Chapter 66: The Change in Hebei

  Sometimes it's just so strange between people, sometimes even if you've only met once, you become friends.

  Zang Hong and his son, whether in speech or behavior, were very much to Lü Bu's taste. The original governor of Guangling, now the Sima of Puyang, Zhang Chao, had become a bystander, fortunately Qin Xu was experienced in the business world and did not make this historically loyal and rebellious Cao Wei too disappointed.

  Zang Hong and his son originally thought that Qin Xu would be a close relative of Lü Bu, and even Zhang Chao was thinking about what kind of person this young man who dared to be so relaxed in front of Lü Bu could be. It wasn't until they got familiar with him that they found out Qin Xu was just a small army accountant.

  Zang Ba was not the overlord of Mount Tai at this time, nor was he a prestigious old minister who had assisted three generations in Cao Wei. At this time, he was only in his early twenties. After learning about Qin Xu's official position, he couldn't help but show a few points of disdain on his face. However, due to the presence of Lü Bu and Zang Hong, he did not show it too openly.

  Zang Hong had previously served as a Gong Cao, with rich administrative experience, and had also initiated the alliance to overthrow Dong Zhuo. As a vassal lord, Lü Bu found it somewhat difficult to arrange Zang Hong's position. Although Lü Bu's military power was strong, he had not yet set a precedent for governing a state, so appointing someone with both military and administrative abilities as just a general would be underutilizing their talents. Therefore, Lü Bu first appointed Zang Hong as the Military Advisor and Zang Ba as the Colonel of the Imperial Guard, waiting until Qingzhou was stabilized before making further appointments.

  The sky was already late, and Zhang Chao hurried back to Puyang. After all, he had disobeyed Xiahou Yuan's military order to seal off the four gates of Puyang this time, and had come to Lü Bu's camp privately. If it weren't for the fact that Lü Bu's army was now nominally allied with Cao Cao's army, he would likely be accused of secretly communicating with the enemy.

  Benefiting from the strong momentum of Lü Bu's army and the cohesive atmosphere within, as well as Lü Bu's friendship with Zhang Miao, although Lü Bu's attention was almost entirely focused on Zang Hong's father and son, it did not hinder Zhang Chao's extremely good impression of Lü Bu. Before leaving, he frequently turned his head to look back, but it is unknown whether it was due to deep feelings for the Zang brothers or other reasons.

  Lü Bu's army welcomed Zhang Hong and his son with enthusiasm, after all, in the late Han Dynasty which was already showing signs of chaos, having a capable and famous minister like Zhang Hong join them would greatly enhance Lü Bu's overall military strength. Moreover, governing the army and governing politics were two completely different professions, if he let people like Cheng Lian and Song Xian handle political affairs, it would be better to kill them. With Lü Bu about to take over Qingzhou, his focus in the future would largely be on state governance, having an administrative veteran like Zhang Hong to assist him was simply a timely rain.

  Zang Hong was once able to unite the heroes of five counties as a Gong Cao and attack Dong Zhuo, with the whole world responding. This is not to mention his ability to handle things, but under mutual influence, he soon became familiar with Lv Bu's generals. Zang Ba had a youthful appearance and a very generous temperament, and being a military general himself, he also gained the favor of the other generals.

  "Ba Er, you seem to be not too friendly with Qin Zhongbo today! This doesn't seem like your usual self!" After sending off Zhang Chao, the sky had already darkened. By the time they got familiar with Lü Bu's army, it was already deep into the night. The newly appointed military advisor of Lü Bu's army, Zang Hong, didn't go to sleep early and instead put on a posture as if he wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with Zang Ba.

  "Dad, I think Qin Xu is just a jester, relying on the lord's favor, he's only a military accountant and doesn't even have a real position. He must not be very capable. You're his superior now, what's there to fear? Besides, how haven't I been friendly with him?" Zang Ba said disdainfully, his young face scornful as he mentioned Qin Xu.

