Tiger Guards

Chapter 636 Zhao Rong is Young
In Jicheng, Tianshui, the Zhao family mansion was brightly lit at night, and guests were enjoying a lively banquet.

The Zhao clan of Tianshui was most notable in Xixian County in the southern part of the prefecture. During the Former Han Dynasty, there was a fierce general on the frontier named Zhao Chongguo. At the same time, Xin Wuxian of Longxi was equally famous as Zhao Chongguo.

These two individuals laid the foundation for the Xin family of Longxi and the Zhao family of Tianshui. Therefore, the Zhao family residence in Jicheng was just one of the properties of the Zhao family of Xixian County in this area.

Guests from various families who had intermarried with the Zhao family of Tianshui for generations gathered here... In fact, they did not oppose the Zhao family replacing the Han dynasty, nor did they care about the empress overseeing the country.

The long-term, multi-generational warfare in Liangzhou fostered a flexible moral compass among the powerful families of Tianshui.

For example, right now, guests from all families have gathered at the Zhao family residence to find out how the Zhao Foundation will treat them.

The best course of action is to acknowledge and acquiesce to their current status, which will naturally earn their support.

In this way, not only will Tianshui belong to the people of Tianshui, but even Liangzhou will be shrouded in the influence and monopoly of the people of Tianshui.

Historically, the core of Liangzhou's administrative center should have been located in Jincheng or Wuwei in the central part of Liangzhou. However, due to the war, the administrative center has now been moved to Tianshui in the far east.

This greatly facilitated the powerful and wealthy in Tianshui to seize positions in the state and local government offices, and naturally enabled them to transition from state officials to central government officials and enter officialdom.

After generations of accumulation, county, prefectural, and state officials were the minimum for the powerful families of Tianshui. For them, the real path to officialdom was through being recommended as a filial and incorruptible official or being recruited by the government.

As for other channels for entering officialdom, such as those based on high rank, imperial clansmen, virtuous and upright individuals, these were the private domains of scholars from Ruying, Hebei, Nanyang, and various Liu families in different regions.

Therefore, Xin Pi, the governor of Dunhuang, who had returned from Hebei and was recommended by Yuan Shao, immediately became the focus of attention.

They all wanted to use Xinpi, this third-party channel, to understand how Zhao Ji governed Bingzhou.

Xin Pi naturally knew what the bottom line of the powerful families in Tianshui was. He recounted in detail how Zhao Ji cunningly and treacherously deceived the Taiyuan elites when he held the emperor hostage, almost wiping them out, leaving only Sun Zi and Wen Hui, two pitiful people who were merely putting on a show.

It also recounts how, when the emperor was taken hostage and marched to Jizhou, the leader colluded with the Black Mountain bandit Zhang Yan to wreak havoc on the Shangdang elites, and how the leader looted and attacked Changshan and Zhongshan, among other battles.

General Yuan Shao refused to raise an army to confront Zhao Ji, who was holding the emperor hostage, so he could only passively take the beating. Gao Gan, the governor of Bingzhou, and Yuan Xi, the governor of Youzhou, were both attacked by Zhao Ji in the name of the emperor. Because Gao Gan and Yuan Xi were loyal to the emperor, and their officials and soldiers were unaware of the truth, they were ambushed by the Zhao traitor.

Then, they joined forces with Lü Bu to launch a surprise attack on Cao Cao, causing chaos in the Central Plains, plundering the clothing and people of the Central Plains, and reducing them all to slavery, behaving like the various barbarian tribes.

They were all Han Chinese citizens, but after being captured by the Zhao traitors, they were reduced to slaves. The injustice they suffered is truly indescribable.

As a result, all the counties of Yanzhou were reduced to ruins, with no human habitation for thousands of miles and not a rooster crowing for hundreds of miles.

When Xin Pi spoke of his deceased brother Xin Ping's murder, he became even more grief-stricken and burst into tears in front of everyone.

Some people who knew Xin Ping were also saddened and wept along with him.

Amid the wailing, a burly, tall man stood up and shouted, "Zuozhi! Zhao is such a cruel and tyrannical traitor! Now that we have both national and personal grievances, even if you cry until dawn and then from dawn until night, can you cry Zhao to death?"

Everyone was shocked. Xinpi wiped away his tears and looked up, but the candlelight was not bright enough to see the other person clearly.

The heroes of Longshang are generally robust, and there are many who are tall and imposing.

As the man approached, Xinpi immediately recognized him, his face lighting up with a mixture of surprise and delight: "Childhood Master!"

