Tiger Guards

Chapter 165 Difficult to be Independent
Anyi, Zhao Rui went south for the second time.

The first time he invited Zhao Yan to escort the queen to the north, Zhao Yan politely declined.

After turning back, he brought a new mission, which he would escort himself.

"It's not that I don't want to, but the situation in Hedong is right now. The emperor is in Hedong, and the court is in Hedong. This upward trend is unstoppable."

Zhao Yan still refused and took a car with Zhao Rui to inspect the construction site of the Imperial College in the west of the city.

It is based on a village and is expanded.

Hired laborers and slaves worked as laborers, building walls or digging earth to make adobe bricks.

The women transported sand and soil, and the project progressed well every day.

The loess ground makes rammed earth engineering relatively simple, as there is not much sand and gravel, and the ground is also easy to dig.

Zhao Yan looked puzzled and asked, "Zimao, you've seen it too. As soon as Aji was forced to surrender to the Xiongnu, he organized military settlements to plant wheat. And what are Zhang Yang and Dong Cheng doing? Will the grain and fodder promised by Liu Biao be delivered to Luodu on time and in the right quantity?"

"Liu Jingsheng is a pillar of the imperial family and a renowned scholar. How could he break his promise?"

Zhao Rui also asked in return, without answering the situation of Zhang Yang and Dong Cheng.

Dong Cheng gathered all kinds of soldiers here, plus the miscellaneous soldiers sent from Henei, and now there are more than 3,000 people building the palace.

They ate food transported from Hanoi. Hanoi was so small that they had to support the army after a disaster, so they couldn't last long.

Zhao Yan just smiled when he heard this. "What can the court do if Liu Biao breaks his promise? Zuo Ling, after taking office in Nanyang, couldn't even convince Zhang Xiu, so how could he influence Liu Biao?"

Zuo Ling, the prefect of Nanyang County, set off quickly, and Dong Cheng also assigned some soldiers to escort Zuo Ling to his post.

However, Cao Cao had been suppressing the Yellow Turban rebels in Runan since the beginning of spring. After Cao Hong led a small army to Henei to welcome the emperor but was defeated, he marched into Nanyang from Wankou.

Now Zhao Yan suspected that Zuo Ling might have been killed by Cao Hong on the way... He couldn't be so arbitrary. After all, Dong Cheng's army was not stable and he had no family members or hostages. It was a common phenomenon for such an army to be sent to escort Zuo Ling, and then kill Zuo Ling on the way and scatter, gathering in the mountains and becoming bandits.

There are currently two military forces in Nanyang, and the counties northeast of Wancheng have been under the actual control of Cao Hong.

In order to shorten the supply route, Zhang Xiu stationed his main forces in Rangcheng, Guanjun and Anzhong counties south of Wancheng, relying on the Nie River for survival.

Without the food supply from Liu Biao, Zhang Xiu would also collapse.

Zhang Xiu's army is better than Dong Cheng's. Its core force is its old fellows from the same hometown, and most of their families are in Liangzhou. They stick together for warmth and will not collapse or fall apart hastily.

Dong Cheng couldn't do that. If Zhang Yang cut off the food supply from Henei, Dong Cheng's troops would immediately collapse.

Among these bachelors in troubled times who rely on Dong Cheng, how many of them are loyal to the Han Dynasty?
All for the sake of that bite of food.

Dong Cheng's army will defect to whoever can provide food.

Zhao Rui was silent. Cao Cao was now in his prime, especially after he massacred Xuzhou twice and forced the usually strong Tao Qian to die of depression. He also defeated Lu Bu and Yuan Shu, and was invincible in the Central Plains.

Now the army is gathering to suppress the Yellow Turbans in Runan. After their victory, they are very likely to turn around and march into Jingzhou.

With the previous example of the people of Xuzhou, whether Liu Biao was afraid or not was another matter, but the people of Jingzhou certainly did not want to conflict with Cao Cao.

Especially when Cao Hong blocked the Wanluo Passage, did Liu Biao and the people of Jingzhou dare to send troops to transport food?
The people of Jingzhou were very grateful that Cao Cao did not come to attack Jingzhou. How could they dare to send troops to provoke Cao Cao?

Everyone knew that the north had suffered a disaster, so people from Jingzhou transported grain from Xiangyang, traveling by land and water, a distance of nearly two thousand miles.

How much food will this cost?

Cao's army was starving, their eyes turning green. How dare the people of Jingzhou show off their wealth?
After Zhao Yan's personal stance changed, he naturally wouldn't just focus on doing good things.

A calm analysis would reveal that Liu Biao was simply unable to supply Luoyang's food needs in the long term, let alone dispatch more than 10,000 soldiers to assist in its defense.

As for Liu Biao sending troops to welcome the emperor and the court to Jingzhou, perhaps some people in Jingzhou were happy and eager to do so.

But what did Liu Biao want?
Zhao Rui remained silent. If Zhao Yan didn't let him go, could he still seize the queen by force?

Originally there might have been some hope of success, but after the emperor's guards fled one after another, and Zhao Ji quickly defeated the Huns and incorporated various tribes, the palace guards who stayed in Anyi also became shaken.

They were originally from Hedong, and Hedong was already stable. Why should they leave their relatives and friends and wander around with the impoverished court?

The people of Hedong, especially those of Anyi, had already seen through the imperial court's tactics over the past six months.

Not to mention Zhao Yan, Zhao Ji in the north disagrees. Even if the Henei soldiers arrive, would they dare to fight with Zhao Ji?

Zhao Yan is now full of confidence, not only because Zhao Ji has demonstrated outstanding military talent, but also because the joint forces of Li Jue and Guo Si in Guanzhong have not yet broken through the Su family fort.

