Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 418 Feng will not associate with Xu You!
Since Yuan Shao's defeat and flight to Qingzhou in October, and Zhang Yu's capture of Ye City in November, Handan had lost contact with the outside world. Even when Ju Shou sent scouts out of the city to request reinforcements, they could not find any. This made the people in the city realize that Xun Chen's words were true; they had indeed been abandoned by Yuan Shao.

In the first month of 198 AD, Lou Qi, the garrison commander, missed his wife and wrote to Lü Fan, agreeing to surrender the city.

On the ninth day of the first lunar month, Lou Qi took advantage of Ju Shou's unpreparedness, led his personal guards to control Ju Shou, and opened the city gates to welcome Lü Fan into the city.

On that day, Lü Fan took control of Handan, and Zhao County was thus brought to peace. The following day, Lü Fan sent Ju Shou, Tian Feng, Lou Qi, and other surrendered generals to Ye City so that Zhang Yu could receive them.

January 12th, Ye City.

Inside the hall, Zhang Yu looked at the haggard-looking Ju Shou and asked, "I have heard much about your abilities, sir, in Bingzhou. Why can't you help Yuan Shao succeed?"

Ju Shou stood tall, glanced at Zhang Yu, and said calmly, "If the king could not accept my advice, and instead of marching north to conquer Youzhou or west to take Shangdang while you were campaigning westward to Guanzhong, how could you be so smug!"

Zhang Yu bowed slightly to Ju Shou and said, "Since the king cannot accept your advice, why don't you serve me? With your assistance, I will have no fear of any bandits in the world!"

"Don't waste your breath!"

Ju Shou sneered and said, "Before setting out on the expedition, I had already given away all my family's wealth. If it were for fame, fortune, and power, I would have had my relatives amass wealth long ago. Now that you have captured Xindu, our army's fate is sealed, and I have nothing to say."

Among Yuan Shao's trusted confidants, only Ju Shou and Tian Feng were not greedy for money, which Zhang Yu greatly admired.

As for Ju Shou, Zhang Yu's assessment was that he excelled in strategy but was weak in tactics. Therefore, Ju Shou's strategic planning for Yuan Shao was largely sound. However, his poor tactics during the confrontation with Zhang Yu kept Yuan Shao on the defensive.

Zhang Yu sincerely said, "Sir, you possess the talent to save the world, but you have not met a wise ruler. I cherish your talent and learning, and I am willing to work with you to accomplish great things."

Ju Shou remained silent, appearing uncooperative.

"You~"

Seeing Ju Shou's rudeness, Xu Chu stepped forward, glaring angrily, and said, "Stop being so rude!"

Zhang Yu gestured for Xu Chu to step back and said with a smile, "Sir, you have not seen your family for many months and must miss them dearly. You may step back and rest."

"As ordered!"

Seeing that Zhang Yu had spared his life, Ju Shou sighed inwardly and allowed his attendants to take him away.

Perhaps addicted to revenge, Xu You stepped forward and said, "My lord, Ju Shou has no intention of surrendering. Why treat him kindly now? In my opinion, it would be better to order his execution and confiscate the Ju family's property."

Zhang Yu glanced at Xu You and explained, "Ju Shou is different from Shen Pei, Chunyu Qiong, Feng Ji and others. He has a long-standing reputation in Hebei and is the commander-in-chief of the three armies under Yuan Shao. If he can surrender to me, he will be ten times better than Lou Qi."

Seeing how much Zhang Yu valued Ju Shou, Xu You felt displeased.

"Where is Tian Yuanhao?" Zhang Yu asked.

"Reporting to Your Lordship, Tian Feng says..."

The attendant glanced at Xu You and hesitated before saying, "Tian Feng said he does not wish to associate with Xu You and therefore cannot pay his respects to you, my lord."

Upon hearing this, Xu You's expression changed drastically, and he said angrily, "My lord, although Tian Feng is talented, he is arrogant and often speaks rudely, which is why he was imprisoned by Yuan Shao. Since you have Guo, Xun, Jia and other scholars to assist you, why do you need Tian Feng to serve you? Moreover, Tian Feng often condones his clansmen to commit illegal acts. In order to appease the people, it would be better to execute Tian Feng to uphold the law."

"Cough cough!"

