At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Then there is a sense of responsibility, a deep sense of responsibility, sharing the same word with the emperor, and being allowed by the emperor, what an honor is this?

Pang Tong suddenly became ambitious, and vowed to do his best to make a career, to prove that he did not share the word with the emperor for nothing!

"Your Majesty treats me this way, how dare I not do my best for His Majesty?"

"it is good."

Guo Peng smiled and said: "Then, there are only two places I suggest you go to. One is the cabinet, which is in charge of government affairs. Zhuge Kongming handles government affairs in the cabinet. If you make friends with him, maybe the cabinet is the place you want to go.

The second is the staff desk, which provides advice and suggestions for the army. Whenever there is a war, they discuss military plans with Gu and take charge of military affairs. Both of them are close to the government offices and work in the palace. Which one would you like to go to? "

Pang Tong thought for a moment.

"The minister is willing to go to the staff station."

"You prefer military affairs?"

Guo Peng asked: "I thought that you would go to the cabinet and serve as an official with Zhuge Kongming. He entered the cabinet first so that he could take care of you."

"In the past, I read more military books and liked to read military books. I prefer to engage in military affairs rather than government affairs. Moreover, I and Kong Ming are about the same age, and they are just classmates. Share one word, and vow to make some meritorious deeds to repay His Majesty's kindness!"

Guo Peng noticed that Pang Tong frowned, and immediately said that he and Zhuge Liang did not have such a good relationship, and he only wanted to rely on himself, not others.

This can also vaguely hear the meaning of some competition.

Fun and more fun.

Guo Peng nodded in agreement, and then ordered that Pang Tong be directly recruited to the staff desk and asked him to be an intern staff officer.

Just in the midst of the Great War, if you join the job here, you can get familiar with the war over there. If you are lucky, you may be able to catch up with the next wave of intern staff officers to go to the army for field inspections.

Except for Pang Tong, Guo Peng didn't summon other Jingzhou people, and it passed like this for three days.

In the early morning of the fourth day, officials from the Ministry of Rites and eunuchs came to the palace to explain the surrender etiquette and various key points to Liu Cong and others, and asked Liu Cong and others to change into prisoner clothes, bound themselves up and surrendered to Guo Peng.

This is not an insult, but a ceremonial process.

After the ceremony was over, Guo Peng sent someone to untie them and reward them with clothes for them to wear, which was regarded as forgiving their sins and accepting them.

Liu Cong did so honestly, and those Jingzhou courtiers who followed also changed into the clothes worn by sinners, followed Liu Cong to surrender, and then waited for Guo Peng to pretend to forgive.

The etiquette started before noon, and Liu Cong and others were taken to the palace, where they knelt down outside the Fengtian Hall, presented the form of surrender, and sincerely surrendered to Guo Peng in the Fengtian Hall.

Guo Peng accepted the surrender from Liu Cong and others, sent someone to untie Liu Cong, and allowed Liu Cong and others to meet him in the hall, and knelt down to thank him.

Until then, Guo Peng and Liu Cong met for the first time, and this first meeting was so dramatic.

The surrender ceremony was very grand, and there were many Wei officials and generals in attendance. They lined up from inside Fengtian Hall to outside Fengtian Hall. Liu Cong and others were dressed in prisoner clothes, and these Wei officials and generals looked at them with juggling eyes. So, the feeling in my heart is very complicated.

This time, not only Liu Cong was asked to do this, but also those surrendered ministers who surrendered together, Kuai Liang, Fu Xun and others, Wang Wei and Su Fei were also asked to do this, absolutely equal treatment, No discrimination is intended.

Some people never thought that Guo Peng would ask them to do so, so they were quite innocent, and their heads were deeply lowered, for fear that others would see their faces clearly.

Mrs. Cai was not treated like this because of Liu Cong's request, but she also knelt down and surrendered. Liu Qi was the most innocent one.

Outside the Fengtian Hall, they knelt together and expressed their regret and pain to the Emperor of Wei, hoping that the Emperor of Wei would forgive them and forgive their sins.

Guo Peng sits high above him, and he can only vaguely see those who want to surrender wherever he goes. His heart is full of joy, full of the joy of being superior, and the joy of holding the power of life and death in his hands. , this feeling is exactly the result of his years of struggle.

Cui Yan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, presided over the whole process of surrender, read Liu Cong's surrender form, and announced Guo Peng's edict to Liu Cong and others.

Guo Peng forgave their crimes, allowed them to surrender, and granted positions and official positions for the sake of their voluntary surrender.

