Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 350: Unable to obtain, planning for the world
In the Boshan hunting ground, thousands of riders are rolling over the hills, hunting dogs are walking on the plains, and cunning rabbits are running in all directions.

"call out!"

A sharp whistle sounded, and an eagle with its wings spread out was seen circling in the sky for a while, then swooping down, catching a hare in the bushes with its sharp claws, then grabbing the hare's body with its beak, then soaring into the sky, and finally landing on the falconer's left arm covered with thick fur.

"The eagle is very strong and can hunt sheep on the grassland. But using it to hunt rabbits now is probably a waste of its talent!" Zhang Yu laughed when he saw the eagle easily killing its prey.

"Your Excellency uses hunting as a form of training, how can you do without eagles to drive?" Li Song said.

Zhang Yu was impressed by the eagle's swiftness and strength, and said, "If that's the case, I'll keep it for you."

As he spoke, Zhang Yu took a piece of meat to feed the golden eagle, and said: "When I was grazing on the grassland, I wanted to be a golden eagle. Now I am hunting the world, and you are like golden eagles, and you will be my claws and fangs hunters."

"To attack Yuan Shao, I and other generals are willing to lead the troops," Li Song asked for battle.

"I am willing to be the vanguard!" said Zhao Yun.

Seeing that the generals were eager to fight, Zhang Yu smiled and said, "The expedition to Hebei will involve all the strength of Shanxi. All the generals who lead troops must respond to the order, so you all have the opportunity to make achievements."

Fighting Hebei is not only crucial to Zhang Yu, but also to all the generals. Their status under Zhang Yu and whether they can become founding heroes all depend on their performance in this battle.

When Zhang Yu was chatting with his generals, he saw several deer being driven in front of the people by cavalrymen. He pointed at the deer with a whip and said, "Is there anyone who is good at archery and can shoot a deer with one arrow?"

"I am willing to shoot a deer for you, my lord!"

As soon as Zhang Yu finished speaking, he saw Ma Chao riding out, taking a bow and shooting a deer.

"Whoosh!"

The arrow flew through the air and hit the deer's neck. The deer twitched a few times and then fell to the ground and died.

"Meng Qi is good at archery!"

Zhang Yu laughed and said, "Give Ma Mengqi a brocade robe!"

"Thank you, Lord!"

Seeing Ma Chao showing up in front of everyone, Yan Xing rode out, took out his bow, and said, "Don't worry, my lord, just watch my archery skills."

At the sound of horse hooves, Yan Xing drew his bow and shot, and the arrow hit the deer's neck.

"Good archery skills!"

Zhang Yu cheered and said, "Give Yan Yanming and Ma Mengqi a crimson Sichuan brocade outer robe!"

"Thank you, sir!" Yan Xing looked happy.

Ma Chao was upset that Yan Xing stole his limelight and said, "It's not surprising to hit a deer with one arrow. It would be commendable if the deer skin was not damaged."

As he spoke, Ma Chao rode out again, drew his bow and aimed his arrow at the deer's eye.

"Whoosh!"

The arrow flew out like a falling moon and hit the deer's eye. The deer howled and fell to the ground.

"color!"

Ma Chao's archery skills, as he could hit a deer's eye at a distance of fifty steps, amazed many people. Generals who were good at archery, such as Xu Huang, Zhao Yun, and Kirby, all looked admiring.

Zhang Yu was full of praise and said to his attendants, "It is often said that Long people are good at spears and Shuo people are good at archery. Now let's look at Mengqi and Yanming. Long people are as skilled in archery and horsemanship as the warriors of Shuo."

Zhang Liao was eager to try, and said, "I would like to try the bow."

"allow!"

Zhang Liao galloped out with a bow in hand. When he was about to shoot the deer, Zhang Liao on his horse suddenly bent down and shot horizontally, hitting a pheasant sixty steps away.

The arrow broke through the sky, but the pheasant fluttered down and died.

"An arrow hits the chicken's head!"

"color!"

Seeing all the generals showing off their archery skills, Zhang Yu smiled with satisfaction and said, "Give Wenyuan a brocade robe!"

