Chapter 155 Small scene

Dongjun, Puyang.

Li Xiaoyan came to the city with only a few guards, holding the imperial seal. Today, the leader of the Wagang Army, Zhai Rang, asked him to meet with the sage messenger to discuss the details of the amnesty.

Before this, Li Xiaoyan had been talking with the envoys of the Wagang Army in Suanzao for a month. But this time it was Zhai Rang who wanted to meet him, but the location was chosen in Puyang City, the seat of Dongjun, which had completely fallen into the hands of the Wagang Army.

He ordered the hundreds of Chenliu County soldiers who were escorting Li Xiaoyan to stay several miles outside the city, and only brought his deputy and two trusted family members into the city.

The city gate slowly opened, and Li Xiaoyan turned his head to his deputy Murong Wuji and said, "Once you go in, you will be in a dangerous place. It is uncertain whether you can come out. Brother Murong, have you thought it through?"

Sitting upright on his horse, Murong Wuji, dressed in black, said, "Brother Li, once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back."

"Hahaha, good, then let's go meet this 'Reincarnation of the Overlord'."

Because of his extraordinary bearing, majestic appearance and bravery in battle, Zhai Rang was called "the reincarnation of the Overlord" by the green forest heroes who came to him for surrender.

Or "Little Overlord".

I have to say that sometimes, no matter what you do, appearance is very important and a big plus factor.

The case of Zhai Rang is a very vivid example. If the jailer Huang Junhan had not seen that he had a handsome appearance and thought that he was a man who could do great things, he would not have released him privately.

A certain Gao was chosen by a rich and beautiful woman because he was handsome. She brought a large dowry to marry him, and he eventually reached the peak of his life.
Therefore, appearance is really important, and it is not an exaggeration to say that appearance is justice.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that you can’t achieve anything without good looks. It’s just that you lack something, and you need to work harder in other aspects to make up for it.

Li Xiaoyan and Murong Wuji entered the city together, and then followed the guide to the original prefectural residence in Puyang City, which is also the general's residence of Zhai Rang, the current leader of Wagang.

Before entering the general's mansion, I saw the elite Wagang soldiers lined up in neat rows outside. It was obvious that they were specially selected to show off their military power. They were all over seven feet tall, wearing iron armor, holding spears, and with feathers stuck in their helmets. They looked quite mighty and majestic.

However, in the eyes of Li Xiaoyan and Murong Wuji, this was commonplace.

The late emperor Murong Ying loved to create a lavish ceremony. Whether he was going on an expedition or traveling, his ceremonial procession would stretch for several miles, and he would be surrounded by many tall men.

Therefore, no matter whether it was for deterrence or for showing off, the Wagang's show could not achieve their desired purpose.

Instead, Li Xiaoyan and Murong Wuji smiled, a smile that was slightly mocking, it was just a small scene.

Entering the general's mansion, there were indeed neatly lined up strong soldiers on both sides, holding long swords that were polished to a shine, shining a cold light under the sunlight.

The two of them continued to walk along calmly with smiles on their faces, without any hesitation or fear on their faces.

When they arrived at the lobby, Li Xiaoyan and Murong Wuji took off their swords and handed them over to the guard at the door. The guard wanted to search but was stunned by Li Xiaoyan's glare and stopped moving.

At this time, in the hall, Wagang leader Zhai Rang sat with a dignified look on his face, with his elder brother Zhai Hong and military advisor Yang Sui sitting on his left and right hands respectively.

Sitting on both sides were various heroes, including Xu Maogong, Shan Xiongxin, and Cheng Zhijie, who had followed him in the uprising in the early days.

There were Yang Sui’s brothers, nephews and old subordinates, including Yang Kan, Yang Xuan and others.

After Chengyang King Murong Xuan was defeated, his former subordinates also defected to Wagang, such as Jia Xiong, Qin Bogui, Qin Zhongyu, Yang Xianguo, and Chen Dengyun.

There are also heroes of the green forest who come to join him because of his reputation.

These people were dressed differently, and all had ferocious looks on their faces, as if they were going to eat the two men alive.