Then Shangshu ordered Cheng Yu, Yushi doctor Guo Hong, staff officer Ling Xizhong, and cabinet chief assistant Cao Cao, four people came forward together to untie the Jingzhou ministers on behalf of Guo Peng.

Then the eunuchs of the inner court stepped forward, took off the prison uniforms they were wearing, threw them away, and set them on fire to show their farewell to the past and their vision for the future, and rewarded them with clothes on behalf of the emperor for them to wear. Welcome to a new future.

This set of procedures is also a very standard procedure, full of a sense of ritual, and also full of winners giving and taking away from losers.

Liu Cong was terrified when he heard that Guo Peng named him the Marquis of Guiyi, with two thousand households in the city, and when he was given a mansion in Luoyang to live in and take care of his aunt Cai, he was a little relieved.

Chapter 813 The most frightening thing about Wei State is not its powerful force

Guo Peng's rewards were mainly aimed at Liu Cong and the surrendered officials of Jingzhou, and Liu Qi was just an incidental product.

Liu Qi was only granted a third-class son, given food to [-] households, and a house, allowed to live in Luoyang, and nothing else.

He is indeed a wretch.

From the report of the Linzi Camp, Guo Peng learned about what happened in Jingzhou before and after he entered Jingzhou, and realized that Liu Biao's death was inseparable from Kuai Yue, Cai Mao and others, and that Gan Ning was the biggest reason why Liu Biao arranged for a complete bankruptcy before his death. .

Before Liu Biao died, he arranged four Tuogu ministers to ensure that Liu Qi could take the throne. These four were Gan Ning, Yi Ji, and Sun Hao and Sun Fu.

In Guo's opinion, although this is indeed a bad move, it is also the only way Liu Biao has no choice but to do it.

Liu Biao really failed.

He has been running Jingzhou for so many years, but he didn't pull up a team of his own cronies.

Before he died, he made one move after another, repelling the heroes of the Southern Expedition Huang Zhong and Wen Pin, which chilled everyone's hearts, so that Gan Ning, who was pulled over temporarily, turned back in an instant and took down Yiji.

Wang Wei, Su Fei, Huo Jun and others rose up to attack and easily killed Sun Hao and Sun Fu, and the Sun clan perished since then.

His four assistant ministers were all wiped out in an instant, leaving Liu Qi in a desperate situation. When he woke up, the world was turned upside down, and Liu Cong, who was like a fool, thought he had gotten lucky.

But in fact, this guy is just a temporary transitional use. The bargaining chip used by Jingzhou people to bargain with Guo Peng is the same as that of Han Xiandi, and it is a bargaining chip for the officials of Wei State and Cao Pi.

A Liu Cong, with [-] households to raise, is like raising a pig.

But Liu Qi don't think about it anymore, according to Guo Peng's thinking, he can't wait to abolish him as a common man and give him a piece of land to cultivate.

But even if it meant something, give Liu Qi some treatment so that he can have something to eat.

Then, the rest of the Jingzhou vassals basically got their official positions and got what they wanted.

Including those who were unwilling to be Wei officials, such as Han Song, such as Wang Wei and Su Fei, such as Huo Jun, and Yi Ji, they still accepted Guo's compulsory request.

The position is not high, but at least there is a salary and something to do.

For example, Han Song was appointed as an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and will be in charge of diplomatic work, because Guo Peng believes that his never-cowardly mouth may be of great use in opening up the Western Regions in the future.

Wang Wei and Su Fei were appointed as Tai Shici's subordinates and served under the command of Tai Shici, General Dinghai. They are familiar with water warfare and are the water warfare talents that the Wei army urgently needs.

Huo Jun was sent by Guo Peng to the northwest to report to Xia Houyuan's subordinates. Guo Peng believed that he was good at field combat and defense, and was close to the style of the Northwest battlefield.

Yiji was transferred to Shangshutai, where he worked as a moderate official. After all, he was also a prefect, so he still has this ability.

Their bodies are still very honest. Facing the general trend of the world and the oppression of powerful power, they still obey.

From the fact that they did not commit suicide in prison, Guo can know whether they want to die or live.

Their loyalty is limited, and those who are really unwilling to surrender will not live.

People who really want to be at odds with Guo Wei will not linger, and it is impossible to linger, such as Huang Zu, and these people who want to live will regard Kuai Yue, Kuai Liang, Cai Mao, Zhang Yun and others as enemies. From the moment I woke up, I had internal troubles.

