Chapter 133 Ma Chao's Change
The next day, the land of Guanzhong was shrouded in dark clouds.

Leaden clouds and occasional showers of rain fell.

The air was heavy with gloom. The two thousand infantrymen assigned by Zhong Yao had arrived at Gaoling and were boarding boats to cross the river and assemble on the south bank.

In Xinfeng City on the south bank, the three thousand Qingzhou soldiers stationed there continued to reinforce the northern camp of Mount Li.

Compared with the mature Xinfengcheng with complete living facilities, they prefer Lishan Beiying.

The camp area planned for them by Black Bear included two ravines and three hills.

Therefore, the mountain in the middle is where the Qingzhou soldiers’ camp is located.

There are hot springs deep in the valley.

These Qingzhou soldiers also know how to recuperate. They have driven out the tyrants who occupied this place, assigned people to mine rocks, and are renovating the hot spring pool.

On a boat on the bank of Wei River.

Zhong Yao and Wei Ji went fishing together. As there was a shortage of raincoats in Guanzhong, both of them wore wide bamboo hats, and under the hats were sheepskin coats with cashmere turned inside out.

Sparse raindrops occasionally fell on the surface of the sheepskin and slid off easily.

Zhong Yao felt warm all over, opened the collar of his cloak, and was still thinking about what happened yesterday.

He didn't expect that Black Bear would dare to come to the North Bank Camp to see him, and he didn't expect to directly throw the Silver Seal of General Tiger Fang to him. This was the most direct threat.

Black Bear's meaning at that time should have been very clear. He could either go out of the camp himself to return the silver seal, so that the other party would still be the Tiger Tooth General of the court; if he sent someone else, Black Bear would not accept the silver seal.

Others can't do it because they can't make decisions on their own behalf; only by going by themselves can they agree to the various conditions proposed by Black Bear.

Fortunately, Black Bear has been stabilized temporarily, but will this man make even more excessive demands next time?
Official positions in the imperial court are meaningless to this group of white goose thieves. They do not need a "tiger-fang general" to control the army. This is fundamentally different from the warlords in various places.

Even Zhang Yan, the former commander of the Black Mountain Army, lost much of its cohesion after the Black Mountain Army became self-sufficient in the mountainous areas and lost external pressure, so that Zhang Yan was unable to control the commanders of various troops.

Even its headquarters was controlled by the General of Pingnan, who was appointed by the imperial court.

If we really talk about traitors, Black Bear is one, and Zhang Lu of Hanzhong is another.

As for the others, having lost their official titles and righteousness of the Han Dynasty, how long can they continue to be arrogant?

In other words, a force like the Black Bear is almost indifferent when it comes to such a rebellious event as supporting the Emperor of Chang'an.

The silver seal of General Huya was like this, and probably the same was true for the golden seal of Marquis Liang demanded from the court. It would be difficult to completely tie the other party to the battle flag of the Xudu court.

But this is different from the future that Zhong Yao had envisioned.

As expected, he could hand over Guanzhong to Hei Xiong, and then go to the court to serve as Hei Xiong's representative, and Guanzhong would be his external aid.

As long as one more government office is opened, it may be possible to persuade Liu Biao to come to the court, and let Liu Qi take charge of Jingzhou, so that there will be three government offices in Xu Du.

Through joint governance by the government, the war can be quickly resolved.

As long as there is no war, the vast majority of people adapt to a peaceful life and begin to get tired of war and turmoil, then the foundation of the public government's joint governance will be solid.

This was Zhong Yao's vision, and this ideal was naturally full of promise.

But the black bear's behavior yesterday had already scared him.

An unscrupulous person was in charge of Guanzhong. It would have been fine if he had not gone to Xu Du, but he was so stupid as to run to Xu Du and force Cao Cao to set up a government office.

It’s a good thing that Black Bear is okay. What if this guy took the risk like Sun Ce did, or raised an army to rebel against the Xu Du court.

Then his new mansion and the people of Yingchuan who helped him build it would inevitably become victims of Cao Cao.

The Yidaizhao can kill people, and if there is any change in Guanzhong in the future, Cao Cao can still kill people.

It would be too unfair to die like this.

Zhong Yao was fishing, thinking about how to break the impasse.

If you advance, you can implement the joint governance of the government; if you retreat, you have to be a local boss in name only.

People cannot just think about themselves. Only by cooperating deeply with Black Bear can they increase the indirect influence and confidence of Yingchuan people in Xudu to fight against Cao Cao.

For Zhong Yao, joint governance by the government was definitely not an emergency solution.

This idea has existed for a long time, to abandon the influence of the emperor, eunuchs, and external relatives; and to divide the ruling power of the court.

Virtuous and capable people were selected to preside over the public offices and the upper public offices, and the public offices jointly governed the country; the Secretariat was just an institution that stamped seals and issued imperial edicts.

