Chapter Five: The Emperor's Recruitment of Lang, the Dragon Carriage in the Imperial Court

  Zhang Liao and Ding Yuan walked towards an inn in the east of the city with three people.

  On the road, Ding Yuan and his two subordinates were chatting happily. Even Lü Bu, a very proud person, gradually opened up when talking to his lord, but there was still a hint of pride between his eyebrows.

  After talking for a while, Ding Yuan couldn't help but ask Zhang Liao: "Wenyuan, I wonder who this great talent is?"

  When the lord asked, Zhang Liao knew he couldn't disobey, but thinking that he had promised someone else not to leak the message, Zhang Liao could only say: "My lord, it's not that I don't want to tell you, but I promised someone else and cannot reveal his message!"

  "Oh!"

  Ding Yuan heard this and smiled, although he was curious in his heart, he didn't want to make Zhang Liao difficult, so he laughed loudly: "Since Wen Yuan attaches great importance to promises, I won't ask anymore!"

  Zhang Liao let out a sigh of relief. If Lord Cao had asked, he would have taken the promise seriously and could only tell the truth. Now that Ding Yuan was not making things difficult, Zhang Liao naturally felt secretly grateful in his heart.

  The ancients had a promise worth a thousand pieces of gold, but they also had the utmost loyalty. Therefore, between morality and the monarch, although the ancients attached great importance to promises, they were even more loyal to the monarch. Now that Ding Yuan can let Zhang Liao not be in a difficult position, he has also won Zhang Liao's favor.

  Thus, Zhang Liao himself had only 90% loyalty, but in an instant it reached 100%, and Ding Yuan unintentionally regained the loyalty of his fierce general.

  Even if Lü Bu was arrogant, when he heard about Ding Yuan, he also put away his disdainful heart.

  The tavern was just between words.

  Zhang Liao walked ahead to the entrance of the tavern, stretched out his hand in a gesture of invitation. Ding Yuan was taken aback for a moment before he understood that this must be the tavern where the great talent was currently residing.

  Zhang Liao followed closely behind and said: "Your Excellency, please wait downstairs for a moment. I'll go inform that great talent to come out and greet Your Excellency!"

  In his past life when playing games, there wasn't this step, so Ding Yuan didn't know what to do either.

  Lü Bu said: "This person doesn't know what kind of talent he has, and yet the master himself came to pay his respects. If he were a talented individual from some other family, it would be understandable!"

  When Ding Yuan heard Lü Bu say this, he knew that Lü Bu was not convinced in his heart and was just going through the motions. He secretly found it amusing, but on the surface, his expression did not change at all. Although they were just game characters, they also had their own emotions, and one could not afford to lose big because of small matters.

  After a while, only one person and Zhang Liao came out together, looking very happy.

  He stepped forward and bowed deeply with his hands clasped together, saying: "Greetings, Your Honor!"

  Ding Yuan's heart skipped a beat as he thought, "Could it be that this person has come from afar to rely on me?"

  "Now, Lü Bu spoke up: 'You dare to come here! My master has treated you with sincerity, how can you not recognize good intentions?'"

  "Please step down, sir! I wish to see Ding Yuan. It is already his good fortune, and we cannot delay any further!"

  As soon as Ding Yuan spoke up, Lü Bu, though resentful, had no choice but to withdraw.

  At this time, Zhang Liao stepped forward and said: "Mr. Xiang, my master is eager to recruit talents, please agree, sir!"

  This man smiled but didn't speak, stood with his hands behind his back, yet his fingers were clenched into fists.

  Ding Yuan saw this and suddenly had an idea. He took a step forward and smiled: "Sir, you are a great talent! I will definitely treat you as a national scholar!"

  This man then re-clasped his hands together and bowed deeply, saying: "My lord truly wants it, I, Zhang Lang, should exert the efforts of a horse or dog!"

  Ding Yuan was shocked, then hurriedly stepped forward to help him up and said to Xiang Lang: "Juda please get up, with the addition of this gentleman, I am truly honored!"

  Ding Yuan still couldn't believe it at this moment, and just like that, Xiang Lang joined in.

