At noon the next day, Wang Zheng personally went outside the city to greet him.
To show my courtesy, I personally went out of the city for ten miles and looked ahead. I saw the troops in order, with flags like a forest, and a strong army. I felt quite proud. I looked around and asked, "What do you think of this army?"
"I have long heard that General Xu is very strict in managing the army. When I saw him today, he really lived up to his reputation."
Lu Ji, who was on the right, took the lead in praising: "Although he has just experienced a battle and traveled a long distance, his flags are still undisturbed and his troops are in order. It can be seen that General Xu Fang has the three tastes of running an army as a famous general in ancient times."
Gu Yong on the side also echoed: "If the state pastor has a good general like this, even though the world is big, where can't he go?"
"Ha ha."
Hearing these flattering words, Wang Zheng was also quite happy.
Although he was privately dissatisfied with Xu Fang's closeness to the gentry and his kindness to scholars, he was different from Yu Jin, Mr. Huang and others. On the one hand, the relationship was closer, and on the other hand, it was also because compared to these people who were originally able to make history in the future.
The more outstanding generals and famous marshals Xu Fang, a "nobody", performs, the more he shows his master's vision for recognizing talents and his ability to cultivate talents.
It can even produce a kind of heroic ambition to change history, or even create history.
Seeing that the return to the army was approaching, Wang Zheng ordered Wang Xiong and his bodyguard to take out the tables, wine and cups that had been prepared in advance, put them away one by one, and immediately sat on the horse to wait.
After a while, they saw a group of people separated from the billowing smoke in front, galloping over first. However, Xu Fang and others had already received the news that Wang Zheng was personally welcoming them, and they all urged their horses to rush forward, crossing the army, and came to meet them.
Wang Zheng laughed loudly, looked around and said, "If Xu Fang hadn't led his army to defeat the enemy in Pingyu and beheaded him, I might not have been able to capture Shouchun so easily. Everyone, if the heroes are here, how about you dismount to greet them?"
Without waiting for a reply, he took the lead, swung his legs, jumped off the horse, threw away the reins, and walked forward.
With the dignity of a human master, he first greeted Xu Fang's generals ten miles outside the city. When they arrived, he dismounted from his horse and walked to greet them. This respectful courtesy was too great.
Seeing this, Guo Jia and Mi Heng were moved at the same time. Huang Zhong, Wei Yan and other generals on the side showed envy on their faces. Lu Ji even sighed: "My lord, it is rare in the world to break up a corporal like this!" He also hurriedly greeted the group.
The ministers dismounted one after another and caught up with him.
This is indeed the case. You must know that when the king's political power was weak and there was a huge disparity in strength between him and Yuan Shu, when the latter sent Sun Ce as an envoy to visit Kaiyang, he only asked Yu Jin to go out of the city five miles to welcome him. Now he not only left the city in person,
And to welcome each other ten miles away, such courtesy is not a big deal.
Xu Fang galloped on his horse and came to Wang Zheng. He rolled over and fell off the saddle. Without saying a word, he just made a plop and knelt straight on the ground. He bowed his head and said, "The guilty minister Xu Fang pays homage to the general!"
"Afang, what are you doing?"
Wang Zheng was caught off guard and was startled. He hurriedly helped him and said: "We brothers have been separated for several months. It is a happy event to meet each other today. Why are you so pretentious?"
However, Xu Fang refused to get up. He just lowered his head and said in a deep voice: "I have failed the general's high expectations. I am guilty."
Hearing this, Wang Zheng sighed secretly and looked at Xu Fang, who was kneeling on the ground, his eyes becoming dim and uncertain for a moment.
From the moment Xu Fang called out "guilty minister", he actually guessed that Xu Fang already knew about the fact that he sent people to inspect Pengcheng and the "Guangcheng Chen Fu Case".
But speaking of it, can this be considered Xu Fang’s fault?
