Han officials

Chapter 2 "Recruiting" and "Being Recruited"

The next day, early morning.

Wei Zhe got up early to practice martial arts. He was sweating profusely when he saw a strong and imposing man with a broad forehead and a red cap riding towards him.

Seeing this, Wei Zhe, although he didn't know the purpose of his visit, still stepped forward and saluted: "Greetings, Sima Sun!"

To be honest, Wei Zhe was completely unprepared for Sun Jian's sudden visit.

Even though he currently leads a group of volunteers and his subordinates usually address him as military marquises, that is only a temporary measure.

In fact, this time, any volunteer leader who brought his own troops to join the army would be granted a temporary military position to facilitate command.

So strictly speaking, he is just a white person.

Sun Jian was different. As the Sima of a separate department, he was a real official with a rank of Qianshi.

When the group entered the tent, facing Wei Zhe's puzzled look, Sun Jian laughed and said, "The army will be marching to Runan in a few days. I wonder what the Wei Junhou has planned?"

Although Bo Cai was attacked by Huangfu Song, Cao Cao and Zhu Jun outside Changsha City and fled in defeat, he did not disappear.

After leaving Changsha County, he led the remaining Yellow Turbans of Yingchuan to join forces with the Yellow Turban leader Peng Tuo of Runan to keep each other warm.

This information was no secret within the army, so Wei Zhe didn't dwell on it and said politely, "I only want to serve my country and quell the Yellow Turbans as soon as possible. I have no other plans."

Sun Jian's eyes lit up when he heard that, and he simply said, "Oh~ Then why don't you come and help me?"

Sun Jian looked at Wei Zhe with admiration, stroking his beard and praising him: "How can a fake military marquis compare to a real one! You have the talent to lead troops, but it's a pity to be confined to Yicong. Why not join me in the battles and find wealth and honor on the battlefield!"

Sun Jian's sudden recruitment really caught Wei Zhe off guard.

But I have to admit that the price he offered was very sincere.

According to the Han system, five people formed a group with a group leader; two groups formed a ten with a group leader; five tenths formed a team with a team leader; two teams formed a garrison with a garrison leader; two garrisons formed a qu with a military marquis; five qu formed a department with a Sima.

Therefore, the position of military marquis is a true right-hand man.

Moreover, Wei Zhe was also aware that Sun Jian had the ability to convert him from a volunteer soldier to a regular soldier.

You should know that three months ago, Sun Jian was just a county magistrate with a rank of 300 stones. It was the Right General Zhu Jun who appreciated him, specially recruited him into the army, and recommended him all the way to the position of Sima of the Separate Department.

With a sponsor like Zhu Jun, Sun Jian's future in the army is naturally bright.

That is to say, Sun Jian had just risen to power and his team was just beginning, otherwise Wei Zhe might not have had such an opportunity.

However, after a little hesitation, Wei Zhe refused.

"Thank you, Sima, for your kindness!" Wei Zhe bowed to Sun Jian and then sighed softly, "Those who follow for a righteous cause follow for a righteous cause. Since I joined the army, General Huangfu and Sima Fu have taken great care of me. I sincerely hope that Sima will forgive me!"

After hearing this, Sun Jian was speechless, and he couldn't even say the words he wanted to increase the price to tempt him.

There was no way. As a warrior, what he admired most was people like Wei Zhe who were both brave and loyal.

Even though he thought that Huangfu Song might not even know that Wei Zhe was under his command, he still respected Wei Zhe's choice.

But after thinking about it, he pulled out a jade pendant from his waist and threw it to Wei Zhe.

"If you encounter difficulties in the future, you can come to Shouchun County to find me!"

After saying that, he smiled, patted Wei Zhe's shoulder, and turned away neatly.

After a while, watching Sun Jian's departing figure, Taishi Ci finally couldn't help but ask outside the tent, "Since Sun Sima has sincerely invited us, why don't you accept his invitation, brother?"

However, Wei Zhe just sighed softly when he heard this and didn't say anything else.

It’s not that Wei Zhe doesn’t want to explain, but he really can’t explain it.

Although Zhu Jun seems to be on par with Huangfu Song now and holds a high position and power in the army, he will be in mourning for his mother next year.

Therefore, Sun Jian’s biggest backer now is actually just the moon in the water and the flower in the mirror.

Of course, the most important thing is that Lu Zhi was framed by the eunuchs, which led to the temporary change of commander of the Northern Army.

If Wei Zhe chose to rely on Sun Jian, he would have to quell the rebellion in Runan and miss the decisive battle in Jizhou.

……

Not to mention how Sun Jian recruited heroes from the Yicong Army and enriched his troops after failing to recruit Wei Zhe.

After two days of rest, the Han army camp outside Changsha City finally set out again.

Wei Zhe's Yicong troops naturally followed Huangfu Song's left army in accordance with previous practice.

But before leaving, Wei Zhe called over a burly man with a scarred face and instructed him, "Boyan, take this pot of wine to the west of the city and tell Zhicai that I will drink with him again after the army returns victorious."

During the month of the Yellow Turban siege, Wei Zhe's greatest achievement was actually meeting Xi Zhicai. It was only after they met that he learned that Xi Zhicai had graduated from the private school of the Zhong family in Changsha.

If private schools had not been prevalent in Yingchuan County, Xi Zhicai, who was not even from a poor family and had a poor family background, would probably have been buried.

