Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

As Li Yan lightly arrived at the camp of Chen Ping, the vanguard of the Wei army, Chen Ping made a prompt decision and sent someone to report to Zhang He's troops in the rear.

After receiving Zhang He's confirmed order, Chen Ping's 4,000 infantrymen also retreated three miles to join forces with Zhang He in the rear.

Ten miles north of Wudu City, 15,000 Wei soldiers stopped here.

As soon as the order was given, the soldiers immediately set up camp. It was only ten miles away, and it seemed that they had no intention of advancing southward today, so they stopped here.

Li Yan and Chen Ping walked side by side towards Zhang He's central army. As they talked, the ordinary officers and soldiers in the army were surprised.

This person was clearly wearing Shu army armor, so why was General Chen still talking and laughing with him? What was going on?

Chen Ping certainly didn't have the time to explain to his subordinates. Being able to stabilize Li Yan who had come here to seek refuge was a great achievement!
"I have heard of General Zhang's name for a long time." Li Yan said softly, "I haven't seen him in person for more than 20 years. I wonder what kind of person General Zhang is?"

Chen Ping smiled and said, "Rather than General Zhang, it would be more appropriate for you to call him Lord Zhang."

Li Yan quickly said, "Thank you, General Chen, for your reminder."

"No problem, no problem." Chen Ping said with a smile, "Mr. Zhang is a generous and kind person. I have just informed Mr. Zhang of your surrender. You will see him later. When you meet Mr. Zhang, you don't need to be nervous at all. Just answer whatever he asks. This will be good for Mr. Zhang, for you, and it will also be convenient for the court to judge your merits."

In Chen Ping's words, the last syllable of the word "lun gong" was emphasized very much.

Li Yan understood what Chen Ping said, smiled slightly, and said no more.

Not long after, Chen and Li arrived under the central army's flag. Zhang He, with a majestic figure, sat on a tall white horse. He was instructing the generals beside him in a sonorous voice and with a solemn expression.

Li Yan stood about ten feet away, took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself down.

Although Li Yan had served three emperors, first Liu Biao, then Liu Zhang, and finally Liu Bei, he still had to reduce his age to fifty and needed psychological preparation.

Chen Ping and Li Yan watched Zhang He give orders for the army. After a while, when the officers who received the orders left, Chen Ping spoke:
"Mr. Zhang, I have brought General Li here. Please meet him."

Zhang He looked over at the sound, his eyes as sharp as lightning, like an eagle's. Just a quick glance up and down, Li Yan suddenly felt heavy in his heart.

However, with Zhang He's smile, the atmosphere immediately became relaxed.

"General Li, I have heard of your name for a long time. Today I finally get to meet you. It is worth the trip!" Zhang He said as he dismounted from his horse. His demeanor suddenly became a hundred times more amiable as he spoke, like an elderly Confucian scholar.

"Greetings, Lord Zhang!" Li Yan was not vague either, and immediately bowed down and paid homage: "The Han Kingdom is unjust and oppresses me. Li Yan has come to the Wei Kingdom to seek refuge in return for your service!"

"Your courtesy name is Zhengfang. Since I am older than you, I will call you Zhengfang." Zhang He helped Li Yan up and said with a smile, "Now that we are in the Wei Dynasty, you and I are brothers serving in the same court. There is no need to think too much. The Shu Kingdom is only half a state, how can it compare to the vast Wei Kingdom!"

Li Yan was caught off guard by Zhang He's enthusiasm and didn't know what to say for a moment: "Mr. Zhang... I..."

"Oh, no hurry, no hurry, we have plenty of time to chat." Zhang He laughed heartily for a few moments, held Li Yan's arm, and said with a smile: "Come on, Zhengfang, follow me into the military tent to talk. We hit it off right away, you and I should get close to each other!"

"Okay, let's do as Mr. Zhang said." Li Yan was even more confused.

Chen Ping had a smile on his face and followed Zhang He and Li Yan slowly.

Of course he should be happy!
As Zhang He's most capable military officer, Chen Ping knew all the basic situations in the Shu Han court. Li Yan was the man Liu Bei entrusted his son to, and he also served as the Minister of the Chancellery.

Chen Ping was very happy. Li Yan was so powerful, and he actually surrendered to Wei today. How much did this person know about the military situation of Shu? How fierce was the infighting in the court of Wei to force Li Yan to surrender?
No matter how you look at it, it is undoubtedly a great thing! It is like something that fell from the sky!

Zhang He and Li Yan were in front, and Chen Ping followed more than ten feet behind them. The three of them entered the newly set up military tent one after the other.

Zhang He was still enthusiastic and invited Li Yan to sit at the same table. Li Yan was a little embarrassed to refuse, but he could not resist Zhang He's kindness and sat next to him.

"Mr. Zhang, I came from the Han army today to..."

Li Yan had just opened his mouth to explain when Zhang He interrupted him with a smile: "Don't rush to talk about military strategies. I have been in the army for most of my life and I am tired of listening to them. Today, let's talk about some old times. There is no rush, no rush!"

Li Yan nodded slightly: "Just do as Mr. Zhang said."

Zhang He said calmly: "Zheng Fang came to me today, so he must know my background, right?"

Li Yan thought for a few moments and said, "I don't know the details. I just remember hearing from others that Mr. Zhang once worked for the Yuan family."

"That's right." Zhang He sighed with emotion: "That was thirty years ago. During the Battle of Guandu in the fifth year of Jian'an, I was a general under Yuan Benchu. As you know, Emperor Wu won the battle later, but in our opinion at that time, Emperor Wu had little chance of winning."

