Han officials

Chapter 203: The Empire's Twin Walls [22]

Late at night, in the study of Qu Mansion,
I saw a thin middle-aged man with ordinary appearance, smiling and saying:

"Mu Cheng, the usher of the Marquis of Buye, greets Captain Qu."

As the Left General's shogunate became more and more complete, the Buyehou Mansion, which once connected with the Liaodong counties, gradually disappeared.

However, Wei Zhe did not leave the Marquis's team idle, but instead gave them more important tasks.

For example, the Pedestrian Department under the Marquis’ Mansion is one of them.

The so-called "Xingren" was originally responsible for external contacts, reception of guests and etiquette of the marquis's mansion, and was specifically responsible for diplomatic missions.

However, Wei Zhe used this as a pretext to let the Pedestrian Department carry out detective investigations.

Because this mission is relatively sensitive, the Pedestrian Division is currently led by former Xigaimaying Sima Zhongjun.

Even though he is now a disabled person with one arm, Wei Zhe feels that loyalty is more important than combat power when it comes to the business of the Pedestrian Department, not to mention that he has a very good brain.

In fact, Zhong Jun did not disappoint Ye. Although he had not been well-known in Youzhou, the work of the Pedestrian Department was very effective.

However, after Mu Cheng spoke, Qu Yi felt even more unhappy.

After all, that bandit Zhang Yan was already General Pingbei, but now he is even worse than a mere bandit!

So he immediately shouted coldly with a murderous look on his face: "How dare you, a mere Wei bandit, enter my mansion! You are truly courting death!"

After saying that, he glanced at his neck with cold eyes, as if he was thinking about how to cut.

Unexpectedly, Mu Cheng was not worried but happy when he saw this, because he had deliberately greeted him in this way.

"I'll die if I want to. For the sake of loyalty and righteousness, I will die for the right purpose!" Mu Cheng laughed heartily and said, "Besides, your Excellency will never mistreat his meritorious officials. What else do I have to worry about?"

Seeing Mu Cheng being so carefree, Qu Yi suddenly choked and felt it was boring.

So Qu Yi was too lazy to talk nonsense and simply stared at him intently, saying, "What do you want to do?"

Seeing this, Mu Cheng immediately changed his previous attitude and bowed respectfully, saying, "I have no other intention in this trip. I am simply expressing my regards to you on behalf of the shogunate. Even though we are rivals, we always respect the strong."

After saying that, he immediately handed over the letter. Qu Yi opened it and found that it was indeed some simple greetings.

This made Qu Yi feel relieved but suddenly a little uncomfortable.

He was worried that Wei Zhe would recruit him, but he was also worried that Wei Zhe would not come to recruit him.

What I am most worried about is that Wei Zhe didn’t recruit him!

After all, no one is willing to recruit him. Doesn't that mean he is even less valuable?

Seeing his expression suddenly change, Mu Cheng approached and whispered, "But before leaving, the Lord had specifically instructed that if the Captain intended to return north, he must be treated as the General Guarding the North!"

As soon as these words were spoken, a gleam of light flashed in Qu Yi's eyes, and he immediately became eager to take action.

He was proud of his achievements and had always been dissatisfied with Yuan Shao's coldness and disloyalty, thinking that his family was being treated unfairly.

Now that Wei Zhe has offered a high price, Qu Yi naturally doesn't mind changing his master.

Although he is a Han Chinese, he was born in Liangzhou and his morals are similar to those of the Qiang people.

Whether it is service or betrayal, in Qu Yi's eyes it is nothing more than the amount of benefits.

He was able to betray Han Fu and join Yuan Shao in the past, so he can naturally betray Yuan Shao and join Wei Zhe now!

Thinking of this, Qu Yi finally raised his eyes to look at Mu Cheng in front of him and said seriously: "Speak now, Wei... What does General Zuo want me to do!"

Hearing this, Mu Cheng was secretly delighted and immediately told the story according to the instructions.

The requirements from Ji County were very simple. All they needed was for Qu Yi to volunteer to go to the Hejian front.

