Zhang Zhao also saw the changes that had taken place in Jiangnan, and couldn't help but regret refusing Liu Xin's invitation at the beginning, so he deliberately inquired about various rumors about Liu Xin and analyzed Liu Xin's character, which led to the conclusion that Liu Xin would definitely invite him out of the mountain again. But Liu Xin has been in Jiangnan for two months, but he has never come to invite the two of them, not to mention Zhang Hong, even Zhang Zhao himself is a little unsure. The words he said to Zhang Hong just now were just some words of comfort, but in fact, he didn't have any bottom in his heart.

While the two were gossiping, a houseservant suddenly came to report that Lord Liu, the governor of Sizhou, had come to visit. The official position of the governor of the four states was Liu Xin who came up with it himself, and then asked the Empress Dowager He to issue an edict, but he was at ease when he wrote this title on the name sticker, after all, compared to Jingzhou Mulai, this unprecedented official position can make him manage the four states of Si, Jing, Liang, and Yi in a proper manner.

Hearing that Liu Xin really came to visit in person, Zhang Hong immediately admired Zhang Zhao so much that he hurriedly asked: "Zibu, if Lord Liu proposes to invite us to come out again this time, do you think we should refrain from it?" ”

Zhang Zhao was secretly glad that he had just spoken too much in order to comfort Zhang Hong, if Liu Xin never came to invite him, this embarrassment would be too big. Now that he heard that Liu Xin had really come to the door, where did he dare to put any more scores, and hurriedly said: "Absolutely not!" Lord Liu can condescend and come to the door in person, if he has any requirements, we have to agree to come down first. Remember, remember. ”

Zhang Hong's head bowed and said: "Everything is under the orders of Brother Zibu." ”

The two of them tidied up their clothes and came to the door together, only to see a handsome and tall young man dressed in white standing in front of them. Yu turned out from behind the young man and arched his hand: "Two gentlemen, my father-in-law personally saw you coming. ”

Although Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong had never seen Liu Xin, they had heard of his name for a long time, and hurriedly saluted the young man in white and said, "The grass people meet your lord." ”

Liu Xin smiled and said, "The two gentlemen don't have to be polite. The two gentlemen made a great contribution to save the people of Xuzhou before, Liu knew that the two gentlemen were indifferent to fame and fortune, and they were not rare in those gold and silver things, so they only brought a little thing, chatted about their hearts, and hoped that the two gentlemen would not shirk. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, two guards behind him stepped forward and handed the two paper bags to Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong. Although these two people had doubts in their hearts, they were both cultivated people, but it was not good to open them in front of so many people to check them out.

Liu Xin seemed to see through their thoughts, and said with a smile: "Two gentlemen, why don't you open it and take a look?" ”

Since the gift-givers have encouraged him like this, Zhang Hong couldn't hold back his curiosity, and gently opened the paper bag in his hand, and a fragrance came to his nose, it was the tea that he and Zhang Zhao loved like a treasure, and it was more fragrant than the tea they drank.

The tea leaves in these two paper bags are produced from the best wild tea trees, the yield is already low, and the people who fry them are not skilled, and the best quality will not exceed three catties in total. As soon as Liu Xin made a move, he gave Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong one pound each, which was more than the rest of himself, which shows that he attaches great importance to these two.

Of course, Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong still don't know the preciousness of this tea, but the literati are so elegant, and the tea leaves that Liu Xin gave them are exactly what they want, if Liu Xin gives them a few jars of good wine, the realm will be worse.

Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong were inexplicably moved, and hurriedly let Liu Xin into the hall. The two glanced at each other, bowed to the ground together, and said: "The adults can come to the door in person, the grass people are grateful, if the adults have a place for the grass people in the future, the grass people will be dead!" ”

Frustrated and Yu Fu didn't expect that they would refuse Liu Xin's invitation last time, but this time they took the initiative to serve, and their expressions were stunned. Liu Xin was not surprised, because he knew that in history, these two also readily agreed to Sun Ce's invitation after Sun Ce brought a gift to the door, and finally became the ministers of Jiangdong.

Liu Xin helped the two of them up with a smile and said, "Since ancient times, I have read the books of sages and sages, and the goods are with the emperor's family. The two gentlemen are full of talent and can serve the country, which is the luck of my great man and the luck of all the people in the world. ”

Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong even said that they didn't dare. When everyone sat down again, Zhang Zhao hurriedly ordered the maid to serve tea, but it was made with the tea that Liu Xin had just given them, and sure enough, the fragrance of tea greeted them and refreshed people's hearts.

Liu Xin drank tea for a while, and then said: "Don't hide it from the two gentlemen, now the people who crossed the river have been basically settled, but recently they have been repeatedly disturbed by the mountains, I don't know what good strategies the two gentlemen have to teach me?" ”

Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong both knew that Liu Xin was studying their talents, and their expressions couldn't help but become solemn. After they came to Jiangnan, they were also fortunate to see several issues of the Dahan Express issued in Xiangyang, and they already had some understanding of Liu Xin's policy on handling relations with Shanyue, and they also had some discussions in their casual conversations.

