Cui Yan (born in 163), the name Ji Jue, was born in Dongwucheng, Qinghe (now Qinghe County, Hebei Province).

Historical Middle East Han Dynasty late Han dynasty celebrities, Sikong Cui Lin's brother, Cao Cao's adviser. Cui Yan was handsome and prestigious, and Cao Cao was also in awe of him. In the twenty-first year of Jian'an (216), Cui Yan wrote in a letter to Yang Xun, "When the time comes, there will be changes", Cao Cao thought that this sentence was not inferior, so Cui Yan was imprisoned, and soon Cui Yan was given death by Cao Cao.

At this time, Cui Yan was thirty-four years old, in the prime of life, and his appearance was handsome, which made people not only have a good impression after seeing him.

As soon as Cui Yan asked, Yan Liang and Gao Ran knew that this person was the identity of the peace talker, so they didn't dare to hide it and told what happened last night.

"This Zhang Zhiyuan is really cunning, first expressed his intention to negotiate peace, lowered our defense, and then suddenly led troops to kill, causing us to be defeated." Gao Lan cried out in pain.

"Yes, in this way, I am afraid that it will be difficult for Mr. to make peace talks." Yan Liang sighed and said.

After Cui Yan knew what was happening, his eyes first wrinkled together, and then he shook his head and said: "Alas, although the army lost, the peace talks still have to be done, otherwise it would be useless for me to come thousands of miles, in this way, trouble the two generals to let the soldiers get out of the way, and I will go to meet this Zhang Zhiyuan is saying." ”

Cui Yan also wanted to enter the city, which made Yan Liang and Gao Ran both stunned and said, "Sir, no, this trip is too dangerous." ”

"It doesn't matter. The two armies are still fighting and not slashing. Here, I am a scholar and myself, kill me and Zhang Zhiyuan, you just have to order the release. Cui Yan said with an indifferent look.

Cui Yan was bent on entering Wu County, and after Yan Liang and Gao Ran's persuasion was fruitless, he was released. The two also hoped that this person would succeed in the peace talks, so that it would not hurt them to lose some soldiers and horses.

Under the permission of Yuan Shao's army, Cui Yan came to the gate of the county seat, as soon as he arrived here, without waiting to report his name, the city gate was opened, and then the young Pang Tong took two hundred soldiers out of the city, and there were still one hundred and fifty steps away, that is, he shouted loudly, "But Mr. Cui?" ”

"Exactly, I don't know who is coming?" Seeing that a young man went out of the city to greet him, Cui Yan asked himself.

"I am the staff officer Pang Tong under the account of the lord, the word Shiyuan. Mr. Cui can call me the word, and now I welcome Mr. Cui into the city on the order of the lord, please. After Pang Tong heard that the person who came was indeed Cui Yan, he said with a smile on his face.

Hearing that it was the messenger sent by Zhang Chao to greet him, Cui Yan didn't dare to slack off, so he bowed and said, "So there is Lao Shiyuan." ”

"Mr. Cui, please." Pang Tong smiled and walked forward to lead the way, and then saw Cui Yan following without hurry, although there were two hundred soldiers standing majestically on both sides, and he still went his own way as if he hadn't seen it.

On the top of the city tower, Zhang Chao saw this scene in his eyes, and couldn't help but admire the two guards around him, Dian Wei and Xu Chu, and said: "I have heard that Cui Yan is the representative of the Hebei Shi family, and he is very majestic, but now it seems that it is not true." That is it, I should greet them personally. ”

In this way, after Cui Yan entered the city, before the street, Zhang Chao personally greeted him in white.

Cui Yan, who is far away, has a majestic posture, a loud voice, sparse eyebrows, a beard four feet long, and a very dignified demeanor, Zhang Chao is even more happy in his heart, if he wants to occupy Jizhou in the future, this person will be used.

"But Brother Ji Jue?" There was still some distance away, and Zhang Chao dismounted and went straight forward.

Seeing the dress of the comer, Cui Yan had guessed the identity of this person, and immediately strode forward and said, "Ji Jue has seen the general. ”

"Haha, Brother Ji Jue doesn't have to be like this, please get up quickly." As he spoke, he approached, grabbed one of Cui Yan's arms, and then laughed and the two walked towards the county office.

Zhang Chao's enthusiasm far exceeded Cui Yan's imagination. In his opinion, it is better to say that he is a peace talk, it is better to be forced by the situation to beg for talks, as the victor's side, he can maintain a sufficient posture, and Zhang Chao does not have a trace of arrogance because he is the winner's teacher, just by virtue of this, this person should make a great difference.

Cui Yan's first impression of Zhang Chao in his heart was very good, which made the next peace talks very smooth, or Zhang Chao was always talking, and Cui Yan was listening.

