Chapter 109 Heavenly Sword? Not even a dog wants it
After meeting Gao Zhixing, Murong Ying met with Zhang Lin, Marquis of Wucheng, and reminisced about the past.

No ministers were summoned again in the following days.

But when October came, he suddenly ordered to return to Luoyang.

Li Yuanhui found this to be reasonable, and secretly thought that his father-in-law Murong Ying had probably gotten rid of vulgar interests and wanted to concentrate on his career.

However, he had already prepared to stay in Jianghuai and do a great job, but he was ordered to return with the emperor. This made Li Si a little surprised and astonished.

Why did it suddenly change?

Is it to guard against the Li family? However, military orders are as firm as mountains, so if they are told to go back, then they will go back.

But before leaving, he decided to take a gamble.

At the farewell banquet at the Zhang family, Li Yuanhui placed two letters of appointment stamped with the seal of General Pingnan, a letter of appointment written by himself, a reply letter from the Ministry of War and other appointment procedures on the table.

Zhang Jian was a little surprised. He took it and was immediately shocked. "Mr. Li, what is this?"

Li Yuanhui put down his wine glass and said, "I have decided to appoint Brother Zhang and Old Zhu as the Sima of the other division of the General of Pingnan's Office. With this document, you will be the subordinates of the General of Pingnan's Office in the future, and you can recruit 800 soldiers."

For Zhang Jian, it was not too difficult to get an official position considering his family wealth, but what you ask for is different from what others give you.

As for Zhu Yuanzhang, when he heard that he could recruit 800 soldiers and become a Sima of a separate army, he felt that he had made great achievements.

In fact, the position of Sima of the Other Departments was not a regular military officer of the imperial court, but a commissioned officer of the General of Pingnan, and was not a regular military officer. There were no specific regulations on the number of troops and ranks, and Li Yuanhui set a limit of 800 soldiers each, and military equipment and food could be obtained in the three counties of Jianghuai with official documents.

In fact, in essence, he doesn't really want to let Lao Zhu go, because it is hard to say how big this snowball can roll.

But there was no point in keeping Lao Zhu by his side, and he vaguely felt that if he could not return to Jianghuai as soon as possible, the situation here might not be under his control.

To a certain extent, he actually believes that some people are pushed forward by the wheel of history to their own position. When Sima Yi was the chief clerk, facing Cao Cao, could he have imagined that his family could swallow up the Wei Dynasty?

Li Yuanhui always felt that the words such as "A real man should be like this", "He can replace him", and "I must ride in this carriage with feathered canopy" were mostly fabricated by later generations. The historians wrote down these hearsay or even fabricated things in order to increase the legendary nature of these emperors and make their works more impressive and literary.

Otherwise, how could Chen Shou know so much about what Liu Bei said when he was a child? Unless Liu Bei was the kind of person who got drunk and pulled people aside to say, "When I was a child, I pointed at a big tree, etc."
Li Yuanhui tends to believe that Liu Bei would not be so stupid.

So he chose to be generous for once and give them a legitimate opportunity to recruit soldiers and see how far they could develop.

From then on, Lao Zhu and Zhang Jian became old friends of his.

Just like he had once served in the court of Gaoyang King Murong He, in that era, this was a very close relationship.

So when Yang Xun rebelled, Yang Su's former friends all responded. In fact, to a large extent, they were afraid that the court would settle accounts with them later, so they decided to give it a try.

Whether in the officialdom or on the battlefield, betraying the master who recommended you will be despised by others.

Li Yuanhui had great faith in the character of Lao Zhu and Zhang Jian. As long as he did not use the final position to test them, there should be nothing that would make them turn against him.

Old Zhu was holding a pile of documents, feeling a bit like he was dreaming, but he had followed Li Yuanhui and others during these days and knew a lot of things.

He immediately put down the documents, pushed away the golden mountain, poured out the jade beads, and prostrated himself before Li Yuanhui.

