Chapter 270 Joining forces to fool
As Sun Ce took action, a purge and suppression campaign against Yuan Shu’s followers immediately broke out in Xia Pi City.

As for Zhang Cheng of Henei, before he could even propose to kill Zhang Zhao as an apology, he was stabbed to death by Sun Ce.

Although Zhang Zhao was very sorry about Zhang Cheng’s death, he was particularly excited when Sun Ce officially broke with Yuan Shu.

North of Xia Pi City, on the north bank of Si River.

Chen Deng’s military camp was here. Chen Deng was boating on the Si River and leisurely playing chess with Zhang Hong who had come here.

On the boat, there was only a fisherman with a white beard and tanned skin rowing to stabilize the boat.

There was also a chef with superb knife skills who used fresh river fish as ingredients and cut fish sashimi for Chen Deng to enjoy.

The game between Chen Deng and Zhang Hong was just a quiet one, without any worldly concerns.

It was completely different from the murderous atmosphere in the city.

After Chen Deng’s defeat, he offered to withdraw his troops, saying, “Sun Ce is impulsive and violent. If Yuan Shu is defeated, Wu and Yue will no longer be the nation’s possession. Given his character, he’s been eyeing Xu and Huai. If the war drags on, how many civilians will be killed and injured?”

“Yuan Long underestimated Yuan Shu.”

Zhang Hong held a different view on Chen Deng’s situation: “The Marquis of Zhao has sounded the alarm; Yuan Shu will withdraw. After this battle, Sun Ce has become a rootless duckweed. And Yuan Shu, without Sun Ce, is like a tiger losing its claws and fangs. What is there to fear?”

If Yuan Shu withdrew his troops, Sun Ben would most likely also withdraw with his fleet, leaving Sun Ce and his men behind in Xuzhou.

Chen Deng grabbed his wine utensils, drank deeply, and continued to collect his chess pieces. He then asked, “What does Zhang Zibu mean?”

“To be a noble and educate the world—this has been Zi Bu’s lifelong wish, and I haven’t changed my mind to this day.”

Zhang Hong said calmly, “With Zibu and I by Sun Ce’s side, Xuzhou is safe.”

Chen Deng put away the chess pieces and brought a plate of fish sashimi in front of him. The fish sashimi was as thin as paper and folded into balls that looked like meat flowers. He picked up some with chopsticks, dipped them in a little vinegar, put them in his mouth, and chewed with his eyes closed.

The taste is slightly sour, and the sourness makes your mouth water, followed by the crisp and sweet taste of the fish sashimi.

Chew it carefully until there is no crisp feeling between the teeth, then swallow it, and take a small sip from the wine bowl to rinse your mouth.

Chen Deng, in high spirits, said, “Since Lord Yuanming has been so unconventional in his appointments and has placed great importance on Zang Xuangao, the refugee leaders of Langya and Donghai have become friendly with us. Now, we only have two things to worry about: besides Yuan Shu and Sun Ce, there’s the thief Cao and Lord Xuande.”

As long as Sun Ce and Yuan Shu are hostile to each other, one will lose political asylum and the other will lose his minions, and both will lose their external deterrent power.

Zhang Hong bowed and said, “What about Lord Xuande?”

“I am worried that after Cao Cao’s defeat, he will harbor resentment towards Xuzhou. Seeing the actions of Marquis Pingyang, he has no intention of staying in the court for long. I am worried that next year Cao Cao will gather his minions and invade our state again, killing our people.”

Chen Deng sighed and said that some things cannot be compared.

Great changes have taken place in Lianghuai in the past two years, and powerful families have expanded rapidly.

But Chen Deng and the people of Xuzhou did not like such changes. Xuzhou’s advantage lies in its prosperous business, and annexing too many people is not a good thing.

After all, Xuzhou has a Langya Taoist Temple, where Taoist ideas are spread without restrictions. The overall atmosphere is more casual, and people are not very concerned about the gains and losses in their lifetime.

Chen Deng went to see Zhang Hong and said, “I’ll have to ask Zigang to persuade Sun Ce to go to the frontier and guard our state. Once our state recovers, he won’t be needed anymore.”

