Tiger Guards

Chapter 706 The Parting of Jing and Yi
Inside Xiangyang City, at the Zhennan General's Mansion.

Kuai Liang, the chief clerk of the shogunate, and Fu Xun, a man from the north, walked side by side in the corridor.

The two walked leisurely and casually, at a leisurely pace.

Kuai Liang held a stack of papers in both hands... In the north, due to the war, paper had long become a luxury.

Only in the last two years, with the great pacification of Hedong and Taiyuan, has paper production resumed on a large scale in the north.

In Jingzhou, paper is even cheaper and more readily available.

Without government intervention, the private sector can produce enough paper for the market.

However, this production volume is still insufficient compared to that of Zhao Ji.

Jingzhou was rich in resources, but that did not mean that wealth was evenly distributed, so there were not many people who could actually afford to use paper as a daily consumable.

It was only when one reaches Kuai Liang's status and level that one realizes that paper is quite common and not worth making a fuss about.

Kuai Liang is currently only serving as the chief clerk in Liu Biao's General Zhennan's office. His main job is the governor of Zhangling County, and he also holds the title of Marquis of Shulingting, which was recommended by Liu Biao after he took control of Jingzhou.

Zhangling Commandery was carved out from the southeastern part of Nanyang Commandery, separating Nanyang Commandery from Jiangxia Commandery. It roughly corresponds to the area where Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu was from.

In the winter of the second year of Jian'an, when the imperial court moved to Nanyang, it abolished Zhangling Prefecture and merged all the counties of Zhangling Prefecture back into Nanyang Prefecture, with the intention of restoring a large Nanyang.

At that time, Kuai Liang was transferred to another post. Last year, a change occurred in Xuchang, and the campaign against the two traitors Lü and Zhao began.

Liu Biao divided Nanyang again, creating four commanderies in one go.

The southeastern part was Zhangling Commandery, used to supervise Huang Zu of Jiangxia; the northwestern part was Nanxiang Commandery, intended to guard the Wuguan Road and Shangyong Mountain Road leading to Guanzhong.

Yiyang Commandery was separated from the northeast of Nanyang, and Liu Biao has now handed it over to Liu Bei for actual control.

The former imperial capital of Nanyang was divided into four prefectures: Zhangling, Nanxiang, Nanyang, and Yiyang. Even so, the smallest prefecture, Nanxiang, had eight counties.

Through this split, the original Nanyang County community has now become four different community groups within the same county.

Meanwhile, it was not so easy for the Guanzhong refugees who had fled the chaos in the Nanyang Prefecture to return home; there was almost no legal way to return.

In the process, they were able to catch many refugees who were illegally moving between counties. These lawless vagrants were naturally a valuable asset.

Liu Biao also selected able-bodied men from these refugee groups in the Three Auxiliary Regions to form a force of 8,000 heavily armed spearmen with combat experience in the Northwest and Central Plains.

However, these 8,000 heavily armed spearmen were almost unaccustomed to the climate of Jingnan, let alone the climate and terrain of Jiaozhou.

Therefore, they remained in Nanyang to continue training while establishing military settlements, awaiting the day when the military would be deployed.

However, the series of wars launched by Zhao Ji in the north were like a raging storm... An army of eight thousand men was simply not worthy of appearing on Zhao Ji's menu.

Therefore, it wasn't just Liu Biao who wanted to avoid war; Kuai Liang, Huang Zu, Cai Mao, and others also wanted to avoid war.

They were not unaware of Zhao Ji's appalling attitude towards powerful clans and heroes... but Zhao Ji was simply too powerful, so the people of Jingzhou had no choice but to change their approach.

For example, try to understand Zhao Ji.

Given Zhao Ji's background, it was necessary to destroy the Taiyuan social customs in order to avoid being hindered and to carve out a place for him to stand and find refuge.

This is for survival and development, which is why drastic measures are necessary.

Now that Zhao Ji has no shortage of land, why would he be interested in the rainy, humid, and mosquito-infested land of Jingchu? Nanyang is relatively well-developed, but there is still a lot of undeveloped land in Nanjun and Jiangxiajun in northern Jing, such as the large swamps and wetlands left over from Yunmengze. These places are densely populated with snakes and insects, and unless absolutely necessary, who in the north would be willing to come to this vicious place to beg for food?

The four prefectures of Jingnan and the prefectures of Jiaozhou all had similar climates. For northerners who were used to dryness, the humid and hot Jingnan and Jiaozhou regions, which were full of miasma, epidemics, snakes and insects, were perfect places to exile criminals. How could the superior people of the north like or covet the land in the south?

