Tiger Guards

Chapter 256 Old Characters
The sky gradually brightened, and it was another sunny day.

While inspecting the camp, Zhao Ji met Liu Hui, who had met him halfway, and then they came to the mudflats on the south side of the camp.

Since Zhao Ji had been delaying the appointment of the prime ministers of Changshan and Zhongshan, he also did not serve as or appoint the governor of Jizhou.

Liu Hui had already determined Zhao Ji's combat intentions, which was really beyond Liu Hui's understanding.

Because common sense is that the winner takes all. Since Zhao Ji could defeat Yuan Shao, he could naturally become the governor of Jizhou.

But Zhao Ji was not interested in the position of Jizhou Mu, even though he had the opportunity to cooperate with Gongsun Zan to bring down Yuan Shao.

Gongsun Zan's killing of Liu Yu had a very bad impact. Liu Yu was the governor of Youzhou, not the governor of Youzhou.

Sun Jian had done such things as county magistrates and generals killing provincial governors, and it was no big deal.

But it was different for the governor of a state. In the minds of people at that time, it was normal for the head of a state to govern the people on behalf of the emperor and be regarded as a monarch.

Therefore, Gongsun Zan's killing of Liu Yu was a rebellion, tantamount to regicide; secondly, most of the Han and Hu generals in Youzhou had followed Xianyu Fu and Liu He to besiege Gongsun Zan.

Given Gongsun Zan's temper, how could the Han and Hu generals who participated in the siege dare to fully support Gongsun Zan?

In other words, Gongsun Zan had damaged his foundation and lost the possibility of rallying and uniting the Han and Hu leaders in Youzhou.

The better he performs in the next war, the greater the probability that Han Hu Haoshuai will use underhanded tactics; if his performance is mediocre, Han Hu Haoshuai will dare to openly rebel against him.

Gongsun Zan himself is also aware of this, so the situation in Youzhou will be very strange next.

Unless Youzhou experiences a bloodbath, the trust gap between the two sides will not disappear.

Therefore, Liu Hui concluded that Gongsun Zan used troops against Yuan Shao in winter just to demonstrate and regain the initiative in the war... It would be best to reach a certain degree of tacit understanding with Yuan Shao.

Since Liu Yu's death, there have not been many loyal ministers left in the land of Yan and Zhao.

Liu Hui understood Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao.

Although he did not like Zhao Ji's attitude and position, he could only save his life by following Zhao Ji into the court.

If he stayed in Zhongshan, there was a high possibility that a group of rebel soldiers would pass by and accidentally take his life.

Neither Yuan Shao nor Gongsun Zan would tolerate the emergence of new variables.

In terms of qualifications and reputation, Liu Hui is qualified to become the next Liu Yao.

With just an imperial edict, Liu Hui, along with some of his fellow villagers, could take over any state or county that was loyal to the court or neutral.

On the riverbank, Liu Hui watched the Hebei scouts emerge from the south bank and asked, "Given the Minister's talent and ability, why not leverage the power of the Black Mountain tribes and divide Jizhou into three parts with the Yuan and Gongsun clans?"

Zhao Ji rested his left hand on the hilt of his sword and squinted at Liu Hui. "Of the nine counties of Jizhou, how much can I get? There are only two counties, Changshan and Zhongshan, in the northwest. Zhao and Wei are neighbors to the south, and the important city of Handan is across from Yecheng. There's no way Yuan Shao would cede Zhao to me."

"I have no intention of distracting myself from managing Ji Province. The more I take, the more my forces will be dispersed, which will put me in danger of collapse. If Gongsun Zan takes Hejian and Bohai, his strength will increase rapidly, which will help him stabilize You Province."

"So when Jizhou was divided into three parts, I only saw the disadvantages for myself, while Gongsun Zan benefited for nothing."

Zhao Ji said nothing after that. He already understood what Liu Hui meant, which was to get the imperial court to intervene and have the imperial court appoint suitable candidates to take over Zhongshan and Changshan... Without stationing troops, they could even temporarily take over Zhao and Julu.

The county governor and the prime minister can be Yuan Shao’s men, and the court can also directly appoint the county magistrate and directly empty the money.

There are only about twenty regular county officials in a county, and even fewer, about a dozen county officials. There are more provincial officials in a state, about thirty or so.

Any conscription, collection of money and grain, and transfer were passed down one level at a time, and each county was responsible for its specific implementation.

The county magistrate acted according to the law, yet he dared to oppose the prefect.

Especially when backed by the imperial court or other military forces, the county magistrate on the imperial court's side naturally had the courage to refuse all kinds of chaotic orders.

Therefore, when Gongsun Zan was really brought in to negotiate the division of Jizhou into three parts, the one who actually came to the table was not Zhao Ji, but the imperial court.

Yuan Shao hated the imperial court, and Gongsun Zan also hated it... Expanding the imperial court's control area, although Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan felt uncomfortable in the near future, this discomfort would eventually affect themselves.

