Chapter 304 Zhang Ji Surrenders
The reforms of various princes were initiated by Tian Ze.
Although Tian Ze also considered the interests of the various princes, he was not doing charity after all, so naturally he also wanted to get some benefits.
Reform will inevitably be accompanied by civil unrest, and Tian Ze knows this better than anyone else.
He would support the reforms of various princes, and even use himself as bait to act as external pressure and provide them with convenience, but he would not miss such a good opportunity.
The various princes were in internal strife and unable to expand outward. Tian Ze took the opportunity to capture Guanzhong and Xiliang, eliminate the surrounding ethnic minorities, and eliminate worries.
This is a win-win situation for Tian Ze and the various princes, except that Tian Ze earns more.
The various princes also understood this, but they had no choice.
The tragic example of Cao Cao is right before our eyes.
There is still a chance for reform.
Without reform, there won’t even be a chance to resist.
So they could only hold their noses and follow Tian Ze who was saying "it's for your own good" and they had to accept this favor.
The failure of Cao Cao and Liu Bei allowed Yuan Shao, who was resisting Guan Yu's troops in Qingzhou, to finally withdraw his troops.
It has to be said that Guan Yu, who was almost in his prime at this time, was indeed powerful and unmatched.
Even though Yuan Shao sent out most of his troops, they were still unable to resist in a frontal battle. They could only rely on the vast uninhabited areas on the border to pull the enemy back and forth and block the enemy layer by layer, so as to prevent the war from spreading to the interior.
If Guan Yu took another step forward, Yuan Shao would have to consider fighting to the death.
Of course, Guan Yu also knew that this was not the time to go to war with Yuan Shao, so he took advantage of many opportunities and turned around and left, without being greedy for military merit.
At this time, most of the northern part of Qingzhou had been abandoned by Yuan Shao. There were empty cities with soldiers but no people everywhere, so there was little point in taking it.
After cleaning up everything, Tian Ze was finally able to free up his hands to deal with Li Jue, Guo Si and others in Guanzhong.
At first, after learning that Zhang Liao attacked Hangu Pass, Li Jue and Guo Si didn't think anything of it.
After all, the rest of the eight passes in Luoyang had been taken by Tian Ze, so it was reasonable for him to want to take over Hangu Pass as well.
They didn't think Tian Ze would attack Chang'an.
Because in their opinion, Chang'an has nothing now. The people have been almost driven away by them, and only the army is left to guard the money and food in the city.
Even if Tian Ze wanted to send troops, he should have been targeting the princes in the Central Plains. Why would he waste time fighting with them?
But when Zhang Liao was stationed at Hangu Pass, pretending to return to defend Luoyang, but secretly marched all the way and captured Hongnong in a lightning speed, they finally began to panic.
"Guo Aduo, Tian Chengshou is really coming towards us!" Li Jue, full of fear, immediately went to Guo Si.
When he learned the news of the fall of Hongnong, he could hardly believe it. He confirmed it three times before he faced the reality.
It turned out that they were the stupid ones. Cao Cao and Liu Bei's previous warnings were not wrong. Tian Ze's target had always been them.
"This shouldn't happen!" Guo Si was full of disbelief at this moment.
He received the news not much later than Li Jue, but after hearing the news, he still couldn't believe it until Li Jue came to his door, and then he realized that he was not drunk.
"I asked a Taoist to tell my fortune before I came here. I'm afraid that this time you and I will be in great danger." Li Jue said with a very grim expression.
He and Guo Si did so many bad things.
Even with Tian Ze's inducement, hundreds of thousands of people had died tragically around Chang'an because of their selfish desires and fighting.
Although they did not know Tian Ze's character, they had heard some things about it and knew that if they fell into his hands, their future would probably be very ugly.
Tian Ze valued talents, but he didn't want everyone. He had been trying his best to manipulate the situation and reverse the massacres and killings, so the princes of the world were now relatively clean.
In later generations, due to the struggle for hegemony among the princes and the frequent natural disasters at the end of the Han Dynasty, incidents such as massacres occurred too frequently.
Not only the most famous Cao Cao, but other princes have also done this to a greater or lesser extent. The only few who adhered to their principles and did not do it were Liu Bei and a few others.
Among them, Liu Bei was not as wealthy as Liu Biao, Liu Yan and others, and sometimes his situation was even more miserable than Cao Cao, but he still held on to his bottom line.
Based on this point alone, Emperor Zhaolie of Han deserves the reputation of being benevolent and righteous.
Tian Ze used the general situation and benefits to make the princes of the world become extremely cautious in dealing with the population, thus retaining a large amount of vitality.
But there are still some short-sighted people who still cannot control their subordinates and do many things that anger God and people.
Apart from the bandits under Yuan Shu, the most eye-catching ones were Li Jue and Guo Si.
These two brothers lived a life of drunkenness and recklessness, and they were unable to control the people under their command, and they committed too many murders.
If they had the outstanding abilities of Li Ru, they could even support an entire country on their own, and Tian Ze would accept it.
It is not impossible to use his whole life to expand territory and tease their sins in the future.
But the brothers' abilities were not recognized by Tian Ze.
Although Li Jue and Guo Si were not aware of this, they instinctively felt that something bad was going to happen.
After all, the remnants of Xiliang were hated by everyone, and no princes in the world liked them. Even Tian Ze, they thought, would not be an exception.
But while they thought so, the generals under their command did not completely agree with them.
In Hongnong County, Zhang Ji, who was originally a general of the Western Liang Army, now stood under Zhang Liao and obeyed his orders obediently.
The situation is better than people.
Although Zhang Ji was on par with Li Jue and Guo Si before, he was not liked by the two because he had some foresight and principles. He was expelled from Chang'an and stationed in Hongnong.
Although Zhang Ji had led the Xiliang soldiers to plunder many times in his early years, he was still quite clever.
As the situation in the world changed, he soon realized that there was no future in following Li Jue and Guo Si. If he wanted to live comfortably, he had to find another master.
Therefore, after he took control of Hongnong, he did not indulge in drunkenness and debauchery like Li Jue and Guo Si, but instead managed the country with peace of mind, waiting to submit to a wise leader.
After Zhang Liao captured Hangu Pass, he guessed that Tian Ze’s target might not just be Luoyang, but most likely Guanzhong.
However, he did not make it public, but secretly contacted Zhang Liao and prepared to surrender.
The icing on the cake is not as good as providing timely assistance.
Using the entire Guanzhong as a means of advancement, Zhang Ji's life would not be too difficult even if he lost his current status in the future.
After all, Tian Ze's "kindness" is known to everyone in the world.
Even a traitor like Lu Bu can now live happily in the northern frontier and live such a comfortable life.
He doesn't expect the same treatment, and it shouldn't be a problem for him to get an official position and spend his old age in peace.
Zhang Liao accepted Zhang Ji's surrender without hesitation and treated him very well.
It is not only for others to see, but also to recognize their actions.
(End of this chapter)
