The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 602: Only Talent
Wen Yang reluctantly bid farewell to the many good friends he made in Xianbei, and took his elite troops to reunite with Yang Hu.

Wen Yang didn't offend people all the time these days, he also made some good friends.

The Xianbei people really like heroes with outstanding martial arts skills.

In their eyes, the talent of a commander cannot compare to that of a brave man.

Wen Yang, a young man with exaggerated martial arts skills, was actually very popular among the Xianbei. Except for some people who were humiliated by him, the leaders of other tribes were very willing to make friends with him. Several of them even patted their chests and said that if they had children in the future, they would name them Wen Yang!

Wen Yang already knew their customs, so he was not angry.

When Wen Yang led the elite cavalry from Shengle and arrived at Yang Hu, Tuoba Liwei had already left. In order to avoid running into Wen Yang, he even took a detour.

Wen Yang was also stunned when he looked at the camp in the distance and the mighty cavalry.

He quickly ordered the cavalry to station here, and he led Duan Qizhen and Zuwu to Yang Hu.

Wen Yang rushed into Yang Hu's tent.

Yang Hu was standing in the tent at this moment, with his head lowered. On the table in front of him was a huge map.

The map is made of sheepskin, not paper, and even looks three-dimensional.

Wen Yang hurriedly bowed to him.

"General, I never thought you would be so worried about my safety that you even led an army to find me. I really..."

Wen Yang was really touched. In order to ensure his own safety, Yang Hu actually led so many people to Tuoba territory.

Yang Hu glanced at him and said nothing.

Yang Hu's eyes quickly locked onto Duan Qizhen beside him.

Wen Yang hurriedly asked Duan Qizhen to come forward and explained, "General, this man is the leader of the Duan tribe. I regret that I met him too late."

Yang Hu looked at the old man in front of him and bowed with a smile.

"Mr. Duan, I have heard of your great name for a long time."

Duan Qizhen quickly returned the greeting, "I dare not, I dare not."

Yang Hu enthusiastically asked him to sit next to him, and then said: "Our General Pingbei is still young. If he behaves in a rude manner, please do not take it to heart."

Duan Qizhen said seriously, "General Pingbei is a brave and righteous man. He has never been rude to me and has helped me a lot."

Yang Hu was stunned, "Oh?"

Duan Qizhen explained, "During our visit to the Tuoba tribe, the gifts presented to General Pingbei by the other tribes were given to ours by General Pingbei."

Yang Hu was a little surprised, then said, "Even so, you are still the leader of a tribe. General Wen is young and of low rank. It is inappropriate for you to make him your deputy general."

Wen Yang immediately became anxious and wanted to say something, but Yang Hu looked at him and said, "We will set out for Liao tomorrow. You should follow Zu Wu and organize your troops. Don't train, and rest early."

Wen Yang had no choice but to leave with Zu Wu.

After leaving the tent, Zu Wu said, "General, don't be discouraged. The affairs of the Hu people are complicated. If you really let a Hu leader serve as your deputy general, who knows what kind of trouble will arise in the future. Duan Qizhen is a leader after all. You can't just treat him as a talent."

"Besides, you will definitely have to directly address border issues in the future. With this person around, I'm afraid many things won't be discussed openly."

Wen Yang waved his hand casually and did not discuss the issue anymore.

Inside the tent, Duan Qizhen looked at Yang Hu in front of him, but his heart was not shaken at all.

Yang Hu looks very gentle and polite.

Completely different from the irritable Wen Yang.

However, Duan Qizhen still preferred to stay with Wen Yang. Wen Yang was straightforward. Although he was a little reckless and rude, he didn't feel tired when he was with him and didn't have to be cautious.

He politely declined Yang Hu's offer to recommend him, hoping to stay with Wen Yang.

Yang Hu didn't force it and he talked about another thing.

"I'm going to Liaodi this time. Do you know why?"

Duan Qizhen shook his head.

Yang Hu said, "It is for the purpose of governing the local area."

Duan Qizhen heard for the first time that someone was leading cavalry to govern a local area. He asked, "General, are you going to destroy Murong?"

Yang Hu laughed, "If they want to destroy Murong, why do they need me to show up?"

He said seriously, "I'm going to the local area to punish corrupt officials, tyrants, and thieves, search for refugees who have fled, and clear the roads."

"I may stay there for a while, and I hope you can help me when the time comes."

"only!!"

The next day, Duan Qizhen rode his horse and followed Wen Yang again. Wen Yang was in a good mood, like a victorious general, very proud.

Although he didn't know why the army was heading to Liao, he didn't ask much.

Maybe it has something to do with Liu Lu.

Inside the Tai Chi Hall.

Cao Mao looked at the many memorials in his hand and glanced at Wang Yuan beside him.

"Just leave the many matters in Hebei to Liu Lu, you don't have to worry about it anymore." Wang Yuan agreed.

