Tiger Guards

Chapter 434 Very sensible
As Lü Bu moved towards his main camp in the eastern suburbs of Xuchang, Song Xian of Yu County in Chenliu hesitated.

According to the pre-arranged military orders, if he did not encounter an attack during the night, he should have set off for Yongqiu at dawn.

Yu County was a large county in Chenliu, and its city was well-preserved.

But Yongqiu was different. When Cao Cao's army broke through the city, they not only massacred the inhabitants but also burned the city. In just a few years, the walls of Yongqiu fell into disrepair and collapsed, with the plaster falling off. Although it was stronger than field camps, the city was filled with bones, and the well water was not clean.

Yongqiu City is even more dangerous to defend.

Song Xian led several personal guards to patrol various parts of the city, and through the wall, he could vaguely hear the discussion of several military officers inside the courtyard.

The guards were about to reprimand the officials inside for talking nonsense when Song Xian quickly raised his hand to interrupt them. He listened carefully and then said to his trusted confidants, "Even the officials know that it is unreasonable for a father-in-law to beat his son-in-law."

Seeing that Song Xian's expression seemed genuine, the guard hesitated for a moment before saying, "General Wen Yuan was decisive and avoided this chaotic battle."

Upon hearing this, Song Xian glared at him: "If he hadn't led the troops away, why would the General be in such a hurry? The General didn't intend to antagonize the Grand Marshal; he's trying to establish his authority and set some rules!"

"Yes, the General wants to establish his authority... but how could the Grand Marshal possibly back down?"

The guard's voice grew lower and lower, and Song Xian guessed what he was going to say, so he raised his hand and patted the other's shoulder as a warning.

As dawn broke, scouts returning from Yongqiu brought news of safety along the way.

Despite his helplessness, Song Xian had no choice but to send troops north.

He also followed Wei Yue's example and went a step further by dividing the army into three parts.

The vanguard of 1,000 men went first, followed by the central army of 3,000 men, and then the rearguard of 1,000 men who stayed behind to guard Yu County.

Furthermore, scouts were widely dispatched to investigate the direction of Chenliu County and its surroundings, in order to prevent Zhao Ji from launching a sudden attack.

They were worried that Zhao Ji would gather a large force of superior cavalry and charge forward, and they were also worried that Zhao Ji would appear on the front lines, so they ordered him to turn around and retreat south.

Thus, Song Xian, on the east bank of the Honggou Canal, set off with suspicion, while Cheng Lian, stationed in Fule, led 5,000 troops toward Yu County, which had been vacated by Song Xian.

After Cheng Lian went north, Lü Bu's vanguard was stationed in Fule.

Meanwhile, on the west bank of the Honggou Canal, Li Tong also began to advance north, joining forces with the various armies he had previously led, totaling 12,000 men.

In the eastern part of Chenliu, Zhao Ji climbed the city wall to observe the surroundings and could already see Song Xian's scouts reaching several miles outside the city.

However, Zhao Ji showed no intention of sending troops, and his scouts and reconnaissance troops kept a close watch on Song Xian, with both sides practically revealing their intentions.

The scouts interacted with each other without engaging in confrontation.

Even after encountering each other, they can still get together and have a chat.

As Zhao Ji stood on the city wall enjoying the breeze, Guan Shang led a messenger of Lü Bu up the wall: "Grand Marshal, this is a messenger of the Great General, sent here on orders."

Zhao Ji turned around and looked at the unassuming messenger: "What is it?"

Both men held the grapevines wrapped in coarse yellow silk in their hands and bowed their heads: "Your humble servant has come to present this gift on the orders of the General. The General has also ordered that when you return, you must ask the Grand Marshal for a return gift."

The grapevines wrapped in coarse cloth gave Zhao Ji a familiar feeling, as if they were saplings sent from Xuzhou via express delivery.

Without Zhao Ji's objection, Guan Shang stepped forward to take it, untied the cloth, picked up the withered grapevine with its bright green leaves, examined it repeatedly, and after confirming that it was just an ordinary grapevine, handed it to Zhao Ji: "Grand Marshal, what is the meaning of this?"

"They probably wanted to whip me with a rattan cane."

Zhao Ji spoke casually, picked up a grapevine, examined it, and handed it to Guan Shang: "Find someone skilled in planting and have him grow it. Take this envoy with you, and when you encounter a mulberry tree, cut a similar branch and give it to the envoy to take back."

"Here."

Guan Shang agreed, his expression still puzzled, and he didn't ask any more questions.

Seeing that he could receive a return gift, the envoy bowed deeply to Zhao Ji, took a few steps back, and followed Guan Shang away.

Zhao Ji raised his hand to smell the scent of grape leaves, still not daring to relax, and looked towards the outside of the city, waiting for news.

