Tiger Guards

Chapter 271 Heartbroken Death
Zang Hong sat on a deer cart and came to the sloping earthen platform where the alliance was held in the past.

The deer cart is a unicycle with a very crude mechanical structure.

They are often used to carry people rather than goods.

At this moment, Zang Hong's face was pale. Looking around from the earthen platform, he seemed to see teams of righteous soldiers standing in formation and waving flags to cheer.

Six years ago, he stood on the earthen platform, full of vigor and enthusiasm, and read out the oath to fight against Dong.

It has only been six years, and too many people have died by swords and bows as they vowed.

"I thought it was Duke Zhou and Lü Wang, but I never imagined they were both deceitful and treacherous officials who broke their oaths and stole their reputations."

Zang Hong sighed softly, while Chen Rong, pushing the deer cart behind him, lowered his head and said nothing.

A gust of wind blew, and Zang Hong's lungs caught a cold and he couldn't stop coughing, and his face turned red from coughing.

After the coughing finally stopped, Zang Hong said to the officials who were still with him, "My energy is like a candle that has run out of oil. It is difficult to keep it going for long. Yesterday I met with the Marquis of Zhao and had a deep conversation with him. He believed that people's minds were in chaos and that it would take time for the world to be stabilized. It was a pity."

It was impossible for Yuan Shao to surrender, and it was impossible for Yuan Shu to surrender either.

It was even less likely that Liu Yan and Liu Biao would give up their important positions as provincial governors. Even Liu Bei and Liu Yao would not easily give up their roots and respond to the call to serve in the court.

This is the case for all royal families in the world. The noble Yuan family and the powerful Cao family will not give up their roots. You can't just wishfully think that the young and heroic Zhao Ji would give up Bingzhou?

It is impossible for all parties to enter the court, so the conflicts and disputes cannot be resolved in the court, and ultimately they will have to decide life and death on the battlefield.

Zang Hong didn't have the energy nor did he want to explain too much. He simply warned his subordinates and fellow villagers, "After I pass away, bury me in my proper attire. No shrine or burial mound is needed. A simple burial will suffice."

"Your Excellency, rest assured and recuperate. With Minister Zhao here, we will soon defeat Cao Cao. The world is about to be brought to order, and how can we do without you?"

Chen Rong tried to persuade him gently, but Zang Hong just sighed and turned to look at the spot where Zhang Chao had stood. His eyes blurred, as if Zhang Chao was waving at him. He suddenly said, "The commander is calling me."

The people around were horrified. The county commander that Zang Hong mentioned was specifically Zhang Chao.

The five people on the Suanzao oath-taking list, Liu Dai, Kong Ji, Zhang Miao, Qiao Mao, and Zhang Chao, have all disappeared.

Soon, everyone took turns pushing the cart back to the camp, crying.

Some people were so dispirited that they could not keep up with the wheelbarrows. In despair and sorrow, they drew their swords and committed suicide on the road.

When Zhao Ji heard the news and came to see him, there were wailing and crying sounds in the camp of more than 2,000 Yanzhou soldiers.

At the camp gate, Zhao Ji stopped short of seeing this and said to Zhang Zan, who was accompanying him, "Give away two thousand dan of rice and beans to support the Yanzhou officials and soldiers in their funeral. After the funeral, the Yanzhou officials and soldiers can leave or stay as they please; do not force them to stay."

"Here."

Zhang Zan responded in a deep voice. Two thousand dan of rice and beans was not a lot, only eighty carts of grain.

The specifications of grain carts are uniform, generally carrying 25 shi per cart.

Now the army still sets up camp in scattered places, along the sewers, in order to allow the horses to graze more grass and reduce food consumption.

Two thousand dan of grain is not enough for the horses in the army to consume in one day.

But for the remaining soldiers in Yanzhou, it is enough for them to eat for more than ten days.

After distributing these grains, many people were able to take a detour and escape to the State of Chen.

Food was too scarce in the Central Plains... There were more than 100,000 disaster victims in Pei State. Before the war, Cao Cao stayed in Xu County and ignored the disaster victims in his hometown.

Scholars also like to form groups, such as the scholars of Ruying and Liangpei.

When there is a need, the people of Liangpei will unite to face the outside world; when there is no need, the refugees from other counties and villages will starve to death.

The person who opened the granary to rescue the victims in Pei State was Pei Xiang Shu Shao. He had used Yuan Shu's military rations without permission, so Yuan Shu forgave Shu Shao.

