Chapter 670 Precarious
Chang’an, eastern suburbs, Hebei trading house.

As the winter snow melted, trade resumed.

The first Hebei merchant caravan since the beginning of the 13th year of Jian’an slowly approached. The entire team consisted of more than 500 people and over 100 vehicles, moving slowly.

In the ox cart, Ju Hu held up a bronze mirror and looked carefully at himself in the mirror.

He has started to grow a beard, and his features have shown some of his father’s looks.

“Sir, the police stopped us on the road and said they wanted to search the goods.”

Hearing the voice of the head of the guard, Ju Hu opened the curtain and looked out, only to see a team of police officers blocking the road.

Police officers do not wear crimson warrior uniforms, but a common uniform that is mainly blue and black, equipped with a sword and a stick, a soft bow, and half-length sleeveless leather armor.

It is composed of the nearby hundred households that take turns serving, and is currently under the control of Xu You.

Ju Hu was not surprised at the appearance and obstruction of the police.

In other words, Xu You’s influence on the police was limited. If the police were like his subordinates, Xu You would definitely dare to secretly order the police to participate in the robbery and killing.

“If they want to investigate, let them do it.”

Ju Hu immediately walked out of the carriage and stood at the shaft, where he saw officials watching him from a distance.

He also understood why Xu You was so anxious.

It is impossible for Xu You to manage the police department for a long time. In the next round of performance evaluation, Xu You will most likely be demoted to a county and lose his intelligence privileges. Naturally, he will not be able to promote the war to attack Hebei, and will have no way to make any meritorious service.

Not only Xu You was eager to start a war, but many officials and troops also had the desire to promote the war in Hebei.

At this moment, Ju Hu did not think there was anything shameful about having his goods inspected. He was just afraid of a conflict with the police or being framed by the police during the search.

Not daring to be careless, he went to the front team in person to supervise the search process.

The police inspector who led the inspection obviously knew Ju Hu, and stepped forward to explain: “Before, when the Yizhou scholars entered Guanzhong, there were assassins and poison arrows mixed in. Not only in Hebei, but also when the Liaodong merchant caravan arrives later, it will also be strictly inspected.”

Ju Hu just nodded. He had no impression of the person in front of him.

The police team was busy until noon and then dispersed.

When the caravan entered the trading house, Ju Hu received a visiting card before he had time to rest.

When they saw that the visitor was Cui Yan, they immediately met him in the small hall on the top floor.

The spring chill has not yet subsided, but the fire wall on the top floor is warm.

When Cui Yan came in, he saw Ju Hu propping up the wooden window sashes with paper pasted on both sides, and the damp and cold air blew in, and the sunlight also came in.

Ju Hu looked back at Cui Yan and asked, “Brother Ji Gui, how come you have time to come to the merchant house?”

“In a few days, the Grand Marshal will sail to Chencang. I am here to wait for the boat.”

Cui Yan sat by the fire wall and asked directly, “I wonder if the King of Zhao has made a decision?”

“Is there no chance of recovery?”

Ju Hu was surprised and also sat down near the fire wall: “Ma Shoucheng is still in Datong, Gan Xingba has not yet dug through the Dizhu, now is not the time to use force.”

“When did the Grand Marshal pay attention to these things when deploying troops?”

Cui Yan asked back, looking at Ju Hu who was even more surprised: “You really guessed it. How can we fight this war if we find out the bottom line? I can’t stay for long, but I hope you can return as soon as possible to warn King Zhao.”

After that, Cui Yan took out a letter and handed it to Ju Hu: “This is written by the Grand Marshal. If the King of Zhao doesn’t leave, the Grand Marshal will show no mercy.”

“The world is so vast, where do you want the King of Zhao to go?”

Ju Hu also asked in return, but his tone was weak. He stretched out his hands to take the letter, and seeing that it was sealed with lacquer, he changed his question and asked, “Why is this happening? Why are you suddenly mobilizing troops?”

“Perhaps the Grand Marshal is just bored and is trying to intimidate the King of Zhao; or perhaps the officers and soldiers in Guanzhong are eager for war and have persuaded the Grand Marshal. With the current reserves in Guanzhong, once a war breaks out, there will be more than 100,000 troops attacking in different directions. It is better to inform the elders and plan a retreat as soon as possible.”

Cui Yan stood up after he finished speaking, but Ju Hu held him back with his arms outstretched, pleading with his eyes: “I want to go and pay my respects to the Grand Marshal.”

“It’s hard.”

Cui Yan answered seriously: “Too many people want to start a war. I can’t stop them, and I am happy to see it happen. If I help you get on the ship, many people will hate it.”

