Among the tens of thousands of Yellow Turban surrenderers, some were moved by Liu Zhuang and were willing to follow him.
Although some others were very vigilant and even hostile to Liu Zhuang, they could do nothing about it - didn't I rebel because I couldn't survive in Jizhou? Now the Great Sage and Good Teacher was dead, Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang became his prisoners, the Yellow Turban Army collapsed, and the aristocratic families took advantage of the war to eat up more land in Jizhou.
What can I do in this situation? I can't survive in Jizhou anyway, so I'll just follow him to Hedong to see if they can fight against the Yellow Turbans or the Han army. At least I'll have something to eat.
At this point, Liu Zhuang's 4,000 refugee group had expanded to 7,500 soldiers and 30,000 civilians after nine months of bloody fighting in Jizhou.
Chapter 113: Dong Zhuo's solicitation
After solving various problems within his own army, Liu Zhuang immediately began to look for his allies. First, he took a bunch of gifts to find Zhang He, the Sima of the other army who went to Hedong with him, to discuss the issues of departure and marching.
After being promoted from an ordinary person to a military Sima with a rank of 1,000 dan, and then being promoted by Liu Zhuang to a Sima of a separate department with the same rank of 1,000 dan but with greater power, and even being assigned 2,500 soldiers, Zhang He was so excited that he couldn't sleep for several nights. He felt that he had made the right decision. If he had not come with Liu Zhuang, he would never have received such an exaggerated reward.
Therefore, although this trip required him to be stationed far away from his hometown in Hedong, Zhang He was not at all dissatisfied and was happily preparing to take up the post of garrison in Hedong. After all, it was just working in another place. He could try his luck in the frontier while he was still young and return home after earning enough honor and money. Moreover, Hedong was only turned into a border area this year and it was still a very prosperous place.
What's more, the factional strife and infighting in Jizhou is too exaggerated. As a member of the lowest-ranking aristocratic family, he can't get a word in front of those old men. Instead of being humble in front of them, it is better to be brothers with these peasants and live an easier life.
Winter is coming in December soon, and we have to reach Hedong before then, otherwise we will have to spend the entire winter in Jizhou. Therefore, the sooner we reach Hedong, the better.
After agreeing with Zhang He on when to take control of Hedong, Liu Zhuang took some gifts and went to visit Dong Zhuo. After all, Hedong was Dong Zhuo's territory before.
"Oh? Liu Zhuang, please take a seat quickly. Please take a seat quickly."
After Dong Zhuo was granted a title of nobility and promoted to general, he was extremely excited. When he saw Liu Zhuang, he greeted him warmly in person, grabbed Liu Zhuang's hands and helped him to his seat personally. If Liu Zhuang had not persuaded Zhang Liang to surrender at the last moment and let her enter the city and persuaded Zhang Bao to surrender as well, how could he have been granted a title of nobility for his merit? This young man is quite interesting. If he hadn't been married, I would have wanted to marry my granddaughter to him. There is only a twelve-year age difference, which is not a big deal.
"I am going to Hedong, where you once served, to serve as the governor. I am really terrified. I wonder if you have any advice for me? Where should I start when I arrive in Hedong?"
Liu Zhuang asked sincerely.
"Hey, Yan Sheng, there's no outsider here, just call me by my given name."
Dong Zhuo greeted Liu Zhuang very cordially.
"I thought it was something important that required you to come here in person with gifts. Isn't it just to take charge of Hedong? I heard that you expanded your army to three battalions with more than 7,000 people today?"
"It's true."
Liu Zhuang nodded.
"That's it. Your power does not come from that ridiculous seal, but from the army in your hands! As long as you continue to motivate and reward the soldiers and make the army remain absolutely loyal to you, you can do whatever you want in Hedong!
Well, there is an old saying that is true: power is only responsible to the source of power.
All your rights and honors are granted by His Majesty, and you have won them with the army in your hands. So you only need to be responsible to His Majesty and your army! Everything is based on His Majesty and your own army. You must never let the soldiers who follow you suffer injustice. If they protect you, it's fine. If they make trouble for no reason, it's fine. Don't care what the people of Hedong think of you. You only need to pay attention to how your soldiers think of you.
As long as you don't do anything too outrageous in Hedong, the Hedong noble families will have to rely on you. They can't do anything to you. You should make friends with them and intimidate them. Don't let those noble families think you are easy to bully, or they will take advantage of you."
Dong Zhuo gave a completely different solution from Guo Huai. Guo Huai, who was born into a noble family, asked Liu Zhuang to make friends with the noble family, while Dong Zhuo, who was born in Guanxi, taught Liu Zhuang to suppress the rebellion violently. Both were quite extreme.
"I see."
Liu Zhuang nodded, absorbing the opinions of the two.
"Come, drink."
Dong Zhuo raised his wine glass from a distance and drank with Liu Zhuang.
