Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 215 The Real Enemy
"My lord, in this battle, our army lost 237 men, 1,156 were injured, nearly 10,000 were killed, more than 8,000 were captured, and the bandit leader Zhang Niu Jiao was captured alive. Please make your decision, my lord."

Cui Jun waved his hand and two soldiers brought Zhang Niujiao up.

This guy was very majestic before, but he just knelt down as soon as he entered the door.

"Please spare my life! I didn't know how brave you are, and I offended the majesty of heaven. I was really bewitched by someone. Please spare my life, General!"

This 180-degree turn in attitude caught Liu He off guard.

"Didn't you vow to kill me before on the battlefield? Why are you begging for mercy now? If I really spared you, I can't guarantee that you wouldn't come back to fight me again."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Niujiao kowtowed profusely.

"I dare not, I absolutely dare not! I have truly witnessed the general's extraordinary might and the unrivaled combat power of the army under his command. How dare I have any more thoughts? As long as the general lets me go back, I will be a good person. Yes, I will definitely be a good person!"

He banged his head on the ground, making a loud "bang bang" sound, but Liu He remained unmoved.

Zhang Niujiao secretly glanced around. No matter whether it was Liu He, Cui Jun, Guan Yu or others, their expressions were all expressionless. They felt as if they were in an icy cave. Finally, he saw Tang Zhou with great difficulty and quickly knelt down and crawled over.

"Your Highness Tang Zhou, it's Your Highness Tang Zhou. For the sake of our past friendship, please save me!"

Tang Zhou hurriedly shook him off and shouted angrily, "Don't talk nonsense about your Highness or not! I am now under the command of my lord, and I must not use the title I used when I was bewitched by that traitor!"

After spending several months together, Tang Zhou had a sense of awe towards Liu He in addition to his original admiration.

What people fear is naturally his powerful strength and his temper that can turn against everyone at any time.

What he respected was that he was clear about rewards and punishments and caring for his subordinates. He had made some contributions in the two battles of Yanmen, and although he was not good at rectifying the internal affairs in the rear, he had some achievements, so he was often rewarded and praised.

He is fully confident that as long as he continues to work hard, he will be promoted step by step, and this is absolutely not an empty talk.

So when he heard Zhang Niujiao mention the name he was called in Taiping Dao, he was afraid that Liu He would become suspicious and hurried to distance himself from him. How could he possibly plead for Zhang Niujiao?

Liu He glanced at Tang Zhou and said nothing.

Seeing that this road was blocked, Zhang Niujiao's mind raced and he suddenly exclaimed.

"Ah! I can redeem myself from my crime and make meritorious contributions. I can tell you who is the one who informed me of your movements behind your back. He said that you not only have countless money and food, and are extremely wealthy, but also control great virtuous people... Oh, no, it was someone who snatched a peerless divine weapon from the traitor Zhang Jue, and used all means to deceive the villains. I will report him..."

Without waiting for him to speak, Liu He waved his hand.

"No need, I know who it is. It's Wang Chen, the deputy governor of Bingzhou. I already knew about this and met him not long ago."

Zhang Niujiao looked stunned, and then suddenly shook his head vigorously.

"No, no, no, it wasn't him. Oh, no, it was him who came to tip off. But he wasn't the only one!"

Liu He and others immediately sat up straighter.

"Hmm? Is there anyone else besides Wang Chen?"

Zhang Niujiao nodded hurriedly and said, "That's right. Wang Chen is just a person responsible for delivering information in front of the stage. There are a lot of people who really support him behind the scenes!" Liu He seemed to realize that this matter was unusual and shouted, "Tell me everything you know and I can consider giving you a way out. If you dare to conceal or deceive, hmph, I'll let you know my methods!"

"The villain doesn't dare, the villain doesn't dare!"

Zhang Niujiao was as if he had been granted amnesty, and he told everything he knew without leaving out a single word.

After he finished speaking, everyone present had their brows almost raised.

Zhang Niujiao realized that the atmosphere was not right and asked cautiously, "General...I...I..."

Liu He came back to his senses and waved his hand: "Take him away and keep him under guard. Make sure he doesn't lose his daily expenses."

Zhang Niu Jiao immediately breathed a sigh of relief. The implication of this was that he would not be killed and would not be treated harshly. Even if he was not let go for the time being, he could at least save his life.

"Thank you, General Liu! I will always remember your kindness!"

Before he could say anything more, two soldiers came in and dragged him out.

As soon as he left, Cui Jun said, "My lord, this is my oversight. I should have thought of it earlier. Wang Chen would never think of colluding with the rebels. Even if he did, he wouldn't have the guts to do it. Moreover, he was able to contact Zhang Niu Jiao so easily. There must be a force behind him who is advising him. It is even possible that they are the ones who are instigating Wang Chen to deal with my lord. Even if the matter is exposed, he will be the scapegoat."

Liu He shook his head. "It's not the fault of the military advisor. I thought that people like Wang Chen, who don't care about their country and people, and only seek personal gain, and even do not hesitate to undermine the government, are only a minority. I didn't expect that the Han Dynasty has become so corrupt. In the counties of Bingzhou, there are more than a dozen powerful families supporting Wang Chen, and even took the initiative to give Zhang Niujiao food and weapons. It's really hard to imagine."

Zhang Yong said, "Brother, this is a shocking event. We have never had any connection with those families. Why would they risk killing all of their clans to frame us?"

Cui Jun explained: "The four generals don't know. Most of these powerful families should be related to the families that were destroyed by our army. They may be different branches of the family, or they may be related by marriage, or they may have interests. No matter what the relationship is, they will naturally regard our army as a great enemy."

"Furthermore, wherever our army goes, local tyrants are eliminated one after another. Even if some of them still survive, they have to pay huge sums of money and food, and from now on they must behave themselves, abide by the law, and dare not step out of line again."

Ye Xiang was a little puzzled: "Isn't it natural to obey the law? Can they not live if they don't obey the law? Do they have to deal with us at all costs?"

Cui Jun smiled bitterly and said, "General Ye is too naive. These powerful families have always been tyrannical. They have always ignored the law and no one dared to offend them. Relying on this, they have accumulated a lot of wealth. As the saying goes, 'Destroying someone's wealth is like killing their parents'. Naturally, they regard us as a thorn in their eyes and a thorn in their flesh."

Guan Yu felt a slight chill all over his body when he heard this.

"Humph, these traitors should have been eliminated long ago!"

"That's right. If I, Old Cheng, were to lead a troop, I could wipe out these dozen families in less than a month. Let's see who dares to go against us in the future!"

"Second brother is right. Keeping these people will only bring harm to the people. It's better to kill them as soon as possible."

Cui Jun shook his head: "Alas, if it were really that easy, these forces would not have survived until now."

"Among these families, there are many who hold the position of governor or equivalent. There are also several who hold posts in the prefectures and even in the capital. If we talk about fighting, even if their forces join hands, they are still no match for our army. However, their voice in the court, reputation and influence in Bingzhou far exceed our army by ten or a hundred times."

"They are weaker than our army, but with this influence, they can rally many families to fight against our army. Our army is far away in the northern frontier, almost fighting alone. Facing the Xianbei army, the outcome is still unknown. If we attract a large number of enemies behind us, won't we be in a desperate situation?"

Zhang Yong said in a deep voice: "Alas, when my elder brother was exiled to Yanmen, it was also because of a group of noble families and powerful people in the court who interfered. Now this has happened again. It seems that our real enemy is neither the Yellow Turban Army nor the Xiongnu Xianbei, but these people with wolfish ambitions, who are hypocritical and yet occupy high positions in the government."

(End of this chapter)