Chapter 51 Recommendation

  Lü Bu's troops almost crushed Niu Fu's army, which was fleeing in all directions. Lü Bu didn't care where Niu Fu ran to, as long as he could chase him down and give him a good beating.

  In addition, Li Jue and Guo Si had already met with the special envoy sent by the imperial court - Liu Xuan sent the attendant Yang Qi as an envoy to comfort Li Jue and Guo Si's troops, promising that the imperial court would only pursue Dong Zhuo's crimes and not excessively pursue Li Jue and Guo Si's matters.

  To comfort them, Liu Xuan even appointed them as Pingkou Zhonglang Jiang and Taizei Zhonglang Jiang.

  These two official positions, the previous name was just a casual mention by Liu Xuan, and it can't be taken as accurate. However, since they have been given the title of Zhonglang General, it is considered a relatively high-ranking military position with real power. At the same time, an edict was issued to have them separately garrison in Tianshui and Anding prefectures, which amounts to giving them their own territory - in fact, Liu Xuan had no choice but to do so, as these two prefectures were already under their control, so it's better to just grant them the favor.

  At the same time, the two men defended against the Northern Xiongnu and the Western Qiang Rong. As for the matter of attacking Niu Fu, they were not allowed to participate, but with this reward, unless the two men are idiots, they will not get involved in Niu Fu's affairs.

  At that time when Lü Bu was chasing after Niu Fu's buttocks and wildly hitting Hai Yan, the two men remained still, only placing their troops at the gate of the house, under the name of protecting the state and county, not allowing bandits to infiltrate.

  This attitude, on the one hand, showed that he was still wary of the imperial court, and on the other hand, completely drew a line with Dong Zhuo's faction. Because Niu Fu's envoy to seek help was directly beheaded by the two and handed over to Yang Qi, the attendant, to take back to the capital, to show his loyalty.

  Things have come to this, and Niu Fu has no way out. In the end, he took advantage of the night and led three or five close guards to sneak out of the military camp, wanting to take the mountain road through the forest into Hanzhong, and then go to Yizhou to avoid disaster - Old Dong Zhuo's place is not much better than his, where can he go? At this time, going there is also a death sentence. Niu Fu has not yet reached the point of being willing to die with his own father-in-law.

  He didn't expect that he hadn't run far before being beheaded by a personal guard, and then his wealth was seized and the guard ran to find Lü Bu with Cao's head in hand. This guy didn't get any benefits, and it's not clear if it's because of his own experience, but Lü Bu was extremely disgusted with such behavior and directly ordered that the man be killed.

  So in this battle, the only one who benefited from it was Lü Bu. Not only did he remove Niu Fu's thorn, but also cleaned up the area west of Chang'an through this chaotic battle.

  Moreover, due to Niu Fu's final retreat without a fight, Lü Bu directly took over the troops left behind by Niu Fu.

  There were quite a few people, with six thousand soldiers left to fight, and many strong civilians, as well as many blacksmiths mixed in the army. This battle was a great harvest, and Lü Bu happily wrote all of them down in his battle report, then sent someone to quickly send it back to the capital to report their victory.

  Following Liu Xuan's pre-arranged instructions, he led his troops to occupy the area from Xianyang to Shenling. As for the many counties further west, Lü Bu was limited by the small number of soldiers in his hands, so he could only watch as Li Jue and Guo Si sent their troops to occupy them.

  "Sooner or later, these places will all be knocked down."

  Withdraw troops and return to the capital, Lü Bu's victory in this battle can be said to have won a great victory. Although the officials in the court are quite wary of Lü Bu, having such a fierce general sitting in town can indeed make them feel more at ease, at least there is someone they can rely on in terms of military affairs.

  Let them unexpectedly be Cao Cao, the newly appointed General of Pingxi, who did not directly withdraw his troops after pacifying the bandits, but instead continued to advance northward, helping the imperial court to reclaim the territories of Fengyuan and other places adjacent to Beidi Prefecture. If they were to push a bit further north, they could directly bring all the areas south of the Great Wall back under the direct control of the imperial court.

  Cao Cao then organized the captured civilians to open up wasteland and cultivate it on a large scale, and petitioned Liu Xuan to send officials to take over. He continued to train his troops outside while guarding against the northern tribes.

  Cao Cao's memorial was read out directly in the imperial court, but Liu Xuan did not make a direct decision this time. Instead, he asked the officials present: "What suggestions do you have regarding this?"

  At this time, the general situation in the court was already under his control, and the six departments also began to be established according to plan. The old ministers saw that the emperor's mind was made up and knew that they could not go against the emperor's will on this matter. In addition, many people in the court did not object to the system of the six departments. If they deliberately created trouble, they would be remembered by the emperor for their wrongdoing. Therefore, they all changed their minds and thought about how to consolidate their own power more effectively.

  The emperor asked for opinions at this time, which was also an opportunity for everyone to show themselves. The officials in the court immediately put forward their suggestions.

  What made Liu Xuan concerned was a sentence: "Cao Pingxi has now stabilized the situation in Fengyin, if we don't take advantage of this opportunity to solidify it, I'm afraid it will be taken advantage of by bandits. Moreover, being adjacent to the capital, someone capable should be sent there, and I recommend one person who can undertake this task."

  He knew that these people would definitely take the opportunity to plant their own confidants, and Fengyuan was just north of Chang'an, which is not considered a remote place. As for the current court situation, Fengyuan is one of the few counties that are directly controlled by the court. The officials sent out are truly powerful local officials. If he can be the governor of this county, it would be equivalent to working under the emperor's nose. As long as he has some achievements, he will surely be valued by the emperor in the future.

