power, please serve as prisons", crack down on the illegality of the children of local senior officials. Senior officials and local clans colluded with each other. Clearly stipulating the powers of governors can not only provide a basis for governors to exercise their powers, but also prevent governors from abusing their powers to interfere with normal local administrative affairs.

At first, the power of the governor was limited to these, but with the increasing development, in the 18th year of Jianwu in the Eastern Han Dynasty (42 years), the governor began to have a fixed office, and he could send officials to act on his behalf. Even the salary has been increased a lot. Not only that, the imperial court often sends the governor to lead the army to fight, and the governor, the minister, and the county magistrate are all quite afraid of him, and even don't have to pass the inspection of the officials appointed by the Sangong. There is a case of releasing the seal and abandoning the official because of the fear of the governor.

In the fifth year of Zhongping (188), Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, Liu Yan said that there were many troubles in the four directions. The state and county two-level system was formed accordingly.

When Xue Li was Chancellor of Pengcheng, Tao Qian was only the governor of the state. Logically speaking, what Xue Li wanted to do in Pengcheng, he didn't have to ask Tao Qian to report, but he could decide on his own, because Tao Qian was not his boss.But Tao Qian insisted on interfering in everything. Xue Li was extremely dissatisfied with Tao Qian's behavior, so he went to the imperial court to impeach Tao Qian.

However, Tao Qian had already planted an eyeliner around Xue Li. After learning of this situation, Tao Qian ordered Xue Li to be locked up.

As the Prime Minister of the country, Xue Li was surrounded by Tao Qian's people, and even his actions were restricted. In extreme depression, Xue Li finally decided to resign from office.But Xue Li was afraid of being persecuted by Tao Qian, so his family moved to Moling in Yangzhou.Later, when Liu Yao arrived in Yangzhou, he heard Xue Li's name, so he hired him as Biejia.

At first, Xue Li was unwilling to become an official, but Liu Yao, a virtuous corporal, visited him several times. Xue Li agreed to become an official because of his face, and took the post of Biejia.

After Xue Li took the post of Bie Jia, he used his previous personal experience to suggest to Liu Yao that he must not interfere too much with the counties under his rule, otherwise it would be counterproductive.

Liu Yao just listened to Xue Li's suggestion, so except for the Danyang county where he is located, all the other counties obeyed the law and violated the law, so that the government orders of Yangzhou were not clear, and the counties governed each other.

However, in Danyang County under the administration of Liu Yao, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and he was deeply loved by the people. However, as a governor, he did not interfere with the affairs of other counties, but the talents in Wuyue area thought he was incompetent Therefore, in the land of Wuyue, there are a lot of talents, but they can't think of the master.

After Zhang Yan and Xue Li talked, they hit it off right away. After all, Xue Li is from Pengcheng, and Zhang Yan is also from Pengcheng. They are fellow villagers, so they naturally have a different kind of nostalgia in their hearts.

For Zhang Yan, Xue Li is talented, but he is too pedantic, he only abides by etiquette, but does not know how to adapt. Although he is available, he can only be a county magistrate, prefect or other official positions.

When Xue Li came to the shore this time, he was actually ordered to meet Zhang Yan. After the five thousand soldiers and horses had landed, Zhang Yan took them and followed Xue Li to Dantu for a rest. The disciples rushed directly to Moling.

After arriving in Dantu, Xue Li entertained Zhang Yan and others well, and Zhang Yan introduced Tai Shici and Zhang Hong to Xue Li. Everyone was very happy.

After drinking for three rounds, when everyone was happy, suddenly one of Xue Li's followers ran to Xue Li's side in a panic, and whispered a few words in his ear.

After hearing this, Xue Li's complexion changed drastically, his brows were tightly furrowed, and his eyes were filled with a trace of panic.

Seeing this, Zhang Yan hurriedly asked: "Lord Xue, what happened? Is there an update on the battle situation in Moling?"

Xue Li shook his head, and then said: "Sun Ce is still resting his troops, but Moling is safe and sound. But..."

"But what?"

Xue Li said with a sad face: "Wu County is powerful, Yan Baihu, with more than ten thousand troops, dominates one side. Now, while Liu Shijun is leading the army to resist Sun Ce in Moling, Yan Baihu actually brought troops and horses to kill him from Wucheng. The prefect of Wujun was beheaded in the county town of Wujun. Immediately afterwards, Yan Baihu set off from Wuxian again to attack Qu'a, and now he has arrived in Piling County, which is less than a hundred miles away from Qu'a. In order to resist Sun Ce, Liu Shijun Almost all the soldiers and horses were taken away, there are less than a thousand guards in Qu'a City, Yan Baihu is attacking now, what should I do..."

After hearing this, Zhang Yan thought to himself: "When I first arrived in Jiangdong, I encountered this incident. It really is a troubled place."

"Master Xue, don't be afraid, with me here, Qu'a won't be lost."

As soon as the words fell, Zhang Yan said to Taishi kindly: "Call out the soldiers and horses immediately, and rush to Qu'a in the starry night!"

"Here!"

Afterwards, Xue Li withdrew the banquet and took people along with Zhang Yan, Zhang Hong, Tai Shici and others to Qu'e.

Dantu was not too far away from Qu'a, only [-] miles away, and he was marching in a hurry, with Xue Li leading the way, so he saved a lot of trouble along the way.

At dawn, Zhang Yan and others had arrived in Qu'a City. Xue Li asked people to open the city gate, took Zhang Yan and others into the city, and temporarily placed them in the barracks to rest, while Xue Li sent scouts to inquire about Yan Baihu's situation.

At Chenshi, the scouts came back and reported that Yan Baihu's army had just set off from Piling, a hundred miles away, and it was expected to arrive tomorrow.

Therefore, Zhang Yan ordered the army to take a good rest and recharge their batteries, while he rode a horse and went out of the city with Tai Shici, Xue Li, Zhang Hong and others to inspect the surrounding geographical environment.

The terrain of Qu'a is high in the northwest and low in the southeast, with low mountains, hills and plains, mainly plains, and the Taihu Lake Plain in the east and south. There are many lakes in this area, criss-crossing rivers and rivers, dense like cobwebs, and many low-lying places. There are countless, including many swamps.

After inspecting the local geography, Zhang Yan and others returned to the city and began to formulate a battle plan.

According to the strength of the enemy and us, Zhang Yan and Zhang Hong made an ambush plan, and prepared to defend against the enemy and prevent Yan Baihu's army from approaching Qu'a City.

After the plan was decided, Zhang Yan and others began to rest. In the evening, everyone had rested, and then they began to deploy. With soldiers and horses, they lay in ambush early on the place where Yan Baihu must pass, and only waited for Yan Baihu Lead the army to arrive.

(End of this chapter)