Tiger Guards

Chapter 244 Burning the bridge across the river
The next morning, a Tiger Infantry force of a hundred men was transferred to Tunliu and surrounded the residences of the dukes and ministers.

When Yang Qi heard this, he was about to go out to argue, but he saw Yang Biao return first and said to him, "Brother, there's no need to go."

"Why?"

"The man who came is the stable sergeant."

Yang Biao's face looked very bad. As soon as he opened his mouth to call the stable keeper, Yang Qi's face also twisted.

This sergeant was none other than the clerk who was in charge of guarding the five of them and cleaning the stables.

They usually joked with each other, and the other party was in charge of the five of them, so he called himself the squad leader.

Others might give them some face, but this stable sergeant would never give in.

Yang Qi asked again: "Are the rumors true?"

"That should be true. How could Kong Wenju be the kind of person who stirs up trouble out of nothing?"

As Yang Biao answered, he extended his arm in invitation, and Yang Qi followed him, becoming his companion. Yang Biao then said, "The battle between Yan and Yu has just begun, and the outcome is uncertain. I'm afraid the Marquis of Zhao also intends to cease hostilities with Yuan Shao, but I'm afraid Yuan Shao is plotting against him. If we want a truce, we must cut off the eyes, ears, and mouths of Yuan Shao's court."

Yang Qi frowned, feeling extremely worried: "So, Zhang Jijia is unlikely to escape unscathed?"

In terms of seniority, Zhang Xi's elder brother, Sikong Zhang Ji, was of the same rank as Liu Kuan and Yang Ci.

Although there was a strong competitive relationship with Zhang Xi, if there had not been this chaos that affected the whole world, Zhang Xi would most likely have become an important branch of the Yuan family and a powerful arm of the court to suppress Guanxi.

But the world is in chaos, and the past regional competition has been broken.

Zhang Xi was an important minister who made great contributions to the emperor's eastward migration. If he was executed simply for having an affair with the traitor Yuan Shao... Yang Qi felt that this charge was too ridiculous.

If Zhang Xi can be executed on this charge today, he or other ministers can be executed another day.

Between Ru and Ying, there are fewer and fewer senior scholar leaders of the older generation left. Currently, the only ones who are as famous as Zhang Xi are Chen Ji and Chen Yuanfang from Yingchuan, and Xu Jing and Xu Wenxiu from Runan.

There was originally another Xu Shao, who followed Liu Yao in his defeat in Jiangdong last year and retreated to Yuzhang.

Not long after staying in Yuzhang, Xu Shao fell ill and died at the age of 46.

For an ordinary farmer, herdsman, or servant, living to forty-six is considered a long life; for a warrior or soldier, let alone forty-six, even living to thirty-six is considered a lifespan of having survived a hundred battles.

For people like Xu Shao, 46 is the golden time for his influence to continue to spread.

In principle, it is not unacceptable for Zhang Xi to be executed by Zhao Ji.

It was the scholars of Ruying who started this chaos that affected the whole world. Now Lu Bu and King Chen are going to conquer Ruying.

Ruying is connected to Wanluo, and when the imperial court returns to Luoyang, the people of Ruying will immediately become active.

The Later Han Dynasty established its capital in Luoyang because it was too close to the Central Plains. The three counties of Ruying, Chenliu and others were close to Luodu, and the economy and culture were prosperous, especially in terms of public opinion, where it was far ahead.

How they infiltrated and took control of the imperial court step by step can be repeated now.

But if Zhao Ji forced Zhang Xi to death, the Ruying people would be slow to react, lose coordination, and lack the support of heavyweight officials at the level of ministers after entering the court.

Although Zhang Xi being forced to death would cause dissatisfaction among the people of Ruying...but what they were dissatisfied with was the tyrannical Zhao Ji, what did it have to do with other officials?
It’s not that Yang Qi didn’t help, it’s just that the Ruying people’s history of suppressing the Xizhou scholars was too bad.

The smaller scholars in Xizhou did not feel this kind of suppression, and these scholars did not even have the qualifications to come to power.

Only those from families with a family history of two thousand stones can feel this kind of oppression.

The positions of officials and nobles change frequently, but no matter how frequently they change, it is still the Guandong surnames who take turns to gain official positions and achievements. What does it have to do with the scholars in Xizhou?
Yuan Shao’s elder brother, Yuan Ji, was appointed as the Grand Coachman at the age of 36 and was ranked among the Nine Ministers... Who in a normal family can compare with such a thing?

Fortunately, Dong Zhuo was powerful enough and decisively wiped out the Yuan family members who moved to Chang'an.

Before moving the capital to Chang'an, Dong Zhuo did not have the confidence to take action.

At that time, Yuan Ji had already established his own faction. After Dong Zhuo killed Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji, he was worried that Yuan's former officials would steal the bodies... so he buried the bodies in Meiwu.

While Yang Qi and Yang Biao were talking, Sikong Zhangxi had already finished bathing.

Wearing a brand new robe, he knelt in front of the table, rolled up his sleeves and wrote a memorial of apology and resignation. After finishing the memorial, he wrote a suicide note to his children at home.

Since the emperor has sent Kong Rong, Zhang Xi should be more sensible.

This is not a question of whether to protect Zhang Xi or not, there is really no way to protect him.

If he had not died, Zhao Ji would not have made peace with Yuan Shao; only if he died, and the Yuan family temporarily cut off their reliable contact with the ministers in the court, could Zhao Ji withdraw his troops with peace of mind, and the court could move to Luodu with peace of mind.

