The Rebellious Officials and Traitors of the Late Han Dynasty

Chapter 458 A battle of wits
On the walls of Moling, some members of aristocratic families looked at the fighting outside the city with puzzled expressions on their faces. Some even seemed extremely calm, as if they had anticipated the current situation.

They looked at each other and then stopped talking.

That night, aristocratic families in Moling City gathered in a mansion. The Zhang, Liu, Chen, Zhu and others all came to Moling City in the early Eastern Han Dynasty and had lived here for a hundred years. Although they could not be compared with aristocratic families like the Yuan and Yang families, they were also powerful local tyrants.

Liu Yao, Sun Ce and others in those days were very wary of these people, but these people were relatively honest and cooperated very well with them.

Now, the situation has changed. A powerful force is about to enter Jiangdong. If nothing unexpected happens, these people will become the objects of the other party's rule.

Even though this force does not have a very good attitude towards the aristocratic families, they have to support the other party honestly in the face of this situation. These people even think about whether they should welcome the other party into the city to gain their favor.

This matter was finally concluded in a great battle outside the city. Cao Cao had a hard time dealing with Zhang Liao. Once the imperial army came, these people could only rely on independent merit to keep their wealth and property.

So after the war, these people began to gather together.

"Everyone, you can all see the current situation very clearly. Cao Cao can't even beat Zhang Liao, let alone the King of Tang. Once the King of Tang's army arrives, Cao Cao will not be able to resist at all. Jiangdong will belong to the king sooner or later." Zhang Wei glanced at everyone.

If possible, he absolutely did not want to rely on the court, as the court's attitude towards aristocratic families was not very good.

Everyone couldn't help but nod their heads after hearing this. Seeing that Cao Cao could no longer resist, in order to protect their own family business, everyone could only choose a backer who would be beneficial to them, even if it meant paying a certain price for it.

After all, only when people are alive can they have other opportunities. Otherwise, if people die, everything will become nothingness, and their own property will also be taken away by others.

What does loyalty mean? Loyalty is not something that is deep in the blood of these aristocratic families. If you want to gain their support, you must have strong strength.

“Hmph, Cao Mengde can’t even defeat Zhang Liao, so how can he compete with the king? I heard that they joined forces to deal with the king at Chibi. It’s a huge joke, they will not succeed.” Chen Biao, the patriarch of the Chen family, sneered.

Everyone also nodded.

"The king doesn't treat us from the aristocratic families very well. Under such circumstances, if we cannot achieve success, and the royal army marches south to occupy Jiangdong, we will be the first to suffer." Zhang Wei looked a little anxious.

His elder brother Zhang Ying was once a general under Liu Yao. As a result, the Zhang family occupied a large amount of land in Moling. What he is most worried about now is that the cavalry army will march south in large numbers and find an opportunity to seize all of his land, money and food. At that time, he will not even have the chance to cry.

Such things have happened under the rule of the Cavalry Army. Qin Shou and other warlords have done such things. Since ancient times, having money is not as good as having a sword.

The Cavalry Army has a powerful force and is about to march south to invade Jiangdong. Under such circumstances, the aristocratic families in Jiangdong have no other choice.

"Hmph, what else can we do? We can only gather our forces and support the king's army. Do we have any other choice?" Zhu Cheng, the head of the Zhu family, snorted coldly: "Cao Cao doesn't have many troops now. If we join forces with Zhang Liao, we will definitely be able to capture Moling."

Everyone smiled slightly after hearing this.

"We are all gathered here today, and I believe everyone has the same idea. If you have no objection, I will send someone to meet Zhang Liao and agree to open the city gate at three o'clock tonight. Our servants will take the opportunity to set fire to the city and create chaos, and take the opportunity to welcome the royal army into the city. What do you think?" Zhang Wei asked immediately.

"The sooner this happens, the better. I believe Cao Cao has not yet reacted, and he would not have thought that we would send someone to contact the king's division so quickly." Zhu Cheng urged impatiently. The others also nodded.

Zhang Wei immediately called his eldest son and asked him to go out of the south gate to find Zhang Liao.

No one was surprised by this. Although Cao Cao occupied the city, these aristocratic families were always able to infiltrate Moling's troops inadvertently.

But they forgot who they were facing, a person that even Qin Shou was very afraid of. Cao Cao was suspicious by nature, and now there was a ruthless man named Cheng Yu by his side.

In terms of strategy, these two people have at least eight hundred brains. They have long seen through the roots of these aristocratic families and knew that these people would betray Cao Cao.

As soon as Zhang Wei's son left the city, Cheng Yu, who was hiding in the darkness, commanded the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to rush into the major families and arrested all of these people, young and old.

"People like you are thinking of betraying your master and surrendering to the Cavalry Army, but you don't know that we have been monitoring you for a long time, waiting for you to pass on information to the Cavalry Army."

Cheng Yu entered Zhang's house with a sharp sword in his hand, looking at the people at the scene, there was no smile on his face, but more killing. Although he caught these people, he did not have any joy in his heart. Cao Cao killed these people, which actually hurt both sides. Fortunately, Cao Cao was not a simple person and had other arrangements. Otherwise, Cao Cao would be very powerful this time.

"Bah, you will not have a good ending. The king will avenge us."

"Although we are dead, we still have our clansmen. If we follow you, sooner or later we will be robbed of our property and exterminated. In this case, we might as well give it a try."

"Master Cheng, this is none of my business. I definitely have no intention of betraying my lord."

.......
The scene was in chaos, with people swearing, kneeling on the ground begging for mercy, and so on.

"They have been arrested and thrown into prison, awaiting the Lord's decision."

Cheng Yu suppressed the murderous intent in his heart. Cao Cao had other plans. Killing these people would destroy Cao Cao's plans.

In the camp outside the city.

Zhang Liao and others sent Zhang Wei's son Zhang Rui out and then gathered together.

"Shi Yuan, why don't you look happy at all? Do you think there is some trick going on?" Zhang Liao noticed that there was no joy on Pang Tong's face, and he suddenly became curious.

"Of course it's true, but this won't work. Who is Cao Cao? He is suspicious by nature. At this critical moment, how could he trust the noble families in the city? I'm afraid all of this is under his control. If we take the opportunity to enter the city, we will be ambushed by him."

Pang Tong shook his head.

He believed that Zhang Wei's plan could definitely not be concealed from Cao Cao.

(End of this chapter)