  "What's so special about him?" Zang Hong looked at his only son and said in a low voice, "Being able to make the master value him so much is already an ability. Ba Er, you and I are new here, it's better not to cause trouble. I think this Qin Zhongbo is young but already holds such an important position, he can't be a simple person...

  "Alright, alright, I won't provoke him! Is it okay if I just avoid him?" Zang Ba nodded nonchalantly and responded casually.

  Qin Xu still doesn't know about Zang Hong's father and son's comments on himself, but even if he knew, he would probably just laugh it off. Zang Ba is a stubborn and arrogant person, otherwise he wouldn't have occupied Mount Tai in history, no one else dared to do so except Lü Bu.

  At this time, Qin Xu was in Jia Yu's camp, and Cai Yan was also sitting together. However, Qin Xu didn't have the idea of "talking heart" now, but felt a bit unbelievable about the intelligence provided by Jia Yu.

  Qin Xu, deeply influenced by the business rules of later generations, still regarded Jia Xuan as a figure similar to a wise and capable person in later generations. You want to rely on me to be in a high position and do good deeds alone, I want to rely on you to help Lü Bu stand firm, cooperate and win together, that's all. Although Jia Xuan repeatedly emphasized that as long as Qin Xu completed his remaining requests, he would give Qin Xu advice and strategy with the identity of "family general", although the great chaos in the world had become an inevitable trend, Qin Xu really couldn't bear to compete with the small powers of the late Han Dynasty for the world. He only hoped to rely on his familiarity with historical trends and Jia Xuan's ingenious strategies to make Lü Bu's army strong again and again, taking Qingzhou as its foundation, and then pursue Cai Yan safely and stably, and at most add a Lü Lingqi to live a peaceful life. As for whether Lü Bu can unify the world, this is a topic that is too long-winded, and it is another matter whether Qin Xu can survive until then. After all, the strong men of the late Han Dynasty were not easy to deal with, and the exclusion of the aristocratic families towards Lü Bu's origin was not something that could be changed overnight. The inertia of history is very strong, and Qin Xu has always not regarded himself as a savior.

  But the intelligence brought out by Jia Xu made Qin Xiang truly realize the contingency and necessity of history, and at the same time gave him new hope for Lü Bu's future.

  In the days when Lü Bu left Hebei, the Black Mountain bandits did not know what medicine they took, and under the pressure of Yan Liang's 30,000-strong army, they kept a million bandits idle and unscathed. They also ignored the strong demands of their ally Gongsun Zan and handed over Yuan Shang and Lü Bu brothers intact to Yuan Shao. They even put on an attitude of not helping each other between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan's two armies, making Gongsun Zan's encirclement advantage disappear instantly.

  Gongsun Zan was also a ruthless man. After losing the alliance with Black Mountain bandits, he took advantage of Yuan Shao's weakness in the north and launched a surprise attack on his former superior, Liu Yu, the governor of Ji Province. Within half a month, he successfully occupied the entire territory of You Province and became the governor of You Province himself. Without even pacifying the province, he took advantage of his great victory to point his army directly at Ji Province!

  Yuan Shao's actions were also unexpected. After Yuan Chang returned to Ye City, he actually ordered Yan Liang to change direction, ignoring the emptiness of Ye City and Gongsun Zan's tiger-like gaze. With the support of the army rations in Hebei, he made a surprise attack on Bingzhou, taking down six counties with lightning speed. He then petitioned to have Yuan Tan, the eldest son of the Grand Duke, appointed as the Governor of Bingzhou. This was another sharp knife placed at Gongsun Zan's back.

  What's more, what made Qin Xu feel even more unbelievable was that after Yuan Shao occupied Pingzhou, he actually acknowledged the fact that Lü Bu dominated Qingzhou. Not only did he voluntarily withdraw from the Gutang area of Qingzhou, which was occupied by the Yuan family's forces, but he also sent an envoy to Qingzhou to request a reconciliation with Lü Bu and wanted to exchange back the three people, Feng Ji, Xu You, and Meng Yi, who were captured by Lü Bu.

