Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 134 Military Discussion with General Liang

The different statements Zhang Yu made to Yuan Shu and Liu Yu illustrate what flexibility means.

He expressed his loyalty to Yuan Shu and disguised himself as Yuan's doorman so that he could get Yuan's protection; his statement to Liu Yu was in the hope that Liu Yu would regard him as a loyal emperor and supporter of Han so as to win Liu Yu's trust.

Moreover, this statement is not only for the present, but also for the future. If the historical pattern remains unchanged, Yuan Shu and Liu Yu will respectively rule in Jingyu and Youyan. If the two have no conflict of interest with him, they may become his allies in the future.

Shortly after Zhang Yu entered Luoyang, Liu Hong successively appointed the remaining three colonels, namely, Colonel of Tunqi Bao Hong, Colonel of Changshui Chunyu Qiong, and Minister of Agriculture Feng Fang.

Seeing that Feng Fang, one of the Nine Ministers, was promoted to the rank of colonel in order to gain control of the imperial guards, Zhang Yu once again realized the value of the Xiyuan colonel.

Soon, Liu Hong issued an announcement regarding the Xiyuan Army, dividing the eight armies into five: upper, middle, lower, left, and right, and adding three more: the Dian and the Zu armies.

Among the five armies, Jian Shuo was the captain of the upper army and will not be mentioned, the highly respected Yuan Shao was the captain of the central army, the most experienced Bao Hong was the captain of the lower army, Zhang Yu and Chunyu Qiong served as the captains of the left and right armies respectively; among the other three armies, Cao Cao was the captain of the command army, and the left and right captains of the auxiliary army were Zhao Rong and Feng Fang respectively.

Apart from Jian Shuo who was Liu Hong's confidant, looking at the other seven candidates for the colonels, on the surface, almost no one was from the He Jin family, and many of them even had close ties with eunuchs, such as Cao Cao, Feng Fang, Zhao Rong, etc.

As for why Yuan Shao was selected, the reason is not difficult to understand. It is nothing more than Liu Hong trying to win over the Yuan family, hoping that the Yuan family could be used by him. Even further, Liu Hong hoped that the Yuan family would support Liu Xie.

It's a pity that Liu Hong didn't know that Yuan was more cunning than him. Yuan Wei calmly accepted the official position awarded by Liu Hong, secretly reached some kind of agreement with He Jin, and privately continued to win over and support generals such as Zhang Yu and Sun Jian.

As for Zhang Yu, Liu Hong believed that Zhang Yu was promoted by him and had been serving in the frontier fortress for many years and had little contact with He Jin, so he could be recruited for his own use.

In Yuan's eyes, Zhang Yu had long been attached to Yuan Shu and had introduced Sun Jian to him. Now that he had just arrived in Luoyang, he had shown his loyalty and could be considered his retainer. And because He Jin had cooperated with Yuan, Zhang Yu could be considered as a member of Yuan's faction for the time being.

The complexity of Luoyang's political situation can be seen through the analysis of the candidates for the Eight Colonels. It is no exaggeration to say that there are many chameleons like Zhang Yu in Luoyang.

Soon, Liu Hong, the supreme general who commanded the Xiyuan Army, summoned eight colonels to the palace to discuss matters, and Zhang Yu met Cao Cao again after five years.

On the palace road, a short, dark-skinned figure in armor was seen. Zhang Yu walked towards him with his long legs and greeted him, "I haven't seen Mr. Cao for many years. I wonder if you are doing well?"

Hearing this, Cao Cao stopped and looked in the direction of the voice. He saw a tall and handsome young man greeting him. He couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly, and kept recalling the young man's name in his mind. He always felt that Zhang Yu looked familiar, but he could not remember anything about Zhang Yu.

Seeing this, Zhang Yu smiled, cupped his hands and said: "When Changsha defeated the Yellow Turbans, Yu had the honor of meeting Cao Jun. Unfortunately, Cao Jun took office as the governor of Jinan, so Yu could not have a deep chat with you!"

"Oh?"

Reminded by Zhang Yu, Cao Cao slapped his head, suddenly recalled, and said, "You are an official by Wang Yuzhou's side."

Five years ago, Zhang Yu was still a minor official who had made only minor contributions, while Cao Cao had just been appointed as the Cavalry Commander. The difference in status between the two was too great, so it was difficult for Cao Cao to take Zhang Yu seriously, not to mention that Zhang Yu had changed a lot in five years. It was normal for Cao Cao not to recognize Zhang Yu.

