I will be the master of Xuande

Chapter 674 General Zhang Liao
  The sky was getting brighter, and the battle under Chang'an City ended as quickly as it started.

Although in the battlefield battle, Liu Jian faced the Xiliang Army, the strongest army in the world, without Dong Zhuo as their chief general, and the Xiliang Army, which had been torn apart, could not be the opponent of the Hebei Army.

If the Xiliang army had sufficient food and grass at the beginning, and if people like Li Jue, Guo Si and Li Ru were still in the Xiliang army...

If all the Xiliang armies were led by Dong Zhuo alone...

The Xiliang army must be Liu Jian's most powerful enemy!
  This war may drag on for several months or even more than half a year before the winner can be determined, or it may even take a year.

But now, Dong Zhuo, the leader of the Xiliang Army, has surrendered to the imperial court, and Hua Xiong has also surrendered to the imperial court.

Lu Bu, Zhang Liao, Zhang Ji and others had conflicts with Hu Zhen, and they each acted in their own way and attacked each other.

Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou and other generals had died in battle.

Such a Xiliang army, no matter how powerful its individual soldiers are, what is the use?
  In Liu Jian's view, they were far from his opponents.

……

As the sun rises in the east, a night of fighting has passed.

Who would have thought that the Xiliang Army, which was so powerful in the world, would be defeated by Liu Jian overnight, and would never be able to succeed again.

After the war, Liu Jian was not in a hurry to send people to chase Hu Zhen, because he estimated that Hu Zhen would not be able to escape. While he asked people to appease the people in Chang'an City and stabilize their mood, he also ordered Qu Yi to send soldiers to the city. Clean the battlefield outside, bury the corpses where they should be buried, confiscate the weapons where they should, and confiscate the baggage where they should.

There are also Xiliang soldiers who surrendered, and those who should be resettled must also be resettled.

After all, Chang'an is the capital of the Han Dynasty and the most prosperous area. After a great war, it must restore its former prosperity! This is related to the dignity of the Han Dynasty and proves the strength of the Han Empire.

After these things were done, Liu Jian immediately sent people to ask Lu Bu, Zhang Liao, Zhang Ji, Dong Huang, Dong Min and other generals of the Xiliang Army who had surrendered to come to Chang'an City on a certain day, and he wanted to receive them in person.

Dong Huang and Dong Min are still dozens of miles away from Chang'an City, and Lu Bu, Zhang Liao, and Zhang Ji are currently outside Chang'an City.

Therefore, Liu Jian decided to receive them the next day after cleaning up the battlefield.

Lu Bu is Liu Jian's old friend, and the two have known each other relatively early. When they were young, Lu Bu wanted to find a way out under Dong Zhuo, the governor of Bingzhou, and Liu Jian was still Liu Jian at that time. Jian gave him nice words.

However, time passed and more than ten years later, the status between the two people had undergone earth-shaking changes.

Now, Lu Bu has become a well-known general, and Liu Jian is the prime minister who is more powerful than ten thousand people.

"The last general Lu Bu."

"The last general is Zhang Liao."

"The last general is Zhang Ji."

"Meet the prime minister!"

The three fierce generals from border counties all bowed before Liu Jian.

"Three generals, please wake up quickly!"

Liu Jian waved his hand and said to the three people very proudly.

After the three of them stood up, Liu Jian said with emotion: "Now that I am presiding over the affairs of the Han Dynasty, I don't expect that there will be treacherous thieves who want to usurp the government and subvert the country of the Han Dynasty! The three generals can stand up and defend the country at this time. He is a good general of the Han Dynasty who protects the imperial court and upholds orthodoxy! Liu is here to express his gratitude to Your Majesty to the three generals who fought to the death last night to kill the enemy and protect Chang'an."

Lu Brown said in a loud voice: "As ministers of the Han Dynasty, it is our duty to serve the country. What merit can we achieve?"

Liu Jian shook his head and said: "When Mr. Liu is in power, he judges a person's ability and value based on merit. Fengxian, if you make meritorious service, you have made meritorious service. There is no need to belittle yourself."

