knife

Chapter 260 What is Gained and Lost

Zhang Ruo looked at the group of more than ten people, and with his own and Anxi Protectorate's memorial, he embarked on the journey to Chang'an.

He didn't know if these people would be able to reach Chang'an safely.

I don't know if this memorial will still have the effect it should have, even if it arrives in Chang'an.

Chaos has broken out inside the pass.

Chaos.

The imperial court is still managing to control Chang'an, Luoyang, and the Guanzhong region, but other areas have become de facto local warlords.

The east and west banks of the river are now in Linghuye's hands.
Meanwhile, He Zudao, that troublemaker, led his troops in a frantic attack in all directions, seemingly without any strategy or plan. However, Li Dachui told Zhang Ruo that He Zudao would eventually attack Luoyang and then Chang'an.

Zhang Ruo thought it was impossible. At this time, whoever attacked Chang'an first would inevitably become the target of everyone's attacks and would be attacked by the masses.

But Li Dachui said that one should not try to understand He Zudao's thoughts from the perspective of a normal person.

You can understand him better if you treat him like a madman.

This guy deeply hates the Qin Dynasty.
This guy's biggest dream was to disrupt and destroy the Qin Dynasty, turning its former elites into worthless weeds in the mud.

Zhang Ruo also asked how to deal with such people, but Li Dachui shrugged and said there was no way.

You can't reason with a madman.

Normal people will weigh the pros and cons and calculate the gains and losses.

They may sometimes make mistakes, but they would never do anything that harms others without benefiting themselves.

Therefore, a guy like He Zudao only has himself to blame and cannot live.

It only ends when you gradually reach a dead end.

As long as this guy has a breath left, he'll keep causing trouble.

But if he continues to cause trouble, it will be the people of Qin who will suffer and the Qin state that will be destroyed!
He staggered back into the city, the joy he had felt from the great victory outside the pass long since faded away with the news from inside.

What a great victory!

They recovered a strategic location that had been lost for nearly thirty years, and also completely disrupted the Yuan Dynasty, plunging it into internal strife and resolving the border crisis in one fell swoop.

But what's the point of all this now?
The Qin Dynasty itself was already teetering on the brink of collapse.

If the skin is gone, where will the hair attach?
How did that happen?

How could this be?

Zhang Ru sat down on the steps outside the Protectorate with a sense of helplessness, hoping that this news of victory would give Chang'an more confidence and more leverage, and help them to cheer up.

Without Linghu Ye, the area outside the pass is now even stronger.

Anyone who harbors rebellious intentions should ask the powerful army beyond the Great Wall whether they will allow it.

The only thing I can do now is to help Xiao Changche and Li Dachui make the area outside the pass stronger and their army more formidable, so that one day when something truly unbearable happens inside the pass, the army outside the pass can enter to defend the emperor.

Now that the threat from the Northern Yuan is gone, anything is possible as long as the army outside the Great Wall is strong enough.

The sound of horses' hooves reached Zhang Ruo's ears. He looked up and saw Chen Liang dismounting.

"Scholar Zhang, why are you sitting here?" Chen Liang asked with some surprise. Chen Liang respected Zhang Ruo very much, after all, it was rare for a scholar to have such courage and boldness.

Li Dachui also said that it was because of people like Zhang Ruo that he was able to maintain his moral bottom line.

"Is General Chen here to pay his respects to the Protector-General?" Zhang Ruo stood up and asked with a smile.

"The Deputy Protector-General has summoned me!" Chen Liang said with a smile. "It must be about post-war garrison duties. Would you like to come in with me, Scholar?"

Zhang Ru shook his head: "I don't understand military matters, you go!"

Chen Liang bowed, turned around, and strode into the mansion.

Led by the guards, Chen Liang arrived at the outside of Li Dachui's public hall.

After taking Qingtongxia, the one who was truly in charge was Deputy Protector Li Dachui, while Protector Xiao Changche seemed to have disappeared. He was only seen occasionally in the army, and all political and military affairs were handed over to Deputy Protector Li Dachui.

Chen Liang was initially quite surprised, because in his memory, Xiao Changche was an extremely domineering person. Back when he was under Linghu Ye's command, he was the kind of person who would cause trouble even when he was in the right, and would do whatever he wanted even when he was in the right. Now, he actually tolerated Li Dachui overstepping his bounds and undermining him as the Protector.

However, thinking back on what has happened over the past year, it seems that everything was orchestrated by Li Dachui, while Xiao Changche's role was only reflected in the organization, management, and combat of the army.

But when a general like Chen Liang reached that level, he understood that fighting was only a last resort.

Often, the outcome of a battle is already decided before it even begins. Like this time, he and the Chang family merely led their troops on a long armed march, ultimately encircling Jebe, after which Jebe reached an agreement with the Anxi Protectorate.

