Chen Jue stared at the wordless family letter for a long time, his face was slightly moved, and tears appeared in his sunken eyes.

Zhang Yan was very curious, how could such a blank piece of paper make Chen Jue feel so much?

Chen Jue felt out of shape, turned his back, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, gradually regained his calm, and stuffed the wordless family letter into his wide sleeve, then turned around and said to Zhang Yan respectfully: "Lord Zhang came from afar, the old man has lost his welcome, and I ask Lord Zhang to forgive him!" ”

Zhang Yan hurriedly said: "Old man Chen doesn't have to be so polite, I am the same brother as Yuanlong, old man Chen is the father of Yuanlong, that is the same as my father, the younger generation came to visit this time, came in a hurry, did not prepare gifts, and I hope that Old Master Chen will forgive me, I ......"

"Lord Zhang, since you and Yuan Long are brothers, can you ask Lord Zhang to pass on a letter to Yuan Long on your behalf?" Chen Qi didn't wait for Zhang Yan to finish his polite words, and then interrupted Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan nodded.

Chen Qi said: "Master Zhang is here for a while, and the old man will come when he goes!" ”

After speaking, Chen Jue turned around and walked into the room, and when he came out again, he already had an extra letter in his hand.

Chen Qi handed the letter into Zhang Yan's hand, and said slowly: "Please be sure to give this letter to Yuanlong, please." ”

Zhang Yan took Chen Jue's letter, put it in his arms, and said very earnestly: "Please rest assured, Old Master Chen, I will definitely hand over this letter to Yuanlong." ”

"Lord Zhang, the cold house is shabby, not suitable for hospitality, and the old man is infected with the wind and cold again, I am afraid that it will be infected to Lord Zhang, and I ask Lord Zhang to forgive the old man for the crime of poor reception."

Zhang Yan is a person who understands and knows the meaning of Chen Qi's words, this is an eviction order. Although he was a little unhappy, he was not angry, but still had a smile on his face, and said to Chen Jue: "It's okay, I just have something important to do, so I won't stay here and leave here." ”

"I'm not far away!"

Chen Jue arched his hand, and without waiting for Zhang Yan to turn around and leave, he turned around and walked into the hall first, and at the same time closed the door with his hand.

Zhang Yan had nothing to say about Chen Qi's strange temper, if it was someone else, he would have been angry a long time ago.

He walked out of the wall along the same road again, and as soon as his feet hit the ground, Xu Sheng hurriedly came over and hurriedly asked, "Master, is things going well?" ”

Zhang Yan just smiled wryly, but did not answer.

Xu Sheng didn't ask any more questions, and stood quietly by Zhang Yan's side.

Zhang Yan pondered for a moment, then suddenly patted Xu Sheng's shoulder and said to Xu Sheng: "Go, accompany me to the State Pastoral Mansion." ”

"Whoa!"

After some inquiry, Zhang Yan and Xu Sheng came to the door of the State Pastoral Mansion, which is located in the center of the entire city, and there are soldiers guarding the front of the mansion, not allowing any idle people to approach, and the security is very strict.

Zhang Yan took Xu Sheng and strode towards the Prefecture Governor's Mansion, and just took two steps before he was stopped by the soldiers in charge of guarding.

"What for?" The guard asked with a swagger.

"As soon as I reported to Tao Envoy, I said that Zhang Yan, the prime minister of Pengcheng, came to ask for a meeting!" Zhang Yan arched his hand.

When the guards heard this name, they were immediately surprised.

Zhang Yan became famous in the first battle, and his deeds have already spread throughout Xuzhou, and almost everyone knows about it.

The guards looked at Zhang Yan's dress again, and asked in disbelief: "Are you really Zhang Yan, the prime minister of Pengcheng?" ”

"I'm blind to your dog's eyes, I don't even know Master Zhang, get out of the way for me!" At this time, a person came out of the door of the governor's mansion and scolded the guard.

When the guard saw this person appear, he immediately looked like a deflated ball, and hurriedly said to Zhang Yan: "The little one has eyes and no beads, and I ask Lord Zhang to forgive me!" ”

As soon as the words fell, the guards immediately retreated to the side, and when they saw the person coming, they hurriedly called "General Cao" respectfully.

This "General Cao" is none other than Cao Bao, the captain of the thief.

At this time, Cao Bao was wearing a suit of armor, walked in front of Zhang Yan with a smile on his face, and arched his hand: "As far as I know, Pengcheng is in ruins, and it should be very busy, I really didn't expect that Lord Zhang would come to Tancheng in his busy ......."

Cao Bao's words were very harsh, but after Zhang Yan heard it, he was indifferent, and just said with a kind face: "If there is no urgency, I will not come to Tancheng, and I will ask to see Tao Envoy Jun if I am tired of Lord Cao's report." ”

Cao Leopard said with a smile: "It's easy to say, there is a general here, I see which one who doesn't have long eyes dares to stop you!" Lord Zhang, Lord Governor is meeting guests in the hall, you just go in, there will be important matters, so I will leave! ”

As soon as the words fell, without waiting for Zhang Yan to answer, Cao Bao passed by Zhang Yan.

"Master, who is this person, so arrogant?" Xu Sheng couldn't look at it, so he asked in a low voice.

Zhang Yan smiled faintly and replied: "It's just a clown who jumps off the beam, you don't have to take it to heart." ”

Cao Bao and Zhang Yan don't have any hatred, the reason why this is the case is all because of jealousy. In the battle of Pengcheng, Cao Bao also contributed a lot, but the limelight was stolen by Zhang Yan. After that, Zhang Yan received a lot of rewards, which made Cao Bao even more jealous. In contrast, he and many soldiers resisted desperately in Pengcheng, but they did not receive a little reward from Tao Qian.

