Tiger Guards

Chapter 687 The Beginning of Factional Strife
Martial arts, grain storage pavilion.

On the watchtower outside the mansion, Zhuge Liang held a cup of hot tea and stared blankly at Chencang to the west.

The situation in Guanzhong has been largely understood, but what is now troubling Zhuge Liang is Su Ze's already initiated plan.

The problem lies here: not taking action earlier and delaying until now seems hasty and could be seen as disloyal. After all, there's a hint of waiting to see if things will go well or if they'll quickly silence anyone if the winds turn against them.

As a native of Langya, and someone who had little connection with scholars from Hedong, Sanfu, and other western states, Zhuge Liang could have remained uninvolved.

However, Su had considered things very thoroughly and had many reasons.

If they were to suddenly capture Pei Mao and force him to commit suicide, they could preserve as much of Xizhou's already dwindling vitality as possible and reduce political turmoil.

Nothing like this has ever happened before, and no one knows how many people will be affected by this chain of events.

Judging from Zhao Ji's several expeditions to Guandong and the complete annihilation of the Taiyuan elites, if Zhao Ji had taken action personally, tens of thousands of meritorious families would have been reduced to government slaves overnight.

This will deal a very serious blow to morale in the upcoming decisive battle of Luoyang.

Zhuge Liang pondered for a moment, then drank the tea, which was gradually cooling down, in one gulp. He then turned to look at the military officers waiting at the foot of the tower.

These people were also watching Zhuge Liang. In addition to protecting Zhuge Liang, they had two other orders: one was to control the Wugong Mansion to ensure that the army had sufficient emergency food when it retreated; the other was to be vigilant and monitor Su Ze.

They have now taken control of the Wugong Pavilion from Sun Zi through an order signed by Zhao Ji.

Sun Zi then arranged for more than a dozen guards to escort him to Chencang to report on his duties.

Meanwhile, Su Ze has also moved into Gaoling, in the northeast corner of Chang'an, and has begun to intercept and arrest various government messengers and itinerant private individuals. As for what they can find, only Su Ze himself knows for now.

Zhuge Liang could be considered the acting head of the military headquarters at present. He quickly descended the watchtower and went straight into the nearby warm earthen house.

Throughout the entire residence, the use of fire was strictly controlled.

The lighting inside the earthen house wasn't very good.

As Zhuge Liang sat down in the main seat, spread out the paper, and slowly ground the ink, he gradually adjusted to the dim lighting in the room.

He picked up his pen and wrote down his decision to hand over the final decision to Zhao Ji, and was not prepared to cooperate with Su Ze.

Therefore, the most important thing now is to capture Pei Mao alive and save his life, so that we can obtain more useful information and wipe out the accomplices in one fell swoop.

Although Zhuge Liang had never been involved in politics, he knew from his family background and his own learning that when a high-ranking official fell from power, his protégés and former subordinates would be demoted or sidelined, and those with closer relationships would face even harsher punishments.

The officials who lost their positions for this reason were often charged with a very simple crime: "dismissed for official business."

If we could get these mid- to high-ranking officials to talk and put them on this list, the first thing they would do is be exiled to the border!

Two documents were written in quick succession, one for Zhao Ji and the other a decree ordering the accompanying knights to go directly to Chang'an, take control of the Jingzhao County troops within the city, and blockade the Jingzhao Prefecture government office.

How exactly to control and protect Pei Mao depends on whether the people carrying out the orders can withstand the pressure from the Pei family.

Unable to withstand the pressure from the Pei family or other sources, Pei Mao might have made a careless mistake that led to his suicide by swallowing gold or taking poison.

Zhuge Liang was not familiar with these people who were temporarily assigned to him, but one thing was clear: most of the people selected by Zhuge Jin were from Qing and Xu provinces, and a small number were former subordinates of the Prince of Chen.

After verifying that the two documents were correct, Zhuge Liang sandwiched the document for Zhao Ji between two wooden slips, secured it with silk thread, sealed it with clay, stamped it with an official seal, and then placed it near a stove to dry it.

He took another document, bowed his head, and walked out of the earthen house. He said to the military officers who came to greet him, "My mind is made up. The evidence is becoming clearer and we can't delay any longer, or things will go wrong. Take control of the Jingzhao Prefecture troops immediately. If the commander hesitates or resists, arrest him immediately. Then mobilize the prefectural troops to seal off the Jingzhao Prefecture government office and place Pei Juguang under house arrest, pending questioning by the Grand Tutor. Here, Pei Juguang must be supervised by four guards day and night. Even when he goes to the toilet or changes clothes, two guards must accompany him closely."

Zhuge Liang spoke in a clear and serious tone, surveying the group: "Who is willing to go?"

Pei Mao's life must be saved. If Pei's faction is not purged afterward, those who carried out the order will certainly face retaliation.

