Ao Lie's army had not gone far when a hurried sound of horses' hooves accompanied by the tremor of the earth came from the north.

As soon as they heard the sound of horses' hooves, Zhao Yun and Ma Chao immediately became vigilant, and respectively commanded the elites of the two battalions of Blood Kill and Tiger Ben to quickly line up and wait for the battle. Lu Bu held the Fang Tian Painting Halberd tightly and guarded Ao Lie with the other generals.

A moment later, a team of cavalrymen dressed in white and white horses appeared in the eyes of everyone, and Gongsun Chan took the lead in running at the forefront of the team, and the anxious look on his face was clearly visible. The person who came was Gongsun Zhan's elite subordinate - White Horse Yicong.

Seeing that it was Gongsun Zhan, Zhao Yun's heart relaxed, and he ordered the defense to be withdrawn, and shouted loudly: "Gongsun Taishou, it is Zilong." Gongsun Chan looked up and saw Zhao Yun, the worry on his face immediately turned into joy, Pegasus came to Zhao Yun's side and asked, "Where is the prince?" ”

Ao Lie urged the horse over in the middle of the formation, and said with a smile: "Brother Bogui, so-and-so is here." Gongsun Zhan turned his head, looked at Ao Lie carefully, and after making sure that he was not harmed, he stroked his forehead with his hand and said happily: "Heaven bless, fortunately I returned safely." When he got the news, he had already entered the territory of Youzhou, but he was afraid that the road was far away and the rescue would not be possible, so he rushed over day and night. "Because Gongsun Chan left Luoyang three days earlier than Ao Lie, and all his troops were cavalry, when he received the news that Ao Lie was ambushed, he had already returned to Youzhou, so he came a little late.

After a pause, Gongsun Chan waved his hand to the white horse Yicong behind him, and five thousand white horse Yi turned over and dismounted from Qi Brush, and bowed to Ao Lie: "See the lord!" ”

Ao Lie looked at Gongsun Chan in astonishment, and asked in surprise, "Brother Bogui, what do you mean by this?" With a long laugh, Gongsun Chan replied: "At the beginning, Fat Ru was trapped, if you hadn't led the army to rescue." My grandson Chan has long been a dry bone in the grave. Now that the elite under your command has suffered heavy losses, and their vitality has been greatly damaged, out of courtesy, and now they are leading the army to vote, do you still want to refuse? ”

Without waiting for Ao Lie to react, Gongsun Chan turned over and dismounted, knelt on one knee, and said loudly: "The last general, Gongsun Chan, see the lord!" "Gongsun Chan is the Taishou of Liaoxi, and Liaoxi County is under the rule of Youzhou. According to common sense, there is nothing wrong with Gongsun Chan calling Ao Lie the lord, but looking at Gongsun Chan's current attitude, it is obvious that he wants to serve Ao Lie. The posture of being willing to be a deputy general.

Ao Lie hurriedly jumped off the horse and pulled Gongsun Chan up. Puzzled, he said, "Brother Bogui." What do you mean? ”

Gongsun Chan stood up and said loudly: "The lord is kind to people, and his open-mindedness is heartbreaking. A certain has long had the intention of serving the lord, but all along, the lord's soldiers are strong and strong, which makes Chan feel ashamed. Don't dare to speak rashly. Now that the Lord is just employing people, therefore, a certain county soldiers and horses came to serve, in order to help the Lord and the Lord. That's all he said. Gongsun Zhan put it to Ao Lie's ear again, and whispered: "Actually, a certain is still a little selfish, with you, the little overlord, as the pastor of Youzhou, you can only be a Liaoxi Taishou in this life; If it is voted under your command, maybe one day you can be crowned a marquis or something. ”

Ao Lie knew that the latter sentence of Gongsun Zan was purely a joke, and he just came to him to find a reason that no one would believe. Stretching out his hand and pressing on Gongsun Zhan's shoulder, Ao Lie said with some emotion: "It's easy to put icing on the cake, but it's hard to send charcoal in the snow." Brother Bogui's affection will always be remembered in my heart. ”

The generals and strategists under Ao Lie's command came over one after another to congratulate Ao Lie on another tiger general, and made some innocuous jokes with Gongsun Zhan. After laughing for a while, the two groups joined forces and set foot on the way back to their hometowns again.

