" Xu Rong!" Ding Huai cried out in surprise. Cheng Lian and Pang De, who were standing behind Ding Huai, couldn't help but find it strange when they saw their lord lose his composure. Could Xu Rong be an acquaintance of their lord? But looking at their lord's age and the time he had just arrived in Hanzhong, how could he be an acquaintance?
The first thing Ding Huai and Su Gu did after the handover was to look through the books of Hanzhong soldiers. There were a total of 5,000 soldiers in Hanzhong County. About one-fifth of them were old, weak, sick, and disabled. They did not have any combat strength at all because it was still a prosperous time. It could not be said that it was a prosperous time. It could only be said that there was no war yet, and the army was not of much use for the time being. Therefore, these old, weak, sick, and disabled soldiers could also receive monthly food and pay. They were just bullied by the strong soldiers. However, after all, the annual food and pay of soldiers was much more than what they could get at home. Therefore, even if they were bullied, they were still much better off here than at home.
Just the names of these 4,000 people were enough for Ding Huai to look at for two days. Ding Huai also had the intention of giving it a try to see if there were any Great Generals from the Three Kingdoms period who were suppressed in the army. He did not expect that he would really find one. It was just that he did not know if it was the Great General Xu Rong under Dong Zhuo in history.
Xu Rong (165-192) was from Xiangping, Liaodong. The origin of Xu Rong's birthplace came from the Biography of Gongsun Du, which recorded: "Gongsun Du, also known as Shengji, was originally from Xiangping, Liaodong. Du Du's father, Du Yan, lived in Xuantu to avoid being an official and appointed Du as a county official.……Xu Rong, a fellow county official, served as Dong Zhuo's Zhonglang General and recommended Du Du as the prefect of Liaodong.
Xu Rong was one of Dong Zhuo's generals. He was very active in the confrontation with the princes of the east of the country. He defeated the two most powerful troops in the coalition army, Sun Jian's troops and Cao Cao's troops. The ancestors of the two countries in the future three countries were all defeated by him. Xu Rong was not recorded in the Records of the Three Kingdoms, and because he died too early, his deeds were not outstanding, so he was ignored. There was not even his name left in the annals of history. But no matter what, it was rare for Xu Rong to defeat Sun Jian, the Tiger of River East. It was recorded in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty that after defeating Sun Jian's army, the cruel Dong Zhuo wrapped all the prisoners of war in cloth, stood upside down on the ground, and killed them with hot paste.
Later, Dong Zhuo moved the capital to Chang 'an to avoid the vassals. Cao Cao and Zhang Miao joined forces to pursue him, and Dong Zhuo ordered Xu Rong to be in charge of covering the rear. It can be seen that Xu Rong's talent is quite appreciated. Xu Rong was ordered by the defeated army to set up an encirclement at the Bianshui River in Xingyang to ambush Cao Cao and Zhang Miao's army. Cao Cao, who was familiar with the art of war, forgot the principle of "do not pursue a desperate enemy" and was ambushed by Xu Rong. He suffered heavy casualties and was almost captured alive.
In the third year of Emperor Xian's reign (192 AD), the allied forces of Liang and Bing had internal strife. Wang Yun and Lu Bu of Bingzhou killed Dong Zhuo. Lu Bu advised Wang Yun to kill Dong Zhuo's troops. Wang Yun said,"This person is innocent, you can't." Situ Wang Yun's move was a miscalculation. Later, Dong Zhuoyu rebelled against Liangzhou warlords Li Que and Guo Si under the instigation of Jia Xu. Wang Yun hurriedly sent Hu Zhen and Xu Rong to Xinfeng (now northeast of Lintong, Shaanxi Province) to organize the defense of Chang 'an. Unfortunately, the court had just quelled the civil strife, and Wang Yun and Lu Bu had lost their relationship. In a hurry, they could not effectively resist the Liangzhou army. The government army was defeated, Xu Rong died in Xinfeng, and Hu Zhen led his troops to defect to the enemy.
As Dong Zhuo's subordinates, Fan Chou, Li Meng, Hu Zhen and the others had all defected to the enemy, but Xu Rong had not changed sides and had died at the hands of his former colleagues. From this, it could be seen that this general still knew etiquette. He would rather die in battle than surrender in the end. It was not a loss of his military integrity. At the same time, he recommended Gongsun Du to be the Liaodong Prefecture Governor, and his performance did not disappoint. It was also considered meritorious, not comparable to ordinary martial artists.