Seeing this, Liu Hui simply stopped trying to persuade them and asked, "Then, in your opinion, do the various Black Mountain armies have a chance of winning today?"

"What does this have to do with me?"

Zhao Ji countered, "If they win, they'll want to fight a decisive battle with Yuan Shao. But now that my soldiers have rested and I'm ready to withdraw, who among them will dare to stop me? And if we lose this battle, with me here, how can Yuan Shao dare to easily cross the river and pursue us?"

No matter how the battle goes, Zhao Ji must withdraw his troops on schedule. Who knows how long Lü Bu can hold out? Even though Yanyu is divided into three battlefields, the only real outcome is the confrontation between Cao Cao and Lü Bu.

Before receiving further orders from the court, King Chen would not use his troops outside the territory of Chen State; it would also be difficult for Chen Gong to quickly sweep away and incite the people of Runan to rebel.

The imperial edict that King Chen wanted was definitely not an order for him to attack Xun Yu or to send troops to assist in the battle.

If it is not the decree that King Chen wants, he will naturally not obey it.

What does King Chen want?
Of course, it was an imperial decree to expand the territory of the State of Chen. The emperor would allocate as many counties to the King of Chen as he wanted, and he would only use troops within these counties!

But would Liu Xie dare to issue such an order?

Which of the ministers accompanying the emperor dares to bear such public criticism?
Zhao Ji spoke with confidence, and no longer treated Yuan Shao's side as human beings.

There's nothing we can do about it, the cavalry is just so arrogant.

Before defeating Qian Zhao and Yuan Xi, the two men joined forces, and the size of their cavalry was larger than that of Zhang Yan and Zhao Ji himself.

After annihilating them, not counting Zhang Yan, the number of knights under Zhao Ji alone was greater than that of Yuan Shao.

Given the terrain in Zhending, it would be difficult for large forces of Yuan's army to cross the river and move in a roundabout way; and although small forces could be hidden, they could encounter Zhao Ji or Zhang Yan's cavalry and would basically find it difficult to resist.

So Zhao Ji was filled with a sense of relaxation and laziness at this moment.

Seeing this, Liu Hui stopped trying to persuade him, for fear of becoming enemies with Zhao Ji and suffering his harm.

He then asked, "What will happen if the Minister continues to fight Yuan Shao here for days?"

"What else can we do? The imperial court will send envoys to persuade us."

Zhao Ji was too lazy to respond to Liu Hui's probing and said, "No one understands the emperor and the ministers better than me. Yuan Shao hasn't sent envoys to the court to apologize, lobby, or bribe. These ministers will persuade the emperor to send envoys here to mediate the war. Sir, don't even think about trying to persuade me. I have my own ideas."

"Yes."

Liu Hui bowed and said no more. He just stood on the shore and looked downstream. The view of the battle was better here.

In just a moment, several Yuan army scouts who were investigating on the other side dismounted, took out powerful bows, and fired tentative shots at Zhao Ji and Liu Hui.

The farthest arrow flew across the river and landed on the mudflat about twenty steps away from the river.

Seeing this, Zhao Ji reached out to take the strong bow handed to him by the cavalry slave, picked up the long arrow, and shot two arrows in succession, knocking down two of the enemy's infantry scouts.

Before Zhao Ji could shoot the third arrow, the scouts on the opposite side quickly dodged behind the reeds.

Zhao Yun had already cut down the reeds near the north bank, which not only cleared the view but also provided materials for building a camp.

Liu Hui was not happy even though he watched Zhao Ji's archery skills up close.

Zhao Ji was too lazy to continue dealing with this person. He thought he could give some profound advice, but in the end he still used the same rhetoric and style as the ministers.

Huan Dian and Zhong Yao, who broke Liu Hui's legs, were more experienced and famous than Liu Hui.

This is how he treated the ministers, let alone Liu Hui.

If this person was really powerful, how could Yuan Shao tolerate him living until now?

After figuring this out, Zhao Ji no longer paid any attention to Liu Hui, mounted his horse, and returned to the camp alone.

A scout was already waiting inside the camp. Seeing Zhao Ji approaching on horseback, he stepped forward and handed over Zhang Yan's handwritten letter: "Sir, our general has already marched his troops. I request you to dispatch cavalry to patrol both banks."

"I will arrange for patrols on both sides of the strait. General Zhang, please do not worry about how to repel the enemy and kill the bandits."

After Zhao Ji responded, Han Shu immediately stepped forward and led the envoy from Zhang Yan down to eat.

Before Zhao Ji could do anything else, another scout from his own side entered the room and said, "Report! On the south bank of Gengxiang, Ju Su has sent more soldiers across the river!"

Zhao Ji was helpless. Ju Su had always been on guard and handled the transport ships with caution, and most of the ships were anchored on the south bank.

There is almost no possibility of robbing or burning the enemy's ships, so the enemy can calmly transfer Yuan's troops to the south bank to strengthen the defense of Gengxiang.

He was also thinking that Zhao Ji had no intention of getting involved in this battle anyway.

(End of this chapter)