Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 283: Powerful as Thunder, Unpredictable

Kong Rong, who wanted to transport grain and grass out of the pass, was humiliated by Zhang Liao on the way. He immediately went to Gaoling, the capital of Fengyi, to complain to Wang Hong.

Wang Hong was furious, so he wrote to Zhang Yu, asking him to dismiss Zhang Liao. After Kong Rong complained, he was afraid of being harmed by Zhang Liao, so he hurried out of Tongguan. However, Zhang Feng, the commander of Tongguan, strictly followed the military order, which only allowed him to leave but not enter. He carefully inspected Kong Rong and his followers before letting him leave.

Zhang Yu asked Zhang Feng to guard Tongguan specifically for this purpose. Tongguan is the gateway to Guanzhong. Without Tongguan, there is no Guanzhong. Therefore, how could Zhang Yu trust an outsider to guard such a dangerous pass? Therefore, he asked Zhang Feng, who had followed him for a long time, to guard Tongguan specifically to resist the enemies in Guandong.

After Kong Rong left Tongguan, Zhu Jun was greatly disappointed to see that Kong Rong had returned without any food and that Tongguan was heavily guarded.

Zhu Jun was previously ordered by Liu Xie to seize Guanzhong. Although he knew that it was difficult to take Guanzhong and that he should not have taken it, he wanted to give it a try when he saw Yuan Shao attacking Shangdang. So he planned to attack Tongguan and with the help of Liu Yan of Yizhou and Ma Teng of Longyou, he could see if he could take Guanzhong.

The key to Zhu Jun's plan to conquer Guanzhong was to send soldiers disguised as civilians to Tongguan to transport grain from Fengyi and seize Tongguan. Now the government order that no grain could leave Guanxi had ruined Zhu Jun's plan.

Moreover, after Shi Yi led his troops to station at Fenglingdu, he looked southwards at the ancient road of Xiaohan. Zhu Jun was suspicious three times a day, worrying whether Shi Yi had seen through his plan and would rather ignore the invading Chunyu Qiong and station troops at Fenglingdu. So after a few days of worrying, Zhu Jun went east to Shan County in order to preserve the few troops in the hands of the court.

Seeing Zhu Jun retreating eastward to Shan County, Zhong Yao was shocked. Because of the story of Cao Cao losing Yanzhou, he suspected Zhu Jun's intention and adopted Du Ji's suggestion. Now he found out that Zhu Jun really intended to use force in Tongguan. Zhong Yao sighed deeply that it was fortunate that he and Du Ji were cautious, otherwise it would have been what the court wanted.

Not long after Zhu Jun retreated eastward, Zhong Yao dispatched Shi Yi to march eastward out of Henei to support Zhang Yang, and sent someone to report the news to Zhang Yu to prevent Zhang Yu, who was far away in Daishuo, from being unaware of the events in Guanzhong.

At that time, Zhang Yu had already withdrawn his troops from Youzhou. When he stopped in Zhuo County, he recruited many scholars from Youzhou.

For example, Wen Shu recommended Liu Fang, an official of Zhuo County, and Zhang Yu personally examined him and found that Liu Fang had outstanding talents, so he appointed him as a clerk in the Chariot and Cavalry Department. Wen Shu saw that Liu Fang was favored by Zhang Yu, so he temporarily recommended Liu Fang as a filial and honest official, which was considered a move to make friends.

Liu Fang, courtesy name Ziqi, was a descendant of Liu Hong, Marquis of Xixiang in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Because of his prominent family and outstanding personal ability, he was recruited by Wen Shu to be Gongcao, in charge of law and discipline. Liu Qi's outstanding performance in law and discipline was the reason why Wen Shu recommended him.

In addition to Liu Fang, Zhang Yu recommended Sun Li from Zhuo County as the magistrate of Lingqiu County, Xu Ju from Gaoyang, Boling as the magistrate of Zhuolu County, Xu Miao from Guangyang County as the magistrate of Xialuo County, Kou Zan from Shanggu County as the magistrate of Pingshu County, and more than ten other famous scholars, including some high-ranking officials of Cao Wei in history.

As for these Youzhou scholars, except Liu Fang who was appointed to the Palace of Chariots and Cavalry, the rest were boldly recommended by Zhang Yu to serve as county magistrates of the two northern counties of Yan.