Otherwise, he was alive and kept in close contact with Yuan Shao.

Not to mention Zhao Ji, everyone in the court was also worried.

If the conditions were right, Yuan Shao would also be able to accept this kind of thing.

As long as Zhang Xi was alive, the people of Ruying would have a senior figure they couldn't avoid, and many would feel uncomfortable. Yuan Shao had always been a big boss, so how could he be inferior to Zhang Xi?
But Zhang Xi was still alive, and Yuan Shao had to bow his head in private... If he didn't even respect an elder from the same county like Zhang Xi, how could he expect other followers to respect and obey him?

This was not just Yuan Shao's problem. The Ruying people around him found it difficult to straighten their backs when facing Zhang Xi.

On the other hand, as long as Zhang Xi was alive, the court would send Zhang Xi to lobby Yuan Shao for any needs. Yuan Shao could refuse, and his subordinates would also lobby Yuan Shao out of necessity, making many seemingly impossible things turn around.

In short, Zhang Xi's background determined that he could not enter Henan alive.

And Zhang Xi had never been responsible for any specific matters before, and had never done anything, so he would not do anything wrong, and it would be difficult for Zhao Ji to catch him.

There was a great opportunity right in front of them. The emperor, ministers and officials were eager to return to Luodu. Sacrificing Zhang Xi, who would be difficult to control in the future, was not particularly unacceptable to them.

After all, Zhang Xi was a nobleman who participated in the eastward migration. Although he did not expect that he would fall at the last step of crossing the river, he was already very lucky compared to those nobles and officials who died in battle in the mountains and had no one to collect their bodies, or whose bodies were torn into two.

In the joyful atmosphere of conquering Huguan and capturing Gao Gan alive, Zhang Xi wanted to commit suicide by swallowing gold, but the process was really torturous.

His subordinates did not dare to intervene in the death, and they were so anxious that they could only watch.

Kong Rong could vaguely hear Zhang Xi's wailing, and guessed that Zhang Xi just wanted to drink the sword at this moment, and was probably in unbearable pain and unable to move.

There was really no other way, Kong Rong could only go to find the leader of the Tiger Infantry who had blocked the building.

The man was also distressed by what he heard, so he said, "Since Mr. Zhang is dead, I will send someone to tidy up his appearance."

He lied with his eyes open, but even the subordinates of Kong Rong and Zhang Xi could not deny it.

I can only accept the result that 'Zhang Xi died by swallowing gold'. I watched as the other side selected a few soldiers to enter. Soon these people cooperated with each other and strangled Zhang Xi to death.

The body was intact, without any blood, and he had not been beaten or insulted during his lifetime... The only bad thing was that the process of swallowing the gold was a bit painful. Relatively speaking, Zhang Xi was luckier than most officials.

He didn't die on the battlefield, and his family wasn't implicated.

Kong Rong also went in to say goodbye to Zhang Xi's remains. He saw obvious signs of a struggle in the room, which was very embarrassing.

He felt that after returning to Luodu, he should send people to resume reliable poison production.

Poison that has no strong smell and can cause rapid death after swallowing is itself an expensive luxury.

For the nobles, leaving calmly, dignifiedly and without pain is a privilege.

The news of Zhang Xi's death soon reached Zhao Ji, but Zhao Ji did not feel any sense of accomplishment.

Getting rid of Zhang Xi was just to prevent the Ruying people from quickly taking control of the court.

Now that Zhang Xi is dead, Zhao Wen must be heartbroken.

With Zhao Wen as his agent, many things become easier to handle.

This is not a matter of whether Zhao Wen is happy or not. Since I have chosen Zhao Wen, Zhao Wen will only accept it with pleasure.

From the beginning to the end, the emperor did not participate in the whole process, and Kong Rong was involved in the whole process. The living ministers such as Zhao Wen would probably be very disappointed.

But it doesn’t matter. After we part ways, it’s still unclear whether we can see each other again in the future.

As Zhang Xi apologized, resigned from office and committed suicide, Zhao Ji also began to negotiate with Yuan Shao on a ceasefire in Shangdang.

It's time to test the friendship between Yuan Shao and Chunyu Qiong.

Zhao Ji not only asked Chunyu Qiong and his generals to lead their troops to assist Zhang Yang in escorting the imperial court back to Luodu, but also asked Yuan Shao to lead the families of generals with more than 500 men to send them to Luodu.

Without Chunyu Qiong's family members in his hands, would Chunyu Qiong continue to be loyal to Yuan Shao?
This was obviously a difficult choice, and Zhao Ji was not afraid of Yuan Shao's rejection.

Zhang Xi was already dead, but he was willing to continue fighting against Yuan Shao.

The longer he fights, the more he gets from Zhang Yan. It's a process of gaining while losing.

By the time Gongsun Zan moved south, the issue would no longer be whether to cease fire or not, but how to deal with Yuan Shao's legacy.

I used Zhang Xi's life to exchange for the families of the generals in Hebei for the imperial court. I am sure the emperor and the ministers will thank me.

The court returned to Luodu with the royal army, which was what a court should be like.

Otherwise, if you go there with Lu Bu, you listen to Lu Bu, and if you go there with Cao Cao, you listen to Cao Cao. What kind of talk is this?

Since he was going to get rid of it anyway, Zhao Ji was happy to rearm the court.

How can you let others do what you have done?
In this way, Zhang Xi's death was worth it.

The resentment of the ministers was quickly suppressed, and they waited quietly for the final negotiation results.

(End of this chapter)