Tiger Guards

Chapter 118: Delusion
When Zhao Ji was about to leave the city, the Minister of the Central Secretariat Zhao Rui came to the camp to announce the imperial decree and bestowed the imperial sword on him in public.

This kind of imperial sword is naturally not for Zhao Ji to carry with him, and he needs to keep it with him on a daily basis.

When going out, someone is needed to hold the sword.

Even when killing someone, one only needs to show the sword; there is no need to actually use it to execute the person.

It symbolizes more of an authorization to act expediently and kill people... The question is, does Zhao Ji need this authorization?
How could someone who was determined to get rid of Zhao Ji be scared by the Imperial Sword?
After receiving the Shangfang Sword, Zhao Ji invited Zhao Rui to drink in the camp. After a glass of light wine, Zhao Ji asked, "How did Dong Zhao answer?"

"Xuzhou is indeed as the Minister said, it has been destroyed."

Zhao Rui hesitated to speak, but seeing Zhao Ji staring at him without replying, he immediately said, "The court has received memorials from various parties, but since the rebellion in Guandong, most of them were false and untrue, so we were unwilling to believe them. I never thought Cao Cao would be so cruel, even disregarding the safety of his father and clan."

Liu Bei and Kong Rong would both submit memorials to report what happened in Xuzhou, in which the data on the number of people killed by Cao's army could be fabricated and could not be used to prove it.

Even the death of Cao Song was strange. When Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou for the first time, his main force went down along the Si River and broke through the defense line of Pengcheng head-on, killing many people. In addition, reinforcements sent by Yuan Shao, such as Zhu Ling, attacked from the Taishan direction.

Both sides of the battle were fooled by Zuo Rong. Tao Qian thought that his fellow villager would stockpile enough supplies in Pengcheng and Xia Pi. As a result, the Xuzhou soldiers were short of supplies and were defeated by Cao's army.

Cao's army hoped to obtain supplies after defeating Pengcheng, but in the end they got nothing, and Liu Bei brought people to support Tao Qian.

Cao Cao then retreated. During the withdrawal, the Qingzhou soldiers lost control and slaughtered the counties of Xiaqiu like locusts, causing the Si River to stop flowing.

Logically speaking, Cao Song, who was taking refuge in Langya at this time, should have run away quickly. No matter how good his relationship with Langya King Liu Rong was, he could not protect him. At the very least, he should stand up and denounce Cao Cao's cruelty and cut ties with Cao Cao.

But Cao Song did not run away and continued to live his life behind closed doors.

The next year, Cao Cao's main force and Yuan Shao's reinforcements broke through from the direction of Mount Tai, bypassing Liu Bei's defense lines of Xiaopei, Pengcheng and Sishui, and attacked Tao Qian's Donghai County base camp. After defeating the Xuzhou soldiers and Liu Bei, Cao's army began to massacre the counties in Donghai, and Liu Yu's hometown was massacred.

It was at this time that Cao Cao asked Ying Shao, the governor of Mount Tai, to rescue Cao Song, and Cao Song's family was massacred by the soldiers of Xuzhou.

This matter is too strange. Cao Song is a very important figure and can be regarded as the leader of the eunuch party.

In order to get ahead and break the monopoly of official careers, many powerful people and poor families in various places joined the eunuch party.

After the Luoyang coup, the eunuch party officials in Luoyang were destroyed along with the Ten Attendants, but there were still officials from the eunuch party and scholars with close ties with the eunuch party in various places.

After searching various parties, only Cao Song, the former Grand Marshal and Marquis of Feiting, who had resigned, could take on the important task of rallying the eunuch party.

Such an important person was slaughtered by the Xuzhou soldiers who could no longer tolerate his behavior due to the strange operation of his beloved son.

No matter how you look at it, it seems like Liu Bei, Kong Rong and others were spreading rumors and slandering Cao Cao.

Therefore, the court could not help but question the truth of this matter, because no matter how bad a person is, it is impossible for him to cross the bottom line and harm his father and family in this way.

There were many people in the court who spoke well of Cao Cao, such as Ding Chong, whose body had not yet hardened.

After Zhao Rui finished speaking, he saw that Zhao Ji was still staring at him, and he couldn't help but laugh awkwardly: "Dong Zhao's confession, you gentlemen are also unwilling to believe it."

"I knew it. It's General Fuguo who refuses to believe it, right?"

Zhao Ji stood up and took up the imperial sword from the table. Grasping the scabbard, he slowly pulled it out five or six inches, observing the gold and silver diamond patterns on the blade. Pushing the sword back into the scabbard felt wonderful. "Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu rebelled and killed Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji. So what does it matter if Cao Cao killed his own father? He was just using the enemy's hand."

Sitting across from Zhao Rui, Zhao Ji poured him a glass of wine. "Uncle, we share life and death. Dong Cheng is now building a palace in Luoyang, and I don't think he'll give it up easily. He'll naturally spread rumors, saying flattering things to Luoyang and Guandong, hoping to trick the court into returning to Luoyang. Our Zhao family is rooted in Hedong, beloved by the people of Hedong. If we stray from Hedong, we'll become a tree without roots, and the court could easily punish us."

Zhao Rui held the wine glass with both hands, his brows furrowed.

As one of the three current foreign relatives, the Zhao family will immediately fall to the same level as Dong Cheng if they leave Hedong.

Even though he was the Minister of the Secretariat, this was given to him out of respect for Zhao Ji, not Concubine Zhao.

He is not Zhao Guiren's biological father. They are just huddling together for warmth and relying on each other.

Anyway, he enjoys his current status and doesn't want to take the risk of going to Luoyang.

After thinking for a while, he asked, "Aji, what do you think?"

