Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 282: The power of the clan leader and the domineering behavior of the warriors

Chang'an, the General's Mansion of the Western Expedition.

"The prince privately supplies food and fodder to the imperial court?"

"Zhu Jun stationed troops in Hongnong?"

Zhang Liao looked at the letter sent by Zhong Yao with a thoughtful look on his face.

Seeing Zhang Liao was hesitant to speak, the attendant plucked up his courage and asked, "General, do you have any letters to send back to the military advisor?"

Zhang Liao waved his hand and said, "No need to reply, you can leave first!"

"As ordered!"

"Wait a minute!"

When the attendant was about to leave, Zhang Liao stopped him and said, "Go and inform the Jingzhao Yin that there is something confidential to discuss!"

"promise!"

Zhang Liao was the Protector General of Chariots and Cavalry, while Dong Zhao served as the Assistant Commander of Chariots and Cavalry and concurrently as the Protector General. Before leaving Guanzhong, Zhang Yu handed over the power to control the troops in Guanzhong to Zhang Liao, but Dong Zhao had the function of military consultation, which to some extent constrained Zhang Liao.

As for why Zhang Liao was restrained, it was not because Zhang Yu was worried that Zhang Liao would rebel, but because Zhang Liao lacked experience as a general and needed Dong Zhao to correct him at any time. For example, Zhang Liao, as a general, had the audacity to persuade Yang Qiu to surrender alone. Although Yang Qiu surrendered, Zhang Liao should not have been so bold.

Therefore, the difference between a general and a commander is not only the difference in overall vision and ability, but also the understanding of what can be done and what cannot be done. With Zhang Yu's criticism and education, Zhang Liao became more cautious in handling military affairs. If he encountered confidential military affairs, he would consult Dong Zhao.

Only half a moment later, Dong Zhao came over.

"Zhao meets General Zhang!"

"Mr. Dong, please!"

Seeing Dong Zhao coming, Zhang Liao hurriedly stepped aside and invited him to sit down, saying, "Military Advisor Zhong has sent a letter here today, which concerns the prince of Fengyi. Liao cannot make a decision, so I am afraid you need to consult with me!"

Dong Zhao bowed and asked, "Fengyi is under the command of the Chariot and Cavalry Department, not the general's jurisdiction. Could it be that bandits are everywhere in the territory and the general needs to lead troops to suppress them?"

"If they were bandits, it would be simple. We could just send troops to conquer them. But now it concerns the imperial court and the princes!" Zhang Liao handed the letter to Dong Zhao and said.

With curiosity, Dong Zhao reached out to take the letter. When he saw the contents of the letter, Dong Zhao's expression sank slightly.

After a while, Dong Zhao handed the letter back to Zhang Liao and asked, "What are your concerns, Mr. Zhang?"

Zhang Liao pondered for a while and said, "Although it is against the order that the prince privately supplies food and grass to the court, he is a relative of the prince, and most of the nobles under the prince's rule are his children. If I withhold the food and grass and block Tongguan, I will inevitably conflict with him. So I am afraid..."

After a pause, Zhang Liao hesitated and said, "Madam is the daughter of a prince, and she and you are in love."

Seeing that Zhang Liao was not very politically sensitive and was not even aware that Wang Hong's actions involved political stance issues, Dong Zhao didn't know where to start.

Dong Zhao gathered his thoughts for a moment and said, "The reason why you did not welcome the emperor is because welcoming the emperor to Jin would make you feel constrained. Now, judging from the situation, you are following the trend of Emperor Gaozu to conquer the world. Now the princes are supplying food to the court, which is not clear about being subordinate."

"General, you have been ordered to protect Guanzhong. If you turn a blind eye to this because of your status as a prince, wouldn't it hurt your majesty's respect for you? Little do you know that the general was able to protect Guanzhong not only because of his outstanding talents, but also because you are regarded as a relative by your majesty. Now that you can't control the prince, I wonder if you think you can still gain your majesty's respect?" Dong Zhao analyzed the pros and cons and said.

Zhang Liao was favored by Zhang Yu, not only because of his seniority and outstanding military strategy, but also because Zhang Yu always regarded him as a relative. Now that Zhang Liao cannot express his attitude on key issues, Zhang Yu will use him lightly because he does not trust him. After all, sometimes, talent is one thing, and whether one can defend Zhang Yu's interests is another.

