Although there is no deep hatred between the two, Liu Chuang's intentional or unintentional instruction made the two of them form an opposing pattern without realizing it.

Now, Zhuge Liang has a good relationship with Liu Chuang's general because of his identity as a general in charge of the chariot and cavalry.

Sima Yi, because he was in charge of Huangge, gradually faded Chen Gong's influence with the help of Mi Fang, and became a self-contained lineage... Liu Chuang turned a blind eye to the battle between the two and allowed the two to compete. As long as he could master the degree of the "degree" among them, he could stabilize the situation.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

After seeing off Zhuge Liang and others, Liu Chuang left only Xun Chen.

"Father-in-law, Wen Hou is in charge of the surrender city, and the Xianbei people in the northern border are fighting endlessly. Do you think when can we enter the Wuyuan?"

Liu Chuang had long planned to Wuyuan and Shuofang counties, especially Shuofang, which was located in Hetao and had fertile land, which made Liu Chuang covetous.

Nashuofang was originally under the jurisdiction of the Han Dynasty.

Back then, the Southern Xiongnu were desperate and surrendered to the Han Dynasty. The court assigned the Hetao area to the Southern Xiongnu to rest.

Liu Chuang has always hoped to take Shuofang back, which can be used as his own granary farm, and also to control the development of the Southern Xiongnu. Even though the Southern Xiongnu and Liu Chuang are allies now, Liu Chuang does not trust Hu Chuquan, and believes that Hu Chuquan has the same thoughts. The Southern Xiongnu are now experiencing a turmoil. Although the killing of the Zuoxian King Liu Bao made Hu Chuquan's reputation soar, it also caused considerable fluctuations. The Southern Xiongnu are now in a state of rest and recuperation, but once they recover, they will cause disaster.

Xun Chen also knew this and understood Liu Chuang's urgent desire to seize Shuofang.

"Meng Yan's thoughts. I know."

Xun Chen thought for a while and said softly: "But now is not the time to turn against Hu Chuquan.

If the pressure is too strong, this guy is likely to collude with the Xianbei people, which will change the situation in the northern border. Meng Yan now needs to be careful to maintain the situation in the northern border. In the case of the endless internal struggle of the Xianbei people, he will try to separate the connection between the Southern Xiongnu and the Xianbei people.

Therefore, it is too early to enter Shuofang now.

However, Meng Yan can slowly penetrate into Shuofang. Migrate refugees to Shuofang in batches... When the time is ripe, he can annex the Southern Xiongnu in one fell swoop."

Xun Chen actually had the idea of ​​annexing the Southern Xiongnu?

This surprised Liu Chuang, but at the same time he was very happy.

He was most afraid of Xun Chen's idea of ​​"the country of heaven and the country of benevolence and virtue".

However, now it seems that Xun Chen is not comparable to that kind of corrupt scholar. His aggressiveness hidden deep in his heart is probably even more serious than Liu Chuang.

"This matter is very important, and there must be a suitable candidate for operation."

"Meng Yan has already chosen someone?"

"Wen Hou is domineering, but his methods are a little tough.

He was in charge of the surrender city. He could shock the Xianbei and Xiongnu, but if it comes to management, it was far from enough. I have a few suitable candidates, so please choose for me."

"Speak and listen."

Liu Chuang stretched out three fingers: "Chen Gong, Xu Shu, Meng Gongwei."

Xun Chen frowned and said in a deep voice: "The public service is more wise, but less than change in a mission."

He has been with Wen Hou for the longest time, and also knows Wen Hou's thoughts best, so he can cooperate properly. However, Gongtai's temperament is quite similar to Wen Hou. They are both tough people and do not understand the changes in straightforwardness, so they are not suitable for candidates. The most important thing is that he is now in Pinghou, maintaining the safety of the Daxianbei Mountains, and taking into account the safety of Liaodong. He cannot be moved lightly. So I think Gongtai is not suitable for the presidency of this matter."

"What about Yuanzhi?"

"Yuanzhi is very skillful and has a lot of wit, so it is most suitable.

However, Yuan Zhi had established power in the battle of Suicheng... His identity was too sensitive, and his every move was paid attention to Hu Chuquan, so it was not very suitable. I think Meng Gongwei is the most suitable candidate. First, his reputation was not obvious and he would not be paid attention to Hu Chuquan; second, he had good talents and knew how to adapt and advance and retreat properly, and even Wen Hou praised him.

