The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 238 Chapter 237
When Yi Ji heard Liu Bei's name suddenly, he was startled. He never expected that Liu Bei would be more than ten miles away from the city to greet him.

He hastily got off his horse, cupped his hands and said: "How can Uncle He De actually let General Liu greet him in person?"

Liu Bei smiled very kindly, and said loudly: "I have heard about Mr. Yiji's name for a long time, but I have never paid a visit to him. Seeing him today is indeed a big deal. I heard that Mr. Yiji came from afar, so I led my two sworn brothers in the Waiting here. I have already ordered people to prepare a banquet in the city, please Mr. Yiji to go with me!"

"Thank you, General Liu!" Yi Ji was very moved by Liu Bei's move. As the governor of Jingnan and the governor of the four counties in Jingnan, Liu Bei was still able to speak in such an approachable manner, and gave people a feeling of amiability, which was beyond him. imagination.

A group of four people got on their horses and headed slowly towards Changsha City. Along the way, Liu Bei and Yi Ji rode side by side, chatting happily, while Guan Yu and Zhang Fei followed behind with a dazed look on their faces.

"Second brother, why do you think elder brother is doing this? He is only a scholar, and he deserves such courtesy from elder brother?" Zhang Fei couldn't help but whispered to Guan Yu.

Guan Yu said: "Third brother, Yi Ji is a fellow villager of Liu Biao. In the past, most of Liu Biao's letterheads were sent by postmen from post stations, but this time, Yi Ji was appointed to deliver them. My elder brother thinks there must be something strange about it. Besides. , Yiji has a very close relationship with Liu Biao. No matter what the reason is, we can't neglect it. Otherwise, if Yiji speaks ill of my elder brother in front of Liu Biao, wouldn't my elder brother suffer? Moreover, we have a good relationship with Yiji. Maybe in the future, I can find out some things from Yiji that my elder brother doesn't know."

Zhang Fei heard this, and growled, "I'm afraid what the hell are you doing! In order to quell Zhang Xian's rebellion, our brothers went through life and death for Liu Biao, and finally got some official positions. It is also right. His mother Liu Biao sent someone here. What do you mean?"

Guan Yu hurriedly said: "Hush! Keep your voice down, don't spoil the good things of big brother! Remember, when you return to the city, you must keep your mouth shut, and don't say what you shouldn't say!"

"Second brother, what should you say and what should you not say?" Zhang Fei said slightly angrily.

Guan Yu froze for a moment, he really didn't know what to say and what not to say.He thought for a while, and said to Zhang Fei: "Third brother, then you should pretend to be dumb, don't say anything, just leave everything to the elder brother!"

"Let me pretend to be dumb again? I have pretended to be dumb several times before, and this time I will pretend again? I won't do it!" Zhang Fei said resolutely, "It's a big deal, I just don't participate in your party."

As soon as the words fell, Zhang Fei galloped away and galloped forward. When he passed Liu Bei, Zhang Fei said: "Brother, I'll go back and get ready first, you guys talk slowly!"

Liu Bei was quite surprised by Zhang Fei's sudden departure. Not knowing why Zhang Fei had to leave, he turned his face and asked Guan Yu, "Second brother, what's wrong with third brother?"

Guan Yu reacted quickly, and hurriedly said: "Oh, I'll let him go back to see how the preparations are going, and don't neglect Mr. Yiji then."

Liu Bei turned his head, didn't ask any more questions, and continued chatting with Yi Ji.

Just now Liu Bei had learned the content of Liu Biao's warrant from Yi Ji, so the topic turned to recruiting talents. At this point, Liu Bei frowned, with a sad expression on his face.

"Why is General Liu so sad?" Yi Ji glanced at Liu Bei and asked hastily.

"Mr. Yiji, to be honest, I have set up recruitment offices in the four counties for more than ten days, but in the past ten days, not even a single person has applied for the recruitment. If I can't recruit talents, the Jingnan Fourth How is the county governed?"

After Yiji heard this, he thought to himself: "Liu Bei has just arrived, and his prestige is not very high. This is one of the reasons. The other reason is that most of the educated people in Jingzhou gather in Jiangling and Xiangyang. Obviously, there will be no gains. The lord asked me to come and observe Liu Bei secretly. This corporal Liu Bei is a man of courtesy, approachable, amiable, and his face is also unspeakable. I inquired about him along the way and knew that he was in Wuling. When he was the prefect, his political achievements were outstanding. However, Liu Bei was not a talented man. A mere prefect may not be enough for him to display his talents. Now that he has been promoted to the governor of Jingnan, if he is assisted by well-educated people, he will definitely become a great man in the future. character..."

Yi Ji has a good impression of Liu Bei. Compared with Liu Biao, Liu Bei is the governor of Jingnan, but he has no airs. It is easy for people to develop affinity and shorten the distance between each other.

Moreover, the negotiation along the way just now also made Yiji realize that Liu Bei was not a person who lived under others for a long time. His spirit of restoring the Han Dynasty and his unswerving determination was indeed admired by others, but it was a pity that he never had the opportunity.

Suddenly, Yi Ji had an urge to help Liu Bei. Liu Biao reused Kuai Liang, Kuai Yue, Cai Mao, Zhang Yun and others. Although he was talented, he was not important to Liu Biao. Self-worth is also reflected.

