Three Kingdoms King of the North

The homes of three grain merchants in the city were confiscated by the Jizhou army. This was not a trivial matter, and it soon alarmed the people in the city.However, these three grain merchants are not very good people. They usually do a lot of things when they sell grain short of catties and shoddy good ones. But because they have backers behind them, the common people dare not speak out.Seeing someone raiding the grain merchant's home today, I couldn't help secretly cheering.

Not long after, the literate people saw Wang Hun's notice on Anmin and learned that the Jizhou army would distribute the money and grain confiscated from the grain merchants to the people in the city tomorrow, and they couldn't help cheering.

Han Zhan ordered the ransacking of the houses of grain merchants in the city. Although he said it was for the sake of gaining prestige, he didn't know what kind of repercussions it would cause, and he was still uneasy.When Chen Dao came back, he reported to him that the three grain merchants had all been taken down, and they were all imprisoned.Before Han Zhan could say anything, loud voices came from outside the county office.

Hearing this voice, Han Zhan's heartbeat suddenly accelerated. He thought that he ordered Chen Dao to arrest the three grain merchants, which aroused public outrage, and the people in the city went outside to petition him.He was just about to send someone out to see what was going on, when a team leader guarding the gate hurried in, knelt down on one knee in front of Han Zhan, and reported, "My lord, there is someone outside the county government office." The people gathered."

Hearing what the team leader said, Han Zhan hurriedly asked: "You know, why are the people gathered outside the county government office?"

"The people heard that money and food will be distributed to them tomorrow, so they came here specially to thank the lord."

After figuring out what the people came for, Han Zhan heaved a sigh of relief, waved his hand at the team leader, told the other party to retreat, then turned to Chen Dao and said, "Uncle Zhi, when the prefect Wang distributes money and food to the people tomorrow, you Also lead troops to help."

"Subordinates obey."

Guo Jia hesitated for a moment, then asked Han Zhan tentatively: "Master, I would like to ask, how do you plan to deal with these grain merchants and their families?"

Han Zhan understood the purpose of Guo Jia's question. According to Chen Dao's report, there were almost 500 family members, servants, and maidservants of the three grain merchants. charges of indiscriminate homicide.After thinking for a long time, he said to Guo Jia: "The three grain merchants headed by Mi Shuo must be killed. As for their family members, they will be imprisoned first, and they will be detained when we leave Licheng." It's not too late for them to let go."

Seeing that Han Zhan only punished Mi Shuo and his family members and servants, Guo Jia didn't raise any objections to his actions, but changed the topic and said to him: "My lord, according to As Jia knows, there is a bandit near Mount Tai whose surname is Zang Mingba, whose style name is Xuan Gao, and who is excellent in martial arts, my lord can send someone to recruit him."

Chapter 466 Lobbying Zang Ba

Although Zang Ba was not mentioned much in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Han Zhan knew that this person was extraordinary.Zang Ba's father, Zang Jie, was a county jailer. Because he obeyed the law and refused to obey the order of the prefect, he privately killed prisoners.Zang Ba, who was only young at the time, heard the news that his father was imprisoned. He immediately summoned a dozen diners and went to Xishan, Fei County, defeated hundreds of government officials and soldiers, killed the prefect, and rescued his father.After this deed, Zang Ba's filial piety and bravery became famous all over the countryside.

During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Zang Ba, who was in exile in Donghai County, defected to Tao Qian and was appointed as the riding captain. In the battle to wipe out the Yellow Turban Army in Xuzhou, Zang Ba made outstanding achievements repeatedly.It's a pity that he turned against Tao Qian later, so he led a group of his cronies to Mount Tai, where he occupied the mountain and became king.Especially after Sun Guan, Wu Dun, Yin Li and others came to vote, Zang Ba settled in the Kaiyang area and became the overlord of his own side.After Lu Bu was stationed in Xuzhou, he once met Zang Ba in arms, but he didn't get any advantage.Later, under the persuasion of his general Gao Shun, Lu Bu shook hands with Zang Ba to make peace.

