At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

See if you can find an opportunity to be recommended to find an official position, which can also add some confidence to the family, but a person of his background, let alone being recommended, is not even qualified to buy an official.

Buying an official is not something everyone can buy. Although Emperor Ling said that he sold officials on a large scale, the people who bought the officials were still innocent scholars who just chose to join the eunuch group. Not to mention buying officials.

Because of this matter, Mi Zhu, who is getting richer and richer, is very worried.

He thinks that the world is peaceful. Although he often suffers a little loss in some places, he spends some money to manage the relationship between the upper and lower levels. With Mi's financial resources and his own force, the Chen family will not bully others too much. passable.

But once the world is in turmoil, his Mi family is completely a fat sheep, or the kind of fat sheep that has no strength to protect himself, and he will be eaten easily.

The turmoil in the world caused by the Yellow Turban Rebellion made Mi Zhu, who was traveling around doing business, see a clue. How to maintain his huge family business?

Can the family business be protected only by the force organized by oneself?

He was skeptical.

At this time, the family in Hebei who was in charge of buying horses sent back a news that surprised him.

The well-known Captain of Huwumaru, Guo Peng, hopes to seek business cooperation from the Mi family, mainly in the sale of livestock such as horses, cattle and sheep. He can get a large amount of high-quality cattle, sheep and horses, and provide guards. He needs the sales channels provided by the Mi family. , Everyone can negotiate to share the profits earned, and everything can be negotiated.

Mi Zhu was shocked at the time.

He has traveled to Luoyang many times as a businessman, and he naturally knows the reputation of Guo Peng, a famous scholar in Luoyang.

Guo Peng was born in the Guo family of Yingchuan. In his early years, he followed the great Confucian Cai Yong to proofread books in Dongguan. Later, he became a teacher of Lu Zhi, the Taiwei of the dynasty, and studied with Lu Zhi for several years.

Coinciding with the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Guo Peng joined the army with Lu Zhi, made a great contribution to beheading Zhang Liang and capturing Zhang Jiao alive, and was appointed as the captain of Huwuwan.

Then he defeated the Xianbei leader Helian's invasion as the captain of Huwuwan, killed Helian and [-] Xianbei cavalry, and was granted the title of Yangzhai Tinghou.

Now, Guo Peng has the reputation of "the demeanor of a famous scholar and the appearance of a famous general" in Luoyang, and the main propagandist for him is Yuan Shu, the second son of the Yuan family in Runan.

Guo Peng and Yuan Shu got along very well, and they had a close relationship. When they were in Luoyang, they often drank and had fun together, which shows Guo Peng's great reputation and deep relationship.

Mi Zhu had heard of Guo Peng's fame for a long time, and he wanted to see it but could not get it. He was surprised and happy to learn that Guo Peng took the initiative to seek cooperation. He told Mi Fang about it, and Mi Fang was also shocked.

"Why do people like Guo Zifeng think of our family? Is there any fraud in this?"

Mi Zhu shook his head again and again, very disapproving of Mi Fang's doubts.

"Guo Zifeng is a well-known scholar in Luoyang. He has studied under Taiwei Lu Gong for several years. His demeanor is frank and generous, and he is highly respected by scholars. The scholars in Luoyang say that Guo Zifeng's talent, learning and moral character are the best.

Moreover, in Luoyang, I also heard that he was very considerate of the soldiers in the army. He ate coarse food with the soldiers, personally led the soldiers into battle, and even bandaged the wounds of the soldiers. The soldiers respected and loved him so much.

When he went north to serve as the captain of Hukararuma, most of the old troops who followed him to crusade against the Yellow Turban were willing to go north with him, Luoyang heroes scrambled to attach themselves to him, and even gave up their family business and were willing to go north with him. How could such a person deceive us? A humble person? "

Mi Fang didn't know how to respond after hearing this, so she stopped objecting.

The Mi family really needs to seek a breakthrough in the upper class, otherwise, according to the current trend, the whole family will not be able to find anyone who is an official, will have nothing to depend on, and will not be recognized by the upper class.

So Mi Fang selected 100 family members who were good at war to escort Mi Zhu all the way north. Mi Zhu rode a horse, wore soft armor, and hid weapons on his body. Ning County begged to see Guo Peng.

When Guo Peng learned that Mi Zhu was coming, he got up to meet Mi Zhu at the gate of the mansion himself.

"Your Excellency is Zizhong?"

Guo Peng greeted him with a smile, and asked Mi Zhu when he saw Mi Zhu, who was tall and upright.

"Villain Mi Zhu, Mi Zizhong, pay homage to Colonel Guo!"

Mi Zhu bowed and bowed, Guo Peng hurriedly helped him up, held his hand and patted his shoulder: "Just call me Zifeng, Zizhong came from a long way, thank you for your hard work."

"Don't dare, don't dare."

