Chapter 253 Before the Drinking Party
Yuan, a native of Jizhou, whose name is unknown in this Leping Monthly Report, came to Bingzhou to work in October last year.
He first worked at the Bingzhou agricultural tool production center. Because of his outstanding calculation skills, he was recognized by the local captain and was qualified to study abacus at Leping Academy of Sciences.
As the new emperor ascended the throne in Chang'an, he was qualified to accompany Lingtai Cheng to Chang'an to assist in the repair work of Lingtai.
Later, due to his outstanding performance in Lingtai, he was transferred to the newly opened Hongwenguan to be responsible for clerical record work.
When he recorded the conversations of people who came and went in the Hongwenguan, he was highly praised by Marquis Leping for his detailed and complete records. He was recommended to Chen Yuanfang, the Grand Herald and one of the directors of the Hongwenguan, as a disciple and assistant.
After receiving such promotion and respect, Yuan remained down-to-earth and sincere. While studying hard, he became a reference case for Leping Hou's training of Yanzhou Qiao family, and was regarded as a future loyal minister.
I don’t know who wrote this manuscript. At the end of this narrative text, he did not forget to make a supplement:
You who are reading or hearing this Leping Monthly Report today may just be a small craftsman who comes to Bingzhou to make a living, but this is not important. From the imperial court in Chang'an to Bingzhou, all strictly follow the standard of selecting talents only, and provide people with several ways to study, so tomorrow you may become a pillar of the Han Dynasty.
This is such an inspirational example!
In just half a year, he achieved the leap from a commoner to a disciple of the Nine Ministers!
But when others hear this, they may still sigh that Bingzhou is really full of talented people and hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Even in a small working place, such talents can appear, but Yuan Shao does not.
He immediately stopped the follower who was reading the report and sat up from the couch.
He called back all the counselors who had just discussed the war situation in Yuzhou with him, even Ju Shou, who was about to go to Chenliu with Gao Gan, was no exception.
When these people returned to the hall, they saw Yuan Shao pacing back and forth in the room with a copy of the Leping Monthly Report in his hand.
After everyone had arrived, he walked back and forth twice, with an expression as if he had encountered something extremely incomprehensible. After hesitating for a moment, he handed the Leping Monthly Report in his hand to Ju Shou and pointed to the page that recorded Yuan's promotion process.
He asked, "Gong Yu, in your opinion, how likely is it that the person who was promoted is Yuan Hao?"
This obviously did not seem like Qiao Yan was using a non-existent gossip to express his sarcasm to him, saying that people who were not valued in Jizhou could transform themselves into outstanding talents when they arrived in Bingzhou.
If it was really a false story, she would not have let someone mention in the monthly report that the other party had become Chen Ji's disciple.
Therefore, there is indeed such a person from Jizhou with the surname Yuan in Chang'an City now, and his promotion process is also recorded in the monthly report.
But if this story is true, Yuan Shao feels...it is hard for him not to associate it with Tian Feng.
When did Tian Feng go to Bingzhou? Last October.
What was the surname of the fake identity used by Tian Feng? Last name: Yuan.
That's such a coincidence!
Yuan Shao was absolutely unwilling to believe that any country bumpkin picked out of Bingzhou could easily be promoted and even become a disciple of a great scholar.
The most likely possibility is that he already has this ability, but he just hid it before.
And this person is most likely Tian Feng!
Seeing that Ju Shou had handed the monthly report to the next person, with a thoughtful look on his face, Yuan Shao said, "The report also says that this Yuan from Jizhou is about 40 years old, so age does not affect one's career. Forty years old, is this also Tian Yuanhao's age?"
As Yuan Shao spoke, he felt his head buzzing.
He really never dreamed that Tian Feng, who he thought was discovered while stealing skills in Bingzhou, did not end up in danger of his life as he had guessed. On the contrary, as written in this monthly report, he was promoted step by step to the position of a capable assistant in the Hongwenguan and a student of the great Confucian scholar Chen Ji.
So it seems that the statement that he won Qiao Yan's favor is most likely true.
How could there be such a ridiculous thing in this world?
He was telling his subordinates yesterday that arranging Tian Feng to go to Bingzhou for investigation was a wrong judgment on his part.
Even if there is no clear evidence that Tian Feng has met with an accident, Yuan Shao will definitely treat his family well.
The result that Tian Feng gave him was that he was almost becoming an official in Chang'an.
