Chapter 12: Inside Yecheng

In Yecheng, inside the city lord's mansion.

Occupying the main seat was an elderly veteran standing eight chi and two cun tall, with a voice like a booming bell. He was none other than Lu Zhi, the commander-in-chief of the Han forces on the Jizhou battlefield.

Li Xiang held immense respect for Lu Zhi. Lu Zhi possessed an unyielding character and noble virtues, often harboring grand ambitions to restore the imperial court and save the suffering world. He disliked writing ornate prose and was capable of drinking a dan of wine.

In his youth, Lu Zhi had studied under the great Confucian scholar Ma Rong, and had recommended Zheng Xuan as a fellow disciple. Well-read in both ancient and modern texts, Lu Zhi loved delving into classical Confucian literature without being confined by the rigid commentary styles defined by his predecessors. Although Ma Rong was a powerful relative of the imperial family whose household frequently featured singing and dancing troupes, Lu Zhi studied under his roof for many years without ever casting a single wandering glance at them.

"System, scan Lu Zhi's attributes," Li Xiang silently commanded the system in his mind.

"Ding! Lu Zhi: Command 94, Might 78, Intelligence 90, Politics 89."

Upon truly seeing Lu Zhi's four-dimensional stats, Li Xiang had to admit that he truly lived up to his reputation as one of the three great generals of the late Han dynasty, a figure capable of winning consecutive victories against the Yellow Turbans in true history.

"May I ask the young general, has Governor Li Yang of Bingzhou arrived yet?" Lu Zhi inquired politely from the main seat.

At this moment, Lu Zhi was in high spirits, for the Bingzhou army that had just arrived was undoubtedly a formidable reinforcement.

Lu Zhi had witnessed the exceptional performance of the Bingzhou army quite clearly from the city walls. Under the charge of the Bingzhou iron cavalry, the ordinary Yellow Turban rebels were scattered like dry leaves at the first contact.

Afterward, the appearance of that white-robed general had made Lu Zhi's eyes light up. When the army was on the verge of falling into a disadvantage, he had charged alone into tens of thousands of enemy troops, directly severing the enemy general's head. In an instant, he shattered the enemy's morale, turning crisis into safety for the allied forces.

Although quite a few brave and formidable generals had arrived successively with various detachments over the past few days, in Lu Zhi's eyes, Xue Rengui's prowess surpassed them all.

"Reporting to the Central Langjiang, after receiving His Majesty's edict, although my father was burning with anxiety and intended to lead the reinforcements personally, twenty-some-odd thousand Yellow Turban rebels led by the rebel Wang Qing invaded our borders. Furthermore, within Bingzhou's borders, another major rebel, Tian Hu, colluded with this Wang Qing. Having no other choice, my father could only order this junior general to lead the troops here," Li Xiang replied respectfully to Lu Zhi.

To everyone's surprise, upon hearing that Li Yang had not come personally, but that Li Xiang had come in his father's stead, Lu Zhi showed no disappointment. Instead, he said with pleasant surprise, "Could you be the young General Li who issued the 'Slaughter the Hu' decree when the Xiongnu invaded four years ago? I never expected Governor Li's tiger of a son to arrive in person."

Lu Zhi had some understanding of Li Yang. He knew Li Yang possessed certain administrative capabilities, but leading troops in battle was out of the question.

On the contrary, after accidentally catching sight of the "Slaughter the Hu" decree back then, Lu Zhi had made some inquiries about Li Xiang and learned that Li Xiang had contributed immensely to repelling the Xiongnu during the Battle of Yanmen. It was just a pity that for reasons unknown, Li Xiang's name had not appeared when the merits were reported to the court.

In Lu Zhi's view, when it came to leading troops in battle, having Li Xiang bring reinforcements was far superior to Li Yang coming himself.

"This junior general is indeed he. Central Langjiang flatters me too much," Li Xiang answered with practiced modesty.

Hearing this, Lu Zhi was even more satisfied. Neither arrogant nor impatient, this youth would surely become a pillar of the Great Han in the future.

The other generals in the hall, upon hearing that this was the very Li Xiang who had issued the "Slaughter the Hu" decree years ago, grew immensely interested and instantly developed a favorable impression of him.