Mi Zhu was terrified, Guo Peng smiled again, and said: "In the army, everyone calls me an official, but now I'm not in the army, why don't you call me Guo Lang, how about it?"

"So...the villain has overstepped, Guo Lang."

"Hahaha, Zizhong is too restrained, come here, come in and talk."

Guo Peng held Mi Zhu's hand, and led Mi Zhu to walk inside. Mi Zhu was a little uneasy by Guo Peng's enthusiasm, and tremblingly followed Guo Peng into the living room, sat down tremblingly, and tremblingly watched the servants come to pour wine.

"Zi Zhong came all the way, let's have a drink first!"

Guo Peng raised his wine glass, Mi Zhu quickly raised his wine glass, and they drank together.

After drinking, Guo Peng looked at Mi Zhu's uncomfortable face, laughed and said: "My mansion is very simple, and it's not a place where dragons and phoenixes are carved, why should Zizhong be uneasy?"

"Little man... No, Guo Lang, the villain is not disturbed."

"You still say you're not disturbed?"

Guo Peng looked at him with a smile.He opened the mouth and said, "I know, what you are worried about is that you don't know why I came to you to cooperate with me in selling livestock, right?"

Seeing that Guo Peng was straight to the point, Mi Zhu nodded very simply.

"The villain and Guo Lang are strangers and have no relationship before. Why did Guo Lang choose me, the Mi family, instead of other people?"

"Since you asked so straightforwardly, I will answer straightforwardly. The reason why I chose you, the Mi family, is very simple, because you are purely businessmen, you have no complicated relationships, no one in your family is an official, and you have no background in the court."

Mi Zhu didn't expect Guo Peng to be so honest that he could even say such things.

chapter 109. one hundred and nine

Mi Zhu thought that Guo Peng would be a little more polite, but he didn't expect Guo Peng to speak so simply.

"Guo Lang...this is..."

"I'm complimenting you."

Guo Peng said with a smile: "I really praise you. No one in the family is an official, and there are no officials in the ancestors. To be able to accumulate such wealth, your family must have suffered a lot."

"..."

Mi Zhu was silent.

"So, I like you because I believe that you will make good use of this opportunity and help me and yourself. I am different from ordinary scholars, and I will not despise you."

When Guo Peng said this, Mi Zhu raised his head in surprise.

"You should also know that I am the son-in-law of the Cao family. The Cao family comes from a family of eunuchs. I am married to the Cao family. When I first came to Luoyang to study a few years ago, I was also looked down upon by scholars. But I was lucky and got to know him. Mr. Cai, Mr. Cai supported me and recommended me to be Mr. Lu’s disciple, and that’s why Guo Peng is what he is today.”

Guo Peng said slowly: "So, I feel the same for those who are despised and suppressed because of their bad background."

Mi Zhu didn't expect Guo Peng to have such a past.

But it's right to think about it, everyone will praise him for the things he is proud of, and who will care about the things in his slightly cold period?

And Mi Zhu caught a very important message.

A very important message.

He won't say it out, because speaking out will embarrass Guo Peng, everyone's relationship has not yet reached such a stage, and Mi's has not yet shown his usefulness.

"If Guo Lang is willing to use me, the Mi family, the Mi family will go all out. For what Guo Lang asks, the Mi family will only charge the cost, not the profit. All profits will belong to Guo Lang."

Mi Zhu stood up and bowed to Guo Peng, showing his usefulness to Guo Peng.

With Guo Peng's status and social connections, Guo Peng can provide him with too many things. As long as Guo Peng can let go and provide him with a little bit of help, the Mi family will be reborn.

"If you want the horse to run fast, but don't let the horse eat, Guo will not do this kind of thing."

Guo Peng walked up to Mi Zhu and held Mi Zhu's hands: "Guo said that Guo was also treated coldly. When they first arrived in Luoyang, they didn't look at Guo seriously for a whole year. What happened to you, Mi? , Guo feels the same way, how about this, I want [-]% of the profit from this trade, and the remaining [-]% goes to your Mi family."

Mi Zhu raised his head, with a complicated expression on his face.

"Guo Lang..."

"If you do something for Guo, Guo will be rewarded. Don't worry, but if you don't get rewarded, Guo will change to another house."

"..."

Mi Zhu wanted to say something, but he didn't say it. He nodded and said, "The villain will do his best."

Later, Guo Peng told Mi Zhu that he asked Mi Zhu to exchange one-third of the profits from the trade with easily stored grains such as corn and wheat and send them to Guo's Manor in Qiao County.

The remaining one-third of the money will also be sent to the Guo's Manor in Qiao County, delivered in batches, and should not be too eye-catching. He will arrange for the Guo family to connect with the Mi's.

Only the last third of the profit was handed over to the troops escorting the horses to someone like Guo, who used it as military supplies to support soldiers.

