Pingyuan County, Gaotang County.

Zang Ba led Wu Dun, Sun Guan, Chang Xi and others to line up at the city gate to warmly welcome Zhang Yan and others to arrive.

Zhang Yan led the four generals Zhang Hong, Taishi Ci, Xu Chu, Niu Jin and Xu Sheng, with the iron cavalry and the second camp of Iron Armor, and came from the south in a mighty manner. When he arrived at Gaotang County, he saw that the gate of Gaotang County was wide open, and Zang Ba led the generals to wait there.

When they met, Zang Ba, Wu Dun, Sun Guan and Chang Feng clasped their fists and said, "See the lord!"

Zhang Yanle hurriedly jumped off the horse's back, and said happily: "Hurry and don't give me a gift!"

"Thank you!" Zang Ba once called Zhang Yan brothers. Since Zhang Yan became the governor of Xuzhou, he has also looked particularly respectful to Zhang Yan. He has changed his unruly character in the past and has been very strict with his subordinates, for fear that something would happen.

Zhang Yan grabbed Zang Ba's hand and seemed very kind. In front of everyone, he said to Zang Ba: "Xuan Gao, this time you drove Yuan Tan away for me and made great contributions. I am going to express your support for General Yang Wei..."

Before Zhang Yan could finish his words, Zang Ba interrupted Zhang Yan and said with his fists: "Thank you for your kindness, lord, but this is not my credit, but the result of the soldiers of the entire army fighting bravely to fight the enemy together. I also hope that the lord can reward these soldiers who fought bloodyly together!"

Zhang Yan said: "Don't worry, I will never treat these soldiers unfairly. If you write a few military achievements in a while, I will reward you on your merits."

"Here!" Zang Ba said respectfully.

Zhang Yan took Zang Ba's hand and walked into the city. While walking, he said, "Last time we parted in Tancheng, we have not seen each other for several months. We meet again here today. We must drink him and stop drunk."

Seeing that Zhang Yan did not show off his appearance as a provincial governor, Zang Ba did not give people a feeling of being arrogant, and was still as approachable and generous as before. Zang Ba also liked this feeling very much, so he walked straight to the city with Zhang Yan.

The soldiers and horses brought by Zhang Yan entered the city in a row. Taishi Ci, Xu Chu, Niu Jin, Xu Sheng and others were arrogant when they passed by Zang Ba's subordinates, and the armor they wore also made Wu Dun, Sun Guan, Chang Feng and others envious.

"The lord's direct troops are different, even weapons and armor are so excellent..." Wu Dun said with a tsk.

After seeing Sun Guan and Chang Xi, they felt sad. If they had such armor when they were sieging the city, at least they could have reduced many casualties.

Everyone entered the city one after another, and Wu Dun, Sun Guan and Changxi arranged their troops on the school ground, and then they came to the lobby of the county government with Taishici, Xu Chu, Niu Jin and Xu Sheng.

In the hall, Zhang Yan sat in the upper position, Zang Ba, Zhang Hong and others sat on both sides. Taishi Ci, Xu Chu, Niu Jin, and Xu Sheng entered the hall and walked to Zhang Hong to sit down one by one, while Wu Dun, Sun Guan, and Chang Xi walked to Zang Ba to sit down one by one.

Immediately afterwards, the soldiers served wine and dishes. Zang Ba opened a jar of fine wine and bowed to Zhang Yan, "The lord has come from afar, and it must be hard work. I wish you a cup of lord, which is a way to welcome you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zang Ba drank it all in one go.

Zhang Yan was not polite at all, and he smiled and picked up the wine glass and drank it all in one go.

Afterwards, Zhang Yan and Zang Ba drank and talked happily, and the whole hall was filled with joy.

During this period, the scout sent by Zhang Yan came back and found out about Yuan Tan's situation. Only then did Zhang Yan realize that Yuan Tan flew north from the ferry in Ande County to Hebei, and then blocked all the ferries along the river. Currently, the troops stationed in Pingyuan City are just across the river from Gaotang County.

The news brought by the scouts ruined Zhang Yan's mood, and Zhang Yan drank a little too much today. Seeing that all the generals were there, he said, "The boy Yuan Tan ran very fast. Now his troops are not much left. Our army is now strong and we can take a boat to cross the river early tomorrow morning to attack Pingyuan City. We must catch the boy Yuan Tan and let Yuan Shao know that I am not easy to mess with!"

