Chapter 258 Kong Rong Explains the Scriptures
On the 22nd day of the first lunar month, the armies of Zhang Liao, Xu Huang and Liu Xun successively evacuated the north bank.

Cheng Yu led his 3,000 Jiyin and Yanzhou troops north across the river to take over the siege camp they had vacated.

The Yanzhou soldiers within Cao's army were mixed with many soldiers from other states and surrendered soldiers because of the staggered service system and Yanzhou's special historical relationship.

When Cheng Yu arrived, smoke from the two cities of Liyang rose straight into the sky.

Cao Ren had already begun to storm the west city of Liyang; but because the defenders of Liyang City went out of the city to attack from the side, Cao Ren had to stop halfway.

Liyang City is only three miles away from Xicheng. Cheng Yu looked at the battlefield and clearly felt that the morale of Zhang Xiu's troops was low.

The soldiers in charge of the assault today are Zhang Xiu's own troops.

Cheng Yu observed for a moment, then said to Cao Ren, who was following him with a dark face, "General, in my opinion, there should be a tunnel between Xicheng and Liyang."

Cao Ren suddenly realized and nodded: "That should be the case. This way, the two cities can complement each other in terms of supplies and soldiers."

Cheng Yu was still in deep thought, the war reserves of the two cities of Liyang might far exceed his expectations.

Liyang is a high ground on the north bank. Although it is close to the river bank, it is impossible to get water just by digging.

Therefore, if the defenders of the two cities of Liyang dug tunnels during the siege, the two cities would actually be one city, and there would be no possibility of defeating them one by one.

While he was thinking, Cao Ren said, "I will order people to dig trenches and destroy the tunnel."

"That's good. Even if there is no tunnel between the two cities, digging trenches can block their reinforcements."

Cheng Yu agreed and frowned as he watched the smoke dissipating in the distance above his head.

Even if it is a tentative attack today, it will urge the Hebei soldiers to speed up their assembling.

The time available to break the city is getting shorter and shorter. If it is delayed any longer, it will be like riding a tiger. The Cao army can only regain the initiative after severely damaging the main force in Hebei in a field battle.

Like Cao Ren, Cheng Yu also decided to fight a small battle and quit while he was ahead.

If our strategy shrinks throughout the country, the momentum in Guanzhong will inevitably be like a mountain torrent, which will be frightening.

There is a price to pay for being in the limelight.

Although the imperial court won the Battle of Guandu, which made many wavering forces more submissive, it also indirectly promoted and strengthened the alliance between Hebei and Jingzhou.

We should retreat and leave the chance to show off to the black bear. When all parties join forces and then cooperate internally and externally, the black bear will surely suffer heavy losses.

Judging from Black Bear's cruel nature of severely punishing and exterminating Wang Yun's three clans, once the Guanlong warlords rebelled, these people would never dare to surrender and would fight to the death.

Even if Black Bear finally managed to reunite Guanlong, it would still be severely damaged, and it would become suspicious of the remaining scholars, thus losing its ability to expand outward.

Capture Liyang, withdraw troops, and retreat!

This was Cheng Yu’s plan, so he had to capture the two cities of Liyang at all costs.

Taking over the two cities and cooperating with the small port city, stationing 5,000 troops in the three cities will be enough to make Hebei uneasy.

At this moment, on the wooden platform in the eastern suburbs of Chang'an.

The black bear, wearing a gilded armor, listened to the imperial envoy Pei Mao's recitation. When the imperial edict was finished, the etiquette officer sang loudly: "I beg the Grand Marshal to accept the seal!"

The general and the grand marshal are the superiors, and Black Bear just needs to stand there and wait.

Among the imperial envoy's team, a eunuch came forward holding the golden seal of the Grand Marshal. Another person took the seal, held it respectfully, and handed it to Black Bear.

Black Bear held the gold seal in his hand and felt that it weighed at least two kilograms.

Without thinking too much, he handed it to his subordinate, who held it in both hands and put it on his own wooden tray.

Soon it was time for the ceremony of enfeoffment of Marquis of Liang, which was the most complicated ceremony.

Black Bear and the others were getting impatient and turned to look at Lu Bu who was standing beside them with a halberd in his hand. Lu Bu, wearing a mask, strode forward and took the golden seal, registration book and other things from a wooden tray held by another eunuch.

Wei Kang, who was watching the ceremony near the wooden platform, stood up straight in surprise and turned to look at his father.

Unexpectedly, his father seemed to have seen nothing, with his brows lowered and motionless; Wei Kang looked at Zhong Yao again, and even more unexpectedly, Zhong Yao squinted his eyes as if he was pretending to be asleep.

With the last thought in mind, Wei Kang's eyes fell on Kong Rong and Wang Can. Kong Rong smiled and Wang Can turned a blind eye.