Gongwei is a man who may not have the ability to plan and plan, but if you say you are the one who presides over the situation in Shuofang, you are the best candidate."

According to Liu Chuang's original idea, Xu Shu was the most suitable candidate, with Meng Jian as the auxiliary.

However, after Xun Chen's analysis, he also felt that Xu Shu's goal was too big and it would easily arouse Hu Chuquan's vigilance, which was indeed not suitable. However, Meng Jian had both talents and insights. Moreover, he was indeed a suitable candidate in Shuofang for some time.

"Since that's the case, I will send Ziyi to go tomorrow and secretly order Meng Jian."

"By the way, Su Wei sent a message before, and he had contacted Zhang Yan... but he didn't know how Meng Yan, you plan to solve Zhang Yan's affairs?"

Liu Chuang frowned and showed a bitter smile.

Speaking of which, since Su Wei told him about Zhang Yan, Liu Chuang ordered Sima Yi to summarize Zhang Yan's information.

This Zhang Yan's real name is Chu Yan, and he is from Zhending, Changshan, Jizhou.

During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, this man gathered young men as thieves and fought between mountains and lakes. Later, he gathered thousands of people in Zhending and rebelled. The people of Boling, Zhang Niujiao, also the northern commander of the Yellow Turban Army, personally recruited Zhang Yan and took him as his adopted son, and carefully trained him. Before Zhang Niujiao died, he instructed his subordinates to follow Zhang Yan and said to his subordinates: "If you want to survive, you must obey Chu Yan's orders."

After Zhang Niujiao died, Zhang Yan was grateful to Zhang Niujiao for her kindness, so she changed her name to Zhang Yan.

This person is fierce and agile, so the Yellow Turban thieves are often called "Flying Yan", and some people call him "Yan Shuai".

According to the information compiled by Sima Yi, Zhang Yan's vision is extremely vicious.

After the failure of the Yellow Turban, he knew that the Yellow Turban had no future, so he changed the name of the Yellow Turban, called the Heishan Army, and gathered as many as one million people. Later, he sent people to Luoyang to ask for surrender to the then Emperor Han, who was Emperor Ling of Han. Of course, he also followed the ten eunuchs. Emperor Ling of Han accepted Zhang Yan's request to surrender and appointed him as the General of the Central Army of the Punishment. At that time, Zhang Yan was no longer considered a bandit.

Unfortunately, with Dong Zhuo entering the court, the world was in chaos.

When the twenty-two princes raised their troops to attack Dong Zhuo, Zhang Yan also led his troops to go.

But because he was in the Ten Constant Attorneys, his position as the General of the Central Army of the Continent was not accepted by the princes and was even more extremely rejected.

Zhang Yan had no choice but to leave the coalition forces and return to Hebei.

After Yuan Shao captured Jizhou, he dominated Hebei.

Because he became enemies with Yu Du and others, he was even more disgusted with the Black Mountain Army. In the fourth year of Chuping, that is, in 193 AD, he joined forces with Lu Bu to fight with Zhang Yan in Changshan. The two sides fought hard for more than ten days, and Zhang Yan suffered heavy casualties. Yuan Shao's army was also exhausted, and finally had to stop the troops and withdraw. In order to avoid another conflict with Yuan Shao, Zhang Yan withdrew from Jizhou.

He led the main army to station in Fajiushan, Shangdang, and completely controlled the lines of Fajiushan, Yangtoushan, and even the Tianjing Pass. He could enter and exit the counties of Hanoi, Taiyuan, and Changshan without any effort. Their momentum not only did not decrease, but his troops increased to more than 1.5 million.

Later, Zhang Yan joined forces with Gongsun Zan and sent general Du Chang to assist Gongsun Zan in fighting against Yuan Shao.

It was precisely because of this incident that Yuan Shao was particularly angry and strengthened the crackdown on the Black Mountain Army. With Gongsun Zan's defeat, Zhang Yan also suffered heavy losses and was no longer as sharp as before.

But everyone knows that Zhang Yan's strength is still there.

Although he performed very low-key, everyone knew that this guy had the strength to influence the entire north and could not be ignored.

Liu Chuang was very salivating at the millions of refugees in Zhang Yan's hands, and at the same time he admired Zhang Yan's talent even more.