After hearing this, Zhang Hong hurriedly said, "Lord, Pingyuan City is close to Jizhou, and Yuan Shao is entrenched in Jizhou. There are many soldiers and a wide range of generals, so we must not be underestimated. At present, our army has controlled most of Qingzhou. As long as we use the river as the boundary, we must guard the Yellow River ferry and prevent the Yuan army from crossing the Yellow River, we will not pose a threat to Qingzhou. After this great defeat, the Yuan army will never easily enter Qingzhou. It will inevitably confront our army and face each other across the river. If our army takes advantage of the victory and crosses the river to the north, then Yuan Shao will think that our army is going to invade Jizhou, and he will inevitably lead a large army to attack the lord. Given the current situation of our army, it is not enough to confront Yuan Shao. I hope the lord will think twice."

Zang Badao: "Lord, Mr. Zhang's words are reasonable, and the last general also deeply agrees."

Zhang Yan thought for a while before saying, "I just said casually that I didn't really want to cross Hebei to attack the plains. Under the rule of Pingyuan County, there were only Gaotang, Zhua, Luoyin and the three counties south of the Yellow River, and the rest of the counties were all in Hebei. Let's just give it to Yuan Shao. As long as our army guards the Yellow River ferry and prevents Yuan's army from crossing the river."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Yan suddenly shouted: "Zang Ba!"

"The last general is here!" Zang Ba immediately clasped his fists and said.

Zhang Yan said loudly: "From now on, you will be General Yangwei, and you will be the governor of Qingzhou, and you will be fully responsible for Qingzhou matters."

Zang Ba was shocked when he heard this appointment, he was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly clasped his fists and said, "Report to the lord, the general is just a martial artist. The governor of Qingzhou has a great responsibility. I am afraid that the general will not be able to do it. Please take back the lord!"

Zhang Yan said: "What you say is equivalent to the water you poured out. How can you take it back? I know how capable you are. You can be fully qualified as the governor of Qingzhou. Besides, I have also found a group of talents for you to assist you. As long as you accept advice humbly and think twice about everything."

"But……"

"Don't let it go, that's it." Zhang Yan knew very well that his decision was made, because in history, after Zang Ba surrendered to Cao Cao, Cao Cao appointed Qingzhou and Xuzhou to Zang Ba. Zang Ba held the righteousness and conquered the violent and violent attacks, and Qinghai Dai, and Qingzhou were governed in an orderly manner. Later, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao refused to Guandu, and Zang Ba led elite troops several times to harass Qingzhou occupied by Yuan Shao, so that Cao Cao no longer had to take care of the matters in the East and could concentrate on dealing with Yuan Shao.

It is precisely because Zang Ba once held this important task in history that Zhang Yan dared to appoint Qingzhou to Zang Ba. In this way, he could deal with Cao Cao wholeheartedly without having to work hard on Qingzhou.

Zhang Yan then appointed Wu Dun as the Prime Minister of Jinan, Yin Li as the Prime Minister of Le'an, Sun Guan, Sun Kang and Changxi were all the lieutenants. The five were still under Zang Ba's subordinates, and each received a reward of 500 gold, while Zang Ba received a thousand gold.

Zang Ba, Wu Dun, Sun Guan and Chang Xi were all moved to the center of the hall and knelt in front of Zhang Yan to express their gratitude.

After the banquet, Zhang Yan left Zang Ba alone and whispered to Zang Ba for a while, informing him that Qingzhou is rich in salt and iron, and the fishery is also very developed. He also asked Zang Ba to use Kong Rong as a different commander. Wang Xiu was in charge of the country and hoped that Zang Ba could manage Qingzhou well.

Zang Ba was so grateful to Zhang Yan and swore his loyalty to Zhang Yan forever, asking Zhang Yan not to think about Qingzhou.

Zhang Yan trusted Zang Ba very much and was very optimistic about his ability. The two chatted very late again, and then they went back to their rooms to rest.

The next morning, Zhang Yan gathered a large army and led the army to return to Xuzhou. Zang Ba personally sent Zhang Yan for more than ten miles before leaving reluctantly.

