Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 146 Poaching

"The Gepi bandits have attacked counties and plundered our state for a long time. It was difficult for officers and soldiers from various counties to suppress them. Fortunately, Ji'an led the Left School Camp here to defeat the enemy for Yuzhou." Huang Wan took the initiative to toast Zhang Yu and said with a smile.

Zhang Yu drank the contents of the cup in one gulp and said with a smile, "I have served the country, but although most of the bandits have been defeated, the rest are still on the run. If you cannot properly suppress and pacify them, I am afraid that the remaining bandits will revive."

Zhang Yu had a deep understanding of the tenacious vitality of the Yellow Turbans. The last time he led his cavalry to defeat the Yellow Turbans in Runan, the rebel general Liu Pi escaped. A few years later, Liu Pi revived and rebelled again in Gepi with Huang Shao, He Man and others.

Bingzhou had never seen the Yellow Turban Rebellion before, but Guo Tai took advantage of the Southern Xiongnu's attack on Xihe County to gather refugees in Baibo Valley and rebel. Now they have looted and entered Hedong County, but not only have they not been wiped out, they have also taken root in Hedong County.

Therefore, Zhang Yu's words were not exaggerated. Given the development trend of the Yellow Turbans, if Huang Wan failed to pacify them in time, it would only be a matter of time before the remnants rebelled again.

"Thank you, Ji'an, for telling me!"

Huang Wan agreed and said, "I have decided to give the surrendered bandits wasteland so that the old and weak can live and work in peace and the people can have food. Only by educating them properly can the people not be deceived by the Yellow Turbans."

"Your Excellency is wise. The people rebelled against the Yellow Turbans not only because of the instigation of the remnants of the evil, but also because of their hunger and cold. If you can make the people happy and contented, the remnants of the Yellow Turbans will be wiped out." Zhang Yu said with a smile.

"Your Majesty!"

The attendant walked up to Huang Wan and said, "The reward money is ready, a total of seven million coins."

Huang Wan nodded and said with a smile: "Ji'an, the counties of Yuzhou have collected 7 million coins to thank the soldiers of the Zuoxiaoying for defeating the bandits. I hope Ji'an will not think it is too little!"

"The soldiers of the Left School of Yudai would like to thank Huang Yuzhou!" Zhang Yu bowed and said with a smile.

In order to protect the reputation of the people, Zhang Yu created a persona of not caring about money and refused to accept the grain offered by the powerful. But now it was the reward money paid by the Yuzhou government, and Zhang Yu was not going to be humble. If he refused to accept the reward of 7 million coins, Zhang Yu would have no money to reward the soldiers.

As for the reward money from the court, sorry to say, due to the tense war in the northwest, the court invested all the money and food into the Western Army, and even owed the Western Army soldiers nearly half of the money and food on the books. Therefore, the court simply asked Yuzhou to raise more than 10 million coins in reward money to reward the soldiers who made contributions in this battle.

What is the current situation in the Northwest?
Huangfu Song, who served as the commander-in-chief of the army for the second time, led a large number of troops to station in Guanzhong, and took advantage of the solidity of Chencang City to wear down the Northwest rebels for dozens of days. When the Northwest rebels were exhausted and withdrew, Huangfu Song seized the opportunity and led his troops to pursue the rebels, beheading more than 10,000 people.

In order to prevent Huangfu Song from making achievements, or to prevent the Northwest Rebellion from being defeated, Dong Zhuo kept giving Huangfu Song bad advice. Huangfu Song saw through Dong Zhuo's mind and did not adopt his advice. Instead, he let Dong Zhuo amuse himself while he led his troops to make achievements. For this, Dong Zhuo resented Huangfu Song.

After the defeat of the northwestern rebels, the court's major concern was temporarily relieved. The ill Emperor Ling of Han adopted Gai Xun's suggestion and intended to strip Dong Zhuo of his military power. He summoned Dong Zhuo to the court, appointed him as one of the Nine Ministers and Shaofu, and granted him the title of County Marquis, hoping to use high-ranking officials and generous salaries to get rid of Dong Zhuo.

Dong Zhuo learned from Yuan and Dong Min that Liu Hong was seriously ill. In order not to give up the military power, he argued with Emperor Ling of Han about the military issue.

Zhang Yu paid no attention to the dispute between Dong Zhuo and Emperor Ling of Han over military power. After paying out the rewards to the soldiers, he gave the entire army a four-day rest period to let the soldiers relax.