"Of course!"

Cao Cao returned the greeting with a bow and said with a smile: "It has been five years since we last met. Zhang Jun has made great contributions to the border and killed the Chanyu. I have heard of his reputation in the village. Now you and I are both the lieutenants of Xiyuan. I hope you can give us your guidance in the future!"

"Don't dare!"

Seeing Cao Cao remember him, Zhang Yu smiled and asked, "I wonder how Mr. Cao has been doing in the past few years?"

Cao Cao spread his hands up in his sleeves, smiled frankly, and said, "Last month, I was still a commoner. In the past few years, I have lived in seclusion in the countryside, reading history in spring and summer, and hunting in autumn and winter."

After a pause, Cao Cao said, "I haven't seen Mr. Zhang for several years, but he has become more heroic. He killed the Chanyu and his reputation has spread far and wide. I envy him."

Zhang Yu shook his head and smiled, saying, "I have experienced the wind and snow, and the hardships of war. I don't need to tell others. If I had a choice, I would rather follow Cao Jun's example and live in seclusion in the countryside, playing with my wives and concubines every day."

Compared to Cao Cao's happy life over the years, Zhang Yu really had a hard life. Just a few days after marrying his wife, he was driven to take office by Wang Ji. After that, he fought a bloody battle with Kebineng and took risks to kill Chanyu. All of these were Zhang Yu gambling with his life.

In other words, Zhang Yu fought hard for five years before he was qualified to be on equal footing with Cao Cao.

"Haha~"

Cao Cao laughed a few times and said, "Now that I am serving in the capital, Ji'an will be able to live a peaceful life for a few days in the future."

When they reached the front of the palace, Zhang Yu extended his hand and led them forward, saying, "Mr. Cao, you are the elder, please go first!"

Cao Cao was very enthusiastic. He took Zhang Yu's arm and said with a smile, "The palace gate is spacious now. There is no need to be humble. You and I can walk together."

Then he added: "If you don't mind, you might as well call me Mengde!"

"Yu Zi Ji An!"

"good!"

While chatting with Cao Cao, Zhang Yu entered the hall side by side with him. Under Jian Shuo's arrangement, the two sat down separately.

Not long after Zhang Yu sat down, Yuan Shao and Chunyu Qiong walked in side by side, followed by Zhao Rong, Feng Fang, Bao Hong and others. The eight people stood on the left and right according to their seats.

Soon, before the eight people could greet each other, Liu Hong, wearing armor inlaid with gold scales and holding a sword, entered the hall.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you~"

When everyone wanted to salute, Liu Hong held out his hand to stop them, and said in a deep voice: "Today I am not the king, general, you should greet me with military salute!" "Yes!"

After everyone saluted, Liu Hong put his hands down and signaled everyone to sit down.

Seeing the eight lieutenants in the palace all wearing armor and looking majestic, Liu Hong was quite satisfied and said, "In order to build a strong army in Xiyuan, I have mobilized brave men from all over the world to come to the capital, so you need to select soldiers and officers to form an army as soon as possible. The expenses required to build the army will all be borne by my Xiyuan. Armor, weapons, money and food are all available. I hope you will not let me down!"

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty. I, the governor of all schools, will never let Your Majesty down!"

Jian Shuo stood up to show his loyalty, and said: "Shuo has started to plan the soldiers of each unit. For example, a few days ago, I discussed with Captain Zhang and will train a hundred armored cavalry."

Liu Hong hesitated for a moment and asked, "What kind of cavalry is armored cavalry?"

"Your Majesty!"

Zhang Yu immediately stood up, clasped his hands and said, "Armored cavalry means that both the man and the horse are heavily armored, and they are used to break through the enemy's formation. A hundred armored cavalrymen charging in the front line will be as powerful as a raging wave, and the enemy soldiers will not be able to stop it. I saw that there were no armored cavalrymen in the Xiyuan army, so I discussed with General Jian Shang and wanted to train a hundred armored cavalrymen for Your Majesty."

Armored cavalry is a powerful weapon on the battlefield. When Zhang Yu led the cavalry, he had been coveting it for a long time. With the support of Zhang Yi, he was able to get ten sets of horse armor. Now that he has arrived at the Xiyuan Army, Zhang Yu will not be soft-hearted and immediately prepares to use Liu Hong's treasury to build armored cavalry for him.

