Tiger Guards

Chapter 494 The Heart of the City
Two days later, Guo Tu arrived in Jinyang.

At the Fen River pontoon bridge upstream of Jinshuikou, Guo Tu stood on the carriage shaft, gazing at Jinyang City.

Jinyang City still lacks a proper outer wall, even worse than many villages and ancient cities built hundreds of years ago. Although the city wall of Jinyang covers a large area, it is only four or five feet high.

Besides preventing herds of wild animals, even a petite woman could easily climb over it, let alone a lithe person.

However, the area was so vast that it seemed impossible to see the northeast corner of the city at a glance.

He could not see the watchtower in the northeast corner of the city, because there was a wharf on the west bank of the Fen River, and a fish market and vegetable market that had sprung up there.

However, the Zhao family's determination to rebuild Jinyang City had deeply shocked Guo Tu.

His family has lived in Yangdi, Yingchuan for generations. Yangdi is located on a major route in the Central Plains and has a developed economy and culture.

The city is also large in scale, definitely larger than the previous Jinyang City.

However, compared to Zhao Ji's planned Jinyang New City, it is less than one-tenth of the total.

Jinyang New City is being developed and planned entirely in the style of a capital city.

Guo Tu's first thought was of his own family. Although they weren't exactly a family of dukes and marquises, they were still a family of ministers for generations.

Before the world fell into chaos, it was already an honor for the Zhao family of Langya to lead horses for the Guo family of Yingchuan.

Although the prosperous Guo family foresaw the chaos of the times, many people did not believe that the chaos would reach such a level. Therefore, the Guo family made preparations, but only very small ones.

The Zhao family, however, clearly followed the crowd, but seized the opportunity to launch the Anyi remonstrance, and even kidnapped the emperor before swallowing Taiyuan whole. Now, they are planning and building the new city of Jinyang, which is of capital level. Anyone who has seen this city can feel the ambition of the Zhao family.

In this respect, Guo's decisiveness is not as great as Zhao's.

Even the Hebei side only moved into the already prosperous Ye City and developed on the basis of Ye City.

Yuan Shao chose Ye City because it had the highest overall influence.

The Zhao family valued Jinyang's military influence and its special significance to the Zhao clan.

If Jinyang is revitalized under the Zhao family and grows into a major northern metropolis, then this city will be the foundation upon which the Zhao family has the confidence to challenge the Han dynasty.

In contrast, while Yuan Shao gained the convenience of Ye City, he also had to bear the complex cultural burdens and responsibilities within it.

Even if Ye City were to develop into a major metropolis under the Yuan family, the indigenous residents who had lived and multiplied in the city for generations would still take away too much of the development benefits and influence.

Most importantly, once Ye City becomes a major metropolis, its residents will prioritize maintaining their own advantages as a major metropolis rather than serving the Yuan family's cause.

How could these natives of Ye City possibly have the determination to destroy Ye City and fight to the end with the Yuan family?
But Jinyang was founded by the Zhao family, and the people here will surely fight to the end with Zhao Ji, even if the city is reduced to ashes.

Guo Tu observed for a long time, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

He never believed in the loyalty of the people of Hebei, and he also understood their resentment.

If we put ourselves in their shoes, and a group of people from Hebei came to Yuzhou, ate Yuzhou rice, slept with Yuzhou women, and even asked the men of Yuzhou to go to the battlefield to fight for the people of Hebei... no matter how you look at it, it's hard to accept and infuriating.

The people of Hebei had already been manipulated by Emperor Guangwu once, and they were also thoroughly tricked during the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

Even the matter of Han Fu can be considered as being tricked by the people of Yuzhou.

Therefore, even if the people of Hebei wished they could rebel immediately, they would cling to their loyalty to the Han Dynasty to avoid becoming low-end fodder for people from other provinces.

The internal power struggles within Hebei were no secret. Guo Tu pondered the internal comparisons between the two families and couldn't help but sigh, "The Zhao family's ambitions are extraordinary."

As for Gongsun Zan's construction of Yijing and the military settlements along the banks of the Yi River, it seems to be similar to the Zhao family's management and expansion of Jinyang.

However, Gongsun Zan made Yijing a military fortress rather than a major metropolis like Jinyang for easier defense.

With the city walls of Jinyang only four or five feet high, who would dare to emulate such courage and magnanimity?
Guo Tu sighed repeatedly as he crossed the Fen River pontoon bridge by car.

Meanwhile, scouts from afar frequently returned from the Grand Marshal's headquarters in the city, bringing back data on snowfall from various regions.

Zhao Ji remained unconcerned; the snowfall was still insufficient.

Snowfall also hinders the Xianbei people's gatherings and actions, and there are currently internal conflicts within the Xianbei tribes.

If forced by natural disasters, the Xianbei ruler would certainly be happy to lead the various Xianbei tribes south to raid for supplies.

Only through military campaigns could the Xianbei ruler strengthen and consolidate his position as a military leader, thus preventing his cousins ​​from vying for the throne.

In the evening, after finishing his official duties, Zhao Ji did not remove his armor but instead reclined in the West Pavilion to cultivate his mind and body.

