The timeline goes back to the sixth day of February.

That is, the fourth day after Liu Bei killed the Inspector, and the first day when Liu Bei and Zhang He sent troops from Yecheng.

In the prefect's mansion, Zhang Chun finally received a message that made him uneasy.

Early that morning, his subordinate Xu Yi came to report: "The Lord of the Palace, according to Anxi County and Weichang County, Zhang Shan inspected the three counties in the south of the county, but suddenly disappeared - he arrived in Anxi County four days ago, and since then he has been ill and never seen guests. Later, even the magistrate of Anxi Pang County was surprised and forced to go to the inn to inspect, and only then did he know that Zhang Shan was missing.

The magistrate of Guo County, Weichang County and Wang County, Wuji County, also said that they did not see Zhang Shan inspecting their jurisdiction. Yesterday was the late head of the Wuji Zhen family. On the day when Cai Ling Zhen Yi cut off the seven major rituals, officials from all counties went to worship and met in Wuji before they talked about this matter."

When Zhang Chun heard this, his left eye twitched, and an unknown premonition arose in his heart: "Have you found out the reason?"

Xu Yi responded: "I don't know the details yet, but the biggest suspicion at present is that Liu Bei, the county magistrate of Anxi. Zhang Shan went to Anxi to eliminate Liu Bei's official position. Coincidentally, the day after Zhang Shan asked for illness to thank the guests, Liu Bei left Anxi and did not return for four days.

I asked the magistrate of Anxipang County and said that it was early that morning that Liu Bei used the excuse to sacrifice Zhen Yi and went to Wuji before he could ask for the talisman. Later, the people from Wuji Zhen family also confirmed that Liu Bei had indeed gone to worship, but after the worship, he left Wuji that day and disappeared.

Now it seems that Liu Bei is very likely to have escaped by placing worship. Perhaps Zhang Shan had a conflict with him and was secretly harmed by him, and then Liu Bei posed as an excuse to escape."

After hearing this, Zhang Chun couldn't sit still anymore. He stood up straight from the front of the desk, stood up with his knees, and subconsciously touched the hilt of the sword.

A person who is contacting a rebel is extremely nervous, and a slight disturbance will make him sensitive.

In history, he would take another two or three months to raise his troops, and the current preparations are of course very insufficient.

But maybe I can't wait that long!

He paced back and forth for a while, and immediately ordered: "Let the Wang Duwei immediately inspect the counties in the north of the county, and use the excuse of guarding against the black bandits, concentrate the forces of each county lieutenant and screen them for an accident.

In addition, the soldiers patrolling along the Hutuo River were gradually gathered and concentrated in Peiping and Tang County, near the boundary of Youzhou. Also, Yan Rou was immediately called, and I asked him to contact Wuhuan Nanqiao King in advance and prepare to respond!"

Xu Yi was so angry: "Mr. Liu Bei killed Zhang Shan, maybe it was just a revenge, and it might not be involved in leaking secrets... If you acted in advance, I am afraid that the soldiers and horses of the four counties in the south of the county would not be used by me. And those who had sent out to buy military supplies before would not have time to rush back..."

Zhang Chun: "Everything is best to seek stability! Money and supplies, and people are all trivial matters!"

Xu Yi quickly agreed: "Yes! I will do it immediately."

Zhongshan County has twelve counties under its jurisdiction, and four counties south of the county seat Lunu. Those counties are close to other counties in Jizhou. Before, Zhang Chun was afraid of disturbing the neighboring counties, so he did not dare to move lightly.

The other eight counties, including Lu Nu, are close to Dai County and Zhuo County in Youzhou, and are always on a relatively alert state all year round.

Zhang Chun's plan was obviously to break through and flee to Youzhou if he was discovered early, and to take advantage of the concerns that Jia Cong, the governor of Jizhou, did not dare to easily pursue Youzhou, and to make a time difference to survive.

In addition, as long as you reach the boundary of Youzhou, you will easily collude with the Xianbei, Wuhuan and other barbarians.

...

The conversation was divided into two parts. Three days later, on the ninth day of the second month, Wuji County on the north bank of the Hutuo River.

Zhang He and Liu Bei, with five hundred cavalry, stopped here for a short while.

This was the first county town they passed after entering the boundary of Zhongshan County. Because Zhang He and Pan Feng received the order from Jia Cong to test whether Zhang Chun had any unfair intentions, after entering Zhongshan, they had to investigate the secretly, and it was impossible to go straight to Lunu County to solve the problem by force.

Zhang He then stationed outside the city and took over a city gate. Then he brought Liu Bei and dozens of cavalry into the county town, summoning Wang County Magistrate to talk to several leading figures in the county.

"Zhang Sima Yuan came to work hard. I don't know what the envoy had. We must cooperate." County Magistrate Wang was not Zhang Chun's confidant, so he was unaware of it and was very polite to Zhang He and Liu Bei.