When Zhang Yan passed by Linzi, he informed Kong Rong of the appointment of Zang Ba as the governor of Qingzhou, and asked Kong Rong to assist Zang Ba carefully. At the same time, he also met with the famous scholar Wang Xiu recommended by Kong Rong. He also praised Wang Xiu very much and immediately asked Wang Xiu to govern Qingzhou.

Kong Rong was living under someone else's roof and getting Zhang Yan was so important, so naturally he had nothing to say. He also promised Zhang Yan and Wang Xiu to assist Zang Ba and govern Qingzhou together.

After returning to Pengcheng, Zang Ba was transferred by Zhang Yan to Qingzhou as the governor of Qingzhou, then Taishan County had no prefect. For this reason, Zhang Yan appointed Zhuge Jin as the prefect of Taishan, and Niu Jin was appointed as the chief of Taishan, who was responsible for mining iron ore and smelting weapons in Ying County. Later, he made Yan Yan the prefect of Donglai and Bu Zhi as the prime minister of Qi. He assisted Zang Ba together with Kong Rong, Wang Xiu and others to stabilize Qingzhou as soon as possible.

After everything was arranged, Zhang Yan carried out large-scale military farming within the sphere of influence he occupied, and on the other hand, he actively trained soldiers and built weapons.

In addition, Zhang Yan also asked Zhang Zhao to write a letter on his behalf, and sent someone to Youzhou by sea, forming an alliance with Gongsun Zan.

Then, Zhang Yan asked Zhang Zhao to write three letters in a row, and sent someone to Liu Biao, Liu Yao, and Wang Lang to show friendship and sincerity and to make an alliance with each other.

In this way, Zhang Yan can successfully restrain Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, and not let them pose a threat to him for the time being, and he can free up time to concentrate on his development.

...

Huainan, Shouchun.

Since Yuan Shu retreated from Xuzhou in a panic a few months ago, he not only repelled Liu Yao who came to attack, but also recruited soldiers and obtained tens of thousands of soldiers. After several months of training, he has already achieved results and is ready to launch troops to attack Xuzhou again.

When the chief clerk Yan Xiang heard that Yuan Shu was going to launch another army to attack Xuzhou, he immediately ran to Yuan Shu and advised Yuan Shu not to send troops on the grounds that the world was drought and the grain was bad.

But Yuan Shu refused to listen. In order to avenge his hatred in Xuzhou last time, he insisted on his own way and asked Lujiang to go to Lu Kang to borrow 30,000 stones of grain.

Unexpectedly, Lu Kang did not buy Yuan Shu's account and directly rejected Yuan Shu's request for borrowing grain.

Yuan Shu was furious and wanted to send troops to attack Lu Kang, but Ji Ling, Zhang Xun, Liu Xun and other veteran generals were all stationed outside, so he remembered Sun Ce who was living in the tent. So he asked someone to find Sun Ce over.

When Sun Ce heard Yuan Shu’s invitation, he went straight to the hall. After seeing Yuan Shu, he immediately clasped his fists and said, “I will meet you in the end!”

"Bo Fu, you are here just in time, please sit down!" Yuan Shu said with a look of news.

After sitting down, Sun Ce bowed and asked, "Sir, I don't know what the matter is going to be so urgently summoned?"

Yuan Shu said: "That's right. I am going to lead my army to attack Xuzhou again to avenge the previous shame. However, the army did not have enough food and grass, so I asked someone to borrow grain from Lu Kang, the prefect of Lu Kang, not only did Lu Kang not lend it to me, but also humiliated me a lot. So, I wanted to send my army to attack Lujiang. After thinking about it, I still think you are the best candidate. If you can conquer Lujiang for me, I will appoint you as the prefect of Lujiang. How about it?"

"Sir, take what you said seriously?" Sun Ce was very excited and asked hurriedly.

"A real man will naturally not joke about it," said Yuan Shu.

Sun Ce immediately stood up, clasped his fists and said, "Sir, I am willing to lead my army to attack Lujiang!"

"Okay, okay..." Yuan Shu said happily, "I will give you five thousand soldiers..."

"Sir, I can't use that much, only five hundred cavalry is enough." Sun Ce said confidently.

"Five hundred cavalry? Isn't Bo Fu joking with me?" Yuan Shu said in surprise.

Sun Ce said confidently: "Sir, I only have five hundred cavalrymen. If I can't win, Bo Fu will come and see you!"

Yuan Shu said: "How might it be! Then I will give you five hundred cavalry!"
Chapter completed!