Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 222 He is Xu Gongming of Hedong!
Zhang Yi, who brought wine and meat to negotiate, was naturally treated with great hospitality. Moreover, Beigong Boyu was eagerly anticipating the Han army's negotiating envoy, especially since this envoy was the Grand Herald of the imperial court.

Bei Gong Boyu, clad in armor, stood two steps ahead of Bian Zhang as the leader, greeting Zhang Yi at the camp gate.

"Grand Herald, please!"

The Grand Herald was in charge of foreign affairs, including those concerning the submission of barbarians and relations with foreign nations. Therefore, the fact that the court sent the Grand Herald to negotiate clearly indicated that it was doing so with great sincerity.

However, what puzzled Beigong Boyu was why he did not see Juqu Xianwu.
"Is Lord Beigong worried about that Juqu chieftain?" Zhang Yi naturally noticed Beigong Boyu's doubts and explained with a smile, "He is still on his way, but the court has already sent a messenger to deliver the imperial edict, which travels more than 400 li a day and travels day and night, authorizing the Left General to decide on war and peace. We cannot let down Lord Beigong's benevolent heart."

Bei Gong Boyu's chest involuntarily thrust forward beneath his armor, and he slapped Zhang Yi's shoulder heavily with his rough hand, laughing loudly, "The Grand Herald's words are pleasing to the ear; they are truly full of sincerity!"

Zhang Yi's words were naturally reasonable, and it was not inappropriate for the court to send envoys to negotiate peace before Juqu Xianwu returned to Yuzhong; on the contrary, it demonstrated the sincerity of the court.

Furthermore, who doesn't like to be praised a few times, especially since the Grand Herald is one of the Nine Ministers of the Han Dynasty?

In the past, he, a barbarian from Huangzhong, would never be praised by officials of the rank of the Nine Ministers. He even had to make an appointment in advance to see the local governor, otherwise he would not even be qualified to enter the gate.

Being suddenly treated with such courtesy and praise by such a high-ranking official, Beigong Boyu, the leader of the Qiang and Hu tribes, was naturally delighted, even somewhat carried away by his pride.

Standing behind Beigong Boyu, Bian Zhang stared at the blushing face of the man, feeling quite disdainful.

Bah! When did you, Beigong Boyu, become associated with the word "benevolence and kindness"?

Take a piss and look at yourself. Don't you even know how many Han Chinese you ordered to be killed?

You get all cocky after just a couple of compliments?
Barbarians are barbarians, even if they don't eat raw meat and drink blood, they are still barbarians!

Bian Zhang sneered inwardly, but made no attempt to remind Bei Gong Boyu of his intentions.

In Liangzhou, the words of the dead carry no weight, and peace agreements signed by the dead are invalid.

As the Qiang and Hu rebels and the Liangzhou people watched Zhang Yi, along with several personal guards and Beigong Boyu and others, enter the commander's tent, they couldn't help but turn their gazes to the carts of meat and wine, their Adam's apples bobbing as they swallowed hard.

Snapped!
A commander of ten thousand men looked at the group of soldiers who were reluctant to leave, drew his whip from his waist, and lashed one of them across the face, leaving a hideous bloody welt.

The "Ten Thousand Qiang Hu Chief" was not an officer commanding ten thousand soldiers, but rather referred to a group of more than ten thousand Qiang Hu people, including women, children, and the elderly, who belonged to him on his grasslands.

"What are you looking at? Those who are supposed to hunt, go hunt; those who are supposed to stand guard, go stand guard. What are you doing here!"

"These are all foods that the Han envoys sent to the leaders of various tribes. Do you have any right to be envious?"

Seeing that the soldiers still wouldn't disperse, the commander lashed the soldier with his whip again, lashing him repeatedly until bloody welts appeared. He also kicked the soldier every now and then. Seeing the commander's ferocity, the sensible ones quickly scattered, leaving only a few dazed fools behind.

Seeing that there were still a few people who dared to linger, the commander of ten thousand men couldn't help but laugh in anger. He was a commander of ten thousand men from the Beigong tribe, while those who were unwilling to leave were from the Xianling Qiang.

Despite their different tribes, their status was what it was. A lowly soldier could not disobey the orders of his noble commander, especially since his superior was the leader of the Huangzhong Righteous Army. He raised his whip, ready to strike, and roared, "What are you still doing here? Do you want to end up like him? Get out of here now!"

The soldiers hung their heads, a hint of hatred flickering in their eyes, and left unwillingly.

Even as they left, their eyes couldn't help but dart towards the tempting wine and meat.

Even if he took one more look, he wouldn't lose a bite of wine or meat, but in the eyes of that commander of ten thousand men, this was usurpation, this was a provocation against him.

That means he will get his share of the food and drink later; otherwise, he would definitely have killed these disrespectful fellows.

