At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

It was Jian Yong's suggestion that Liu Bei came to join Guo Peng this time.

Originally, Liu Bei was thinking about whether to seek refuge with his former classmate Gongsun Zan, the county magistrate of Zhuo County, but Jian Yong gave him a better suggestion.

Jian Yong said that compared to the unknown Gongsun Zan, Guo Peng was enshrined as a marquis and became famous all over the world, and he was recruiting soldiers and horses to train soldiers in case Xianbei invaded.

Liu Bei didn't have much connections in the court, so why don't you try to rely on Guo Peng, and use the troops brought over, maybe you can get a military post, make some military exploits, and make a fortune from this, it's not bad.

Liu Bei thinks so.

So Liu Bei, under the guidance of Jian Yong, wrote a greeting card and handed it to Guo Peng. He wanted to get a better position, and he was worthy of the old brothers who followed him all over the world. The old brothers also wanted to eat, and there was no food for him. That's not okay.

Moreover, Liu Bei has also won battles and has experience in leading troops in battle, so he thinks he still has an advantage.

Then he really had an advantage, Guo Peng actually brought someone to meet him at the gate of the mansion, and when he saw him, he held his hand very enthusiastically and pulled him into the mansion together.

"In the past when I was studying under the teacher's door, the teacher mentioned the senior brother, and also mentioned the senior brother Gongsun Bogui. I have heard about it for a long time. When I saw it today, it was really extraordinary..."

Regardless of whether it is true or not, Guo Peng adheres to this principle of dealing with people and things anyway, no matter who he is, as long as he can boast, it is a boast, and it is much better than saying nothing.

Liu Bei himself was said to be a little embarrassed, and of course Jian Yong, who followed Liu Bei, also felt embarrassed. I didn't expect Guo Peng to be so enthusiastic.

Leading Liu Bei and Jian Yong into the living room and having a table, Guo Peng began to chat with Liu Bei about Lu Zhi, asked Liu Bei about Professor Lu Zhi's studies, asked about Gongsun Zan's situation, and learned that Gongsun Zan was working as a county in Zhuo County make.

Then Liu Bei came to introduce his past again, saying that after he was King Jing of Zhongshan, his family was poor and his childhood was miserable. He was really sorry for his ancestors and parents.

The post-clan is not something to be very concerned about at this time. There are tens of thousands of Liu surnames in the world.

After Liu Bei took the imperial family, he said that his identity was just to raise his own value. This identity is very attractive to the people at the bottom, but it has no attraction at all to the powerful landlords and bureaucrats at the middle and upper levels. .

Because at a certain level in the troubled times, everyone valued the current strength more than his so-called ancestors.

Afterwards, we entered the topic.

"To tell you the truth, brother, I am really short of manpower. If you don't give up, brother, would you like to work in my camp?"

Guo Peng didn't let Liu Bei speak, but let him speak. Liu Bei was so pleasantly surprised that he didn't expect that he would let Guo Peng finish what he wanted to say without saying a word.

"This... won't trouble Zifeng, will it?"

Liu Bei's face showed joy, and he couldn't hide his joy, but he still had to be polite.

"How could it be? Senior brother and his subordinates have been on the battlefield, can ride horses, and have experience in battle. They are just the strong men I need urgently! It's just that I am also a captain of Hu Karasuma, so I can't give senior brother a high military rank. I can wrong my brother and become a military marquis."

Guo Peng looked very regretful, and Liu Bei was even more pleasantly surprised. He thought that he would start as a small army leader, but he didn't expect to be a military marquis, or an official position.

In this way, he officially bid farewell to his identity as a rebel army and entered the bureaucratic system of the Han Empire.

Liu Bei was very happy, thanked Guo Peng, and said that he would do his best to lead his troops to make meritorious service.

"My lord, Liu Xuande gave him the position of Qu Junhou when he first arrived, isn't it a little too high?"

Seeing the backs of Liu Bei and Jian Yong leaving, Cheng Li moved closer to Guo Peng and said softly: "In this way, I'm afraid it will dissatisfy other people who have made military achievements."

"Liu Bei, Liu Xuande, can be a Marquis."

Guo Peng narrowed his eyes: "Zhongde, he is my senior brother in name, and he comes to seek refuge with me out of reason, and I have to give him some face. Simple, you have to help me keep an eye on him, and you have to tell me what he does."

"Ok?"

Cheng Li felt strange: "My lord, why do you say that? He is just a rebel, and he came from the Han family."

"Yijun, the Han family, has no property, no official position, so he can only choose to rely on others, but he can get dozens of people who will never leave. Zhongde, in time, if he has an official position, status, and Money, guess what will happen?"

