Tiger Guards

Chapter 221: Division
Mobilizing tens of thousands of troops to fight was a world of difference in difficulty from the initial campaign against the Baibo bandits.

Since the various armies gathered in Jinyang and began training in late May, other areas have also been carrying out war preparations.

In addition to logistics planning and advance reserves, it is also necessary to recruit young men after the autumn harvest based on the re-census of the population to assist in the transportation of grain and fodder; and to select reserve troops to supplement the front line.

The investigation of Shangdang, Zhao, Changshan and Julu cannot be stopped. In addition to sending people to investigate, the main focus is to recruit people from the counties and states to come to the court. These people will naturally bring local intelligence, and can also serve as guides and develop internal support.

Relying on the power of these people will come at a price, and Zhao Ji doesn't want to pay this price.

Since he entered Jinyang, he has never left, but has maintained correspondence with Anyi and Zhongdu.

He expressed obvious resistance, but these former ministers seemed to miss him very much. They behaved very well and cooperated with all of Zhao Ji's instructions.

To the extent that Zhao Ji almost developed a sense of dependence and was reluctant to send the court back to Luodu.

One day, Zhao Ji received a strange letter from his good sister, Concubine Zhao.

This good sister, who had been a socialite and had only been recognized for a casual affair, suddenly sent a letter saying that Liu Xuan, the governor of Xihe County, had sent an envoy to pay tribute and sent a large amount of Xihe grapes to the Pingyang Palace. She wanted Zhao Ji to arrange a set of wine utensils to make wine.

It’s not a wine with a short brewing period like sweet rice wine. Zhao Ji thought about it and wrote a reply letter.

After a moment's thought, he summoned Zhuge Jin, a relatively insignificant clerk, and said, "Concubine Zhao wishes to brew wine. Ziyu, take my order and inspect the warehouses to find a set of fine wineware. Then come back to me and take my letter to escort the wineware to Pingyang."

Zhuge Jin was also puzzled. Part of the army was already preparing to march south, but he still bowed and said, "Yes."

As Zhao Ji spoke, he quickly wrote the order on a bamboo slip. This bamboo slip was wider, like a wooden tablet or a long bamboo board.

After watching Zhuge Jin leave, Zhao Ji flipped through other letters.

Before this, an order had been issued to recruit Zhuge Xuan, who was summoned to the court and appointed as a counselor.

Being a counselor is just the beginning. If Zhuge Xuan arrives sooner, Zhao Yan will have more room to maneuver and quickly push Zhuge Xuan to a high position.

Zhao Ji thought for a long time alone, burned the letter he had just written to Concubine Zhao, and wrote a new one.

He planned to detain... and invite the emperor to join him in conquering high-ranking officials; and the court officials who had gathered in the Zhongdu camp, which had expanded in size, followed Zhang Yang southward to pay homage to the Temple of Emperor Yao in Pingyang.

In this letter, he hoped that the empress could represent the imperial family and lead the ministers and officials to offer sacrifices to Emperor Yao.

Anyway, the goal is the same. There are two roads for the army to pass through when attacking Shangdang from Taiyuan.

One road is from Yuci, east of Jinyang, which connects to Jingxing to the east, and there is also a road heading south directly to the Shangdang Valley; the other starts from Qi County.

On the Hedong side, those who go through Beijiang and Yicheng via the Chenguan Pass will also pass through Gaodu County, the southernmost county of Shangdang County.

In other words, he had three options for attacking Shangdang.

Now there is a call that when attacking Shangdang, the emperor and the court should set out from Qi County, enter Shangdang, then go south, pass through Henei and return to Luodu.

It's not that he lacks food for the ministers and officials, Zhao Ji simply dislikes the unexpected events that might occur if the ministers follow the army.

If the emperor and the ministers were separated, they would be much more honest.

Having made up his mind, he no longer hesitated and immediately wrote letters to Zhang Yang and Zhang Yan.

When attacking the Shangdang, he never thought of using all his strength from the beginning to the end.

The main force remained in Jinyang as a ballast.

Unless Yuan Shao goes all out and prepares to fight a decisive battle with him in Shangdang, he will have to send more troops in an orderly manner and launch a defensive counterattack.

He didn't need to fight too hard with Yuan Shao. Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army would fight to the death with the Jizhou soldiers in order to fight back to their hometown; Gongsun Zan would not stay in the rear honestly.

The punitive order issued by the emperor and the imperial court...was only so intimidating to Yuan Shao and the people of Hebei.

If these people really fell for this, they would not become the main force in the fight against Dong Zhuo.

Zhao Ji had already prepared for a tough battle, but at the beginning he did not dare to attack with all his might.

In this calm, the war machine with Jinyang as its core began to operate.

That night, his official documents were delivered to the Zhongdu camp.

There is now a new Shaofu Kong Rong in the team of ministers, and he has just arrived.

Yang Qi smashed Zhao Ji's official documents onto the table and said angrily, "You arrogant boy, you disregard the safety of the court!"

Minister of Works Zhang Xi picked up the wooden tablet, glanced at it, and then handed it to Zhao Wen: "He has been training his troops in Jinyang for nearly fifty days, and Yuan Shao has refused to obey the imperial court's orders. It is only natural that the two sides would engage in battle."

The ministers circulated the text, and Yang Biao made a judgment: "This is definitely not what Zhao Yuanming intended."

If Zhao Ji wanted to cut ties with the imperial court, they would definitely be reluctant to do so.

