Tiger Guards

Chapter 322 Utilization Value

The Xi Family Manor is located on the eastern outskirts of Xiangyang, beside the Xiang River.

Lou Gui was sent as an envoy of Lü Bu to Xiangyang.

He was no longer satisfied with recommending people from Nanyang and Jingnan to serve in the general's staff; he came here to win over scholars from Nanjun and Jiangxia.

He and his old friend Xi Shou rode in the same carriage, heading east from the manor, intending to take a boat to the sandbar to pay homage to Pang Degong.

When passing by Eagle Terrace, I saw Liu Biao and his son gathering scholars for a banquet on Eagle Terrace.

From a distance, the area around Yingtai was filled with flags, creating a joyful atmosphere.

Upon seeing this, Xi Shou exclaimed, "How delightful it is to see father and son like this!"

Lou Gui glanced sideways at Xi Shou upon hearing this, then turned back to look at him: "A true man living in this world should act according to his own will, why should he look at others?"

Xi Shou nodded slowly and asked, "The people of the state don't know the difference in rank between the Grand General and the Grand Marshal. What do you think, Zibo?"

"The Grand Marshal acted rashly, abandoning the emperor and the court. He returned to his hometown in wealth and honor, seemingly a hero, but in reality, he was just a dog guarding his home."

Lou Gui had no liking for Zhao Ji and continued, "Next year, when he leads the western expedition against the generals in Guanzhong, will Yuan Shao sit idly by? The Grand General supports the court and protects the emperor in the Central Plains, but with enemies on all sides, it will be difficult for him to come to the rescue. I predict that next year the Grand Marshal will be attacked from both sides, and the Xiongnu under his rule will not submit. In my opinion, it is difficult for this to last. His rise is swift, and his fall will be swift as well."

Xi Shou did not express his opinion, but asked, "What about the General?"

"The General personally killed Dong Zhuo, and his prestige shook the world. He was a man of divine martial prowess and decisive judgment, loyal to the country, and highly respected and admired by the people of Yan and Yu provinces."

Lou Gui said solemnly, "Now that the General has won a great victory over Cao Cao, he sits upright and looks around, and everyone near and far is in awe and awe."

What he said made sense. After several maneuvers, Jingzhou became Lü Bu's granary.

Xi Shou simply nodded, but said something else: "It's a pity that Liu Zhennan is too close, but I regret that the General is too far away."

Lou Gui was not disappointed by this polite refusal; the fact that he did not reject it outright meant there was still room for maneuver.

If the Central Plains army were to sweep in, then Xi Jinping might be able to provide support.

There are many ways to provide support, including raising troops, sabotage, or offering advice to Liu Biao.

On Eagle Terrace, Liu Biao and his son enjoyed heavy drinking, using specially made wine cups, which were called "elegant" wine vessels.

Bo Ya's wine is seven liters, Zhong Ya's is six liters, and Ji Ya's is five liters.

As Zhao Ji and Pei Mao rose to prominence, Pei Qian, who was not particularly prominent in Jingzhou, also became a guest of Liu Biao.

Although Pei Qian was reluctant to do this, as it conflicted with his philosophy of avoiding chaos.

However, refusing Liu Biao would severely conflict with one's survival principles.

Before this, Pei Qian had lived in seclusion with Zhao Yan, Du Xi and others... They were all refugees, had no extra property, and were unwilling to curry favor with Liu Biao, so they could not take office and therefore had no extra income.

Therefore, this group of people maintained a simple communal life, encouraged and supported each other, and cultivated their integrity, creating a pure and upright atmosphere.

Then Zhao Yan, Du Xi and others were invited back to Yingchuan... Compared to the cruel and bloodthirsty Cao Cao, Zhao Yan and others were not so resistant to Lü Bu.

People have different perspectives on things at different times, and their views may even be contradictory.

When Cao Cao conquered the Yellow Turban rebels and clan bandits in Ru and Ying, he solved his own problem of scarce military supplies. In this process, the relatives and fellow villagers of Zhao Yan, Du Xi and others inevitably suffered bloodshed and tears.

Both being new dynasties in the Central Plains allied with the imperial court, they could evade Cao Cao, but they would not refuse Lü Bu.

If Cao Cao were to ally with the imperial court, and in order to avoid being recruited by Cao Cao and the imperial court, but not daring to refuse, the only thing one could do was leave the prosperous Xiangyang and go to Jingnan to live in seclusion.