“My second concern is Lord Xuande. He carries on the legacy of our great-grandfather and has been in Xuzhou for a long time, earning the respect and loyalty of the people. However, the Marquis of Zhao in Pingyang is a valiant and powerful man. If the heroes of our state were to split their ranks between the two, wouldn’t that be ridiculous?”

On the boat, the two men were accompanied by either the boatman or their own cooks, and Chen Deng was straightforward.

In fact, most of the powerful people in Xuzhou did not oppose Yuan Shu. If Yuan Shu entered Xuzhou, he could immediately disintegrate the counties and cause the household registration system to collapse.

All powerful people in all places will be full of enthusiasm for development, and a new order will be born after the great destruction.

It’s just that Chen Deng looked down on Yuan Shu because Yuan Shu had very poor talent in fighting.

If you are not good at military affairs and follow Yuan Shu, you will have to vomit out everything you have eaten now with interest in the future.

If the grandparents Zhao Yan and Zhao Ji advocated the idea of reform, then Yuan Shu was down-to-earth and quietly practicing the way of retro revolution.

Break the shackles of counties and prefectures, and let the powerful and wealthy…the literati and officials have the final say in local affairs.

The leaders nominated by the literati and officials came to the court and became the ministers in power.

These people were fed up with the tyranny of the Qin and Han dynasties… The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, and the huge imperial power behind the county system suppressed generations of scholars and heroes and sucked the blood of each family.

Therefore, Zhao Ji’s punishment of disobedience on behalf of the emperor could slow down Yuan Shao’s actions and make Cao Cao unable to react.

It’s not that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were incompetent, but that the civil and military officials under their command still recognized the Han emperor and the court in their hearts.

This is not Yuan Shao and Cao Cao in their prime at all. They look like Yuan Shao and Cao Cao who are still asleep and drunk.

But if it were Yuan Shu, the emperor and his subjects would not be disturbed by the emperor’s authority and their thoughts would not be delayed.

Fundamentally speaking, it was Yuan Shu who took the lead in leading the Tiger Guards to attack and burn the palace in Luoyang, and it was also Sun Jian under Yuan Shu who won successive victories and drove Dong Zhuo and the court to Guanxi.

It was Yuan Shu who saved the scholar community and tore off the various shackles that plagued the scholars! Scholars who followed Yuan Shu were able to gain precious spiritual freedom.

It was not that these scholars rebelled, but that the court had repeatedly broken the bottom line of the scholar community during the two party imprisonments. Many scholars had blood debts in their families and no longer trusted the imperial power and the court’s promises.

Therefore, Yuan Shu was inclined to completely destroy the imperial court!
Therefore, judging purely from his behavior, Sun Ce’s current actions are truly what a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty should do.

Zhang Hong and Chen Deng were very clear about this, but the queen was from Langya, and the two Zhao ministers in power were also from Langya.

No matter what happens outside, the interests of Xuzhou people must be prioritized.

Since the world fell into chaos, the people of Xuzhou have followed Tao Qian and shed too much blood for the Han court.

The most difficult question for the people of Xuzhou now is whether to support their fellow townsman Zhao or Liu Bei, a member of the royal family.

People like Yuan Shu and Sun Ce were not within Chen Deng’s consideration.

Zhang Hong fell into a long silence when Chen Deng asked this question.

He naturally has his own position, and he is also aware of Chen Deng’s position.

If Chen Deng’s Xia Pi Chen family was of lower status, perhaps the two could have reached a consensus.

But the family background of Xia Pi Chen family meant that they could never be inferior to Zhao family!
If the Chen and Zhao families were related, this matter might be something they could discuss.

Seeing Zhang Hong’s silence, Chen Deng knew that Zhang Hong was determined to follow his sponsor Zhao.

After a brief silence, Chen Deng coughed twice and threatened, “Sun Ce is as fierce and violent as his father. If Sun Ce recalls what happened today, he might endanger Zi Gang’s life. It would be best for Zi Gang to seize the opportunity to enter the court and escape from Sun Ce.”