Liu Chuang believed that if he had been himself, he might not have been better than Zhang Yan.

More importantly, Zhang Yan's millions of Black Mountain troops are almost as good as the entire Bingzhou population, and even slightly more than that.

If these millions of Black Mountains could move to Bingzhou, then Liu Chuang's power in the north of the Frontier would inevitably increase greatly, and he could not even be afraid of the damn Huchuquan... But the problem is that after experiencing a series of things, Zhang Yan was quite resistant to the princes. However, Liu Chuang also knew that in history, Zhang Yan eventually surrendered to Cao Cao and attached great importance to Zhang Yan, allowing him to take charge of Bingzhou and made the Southern Xiongnu surrender.

The reason why Zhang Yan surrendered to Cao Cao was that Cao Cao captured Yecheng and unified the northern pattern appeared.

If Liu Chuang wants to get Zhang Yan's effect, he must show enough strength.

This is also the main reason why Liu Chuang feels a headache. It is not easy to get Zhang Yan to surrender...

"Father-in-law, I have not made any decision yet, so I would like to tell you about this."

Xun Chen smiled and said, "I think Meng Yan is not without a clue. If Zhang Yan wants to surrender, he must show the strength that can make him surrender.

Now Meng Yan swept Youzhou and looked at Bingzhou. The general situation has been established... If Zhang Yan surrendered unintentionally, he would not pass the message through Su Wei. Since he had sent the message, it means he was hesitating. The current situation depends on how courageous Meng Yan is, and what kind of benefits he brings to him. As long as Meng Yan, you can continue to work hard and show enough power, it is not difficult for Zhang Yan to surrender to you.

If Meng Yan, don't worry, I will be responsible for this matter.

I will contact Zhang Yan slowly, and I believe that this 'Flying Swallow' will give me some thin face no matter how hard it is."

In fact, it can be seen from the fact that Zhang Yan was willing to join the Han Dynasty and obeyed the rewards of Emperor Ling of Han that he still had some closeness to the Han Dynasty and was willing to serve the Han Dynasty.

Liu Chuang, the uncle of the Han Dynasty, has innate advantages.

He now lives in Youzhou and dominates the north. In some ways, it is inevitable that the two of them will have an intersection.

This third point is that Zhang Yan has always respected famous scholars, and Xun Chen's reputation in Hebei is definitely not the same. Thinking about the fact that another leader of the Black Mountain Army was killed by Du, Xun Chen offered advice to Yuan Shao to recruit Zhang Yan. However, Yuan Shao was born in the family of three ministers of four generations, so it would be fine if you let him respect those famous scholars and noble families, but it would be impossible to bow to a bandit who was born in the Yellow Turban thief.

So, Yuan Shao took a tough stance and tried to make Zhang Yan bow his head.

But even if Yuan Shao and Lu Bu joined forces, they failed to truly defeat Zhang Yan, which made Zhang Yan and Yuan Shao eventually become opponents...

Xun Chen's meaning is very clear, which is to use soft means to attract Zhang Yan.

Liu Chuang also agreed with Xun Chen's idea... It is definitely not a short-term success to surrender Zhang Yan.

This requires a long process. On the one hand, Zhang Yan must dispel his hostility towards Liu Chuang, and on the other hand, Zhang Yan must also feel Liu Chuang's strength. Only by taking two steps can he be successfully recruited. If you want to accomplish this, Xun Chen is undoubtedly the best candidate.

"Since that's the case, please give me my father-in-law!"

Liu Chuang bowed to Xun Chen, which could be regarded as giving the matter to Xun Chen for handling.

He knew very well that it would take a long process to surrender Zhang Yan, and what he urgently needed to solve was how to join forces with Yuan Shang.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It was too late to see Xun Chen away.

Liu Chuangmai walked out of the study and walked in the garden.

A heavy snow made the gardens of Zhuo County be covered with silver. Although they were noble and dignified, they exuded a bit of loneliness.

In the distance, there were faint laughter and joy coming from the room. Mi Feng and others were joking, which also made Liu Chuang's mood look much better.

Suddenly, he stopped.

There is a graceful figure in the garden standing next to a cluster of fiery red plum blossoms.

She turned her back to Liu Chuang, wearing a red dress, which complemented the cluster of red plums, adding a bit of beauty to the snow...

She seemed to have something to worry about and gently caressed the flowers with her slender hands.
To be continued...