"Now the Qiang, Di, Xianbei, and Southern Xiongnu are all moving towards the center of the empire. Once upon a time, Hedong was the heartland of Sili, but now it has become one of the front lines. I will guard the Guanzhong Three Qins, and Yan Sheng will guard the old Jin capital in Hedong. From today on, we will guard the borders for the Han Dynasty and support the Han Dynasty!"
"Support the Han Dynasty!"
Liu Zhuang also raised his glass and drank the wine in one gulp.
"But how did the general build his Hedong administrative team?"
"You mean this? Oh, I have three daughters. One of them married into a noble family in Liangzhou, one married into a noble family in Guanzhong. The Hu family in Longxi and the Li family in Fengyi provided me with loyal and reliable administrative teams, and the last one married a great chieftain of the Qiang people and gained a large group of Qiang people following her."
Dong Zhuo showed off his three sons-in-law, and then his face showed some reluctance.
"What a pity. If any of my three daughters is still unmarried, even if she is married to Yan Sheng as a concubine, it would not be a bad idea for you to be my son-in-law, right? By the way, my granddaughter Dong Bai is seven years old this year..."
"Uh, General, seven years old? That's too young."
Liu Zhuang politely declined Dong Zhuo's offer
"That's right. She's too young. Let's talk about it in five years! Let's talk about it later!"
Dong Zhuo thought for a long time. His three daughters were all married, and his granddaughter Dong Bai was seven years old. There was really no one who could marry Liu Zhuang. It was impossible for me to tie this boy with unlimited future achievements to my chariot and marry him myself, right? How about waiting for five years, until Dong Bai was twelve years old?
After drinking a few more rounds, Dong Zhuo suddenly thought of something.
"Oh, by the way, since Yan Sheng is so worried that he is not qualified for the position of governor of Hedong, I will send you some people. My son-in-law Li Ru is the governor of Hedong County and is in charge of the civil affairs of Hedong. He selected some people from Xiliang and Guanzhong to form his own administrative team.
Li Ru is my son-in-law, and he will also go to Fufeng with me this time, but it is not a problem to ask him to give you some of the civil servants who have worked in Hedong."
"In that case, thank you very much, General."
"Oh, no need to be so polite, I am just a few minor officials. If it weren't for you, I would not be able to become a general!"
Dong Zhuo waved his hands repeatedly, and after the banquet, he immediately asked Li Ru to find some grassroots civil servants working in Hedong and send them to Liu Zhuang. They didn't need too many, the main thing was to let him understand the situation in Hedong.
Li Ru wanted to curse his mother-in-law for her order. Can I just send these civil servants? These people are the administrative team I worked hard to build! Are you so generous that you let me pick some of your confidants to send over?
But since Dong Zhuo had said so, Li Ru had no choice but to check his own team. Anyway, Liu Zhuang just wanted a confidant who knew the specific affairs of Hedong so that he would not be sidelined by the noble families and petty officials in Hedong. I will just send someone over as a token of my appreciation. Let me see who is the most useless...
Li Ru's eyes darted up and down, left and right, and finally, locked onto a name. This person was a little clever and had some abilities, but he was extremely lazy and sloppy.
No matter what I ask her to do, she will never complete it until the last minute. She will delay it as long as possible, take as much time as possible, and just muddle through... She is someone who is passive, irresponsible, and never says no. I have never met such a lazy person from Kansai... Okay, she's the one!
That night, when Liu Zhuang was hugging his two wives lovingly, Li Ru came to ask for a meeting and handed a letter to the three of them.
"Lord Liu, I have already found the civil servant you want from Hedong. When I was the magistrate of Hedong County, this person was my capable subordinate. She has worked in Hedong for three years and knows everything about Hedong. When we return to Hedong, I will take the other civil servants to Fufeng, but this person will be left to you. If you have any questions, just ask this person."
"Thank you, Wenyou."
Liu Zhuang called Li Ru's name and thanked him. At the same time, he looked at the resume-like thing that Li Ru handed to him and was immediately attracted by her name.
Jia Xu, whose courtesy name was Wenhe.
Chapter 114: Civil and Military Harmony
November 14, 2017
As everyone's senior sister, Gongsun Zan prepared an extremely luxurious banquet. She brought Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to bid farewell to Liu Zhuang, Lu Bu and Zhang Liao. She got a set of portable Hongzhong Dalü from somewhere. It was a frame with several rows of bronze bells of different sizes and shapes. Each bell would sound a different melody when struck, and continuous striking of different chimes would form a beautiful song.
Although the seven men were from the same school and had a deep relationship, Gongsun Zan, Liu Bei and the other four were appointed to official posts in Jizhou and Youzhou, while Liu Zhuang and the other two went to Hedong to take up posts, so they could no longer spend time together.
