Chapter 374 Returning Home
When Ma Yuanyi said this "request", he saw Zhang Chong's face was very indifferent, so he quickly added:
"The great virtuous master plans to pass on his title to you. You will also inherit your master's mantle."
Zhang Chong looked at Ma Yuanyi complicatedly and asked:
"Do you think I still need this title now? Do you even think I still need Taipingdao?"
Ma Yuanyi didn't expect Zhang Chong to reply so directly, but he quickly gave his advice:
"Ah Chong, you are indeed strong now, but you have to understand one thing. The influence of Taiping Dao has long been deeply rooted in your team. If you look at the team, how many are believers of Taiping Dao."
Seeing that Zhang Chong was indifferent, Ma Yuanyi raised his voice again:
"Yes, you can say that your prestige is firmly controlled, but this is because you are still in Taiping Dao, and once you become the enemy of Taiping Dao, people will inevitably be upset internally. Moreover, our Taiping Dao is still in Qingzhou, Bingzhou, Jingzhou has huge power. You have become a hero of Taiping Dao. You can not only fulfill your master's wish, but also take advantage of this huge power. "
At this point, Ma Yuanyi changed his tone and expressed his heart to Zhang Chong in the tone of an old friend:
"Ah Chong, let's put it bluntly. If the Taishan Army and the Yellow Turban Army join forces, both will benefit, and if they fail, both will lose. You can't understand this, right?"
Zhang Chong is also pragmatic and does not deny this.
This is indeed the case. No matter how well the Taishan Army develops, it still only has the Yanzhou part and the Jizhou part. This is completely incomparable with Taiping Road, which has been developed for more than 20 years.
In other words, more than twenty years is two generations, that is to say, the first batch of believers, their children and nephews have now grown up.
The Yellow Turban Army looks weak now, but it is much better than in the original time and space. Taiping Dao is now in absolute power in Qingzhou, with some in Xuzhou. Although the Yellow Turbans in Yuzhou were severely damaged, most of the Yellow Turbans in Runan are still lurking there. Although the Yellow Turbans in Jingzhou have undergone changes, they still follow the Taiping Dao. flag.
And don’t forget that Taiping Dao has a very deep foundation in Hebei and Bingzhou, otherwise there will be no black mountain bandits and white wave bandits in the future. These are millions of forces, which shows the potential power of the Yellow Turbans.
Therefore, Zhang Chong had to admit that what Ma Yuanyi said was right.
But he didn't plan to go, not because he was worried that it would be a Hongmen Banquet.
In Zhang Chong's view, the reasons why the Zhang brothers really want him to be their hero are quite good. That is, with Zhang Chong here, he can conquer the world for Taiping Dao. And it was strange to say that none of the three Zhang brothers had any direct heirs, at least he didn't know that there were any.
In other words, they are relatively pure and just want to establish an earthly country. Therefore, the probability of directly destroying Zhang Chong with physical resources is not high.
But no matter how low it is, there is still a possibility. How many heroes in history thought they were the pillars of heaven, and they would definitely not be killed. But the opponent was an idiot with a lower bottom line, and the final blow ended.
Therefore, Zhang Chong would never go there for this reason alone.
But the real reason why Zhang Chong couldn't go was not this.
He did not agree with the policies of the Zhang brothers. In Zhang Chong's view, the only person in Taiping Road who could be acquainted with him was his former mentor General Ren Gong, but he was already dead.
The current Taiping Dao is just to conquer the world, but according to Zhang Jiao's philosophy, what is the difference between his world and the Han family? What use is such a world to the head of Guizhou?
So Zhang Chong didn't decide to go. Because after the Battle of Xingyang, he made up his mind to cut off from Taiping Dao. In Zhang Chong's view, inheriting the banner of Gongjun now would have huge disadvantages in the future. Because in today's world, the influence of names far exceeds the understanding of modern people.
Take for example the famous event in this time and space, which used the emperor to command the princes. This shows the great role of name.
After Cao Cao ushered in Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, he jumped directly from Yuan Shao's vassal force to the central force representing the Han Dynasty, and gained absolute political initiative.
But in the future, the relationship between Cao Cao and the Han Dynasty became a huge internal conflict between Cao Cao's forces. During his foreign wars, the war had to be terminated several times due to changes in Xuchang.
It can be said that as much as he reaped the dividends of the Han Dynasty in the early stage, he suffered from this internal friction in the middle and late stages.
On the other hand, Yuan Shao took another independent path.
This path is to establish the government based on Hebei and take advantage of the natural political centrifugal force between Hebei and Guandong. Although this road cannot leverage the resources of the Han Dynasty in the early stage, the road becomes wider and wider as you go further.