This scene gave Li Yuanhui a shock. Old Zhu bowed to me, how could I bear it? He quickly reached out to help him.

But I didn't expect that this fellow's monks didn't look like those from Huangjue Temple, but more like those from Shaolin Temple. They were so strong that I couldn't shake them at all. I could only let him go.

"I have been poor since I was young, and I have nothing but my arms and legs. General Li did not despise me because I was born in a humble family and am a monk, and he wanted me to be a soldier and an official. From now on, if General Li gives me an order, whether it means climbing a mountain of swords or jumping into a pot of oil, I will never frown and will go through fire and water without hesitation."

On the other side, Zhang Jian also bowed and said, "Mr. Li, I have no way to repay your kindness. Please accept my greetings."

Li Yuanhui saw this and first helped Old Zhu up, then held Zhang Jian's arm and said, "Since ancient times, heroes come from all walks of life. You are all heroes. Today, I am just doing my best. It is not worth mentioning. A real man should put his achievements first. Why do you have to be so shy? I will return with the saint this time, and the land of Huainan will be handed over to you two. You need to recruit soldiers as soon as possible, train an army to quell the bandits, and let the people live in peace."

"We will do our best to obey the general's orders."

"I have nothing to say, please rest assured, General."

The two men quickly changed their identities and responded to Li Yuanhui's informal military order as subordinates.

"Brother Zhu, Brother Zhang, Brother Liu, come, drink this cup to the full."

"General please."

"General please."

Here, Li Yuanhui was holding a wine glass, looking dazzling and handsome like brocade.

The woman behind the pearl curtain was so attracted by him that she felt that they had met too late.

That night, he returned to his ship, the Wuya warship, and looked at the bright moon shining on the river, with a smile on his face.

Li Silang naturally had no way of knowing what his daughter was thinking. It was hard for him to believe that one day he could become the white moonlight and cinnabar mole in someone else's heart. However, even if he knew, he would just laugh it off.

He was in no mood and had no time for romance. His mind was full of career. In fact, he wanted to propose that Liu, Zhu and Zhang form a sworn brotherhood, but then he thought better of it. It would be too deliberate and not pretty.

Moreover, even brothers cannot be trusted. If the act of sworn brotherhood goes well, one can be famous for generations, but if it goes badly, one will be laughed at for a thousand years.

There is actually no clear legend about the brotherhood between Liu, Guan and Zhang, but it is an ironclad fact that they were as close as brothers, and their friendship is a tale that will be passed down through the ages.

Xiang Yu and Liu Bang were brothers, but they still fought to the death, didn't they?

It is said that it is better to learn from the three sworn brothers in Taoyuan than from the one incense burner in Wagang. If the brothers turn against each other because of their own interests, it will be so embarrassing.

Forget it, let’s not get involved in these nonsense.

Before leaving the next day, Zhang Jian and Lao Zhu came to the riverside to see him off, and also came Zhang Jian's fifth uncle Zhang Gonglie.

Li Yuanhui originally thought that Mr. Zhang Wu, a famous man in Jianghuai, was an eight-foot-tall man with a long beard and thick beard, similar to Zhang Jian.

But I didn't expect that Zhang Wuye had beautiful eyebrows and eyes, white teeth and red lips, three teeth covering his mouth and beard, and he looked suave and elegant at the age of thirty-four or thirty-five. He looked like a rich and idle man.

The first thing Zhang Wu did was to express his gratitude: "General Li, I am Zhang Wu, the uncle of Zhang Jian. I only learned yesterday that you had saved my daughter Shisinian some time ago. I came here today to express my gratitude. This sword is called Yitian. It was lost among the people when the Southern Wei Kingdom was destroyed. It was once the sword worn by the Emperor Wu of Wei."

When Li Yuanhui heard this, he asked, "Heavenly Sword? Damn, it's also the Dragon Slaying Sabre. Isn't this Cao Cao's sword? Is this true or not?"

