Han officials

Chapter 5 Don’t judge people by their appearance

August 10th, outside Guangzong City.

The once lush farmland is now barren, and the plains are covered with weeds.

Although the land is fertile, the fields are full of snakes, rats, foxes and rabbits, and the scene is desolate and bleak.

However, Wei Zhe has long been accustomed to such scenes.

After setting out from Dongwuyang, they often saw no smoke from cooking fires for hundreds of miles. Along the way, most of the villages and towns they passed through were empty, and even if there were people, they were only the elderly and the weak.

I heard that the population of Julu County used to be over 700,000, but now it seems that only one in ten is left.

Of course, not all the people died.

Apart from those who were taken away by the Yellow Turban Army, the rest of the people probably either fled their homes or were hidden and occupied by powerful people.

After all, in addition to fertile land, population is also an important resource.

The more unregistered people there are and the fewer registered citizens there are, the more say the powerful people in the world have. This has been the case since ancient times.

However, the two people on the Jie Bridge at this moment did not feel melancholy at all.

"I'll leave this to the General!"

I saw a short but extremely strong man bowing respectfully to Huangfu Song.

After saying this, he called over several generals behind him and said apologetically, "General, you know me well. I've been in Liang Province for a long time, so it's inevitable that I have some Hu habits. Please forgive me if I have offended you."

Huangfu Song saw this and did not act arrogantly. He also returned the greeting and then said with a generous smile: "Did Mr. Dong forget that I am also from Liangzhou?"

After saying this, he waved his hand nonchalantly and said proudly, "I know the bravery of the men of Liangzhou. These minor details are harmless."

After these words were spoken, the expressions of the generals behind the strong man relaxed a little.

Obviously, not everyone welcomes Huangfu Song's arrival.

At the same time, Wei Zhe in the crowd was a little bit unbelievable.

The legendary arrogant and domineering Dong Zhuo was actually a gentle fat man?

With his humble and polite appearance, he really doesn't look like a grassroots military general who made his fortune through military merit.

But soon Wei Zhe couldn't help but shook his head. A traitor may appear loyal, and a falsehood may appear true.

Words may deceive, but actions cannot.

Judging from Dong Zhuo's later actions, he was definitely not the kind of person who followed the rules.

Thinking of this, Wei Zhe couldn't help but admire him.

Sure enough, none of the people who have stirred up the storm in history are simple.

Even a warrior from a border county like Dong Zhuo might not be inferior to these old foxes in the inner counties in terms of cunning and treachery.

In fact, this is indeed the case. Although Dong Zhuo is smiling warmly as he introduces the generals behind him to Huangfu Song, he is actually jealous and hateful towards Huangfu Song in his heart.

Why, why did he fight so hard until now, but Huangfu Song took the spoils in the blink of an eye?

In fact, Dong Zhuo might feel better if someone else took over.

But the person who came was Huangfu Song!

In fact, for Dong Zhuo, Huangfu Song could be said to be a typical child from other people's families.

No, to be precise, Dong Zhuo struggled for twenty years before he was qualified to talk and laugh with Huangfu Song face to face.

His father was just a minor official in the county, and his mother was a Qiang.

But Huangfu Song came from a military family, his family holding a rank of two thousand stone. His uncle, Huangfu Gui, was one of the "Three Mings of Liang Province," renowned throughout the Western Province. Born in Liang Province, Dong Zhuo grew up listening to stories about the Huangfu family.

Under such circumstances, Dong Zhuo actually had special feelings towards the Huangfu family.

This must be why Dong Zhuo forced Huangfu Gui to marry him as his second wife after he came to power.

You have to know that although Ma was still beautiful at that time, she was a middle-aged widow after all.

With Dong Zhuo's power at that time, he could easily find a woman more beautiful than Ma, but he insisted on forcibly marrying Huangfu's wife.

Tsk tsk~ The mentality behind this is really intriguing!

But at this moment, no matter how unwilling Dong Zhuo was, he had to bow his head.

As someone who had risen from a Liangzhou warrior to his current position, he naturally couldn't afford to offend Huangfu Song right now.

After all, his old subordinates still had to serve under Huangfu Song. If he offended Huangfu Song now, then who knows when these people would be killed.

Thinking of this, Dong Zhuo's smile suddenly became more sincere.

Huangfu Song naturally didn't know what would happen in the future.

At this moment, facing Dong Zhuo's humble attitude, Huangfu Song felt a little sympathetic.

Dong Zhuo thought he was here to pick peaches, but Huangfu Song was walking on thin ice, fearing that he would follow in the same footsteps as the two men.

If he was dismissed from office, Zhu Jun could still come and continue to command the army.

Anyway, Wancheng is also under siege, so leaving behind one Sun Jian and two prefects is enough.

With these two people's mentality, the handover of the army was completed very smoothly.

So after a brief greeting, everyone finally got off the boundary bridge.

It is said that this "Jie Bridge" was actually the place where Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao fought a great battle in the future.

In fact, Jieqiao is only thirty miles away from Guangzong City, and you can see the yellow flags on the city walls from a distance.

As for the river under the bridge, its original name was Qinghe. Since Julu County and Qinghe State used this river to divide the border, it was also the boundary river between the two counties, and the name of Jieqiao came from this.

From ancient times to the present, this place has been a battleground for military strategists.

It is said that in the late Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu and Qin general Zhang Han faced off here, and then the Battle of Julu took place.

Therefore, if Guangzong cannot be eliminated, then in the long run Ji and You areas will no longer belong to the court.

Both Dong Zhuo and Huangfu Song were well aware of this.

On the other side, Wei Zhe was a little disappointed.

Because he didn't see any man with long ears, long arms, red face and long beard.

Only then did Wei Zhe realize that Uncle Liu was probably not qualified to appear in such an occasion.

Thinking of this, Wei Zhe's eyes suddenly became complicated for a moment.

When everyone arrived at the Han army camp, Dong Zhuo handed over military affairs neatly and efficiently.

Afterwards, he did not allow Huangfu Song to see him off, and galloped towards Luoyang with dozens of personal guards.

As for his 5,000 old subordinates, they remained in the camp and continued to serve.

Huangfu Song did not do anything immediately and loudly, but just arranged his own subordinates first.

(End of this chapter)