When the imperial edict arrived, Shu Shao decisively handed over the seal to Chen Gong and his gang, and ran back to Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu did not blame Shu Shao. After all, the grain in the official granary of Pei State had been almost consumed, and Chen Gong was a firm pioneer in the anti-Cao movement. Yuan Shu was even happy to see this scene.

At worst, Chen Gong staying in Pei State can serve as a good buffer and buy him time to attack Xuzhou.

Now Lu Bu in the north and Chen Gong in the south are both eating the food of the State of Chen.

When there was a war, these young and strong victims were organized into an army and ate the food of the State of Chen; when there was no war, these victims also had to eat food.

Anyway, we need to provide relief to the victims, and the victims will also help transport food.

King Chen has food here and doesn't care about the difference in consumption.

Zhao Ji also faced a huge food gap, and he only had one chance to take action against Cao Cao.

If the attack fails and Cao Cao stabilizes the situation, Zhao Ji will have to either withdraw his troops or ask for food from the scholars of Ruying and Nanyang due to food shortages.

Since you are asking for food, other parties will definitely have to make concessions and make some compromises during the negotiations.

So Zhao Ji was waiting for the emperor and the royal army to arrive.

Stationing in Suanzao also has a huge advantage, which is that it can block the route for Chunyu Qiong and other Hebei troops to kidnap the emperor and escape from Hebei.

Zhao Ji allowed the Yanzhou soldiers to handle Zang Hong's funeral, and at the same time sent envoys to the mobile court to report the news that Zang Hong was wounded and died.

Although Zang Hong only fell off his horse and injured his leg, his death and the collapse of the Yanzhou soldiers must have a direct causal relationship with Cao Ren.

As for setting up camp in Suanzao, deliberately allowing Zang Hong to revisit the old place, hurt people by seeing things... and doing something to hurt his heart, this is definitely slander.

While Zhao Ji was waiting for the opportunity to fight, Xun You rode a horse to the court and met the ministers who had just left the border in Xingyang. Xun You brought with him the conditions of the men from Ruying and the men from Nanyang.

The nobles sat on the roadside and pulled a curtain to block the view of the marching troops.

At this moment, the ministers were relaxed and their backs were straightened for once.

The big families in Ruying and Nanyang have food, and Zhang Xiu, Xun Yu and Chen Gong have troops here. The situation is improving rapidly.

Yang Qi sat in the middle with a calm expression. He didn't expect that the conditions of the big family in Nanyang were even more excessive than what Zhao Yan proposed.

During this period, Yang Qi has been in contact with Zhao Yan.

The Menxia Province could not stay in Hedong, and he hoped that Zhao Yan could come to the court to assist in the administration.

The core spirit of the three-province and six-department system is the division of power, which is conducive to the emperor's regulation. It is impossible for powerful ministers like Huo Guang, Wang Mang, Liang Ji, and Dou Wu to hold all the power.

The problem now is that the imperial army is in decline, while Zhao Ji currently holds a very strong army.

In fact, the system of three provinces and six ministries is not new. There are too many stories on this land.

If we peel back the layers of history one by one, we can always find a similar framework... The system of six ministers in the Jin Dynasty before the Three Families divided the Jin Dynasty was quite similar to the system of three provinces and six ministries, except that the provincial and ministerial systems were more fragmented.

Only when Zhao Yan comes to the court and discusses face to face can various disputes be resolved quickly.

The conditions put forward by the big families in Nanyang in requesting official positions are completely understandable. The imperial court wants to supplement and restore various government offices and institutions, so it will naturally select suitable officials from Nanyang.

The official position was not the problem. The problem was that the big families in Nanyang wanted to abolish the immoral queen. Their purpose was very straightforward. They wanted to choose a new queen from the Deng, Yin or Zong families.

Because of this condition, Fu Wan, who was sitting in the main seat next to Yang Qi, had a gloomy expression on his face. He would definitely reject the proposal of the people from Nanyang.

Fu Wan had enough confidence to refuse. At this moment, he not only represented himself, but also represented the people of Xuzhou.

Because of her engagement with Zhao, Zhao would certainly oppose the outrageous demands of a big family in Nanyang.

Zhao Ji's future legitimate son and cousin of the future crown prince are the only bonds that maintain Zhao Ji's loyalty!

Only when the future crown prince ascends the throne can the Zhao family rest in peace.

At this moment, Fu Wan did not hide his disgust and was also observing others.