All good things must come to an end. The seven brothers and sisters got drunk, poured out their hearts to each other, and gave each other gifts. Liu Zhuang felt a little sad, but fortunately, it was okay. The Yellow Turban Rebellion was just a small prologue. There are still five years before the real chaos in the world. In another five years at most, they will meet again!
Just as he left Lu Bu for a short period of time and went to the White Horse Pavilion in order to form an army of volunteers and give Lu Bu another choice, there was no need to recognize Ding Yuan as his adoptive father.
After getting drunk, Liu Zhuang thought about how much he would need to develop to a certain level in five years in order to attract Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei to join his army.
"Come! After tonight, we will all be separated. To express my longing for you, I will strike these chimes to show my love for you. I am not very talented, but I understand a little bit, a little bit."
Gongsun Zan held a copper hammer and struck the bell and played music himself to practice for several of his fellow disciples. She was originally trained by her father to be a singer and was about to marry someone else as a concubine, but later her fate was changed against the will of heaven. However, she never forgot her singing and dancing skills, and the wonderful music made several of her fellow disciples applaud. It was not at all that she knew nothing.
Liu Bei was already drunk, so he played music to entertain everyone and sang Emperor Gaozu's "Dafeng Song".
She was seen waving two copper hammers in both hands and hitting the chimes at the same time, singing loudly. When she sang "Where can I find brave warriors to guard the four directions", she used her wings and heart-shaped tail to assist in hitting the chimes at a very terrifying rate. With this physical plug-in, she played a passionate melody that ordinary people could never play. In the end, she slammed into the chimes head-on, and ended her song with a long bell chant caused by the impact of dragon horns.
The more they drank, the happier they became. The more they sang, the happier they became. In the end, everyone was drunk and lost consciousness at the farewell party.
The next day, when Liu Zhuang woke up, he found himself resting on Liu Bei's heart-shaped dragon tail, holding one of her wings as a quilt, while the other wing was snatched away by Lu Bu and covered himself with it, with the two of them sandwiching Liu Bei in the middle.
Gongsun Zan was lying across the heads of the three men. Zhang Fei seemed to be drunk and was lying on top of Liu Bei and himself. Even Guan Yu was hugging Zhang Liao together, resting his head on Lu Bu's legs and soundly sleeping. He had not woken up yet.
In the early morning, everyone woke up and looked at the messy banquet. They said goodbye to each other reluctantly. Gongsun Zan led his troops to Zhuo County to take up his post. Liu Bei and his two sisters went to Anxi to serve as county magistrate and Sima of other departments. Liu Zhuang led everyone to Hedong!
The marching route this time was the same as when Dong Zhuo came. They entered Taiyuan County from Jingxing, one of the Eight Xings of Taihang Mountains, and then took a boat directly near Jinyang and entered Hedong County along the Fen River.
"Ah, this is Huo County. From here on, it is under the management of Hedong County. Several Yellow Turban uprisings broke out on both sides of the Fen River. Fortunately, they were not large in scale. I went to Jizhou only after I had suppressed them."
Dong Zhuo introduced the situation in Hedong.
It was unknown how long it had passed, but the Fen River's north-south flow was forced to change to an east-west flow after hitting the Emei Terrace, rushing all the way west until it merged into the Yellow River. Several people got off the boat in the Fen River Valley and walked across the Emei Terrace.
Hedong County can be roughly divided into two geographical units. One is located in the north, which is the Fen River Basin that we have just walked through, which is now Linfen City.
The Weishui Basin in the south is the location of the old capital of the Jin Dynasty: Anyi, which is now Yuncheng City.
The dividing line between the two basins is the Emei Terrace, which cuts Hedong County in half in the middle.
Liu Zhuang looked at the place carefully, and then saw the ruins of Yubi City... Ah, there is no Yubi City now, after all, Hedong only became a front-line battlefield this year.
If the darkest moment comes and as a last resort, I can try to build a Jade Wall City here.
According to history, when the Southern Xiongnu rebelled, they fought their way along the Fen River and even attacked Guanzhong. The Hedong prefect who succeeded Dong Zhuo was unable to stop them and let the Southern Xiongnu drink from the Yellow River and Wei River.
About three years later, the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army: the Baibo Army also broke out in the Fen River Basin, and then swept across Taiyuan and Hedong.
After passing through the mountain pass of Emei Terrace, several people came to the Weishui Basin. The Weishui River flows from the mountains in the east to the Yellow River in the west, and has washed out the Weishui Basin in the Taihang Mountains, which gave birth to the two overlords of Jin and Wei. The seat of Hedong County: Anyi, is just south of Laishui. The prosperity and scale of this city can even be compared with Yecheng. It is worthy of being an ancient capital that has developed from the Spring and Autumn Period to the present.
