Inside Chang'an city,
At a tavern,
By the window at the edge of the second floor, three guests, two men and one woman, arrived.
Compared to the composed man and woman in front, the young man trailing behind, who looked like a servant, seemed a bit nervous?
Although feeling a bit strange, the waiter quickly stepped forward.
"Guests, are you here to stay, or?"
"No hurry!"
The young man in the lead waved his hand, took out a silver ingot from his embrace with a smile.
"Serve us one portion of your signature dishes first, we might have a few guests!"
"Ah?"
"This..."
Looking at the silver ingot in the young man's hand, the waiter swallowed with some difficulty.
"G-guest, this... our establishment can't make change for this!"
"Just take it!"
The young man casually tossed the silver ingot over, waving his hand indifferently.
"Hurry up and serve the food first, we'll talk about the rest later!"
"This, this..."
Holding a silver ingot, the waiter, bewildered, went to find the shopkeeper.
There was no other way!
Although silver was a circulating currency in the late Han Dynasty, its value was extraordinarily high.
Just this small silver ingot, converted to Wuzhu coins, would be at least tens of thousands.
And how much would a meal at a tavern cost?
Even if you ate ravenously and ordered all the signature dishes, it wouldn't cost ten thousand Wuzhu coins.
And now?
This person casually threw him a silver ingot and told him to serve whatever he wanted?
Could this be fake?
Fortunately!
The waiter only complained in his heart, otherwise, Ye Feng would have been depressed.
Could something from the system be fake?
What a joke!
If he hadn't brought any personal guards this time and wasn't very familiar with the local prices, he wouldn't have started with a silver ingot!
After all,
It wasn't strange to take out a silver ingot from his embrace, but to take out dozens of strings of Wuzhu coins...
"Lord~!"
Chen Gong, who was treated as a servant, was still somewhat unsettled.
"You said we've been discovered? Who exactly is watching us?"
"Is it the people from Jingzhao? "
"But how did they know we were coming to Chang'an?"
"That shouldn't be the case!"
"..."
Listening to Chen Gong's constant chatter, Ye Feng rubbed his temples helplessly.
He didn't know about this either!
He just noticed that the soldier's gaze was not right, and then he hurriedly left.
This situation meant either they had been recognized, or they were being targeted.
But no matter which it was, it meant someone would come looking for them.
So,
Ye Feng was not only not in a hurry now, but he was even thinking about how to put on a show later.
Should he beat them up first?
Or beat them up first?
Since it would end in a fight anyway, why not fight first?
"L-Lord..."
Just as Ye Feng was lost in thought, Chen Gong's somewhat dry voice suddenly reached his ears.
"They, they seem to have found us..."
"Hmm?"
Ye Feng, brought back to his senses, looked up and saw a squad of soldiers at the entrance of the tavern.
Leading them was a middle-aged man around forty years old, followed by two companions of similar age.
The three said something at the entrance, then tidied their robes and walked in.
"It seems there's no danger!"
Witnessing all this, Ye Feng pouted with some disappointment.
They didn't bring soldiers to storm in?
Poor rating!
He had wanted to cause a stir in Chang'an city and attract some attention.
As for why?
It was to attract those who were down on their luck, or those who were not famous in history, to come and join him.
Just like Pan Zhi!
If Chen Gong hadn't brought him, wouldn't Ye Feng have missed him?
Although he couldn't be considered a top talent, he was still capable of being a prefect.
And this kind of talent was precisely what Ye Feng needed most right now!
Top talents?
They were dispensable.
Strategies?
Tactics?
Completely unnecessary!
For Ye Feng, who had not experienced the tempering of failure, nothing could not be overcome.
Therefore,
The role of top talents would be greatly diminished for him.
It was precisely counselors like Chen Gong and Pan Zhi, who were not top-tier but possessed no less ability, that Ye Feng needed most.
Most importantly,
It was very easy to recruit talents who were not as good as the best but better than the average.
Ye Feng did not want to be a sycophant!
What about three visits to the thatched hut?
Try it!
If you want to come, come!
If Ye Feng was really unhappy, would he dare to set your thatched hut on fire?
Of course!
If it were a wise statesman like Xun Yu, Ye Feng thought he might try.
But there was a prerequisite.
What prerequisite?
That was, the Xun family had to behave themselves, preferably sever ties with the Xun family.
He couldn't stand the eldest brother being here, the second brother over there, and the third brother running off somewhere else.
It was just a pity,
Ye Feng could only think about it now, he didn't even know where that Xun Yu guy was.
Maybe still by the Emperor's side?
Or died in Luoyang?
Forget it!
Thinking so much now was useless, let's see the situation in Chang'an first.
Suppressing the other thoughts in his mind, Ye Feng continued to sit at the table, slowly sipping the strong tea that the waiter had just served.
I have to say,
It tasted really bad!
Even though he had drunk quite a bit of this strong tea, Ye Feng still wasn't used to the taste.
But there was no other way!
He was either busy fighting or traveling, and he really didn't have time to fuss over tea leaves.
"Deng deng deng..."
Just as Ye Feng was slowly sipping his tea, footsteps could be heard from the stairs.