For Guo Peng's actions, Mi Zhu just regarded it as an ordinary way of accumulating family assets and storing food for emergencies, so he was not surprised.

After that, Guo Peng began to use power for personal gain in an upright manner, using his prestige and authority to travel among various Karasuma tribes and other miscellaneous tribes, buying cattle, sheep and horses from them at low prices, and then handing them over to the Mi family for transportation. Central Plains sold at a high price to obtain high profits.

There is no way, raising soldiers is really costly and expensive. Some soldiers can’t just raise them alone, but also raise their wives and children together.

Guo Peng's behavior of directly distributing military pay to every soldier and personally supervising the process is very popular among officers and soldiers. The reward mechanism is also very open and transparent. If meritorious service must be rewarded, there must be punishment. The military law is strict and impartial, so Soldiers are willing to die for Guo Peng.

During this period of time, people from Youzhou, Bingzhou and even Jizhou came to join Guo Peng. Although Guo Peng only recruited strong men from all over Youzhou, because of his reputation, many strong men from Bingzhou and Jizhou were also willing to come to Guo Peng to make money. A job.

The strength of the Karasuma Battalion under Guo Peng's command increased by about 500 during the half-year period from March of the second year of Zhongping to September of the second year of Zhongping, and the number has exceeded 500, close to [-].

In fact, as long as Guo Peng lowers some standards, it is not difficult to recruit more than 5000 people.

But on the one hand, money has not yet reached the level of affluence, and on the other hand, Guo Peng hopes to build this army into his future army team and train the soldiers of this army by training officers, so the requirements for the quality of the soldiers themselves are relatively high.

Not too old or too young.

Don't be short, unless you are short but strong, then you can still consider one or two.

It is impossible to be an officer if it is too ugly to convince the public.

Don't be frivolous and flirtatious, you can't be honest at first glance, and you can only become a black sheep in the army.

Those who can't bear hardships and stand hard work don't need it. There are many subjects in the military training, and it's very hard.

With such a standard for selection, many unqualified people will naturally be wiped out, and those who remain are real heroes.

Those who are most favored by Guo Peng are the children of farmers and those who do manual work, followed by rangers.

Constrain them with strict military regulations, use rewards to control them, build them into your own soldiers, and cultivate their military literacy and combat skills, exercise them in actual combat, and train a strong army.

With the coming of troubled times in the future, based on this, the army can be expanded as quickly as possible, and a mighty army can be pulled out. This is Guo Peng's goal.

PS: Add a chapter, please count the tickets to decorate the appearance.

Chapter 110 Come to be my bodyguard

Because the army currently has a small number of people, Guo Peng can do many things by himself.

Such as recruiting strong men, training soldiers, paying salaries, punishing and rewarding soldiers and so on.

Guo Peng would usually be present when the payment was made, gathering the soldiers and lining them up in columns.

One by one, they reported their names and the names of the leading military lords, and then paid the salaries to themselves, and supervised by themselves to prevent corruption of soldiers' salaries.

In this way, the gratitude of the soldiers will naturally converge on Guo Peng who was present.

The same is true for rewards. Every month, the army will record a batch of soldiers who can be rewarded.

Then at the army summary meeting at the end of the month, Guo Peng personally called these soldiers to the high platform, and then personally gave them the reward money to encourage them to continue their efforts.

And give priority to promoting these hard-working and hard-working soldiers as officers, and give them priority in providing benefits.

In this way, while gaining the gratitude of the soldiers, they can encourage the soldiers to train harder, and they can also personally promote outstanding people to become officers, promote officers by themselves, and increase their control over the army.

The salaries of low-ranking officers were handed out by Guo Peng himself. They also lined up in front of Guo Peng. Guo Peng personally gave them their salaries and some extra rewards to encourage them.

For officers above the military marquis, Guo Peng held a banquet, gave them their salaries at the banquet, and talked with them over wine.

First-level treatment is higher than first-level treatment.

Of course, the deep-seated idea is to transfer the allegiance goals of the entire army to yourself, instead of approaching the top-down model of "my vassal's vassal is not my vassal".

At present, the military situation of the Eastern Han Empire really shows signs of developing towards this trend.

All matters related to the vital interests of soldiers in the army were done by Guo Peng himself.

Over time, the soldiers became completely used to it and fully believed that they should be loyal to Guo Peng, not any officer or other officials, and firmly controlled the army.

Guo Peng, who wants to make soldiers into his own soldiers, naturally understands the importance of the army.

In order not to allow anyone to replace him, he adopted such a method that no one in this army could challenge his authority. This tradition must be established from the very beginning of the establishment of the army.

He is not willing to make a wedding dress for others.

Guo Peng would rather choose to spend a lot of time than let the soldiers remember his face, voice, and existence. When something happens, the first thing that comes to mind is himself rather than others.