"It depends on Grandfather Zhong."

Zhao Ji took a sip from his wine cup. "Hedong is the land of four battles, serving the emperor to suppress the rebellious Taiyuan. I heard that General Zhang Yan, the General who suppressed the rebellion, and my uncle are from the same hometown."

"Yes, Aji wants to unite with Zhang Yan?"

"Yes, I have this idea. I will discuss this matter with my great-grandfather tonight when we have dinner. If nothing unexpected happens, my great-grandfather will support me in showing my favor to Zhang Yan. Zhang Yan controls the strategic location of Taihang Mountain, while my Zhao family controls Taiyuan and Hedong counties west of Taihang Mountain. We can complement each other and survive forever."

After Zhao Ji finished speaking, he raised his head and drank. If he had discussed this issue with the old man yesterday, the old man would have given him the cold shoulder.

But after what happened with Ding Chong, the old man's mind naturally changed. An alliance with Zhang Yan would benefit both families.

Allies can not only be used to deter external forces, but also to find an ally of equal weight to use the power of the ally to stabilize the internal situation.

Gongsun Zan was defeated by Yuan Shao, and after building Yijing, he began to indulge in the beauty of the world; after losing this heavyweight ally, Zhang Yan's own leadership position began to become unstable, and he must be in need of a strong and stable new ally.

Like himself, Zhang Yan does not have a powerful clan and no huge external pressure, so internal cohesion is an issue that cannot be ignored.

Zhao Rui took a sip of the wine. He was really a little surprised. He didn't expect that Zhao Ji had such a broad vision and had already begun to seek other development paths.

What were the ministers doing before? What are the officials doing now?
Although Hedong has not been put in order yet, it is only this small. Zhao Ji can lead his troops to sweep around and capture enough hostages, and then things will naturally go smoothly.

As for the western Yellow River defense line, as long as troops are stationed in Fenyin in the north and Puban in the south, it is possible to effectively prevent invasions from Guanzhong.

If we unite with Zhang Yan, we will be able to get in touch with Changshan State.

He could summon the powerful men and scholars of Changshan to serve in Hedong. If Zhao Ji could successfully capture Taiyuan, the descendants of the Zhao family from Changshan, Zhongshan, Julu and Dai would naturally come to serve him.

After a glass of wine, Zhao Rui nodded and said, "I have some good friends in the court who will help Zhongfu keep an eye on everything. Aji, you must be vigilant when you go out. I have the imperial sword bestowed upon me by the emperor. It is better to kill someone by mistake than to take any risks."

"Well, don't worry, uncle."

Zhao Ji also drank the wine in his cup and stood up: "I will see my uncle off."

"Okay, without further ado, I'll contact my friends and gather the scattered scholars in the city."

Zhao Rui also stood up and adjusted the sword hanging at his waist.

Just as Zhao Ji sent Zhao Rui out of the military camp gate, he saw Old Zhao leading a dozen middle-aged knights riding horses to the outside of the camp gate.

Old Zhao dismounted and looked Zhao Ji over. Seeing that Zhao Ji was in good health, he asked, "How was everything this morning?"

"Luckily, I saw those guys make eye contact, so I became alert. I kicked one of them to death and ran away. The other one was killed by the Tiger Guards."

Zhao Ji said, and bowed to Hu Zhong beside Old Zhao: "Uncle, how are you?"

"Aji has become quite accomplished."

Hu Zhong praised him with a smile. He had no intention of getting close to him to reminisce about the past and behaved very restrainedly.

Zhao Ji bowed to the other knights, both familiar and not so familiar, and these people returned the greeting with a smile.

After exchanging greetings, Zhao Ji said to Hu Zhong, "The court has ordered me to recommend virtuous and capable people. I have already recommended my elder brother. I believe he will soon be appointed as a minister."

Hu Zhong's face lit up with joy, and he immediately said, "A man of honor should take his merits immediately. Please take it back, Aji."

Seeing that he looked serious and didn't seem to be joking, Zhao Ji didn't force him: "The imperial envoy will go to Wenxi tomorrow. Uncle can send someone to convey the message. You can politely decline it, eldest brother."

"Okay, Aji, don't blame me."

Hu Zhong frowned, worried, and said, "Aji is a noble minister, yet someone has attempted to assassinate him. My son Wenxu is a simple man, and I'm afraid his life will be in jeopardy."

"Then how about this, after you refuse the call, I will ask someone to recommend you as the Magistrate of Puban."

Zhao Ji immediately changed his arrangement for Hu Ban. Given the current relationship between the two families, Hu Ban had no way out.

Hu Zhong no longer refused and simply bowed: "Aji, you can think of big things, and we don't have much vision. Just take care of the arrangements."

Zhao Ji nodded, then went to see Old Zhao: "Father, the imperial edict to appoint a doctor will be issued today. In three days, I will transfer you to be the commander of the southern part of Hedong, stationed in Puban. If the bandits from Guandong come, you will hold them off for a month!"

Zhao Lian's face immediately lit up: "How many soldiers will you give me?"

"Two to three thousand, nearly half of them are powerful troops from Yishi, Jie, and Puban. I will assign the Tiger Guards from these three counties to assist in leading the troops, serving as team officers and centurion commanders."

Zhao Ji then bowed to the others and said, "I would like to ask all of you uncles to assist my father in the defense of Puban."

Hu Zhong hurriedly returned the greeting, bowing deeply: "I dare not. It is a great honor for us to be able to contribute to the country!"

The others also bowed deeply, their faces flushed.

If you defend Puban, you will be rewarded for your merits and will be able to embark on a career in politics.

Even if I go back to my hometown to be a pavilion chief, it will be worth the trip.

(End of this chapter)