Zhang Yan took Xu Sheng and strode towards the state pastor's mansion, and the guards did not stop him again, but when Zhang Yan walked to the gate of the state pastor's mansion, he still asked the gatekeeper to go in and report.

At this moment, Tao Qian was meeting guests in the hall, and suddenly heard that Zhang Yan came to ask to see, Tao Qian was taken aback, he never expected Zhang Yan to come to visit, but he still asked people to lead Zhang Yan into the hall.

Zhang Yan left Xu Sheng outside the door, and walked into the hall alone, and saw Tao Qian sitting in the huge hall, and there were two scribes in robes on both sides, and three pairs of eyes were staring at him.

He stepped into the hall and bowed respectfully to Tao Qian: "The last general, Zhang Yan, has come to meet Tao Qianjun." ”

When Tao Qian saw Zhang Yan again, a kind smile appeared on his face, and he said loudly: "Mingda, let me introduce you to you, these two are our famous people in Xuzhou." Sitting on my right hand is Wang Lang and Wang Jingxing, who are engaged in governance, and sitting on my left is Zhao Yu and Zhao Ziguang. ”

Zhang Yan arched his hand to Wang Lang and Zhao Yu respectively: "Lord Wang, Lord Zhao, Zhang has admired the name for a long time, and he has never seen it, but when I see it today, the two adults are really extraordinary." ”

Wang Lang and Zhao Yu are both celebrities in Xuzhou, and they can all hear it, Zhang Yan said polite words, but both of them responded politely.

After a period of greetings, Tao Qian asked Zhang Yan to take a seat, Zhang Yan walked directly to Wang Lang's side and sat down, as soon as he sat down, he heard Tao Qian ask: "Mingda, you suddenly came to Tancheng, is there something urgent?" ”

Zhang Yan said: "Tao makes Jun smart, and the five bodies that the general admires will be thrown to the ground." When the last general comes to Tancheng, there is indeed a very important thing......"

Without waiting for Zhang Yan to finish speaking, Tao Qian interrupted Zhang Yan's words and asked, "Is it for money and food?" ”

"Tao Envoy Jun is really a god, and the last general has not yet spoken, and Tao Envoy Jun has already guessed it. In the end, it is indeed for money and food. ”

Tao Qian laughed dryly, his face became a little gloomy, and after thinking for a moment, he said: "Mingda, it's not a secret, this time Cao Cao's army not only attacked Pengcheng, but also attacked many places in Xuzhou, so that there were groups of refugees, and the fields were barren, and in some places, it was many times more serious than Pengcheng, and these places all needed money. But there is not much money left in the treasury...... The government promised you before that it would give you money, grain and grass for the construction of Pengcheng and the formation of a strong army, and the government will definitely not break its promise. In this way, I will ask people to withdraw 500 gold from the treasury first, and you can bring it back to Pengcheng first for emergencies. In addition, I will ask Xia Pi Xiangrong to allocate 20,000 stones of grain and grass for you, which is enough for you to last until next year. After this difficult period, this government will definitely send you another thousand gold. What do you think? ”

This result was something that Zhang Yan categorically did not expect. However, it is better to give than not to give, after all, no matter how small the mosquito is, it is meat.

Zhang Yan hugged his fists and said: "The last general has no complaints, everything depends on Tao Envoy Jun." ”

Tao Qian said: "Mingda, you have come from a long journey, you must be tired when you want to come, I will let someone take you to the post station to rest, tomorrow morning, someone will send you five hundred gold, you take the five hundred gold, return to Pengcheng first." ”

"Whoa!"

Tao Qian immediately summoned a personal entourage and asked him to take Zhang Yan to the post station to rest.

After Zhang Yan left, Wang Lang, who had been sitting there without speaking, suddenly asked, "Isn't it inappropriate for adults to do this?" ”

Tao Qian said: "What's wrong? ”

"Pengcheng is the gateway to Xuzhou after all, but the adults only gave five hundred gold, and it is estimated that it is not enough to repair the city wall, and the subordinates are worried about ......"

Tao Qian said angrily: "What is there to worry about? Didn't Mi Zhu give him five thousand gold? That's enough money for him to build two or three cities! ”

Wang Lang saw the anger on Tao Qian's face, and he didn't talk about it anymore, he changed his words, and immediately said: "My lord, the matter of going to Chang'an to meet the Son of Heaven is so decided, I and Lord Zhao will leave early tomorrow morning, I don't know if my lord has anything else to explain?" ”

Tao Qian was still angry, and immediately waved his hand.

Wang Lang and Zhao Yu glanced at each other, and the two stood up together and said goodbye to Tao Qian.

The two of them walked out of the hall together, Wang Lang sighed heavily, and said to Zhao Yu: "Zhang Yan is a tiger general, and the reason why Cao Cao was able to withdraw this time is all due to Zhang Yan. If Xuzhou wants to be peaceful and not be harassed by foreign enemies in the future, it will definitely depend on him. However, Tao Yuanjun treated Zhang Yan like that just now, which really chilled my heart......"

Zhao Yu also looked helpless.

Wang Lang had an idea and came up with a clever plan, when he informed Zhao Yu of his thoughts.

After Zhao Yu heard this, his face was shocked, and he hurriedly asked, "Is this feasible?" In case Tao makes Jun blame......"

"We are doing this for the sake of Xuzhou. By then, the wood has already been completed, and even if Tao Zhijun blames him, it will be too late. ”

Zhao Yu thought for a moment and said, "Okay, when the time comes, we will act at the opportunity." ”

Wang Lang nodded heavily, looked at Zhao Yu and smiled, and walked out of the state pastoral mansion side by side.