Then,
The three middle-aged men who had appeared at the entrance of the tavern walked up one by one.
Looking around,
After spotting Ye Feng's group of three by the window, the middle-aged man at the head quickly walked over and bowed to Ye Feng, saying:
"Ma Teng, Auxiliary General of the Chang'an City Defense Army, pays his respects to the Provincial Governor!"
"Pfft~!"
As the middle-aged man finished speaking, the tea Ye Feng had just sipped was directly spat out.
"Lord~!"
Yang Yanqi, who was beside him, quickly helped Ye Feng wipe his mouth.
"It's alright, it's alright..."
After taking the handkerchief and wiping the water stains from his lips, Ye Feng looked at the middle-aged man in front of him with a strange expression.
"You said your name was Ma Teng just now?"
"Reporting to the Provincial Governor, your subordinate is indeed named Ma Teng, and is currently an Auxiliary General in the army..."
"Stop!"
Ye Feng was not in the mood to listen to this guy's introduction and directly asked:
"Then do you have a son named Ma Chao?"
"Uh..."
Ma Teng was stunned by this question, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
What was going on?
How did this rebel leader know him so well?
Could it be that
This guy specifically rushed to Chang'an this time because he already knew about them?
That shouldn't be the case!
Although they had planned this for a long time, the decision to implement it was only made in the past few days.
Moreover,
Besides his sworn brothers, he had not revealed it to anyone.
How did this guy know?
While Ma Teng was lost in thought by Ye Feng's words, Ye Feng also confirmed something from his constantly changing expression.
Was this guy really the Ma Teng from history?
This time, Ye Feng was also stunned!
According to this guy's historical growth trajectory, wouldn't he have entered officialdom two years later?
What's going on now?
Not only did he become some Auxiliary General, but judging by the situation, he seemed to have control of Chang'an?
It's unscientific!
Historically, this guy didn't rebel in the early stages, or rather, he never rebelled.
The one who rebelled was his brother Han Sui!
But what's the situation now?
Ye Feng didn't believe that Jingzhao was impressed by Ma Teng and directly made him an Auxiliary General.
That was unrealistic!
The promotion in the Han army was still very difficult before the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
Refer to Huangfu Song and the others!
They all led tens of thousands of troops, but their official titles were no more than Zhonglang Jiang.
In terms of military matters, Emperor Ling was quite clear-headed!
As long as he didn't let go of military power, no matter how many people you had, they could only be called household guards.
And the aristocratic families were not united either.
Once you annoyed your enemies, you could be killed under the pretext of rebellion.
This was Emperor Ling's balance of power!
Unfortunately,
A Yellow Turban Rebellion that inexplicably ignited shattered all his plans.
Not giving military power?
Don't be ridiculous!
The Yellow Turban rebels were already at the doorstep, if you didn't give military power, where would you get troops to defend the city?
This was how Emperor Ling was in history, gradually regaining military power from the aristocratic families.
However, things were a bit chaotic now!
Since Ye Feng's emergence, the aristocratic families found that they could no longer control the situation.
Not to mention Ye Feng.
That elite army, whose origin was unknown, swept through the entire Wuhuan barbarians.
With this battle alone,
Not only did Emperor Ling abandon the idea of conquest, but even the aristocratic families quieted down.
They really couldn't fight!
The Wuhuan had been rampaging outside the pass for how many years, their strength was evident.
Didn't the Colonel who protected the Wuhuan try to conquer them a few years ago?
The result was a crushing defeat!
From then on,
Emperor Ling basically gave up on the border prefectures and counties, do as you please.
He only needed to control the prefectures and counties around him and the military power.
And the aristocratic families?
Naturally, they were not satisfied!
They didn't care about the border prefectures and counties, but how could prosperous prefectures and counties like Jizhou, Qingzhou, and Yanzhou be outside their control?
Emperor Ling, you are awesome, right?
You control military power, right?
Then let's see if your military power can be maintained!
Thus,
The Yellow Turban rebels appeared out of nowhere this year, catching Emperor Ling completely off guard.
How could he control military power then?
It was impossible to control!
If you don't give them military power and troops, they dare to slack off for you to see!
Anyway,
How the prefectures and counties conquered by the Yellow Turban rebels were dealt with in the end was up to them.
But to the surprise of the aristocratic families and Emperor Ling, the Yellow Turban rebels were also human!
Humans have desires!
Seeing that Ye Feng, who was also from a rebel background, was doing so well as a Provincial Governor.
Who wouldn't envy him?
In any case,
The Zhang brothers were very envious, so envious that their eyes were almost red.
This was also the reason why the Yellow Turban rebels advanced like a hot knife through butter!
They understood,
Only by hurting and frightening the aristocratic families and the imperial court could they have the right to negotiate.
But obviously,
They didn't expect the Han imperial court to be a paper tiger, which would collapse at the slightest touch.
Because of this,
The Yellow Turban rebels have now changed their target, they also want to sit on the throne of the Han Dynasty!
Of course!
Although these thoughts flashed through Ye Feng's mind, he still didn't ask his original purpose.
"General Ma, right?"
He looked at the somewhat nervous Ma Teng and squinted, asking:
"May I ask where the current Prefect of Jingzhao is located?"