Chương 402: Xing Daorong

"It is indeed your humble servant!" Wei Yan replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, looking directly at Guan Yu without the slightest fear.

Guan Yu stroked his long beard and continued, "How long have you been serving in Changsha?"

"Reporting to the General, it has been more than a year," Wei Yan said.

"More than a year?" Guan Yu raised an eyebrow.

"You've made the city's defenses so formidable in just over a year?"

Wei Yan replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, "It is my duty to defend this territory, and I dare not slacken my efforts."

Guan Yu nodded and then inquired about the city's defenses, troops, and provisions.

Wei Yan answered fluently and logically, even explaining clearly how many wells there were in the city and how many soldiers they could supply with water.

Guan Yu nodded, said nothing more, and led his troops into the city.

After entering the city, he first inspected the city's defenses, then flipped through the household registers and the treasury ledgers...

...

In the afternoon, Guan Yu specially ordered Wei Yan to drill his troops in the training ground for him to see.

Wei Yan didn't hesitate either; with a single command, a hundred soldiers lined up and marched out.

Swordsmen and shieldmen were in front, spearmen were behind, and archers were on the flanks. The formation changed as smoothly as flowing water, and the soldiers were all in high spirits, shouting battle cries that shook the heavens.

Wei Yan personally took to the field, wielding a broadsword, charging back and forth through the ranks with fierce swordsmanship and overwhelming momentum.

Guan Yu stood on the high platform, watching Wei Yan drill his troops, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

He discovered that this young man was not only highly skilled in martial arts and had excellent swordsmanship, but also understood military strategy, was resourceful, and had strict discipline in his troops. He was a rare talent for military command.

He was very pleased and couldn't help but stroke his beard and nod.

After the drills were completed, Wei Yan went up to the platform to report back.

Guan Yu looked at him, a rare smile appearing on his face, and said, "Wen Chang, you are very capable; you shouldn't just be a military commander. Would you be willing to follow me and serve the Prince of Yan?"

Wei Yan had long admired Guan Yu's reputation, and upon hearing this, he was overjoyed. He immediately bowed respectfully to Guan Yu and said, "This humble general is willing to serve General Guan with utmost loyalty! I am willing to die for His Highness the Prince of Yan!"

Guan Yu was overjoyed and immediately recruited Wei Yan into his ranks.

He patted Wei Yan on the shoulder and laughed, "Good! From today onwards, you will follow me. If there is an opportunity in the future, I will recommend you to the Prince of Yan!"

Wei Yan was moved to tears and thanked him repeatedly.

In the days that followed, Guan Yu took over the remaining counties with Wei Yan. He found that the young man was efficient, brave and resourceful, and was even more pleased. He thought that when he returned, he would definitely recommend him to his elder brother. This was a good talent and should not be wasted!

...

Meanwhile, Zhang Fei led his troops to Lingling County.

The prefect of Lingling was a sensible man and had already opened the city gates to welcome him.

Zhang Fei led his troops into the city with a carefree attitude. As he was counting his soldiers in the drill ground, he overheard a burly junior officer in the ranks boasting to the soldiers beside him, spitting as he spoke:

"I'm not bragging! Back in the Yellow Turban Rebellion, I chopped three Yellow Turban rebels in half with a single axe! You didn't see it, blood splattered all over my face, but I didn't even blink!"

"If I had the chance, I would have become a general long ago! Not just in Lingling, but throughout the entire Jingzhou region, when it comes to fighting, few can rival me! You have no idea, back in the day, I, Xing Daorong, was..."

The soldiers around him grimaced, some covering their mouths to chuckle, others rolling their eyes, but Xing Daorong got more and more excited as he bragged, gesturing wildly and spitting everywhere, as if he wanted to portray himself as the fiercest general in the world.

Zhang Fei heard it all clearly from above and immediately burst into laughter.

He thought to himself: Hey! This kid, with his talkative and boastful manner, is practically a carbon copy of Cheng Yaojin! Interesting! Very interesting!

He immediately had someone summon Xing Daorong.

Xing Daorong was enjoying himself when he suddenly heard that Zhang Fei wanted to see him, and he turned pale with fright.

All his bragging enthusiasm vanished, his legs went weak, and he collapsed to his knees with a thud, stammering, "General... General, I know I was wrong! I just couldn't keep my mouth shut and was just bragging, I didn't mean anything by it! General, please spare my life!"

Zhang Fei laughed heartily, bent down, and patted Xing Daorong on the shoulder with such force that it almost knocked Xing Daorong to the ground: "You're Xing Daorong, kid? You were just bragging, saying you were a great fighter?"

Xing Daorong, steeling himself, said with a stiff neck, "General! Although I like to talk a lot, my skills are real! I can definitely fight! If you don't believe me, General, you can try!"

"Good! You've got guts!" Zhang Fei laughed even harder.

"I think you're just my type! Don't stay here as a lowly squad leader, come work for me! When we get back to Luoyang, I'll introduce you to a general just like me, his name is Cheng Yaojin. You two will definitely hit it off; he's a good-for-nothing braggart, just like you!"

Xing Daorong was stunned upon hearing this.

Overjoyed, he knelt on one knee before Zhang Fei, clasped his hands in thanks, and said, "Thank you, General Zhang! Thank you, General Zhang! I will follow you faithfully from now on, even unto death! If you command me to go east, I will never go west!"

Zhang Fei laughed heartily and pulled him up: "Alright, alright, stop kneeling, get up! From now on, work hard and stop just bragging; show us your real skills!"

"Yes, yes, yes! I will definitely do my best!" Xing Daorong got up, his back straight, and his face beamed with joy.

And just like that, Zhang Fei also picked up a treasure, taking Xing Daorong under his command.

He took over the counties and prefectures along the way, and listened to Xing Daorong brag every day, which made him extremely happy.

Sometimes Xing Daorong would boast too much, and Zhang Fei would kick him and say, "Damn it, stop bragging! When you see Cheng Yaojin, you two can go at it!"

Xing Daorong chuckled and nodded repeatedly, but after a while he couldn't help but start blowing again.

In less than a month, all the counties and prefectures under the jurisdiction of Jingzhou were successfully taken over by a few people.

They each performed their duties and displayed their unique abilities.

The entire Jingzhou region fell completely into Liu Ce's hands.

Half of Jiangnan has already been taken by the surname Liu.

...

In the study of the Prince of Yan's mansion in Luoyang, Liu Ce was sitting with his legs crossed, chatting with Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai and others about the follow-up plan for pacifying the people of Jingzhou.

"After taking Jingzhou, the first thing to do is reduce taxes. The people have just changed landlords and are unsure of themselves, so we need to let them taste the benefits. The second thing is to rectify official corruption. Although Liu Yu is a good administrator, there are definitely corrupt officials below him. Those who need to be removed should be removed, and those who need to be replaced should be replaced..."

"Jingzhou has a large population and a lot of farmland. The key issue is flood control. We need to send water conservancy experts over to take a look and reinforce the river embankments to prevent flooding and the suffering of the people."

While sipping his tea, Liu Ce said, "Also, Jingzhou is a land of plenty, so in the future we..."

Guo Jia waved his feather fan and nodded, saying, "My lord is right. Jingzhou is a land of plenty; if we manage it well, it will become our granary. Then, when we march south to Yizhou, Yangzhou, and Jiaozhou, we will have no worries about supplies."