But at this moment, no one would hesitate. As Zhao Ji's military officer, even if their position was lower, as long as they entered the ranks of military officers, they would come into contact with and passively learn how the shogunate operated.

Everyone knew that at least 250,000 official tenant households were needed before the spring of next year in order to ensure that the merits and rewards of the officers and soldiers who had fought in the campaign against the Hu were properly paid. It was this immense pressure to increase revenue that led to everything that was happening on the Liangzhou battlefield.

However, Liangzhou cannot be completely abandoned. The five counties of Longyou—Tianshui, Anding, Longxi, Wudu, and Jincheng—cannot be directly abandoned. Even Wuwei County, one of the four counties of Hexi, must retain a certain number of productive population.

Therefore, the number of people who migrated from Liangzhou to the seven prefectures of Shuofang was actually very limited, at most 150,000 households.

This leaves a shortage of at least 100,000 households, which is why no brave men were selected from the prisoners to form a suicide squad during the entire Liangzhou campaign.

At the same time, there were also officials and soldiers who made meritorious contributions in the Liangzhou campaign, and these also needed to be rewarded.

There are abandoned and idle lands everywhere. There is no shortage of land for rewarding merit, but what is lacking are government slaves and government tenants!
Finally, winning the decisive battle against the Guandong rebels required exploiting and squeezing the unpredictable number of government tenants. Therefore, while the Battle of Liangzhou could solve some of the labor shortage, it could not settle old scores.

The new accounts following the decisive battle with the Kwantung Army will soon be presented to us. The officers and soldiers in the army were fearless in their achievements and will not be polite when they demand their rewards and treatment after the war.

If you were to cut off the people of Hedong, that would be a way to save money, a very effective way to save money!

If even the people of Hedong are killed, then after the decisive battle with Guandong, when assessing merits, the reward for merits can be reduced by keeping the line closed.

This back-and-forth would objectively reduce the demand for government-owned tenants by at least 150,000 households.

However, the problem is also obvious. The Grand Tutor rose to power by relying on the Hedong Tigers. At this time, no one knows how much of the Hedong Tigers will be involved. If the scale is too large, or if the Grand Tutor Zhao is mindful of past relationships and only gives the Hedong Tigers a slight warning.

The Tiger General of Hedong will definitely retaliate, and all those who have now gotten involved will be within the scope of that retaliation.

However, opportunities to make a name for oneself are few and far between. So many people from Hedong have suddenly risen to mid- to senior-level positions, and their close ties have created a huge regional advantage that will overwhelm talents from other regions.

During battles between two armies, there are countless desperate men willing to act as messengers in order to rise above others.

Not to mention now, as long as we severely damage the people of Hedong, we will not only achieve great success, but also have fewer competitors in the future.

Especially the Hedong Tiger Warriors, this group has such a strong foundation that others simply cannot catch up with or compare to them.

This was already considered a rudimentary form of factional strife. Under Zhuge Liang's gaze, the three leading military officers stepped forward in unison.

Then another person stepped forward. Zhuge Liang looked closely and saw that it was Ma Zhong, the officer of the crossbowmen unit assigned to him.

If someone is from the Ma family and accumulates merit to rise to a certain high position, Zhao Ji may grant them the surname Ma and allow them to return to the Zhao family.

There are rumors circulating in the army that Ma Chao is going to form a clan alliance with the Grand Tutor, making him a minor branch of the Zhao clan of Jishan.

Therefore, although Ma Zhong was a squad leader, he already had a high level of influence among military officers of the same rank, and this influence would urge him to strive for a higher rank.

In the future, if Ma Zhong could transform into Zhao Zhong, he would naturally mentor his comrades.

Seeing Ma Zhong take his second step, the other two stopped and ceased their competition.

Zhuge Liang was also observing Ma Zhong. Seeing that he was calm and confident, he said, "Good, this matter will be left to the officer in charge of the cavalry."

"Mr. Kongming, please rest assured. The Grand Tutor's divine might has deeply impressed the army, and the people of the Three Auxiliary Regions are grateful to the Grand Tutor for punishing the two traitors, Li and Guo. Therefore, I will rush to Chang'an, and the troops of the prefecture will be within my grasp."

Ma Zhong bowed and extended both hands to receive the imperial edict, and continued, "Pei Juguang is a high-ranking official in Hedong. I am always by his side! If he tries to kill himself, I will bring him my head!"

Zhuge Liang smiled, handed over the official document, and jokingly asked, "What use would I have for Pei Juguang's head?"

"Uh, it is to present my head to you, sir."

"What use would I have for your head? Just focus on your work and don't overthink it. The Grand Tutor will arrive in Guanzhong soon; such a traitor will not amount to anything."

"Yes, I understand!"

Ma Zhong straightened his back, holding the heavy imperial edict in both hands. This was his stepping stone to advancement!

(End of this chapter)