As he spoke, Zhang Yu looked at Cheng Gongying who was standing beside Han Sui and asked, "Mengqi, Yanming and Bojie are all from Long. Now Mengqi and Yanming have demonstrated the proficiency of Long people in archery and horsemanship. I heard that although you are outstanding in wisdom and strategy, your archery and horsemanship are not inferior to Mengqi and Yanming. I wonder if you can shoot?"

Cheng Gongying glanced at Han Sui and saw that Han Sui agreed to let him go hunting, so he took the bow and rode his horse to hunt.

After aiming for a while, Cheng Gongying suddenly took out three arrows in his hand. One arrow was shot out first, and the other two arrows were shot out at the end. After three arrows, all three hit the target. Three deer fell down as soon as the arrows were shot.

Seeing Cheng Gongying using the technique of continuous arrows, all the generals were very surprised. It should be noted that the difficulty of continuous arrows is several times that of single arrows. They did not expect that the seemingly weak Cheng Gongying actually had such an amazing archery skill. The only one in the army who could surpass Cheng Gongying in archery was Shi Yi, the captain of the Qiang Guard.

Zhang Yu could not help but admire and applauded, saying: "If your archery and horsemanship can make you a general, you can lead the cavalry for me. And if you can lead the troops with wisdom and strategy, you can become a general sooner or later."

After a pause, Zhang Yu had a strong desire to recruit Cheng Gongying as a general, so he looked at Han Sui and Cheng Gongying and said, "Wen Yue has surrendered to me, I wonder if Bo Jie can serve me?"

Han Sui was living under someone else's roof, and although he did not want Cheng Gongying to abandon him, he did not dare to oppose Zhang Yu, and was hesitant about how to respond.

Cheng Gongying dismounted and knelt before Zhang Yu, choking with sobs, and said, "I dare not deceive you, my lord. Although my master has surrendered to you, I dare not betray him. I have received the kindness of my master since I was young, and now I dare not go back on my gratitude, let alone betray my master and serve you. If I have offended you, you may be magnanimous and forgive my master's crime." As soon as these words came out, the noisy generals suddenly quieted down and looked at Zhang Yu secretly, wondering whether Zhang Yu would vent his anger on Han Sui because of Cheng Gongying's words.

Zhang Yu turned to look at Han Sui, his eyes cold and murderous.

Han Sui bowed his head, dismounted, knelt before Zhang Yu, and said, "May you forgive me and not count Bo Jie's words!"

Zhang Yu looked at the two people in front of him, holding the horsewhip tightly in his hand, and was very angry about Cheng Gongying's statement of following Han Sui.

"call!"

After watching for a while, Zhang Yu seemed to have figured something out, and said slowly: "Bojie is loyal to his master, which is admirable, but how can I force him to do anything?"

Zhang Yu turned his horse around and said, "Since Wen Yue has surrendered to me, I have no intention of killing you. You don't have to kneel often in the future. Remember to treat Bo Jie well. There are many talented people in the world, but few are loyal to their king."

"Thank you, Lord!"

Han Sui was stunned. Although he was humiliated and convinced by Zhang Yu, he couldn't help but feel deeply that Zhang Yu was magnanimous.

Cheng Gongying, seeing how much Zhang Yu thought of him, cried and said, "If I had met you first, I would have served you with all my loyalty and strength."

After the incident with Cheng Gongying and Han Sui, Zhang Yu's interest in hunting gradually faded. Seeing that it was getting late, he called his subordinates to have a barbecue on the spot.

"Han Sui is a vassal vassal, and he surrendered to you unwillingly. But now his retainers have not yet dispersed. When he rises again, Han Sui will surely have ulterior motives. So why don't you kill him to prevent the disaster?" Li Song asked.

Zhang Yu sat on a stool and sighed, "I know what Bosong said. But it's easy to kill Han Sui, but it's hard to win people's hearts again."

Zhang Yu was afraid that Han Sui would change his mind, so he often wanted to kill him. However, considering the political factors, Zhang Yu had to show generosity and pardon Han Sui after he surrendered.

If Zhang Yu were to vent his anger on Han Sui because of Cheng Gongying's incident, it would only make him look petty-minded. Therefore, it would be better for him to use Cheng Gongying to encourage more people to be loyal to him.

In fact, every time Zhang Yu made a generous decision, he was afraid that he would follow Fu Jian's old path. However, in order to prevent him from following in his predecessor's footsteps, he was very cautious in hiring surrendered people.

