Three Kingdoms: Fusion of Entries, Change of Destiny

Chapter 176 Xun Yu entry replacement task completed!

After the three leaders of the Western Liang army were defeated outside Anyi City, Zhang Ji led his defeated army directly back to Hongnong.

Zhang Ji knew that the emperor's disappearance was his fault, and that Li Jue and Guo Si would certainly not let him off the hook.
In addition, the army had lost all its supplies during the escape and was short of food and provisions, so it was unlikely that they could stay in Hongnong any longer.

After weighing the options, Zhang Ji packed up his belongings overnight and then led his army out of Wuguan Pass, heading straight for Nanyang County in Jingzhou.

Zhang Ji originally intended to seize some grain and supplies in Nanyang County and find a place to settle down.

Unexpectedly, during the attack on Rangcheng, Zhang Ji was unfortunately struck by a stray arrow and died on the spot. His nephew Zhang Xiu eventually took over his army.

At that time, Zhang Xiu's army faced many difficulties, including a shortage of food and supplies and low morale.

But just when Zhang Xiu was at his wit's end, his fellow townsman, the strategist Jia Xu, who had once caused chaos in the world with his words and secretly helped the emperor escape from Chang'an, suddenly arrived in Zhang Xiu's army.

Knowing Jia Xu's exceptional wisdom, Zhang Xiu immediately requested that Jia Xu join his army. Jia Xu readily agreed and became Zhang Xiu's advisor.

Not long after, news of Zhang Ji's death in battle arrived, and Zhang Xiu received a letter from Liu Biao offering him surrender.

On Jia Xu's advice, Zhang Xiu finally decided to lead his troops to surrender to Liu Biao.

Liu Biao was quite generous, giving Wancheng to Zhang Xiu to garrison troops and guard the gateway to Nanyang.

……

January of the first year of Jian'an (196 AD).

With the added advantage of Xuchang's infrastructure prowess, its inner imperial city is gradually taking shape.

Today, Xuchang City is mainly divided into two parts: the inner city and the outer city.

The outer city wall, which stretches for about 7.5 kilometers, is a winding, hill-like structure. It was an expansion built on the original site of Xu County and mainly housed residences for ordinary people and officials, as well as markets.

The expansion project started as early as when Cao Ren took office in Xuxian County, and it has never stopped since Li Dian took over.

As for the inner city, which is now the imperial city, it is located in the southeast corner of the outer city, and is square in shape, covering an area of ​​about two square kilometers.

The inner city has a clear outline, resembling a mound about three meters above the ground.

The complex includes buildings such as Xuchang Palace, Jingfu Hall, Chengguang Hall, Yongshi Terrace, and Yuxiu Terrace.

Among them, Xuchang Palace was where Emperor Xian of Han held court and where his concubines temporarily resided.

The Xuchang Imperial Palace has three layers of walls: the outer city, the inner city, and the palace city, which is consistent with the style of ancient capitals such as Chang'an and Luoyang.

However, since the palace was still under construction, the emperor and his concubines could only reside temporarily in the government offices outside the city.

As a place for the emperor to offer sacrifices, Yuxiu Terrace did not prevent the emperor from worshipping the previous emperors even though the palace was not yet completed.

The former general's residence.

Cao Yan, who had been "living in seclusion" in Chenliu for several months, finally made it to Xuchang.

After learning from Xun Yu that Xun You was in Jingzhou, Cao Yan couldn't wait to urge Cao Cao to write a letter to Xun You in person, and even to recruit Xun You in the name of the emperor.

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao couldn't help but laugh and said, "Zian, I remember when we were welcoming the emperor, you said you wanted to recruit Xun You."

Now they're even going so far as to use the emperor's name to recruit him. Just who is this Xun You, that you can't forget him?!

Who exactly was Xun You?

After pondering for a moment, Cao Yan concluded, "Xun You is meticulous in his actions, unassuming in his character, and full of wisdom. In terms of strategy alone, he is no less than Xi Zhicai and Guo Jia!"

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao's spirits lifted, and he said, "There are so many talented people in the world! If I could get Xun You's help, it would be a great fortune for me, Cao Cao!"

"Wait here, I will write a letter to Xun You right now, hoping that he will come to Xuchang for the sake of the Emperor." Cao Yan nodded in agreement.