After recommending the Youzhou scholars to serve as officials, Zhang Yu led his troops back. However, Wen Shu was in poor health, and even had a disease, so it was difficult for him to travel far, so he did not see Zhang Yu off in person.

Zhang Yu saw that Wen Shu was tactful and not only donated all the money and grain from Zhuo County to the army, but also helped in recruiting scholars. Therefore, to show his friendship, Zhang Yu recommended Wen Hui, who was only fifteen years old, as a filial and honest official in Taiyuan County.

The army marched westward in a mighty force. When they passed through Wuruan Pass and reached Lingqiu County, Zhuo County sent people to bring them bad news.

"Bah!"

The cavalryman galloped and caught up with Zhang Yu, saying in a hurry: "My lord, there is an urgent report from Zhuo County that the prefect Wen Shu died of a sudden illness. There is no one in charge of important affairs in the county now. Zi Wenhui has sent someone to report to your lord."

Although Wen Hui was young, only fifteen years old, he was able to understand the situation and knew how to inform Zhang Yu of his father's death as soon as possible.

"Sir, now that Wen Shu has passed away, should we nominate someone to be the governor of Zhuo County?" Guo Tu asked.

Zhang Yu pulled the reins, stopped his horse, and said, "Zhuo County is close to Jizhou, and adjacent to Yijing where Gongsun Zan lives. Our army has already withdrawn, so it is inconvenient to leave anyone to guard Zhuo County. Besides, the governor of Youzhou is Liu He, so let Liu He's nephew be the governor of Zhuo County."

Zhang Yu and Liu He had a tacit understanding that he would take the two northern counties of Yan and hand over the four southern counties of Yan to Liu He for recommendation. Now, in order to avoid being deeply involved in the disputes in Youzhou, Zhang Yu did not intend to break his promise so as not to be distracted from the affairs of Youzhou.

"The Wen clan members will be escorted back to Taiyuan by cavalrymen, and Wen Shu will be buried in Qi County. Afterwards, let Xin Taiyuan recruit Wen Hui as a county official so that he can serve in the government in the future!"

"As ordered!"

Although Wen Shu was a fence-sitter, he provided Zhang Yu with many conveniences before and after he left Youzhou. Now his son Wen Hui still remembered him and wanted him to be the governor. Therefore, how could Zhang Yu ignore Wen's father and son? Naturally, he had to settle them well to show his care for the scholars of Bingzhou.

After the waiters left on fast horses, Zhang Yu led his troops for several miles. Seeing that it was already noon, he let the army rest in place.

On the hillside, Zhang Yu and his left and right civil and military officials sat on chairs, with curtains set up around them to block the biting north wind.

While eating, he saw the attendant delivering the military information from Hedong, saying: "My Lord, the Chariot and Cavalry Department has an urgent report, and there is also a letter from Fengyi!"

Seeing the military report coming, Zhang Yu wiped his greasy hands on a towel and opened the letter himself. After glancing over the letter for a while, Zhang Yu's expression suddenly turned cold.

Guo Tu, who knew how to read people's faces, asked cautiously, "May I ask, sir, is the military situation in Shangdang and Henei unfavorable?"

Zhang Yu handed the letter to his attendants to read, and said, "Huguan is dangerous and precipitous. With Hao Zhao in charge, how could Yuan Shao be able to break through it?" "Shangdang and Henei are safe now, only some changes have occurred in Guanzhong!"

"The court has no food and is in the midst of a famine, so it asked Feng Yi for food. However, Feng Yi secretly supplied food to the court without informing the court. What do you think about this?" Zhang Yu asked.

Jia Xu, Xun You, Lu Fan and Guo Tu read the contents of the letter, and they all looked embarrassed. Since it involved Wang Hong's affairs, they could not express their opinions casually!
After some hesitation, Guo Tu plucked up his courage and said, "The capital is in a severe famine, and it is a righteous act to offer grain and money. Although offering grain privately violates the order of the Cavalry Bureau, Zhang Zhengxi has blocked Tongguan, and it is expected that the grain and grass have been detained. Therefore, it is better for you to approve Fengyi to provide grain, so as to avoid being criticized by the court."

Guo Tu avoided the main point and was unwilling to talk too much about Wang Hong's behavior. After all, Guo Tu knew the principle of not alienating relatives.

"My Lord, the status of a prince is not that of an ordinary person. Although what happened today is out of line, it doesn't matter~"

While Lu Fan was speaking, Zhang Yu took the opportunity to open the letter from Fengyi County and saw the content of Wang Hong's impeachment of Zhang Liao, which made Zhang Yu even more dissatisfied.