In this way, Cao Cao would not be able to find them, and the recruitment order would not be delivered to them, thus avoiding implicating their relatives and fellow villagers living in Ruying.

Now there's no need to run away. It's Lü Bu who's supporting the court, and he's much easier to talk to than Cao Cao.

They left, but He Qia and Pei Qian did not.

Pei Qian couldn't possibly abandon Zhao Ji and then go to Lü Bu. If he went to Lü Bu, would Lü Bu dare to trust him?

As for going to serve Zhao Ji... well, Pei Qian didn't have a very good impression of Zhao Ji.

Although he had a bad relationship with his father, Pei Mao, and they were almost at each other's throats, they still maintained a facade of harmony.

But what about Zhao Ji and his son? In Pei Qian's mind, it would be perfectly reasonable for Zhao Ji to suddenly lie down by the roadside one day and shoot his father with a crossbow.

Therefore, Zhao Ji launched the Anyi remonstrance and implemented reform policies... no matter how you look at it, it was a rebellion.

You've reformed, but what about the old guard?
Which of these elders and seniors isn't an old friend?

Zhao Ji's military campaigns were even more unscrupulous. He kidnapped the emperor and tricked powerful families in Taiyuan and Shangdang. The former was wiped out, and the latter were forced to relocate from their homeland.

This grudge is deep, and it could erupt at any moment around Zhao Ji.

At this moment, Pei Qian really didn't want to return to his hometown.

They had to be mindful of Zhao Ji's mood while also bearing the brunt of the unknown and violent internal strife.

During this period, Pei Xiu and Pei Zheng wrote to him, inviting him to return to his hometown to start a business together.

The fact that he still hadn't received any letters from Pei Mao and Zhao Ji made Pei Qian's desire to return to Hedong increasingly weak.

At this moment, because of Zhao Ji and Pei Mao, Pei Qian suddenly became a guest of honor of Liu Biao.

Even his secluded thatched cottage in the mountains was bustling with activity, as many scholars from Jingzhou and Xiangyang came to pay their respects and inquire about Zhao Ji's past, regarding him as Zhao Ji's representative in Jingzhou.

What else could Pei Qian do?
Pei Qian wasn't a good drinker, and when it was Wang Can's turn to lead the drinking game, he noticed Wang Can staring at him, so he could only smile apologetically and beg for mercy.

Wang Can held a specially made, wide drinking token. He was short and stocky with an ancient appearance. He held the token in his right hand with a dignified expression, unlike his usual playful demeanor.

Drinking is like a battlefield, and drinking games are like military orders.

Even Liu Biao and his son could only wait for Wang Can's rules for the drinking game. Wang Can paced back and forth with the rules in hand, while his cousin Wang Kai held the Boya wine vessel behind him. The two brothers circled the tables and chairs around the Eagle Terrace, devising the drinking game rules.

As Wang Kai walked, he placed bamboo slips of wine tokens on each person's table.

Wang Can returned to his position in Taichung, looked around at everyone, and said with a smile, "Everyone, there's no need to be nervous. My brother has just hidden red tokens on the table. The person holding the black tokens will raise a red token. If they succeed, they will drink the red token; if they fail, they will be penalized with a cup; if they cannot raise a red token, they will drink an extra cup with the black token; if all the red tokens are raised, I will drink with them. Please look at the tokens."

As soon as he finished speaking, the thirty-odd people on the stage reached out to take the tokens, covering them with their sleeves.

Pei Qian saw that his token was black, but his face remained tense, and he went to observe the others.

As everyone put down their wine tokens and looked at each other, a drum suddenly sounded.

Liu Biao sat at the head of the table, observing everyone's expressions, trying to find the person with the red chips.

Some people feigned panic, some responded with a smile, and others had wandering eyes.

A variety of expressions, both genuine and feigned, came into Liu Biao's view. He then looked at Wang Kai, but Wang Kai turned his back to him, offering no clues about his expression.

Liu Biao observed for a moment, sensing the tense atmosphere, then reached out and took the pen from his servant's hand, asking, "Zhongxuan, how many people are in the red-chip category?"

"Thirty-three black chips and three red chips."

After Wang Can finished answering, Liu Biao picked up a pen and wrote down the suspects he saw on the black tally.

Others also picked up pens to write, but some hesitated to start, observing the changes in the expressions of those around them.