Zhang Hong thought for a while, got up and said: "Shanyue is mainly distributed in the mountainous areas of Danyang, Yuzhang, Huiji and other counties, and there have been many rebellions since the time of the first emperor. When the officers and soldiers came to attack, they hid in the mountains, so they repeatedly forbidden. If the policy promulgated by the lord some time ago to encourage Shanyue to move to flat land is implemented, not only can the Shanyue Rebellion gradually subside, but also alleviate the problem of insufficient population in the south of the Yangtze River, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone. However, his subordinates thought that the people of Shanyue would not go out of the mountain easily, and the lord should deal with it with other strategies. ”

Liu Xin said: "It seems that Mr. Ziqi knows a lot about Shanyue, so he must have a plan in his chest?" ”

At this time, it was an opportunity to express himself, Zhang Hong was not modest, and said: "My subordinates live in Guangling, and Danyang is only separated by a river, and I know the habits of the mountains. Its mountains produce copper and iron, often self-cast weapons, its people are also brave and ruthless, if you blindly go into the crackdown, it may be difficult to achieve all the success. For the sake of the future, do not fight with it, but try to force it out of the mountain! ”

Liu Xin muttered: "If you don't fight, how can you get it out of the mountain?" ”

Zhang Hong said with a smile: "Back to the lord, Shanyue also grows grains for a living, and the lord should divide his troops to guard the dangerous places, divide and surround the Shanyue tribes, and build more camps, but do not confront them. When the grain is ripe, the army rushes to harvest it. The mountain has no grain to harvest, and it is bound to be hungry, so it has to go out of the mountain at this time. ”

This method is exactly the method used by Zhuge Ke, the general of Eastern Wu in history, to deal with Shanyue, and eventually led to Shanyue moving out of the mountain, and since then the Yue people and the Han people have completely integrated, and the trouble of Shanyue has been completely eliminated. Liu Xin's historical knowledge of this period mostly comes from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and there are not many records about Shanyue in the Romance, and it was only after he arrived in Jiangnan that he felt the threat posed by the Shanyue people to the Han people who migrated from the north, and he knew nothing about the methods used by Zhuge Ke. However, Zhang Hong was also inspired to come up with this method after seeing Liu Xin's policy to deal with Shanyue published in the Dahan Express.

Liu Xin pondered for a moment, although he felt that this method was a little damaged, but he still nodded and said: "According to Liu, this method is feasible, if it goes well, after the autumn harvest this year, all the departments of Shanyue will have to move out of the mountains and forests and integrate into my Han." In the sub-period, Liu will appoint you as the general of Pingyue now, in charge of Pingyue affairs, and the deputy commander of the Seventh Legion, Feng Lie, will all be dispatched by you. ”

Zhang Hong was overjoyed, and bowed again: "The subordinates must live up to their mission!" ”

Liu Xin waved his hand and said, "Liu still has something difficult to decide, I don't know if the two gentlemen have advice?" ”

Zhang Zhao saw that Zhang Hong had won the official position, and hurriedly bowed his hand and said, "My lord, please speak." ”

Liu Xin said: "Since the beginning of winter last year, Liu has used troops in the Xiongnu grassland twice, although they have won a big victory, but it will take time to pacify the Xiongnu grassland. In addition, the Western Regions Protectorate has been abandoned for many years, and Liu Xin also intends to rebuild it. Therefore, in the foreseeable years of this year and next, Liu's main force will be placed in the northwest direction. ”

After a pause, Liu Xin continued: "The strength that Liu said does not only refer to the army, but also includes financial, material and human resources. However, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao are both eyeing them, and Liu is not at ease with them. In recent years, although Jing and Yi Erzhou were rich in goods and people under Liu's rule, they definitely couldn't support two wars. Liu wanted to ask the two gentlemen, is there any way to start a war between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, so that Liu can rest assured that he can handle Western affairs? ”

Since he wants to ask about the "Jiangdong Erzhang", Liu Xin certainly has no reservations about the current situation and his own ideas, and even his original plan to attack Liu Xuan and force Yuan Shu, the "troubled water" northern, was also revealed.

Of course, such a dilemma will not be so easy to solve, and the hall suddenly fell silent, Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong lowered their heads and thought quietly.

After a long time, Zhang Zhao raised his head and arched his hand and said: "Lord Qiqi, although there are no two lords in the country, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao each have a king, and sooner or later there will be a war, but according to his subordinates, Cao Cao will never take the initiative to provoke a war, at least not for now." Because Cao Cao is far inferior to Yuan Shao in terms of military strength and grain and grass, the only possibility for these two to start a war is to let Yuan Shao send troops first. ”

Liu Xin originally signed a non-aggression agreement with Cao Cao within two years, hoping that Cao Cao would use these two years to take the initiative to attack Yuan Shao. But judging from Cao Cao's immobility in the past six months, Liu Xin already knew that his judgment was wrong, Cao Cao was cautious, and his subordinates were many capable people, so he would not let him make the mistake of blindly moving lightly. This is also the main reason why Liu Xin later changed his mind and wanted to promote a war between Yuan Shu and Cao Cao, so as to create a chance for Yuan Shao to start a war.

Liu Xin was not surprised that Zhang Zhao was able to analyze this step, nodded and motioned for him to continue.

Zhang Zhao was encouraged by Liu Xin, his confidence was greatly increased, and he continued: "My subordinates think that Yuan Shao has always been indecisive, even if Yuan Shu sends troops to attack Cao Cao, it is difficult to say whether Yuan Shao will send troops. Therefore, the subordinates thought that the lord's intention to use Yuan Shu to facilitate the war between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao might not work. ”