During the four-day rest period, Zhang Yu heard that Yuan Mi was in charge of affairs in Xiang County, so he took dozens of his personal cavalry and went to Xiang County (now Huaibei City, Anhui Province) with Zhong Yao.

Xiang County, the county seat.

Upon hearing that Zhang Yu and Zhong Yao were coming to visit him, Yuan Shikai did not dare to be negligent and went out to greet them in person.

"Jian!"

"Yuan Chang!"

"Yongning!"

Secretary Yuan warmly shook the hands of Zhong Yao and Zhang Yu and said with a smile: "Today there are happy birds singing on the branches. It turns out that the two gentlemen have come to visit us."

Zhong Yao looked at the rather imposing prefectural government and said with a smile, "The prefectural government is much more imposing than the county government. My house is far inferior to it!"

Secretary Yuan stretched out his hand and said with a smile: "With Yuan Chang's position, he will be promoted to a 2,000-stone official sooner or later. By then, it is not impossible for him to be promoted to a nine-minister official!"

Zhong Yao shook his head and smiled, looking at the Pei State Prefecture with envy in his eyes.

He was well aware of his own situation. The Zhong family had been weak since his father's generation. After he had worked hard to obtain the title of Xiaolian, he was fortunately appointed as a county magistrate. However, because he did not want to be an official, he stayed at home for several years.

Even if he could be hired by the court today, he would probably have to start from scratch. Even if he wanted to climb up to Yuan Mi's position as Prime Minister of Pei State, it would take him at least seven or eight years with normal promotion. By that time, Yuan Mi would probably have already become an official in the central government.

As for Zhang Yu, Zhong Yao did not want to compare himself with him. He was too abnormal. In just over five years, he was promoted from a commoner to a general and was granted the title of county marquis. Comparing himself with him was just asking for trouble.

Zhang and Yuan, who were chatting with each other, were naturally unaware of Zhong Yao's complicated thoughts.

"I haven't seen Ji'an for several years. I didn't expect that Ji'an has become famous all over the world. I admire him very much." Secretary Yuan said with a smile.

"It was a lucky achievement!"

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "After I defeated the Gepi bandits, I heard that Yongning was appointed as the Prime Minister of Pei State. I had intended to come to visit him, but due to my busy military affairs, I was unable to come. I got some free time recently, so I came with Yuan Chang." "This is the fault of keeping it secret!"

Secretary Yuan invited Zhang Yu to take a seat and apologized, saying, "Since Ji'an has come to Pei State, I should have gone to pay him a visit. But because I have just taken office as Prime Minister, I have a lot of documents piled up on my desk, and soldiers and bandits are roaming around the country, so it is really difficult to get away. I hope Ji'an will forgive me!"

"Come here, serve the wine!"

Secretary Yuan smiled and said, "I have ordered a banquet to be held in the afternoon to entertain the two gentlemen later."

"Thank you, Yongning!"

Seeing a man eight feet tall and handsome, sitting quietly in the hall, Zhang Yu asked, "May I know the name of that friend?"

Secretary Yuan patted his head and said with a smile, "I forgot to introduce you three. This is Man Chong, a native of Shanyang Changyi, with the courtesy name of Bo Ning. He is a friend of mine in Shanyang County. When he first served as the Supervisor of Posts, he dealt with the evil tyrants in the county."

"When I was acting as the magistrate of Gaoping County, the postal inspector Zhang Bao was corrupt and took bribes, disrupting the government. Bo Ning imprisoned and tortured him, but Zhang Bao died of weakness. Bo Ning did not want to embarrass the county magistrate, so he resigned and left. Now that I have just taken office as the prime minister of Pei State, I ask Bo Ning to come and help me."

After a pause, Secretary Yuan emphasized: "Bo Ning is good at criminal law, familiar with military strategy, and has extraordinary courage and strategy. He is a young hero!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu's eyes lit up. During this expedition to the east to fight the enemy, he met famous ministers and generals one after another, first Xu Shu, Lu Fan, Xu Chu, and now Man Chong.

Zhang Yu had heard of the name of Man Chong. Although Man Chong was not well-known, his strength was definitely greater than his fame. As a veteran minister of four dynasties similar to Sima Yi, he relied on his military exploits to increase his fief to 10,000 households.

In the past, Man Chong was still able to be of great use during the period of Cao Cao, but he was never of great use in the three generations after Cao Pi. As an old general of Cao Wei, he was treated like an ordinary general and stayed in Hefei all year round. It was obviously a waste of his talent.