The soul of the Anxi Protectorate should be Li Dachui, not Xiao Changche.

Chen Liang has now confirmed this.

Xiao Changche's concession is a good thing, at least indicating that there will be no power struggles or infighting within the Anxi Protectorate in the short term.

It's hard to say whether it will happen again in the future.

However, now that the formidable enemy, the Northern Yuan, is gone, there is enough time to adjust even if internal problems arise.

He gently knocked on the door of Li Dachui's office.

The door was opened, revealing Li Dachui's face. He actually opened the door himself, which could be considered as welcoming Chen Liang to the door, giving this general enough face.

"Sit down!" Li Dachui pointed to the table opposite him. "I prepared some tea for you, black tea from the south. I heard you have a sensitive stomach, and black tea can soothe it. I prepared a few packets for you. Take them with you when you leave!"

"Thank you, Deputy Protector-General!" Chen Liang said with a smile as he sat down. "I didn't bring a gift for you, and instead I'm taking it back from you. I feel so bad!"

“I’ll make it up next time. I don’t have any other hobbies, I just love to eat!” Li Dachui laughed. “If you ever find anything rare in the future, just send it to me. I’ll cook it myself. I won’t let you give it to me for nothing.”

"I've long heard that Protector-General's culinary skills are superb. I've heard that the highest turnover rate in the Tai'an City Lord's Mansion is among the kitchen staff. They all learned their skills from Protector-General and then went out to open their own shops, making a fortune. Protector-General is so generous. If it were someone else, they would have smashed up all those shops!"

"It's our job to teach people a skill so they can support themselves and become wealthy!" Li Dachui said. "That's why chefs at the City Lord's Mansion will continue to leave in the future, because I will develop various different cuisines and teach people different skills!"

"They say a prime minister's belly can hold a boat, but I think your belly, Protector-General, is more like a warship!"

They both burst into laughter.

"Try it, try it!" Li Dachui pushed another plate of pastries in front of Chen Liang: "Red tea with pastries, you've traveled dozens of miles, this is just right to fill your stomach, let's eat and talk!"

Chen Liang didn't stand on ceremony, picked up a piece of pastry, and ate it with his black tea.

To be honest, he was really hungry.

“I’m going to send you back to Zhenwu City!” Li Dachui said.

When Chen Liang came, he guessed it must be about his garrison. He thought about many places, but the one he dared not think about was Zhenwu City.

Zhenwu City used to be the core of the area outside the pass. Now that Linghuye is gone, Zhenwu City has naturally become desolate. It has even become a gathering place for thieves.

When Linghu Ye left, he took the army and his family with him, but what he didn't take were the slaves who were originally attached to the army and some prisoners of war.

What will these people do when they lose their discipline, their masters, and their means of survival?

It's simply a matter of grabbing.

Zhenwu City has lost its order.

But it remains one of the most important places outside the Great Wall.

Putting aside everything else, the millions of acres of fertile land surrounding Zhenwu City alone constitute a huge fortune.

Countless people rely on Zhenwu City for their livelihood, and as long as order is restored, they will be able to create wealth continuously.

Chen Liang never expected that he would get to go to such a great place.

So he choked.

He choked several times, quickly put his hand on his chest, picked up his teacup and took a big gulp before he could catch his breath. He still looked at Li Dachui with a face full of surprise: "Protector, Chen Liang has not made any contribution."

“How can you say you haven’t made any contributions? Just staying here is already a great achievement, and leading the army to help us besiege Jebe is also a great achievement!” Li Dachui laughed. “Furthermore, you are still a former colleague of Protector Xiao, and he has a high opinion of you. Such a strategic location should naturally be handed over to someone who has made contributions and is capable.”

Chen Liang took a deep breath and nodded. This was probably the greatest gratitude he could feel.

"Protector, I won't say anything more. Just watch my actions from now on!" Chen Liang said loudly.

Li Dachui nodded and smiled, "The first step is to restore order. It won't be easy to do that now. There are many people there, but now they have nothing, and winter is coming soon. You are familiar with the place, and the people there know you. That should make things easier."

Chen Liang nodded.

"The second step is to restore production! Our Anxi Protectorate implements the Fubing system, and your area is no exception!" Li Dachui said, "At that time, the Protectorate will send some officials to your area to assist you in doing this. You have more than 10,000 soldiers under your command. Normally, maintaining one-third of them as regular troops is enough. The rest have to go to farm, live their lives, and have children! Every year, we need both production and combat power."

Chen Liang smiled and nodded repeatedly: "I understand! There are many practices here in the Anxi Protectorate that I don't quite understand yet, but these days I have been learning from Protector Cui and the others. Protector, I believe I will become a qualified official who will satisfy you."

"Of course I believe you!" Li Dachui extended his hand and said, "Then I wish you a safe journey. Tomorrow, take your men and go to take up your post!"

(End of this chapter)