"How do armored cavalry compare to ordinary cavalry?" Liu Hong asked.

"Your Majesty, the quality of soldiers and horses is more important than their quantity. If armored cavalry is used in cavalry battles, it would be a waste of talent. The advantage of armored cavalry is that they can break through the enemy's formation. If they are properly deployed, a hundred cavalrymen are enough to wipe out ten thousand people." Zhang Yu said.

"Is it really so?" Liu Hong looked at everyone in the hall and asked.

"Captain Zhang is right!"

Cao Cao cupped his hands and said, "When I was fighting with General Huangfu, I saw General Huangfu defeat the bandits with armored cavalry. The advantage of armored cavalry is that they can break into enemy lines!"

"Since armored cavalry is so powerful, why don't we use them as much as possible?" asked the blind military officer Liu Hong.

Jian Shuo smiled bitterly and explained, "Your Majesty, although the armored cavalry is fierce, if the infantry is brave, they can defeat our armored cavalry with spears and powerful crossbows. Cao Cao cannot use armored cavalry to meet the crossbows. We need to use infantry to wear down their spirit. When the enemy infantry is in chaos, we can order the armored cavalry to break into the formation and defeat the enemy."

Although Jian Shuo had never led an army, he was at least better than Liu Hong, who was blind to the art of fighting beasts and could explain the ins and outs of it to Liu Hong. Now with Jian Shuo's explanation, Liu Hong roughly understood the importance of armored cavalry.

Liu Hong waved his hand and ordered, "Since armored cavalry are of great use, train 300 cavalry. Ji'an is good at riding, so he will lead 100 cavalry, and the remaining 200 cavalry will be assigned to Jian Shangjun."

"promise!"

Jian Shuo was overjoyed. Armored cavalry was the most expensive type of troop in the army. Now Liu Hong gave him the authority to allocate two hundred cavalry, which would greatly strengthen his voice in the army.

Because he didn't know much about the deployment of troops, Liu Hong only said some words of encouragement and left the meeting, handing over the responsibility to Jian Shuo.

After Liu Hong left, Jian Shuo, in order not to lose face in front of a real man, coughed and said in a hoarse voice: "I have asked people to prepare the list of brave soldiers from each school. You can take a look at the list. If you have no doubts, you can accept the order."

As he spoke, Jian Shuo distributed official documents to the seven people and took the opportunity to introduce the location where the troops would be stationed.

The name of Xiyuan Army did not mean that the troops were stationed in Xiyuan, but that it was named after Xiyuan because Xiyuan funded the establishment of the army.

It was impossible for nearly 7,000 troops from eight schools to be stationed in one place. Instead, they were divided into eight locations. Zhang Yu's station was assigned to Anli near Mangshan.

When Zhang Yu opened the official document, he saw the names of the 500 soldiers assigned to him by Jian Shuo, most of whom were from the Qingzhou area.

After taking a few glances and not seeing anyone whose name was recorded in history, Zhang Yu lost interest and began to look at the lists in the hands of his colleagues.

"Where do the troops in Mr. Feng's hands come from?" Zhang Yu looked at Feng Fang beside him and asked.

Seeing Zhang Yu's curiosity, Feng Fang handed it to Zhang Yu for him to look at, and said with a smile: "Most of the soldiers and officers under my command are from Yanzhou and Yuzhou."

Zhang Yu quickly glanced at the official document and suddenly found a familiar name on the roster.

"Chenliu Sima Gaoshun!" Zhang Yu recited it fluently.

Seeing Zhang Yu reading Gao Shun's name, Feng Fang asked, "Does Ji'an know Gao Shun?"

Zhang Yu raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "A few years ago, when Yu went to Henan to suppress the bandits, he met this man once."

After a pause, Zhang Yu smiled and said, "I wonder if Mr. Feng can give up and exchange Gao Shun and his troops with me!"

"Easy to say!"

Feng Fang was willing to do Zhang Yu a favor and said, "According to the number of soldiers and officials led by Gao Shun, we can replace them later."

"Thank you, Mr. Feng!"

Zhang Yu couldn't stop smiling. If Gao Shun was really the Gao Shun under Lu Bu in history, he would have gotten a great bargain.

(End of this chapter)