Tiger Guards

Chapter 462 Guo Tu's Loyalty
On the second day of the ninth month, Yuan Shao entered Liyang.

The former commander-in-chief, Ju Shou, moved his town to the mouth of the Qi River upstream, and began to spy on the Yanjin River on the south bank.

However, the two sides only exchanged envoys; Zhao Ji did not send scouts to the north bank for reconnaissance, nor did Yuan Shao send reconnaissance troops to the south bank.

Hebei itself has reached a point where a general mobilization is needed, whether it's to rescue Cao Ang, to rescue Qingzhou, or to clash with Gongsun Zan again.

In the autumn and winter seasons in the north, you have nothing to do even if you're not fighting.

As Yuan Shao approached Liyang, his tendency to be indecisive resurfaced.

As a native of Yingchuan, and with a blood feud over the murder of his brother, Xin Pi would definitely shoot the arrow first and then draw the target.

If Xin Ping had died in the chaos of war, Xin Pi, for the sake of his family's long-term interests, would not have placed this blood debt on Zhao Ji's personal head.

However, Zhao Ji killed Xin Ping by throwing Yuan Xi's official seal with brute force in front of the two armies.

Therefore, Sinpi must seek revenge, as it concerns the family's reputation and its cohesion.

He had to be hostile to Zhao Ji emotionally and in public opinion, and actively seek revenge.

Xin Pi had to persuade Yuan Shao to send troops into war, and under this premise, he could naturally find many benefits in starting a war.

These benefits clearly swayed Yuan Shao.

More importantly, Zhao Ji devoured over 100,000 of Cao Cao's family members, which tempted people from Hebei and other provinces.

By recruiting the remnants of Cao Cao's army into Hebei, Cao Cao's army would become a relatively independent unit in the short term.

Although everyone is eager to eat, without a solid reason, it is not possible to merge or divide this population. At most, commercial means can be used to extract wealth from them.

However, now that most of this population has become Zhao Ji's prisoners, if Hebei defeats Zhao Ji, then these prisoners will be freed.

This will gain their natural favor, allow for a more reasonable distribution of resources, and enable each family to grow stronger.

The growth of each faction equals the growth of Yuan's army as a whole.

The only problem is how to defeat Zhao Ji.

At this very moment, Feng Ji, who was in charge of Qingzhou, also wrote a letter, strongly urging against going to war with Zhao Ji.

Defeating Zhao Ji is not the key; the key is whether you can kill Zhao Ji.

If Zhao Ji cannot be defeated, he will definitely continue to gather troops and launch a counterattack against Yuan's army in order to regain his lost prestige.

If that's the case, how can Yuan's main force rescue Qingzhou and suppress Sun Ce?
If the main force is tied up by Zhao Ji along the Hanoi and Dongjun lines, and Qingzhou cannot receive reinforcements, it will definitely have to rely on Sun Ce, thus accelerating Sun Ce's conquest and expansion.

At that time, Zhao Ji will be in the west, Sun Ce in the east, and Gongsun Zan will raise an army later in winter... What should we do?
As a native of Beihai, Feng Ji was also one of the scholars from other states, but he had to consider the interests of Qingzhou.

Only by securing Qingzhou can Jizhou have a chance to suppress Youzhou.

Otherwise, given the strength of the Yuan family, they would inevitably be subjected to coordinated attacks and entanglements from all sides until they were exhausted to death.

Feng Ji even persuaded Guo Tu to act as the central representative and repeatedly explain to Yuan Shao the disastrous consequences of going to war with Zhao Ji.

While Yuan Shao hesitated, his chief clerk Geng Bao was also very troubled. He held up an official document and said, "My lord, Lord Guo requests an audience."

"And for whom is he speaking?"

Yuan Shao picked up the official document and glanced at it; it was from Feng Ji's side again: "I won't see it."

