Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 199: Delicious Buns

Yecheng, the provincial capital.

In the magnificent state government, Yuan Shao sat on a soft couch, stroking his beard while looking at the civil and military officials in the hall. After a long period of planning, he finally took the position of governor of Jizhou.

Now that there is an governor of Jizhou and Wei County has been occupied by him, the current thing is to follow Ju Su's words and drive Gongsun Zan and Zhang Yu out of Jizhou, eliminate Zhang Yan who is entrenched in Taihang Mountains, and take all the counties of Jizhou into the pocket; then eliminate Liu Yu of Youzhou and Zhang Yu of Bingzhou, occupy Qingzhou in the east, and use the troops of four states to face the Central Plains.

While Yuan Shao was thinking about his future strategic plan, the thin Tian Feng stood up and said, "Mr. My Lord, according to the reports from the governors of various counties, Gongsun Zan has stationed troops in Anping County and appointed governors of the counties he controls; while Zhang Yu has taken Changshan County as his base and plundered the people of Zhao."

"According to Feng's opinion, we must first quickly stabilize the three counties of Julu, Ganling and Zhao. If they are occupied by Zhang Yu and Gongsun, your situation will be in danger!"

Yuan Shao stroked his beard and hummed, saying: "Now that I have just taken office as a prefect, I have no intention of replacing the governors. The two governors of Ganling and Julu, Lao Ju and Tian, sent me a letter to appease them, saying that I will not change the old system and that they should just stay and guard the land."

"promise!"

"As for Zhao~"

Yuan Shao hesitated, looked at Xun Chen, and said, "You have had many contacts with Zhang Yu. You can meet Zhang Yu now and talk to him to see what he means."

"promise!"

Although Yuan Shao did not speak directly, Xun Chen understood it in his heart. Yuan Shao asked him to go to Zhang Yu again, just to see whether Zhang Yu would keep his promise and exchange Henei County for the cities in Jizhou.

"Where is Gongsun Zan?" Ju Su asked with a frown.

Yuan Shao pondered for a long time and said, "Gongsun Zan has many cavalrymen under his command. Our army has just occupied Jizhou, so it is not appropriate to engage him in battle. I will write to him now to see if I can persuade him to withdraw. If Gongsun Zan insists on not withdrawing, don't blame me for sending troops!"

Seeing that Yuan Shao had made all the arrangements, Ju Su nodded slightly, and was very satisfied with Yuan Shao's political methods. Compared with Zhang Yu and the two governors of Julu and Ganling, Gongsun Zan was the biggest enemy of Jizhou. If Gongsun Zan could be dealt with first, the affairs of Jizhou counties could be easily settled.

Not to mention that Yuan Shao appeased the officials in Hebei Province and reorganized the troops in Ji Province, when Gongsun Zan received the letter from Yuan Shao asking him to withdraw his troops, he was naturally indignant.

Anping, the county seat is Lecheng.

In the county government, Gongsun Zan held up the letter written by Yuan Shao and said to the civil and military officials in the hall with a sneer: "Yuan Shao invited me to conquer Jizhou together. I led the troops to Anping with great effort, but he used fraud to seize Han Fu's position as governor. Now he has sent a letter to persuade me to withdraw the troops. He is really bullying me too much!"

Seeing that Gongsun Zan wanted to take advantage of Yuan Shao's unstable position to lead his troops to attack, Guan Jing immediately stood up, clasped his hands and said: "General, Yuan Shao led the troops to suppress the rebellion, and also the soldiers of Jizhou. His troops should not be underestimated. In Jing's opinion, if we want to attack Yuan Shao now, it is better to contact Yuan Shu of Jingzhou and summon the infantry and cavalry of Youzhou to go south."

"Yuan Shu of Jingzhou?"

"Of course!"

Guan Jing said: "Although Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao are of the same clan, they hate each other. Yuan Shu appointed Sun Jian as the governor of Yuzhou, while Yuan Shao appointed Zhou Ang as the governor of Yuzhou, recruited the old people of Yingchuan, raided Luyang, and fought against Sun Jian. Therefore, the general can send cavalry south to make friends with Yuan Shu of Jingzhou, so as to fight against Yuan Shao and his followers together."