There was really nothing fun to do. In the warm pavilion, Madam Du was holding a black bear doll made of a bear fur coat, revealing its relatively broad, smooth back. Zhao Ji took up his brush and drew a picture of red plum blossoms on her back, preparing to compose a poem.

However, since the area on Ms. Du's back was limited, she wrote on her arm instead.

Despite the tickling sensation, Lady Du spoke up: "It's already night, why haven't you removed your armor, my lord?"

"We're setting off soon, so we won't be removing our armor yet."

As Zhao Ji spoke, he noticed her arm trembling and immediately stared at her. Du Shi endured it, and Zhao Ji finished writing the remaining few words, saying, "With battle imminent, I cannot ask the officers and soldiers to abstain from sex while indulging myself."

"How could outsiders possibly know what's inside your pavilion, my lord?"

"If you and I know, then a third person will know."

As Zhao Ji spoke, he turned to wash his brush. He couldn't help but think of a self-made DVD without a cover that he had watched when he was a child. The scene was somewhat similar to this moment. He looked down at the brush in his hand and saw that it was indeed quite slender.

Then I looked at the large wolf-hair brush hanging on the brush holder and felt that it was indeed somewhat cruel.

He wouldn't even want to kill chickens, ducks, or geese unless it was absolutely necessary, let alone kill people.

He was at peace and didn't have much resentment, fear, or violent emotion to vent.

Therefore, Zhao Ji only glanced at the wolf-hair brush, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Du carrying a small black bear doll and moving closer to the stove, trying to speed up the drying of the ink.

Only then did she turn her head and glance sideways to examine the poems on her arms.

Two passages of writing were incomplete; she could only make out the words written on her arm: "Spring's beauty cannot be confined within the garden walls; a branch of red apricot blossoms peeks over the wall."

Upon seeing the vermilion dye on the table, Lady Du asked, "Has Your Excellency painted a picture of a woman having an affair?"
"I couldn't recall what apricots looked like, so I drew red plums instead."

Zhao Ji hung up the washed brushes and came to the stove, smiling as he asked, "Want to see?"

Thinking of the terrifying thing, Madam Du stood there blankly, then took a deep breath and forced a smile: "This servant was just curious."

"It's not difficult to see if you want to. I'll go get some paper and make a rubbing."

Zhao Ji was too lazy to ask about her emotional changes; too much concern would only make her put on airs.

Arriving at another bookshelf, Zhao Ji took a page of cotton paper, and as he passed the table, he grabbed a sip of hot tea and put some more in his mouth.

Both Hedong and Taiyuan are resuming papermaking, but due to differences in materials and processes, the resulting paper has different characteristics.

Zhao Ji has all kinds of paper that are suitable for writing, storage, and drawing.
However, he still pressed the paper down on Du's back, then took a step back and sprayed a fine mist of water onto Du's back. This amount of water was not enough; it was only used to adhere the cotton paper.

After the cotton paper was neatly pasted, Zhao Ji brought over some tea and, holding another relatively thick brush, moistened the cotton paper little by little with water.

Before long, Zhao Ji made a rubbing of the slightly expanded red plum blossom painting.

After wiping her back and putting on her cotton robe, Mrs. Du came to look at the picture.

The red plum blossom pattern on the cotton paper had been pasted by Zhao Ji onto another, more durable sheet of mulberry and hemp paper. Du Shi admired it and said, "Your Excellency may inscribe something, so that this servant can keep it as a memento in the future."

"it is good."

Zhao Ji picked up his brush again, dipped it in ink, and wrote the five characters "Jishan Zhao Yuansi". He also took out a six-sided gold seal from the seal box on the table and stamped it with the names of Shangshu Zuo Pushe, Han Da Sima, Bingzhou Mu, Pingyang Hou, Huben Zhonglang Jiang, and Zhao Ji Yuansi.

Upon seeing so many seals on the scroll, Du immediately said, "This servant would like to have the poem on my arm also rubbed into the scroll."

"Find someone else to help you, and don't catch a cold on your way back."

"Here."

Du was very reluctant, but she could only bow and agree. Worried about damaging the writing on her arm, she carefully put on her cloak and left with the scroll and the extra cotton paper.

She felt that this painting of red plum blossoms was very important, more important than bestowing gold or jade ornaments.

Moreover, Zhao Ji had been fighting for so long, yet he had never rewarded those who had rendered meritorious service with gold. Instead, he rewarded them with official positions, military ranks, or even with maids, slaves, cattle, horses, and sheep.

After Du left, Zhao Ji had nowhere to pass the time, so he put on a cloak and inspected the guard posts and the staff on night duty in the various departments of the shogunate.
After completing his rounds and having a late-night snack with the guards on night watch, Zhao Ji returned to the West Pavilion.

Without much thought, he found a spot near the fire wall and sat cross-legged, activated his skills, and immediately entered a state of tranquility.

The skill of "Concentrating the Mind and Nourishing Qi" seemed to force him into a standby state. After the initial enthusiasm for Qigong subsided, Zhao Ji developed some resistance to this skill.
Although activating the skill allows you to exit that state of insight into the inner and outer worlds and a peaceful state of mind at any time, the problem is that once you enter that state without any restlessness or distracting thoughts, you don't want to exit it.
Until the food in the body is completely consumed, it has to withdraw.

(End of this chapter)