Fan Chou finally reported Zhao Yun's matter to Dong Zhuo, but at this time Dong Zhuo was employing people, so he would not punish Xu Kang for this, so he could only turn a blind eye to the matter and cover it up.

In the past, no reaction was made.

After Zhao Yun left, Xu Kang led the army to the border of Huayin and joined Dong Yue's main force. They were preparing to march to Tongguan when news of Sun Jian's withdrawal suddenly came.

After multiple confirmations, the cause of the incident was that Yuan Shao sent an army to attack Yuzhou, and Sun Jian had to return to the army to protect his base. In this way, an imminent war was eliminated as if it were child's play.

Xu Kang took the opportunity to say that since the army had been assembled, it was better to take the opportunity to march eastward and recapture Luoyang. He could even take advantage of Sun Jian's enemies from both sides to eliminate him.

It's just that at this time, Dong Zhuo has given up his ambition to dominate the world. He cares more about the power in his hands. As long as no one comes to destroy his current status, Dong Zhuo is no longer willing to take the initiative to attack and waste his strength.

Finally, with the words "the time has not come yet", Dong Zhuo blocked the possibility of the army's eastward march and disbanded on the spot, each of them returning to their own garrison to stand by.

For Xu Kang, these were all expected events and there was nothing to regret. However, Dong Zhuo was obviously dissatisfied with him and began to weaken Xu Kang's army.

As the conflict between Fan Chou and Xu Kang surfaced, Dong Zhuo generously transferred him to Niu Fu to encircle and suppress the Baibo Army in order to avoid any mishaps with his favorite general.

Of course, in addition to the thousand soldiers led by Fan Chou himself, there were also a thousand men of Guan Peng who went with him. Now they have been assigned to Fan Chou's command.

In other words, the 5,000-strong army that Xu Kang finally assembled was reduced to two-fifths in the blink of an eye, leaving only less than 3,000 people.

Dong Zhuo's actions didn't stop there. He then appointed Zhang Liao to replace Fan Chou and become the deputy commander of the army. Then he ordered Xu Kang to lead 500 cavalry into the city to defend Chang'an. In this way, Zhang Liao legitimately took over Xu Kang's military power.

.

Even Xun You marveled at Dong Zhuo's move to seize power, "First you used Fan Chou to divide our forces, and then you used Zhang Liao, who has a good relationship with us, to replace you, so that we can't find an excuse to be angry."

Xu Kang said with a smile: "Indeed. If Deputy Commander Zhang hadn't secretly defected to us, I'm afraid we would have lost everything this time."

Zhang Liao lamented: "Although Dong Zhuo was strong, he only brought chaos and tyranny to the world. After witnessing the construction of Pingcheng, the last general understood that only those like General Xu who could provide a way for the people to gain a foothold in the troubled times in the future

A person who survives.”

Xu Kang said with a smile: "Okay, Wen Yuan's words are enough. I'll leave Pingcheng's army to Deputy Commander Zhang and Lord Xun. I'm going to Chang'an to be lazy for a while."

Zhang Liaosurong said: "General, don't worry, when you come back again, I will ensure that you will train a strong army that can fight in battle."

Xu Kang only had 800 cavalry. After Zhao Yun took away 100 of them, Xu Kang took the rest into Chang'an City this time, with a total of 700 cavalry.

The task assigned by the imperial court was very simple, which was to let Xu Kang lead these cavalry to station near the south city wall and be responsible for the usual defense of the city wall.

Chang'an City has twelve city gates. Although it has gone through wars, it has been restored by Dong Zhuo's migrant workers and is now completely new. Among them, there are three gates on the south city wall. From east to west, they are Fu'anmen (Dumen), Anmen and

Xi'an Gate. In addition to Xu Kang's 700 cavalry, there were also 1,000 old soldiers from Yizhou stationed here.

After Dong Zhuo moved the capital to Chang'an, he ordered all parties to come to the court. In order to show support for the new emperor, Liu Yan sent a thousand soldiers to Chang'an to serve as King Qin. Naturally, Liu Yan's two sons, Liu Fan and Liu Dan, served as the commanders, because most of the soldiers were

Sou people, hence the name.

The Sou people are a well-known ethnic group in Yizhou who are good at fighting, and these one thousand people can be said to be elite. Unfortunately, Dong Zhuo did not dare to use these people easily, so he had to let them guard the city wall.

After Xu Kang took office, Liu Fan and Liu Dan, as their subordinates, naturally wanted to come to see him.

After all, they were acquaintances in the past. Although there were some awkward relationships, they were all trivial matters. Xu Kang would not take them to heart, so he warmly welcomed the two of them into the tent.

Brothers Liu Fan and Liu Dan have also undergone great changes, and are now much calmer. In addition, they have put on battle armor, and they also show a somewhat heroic spirit.

After the three of them had finished greeting, the Liu brothers exchanged glances with each other, and Liu Fan spoke up: "I heard that the sister of the Zou family is now living in the general's residence. Is this true?"

Xu Kang felt a shiver in his heart, knowing that the other party was well prepared, and the matter was not a secret, so he admitted generously: "That's right. When Zhang Ji forced her to marry, I was lucky enough to save her. After that, in order to prevent accidents from happening, I had to

She stays at home."

Liu Fan felt disdainful in his heart, feeling that Xu Kang saved people just because he wanted Zou Yuan's beauty, so he hid him at home afterwards. He was no different from Zhang Jisheng. Of course, he would not point it out stupidly now.