But this thing called Yitian Sword, Cao Mengde's sword, doesn't it seem a good idea for me to wear it?
"Mr. Zhang Wu is too polite. I just did it casually. As for this sword, as a subject, I dare not possess it. Please take it back, Mr. Zhang Wu."

Li Yuanhui refused directly. What a joke. If I accept Cao Cao's sword, Murong Ying would be so suspicious. It's better to keep out of trouble.

Seeing Li Yuanhui decline, Zhang Gonglie slapped his head and said, "General Li is an important official, but I, Zhang Wu, have not thought it through." Then he waved his hand again, and the attendant behind him took out a long sword and said, "This Chengying sword is a famous sword that is no less famous than Yitian. It can cut stone like mud. Please accept this sword, General."

Li Yuanhui heard this and looked at Zhang Gonglie's smiling face, "Okay, in that case, I will be disrespectful to refuse."

Zhang Gonglie said: "Well, General Li is really straightforward."

Li Yuanhui took the sword from his hand, then pulled out a piece of it, letting it shine like a cold light in the sun, and then quickly put it back into the sheath.

"I am ashamed to receive such a generous gift from Mr. Zhang Wu, but I have no way to repay him."

Zhang Wu said, "Hahaha, actually, in addition to thanking you for rescuing my daughter today, I also have a favor to ask of you."

Li Yuanhui said: "Mr. Zhang Wu, please speak frankly."

Zhang Wu smiled, then turned around and said, "Zhang Zhen'e, roll over here."

As soon as he finished speaking, a big man walked out from behind him. He was more than eight feet tall, with a sturdy and strong build. He had a very distinctive look, with blue eyes, red hair and yellow beard, and his facial features did not look like those of a Han Chinese.

"Aye, nice to meet General Li."

Li Yuanhui nodded slightly at him, thinking that he looked like a tough guy with this physique.

Zhang Wu said: "This is my son Zhen'e. He has practiced martial arts since he was young and has some strength. In the Jianghuai area, except for the third brother, he has never met an opponent. He has always wanted to join the army. He has no way to serve his country, so today I ask the general to accept him as a personal guard."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanhui looked at the man named Zhen'e again. He had a strange look on his face and must not be an ordinary person.

"I see that your son is born with extraordinary powers. I'm afraid it's a bit of a concession for him to be my personal guard. Why not let him follow Zhang Jian and become a captain?"

Zhang Wu said, "General Li, you are too kind. My son has always admired your achievements. Please accept him and serve you in the future."

Seeing that Zhang Wu was giving him a famous sword and asking his son to be his personal guard, it was obvious that he wanted to make friends with him.

It would be rude to refuse.

So he nodded and agreed: "Okay, then I will ask your son to be my escort for a few days."

"It is his blessing to be able to serve the general. How can he feel wronged? Zhang Wu once again wishes the general a safe journey."

"Thank you, Mr. Zhang Wu. I'll take my leave now."

After saying this, Li Yuanhui clasped his hands and bowed to Zhang Jian, Lao Zhu and others standing beside him.

Then he boarded the Wuya ship.

Zhang Wu and his nephew Zhang Jian and others watched Li Yuanhui's ship set sail before preparing to leave.

Zhang Jian asked in surprise, "Uncle Wu, what are you doing today?"

Zhang Wu smiled and said, "If I am right, this General Li is definitely not an ordinary person. He is a man with great luck."

Zhang Jian understood what he said, and then continued to ask: "What about the Heavenly Sword?"

Zhang Wu laughed and said, "Hahaha, it's just an ordinary sword. How can my Zhang family have the Yitian Sword? I was just testing you. Don't you understand? The Yitian Sword is Wei Wu's sword. If this gentleman is delighted upon seeing it and regards it as a treasure, he must not be a prudent person. Only those with far-reaching ambitions will avoid it."

(End of this chapter)