"Your remarks really hit my mark!"

Gongsun Zan looked around at everyone in the hall, his eyes stopped at Gongsun Yue, and said, "Brother Yue, are you willing to lead a thousand cavalrymen to Nanyang to pay a visit to Yuan Gonglu on my behalf, so that I can help you conquer Yuan Shao?"

Gongsun Yue was over twenty years old and was naturally very courageous. He cupped his hands and said, "Why not? I will help you take over Jizhou."

"Good, you have courage!" Gongsun Zan praised with admiration.

"General, if you want to attack Yuan Shao now, you might as well send someone to make friends with Zhang Yu. When we need to use troops in the future, we can invite him to send troops from Bingzhou to help you tie down Yuan Shao's troops." Yan Gang said.

"Can!"

Gongsun Zan looked around at everyone in the hall, wanting to choose a suitable person to go as an envoy to Zhang Yu. However, after looking around for a long time, he did not know who to choose as an envoy to Zhang Yu.

"Hmm~"

Gongsun Zan seemed to remember something, looked at Liu Bei who was sitting at the end, and asked: "Xuan De, I heard that you and Zhang Yu are old friends, I wonder if it is true or not?"

Seeing Gongsun Zan calling his name, Liu Bei stood up and answered, saying, "General, I had the honor of meeting Zhang Yu when I was in the Xiyuan Army. Although we have met several times and had a good chat, I cannot say that I am familiar with him."

"Just a few encounters will do!"

Gongsun Zan didn't care and said with a smile: "He and I are both border generals and serve under Liu Youzhou. Now we should work together to help each other. Ask Xuande to visit Zhang Ji'an for me."

"Yes!" Liu Bei responded with mixed feelings and bowed.

Liu Bei first served in Luoyang and then worked under Gongsun Zan, during which time his career experienced many ups and downs.

After Emperor Ling of Han died, He Jin took power and asked Guanqiu Yi to lead people out of the capital to recruit soldiers, and Liu Bei accompanied him. During the journey, Liu Bei was appointed as the magistrate of Xiami County for his meritorious service in defeating bandits.

Soon, as Dong Zhuo entered the capital and many heroes rose up in arms, Liu Bei was invited by Cao Cao to abandon his post and lead his troops to fight against Dong Zhuo. However, Liu Bei saw that Liu Dai had no intention of fighting against the enemy, and Cao Cao was defeated in Xingyang, so he knew that the Guandong coalition had no hope of fighting against Dong Zhuo, so he led his troops to leave the coalition. On the way, Liu Bei met Chen Ji who was going to Pingyuan State to take up his post. He was invited by Chen Ji to escort him to Pingyuan to take up his post, and was recommended as the magistrate of Gaotang County, and then moved to Gaotang County.

On the eve of Gongsun Zan's expedition to Jizhou, the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou arrived at Pingyuan. The difference in strength between the enemy and us was too great, so Chen Ji abandoned Pingyuan and fled to Xuzhou, and Gaotang County where Liu Bei was located was also destroyed by the Yellow Turbans. After the defeat, Liu Bei learned that Gongsun Zan had gone south to Jizhou, so he took the remaining troops to join him.

As the third force in Jizhou, the reason why Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao sent people to communicate with Zhang Yu was not because of his great charm, but because Zhang Yu's power in Jizhou was weak.

Judging from the division of the three families into counties and prefectures in Jizhou, Zhang Yu was able to cross the Taihang Mountains and occupy Changshan County with the help of Zhang Yan, while Sun and Yuan had already been cultivating in Hebei for a long time.

If the two could drive each other out of Jizhou, and the remaining one annexed the other's territory in Jizhou, it would be difficult for Zhang Yu to compete with them. Therefore, it would be best for the two to win over Zhang Yu. Even if they could not win over Zhang Yu, they could not let Zhang Yu help the other side.

After Han Fu gave way to Yuan Shao, the previously chaotic Jizhou strangely fell into a temporary tranquility, and the current tranquility is undoubtedly the eve before the storm.