Cheng Li looked at Guo Peng and seemed to understand something.

During the short conversation, Guo Peng was sure that this person was not willing to be inferior to others?

But if you think about it carefully, this is a skill, right?

"I know what the lord said immediately."

Cheng Li became interested in Liu Bei, and planned to follow Guo Peng's instructions to observe Liu Bei and the people around him.

chapter 104. one hundred and five

Of course, Guo Peng didn't just know Liu Bei by his own ability. Liu Bei's name has become a household name, and it's hard to know.

What I really want to say is that his ability is not the top no matter how you look at it, but he eventually became the emperor of a separatist force.

Based on Guo Peng's current observation, it can be said that Liu Bei is a very attractive person.

The word charm is actually a bit of metaphysics, because this thing is not so easy to master, it is quite a natural feeling.

An attractive person can be the protagonist anytime and anywhere, and people can't help but pay attention to him, listen to him, and agree with his opinion, while an unattractive person can only be a foil.

Some people obviously haven't done anything for everyone, but everyone just likes him for no reason, and they can think of him when they have any good deeds.

Some people work hard to serve everyone silently, but in the end they really become cattle and horses, and they can't even be human.

This is the life gap caused by charm.

There is no doubt that Liu Bei is a very charming person.

And his charm even surpasses people like Cao Cao and Sun Quan. Both Cao Cao and Sun Quan are based on their own power, while Liu Bei's only family background is himself.

After decades of wandering and wandering, he became emperor at the age of sixty. Liu Bei started his army at the age of 24 and died of illness at the age of 63. During his 40-year military career, he spent most of his time under the fence.

But even in this state, there are still a large group of people around him who are willing to pay for him, no matter what, they just want to follow him, high officials and rich salary don't matter, it doesn't matter whether there is any basis, just look for him. .

Cao Cao tried to promise high officials and rich salary to many people under Liu Bei's command, such as Guan Yu, Mi Zhu and Mi Fang, none of them left Liu Bei.

Isn't that what charm is?

Liu Bei is not the leader either.

Of course, most of the talents in this era are the children of rich families with property. They all have their own family interests, and they will choose to work for the warlords who occupy their hometowns to ensure the interests of their families.

Before occupying Jingzhou, Liu Bei's charm could attract either true idealists or people without family burdens.

This is different from Liu Bang's era, and it is also one of the reasons why Liu Bei failed to win the world in the end.

Guo Peng asked Cheng Li to monitor him, analyze him, and then explain him, to see what he excels in, and planned to learn something from Liu Bei.

The next day, Liu Bei went to the military camp to report, and with dozens of his subordinates, Guo Peng incorporated them into a new arrangement of 500 people.

Liu Bei served as Qu Junhou, and Liu Bei recommended two of his outstanding subordinates, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, to be the head of the village, and Guo Peng agreed.

At this time, Guo Peng finally met Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, two famous figures who were bound to Liu Bei.

Both were tall and very muscular.

In terms of appearance, Guan Yu is better-looking than Zhang Fei, and his beard is indeed very long. It is not unreasonable to be called the bearded man.

There was a heroic spirit between his brows and eyes, and he stood tall, neither angry nor happy, just standing behind Liu Bei, without saying a word.

On the other hand, Zhang Fei is a little more active, stronger than Guan Yu, but not as tall as him, with a rough appearance and a big beard, but he is quite attractive and masculine if you look closely.

To say that the most striking thing is not his strong figure.

Although his figure is strong, he is not particularly conspicuous among Guo Pengjun, but his voice is too loud and the decibel is too high, so he is very eye-catching.

There is no doubt that these two are first-class military generals, and Guan Yu, who doesn't like to talk but likes to look around, is even more handsome.

Guo Peng didn't think that such a young Liu Bei could know people, but that Liu Bei was very lucky and happened to meet Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

And Guo Peng himself was not so lucky, there were tens of thousands of Luoyang rangers, and there were hundreds of people who took refuge in him, so he didn't have a single general.

How wonderful it would be if Zhang Fei and Guan Yu were my subordinates...

Guo Peng couldn't help thinking of such a possibility.

Probably out of respect for Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, I have a natural affection for these two people.

And Liu Bei was nothing at all, but Luo Guanzhong described him as being too kind and selfless. No matter how you look at it, there is a feeling of hypocrisy, so-called exaggeration is too much.

Therefore, Guo Peng's perception of Liu Bei is even negative.

When these three people actually appeared in front of Guo Peng's eyes, this feeling became even more obvious.

Likes Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and dislikes Liu Bei.

