Chapter 75 Return to Liaodong After achieving a great victory in Guangzong, Huangfu Song led his troops without stopping and joined forces with Dong Zhuo and Julu prefect Guo Dian to attack Xiaquyang. Although Zhang Bao still had more than 200,000 Yellow Turban troops under his command, the successive deaths of Zhang Jue and Zhang Liang seemed to have drained the souls of the Yellow Turban troops, causing them to almost lose their will and determination to fight. Xiaquyang was easily captured under the powerful offensive of the government troops. This time, facing more than 100,000 prisoners, Huangfu Song showed no mercy. Although Lu Zhi and Tian Ze both tried to dissuade them, they still failed to stop Huangfu Song's massacre. Fortunately, hundreds of thousands of people survived and were secretly recruited by Tian Ze again. Tian Ze looked at the "Jingguan" built with more than 100,000 corpses and sighed slightly. The reason why Zhang Jue left so many troops in Xiaquyang was to leave a way out. If he could successfully capture Luoyang, these troops could quickly pacify Hebei. If he unfortunately fails, the Yellow Turbans will still have a chance as long as these people are preserved. There are more soldiers and civilians here than in Guangzong City, but they are not elite.
Zhang Jue once told Zhang Bao that once he and Zhang Liang were killed, he should immediately lead his troops to escape into the mountains. However, Zhang Bao, blinded by hatred, chose to fight against the government troops with all his might in order to seek revenge, and ultimately sacrificed the precious lives of many people. Tian Ze knew that he would not be able to persuade Huangfu Song, because after having known him for a long time, he had already seen through Huangfu Song's character. This is a "loyal minister" who wants to be famous throughout the ages, a "loyal minister" who only obeys the orders of the court. In order to maintain his reputation as a "loyal minister", he would rather let the court and the aristocratic families do whatever they want, do nothing, and let themselves be manipulated. What good would it do to bring peace to the world by killing so many Yellow Turban captives at this time? It was just to show off the seemingly powerful but empty so-called national prestige. Tian Ze didn't believe that Huangfu Song couldn't see this, but he chose to obediently obey the court's ridiculous arrangement without making any excuses or resistance. Because he is well aware of the cruel truth that "when the birds are dead, the bows are put away; when the rabbits are dead, the dogs are cooked." Today, he is very famous and his achievements have surpassed his master. The ministers from aristocratic families in the court, including the emperor, were extremely wary of him. Building the "Jingguan" with the bones of more than 100,000 people was probably not Huangfu Song's original wish. But in this treacherous situation, if he showed any hesitation or disobedience, he would undoubtedly be ruthlessly dismissed. This "loyal minister" was too concerned about his reputation. What he wanted was to protect himself and live a stable and lasting reputation. Tian Ze now deeply understood why he never took decisive action even though he had many opportunities to save the Han Dynasty from danger in the future. I'm afraid it's not just "blind loyalty", but the character has been established and it's difficult to break free from it. The Yellow Turban Rebellion failed, but the Yellow Turban Rebellion was not over yet. The generals who suppressed the Yellow Turban Rebellion were rewarded one after another. Cao Cao was transferred to Jinan State, and Sun Jian was promoted to Sima of the Separate Department. Tian Ze contacted He Jin and Zhao Zhong directly. He was too young, had too little experience, and had a bad reputation among the aristocratic families and was widely criticized, so he was only given the title of Marquis of Duting.