"Fengxian, you and I are old acquaintances. In the past, I admired your bravery and ability very much. Now that you can surrender to the imperial court and help the emperor with me, I am very relieved! I have decided to express your gratitude to the emperor. As General of the Conquest of the West, I hope you will make many achievements! To open up territory for the imperial court, as long as Fengxian lives up to me, I will live up to Fengxian!"

Lu Bu looked excited after hearing this.

He immediately knelt down on one knee, cupped his hands towards Liu Jian and said, "Bu has wasted half his life without meeting the Lord. Now that he can meet the Prime Minister, it is really his great wish in his life! Bu is willing to worship the Prime Minister as..."

When he said this, Lu Bu didn't know what to say.

What can he do to worship Liu Jian?

In terms of age, Liu Jian is younger than him, so he can't worship Liu Jian as his adoptive father, right?

But instead of worshiping his adoptive father, how could he still worship the current prime minister as his adopted brother?

Thinking of this, Lu Bu felt very embarrassed. Just now he accidentally said too much...

However, it can be considered that his political resume and experience have increased sharply over the years, and he quickly thought of the rhetoric, and then changed his words and said: "Bu is willing to serve the Prime Minister as the chief minister, and from now on, he will serve the Prime Minister front and back!"

Liu Jian could more or less guess what Lu Bu wanted to say just now. He smiled subconsciously and didn't take it seriously.

"I am so relieved that Fengxian is so loyal!"

Then Liu Jian looked at Zhang Ji next to Lu Bu: "General Zhang abandoned the dark and turned to the light. He was able to find his way back at the critical moment. It is a great contribution!"

"General Zhang, I worship you as General Zhonglang. You will still lead the old army and serve the imperial court. If you have new achievements in the future, you should be promoted."

Liu Jian's words were sincere, without any deception and sincere, which made Zhang Ji feel at ease.

What he had been worried about before was what Liu Jian thought of him, fearing that Liu Jian would punish him for his previous crime of accompanying Hu Zhen. But after seeing Liu Jian again, he found that Liu Jian was very different from what he had imagined.

Just listen to Zhang Ji say to Liu Jian: "Prime Minister Ji will never forget his kindness! Even if he is a mess, he will never give up even if he is killed."

Liu Jian was very happy to have conquered the three generals.

He said: "It is a great blessing for the country to have three talented people today. I will host a banquet for the three generals!"

"It's just that Chang'an City has just gone through the war, and most of the things in Taicang are used to resettle the Guizhou refugees in Guanzhong. Therefore, I have issued an order to prohibit the officials in Chang'an City and even the local wealthy households from being extravagant, so our meal today is also I can only keep things simple, but don’t think that I, the Prime Minister, am stingy.”

It's not like Lu Bu and others haven't eaten before. They were all happy when Liu Jian invited them to eat.
  Not to mention eating, Liu Jian just invited them to eat shit, and the shit they put in their mouths was just as delicious.

That night, Liu Jian arranged for the three generals to attend a banquet. The dishes were indeed simpler and lighter than the banquets hosted by Dong Zhuo in the past, but they were still exquisite.

On top of the banquet, there was also fine wine brought to them by Liu Jian specially from Hebei.

Hebei's wine industry is now the best in the world. After all, in places with high grain yields, the wine industry will also develop. In this regard, Hebei now does have unique advantages.

Zhang Ji and Lu Bu both drank a lot. After the banquet, they left immediately and returned to their homes to rest.

However, Zhang Liao was more restrained. He didn't drink so much and was still able to stay awake.

As soon as Zhang Liao walked out of the gate of the Prime Minister's Mansion, Liu Jian's attendants suddenly rushed up from behind and said to Zhang Liao:

"General Zhang! The Prime Minister has invited General Zhang! The Prime Minister has something to say to General Zhang alone."

When Zhang Liao heard this, he couldn't help but feel shocked.