In the third year of Jian'an, when Cao Cao attacked Lu Bu, Zang Ba and others led troops to help Lu Bu.After Lu Bu was captured, Zang Ba surrendered to Cao Cao, and recruited Wu Dun, Yin Li, Sun Guan, Sun Guan's brother Sun Kang and others.Cao Cao appointed Zang Ba as Prime Minister of Langxie, and gave Wu Dun and others important tasks. At the same time, he also handed over Qingzhou and Xu Erzhou to Zang Ba's jurisdiction.

For such a talented person, Han Zhan would naturally not let go of the opportunity to recruit him.After Guo Jia finished speaking, he looked at the other party and asked, "Feng Xiao, who do you think can take on this important task and go to persuade Zang Ba?"

Guo Jia smiled lightly, and then said: "My lord appoints the newly voted Wang Hun as the prefect. Jia feels that some people will not be convinced. If he is asked to persuade Zang Ba, as long as he succeeds, there will naturally be no more gossip."

"What if it doesn't work?" Han Zhan asked back, "Then how should Ben Hou arrange him?"

"Jia has already said to my lord that the appointment of Wang Hun as the prefect is nothing more than buying bones with a lot of money." Guo Jia said thoughtfully: "If his ability is really limited, then his future will stop here. May as well Let him serve as the prefect for two years, and then find a suitable person to replace him."

Han Zhan knew very well in his heart that Qingzhou had just been pacified, and a group of officials must be needed to govern it.But the number of people he can use under his command is limited, so he can only attract more people to join him by buying bones with a lot of money.Even if Wang Hun's ability is not good, at least let him be the prefect for two years first, and then find a suitable person to replace him, lest others say that he is crossing the river and tearing down the bridge.

But let Wang Hun go to Taishan alone to persuade Zang Ba, Han Zhan was very worried.He thought for a while, and said to Guo Jia: "Feng Xiao, Zhou Cang once ruled Mount Tai as king, so he must know something about Zang Ba, why don't we let him go to Mount Tai with Wang Hun, and there is a support for each other. "

"Zhou Cang?!" After Guo Jia repeated the name, a stunned expression appeared on his face: "Could it be that the lord is talking about the entourage of General Zilong?" Seeing Han Zhan nodding in affirmation, he went on Said, "The lord still thinks carefully, then let Zhou Cang escort Wang Hun to Mount Tai to recruit Zang Ba."

Han Zhan made up his mind, walked to the front of the hall, and shouted to the outside: "Come here!"

Immediately following the shout, a guard came in, bowed and saluted, and asked, "What are your orders, my lord?"

"Go to the barracks outside the city quickly." Han Zhan told the other party, "Go and recruit General Zilong. By the way, when you ask him to come, bring Zhou Cang with you!"

"Here!" The guard agreed and pushed out of the lobby.

After two sticks of incense, Han Zhan heard a rush of horseshoes coming from the gate of the mansion.He listened intently for a while, and he heard at least a centurion, guessing that Zhao Yun might have arrived.

Sure enough, after a while, Han Zhan saw Zhao Yun striding into the gate with a group of people, heading towards the main hall.After entering the lobby, Zhao Yun greeted Han Zhan, who was sitting in the middle, with fists in his hands, and said politely, "I will see you, my lord!"

"General Zilong is free!" Han Zhan said as he cast his eyes on the person behind Zhao Yun, and after seeing clearly that it was indeed Zhou Cang, he nodded slightly.

"Master!" Even though Zhao Yun and Han Zhan are sworn brothers, on formal occasions, he showed due respect and respect to Han Zhan: "I don't know if you have recruited your subordinates here, what are your orders?"

"General Zilong." Seeing that Zhao Yun was always calling himself a lord, Han Zhan would not call Zhao Yun the eldest brother in front of other subordinates. , for the matter of Zang Ba on Mount Tai."

"Zang Ba?" Zhao Yun couldn't help hesitating for a moment when he heard this name, and then said cautiously: "Our army has just captured Qingzhou. Crush Zang Ba, after all, he is as good as we are."