However, for Zhang Yu, the current situation in Jizhou has nothing to do with him for the time being. His top priority now is to relocate the people and try not to interfere in the military operations of Sun and Yuan in their fight for supremacy in Jizhou.

But the relocation was not smooth sailing.

At dusk, Zhang Yu was bending over his desk with a pen in his hand, dealing with the issue of the relocation of civilians.

Zhao Yun hesitated outside the hall for a long time, then walked into the hall and bowed to Zhang Yu.

"Your Majesty!"

Zhang Yu looked up at Zhao Yun and wanted to ask him to wait for him. But seeing Zhao Yun's anxious expression, he put down his brush and asked in a soothing tone, "What's the matter, Zilong?"

"Nothing important!"

Zhao Yun hesitated for a moment and said, "I just have a doubt in my mind. I wonder if you can help me solve it?"

"Sit down!"

Zhang Yu waved his hand and asked Zhao Yun to take a seat. He smiled and said, "If you have any questions, just speak up!"

Recruiting talents for your own use does not mean that you can make them work for you wholeheartedly. As a monarch for a long time, how could Zhang Yu not know such a simple truth? Therefore, Zhang Yu paid close attention to the psychological fluctuations of the civil and military officials who had just joined his army.

Zhao Yun considered his words carefully and asked, "Since you entered Hebei, you have sent your soldiers and officials to relocate the people of Hebei. I wonder what your intention is?"

Zhang Yu's expression remained unchanged as he said, "Since Dong Zhuo entered the capital, wars have frequently broken out in the Central Plains. Now Han Fu has given up his throne to Yuan Shao, and Gongsun Zan has stationed his troops in Anping. Both of them want to take over Jizhou, so sooner or later, something will happen in Jizhou."

"Bingzhou is surrounded by mountains and rivers. In the past, the counties of Bingzhou were destitute because of the plundering of the border by the Hu people. Therefore, we moved people to Jin with the intention of protecting the people of Hebei and filling the counties with immigrants, so that the Hu people would not dare to covet our Han territory."

Zhao Yun hesitated for a moment and asked, "Your Excellency has no intention of preserving Changshan, so you handed Changshan over to Zhang Yan for administration and moved the people from the counties outside Changshan County to Jin."

"No!"

Zhang Yu said with a serious expression, "Mr. Zhang was recommended by Liu Youzhou and appointed by the court. It was not my idea alone. Moreover, although Mr. Zhang was born a thief, he is a native of Changshan County. How could you have heard of a fellow villager robbing fellow villagers?"

"When villagers guard their hometown, they should have the thought of protecting the territory and the people!"

Even their own fellow villagers can be plundered in a cruel manner. Except for the soldiers under Liu Xiu's command, most people can hardly do such a thing.

When Zhao Yun heard what Zhang Yu said, thinking about Zhang Yu being a Bingzhou native who guarded Bingzhou and was good at governing the people of Bingzhou, Zhao Yun couldn't help but agree with his words.

Zhang Yu smiled kindly and asked, "What is Zilong's ambition?"

Zhao Yun was stunned for a while, then said: "The world is in turmoil, corrupt officials are rampant, and bandits and barbarians are everywhere. My wish now is to keep the state peaceful, the world clean, and the barbarians dare not invade."

Although Zhao Yun lived in Jizhou, which was separated from the border by Youzhou, in fact, because the Wuhuan moved to Dai County, they often committed evil in Changshan, making the people of Changshan miserable.

"Zilong's ambition should be what I wish for."

Zhang Yu stood up and said solemnly, "When Yu was in the frontier, the Hu people invaded the border, the counties were lost, and the people were displaced. So my wish is to recover the northern frontier and drive the Hu people back to Yinshan. When the world is over, I hope that those who till the land will have their own land, and those who live in the house will have their own house, and the world will be peaceful again!"

"Your Excellency has great ambitions!"

Zhao Yun looked ashamed and said, "I didn't understand your majesty's intention to relocate the people. Now I have a conflict of opinion with you. I hope you will forgive me!"

Zhang Yu patted Zhao Yun on the shoulder and said: "Although I have great ambitions, I can't accomplish them alone. Zilong is a rare talent in Changshan. I hope he can help me and achieve great things together!"

(End of this chapter)