Bai Xiaowen knew the news early - earlier than the person who informed him.
After Liu Zhang's envoy entered the territory of Hanzhong, he was first greeted by Qiao Rui, then by Li Shuyi, and finally by Cecilia. He was almost surrounded all the way into Nanzheng City.
The reason is very simple, because the name of this messenger is Zhang Song.
Zhang Song was a famous Erwuzi diplomat in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but he left quite positive comments. There was also a mourning poem when Zhang Song died.
Looking at the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, among the countless young men and women, only Zhang Song was able to receive mournful poems to commemorate him.
On the one hand, Zhang Song has a rather arrogant personality. He did not sacrifice Yizhou for fame and fortune, but for a more noble reason - for the Ming Lord.
On the other hand, Zhang Song has a gift of photographic memory, and this talent also makes the author of the novel (who is not famous) feel very close to his heart.
In the novel, Zhang Song was sent as an envoy to Cao Cao at the beginning. He originally wanted to dedicate Yizhou to Cao Cao, but Cao Cao judged people by their appearance and underestimated the virtuous and arrogant. Zhang Song, who was ugly in appearance and arrogant in heart, was very hurt; and then returned to Yizhou.
On the way, he was intercepted by Liu Bei.
At the beginning, Liu Bei only had Jingzhou and was eager to take Xichuan. It can be said that he was extremely diligent and caring towards Zhang Song.
Look at the specifications: first Zhao Yun was sent to greet him; then Guan Yu was sent to greet him; finally Liu Bei personally brought Zhuge Liang to entertain Zhang Song. They had a banquet for several days, and finally accepted Zhang Song's heart and made him decide to dedicate Yizhou to him.
Liu Bei.
Bai Xiaowen is now the Duke of Yan and cannot personally greet him like Liu Bei did. Otherwise, not only Zhang Song will be surprised, but even his civil and military generals will feel unfair.
Even though Bai Xiaowen himself did not greet him in person, the grand ceremony in which the three trusted subordinates greeted him had already given Zhang Song enough face.
Bai Xiaowen met Zhang Song in the residence of the prefect of Nanzheng.
Just like in the novel, Zhang Song does look a bit unattractive. In ancient China, where people were judged by their appearance, it did take ability to fulfill the position of Yizhou Bijia.
Zhang Song met Bai Xiaowen for the first time. After paying homage according to etiquette, he presented Liu Zhang's letter.
After Bai Xiaowen read it, he smiled and said to his left and right: "Liu Zhang felt uneasy when he saw that Gu was pacifying Hanzhong, so he sent an envoy to ask when he would withdraw his troops. This was a disguised attempt to test whether Gu had any intention of taking Xichuan."
Xun You said: "The people of Yizhou are rich and the country is rich, and the population is abundant; Hanzhong is the gateway to Yizhou. Now that Yan Gong has taken Hanzhong, how can he abandon Yizhou?"
The other generals all nodded in agreement.
Bai Xiaowen pondered and said: "I have heard for a long time that the mountain roads in Yizhou are rugged and there are many passes. If there is no figure from Shu to lead the imperial army, it may not be easy to collect them."
This is an obvious hint.
However, Zhang Song didn't react at all. His small mung bean-sized eyes were looking around, but he didn't speak.
Bai Xiaowen smiled and said: "What do you think of Zhang Bie? If you can help the imperial court regain Yizhou, there will definitely be generous gifts from high-ranking officials."
Zhang Song curled his lips and said with a smile: "There are no treacherous people in Sichuan."
Bai Xiaowen's subordinates, both civil and military, were somewhat dissatisfied. Zhang Song's words, if understood in an extended way, meant that "your methods will not work in our central Sichuan", which was a disguised way of saying that there were treacherous people in the Central Plains.
When Bai Xiaowen saw someone under his command, Wen Wu, who wanted to refute Zhang Song, he raised his hand to stop him and said with a smile: "Don't come all the way to work hard, but you can rest for a while in the post. After I think about it carefully, I will write a letter to reply to your lord.
.”