In order to prevent the Shangshu Tai from increasing its power, the Shizhong was clearly defined as the position for discussing state affairs between the government offices and the Shangshu Tai.

Then under the framework of joint governance by the dukes and government offices, several dukes and government offices should make various proposals, which would then be discussed by a group of ministers and finally submitted to the Secretariat for release.

This primitive three-province administrative structure was not new. It was how it operated after the Later Han Dynasty excluded the emperor, relatives of the emperor's wife, and the eunuchs.

Completely downplay the emperor.

If the emperor is downplayed, there will be no generals, relatives of the emperor and powerful ministers who record the affairs of the Secretariat, and there will be no group of eunuchs who compete for power with the Palace Attendant.

Zhong Yao took the responsibility of managing Guanzhong alone, risking being beheaded by Li Jue and Guo Si. He did not come here to enjoy himself, but had his own ambitions.

It was also because Yang Biao and others failed to seize power that some old officials of the Han Dynasty pushed Zhong Yao to manage Guanzhong.

Is it true that Yang Biao lived in seclusion in Hongnong in the past few years, just lying at home reading books and teaching students?

But Zhong Yao was unlucky. After instigating the generals of Xizhou to encircle and kill Li Jue and Guo Si, he was never able to establish effective military prestige.

Then the opportunity came this year, but it was too fierce.

Not to mention Yuan Tan, the White Goose Thieves funded by the Yuan family alone almost broke Zhong Yao's back.

Zhong Yao, who was about to emerge from his cocoon and become a butterfly, was destroyed by a black bear.

Now the butterflies don’t look like butterflies, and the caterpillars don’t look like caterpillars.

Now I can only go out fishing and think of other ideas to break the deadlock.

Wei Ji was a smart man. Even Zhong Yao couldn't think of a solution, so it was impossible for Wei Ji to think of one.

His fellow villager, Jingzhao Yin Zhang Shi, died inexplicably. From his point of view, the loss of Xinfeng City was also inexplicable, and he did not want to die inexplicably.

Now he would do whatever Zhong Yao asked him to do.

As the Chief Clerk of the Inspector of the Imperial Capital, even if Zhong Yao raised an army to attack Cao Cao, Wei Ji had no choice but to follow him.

Zhong Yao failed and was doomed to die. He was only a chief official, a half-official. What did the rebellion have to do with him? It was not him who instigated it.

This is the case with rebellion, not to mention other things. Killing and arresting a county magistrate like Black Bear did, and even arresting his subordinates and putting them under house arrest, this method of cutting the grass and eradicating the roots is really disgusting to the scholars.

You just need to be on guard against villains and traitors, why should you be on guard against gentlemen?
Good gentleman, if you guard against him like a thief, even if you are not a thief you will become a thief.

Therefore, Wei Ji was not really worried about his future. As long as he did not run into a gun and be executed by military law, or die in the chaos of war, he, Wei Ji, could return to officialdom at any time.

As the two were fishing in boredom, they heard the sound of horse hooves, which even drowned out the noise of officials crossing the river on both sides.

Zhong Yao turned his head to look, and saw that on the west side of the Weinan Road, Black Bear and the inseparable Tai Shi Wen Gong were riding their horses at full speed and charging all the way.

Is it really that they are traveling at the speed of a charging warhorse? How fast is that?

The speed is about close to seventy!
The poor infantrymen who crossed the Wei River on both sides looked around, thinking that the other side would stop, but they showed no intention of stopping or slowing down, and continued to move eastward.

Even though he gradually disappeared from sight, the opponent still did not slow down!
The commander-in-chief Ma Chao was stationed on the south bank of the river, and there was no emotion in his eyes.

During this period, Black Bear did this every day, galloping on his horse on the Weinan Road.

As for killing the black bear, too many troops will expose them, and too few troops will be useless.

Anyway, in the Weinan area, Ma Chao felt that he was experienced, but he couldn't find an opportunity to take action.

After all, Black Bear was just galloping on the road, which was within the detection range of the South Bank army.

He is not like Sun Ce, who abandoned his army and took a few knights to hunt in the densely populated mountainous areas. If Sun Ce did not die, who would die?
After thinking it over and over again, Ma Chao just sighed softly.

I don’t know if I have any hope of leading the army across the river to Hedong and staying in Guanlong. My hope is too slim.

Either accept Cao Gong's call to serve as a Gongcao or Zhubu?

The chief clerk is Yang Xiu, and I should not be able to replace him.

Logically speaking, Yang Xiu had been the chief clerk for two or three years and it was time to replace him.

But Yang Xiu was the next generation leader of the Hongnong Yang family and the grandson of the Yuan family. How could Cao Cao let go easily?
If you work under Cao Gong and get a family background, it wouldn't be surprising to be sent out as a provincial governor. You might have opportunities then.