The veins on Yuan Shao's forehead jumped, and he heard Ju Shou reply: "That does sound like Yuan Hao."
There is more than one piece of information that matches, and it is hard to believe that it is just a coincidence.
"But..." Ju Su changed the subject and said, "Please don't be so anxious for now, my lord."
Ju Su saw Yuan Shao's expression clearly and could roughly guess what Yuan Shao was thinking at the moment.
He simply felt that Tian Feng had not sent back any news in half a year, and instead made himself an inspirational role model in Bingzhou, so he must have betrayed him.
But for Ju Su, that doesn't seem like it.
He said, "Think about it, sir. If Tian Yuanhao really wanted to join Bingzhou and never come back, shouldn't he have let you think he was dead? As a famous scholar in Hebei, he could have directly found Qiao Yeshu and told him his name, and changed his identity to offer advice, instead of becoming some inspirational role model in Bingzhou and even letting you know about it in this way."
Yuan Shao nodded hesitantly.
This is well said. If there had not been the news from Jizhou and the surname Yuan, Yuan Shao would not have realized so quickly that it was Tian Feng.
Ju Shou said, "If Tian Feng had surrendered to the enemy, would he have allowed Ming Gong to guess his identity so easily, and would he have allowed himself to appear in the Leping Monthly Report in such a high-profile manner, considering his family in Jizhou?"
It doesn't seem so.
If he really wanted to do this, he could have waited until Qiao Yan successfully attacked Yecheng and then returned home in glory.
Instead of exposing himself to Yuan Shao now.
Since Ju Su had passed the monthly report to Xu You, Xu You spoke up at this time: "I agree with Gong Yu's opinion. The information in this monthly report is not evidence of Tian Yuanhao's betrayal. It is very likely that he is sending a message to you."
Yuan Shao was surprised and asked, "What do you mean?"
Xu You replied, "My Lord, think about this. When Tian Yuanhao came to Bingzhou, Qiao Yeshu had already announced that Liu Yu would be the emperor. Not long after, there was news that Gongsun Zan defeated Liu Bo'an in Binhai Road and Qiao Yeshu took Liu Bo'an back to Guanzhong. Under such circumstances, most of Bingzhou's confidential information must have been transferred to Guanzhong, and it was inevitable that it would be exposed."
"In this case, can Yuan Hao, an outsider, learn more in Bingzhou or in Guanzhong?"
If Tian Feng were here, he would probably say a few words of thanks to Xu Youlian.
He was pushed to this position all the way, and it was not because of this consideration that he turned his attention to Chang'an.
He even felt that he was unlucky.
But after listening to the judgments of Ju Shou and Xu You, Yuan Shao had suppressed much of his anger at being betrayed and motioned Xu You to continue.
Xu You said, "In the eyes of Qiao Yeshu's people, Yuan, who was born in Jizhou, has some knowledge but not much, but he works hard. And the court in Chang'an is really short of people, so they just promoted him. However, they don't know that by praising this person, they think that they are showing their willingness to spend a fortune, and many of their secrets will be exposed to Yuan Hao."
Yuan Shao frowned, "If what you said is true, why hasn't Tian Yuanhao sent any news back to Jizhou until today?"
This is half a year! Not half a month!
Given Tian Feng's wisdom, Yuan Shao didn't believe that he couldn't think of a way to inform the enemy before this.
Xu You said: "Perhaps this is exactly where Yuan Hao's cleverness lies. Since he has reached a high position, there is no need to lose sight of the main point and risk exposing his identity by sending back something that we can also learn through other channels. It is better to have never done anything that crossed the line, so that no one in Chang'an City would think that he is Ming Gong's man. But he can't really be a dead man in Ming Gong's eyes, he should still give a signal."
He raised his hand and pointed at the monthly report in his hand. "Isn't this the signal? My Lord is so familiar with his own people that he would definitely be able to see it even if it is like this, and he would naturally contact him because of this news."
Yuan Shao was skeptical about this, but after seeing that the monthly report was passed to several other people one after another, and they all agreed with the judgment made by Ju Shou and Xu You, he felt that it seemed to be true.
If this is a manifestation of Tian Feng's "collaboration with the enemy, treason, and despising the poor and loving the rich", then Tian Feng is indeed a bit stupid.
Yuan Shao did not think that his almost final judgment on Tian Feng before asking was stupid, but asked everyone present: "In your opinion, should I send someone to contact Yuan Hao as soon as possible?"