It was only Duan Wei who handed over the hostages to Li Jue, otherwise if Duan Wei raised an army to support him, Li Jue would be in danger.

Given the brutality displayed by Li Jue and Guo Si, and the harsh environment in Guanzhong, once the fort fell, almost all the men would be slaughtered by the rebels, and women and children would not be spared either.

Even if Li Jue suddenly had a change of heart and let the people in the fort go, what would these people eat in Guanzhong now?
Therefore, the defense of Su's Fort was very tenacious, and the defenders were determined to die... Li Jue and Guo Si were unable to fight.

The people below also live to eat. They can only eat if they are alive. This truth does not need to be debated.

The Su's Fort became the turning point of the rise and fall of the power of Li Jue and Guo Si. If they could not take it, the prestige of Li and Guo would be greatly damaged, and the small warlords under them would become indecisive.

Then if we resume production in Hedong and incite some people to rebel, we can easily wipe out Li Jue and Guo Si!
So objectively speaking, there was no need for the court to move eastward, and returning to Chang'an was better than anything else.

Zhao Rui couldn't convince Zhao Yan, nor could he decide anything.

You can only enter the city and pay homage to the queen in the palace.

Queen Fu Shou sat in the main seat. After a period of rest, she finally recovered her complexion and her face became rounder.

She flipped through her father's handwritten letter and was filled with emotion: "I never thought that Minister Zhao was so skillful in the use of troops and so lenient in his policies and caring for the people."

Perhaps worried that the letter would be intercepted by Zhao Ji, Fu Wan praised Zhao Ji highly in the letter.

She had only met Zhao Ji once, and she hid at the side door of the dormitory to see Zhao Ji's back.

Concubine Dong and Concubine Zhao sat on either side of her. Fu Shou said, "Since Lord Yuanming thinks the timing is not right, let's discuss it again. Although I don't understand military affairs, I know the difficulty of transporting grain over a thousand miles. If Cao Cao sends his troops to cut off the Jingyu Road, it means that Luodu is indeed dangerous."

Zhao Rui sat at the bottom and smiled bitterly, "I am afraid that after Liu Biao transports grain to Luodu, Lord Yuan Ming will say that this is Cao Cao's deliberate indulgence, intending to lure the court to move to Luodu."

"Not to mention Lord Yuan Ming, even I would have such doubts."

Fu Shou has a calm demeanor. She is from Langya and a part of Xuzhou, so she can empathize with the sufferings endured by the people of Xuzhou.

Fu Shou turned to look at Concubine Dong. "Although I am in the palace, I have also learned about the situation in the world. Wan's mouth is controlled by Cao Cao. In a moment's thought, he can cut off the military supplies of Jingzhou. This is extremely disadvantageous for the court."

She was also very dissatisfied with Dong Cheng. After fighting with Dong Zhuo for so many years, didn't he know the importance of food?
Look at Zhao Ji, who lived alone in Jishan. After entering the officialdom, he killed bandits like cutting grass, and was eager to resume production as soon as he achieved a military victory. This mentality of self-reliance and preparing for the future was beyond description for Fu Shou.

If Dong Cheng had not built any palace, but instead persuaded and encouraged the people in the mountains around Luoyang to go down the mountain and farm.

With the agricultural foundation of the three rivers in Luoyang, we can achieve food self-sufficiency this year!
As far as food is concerned, it was Dong Cheng's short-sightedness and stupidity that cut off the court's only hope of self-sufficiency!

Under her gaze, Concubine Dong lowered her head, looking ashamed, angry and resentful, but she could only restrain herself.

Not to mention the Queen, she can't even afford to offend Concubine Zhao now.

When they were down and out, Concubine Zhao and Lady Song were no different from maids, but now they have risen to prominence.

Zhao Ji's sister would come to the palace from time to time and bring many gifts to Concubine Zhao.

The remaining palace maids were also very realistic and naturally revolved around Concubine Zhao.

Later, Fu Shou also wrote a letter and entrusted Zhao Rui to deliver it to Fu Wan, in which she clearly opposed leaving Hedong.

For now, she doesn't see any obvious disadvantages in staying in Hedong.

But if she left Hedong, there would be too many bad things that even she could be sure of. These were bad things that were almost destined to happen, and there were many uncertain risks.

The emperor is only fifteen years old, there is really no need to rush out to negotiate with various parties in Guandong.

The emperor needs time to grow, and wise men from all sides will gradually enter the court.

As time goes by, the emperor's wings will only become fuller and stronger.

If Zhao Ji can fight, then let Zhao Ji fight. After all, the Zhao family’s foundation is shallow, how bad can they be?
No matter how bad the situation is, how bad can it be for her, the emperor, and the Fu family?
So, Zhao Rui had no choice but to go north with the queen's handwritten letter.

Even though the queen does not have any actual influence at present, she is three years older than the emperor after all. During this period of living together, she has developed the qualities of being strong and courageous to express her opinions.

She also hated the old ministers. It was their incompetence and lack of moral integrity that made everything so bad.

In her opinion, the eastward migration plan proposed by the former nobles was also full of hidden dangers.

When the court loses its freedom, what will be left?
The three-province system proposed by Zhao Ji was essentially a system of government by all ministers, rather than a dictatorship by a powerful minister, which did not do any harm to the emperor.

Zhao Yan will eventually die of old age, and Zhao Ji will naturally give up some of his power.

If you stay in Hedong, everything will probably get better.

Unfortunately, she was only the queen, not the empress dowager.

Her opinion is not that important and is not decisive.

(End of this chapter)