Geng Bao bowed slightly: "My lord, Guo Gongze is also dissatisfied with the two traitors Lü and Zhao, yet he is now acting in the opposite direction. There must be some reason for this. As the saying goes, 'Listen to both sides and you will be enlightened.' What harm is there in my lord listening to their opinions?"

"Alright, bring him to see me."

Yuan Shao was moved by the saying "listening to both sides leads to enlightenment," and he also wanted to become a wise and diligent ruler.

Besides, it's just a matter of listening; the decision is still in his hands.

Soon, Geng Bao led Guo Tu in. Yuan Shao noticed that Guo Tu's eyes were red and swollen and his expression was downcast, as if he had just been crying. He frowned and asked, "Gongze, what is the reason for this?"

"Greetings, Your Excellency."

Guo Tu bowed deeply, blinked, and said with a slightly tearful voice, "I am a subject of Your Excellency, and I have a personal feud with the Zhao family. The Zhao family has bullied the Emperor and imprisoned the Empress, which is also a national feud. But for Your Excellency's sake, I cannot take revenge. How can I not cry with such a heart full of grievances?"

Yuan Shao stood up, took out a handkerchief, and handed it to Guo Tu, somewhat impatiently: "We have the duties of a ruler and his subject on the surface, and the friendship between us on the inside. Since we are discussing military matters, why put on such a show?"

"Yes, it was I who lost my composure."

Guo Tu then turned to look at Geng Bao. Seeing that Yuan Shao did not explicitly intend to keep him, Geng Bao bowed deeply and said, "I will go and fetch wine and dishes."

After Geng Bao left, Guo Tu said, "May I ask you, sir, if we were to fight against the Zhao family now, given their fierce and stubborn nature, would they, after our defeat, harass our army as Feng Yuantu has said, until we regain our prestige?"

Yuan Shao nodded: "This is also what I am worried about. The Zhao family is not prominent and has never been regarded as a powerful force in the country. The reason why the Zhao family was able to dominate Xizhou is simply because they held the righteousness of the court and relied on their strong military power. The people of Xizhou had no choice but to submit to them because of their power."

Upon hearing this, Guo Tu wiped away tears and looked up at Yuan Shao, asking directly, "What if our army suffers a defeat? War is a matter of rise and fall, danger and peril. As a ruler of a region, how can you see the advantages and ignore the dangers?" "Defeat?"

Yuan Shao stared at what was in front of him, his eyes narrowing: "Gongze, you might as well explain it more clearly."

"Yes, please forgive my boldness."

Guo Tu cupped his hands in greeting: "The Zhao family has always been known for its fierce and aggressive military tactics, and their army now numbers no less than 50,000. If our army is defeated, and the Zhao family abandons the prisoners and advances with light troops, then Hebei will no longer belong to Your Excellency. The people of Hebei, as well as your ministers, can still rely on the court and remain officials of 2,000 shi (a unit of grain measurement). May I ask Your Excellency, how will you conduct yourself after the defeat? The rebel Shu has created chaos in the south. If the foundation of Hebei is completely destroyed, and Shu's actions implicate his entire clan, this will be a disaster for Your Excellency's entire family!"

Yuan Shao remained expressionless and did not reply. Guo Tu then said in a trembling voice, "Loyalty and filial piety are difficult to reconcile. If it is for the sake of filial piety, I would strongly urge you, my lord, to fight against the Zhao family. But if it is for your sake, my lord, I can only put aside personal grudges and strongly urge you to lead your troops to defend the border and wait for the Zhao family to withdraw."

"This puts the principles of fairness in a difficult position."

Yuan Shao's voice was also a little hoarse. He had thought about this matter before, but his analysis was not as thorough as Guo Tu's.

Gongsun Zan once defeated his army of 100,000, and Zhao Ji broke through Shangdang and entered Changshan and Zhongshan, defeating Gao Gan, Yuan Xi and Qian Zhao's armies in succession, almost annihilating them all.

Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army had even breached Ye City, so he had experienced defeat and faced enormous risks in the face of battle.