"I have an idea. I wonder if you think it is feasible." Xin Pi suddenly said.
"George, you can say whatever you want."
Xin Pi said, "Yuan Hao has only revealed his whereabouts to you now, perhaps because he is afraid that contacting people from Jizhou rashly would easily arouse suspicion. Now that he is working in the Hongwen Academy, it is easy to find him. There are many scholars who intend to serve the court in Chang'an but are waiting and watching, so there is an opportunity to contact him. You can appoint a confidant to pretend to be a Hebei scholar who intends to serve, and because they are from the same hometown, communicate with Yuan Hao and take the opportunity to pass on the news back."
However, Xin Pi was talking about appointing a trusted confidant, but after sending everyone away, Yuan Shao directly called his second son Yuan Xi to his side.
"Xianyi, I want you to go to Chang'an and contact Tian Yuanhao."
Yuan Xi was almost shocked when he received the commission from his father.
But he always valued his manners and bearing, so he just calmed himself down and asked, "Why did father suddenly make such a decision?"
Yuan Shao was neither Liu Biao nor Cao Cao, so he could not send his second son to Chang'an to serve as a royal coachman and as a hostage like Liu Biao, nor could he send his second son to Leping to study like Cao Cao did.
Suddenly telling him to go to Chang'an was actually a very strange decision, and even an extremely dangerous mission.
The courts in Yecheng and Chang'an were at loggerheads with each other, and the East and the West were in confrontation. They would not give up until the end. If he went to Chang'an, he would enter the enemy's base camp!
If his father had not mentioned Tian Feng in the second half of his sentence, Yuan Xi would almost think that his father was going to give up another son.
The reason why it is said "again" is because after Yuan Ji passed away a month ago, his father adopted his eldest son Yuan Tan to Yuan Ji to express his sorrow for the death of his brother. 1
In this way, although Yuan Tan still held the title of Yuan Shao's eldest son, according to etiquette and law he had no right to inherit Yuan Shao's foundation.
Yuan Xi saw the situation at home clearly. His father did not show any favoritism towards his three sons on the surface, but he obviously preferred his youngest son Yuan Shang, who inherited more of his appearance and was very beautiful.
The eldest son was adopted out, on the one hand to appease Youyou, and on the other hand to pave the way for the younger son.
But it doesn’t matter to Yuan Xi. No matter whether his father chooses his eldest brother or his third brother, he will not choose him.
So now he is only concerned about the task in front of him.
In response to his question, Yuan Shao informed Yuan Xi of the situation mentioned in today's meeting, and then said to him: "They all said that Tian Yuanhao had not betrayed me, but was sending messages to me in this way, but there is a possibility that he might do the opposite, or that the confidant I sent out to support him might defect to Chang'an, which is also a problem. After thinking it over, I decided to let you go."
"I often feel that my current situation is not good. Although I am the number one person under the emperor of Yecheng, my subordinates all have hidden thoughts. Take Ju Gongyu for example. He has led the army for a long time and holds power. For example, most people in Qingzhou only know him as the cavalry commander who suppressed the rebellion, but they don't know me. Let's talk about Xu Ziyuan. He relied on the friendship between me and him in the early years and allowed his relatives to embezzle money to satisfy his own desires."
He looked at Yuan Xi with hope in his eyes and said, "I know you are smart and filial to your father, so I can only trust you wholeheartedly. Xianyi, you won't let your father down, right?"
Yuan Xi rarely saw Yuan Shao's gaze focused on him like this, and he nodded subconsciously.
Yuan Shao continued, "Fortunately, you are still young and have not made many friends with Hebei scholars like your elder brother. It will not be easy to expose your identity when you arrive in Chang'an. When you arrive, you don't have to rush to recognize Yuan Hao. First, observe his actions for me. If you can confirm that he has not surrendered to the enemy, it will not be too late to contact him."
Yuan Xi was actually a little confused about how to judge whether he had surrendered to the enemy or not, but he thought, as his father said, it would not be easy for people to recognize him on his trip to Chang'an, and at most he would return empty-handed.
It seems that it is not impossible to go. If the trip goes well, I can make a contribution for my father.
Since Ju Shou and Gao Gan also set out with a small entourage, Yuan Xi left Yecheng at the same time as them on the morning of the next day, intending to part ways again after reaching Yanzhou.
Ju Su had a feeling that Yuan Shao's decision to send his second son to Chang'an for support was not a good one.