Zhang Yu put away Wang Hong's letter and said calmly, "Prince Wang impeached Wen Yuan, saying that Wen Yuan was arrogant and beat and humiliated Shang Qing Kong Rong. I think that although Wen Yuan has committed a minor offense, Feng Yi's disregard of government orders needs to be discussed carefully."

Hearing this, several people knew that Zhang Yu was dissatisfied with his father-in-law Wang Hong, and did not intend to let him go lightly, but intended to establish his authority.

"cough!"

Jia Xu had no intention of speaking, but seeing Zhang Yu staring at him, he had no choice but to speak: "The Han Dynasty is in decline, but it is still the common ruler of the world. Now, as Mr. Guo said, although Fengyi's grain supply violates the ban, it is in line with morality. If you punish Fengyi for this, it will surely cause criticism, and the prince is your relative."

Then, Jia Xu said meaningfully, "So I think it is not appropriate to punish Feng Yi for the grain supply issue."

Worried that Zhang Yu might not understand what he meant, Jia Xu pretended to cough a few times and said, "I am thirsty after eating the cake. I beg you to give me some wine to drink!"

Zhang Yu initially thought that Jia Xu was speaking for Wang Hong, and his expression darkened. But when Jia Xu talked about wine, Zhang Yu's expression suddenly changed.

"allow!"

"Thank you, Lord!"

Zhang Yu hesitated for a moment and said, "The prince's relief to the court is a righteous act, so I have no intention of interfering. However, I heard that since the prohibition order was issued, many county officials have ignored it, so we must pay attention to it now."

As he spoke, Zhang Yu looked at Lu Fan and said in a deep voice: "Ziheng, take my seal and go south now to mediate the conflict between Wenyuan and the princes, and supervise whether the ministers violate the prohibition order. If there are any violations, they will be dealt with according to the law!"

Lu Fan looked stern. If he remembered correctly, the newspaper of the Cavalry House just mentioned that Wang Hong violated the prohibition order and entertained the imperial envoy Kong Rong. Now Zhang Yu asked him to go south to Guanzhong to mediate the conflict between Zhang Liao and Wang Hong. It might be a superficial act. In fact, he intended to punish Wang Hong with the prohibition order.

"As ordered!"

Although it was a tough job, Lu Fan did not dare to disobey the order. As a native of Runan County, he was able to be entrusted with important tasks by Zhang Yu repeatedly, which was based on his loyalty to Zhang Yu. Now that Zhang Yu encountered a difficult problem, he needed to share Zhang Yu's worries.

Lu Fan glanced at Jia Xu and couldn't help but sigh that Jia Xu was not only extremely intelligent, but also able to read people's minds.

Wang Hong's supply of grain to the court was indeed against the order of the Ministry of Chariots and Cavalry, but it was in line with morality. If Zhang Yu punished Wang Hong for privately supplying grain, it would be a cause of gossip for others, and Wang Hong was Zhang Yu's father-in-law, so Zhang Yu could not punish Wang Hong for this.

But if Wang Hong was not punished, wouldn't it damage the authority of the Chariot and Cavalry Bureau and even offend Zhang Yu's ruling prestige in Yongzhou and Bingzhou? From the perspective of boosting the authority of the Chariot and Cavalry Bureau, punishing Wang Hong for violating the prohibition order was reasonable and would not cause criticism.

The fact that Zhang Yu asked Lü Fan to go south with the imperial seal showed that he did not want to have a direct conflict with the Wang family. After all, the Wang family was an important force for him to rule Yong and Bing states. When Lü Fan's actions caused dissatisfaction among the Wang family's followers, Zhang Yu might come forward to resolve the matter.

The political tactics of the rulers are nothing more than this, they use you but also restrict you. Sometimes they want to strike you down but they won't do it directly, but instead instruct their lackeys. When the lackeys become annoying, the ruler will step in and act as a peacemaker.

"What we discussed today only needs to be known to you and me, and must not be disclosed to outsiders!" Zhang Yu warned, fearing the impact.

"We will follow your orders!" Everyone bowed in response.

Zhang Yu glanced at Jia Xu and said nonchalantly, "Since Wenhe likes to drink, I will give him five jars of fine wine!"

"Thank you, Lord!"

PS: I have something to do at home, so I will only update once today and make up for it the day after tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)