Business Negotiation

  From Xiangwu to Jicheng is not too far, Gao Fei led more than 700 cavalrymen at the fastest speed towards Jicheng. After about two hours or so, Gao Fei saw Jicheng.

  The city gate of Jizhou was closed, and the soldiers on the city tower were coming and going. The big flag of the Han army was dancing in the strong wind, it can be seen that Jizhou had already entered a state of full alert.

  Gao Fei led his men to arrive under the city wall. Seeing the archers standing on the city tower, a small general guarding the city shouted and asked: "What kind of people are you?"

  Gao Fei and his men were all stained with blood, and in the sunset's reflection, it was even more apparent. He rode forward two steps, reined in his horse, and shouted towards the city gate: "I am Gao Fei, Marquis of Du County, leading my troops to a great victory against the rebel army! Open the city gates quickly!"

  That young general looked at the people below, who all had the appearance of having been killed in battle, but he did not dare to believe it. He called over a soldier and said to him: "Go and call Bian Xi to come and identify them, to see if they are all from the same county!"

  The soldier responded with a sound and went down the city wall. When he came up again, he brought Ben Xi. Ben Xi politely bowed to the young general and walked to the edge of the city wall. He just looked out and saw Gao Fei. He hastily said to the young general: "The one below is our Lord Hou, please quickly open the city gate."

  The young general confirmed that there was no mistake and then ordered the city gate to be opened. Bian Xi also descended from the city tower.

  Gao Fei saw that the city gate was open and led his men inside, but they ran into Bian Xi head-on.

  "Master Hou, you've finally returned. I've been waiting for a long time... Hmm? Why have so many people come back with you?" asked Bian Xi, his delight mixed with a hint of surprise.

  Gao Fei dismounted and flipped over, letting Bian Xi lead the horse away. He asked Bian Xi, "To make a long story short, have all the civilians safely entered the city?"

  "Everyone has safely entered the city, and the county magistrate of Xiangwu also informed the governor of Liangzhou about the rebellion of the Qiang and Hu. The governor immediately made a decision to mobilize all the people in the city to continue evacuating, and sent an urgent report six hundred miles away to inform the imperial court and request reinforcements. Now there are only 20,000 troops left in Jicheng, and I have ordered Xiahou Lan and Pei Yuanshao to follow the army back first, while I stay here waiting for your lordship."

  Gao Fei said: "The governor's reaction is quick enough, where is the governor now?"

  "Follow me, Master Hou," said Bai Xi, "I know the way, I'll take you there!"

  Gao Fei said: "No need, you take the brothers to find a place to rest well, I'll go find Governor Shi myself."

  Bian Xi nodded and said to Zhao Yun and others: "Brothers, follow me."

  "Damn it! As expected, he's a relative, I'm going back to Chen Village!" Gao Fei secretly cursed in his heart.

  "Your Excellency, I heard that Beigong Boyu led a group of rebel troops and has already captured Longxi. Longxi is very close to here, if Beigong Boyu leads his army to attack us, we two don't think we have the ability to resist. I want to ask Your Excellency to take command of these 5,000 soldiers and defend against Beigong Boyu. What do you think?" Fu Xie said.

  Gaofei shook his head and said, "Although Yecheng is large, there are no dangers to defend. Even if we can stop Beigong Boyu's men, we absolutely cannot stop the tens of thousands of Qiang Hu rebels. In my opinion, temporarily abandon Yecheng, retreat to Chencang, Chencang's terrain is treacherous, and with these 5,000 soldiers, I am confident that I can hold Chencang Pass. Holding Chencang is equivalent to holding the three auxiliary regions. Even if the entire Liangzhou falls into the rebels' hands, as long as the three auxiliary regions are unimpeded, the imperial court will send a large army to come and surround them, and we must be able to counterattack. I don't know what the two gentlemen think?"

  Gai Xun slapped his thigh and shouted loudly: "That's it, we're not abandoning Liangzhou because we want to, but because of the situation. Governor Zhang doesn't care about the overall situation, he's not worth saving. What do you think, Prefect?"

  "Now that Longxi and Jincheng have all fallen into the hands of the rebels, Han Yang County is in a precarious situation. Fortunately, I had previously announced to each city to let the people evacuate early. Since Chen Cang can stop the rebels' footsteps, then retreat to Chen Cang!" Fu Xie thought for a long time before slowly saying, "Lord Hou, you are the great contributor who pacified the Yellow Turbans, and commanding thousands of horses on the battlefield must be your strong point. I and Lord Gai are willing to temporarily follow your command, and after retreating from the rebels, we will also definitely jointly petition the Emperor to recount your merits!"

  This is a good thing, Gao Fei absolutely cannot be polite, this is a matter of life and death, as long as he has the army in his hands, his confidence will be different. The 5,000 soldiers are all regular trained government troops, plus his more than 700 cavalrymen, defending a small Chen Cang is simply effortless. He nodded and said: "Since this is the intention of the two masters, I will not refuse. However, since the two masters know that Governor Yan has taken 15,000 people to go without return, are you willing to watch them go to their deaths with your eyes open?"

  Fu Xie and Gai Xun looked at each other, but couldn't think of anything good to say, so they both cupped their hands and asked: "I wonder if the young master has any clever plan?"

  Gao Fei smiled slightly and whispered a few words to Fu Xie and Gai Xun. After hearing this, Fu Xie and Gai Xun were shocked and turned pale, with cold sweat dripping from their faces. They asked in unison: "Your Excellency, is this not a capital offense? Are you really going to do it?"

  Gao Fei nodded and said, "Your Excellencies, this is also a situation that cannot be avoided. If anything happens after the matter is settled, I will take sole responsibility and absolutely not implicate Your Excellencies. However, this matter still requires Your Excellencies' assistance."

  Fu Xie and Gai Xun were both loyal to the imperial court, with Gai Xun being a descendant of a prominent official family that had held high-ranking positions for generations. After some internal struggle, they eventually agreed to help High Fly, indicating their willingness to assist him.

  Gao Fei was also clear that this matter was indeed a capital offense, but after careful consideration, if he did it, he would not only be able to control the 20,000-strong army in Jizhou, but also have enough capital to plan the recovery of Liangzhou. However, if he didn't do it, he could only watch as the 15,000 people went to their deaths in vain. He and Fu Xie and Gai Xun took advantage of Zuo Chang still gathering troops on the training grounds to quietly begin their actions.

  Note: In the Han Dynasty, both the provincial governor and the provincial shepherd were the highest officials in a province. A province was equivalent to a current province, but from the perspective of power, there was still a slight difference between the two. Emperor Wu of Han divided the nine provinces into thirteen provinces, each with its own governor, initially responsible for supervising the prefects of various counties. However, over time, their powers grew heavier, and during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, the governors were renamed provincial shepherds, making them officially the highest officials in a province.

  In a province, there is either a governor or a military governor, but not both. However, a governor can be promoted to military governor within the same province. A governor is a regular official in a province, but a military governor is not, so it's not guaranteed that every governor can be promoted to military governor. Military governors are usually set up in areas where troops are frequently used. In this sense, a military governor has stronger military power than a governor.

  By the time of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling of Han, large-scale rebellions by the Qiang people in Liangzhou became rare, whereas Youzhou and Bingzhou were frequently harassed by the Xianbei, becoming a region of frequent military activity. As a result, during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the governor of Liangzhou was downgraded from taishou to cishi, while those of Youzhou and Bingzhou were upgraded from cishi to taishou. This situation where both taishou and cishi coexisted continued for a long time.