Wei Kang was still unwilling to give up, and went to see Pei Mao who was reading the imperial edict on the wooden platform. Pei Mao was in a stable mood and did not seem to notice the little action of "Tai Shi Wen Gong".

Finally, Wei Kang turned around to look at the officials, scholars, soldiers and civilians who were watching the ceremony outside the wooden platform. They could not hear the sounds from the wooden platform at all, and many of them could not see clearly what was happening on the platform.

Pei Mao put down the imperial edict, picked up a plate of white grass soil and was about to perform the earth-splitting ceremony when Black Bear held a golden seal in each hand and showed them to the soldiers and civilians outside.

Soon, the shouts of officers, soldiers and civilians were connected, like the roar of mountains and a tsunami.

The most tedious ceremony of conferring nobility ended in such a hurry.

Kong Rong, who was near the wooden platform, stared at the black bear's Sanxingdui mask with a frown, then suddenly laughed out loud in relief: "Haha! So that's it!"

Wang Can, who was standing next to him, asked, "Did Lord Wen Ju discover anything?"

"I finally concluded that the name used by Lord Liang was a fake name!"

Kong Rong smiled and tilted his head and said, in fact, he is a descendant of the Shang Dynasty royal family, and so is Mencius's family, but this is of no significance anymore.

Wang Can looked at Kong Rong with a little surprise. Black Bear is a pseudonym. Isn't it common knowledge recognized by everyone?
Seeing this, Kong Rong smiled and said, "Zhongxuan, please look, is there a black word on the mask worn by the Marquis of Liang?"

After hearing this, Wang Can went to look at the black bear again and felt that the golden brass mask on its face was like the word "black". The more he looked at it, the more it resembled the black bear.

With Black Bear's literary attainments, doesn't he know what his mask looks like?
Wang Can nodded, leaned over and whispered in his ear: "So what? Marquis Liang refused to publish his family tree, it seems he is very worried about Lord Cao."

Kong Rong nodded in response, and glanced sideways to see that the black bear on the wooden platform finally came down. Kong Rong resisted the urge to continue the discussion, and stepped forward to stand half a step behind Wei Duan, and bowed and congratulated him together.

Black Bear just smiled and agreed, got off the wooden platform, got into the car and left.

After watching the emperor leave, Kong Rong said to Wang Can, "I think the name of Liang Hou should be his childhood name."

Wang Can agreed. Parents often give their children names with various meanings. For example, the name Black Bear means that they hope the child will grow strong and healthy. Kong Rong continued, "These Taishi Jin and Taishi Wengong are probably pseudonyms. I heard that when Liang Hou first entered Hebei, he called himself Sun Qian, pretending to be a relative of Sun Jian. The combination of Qian and Jin is very neat. Also, I got another name from this general Taishi."

Seeing him showing off, Wang Can cupped his hands and asked, "Mr. Wen Ju, who are you referring to?"

"Shi Gong."

Seeing that Wang Can didn't remember this person for a while, Kong Rong smiled and reminded him, "Shi Gong of Lu, Shi Zijing of Duling Renhou."

Wang Can suddenly realized what was going on and exclaimed, "Grandson of the Emperor Shi?"

Kong Rong smiled. Seeing the people around him looking at him in surprise, Kong Rong excused Wang Can: "Zhongxuan has been in Guanzhong and Jingzhou for a long time. I was born in Lu, so I am familiar with people in Lu."

Shi Gong had a younger sister who married Prince Liu Ju of Wei and gave birth to Liu Jin, the grandson of the Emperor Shi. Liu Jin gave birth to Liu Bingyi. Liu Bingyi was fostered in the Shi family since childhood and grew up with his three cousins.

Later, Liu Bingyi ascended the throne and became emperor. He posthumously conferred the title of Marquis of Duling on Shi Gong, and all three cousins ​​were made marquises.

Zhong Yao and Wei Duan also heard Kong Rong's remarks, and they looked at each other in tacit understanding.

Then look at the confident Kong Rong. With such a heavyweight endorsement, let alone snatching the golden seal when Black Bear is conferred the title today, even if he calls himself King of Liang or King of Wei in a few days, some old ministers of the Han Dynasty will howl and shout that God has eyes.

After creating a public opinion explosion, Kong Rong left quickly.

He had no intention of getting involved in the internal competition among the Guanlong scholars. He just wanted to get as close to Black Bear as possible to gain a glimmer of hope.

Emperor Gaozu regarded Yuan Cong and his ministers as meritorious officials, and the rise of Emperor Guangwu was in accordance with the will of heaven and people. However, he wanted to inspect the entire country but was obstructed by powerful people, which led to the instability of the foundation of the Later Han Dynasty.

The one who has emerged now has even changed his surname, and it is obvious that he wants to get rid of his burdens and establish a new country.

Kong Rong didn’t think there was anything wrong with this. According to the Liu family’s character, this was the most normal choice!

