Tiger Guards

Chapter 207 Use all possible means
Anyi, Shaoliang Palace.

As usual, Zhao Yan came to the Ministry of Personnel to discuss politics, leaning on a rattan cane.

Shizhong Liu Ai and Tai Chong greeted him at the door. During this period, most of the court's decrees came from here.

Only important appointments involving the rank of Two Thousand Stone will go through the same process as the court in Taiyuan Zhongdu.

Inside the Palace Attendant's Chamber, Zhao Yan took his seat and removed his heavy Diao Chan crown, handing it to a palace attendant. He then said, "Taiyuan has been conquered, and the clan traitors have been executed. Your Majesty will be returning soon. Now, Yuan Si is proposing that Your Majesty personally lead an expedition against the traitorous Gao Gan. What are your thoughts?"

Attacking high-ranking officials is not the goal, but just a means.

Zhao Ji's memorial has been submitted, requesting the emperor to personally lead an expedition against the traitor Gao Gan... As long as the battle goes smoothly, he can also take advantage of the situation to attack the traitor Yuan Shao.

Of course, for such a major battle, various preparations must be made.

As long as there is no war, there is room for mediation between the two sides.

But does Yuan Shao have room to retreat now?
Even though Cao Cao continued to fight after defeating Lu Bu and won every battle... as long as he failed or encountered obstacles in a battle, Yanzhou would fall into chaos again.

Yuan Shao was in a similar situation. He frightened Gongsun Zan, but Gongsun Zan was just demoralized, not dead.

If Gongsun Zan regains his strength, Yuan Shao will be furious.

After Liu Yu died, a series of people died, such as Liu He and Ju Yi.

Before Liu Yu died, Yuan Shao's military advisor Lu Zhi also died four years ago.

In particular, General Ju Yi, who had an affair with the imperial envoy last year and was immediately executed after his tracks were exposed, is now in a strange state for the various armies in Hebei.

While he respected Yuan Shao, he also had some resistance to him.

Therefore, when the emperor led his army to attack Gao Gan, Yuan Shao would be very conflicted.

That is, he could not admit his mistakes and surrender to the court, nor did he trust other generals to lead the troops. If he led the troops to fight personally, he would be confirmed as a traitor.

It’s not that Zhao Ji was so smart, but that he was cruel. He didn’t regard the emperor as the supreme being in the world who could not be offended.

With the emperor leading the army in person, anyone who fought against Zhao Ji would be in a very passive position.

Except for warlords like Li Jue and Guo Si who had previously held the emperor hostage, they and their troops no longer had any respect for the emperor.

It was different in Guandong. Whether it was Yuan Shao or Cao Cao, they all claimed that they wanted to support the country and assist the Han Dynasty.

When the emperor leads his troops in person, he can naturally trigger the opposition within the enemy.

The unification of a region is inevitably accompanied by killing and severe deprivation and redistribution of interests.

Yuan Shao integrated Jizhou, and all the conflicts accumulated in Jizhou over the years would come back to haunt Yuan Shao; the same thing happened to Cao Cao, all the conflicts in Yanzhou and Yuzhou would come back to haunt Cao Cao.

When Zhao Yan proposed this, he pushed Zhao Ji's memorial to Liu Ai and the others to read. Liu Ai, on the other hand, opted for a safer path: "Lord Yuan Ming, the Jingxing Road is difficult and dangerous, and the rebels are defending it. If the advance is unsuccessful, the newly established prestige of the court will be completely destroyed."

Tai Chong noticed Zhao Yan's gaze and immediately said, "Lord Yuan Ming, we are attacking Gao Gan in Shangdang. The two armies are locked in a stalemate in the mountains. This year's extreme heat and drought are not conducive to a large-scale battle, and we are also facing difficulties in transporting food and fodder."

"You two are saying that you are not optimistic about this battle?"

Zhao Yan looked at Liu Ai without a smile and said, "Zifang, if the newly established power of the imperial court cannot deter traitors and rebels, then it is better not to have this power."

He then turned to Tai Chong and said, "During the Battle of Changping, Qin and Zhao were each part of a separate nation, so they were able to hold each other out for a long time. Now Yuan Si is following the emperor to fight against the traitors, which is like the upper class attacking the lower class. Hebei has its own righteous men, so why would there be such a fierce battle?"

Liu Ai and Tai Chong lowered their heads and said nothing. They also knew that this was Zhao Ji's way of rescuing Zang Hong.

But Zang Hong was a dead end. If Zang Hong was willing to break out, the Yuan army surrounding him would have given up long ago.

Because Zang Hong abandoned the city and fled, he let down the expectations of the men and women in the city and his reputation was shattered. Even if he was alive, it would be the same as being dead, and he would not have any impact on Yuan Shao.

So it is not difficult for Zang Hong to survive, but the difficult part is to live as a loyal and righteous person.

If Zhao Ji had not almost eradicated the Taiyuan clan thieves, Zhao Yan would not have promised Chen Rong anything.

Now I can really free my hands to slap Yuan Shao in the face.

It is difficult to attack Yuan Shao across the Taihang Mountains, but it is no problem to attack high-ranking officials.