  Toward Lang, Ding Yuan knew that this person was a loyal minister of Shu State during the Three Kingdoms period. He had extraordinary talent and was a great political strategist. With his joining, this small city of Xin Ye would have great development.

  Ding Yuan's heart skipped a beat as he began to check out Xiang Lang's information.

  Warrior: Xiang Lang

  Strength value: 46

  Intelligence value: 83

  Held weapon: Gentleman's Sword, Effect: Increases strength value by a little.

  Worn item: None.

  This Three Kingdoms game is most important with two things: one is martial generals and the other is cities.

  The role of a military general is self-evident, as a top-notch general can capture a city alone. The development of the city is also extremely important, as a prosperous city has a large population and abundant food and money, allowing for more recruits to be enlisted. Moreover, a flourishing city has hidden attributes that can increase the level of searched items and the probability of finding them.

  It's like Xin Ye, a small city with only 1 million people, and the annual revenue is only 10,000 gold coins. The number of soldiers that can be recruited is also limited to 100, making this war potential very weak.

  Zhang Liao and Lü Bu were both able to find items that Dian Wei was now urgently in need of, which was a stroke of great luck.

  Moreover, the top-notch city can also accelerate the recovery of the martial general's life value and internal force value. With Lang's joining, the population of Xinye City next year will increase by at least tens of thousands, making the city more prosperous. Ding Yuan couldn't help but feel delighted.

  Lang's joining made Ding Yuan even more confident, as long as he didn't make any big mistakes during the expedition, it would be easy to get through the first year and capture a new city.

  In high spirits, Ding Yuan set up a grand banquet at the provincial governor's mansion to welcome Xiang Lang and also to reward Lü Bu and Zhang Liao for their achievements.

  The cups and plates were scattered all over the place, and Ding Yuan had drunk to a state of utter intoxication that night. It wasn't until he heard someone calling out in reality that he finally sobered up.

  Xiang Lang was successfully recruited, and Ding Yuan wasn't so anxious anymore.

  At the flicker of a thought, a pulling force pulled Ding Yuan back into reality.

  At this moment, Hong'er and Lü'er, the two girls, called out to Ding Yuan for a long time but couldn't wake him up. The two girls' eyes sparkled with tears, their anxious appearance moved me, and it made Ding Yuan's heart flutter slightly.

  Seeing Ding Yuan open his eyes, Lü'er noticed it and quickly changed from crying to laughing, excitedly shouting: "Look, Hong'er sister, Your Majesty is awake!"

  Hong'er let out a shout, and only then did she realize that Ding Yuan had already woken up, staring at the two of them with an ambiguous smile. Hong'er was older after all, and under Ding Yuan's scorching gaze, she felt somewhat shy, her cheeks involuntarily turning red.

  After a while, Hong'er seemed to remember something and hastily said anxiously: "Your Majesty, General Ju Liao came over just now and seemed very anxious. He mentioned that there would be an imperial court meeting!"

  Ding Yuan, who was gazing at the charming faces of the two women with great relish, heard Hong'er say this and suddenly slapped his forehead, exclaiming: "Damn it! I forgot that I promised General Ju Liao to attend the court meeting today!"

  Knowing that the matter was urgent, concerning his own life and death as well as those of the people in Cheung Lung Country, Ting Yuan hastily said: "Hung Yee, Luk Yee, quickly attend to your master's toilet and dressing!"

  …………

  In a huge palace, Ding Yuan sat in the highest position of the great hall, with large teams of people standing on both sides below.

  On the left are civil officials in uniform attire, on the right are military generals in armor.

  Ding Yuan looked at the crowd on the ground, and a sense of dominance rose in his heart: "I am now the ruler of this Che Long country, this feeling is extremely cool!"

  On the side of Wu Jiang, with Ji Liao as the general, after the small eunuch announced the start of the court meeting, Ji Liao stepped forward one step, knelt on one knee, and said: "Your Majesty, I have a matter to report!"

  Ding Yuan thought of the monarch's demeanor he saw on TV and said with a straight face, "General Ji Liao, please present your memorial to the throne!"

  There was a small eunuch who went down three steps and respectfully handed over the memorial to Ding Yuan for examination.