However, everyone else was about to leave the city, and going back to make suggestions to Yuan Shao would inevitably cause some conflicts, and he might even be reprimanded by you for delaying the war in Yuzhou, so he gave up the decision.
On the way south from Yecheng, he mentioned to Yuan Xi many feasible measures to deal with the situation in Chang'an City.
Seeing Yuan Xi taking notes and learning seriously, Ju Su couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Fortunately, the news he has received recently is not all bad.
After he parted ways with Yuan Xi and subsequently arrived in Chenliu County, he unexpectedly learned that since the turmoil in the world in the sixth year of Zhongping when Emperor Ling of Han died, the Gao family of Chenliu was afraid that Yanzhou would become a place of battle one day, so they actually trained their private soldiers as real soldiers.
Because he had enough financial resources to settle the families of his private soldiers and equip the team with complete armor and swords, he formed a team with quite astonishing power.
The fact that Cao Cao recruited the powerful followers of the Juye Li family for his own use was no secret to Yecheng.
This is the situation that Ju Su was considering when he suggested to Yuan Shao to use his private troops to fight in Yuzhou.
However, at that time, Ju Su was at most thinking that even if such a team had only half the strength of an ordinary army, relying on its rapid dispatch and his command and dispatch, it would be enough to give Yuan Shu a surprise.
But it was obviously not Yuan Shu who received the surprise first, but him.
It was because the private army of the Chenliu Gao family, under the training of the young men of the family, had become a team with terrifying strength!
We should really thank the marriage relationship between the Gao family of Chenliu and the Yuan family of Runan for preventing Cao Cao from paying attention to this place. Otherwise, how could he have had the opportunity to come into contact with it.
This team, named the Xianzhen Camp, has only more than 700 people, which is only slightly more than the private soldiers that some forts can raise. However, in the opinion of Ju Su, who once led troops, it is enough to restrain enemies four or five times that number!
He was very excited about this discovery.
The stronger this private army is, the greater his chance of using this team to turn the situation around.
Chenliu County is adjacent to Yuzhou, so he has very little time to command troops and conduct drills. What matters more is the strength of the team itself.
The only problem now is how he can convince the Gao family of Chenliu to wholeheartedly assist the court in Yecheng, and how he can convince the general of the Xianzhen Camp to obey his command and establish enough trust with him so that they can cooperate tacitly in the subsequent march south?
As a member of the Chenliu Gao family, this young man named Gao Shun, although silent, is well versed in poetry and books.
The fact that he was able to maintain the habit of never drinking alcohol while training his private army shows his self-discipline.
Such a person would never be easily deceived, nor would he be moved by the wealth and honor promised by the Yecheng court.
Ju Su decided to have a frank talk with him.
Perhaps this is the "shortcut" to interacting with such people.
Qiao Yan, who was in Chang'an, had no idea about the major changes that were about to happen in Yuzhou.
However, the fact that she did not interfere in the war in Yuzhou did not mean that she was not worried at all that Yuan Shao's troops would completely eliminate Yuan Shu.
Earlier, she had discussed with her chief historian and military officer and they both believed that no matter whether Yuan Shu could bring himself to form an alliance with Sun Ce, Yangzhou would definitely intervene in this battle in order to ensure that it could expand its territory to Kuaiji County and avoid any trouble behind the scenes.
So rather than saying that Yuan Huan chose to execute first and report later when the tactics proposed by Yuan Shu were unreliable, and to achieve the goal of saving Yuzhou by connecting with Sun Ce, it is better to say that this was a decision that Sun Ce and Zhou Yu had made long ago, and the two sides hit it off.
After Yuan Shao's vanguard was defeated, the possibility of pacifying Yuzhou through one battle was very low.
Yuan Shu was a man who always liked to show off, so it was unlikely that he would be stabbed while hunting.
There won't be any safety issues.
During the internal struggles between the Yuan brothers, she made various checks and balances to deter Yuan Shao, and at the same time gave Yuan Shu the titles of Governor of Yuzhou and Former General, believing that she had done her utmost.
So compared to paying attention to the war situation in Yuzhou, it is obviously more important to implement the government orders in Chang'an at the moment.
When Yang Xiu received Qiao Yan's summons and came over, he saw her still flipping through the letter in her hand.
News came from Hanzhong that the papermaking team that went from Bingzhou to Hanzhong had reassembled the papermaking process in Hanzhong.