"Don't worry, my lord." The scarred man nodded calmly upon hearing this.

But before he left, he couldn't help but ask, "Since you want to recruit Xi Zhong, why don't you just invite him to be a guest of the Wei family?"

This statement might be a bit excessive for other Yicong, but this scarred man was different from others.

This man, Zhong Hu, was an elder in the Wei Zhe family, his father having been a tenant farmer. However, unlike his father, Zhong Hu was born strong and sturdy, so he was recruited as a household soldier by his master as a teenager, and was taught martial arts and horsemanship. After adulthood, he became the leader of the Wei family's household soldiers, becoming the most trusted confidant of the Wei family.

If Wei's father had not been worried about his son's safety, he would not have asked Zhong Hu to personally bring people to protect him.

By the way, Wei Zhe has two garrison commanders under his command, one is Taishi Ci and the other is him.

But then again, Wei Zhe's ancestors were actually from Donglai. Due to the chaos in the world at the end of the Xin Dynasty, his ancestor Wei Ang fled to Liaodong by sea to escape the disaster and settled in Houcheng County, Liaodong County. However, in the first year of Yongchu, after Emperor An ascended the throne, he divided the three counties of "Gaoxian", "Houcheng" and "Liaoyang" of the original Liaodong County and changed them to Xuantu County. So the Wei family changed from being a Liaodong County person to a Xuantu County person.

Fortunately, after several generations of careful management, by the time of Wei Zhe's father Wei Xuan, the Wei family of Houcheng finally achieved some success and became considered a powerful family in the county.

However, there are countless local tyrants in the Han Dynasty today, not to mention that Xuantu County is originally a cold and harsh border county.

Therefore, Wei Xuan dreamed of making the Houcheng Wei family a noble family, and for this purpose he even married a lady from a poor family.

But Wei Xuan worked hard for half his life but achieved nothing, so he could only helplessly place his hopes on the next generation.

Especially after his eldest son died, Wei Xuan placed all his hopes on Wei Zhe.

This can be seen from his name.

The Book of Documents, Gao Yao Mo, states:

If you know people, you will be wise; if you know people, you will be able to hold positions of power.

Even after Wei Zhe was crowned, Wei Xuan specially gave him the name "Gong Wei".

It can be said that what Wei Xuan was thinking about most was that Wei Zhe could transform his family from a powerful family into a noble family, or at least give his generation a good start.

It was precisely because of this that when Wei Zhe wanted to join the army after the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, his father immediately agreed. In addition to a hundred family soldiers, he even spent a large sum of money to recruit a hundred Hu and Han warriors from Liaodong to accompany him.

Although Liaodong is bitterly cold, it also has its unique advantages.

Unfortunately, Wei Xuan's efforts were not put to good use as his beloved son accidentally fell into the water during the voyage, which gave rise to the current "Wei Zhe". Otherwise, Wei Zhe would not have happened to pass by Xu Township in Donglai and rescued Taishi Ci's mother.

Perhaps it was a benefit for time travelers, but after getting familiar with his new body, Wei Zhe’s strength increased a lot.

This really gave him a lot of advantages as he was new to the battlefield, otherwise he would not be alive today.

Of course, the battlefield is not a game after all, and the words "war is dangerous and vicious" are not a joke.

Even with Taishi Ci's protection, Wei Zhe was in danger several times.

Perhaps it was precisely because of these experiences on the line between life and death that Wei Zhe quickly shed his time traveler's impetuousness and integrated into this era. There was no other way. On the battlefield, if he didn't kill, people would kill him. There was no other way.

However, Zhong Hu is good at fighting, but not so good in other aspects.

As soon as Zhong Hu finished speaking, Wei Zhe shook his head and laughed, "Such a great talent can only be a friend, how can we treat him as a guest?"

You have to know that the wealthy merchants in the Han Dynasty often had thousands of guests and tens of thousands of followers.

For someone like Xi Zhicai who thinks highly of himself, inviting him as a powerful guest is simply an insult.

Moreover, Wei Zhe is now a penniless person, so even if he wants to recruit talents, he lacks persuasiveness.

Wei Zhe was well aware of this, so he never spoke rashly when meeting Xi Zhicai. This could be considered a tacit understanding between the two of them. Only after Wei Zhe proved himself would they start discussing this topic.

"Stop talking so much, go quickly and come back quickly, don't miss the time for the army to set out."

After sending Zhong Hu away, Wei Zhe systematically directed his followers to prepare for departure.

For example, in addition to weapons and equipment, they also had to bring medicine bags, salt bags, flint bags, whetstones, files, horse bowls and other utensils. Individuals also had to bring quilts, blankets, straw sandals and other things. It was extremely cumbersome.

And since Wei Zhe's troops were all cavalry, the factor of war horses had to be taken into consideration when marching.

Fortunately, after suppressing the rebellion along the way, the army had no shortage of pack horses, otherwise Wei Zhe and other volunteers would have suffered even more.

But even though he was exhausted from the daily marches, Wei Zhe still did not give up writing his march notes:

"...When the day is dark and the night is dark, when marching or camping, it is necessary to set watch times so that we can prepare for the morning and evening emergencies..."

Late at night, under the dim candlelight, Wei Zhe was seen thoughtfully writing down his thoughts...

(End of this chapter)