“I will never forget Yuanlong’s kindness.”

Zhang Hong turned to look at the fish sashimi in front of Chen Deng and said, “After all, I have a history with the Zhao family. Later, when Sun Ce comes face to face, I will ask Yuanlong to plead for me so that I can take the opportunity to serve as an envoy to the court and join the army of the Marquis of Zhao.”

Chen Deng, a man of the worldly temperament, saw Zhang Hong’s tactful departure from Xuzhou and felt he had overreacted. He restrained his expression and said, “If Zigang serves under the Marquis of Zhao, please be sure to keep in touch with me through correspondence so I can learn more about him. Lord Xuande is a man of integrity and generosity, but he is a bit blunt and unpretentious in his dealings with others. The future of our state rests on Zigang and me. You must not act on impulse.”

Zhang Hong also nodded in agreement with Chen Deng’s evaluation.

Liu Bei is indeed very good, the only drawback is his lack of flexible positioning.

If you follow Liu Bei, you might suffer great losses because of Liu Bei’s stubbornness and straightforwardness.

It was also because Liu Bei was straightforward enough that he won the trust of the big families in Xuzhou and the support of the common people, officials and common people.

Unlike the Marquis of Zhao in Pingyang, he can always seize an advantageous position no matter what happens.

Following the Marquis of Zhao of Pingyang would definitely not cause any harm. With a family as wealthy as Chen Deng, he would definitely be afraid of being killed and eaten by the Marquis of Zhao of Pingyang.

The big families and powerful people in Taiyuan and Shangdang are lessons from the past. Given the background of the Chen family in Xia Pi, could the Marquis Zhao of Pingyang endure it?
Not to mention the Marquis of Zhao, even Sun Ce in front of him could hardly hold back.

How strong is the heritage of the Chen family in Xia Pi?
The Yuan family had two Yuans fighting for the north and south of the Yellow River, while the Chen family of Xia Pi had Chen Deng and Chen Yu, an uncle and nephew, fighting for Guangling.

Chen Deng and Chen Yu fought for Guangling. Zhang Hong, a native of Guangling, could only watch them fight back and forth, and occasionally they would unite to resist external enemies.

Guangling is so big that it is almost becoming the Guangling of the Chen family.

Once the uncle and nephew complete the internal merger, it will be time to expand outward.

Anyway, Zhang Hong didn’t want to stay any longer.

As for Sun Ce… when the heroes were fighting against Dong Zhuo, Guangling was Zhang Chao’s base camp, and Sun Jian placed Sun Ce in Lianghuai to study and take refuge.

Sun Ce, who was restless, visited scholars everywhere to increase his experience and network.

How crazy must Zhang Hong be to have wanted to serve the fifteen or sixteen-year-old Sun Ce at that time?

It was just a normal banquet for scholars, and everyone was giving face to Sun Yat-sen.

Before meeting Sun Ce, Zhang Hong was selected as a talented person. He refused the invitations from He Jin, Zhu Jun and Xun Shuang and stayed at home to observe mourning.

In this state, it would be difficult for even Sun Jian to persuade Zhang Hong, let alone Sun Ce.

After the mourning period ended, Zhao Yu, the governor of Guangling County, recommended Zhang Hong as a filial and incorrupt official. Zhao Yu was then assassinated by Zuo Rong.

Zuo Rong also killed Xue Li, who was appointed by Tao Qian, and crossed the river to join Liu Yao’s army. Sun Ce, under Yuan Shu’s orders, attacked Liu Yao, and Zhang Hong then helped Sun Ce as a military strategist.

If it weren’t for Zuo Rong’s assassination of Zhao Yu, it would have been difficult for Zhang Hong to have a deeper bond with Sun Ce.

Sun Ce died so early, and for the sake of beautification, won’t Zhang Hong himself be the one to say many things in the future?

Now that Zuo Rong is dead, Zhang Hong is going to find Zhao Ji and try to find a way to adopt an heir for Zhao Yu.

Only after completing this task did Zhang Hong feel fulfilled.

(End of this chapter)