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Ze Rong brought Ling Cao to meet with Lie Fan, who was sitting some meters away from the registration area for joining the Guard Battalion. Lie Fan sees Ze Rong approaching him, behind him, a man holding a spear stands gallantly behind Ze Rong and has the aura of a man who has seen the battlefield and killed people, and the way he is holding the Spears shows that he is skilled in martial arts.
Lie Fan was intrigued by the man behind Ze Rong, such a man would not become just a normal soldier, or even an elite soldier as he had the bearings of a warrior who could become a general.
Ze Rong and Ling Cao saluted Lie Fan when they reached Lie Fan's position. Ze Rong introduced Ling Cao to Lie Fan, telling Lie Fan how Ling Cao migrated from Wu, Yang Province to Xiapi to join Lie Fan's army.
Hearing Ling Cao's name, Lie Fan was surprised and his first reaction was, why does a general that will serve Sun Ce in the future here in Xiapi, of course, talents migrate from their birthplace to other places, but if he remembered correctly Ling Cao stayed in Wu until Sun Ce came defeating Wang Lang.
Lie Fan uses the Eye of Erlang Shen on Ling Cao, he wants to see the stats of Ling Tong's father who died killed by Gan Ning. If he has Ling Cao, then he will get Ling Tong in the future which is one get one free general.
•Ling Cao
STR: 559 (Max) VIT: 89 AGI: 92 INT: 83
Not bad stats, he can become a front-line general alongside Chao Bai in the Infantries or maybe become his right-hand man in the Guard Battalion. With Dian Wei's departure, Lie Fan lost a vice general in his Guard Battalion.
He was thinking at first that maybe Xu Rong could have replaced Dian Wei, as he is a veteran cavalry general. But having Ling Cao replace Dian Wei is also not a bad solution, as Xu Rong could be placed as a cavalry general with Fan Chou and Zang Ba.
Lie Fan: "What a dedication you have Sir Ling Cao! I'm honored that you journeyed from Wu to here, even bringing your family along with you to join my force!"
Ling Cao: "Governor Lie Fan's word praises me too much! I just heard of what you have done, and admire you for doing so, protecting the people and crusading against Yellow Turban remnant!"
Lie Fan: "Haha! I could see that you are a great warrior just from your bearing, having you as a normal soldier is wasting your talent, for now, you will become a general under me, how about it?"
Ling Cao: "Ling Cao has seen My Lord! Thank you for giving me such an opportunity, I will serve you with the utmost of my abilities to pay your trust in me!"
Lie Fan: "Come get up Ling Cao, why don't you join Ze Rong in recruiting and selecting recruits for the Guard Battalion."
Ling Cao stood up and saluted Lie Fan, then along with Ze Rong he went to select new recruits for the Guard Battalion. The Guard Battalion will only receive the best of the best, it will become the most white unit on the land.
Lie Fan stayed in the Army Camp until evening, he sometimes conversed with Ze Rong and Ling Cao, he provided Ling Cao some decent sized home that befit his station, which Ling Cao was grateful for receiving such accommodation.
Returning from the army camp, Lie Fan stopped by Serenity Inn and Dragon's Fang tavern. These two are not only the base of his spy network but also the new headquarters since Luoyang was burned by Dong Zhuo.
Lie Fan checked the underground basement, and every secret entrance to see if it was up to date or hidden from the public eye. Of course, he also inspected the quality of their food and beverage to ensure that these two were the best restaurants and taverns in Xiapi.
In Serenity Inn and Dragons Fang Tavern, Soaps and Shampoo were being promoted there. Customers every day hear the promotion of Meigui, even gifted Meigui products as a gift for first-time customers.
Lie Fan has taught the managers of Serenity Inn and Dragon's Fang Tavern, the importance of customer relations and ensuring that customers keep coming back. Lie Fan also compiled this into a guidebook, given to the new branch managers of each town that has Serenity Inn and Dragon's Fang tavern.
Serenity Inn and Dragon's Fang Tavern have been built across all of Xu Province's Major and Medium towns, So the spy network across Xu Province is ensured and unbreakable with each Major and Medium town having its presence.
At Yan, Yu, and Qing Provinces half of their Major Towns have the presence of Serenity Inn and Dragon's Fang Tavern, the expansion is not so fast due to it not being in Lie Fan's territory, which slowed some of the progress like buying a building.
Yang Province's northern parts also have the presence of Serenity Inn and Dragin's Fang Tavern, according to Xu Kai before he leaves for Chang'An, Oriole has 30,000 members all being paid through Serenity Inn and Dragon's Fang Tavern, and the number keeps increasing under his and Jia Xu leadership.
Since they lost the Luoyang branch, they have been almost blind to the movement of the Western part of China, so Xu Kai and Jia Xu have been recruiting more members to begin expanding to Western China, as they only have a Chang'An branch Fortunately finished before Luoyang being put on fire by Dong Zhuo.
