Tiger Guards

Chapter 567 Moral Bottom Line
"Protector of the Kingdom?"

Outside Yuyang, Gongsun Zan wore a fitted, double-breasted arrow-patterned robe, and his beard was meticulously trimmed, probably to conceal his true age.

At this moment, Zhao Ji was leading Han and Hu heroes and brave cavalry on a hunt. During the midday rest, Gongsun Zan received an imperial edict from the court, in which Zhao Ji was promoted to Duke of Protector of the State for his meritorious service. Such an important event had to be announced to the whole country as usual.

Gongsun Zan held the original edict and read it over, finding it utterly absurd.

The imperial edict praised Zhao Ji's meritorious service in eliminating the barbarian threat in the border regions, and also believed that now was the best time to return to the old capital.

Therefore, the imperial court hoped that Zhao Ji would return in triumph to Luodu to govern the central government and bring peace to the people.

As for the emperor's personal rule, there is not a single mention of it.

If Gongsun Zan were in his shoes, he would feel that the imperial court had acted extremely inhumanely this time.

Gongsun Zan himself captured the angel and forced him to authorize him to attack Liu Yu and to oversee the military and political affairs of the four northeastern provinces.

The power he extracted and squeezed from the angels back then was probably less than what Zhao Ji has now.

Therefore, he knew exactly what Zhao Ji wanted to do.

Now that things have come to this point, if Zhao Ji dares to give up his authority over the four prefectures and lead his troops into Luoyang to participate in governance, then various factions in the court will join forces to squeeze him out, and Zhao Ji's path to governance will not be smooth... That's fine, but if Zhao Ji enters the court, he will completely break with the civil and military officials under his command who do not respect the Han Dynasty.

Without the support of these people, how could Zhao Ji command the officials of the four prefectures of Yong, Liang, You, and Bing?
Even Gongsun Zan could immediately sense the malice in this edict.

He was filled with righteous indignation, but Xianyu Fu, who was hunting with him, went further and said, "Grand Marshal, this edict is probably a chaotic order issued by treacherous officials of the court, and it should not be obeyed."

Zhao Ji sat upright in the main seat, holding a bowl of milk tea in his hand and drinking it, his face expressionless: "What virtue or ability do I have to bear the heavy responsibility of protecting the country?"

As he spoke, Zhao Ji put down his milk tea and gestured for the Youzhou heroes, who were indignant on his behalf, to sit down. Then Zhao Ji continued, "I believe the court should select another virtuous person. I merely responded to the calls of the men and women in the border regions, drove out the barbarians, and stabilized the territory under my rule. This was simply my duty, so how can I claim any merit?"

After Xianyu Fu took his seat, he pretended to surrender to Yuan Shao, but now he sincerely repented to the Grand Marshal. At this moment, Xianyu Fu was the most furious.

If the Grand Marshal is tricked into going to the court... how can these brave soldiers from Youzhou achieve merit?

Therefore, both Gongsun Zan and Xianyu Fu opposed entering the court at this moment.

Following Zhao Ji in inflicting heavy losses on the Donghu, or heading south to fight Yuan Shao again, would allow the newly joined Han and Hu powerful families of Youzhou to make their mark.

If following the Grand Marshal doesn't lead to any merit, wouldn't it be a pointless surrender?
The newly arrived Youzhou people were so excited, not to mention the Han and Hu generals who followed Zhao Ji in his armed nomadic movement.

The longer a unit has followed Zhao Ji, the more it enjoys fighting alongside him.

Some military officers even developed to the point of enjoying and liking war, because when the vast majority of officers and soldiers followed the Grand Marshal into battle, apart from the unlucky ones who died on the spot, the wounded officers and soldiers were able to receive proper care and resettlement.

These people had become so superstitious about Zhao Ji that they didn't care how many enemies there were, only who the enemies were.

Zhao Ji saw that the army's morale was good... but it was only superficially good.

Unlike famous generals or great scholars of his time, Zhao Ji's understanding of the world had long been washed away by various routines and anti-routines.

Therefore, Zhao Ji did not take the statements made by the Han and Hu people from Youzhou in the arena seriously.