Although they didn't know why Qiao Yan insisted on choosing bamboo as the raw material for producing paper, and they didn't know where she learned about the pre-process of using lime to kill the bamboo, they just needed to strictly follow what the prince wanted done, so they threw themselves into the production task without asking any further questions.
According to Xu Shu's estimation, if they could save a little time in the finalizing process and only produce a relatively rough product first, they could provide her with a batch of finished products before the end of next month.
In his reply, Qiao Yan told him that the preliminary process could be rough, but the step of crushing the bamboo fibers must be done finely enough to prevent the bamboo paper from becoming brittle.
After writing this reply letter, she looked in the direction of Yang Xiu.
Qiao Yan asked with a half-smile, "I heard that you received a special guest these two days?"
Yang Xiu coughed lightly, "Ni Zhengping is a bit unrestrained, but he is indeed talented, so it is inevitable that his actions are a bit rebellious..."
Ni Heng, who came from Pingyuan County in Qingzhou, was also attracted to Chang'an by the gathering of famous people after he restored order in the imperial capital.
However, this person was arrogant because of his talent and liked to look down on others. He went to the Hongwenguan twice, left a message saying that Xun Yu could go to the funeral because of his good looks (Wen Ruoke Borrows Face to Go to the Funeral), and then left, never thinking of recommending himself again.
I don’t know if it can be considered as birds of a feather, but Yang Xiu had just been transferred back from the Baidaochuan military camp by Qiao Yan not long ago, and he happened to meet Ni Heng on the road.
The two of them had a very pleasant conversation and became close friends.
Because Ni Heng was friends with Kong Rong when he was in Qingzhou, he left a famous saying, which is:
The eldest son is Kong Wenju and the youngest is Yang Dezuo. The rest of us are mediocre and not worth counting. 4
In other words, among the people he knew, except Kong Rong and Yang Xiu, the others were not worth mentioning.
Yang Xiu had experienced a severe beating from the genius Qiao Yan eight years ago, so he dared not listen to such words. He wished Ni Heng would shut up immediately.
But he really liked Ni Heng's eloquence, so he just said he wanted to treat Ni Heng to a drink.
As a result, this drinking caused some trouble.
The news that Qiao Yan wanted to implement the alcohol restriction order and hold a drinking discussion party was known not only in Chang'an City, but also in Yuan Shao's side. Naturally, Ni Heng had heard about it as well.
But just as Yuan Shao didn't know what method Qiao Yan used to convince Liu Yu and the court officials, Ni Heng also didn't know, so as a wine lover he just thought this was a ridiculous decision.
After three rounds of drinking, the drunk madman borrowed a drum from Yang Xiu, and started singing while beating the drum. He sang something like "The sky hangs down the stars of wine, the earth lists the counties of wine springs, and people enjoy the virtue of delicious wine."
In short, if Qiao Yan could not hear that she was making a veiled attack and opposed her alcohol restriction order, then she would almost not have to be the Grand Marshal.
Because Ni Heng's singing was so loud, the people outside Yang Xiu's mansion could hear it clearly and reported it to Qiao Yan immediately.
Seeing that Yang Xiu was worried about Ni Heng being murdered, Qiao Yan replied helplessly, "Okay, I know that Ni Heng is not the only one who opposes the alcohol prohibition, or the alcohol restriction. If not, I wouldn't need to hold this alcohol discussion party."
Yang Xiu just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Qiao Yan say, "But if you tell others about this, it can be a big deal. I just made this suggestion and your friend got drunk and went crazy right after. He still needs to be punished."
"Just punish—"
She paused for a moment, until Yang Xiu's face tensed up and he looked like something bad was going to happen, then she said, "I'll punish you by making you responsible for receiving these guests who came to the wine party."
Yang Xiu still felt a little dazed when he walked out of the study.
To say this was a punishment would be an understatement.
Such social occasions as entertaining guests should not be too easy for him.
The only additional request she made was that there should be no rumors of drunkenness this time.
But what kind of request is this!
Yang Xiu subconsciously wondered if there was some hidden meaning behind the prince's decision to put him in charge of this matter.
But when he thought about why he was sent to be Lu Bu's messenger, Yang Xiu quickly retracted this idea.
No, he cannot use his vulgar thinking to measure the prince's decision.
This is just a magnanimous act because you appreciate his talent and Ni Heng's talent!
How could he judge a noble man by his own mean standards! ：,w,
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