When the two armies were fighting, if Qu Yi defected on the battlefield, Wei Zhe would not be stingy with the seal of the General Zhenbei, regardless of whether Anping could be conquered afterwards.

After hearing what Mu Cheng said, Qu Yi's eyes couldn't help but flicker.

If that's the case...it's not a difficult thing.

But after going through so many things, he finally gained something.

Therefore, Qu Yi did not reply to Mu Cheng immediately, but said that he would think about it carefully for a few days.

Seeing this, Mu Cheng did not force it and immediately said goodbye and left.

In fact, instigating Qu Yi to rebel was just a casual move by Wei Zhe.

If we could take this opportunity to really open up Jizhou's defense line head-on, that would naturally be perfect.

After all, if Anping State fell, Jizhou would be at risk of being cut in half.

It doesn't matter if Qu Yi is unwilling to betray. It would also be good if he could stir up some internal conflicts within Yuan Shao.

As it turned out, Wei Zhe's plan did work.

After Mu Cheng left, Qu Yi, who had been drinking alone, stayed awake all night.

Han Fu's disdain, Yuan Shao's harsh treatment, and Wei Zhe's attempts to win him over kept flashing through his mind all night.

He had never been very loyal to Yuan Shao to begin with, and now he was even more rebellious.

However, before he could take action, an accident suddenly interrupted his plan.

……

The next day, Yecheng Prefecture

In the still-misty morning mist, Yuan Shao was picking up a piece of Yellow River perch with his silver chopsticks when he heard hurried footsteps in the courtyard. He looked up and saw Xun Chen trotting past the vermilion-lacquered columns, announcing, "My lord, urgent news from Henei!" With a thud, Yuan Shao slammed his silver chopsticks down on the table in displeasure.

"Hasn't Yu Du already surrendered? Why did something unexpected happen?"

"It's the Xiongnu!" Xun Chen handed over the battle report and quickly explained, "Although General Chunyu previously defeated Yu Du's troops, recaptured the counties of Henei, and beheaded Hu Shou, the pseudo-Governor of Jizhou appointed by Dong Zhuo, he inadvertently ventured deep into a valley while pursuing them, where he was ambushed by Yu Du and suffered heavy casualties."

"A few days ago, Yu Fuluo, the Chanyu of the Southern Xiongnu, saw that General Chunyu was weakened, so he led his troops and joined forces with Zhang Yang of Bingzhou to raid our main camp... Now, more than half of General Chunyu's troops have been killed, and all their food and supplies have been burned. He has been forced to withdraw from Henei County!"

Upon hearing this, veins popped up on Yuan Shao's forehead and he suddenly overturned the table full of delicacies to the ground.

In an instant, the bronze wine cup hit the corridor column with a loud noise, which scared the sparrows on the eaves and made them fly away.

The maids around were also silent upon seeing this. They immediately knelt on the ground, holding their breath and lowering their heads.

Yuan Shao's face was filled with murderous intent as he shouted angrily, "How dare a mere stray dog bully me? If I hadn't been so generous and taken him in at the Zhangshui Alliance two years ago, Yu Fuluo would still be nowhere to be found. Zhang Zhishu was also just a stray dog from Bingzhou. How dare these people be so rebellious? They are truly a bunch of untamed beasts!"

It is said that since Wang Kuang, the governor of Henei, was killed by Cao Cao, Henei County has always been Yuan Shao's territory.

As for Zhang Yang and the Southern Xiongnu Chanyu Yufuluo who came to the alliance, they stayed at Zhangshui.

After all, the two were not Yuan Shao's men, they were only allies in name only.

Yuan Shao originally wanted to slowly tame these two people and make these two armies serve his own purposes, but he didn't expect that Yu Fuluo would not cooperate with him at all. Seeing that the opportunity was rare, he took action without hesitation.

In order to occupy the precious land of Henei County as a pasture for his Xiongnu soldiers, Yu Fuluo, who was familiar with the rules of the Han Dynasty, even deliberately dragged Zhang Yang into action and took the initiative to appoint him as the prefect of Henei.