If he doesn't fall out with his father, he can bring hundreds of troops with him when he takes up the post of Governor of a region in the future, instead of being alone and lacking support.

Another thing is that he has a deep Guanlong background. If the White Goose Bandits become bigger in the future, Cao Gong will probably need talents like him.

But how can I escape from Zhong Yao and Black Bear?
As a military commander appointed by Zhong Yao, he could not expose the conspiracy between Zhong Yao and the White Goose Bandits.

This was a big taboo and would be of great help to Cao Gong. Cao Gong would not dare to use me again, and other scholars would also be against me.

Therefore, we must escape peacefully without alerting Zhong Yao.

Otherwise, this old thief would definitely instruct the White Goose Thief to hunt him down and kill him to silence him.

I am also the military commander, and I cannot resign before expelling Yuan Tan. Otherwise, I will be accused of being irresponsible, and Cao Gong will inevitably misunderstand me.

Ma Chao became more and more determined to leave, and his emotions became more stable and he was no longer worried.

As for the plan to seize power that he had discussed with Black Bear before, he was not going to get involved easily.

If you get involved, once the old thief Zhong Yao cooperates deeply with the white goose thief, all that awaits you is disgrace and failure of your ambitions.

As he pondered over this, Ma Chao became troubled again. How could he quietly remind Cao Gong that the old villain Zhong Yao had defected to the enemy?

As for Yuan Shang of Hebei, Ma Chao never took him seriously.

Unless Yuan Shang proves himself on the battlefield.

Ma Chao thought of his sister again, who was the only person he missed at the moment.

His eyes lit up as he thought of a better destination for his sister.

But when he thought of the tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry that were about to gather on the north bank, Ma Chao felt itchy again.

Responding to the imperial call alone and joining Cao Gong with troops are obviously two different treatments.

Ma Chao looked up at the thick clouds above his head that blocked out the sunlight. He felt that they were just like his own destiny, with no clear idea of ​​where he was going.

Not to mention the destination, even the scenery along the way is difficult to predict.

He became more and more annoyed with Black Bear. If this man had not come, Guanzhong would have fallen into his hands and no one could take it away!
With this foundation for kingship and hegemony, he can keep the enemy outside the pass. If he advances, he can enjoy the world; if he retreats, he can establish his own regime and still be Dong Zhuo.

My teeth itch with hatred.

He looked at the dozen or so knights around him again, and the humiliating words that Black Bear had said to him reappeared in his mind.

He was not even as good as Zhao Yun and Wang Wei, the two guest generals under Black Bear; he was even not as good as Liu Xiong, the captain of Lantian, who was recruited by Black Bear halfway.

Liu Xiong had a miscellaneous team of a thousand men under his command, but Ma Chao only had a dozen knights.

Forcing himself to hold back, Ma Chao looked serious as he observed the infantry crossing the river and checked their discipline.

After everyone has crossed the river, he will also bring these two thousand infantrymen to Lantian intact.

Later he had to send the remaining 3,000 soldiers in batches, making a total of 5,000 soldiers.

I always feel that these are his soldiers, his!
The spirit is suffering.

This made him feel more sad than if his wife had been taken away from him.

Therefore, he looked solemn and the military officers around him did not dare to be negligent. They enforced military discipline and made the troops crossing the river quickly restore their formation and discipline.

Different from the dull atmosphere here, south of Mount Li.

More than 200 cavalrymen from the Zhonglei Camp were on the road. Their armor and equipment were loaded on wheelbarrows, and all of them were leading their horses on foot to save horsepower.

Zhang Ding, the leader of the team, stood by the road drinking water and encouraged the officers who came over: "This is the strategy set by the commander. If we want to deceive Hongnong, we must deceive Zhong Yao on the north bank. We must be quick. Only by cutting off their retreat route will they not dare to burn the food."

Huayin will certainly continue to stockpile grain collected from other places in preparation for the subsequent decisive battle in Tongguan.

Black Bear, Zhang Ding and Gan Ning had no idea how much food the other party had currently stockpiled.

The three months of food stored by Gan Ning in Tongguan was for Gan Ning and Liu Xiong, who had a total of 1,800 people. Once the subsequent army gathered, the food in the pass would be eaten up in half a month.

Therefore, a sneak attack and seizing the grain stored in Huayin can greatly alleviate the pressure on food and logistics transportation.

With less manpower invested in logistics, more manpower can be invested in construction.

The winter in Guanzhong is different from that in Jingzhou. In Jingzhou, you have to live in a hut and shiver a little to survive the winter.

It’s not possible in Guanzhong. We must have sturdy houses to keep out the cold, and we must also store food and fuel.

(End of this chapter)