In fact, strictly speaking, it doesn't count, because Xu Fang's mission to supervise Pengcheng was essentially to serve as the wing of the Quartet's army to defend against foreign enemies and to monitor Lu Bu in Wu County. In fact, he did not neglect any of his duties in this job. At most, he could only be regarded as not doing a perfect job.
, saying he is guilty is an overstatement.
Even so, Xu Fang immediately lowered his stance and took the initiative to admit his mistake. Under such circumstances, how could Wang Zheng still have people to blame him?
"Afang, why are you doing this? I can't blame you for this."
Wang Zheng understood the whole story and couldn't help but smile. He immediately pulled Xu Fang up with a little force and patted the dust on his body. He said warmly: "You are now a general in charge of a party, with tens of thousands of people under your command."
Everyone, you must always pay attention to your dignity and appearance, and you must not hold someone too close to your body at will."
"General."
Xu Fang was still speechless, but he saw Wang Zhengwei waving his hand, and the guards behind him had already brought the wine case.
In fact, Wang Zheng originally wanted to exchange a few words with Xu Fang and express his feelings of missing him after saying goodbye, but Xu Fang did this when he came up. Although his posture was low, he also directly established the relationship as a monarch and a minister.
Not being a friend, Wang Zheng had no choice but to take advantage of the situation and deal with matters of reward and congratulations.
He wanted to stay away from Xu Fang, but he had no choice but to get "out of touch" with him first.
The so-called cold weather at high places is probably what it is.
He was sighing in his heart, but on the surface Wang Zheng had no influence at all. He still poured out the glasses with the generals with a happy expression, drank them all in one gulp, and after being polite to Zhang Liaolue who came after him, he asked Wang Xiong to lead thousands of soldiers.
The horse went to build a camp and stay there.
He personally took Xu Fang, Zhang Liao and others back to the city and had a banquet to celebrate their victory.
Those attending the banquet, in terms of guest of honor, were naturally Wang Zheng, with Xu Fang, Zhang Liao, and Zhang Zhao as guests, accompanied by Guo Jia, Ni Heng, Huang Zhong, and Wei Yan, both civil and military.
In addition, Lu Ji, Gu Yong, Gan Ning, Li Ren and other local civil and military officials in Shouchun also attended the banquet.
The venue for the night banquet was Zhongyuan in the Chu Palace.
In his early years, when Yuan Shu was in charge of Shouchun, he spent a lot of money to renovate the garden of the old Chu Palace and named it "Zhongyuan". The garden not only has a bamboo forest on the left and a flower garden on the right, but also has strange rocks and clear springs.
Facing each other, there are pavilions and waterside pavilions in the garden to welcome guests and enjoy the scenery. It is a pleasant place. Wang Zheng specially chose one of them as the location for today's banquet.
Under the firelight and lights, hundreds of soldiers from the Tianzhu camp were either standing guard or patrolling back and forth. These people were basically second- and third-level soldiers. Each of them was tall and strong, and they looked even more powerful and majestic under the armor and weapons.
On the battlefield, there is no calculation for killing people. Just standing silently can give people a murderous aura that is cold to the bones.
This line of defense spreads out with the Banquet Hall as the center, and extends to the outside of Zhongyuan. Then facing outwards, other guards from the palace are responsible for protecting it.
Outside the gate of Zhongyuan stood many soldiers of the generals and the entourage of civil servants.
Wang Xiong had already defined the scope of their activities. Without Wang Zheng's order, no one could step out of the circle, and any offender would be killed.
In fact, logically speaking, the entourage of civil servants is nothing more than that. The personal soldiers of the generals are not suitable to bring weapons into the palace. The fact that they can wait outside Zhongyuan is regarded as a favor given by Wang Zheng to Xu Fang and Huang Zhong.
, Gan Ning, Gu Jian and other few people’s privileges.