Seeing Xu You pull him into this, Jia Xu feigned a cough to interrupt, saying, "My lord, I am but a humble scholar, unworthy to be called a superior man. Tian Yuanhao possesses the ability to benefit the world; my lord, do you think you can persuade him to surrender? If Tian Yuanhao surrenders, defeating Yuan Shao will be easy!"

"I agree!"

Xun You said, “Everyone has their strengths. I am good at fighting, and you, Jia Jun, are good at understanding the situation. Tian Yuanhao is highly valued by Yuan Shao, and all the soldiers and generals in Hebei praise him. Therefore, in my opinion, you should persuade Tian Feng to surrender.”

Jia Xu and Xun You didn't really care whether Tian Feng surrendered or not, since they were confident that they could gain Zhang Yu's trust, so they didn't care that Zhang Yu recruited Yuan Shao's former associates.

Now that Xu You has brought them in and is putting pressure on Zhang Yu, they cannot stand with Xu You and need to express their stance to Zhang Yu as soon as possible.

Seeing the two refute him, Xu You became even more frustrated, and his face immediately showed displeasure.

Seeing that everyone's expressions were clear, Zhang Yu smiled and said, "I have long heard of Tian Yuanhao's name. Since he will not come to see me, I will go to see him myself."

"Lead the way!"

"promise!"

Tian Feng's unwillingness to ally with Xu You was simply to see who Zhang Yu valued more. If Zhang Yu valued Xu You more, it meant that even if he sided with Zhang Yu, Zhang Yu would not accept his advice, and he might even be framed by Xu You in the future.

If Zhang Yu valued him more, Tian Feng would have the confidence to offer advice to Zhang Yu. After all, he was still wary of being wronged by Yuan Shao. He had sincerely served Yuan Shao, yet he was treated this way, which truly chilled him to the bone.

"My lord, Tian Yuanhao is inside!" the servant said, pointing to a side room.

"it is good!"

Zhang Yu straightened his clothes, stepped forward and knocked lightly on the door, saying, "Is Mr. Tian in?" "I do not associate with Xu You, no need to say more!" Tian Feng's voice came from inside the house.

"General Zhang Yu pays his respects to Mr. Tian, ​​and hopes that you will open the door to see me," Zhang Yu said in a gentle voice.

The room fell silent for a moment, then hurried footsteps sounded, and Tian Feng opened the door and bowed deeply to Zhang Yu.

"General, why have you come in such a hurry? Please forgive me for not being able to greet you from afar!" Tian Feng said.

Zhang Yu reached out to help Tian Feng up and said with a smile, "Since you didn't come to see me, I had no choice but to come to see you today!"

"Ashamed!"

Tian Feng apologized, saying, "I had no intention of coercing the ruler. It was only because I am at odds with Xu You that I feared he would slander me, so I had no choice but to do this."

Zhang Yu reassured him, "Yuan Shao is incompetent and cannot accept your plan. I am not Yuan Shao, how could I not know Xu You?"

"I heard that you advised Yuan Shao to take Zhang Yan first and not to attack Youzhou. Is this true?"

As he spoke, Zhang Yu took Tian Feng's hand and entered the house, while his attendants stood outside.

“That’s true!” Tian Feng hesitated for a moment before speaking truthfully: “With Youzhou scattered, they will certainly not be able to serve you wholeheartedly. Therefore, I advise Yuan Shao to first defeat Zhang Yan and sever your connection with Youzhou. Then, confront you without engaging in direct combat, wear down your troops, and then find an opportunity to defeat them.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu was deeply moved and said, "Fortunately, Yuan Shao did not heed your advice, otherwise it would have been even more difficult for me to defeat him!"

At Zhang Yu's invitation, Tian Feng knelt on the couch and said, "Your Excellency's military strategy is like that of a god, while Yuan Shao is slow to act and is no match for you. My humble plan cannot possibly prevent Your Excellency from winning!"

"You flatter me!"

Zhang Yu smiled and asked, "Although I have now conquered Ji Province, Yuan Shao is still on the coast, and Yuan Xi is on the Heji River. In Yuan Hao's opinion, how should I deploy my troops to sweep across the Central Plains and intimidate Wu and Chu?"

Tian Feng stroked his beard and pondered, then said, "Yuan Shao's army has suffered defeats abroad, and his advisors are in disarray at home. Years of war have resulted in more defeats than victories, and the people's morale is low. The army is on the verge of collapse. Therefore, with your might, my lord, you can strike the exhausted enemy and your momentum will be unstoppable."