"Bo Ning, this is what I said before..."

Without waiting for Yuan Mi to finish his introduction, Man Chong said respectfully, "The reputation of Marquis Pingcheng is well known to all officials in the prefectures and states. How could Chong not know him? Also, Mr. Zhong's name has been mentioned by Mr. Yuan many times. He was dissatisfied with the eunuchs interfering in government affairs and resigned from his post. Chong admires him very much!"

"please!"

Seeing Man Chong toasting him, Zhang Yu responded by saying, "When I was governing Zheng County, I met the county official Du Ji, who was similar to Man Chong. He was recruited as an official at a young age. Because of his ability to govern the people, he was appointed to govern Zheng County. When I took office, Du Ji was temporarily the county magistrate. Because of his contribution to my governing Zheng County, he was selected as a filial and honest official and was appointed as the magistrate of Hanzhong County by the court."

As he spoke, Zhang Yu said with regret: "Mr. Man is vigorous and resolute in dealing with the evil and corrupt officials in the county, which is really gratifying. If it weren't for Zhang Bao's accident, I think he would have been selected as a filial and honest official and would be a person of the same generation as me."

Man Chong was surprised that Zhang Yu felt sorry for him and said, "Zhang Bao, the inspector, is a son of a prominent family in the county. If I torture him to death, I will offend the Shanyang Zhang family. I probably have no hope of being selected as a filial and honest official."

Yuan Mi comforted him, "Bo Ning is both intelligent and brave, so there is no need to worry about not being able to enter the government and display his talents. You can stay in Pei State temporarily. If there is an opportunity to serve as an official, I will recommend Man Jun to the court."

Man Chong bowed to Yuan Mi and expressed his gratitude, but he could not hide the depression on his face.

Seeing that Man Chong was frustrated, Zhang Yu was very anxious and wanted to recruit him. After all, if he did not recruit him, it would be a pity for a leader like Cao Cao who valued clan generals.

After a few deliberations, Zhang Yu didn't care about the first meeting and said flatteringly: "Bo Ning is a man of both civil and military talents, and has extraordinary talents and strategies. If he stays in Pei State for a long time, I'm afraid he won't be able to make great use of it."

"The world is in turmoil today, and it is a good opportunity for men to make achievements. Five years ago, I was still herding sheep on the frontier, but now I have been promoted to Shangqing and County Marquis by virtue of my military achievements. Bo Ning is a man of great talent now, don't you know that military achievements are made on horseback?"

"So why not join my Left School Camp? I am still short of a chief officer to take charge of military discipline. Moreover, my Left School Camp is the imperial army, stationed in the capital. Bo Ning has talent and strategy. If he can go to the capital and meet a noble who appreciates him, he may have the opportunity to become an official!"

Seeing Zhang Yu using the old rhetoric to win over Man Chong, Zhong Yao could not help but roll his eyes.

Zhang Yu's rise from a commoner to a lieutenant of the imperial guards in just five years can be said to be a miracle in the midst of turmoil. Zhong Yao had heard of the difficulty of promotion. It was simply not something that ordinary people could achieve, and required the help of both the right time and the right people.

In order to recruit talented people, Zhang Yu often uses his own example to fool people, first it was Xu Shu and Xu Chu, and now it is Man Chong's turn.

Although his rhetoric was old, it turned out to be extremely useful. Man Chong was stunned at first, then he looked thoughtful, and then looked at Yuan Mi.

Seeing this, Yuan Shikai was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, and said, "Zhang Ji'an, you and Yuan Chang came to my Pei State, not only to eat my banquet, but now you are even trying to recruit my friends in person. How ridiculous!"

Zhang Yu chuckled. What he did was really unkind. Yuan Mi asked Man Chong to help, and when he met him for the first time, he blatantly recruited Man Chong in front of his old friend Yuan Mi.

Fortunately, Yuan Mi was broad-minded. Although he had not seen Zhang Yu for several years, their relationship was still deep because of Zhang Yu's life-saving grace, so he did not take it seriously.

Secretary Yuan restrained his expression and said, "Ji'an is right. Luoyang is full of nobles. If Bo Ning can go to Luoyang, he may be able to find an opportunity to enter the government, which is better than serving in Pei State!"

"The Left School Battalion led by Ji'an is the Imperial Guard, directly under the command of Your Majesty. If he can make achievements in the army, it will be easier for Bo Ning to enter the government."

(End of this chapter)