Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 199 Yuzhou Ranger
"Master Cao, why are you so unhappy?"

When the Xu clan leader saw this, he couldn't help but ask with a smile.

Normally, this old fellow relies on the fact that his family is the descendant of Prime Minister Cao and that his family has produced two thousand officials, and he doesn't take other clans seriously. Why is he so distracted now?

I now remembered that when Cao Mengde, the prefect of East County in Yanzhou, returned to his hometown to recruit soldiers, the head of the Cao clan gave half of his clan's troops to Cao Cao, and also sent many of Cao's sons and daughters. The Xiahou clan also gave one third of their troops.

The Xu clan leader glanced at the Xiahou clan leader and saw that he was also staring at the Qingzhou army outside the city in a daze.

A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. You deserve it! You two families are bullying others by taking advantage of your power.

Ding came out to smooth things over, saying, "I'm not unhappy at all. I just saw such a powerful army and recalled the past. Master Xu, please don't say anything nonsense."

"Yes, yes, yes." The county magistrate and the county lieutenant also interrupted.

They were surrounded by the Yellow Turbans early on and did not know that the position of Prime Minister of Pei had been handed over to Liu Bei by Chen Gui. Although they were grateful to Liu Bei for leading his troops to rescue Qiao County from danger, the affairs of Yuzhou had nothing to do with Xuzhou and Yanzhou. If Lord Xuande made any excessive demands, all the clans in Qiao County would have to work together to deal with them.

It's best not to create any more conflicts at this time.

The head of the Cao clan came back to his senses, turned his head to look at the head of the Xu clan, then looked at the Ding clan who was trying to stop the fight, and then looked up at the head of the Xiahou clan.

He could not help but sighed and said, "It was because I believed Meng De's words so easily that I implicated Xiahou and Xuande Gong in feud. Fortunately, Meng De was not up to the task and did not lead his soldiers to truly offend the Qingzhou army. It was a blessing."

Having said that, the head of the Cao clan was heartbroken. Cao Mengde was defeated in Liaocheng, and many members of the Cao clan did not escape in the chaos and were buried there with the soldiers.

Later, when Meng De took Yuan Benchu's seal to Yangzhou, he did not give more to the clan members for the same reason.

With hundreds of years of accumulation, if the Cao family had produced more clan members like Meng De, the Cao family would have been defeated long ago.

Only the two brothers Cao Ren and Cao Chun, whose father-in-law had died early, followed Cao Cao to Yangzhou with the remaining assets of their family.

I had originally thought that Cao Zilian had died on the battlefield, but unexpectedly he was released by Lord Xuande and is now serving as an official in Beihai. I think Envoy Liu should no longer care about Cao's affairs.

The Cao clan leader pondered secretly.

Ding came over and patted his arm, comforting him: "Lord Xuande is a magnanimous man who has accomplished great things. How could he care about Cao's previous mistakes? Besides, Mengde did not continue to be an enemy of Envoy Liu, so how could there be any grudges? Lord Cao, please rest assured."

At this time, a Qingzhou knight shouted from the foot of the city: "Our lord, the Left General Xuande, has taken on the position of Prime Minister of Pei State. Why don't you all go and pay your respects to him? Where are the county magistrate, the county magistrate, the county lieutenant, and the three elders of the county?"

"The envoy has ordered that the city gates be opened immediately and that we should go to the military camp to answer the call!"

"Are the leaders of the Cao, Xiahou, Xu, Ding, Dai, and Zhu families from Qiao County on the city wall? I am here to invite you on the orders of the envoy."

There was a sudden silence on the city wall. Everyone was shocked by the news. How come the prime minister of Pei State was replaced, but Chen Gui was so willing to hand over his position of 2,000-stone official so easily? Could it be that Lord Xuande forced him to do so secretly?
Many noble families and officials frowned, with a myriad of thoughts in their minds.