In short, if Zhang Liao wants to continue to maintain his status as a "chief general", he must always remember his identity and put the protection of Zhang Yu's political interests first. Otherwise, why would Zhang Yu use Zhang Liao?
Hearing this, Zhang Liao suddenly woke up, bowed deeply to Dong Zhao, and said, "I was stupid at the time and didn't realize the importance of my position. I would like to thank you for your guidance and enlightenment!"

"Don't dare!"

Dong Zhao responded politely, cupped his hands and said: "In my humble opinion, the general needs to lead his troops to Fengyi, detain the grain and grass in the county, transport them to Fufeng, and help the people. And let Captain Zhang block Tongguan. If the prince objects, the general may as well persuade him with a thorough understanding of the pros and cons."

"Thank you, Mr. Dong!"

"Don't dare!"

The reason why Zhang Liao asked Dong Zhao was not that he was disloyal to Zhang Yu, but that he could not find his own position in politics. After Dong Zhao's guidance, Zhang Liao clearly realized his role in Zhang Yu's group, which was to restrict and weaken the Wang family.

Wang's help to Zhang Yu was great when he started his career. Especially the series of civil and military officials under Zhang Yu were more or less related to Wang Hong. Zhang Liao could not be in the same group with him, but had to compete with him and help Zhang Yu to restrain Wang's, after all, he was a kind of "clan general".

With Dong Zhao's advice, Zhang Liao notified Zhang Feng to block the Tongguan Road, thus preventing food and grass from leaving the pass. At the same time, he prepared to attack Guanzhong under the pretext of transporting food.

Shortly after the waiting cavalry set out, Zhang Liao summoned his elite cavalry and rushed to Tongguan overnight. On the way, he met Feng Yi's grain transport team and directly ordered them to withhold the grain and fodder.

"Shut up!"

More than a hundred riders galloped to the grain team and forced it to stop.

"Whose troops are these? How dare they intercept Zuo Fengyi's grain carts?" The county official rode up and asked.

The leading armored cavalry stepped out and said in a deep voice: "According to the military order of the Chariot and Cavalry Office, no matter where the grain and grass comes from, without the order of the Chariot and Cavalry Office, the grain from Guanxi is prohibited from leaving the pass." The county official relied on Wang Hong's support and said in a cold voice: "This is the grain presented to the court by Wang Fengyi. How dare you withhold it?"

"hehe!"

The armored cavalryman looked at him with contempt and said, "I only know the orders of the General of Chariots and Cavalry. Without the orders of the Cavalry Office, no grain or grass is allowed to leave the pass."

"Be bold!"

Kong Rong had been entertained by Wang Hong for many days. Today, he was traveling with the grain transport team out of the pass. When he saw cavalrymen intercepting him, he immediately ordered someone to drive forward and asked sternly, "Is the order of the court not as good as the order of the cavalry? Who is your chief general? Ask him to come over for questioning!"

"it's me!"

Before Kong Rong finished speaking, he saw Zhang Liao leading more than a hundred cavalrymen galloping towards him. Zhang Liao even came in front of Kong Rong's carriage and stared at him with cold eyes.

"Who are you?"

Kong Rong thought he was familiar with Wang Hong, and that he was also a senior official in the imperial court, so his tone was somewhat impolite!
"Zhang Liao, Zhang Wenyuan. I am now the Protector General of the Chariot and Cavalry Department and the General of the Western Expedition." Zhang Liao showed his identity and asked, "Are you Kong Rong of Beihai who abandoned his wife and children?"

Before leaving, Zhang Liao asked Dong Zhao about Kong Rong, so he spoke with a humiliating tone, saying: "You were ordered to stay in Beihai, but you could neither drive out the Yellow Turbans nor obey the imperial edict to fight the bandits, and now you can't even protect the counties. You gave up the pears when you were young, and now you are old enough to give up the land. What you did is in line with the saying that being smart when young may not be good when you grow up."

The cavalrymen on both sides laughed uncontrollably, as if they were mocking Kong Rong's incompetence.

Hearing this, Kong Rong's face instantly turned red and his anger rose sharply.

When he was a teenager, he met Li Ying, a famous scholar in Beijing. Because he was smart and clever, he was loved and praised by everyone. At that time, Chen Wei, a doctor of the Imperial Academy, belittled Kong Rong by saying "a child who is smart may not be good when he grows up", and Kong Rong followed his words and ridiculed Chen Wei's intelligence when he was young.

Kong Rong's performance in Beihai can almost be described as ambitious but incompetent. Therefore, Zhang Liao replied with Kong Rong's old words. It can be said that after so many years, Kong Rong's own boomerang actually hit Kong Rong himself, which is really interesting!

