Chapter 493: Not Hasty or Slow
After talking with Fa Zheng, Black Bear felt more and more that a specific organization was needed to be responsible for war planning.

Originally, these matters should have been the responsibility of Sima Zhang Ding, whose job was to be in charge of military affairs within the mansion.

From the recruitment, elimination, assessment and training of officers and soldiers to the recruitment, distribution and transportation of weapons and equipment, as long as it is related to military affairs, it is within the scope of Zhang Ding's management.

But Zhang Ding's ability is limited, and as the Sima in the Grand Sima's Mansion, he can only barely maintain his daily work.

Things like planning a war, especially the dispatch and arrangement of an army of hundreds of thousands, were far beyond Zhang Ding's ability.

Perhaps people with specific gifts and talents are suitable for doing this kind of thing, but Black Bear is not prepared to delegate power or replace Zhang Ding.

Instead of looking for a talented person to work with, it would be better to set up a new organization specifically responsible for assisting Zhang Ding.

The various military forces within the shogunate, such as training and weaponry, were all under the jurisdiction of various departments, which were also responsible for dispatch, while the specific implementation was still done by the battalions and armies below.

The people who were specifically responsible for war planning were an indefinite number of advisory staff such as military counselors and military lieutenants.

The level of these people is unstable, so a military planning organization with vertical management should be established. At the shogunate center, they should be responsible for war planning and contingency plans; at the army level, they should be responsible for managing the army, investigating the terrain, and formulating tactics for the general; at the battalion level, they should do similar work, focusing on training on a daily basis and formulating tactics according to the mission in wartime.

Reduce the influence of the main general. It is better to avoid critical hits than to ensure the stability of the army, which is like a big dam.

With Guanzhong's current advantages, there is no need to gamble on luck, just play steadily and advance smoothly.

After weighing things over and over again, he made a decision in his heart and Black Bear immediately sent someone to summon Zhang Ding.

While waiting, Xu You, whom he had only seen every two or three days, suddenly came to visit.

Xu You was dressed in a solemn black official uniform. He had been recuperating well recently, and his second wife was already pregnant, which gave Xu You more concerns.

He was a loner in the shogunate, and his only friend was Lou Gui, a famous wealthy man.

Just by assisting Lou Gui in selling tea, the profits he earned were enough for Xu You to marry ten more beautiful concubines.

Xu You, who has no shortage of money, now only needs to be responsible for Black Bear.

If there was no Black Bear, not only him, but even Lou Gui’s family business would have been swallowed up by others.

"Your Majesty, this is the confession of Bing Yuan and his accomplice Liu Zheng. I also sent an envoy to consult Wang Shuzhi, and Wang Shuzhi's reply is also here."

Xu You looked complacent; it had only been two days and two nights since he captured the man.

Black Bear flipped through a stack of confessions and saw that the confessions were similar. He couldn't help but glance at Xu You before picking up Wang Xiu's reply.

In the letter, Wang Xiu stated that he was not aware of the matter and had no other information.

"Cao Cao is not honest."

Black Bear picked up the homogenized confession and threw it in front of Xu You: "I just accepted his family's hostage, and now I'm threatening Bing Yuan to promote the matter of persuading him to ascend the throne. This is to put me in an unjust position. Bing Yuan is guilty, and he was coerced into doing so, so he doesn't deserve death."

"Your Majesty, Cao Mengde is just like this. This is just a small test from him. Nowadays, the Yuan family in Hebei also intends to establish a title of king. If it weren't for Your Majesty's tiger-like march across the world, the Yuan family would have already rebelled and returned to the southeast, accepting the title of king."

"Compared to the Yuan family, only Your Majesty abides by the righteousness of Jian'an, which makes Cao Mengde more despicable. Based on my understanding of Cao Mengde, he will also plot to make Your Majesty abandon the righteousness of Jian'an. From now on, the setting sun will fall to the ground, and the world will be dark, and there will be no difference between them."

Xu You praised him, then said: "Bing Yuan can be spared the death penalty, but his accomplice Liu Zheng was so bold that he forged Zhong Yuanchang's handwriting. Although there is no official seal of Zhong Yuanchang, it involves the Shangqing, so he should be severely punished."

"I heard that Liu Zheng had been in Liaodong for a long time. Where did he learn Zhong Yao's regular script?"

Black Bear looked up at Xu You, his eyes sparkling. "Perhaps he was the one who proposed to forge Zhong Yao's handwriting, but he was not the one who forged the handwriting. I can spare Liu Zheng's life, and I can also give Bing Yuan a light sentence. As long as Liu Zheng tells me who is behind the writing, I will fulfill my promise."

