Tiger Guards

Chapter 212 Seeking common ground while reserving differences
Under the grape vine trellis, Jia Xu and the other three sat upright.

Everyone has their own interests to pursue, but there is one thing they all share in common, which is that they have suffered from oppression in Kanto for a long time.

Zhao Ji put down the sweet wheat and said, "Since the conflict between the two Yuans, the situation in Guandong has become one of Yuan and Cao, and a split between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao is imminent. The court is still trying to win over loyal officials to suppress the treacherous officials. Now that the treacherous officials have been defeated, the loyal officials on all sides will be strong and powerful. Who would dare to abandon their troops and join the court?"

Jia Xu said nothing, and the other three did not refute him either.

Deepening cooperation requires a major premise. Zhao Ji continued, "So, in my opinion, the Han Dynasty can no longer be revived. Emperor Gaozu was able to succeed because he was gifted with great talents by heaven, and the heroes of the world were unable to resist him. This is why he quickly unified the country and restored peace to the people. Later, Emperor Guangwu was able to achieve success largely because he was surnamed Liu. I can understand Guangwu's methods, but I cannot understand Gaozu's. Today, there are few who can match Guangwu, and even fewer who can resemble Gaozu. How can the Han Dynasty be revived for the third time?"

These words made Zhang Chang feel a little uncomfortable. His family gave up the influence of military merits and moved their hometown from Dunhuang to Hongnong, becoming a registered resident of Sizhou.

The whole family also worked hard to learn, and their family traditions changed drastically, becoming an orthodox family of high rank.

If the Han Dynasty could not be revived, Zhang Huanchuang's reputation would be greatly reduced.

Zhang Chang thought for a moment and said, "I believe the emperor is a wise and intelligent man. Given time, he will be the ruler of a great revival."

Hearing this, Zhao Ji looked at the other three. Zhang Heng was indifferent, Jia Xu looked calm, but Li Ying glanced at Zhang Chang as if he had other ideas.

Zhao Ji smiled. "The Emperor is indeed wise and virtuous, but in terms of pure intelligence, the Emperor surpasses me. Wise people tend to seek advantage and avoid disadvantage. Even if they can be unyielding, they are bound to retreat when faced with a life-or-death situation. If the Emperor had the courage to bravely sacrifice his life for the country, the situation in Hedong would not have reached this point."

Before the Hu Ben Army came to the rescue, did the imperial court really not know that the local tyrants in Hedong were powerful and wealthy?

He certainly knew that, but the emperor and important ministers would not starve; he just didn't expect that the Hedong clan bandits were strong on the outside but weak on the inside, and also extremely wealthy.

After eating up the Hedong clan bandits, they were frightened by the Xiongnu people instigated by the Taiyuan people; they didn't expect that the Taiyuan people were the infinitely strengthened Hedong clan bandits, richer and more naive.

If the emperor had been determined to fight to the death from the beginning to deal with the Hedong clan bandits, he would have knocked them down with a single blow.

But this guy really values his life. As long as he dares to fight to the death, the Baibo Army and the Black Mountain Army will naturally be willing to serve him.

Zhao Ji looked at Zhang Chang and said, "You don't have to use such empty words to pressure me. Most of the ministers who were truly loyal to the emperor perished during the eastward migration. Among us, who is a loyal and brave minister of the Han Dynasty?"

Zhang Chang was somewhat embarrassed. He and his deceased brother Zhang Zhi mainly studied cursive script... The calligraphy of the time was mainly done by people from Guanlong, and they could not compete with people from Guandong in interpreting the annotations of scriptures, so they could only study calligraphy.

Therefore, people who study calligraphy spend more time on refining techniques, but their minds are not immersed in the meaning of the scriptures.

People in Guandong believe that I annotate the Six Classics and the Six Classics annotate me. If one wants to annotate the Six Classics, one must read the classics of hundreds of schools of thought, learn from their strengths, and use them for one's own benefit.

When you borrow famous quotes from various annotations to explain the Six Classics in your eyes, you have already been polluted by the Six Classics written by various scholars.

Therefore, no matter how well Zhang Chang studied cursive script, his military sense was still sharp. He realized the danger of moving eastward and hid at home early and did not join in the fun.

If your status and position are not high enough, even if you try to get close to them, the soldiers won't dare to attack you, but all the generals in Guanzhong will dare to attack you.

No matter how bad Jia Xu's past was, he still followed the emperor through the most difficult part of the eastward migration.

As for Zhang Chang, he sensed the risk and did not get involved from the beginning.

How can such a person have the qualifications to speak loudly at this moment?

Zhang Heng was a fellow villager of Jia Xu. When Jia Xu came to Hedong, Liang Xing followed him and left Zhang Heng in charge of the army.

If we peel off Zhang Heng's skin, this guy must have led the army to participate in the eastward migration.

He was just one of the group that was chasing them, and only Zhang Heng himself knew whether he actually participated in the battle.

Li Ying is even simpler. He is Li Jue's cousin. If his identity is exposed, many people in the court will be eager to kill Li Ying to vent their anger.

In such a situation, who would dare to say that he is a pure and loyal minister of the Han Dynasty?

After Zhao Ji asked back, Zhang Chang stopped talking and tacitly agreed with Zhao Ji's evaluation of everyone.

Jia Xu coughed dryly twice and said, "The locust control efforts in Hedong and Taiyuan are all thanks to the efforts of the Marquis of Zhao. The Three Prefectures are in even greater trouble. If we can get Duan Zhongming's help, Guanzhong can be easily conquered."

Not only Duan Wei was in the military settlement, but others also wanted the settlement to be self-sufficient.

However, in this locust plague, Duan Wei suffered relatively little damage, while the others were basically wiped out.