Not a day later, Ao Lie and the others traveled all the way, and the city of Jijun was already in sight.

Ten miles outside the city, the civil and military officials stationed in Jijun County all came out. Ao Lie is their backbone and their spiritual leader, and they are very concerned about Ao Lie's safety. Although Youzhou is located in a remote area, the news that Ao Lie was ambushed has already spread, if it hadn't been for Xun Yu, who has always been known for his prestige and steady personality, to stop him, the generals would have raised troops to the south to attack Yuan Shao.

Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Zhang Xiu and other generals stood on the left side, and Xun Yu, Lu Su, Gu Yong and other ministers stood on the right side, all looking forward to it, waiting for the return of Ao Lie's army. When Ao Lie appeared in everyone's sight, a cadre of civil and military could no longer bear it, and quickly stepped forward to greet Ao Lie, even Xun Yu, who had always been calm, also ran over with excitement, three steps and two steps.

In the midst of the crowd, an unpretentious carriage was quietly parked on the side of the road. In the carriage, Cai Yan's plain face without powder was flowing, with two lines of crystal tears, and he whispered in his mouth: "You, are you finally back, I thought I would never see you again, if you die on the battlefield, what does it mean for me to live alone......

By Cai Yan's side, Mrs. Ao was also teary-eyed, gently patted the back of Cai Yan's hand, and said gently: "Silly boy, isn't Lie'er already back, don't worry, he won't leave his mother and leave you alone." ”

After a few months, Ao Lie sat down in the lobby of the governor's mansion again. The civil and military officials lined up on both sides and listened to Ao Lie's account of all the events that had happened in the past few months.

After briefly telling what happened, Zhang Xiu, who was sitting in the hall, was already furious, stood up and shouted: "Yuan Benchu was the third prince of the fourth world in vain, but he is really a despicable villain!" Senior brother, you can swallow this breath, but you can't swallow it! ”

Ao Lie waved his hand, signaling Zhang Xiu to sit down first and not be excited, and then slowly said: "Youwei, everyone, after this battle, our army has lost more than seventy percent of the elite of the two battalions of blood killing and tiger ben, which can be described as a great injury to the vitality, it is really not appropriate to move the army, and the gentleman will take revenge, it is not too late for ten years." In the next step, we have two urgent issues that must be addressed. First, it is necessary to expand the number of troops and replenish the lost combat strength as soon as possible. Second, it opened academies to recruit a large number of scholars from poor families and ordinary people to study in the hospitals, and then selected outstanding ones among them to be added to the army and counties to become officials. ”

Ao Lie's tone made all the civil and military officials present fall into deep thought. Jia Xu nodded in agreement: "The lord is planning to recuperate, and Xu also agrees to do so." After a few years, our army will regain its combat effectiveness, and the first batch of cadets who will be able to complete their studies will be able to take on great responsibilities, and then it will be the best time for us to take revenge. It is also a time for our army to compete with the heroes of the world. ”

After Jia Xu, everyone expressed their opinions one after another, and based on the two points put forward by Ao Lie, they put forward many reference suggestions. In the end, at the suggestion of everyone, Ao Lie decided to recruit and train new recruits on the one hand, build the academy on the other, and recruit people with prestige and ability to serve as teachers. After the preliminary division, the college will be divided into eight courses: Confucianism, Medicine, Military Science, Craftsmanship, Commerce, Agriculture, Jurisprudence and Miscellaneous Studies.