This is a combination of punches, and attacking high-ranking officials is just the beginning.

Whether it was Liu Ai or Tai Chong, they were only the emperor's attendants and advisers before. Although they could participate in court discussions, it was the ministers who really made decisions for the court.

Therefore, the two of them lacked sufficient confidence. Simply put, they were not mentally prepared to completely turn against Yuan Shao.

The court's blow had stripped Yuan Shao of his Han guise, prompting him to seek a new way to hide his past. He would likely re-establish the court and support Prince Pingyuan as emperor. With no other options left, Yuan Shao dared to act, resulting in a mutually destructive outcome for both him and the court.

Otherwise, he would be very uncomfortable being constrained by the name, tied up and beaten repeatedly by Zhao Ji.

How can it be that easy to change the skin?
It is possible that it will die suddenly halfway through the change.

When supporting King Pingyuan as the emperor, will the people of Hebei listen to King Pingyuan or to you, Yuan Shao?

This King Pingyuan was the younger brother of Emperor Huan. Since he was enthroned, he had been addicted to wine and women and was famous for having many children.

Children and in-laws alone are an immeasurable force.

It is easy to support King Pingyuan as the emperor, but it is difficult to control the new emperor.

Why would the nobles and powerful people in Hebei follow you, Yuan Shao, when they have the ready-made Emperor Liu?

Even if there was a risk that Yuan Shao would die suddenly if he supported the new dynasty, Liu Ai and Tai Chong did not want to take that risk.

Even Yuan Shao, who was far away, was afraid, and Zhao Yan in front of them had already expressed his position, so the two of them could only remain silent and agree.

After signing, the inexplicable pressure was relieved a lot, and Liu Ai asked: "Yuan Ming Gong, if we can rescue Zang Ziyuan, how should we arrange his resettlement?"

"Since Yuan Shao can take a step back, why not take another step back?"

While Zhao Yan was speaking, he found a memorial jointly submitted by Zhao Qi and Liu Biao on the table and handed it to Liu Ai.

Anyway, no matter what conditions Yuan Shao gives, lifting the siege of Dongjun is a necessary step.

If the imperial court rescued the men and women of Dongwuyang City, Dongjun would become the imperial court's tentacles in Yanzhou, making it easier to mobilize other counties and prefectures to undermine Cao Cao's power.

When Liu Ai picked up the memorial and saw the signatures of Zhao Qi and Liu Biao, he knew the content.

This is a joint memorial submitted by Zhao Qi and Liu Biao recommending Sun Song, a famous scholar from Beihai, as the governor of Qingzhou.

During the Party Persecution, Zhao Qi fled to Beihai, changed his name, and made a living by selling wheat cakes.

Sun Song discovered Zhao Qi and brought him home, slaughtered a cow to entertain him, and hid him in the wall of his manor, where he lived for several years.

After the Party Persecution ended, Sun Song became famous in Guandong and, with the help of Zhao Qi, he entered the government and served as the governor of Yuzhou.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary people. Only someone like Sun Song, who had an old relationship with Cao Cao, could succeed Kong Rong as the governor of Qingzhou and lead his fellow villagers in Qingzhou to expel Yuan Tan.

Zhao Qi was already over eighty years old, but he was still traveling around Guandong. Even though he had not received any important official position, his influence was no less than that of the Three Dukes.

Just like Ma Riti and Yang Qi, even though Zhao Ji removed Yang Qi from his position as Shizhong, no one thought it was inappropriate for Yang Qi to mingle among the nobles.

When dealing with Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, you cannot hold back and must use all your tricks at once.

It is true that Zang Hong is a good card, but stripping Gao Gan and Yuan Tan of their false appearance as governors is more meaningful.

Yuan Shao couldn't even keep his nephew and son as provincial governors, so the positions of prefects and county magistrates he appointed naturally became less attractive.

Liu Ai pushed the memorial in his hand to Tai Chong and asked, "Is this really necessary?"

Zhao Yan looked Liu Ai in the eyes. "If we don't do this, will Yuan Shao and his son still be grateful to you and me? Now that the imperial court is under Luodu, we should act like an imperial court. The counties of Hedong and Taiyuan will certainly support us wholeheartedly. If we continue to retreat and allow the likes of Yuan and Cao to persecute loyal and righteous people, it will only chill the hearts of the people."

"Mr. Yuan Ming is right. I am grateful for your advice."

Liu Ai saluted solemnly. When the heroes were fighting against Dong Zhuo, Liu Ai was the chief secretary of Dong Zhuo's prime minister's office.

I've seen many big scenes, but I really can't figure out Zhao Yan's bottom line.

Zhao Yan could make concessions to the court, but these concessions were limited and could not endanger Zhao Ji's safety.

The difficulty lies in how to define Zhao Ji's safety and who should define it.

After thoroughly understanding this difficulty, the court felt more confident after returning to Luoyang.

The imperial army was completely destroyed, and even the armies of Dong Cheng and Zhang Yang were unreliable.

After returning to Luodu, he had to find a way to recruit loyal and righteous people from Henan Yin and all over the world to rebuild the royal army.

Otherwise, it will be difficult to truly cleanse the world by using the opponent's strength against him.

(End of this chapter)