The entire Hedong area is surrounded by mountains and rivers, and has only two land routes connecting it to the outside world: going south through the Chen Pass into the Central Plains, and going north through the Fen River into Taiyuan.
On the west side of the entire Hedong is the roaring Yellow River. From north to south, there are only three ferry crossings, namely Longmen, Puban and Fengling. There is only one ferry crossing large enough for a large army to cross the river quickly, and that is Puban. As long as these five places are guarded, the entire Hedong will be impregnable.
Dong Zhuo quickly moved his belongings out of Anyi, then followed the Wei River into the Yellow River, turned into the Wei River, and headed towards Guanzhong. A young woman with a frail and sexy figure, a dignified and cold face, but her eyes were numb and lifeless, without even a trace of light, was also packing her things neatly.
"Hey, wait, Wenhe! You don't have to pack your stuff."
Li Ru stopped Jia Xu who was packing up and preparing to leave.
"General Dong and Lord Liu fought side by side on the battlefield, and they are close friends. Lord Liu has just taken office in Hedong and doesn't know anything about the situation here. You stay and help Lord Liu govern Hedong."
"what?"
Jia Xu straightened her waist, her delicate and boneless body looked like the branches of a weeping willow. A gust of wind would make her unsteady on her feet. However, on her chest stood two huge snow-capped breasts that were extremely asymmetrical with her frail body. They were extremely eye-catching and gave people a sickly and world-weary feeling. Her dim and lifeless eyes rarely revealed a look of doubt. She stretched out a slender finger that was pale and unhealthy and pointed at herself in disbelief.
Governing Hedong? Me? Really?
"You must be Wenhe, nice to meet you."
Liu Zhuang bowed to Jia Xu, whose rank was much lower than his. The golden silk thread wove extremely high attributes on Jia Xu's body.
【Jia Xu】(Dragon)
Level 7 (Level 7 Modern Confucian Scholar)
Health 30, Mana 70
Hit 3, Defense 1 (Agility Dodge +2)
Strength 10, Agility 12, Constitution 12
Intelligence 24, Wisdom 10, Charisma 12
This attribute is very extreme, in terms of force alone, this listless level 7 scholar may not even be able to beat a level 3 warrior, but her intelligence is quite terrifying, 24 intelligence, which is as high as Lu Bu's strength.
The horror of a warrior lies in his panel attributes, but the horror of a spellcaster does not lie in the surface, but in the fact that you never know what spell she can use to blow you up.
The author says:
Author's words: 1700 monthly tickets plus more~
Chapter 115: Prophecy of Death
Jia Xu looked around listlessly at Dong Zhuo's three camps that were moving. The images in his eyes were like an ever-changing kaleidoscope. Just a glance and countless bizarre pictures were reflected on his lifeless irises.
When she saw Dong Zhuo, wearing black armor, riding a demon dragon, and looking majestic and overbearing, the image that appeared in her mind was her plump and sexy body, lying in a pool of blood, with her limbs chopped off and her stomach ripped open by angry Han officials, and a wick inserted to ignite a raging fire, making her into a beautiful yet terrifying human candle, the blazing corpse fire illuminating the dark night red.
And when she slashed at the gentle Li Ru, the picture that appeared in her mind was him being chopped into meat paste by the angry Han officials as a warning to others.
Hua Xiong was beheaded on the battlefield by a female general in a green robe.
Zhang Ji died under a hail of arrows...
Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji, Fan Chou... The people around him died one miserable death after another! One was more horrible than the other! But for some reason, that kid named Zhang Xiu died of illness after being promoted to a high position with a lot of money.
Jia Xu watched the death scenes of these people all day long and felt numb. Everyone in the world longs to be a dragon, but after he awakened his dragon blood, he has been living in fear and panic, because his ability is to amplify and strengthen the prophecy spells. He doesn't even need to consume mana or recite spells. Just a glance can trigger the prophecy.
This ability is extremely accurate and creepy, and makes everyone in her hometown avoid her as if she were the plague - it's too unlucky, who the hell wants to know how they died, and this girl's predictions are so accurate that they can't be changed at all.
He had studied poetry, books, and Confucianism since he was young, and had acquired a lot of skills and talents. He wanted to realize his ambitions, but as a person from Liangzhou, who was at the bottom of the Han Dynasty's contempt chain, joining Dong Zhuo was the only way for him to change his class and realize his ambitions.
But the problem is, after I joined Dong Zhuo, I found out that the future of this group of people was that their deaths were more terrifying and horrifying than each other. I had no idea what these brave and warlike border troops would do in the future, why they died so miserably, and I didn't know how to change it!
At the beginning, Jia Xu tried to reverse his own predictions, but failed. In the thirteen years since the awakening of the dragon blood, no one has ever been able to escape the future he has seen. His gift of prediction is so accurate and so irreversible.
God gave me eyes that can see everyone's future, but he did not give me hands that can change everyone's future.
