Chapter 319 Who said that those who stand in the light are heroes?
In half a year, Yuan Shang almost lost half of Jizhou...
Although there are still Bingzhou and Youzhou, the actual controllers of these two states are Gao Gan and Yuan Xi. Whether they will obey Yuan Shang again is a big question mark.
So far,
Among the top princes in the world, there are only Lu Bu from Qingzhou, Liu Biao from Jingzhou, Sun Quan from Jiangdong, Liu Zhang from Yizhou, Zhang Lu from Hanzhong, and Ma Teng and Han Sui from Xiliang.
Among these princes, Qingzhou Lu Bu is a die-hard ally, Liang Ma Teng and Han Sui are close friends; Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu are having a great time fighting on their own; Cao Cao's biggest opponents in the future are only Liu Biao and Sun Quan who have already formed an alliance.
.
In order to delay Cao Cao's steps to unify the north, Liu Biao wrote to Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan, urging the two brothers not to fight in the nest and give Cao Cao an advantage. Unfortunately, they would suffer a lot if they didn't listen to the old man's words, so the two brothers eventually gave up to Cao Cao.
Opportunity to annex Jizhou.
In the middle of June of the sixth year of Jian'an, Zhao Yun and Xia Houlan joined forces with Chen Deng to occupy Yangping County.
At the end of June in the sixth year of Jian'an, Cao Ren, Xu Huang, Le Jin, and Zhang Yan led an army of 100,000 to the north and headed straight for Handan!
In early July of the sixth year of Jian'an, Lu Bu personally led an army of 50,000 people to the north and surrounded Yuan Tan in Nanpi.
Although Yuan Tan had the advantage of the city, he was distracted and had no fighting spirit.
Although he resisted vigorously under Lu Bu's attack, due to the huge gap in strength, the city was quickly captured by Lu Bu.
Yuan Tan, with his hair disheveled, rode alone on horseback, but was caught up by Lu Bu on a red rabbit horse outside the city, and his head was taken off with a halberd.
It is sad that Yuan Tankong was ambitious but had no matching ability. Not only did he fight with his brothers in the same room, he also introduced two hungry wolves, Cao Cao and Lu Bu, into his house. In the end, he was defeated and the city was lost, and he died without any body.
It's his own fault.
...
In mid-July of the sixth year of Jian'an,
Lu Yan, Huang Zhong, and Shadow Guard Zhou Hong rode on three horses and whipped their horses, rushing towards Maocheng where Lu Lingqi was stationed.
Lu Yan did not bring any other personal guards, and he did not even want to bring Huang Zhong with him at first, but Huang Zhong insisted on protecting him, so Lu Yan could only bring him with him.
Ever since Zhao Xue, the captain of Shadow Guard Ding Ziying, was "fired", Zhou Hong, a newcomer, was slowly pushed to the forefront.
Judging from the importance Guo Jia and Yan Feng place on him, as well as his extraordinary abilities, it is very likely that he will succeed Zhao Xue as the captain of the Shadow Guard T-Zi Battalion in the future.
There were still more than fifty miles away from Maocheng, and Zhou Hong knew a lot about the battle in Maocheng, so on this last stretch of the road, Zhou Hong told Lu Yan and Huang Zhong many details about the battle in Maocheng.
After Huang Zhong heard the details of the battle to outwit Maocheng, he couldn't help but admire: "A captain has such resourcefulness, Shadow Guard is indeed a place where talents are born!"
"Senior Zhao single-handedly disrupted Jiangdong's legendary existence. We have always admired his wisdom!" Hearing Lao Huang praise the Shadow Guard, Zhou Hong was naturally proud, but he did not show it.
Zhou Hong's ancestral home is Fan Yang, Youzhou. He is twenty-four years old this year. His parents died when he was young, and he only depends on his sister Zhou Yan (book friend [Qin Jiuzhi]).
Back then, when Yuan Shao invaded Youzhou with the intention of destroying Gongsun Zan, Zhou Hong and Zhou Yan unfortunately got separated while avoiding the war.
Zhou Hong followed the refugees and entered Jizhou, but Zhou Yan's whereabouts were unknown.
Later, Zhou Hong heard that Yanzhou was recruiting a large number of refugees, and as long as those who went there would have food to eat and land to farm.