"General Zilong, you made a mistake." Seeing that Zhao Yun had misunderstood what Han Zhan meant, Guo Jia quickly got up and said, "My lord doesn't want you to destroy Zang Ba, but wants someone to recruit him."

"Surrender Zang Ba?" Zhao Yun was stunned for a moment, and asked tentatively, "Could it be that my lord wants Zhou Cang to do this?"

Zhou Cang, who was standing behind Zhao Yun, saw Han Zhan nodding his head to confirm the matter, and he couldn't help saying in a panic, "My lord, I have limited abilities. If I go to recruit Zang Ba, I might miss my lord's important event."

"My lord." Zhao Yun also felt that Zhou Cang's ability was limited. Even if he and Zang Ba were old acquaintances, it might not be easy to persuade the other party to surrender.If he angered Zang Ba, he might bring himself to death, so he helped Zhou Cang and said: "Zhou Cang is a strong general in charge, but let him be a lobbyist to persuade Zang Ba to surrender. , I’m afraid I’m not capable enough.”

"This time I went to Taishan to lobby Zang Ba, and my lord plans to send Wang Hun there." Guo Jia stared at Zhou Cang and said to Zhao Yun: "Considering that Zhou Cang had dealt with Zang Ba before, he will accompany him. The chances of lobbying success are higher."

After figuring out what was going on, Zhou Cang hurriedly stepped forward and said to Han Zhan, "My lord, I once had a relationship with Zang Ba, and I will definitely try my best to help Mr. Wang and persuade him to come and submit to my lord."

"Yuan Fu," Han Zhan walked up to Zhou Cang, put an arm on his shoulder, and said to him, "We are going to Mount Tai. If Zang Ba is willing to surrender, then everyone will be happy. But if he doesn't Ken, there is no need to force people to have their own aspirations, the Marquis only hopes that you and Mr. Wang can return safely."

Zhao Yun suddenly felt that Wang Hun and Chen Dao hadn't been seen in the hall, so he asked curiously, "My lord, where is Mr. Wang now?"

"The grain merchants in the city are abominable. The grain piled up in the house is like a mountain, and they don't sell it to Ziyi. Ziyi and thousands of soldiers almost died because of lack of grain." When this matter was mentioned, Han Zhan was full of anger: "So this Hou ordered Mr. Wang to send troops to search several grain merchants in the city, confiscated their property, and then beheaded the head of the crime for public display."

Han Zhan's words made Zhao Yun gasp, he hesitated for a while, and then said: "My lord, the people who can open grain stores in the city should be powerful people from Xuzhou, I'm afraid it's not appropriate for you to treat them like this... ..."

"There's nothing wrong with it," Han Zhan interrupted Zhao Yun before he finished speaking, waved his hand and said, "If these grain merchants are allowed to do whatever they want, then others will think that our Jizhou Army is weak and easy to bully. It will get worse. Tomorrow, Benhou will order Uncle Zhi and Mr. Wang to behead the head of the villain, just to make an example and let those local tyrants see what it would be like to be an enemy of our Jizhou army. If anyone dares to act like Just like bullying Ziyi and disrespecting my Jizhou army, this Marquis doesn't care about killing a few more people."

Because Tai Shici was worried about offending the local tyrants, when he couldn't buy food, he could only choose to swallow his anger, wronged his soldiers, and made them starve.If Guan Yu and Zhang Fei hadn't led troops to rescue in time, the entire army might have been wiped out.Since Han Zhan came to Licheng, he has always been in a state of anxiety, not knowing how Han Zhan will deal with him.Hearing Han Zhan's words at this moment, the big stone in his heart finally fell to the ground. It turned out that the lord not only did not blame himself, but even ordered the killing of those grain merchants to vent his anger.

Thinking of this, Tai Shici quickly got up, went to Han Zhan and knelt down on one knee, and said gratefully: "My lord's kindness, I will never forget it. This life of a certain person will belong to the lord from now on. No matter whether it is a mountain of swords or a sea of ​​fire, my lord will never forget it." If there is an assignment, I will never hesitate."