After checking that everything is up to the standards, Lie Fan leaves and returns to Lie Clan's residence. There he has dinner with his family and spends time with them, even teaching Sima Yi and Sima Lang who are doing their homework.
Sima Lang turned 18 this year, and Jia Xu along with the others suggested that Sima Lang take a final exam, and then be assigned a suitable official post with Sima Lang's exam result.
Lie Fan nodded his head and agreed with their suggestion, Sima Lang was more than ready to join his administration which would be an enormous help to alleviate the burden on his Think Tanks.
Lie Fan hoped that Sima Yi, after spending time with him and his family wouldn't turn into the man who would see the downfall of his regime and replace it with his own, like the future Cao Wei turning to the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
The Next day, Lie Fan continued doing his work at his office in the Governor's castle, Lie Fan was checking some reports and documents when Chen Qun and Sun Qian entered his office.
Lie Fan: "Chen Qun and Sun Qian, what brings the two of you here?"
Chen Qun: 'We are here to report to you My Lord that everything needed for begging our diplomacy with Cao Cao is ready, we only wait for your order and we can immediately head to Chenliu."
Lie Fan: "Good! Have you prepared some gifts? Like our Copper mirror, Megui products, and our wines?"
Sun Qian: "Yes My Lord, I'm sure that the Wine will be popular with Cao Cao, while the Meigui products will be popular with his wives."
Lie Fan: "Okay that's good, You can go toward Chenliu tomorrow, Ze Rong will accompany you alongside the 1,000 Guard Battalion."
Chen Qun: "Yes My Lord, I will inform General Ze Rong of his assignment, is there anything that you want us to tell Cao Cao personally from you?"
Lie Fan: "Tell Cao Cao subtly, that I promised to help him in usurping Liu Dai, in return he helped us attack Yuan Shu where he will be compensated."
Chen Qun and Sun Qian nodded their heads, even though this would enter their negotiations, Cao Cao knowing that Lie Fan personally endorsed this would increase the success of the alliance to be made between Lie Fana and Cao Cao.
Lie Fan, Chen Qun, and Sun Qian discussed the limit of the demand Cao Cao can ask for the alliance and vice versa, the utmost priority is a military Alliance for 5 years, which can be renewed if both parties want it within 3 months left before passing the due date.
Cao Cao is weak right now and in need of supplies to keep his people fed, so Lie Fan told Chen Qun and Sun Qian to offer more rations to Cao Cao. Also, be cautious if there's someone named Xun Yu and Xi Zhicai, as these two are Cao Cao's formidable advisors.
After the meeting, Lie Fan returned to the Lie Caln residence, where he saw Ying Yue, Diao Chan, and Cai Wenji accompanied by 2 of his bodyguards also returning to the Lie Clan residence.
Lie Fan approached them and surprised them, asking what are they doing outside especially Ying Yue as she was pregnant now. Ying Yue just smiled and told Lie Fan that she wanted to have fresh air, Diao Chan and Cai Wenji insisted on following her and brought two of his bodyguards with them.
Lie Fan nods his head, Lie Fan holds Ying Yue's hand, and together everyone returns to the Lie Clan residence. In the Lie Clan residence, Lie Fan meets with Jia Xu who has just finished teaching Sima Yi and Sima Lang.
Lie Fan asked Jia Xu when Sima Lang could take his exam and Jia Xu replied that the exam would be held in 3 days, Jia Xu asked for Lu Zhi to come tomorrow and teach both Sima Yi and Sima Lang some Confucian teaching, as he, Xun You, Sun Qian, and Chen Qun aren't a master at Confucian teaching.
Lie Fan agreed with this and told Jia Xu that maybe from known on Lu Zhi could also teach Sima Yi, as Lu Zhi is a household name and has reached many famous people, including Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei.
Jia Xu thought of Lie Fan's suggestion and agreed with it and while talking about Lu Zhi, Jia Xu suggested that Zhu Jun and Huangfu Song be involved in their military matters, maybe making Huangfu Song the commander of the City Guards seeing as Taishi Ci now guarding the north.
Lie Fan agrees with this, Huangfu Song will become the commander of the City Guards, while Zhu Jun can be assigned to one of the 4 armies. Zhu Jun was assigned to Zhang Chao, Jia Xu thought about it and agreed with this, he told Lie Fan that he would ask Cai Yong to write the letter about the appointment tomorrow.
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Name: Lie Fan
Title: Three Heroes Who Defeat Lu Bu
Age: 23 (190 AD)
Level: 15
Next Level: 1.588.000
Renown: 600
Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 8)
SP: 656.700
ATTRIBUTE POINTS
STR: 864 (+20)
VIT: 420 (+20)
AGI: 408 (+10)
INT: 415
CHR: 93
WIS: 339
WILL: 237
ATR Points: 0