Back then, Li Xiang's "Slaughter the Hu" decree had been primarily promulgated in the provinces of Ji, You, Qing, and Yan, and many generals currently seated in this grand hall hailed precisely from those regions.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for acquiring 9宗员 [Wait, system value for Lu Zhi already given, processing next...] 9 summoning points from Lu Zhi."

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for acquiring 8 summoning points from Zong Yuan."

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for acquiring 10 summoning points each from Yan Liang and Wen Chou."

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for acquiring 9 summoning points from Liu Yu."

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for acquiring 9 summoning points from Gongsun Zan."

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for acquiring 8 summoning points each from Yan Gang and Dan Jing."

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for acquiring 10 summoning points each from Guan Yu and Zhang Fei."

"The host currently has 273 summoning points remaining."

The harvest from Li Xiang's promulgation of the "Slaughter the Hu" decree years ago was finally beginning to manifest today.

Just upon learning that Li Xiang himself was leading the reinforcements, even before Li Xiang actively sought to build rapport with them, most of the generals in the hall spontaneously contributed summoning points to him.

However, upon hearing this massive wave of summoning points rushing in, Li Xiang's first reaction was not the joy of harvest, but a creeping sense of alarm.

When he first stepped inside, he had focused all his attention on Lu Zhi. He hadn't yet realized just how many heavyweight figures were gathered in this hall. This place had essentially concentrated a significant fraction of the late Han dynasty's elites.

Li Xiang quietly glanced around. To Lu Zhi's left and right respectively sat a stern yet benevolent middle-aged scholar, and a tall, handsome youth who faintly radiated an air of arrogance.

And what made it even more astonishing were the two tiger-backed, bear-waisted, and imposingly fierce young warriors standing behind that youth.

Judging by their appearances, coupled with the fact that their seats were placed so close to the front, they were likely none other than the current Governor of Youzhou, Liu Yu, and Yuan Shao, Yuan Benchu of the illustrious House of Yuan, whose lineage spanned four generations and held the highest offices.

As for the two hulking warriors behind Yuan Shao, even without the system's prompt, Li Xiang could guess that these two must undoubtedly be the twin pillars of Hebei, Yan Liang and Wen Chou.

Yet Li Xiang had never expected Yuan Shao to have subdued Yan Liang and Wen Chou so quickly. Originally, Li Xiang had harbored certain ambitions regarding these two men upon coming to Jizhou this time, but now it seemed those plans had fallen through.

Behind Liu Yu, Li Xiang spotted another sharp-eyed, awe-inspiring, and handsome general. Judging by his seating position directly following Liu Yu and his extraordinary demeanor, this must be the White Horse General Gongsun Zan, who would eventually contend with Yuan Shao for supremacy. He too was a supreme hero of the late Han era.

The people seated further down were relatively unremarkable. Even without using the system to scan them, Li Xiang could guess that they were at best second- or third-rate figures.

However, at the very end of the rows of seats, Li Xiang finally found the few individuals he cared about most.

The foremost among them stood seven chi and five cun tall, with earlobes touching his shoulders, hands hanging past his knees, eyes capable of glancing at his own ears, a face like polished jade, and lips as if painted with rouge.

Flanking him on either side stood two formidable generals.

The man on the left stood nine chi tall, with a beard two chi long, a face like a date, lips smeared with rouge, crimson phoenix eyes, and sleek silkworm eyebrows—a truly majestic and awe-inspiring appearance.

The man on the right stood eight chi tall, with a leopard's head, circular eyes, swallow-like jaw, and tiger-like whiskers. His voice was like thunder, and his momentum resembled a charging horse.

With appearances so unmistakable, who else could these three peach-garden sworn brothers be?

Yet among everyone in the full hall, only Yuan Shao and Liu Bei had failed to develop a favorable impression of him or contribute summoning points.

If Yuan Shao's detachment stemmed from the arrogance born of his aristocratic lineage and perhaps a condescending view of others, then Liu Bei's indifference likely arose from his deep inscrutability and unyielding ambition to submit to no man.