Chapter 18: The Unenjoyable Drinking Session

  These days, the recruitment has been going quite smoothly. With Wang Yue's posters posted, many people from various counties have come to join the army. After all, if one can be selected as a personal soldier of the governor, the treatment is still very high. Even if not selected as a personal soldier, being an ordinary soldier can also get food and salary, and the family's taxes can be reduced by half. Moreover, since the world is now at peace, being a soldier is not very dangerous. So, in just a few days, the recruitment of ordinary soldiers has already been filled, but Zhao Yun's requirements for personal soldiers are relatively high, still short of over a hundred people.

  Today, Zhao Yun sat in front of the governor's mansion as usual, and saw a big man rushing over from afar with a large following of people, numbering over a thousand. Zhao Yun was overjoyed, thinking that so many people had come to enlist, and today they should be able to recruit enough.

  That big fellow suddenly arrived in front of him, and Zhao Yun took a closer look. This man was over seven feet tall, with thick eyebrows and large eyes, a tiger's back and a bear's waist, majestic and awe-inspiring. Zhao Yun secretly praised him, what a fine fellow! He then said to him: "You don't need to take the test, you can directly join the Imperial Guard, just go register over there."

  The big man didn't pay attention to him, stared at Zhao Yun for two eyes, and burst out laughing: "You're Zhao Yun? I think you're just a little kid. Hahaha..."

  Zhao Yun sensed something was amiss from his words and suddenly stood up, saying: "I am Zhao Yun. Are you not here to enlist?"

  "Less nonsense, take a punch from me first." The big man finished speaking and stepped forward, raising his hand to throw a punch. Zhao Yun was not panicked, his body lightly twisted to avoid the punch, and with his left hand, he countered with a slap. The two men exchanged blows, fighting for thirty or fifty rounds, and the big man had the upper hand due to his great strength and fierce momentum, his punches and kicks were continuous and unrelenting. Zhao Yun was not very old, but he also possessed innate divine strength, although this was the case, Zhao Yun did not engage in a hard fight with him, instead using light movements, dodging and weaving around, for a time it was unclear who would win or lose. The two men fought again for over thirty rounds, and the big man's strength could not be sustained, his movements gradually slowing down. Zhao Yun saw that the opportunity had arrived, suddenly exerted force, with punches and kicks in rapid succession, instantly gaining the upper hand, the big man was unable to defend himself, slowly showing signs of defeat. Zhao Yun took advantage of the situation and did not show mercy, taking advantage of the big man's unpreparedness, he used a mandarin duck leg technique, directly hitting the big man's abdomen. The big man let out a dull hum, and fell into the crowd.

  A burst of applause erupted from the crowd, and the big man sprang up again, still rushing forward, saying: "I am inferior in my fists and feet, let's have another match with our weapons."

  Zhao Yun remembered Fan Qiu's words and decided to help the governor do his job properly, so he didn't want to fight him anymore. He said: "This big brother, I am here on the orders of the governor to recruit soldiers. If you are here to enlist, please go over there to register. If you are here to cause trouble, I see that your skills are not ordinary, and I won't make things difficult for you, so please leave."

  The big Han did not comply, snatched the long gun from the soldier's hand in front of the door, charged at Zhao Yun with a stance and shouted: "Little boy, show me your weapon!"

  Zhao Yun suddenly became enraged and also took up a long spear to fight him.

  But Liu Xin, since Zhao Yun arrived, was very reassured to hand over the recruitment of soldiers to him. He spent his days either checking on Zhang Jun's progress in copying the house, or leading Dian Wei to train new soldiers, or urging each county to speed up tax collection. At night, he lived a happy and fulfilling life with Ma Yun.

  Zhang Jun, with the help of Fan Jing, finally completed the confiscation of Li Cheng's family property. To avenge Li Cheng's oppression over the years, Zhang Jun took away all the property of Li Cheng and his four brothers in one breath. When Liu Xin found out, it was already too late, so he had to make do with the situation. Originally, Zhang Jun intended to sell all the womenfolk of Li Cheng's family into brothels, but first, the area of Hejian was not large enough, and secondly, Liu Xin firmly disallowed him from doing so, forcing Zhang Jun to give up on the idea. However, the womenfolk of Li Cheng's family had already been driven out to the countryside, their land confiscated by Zhang Jun, leaving them with no means of livelihood except selling themselves into slavery or begging on the streets. In this way, Zhang Jun finally got rid of his long-held grudge.