Without waiting for Cui Yan to say the purpose of this, Zhang Chao said bluntly: "The decay of the Han family has made the princes profitable, the world is in chaos because of this, and the people are not happy, which is really the fault of my generation." In the spirit of benefiting the common people, I agreed to lead the troops to withdraw from Jizhou and return the land I occupied, except for Hanoi, of course, I don't know if Brother Ji Qi is satisfied. ”

Zhang Chao spoke quickly and agreed to withdraw from the army, which made Cui Yan very excited and said: "The general's willingness to do this is really a blessing for the people of Jizhou." ”

"Hehe, of course, I also have some conditions. At the beginning of this battle, Yuan Shao wanted to snatch my wife, and as a husband, he had to strike first, so if he wanted to stop the war, he had to give up the idea of beating my wife first. ”

As soon as Zhang Chao's voice fell, Cui Yan immediately said: "This is natural, this time it is really Yuan Gong's presumptuousness." ”

"Well, the second article, that is, the Son of Heaven sealed Yuan Benchu to supervise the army and the two armies of Youzhou and Youzhou, I hope he can take the initiative to resign, so that we can get along on an equal footing, which is not too much." Zhang Chao saw that the first article was passed, so he put forward the second article.

"Not too much, everything is as it should be." Cui Yan also hurriedly expressed his position.

"Okay, that's the case, after Yuan Benchu has done these two things well and informed the world, I will withdraw from the army and return the occupied land in Jizhou." After Zhang Chao saw that Cui Yan agreed to his two requests, he immediately said with a statement.

Seeing that Zhang Chao agreed to withdraw from the army so happily, Cui Yan still looked like he was in a dream.

thought that this time the conversation would not go very smoothly, and he was also ready for Zhang Chao to open his mouth widely, such as losing money and food, and even the idea that the occupied land could not be returned. But who would have thought that the other party didn't wait for him to say something, so he happily agreed. All of this was unexpected.

Seeing that Cui Yan didn't answer, Zhang Chao couldn't help but ask, "What?" Does Brother Ji have any other opinions? ”

"Oh, no, no, it's really unimaginable what the general did, and the general's open-mindedness is really admirable." Cui Yan hurriedly said loudly.

Listening to Cui Yan's praise, Zhang Chao smiled and said: "Brother Ji Jue is tormenting me, if you want to say that it is admirable, what Brother Ji Jue does is the real husband, knowing that entering the city will be in danger of life, or resolutely entering, the heart of the people is admirable." ”

"Don't dare, don't dare." Listening to Zhang Chao's praise, Cui Yan hurriedly waved his hand, a picture of not daring to accept it.

"Well, Brother Ji Jue, I want to trouble you to go back and tell Yuan Benchu that I don't want to be an enemy of him, I just want to do my duty to manage the two places well, so that the people there can live a rich and stable life. Of course, if he still wants to fight my idea, next time don't blame me for sending troops to take Yecheng directly, if it really comes to that time, I still hope that Brother Ji Jue will not stand up, after all, some things are indispensable. ”

Zhang Chao looked at Cui Yan as he spoke, he was doing something to warn.

"Yes, what the general said is extremely true, presumably after this incident, Yuan Gongdang will not fight the general's idea." Cui Yan said with some embarrassment. There are some things that he can't do, but he does know that if there is a next time, he will not be the ambassador of this peace anyway.

After the two sides talked, Cui Yan was left to eat in the county government, which had a deep impact on him.

Eating at noon is only four dishes and one soup, which is also Zhang Chao's daily dietary standard, which is an extremely standard recipe in modern times. But these are really not the same thing at all in Cui Yan's eyes.

If you want to say that Yuan Shao also invited him, which time was not countless delicacies from the mountains and seas? Even a normal family banquet has dozens of dishes. But Zhang Chao, as the manager of the actual two states, really ate so simply, which gave him too much shock. Especially when he learned from Pang Tong's mouth that this was not because there was no food in the city, but because Zhang Chao usually asked for himself like this, he admired it even more, and his favorability also soared.

After lunch, Cui Yan left Wu County in the afternoon and went straight to Yecheng with the letter written by Zhang Chao. With this thing, even Lu Bu's army would not dare to stop him.

Once they met, Cui Yan formed an extremely good impression of Zhang Chao, which laid an extremely good foundation for entering Jizhou in the future and seizing the heart of the scholars.

Cui Yan left, and after meeting Yuan Shao, he told the result of the peace talks with Zhang Chao. This made Yuan Benchu very happy.

Although the result will make him lose face, and even lose the important land in Hanoi, it is the best result compared to not losing an inch of land in Jizhou. Immediately, he rewarded Cui Yan greatly, and at the same time promoted many of his clansmen to important positions, so he wrote a letter of resignation to the Son of Heaven, meaning that his ability was limited and he could only become the pastor of Jizhou, and nothing more than supervising the army in the two places.

Yuan Shao's letter was sent to Xudu, and Cao Cao was still attacking Wancheng at this time.

After Zhang Xiu and Chen Gong joined forces, Cao Cao had a great headache, especially Liu Bei, the Xuzhou Mu behind him, who would give him a little from time to time, which made his offensive pace not very smooth. Now that he received a letter from Xun Yuzhi Yuan Shao who was staying at home, he gave the letter to Xi Zhicai on the side with a headache and said: "Alas, this Yuan Benchu is disappointing." ”

After Yuan Shao resigned from the intention of the Son of Heaven, he announced it to the world. After getting the letter, Zhang Chao also began to prepare for the retreat.

Yan Liang and Gao Ran on the periphery of Wu County had withdrawn their troops, giving Lü Bu in the Liang period a road to retreat, and the two armies would join forces in Wu County.