Zhai Rang himself sat upright with no expression on his face. However, Zhai Hong, the brother of Zhai Rang and the chief director of this drama, had a smile on his face and watched Li Xiaoyan and Murong Wuji, who were holding imperial seals and entering the classroom, with great interest.

Both of them were dressed in gorgeous clothes. Li Xiaoyan strode in, looking energetic, fearless and calm.

Murong Wuji, the deputy envoy, lagged behind by half a step, but followed closely, also remaining calm and composed, as if no one was around.

Zhai Hong was smiling and wanted to see the imperial envoys make some jokes, but he ended up making himself look foolish. It was like no one cared about the big show he had directed so hard, so he was naturally a little angry. So before Zhai Rang could speak, Zhai Hong asked first: "You are imperial envoys? Why don't you show respect when you see General Zhai?"

Li Xiaoyan said in a loud voice: "We are the emperor's envoys. We only know how to receive gifts, but have never heard of performing gifts. How can you call yourself a general if you don't know such etiquette?"

"You are so brave. Do you know where this is? The soldiers outside can see you and chop you into pieces in an instant. How dare you speak so arrogantly here?"

Zhai Hong was very angry, and while he was angry he did not forget to mention the scenes he had prepared outside.

Li Xiaoyan sneered, "The soldiers outside? I have been a guard in the palace since I was fifteen, and I have seen countless soldiers. The late emperor went on an expedition to Liaodong with a million troops. How mighty and majestic it was? But it is nothing but a mirage, and most of them are now buried in Liaodong. I wonder how your soldiers compare to the army that went on the expedition to the east?"

This remark, which was almost self-deprecating, left Zhai Hong speechless. He stood up and opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

It was because Zhai Rang saw that his elder brother was really embarrassed, so he just waved at him to give him a way out.

"I wonder what the two messengers' names are."

"The vacancy in the right rank of the Ministry of Personnel is filled by the Imperial Guards Li Xiaoyan."

"Counselor Murong Wuji."

Yang Sui, who was next to Zhai Rang, whispered a reminder about their backgrounds. He knew Li Xiaoyan and Murong Wuji.

At this time, Qin Bogui and others sitting below began to discuss in a low voice. They had been in and out of Li's house many times and knew Li Xiaoyan.

Zhai Rang nodded, and then said: "I wonder if the court and the saint are willing to agree to our conditions."

The conditions on the Wagang side were to grant Zhai Rang the title of governor of Qingzhou and Yanzhou, to make him a king, and to allow the Wagang Army to govern itself in the two states.

Li Xiaoyan shook his head and said, "It is impossible to make him a king. The court is willing to make Chief Zhai the governor of Qingzhou and the Duke of Wei."

Zhai Rang said: "The court is too insincere."

Li Xiaoyan said: "Recruiting us is the greatest sincerity of the court. Now the world is in chaos. Although the Wagang people have established their own territory and have an army of 100,000, the court still controls most of the world. Even if a war breaks out on two fronts, it is not afraid at all. We only need to control the Xiaohan Pass and not look west for the time being. Then we will use all our military strength to fight you. I dare to ask if you have a chance of winning?"

This sentence is a threat to the Wagang people. It means that if we can't reach an agreement, the Luoyang court will temporarily ignore the west and focus on dealing with you in the east.

"Come if you want to fight. Am I afraid of you?"

"That's right, come and fight me if you have the ability. I just don't believe it."

"Lord Zhai, please have these two guys dragged out and beheaded. Let's attack Dongdu together. What's the point of asking for trouble?"

"Give me the order, Lord Zhai."

The generals below were all very excited, but a few of them sat still and seemed to be thinking about something.

Among them are Xu Maogong, Cui Xiaotong, Yang Kan, Jia Xiong and others.

The Wagang Army now has more than 100,000 soldiers and is very powerful. It traverses three states and is the leader of the anti-Yan army in the world.

But they all understood one thing: before this, the Wagang Army had been dealing with the imperial court in the manner of bandits, mainly relying on looting.

Therefore, the imperial court had never looked upon them with favor.

Now their banditry could no longer support such a large army, so they occupied counties and prefectures, settled down, and learned how to govern the local areas and collect land taxes to support their military.

The previous idea of ​​fighting if you can win and leaving if you can’t is no longer feasible.

(End of this chapter)