"Now the population of Yanzhou is depleted, the fields are overgrown, and the population is less than that of a single prefecture. If you wish to conquer the Central Plains, you should first take the Yellow River and the Ji River to eliminate Yuan Shao's support. After that, you can use your troops to attack Bohai and Pingyuan, drive Yuan Shao out of Hebei, and force him to retreat to Qi and Lu. Qi and Lu have no natural defenses, so your army can cross the river and advance to Linzi."

"When Qi and Lu are at peace, and the Yellow River and the Ji River are subdued, we can sail south along the river. Yuan Shu is arrogant and has enemies on all sides, so we can first eliminate Zhang Miao, then take Yu Province, and send a detachment to Xu and Huai, and Henan will submit. If we can then decisively defeat Yuan Shu and establish our power in the Jianghan region, we can hope to take Yi, Jing, and Yang Provinces!"

Zhang Yu stroked his mustache and smiled, "What you say is quite similar to what I've been thinking. Now I can rest assured!"

Tian Feng humbly replied, "Your Majesty has a solid foundation for establishing your dynasty; my humble words are merely in accordance with the times!"

Then, Tian Feng added, "Now that the Han dynasty has fallen and there is no common ruler, Your Excellency should declare yourself king as soon as possible to appease the hearts of your civil and military officials. It is time to conquer the world, and your army will have a just cause!"

Zhang Yu said, "The only thing missing for me to become king is Liu He's memorial. Once the memorial arrives, I can legally succeed to the throne."

Tian Feng pondered for a moment, then asked, "What will Your Majesty choose as the name of your state? And what will be your capital?"

“I started my rebellion in Bingzhou and made Anyi my capital. Now I will name my dynasty Tang and Jin. As for the capital, I will temporarily make Chang’an my capital,” Zhang Yu said.

Tian Feng frowned slightly and said, "In the past, Emperor Shizu made Luoyang his capital, conquered bandits in all directions, and subdued the prefectures of the Central Plains. Chang'an is located in the west of the pass, and I'm afraid it's difficult for it to be the center of the world!"

"hehe!"

Zhang Yu joked, "Emperor Gaozu laid the foundation for the Han Dynasty, yet he dared not compare his prosperity to that of the Zhou Dynasty. How much more so when the world is not yet at peace? How could I dare to rashly make Luoyang the capital? Moreover, Yanzhou is still in the hands of Yuan Xi and Zhang Miao. I dare not rashly establish Luoyang as the capital now."

Influenced by the Eastern Han Dynasty, many people under Zhang Yu's rule actually preferred Luoyang as the capital. However, considering his base of support and to avoid the problem of the Guanzhong region becoming assimilated by non-Han peoples, Zhang Yu personally preferred Chang'an as the capital.

Seeing Zhang Yu's veiled refusal, Tian Feng didn't say much, after all, he had just joined Zhang Yu's side and didn't even have an official position yet.

Zhang Yu cupped his hands to Tian Feng and said in a deep voice, "If you, Lord Tian, ​​do not mind, I wish to appoint you as my military advisor to assist me in military affairs. If you achieve merit, you will be promoted accordingly."

Seeing Zhang Yu's sincerity, Tian Feng rose from his seat, bowed, and said, "Since Your Excellency has come to invite me, how could I dare to refuse? I wish to assist Your Excellency in unifying the world and establishing the great achievements of the Zhou and Han dynasties!"

"I hope you will offer more advice in the future!" Zhang Yu said.

"promise!"

After responding, Tian Feng changed the subject, saying, "Xu You is greedy and arrogant. He is obsequious when kept at a distance, but disrespectful when approached. He is a petty person. Therefore, although he has talent, he should not be given important responsibilities. Your Excellency should not forget the story of Yuan Shao. If you do not abandon Xu You, he will sooner or later do unjust things."

Zhang Yu held Tian Feng's hand and said with a smile, "How could I not know Xu You? I am using him now only to punish Yuan Shao's former followers. If he does not know when to advance and retreat and does something unjust, I will punish him according to the law. Mr. Tian will have to endure this injustice for the time being."

"Your Excellency already has a plan, please forgive my presumption!" Tian Feng said.

"If there is anything inappropriate in the future, I hope you will offer your advice one by one!"

(End of this chapter)