Of course, the most important thing is that almost all of these people and their soldiers have entered the system, and there is absolutely no chance that they will have any different intentions or even do things that disobey the royal government's orders. Even so, in order to prevent their family from getting an "unprepared"
"Wang Zheng still limited the number for them.
For example, Xu Fang can bring the most soldiers into the palace, reaching twenty people, followed by Huang Zhong, who can bring fifteen people, Gan Ning and Gu Jian, who can bring ten people, and Wei Yan, although his achievements like this are not as good as those of Wei Yan.
For those who are small but have not entered the system, sorry, you can only bring about two to five people with you at most.
The moon is rising in the atrium, and the banquet has just begun.
Amidst the layers of defense in Zhongyuan, under the vigilance of the heroic and masculine guards, groups of maids in light makeup and embroidered clothes were seen inside and outside the inner hall of the banquet, holding high antique cups.
Wine vessels were coming in and out; rows of servants carrying steaming delicacies and delicacies were flowing in from the banquet hall.
The firelight outside the door is already bright enough, and the interior of the hall is even more dazzling.
In the hall, which can accommodate one or two hundred people, the floor is covered with fine wool carpets from the Western Regions, which are thick, soft and colorful.
On both sides of the hall, tall mahogany pillars support the curved dome, with beams passing underneath. On the beams, dozens or hundreds of palace lanterns, or made of bronze, are hung.
, or made of silk, some are lit with scented red candles, and some are directly decorated with pearls and treasures. They are carved and decorated, and are full of jewels.
The light of the palace lanterns alone is not enough to reflect the brilliance of the hall. There are also numerous lamp plates densely placed on the front, rear, left and right walls; there are also copper candlesticks placed next to each table in the hall.
.
The lamp plates and wax stands all have different shapes. Some are like beauties, some are like children worshiping Buddha, some are like dragons, and some are like plum orchids competing for beauty. When you are among them, you feel like you are wandering between illusion and reality.
In between, especially the bright lights, it becomes more and more unreal like a dream.
This is all the wealth and luxury that Yuan Shu has accumulated over the years, but now it is all at the expense of Wang Zheng.
At this time, Wang Zheng was also very satisfied.
If he still felt a little guilty when he first entered Shouchun, then as he enjoyed the luxury, his beloved wife, and even his supreme authority left by Yuan Shu, those little bits of guilt had long since disappeared.
Instead, there was an increasingly fierce and uncontrollable pride and joy.
Didn't Temujin say that?
The greatest joy in life is to defeat the enemy, drive him away, seize his possessions, see his closest relatives shed tears, ride his horse, and take in his wife and daughter.
This is actually normal. The longer a man enjoys his rights, the easier it is for his bottom line to become lower.
Or to be more precise, the animality and desire for conquest in human beings will gradually overwhelm the so-called rationality and moral sense!
Of course, what Wang Zheng was more happy about at this time was not only the luxury in front of him, but also the civil servants and generals in the hall who were surrounded by luxury.
Although the banquet was held in Shouchun, these people in the hall were considered to be only a handful of talented people in the entire Han Dynasty!
These talents are the elite of each of the three countries in the future!
Zhang Zhao and Gan Ning of Soochow; Huang Zhong and Wei Yan of Shu; Guo Jia, Yu Jin and Zhang Liao of Wei.
By the way, Zhang Liao hasn't recruited him yet, so he has to hurry up this time!
Thinking of this, Wang Zheng's heart was moved. He walked around the whole place for a moment, turned his head to look at the guards standing behind him, and sent a silent inquiry through the system:
Where is Lu Qiling? Why didn't anyone see her?
The personal guard hurriedly stepped forward and listened: The villain just wanted to go to the embassy to invite me. Zhang Guoxiang said that the wedding was coming and it was not appropriate for the general to meet him at this time.
Wang Zheng nodded slightly and turned to Wang Xiong. Wang Xiong understood and quickly bowed and said: "General, all the guests have arrived."