  While recommending himself for his achievements, he thought that in the future, his position in the court would be more stable. Many people were thinking along these lines, and suddenly all sorts of names kept popping up on the imperial court, Liu Xuan's head was aching from listening to them, but unfortunately, he never heard any familiar names.

  Until the end, Xun Yu recommended one person who slightly piqued Liu Xuan's interest.

  "Your humble servant recommends one person. His surname is Guo, his name is Jia, and his courtesy name is Fengxiao. He is from Yangzhai in Yingchuan. From a young age, he has had a reputation for being talented and can take on this role."

  As soon as this was said, the officials in the court looked at each other, and among them, several people from Yingchuan seemed to remember a person like that. However, the faces of these few men did not look very good, it can be seen that their impression of Guo Jia was not very good.

  Actually it's almost the same, Guo Jia is also considered a famous scholar of Yingchuan, but this fame is not all good.

  Firstly, some of this person's temperament is not acceptable to the scholars of today. Moreover, he is quite arrogant and not very friendly to those he looks down upon. Therefore, for many people, Guo Jia is a very annoying person.

  I didn't expect Xun Yu to recommend this person today. Don't they remember the relationship between Guo Jia and Xun Yu?

  Actually, Guo Jia and Xun Yu were not close friends, but rather Guo Jia was an old acquaintance of Xun You. Moreover, Xun You's talent was not inferior to Guo Jia's, so Guo Jia was also quite friendly towards this talented person, and the two became close friends.

  Liu Xuan is now the emperor, after pulling Xun Yu to his side, Xun Yu initially still had an attitude of observation and did not really prepare to assist wholeheartedly. Later, as time passed, he gradually understood some of Liu Xuan's abilities and ambitions, feeling that the Han Dynasty's fate was not yet exhausted, and revival was not impossible.

  In this way, he had to start thinking about how to maximize Liu Xuan's power while weakening the potential opponents' strength.

  Guo Jia's talent is something that Xun Yu understands better than anyone. If he were to be left outside and used by others, it would not be a blessing for the imperial court. Therefore, it would be best to bring him in as soon as possible.

  With this idea, Xun Yu told Xun You about it. Coincidentally, he had communicated with Guo Jia a few days ago and knew that Guo Jia had joined Yuan Shao's camp due to Tian Feng's invitation, but only after more than ten days did he find out that Yuan Shao was not a man who could achieve great things, so he resigned and returned to his hometown. Such an opportunity cannot be missed, and Xun Yu is preparing to ask Xun You to find an opportunity to recommend Guo Jia to the Emperor.

  Xun Yu was still quite puzzled at the time, because Xun Yu was a close minister to the emperor, and if he wanted to recommend someone, wouldn't it be more convenient for him? As a result, Xun Yu thought that making such a recommendation from his current position would not be appropriate and might lead to criticism, so he let Xun You do it instead.

  However, Liu Xuan had long been thinking of those strategists who were originally under Cao Cao's command. He remembered that in the novel, it was this uncle and nephew duo who defected to Cao Cao one after another and introduced outstanding strategists to Cao Cao's camp, making Cao Cao's camp a perfect blend of civil and military talents, gradually increasing its power and becoming one of the most powerful warlords in the north.

  It's just that after so many days have passed, neither of them mentioned the matter again. Liu Xuan knew that this was because the uncle and nephew had not truly accepted him yet, and for now, he could only continue to work hard.

  Unexpectedly brought up Guo Jia during today's meeting, what a great talent he is, can't afford to miss him.

  It would be inappropriate to send Guo Jia to serve as the governor of Fengyang, Guo Jia's talent lies in his strategic thinking and planning, it is best for him to stay by one's side to provide counsel and advice, putting him outside would not bring out his great abilities, so the position of governor should be given to someone else.

  Moreover, Guo Jia was only 21 years old and no matter how talented he was, it was impossible for the emperor to directly appoint him as a provincial governor.

  "Yang Qi, a palace attendant, had previously been sent on a mission and achieved merit, becoming the governor of Fufeng. Guo Fengxiao was known for his talent and reputation, and should have been recruited to serve in the imperial court."

  After some thought, Yang Qi was finally appointed as the governor of Fengyuan. Anyway, the main tasks in that place are currently just civil affairs and military preparations. Military affairs have Cao Cao, so it's not necessary for Yang Qi to worry about it, as long as he stabilizes civil affairs, there won't be any problems.

  Guo Jia should first enter the imperial court as a Shizhong. Later, depending on whether his strategies are more inclined towards military or political affairs, we can consider assigning him to the Ministry of War's Planning Department or elsewhere.

  If both sides are involved, then one can only stay by their side and play the role of an assistant. Of course, being an assistant to the peak is not without high position, that is, the actual Taifu is a high-ranking assistant, whose duties include answering the emperor's inquiries at any time, helping the emperor make plans - unlike the Crown Prince's Taifu, who is the Crown Prince's teacher.

  These things were done in an instant, and now he is looking forward to seeing if the Xun brothers can recommend any more talents to him.

  However, before that, he thought of something, so after the early dynasty, Wang Yun was left behind. Without waiting for Wang Yun to ask, he opened his mouth and said: "I heard that there is a song girl in your mansion, named Diao Chan, who has been practicing singing and dancing since childhood. Later, I will send someone to bring her into the palace to relieve my boredom with Cai Guiren."

  Wang Yun listened and his face was first stunned, but even if the old man was unwilling, he still reluctantly responded with a bitter face: "Yes."