Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 48 Wen Ruo is my son Zi Fang!

In the governor's mansion in Yangdi, the seat of Yingchuan County, Liu Bian sat steadily in his original position as the prefect of Yingchuan, listening quietly to Han Dang, the cavalry Sima under Sun Jian's command, reporting the results of the battle. His face was calm, without showing too much joy, and he just nodded indifferently.

During the seven or eight miles of the journey to Yangdi, Huangfu Song had roughly explained to Liu Bian the huge gap in combat effectiveness between the Han Army and the Yellow Turban Army. He especially emphasized the huge difference between the Northern Army as professional soldiers and the Yellow Turban Army, who were "mud legs" from the grassroots.

At the same time, Huangfu Song also gave Liu Bian a detailed introduction to the "Yinglun" system.

Yinglun was a merit evaluation system inherited from the Qin Dynasty by the Han Dynasty. It evaluated merits and demerits by comprehensively calculating the number of participants in the war, the number of enemy heads captured, and the number of casualties on one's own side.

Each level of nobility promotion must meet the promotion standards stipulated in the Ying Lun. This is precisely why the Qin State, under the military merit system, made the enfeoffment of lords and marquises extremely rare, and it is also the key reason why Li Guang ultimately failed to achieve the title of marquis.

The minimum requirement for the Yinglun is that the team must kill 30% of the enemy soldiers to be included in the merit list. Otherwise, even if the team returns with a great victory, the general, lieutenant, and even the Sima rank will only be recorded as a demerit, not be recognized as a merit.

Fortunately, Liu Bian did not send out all the nearly 10,000 troops including the five schools of the Northern Army, the left and right Yulin Cavalry, and the Prince's Guards. Otherwise, even if there were no casualties on his side in this battle, every officer and Sima who participated in the battle would have been punished.

Of course, since Emperor Xiaowu, whether Yinglun met the criteria for promotion or punishment was ultimately determined by the emperor.

"Good, you are all brave, I will reward you all after the battle. Yuanji, can you prepare some meat for my warriors to celebrate?"

The first person on the lower right who was called "Yuan Ji" by the prince was Yin Xiu, the prefect of Yingchuan, and a relative of Emperor Guangwu's Empress Yin.

Liu Bian had just inspected the records in the county magistrate's office and asked about many affairs of Yingchuan County. Yin Xiu answered fluently and had many unique insights in his governance strategies, making him a capable minister.

However, Yin Xiu knew nothing about military affairs, and there were many scholars in the county who were not good at military affairs and were exhausted from dealing with the Yellow Turban Rebellion. In addition, there were only a thousand county soldiers in the county. Even if they recruited the private soldiers of the wealthy families in Yingchuan to join forces to encircle and suppress the rebellion, they still suffered repeated setbacks.

However, Liu Bian did not blame Yin Xiu for this. He was able to be in charge of Yingchuan County, which was full of aristocratic families, and he made the county well governed and the people almost free from hunger and cold. His ability was quite rare.

Yin Xiu was stunned at first when he heard the Crown Prince's words, but then he bowed excitedly and said, "Your Highness is personally leading the soldiers to fight against the rebellion. This is a blessing for us, our subjects. I will do my best to ensure that the soldiers have enough food."

At first, when Yin Xiu heard that the prince led his troops to Yingchuan, he felt both happy and afraid.

He was happy that the Yellow Turbans in Yingchuan were about to be pacified, but was afraid that the crown prince would punish him.

There were not many Yellow Turban bandits in Yingchuan County, but they could not resist a ruthless man named Bo Cai who came from the neighboring Runan County.

Zhao Qian, the governor of Runan next door, led 1,000 soldiers from the prefecture and state, 3,000 young and strong men, and 4,000 private soldiers from various wealthy families, totaling 8,000 troops, but was easily defeated by the 6,000 troops led by Bo Cai.

Seven people, including the county Gongcao Feng Guan, the councilor Yuan Mi, the chief clerk Chen Duan, the doorman Fan Zhongli, the thief Cao Liu Weide, the chief recorder Ding Zisi, and the recorder Zhang Zhongran, fought to the death to cover Zhao Qian's escape.

After that, Zhao Qian had no choice but to strictly order all counties to close their gates and defend themselves and not go out to fight, and could only allow Bo Cai to wreak havoc in Runan County.

Fortunately, although Bo Cai showed certain military talents in field battles, he lacked siege equipment. Facing the county towns protected by city walls was like facing a group of hedgehogs, and he had no chance to attack them.

Therefore, after capturing and looting the strongholds of some aristocratic families, Bo Cai led his troops to Yingchuan County and joined forces with several small leaders of Yuzhou, including Peng Tuo, Wu Ba, Liu Pi, He Yi, Huang Shao, and He Man.

As a result, the unrest in Yingchuan County was completely out of control, and Yin Xiu had no choice but to close the city gates and refuse to go out, allowing the Yellow Turban Army to plunder outside the city.

But no matter what the reason, Yingchuan encountered such turmoil, and he, as the prefect, could not escape blame, and was inevitably charged with dereliction of duty.

But the prince ordered him to prepare some meat for the victorious Northern Army and Yulin soldiers, so he probably had no intention of pursuing the matter. At most, he would ask a few questions during the assessment of the three officials of the Secretariat at the end of the year.

But there were only a few counties in the world that had not suffered from the Yellow Turban raids. At this time, it was a matter of comparison.

Yin Xiu didn't know who could do it well, but he was sure that he would not be the worst one. After all, no county in Yingchuan County had been captured so far.