"Yes, I will do it now."

Xu You was about to leave, but Black Bear looked at him with a smile and said, "In autumn, everything is dead. I have decided to carry out the execution on September 15th every year. You still have six days to gather all the witnesses and evidence."

"Yes." Xu You bowed deeply, then stepped back six or seven steps, turned around and left quickly.

Seeing Xu You leave, Black Bear picked up the "Zhong Yao Handwriting" that served as evidence and studied the calligraphy carefully. He couldn't help but sighed: "This was not written by Zhong Yao, it should have been written by his sons or nephews."

Then he turned to look at the two secretaries on duty and asked, "How much do you think Zhong Yao knows?"

Yang Xiu replied: "Even if he is not the mastermind, he can at least sense it. He has not reported it to the shogunate yet, so the fact that there are traitors outside the country should be certain."

Another secretary, Liu Wang, replied: "I also think that Lord Yuan Chang was involved in this, perhaps to hide the truth for his relatives."

Seeing that these two people wanted to kill Zhong Yao, Black Bear looked at Wei Kang who was sorting papers beside him and asked, "What about you?"

Wei Kang cupped his hands and said, "May I have a look?"

When Hei Xiong handed over the confession and evidence, Wei Kang stepped forward and took them with both hands. He casually glanced at the so-called confession, and then carefully studied the copy of Zhong Yao's handwriting.

After looking at it for a while, Wei Kang said thoughtfully: "This calligraphy is very similar to that of Yuan Changgong, but the brushwork is old. This reminds me of someone, Du Xi of Yingchuan."

Wei Kang placed the fake handwritten letter on the table, pointed to a few words and said, "Since Your Majesty promoted the Golden Book, Yuan Changgong's calligraphy has also improved. Yuan Changgong is obsessed with calligraphy, and his calligraphy is getting better every year. The handwriting on this letter is similar to Yuan Changgong's handwriting three years ago. If you compare it with the current one, it is obviously fake."

"Du Xi is one of the four famous scholars in Yingchuan."

Black Bear laughed: "Guess whether our Xu Ziyuan can catch Du Xi?"

Wei Kang picked up the fake letter and studied the paper carefully. He immediately said, "This is official paper sold in Chang'an. Du Xi is in Guanzhong. It is definitely not made in Guandong. He sent someone to bring it to me."

Yang Xiu and Liu Wang looked at Wei Kang sideways, which made Wei Kang a little embarrassed: "I like calligraphy, so I can recognize it."

"Du Xi is in Guanzhong... Is it because the guards at the pass failed in their duties? That's not right..."

Black Bear noticed that Yang Xiu's eyes lit up, and the two looked at each other. Yang Xiu cupped his hands and said, "Only in this way can he disguise himself and sneak into Guanzhong."

"Well, select a team of black knights and surround him immediately. Don't let him get away. But don't rush to catch him. Give Xu Ziyuan some time. I think he can find out."

As Black Bear spoke, he glanced at the head of the personal guards on duty nearby. The other party took out a token from his waist bag and quickly handed it to him.

Black Bear took it and passed it to Yang Xiu. With this token, Yang Xiu could mobilize a team of black knights.

With the Black Knight's current status, almost no one dares to stop him.

Even if there is an armed confrontation, they are no match for the Black Knight.

Fifty elite light cavalry in medium armor can be mobilized to assist in the work. Who can defeat them except Lu Bu?

Yang Xiu took the token, and then took a handwritten warrant with Wei Kang's seal, then left quickly.

As for the traffic control in the counties of Guanzhong, Du Xi could disguise himself as Cao Zhi's servant and sneak in, but if he wanted to sneak into other counties, he had to disguise himself as an official or a messenger.

This requires preparing official uniforms, official documents allowing travel, and mail to prove one's identity.

If Du Xi were really allowed to escape like this, more people would be caught.

Black Bear was not in a hurry. As for matters like persuading others to ascend the throne, even if Bing Yuan successfully mobilized everyone to persuade them to ascend the throne, the final decision on whether to agree or not was up to him.

So he wasn't very angry with Bing Yuan about this kind of thing.

Besides, executing Bing Yuan would not be a good idea.

When the time comes to become king in the future, what will others think with Bing Yuan as a precedent?
When it comes to persuading others to take the throne, we cannot follow the example of Yuan Shao.

(End of this chapter)