He had already sensed that Black Bear could use any surname, but there was no way he could use Liu.

If you really want to take advantage of this, there are plenty of opportunities to make corrections and announcements before; by doing so, you can win and gain more support.

Kong Rong had no thoughts about this, as it had nothing to do with him anyway.

Although the Kong family had its advantages as the designated family to worship the Shang Dynasty, it had nothing to do with Kong Rong's branch.

Regardless of whether the Han Dynasty could be revived for the third time, the Kong family would still have a place in the next new dynasty when the two kings and three officials were re-established out of traditional considerations.

After all, Black Bear is now conferred the title of Marquis of Liang, not Marquis of Song.

This shows that the court in Xudu tacitly accepted Hei Xiong as a descendant of the royal family of the Shang Dynasty, rather than a descendant of Weizi.

Therefore, in the future, the Kong family will definitely have a place among the two kings and three Ke.

Kong Rong chased after the black bear and finally caught up with him. He saw that the black bear was trying to go out for inspection. Kong Rong called out from a distance: "Today, the prince is being conferred a title. Is there no celebration?"

When Kong Rong approached, Black Bear handed over a gourd of warm water and said, "I don't think this is something worth celebrating."

As Kong Rong drank the water, he said, "The people of Xizhou have long been waiting for a wise ruler. I think we should hold a celebration."

"Spring ploughing is imminent, and the people of each county should not act rashly."

Black Bear pointed at the seal box and leather bag hanging around the horse's neck and said, "Only my family needs to be celebrated."

Kong Rong looked around and asked, "May I ask, Your Excellency, when will the marriage with Cai take place? And as for Your Excellency's wife, the officials and people of Xizhou do not know her origins, which is a bit inappropriate."

Seeing that he was planning this evil idea, Black Bear said without hesitation: "She and I are friends in need, so there is no need to discuss this matter any further. I will marry Zhen Ji after the restoration of Cai Gong's will is completed."

Kong Rong asked again, "Can you let me stay in the palace of the Grand Marshal and ask for a job?"

Black Bear could not help but look Kong Rong up and down and said, "Sir, why do you have to do this? Nowadays, you are a noble man in Guanzhong, no less than a county governor or a general. Whenever you travel, you are accompanied by more than a hundred carriages and a distinguished entourage. When you stay in a place to give lectures, countless people listen to your lectures. In my opinion, you have a happy life, why do you have to work hard on paperwork?"

Kong Rong restrained his smile and said, "When Jie and Zhou were in the world, I could only live a carefree life in the mountains and the market. Now that a wise ruler is in power, I should go out to assist him and leave my name in history. If I still hide in the mountains, wouldn't that be courting my own destruction?"

"Since you are willing to do this, I have a difficult matter to deal with. I wonder if you are interested?"

"Since I have asked for your order, I will not avoid danger. Please be clear about your words, my lord."

"The government has just been established, and I want to enforce strict laws on Xizhou. Among the people in the government, I would like to recruit one person to be the Chief Justice first."

Sizhi, second only to Changshi and Sima, is the person in charge of supervising the discipline of government officials, which is also an offensive job.

Kong Rong was stunned when he heard this, and smiled awkwardly: "I have many friends, and personal relationships may hinder me. I am afraid..."

Seeing that the black bear was silent, Kong Rong gritted his teeth. It seemed that worldly friends were just like that.

He immediately bowed and said, "I accept your order and am willing to serve you, my lord."

At this time, Lu Bu brought a silver seal that had been engraved long ago. Black Bear held it in both hands and said: "With the help of Wen Jugong, my troubles have been reduced by 30%."

"Don't dare."

Kong Rong bowed again and stepped forward to take the silver seal. He was shocked when he saw the silver seal. This was clearly a violation of etiquette.

For low-level officials, official ranks are very important, but for the middle and upper levels, even though they are ranked above two thousand stones or middle two thousand stones, they are actually still ranked like dukes and ministers.

It is a basic understanding that the position of a minister is marked with a silver seal.

Hei Xiong is just the Grand Sima of Shanggong Mansion. How can the three big bosses in Shanggong Mansion, namely Changshi, Sima and Sizhi, be qualified to use the silver seal?
Due to the title of the official position of Grand Sima, there will be no Sima in Hei Xiong’s Shanggong Mansion, and this position will most likely be split.

Therefore, in the Grand Marshal's Office, the Chief Clerk and the Chief Justice were ranked on an equal footing, and below them were the Western Cao, the Eastern Cao, the Gong Cao, and other Caos.

At present, only the emperor’s ministers can have the title of minister.

In the government office, the highest rank is Shang Daifu, which is equivalent to Qianshi in official rank.

But looking at the silver seal in his hand, Kong Rong, a man of outspokenness, swallowed the words that were about to come to his lips.

What happened to the silver seal?
This is my silver seal!

(End of this chapter)