This is what Guo needs.

After the appointment ceremony was over, someone Guo personally announced a banquet for Liu Cong and others who had surrendered.

So the serious atmosphere of the surrender ceremony immediately turned into a cheerful banquet atmosphere. The ladies in tulle, carrying exquisite dishes, filed in and presented exquisite dishes to the dignitaries.

The singing and dancing also started at the right time, and the court musicians worked together to play a wonderful prosperity concerto with various instruments.

The dancers also tried their best to dance with the melodious music, showing off their graceful and charming figures and snow-white skin.

What a prosperous scene.

Wei officials and generals happily enjoyed the wonderful atmosphere of the banquet, raised their wine glasses, filled them with fine nectar and jade liquid, and pushed the glasses to change, one cup after another.

With drunken eyes, they all showed intoxicated smiles, and the scene reflected by those smiles was a prosperous and prosperous world that even Guo could not see.

The intoxicating wine flowed from the wine glass, flowing, as if flowing into their hearts, making them drunk together from body to heart.

It seems that all the good things in the world have been obtained by them.

The Jingzhou surrenders were a little apprehensive, watching everything around them cautiously.

Looking at this magnificent and grand scene, they couldn't help thinking of their experiences in Xiangyang. They couldn't help but feel that a big city is a big city, and the imperial capital is the imperial capital. Can the foot of the emperor be the same as the countryside?

Even though it has been in decline, as long as the emperor is still here, it will be able to flourish again.

Compared with Luoyang in the past, Luoyang may be more prosperous now.

The memory of Luoyang belonging to the Han Empire that existed in the minds of some officials who had been to Luoyang has been gradually replaced by the Luoyang City of the Wei Empire.

Great music, great dancing, great food, great drinks.

All these wonderful things seemed to be mocking those who once wanted to resist Wei.

Wei State is so powerful, its culture is so prosperous, its living standard is so high, its style is so grand, this...

Where is Jingzhou comparable?

The great city of the Great Empire...

Many Jingzhou surrenders sighed slightly.

Faced with such a scene, they lost the last bit of dissatisfaction hidden in their hearts, and began to hope that they could integrate into this world and enjoy this rare luxury scene together.

From this narrow field of observation, one can observe the facts that make them desperate.

The huge gap in living standards is enough to defeat most ideological dissatisfaction.

Luxury beats poverty.

Most people are convinced.

From this moment on, they eagerly desire to join Wei State, integrate into Wei State, and integrate into this world of luxury and money.

They no longer want to go back to the dilapidated and backward corner of Jingzhou.

Liu Cong is one of them.

Liu Cong felt the wonderful music and moving dance, enjoying the wonderful wine and delicious food.

He couldn't help sighing, feeling that everything he once had could not be compared with everything in front of him, and it was difficult to compare with everything he saw in front of him.

With such wonderful sights and such abundance of creature comforts, I...

Do you really want to go back to Jingzhou?

If it is safe to live and enjoy here, I...

Do you really have to go back to Jingzhou to endure loneliness?

Once I have experienced such prosperity, can those small places still make me feel at ease?

Liu Cong couldn't help doubting himself and the idea Han Song gave him.

His will is not firm.

Han Song was one of the few people whose will was not taken away by such a scene. He looked at Liu Cong's fascinated eyes with some anxiety, and looked at the gradually depressed will of almost everyone around him.

He suddenly realized that the most frightening thing about Wei State was not its unrivaled military power, but the even more terrifying "prosperity" that everyone could see supported by this unrivaled military power.

The "prosperity" that can invade all steadfast wills to resist.

After seeing such a scene and enjoying such a luxury, can you continue to stick to your heart?

I'm afraid it's impossible.

Especially a young man like Liu Cong.

Someone Guo sat on the high platform, holding his wine glass in satisfaction, and took a sip of the wine he didn't usually like.

Listening to the extravagant sound in the ear, looking around is a scene of extravagance.

He felt that maybe everyone was already drunk, and the famous ministers and generals who accompanied him to fight in the country had all passed out drunk in this prosperous age that had not yet come.

It's good to be drunk, it's good to be drunk.

Don't wake up so quickly, don't wake up so quickly, drink a few more glasses and get drunk for a while longer.

As for those Jingzhou people.

He knew that no matter what those people thought before the banquet, from this moment on, it was gone.

Force cannot make people forget their original intentions, but luxury and gentleness can.

This is true for the enemy, and it is also true for "our own people".