At this time, the hall was already in a noisy state. Civil servants such as Guo Jia were better off, they abided by the etiquette, and even when they talked, they mostly talked in a low voice. The generals were different.
Although Huang Zhong had not been in the army for a long time, he had already won the recognition of the generals in Pengcheng for his extraordinary bravery. The two sides fought side by side during the attack on Beihai. They were very excited when they met and talked about their feelings for each other. He also acted as a go-between.
I went to introduce Wei Yan, Gan Ning and others to the generals. During the conversation, the two parties talked about long admiration and disrespect. After several times, the topic suddenly changed. It was nothing more than a few battles. It was more than just high-pitched talk.
Even more dancing.
Even Zhang Liao and several Bingzhou generals, who were still outsiders at this time, may have been infected by the atmosphere, and later joined in. There was constant laughter among the parties, and the atmosphere was lively and lively, but it also seemed chaotic.
These reckless men
Secretly complaining, Wang Zheng picked up the wine, stood up with a long laugh, looked at the audience, and said leisurely: "Everyone."
The sound was like a loud bell, vibrating and reverberating in the space of the hall, immediately causing the whole place to fall into silence.
The next moment, everyone's eyes were focused on him, and immediately they heard a "crash" sound. Following Xu Fang and Guo Jia taking the lead, everyone in the hall also stood up.
After all, the lord Wang Zheng has already stood up, who can still sit down?
In fact, there are still some.
Speaking of which, Zhang Liao and the generals of the Bingzhou Army are not yet Wang Zheng's subordinates. They just do not follow the etiquette of monarchs and ministers, but they must also pay attention to the etiquette of host and guest. What's more, almost everyone in the inner hall stood up at this time, and they also
Unable to remain calm any longer, they all stood up one after another.
Wang Zhengyan smiled at Yan Yan and said loudly: "The current battle in Jiangdong is not only far larger in scale than in the past, but also unprecedentedly time-consuming and labor-intensive. It lasted for two months. At the most dangerous time, even the general was trapped.
Shu County is in danger."
"Being able to defeat the enemy and turn danger into safety depends entirely on the strength of the kings!"
"For example, General Xu Fang organized nearly 10,000 troops to go south to Yuzhou in a short period of time. First, he captured Longkang and completely cut off Yuan Shu's reinforcements from turning back. Then he fought dozens of times under Pingyu City, and finally won by beheading him.
, it can be said that marching is a hard work! What a great achievement in battle!”
Having said this, Wang Zheng paused, looked at Xu Fang, then at Huang Zhong, Wei Yan, and finally looked at Gan Ning and other generals, smiled slightly, and then said: "Of course, without Han Sheng, Wen Chang and Wu
If a victorious general sacrifices his life and charges into battle, how can he first defeat Sun Ce and then defeat Yuan Shu?"
"Especially Wu Sheng. Although he is not here tonight, he can be said to have made the most contributions in the battle of Lujiang and even in the subsequent battle of Pingyu. Of course, as I said, it all depends on the strength of all the armies.
Only by defeating the enemy can we have the great drinking party we have today!"
"Tonight's banquet is, firstly, to welcome General Zhang Liao and other Bingzhou heroes, and secondly, it is also for everyone here to work together to celebrate our heavenly army's expansion of territory."
“Let’s have a full cup and drink together!”
As soon as he finished speaking, a beautiful maid came forward with a pot and added wine to the table one by one. Everyone, whether civil or military, raised their glasses one after another.
It's just that the military commander's side is different, but the civil servants' expressions hidden behind their wine cups and sleeves are different.
For example, Lu Ji and Gu Yong glanced at each other after drinking, and each saw what the other was thinking.
Zhou Mu first praised Xu Fang alone, then emphatically praised Huang Zhong and Wei Yan, but at the end he said that Wu Sheng "contributed most of the credit", and at the end he went back and praised everyone present again.