  Liu Xin looked at the account book presented by Zhang Jun, and the family property of these people was as much as 70 million. After deducting 20% to give to Zhang Jun, Fan Jing and those soldiers, there were still 60 million left. Liu Xin knew that Zhang Jun's official position was bought, and it was also bought through Zhang Rang at the beginning, so he ordered Zhang Jun to escort 30 million yuan to Luoyang and hand it over to the imperial court through Zhang Rang. Of course, Liu Xin himself dictated a memorial and asked Fan Jing to write it down, letting Zhang Jun take it with him to Luoyang. Once 30 million was handed over, although Liu Xin felt heartache, he understood that Liu Hong was a greedy person. He had confiscated the property of all five Li Cheng brothers, but didn't know if it was proper or not. If someone took advantage of this to speak ill of him and frame him, then he would lose out. As for Li Lin, Liu Xin directly sentenced him to be executed after autumn.

  After finishing all this, sending Zhang Jun away, Liu Xin finally returned to the Taishou Mansion with a light heart. With Zhao Yun guarding the door, Ma Yun's safety was no longer a concern, and Liu Xin could let Dian Wei follow him again. The two didn't bring any soldiers, and they strolled down the street, seeing from afar that the direction of the Taishou Mansion was crowded with people. Liu Xin was shocked and hastily ordered Dian Wei: "Quickly, disperse and leave the road, something's happened!"

  Dian Wei received the order and shouted loudly: "Quickly scatter! Quickly scatter!" His voice was originally loud, and now he used all his strength, like a thunderclap, echoing far away. Many people in the crowd knew Dian Wei's reputation for being bloodthirsty, and when they heard that this fierce god had arrived, they immediately dispersed, not even bothering to watch Zhao Yun and the big man compete, scattering in all directions as if they had seen an evil spirit. Those who reacted slowly were knocked down by the crowd and fell to the ground, and in the blink of an eye, many people were injured.

  Liu Xin was shocked and pale. Isn't this the legendary stampede? He hastily said to Dian Wei, "This is bad! Quickly tell everyone to calm down! Don't move rashly!"

  Dian Wei shouted loudly, "Everyone stop, no one is allowed to move!" The crowd heard Dian Wei's words and actually stopped, slowly quieting down. Liu Xin saw the situation calm down and hurriedly rushed towards the governor's mansion, with Dian Wei following behind him, and the crowd automatically made way for them. Liu Xin quickly walked over, but saw that in front of the governor's mansion, two people were standing facing each other, Zhao Yun and another big man holding long spears. As soon as Dian Wei saw this, he swung his large iron halberd and rushed forward, shouting loudly: "Who dares to cause trouble at the governor's mansion, are you tired of living?"

  Just as Zhao Yun was about to engage in a fight with the big man, there was a commotion at the back of the crowd, followed by the sound of Dian Wei's thunderous roar. In recent days, Zhao Yun and Dian Wei had become familiar with each other, and they often competed in martial arts together, having a sense of "it's a pity we didn't meet earlier". When Zhao Yun heard that it was Dian Wei's voice, he didn't know what had happened, so he stopped his hand and looked outwards, but unexpectedly Dian Wei charged towards the big man with his iron spear. Zhao Yun hastily blocked him, saying: "Evil comes, don't move your hands, watch me capture him."

  At this time, Liu Xin had already walked in and said in a low voice: "All of you stop!"

  Zhoa Yun and Dian Wei, upon hearing Liu Xin's words, immediately stopped their actions. The large man also turned around, saw the official uniform on Liu Xin's body, dropped his long spear, and stood aside.

  Liu Xin looked up and down at the big man and asked: "What kind of person are you? Why did you come to my gate and cause trouble?"

  The big man saw Liu Xin's momentum and knew that this young man must be the new governor, so he cupped his hands and said: "Return to your lordship, I am a native of this county, surnamed Zhang, named Huan. I heard that there is a young man in the government with high martial arts skills, but I don't believe it, so I came to find him for a duel."

  Liu Xin suddenly realized, it was him! He was one of the five good generals under Cao Cao's command, alongside Xu Huang. He said: "So it's General Yu, I've long heard of your great name, today I see you, and indeed you're a true hero! Come, come, let's all go in together to chat."