He hurriedly straightened his clothes and followed the attendant back to the Prime Minister's Mansion.

The attendant invited Zhang Liao to Liu Jian's study and then left.

At this moment, there were only two people in the study, Liu Jian and Zhang Liao.

Liu Jian had already ordered tea sets and boiling hot water to be arranged in the room, and he made the tea himself.

"Wen Yuan, come on, sit down!" Zhang Liao was startled when he saw this.

He hurriedly said to Liu Jian: "How could Zhang Liao dare to sit opposite the prime minister?"

"Haha, it doesn't matter, just sit down if I ask you to!"

Seeing that Zhang Liao was still hesitant, Liu Jian's expression turned serious: "Don't tell me that even if I order you to sit down, it won't work?"

After Zhang Liao heard what Liu Jian said, he naturally couldn't remain reserved anymore, and he immediately sat down opposite Liu Jian.

Liu Jian poured him a cup of tea into the porcelain made in Hebei.

"Try it."

Although Zhang Liao also knew about the Hebei tea ceremony, he did not touch it on weekdays. Now that he saw Liu Jian preparing tea for him, even if he didn't like drinking it, he had no choice but to drink it.

Zhang Liao picked up the tea cup, took a sip of it, and then grinned.

"bitter?"

Zhang Liao nodded. He smiled and said, "Yes, it's a bit bitter."

Liu Jian picked up the tea cup in front of him, took a sip, and said: "Tea is bitter at first and then pure. Although it is not as strong as wine in the mouth, it becomes sweeter and sweeter as you taste it, so you can drink it for a long time."

"Alcohol is harmful to the body. Although drinking freely is refreshing, it has long-lasting harm."

"Although drinking tea is not as enjoyable as drinking alcohol, I still prefer drinking tea to alcohol."

After listening to what Liu Jian said, Zhang Liao picked up the tea cup, a thin variety.

He is also a transparent person. After drinking it for a while, he really felt that the taste was quite different.

Especially since he had just finished drinking wine and drinking tea now, he felt even more comfortable.

"What the Prime Minister said is indeed true!"

Liu Jian smiled and continued to pour tea for Zhang Liao, but saw Zhang Liao hurriedly reaching out to take the teapot for Liu Jian, but Liu Jian said: "No, you don't know this, I'll do it anyway!"

Zhang Liao retracted his hand in embarrassment.

"Wen Yuan, do you know why I called you back alone after the banquet tonight?"

Zhang Liao shook his head and said, "I don't know."

"Just because you, Zhang Wenyuan, can be compared to a pot of good tea! A pot of tea that can be drank all the time without being so anxious! If all the generals in the world are made of plain water, you, Zhang Liao, are like water making strong tea."

After listening to Liu Jian's words, Zhang Liao was a little confused.

"Prime Minister... you!?"

Liu Jian laughed and said: "Don't you, Zhang Wenyuan, not be worthy of this evaluation? If nothing else, let's just say that this time we persuaded Zhang Ji to surrender from the rebels, Wenyuan, you have contributed a lot! Do you know , How effective was it in persuading Zhang Ji to surrender in the battle to quell the rebels? It can almost be said to be a decisive move in victory or defeat!"

Zhang Liao was really moved when he saw Liu Jian commenting on him like this.

In fact, in front of Lu Bu and Zhang Ji today, Liu Jian showed no concern for Zhang Liao. He mainly asked Lu Bu and comforted Zhang Ji, and only occasionally asked Zhang Liao, which made Zhang Liao feel a little disappointed.

However, Zhang Liao felt relieved when he thought about it carefully. After all, with a strong general like Lu Bu around, it was normal for Liu Jian to focus on him.

But it wasn't until this moment that Zhang Liao realized that he had misjudged Liu Jian.

"I've heard for a long time that the Prime Minister is considerate of his subordinates, knows people well and handles their duties well. When I saw him today, it turned out to be just like the rumors. The Prime Minister is truly a heroic figure in this world. Zhang Liao really admires him very much."