He understood what Lü Bu meant, which was roughly that grapevines need to be supported by a trellis to survive and grow well; simply put, it's good to have shade under a big tree.

The big tree represents the imperial court as a platform.

Giving back mulberry branches is something similar... but what's the point?

This is not a conflict or friction involving a few hundred people, but a clash between tens of thousands of people from both sides.

Even in a friendly wrestling match, there's always the possibility of someone accidentally falling and dying, let alone in such a large-scale collision.

Even though Lü Bu hinted at or expressed these things, Zhao Ji dared not hold back.

It's better to destroy everything than to consider the big picture, like the government or the imperial court.

If you don't have a clear overall perspective, and the overall perspective doesn't make you feel comfortable, then it's better for such a situation to collapse sooner rather than later.

Given the current situation, even if I retreat to Xizhou, follow Yuan Shu's example, and suppress the first wave of counterattacks from both inside and outside the region, who can do anything to me?

The imperial court?

How many days have the emperor and his officials had eaten their fill?
Meanwhile, in the distant city of Luodu, a chilly autumn rain was falling softly.

Within the Secretariat, the five Attendants gathered.

Thanks to Zhao Ji's protection, Attendant Liu Song escaped a calamity and is now among them. He has inherited the title of Marquis of the Township from his father, Grand Commandant Liu Kuan, comes from a noble family, and is also a member of the imperial clan.

Therefore, although Liu Song had the least seniority as a Chamberlain, he became the most influential person in the Secretariat.

Xu Si and Wang Kai also held Liu Song in high esteem.

Tai Chong was from Shangluo, the Prefect of Jingzhao, and he greatly respected Liu Song of the Hongnong Liu clan; Zhong Ji was from Henan, and because of the former Grand Commandant Liu Kuan, he was unwilling to take the initiative to antagonize Liu Song.

It's not that Liu Kuan's influence was really that great, but the Secretariat was practically a puppet of both Lü Bu and Zhao Ji, and the adjustment of official positions was handled by the Eastern Cao Yuan of the General-in-Chief and the Grand Marshal's office.

These five Attendants-in-Ordinary stayed in Luoyang, their job being to mediate conflicts arising from personnel transfers. Their greatest advantage was that, when faced with difficult official positions, they could recommend their protégés and former subordinates for those roles.

Generally, Zhao Ji only wanted official positions in Sizhou, Liangzhou, Bingzhou, and Xuzhou, not in the court officials. Occasionally, he would need a few positions of Imperial Consultant without quota limits to recruit and settle officials.

As for Jizhou and Youzhou, Zhao Ji did not interfere. At most, he made some adjustments to the counties of Dai County in Youzhou, which was Zhao Ji's semi-controlled area.

Lü Bu had a lot more to manage. The two provinces of Yan and Yu, as well as Nanyang, originally belonged to Lü Bu. He also frequently adjusted the magistrates of some counties under Jingzhou, provoking, testing, and squeezing Liu Biao's bottom line.

After Yuan Shu rebelled, Lü Bu also intervened in Yangzhou, and Zhao Ji followed suit.

Since Zhao Ji led troops to quell the rebellion, the main personnel disputes that the Secretariat needed to mediate were in Yangzhou.

For example, Zhao Ji persuaded Liu Xun and Liu Xie to become the governors of Jiujiang and Lujiang; and when passing through Luoyang, he appointed Liu Ai, the former Attendant-in-Ordinary, as the governor of Yangzhou.

Lü Bu was also making adjustments; he had just fallen out with the Liu family and simply couldn't find a suitable person to replace Liu Ai.

Therefore, arrangements were made early on for the various prefectures under Yangzhou, which conflicted with Zhao Ji's plan to instigate Liu Xun and Liu Xie to defect.

The biggest conflict right now is over the proposed appointments of Sun Ce, the Governor of Qingzhou, the General of the Rear, and the Marquis of Qi.

This was a proposal from the Grand Marshal's office, put forward by Zhong Ji. Tai Chong supported it. Xu Si and Wang Kai did not have Lü Bu's consent, nor did they dare to agree, but they did not object either.

Liu Song vehemently refuted this, arguing that Zhao Ji was attempting to divide Han territory.

As usual, after handling other personnel proposals, the five of them sat down together to discuss matters concerning Qingzhou.

Liu Song's face was very ugly. He had already deeply offended Lü Bu. If he continued to strongly refute Zhao Ji's proposal, how could the emperor protect him after losing Zhao Ji's protection and weakening his own power?

Even so, Liu Song firmly retorted: "Sun Ce's merits are insufficient to be granted the title of Marquis of Qi. Qi is an honorific title, how can it be lightly bestowed upon a subject of a different surname?"

Xu Si and Wang Kai lowered their eyes and remained silent. With Liu Song leading the charge, there was no need for them to step forward.