After the discussion, Xu Rong slowly stood up. sighed and said: "Xu Rongmeng is a heavy weapon, and he should have led the army to gallop on the battlefield to serve the lord. But now Xu Rong is a crippled person, and he no longer has any ambition in his heart. Rong is willing to live in seclusion in the academy and pass on what he has learned to those with good qualifications, so as to repay the kindness of the lord. ”

Ao Lie heard this. Silent. After pondering for a while, he agreed to Xu Rong's proposal: "Since General Xu has made up his mind. I don't force it. The general's fortune. Double the distribution according to the original position, please rest assured general. ”

If the old people take a back seat, there will be new people. Just as Ao Lie and Xu Rong were talking, a sergeant came to report that Zhuge Liang was coming. Ao Lie was stunned in his seat for half a minute, and then Ha Lu Ha Da Lu said with a smile: "Guan Zhong and Le Yi are here." Then he stood up. personally greeted the deuce.

I haven't seen him for a few years, Zhuge Liang has grown taller and more handsome, and the aura of books on his body has decreased a lot. In its place, wisdom and maturity are served. It can be seen that in the past few years, Zhuge Liang has learned a lot under Pang Degong, and has completed the transformation from a young boy to a mature man.

"Big brother." Seeing Ao Lie, Zhuge Liang only had time to say these two words, and the rest of the words were swallowed up by choking. A thousand words are blocked in his chest, but it seems that only tears of joy can express the monologue in his heart.

"Let's go, follow so-and-so into the house." Ao Lie replied briefly, stepped forward and grabbed Zhuge Liang's hand, and pulled him towards the mansion. Zhuge Liang suppressed the excitement in his heart, dragged Ao Lie's arm, and then pointed to the three people behind him and introduced to Ao Lie: "These are the best friends of the younger brother, Boling Cui Zhouping, Yingchuan Shi Guangyuan, and Runan Meng Gongwei. Because they couldn't worry about their little brother, they traveled thousands of miles to accompany their little brother together. ”

Ao Lie let go of Zhuge Liang's hand, bowed deeply to Cui Zhouping and the others, and said: "Thank you three for taking care of Kong Ming along the way, thank you here, please go into the house to serve tea together." When I saw Kong Ming for the first time, I was excited, and I neglected the three of them, and I asked Haihan. Seeing that Ao Lie was really like the legend, treating people kindly and being polite and virtuous, Cui Zhouping and the three of them arched their hands together and said: "Thank you for your kindness, I'm bothered." ”

After returning to the lobby, Zhao Yun, Ma Chao and others, who had known Zhuge Liang when they were in Nanyang, stepped forward to greet him affectionately, and the rest of the people who didn't know Zhuge Liang had long known the name of Zhuge Liang, and knew that he was the first mastermind of Ao Lie's internal decision, and they all stood up and saluted Zhuge Liang.

After the salute, Ao Lie returned to the main seat, pointed to the seat next to him and said to Zhuge Liang, "Kong Ming, sit here." Now Zhuge Liang does not have any official position, but he can be named by Ao Lie to sit beside him, which shows how much Ao Lie attaches importance to Zhuge Liang, Ao Lie compares Zhuge Liang to his Guan Zhong and Le Yi, but it is not just a trick.

Zhuge Liang smiled slightly, but did not sit down, but saluted to everyone in the lobby, and said: "Liang is the youngest, has been under the command of the lord for the shortest time, and has no size, how dare he be in a high position?" I also hope that the lord will take back his life. ”

Jia Xu, who was originally the first strategist under Ao Lie, couldn't help but nod secretly when he saw Zhuge Liang's modest demeanor and magnificence. Jia Xu knew that he was getting older, and he could still cope with it in front of him, but he would be more and more unable to do so in the future, and the matter of cultivating a successor would naturally be as early as possible, and he would be able to make his successor mature as soon as possible. Zhuge Liang in front of him is not a very good cultivation object.

Standing up slowly, Jia Xu recounted what everyone had discussed just now, and then looked at Zhuge Liang with the meaning of assessment, and asked, "Kong Ming, what do you think about this matter?" (To be continued......)