Liu Jian smiled and said: "Wen Yuan, what kind of person do you think Lu Fengxian is?"

Faced with such a question, Zhang Liao hesitated. After all, Liu Jian was asking about his old master.

Lu Bu has always been Zhang Liao's good partner and his immediate boss, but now Liu Jian has become Zhang Liao's new master.

A new direct boss asks him about an old direct boss. The mystery is not easy to figure out.

However, Zhang Liao was an upright person. He hesitated slightly before giving the answer directly.

"To be honest, Prime Minister, General Lu is a rare hero in the world. He is extremely brave and good at marching and forming formations. His reputation is extremely high among the Bingzhou Army. He can be said to be a good general of our great Han Dynasty."

Liu Jian solemnly said: "Wen Yuan's evaluation is extremely pertinent. Then I want to ask you, how do you think you compare with Lu Fengxian?"

"How dare you compare with your dedication? Naturally, it is far inferior."

"No!"

Liu Jian shook his head and said: "In my opinion, your ability, Zhang Wenyuan, is far better than that of Lu Fengxian, and your future achievements will far exceed his."

Zhang Liao was shocked: "This..."

"Listen to me!"

Immediately afterwards, Liu Jian raised a hand to block Zhang Liao's words.

: "When it comes to bravery, although you are not as good as Fengxian, you are still a brave general in the Bingzhou Army. When it comes to using troops, Zhang Liao has your own style. Over the years, you have won every battle with few defeats. When it comes to using troops, you are quick and wise." , it can be seen from the recruitment and surrender of Zhang Ji this time that you are the number one in the Bingzhou army, unparalleled, and in terms of age, you are younger than Fengxian. In terms of potential, you, Zhang Liao, have room for growth. Far more than him, what's wrong with what I say?"

Zhang Liao was stunned when he heard this.

Everyone likes to be praised, especially when a person with extremely strong abilities is recognized by another person with extremely strong abilities, the feeling of satisfaction in his heart is incomparable.

"Prime Minister...!"

Zhang Liao was so excited that he didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Wen Yuan, you have done a great job in recruiting Zhang Ji this time. I should have promoted you to the rank of general, but you and Fengxian have always had a master-slave relationship. If I promoted you too much, I'm afraid Fengxian would have some rift in his heart. I will first I will confer you the title of Zhonglang General and the title of Marquis of Guannei. Don’t worry, I will definitely put you to good use, and your future will not be limited to this!"

Zhang Liao hurriedly stood up and said: "Prime Minister, don't worry, Liao is definitely not a person who is greedy for fame and position! Even if he can only be the prime minister of a pawn, Liao is willing to do so."

Liu Jian smiled and waved to him, saying: "Sit down, don't stand and talk!"

Then, Zhang Liao was seen sitting down.

"Wen Yuan, I intend for you to lead your troops back to Bingzhou to make achievements and increase your capital."

When Zhang Liao heard this, he suddenly became energetic.

"I am willing to listen to the Prime Minister's orders!"

Liu Jian said: "Wenyuan, after this period of battle, you and Lu Fengxian's Bingzhou Army headquarters have suffered considerable damage and need to be replenished. Our Han army also needs Bingzhou athletes to fill the positions. With strong military strength.”

"If I make this matter public, everyone will definitely recommend Fengxian to go there, but for Fengxian, I have another call."

"Yesterday I received a memorial from the governor of Bingzhou. In recent years, the Xiongnu in Bingzhou have been almost pacified. Those who should surrender surrender, and those who should submit must submit. However, the Xianbei tribe who migrated from Youzhou to the desert in the north of Bingzhou seems to have made some changes recently. , needs to be punished!”

"I want to take this opportunity to send you to Bingzhou! You recruit local talents in Bingzhou, quell the rebellion in Bingzhou, and then expand in depth. In this way, I will promote you to a general in the future, and you can also block everyone. Youyouzhi, by then, you will be ranked among the top of Fengxian, and it is natural. Do you understand my painstaking efforts?"

(End of this chapter)