Thinking of this, Yin Xiu, in a good mood, took the initiative to step back and arrange food for the victorious soldiers.

Of course, as the governor of Yingchuan, he naturally did not need to deal with these matters personally, but who made his county clerk named Xun Yu?

The Xun in Yingchuan Xun family refers to the Xun family who had a marriage contract with the prince.

Although Xun Yu was not Xun Shuang's son, he was also a prominent young figure in the Xun clan. Since the Han Dynasty, relatives of the emperor's wife had always been valued and trusted. Faced with such a "talented assistant to the king", how could the Crown Prince, who was always known for his respect for the wise and his love for scholars, let him go?

Thinking of this, Yin Xiu couldn't help but envy Xun Yu. His county chief clerk would probably be transferred to the prince's mansion by the prince soon.

Liu Bian didn't pay attention to Yin Xiu's thoughts, but turned to look at Xun Yu.

His face is as pretty as jade, his lips are as red as vermilion, and his every move and gesture exudes a natural elegance.

"Wen Ruo has an extraordinary bearing. He is truly 'a man as beautiful as jade on the street, a gentleman unparalleled in the world.'" Xun Yu was slightly startled. The prince's evaluation seemed a bit exaggerated. Although it was not an evaluation of his talent like "talent worthy of assisting a king", the effect of this evaluation would probably far exceed the "talent worthy of assisting a king" which had been overused by aristocratic families.

Xun Shuang, who was standing by, saw that Xun Yu was still in a daze. Although he was a little jealous that the Crown Prince gave such an evaluation to Xun Yu, a member of the side branch, he still spoke up on Xun Yu's behalf, "Wen Ruo, why don't you thank His Highness for the advice?"

As the leader of the ancient literature school, Xun Shuang knew very well what benefits this comment from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would bring to Xun Yu.

Judging people by their appearance is inevitable after all. Even Confucius could not avoid the loss of Zi Yu, let alone them?

Any official does not have to be handsome, but he must not be ugly. If a beautiful person enters the officialdom, he will be promoted first.

Moreover, such a beautiful sentence elevates Xun Yu's appearance and character to the level of "unparalleled in the world". Even if Xun Yu's talents were mediocre, this one sentence would be enough to make Xun Yu famous in history, and the Xun family of Yingchuan would also be proud of it.

Xun Yu came back to his senses after being gently pushed by Xun Shuang. However, Xun Yu, who had just been crowned this year, did not yet have the temperament of the future "Xun Lingjun", and he could not help but feel excited by the prince's praise.

After all, he is now just a small figure with a bad reputation. He is not a respected person in the Xun family of Yingchuan. "Talent to assist the king" is also a common evaluation term used by wealthy families to cultivate their reputation. In addition, he married the daughter of the eunuch Tang Heng. If he were not from the Xun family of Yingchuan, he would have been cut off from the literati.

Just when the young man was full of sorrow and in decline, the prince's words of praise were like timely help. How could one not be grateful from the bottom of his heart for such a great favor?
However, is the prince raising a glimpse of hope for him just to make him feel grateful?
"I thank you, Your Highness!"

Xun Yu left his seat and walked to the center of the hall. He glanced at Xun Shuang out of the corner of his eye, then knelt on the ground and bowed deeply to the prince.

A fierce look flashed across Xun Shang's eyes, because the etiquette Xun Yu performed was not the ordinary etiquette of a minister paying homage to the monarch, but a ceremony of submission.

This made Xun Shuang very unhappy.

He supported the prince and hoped that the Xun family of Yingchuan would get closer to the prince and serve him, but it should not be Xun Yu who took the initiative to serve the prince.

Xun Shuang had originally not intended to join the army, but thinking that the prince would pass through Yingchuan County, he came here as well, intending to let the young men of his clan, under the call of him, the head of the Xun family, join the prince in this time of "national crisis."

Yes, everything must be based on the call of him, the head of the Xun family, and Xun Yu's self-willed behavior is clearly a challenge to his sovereignty in the Xun family!

Is he holding a grudge against me for forcing him to marry the eunuch's daughter to save the family?

"Hey, what is Wen Ruo doing?"

Liu Bian noticed the implicit eye contact between him and Xun Shuang, and immediately became more satisfied with Xun Yu's attitude.

If you want to get something, you must first give it. Once you get what you need, you must naturally give back.

Obviously, a smart man like Xun Yu understood this truth, so Liu Bian didn't mind continuing to whitewash Xun Yu's bad reputation for marrying the daughter of a eunuch.

As for the discord between him and Xun Shuang, Liu Bian not only did not mind it, but applauded it.

You are a wealthy and aristocratic family, so why should you unite?

Even if Xun Shuang would be his father-in-law in the future, he would still be happy to see the Xun family of Yingchuan split into several parts, fighting each other for the title of the main family.

Then, he can step down as the referee.

Liu Bian left his seat and personally helped Xun Yu up. He then cordially invited Xun Yu to sit with him at the same table and discussed with him how to stabilize people's livelihood and eliminate bandits after the war.

Xun Yu spoke eloquently, without any nervousness at all because it was the first time that he was asked for advice by Liu Bian, the current ruler of the Han Empire.

After a long while, Liu Bian gently stroked Xun Yu's hand and said with emotion: "Wen Ruo is my Zi Fang!"

　PY recommends: "Restricted Death God"

　　Introduction: Xin claims to be a serious person, but he has an unserious favorability system.

　　Can you become stronger by improving other people's favorability?

　　"So it's not me who's promiscuous, it's you who can't resist the temptation!"

　　Facing the girl's questioning, Xin argued.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)