If Zhao Ji had a good understanding of the situation, and if he had also learned about the real and treacherous environment in the south, how could he possibly compete with them for these barren lands?
Therefore, the major families in Jingchu have a relatively optimistic side.

After all, they weren't without the ability to resist.

If they demonstrate the ability to resist and do not usually antagonize the Zhao family, then in order to quickly unify the country, the north will naturally appease the leaders and key figures of the southern forces.

For example, Kuai Liang is already the Marquis of Shuling Pavilion. Even if things go badly in the future, he can still retain the title of Marquis of Shuling Pavilion as a family heirloom.

He was flipping through the papers, reading the confessions, and in high spirits, he remarked, "The Yizhou army is bogged down in the Ba County rebellion and is no longer able to invade Jingzhou. The matter of Jiaozhou should not be delayed any longer."

Fu Xun nodded in agreement. The merchant fleet from Ba County brought rumors about what had happened in Chengdu, as well as some scholars and commoners who had come by boat from Ba County to escape the war.

All the information corroborates one thing: after Zhao Ji defeated and released Zhang Lu, he returned to Hanzhong and began preparing for war, catching Liu Zhang and Zhao Wei off guard.

It appears that Liu Zhang killed Zhang Lu's mother and brothers who were being held hostage... but Zhang Lu's counterattack was too swift, so swift that the Chengdu authorities couldn't react in time.

There is a natural barrier between Chengdu and Hanzhong, so Zhang Lu could not rush into Shu. With Zhang Lu dividing his troops to guard the strategic points, Chengdu could not launch an attack either.

In this situation, if Zhang Lu incites the various tribes of Ba to attack Ba Commandery, Liu Zhang will definitely be forced to take the beating for a period of time.

After all... Zhao Ji's army, which had pacified Liangzhou, was still gathered in the Longyou region. Although it was slowly withdrawing, who could give Liu Zhang a guarantee that Zhao Ji's army would definitely withdraw?

Instead of taking the opportunity to enter Hanzhong and launch a frontal attack on Shu?
Therefore, for Shu, the most important thing right now is not to join forces with Zhang Xian to counterattack Liu Biao, nor is it the outcome of the battle in Ba Commandery!

Instead, they concentrated their precious military strength to guard the vital passage to Sichuan!

Zhao Ji is known for his skill in raids, and now the people of Yizhou must be in great fear. Who would dare to send troops to Ba County to fight against Zhang Lu?
Are you really not afraid of sending troops to Ba County, and then Zhao Ji's elite troops making a long-distance raid and piercing through Chengdu with a single sword?
Therefore, Liu Zhang had to leave his precious elite forces in Shu, stationed along the Mianzhu line; at present, he had to be wary of Zhang Lu's feint attack, coordinating with Zhao Ji's troops to launch a surprise attack.

Then, after ascertaining Zhang Lu's true strength and weaknesses, a counterattack will be launched!
Once they capture Hanzhong, Zhang Lu's troops and the various tribes of Ba who have invaded Ba Commandery will withdraw and return to defend their own territory.

Therefore, in the eyes of Fu Xun and Kuai Liang, something was happening in Yizhou that was beneficial to Jingzhou, something that was worth celebrating.

Only by showing the other hardliners in Jingzhou the sorry state of Yizhou can we unify our thinking and work together to solve the problem of unifying Jingzhou.

Kuai Liang led Fu Xun to Liu Biao's council hall. Before he even entered the courtyard, the two of them smelled a rich and refreshing fragrance.

This is a spirit-nourishing incense made by the Buddhist monk Futu, using ambergris as the main ingredient and blending it with other local incense from islands and foreign lands in the South China Sea.

Liu Biao and his wife's greatest hobby was burning incense, as if the fragrance could drive away evil spirits.

Unpleasant odors are often associated with unclean things, as if incense could drive away unclean things from the body and mind.

Incense culture is closely related to spiritual practice and the pursuit of immortality.

Kuai Liang and Fu Xun would not disturb Liu Biao and his wife while they were burning incense. The two of them, along with the other waiting officials, would sit or stand quietly in the corridor outside the hall, enjoying the incense at that moment.

The incense burned by Liu Biao and his wife was far rarer and more precious than gold of the same weight.

Now that they had the opportunity, Kuai Liang and Fu Xun naturally cherished it and were unwilling to miss it.

(End of this chapter)