The Nameless of the Common Clans

Nanyang, Luyang.

Zhang Liao has been somewhat confused recently. Cao Ren seems to have a tendency to turn offense into defense. He rarely takes the initiative to attack. Instead, he builds forts around him. It seems that he intends to fight a long-term war of attrition with him.

Is there a trick?

What Zhang Liao is most worried about is that Cao Ren will collude with Jingzhou and let the Jingzhou soldiers raid Nanyang from the rear while he is fighting hard with Cao Ren. Therefore, Zhang Liao has always been vigilant about the movements of Jingzhou. He has also spread scouts and sentries in Xinye to check the movements of the Jingzhou army.

Zhang Liao naturally knows what happened in Jingzhou recently. Liu Biao died of illness, Liu Qi was shot and killed by someone arranged by Liu Biao's wife in the palace, and then Liu Bei took the opportunity to seize power. This series of changes is not to be underestimated, but now Sun Ce is still competing with Liu Bei for territory. Guan Yu in Jingnan was almost killed by Sun Ce in the river when he tried to cross the river. Logically speaking, no matter what, Liu Bei now has no spare energy to covet Nanyang.

But apart from that, Zhang Liao couldn't think of a reason why Cao Ren suddenly switched from attack to defense.

"General!" A general came in and saluted Zhang Liao.

"It's Wen Chang." Seeing the person coming, Zhang Liao smiled and nodded. The person coming was Wei Yan.

Before Lu Bu left, Wei Yan had just entered the army and became a military marquis. This was the first step for the disciples from Nanyang Academy. However, before Wei Yan could make achievements, Lu Bu chose to submit to the Luoyang court and took away many of his old subordinates. This was Lu Bu's intention, but also Chen Mo's intention. Lu Bu's imprint in Nanyang was too heavy. Chen Mo wanted a general like Zhang Liao to defend Nanyang for him, but he didn't want Nanyang to leave too many imprints of Lu Bu.

It's not fear, but too many marks left by Lu Bu. It's difficult to recruit scholars in Nanyang. After all, Lu Bu's imitation of Chen Mo was not comprehensive. There were countless scholars who died in the hands of his generals. To govern Nanyang, we must first remove these people who cause hatred. Only in this way can Nanyang be governed. Otherwise, the government offices and local gentry will hate each other. Unless we continue to suppress them with strong hands like Lu Bu, don't expect Nanyang to restore its former prosperity.

However, Lu Bu left with a large number of generals, leaving a problem. Zhang Liao had no one to use. For a long time, Zhang Liao had to do everything himself, which was more tiring than when he was under Lu Bu. Later, he promoted many disciples from Nanyang Academy, and gradually got rid of it.

And Wei Yan was the best among them, and he was also a general that Zhang Liao was very optimistic about. He recommended him to the court several times. Wei Yan also rose from a military marquis to a general of the Yamen, and he was now Zhang Liao's right-hand man.

"Sit down!" Zhang Liao motioned Wei Yan to take his seat. After he sat down, Zhang Liao asked, "What's the matter?"

"A letter came from Luoyang." Wei Yan handed a bamboo slip sealed with wax to Zhang Liao and said, "It's an urgent document. I dare not read it privately."

"You know more about the rules than before." Zhang Liao smiled.

"My lord is now fighting a decisive battle with Cao's army at Guandu, but I don't know if the letter sent by the court at this time is a forged edict?" Wei Yan frowned.

"Where do so many forged edicts come from? With my lord's ability..." Zhang Liao said to the end, but he didn't say anything more. He opened the wax and opened the bamboo slips to look at it, but his expression gradually became solemn.

"What happened?" Wei Yan asked hurriedly when he saw that Zhang Liao's face was not right.

Zhang Liao sighed, handed the bamboo slips in his hand to Wei Yan, stood up and frowned in thought.

Wei Yan quickly looked at the bamboo slips. There was not much content on the bamboo slips. It was to ask Zhang Liao to send an elite force to take over Yique Pass, and then someone would present a token. After arriving at Yique Pass, if the guard of Yique Pass was willing to obey the order, he could be idle. If the other party did not accept the order, he could be killed.

Signature... Luoyang Tianlao! ?

Wei Yan looked at Zhang Liao blankly. When did Luoyang Tianlao have this power! ? In Wei Yan's view, this imperial edict was simply a joke, but Zhang Liao's expression was solemn, which made Wei Yan realize that things were not as simple as he thought. He couldn't help but look at Zhang Liao and opened his mouth: "General, this Luoyang Tianlao..."

"Before the lord went to war, he sent a confidant to come. When the lord is not in Luoyang, if you encounter a military order from Tianlao, you must obey it!" Zhang Liao said in a deep voice.

Wei Yan felt that his cognition exploded.

"Wen Chang! Do you remember who the guard of Yique Pass is?" Zhang Liao turned his head and looked at Wei Yan.

"Yang Wei was originally a general under Dong Zhuo, and later surrendered to the lord when the lord entered the pass." Wei Yan nodded.

"Immediately mobilize two thousand elite troops, and when the token is delivered, immediately set off for Yique Pass. Remember, enter the pass first, and then go to see Yang Wei. If Yang Wei is willing to accept the order and hand over the defense of Yique Pass, you can ignore it, but if Yang Wei dares to resist, kill people and seize the pass immediately. Remember, find out what happened in Yique Pass during this period and report it to me." Zhang Liao and Yang Wei were not very familiar with each other. Although they were considered comrades in arms back then, they did not interact much with each other, and knew even less.