The army will further disintegrate, and Li Jue and Guo Si will lose their last appeal.

When they lose their appeal, they are no different from ordinary clan bandits and tyrants.

Jia Xu then turned to the other three and said, "I summoned you all here to discuss this matter. The imperial court also intends to return to Chang'an and have the Marquis of Zhao garrison Hedong and Taiyuan to resist Yuan Shao. They also want to use Duan Zhongming's power to kill Li Jue and Guo Si. If this is done, Guanlong will be completely pacified, and we will all be unable to escape."

Zhao Ji listened calmly, he didn't think Jia Xu was joking.

Never think of the court or the public as just one person. It is a complex collective. It is not just one person who makes decisions at the top. Everyone has his or her own development plan; there are even more people executing the decisions below, and they have all kinds of attitudes.

To describe it more specifically, the imperial court resembled a gigantic monster surrounded by thorny tentacles. Each of these thorns, driven by instinct, sought a target, piercing it and absorbing its flesh and blood, keeping some for itself and losing some to the collective.

These spiky tentacles will also fight with each other, just as Jia Xu said at this moment, it is Zhao Wen who wants to facilitate the court's return to Chang'an.

As long as the opportunity is right, the court will implement Zhao Wen's line; if it is not suitable, it will implement other lines.

The court is fickle, omnipresent, untrustworthy, and profit-driven. This is the true face of the court.

Under Jia Xu's gaze, Zhang Heng took the lead in expressing his opinion: "I will listen to Mr. Wenhe."

If Duan Wei dares not to cooperate, Zhang Heng will make trouble.

Zhang Chang immediately said, "I will advise Duan Zhongming to welcome the court back to Chang'an, otherwise it will cause endless trouble."

Li Ying also said, "If there were no obstacles, I could barely fight Duan Wei."

He was Zhao Wen's former official and knew very well that Zhao Wen had always had this plan.

If Zhao Wen's plan succeeded, few of Dong Zhuo's former subordinates would survive.

Times have changed. When Wang Yun was in power, if he pardoned them, he could preserve the vitality of the court. Now that everything has been lost, the court must return to Chang'an and continue to hunt down Dong Zhuo's former subordinates in order to win over the hearts of the people in Guanlong.

Li Ying was looking for a way out, so he went to see Zhao Ji and said, "Lord Zhao, what do you think?"

"The court can only go to Luodu."

Zhao Ji also looked at him and said: "I don't have the energy to manage the Three Prefectures for the time being. If you are willing to rest and recuperate, then we can still discuss it. If you are unwilling to give me anything and ask me for help when the Hu people invade, I will find it difficult to agree."

Li Ying bowed and said, "I am willing to use my sons and daughters as hostages. I will obey the orders of the Marquis of Zhao."

"I will definitely want hostages, and I also want the three auxiliary."

Zhao Ji looked up at Li Ying. "It's not that I intend to take advantage of someone's misfortune. I simply want to establish some rules. All the counties in the Three Prefectures must register their populations. I permit you to temporarily station there, but you are prohibited from arbitrarily annexing land or tribes. Once the treasury is full, you can become generals or garrison the border counties. If you want to become wealthy, that's fine too."

Li Ying was silent, and Zhang Heng was also silent. They both wanted to rely on Zhao Ji to get stable food and annex other people.

Jia Xu then spoke up, "This is a matter for the future. We might as well hand over hostages and conclude an alliance first. We can discuss it in detail a few years later when the situation changes. Right now, a coalition is mutually beneficial. We should first form an alliance and then discuss other matters."

Li Ying nodded and asked, "What do you think, Lord Zhao?"

"I have no objection to seeking common ground while reserving differences. We can discuss this later based on our strength."

Zhao Ji agreed. After all, he was the one taking the hostages, so there was nothing to worry about.

As for negotiating everything now, he didn't believe these people would have any lofty spirit of contract.

Jia Xu then said, "There is no great enmity between the east and west of the Yellow River. If something unexpected were to happen, the consequences would be unpredictable. There are two possible outcomes. One is that the court moves back to Chang'an, which the Marquis of Zhao and I will certainly prevent. The other is Han Sui and Ma Teng. Liang Province has suffered from disasters and is already impoverished. Furthermore, Li Jue and Guo Si are weak, so they will surely intend to station troops in Guanzhong."

Zhang Heng bowed to Zhao Ji and said, "I am willing to obey the orders of the Marquis of Zhao."

Li Ying also bowed: "I am willing too."

"In that case, I won't refuse."

Zhao Ji went to see Jia Xu and said: "If Han Sui and Ma Teng want to enter Guanzhong, we will force them to go to Heluo."

To put it bluntly, Ma Teng and Han Sui had no food to eat in Liangzhou, so they ran to Guanzhong to eat.

This group of people in Guanzhong have no food to eat. As long as I provide some food, I can force the Guanzhong army to drive away Ma Teng and Han Sui, and lure them to Luoyang, injecting new vitality into the Guandong Chicken Eating Competition!
The generals in Guanlong are now extremely weak.

But each of these people who are still alive despite being starving is an elite.

Thinking of Ma Teng and Han Sui's involvement in Guandong, Jia Xu couldn't help but smile: "Good."

Jia Xu also has his own set of ideas about good and evil. He doesn't like Han Sui or Ma Teng.

The damage these two people have done to Western State is unmatched by anyone else.

If it weren't for the fear that the Guanzhong armies would be forced into a desperate alliance with Han Sui and Ma Teng, this winter would be very suitable for clearing out Guanzhong.

The meeting ended like this. The hostages were not very important. The key was to reach a consensus on the matter of Han Sui and Ma Teng.

Eliminate this unexpected intervening force, and the two sides can slowly work out the remaining matters.

(End of this chapter)