When Li Yan first arrived at the Wei army camp, he instinctively felt disgusted by the word "Emperor Wu" mentioned by Zhang He, and then he thought of Cao Cao. Zhang He continued, "At that time, I suggested to Yuan Benchu ​​that we should send light cavalry to cut off Cao's army's food and grass, and they would surely collapse without a fight, but Yuan Benchu ​​did not accept my advice and sent me to attack Cao's main camp. I failed to take it down after a long time, and there were villains like Guo Tu who slandered me and accused me of rebellion. In anger, I surrendered to Emperor Wu."

As he spoke, Zhang He laughed again: "Emperor Wu once told me that my surrender was like Weizi's surrender to Yin and Han Xin's surrender to Han. Thirty years have passed, and I, Zhang He, have served three dynasties. Today, I have become the General of the Western Expedition of the Wei Dynasty. What more could I ask for in life?"

Li Yan bowed slightly and said, "Mr. Zhang has made great contributions in the war. He should be rewarded as the General of the Western Expedition."

Zhang He smiled and said, "Zheng Fang, I am not bragging about my achievements to you, but I want to tell you that the Wei Dynasty has always treated surrendered generals well, and this has not changed in the past few decades."

"Take the old generals from Emperor Wu's reign, for example. Zhang Wenyuan, Xu Gongming, Pang Lingming, Wen Zhongye, and Zang Xuangao. I don't believe that Zheng Fang has never heard of these names."

Li Yan knew what Zhang He meant by saying this, and he also sighed: "They are all loyal ministers and good generals."

Zhang He continued, "I have only heard of these people, but I may not have seen them. I believe you are familiar with Huang Gongheng (Huang Quan) and Meng Zidu (Meng Da), right?"

Li Yan nodded: "Huang Gongheng is loyal, upright, honest, and honest. Meng Zidu is good at speaking and making changes. They are both good people. I am friends with Huang Gongheng and I am also familiar with Meng Zidu. It's just that I haven't seen them for many years."

Zhang He said calmly, "Huang Gongheng was once the Minister of the Wei Dynasty, and later served as the Governor of Yuzhou, in charge of the political affairs of a state. He can be said to be highly valued. Zhengfang also knows what kind of person Meng Zidu is. He is now the Chief Priest of the Chongwen Temple in Luoyang, in charge of the country's written books, and is also highly valued."

Li Yan sighed again, hesitated for a few moments, and asked, "Is Huang Gongheng okay now?"

Zhang He smiled but said nothing.
Chen Ping, a military officer sitting nearby, understood what was going on and took over the conversation, saying, "General Li may not know that Envoy Huang is highly valued in the Wei Dynasty and has been rewarded with houses and mansions. People in the court and the public say that Envoy Huang may be able to join the cabinet one day!"

"Enter the cabinet?" Li Yan asked, not understanding what he meant.

Zhang He said: "In recent years, the Wei Dynasty has created a new position of cabinet ministers, which is very important. Grand Commandant Dong Gong and Minister of Works Sima Gong are cabinet ministers."

Zhang He made this analogy, and Li Yan understood it instantly. The number of cabinet ministers can roughly be compared with the three ministers, which is what he meant.

Li Yan knew in his heart that since he had come from afar to serve Zhang He, the most important thing Zhang He should do was to reassure himself so that he could reveal more confidential military intelligence of the Han Dynasty.

An hour ago, when Li Yan said goodbye to the ten Han scouts on his horse and walked towards Chen Ping's formation, he had already thought about what information he wanted to tell Zhang He.

After years of ups and downs in officialdom, Li Yan understood that Zhang He comforted him in this way just to reassure himself. Li Yan did not believe that with Zhang He's high position, he would hit it off with him at first sight, or become friends with him instantly.

But no matter what, Zhang He listed his own experiences in the past and used Huang Quan as an example to tell the story, which really calmed Li Yan's uneasy heart.

Quite useful.

The two chatted for a long time before Zhang He finally asked, "However, there is one thing I forgot to ask you. Please answer me frankly."

Li Yan solemnly bowed and said, "Please let Mr. Zhang know."

Zhang He's originally kind eyes turned a little fierce. "I just don't know what happened to Zheng Fang in the Shu army that made you, the former Minister of State and Minister of the Shu Kingdom, come to surrender?"

"I hope you can speak frankly and not cover up anything, so that I can write down the reasons and report them to the general and the court."

Li Yan looked up at the sky, but only saw the top of the military tent. He sighed and said, "This story all started three months ago..."

The same thing, viewed from different perspectives, will produce different results.

In Li Yan's view, he complained about opening a government office or establishing Bazhou, which was meant to seek personal achievements, but most of his thoughts were out of public interest! As a person entrusted by Liu Bei, Li Yan once sincerely wanted to gain more power in order to do more things!

It’s just that Zhuge Liang was too powerful and he couldn’t match him.

Li Yan spoke his grievances for a quarter of an hour. After listening to him, Zhang He sighed and said, "Why is the world so tortuous?"

After saying this, Zhang He stood up and bowed to Li Yan calmly: "I have already known about the situation in Zhengfang. Please take a seat. There are still some matters in the army waiting for my dispatch."

Li Yan also quickly stood up and responded, "Slow down, Mr. Zhang."

After Zhang He left, only Chen Ping and Li Yan were left in the military tent.

With a smile on his face, Chen Ping very sincerely introduced Lu Xun's official position and treatment, as well as the Wei Dynasty's efforts to pacify Liaodong this year.

After Li Yan was surprised, Chen Ping smiled and said, "General Li came from the Shu army today. I wonder what you have to teach me? I hope you can teach me."

Li Yan suddenly realized that he had finally waited for this moment. He then calmed down, stroked his beard and began to talk. (End of this chapter)