  Ding Yuan took a glance and saw unfamiliar yet recognizable characters, he knew it was about the invasion of Che Ma Guo's great army and the need to summon the 'Dou Shi Da Dui'.

  He folded the memorial and said in a deep voice: "Che Ma Guo is treacherous, invading my Che Long Guo, Long Huo Town. What do you think, all of you?"

  Yesterday, after talking with Jiuliao, Dingyuan knew that the titles of this world are roughly the same as those in ancient times. For example, Dingyuan is the lord of this small country, Chelongguo, and the monarch refers to himself as "Gu" and addresses his ministers as "Aiqing".

  Ding Yuan finished speaking, and the first official of the Wen Guan came forward. He took a step forward, bowed deeply and said: "Your Majesty, the national situation is critical, we need to deliberate carefully and consider it for a long time before acting!"

  Ding Yuan's eyes scanned the scene, and he asked in a deep voice: "What made you think thrice before acting? Tell me, my love!"

  "This... things are urgent, I, your humble minister, have yet to devise a plan!"

  He cupped his hands and said.

  "Get out!"

  With confidence in his heart, Ding Yuan said impatiently.

  "General Juliao, what do you think we should do?"

  Ding Yuan and Ju Liao had already communicated yesterday morning, today is just taking it out to say, if other people have a better way, naturally the best, if not, then follow the trend and pass it at the court meeting.

  Jū Liáo remained on one knee, though he was kneeling, he had a certain dignity: "Your Majesty, now only by fighting hard with Che Ma Guo can we make them know that Che Long Guo is not to be underestimated, and they will retreat. Therefore, I hope Your Majesty can send the Dòu Shì (warrior) troops to Huǒ Lóng Zhèn (Fire Dragon Town) to assist Xià Jìn (Summer Advance) General!"

  Upon hearing Ji Liao's words, the civil officials whispered to each other. The first among them hastily stepped forward, fell to the ground and urgently said: "Your Majesty, it is not permissible! The Great General's troops are the last strength of our country of Che Zhou, they cannot be easily dispatched unless absolutely necessary!"

  Then, several civil officials came out, knelt down on the ground and cried to the sky: "Your Majesty, Minister Wen is right! The Great Warrior Legion is the foundation of our country's founding, it cannot be easily dispatched!"

  Ji Liao looked at these officials, his eyes blazing with anger, and asked loudly: "So, what do you gentlemen suggest we do?"

  A civil official hesitated and said: "Fire Dragon Town is just a small town, abandoning it will not harm the great elegance of our Che Lung Nation!"

  "No harm done!"

  "Fire Dragon Town is a place our ancestors of Che Lung Country fought for and never lost, are you saying we should give it up now?"

  "It's not what you think, Your Honor is saying that we can temporarily give it up and wait until our country, Cheolongguk, has recovered its national strength. We'll take it back then. For now, let's just have the horse-drawn carriage country temporarily manage it, just temporarily manage it!"

  At this time, another general stepped out and knelt down on one knee. First, he paid his respects to Ding Yuan, then loudly asked: "Temporary management? Management until when?"

  The official said: "I've said it, wait until our country's power is restored, and I'll take it back!"

  …………

  Looking at the people below arguing loudly, Ding Yuan knew it was time for him to speak up: "Alright, quiet!"

  The buzzing sound still echoed, as if he hadn't heard Ding Yuan's words at all. Ding Yuan's face turned iron-green, and his heart felt a chill. "Could it be that my words as the ruler have no effect?"

  "Everyone stop and rest!"

  When Ding Yuan was extremely angry, he only felt a force naturally flowing in his body, and unconsciously, Ding Yuan had already used this force.

  "Everyone stop and rest!"

  "Everyone stop and rest!"

  …………

  The great hall was filled with Ding Yuan's angry voice booming loudly.

  Stillness, a stillness like death, everyone's gaze turned to Ding Yuan in an unnatural way. Wen Daoren's heart skipped a beat, his eyes narrowed: "I didn't expect Your Majesty to be hiding so deeply, you already have the aura of a One-Star Dou Shi!"

  At this moment, Na Jiao's eyes were also flashing, and her face was changing with uncertainty...