Chapter 200: Talented Man from Jingzhou, Wei Yan Comes to Join the Forces In the autumn of Wuyin, on the 15th day of July, with the arrival of autumn, Qin Zhen set out on the journey to Jingzhou. Even though their territory now borders Jiangxia, it is actually quite difficult to travel to Jingzhou. The fastest way, of course, is to go east along the Yangtze River by boat. However, since Qin Zhen was bringing hundreds of soldiers and some goods this time, it was quite inconvenient to take a small boat, and he was afraid of encountering the Jiangdong navy if he took a large ship. Therefore, Qin Zhen's route to the west this time was along the Huai River, and he entered the territory of Jiangxia by water. We went up the mountain in a winding way. Although we were going with the flow, we were still rushing along the way. Fortunately, there was Zhuge Liang on the way to chat and play chess with, so it wasn't particularly boring. Originally, Cai Yan was planning to let Daqiao go with Qin Zhen on this mission. According to Cai Yan's original words: "When my husband goes out, he always goes with the army, so his luggage is simple. As women, it is inconvenient for me to follow him."

"Since you are on a diplomatic mission, you might as well bring your family with you so that they can serve your husband along the way." "I am pregnant and cannot go. Why don't I bring my sister Qiao Ying with me to avoid boring my husband?" These words came from Cai Yan's mouth, but Daqiao was also somewhat moved. After all, she was a new wife, and with only Xiaoqiao by her side, she didn't feel lonely. Now that I have tasted the sweetness and it is our honeymoon, I naturally want to be with my husband all day long. Seeing this, it would be a lie for Qin Zhen to say he wasn't moved. After all, the trip to Jingzhou will take two or three months, and it will be a special experience to have a lovely wife by my side. But it is the land of gentleness and the tomb of heroes. Although his wife is attractive, he is going there to conquer Jiangdong. If you are alone, it is convenient for you to go anywhere, but if you bring your family with you, you will inevitably feel restricted. Besides, Cai Yan was due to give birth in October, so if everything went well and he could make it in time, that would be a good thing. If things don't go well and he can't make it, then he'll have to rely on the bridge. If he took Daqiao away, there would only be Cai Yao and Xiaoqiao left at home, and the situation might not be stable. So he rejected Cai Yan's kindness and appeased the women. After the situation was stabilized, he took his family boating on the river. The women knew that Qin Zhen was busy with important matters, so they all agreed. Only Cai Yan lay in Qin Zhen's arms, reluctant to leave, and asked Qin Zhen to bring along the bitter rat and bitter vegetable siblings to serve him. The two siblings were originally refugees from Huainan, but were taken into Cai Yan's home because of her kindness. The brother and sister were grateful to be adopted and worked very hard. Qin Zhen knew that his wife was worried, so he simply brought the brother and sister with him. As a result, he had two more little followers around him. Every day, Ku Shu was responsible for passing messages, and Ku Cai was responsible for packing luggage. He had quite a leisurely life.