Although Xun You had not been particularly fond of Cao Cao before, now that the emperor was in Xuchang and Cao Cao had become famous for promoting new paper and establishing the "Wanmin Xuekan" (a journal for all people), Xun You would probably respond to the call to serve.

Cao Cao took out the finest paper and wrote: "The world is in great chaos now, a time when wise men are at their wits' end, yet we have been observing the changes in Shu Han for far too long..."

Cao Yan glanced at it briefly and only saw this sentence. As for the rest of Cao Cao's letter, he was too lazy to bother with it.

Cao Cao's group of strategists already includes a number of top strategists such as Xun Yu, Xi Zhicai, Guo Jia, and Cheng Yu, and now Xun You is about to join as well.

Cao Yan couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "Old Cao's group of strategists has already taken shape, and now we are about to add Xun You, a strategist with a wealth of wisdom and ideas."

With them assisting me from now on, I won't need to worry about Cao Cao all the time.

Sigh, I've worried myself sick over Lao Cao all these years. It's time for me to enjoy life...

After leaving the Cao family mansion, Cao Yan headed to the Ministry of Personnel.

After welcoming the emperor back, Xun Yu was appointed by the emperor as Minister of the Imperial Secretariat.

The position of Shangshu Ling originated in the Qin Dynasty. Originally, it was a subordinate official of the Shaofu (Minister of the Imperial Household Department), responsible for managing the Shaofu's documents and conveying orders.

In the beginning, the position of Minister of the Imperial Secretariat was not only of low rank but also had little real power; it could even be described as a mere errand-running position.

However, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, in order to weaken the power of the prime minister, he began to heavily rely on the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, that is, the Minister of the Imperial Household Department, to handle memorials from all over the country. This was tantamount to taking away some of the prime minister's power.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the power of the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat was further enhanced, and his status was once close to that of the Chancellor, which shows the emperor's high regard for Xun Yu.

Cao Yan came to Xun Yu to complete his task of replacing the entries.

At that time, in the Luoyang area, conditions 2 and 3 for completing the mission were met.
In other words, Xun Yu witnessed firsthand the massacre of Han people by foreign tribes; and when he was guided to realize that "the Han dynasty could not be restored," he should choose to "save the people" rather than "protect the emperor," making him realize the ultimate meaning of "the continuation of the nation > the survival of imperial power."

Now, the first task, "The Emperor is in the camp that Xun Yu serves," is marked as completed. All you need to do is meet Xun Yu to complete the task and receive the reward!
Upon arriving at the Ministry of Personnel, one finds countless officials moving in and out of the courtyard, their movements hurried and their work seemingly very busy.

So much so that when Cao Yan walked in with Dian Wei, no one looked up to greet him.

Upon entering the main hall, Xun Yu, then serving as the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, was writing furiously in the main seat, with a mountain of documents piled up beside him.

Compared to when they first met a few years ago, Xun Yu now has wrinkles around his eyes, and his overall demeanor has become more composed and refined.

Although the position of the Three Dukes was established, the actual affairs were handled by the central government.

It is evident that the most important place in Xuchang City today is the Shangshutai (Imperial Secretariat).

Upon seeing Cao Yan arrive, Xun Yu glanced up at him, then lowered his head to continue his work, saying, "The Ministry of Personnel has just been established, and things are very busy. Zi'an, if you don't have anything urgent to attend to, go back and wait for me."

“Uh,” Cao Yan sat down opposite him and said softly, “It’s been months since we last met, don’t you miss me?”

Xun Yu looked up at him, rolled his eyes, and shook his head, saying, "I don't want to."

Cao Yan smiled awkwardly, unsure of how to start a conversation.

Wasn't Lord Xun known for her magnanimity? Why does she look like a wronged little wife now?
Cao Yan tried to bring up two topics, but Xun Yu didn't respond and just kept reviewing official documents.

Cao Yan had no choice but to temporarily abandon the task, open the system, and complete the task of replacing Xun Yu's entry.

The moment you select "Complete Task," a system notification sound will immediately play.
[Congratulations, host! You have met all the requirements for the Xun Yu entry replacement task. The task is successfully completed!]

The "Loyalty to the Han Dynasty" entry for Xun Yu has been removed. You can now bind a new entry to Xun Yu.

[Obtained the purple attribute: Ice Mirror Balance (Purple) *1, obtained grain seeds: Sweet Potato *1 kg]

(End of this chapter)