After growing up over these days, Wang Yuan finally stopped trembling when he saw the emperor. He was originally very courageous, and what he lacked was experience.

As his experience continued to expand, his abilities also grew day by day.

Although he and Liu Lu were not well-known and not many ministers knew them, they were Cao Mao's most important eyes and ears.

The Dianshifu expanded extremely rapidly, including the Central Plains, Hebei, Yongliang, and now only the south has no Dianshifu. However, it will be there soon.

Liu Lu initially went to Xianbei in order to extend his influence into the Xianbei.

This is not difficult to do. The Hu people's awareness in this regard is quite weak, not much different from that of the Wu State. They talk about all kinds of conspiracies at will without worrying about leaks at all.

But what Liu Lu wants to do is not just to interfere in the Xianbei.

Cao Mao's order to him was to check the situation inside and outside Liao territory, and to communicate with Yang Hu in a timely manner to jointly resolve the local difficulties.

Cao Mao no longer paid attention to the content in Hebei, but instead looked at the content in Luoyang.

"Oh? Pei Xiu hasn't left the Ministry of Rites since returning to the imperial court? He eats and drinks in the palace?"

Cao Mao pondered for a moment before saying, "You go ahead. There's no need to send anyone to Pei Xiu for now."

"only!!"

Cao Mao did not rush to the Ministry of Rites. He first ate some food and then asked Cheng Ji to prepare the carriage to go see Pei Xiu.

Cao Mao originally suspected that Pei Xiu was colluding with the local powerful families, and until now, this suspicion has not completely disappeared in his mind.

Pei Xiu has not even returned home recently, and has been staying in the Ministry of Rites all day. According to Wang Yuan's report, Pei Xiu has been busy with the policy of education all day, discussing and drafting with many officials, and repeatedly deleting and revising them.

Cao Mao felt even more suspicious.

This guy is not like this usually, why did he suddenly become so diligent?
Still have to go and take a look.

When Cao Mao arrived at the Ministry of Rites, the atmosphere there was different from before.

Officials were coming in and out, appearing extremely busy, even busier than the Ministry of Personnel.

Seeing Cao Mao coming, the officials hurriedly put down what they were doing and bowed to him.

Cao Mao walked up to them and picked up what they were writing.

Oh, this is to count the specific number of Hu people in each tribe and verify the number of public land distributions.

Cao Mao checked the duties of several officials one after another before striding into the innermost study surrounded by soldiers.

The study seemed a little dim, the windows were half-closed, and only a few rays of light shone into the study. Various documents in the study were piled up like mountains. It was really piled up like mountains. Cao Mao saw that the documents in several places were piled up, almost reaching his own height.

Pei Xiu sat among these piles of documents, holding a pen and counting sticks beside him. He was constantly calculating something and writing quickly.

This was the first time Cao Mao saw Pei Xiu like this.

In his impression, Pei Xiu has always been that lazy and elegant nobleman. How come after not seeing him for a few days, he has become more diligent than Zhong Hui?
Pei Xiu didn't even notice the emperor's arrival and was still writing furiously.

Cao Mao glared at the official who wanted to step forward to inform him, then walked forward and stood behind Pei Xiu.

Pei Xiu is currently doing statistics. Pei Xiu's classical abilities are not actually very strong, but his strength lies in his ability to do things. He is personally proficient in numbers and is very capable in related areas.

Of course, you can't be a cartographer if you are not proficient in mathematics. The proportions and other things that maps pay attention to are also very advanced knowledge.

Pei Xiu didn't know how long he had been writing. He just felt his hands aching and his lips were a little chapped.

"Bring me some tea!"

Pei Xiu said.

Someone handed him the tea. Pei Xiu picked up the teacup, took a few mouthfuls, chewed the tea leaves, and handed the teacup behind him.

"Won't Pei Jun take a break?"

Hearing this question, Pei Xiu turned around in a daze, only to see Cao Mao standing behind him.

He looked down and saw that it was him who had just handed him the tea.

Pei Xiu was at a loss and stood there like a wooden chicken.

Cao Mao squeezed to Pei Xiu's side with difficulty, picked up what he had written and began to read it carefully.

"Is this an attempt to identify and address any deficiencies and standardize education?"

"Your Majesty, I believe that the current situation is due to a lack of regulations. If we want to accomplish anything, we must first have a clear count and an accurate number before we can proceed."

Pei Xiu was preparing to standardize the education, determine how much arable land a Hu person should be allocated, how much food rations he should be given, how much each county should be allocated reasonably, etc., through which he could further standardize and reduce the risk of corruption.

Cao Mao nodded with satisfaction.

"Well done."

Well, Cao Mao likes talented people, even if they have made mistakes in the past, as long as they have enough ability. Seeing Cao Mao's admiring eyes, Pei Xiu could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He knew that he had successfully changed the emperor's opinion.

From then on, he became the emperor's confidant.

(End of this chapter)