"Ziyi! What are you doing?" After hearing what Tai Shici said, Han Zhan quickly stepped forward to help him up, and said with a smile, "This Marquis is your lord. I see you being angry, but I don't care for you." Is it worthwhile for you to work for me when you are in the early stage? This matter is over, so there is no need to mention it again."

Chapter 467 Lobbying Zang Ba

Wang Hun and Chen Dao, who had supervised the beheading of the grain merchants, hurried back to the county government office and handed over the order to Han Zhan.

Seeing that the two of them had completed the tasks they assigned so neatly, Han Zhan praised them a few words, and then said to Wang Hun, "Xuan Chong, what you did today is very much in line with your wishes. Now, The Marquis has one more important thing to do, I wonder if you have any objections?"

Although he didn't know what task Han Zhan would entrust to him, Wang Hun replied unambiguously: "My lord has an assignment, and Wang will definitely go through fire and water."

"It's not enough to go through fire and water." Han Zhan helped Wang Hun up, and said to him, "This Marquis plans to send you to Mount Tai to persuade Zang Ba to submit to him. I wonder if you dare to go?"

"Lobbying Taishan thieves?!" Wang Hun couldn't help hesitating for a while when he heard the mission Han Zhan entrusted to him, and then said cautiously: "My lord, I heard that Zang Ba is a person who kills without blinking an eye, so I'm going to Taishan to lobby , I am afraid that the persuasion to surrender will not succeed, but it will lead to the disaster of killing yourself. The life and death of subordinates are minor matters, if they miss the important matters of the lord, then there will be no redemption."

After listening to Wang Hun's words, Han Zhan thought that this person was quite scheming, knowing that the chance of success in this matter was not high, but the way of rejecting him was very clever.He smiled lightly and said: "Xuanchong, don't worry, this time you go to Mount Tai, Benhou asked Zhou Cang to go with you. He used to deal with Zang Ba in the past, and they have some friendship with each other. In this way, Zang Ba If Ba refuses to surrender, he will definitely not embarrass you."

"It's very good to have Zhou Yuanfu go with me." Knowing that Han Zhan didn't send himself to die alone, but accompanied by Zhou Cang, Wang Hun's heart hung in his throat and he put it back in his stomach again.He knew very well in his heart that since Han Zhan sent Zhou Cang to go with him, he must have considered that Zhou Cang had dealt with Zang Ba. As much as possible, lobby Zang Ba to come and submit to the lord."

As for whether Zang Ba will submit to him, Han Zhan really has no idea in his heart, but after listening to Wang Hun's statement, he said leisurely: "If Zang Ba is willing to submit, everyone will be happy. You stay in Taishan and wait for this lord. Go. If you refuse to surrender, you don’t have to force yourself, leave quickly and return to the army.”

As soon as Han Zhan finished speaking, Wang Hun replied loudly, "I obey!"

After Wang Hun and Zhou Cang left, Guo Jia asked Han Zhan for instructions: "My lord, Licheng is located in the Donghai Kingdom of Xuzhou, and it is only three days away from Xiapi, the seat of Xuzhou. If Tao Qian knows that our army is here , I am afraid that an envoy will be sent to inquire, and I do not know how the lord intends to respond."

"How can you allow other people to snore on the side of the couch," Han Zhan casually said an idiom, and continued: "If this Marquis is Tao Qian, he will definitely think that the army is here to capture Xuzhou, and he will definitely send envoys to inquire and mobilize the army at the same time. , ready to fight at any time."

"My lord's phrase 'how can others snore on the side of the couch' is really vivid." Guo Jia praised Han Zhan, and then continued: "Our strategy is to unify the four northern states. After the foundation is solid, Then encroach on the states one by one. At this moment, if we start a war with Tao Qian, although the winning rate is extremely high, it is easy to make countless enemies."

"What Feng Xiao said is very true." Han Zhan agreed with Guo Jia's statement: "Immediately send someone to deliver a letter to Huang Zhong and Xun You, ordering them not to rush here again, but to go directly to Dongguan County. Ben Hou's army will rush to join them after resting here for two days."