Now Zhang Chong plans to do the same.
For him, rejecting Zhang Jiao's "invitation" this time is a signal to Zhi, that is, our Taishan Army never listens to letters from far away, and our Taishan Army just wants to follow its own path.
Although the consequences may be as Ma Yuanyi said, his military morale will inevitably be shaken. But Zhang Chong believes that after so long preparations, most people know how to choose.
So, Zhang Chong said a heartbreaking word to Ma Yuanyi:
"The Guangzong Incident is still before our eyes, and I am afraid that this general will not be able to occupy his position."
Ma Yuanyi looked embarrassed after hearing this.
In the end, Ma Yuanyi left, taking a letter from Zhang Chong to Zhang Jiao.
In the letter, he mentioned that the two parties were still allies as an offensive and defensive alliance, working together to resist the pressure of the Han Dynasty. But that's all. Taishan Fang has become a thing of the past, now it is Taishan Army.
Zhang Chong could only do this, and he didn't know what Ma Yuanyi would say about this letter when he got back. But even if Zhang Jiao really falls out, will Zhang Chong be afraid? The most I can do is give you Zhang Jiao a "step back".
……
Outside Handan City, the Taishan Army is still strengthening the camp. They are planning to transform the dying camp outside the city into a permanent camp.
Obviously, Zhang Chong did not intend to withdraw to Yecheng.
This is what Zhang Chong served for the next stage of war strategy. In the later stage, the main task of the Taishan Army was to manage Hebei, and Handan, as a major transportation thoroughfare and far north, was more suitable than Yecheng as the location of the shogunate at this stage.
So these days, some staff agencies in Yecheng are relocating to Handan.
On this day, April 12th, in the county mansion of Handan City, which is now the temporary shogunate of the Taishan Army, the lights were brightly lit and there was constant laughter and laughter.
On this day, Zhang Chong and Dazhao led the Northern Expedition to the officials.
The banquet time always passed quickly, and soon all the officials went back drunk.
And for one reason or another, a group of staff and civil servants gathered in their own small gatherings according to different circles.
The largest group among them is Duman's group. The crowd included Cai Yong, Zhuge Gui, Wu Guan, Shan Ming, Tao An, Xun You, Fan Chang, Ruan Yu, Lu Cui and other senior staff, as well as the new generation Li Heng, Li Rong, and Feng Xi.
Slightly smaller than Duman's crowd was He Kui's group. Among them were military chief Zhao Da, chief Bo Yanzhuang, secretary Gao Sheng, Guo Tu, Shen Shang, Feng Fang, Chen Qin, and others, as well as new staff such as Huang Quan, Guo Tao, Wu Rui, and Zhang Yun.
These two groups of people are also the two largest groups in the Taishan Army staff department today. The Confucian system headed by Duman, and the Legal system headed by He Kui.
The reason why they are so divided is not because there are really two groups of people, one is pure Confucianism and the other is pure Legalism. The essence behind it is a power struggle.
For He Kui, he was a pure Confucian, and he advised Zhang Chong to act in a royal way several times. However, Duman is also a pure Confucian, and everyone around him is of this type, so He Kui can only win over legal officials who are a little more ruthless in their methods and actions.
So behind all the isms, there is power. So after the big banquet ended, each small group found a place to continue their relationship.
Here, Zhao Da, Gao Sheng and a group of people followed He Kui to the mansion on the side of the military mansion, which Zhang Chong assigned to He Kui for daily living.
When Zhao Da and others arrived, He Kui's family had prepared simple vegetables.
Compared with the Han Dynasty, the Taishan Army still maintained a simple style, which is still reflected in He Kui.
He Kui took the seat, and the others persuaded each other to sit down.
Before everyone could sit down, Guo Tu in the crowd was already eagerly chatting about a topic:
"This time, are we really going to break with the Yellow Turban Army?"
What Guo Tu asked was actually not a new topic, but it still touched the hearts of everyone present.
Although they don't think much of the Yellow Turban Army, they can't deny that the Taishan Army has received a lot of help from the Yellow Turbans in its development to this day.
Shan said that the Yellow Turban forces were in front of them, attracting the largest number of Han troops, which allowed the Taishan Army to calmly deploy.
So they still hope that this kind of life can continue. In other words, go to hell with the Yellow Turbans, they are taking advantage from behind.
But now that such good days are gone, they can't help but feel a little sad.
Therefore, Yan Zhuang, who was sitting slightly higher, sighed and said:
"Yes, from now on we will have to carry the anti-Han banner ourselves. In the future, it will be difficult to say whether the Yellow Turban is an enemy or a friend."