  Zhang Heng listened, surprised and uncertain. When did he become so famous that even the governor had heard of him? Liu Xin took a step forward, grabbed Zhang Heng's hand and walked towards the mansion, instructing the soldiers at the gate: "Just now in the crowd, many people were injured. You quickly go and organize some medical treatment, all expenses will be borne by the governor's office."

  The cost is said to be borne by the Taishoufu, but in fact it was borne by the Taishou himself. Zhang Heng heard this and couldn't help but feel a deep respect for Liu Xinyu, saying: "To have an official like you who loves the people like his own children in Hejian is truly a blessing for the common people."

  Dian Wei never cared about these empty titles, but Zhao Yun secretly gave a thumbs up, it seemed that he had not followed the wrong person.

  "As an official, it is one's duty to bring benefits to the people. Alas, there are too many tasks and I, Liu, am not skilled enough to handle them alone, lacking assistants."

  Zhang He suddenly fell to the ground and said: "If Your Excellency does not despise me, I am willing to serve as a horse or dog!"

  Liu Xin had not yet spoken when Zhao Yun said beside him, "Sir, Zhang is a mighty warrior with the bravery of a thousand men, please take him in!"

  Liu Xin smiled and pulled Zhang Huan along: "I'm so glad you're willing to help me, I couldn't ask for more! Come on, let's go inside and talk slowly."

  Liu Xin unexpectedly gained another powerful general, and his mood was greatly improved. He asked again about Zhao Yun's recruitment situation and said: "Zhao Yun, your requirements are too high, it's not easy to recruit a thousand people. You've been busy for so many days, you also need to rest, let's stop the recruitment here. From the people you selected, choose 800 to form the Flying Tiger Guard, led by you and Dian Wei, what do you think?" Liu Xin knew that Cao Cao's personal guard was called the Tiger Guard Army back then, and Dian Wei was one of its leaders.

  Zhang He asked from the side: "Does the general have any other arrangements for me to carry out?"

  Liu Xin thought for a moment and said, "Alright, originally there were more than 2,000 soldiers in the military camp. With the new recruits, there are now 6,000 people, but no one is in charge. You go be the commander then. When you arrive at the military camp, you must strictly enforce military discipline, strengthen training, and do not slack off!"

  Zhang He did not expect that he would become a school lieutenant as soon as he came, and was overjoyed: "The end will certainly not disappoint the adults!"

  Four of them set up a banquet in the Taishou's mansion. Although the alcohol content was not high at that time, Liu Xin had strict requirements for himself since he was young and always insisted on not drinking a drop of wine. Today, his mood was particularly happy, and he couldn't help but drink three large bowls. Liu Xin only drank three bowls and refused to drink anymore. Zhao Yun was too young, and Liu Xin directly forbade him from drinking. Zhang Huo didn't like wine much, which made Dian Wei miserable. He had finally found an opportunity to drink freely, but there was no one to match him, making him grit his teeth in frustration. He secretly vowed that next time he would find someone who liked to drink and come back.

  Zhao Yun returned to the East Cross Temple and ran into Fan Juan. Fan Juan asked with delight, "Brother Yun, why did you come back so early today?"

  Fan Juan and Zhao Yun have been playing together since childhood, and now with Liu Xin as the matchmaker, their relationship has become more established. Although Liu Xin thinks they are still too young to get married, their relationship has progressed further.

  Zhoa Yun pulled Fan Juan's hand and said: "It has been too busy lately, and I haven't had a chance to accompany you well. Now that the recruitment is finally over."

  Fan Juan asked excitedly: "Has the official appointed you to any position? My father is most concerned about this."

  Zhao Yun knew his father-in-law, and hastily told Fan Qiong: "The general has established the Flying Tiger Guard, which is the general's personal guard, with me and Dian Wei as the left and right commanders. I and he take turns following the general, and later when there is time, I can accompany you."

  Fan Juan leaned her head against Zhao Yun's chest and said softly: "Brother Yun, you should help the adults with their work properly, don't worry about me. I'll go visit Madam when I'm free, Madam is also very nice to me. By the way, Madam told me something today, but I didn't quite understand it, let me tell you and see if you can make sense of it."

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