After a while, the head of the Ding clan replied, "All the prominent families in Qiao County are on the city wall, but the Dai clan was said to have been annihilated by the Yellow Turban bandits. We have no way of knowing whether anyone escaped." The knights under the city wall were also a little stunned, but they quickly reacted and added, "I will report this to the envoy. I hope all the clan leaders will prepare to go to the military camp in a short while. The envoy has set up a table to wait for you."

Isn't this a banquet where you can't come back?
Some people speculated in their hearts.

There was no way. Not long ago, they witnessed how the Qingzhou Army defeated the Yellow Turban bandits. Everyone was terrified. Even though they heard that the Qingzhou Army had the style of a royal army, no one dared to gamble their lives against the other side's strict military discipline.

It has been difficult to distinguish between soldiers and bandits since ancient times, and the Qingzhou army is extremely murderous and good at field battles.

But they have to go. If they are the local tigers and leopards, then Lord Xuande is the dragon that comes with power from the water. The clan members cannot even defeat the Yellow Turbans, so how dare they be enemies with the Qingzhou army?

The head of the Ding clan glanced at the silent nobles, leaned his head against the wall and replied, "Don't worry, we will go to the banquet in a while and will not let Lord Xuande down."

"Okay!" The knight nodded after hearing this.

Then he continued to shout towards the top of the city wall: "Your Excellency has heard that the Yuzhou knight Xu Chu has the courage of Zhu Hai, and his loyalty is well known in all the counties of Yuzhou. In the past, Lord Xinling Wei Wuji invited the chivalrous knight Zhu Hai with sincerity, and Zhu Hai followed Lord Xinling to steal the seal to save Zhao, save Wei and repel Qin, and made great contributions. Now, in response to Wei Wuji's sincerity, he ordered me to bring a hundred gold coins to invite Lord Xu to help the world and save the people. The greatest chivalrous person is to save the country and the people. May I ask if this chivalrous man is in Qiao County?"

As he spoke, the knight opened the bamboo basket on his horse's back and found the gold that was captured from the Yellow Turban camp.

Seeing the hundreds of gold coins on the horse's back, many knights and soldiers couldn't help but swallow their saliva quietly.

They had never seen so much gold in their lives. This was not the case during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu hundreds of years ago, when the homes of wealthy families could have many horseshoe golds and unicorn foot golds.

At this moment, the amount of gold in the world has shrunk a lot. The real gold has been buried in tombs, and only pure gold and copper coins are in circulation.

I didn't expect that Lord Xuande would send someone with gold to recruit Xu Chu. One hundred gold is as much as one hundred kilograms!
The Han Dynasty used jin as the unit, and one jin of gold was one gold. The weight of one jin in the Han Dynasty was approximately equal to half a jin in later generations. Moreover, gold was scarce at that time, and rare things were valuable.

No ranger could remain unmoved in the face of the dazzling Hundred Gold.

No wonder it is said that Lord Xuande is a chivalrous man. Even the heroes like Zhu Jia and Ju Mengfu cannot compare with him. It is indeed true when I see him today.

Xu Chu on the city wall was so delighted that he couldn't help scratching his ears and cheeks. Although he was famous in Yuzhou, he didn't expect that Lord Xuande would compare him with Zhu Hai, who followed Lord Xinling to steal the seal to save Zhao.

That was Zhu Hai, who became famous throughout the world by following Lord Xinling. Every knight would not want to meet a person like Prince Wei.

"Xu Zhongkang from Qiao County is here, but he has only a small reputation. How dare Lord Xuande spend a lot of money to invite him? 'Every man has his share of responsibility for the fate of his country', Lord Xuande's words are like thunder in my ears. Xu Chu has been here for a long time, and I am willing to not take a penny, and from now on, I will serve you wholeheartedly to help the world!"

Xu Chu stood on the city wall with his fists raised and sleeves bare, shouting with all his might.

The ears of everyone in the city were buzzing from the sound.

The messenger knight was also startled and laughed loudly, saying, "What a righteous man! I am Dian Wei, a member of the envoy's personal guard Chenliu. Lord Xuande once said that there are many righteous knights in Yuzhou. If Zhongkang can recommend any man of integrity, he can be appointed to the army."

(End of this chapter)