We should wait until things calm down in Yanzhou and the situation becomes clear before making a statement.

Tai Chong did not agree with Sun Ce becoming the Marquis of Qi, but Zhao Ji had already made arrangements, so he could only settle for second best: "Since the Marquis of Wucheng's merits are insufficient, let's not discuss the matter of becoming the Marquis of Qi for now. What do you think of the two matters, that Ziqiao Gong should be appointed as the governor of Qingzhou and be appointed as the General of the Rear?"

Liu Song remained silent, glancing sideways at Xu Si and Wang Kai. Unexpectedly, these two puppets of Lü Bu and Chen Gong were still pretending to be deaf and dumb.

Zhong Ji also expressed his opinion along with Tai Chong: "Lord Ziqiao, Yuan Shu rebelled in the south, Yuan Shao occupies Hebei, and now he has crossed the river and also controls Qingzhou, which is a real threat to the country. Sun Ce is brave and fierce, and both he and his son are loyal and righteous. If we send him to guard Qingzhou, we can eliminate Yuan Shao's hopes of plotting against the country and becoming a disloyal subject."

“That makes sense, I second that.”

Liu Song's voice was hoarse; in any case, the title of Marquis could not be bestowed lightly, and that was his bottom line.

Of the five attendants, he was the only one from the imperial clan, and he had to stick to this bottom line. He couldn't be like Liu Xiu, who followed Wang Mang.

After Liu Song compromised, he went with Tai Chong and Zhong Ji to see Xu Si and Wang Kai, but the two still refused to express their opinions.

Two vetoes can stop a bill.

However, neither Wang Kai nor Xu Si wanted to step forward and offend anyone, and Tai Chong and Zhong Ji were not very keen on promoting this proposal.

As the night deepened in this contemplation and silence, darkness gradually fell.

The five men left the side hall where the meeting was being held. Tai Chong and Zhong Ji walked together, and Tai Chong expressed his worries in a low voice: "The matter of Liu Xun and Liu Xie, which the Grand Marshal recommended, has not yet been accomplished. The Liu brothers have also raised an army to follow Liu Bei in attacking Huainan. If they are dissatisfied and turn to Yuan Shu, then when this disaster is investigated, none of the officials of the Secretariat will be able to escape it."

Zhong Ji was also helpless upon hearing this. Sun Ce's appointments were blocked, as were Liu Xun and Liu Xie. What could he do?
He also wanted to govern peacefully and develop the three-province system steadily.

The Three Provinces system was ingeniously designed, and it also made it very convenient for the emperor to seize power.

Only the Secretariat and the Ministry of Personnel could not complete the official document procedures. If the Secretariat, which was controlled by the emperor, made even a slight delay, Zhao Ji and Lü Bu would be unable to issue any imperial edicts.

It was precisely because of the cooperation of the Secretariat that internal and external policies were implemented smoothly, and there was great hope for a revival of the dynasty.

Whether it was Zhao Ji or Lü Bu, seizing control of the Secretariat would solidify their reputation as powerful ministers.

When the emperor and his ministers' last hopes are shattered, they will naturally resort to violence as a last resort.

The Three Provinces system was introduced by Zhao Ji, so it was impossible for Zhao Ji to actively disrupt the balance and tacit understanding among the three provinces.

The difficult part is Lü Bu. In three years, the emperor will turn twenty. He has endured for so long, and he will definitely want to take over the government at that time.

The first to be affected was Lü Bu. Would Lü Bu dare to trust the emperor and hand over his ruling power to him?

While Tai Chong and Zhong Ji were worried, Zhao Ji's messengers began to relay orders to Song Xian in Yongqiu City.

The order was given to Song Xian to withdraw to Yu County by dawn.

Song Xian was like a rat in a bellows, pacing back and forth with Zhao Ji's Grand Marshal's order in hand; this was his final ultimatum.

If he doesn't withdraw, Zhao Ji will treat him as a rebel and attack him.

If he retreats, and if he's lucky, Lü Bu will give him another order to head north and re-enter Yongqiu.

If he's unlucky, Lü Bu might actually kill him.

After much hesitation, Song Xian said to the messenger, "This humble general will naturally follow the Grand Marshal's order. We will break camp and head south at the fourth watch tomorrow!"

"good."

The envoy was slightly surprised: "Please show the general his handwritten letter as proof."

Song Xian gritted his teeth: "Fine!"

He had also made up his mind that if the situation turned against him, he would lead his troops to flee and seek refuge with Zhang Yang, so that Zhang Yang could plead with Lü Bu for mercy.

Having survived this ordeal, he will surely have another opportunity to prove himself.

Lu Bu lacks reliable generals to lead troops. Even if Song Xian is not first-rate, he can still manage a force of seven or eight thousand men.

(End of this chapter)