Smiling helplessly, dispelling some small emotions, Guo Peng took Liu Bei and others to watch their barracks and explained the military regulations.

Liu Bei asked Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Jian Yong to memorize the military regulations, and then told the soldiers.

Seeing Guan Yu and Zhang Fei reading the military regulations seriously, Guo Peng asked Liu Bei about their literacy.

"I met them a few years ago. Both Yunchang and Yide came from poor backgrounds and were originally illiterate. Although they are brave and brave, I feel that if they are illiterate, they are only brave and cannot do great things. So I Teach them how to read, and take the table characters for them."

Then Liu Bei also smiled and said that after Guan Yu learned to read, he took the name of himself as Changsheng. Liu Bei thought it was funny when he heard it, and persuaded Guan Yu to change his name to Yunchang.

Guo Peng listened and found it very interesting.

He was sure that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were not from good backgrounds.

Guan Yu was a murderer who went into exile in Youzhou, while Zhang Fei took Xia Houyuan's niece as his wife only at the age of 36, obviously not a good background.

Since both of them are not from good backgrounds, and there is no family foundation for education, then what is the matter with both of them being literate and having table characters?

Now listening to Liu Bei's words, Guo Peng understood that it was Liu Bei's credit.

Liu Bei is Lu Zhi's disciple, and not liking reading doesn't mean he doesn't know how to read. No matter how knowledgeable he is, literacy is not a problem. It is also possible to teach Guan Yu and Zhang Fei how to read.

Moreover, based on Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's loyalty and unwavering feelings for Liu Bei, it is estimated that a considerable part of it must be attributed to Liu Bei's teaching them to read and write.

Guo Peng himself has a deep understanding of what a kind of kindness it is to let illiterate people in this era be literate and receive some education.

The five men of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth who he personally taught cultural knowledge all had the determination and will to die for him, and they put it into practice several times, protecting Guo Peng with their own lives.

The hundreds of soldiers who have been taught cultural knowledge are also very loyal to Guo Peng, and have followed him through life and death in several campaigns without complaint.

I think Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are the gold, wood, water, fire, and earth around Liu Bei, but Liu Bei was so lucky that he accepted Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, two talented younger brothers.

envy, jealousy, hate.

Guo Peng smiled self-deprecatingly.

It seems a little greedy.

However, greed for talents is not greed, it is called "thirsty for talents".

chapter 105

After defeating Helian and establishing his prestige through military exploits, Guo Peng's status was also recognized by the people who moved inward from Karasuma.

They sent envoys to make friends one after another, and the Hu people in Youzhou were quite afraid of Guo Peng.

On this basis, Guo Peng and his clan members reported to the imperial court, requesting the establishment of the Hu City in Ningxian County, and trading with Hu people such as the Karasuma Huns, so as to subsidize Youzhou.

The Hu City in Ning County, Shanggu County was often opened by the Eastern Han government long ago.

Usually, as long as there is no war in the frontier and the general peace, the Han government is also willing to open a Hu market to trade with the Hu people, and let the money subsidize the expenses of Youzhou.

Because Youzhou is too poor and chaotic, it often needs financial support from Jizhou and Qingzhou to survive, which makes Jizhou and Qingzhou very dissatisfied.

The chaos of the previous period interrupted the Hu City in Ning County for several years. Now that the border is calm, it is time to open the Hu City.

Opening Hushi is beneficial to many people, and it is of great benefit to Zong Yuan and Guo Peng.

The Hu people were under the jurisdiction of Guo Peng. After Guo Peng gained prestige and established his status, the Karasuma Huns and other major tribes were all afraid of Guo Peng's reputation.

Now that Hushi is open, they must obtain Guo Peng's permission before they can trade. Which tribe can come and which tribe can't come is a matter of Guo Peng's words.

The same is true for the clan members. If business travelers from Youzhou and even Jizhou want to participate in the Hu market and trade with the Hu people to make profits, they cannot do without the approval of the clan members.

Making money in the Hu market is the same for Hu people and Han people alike. They take their respective goods and sell them back and resell them. The profit is several times that, which makes people jealous, but not everyone can come.

Therefore, if you want to do business, you must get through the upper joints.

The upper joints are the two local snakes, Guo Peng and Zong Yuan.

When the Wusuma tribe, the Xiongnu tribe and some Zahu tribes heard about this, they sent people to Ning County to ask Guo Peng to see him, hoping to get the qualification to participate in the Hu City, and to give Guo Peng a gift.

The sect members also seem to have received a lot of gray income.

This is what it should be, no one thinks it's wrong, if you don't accept it, people will think it's wrong, are you targeting me or something.