Yan Zhuang's words made Gao Sheng next to him unhappy.
Gao Sheng is a powerful son, and he doesn't like the Yellow Turban soldiers. He has long felt in his heart that he should part ways with the Yellow Turban soldiers.
Now when I heard Yan Zhuang's words, I still felt a little nostalgic, so I said:
"Old Yan, don't make any mistakes. Commander Qu has already decided this. What are you thinking about here? If the Yellow Turbans wanted to survive, they would have surrendered to us early. If they still want to draw swords against us, then God will take them away. ”
Good guy, this Gao Sheng is a typical hawk.
Gao Sheng's view was not an isolated case, but was recognized by many people present.
He Kui, who was at the beginning, did not dwell on this issue, but simply ended with one sentence:
"Commander Qu has already made his own decision on this matter, we just have to obey it. But there is one thing that the troops present are not sure about."
As soon as He Kui spoke, everyone present listened attentively. Because He Kui was far closer to the center of power than they were, the information he could obtain was far beyond what they could compare to.
The reason why they were closely surrounding He Kui was to obtain information.
He Kui was very satisfied with everyone's reaction. He lowered his voice and spoke directly about a recent inconspicuous incident:
"Did you know that Qu Shuai is forming a group of anti-rural teams?"
Most people in the crowd had never heard of this, but Gao Sheng knew a little bit about it. But Gao Sheng didn't intend to take the initiative to talk about it.
He Kui, who was at the top, saw that the people below him had no reaction, and thought to himself that it would be great if Dong Zhao was here too.
Dong Zhao was also a member of their small group before, and he was the most well-informed and had the most sensitive understanding of policies.
It's a pity that he has stopped attending these gatherings since he was appointed and dismissed by Commander Qu as the military envoy of the Fei Army.
He Kui knew that Dong Zhao was seeking stability. Because the current Feijun inner guards are, to put it bluntly, the top-notch embroidered messengers from the Pre-Han Dynasty, and they all work as secret agents.
Not only did he not dare to meet in private with He Kui and others, He Kui and others also did not dare to let Dong Zhao attend. Who knows if anyone will be taken away for saying something they shouldn't have said.
He Kui sighed inwardly and continued to discuss this topic:
"This returning team is the result of Qu Shuai's plan to recruit military officers from different places in the army, and let them return to their hometowns to build teams. On the one hand, they will develop latently, and on the other hand, they will provide intelligence for the Taishan Army. When the Taishan Army reaches there in the future, we will Rise in riot and help capture the city.”
After He Kui said this, he looked at everyone's reaction.
See below some people who are thoughtful, and some with expressionless faces.
He Kui started talking directly:
"Do you know what was the biggest reason why our Taishan Army left the mountain to fight in the past?"
Without waiting for others to say anything, He Kui continued:
"It is to spread the influence of the Taishan Army to a wider area and burn the fire of resistance throughout the Central Plains. Qu Shuai has a good saying, if you don't fight for it, others will fight for it."
"There are so many people being exploited in this world. If our Taishan Army only lives in a corner of Hebei, then who can those oppressed Guizhou leaders turn to for revenge?"
Now He Kui still remembers the scene when Zhang Chong told him about this.
Zhang Chong said the same thing at that time, and He Kui immediately asked about a very realistic situation, that is, if these military officials were to return to their hometowns and pull out their own troops, wouldn't it be an egg against a rock? What equipment and number of people could they have? , once noticed by the local powerful, he would be dead.
But Zhang Chong asked He Kui back and told him not to underestimate this small returning team.
These people all have military skills, and with a start-up capital, they can immediately recruit a team of ten people from their relatives and friends when they return to their hometown.
And with a team of ten people, they dare to take care of local injustices.
There are so many people who are oppressed, and many of them have blood feuds with the powerful. But if they want revenge and look past the past, who can they turn to? Rely on clan? Clan is also part of the powerful. Rely on the government? The government is in cahoots with them. That can only rely on the small team of ten people.
Therefore, despite the small number and poor equipment of the returning team, it is the only hope for the oppressed Guizhou leaders in the vast Han-occupied areas.
Moreover, Zhang Chong does not need them to participate in the riot. The main task of the returning team is to lurk, expand their influence, and play the role of fire.
When Zhang Chong said this, He Kui understood, and he saw more.
He Kui understood that although these returning teams were inconspicuous now, they were the leaders of small base areas behind them. If they can seize this wave and let their faction return to their hometown to build a team, their influence on this faction will definitely exceed Duoman's in the future.
He Kui didn't want to be so intrigued, but in this position, he couldn't help it. He once again understood what Qu Shuai once said:
"Politics is distribution."
(End of chapter)