There are many drinking games, some with well-established rules and others invented on the spot.

Today's drinking game is a riddle invented by Wang Can on the spot, testing everyone's acting skills.

You can write about one person, or you can write about three suspects.

If you win, the other person drinks; if you lose, you drink more.

Wang Kai genuinely dealt the tokens randomly, but fortunately the rules of the drinking game were fair, and Wang Can couldn't cheat on them.

After everyone finished writing, the verification process began.

Liu Biao, unable to hold his liquor, only wrote down the name of the person he suspected, but failed to guess correctly, and immediately drank a cup of wine.

Soon it was the turn of Kuai Liang, Kuai Yue, Cai Mao, Liu Qi and others; those who had their red chips exposed could only grit their teeth, hug Boya and drink heavily.

Seven liters of beer, approximately four 330ml cans of beer plus a little more.

Including the loss from spillage and dripping from the beard during heavy drinking, it's roughly equivalent to four cans of beer.

The first time the red chip was correctly guessed, it was seven liters of wine; for each subsequent correct guess, two more liters of wine were added.

There are also confident people at drinking parties who are not afraid to drink. They may expose multiple people at once, and if they expose one wrong person, it is just another cup of wine for these drunkards.

After this round of drinking, the three red chips were all exposed, and their condition was clearly not good after drinking.

Wang Can also picked up the Boya wine vessel, gulped down the wine, and sat down calmly, waiting for the next person to start the drinking game.

This time, Liu Pan, Liu Biao's nephew, was in charge of the drinking game. He chose to play the pitch-pot game and devised his own rules.

Liu Pan designed drinking rules with severe penalties: anyone who refused to participate would have to drink a cup of wine by themselves.

Anyone who participates must start with three drinks; only the final winner is exempt from drinking.

Pei Qian voluntarily accepted the punishment, drank a cup of wine by himself, ate some food, and watched the others play the game of pitch-pot.

At this moment, Wang Can raised his cup and sat down next to Pei Qian: "Brother Wenxing, when will we head north?"

Why does Zhongxuan ask such a question?

Wang Can glanced at Liu Biao, who had just ascended to the throne, and said to Pei Qian, "I will be ordered to visit the Grand Marshal and present the local products of Jingzhou to the Empress on behalf of Marquis Chengwu. If possible, I would like to travel with Brother Wenxing."

Pei Qian put down his chopsticks. As an observer, he also felt that Lü Bu's exploitation and extortion of Jingzhou was going too far.

Seeing that Pei Qian remained silent, Wang Can took the initiative to say, "The Grand General's demands are excessive, and he has repeatedly tried to influence the various prefectures of Jingnan. Liu Zhennan is quite worried and wants to befriend the Grand Marshal. Brother Wenxing is the Grand Marshal's close friend and elder brother since childhood, so you must not refuse."

Pei Qian also noticed that Liu Biao was raising his cup to conceal his expression, and his gaze seemed to be observing him.

Seeing the genuine worry on Wang Can's face, it was clear that Cao Cao's defeat was so devastating that people throughout Jingzhou were truly afraid of Lü Bu.

Jingzhou may be large, but Liu Biao's core city was only Xiangyang.

Lü Bu came from Nanyang and besieged Xiangyang. It's uncertain who Huang Zu of Jiangxia or Zhang Xian of Jingnan will side with.

This is the advantage of controlling the imperial court; when waging war, one does not have to be preoccupied with the gains and losses of a single city or region.

To fight against Lü Bu, we must first eliminate Zhang Xian.

Otherwise, if Zhang Xian raises an army in support and Huang Zu wavers between the two sides, it will be very disadvantageous for Liu Biao.

We could directly attack Zhang Xian, but that wouldn't be a quick way to eliminate him, and it would also attract Lü Bu's intervention... It would be a losing proposition.

To get rid of Zhang Xian, we need to find a way to divert Lü Bu's attention and prevent him from interfering in Jingzhou.

At the same time, they also need to win over Zhao Ji and isolate Lü Bu.

The more isolated Lü Bu was, the less he dared to make any big moves.

During this time, Liu Biao was waiting for Zhao Ji's envoy, but Zhao Ji had no interest in dealing with Jingzhou.

Having no other choice, Liu Biao, in a passive position, had to take the initiative to send people to Jinyang to negotiate.

(End of this chapter)