Liu Fan had his own purpose in mentioning Zou Yuan, because the Zou family had an unusually close relationship with the Liu Yan family. In his opinion, he could start from here to establish a relationship with Xu Kang.

Therefore, Liu Fandao said: "When I heard that Sister Zou was being forced by Zhang Ji, we were also very anxious. Fortunately, the general acted righteously and saved her from suffering. Mr. Zou was also very grateful after hearing about this?"

Xu Kang's eyes narrowed and he said, "Zou Jing? Isn't he in Youzhou?"

Liu Dan said with a smile: "Mr. Zou has always been on good terms with his father. After knowing that his father was in Yizhou, he gave up his military position and returned to his father's army. Now he is serving under my father."

Xu Kang thought to himself, no wonder the people he sent to Youzhou could not find any news about Zou Jing. It turned out that he had already gone to Yizhou.

Liu Fan continued: "Mr. Zou only has one daughter at his knees. He has mentioned his desire to reunite with his daughter countless times. However, the road is difficult and difficult, so he has never been able to make the trip."

Liu Dan hurriedly said: "If the general can take time to escort the young lady to Yizhou, it will definitely fulfill the filial piety of their father and daughter's reunion, and it will also be a great benefit to the general's reputation. Moreover, my father also intends to consummate the marriage between the general and Zou Mei. This is

It’s a beautiful thing that can be accomplished in one fell swoop.”

The two brothers sang and harmonized, and they cooperated tacitly. At this time, Xu Kang finally understood that the two brothers were lobbyists for Liu Yan.

Xu Kang said with a smile: "I have long heard that Yizhou is a land of abundance, and I have long wanted to visit it. It's a pity that I am busy with official duties, so it is not the time."

Liu Fanxi said: "This matter is not a problem. As long as the general is interested, we can arrange everything to ensure that the general can reach Yizhou safely."

Xu Kang said: "This matter is not urgent. I heard that Mr. Liu is suffering from a serious illness. I wonder how he is doing now?"

Brother Liu Fan thought that Xu Kangshang was hesitant and did not want to push too hard, so they had to change the subject and said: "My father was actually sad about the death of his third brother, so he fell ill. As a son of man, I cannot serve the decoction in front of my father's bed."

, It’s really unfilial.” As he spoke, he sobbed twice.

But who is Xu Kang? How could he not see the hypocrisy of the two of them?

It turned out that Liu Yan had a third son, Liu Mao, who was usually his favorite, and was always taken by Liu Yan by his side to train him.

From this time when he entered Yizhou, among the four sons of Liu Yan, it was obvious that he only brought this son with him.

It's a pity that Liu Hao's life was unlucky. Not long after his marriage, he became seriously ill due to the acclimatization. Although he was treated and his life was saved, he became crazy and couldn't control himself.

Liu Yan was heartbroken and fell ill because of it. For this reason, he had to write a letter hoping that the court would send back another son so that he could be taken care of in old age.

After the imperial court found out that the matter was true, it ordered the young Liu Zhang to go to Yizhou, which could be regarded as a kind of appeasement to Liu Yan, a high official in the border area.

Xu Kang didn't have much interest in Liu Yan's affairs, but he was quite impressed by Wu Ran, a little lolita who was always afraid of him. Thinking that she was only twelve or thirteen years old, she got married and was still a lunatic, and he could only sigh inwardly.

In a word, it's a sin.

Although brothers Liu Fan and Liu Dan showed appropriate sadness, Xu Kang understood how happy they were. After all, when Liu Hao went crazy, their brothers had a chance to fight for the inheritance. Especially since the Liu family was in a precarious state.

In the days of , if Liu Bian was killed by Dong Zhuo, Liu Yan could ascend the throne as emperor in Yizhou, and they would even have a chance to become princes.

But these are all family affairs of Liu Yan's family, and Xu Kangdao has no interest in them, as long as the two of them don't cause any trouble for him.

Thus, Xu Kang began his ordinary and boring life as a city gate official.

Just when Xu Kang was enjoying all this comfortably, the war situation among the princes in Shandong intensified again.

Taking advantage of the fierce fighting between Yuan Shao and Sun Jian in Yuzhou, Gongsun Zan led the Youzhou army to go south brazenly and launched an attack on Han Fu.

Han Fu was indecisive, made mistakes in command, and suffered repeated defeats, which aroused strong dissatisfaction among his generals.

First, General Qu Yi joined Yuan Shao's army after a quarrel with him. Later, Gao Lan opened his mouth and rebelled one after another. In just two months, Han Fu reached the point where he had no generals available.

At this time, the Black Mountain Army made waves again and attacked more than a dozen cities in western Jizhou.

Han Fu's territory was compressed to the southern Hebei frontier, and the situation was obviously precarious.

In order to save himself and his family's lives, Han Fu had no choice but to follow the advice of his advisers and hand over the power of Jizhou to Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao was already very worried about fighting for Yuzhou at this time, but he did not expect that he would be so happy that he would be given the title of Jizhou Mu for free. At the moment, he no longer cared about Yuzhou, reorganized his armaments, and transferred all his troops to the battlefield in Jizhou.

Just when the situation in Jizhou was changing suddenly, Jingzhou was not at peace either.

In order to contain Yuan Shu's army, Yuan Shao has joined forces with Liu Biao to attack Nanyang from the south. Yuan Shao withdrew his troops in Yuzhou for the sake of Jizhou, which made Liu Biao suffer.

In order to establish hegemony, Yuan Shu signaled Sun Jian to go south and attack Liu Biao, hoping to unify the south in one fell swoop.
Chapter completed!