Because Yu Furuo knew clearly that the Han people would not tolerate a Xiongnu person being a county governor.

Of course, he also knew that Yuan Shao was not a pushover, so after driving away Chunyu Qiong's remaining troops, he immediately submitted a petition to Chang'an, requesting to surrender. It was obvious that Yu Fuluo wanted to rely on Dong Zhuo to resist Yuan Shao.

Although Zhang Yang seemed to be coerced, he was probably just half-hearted in fact.

After all, Zhang Yang is not a good gentleman, so naturally he wants a place to settle down.

However, no matter what their reasons were, Yuan Shao was really angry this time.

A moment later, in the front hall of the governor's mansion.

Yuan Shao said with a cold look in his eyes: "Such a villain must be killed without mercy!"

Seeing this, Qu Yi in the hall was moved and immediately volunteered: "I am not talented, but I am willing to help you solve your worries!"

Looking at the burly figure below, Yuan Shao's expression finally looked a little better.

Although Yuan Shao had not liked the troublemaker Qu Yi in the past, he now found him quite pleasing to the eye.

After all, although Qu Yi was arrogant, he and his subordinates were really powerful.

Yuan Shao then asked directly, "The Xiongnu bandits come and go like the wind. How many troops do you need?"

"Eight hundred people are enough to enter the camp first!" Qu Yi still had an arrogant look on his face.

But this time Yuan Shao did not take it as an offense, instead he admired it and said, "What courage!"

Without further hesitation, he drew his command arrow and threw it decisively on the steps, saying, "Besides ascending the camp first, I grant you another 4,000 soldiers and horses. Set off immediately—remember, I only want Yu Fuluo's head!"

When Qu Yi heard this, his eyes flashed and he agreed on the spot.

……

Three days later, Ji County.

Looking at the report from the Pedestrian Department, Wei Zhe couldn't help but look stunned.

Although Wei Zhe knew that Qu Yi was an ambitious guy, he didn't expect him to be so rebellious.

Or maybe... after having two different lords, Guo Yi became more ambitious?

But no matter what the reason, Qu Yi was obviously not prepared to rely on others and wanted to have his own territory.

Xi Zhicai, who was standing by, was immediately filled with curiosity when he saw this. It was the first time he saw Wei Zhe react like this.

But before he could ask, Wei Zhe shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Nothing, Qu Yi rebelled!"

Yes, Qu Yi slapped Yuan Shao hard this time!

Because after he led his troops into Henei County, he quickly defeated the joint forces of Yu Furuo and Zhang Yang. However, he did not report the victory to Yecheng, as he should have led the troops to quell the rebellion. Instead, he subdued the two men and their troops, directly occupied Henei County, and established himself in the city.

It can be said that Yuan Shao’s face was completely swollen this time!
Although Yuan Shao was embarrassed by this move, Wei Zhe also felt a little ashamed.

After all, Qu Yi regarded his recruitment as nothing, which was undoubtedly a slap in his face.

What Wei Zhe couldn't understand the most was that since Qu Yi had decided to betray Yuan Shao, why didn't he surrender to him?

When Xi Zhicai learned about Wei Zhe's doubts, he suddenly had a guess.

He looked hesitant and asked, "Perhaps... he also wants to emulate Yuan Shao's previous actions?"

When these words came out, Wei Zhe was stunned at first, and then he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

You know what, given Qu Yi's personality, he might really think so.

Being so conceited, he probably thought that if Yuan Shao could conquer Jizhou with just Henei County, then he could do it too.

After all, Qu Yi's political acumen is almost non-existent, and he and Lu Bu can be regarded as the two pillars of the empire!

I can only say that a rebellious character like Qu Yi is really an unstable factor, regardless of friend or foe!
Thinking of this, Wei Zhe could only helplessly comfort himself that his efforts were not in vain this time. At least he succeeded in making Yuan Shao lose a powerful general.

On the other hand, while Yuan Shao was furious in Yecheng, Bohai was also a scene of war and battle...

(End of this chapter)