  It's all messed up, everything is messed up! Zhang Yan has gone mad, Gongsun Zan has gone mad, Yuan Shao has gone mad, the whole of Hebei has gone mad, and Qin Xu is about to go mad too. What the hell is going on? It's only 192, isn't it? Is there really a butterfly effect? Because of the appearance of this little butterfly Qin Xu, in less than half a year, the entire Hebei province has been plunged into war at least five years ahead of schedule?

  "Mr. Wen, this Yuan Shao is not only acknowledging Lord Cao's identity as the Governor of Qingzhou, but also withdrawing from the easily occupied territory in Qingzhou and sending an envoy to make amends, preparing to pay a high price to redeem those three captives. Has he gone crazy?" Qin Xu scratched his head, the increasingly absurd changes making his brain somewhat inadequate.

  "Yuan Shao is abandoning his soldiers to save his general!" Jia Xu said, fiddling with the simple xiangqi set Qin Yu had made to curry favor with Cai Yong.

  "Does Mr. Wen mean that Yuan Shao is going to take drastic measures against Gongsun Zan?" Qin Xu asked thoughtfully.

  "Since that day, our army met the governor of Qingzhou, Tian Kai. I roughly guessed it." Jia Xu said calmly, "Gaotang County is a stepping stone for Yuan Shao in Qingzhou, but the adjacent Pingyuan County is a good friend of Gongsun Zan, Liu Bei's jurisdiction. Rather than being occupied by General Lv or Liu Bei during the war with Gongsun Zan, it would be better to offer it as a favor and show our sincerity first, in exchange for the return of our trusted strategist and general."

  "Qingzhou is exhausted, the Yellow Turbans are rampant, and our lord's affairs in the state are still busy, how can this Yuan Shao...?" Qin Xu said halfway, suddenly enlightened: "This Yuan Shao deliberately diverted Gongsun Zan's attention, on the one hand pretending to be magnanimous and friendly with our army, but making Gongsun Zan suspicious and fearful?"

  "Indeed!" Jia Xu stroked his beard with a look of innocence, saying: "In this way, General Lü will have ample time to strengthen his military power, rectify the state's affairs, and sit back to watch the tigers fight. However, although Qingzhou has been ravaged by the Yellow Turbans and its people are impoverished, the local aristocratic families' powers are intertwined and complex; how to straighten them out still requires General Lü's careful consideration."

  Looking at Jia Xun's expression, Qin Xu had an urge to roll his eyes. He clearly had a solution but refused to say it out loud, instead putting on a pretentious air. Why did strategists these days all like this kind of attitude?

  "Please, Mr. Wenhe, enlighten me!" Qin Xu had no choice but to lower his posture and ask for guidance with cupped hands.

  "Unspeakable, unspeakable!" Jia Yu narrowed his eyes, glanced at Cai Yan, and drew out his voice as he spoke slowly.

  "Cai Yan?" Qin Xu's ability to observe and understand people, which he had cultivated in his previous life, finally came into play, accurately capturing Jia Xun's gaze.

  "What... what are you thinking about?" Seeing Qin Xu staring at her with a straight face, Cai Yan couldn't help but think of the events that took place on that night in He Nei again. A faint blush appeared on her delicate and pretty face as she glanced at Jia Xun beside her who seemed to be waiting for a good show, and said with a pout.

  "Missing you......!" Qin Xu blurted out.

  "Shame on you!" Cai Yan's face turned bright red with shame, and she spat at Qin Xu before covering her face and running away.

  "Thinking of your father Cai Yong, he might be able to help..." Qin Xu stared blankly as Cai Yan left Jia Xun's tent, finishing the sentence behind her.

  "Qin Zhubu is indeed young and elegant!"

  "Jia's surname, you're on purpose!"

  ……

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