Seeing this, Zhang He became more and more suspicious of Liu Bei: Didn’t Zhang Chun have already wiped out all the counties of Zhongshan County and cleaned up? Why didn’t hesitate to Wuji? He still allowed me to control the city gate and check it casually when entering the city?

Zhang He then asked indirectly: "Why are there any thief-like situations in the vicinity of Japanese counties or surrounding counties? Why are there any abnormalities in the thief? The troops are mobilized?"

County Magistrate Wang was stunned and thought for a moment: "The sentry horses along the Hutuo River have been withdrawn in the past two days. The Fujun originally said that he wanted to guard against the entry of the Heishan bandits from Changshan, but recently he heard that the Wuhuan people were active in the north near the border of Youzhou, so he withdrew the people from guard against the Heishan to guard against the Wuhuan."

After hearing this news, Zhang He hesitated again.

After listening to the conversation beside him, Liu Bei and Li Su also knew that Zhang He was doubting the authenticity of the report.

Li Su felt that he needed to cut the mess quickly at the moment. He looked around the county's important people present and found that Zhen Yan of the Zhen family was also present, so he decided to start with Zhen Yan.

He had a sudden inspiration and asked, "Brother Zhen, do you still remember to be with Liu County Wei? Seven days ago, we came to pay our respects to Lingzun."

Only then did Zhen Yan notice that Li Su was standing behind Zhang He and quickly returned the greeting: "Of course I remember, Brother Li has any advice?"

Li Su: "In recent days, Zhang Fujun has sent someone to Wuji to investigate the movements of Liu County Magistrate? Have you asked carefully?"

Zhang He listened next to him, not understanding why, so he just watched the changes.

Zhen Yan quickly glanced at the others and answered truthfully: "The day before yesterday, Xu Yi, the county magistrate Liu, specifically asked about the whereabouts of Liu County Magistrate Liu, and the investigation was quite detailed. Oh, he also said... he also said that Liu County Magistrate Liu might have been, and fled for fear of crime."

"It's not that you are escaping for fear of crime! You are going to Yecheng for justice!" Li Su immediately determined the tone of the conversation, and immediately turned to Zhang He and analyzed,

"Zhang Sima, it is obvious that Zhang Chun was afraid of disturbing the neighboring county, so he had never won over the officials and soldiers of Wuji County. They did not follow the thief, so they did not understand the situation.

Zhang Chun's eagerness to investigate Liu County Magistrate's whereabouts was a sign of guilt. Fortunately, Mr. Zhen was anxious and kind to help us turn around, so he was able to alarm Zhang Chun for a few days late!"

At this time, Li Suzheng needed to use each other with Zhen Yan, and of course he had to sell each other.

As long as Zhen Yan speaks for him, Zhang He's actions will be more decisive, and the shorter the time he will give Zhang Chun to react, and the greater the military achievements he will get.

At the same time, Zhen Yan said a few ambiguous words without paying any price - because he just needs to state some "factual judgments", such as whether Zhang Chun has investigated Liu Bei and how to investigate.

But what these behaviors represent and how to interpret them, the "value judgment" behind them does not need to be judged by Zhen Yan.

So Zhen Yan doesn't have to bear the risk of "false accusation".

Failure is not considered false accusation, but success can be considered "assisting the complaint to rebel and helping the complainant escape secretly."

Although Zhen Yan is young, he is considered to be from a family of officials and still has basic official experience, so he immediately knows how to choose.

After hearing Li Su's suggestion, Zhen Yan also found out that Zhang Chun might have had some bad deeds and was suspicious of Liu Bei, and quickly told all the details of the facts that were beneficial to Liu Bei and could prove that Liu Bei was being investigated and excluded.

"It seems that Zhang Chun has indeed urgently mobilized his troops and investigated Liu Bei strictly... You can't hesitate anymore, go straight to Lunu County. As long as Zhang Chun dares not let our entire army enter the city and there is any resistance, then use force immediately!"

Zhang He immediately made a plan in his mind.

He believed that as long as Zhang Chun did not assemble the troops of the entire county to guard against Lunu County, it would be fine to seize Lunu from Zhang Chun with the 500 cavalry he had.

However, if Zhang Chun wants to run away or openly gather people from various counties, he still dares not pursue him with his 500 cavalry. He has to wait at least one or two more days before Pan Feng's two thousand troops arrive.

Zhang He bowed and thanked him: "Thank you for your assistance. If Zhang Chun's crime is true, I will definitely report the details of this to Wei Pan. Wei Pan will tell the governor about your assistance."

After saying that, the cavalry had enough rest. Zhang He immediately ordered the entire army to speed up and had to rush into Lunu County before the evening of that day.

County Magistrate Wang, Zhen Yan and others watched the cavalry leave, and their hearts were shocked.

County Magistrate Wang was worried about taking the team, but Zhen Yan was planning: he didn't expect to help Liu Bei cover up his whereabouts, and it seemed that he could still get a credit for help.

I just don’t know how big the matter Zhang Chun has committed and how valuable this contribution to help is.

If the results are really good, Liu Bei, a potential stock, can invest well and make friends.
Chapter completed!