Thinking of this, Yi Ji said: "Don't worry, General, recruiting talents is not something that can be rushed in a short while. The original intention of the General to recruit wise men and assist the General in governing the four counties in Jingnan is good. It is a pity that the General The prestige is not enough, even if someone comes to vote, they are not really virtuous men. Moreover, most of the virtuous men in Jingzhou gather in Xiangyang and Jiangling, especially Xiangyang, which is the best place for literati to gather. To recruit virtuous men, you might as well go to Xiangyang in person, if the general can respect the virtuous corporals, he will definitely be able to recruit the virtuous men he likes."

After listening to Yiji's words, Liu Bei suddenly realized, but then fell into a dull mood, and said slowly: "However, if I hadn't been summoned by Mrs. Liu, how could I have arrived in Xiangyang? It seems that this time Recruitment is hopeless."

"General Liu doesn't need to be careful. Ten days later, it will be Taifu Liu's birthday. Officials at all levels in Jingzhou will go to celebrate Taifu Liu's birthday. General, why not get ready and return to Xiangyang with me tomorrow morning. At that time, we will celebrate his birthday. , enter Xiangyang, and secretly recruit Xianjun."

After Liu Bei heard this, he immediately became happy, and said to Yi Ji, "Thank you, Mr. Yi Ji, for your guidance!"

The two walked and chatted, completely forgetting Guan Yu's existence, and before they knew it, they had already arrived in Changsha City.

Liu Bei then had a big banquet for Yiji in the prefect's mansion, and thanked Yiji for his advice.After the banquet, Liu Bei asked Guan Yu to prepare a generous gift. Early the next morning, he and Yiji took the generous gift and went to Xiangyang. Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong, Chen Dao, Jian Yong and others, They all stayed in Jingnan.

Together with Liu Bei, Yiji and Liu Bei arrived in Xiangyang City the day before Liu Biao's birthday after a lot of troubles.

In today's Xiangyang City, civil and military officials at all levels drive into the city in an endless stream, bring their birthday gifts, and then take them to the state pastoral mansion, presenting the famous thorns and gifts, and return the famous thorns after the housekeeper finishes counting. Then the officials temporarily arranged to rest at the station, waiting for the big banquet tomorrow.

Liu Bei had no home in Xiangyang City, and like many officials who came to Xiangyang from other places, he was arranged to rest in a post station.

However, because Liu Bei had Yiji as a friend, after reporting for duty at the post station, he left the post station immediately, and went to Yiji's residence at Yiji's invitation.

Yiji lived on the West Street of Xiangyang City. Liu Bei followed the route Yiji told him, searched all the way there, and came to the door of a private house.

The house was very ordinary. If Yi Ji hadn't told Liu Bei where he lived in advance, Liu Bei might not have noticed that there was a talented person living there.

Liu Bei walked to the door, raised his hand, and knocked on the door.

After a while, the sound of heavy footsteps came from inside the door. Through the gap in the door, Liu Bei could vaguely see that it was Yi Ji.

The door creaked and opened wide. Seeing Liu Bei coming, Yi Ji said cheerfully, "General Liu, please come in!"

Under the leadership of Yi Ji, Liu Bei entered the door. At this moment, Yi Ji closed the door. Liu Bei noticed that this was a quadrangle courtyard, an ordinary private house.

"General Liu, follow me quickly, I will introduce some friends to you!"

Liu Bei was stunned for a moment, and asked, "Mr. Yi Ji, who are they? Why didn't you mention it beforehand? At least I have to prepare. Now I'm dressed in commoner clothes..."

"General, don't be cautious, these are my friends, not serving officials, there is no need to deliberately dress up!"

Liu Bei nodded, followed Yi Ji into the main room, and suddenly saw several people sitting in the main room, most of them were young and handsome.

As soon as Yiji entered the room, he said loudly: "Everyone, this is Liu Bei and Liu Xuande, the Governor of Jingnan that I mentioned to you. General Liu, like Grand Tutor Liu, is also a clan member of the Han Dynasty..."

As soon as the words fell, everyone present cupped their hands and said: "I will pay my respects to General Liu!"

Liu Bei hurriedly said: "You don't have to be so polite. I'm not wearing an official uniform at this time, and I'm not a general. Just treat me as an ordinary friend."

The person sitting in the fourth position on the left immediately said: "Hahaha, General Liu is really informal and has no airs at all. No wonder Uncle Ji respects General Liu so much!"

"This is..." Liu Bei asked curiously seeing this young man with a handsome face but white eyebrows.

Yi Ji hurriedly said: "Oh, this is Ma Liang with white eyebrows, whose name is Ji Chang. Sitting with him are his three older brothers, namely Ma Tong Ma Bochang, Ma Jing Ma Zhongchang, and Ma Lun Ma Shuchang. The four of them are relatives. brother."

Liu Bei glanced over and found that these four people were very similar in appearance, but they were different in age. The oldest was Ma Tong, who was nearly thirty years old, and the youngest, Ma Liang, was only 17 years old.

"Liu Bei met four Mr. Ma!" Liu Bei bowed respectfully.

Yi Ji then introduced to Liu Bei the four people sitting on the right, namely Liu Ba, Jiang Wan, Pan Jun, and Liu Min.

Among these eight people, Liu Ba has the greatest reputation and is a well-known person in Jingzhou, and he has never heard of the others.

Liu Bei visited one by one, appearing so humble.

"General Liu, these few are my friends. I know you are troubled by recruiting talented people, so I specially gathered these few friends of mine here. I hope you can have a good chat. As for whether they If you are willing to go back to Jingnan as an official with you, then it’s up to them. That’s all I can do, you guys have a good chat, I’m going out first!”

As soon as the words fell, Yi Ji walked out of the house and went to the kitchen to order his wife to prepare food.

(End of this chapter)