The visitor was none other than Zhao Rong, Zhao Zhichang, one of the Eight Colonels of the Western Garden and General Who Pacifies Bandits under Cao Cao.

Zhao Rong was born into the Zhao clan of Xicheng, which was the strongest branch among the Zhao clans of Tianshui. He was Zhao Yi's nephew.

Upon realizing that Zhao Rong had fled all the way back from Xudu, Xin Pi asked urgently, "Did Zhichang come with the imperial edict to suppress the rebels?"

"No, Lü Bu is arrogant and resentful that I served under Cao Cao in the past. To avoid being harmed by him, I resigned and secretly returned to my hometown."

Zhao Rong stepped forward and bowed to Xin Pi, then touched his short beard, which had originally been a foot long, but he had to cut it off when he fled.

His beard has been grown back, and it's only an inch long, making him look even more dashing.

Seeing that Zhao Rong had no imperial edict, Xin Pi immediately said, "Gentlemen, please wait a moment. I have a secret edict from the court to punish the rebels." "We are willing to hear the edict."

Zhao Rong publicly declared his stance, bowing deeply with his hands clasped in front of him, which led the Zhao clan members to follow suit. The Xin clan members and relatives who had come also bowed deeply with their hands clasped in front of them, shouting, "We are willing to hear the imperial edict."

Xinpi wiped away his tears with his sleeves and repeatedly bowed deeply to those around him to express his gratitude.

He immediately went out through the side door to the toilet, and took out the secret edict hidden in the crease of his trousers... This was naturally Chen Lin's handiwork, but it was stamped with a fake seal.

At this point, if this matter reaches Xudu, will the Xudu court deny this secret edict?

Since they were all secret edicts, it was impossible to leave a copy in the former Ministry of Personnel or the current Ministry of Personnel.

Xin Pi shook and blew on it slightly, then straightened his hat and stepped out, holding the secret edict in both hands.

When he returned to the hall, everyone had already rearranged themselves and were all sitting at the lower level, listening attentively.

Xin Pi, his eyes red, held the imperial edict and went to the head of the table, turning to face the crowd.

Immediately, someone brought over an empty table. Since they couldn't find incense, they lit a pair of candles instead.

"Greetings, angel."

Zhao Rong stood in the front row as the leader, performing a deep bow.

"Greetings, angel."

The remaining fifty-odd people huddled together and also performed the full kowtow.

Xin Pi coughed twice and began to read: "The treacherous minister Zhao Ji colluded with Lü Bu, held the emperor hostage, abused the officials and ministers internally, and committed violence against the prefectures and counties externally..."

He strained his voice, his expression filled with grief and indignation, and read aloud with dramatic intonation. When he read about Zhao's brutality, he stomped his feet in anger and blushed with rage.

Infected by Xin Pi's emotions, everyone secretly clenched their fists, determined to fight Zhao Ji to the death for their own foundation.

The capital of Liangzhou is currently located in Jicheng. Liangzhou has no governor or prefect, only Zhang Chang, the chief administrator appointed by Zhao Ji.

Although Zhang Chang's current registered residence is Hongnong, he was from Liangzhou during his youth and early adulthood. Therefore, his temporary appointment as the Chief Administrator of Liangzhou will not be met with much resistance from the scholars of Liangzhou.

Inside the prefecture, Zhang Chang also found it difficult to sleep.

He rearranged and studied the gift he was about to present to Zhao Ji in his study. It was none other than Zhao Yi's poems and calligraphy.

Everyone knows that Zhao Yan loves calligraphy, and Zhao Ji is very filial.

Zhao Yi, also known as Zhao Yuanshu, was a great literary figure from Longshang, but unfortunately he died of illness the year the emperor moved east.

Zhao Yi was nine feet tall, robust and heroic, and was a model for the scholars of Tianshui. Many people studied under Zhao Yi.

This established the influence of the Zhao family of Tianshui among contemporary scholars, and it is no exaggeration to say that they were all disciples of the Zhao family.

Zhao Yi's calligraphy and poems would be excellent gifts.

Even Zhang Chang, a master of cursive script, had to carefully select his poems to avoid any taboo topics.

However, since they are all works by the Zhao family and Zhao Yi, they would naturally avoid mentioning the deeds of the Zhao family ancestors and would not engage in any acts of defaming the Zhao family ancestors.

But now that things have come to this point, Zhang Chang is afraid that such a low-probability event might occur.

(End of this chapter)