With a cold snort, the commander glanced at the blood-stained whip in his hand, threw it on the ground in disgust, and waved to his guards, saying, "Hang this guy up! Don't let anyone give him food or water. I want everyone to know the consequences of disrespect!" The Han soldiers escorting the wine and meat stared blankly at the pitiful Qiang man, seemingly shocked by the scene before them.

The commander of ten thousand men was slightly annoyed. He glared at the Han soldiers and shouted, "What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and send the things in!"

Upon hearing the commander's shout, one of the young men gripped his halberd (Note 1) tightly, his knuckles making a soft cracking sound, and his gaze toward the commander grew increasingly hostile.

"We are not your slaves, we are Han Chinese!" The young man's expression was calm, but the halberd in his hand flashed with a cold light, grazing the tip of the man's nose. The force of the halberd made the dreadlocks on the sideburns of the man's long hair flutter. However, there was a murderous intent in his eyes. He said, "If you dare to order me, a Han Chinese, around again, I will... kill you!"

He was from Hedong County, but he was only nineteen years old last year. During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the court did not include young men under the age of twenty among the good families in the Three Rivers region that were conscripted. In addition, his father and mother did not want him to join the army, so he was unable to go.

However, through family connections, he entered the prefectural government and served as a prefectural official under Cheng Yu, the prefect of Hedong Prefecture. He participated in the battle in which Cheng Yu led three thousand troops from various prefectures and kingdoms to quell the rebellion of Guo Da, the leader of the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Baibo Valley, and made military achievements.

He killed thirty-nine bandits on the battlefield and was very lucky to run into a fleeing Yellow Turban general named Yang Feng.

He rode his horse alone to catch up with Yang Feng, killed him, and cut off his head with a small knife he carried with him. He presented the head to Cheng Yu, who praised him and reported his military achievements to the court. As a result, he was awarded the title of fifth-rank official and granted five acres of land and five houses (Note 2).

This year he turned twenty. This time he bid farewell to Cheng Yu and joined Huangfu Song's army without telling his parents. He was appointed as a garrison commander with the title of Grand Master and had one hundred soldiers under his command.

However, he was very unhappy. Although he was slightly valued by the Left General because of Cheng Yu's recommendation letter and was assigned to the Central Army under the command of Liu Yao, the Protector General of the Army, this also meant that he did not have many opportunities to make merits. He was also assigned to the task of escorting Zhang Yi, the Grand Herald, and dozens of carts of wine and meat into the Qiang and Hu rebel camp for peace talks, a task that he hated.

He couldn't stand seeing the barbarians act so aggressively, especially when they acted so aggressively towards the Han people in front of him.

Zheng!
The young man advanced the halberd a few inches, and the commander could almost feel the bone-chilling cold emanating from the blade, his pupils shrinking sharply.

"you!"

Enraged, the commander drew his scimitar, but as the blade drew ever closer, almost touching his face, a chill ran down his spine.

He felt that this young man was really capable of killing him!
As the leader of the Beigong tribe, he was well aware of Beigong Boyu's peace negotiation plan.

If this young man had killed him in public, Bei Gong Boyu would never have sought revenge. He would never have disrupted his peace talks at this time for anyone or anything, especially since the young man had provoked him first.

Upon thinking of this, the commander of ten thousand men was enraged. He sheathed his scimitar and said in a forced tone, "Boy, you're lucky. Our two families are currently negotiating a peace. Otherwise, I would have dragged you to your death on the grasslands!"

"Ah."

Seeing the commander show weakness, the young man flicked his wrist and withdrew his halberd, the handle slamming heavily to the ground. He let out a cold laugh in response to the commander's words of "good luck," then waved his hand to signal the soldiers behind him to hand over the wine and meat to the Qiang and Hu rebels. He then prepared to enter the main tent and join the guards who had entered earlier to protect Zhang Yi, the Grand Herald.

Outside the tent, two soldiers wielding spears blocked the young man's path, but he was easily pushed aside with his shoulders.

The leader of ten thousand men looked at the young man's arrogant behavior, which completely disregarded him. The veins on his neck bulged, but he only managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth: "Boy, what's your name?"

The young man paused as he stepped into the tent, turned around to look at the commander of ten thousand men, and said in a loud voice, "I am Xu Gongming from Hedong!"

(2700 words)
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Note 1: Yueji: A long-handled weapon that combines an axe, a dagger and a short sword. It differs from the halberd that combines a dagger and a spear in that the stabbing part is lengthened like a sword and the dagger head is replaced with an iron axe, thus having both stabbing and slashing functions. It was first equipped by ordinary soldiers in the Western Han Dynasty.

Simply put, it's an axe-spear.

Note 2: Residence: In the Han Dynasty, a "residence" was defined as a plot of land measuring 30 paces square.

(End of this chapter)