Therefore, I instinctively felt that it was nothing to suffer occasional defeats in the battle against Zhao Ji, and that I could still stabilize myself and make further plans.

But Guo Tu revealed a terrifying truth to him: anyone could surrender to Zhao Ji or the imperial court after a defeat, but Yuan Shao was the only one who could not surrender.

The things Yuan Shu did would also implicate his own family.

When Yuan Shao faced Zhao Ji last year, he sensed the internal crisis and thus avoided a decisive battle with Zhao Ji, watching Zhao Ji withdraw his troops with great restraint.

If we put ourselves in their shoes, over a period of more than a year, no fundamental changes had occurred within Hebei.

The hidden dangers that existed last year cannot simply disappear this year.

Zhao Ji's fighting style is all about overwhelming force. It's not advisable to start a full-scale war with Zhao Ji before we've eliminated Gongsun Zan and acquired enough cavalry.

For a family like the Zhaos, to drag them down with them... wouldn't that mean the Yuans had struggled for generations in vain?

Therefore, Guo Tu's concerns are very reasonable. This applies to Guo Tu and even Feng Ji. After suffering a defeat or a minor victory and being relentlessly attacked by Zhao Ji like a mad dog, everyone has a way out, except for the Yuan family.

This is no longer just Yuan Shao's problem; it's a matter of survival for the entire Yuan family.

The imperial court will not let the Yuan family off the hook, nor will the Zhao, Lü, and Sun families.

In the Zhao family, Zhao Ji was young and successful, so he was easier to talk to.

The most ruthless one was definitely Zhao Yan. Zhao Yan entered officialdom by merit during the reign of Emperor Huan and spent more than 30 years in the ups and downs of his career. If there hadn't been a lack of people in the court, Zhao Yan would never have had the opportunity to enter the court as an advisor.

A person who has been suppressed their whole life will definitely take drastic measures when given the opportunity.

To date, Taiyuan has been completely destroyed... Many people still blame Zhao Yan for this. A young man like Zhao Ji is at most an executor; he could not possibly possess such ruthless intentions.

Zhao Yanjiu served in border prefectures and counties, and it was already considered clever and lucky that he didn't die at the hands of the Hu people.

After turning the tables, they naturally won't give others a chance; they will naturally retaliate for the suppression and grievances they've suffered over the years.

This is also why Yuan Shao disliked people from humble backgrounds; these people were severely suppressed and acted in extreme ways.

Dong Zhuo, Sun Jian and Sun Ce, Lü Bu, Ju Yi, Gongsun Zan, Zhao Yan and Zhao Ji were all like this. Cao Cao was also inferior to the descendants of powerful eunuchs, so he acted biasedly and was not rational or tolerant enough.

Even Zang Hong was like that; his father, Zang Min, only began to rise to prominence by being a protégé of the Yuan family and gaining the court's favor.

In just two generations, the Zang family rose to prominence by relying on their reputation, and their actions were constrained and hijacked by that reputation.

Therefore, Zang Hong was very irrational, insisting on fighting to the death over a dead man.

Even so, Yuan Shao did not want to kill Zang Hong.

If they really wanted to kill, surely they could have taken Dongwu City, which had been without food for half a year.

To deal with the Zhao family, we must be fully prepared and strive to kill them in one fell swoop.

Otherwise, given Zhao Ji's displayed martial prowess, even after becoming a bandit, he would still cause considerable harm.

Clearly, as Feng Ji and Guo Tu said, it is not the right time to start a war with Zhao Ji.

We should conserve our forces, first curb Sun Ce's rise, and inspire the people of Qingzhou to resist Sun Ce on their own.

Meanwhile, the central army group still had to deal with Gongsun Zan's winter raids.

As for Cao Ang, who was besieged... with so many family members and people taken away, whether or not to rescue them was no longer important.

Personally, Yuan Shao wanted to save them so that he could leave his son with a few helpers who were different from traditional scholars.

(End of this chapter)