Ju Hu came here in a private capacity, and up to now, in order to facilitate his movements, he has never accepted any position in the Yuan Dynasty’s Zhao State.

Ju Hu suppressed his emotions: “Where can the King of Zhao go?” If Cao Cao led the Qi army into Hebei, Hebei would naturally resist actively, and if it could not win, it would flee to Youzhou.

Whether it is incorporated into Dai County or goes to Liaodong, it is better than being ruled by Cao Cao.

If the soldiers from Guanzhong attacked us, it would be really difficult to launch a strong resistance.

The defense lines everywhere are useless. It doesn’t mean that the defenders will surrender, but that they will take a passive attitude and allow the soldiers from Guanzhong to pass.

There are very few people who really dare to fight, and almost everyone will acquiesce to allow the Guanzhong troops to pass and besiege Yecheng.

Ju Hu knew the current situation of Zhao State too well. The cities in various places refused to help either side and waited for Ye City to fall.

If you want to help Yecheng, you have to go out of the city and fight in the field… The aftereffects of the battle of Chanhepi are still there. Your soldiers dare not go out of the city to fight in the field.

It will probably take another three to five years for a new batch of young people in Zhao State to grow up and escape from the shadow of the disastrous defeat at Chanhebi.

Therefore, during this period of time, it was almost inevitable that Guanzhong would send troops to fight.

Only by winning a battle can the State of Zhao be reunited.

Precisely because they cannot allow Zhao to show any signs of a comeback, Guanzhong would either not move or move with lightning speed.

The experience of the people of Yizhou over the years has proved that the route of surrender is feasible to a certain extent.

In the past two years, talks of surrender have been openly discussed in Zhao State.

When the troops from Guanzhong attack, anyone can run away; if one is determined to fight against the Grand Marshal, Liu Bei and Cao Cao can also seek refuge and take shelter here.

Yuan Shang had nowhere to escape, and Liu Bei did not dare to accept him, so Yuan Shang accepted the title of king of the pseudo-dynasty.

As for the good father-in-law Cao Cao, it is better to bet on Liu Bei’s character than to believe in Cao Cao.

If you really run to Liaodong, even if Liu Bei is ordered to arrest you, he will most likely not be able to catch you.

You can still have enough to eat if you live a low-key life and change your appearance.

But can King Zhao be satisfied with such a situation?

What if King Zhao led Hebei to surrender?

Ju Hu had to understand the price and arrangements of surrender before he could persuade Yuan Shang.

No matter how good the military discipline of the Guanzhong soldiers is, they have to be supervised by the Grand Marshal himself.

The battlefield in Hebei is so large that if a war really breaks out, I wonder how many innocent people will be injured.

Unfortunately, Cui Yan could not answer any of his questions, nor could he promise anything, and he couldn’t even get a boat ticket.

As for asking Cui Yan to board the ship and ask later…Ju Hu didn’t hold out any hope.

Cui Yan spent such a huge price to enter the Guanzhong system, and the scope of protection it can provide is limited.

Helpless, he could only send Cui Yan out.

Immediately, Ju Hu found Yin Kui, the chief minister in Hanoi, and asked about the details of boarding the ship.

“This is a very difficult matter. Sir, you may not know that when the Yuanshi stopped at Chang’an last year, only about 70 people were able to board the ship. Some of them were officials with a salary of more than 600 dan, and some were great Confucian scholars. Last year, a wealthy merchant from Qin could hardly get a ticket even if he paid 300 gold.”

The boat ticket is not worth three hundred gold, but after boarding the boat, you can meet the Grand Marshal. If you use this opportunity well, the profit can be far more than three hundred gold.

Yin Kui was telling the story, and then he said, “If the situation is urgent, and you are an old friend of the Grand Marshal… why not?”

Ju Hu listened attentively and nodded slowly: “I understand. Send someone to do it.”

Yin Kui looked embarrassed, but still agreed: “I hope you will not sell me out when Xu You sends someone to investigate.”

“Well, I’ll take care of it.”

Ju Hu thought for a moment and said, “Prepare some small gifts and take my name card to visit Xu You’s family. As for the Hebei issue, it is reasonable to go and see what he thinks.”

Yin Kui smiled bitterly: “He is very proud. If you go to see him, won’t you be humiliated for nothing?”

“Then let him be humiliated and proud… How can he persuade Lord Zhengnan without being humiliated?”

Ju Hu sounded helpless, and Shen Pei had a hot temper. Shen Pei must be made aware of Xu You’s bad attitude so that they could prepare early. Otherwise, under Xu You’s manipulation, the Shen family would be finished.

(End of this chapter)