After Zhang Song retreated, his generals all said:
"My lord treated Zhang Song very politely and went out to recruit him personally. Zhang Song has no eyesight and does not know God, so why should he be polite to him."
Bai Xiaowen shook his head and said: "My true intention is to conquer Xichuan, but I must win the hearts of Xichuan. I intend to conquer this pine tree, but I can only use it with kindness and cannot force it with threats."
After the meeting ended on bad terms, a small theater within the teammates began.
Qiao Rui: "Hey, it's the first time I see a charming captain being defeated."
Cecilia: "Yes, for this meeting, Dio even recited an ancient poem..."
Li Shuyi: "Zhang Song is a man, but he is also an ugly man. Maybe his aesthetic sense is different from ordinary people's?"
Han Xu: "..."
Bai Xiaowen: "...If Zhen Mi wasn't here, would I be depressed?"
Li Shuyi: "Uh-huh?"
Bai Xiaowen: "...Ahem, the weather is nice today. I'm going to treat Zhang Song to dinner, so you guys can do whatever you want."
…
Zhang Song stayed at Nanzhengguanyi for three consecutive days.
During these three days, Bai Xiaowen would definitely invite Zhang Song to the banquet every day, and relied on his high charm to win over Zhang Song.
Zhang Song's attitude gradually dropped from the pretense of arrogance at the beginning, and he discussed the world's people, local customs and customs with Bai Xiaowen every day.
Zhang Song is indeed a knowledgeable person. If Bai Xiaowen hadn't had a broad vision and quick response, he might not have been able to keep up with Zhang Song's conversational pace.
On the third day, Zhang Song stood up at the banquet and was about to resign: "Mr. Yan, I have been staying here for a long time. My lord Liu Zhang urgently needs a reply."
Bai Xiaowen sighed: "I'm going to leave Zhang. We feel like old friends as soon as we meet. Don't go here. I don't know when we'll see each other again."
As he spoke, Bai Xiaowen's eye circles turned a little red.
After all, he doesn't have Liu Bei's ability to cry whenever he wants, and now that he has become Duke Yan, he has the burden of being an idol. The red circles under his eyes were caused by secretly smearing some wine.
Zhang Song was moved in his heart and suddenly bowed down and said:
"To be honest, I am traveling to Sichuan this time as an envoy. I actually want to seek the support of a wise master. I pretended to be arrogant in the past few days just to test Duke Yan's mind.
"Although Duke Yan is young, he has great talents and great strategies. He conquered the north and unified the Central Plains. He has such extraordinary achievements, but he can also treat virtuous subordinates. It is beyond Zhang Song's expectation. I would like to present a geographical map of the forty-one prefectures and counties in Xichuan.
, help Duke Yan achieve an unparalleled legacy!"
Bai Xiaowen was overjoyed and hurriedly helped Zhang Song up and said: "The only one who has Zhang Biejia is like the Zhou who has Lu Wang, and the Han who has Zhang Liang."
Even Zhang Song, who has a high self-esteem, was a little stunned when he heard these two words of praise. However, these words came from the mouth of Yan Guogong, which was basically the comment of the best person in the world. Zhang Song was naturally very happy.
Happy.
Then the banquet was held again. Bai Xiaowen asked about the situation in Shu. Zhang Song didn't hide anything and told them one by one.
It turns out that some time ago, when Bai Xiaowen had just defeated Ma Chao and conferred the title of Duke of Yan, Zhang Lu of Hanzhong wanted to establish himself as King of Hanning, but was dissuaded by his subordinate Yan Pu and others.
In order to prevent Zhang Lu from proclaiming himself king, Yan Pu persuaded Zhang Lu to annex Xichuan first. When the time comes, he would own the land of both rivers and become king.
Shan Fu (Xu Shu), who lives here as a guest, also agrees.
Zhang Lu was not independent, so he adopted the advice of Yan Pu and Shan Fu, stationed troops in Bazhong, and peeped at Xichuan.
Liu Zhang was afraid, so under the instigation of thoughtful people, he invited Liu Bei of Jingzhou to help Xichuan and resist Zhang Lu for the sake of his fellow clan.