Tiger Guards

Chapter 579 One Bite

Xutian, in the southern suburbs of Xudu.

Lu Bu went on an inspection tour, gazing at the wheat fields swaying like waves in the wind.

He sat motionless in the car, wanting to lament, "I won't be able to eat this year's new wheat from Xutian," but the words were about to come out of his throat when he felt that such words were very unlucky, so he forced himself to swallow them back.

With over a hundred guards by his side, Lü Bu felt somewhat safe.

Gao Shun's army has begun to withdraw from the front line. Once Gao Shun's troops reach the vicinity of Xudu, they will be able to suppress the various armies in Xudu and prevent them from making any rash moves.

Since the world fell into chaos, mutinies among the troops have become commonplace, something Lü Bu had grown accustomed to.

Only Zhao Ji dared to offend the elites of the land and promote the equal distribution of land under his rule, using military land, household land, and household land to firmly bind the army to the Zhao family's war chariot.

Other parties either have elite standing troops that are recruited, or they are followers developed through personal charisma, or they are allied forces of powerful clans, or they have simple mercenary relationships.

Few dared to distribute or grant land on a large scale, so the armies of various forces were more like a patchwork of different groups, making the personal will of the officers and soldiers who led the troops very important.

Lü Bu controlled many armies through the righteous cause of the imperial court, but these armies only obeyed Lü Bu's orders as a general through the imperial court, not Lü Bu's personal commands.

This is fundamentally different from Zhao Ji, who could actually mobilize almost every army simply by using his face!
Even Yuan Shao, Liu Bei, and Sun Ce, if they wanted to mobilize their entire army, had to hold internal meetings first and reach a consensus before they could make the move.

Zhao Ji's various abnormal and rapid troop deployments essentially meant that the army was firmly bound to Zhao Ji.

When Zhao Ji deployed troops, he didn't need to consider the personal feelings of the commanding generals; he only considered whether the officers were suitable and whether a particular army was good at it. He could flexibly assemble teams of officers and their assigned troops according to needs.

Only Zhao Ji could do it; no one else could.

Even Lü Bu, who held the moral high ground of the imperial court, would find it difficult to deploy his generals and troops in this way.

Therefore, after Lü Bu lost the support of the imperial court, he could only trust his old troops, but he didn't know how many of his former subordinates would be influenced by the court.

This is also the downside and cost of being in close contact with the imperial court for a long time. When you control and influence the imperial court, the imperial court is also influencing your troops.

Ultimately, it's unclear who assimilated whom.

Lu Bu's carriage passed through the early-ripening wheat fields and arrived at the paddy field area, which was convenient for irrigation. Here, there were endless flat paddy fields with rice seedlings about two feet tall and stiff stalks that swayed only slightly in the wind.

Some villagers and soldiers were already weeding in the rice paddies, and Lü Bu also saw some children catching fish in the rice paddies, all of them covered in mud.

Looking at these well-irrigated rice paddies, Lü Bu found it truly difficult to part with them.

As a native of a border region who migrated inland, Lü Bu's initial ideal in life was to own a vast pasture, which later evolved into a huge manor consisting of tens of thousands of acres of fertile land and mulberry fields.

Now, the rice paddies are green and lush, and the fields look like the verdant plains of Wuyuan.

Lu Bu narrowed his eyes slightly, thought for a moment, and then said to his men, "Xutian has a bumper harvest this year, and it is estimated that the yield of wheat and rice will be no less than three million shi."

The people around him nodded in agreement. When they migrated to Nanyang, the rainfall was normal in the spring, but after entering April, there was a drought for two consecutive months. Then, in late June and early July, there was the flood disaster in the Jianghan Plain.

It wasn't just Nanyang that suffered; Nanjun and Jiangxiajun also suffered.

Since the world fell into chaos, Lü Bu had always lived a very frugal life.

Looking at Xutian, which was estimated to yield three million shi of grain, Lü Bu was truly reluctant to part with it.

After obtaining this grain, he established himself near Xuchang. Although there were no natural defenses there, it suited Lü Bu's temperament.

He had no natural defenses, so those who led troops to attack him naturally had no natural defenses either.

But doing so would mean turning against the emperor and arresting him, which didn't align with Lü Bu's personal ambitions.

Whether to part ways amicably with the emperor or to play the villain, the choice is yours to leave that opportunity to the emperor.

If the emperor were to raise his sword against Lü Bu, whether willingly or unwillingly, Lü Bu would be able to calmly return the blow.

After much deliberation, Lü Bu felt very uneasy about handing over so much grain to the imperial court or Liu Bei.