Guo Tu seemed to sense Zhang Yu's dilemma and praised him, saying, "Your Excellency has a heart of benevolence and righteousness, and people all over the world will admire you."

Seeing that it was Guo Tu who was speaking, Li Song could not help but glance at him a few more times, as if he had a different opinion about Guo Tu. However, he hesitated for a moment, then kept it to himself and did not plan to report it now.

At the same time, Zhao Zi received the letter, reviewed it first, then quickly stepped forward and said respectfully: "My Lord, Sun Jian from Bashu has sent a letter!"

Zhang Yu and Sun Jian had always relied on Jingzhou for their communication. But now that Sun Jian had moved to Jiangzhou and was adjacent to Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, the correspondence between the two depended on Zhang Lu.

"Read!"

"promise!"

Zhao Zi glanced over it and said, "My lord, Zhao Wei was defeated in accepting the surrender, and Sun Jian has already conquered Jiangzhou. Now Sun Jian has divided his troops into two groups, one led by Sun Jian and the other led by Sun Ce. The father and son want to meet in Chengdu. Judging from the progress of the war, Ba County has been conquered, and Liu Zhang will be defeated in one year at the latest, or half a year at the shortest, before Sun's troops will reach Shu County."

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Sun Jian's expedition to the west lasted for more than a year. If he can destroy Shu this year, it will show how powerful Sun Jian is in commanding his troops."

"Sir, in addition to Sun Jian's military operations against Shu County, Sun Jian also stated in a letter that Yuan Shu intends to usurp the throne, and now he is seeking his advice." Zhao Zi said.

"What is Sun Jian's attitude?" Li Song asked.

"There is no word in the letter!" said Zhao Zi.

"It is not difficult to guess that Sun Jian has the idea of establishing himself. If Yuan Shu usurps the throne now, Sun Jian will support the emperor as a righteous cause and will be able to raise an army to denounce Yuan Shu." Jia Xu said.

Zhang Yu took a sip of water and said meaningfully, "Cao Cao is heading south to Huainan, Sun Jian is heading west to Bashu, and Yuan Shu is aiming to usurp the throne. It looks like there will be more turmoil in the south in the next two years."

Jia Xu stroked his beard and chanted, saying: "Yuan Shu's territory spans three states, and his strength is not weaker than Yuan Shao. If Sun Jian and Cao Cao can contain Yuan Shu, it will be beneficial for you to concentrate on managing Hebei."

Zhang Yu nodded and told Zhao Zi, "Send someone to closely monitor the situation in the south."

Zhao Zi asked: "Should I write a reply to Sun Jian now?"

Zhang Yu hesitated for a moment and said, "Since Sun Jian has written to me, how can I not write back? I will return to the palace later and write a special letter to Sun Jian."

"As ordered!"

Jia Xu stroked his beard and said with emotion: "Your Excellency's use of military force, looking at a corner of the country and planning the whole world, is admirable. If you can take advantage of the geographical advantages and elite troops to march to Hebei and sweep across the Central Plains, the heroes in the south will not be a concern. Send other generals to conquer them, and perhaps they will all surrender."

Zhang Yu said: "It is too early to talk about unifying the country. We need to think about how to use troops in Hebei first and store more military supplies. Hebei has many soldiers and abundant food, so it is difficult to attack it suddenly like Longyou."

Jia Xu said: "The land in Guanzhong is fertile, and the population in Hedong is rich. It is not difficult to provide food and grass for the army for the time being. However, the difficulty now lies in transportation. Therefore, you can first build a palace to store food."

Zhang Yu nodded slightly and said, "Wenhe's words make sense. We can send someone to supervise the construction of mansions and pavilions in the mountains to store food. Then the army will be able to pass through Taihang Mountain smoothly."

When Zhuge Liang was on the Northern Expedition, because the Shu Road was far away, in order to ensure sufficient food and grass supply, he ordered people to build pavilions in advance before the troops set out to store food. Although the road in Taihang Mountains is not as difficult as the Shu Road, it is necessary to build pavilions in advance due to the lack of river transportation.

"Sir, the meat is ready!"

When Zhang Yu was chatting with his attendants about the current situation, he heard an attendant coming to report.

Zhang Yu called his attendants and said, "We have hunted a lot today. I will share the venison with you."

"Thank you, Lord!"

(End of this chapter)