However, Tian Ze gave a large part of the credit for suppressing the Yellow Turbans to Xun You and Cheng Yu, and asked the court for the posts of prefect of Xuantu County and Lelang County. Although this matter is difficult to implement, fortunately Xun You is from the Xun family of Yingchuan, and Cheng Yu is also well-known for his virtue. In addition, Tian Ze himself had a good record in battle, and he also donated a large amount of gold and silver treasures to show his loyalty and sincerity, so the emperor agreed to this matter. After all, the people of Xuantu and Lelang counties were living in poverty due to the frequent invasions of Goguryeo. Even the county seats were forced to relocate, and a large number of people were lost and lost. The imperial court was also unable to get away due to various matters and was unable to govern effectively. Even since the Eastern Han Dynasty, there have been several cases of prefects being killed, and no one is willing to jump into this fire pit. After taking control of the two counties, Tian Ze was overjoyed. In this way, all four counties of Liaodong belonged to him, and his carefully planned subsequent layout could be carried out smoothly. However, Tian Ze did not stop there, and continued to bribe Zhao Zhong secretly to seek official positions for two people. One was Liu Bei, for whom Tian Ze sought the position of county magistrate of Pei County in Yuzhou. The other was Gongsun Zan. Tian Ze helped him get promoted to the rank of Captain of the Surrendered Enemies for his contribution in guarding the border, but at the same time, he transferred him to Xiliang on the grounds of the "Three Mutual Laws" and the urgency of the war in Xiliang. Although the "Three Mutual Laws" of the late Han Dynasty had long been turned into a dead letter by the aristocratic families and not many people followed them, the imperial court had issued an order, so Gongsun Zan had to obey it. As for Liu Bei, Tian Ze did not want to be too involved with him, so he simply placed him in the complex and changeable situation in the Central Plains, just as a casual move. He wanted to see whether Liu Bei, with his higher starting point, could make a name for himself and compete with Cao Cao in the future. However, Gongsun Zan and Tian Ze did not want to fight with this classmate in Youzhou. After becoming familiar with Gongsun Zan, Tian Ze had a better understanding of Gongsun Zan's strength, so he was quite wary of him. This was a fierce general who in history almost killed Yuan Benchu, the leader of the Guandong Army and a role model for the world. If he had not been so careless and had a bad temper, his chances of winning would have been higher than Yuan Shao. His fighting power is so strong that even Tian Ze has a headache. Now he can't stop Gongsun Zan's development. After all, the Gongsun family is also one of the top families in Youzhou. Gongsun Zan also has a father-in-law who is also a prefect, so his foundation is very deep. The imperial court still exists today, and although it has shown signs of decline, its majesty remains. Tian Ze knew very well that with his reputation and deeds, under normal circumstances, he would definitely not be appointed as a governor of a province by the court in the future. After Liu Yan later proposed the implementation of the provincial governor system, the emperor believed and appointed provincial governors who were basically members of the Liu clan or his absolute confidants who had been tested for a long time. Tian Ze was obviously not among them. Before Dong Zhuo's Rebellion broke out, Tian Ze's sphere of influence in the Han Dynasty was limited to the four counties of Liaodong. If he exceeded that sphere, the court would certainly suspect Tian Ze of having ill intentions. If I were really labeled a traitor or forced to go to Beijing, I would be in a real dilemma. If they want to seek further development, they can only target the surrounding ethnic groups and find opportunities for breakthroughs in the game with them. Tian Ze knew very well that although he planned early and had relatively ample time to accumulate and develop, all actions could only be carried out within the established ruling framework of the Han Dynasty, and he could not act recklessly or cross the line. Although he started early, after the world fell into chaos, many of the advantages he had accumulated in the early days were quickly overtaken by other princes. There was no way. The difference in background was like an insurmountable chasm. Compared with those Liu clan members with prominent backgrounds and the aristocratic families with three generations of officials, there was a huge gap like a chasm. If I hadn't been born into a noble family, I would have had difficulty even having a chance to sit at the table. In this era, it was good enough for a commoner to be able to survive. But at the same time, Tianze also has some unique advantages that others cannot match. After returning to Liaodong with a large group of refugees, Tian Ze's heart was filled with excitement when he saw the crowd welcoming him at the Xi'an Port.
Chen Gong and the others all looked quite tired, but their high spirits and excitement were evident in their expressions. They all knew that Tian Ze now had enough capital to rise. In this Yellow Turban Rebellion, apart from those powerful families, they were undoubtedly the biggest winners. Xi'anping, located on the northeast side of the Liaodong Peninsula, is the only county town located in the Liaodong Mountains. The huge Liaodong County is mostly occupied by the Liaodong Mountains. It is deserted and uninhabited, with no one’s land everywhere, so only this county town was set up. The port set up by Tian Ze here was specifically for the purpose of avoiding trade routes and attracting refugees. The geographical location here is remote, and it is located on both sides of the Liaodong Peninsula with Xiangping and Wenxian counties. The journey is long and the transportation is inconvenient, so few people are willing to set foot here. Now the transport routes of Tian Ze's fleet are clearly divided into two. The trade route runs along the mouth of the Yellow River, along the coastline of Jizhou and Youzhou, through the Liaohe River and finally arrives at the Xiangping Wharf. The route for attracting refugees was to reach Qingzhou Donglai along the coastline from various places, then go north along the many scattered islands in the north of Donglai, and after arriving near the coastline of Liaodong Peninsula, go northeast along the coastline directly to Xi'anping. It is precisely because of this ingenious planning that although many people have discovered that there are fewer refugees in various states, they are unable to determine where these refugees have gone. They only know that they have gone to sea. Seeing the dusty Tian Ze, Chen Gong and others hurried forward to greet him, their tone full of concern, and they bowed with emotion: "My lord, thank you for your hard work!" (End of this chapter)