The abnormal climate prompted him to try his best to establish military settlements and become self-sufficient; however, three consecutive years of severe drought, followed by drought and floods after moving to Nanyang, left Lü Bu exhausted and he had given up hope of self-sufficiency through military settlements. Now that he had decided to leave, Xutian presented a scene of abundant harvest, and Lü Bu's heart was in turmoil; how could he remain calm?
The unusual and uncooperative weather instantly ruined any remaining good mood Lü Bu had.

As for burning the newly collected grain in Xutian, Lü Bu only thought about it; he couldn't bring himself to do such a thing.

If he had previously served under Ding Yuan or Dong Zhuo, he would naturally have acted proactively as he followed orders.

Now that he is the ruling general, it would be too disgraceful for him to do such a thing again.

Besides, Lü Bu also wanted to leave something for Liu Bei; the grain from Xutian was Liu Bei's greatest source of confidence for governing the country.

Otherwise, in order to support his officials and the army, Liu Bei would have to humbly beg Liu Biao, Liu Ai, Sun Ce, and Yuan Shao, which did not meet Lü Bu's expectations.

However, Lü Bu's inspection of Xutian caused related follow-up effects.

The residence of the General of Chariots and Cavalry in the eastern suburbs of Xuchang.

Liu Bei reviewed the battle reports that Zhao Ji had submitted to the court during this period. There were almost no changes; it was just a matter of how many barbarian tribesmen or centurions had been pursued and killed, and how many herds of animals had been captured.

Liu Bei himself was also doing mental calculations and making rough estimates. In just this period of time, according to the battle situation reported by Zhao Ji, about 120,000 men, women, children and the elderly in the north of the mountains had been almost completely killed by the cavalry driven by Zhao Ji.

If Zhao Ji did not lie in his report, then these two million beasts had all been turned into hides, and their flesh had nourished Zhao Ji's expeditionary army.

How strong and healthy will this army, disgusted by its meat-eating habits, be when it turns back?

Liu Bei didn't care how many people Zhao Ji killed north of Yinshan, or even whether Zhao Ji was made a king.

These were not decisions Zhao Jin could make, but rather things that the imperial court genuinely could not afford to reward them with!

There are only a limited number of official positions that can satisfy Zhao Ji's generals and officers, such as the position of prefect, which even the imperial court cannot decide on.

If they don't give him an official position, then they can only give him a noble title. If they give him a noble title, then it will be difficult to measure Zhao Ji's primary contribution.

No matter how thoughtfully other officers' titles were proposed, it was useless if Zhao Ji's title could not be granted.

They could not grant him official titles, let alone money or cloth, and they couldn't even reward him with military land.

The current imperial court is so dry and ineffective; it simply cannot offer the rewards that are due!

Lü Bulai joined the court and ruled together; even exhausting the wealth of Xuzhou could not satisfy him!

Therefore, this is not something that Zhao Ji can influence personally, nor is it something that anyone in the court can solve; it's a deadlock!

The negative impact of Emperor Gaozu's White Horse Oath thus emerged. Unfortunately, Liu Bei, as the representative of the vassal state, had to either fulfill the White Horse Oath and force Zhao Ji to demand a reward through armed force, or be unfilial and break the White Horse Oath by exceptionally granting Zhao Ji the title of king.

The Liu family is very generous, but when it comes to the title of prince, even their generosity is no match for them.

Liu Bei put down the battle report that Zhao Ji had delivered, and let out a long sigh. He said to the people around him, "The general retreated when faced with difficulties, which has now put me in a difficult position."

The men remained silent. Liu Bei wanted the emperor to grant Zhao Ji a royal title, but the emperor seemed blind and deaf, as if he knew nothing about these matters.

After Liu Bei finished speaking, he was lost in thought when Jian Yong pushed open the door and entered, bowing respectfully: "My lord, the General inspected Xutian today and found that a bumper harvest is in sight. The General is interested in eating the summer wheat and autumn rice of Xudu."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei asked in confusion, "Could there be another unexpected event?"

Jian Yong replied, "It is not yet clear, but given the General's usual character, he may have the intention to transport Xu Tian and Ru Ying's wheat and rice to Luoyang."

Now, Liu Bei couldn't sit still any longer.

Without the wheat and rice harvest in Xutian, and without the income from military and civilian settlements in Ruying area, how will he support the imperial court and the army?

We can't rely on the people of Xuzhou, can we?

Are the people of Xuzhou really someone we can count on?

Liu Bei remained calm and said, "I hope that General Yang can understand the difficulties the court faces in managing the household. I will also cooperate with General Yang to strengthen Luozhong so that the Emperor can return to the old capital as soon as possible."

(End of this chapter)