Twenty-two: Talents emerge in chaotic times

  Later, Liu Bian only exchanged some money and fine wine, and stored the rest of his merits and faith. Next time, he must exchange a storage ring, so that it will be more convenient to store things in the future.

  It was mid-May, and Liu Bian had been studying under Cai Yong's guidance for half a month. With his natural talent of remembering everything at first glance, no matter what Cai Yong taught him, he not only remembered quickly but also made connections and inferences, which greatly impressed Cai Yong.

  At the same time, many of Cai Yong's old friends and court officials often came to Shi Fu to visit Cai Yong. Liu Bian warmly entertained them all, bringing out his own fine wines and meats, and also got to know more court officials, earning the appreciation of many people.

  However, the third temporary task did not appear as scheduled, which made Liu Bian somewhat puzzled, but there was no way to do so, and he had to study on the one hand and practice on the other, while buying more people's hearts.

  After this period of time, Liu Bian's kindness and authority were both implemented, and Shi Daoren had thoroughly turned to Liu Bian. Not only did he secretly inform him of all the things in the palace, no matter how big or small, but also began to slowly buy off and win over the eunuchs and palace maids under Liu Bian's instructions, after all, Liu Bian had a lot of money.

  "Now things have basically settled down, Shi Daoren's loyalty has also reached 90%, he should be a trustworthy person now. This time I have the opportunity to let him help me with another big thing."

  Liu Bian had been thinking about another major thing in his heart, that is, the matter of recruiting heroes and heroes from all over the world. Because he was familiar with history and could search for historical figures' information through the system, so he could accurately find the historical figures he wanted to find, and thus send people to recruit them.

  Liu Bian believed that as long as he could recruit about half of the heroic figures from the Three Kingdoms period in history, it would not be difficult for him to complete his main task. As for Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and Sun Jian, these heroes, Liu Bian did not intend to recruit them, nor did he think of killing them now. After all, the system would not let him easily complete his main task, and his future opponents should still be mainly these people.

  This is also the reason why Liu Bian did not recruit them or kill them in advance. If he recruits these people now, or kills them, then other heroes will appear in the world. And if they are historical figures unfamiliar to Liu Bian, then he will not be able to deal with them effectively in the future.

  So, Liu Bian would rather keep these people, after all, he is familiar with their deeds, familiar with their xìng格, and in the future when they meet again, it will be much easier to complete the task, why not?

  A chaotic world produces heroes and warlords, but it also produces talents of all kinds. Therefore, Liu Bei spared no effort in spending over 200 points of merit to find these historical figures he admired. They were Zhao Yun, Dian Wei, Ma Chao, Xu Chu, Xun Yu, Guo Jia, Liu Ye, Chen Gong, Taishi Ci, Gan Ning, Wei Yan, Pang Tong, Xu Shu, Zhang Liao, Xu Huan, Zhang He, Hua Tuo, and Lu Su.

  Zhao Yun, also known as Zilong, was the number one heroic figure in Liu Bei's mind. He was not only exceptionally brave and powerful, but also intelligent and resourceful, able to hold his own against any opponent. He had a natural talent for leading troops and fighting battles, which made him a beloved figure throughout the Three Kingdoms era.

  At this time, Zhao Yun was only twenty years old, in the prime of his youth, with a heart full of passion and a strong sense of justice. His family lived in the village of Zhaojiazhuang, in the county of Changshan, in the state of Yingzhou. His father was the leader of a large settlement, which had been established to resist the invasion of the Yellow Turbans bandits. The settlement was home to over ten thousand people, including several thousand young and able-bodied men.

  Dian Wei was the second person that Liu Bei admired, but his admiration for him was a mix of love and hate. He loved Dian Wei's unwavering loyalty to his lord, willing to sacrifice his life for him, but regretted that he had misjudged his master and ultimately sacrificed his young life for Cao Cao, a villainous man who did not deserve it. After joining Cao Cao, Dian Wei became his personal bodyguard and saved his life multiple times in critical situations. However, later on, Cao Cao's affair with Zhang Fei's aunt led to Zhang Fei's rebellion, and during the chaos, Dian Wei died in battle while covering Cao Cao's escape. At that time, Dian Wei was still in Liu Zhong's army and had not yet fled due to his crimes. However, he later killed over a dozen of his comrades-in-arms after a dispute and escaped into the mountains, where he encountered Xiahou Dun while chasing a tiger and joined Cao Cao's forces, earning him the nickname "Evil Come".

  Ma Chao was the son of Ma Teng, the Western Liang warlord. At just 13 or 14 years old, he led troops into battle. During Dong Zhuo's chaos in Chang'an, Ma Teng and Han Sui marched under the banner of eliminating Dong Zhuo, but were defeated by Lü Bu. Ma Chao risked his life to rescue his father, who was on the verge of death outside Chang'an. Later, when Ma Chao grew up, he became incredibly brave, almost killing Cao Cao once, forcing Cao Cao to flee in disarray. Now, at just 11 or 12 years old, Ma Chao is worth cultivating, but it's likely his parents won't let him come to the capital, so we can only befriend him for now and make plans later.

  Xu Chu was called "Tiger Fool" by Cao Cao, and he was also a brave and fierce general. He was from Geyang, Runan, and from a young age, he was chivalrous and righteous, learning martial arts. Later, during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he united with thousands of villagers to live in Geyang Valley, defeating the Yellow Turbans multiple times when they attacked, even pulling the tail of two oxen to prevent them from advancing, shocking the bandits and protecting the people of Geyang Valley. Later, following Cao Cao, he also made great contributions. At this time, Xu Chu was still in Geyang Valley, so he was the best person to look for.

  Other notable generals include Taishi Ci, Gan Ning, Wei Yan, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Zhang He and Gao Shun, among others. They are all legendary heroes of the Three Kingdoms period, each leaving their own mark in history.

  As for the strategists, Liu Bei highly appreciated people like Xun Yu, Guo Jia, Liu Ye, Chen Gong, Pang Tong, Xu Shu, and Chen Gui's father and son. As for Zhuge brothers and Zhou Yu, they were still young, even Pang Tong was only around 10 years old. Although he currently knew where they were, there was no need to look for them at the moment.

  Currently, Liu Bei's most desired advisors are Xun Yu, Guo Jia, Chen Gong and Xu Shu. Among them, Xun Yu is living with his nephew Xun You in the capital city, Guo Jia is still studying at home in Yingchuan, Chen Gong has taken up the post of Magistrate of Zhongmu County, and Xu Shu is serving his mother in Xiangyang, Jingzhou.

  However, Liu Bian heard that Guo Jia had been suffering from an illness all along, so most of the time he was confined to his house and read books with closed doors. Before his body recovered, he couldn't help Liu Bian, so he had to think of a way to cure his body himself, and it would be best to exchange for a pill of return elixir, which could make him completely free from all diseases.

  Moreover, Xun Yu was nearby in the capital, so Liu Bian did not rush and waited for an opportunity to speak again. The people sent out now were only looking for Guo Jia and Xu Shu, and Chen Gong would not be able to escape from his post in Zhongmu County for a while.