So Zhou Hong traveled a long distance with several familiar refugees and overcame many difficulties to reach Yanzhou.
From time to time, the Shadow Guards will look for good talents worth cultivating among various groups of people. Although Zhou Hong has never read a book, he is alert, diligent and studious.
After Yan Feng discovered him, he decisively introduced him to the Shadow Guards. After three years of training, Zhou Hong has begun to stand out in various tasks.
Fifty miles only takes a few hours.
When the three of them arrived at Maocheng, Lu Lingqi and others had been waiting outside the city for a long time.
"Last General Lu Lingqi, I have met you sir!"
"The last general Gan Ning (Hao Zhao, Zhang Xue) has met the hussar general!"
Seeing Lu Yan and the others arriving, Lu Lingqi and others all bowed and clasped their fists to Lu Yan.
Lu Yan got off his horse and came to them, saying: "Everyone, thank you for your hard work!"
After everyone stood up, Lu Yan asked Lu Lingqi: "How is the war going on your side?"
"The high-ranking cadres have been stationing troops." Lu Lingqi shook her head and said with some dissatisfaction: "We guess that he may be thinking of surrendering. It's really boring..."
Lu Yan smiled slightly when he heard this and said: "Yes, the ambitions of senior officials are not small. Unfortunately, like his uncle Yuan Shao, he has ambitions but no talents, and he is a good scholar but cannot choose people."
"Then what should we do? Are we just going to watch him surrender to Duke Cao?" Lu Lingqi asked unwillingly. She really wanted to take back her hometown.
"When the time comes, I will find an excuse to transfer the senior cadre away. If he doesn't leave, there will be plenty of excuses to deal with him."
"Wouldn't this be bad?" Lu Lingqi said hesitantly.
"It doesn't matter, Gao Gan is a capricious person. His surrender now is just a last resort. Once he has the opportunity, he will definitely rebel again."
Lu Yan's words undoubtedly gave Lu Lingqi reassurance. Lu Lingqi finally smiled and said: "Okay, just listen to sir!"
Lu Yan nodded, then turned to Zhou Hong and said: "Zhou Hong, I will leave all the information about Bingzhou to you. I want to know all the reactions of senior officials immediately!"
"I accept the order!" Zhou Hong clasped his fists and accepted the order before leaving.
But when he was about to turn around and leave, Lu Yan stopped him again, "You're tired after traveling for such a long time. Let's rest for a night before leaving. Don't be in a hurry."
Zhou Hong was stunned when he heard this. He really didn't expect that a high-ranking person like Lu Yan would care about the feelings of a small person like him.
Zhao Xue also admired this young, handsome and capable junior. She said: "Just listen to your husband. After you have a good rest, you will have more energy to complete the task."
After being separated from his sister for so many years, it was the first time that Zhou Hong was cared for so much by someone, not to mention that the people who cared about him were Lu Yan and the legendary shadow guard Zhao Xue.
However, Zhou Hong secretly thought: "Yan Feng told me that the shadow is the institution closest to hell in the world, the darkest area hidden in the light..."
Zhao Xue seemed to see Zhou Hong's thoughts, and she added: "I don't know what Yan Feng told you, but the shadows used to be a warm family, and the shadow guards also regarded each other as brothers..."
Lu Yan sighed in his heart: "But it's different now..."
As special agencies become more and more formal, the human touch will inevitably become weaker and weaker. Death and intrigue will accompany everyone, and there will be no room for any flaws in the shadow guards.
But no matter what, people have feelings, and Lu Yan doesn't want Shadow to just rely on cold dogmas and laws to maintain it.
"You are all heroes of the Han Dynasty, and everyone will remember your secret efforts and blood and tears..." Glory and a sense of mission should be the ultimate goals they pursue.
Zhou Hong was suddenly confused and didn't know where to put his hands. He murmured to himself: "We... can also be heroes?"
Lu Yan sighed and said quietly: "Who said that only those who stand in the light are heroes?"
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
I'd like to apologize first. I don't have any coding today, so I can only post the last chapter...
There was a sudden earthquake this afternoon and it was so strong that it shook my house. I didn't dare to stay at home and code... I owe you a chapter first, and I'll make up for it after the Dragon Boat Festival... Let me play a game to calm down the pain.