Minister of the Interior Zhao Wen, noticing the tense atmosphere, said, "If Xun Wen were to establish military farms in Xu, we could harvest a million dan of rice and wheat this year. The court's difficulties would be immediately alleviated. I believe there's no need to raise such talk as deposing and enthroning the empress."

Fu Wan's frown relaxed slightly after hearing this. Weiwei Zhou Zhong then spoke up: "If you reject Nanyang, I'm worried about rebellion in Zhang Xiu's army."

Upon hearing this, Xun You immediately responded, "Li Tong of Runan has led 7,000 troops to join Zhang Xiu at Wankou. With Zhao Taiqing supervising the troops, Zhang Xiu is safe for the time being."

Zhou Zhong was waiting for this sentence: "Since the troops at Wankou are stable, please march immediately to Yingchuan and guard the food and fodder together with Xun Wenruo."

The atmosphere became even more solemn. If they could get the promised food and had Zhang Xiu and Li Tong's army of nearly 30,000... why would they bother to look at the faces of the Zhao family's ancestors and grandchildren?

Chen Ji was a newcomer after all, but he showed no mercy when it came to action. He immediately responded with support: "There is no time to waste. Delay will lead to changes."

Kong Rong said nothing, but just observed the positions of these people.

Huan Dian, who was sitting at the end of the table, also spoke up: "Everyone, based on your understanding of him, what would he do if he knew that the imperial court was going straight to Yingchuan?"

According to the plan, the emperor and the court will lead more than 20,000 royal troops through Xingyang and head east to Suanzao to meet Zhao Ji and Zhang Yang, and then advance downstream along the Yingou water system.

Even if Xiahou Dun in Chenliu City dared to rebel against the emperor, the troops under his command might not dare to attack the royal army.

When this 40,000-strong combined infantry and cavalry force breaks through Chenliu and goes down the Bian River, Cao Cao will face the second complete annihilation of his army at the Bian River in his life.

This was Zhao Ji's plan, not the plan of the court officials.

Before this, the ministers had no choice but to send troops to Hulao and ask for food to the east.

And now, the big families in Ruying and Nanyang are all moving closer to the court; there are nearly 30,000 people under Zhang Xiu and Li Tong alone.

Xun Yu also had more than 20,000 troops under his command. In the Ruyin battlefield at the lower reaches of Ruying and the upper reaches of Huai River, Xiahou Yuan and Cao Hong also had more than 20,000 troops.

Adding the 20,000 to 30,000 troops under Chen Gong's command, that's a total of 120,000 troops!
Not to mention Zhao Ji and Zhang Yang, even if Zhao Ji, Zhang Yang, King Chen, and Lu Bu joined forces, what could they do?

What are you most afraid of now?
Just as Huan Dian said, he was afraid that when the imperial court turned around in Xingyang and attacked Yingchuan directly, Zhao Ji and Zhang Yang would withdraw their troops in a big step!
There was no need for Huan Dian to explain everything. Everyone present understood that they had to keep the secret from Zhao Ji and buy time to unite with Xun Yu and Zhang Xiu.

When the imperial court entered Xu County, it had sufficient food and troops, and was naturally able to take the initiative to recruit and pardon Cao Hong and Xiahou Yuan, and mobilize Chen Gong's army.

The 120,000-strong army is right in front of us, at our fingertips.

But if the news leaks out, Zhao Ji stops his troops and allows Cao Cao to act freely, then a major war will break out in Xu County.

Xun Yu’s victory or defeat, life or death is not that important. The key is the promise of new grain harvest this year!
Whoever gets the new grain from the Yingchuan military camp will be able to hold on until the end!
Zhao Wen observed the changes in the expressions of the people around him, and inexplicably looked at Kong Rong. The two people who knew a little about military affairs saw the fear in each other's eyes.

But it was not easy for him to stand up and refute anything. This kind of rebuttal would be a collective act of opposition to the ministers and was the behavioral characteristic of Zhao's lackeys.

Other small actions could be concealed from Zhao Ji, but how could he conceal the sudden turn of an army of more than 20,000 people?

Xun You also saw the hidden danger, but he did not understand Zhao Ji.

The ministers suffered many shameful losses at the hands of Zhao Ji, but they did not take the initiative to complain.

Not only Zhao Ji, they also ignored Lu Bu who was repeatedly besieged and beaten by Cao Cao.

As for King Chen, from the beginning to the end, when the ministers calculated the number of troops the court could control, they consciously excluded King Chen, the general recommended by Zhao Ji.

(End of this chapter)