When he saw Xu Rong, he was just as Ding Huai had imagined. He was heroic and had an extraordinary bearing. At a glance, he was definitely a general and not a martial artist like Pang De and Cheng Lian. Ding Huai had a premonition in his heart that the Xu Rong in front of him was the Xu Rong he wanted, although he did not know why he came here from Liaodong.
Xu Rong did not know what was going on. He was just a small sergeant. He did not know why this newly appointed young prefect had called him over. Could it be that he had made a mistake? However, Xu Rong couldn't think of any reason why he would be so conscientious and conscientious. He didn't dare to violate the military discipline in the slightest, even though the military discipline in Hanzhong County was as bad as the other places in the Great Han Dynasty.
Thinking of this, Xu Rong couldn't help but feel calm. As the saying goes," A straight body doesn't fear a crooked shadow." However, Xu Rong thought about it again. Could it be that one of his four men had violated military discipline? But now it was so chaotic, and almost everyone had flaws. Moreover, the original Governor Su had never cared about it. The new Governor was so young, but he was so strict. Xu Rong couldn't help but feel uneasy again.
He did not expect Ding Huai to ask such a question directly, which made Xu Rong very depressed.'If I'm not Xu Rong, could there be a second Xu Rong?' He thought to himself, but he did not dare to answer like this."Milord, I am Xu Rong.”
" You're from Xiangping, Liaodong," Ding Huai continued to ask.
This time, Xu Rong was shocked. He had been in Hanzhong for four years, but he had never told anyone that he was from Xiangping, Liaodong. When he joined the army, he had also written that he was from Bajun, Yizhou. How did the new prefect know that he was from Xiangping, Liaodong?
Seeing Xu Rong's awkward expression of not knowing how to answer, Ding Huai had already guessed most of it. He couldn't help but be overjoyed. He had really picked up a treasure. Xu Rong could be considered a good general, but his martial strength might not be very high. This was because there were no records of Xu Rong fighting with famous generals in the records. It was only said that he led the army well and was a talented general.
Ding Huai suppressed the joy in his heart and said slowly,""Don't be nervous, Sergeant Xu. I have no ill intentions. I met Gongsun Du in Liaodong and have a deep relationship with him. General Gongsun once told me that Xu Rong is a good general in the current era. It's just that he hasn't met a wise ruler and hasn't met a good time.”
Ding Huai had made the right bet. When Xu Rong left Liaodong, he only told his best friend Gongsun Du about his visit to Hanzhong. Xu Rong no longer had any doubts. He knelt on one knee and cupped his hands towards Ding Huai."Milord, it's not that Xu Rong intentionally hid it from me. It's just that Xu Rong had accidentally killed someone in Liaodong and had no choice but to leave Liaodong and come to Hanzhong to seek refuge with my uncle.”
"Where is your uncle now?" asked Ding Huai.”
"This lowly one's uncle was originally a commander in the Hanzhong Army, but he passed away due to illness half a year ago.”
Ding Huai suddenly understood. No wonder, with Xu Rong's ability, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to even become a military marquis in four years, even though he didn't have many chances to obtain military achievements in Hanzhong. Since Xu Rong's uncle was only a chief, he could only introduce Xu Rong and promote him to be a sergeant. He could not do anything else even if he wanted to.
Ding Huai replied with an "oh" and said to Xu Rong,"Xu Rong, I will now promote you to the rank of military marquis. You will also be responsible for strictly correcting the Hanzhong soldiers within three months and reorganizing military discipline. In terms of military discipline, I will send General Gao Shun to assist you. In addition, during the training of soldiers, you can discuss with Gao Shun, Cheng Lian, and Pang De. Three months later, I want to see a strict military discipline, high morale, and brave iron-blooded troops.“
Xu Rong was stunned for a moment, as if he did not expect such a good thing to happen to him. The general was the commander of Qu, with 1000 people under him, and his salary could reach 600 stones. Compared to the current position of Xu Rong, which only had four people under him, he was five times taller. It could be said that he had been promoted five levels.
Speaking of this, it was necessary to mention the military structure of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The military structure of the Eastern Han Dynasty was based on the Buqu system. Under the command of the general, there was an organizational system of Buqu, Qu, Tun, Dui, Shi, and Wu. The Ministry was the highest level of establishment in the Han army. The officer in charge of the Ministry was called a lieutenant. His official rank was the same as the prefect. When he went out to battle, he was commanded by the general. Qu belonged to the Ministry, and the officer was called the military marquis, whose status was equivalent to the county magistrate. Tun leaders were set up, teams were set up, and the Shiwu was the most basic organization in the army. This military organization was set up all year round, and during wartime, the imperial court would appoint generals to command the expedition.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。