Even the Han army officers and soldiers, Zhao Ji began to question their true stance.

After the mid- to high-ranking military officers above the rank of captain had expressed their opinions, Zhao Ji said, "Gentlemen, have you not seen how quickly Yuan Shu was defeated? We should take Yuan Shu as a warning. I will personally submit a memorial to decline, and I ask that you do not do so." Gongsun Zan still spoke up, his eyes wide, "Grand Marshal, in my humble opinion, this is bound to lead to chaos in the court. If it is allowed to continue, the harm will be considerable."

He still wanted to encourage Zhao Ji to fight Yuan Shao, defeat Yuan Shao and annex Hebei, so that the Youzhou elite cavalry could barely be considered the complete Hebei elite cavalry.

Considering Gongsun Zan's personal reputation, Zhao Ji patiently explained, "The court is unaware of the hardships our army has endured, and its wording may have been inaccurate. We will not discuss the specifics for now."

Gongsun Zan gritted his teeth, wanting to glare at Zhao Ji and berate him for his corruption... but considering Zhao Ji's archery and swordsmanship skills, as well as the elite soldiers around him, Gongsun Zan could only remain indignant and return to his seat, bowing his head in silence.

The temporary meeting ended just like that, but the news that the imperial edict was to confer the title of Duke of Protector of the State on Zhao Ji spread like wildfire, causing more old friends to write to Zhao Ji, either advising him to submit to the court or urging him to be careful.

As for the original edict that was delivered to Zhao Ji, Zhao Ji naturally submitted a memorial to the emperor to express his full resignation and follow the relevant procedures.

Zhao Ji did not want the title of Duke. The title would be the trigger for war with the allied forces and would become the legitimate reason for the allied forces to attack him.

Despite the White Horse Alliance, the Liu family was not allowed to claim the title of king.

However, this did not restrict the Duke's bestowal of titles.

Zhao Ji was too lazy to get entangled with these people in the court, and he didn't even care whether the court intended to move back to Luodu.

Zhao Ji now only wants to catch one of the Donghu and beat it up, regardless of whether it is Xianbei or Wuhuan, as long as the opponent is large enough, so as to demonstrate his own strength and power.

Only by defeating the enemy on the battlefield can an effective deterrent be formed.

For the next two or three years, Zhao Ji simply did not have the time to lead his troops beyond the Great Wall to pursue the remnants of the Donghu tribes two thousand miles to the east.

As for the heroes of Youzhou... they were naturally left under the continued control of Gongsun Zan to deal with Yuan Shao's invasion.

This year, Zhao Ji did not want to waste time in Youzhou and Bingzhou; he only wanted to properly demarcate the grasslands and pastures north and south of Yinshan.

The most important task this year is to advance westward from the plateau on the northern slopes of the Yin Mountains, and then squeeze the living areas of the Qin Hu and Qiang Hu in Liangzhou from multiple directions until they submit or are killed.

Only when Liangzhou is secure will Zhao Ji dare to launch another attack.

Otherwise, any large-scale operation would trigger rebellions in parts of Liangzhou and severely disrupt morale at the front.

The rebellion in Liangzhou depleted the Han dynasty's finances.

Nowadays, the population is sparse, but if someone issues a false edict, the Han and Hu heroes of Liangzhou will bring their own provisions and launch a war.

Han Sui was one of the best among them; only by capturing Han Sui could Liangzhou be secured.

Compared to Liangzhou, Youzhou is too far away and is not within Zhao Ji's normal sphere of influence at all.

Forcibly taking over Youzhou from Gongsun Zan would require exchanging official positions, which would only allow the people of Youzhou to infiltrate his territory.

He was also unable to efficiently unify and govern Youzhou, and in the end, he still had to rely on these local strongmen in Youzhou.

If possible, Zhao Ji hoped that the people of Youzhou would surrender to Yuan Shao again.

By then, the people of Youzhou will have completely lost their credibility, allowing for large-scale eradication, relocation, and suppression without any hidden dangers!
As he pondered these thoughts, Zhao Ji looked at Xianyu Fu, Yan Rou, and the others with a warm smile.

(End of this chapter)