"Yes!" Wei Yan nodded, stood up and said goodbye, and went to prepare.

…

The sky was dark, and Luoyang was as peaceful and tranquil as before. This was the result of Chen Mo's years of hard work. Although it could not be compared with the time before the chaos, Luoyang now made people feel more comfortable. The gap in status was not as oppressive as before. The lively scenes in the market and the chirping of the brothels added a lot of vitality to this ancient city.

However, under this vigorous vitality, few people could see the gradually rising undercurrent.

In the dark corridor of the Tianlao, prisoners' groans and screams can be heard from time to time. Since Chen Mo came to power, except for the first few years, the use of the prison has been relatively lenient. As the highest level of the Tianlao in the Han Dynasty, those who can be imprisoned here are all extremely evil people, and there are many former high-ranking officials and prominent families here.

"Sir! The court judge is here." Yang Qing brought Man Chong to the innermost prison, and bowed to the prison in Man Chong's stunned eyes.

When Yang Qing suddenly came to find him with Chen Mo's golden order, Man Chong felt that something big was going to happen, but he never thought that the other party would be in the Tianlao. This...

"Bo Ning is here? Come in."

The voice in the cell was familiar, but Man Chong couldn't remember whose voice it was for a while.

"Tingwei, please!" Yang Qing saluted Man Chong, opened the prison door that was not locked at all, and said to Man Chong.

"Thank you." Man Chong nodded, took a deep breath, and stepped into the prison.

The cell was very neat... or luxurious.

There were bookshelves, beds, and desks. If he hadn't been in a cell, Man Chong would have thought he had entered the study of some great scholar. The windows in the room were large and the lighting was good. The whole room did not have the dark feeling of a cell.

A faint aroma of wine filled the room. A middle-aged man who was a little fat was flipping through a book. From time to time, he picked up a soybean from the plate on the table and threw it into his mouth, and then took a sip of wine. Man Chong was a little envious.

Is this the life a prisoner should have?

When the middle-aged man raised his head, Man Chong was surprised and said, "Mr. Wenhe?"

Jia Xu was also an important staff member under Chen Mo, but for some reason, when Liu Xie died, Chen Mo and Cao Cao demarcated the border between the two sides, and returned to the court after stopping and making peace, Jia Xu was expelled from the court by Chen Mo in anger because of absenteeism for several days, and was also imprisoned. He has never appeared since then.

This reason is actually ridiculous. After all, Chen Mo's principle for the counselors around him has always been to do things. It is a bit too much to punish Jia Xu like this. At that time, some people also pleaded for Jia Xu, but it was a bit abnormal that Chen Mo, who was always gentle to others, was extremely cold this time.

Later, Jia Xu seemed to have disappeared from the world. After a long time, many people even forgot about Jia Xu's existence. Man Chong never dreamed that he would see Jia Xu again in Luoyang Tianlao.

"It's been a long time since we last met. We are much more estranged." Jia Xu smiled and added a cup of wine to Man Chong, motioning Man Chong to sit down.

"Sir, you..." Man Chong stared at the wine and looked up at Jia Xu, but didn't know what to say for a while. They hadn't seen each other for many years. They were not too close to each other. Now they meet again, there is really nothing to say. Man Chong wanted to ask why Jia Xu was here, but he felt a little abrupt.

"Bo Ning is a court judge and one of the nine ministers. There is no need to be so polite to me. After all, Xu is still a prisoner now, and he doesn't deserve Bo Ning's treatment." Jia Xu smiled.

"Sir, what can I do for you?" Man Chong simply stopped being polite. He was not stupid. Jia Xu enjoyed such treatment in the Tianlao. The prison door was not even locked, which meant that Jia Xu had the freedom to come and go at any time. In addition, Yang Qing's attitude and the token Yang Qing had shown before, how could he not know that Jia Xu was Chen Mo's hidden man in Luoyang?

Moreover, the court in Luoyang has been turbulent recently. Several ministers left by Chen Mo in Chang'an have been impeached by the Censorate, including Henan Yin Zhongyun and Tiger Guard General Gao Shun. These people wanted to eradicate Chen Mo's power in the court while Chen Mo was not in the court. Man Chong naturally noticed this.

Man Chong has always been very strange. With Chen Mo's habits, it is impossible for him to really leave no tricks and let these people stir up trouble. The moment he saw Jia Xu, Man Chong understood that Chen Mo had already calculated this day and even started planning several years ago.

"Catch a few people." Jia Xu smiled and put the book in his hand on the table: "The evidence is all here."

It turned out that the book Jia Xu was reading was not a book of sages, but the evidence of officials in the court.

Man Chong took the evidence and looked at it, frowning and said: "Sir, these are all high-ranking officials in the court. I'm afraid they can't be convicted based on these evidences."

Although these people listed in the book are not the three dukes and nine ministers, they are also important officials in the court. Without solid evidence, they cannot be arrested according to the rules.

"If there is no conviction, Bo Ning just needs to arrest them." Jia Xu smiled and said: "No need to interrogate them. After arresting them, there is no need to care about them anymore."

Man Chong didn't understand, looking at Jia Xu and said: "Sir, have you been ordered by the lord?"

If Chen Mo asked him to do so, Man Chong would not hesitate, but Jia Xu couldn't.

"Is this enough?" Jia Xu smiled and took out a token from under the table and handed it to Man Chong. It was a bronze token.

"Pong obeys your order!" Man Chong saw this thing, his face became solemn, and he bowed.