We traveled all the way like this until August, when we finally reached the border of Runan. Along the way, Qin Zhen naturally asked Zhuge Liang a lot about the situation in Jingzhou. Zhuge Liang knew everything about this and quickly explained to Qin Zhen: "If you ask about the situation in Jingzhou, you should know that there are three major clans in Jingzhou: the Kuai clan, the Cai clan, and the Huang clan." "When Liu Jingsheng entered Jingzhou, the Xiangyang clan bandits were causing trouble, so Liu Biao rode alone into Yicheng to discuss the matter with the Kuai brothers, Cai Mao and others." "Later, following Kuai Yue's plan, they lured and killed more than 50 clan bandits, and used Kuai Yue and Pang Ji to persuade the big bandits Zhang Hu and Chen Sheng to surrender. Thus, Xiangyang was secured." "After that, Liu Jingsheng won over the Anlu Huang family and took Jiangxia, and appointed Cai Mao as the governor of Nanjun to control Jiangling. Finally, he took control of the overall situation in Jingzhou!" "These three families were originally powerful clans, and now they have helped Liu Biao seize and pacify Jingzhou. Their contributions are huge, and their power is growing rapidly!" "By the time I went to Shouchun, the Cai family had become the most powerful of the three families!" "So if Liu Biao is unwilling to send troops this time, you must first persuade Cai to help you before you can act!" Listening to Zhuge Liang's words, Qin Zhen nodded secretly. This situation was similar to what he understood! Although Liu Biao held real power, the power of the three major aristocratic families had become too powerful to be eliminated. In fact, in the original process, Liu Bei was also an assistant used by Liu Biao to balance the Cai family. Why did Cai Mao hate Liu Bei so much? Ultimately, it was because Liu Bei was the helper Liu Biao found for Liu Qi. In order to protect the interests of the Cai family, Cai Mao must kill Liu Bei as soon as possible! At this timeline, there is no essential conflict of interest between them and the Tsai family. If they can convince the Tsai family, it will be beneficial to them. While thinking, Qin Zhen looked at Zhuge Liang and said with a smile: "If you follow this advice, then Ge's marriage to the Kuai and Pang families, and Huang's son-in-law, will mean there will be no danger in Jingzhou!" "Why did Kong Ming choose to go to Shouchun instead of the nearby city?" Although Zhuge Liang has now joined Lao Liu's army, Qin Zhen is very curious about Zhuge Liang's personal thoughts. Since the Zhuge family had already climbed to the top of the powerful ranks in Jingzhou, why would Kong Ming go and join them with just a letter? When Zhuge Liang heard this, he shook his head and smiled: "Since you know the reason, why do you need to test me with this statement?" "Although Liu Biao is one of the eight most talented people, he is suspicious by nature, a man of empty talk, intent on defending himself, and has no ambition to conquer the world." "How can such a person be a ruler?" "Moreover, Liu Jingsheng has now divided the land and defended it, offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, which is an act of usurpation." "Han Degao tried hard to persuade him, but he never listened." "So when scholars heard this, they would rather live in seclusion in the mountains and forests than serve in Jingzhou." "Although I am only a teenager, I know that my family is deeply indebted to the country. How can I serve Liu Biao if he is like this?" When Qin Zhen heard this, he nodded immediately. He only knew that Liu Biao had offered sacrifices to heaven and earth, but he didn't know when it happened. If what Kong Ming said were true, this would have probably happened a long time ago. As a result, the knowledgeable people in Jingzhou became disappointed with Liu Biao and stopped serving in the government.

In fact, sometimes justice is like this. It’s not that you can’t do some actions, but you have to do it within your ability. In fact, although these scholars claim to be loyal to the Han Dynasty, how many of them are truly loyal to the Han Dynasty? As long as your power reaches a certain level, even if it is a bit presumptuous, great scholars will endorse you. On the contrary, if someone is like Liu Biao, who lacks strength but wants to usurp the throne by force, then in the eyes of knowledgeable people, he will be like a clown. Therefore, the reason why Liu Bei was able to gain the support of the scholars in Jingzhou was not because Liu Bei was popular among the people, but because Liu Bei had a good reputation! Thinking of this, he began to ask about the situation of the scholars in Jingzhou. When Zhuge Liang heard this, he said that Jingzhou really had a lot of talented people: "Since the chaos in the Central Plains, many great scholars have moved south. Until today, people like Yingzi Yan, Zhangling Song Zhongzi, Hanshou Pan Chengming, Xiangyang Qiwu Guangming, and Furen Yin Siqian are all talented and famous people." When Qin Zhen heard this, he immediately wondered if Kong Ming did it on purpose. Although he knew this series of names, they were not capable people. Ying Ziyan, Song Zhongzi, Qi Wu Guangming, and Yin Siqian were all surnames with Chinese characters added. Their real names were Ying Rong, Song Zhong, Qi Wu Kai, and Yin Mo. They are all Confucian scholars, with great reputation but no real ability. Pan Chengming's real name is Pan Jun. He is a talent in internal affairs, but he cannot be poached now. So he stopped Zhuge Liang and said: "People like them are all empty talkers and are of little use. What I want to ask is a practical person like Kong Ming!" When Zhuge Liang heard this, he realized that Qin Zhen was trying to poach people, and he laughed and said: "I am still young, what talents can I have? You are too kind, sir!" After saying this modestly, he gave Qin Zhen a string of names, including Shi Tao, Meng Jian, Cui Jun, Liao Li, Liu Ba, Jiang Wan, Pang Tong and others. "Among these people, Shi Guangyuan, Meng Gongwei, and Cui Zhouping were all good friends of Liang." "Liao Gongyuan and Pang Shiyuan are both outstanding talents in Chu." "Although Liu Zichu and Jiang Gongyan came from remote places, they are talents for the country." After hearing these names, Qin Zhen nodded with satisfaction. These people were his target for this trip to Jingzhou. "Then according to Kong Ming, can we recruit these talented people into our army?" When Zhuge Liang heard this, he shook his head and said: "This is a very difficult matter. If our army were to establish itself in Jingzhou now, talented people like them could all be recommended to you, sir!" "But our army is far away in Huainan now, and those people in Jingxiang may not be willing to do so!" Having said this, he hesitated for a while and said in a deep voice: "I think that except for Pang Shiyuan, no one else has the intention to go east." "If you want to meet Pang Shiyuan when you go to Jingzhou, I can introduce him to you!" In fact, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong were not only the Dragon and the Phoenix, because Zhuge Liang's sister married Pang Tong's cousin Pang Shanmin. Therefore, in addition to being friends, the two also have some kind of kinship relationship. Therefore, when he saw that Qin Zhen was looking for someone to recruit, he recommended Pang Tong. When Qin Zhen heard this, his eyes lit up and he couldn't help but smile:

"I have also heard of Pang Shiyuan's name. If I can meet him this time, it will be my wish." In fact, they are no longer short of talented people in governing the country. After all, Huainan is so small. With people like Liu Fu, Yuan Huan, Sun Qian and Luo Jun, there are more than enough talents. What they lack now are generals and advisers. If they can dig Pang Tong here and gather the Dragon and the Phoenix together, the lineup of advisers under Liu Bei's command will be enough to fight against Cao Cao. What we are lacking right now is Fa Zheng, but Fa Zheng is too far away, so it is better to capture Feng Chu first. When Zhuge Liang heard that Qin Zhen had also heard of the name Pang Tong, he looked at him sideways and wondered when did this kid Pang Tong become so famous? Even a big shot like Qin Zhen had heard of Pang Tong's reputation? But he changed his mind and realized that although Pang Tong was not very famous, he had an uncle named Pang Degong. This person is a typical Tonghu. He kept bragging about his nephew being a phoenix cub. Qin Zhen might have heard about it from him. Thinking of this, he reminded Qin Zhen again: "Oh, sir, you have been in the Central Plains for a long time. What you don't know is that there are often bandits and riots in places like Runan and Jingzhou!" "Now that we have entered Jingzhou, we must be cautious and guard against banditry!" Qin Zhen saw this and said with a smile: "There is no need to worry about this. We have 500 elite soldiers under our command. How can ordinary bandits dare to attack us?" "Even if there is a big thief here, Chen Shuzhi will deal with it. Why worry about it?" In order to ensure their safety this time, Liu Bei sent out elite veteran soldiers. When facing ordinary bandits, they are not afraid even if they have several times more troops. What's more, Chen Dao is here to protect us, so ordinary bandits would be seeking their deaths if they come here. When Zhuge Liang heard this, he secretly thought that he was too cautious. If a formal army came, they would not be afraid. But while the two were talking, the carriage suddenly stopped, and then Chen Dao shouted: "Who are you and why are you stopping here? Are you planning to rob us?" Hearing this, Qin Zhen was surprised, thinking to himself that he had just given Kong Ming a promise, so was he going to be slapped in the face? While thinking, he opened the car window, stuck his head out and asked: "Why did you stop? What happened?" Upon hearing this, the guards outside the carriage hurriedly said to Qin Zhen: "Reporting to the military advisor, we suddenly saw a large number of people blocking the road ahead. I don't know why. The general is questioning them." When Qin Zhen saw this, he looked up and saw that they had already walked into a valley. In the distance stood a large number of people, all of them pale and thin, wearing tattered clothes. Before he could see clearly, a man stood up and said: "I wonder who the general in front belongs to?" "We are the people of Pingchun. We heard that Envoy Liu is in Runan to provide relief to the victims of the disaster, so we want to go and join him!" "I hope the general won't take offense and let us go!" As soon as he said this, the people behind him began to ask for mercy. When Chen Dao saw this, he was embarrassed for a moment, and hurriedly rode his horse to the front of Qin Zhen's carriage and said: "Military Advisor, what should we do?"

"I see there are about 2,000 to 3,000 of them. If they are disguised as thieves, we will be surrounded if we let them get close!" "Now there is no place to escape on the mountain path, how can we deal with it?" Upon hearing this, Qin Zhen looked carefully and saw that there were many young and strong men in this group of refugees, all holding sticks, so it was possible that some of them were thieves in disguise. But among them there were many old, weak, women and children. Even if they were bandits, they would not bring their families with them to rob. After thinking for a while, he said to Chen Dao: "I don't think they are evil people. Go and call the leader to come to me!" "If he is willing to come, he is probably not a bandit!" After hearing this, Chen Dao hurriedly followed the order and soon led the men to the front of the carriage. Qin Zhen saw these shirtless men with rather sturdy bodies and wondered: "Who is your leader? What is your name? Why did you go to Runan?" As soon as he finished speaking, a man stepped out and knelt on the ground with a plop. "I am Wei Yan, a humble man. I am honored to meet you, sir. Because my hometown has suffered a disaster and it is difficult to make a living, I have come to seek refuge with Liu Mu!" As soon as this person finished speaking, Qin Zhen was stunned on the spot. The man in front of him is called Wei Yan? Could it be that he could pick up a great general during his mission? (End of this chapter)