Cao Ang decided to send troops to Qingzhou, but because he had previously set the target in Jiangdong, he changed the direction now and had to rearrange the arrangements for troops, horses, money and food, so the date of sending troops had to be postponed for a while.

So Cao Ang first appointed Yang Yi as the prime minister of Jinan, and then appointed Zhang Liao as the prime minister of Lu, and ordered them to lead troops to Jinan and Lu respectively, as the vanguard of sending troops to Qingzhou.

For Cao Ang, Taishan County was inconvenient to take action at the moment, and Lu State must be in his hands first. For a long time, this will be the northwest front line, so it is natural to arrange for a general to be stationed here.

Zhang Liao did not expect that the position of Lu Guoxiang would fall on him.

For Zhang Liao, he was first appointed as a left-wing captain and then became a state minister with two thousand shi. Cao Ang's kindness to him was profound. Thinking back to the past in Bingzhou, he was just a small official, and Cao Ang was

However, he promoted him again and again, and felt that Cao was so arrogant to him that his kindness was as deep as the sea. Even if he risked his life and died, he would have no teeth to repay.

In fact, Cao Ang was more inclined to choose Xu Huang when it came to the choice of Lu State Prime Minister. After all, Xu Huang had more seniority.

It's just that although the two men had great military exploits, their reputations were not enough. They were acceptable as shepherds in the border areas, but in the interior of the Central Plains, being directly appointed as state ministers would easily attract criticism.

Compared with Xu Huang, Zhang Liao had the title of Marquis of Guannei and was appointed as the Prime Minister, which was barely acceptable.

Cao Ang was trapped by his reputation, and his daily actions were restricted.

The State of Lu was a small place with only six counties. In fact, after Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, those who were called states did not have many counties under their jurisdiction. Pei State, Beihai State and Xiapi State had more than fifteen counties. Generally speaking, Lu State had more than fifteen counties.

They are all under ten counties.

The State of Lu is a very special existence.

After Liu Xiu's eldest son Liu Qiang deposed himself, he was named the King of East China Sea and was granted the title of Donghai County. Because Liu Qiang gave up the throne on his own initiative, Liu Xiu also gave the Kingdom of Lu to Liu Qiang and ordered him to receive the title of King of East China Sea.

country.

After Liu Qiang's death, he resigned from Donghai County to the court, and the court agreed. Logically speaking, the title after Liu Qiang's lineage should be King of Lu, but the court retained the title of "King of Donghai" for Liu Qiang's lineage, so King of Donghai

The fiefdom of Yi lineage is actually in the state of Lu.

So the current situation is that although the Donghai Kingdom is called a vassal state and has a prime minister, it has no king and is almost like a county. The king of the Lu Kingdom is called the King of Donghai, but the prime minister is called the Lu Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister of Lu was originally Chen Yi, Chen Fan's son. After the Xinhai Coup in September, he was rescued by Zhu Zhen. After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the imperial court pardoned party members, and Chen Yi was also awarded the title of Prime Minister of Lu.

However, Chen Yi had a special status after all. He had a bloody feud with the eunuchs. After serving as the Prime Minister for two years, he was dismissed from his post, and the Prime Minister of Lu remained vacant.

Fortunately, otherwise, how could Cao Ang have appointed Zhang Liao as the Prime Minister of Lu?

Zhang Liao led his army and entered the State of Lu without any hindrance. Not only because Zhang Liao's army was intimidating, but also because Cao Ang's confession was legally binding.

Cao Ang was the secretary of the Shangshu, and he was also a minister who took care of orders. He had the right to appoint and remove officials. In addition, at this time, everyone did not recognize Dong Zhuo's legitimacy, so naturally there was no need to report to the court for approval.

And if Yuan Shao, Liu Dai, Yuan Shu and others were to represent the officials, the legitimacy would be much worse.

The reason why Yuan Shao had to support Liu Yu was because, in addition to various internal and external factors, Liu Yu was also a minister and had the right to appoint officials to everyone. This was also an important reason.

Zhang Liao took the position of Prime Minister, but soon Zhang Liao discovered that he could not secure this position.

The State of Lu was not a big place, and its problems were not small. Although there was not much turmoil, because it was the hometown of Confucius, the influence of the Confucius family in the State of Lu was particularly large in the country.

And because of the relationship between Cao and Kong Rong, the other party was not very willing to accept Zhang Liao.

Zhang Liao also understood that he was a border warrior, and even if there was no conflict between Cao and Kong Rong, the other party would look down on him. Zhang Liao was not ready to face the Kong clan of Lu for the time being, so he settled the foreign troubles first.

The country of Lu is also strange. It is a land of saints, but there are many bandits. No wonder Confucius and the bandit Zhi appeared at the same time.

These people are entrenched in the county. On the surface, they are powerful and wealthy people. Behind the scenes, they collude with thieves, control various industries, and collude with the officials in the county. They are black and white figures.

Not long after Zhang Liao arrived in Lu County, he found out these people.

In fact, there is no need to investigate many things. These people are becoming more and more powerful, almost to the point of not avoiding others.

Zhang Liao immediately thought of Ban Ying's previous method of dealing with the Xuzhou clan thieves, but after thinking about it, he realized that he could not do this, otherwise the Lu country would avoid chaos.

He does not have Cao Ang's reputation and status endorsement in Xuzhou, and he does not have strong control over the local area. If he rashly organizes the Hongmen Banquet, it is likely that it will not end.

However, Zhang Liao also had a way. He couldn't deal with the bandits, but he could attack their subordinates.

So Zhang Liao invited a group of bandit leaders to a banquet. Although everyone looked down on Zhang Liao, they had no choice but to give up the favor because of the pressure from the soldiers.

When everyone was drunk and drunk, Zhang Liao suddenly turned against him and told everyone about the crimes they had committed.

Everyone was stunned immediately, everyone was shocked and at a loss.

Zhang Liao said at this time: "The crime you committed should have been put to death, but when I first came to Lu, I didn't want to use swords and axes to kill more people. So as long as you can change your ways and lead your men into

Under my command, things of the past can be forgotten."

They were the swordsmen, and I was the flesh and blood of the fish. Seeing that they were in a prison, everyone knew that if they did not agree, they might not be able to escape, so they all knelt on the ground and worshiped Zhang Liao.

After everyone left, one of his subordinates asked Zhang Liao: "If you let these bandits go away like this, won't the Ming government be afraid that they will leave without returning?"

Zhang Liao smiled and said: "Their family is in the State of Lu, and their land and property are also in the State of Lu. Are they willing to give up their family business and flee to a foreign country for the sake of a group of subordinates?"

Besides, if they don’t obey my orders, it will be justifiable for me to take action against them.”

As Zhang Liao expected, within a few days, these bandit leaders and their men came to surrender to Zhang Liao. The total number of his men was over a thousand.

Zhang Liao entertained everyone with delicious food and drinks, and also hosted a banquet for a group of thieves. When everyone was drunk, he started to attack them.

The thieves were shocked for a moment, and many of them even denied the charges.

Zhang Liao calmed down the thieves and came to the group of thieves and said: "You think that denying it will negate your charges, but you are daydreaming. Your leader has already told me about your charges.

At present, your leaders have been recruited by me, and the condition is to help me capture you. If not, why are you here."

After Zhang Liao finished speaking, he ordered these more than a thousand people to be captured and sent to the East China Sea as criminal slaves.

And all the thieves were released.
Chapter completed!