Ji Han Liu Zhang

Above average.

A group of people and horses were coming from afar. The knight leading the group held high a large flag. On the flag with black characters on a red background was the word "Huang", which indicated the identity of the leader of this group of people - Huang Quan, the prefect of Hanzhong.

Zhang Lu, who walked ten miles out of Shangyong City to meet Huang Quan, naturally knew about this. He looked at Huang Quan and his entourage getting closer and closer, and his expression was not one of sadness for losing the power to rule a region, but of indescribable relief.

At first, Dong Zhuo rebelled and the whole country was in chaos. At that time, he still had some ambitions, neither big nor small. He intended to establish his own regime, build a career, and promote Tianshi Taoism.

Of course, as a local lord, promoting the Dao was just a means for him to rule the place.

At that time, when he was entrenched in Hanzhong and had tens of thousands of soldiers, his ambition grew and he was greedy for power. He thought about claiming to be the only one who could rule the country. How could it be better to be a king than to be the master of the Tianshi Dao!
King Hanning.

While Zhang Lu was waiting for Huang Quan to arrive, his thoughts wandered and he recalled the jade seal that was a good omen. Once the jade seal came out, the people below wanted to support and honor him as the King of Hanning, as if they were trying to curry favor with Huang Quan.

He almost agreed at that time. If it weren't for Yan Pu's strong advice, he might have been the King of Hanning for a long time.

Zhang Lu has always been grateful to Yan Pu for this matter. If he had proclaimed himself King of Hanning at that time, when the Han Dynasty was still in existence, he might have been despised by the people of the world.

At the same time, he also lost the possibility of surrendering to Qin King Liu Zhang. After all, Liu Zhang was a relative of the Han royal family, and he would never let go of him who proclaimed himself king and destroyed the White Horse Alliance.

As they got closer, Huang Quan and his entourage came closer and closer, Zhang Lu's expression became more and more peaceful and indifferent, like a leisurely walking white crane, with nothing on his mind.

When Huang Quan was about ten steps away, Zhang Lu stepped forward, made a respectful gesture, saluted Huang Quan on horseback and said, "Grand Marshal Huang."

"Master Zhang." Facing Zhang Lu's personal welcome, Huang Quan quickly dismounted from his horse, and hugged Zhang Lu's arms, supporting Zhang Lu as he bowed down.

"I wrote to you in the previous letter that you only need to wait for me in Shangyong City. I didn't expect you to come out to meet me. What merits have I done to bother you to come out of the city to meet me?"

Huang Quan was polite, and Zhang Lu was polite as well: "The governor has come from afar, and Lu is the landlord. How can we sit at home and wait for him? This is not a courtesy to guests... Moreover, the governor is famous and virtuous, and I am a humble man with a low status. I should go out of the city to welcome the virtuous man. Otherwise, if the news gets out, Lu will be ashamed."

Huang Quan and Zhang Lu chatted with each other, and the atmosphere gradually became harmonious and warm.

Outside the city, the wind and light were both leaky, so it was not convenient to talk for a long time, so Zhang Lu and Huang Quan walked together towards Shangyong City. At that moment, a banquet had been arranged in the city, waiting for Huang Quan to come.

Shangyong City, county temple.

"Grand Administrator Huang is of noble status and is the uncle of the King of Qin. He should sit in the seat of honor, and Lu should be next." Zhang Lu was firm in his attitude. He pushed Huang Quan to the main seat.

Huang Quan was usually a straightforward person, but he still understood the ways of the world, so he half-refused in order not to appear overly arrogant and disrespectful.

Huang Quan half-reluctantly took the main seat, and then a group of people followed him to take their seats. Singing and dancing also began in due time, and musicians were of course indispensable. Beautiful music played and graceful dances began.

The banquet started with a bang, proceeded with a bang, and ended with a bang. The guests and hosts were all having a great time, and all the participants were happy.

The second day, and the third day came.

Zhang Lu, who had just synchronized the household registration, land registration, and treasury information of Xicheng, Shangyong, and Fangling counties with Huang Quan yesterday, met Huang Quan early and expressed his desire to set off as early as possible. Having unloaded the burden of Shangyong, Zhang Lu, who felt relieved, intended to rush to Chang'an as soon as possible to live a peaceful life in Chang'an, instead of being on the edge of a knife every day as in the past.

Huang Quan tried to save the situation a little, and then agreed to Zhang Lu's request. He sent the Thunderbolt Captain Yin Pu to escort Zhang Lu to Chang'an, pretending that he valued Zhang Lu very much.

Fourth day.

Zhang Lu, Zhang Wei and their entourage left Shangyong City and headed towards Chang'an.

During this period, Zhang Wei looked back at Shangyong City from time to time. He looked unhappy. From today on, they were no longer princes ruling a certain area, but servants of others and driven by others.

Compared to Zhang Wei who looked unhappy, Zhang Lu only took a look at Shangyong City when he stepped out of the city gate, and then he did not look back again as he moved forward.

'Fight, fight.'

'Yuan Shao of Hebei, Cao Cao of the Central Plains. Liu Biao of Jingzhou, Sun Ce of Jiangdong, you two fight for this world.'

"I don't want to serve you anymore. I just want to be a rich man in Chang'an."

Going upstream along the Han River, Zhang Lu arrived at Hanzhong. Then, in order to reach Chang'an earlier, he did not take the safe and easy Chencang Road, but instead set foot on the Ziwu Road which had been slightly repaired by the Shu army.

The northern entrance of Ziwu Road is close to Chang'an, and it is the fastest route from Hanzhong to Chang'an, so Zhang Lu chose Ziwu Road.

The Ziwu Road was more than 400 miles long, and Zhang Lu and his party traveled more than 50 to 60 miles a day. So after seven or eight days, Zhang Lu approached Chang'an and saw the Chang'an City crawling on the ground like a giant beast.

A mile outside Chang'an City, Liu Zhang was quietly waiting for Zhang Lu's arrival, although given his current status, he shouldn't have gone out of the city to greet others, as this would have been somewhat degrading of his own status.

But Liu Zhang was not a person who would do things according to conventional practices. He had his own plans. Zhang Lu surrendered the three counties of Xicheng, Shangyong and Fangling, and he had an old grudge against him.

If Liu Zhang could forgive the old grudge and accept Zhang Lu as his master, it would be of great benefit to Liu Zhang's reputation and could sway more neutral people to surrender to him.

The so-called buying horse bones for a thousand gold coins.

When Zhang Lu arrived near Chang'an, he saw King of Qin Liu Zhang standing and waiting a mile away from the city gate. He quickly dismounted from his horse and almost crawled towards Liu Zhang.

"Your Majesty." When he was one or two steps away from Liu Zhang, Zhang Lu knelt down and paid great tribute to Liu Zhang.

Liu Zhang took a step forward, stretched out his hands, and supported Zhang Lu. He laughed loudly and said, "Master, how are you?"

"Lu is the same as usual, no change. Zhang Lu said modestly, and then said to Liu Zhang: "I have never seen the king before, but today I see you. I know that the king is in high spirits, twice as good as usual, which really makes me happy."

After the polite words, Liu Zhang took Zhang Lu in the same carriage and drove to Chang'an city. A banquet had already been prepared, waiting for Zhang Lu to arrive.

At the banquet, Liu Zhang read out an appointment: "Appoint Zhang Lu as Marquis of Mianyang, with a fief of 1,200 households." (End of this chapter)