It wasn't a question of food or no food. Jinyang not only had gathered over 30,000 elite infantry and cavalry, but also held the families of officials from various counties in Western Province and the Three Auxiliary Prefectures as hostages. Even if the imperial court returned to Luodu, it would no longer be able to command and control the counties in Western Province.

The hostages of the county officials were in Zhao Ji's hands, and they certainly did not dare to openly confront Zhao Ji.

During this period, under Zhao Ji's remote control, all parties are about to form a large network to besiege the Yuan-Cao alliance... With this grasp of people's hearts and the situation, they can also accept Zhao Ji as one of them.

But Zhao Ji stayed in Jinyang without moving, and did not allow the emperor and the ministers to leave the Zhongdu camp.

Both sides are expanding their teams, but there is no sign or opportunity for integration.

Compared with Zhao Yan and Zhao Ji, Liu Biao of Jingzhou really cannot be relied upon... unless the imperial court is strong enough.

However, after separating from Zhao Ji, the imperial court's deterrent power against Liu Biao of Jingzhou was greatly reduced.

Relying on Lu Bu alone is really not enough.

At this time, the silent Fu Wan spoke up: "If I write to Zhao Yuanming and plead for mercy, will there be any chance of a change?"

In the campaign against Gao Gan, the road conditions dictated that the attack would be carried out in three directions, converging at Huguan.

By that time, Zhao Ji, the emperor, and the court would gather at one point again. If Zhao Yan came forward to persuade them, perhaps they could still maintain a close relationship, allowing the court to take advantage of the power of the other side and continue to intimidate and suppress Liu Biao.

What the imperial court lacked was the manpower and material resources of Jingzhou, and the people of Jingzhou were willing to contribute these things in exchange for fame and official positions.

But Liu Biao stood in the middle, and he would definitely kill those under his rule to prevent this integration.

Otherwise, after the elites and powerful people in Jingzhou join forces with the imperial court, what role would Liu Biao have?

Fu Wan asked, and everyone fell into deep thought.

Yang Qi and Yang Biao looked at each other and both felt it was very difficult.

Even your daughter Fu Wan couldn't win over Zhao Ji, so what bargaining chips can the court offer now?
Originally there was still some possibility, but Fu Wan instigated Zhao Rui and Zhao Fan to urge and force the Queen and Fu De to go north to Taiyuan.

It would have been bad enough to just lose control of the treasury, but Zhao Ji and the people of Hedong were also left with such a heavy burden.

Not to mention Zhao Ji, everyone in Hedong was worried about being retaliated against by the imperial court afterwards.

It would have been fine if the queen arrived in Pingyang safely, but she didn't. This was the key reason why it was difficult to gain Zhao Ji's trust.

Kong Rong was puzzled and asked, "Could it be that Zhao Yuanming can't control his own grandson?"

Yang Biao, who had a close relationship with him, explained, "Zhao Yuanming doted on his grandson. This Zhao Yuansi was even more valiant and fierce than Yuan Gonglu back then, and he was deeply loved by the people of Hedong."

As for the people of Taiyuan, there is no need to go into details. The only people left in the county who were well-mannered were Wang Ze, Wen Hui, and Sun Zi.

Without the wealthy and powerful, the remaining people can share the summer and autumn harvests with the government on a 50-50 basis. Naturally, they respect and love Zhao Ji. Who would dare not love him?
Sima Fang also interrupted, saying to Kong Rong, "Wen Ju doesn't know that this Pingyang Zhao Hou is a man of great Hu influence and is greatly respected and loved by all the Xiongnu tribes. There are already rumors among the Xiongnu that he is called the Great Chanyu of Jinyang."

Kong Rong nodded slowly, but he didn't say anything bad.

His life... Although Yuan Tan would most likely not dare to kill him after breaking into the city, it is inevitable that the soldiers under him would make mistakes when carrying out the execution.

The reason he was able to enter the court alive was that Zhao Ji controlled all parties behind the scenes, arranged a way for him to survive, and also recruited him to enter the court.

After thinking about it, he suggested: "Why not report this to the emperor and ask him to mediate?"

Everyone looked at each other and felt that it was impossible. The emperor would not ask Zhao Ji for such a thing.

During this period, Zhao Ji remotely controlled the organizations of all parties to surround the big net, and the emperor watched the whole process and learned attentively.

The current emperor doesn't care about the more than 30,000 elite infantry and cavalry in Jinyang at all. He just wants to return to Luodu as soon as possible, and then take control of all parties and test the power of the emperor.

If everything goes well, the imperial court will enter Luoyang and be able to reunite with Lu Bu.

The role Zhao Ji plays now can be replaced by Lu Bu in the future.

Therefore, for the emperor, Luoyang, where he grew up, is more important.

But Lu Bu was different from Zhao Ji. The ministers had already figured out Zhao Ji's bottom line. Although Zhao Ji killed many people in Taiyuan and preached the law of heaven, what he practiced in essence was still benevolence to the world.

Lu Bu's background is actually the same as Dong Zhuo's.

When Zhao Ji launched a military remonstration, he only captured them, punished them, and played with them. If it were Dong Zhuo or Lu Bu, they would have really lost their heads.

Zhao Ji showed a higher level of tolerance, which the ministers experienced firsthand, although they disliked Zhao Ji very much.

But if they were in Zhao Ji's place, they would not do better than Zhao Ji.

So, they were a little afraid of Lu Bu.

(End of this chapter)