Provoked by Zhang Liao, Kong Rong pointed at Zhang Liao's nose and cursed: "Even Zhang Yu had to bow to me, how dare you, a mere warrior, look down on the minister!"

"Snapped!"

At Zhang Liao's signal, he rode forward and slapped Kong Rong in the face with his scabbard sword, saying angrily: "The emperor dared not address you by your name when he saw you, so how dare a man who abandoned his wife and children address you by your name!"

The scabbard fanned Kong Rong's face, and the shape of the scabbard was immediately printed on his face. His entire cheek was swollen, and his left face was red. Kong Rong was stunned at first, and touched his swollen left face, his face full of disbelief.

Kong Rong never expected that he was a high-ranking official in the court, but this group of warriors slapped him in the face without saying a few words. Is there any law in this?

Besides being confused, Kong Rong was even more angry. He was the descendant of Confucius, a high-ranking official with a reputation throughout the country. No one dared to look at him with disdain, but now he was humiliated by a lowly warrior, and even slapped in the face in public. This was a great shame!

In fact, Kong Rong, who seemed to be a tough guy, was actually a natural capitulationist. He would criticize almost anyone who did not agree with his ideas. In the Battle of Guandu, Kong Rong implicitly advised Cao Cao to surrender because Yuan Shao had more soldiers and generals; when Cao Cao went north to conquer Wuhuan, Kong Rong ridiculed Cao Cao for abusing force.

As for those he admired, he would boast about them. For example, when Liu Biao offered sacrifices to him with the rites of an emperor, Kong Rong advised Emperor Xian of Han not to care. Or when Ma Riti died of depression after Yuan Shu cheated him and took away his imperial seal, the court wanted to give him a grand funeral. However, Kong Rong criticized Ma Riti for not being able to die with integrity, so he could not give him a grand funeral.

As the descendant of Confucius, Kong Rong deeply interpreted what double standards mean. Zhang Yu was born in a poor family, and Kong Rong had been full of contempt for Zhang Yu since he was in Yuzhou. Zhang Yu's occupation of Sili gave him an opportunity to show his abilities.

Yuan Shao had three generations of officials and his family was in his hands, so Kong Rong did not dare to criticize him. But how could he not dare to criticize Zhang Yu? With his title as a descendant of Confucius, who would dare to look at him, let alone slap him in the face in public?

Being humiliated, Kong Rong was furious and cursed: "You are a man without strategy and wisdom, and you have no loyalty like a dog or a horse. You are rebelling against the emperor. When I return to the capital, I will impeach Zhang Yu~"

"Snapped!"

The cavalryman used the scabbard to slap him in the face again, this time on the right cheek. This slap made Kong Rong completely quiet down. He stared at Zhang Liao angrily, but did not dare to say anything, for fear of being slapped again.

Zhang Liao sneered and said, "In terms of loyalty to the Han Dynasty, you have contributed greatly to the country's development. How can you corrupt scholars compare to me?"

Zhang Liao looked around and ordered, "Send the grain carts to Fufeng, and prohibit the grain from Guanxi from leaving the pass."

"As ordered!"

Seeing that the grain cart was about to be taken away, Kong Rong spoke up again boldly, saying: "This is the grain offered to the emperor, and it was donated by Wang Fengyi!"

Zhang Liao whipped his whip a few times and said, "I only know that no rice can be allowed to leave the pass without the order of the General of Chariots and Cavalry. As for Wang Fengyi, if he is dissatisfied with what I have done, you can let him go to find you, my lord."

"As for you, Kong Wenju~."

"Be careful with your words in the future, or else Confucius will lose an heir!" Zhang Liao threatened.

After Dong Zhao's persuasion, Zhang Liao simply let himself go and did whatever he could to protect Zhang Yu, since Zhang Yu was his superior after all.

As for Zhang Liao's domineering attitude and his disregard for Wang Hong and Kong Rong, it was because he was young and hot-tempered.

After all, not everyone is Zhang Yu, who has lived two lives and acted prudently. And a general like Zhang Liao, who has just ascended to a high position, especially a warrior who has fought on the battlefield, is naturally domineering. When he meets someone he is dissatisfied with, he does not learn from Huo Qubing to kill Li Gan, which is to give face to the other party.

Looking at Zhang Liao's figure, Kong Rong covered his cheek with his hands, feeling angry and aggrieved. He decided to complain to Wang Hong, and then asked the court to issue an imperial decree to demote Zhang Yu and Zhang Liao.

(End of this chapter)