Chapter 191 The Oath (1/2)
Zhou Ji was silent for a moment. Yang Fuguang was right. In the territory of the Zhongwu Army, if he hadn't really felt threatened, as the commissioner, he wouldn't have come to see Yang Fuguang like this.
Several years ago, the rebels invaded the Central Plains and Xue Neng, the former commissioner of Zhongwu, was killed on the battlefield. At that time, Zhou Ji was just a general. He could take the post of the commissioner because of Yang Fuguang's recommendation, therefore, he always had a good relationship with Yang Fuguang.
When Zheng Tian called on various troops to attack Huang Chao together in Fengxiang and Li Yan (who renamed himself Li Xuan after ascending the throne) ordered every town's troops to recover Chang'an in Xi Chuan, Yang Fuguang tried many times to test Zhou Ji and urged him to revolt against Huang Chao and send the troops to the west, but Zhou Ji had a lot of concerns and didn't respond positively.
As long as Tang Empire didn't fall, Zhou Ji was willing to fight against the rebels for Tang Empire because he would win the fame of his exploit and be rewarded by the imperial court and get promoted. If the world were in chaos in the future, this would be his capital to recruit troops, seek for able men and expand forces. After all, a wise man would choose his own leader and talents wouldn't turn to a n.o.body.
Prestige and momentum were useful at all times and even more useful in troubled times.
But the premise was that Zhou Ji wouldn't court his own ruin because of it so that he wouldn't throw good money after bad.
To put it bluntly, it was the relationship between risk and earnings.
Zhou Ji didn't respond positively to Yang Fuguang because he felt that the Zhongwu Army had no chance of breaking through Tongguan. The Zhongwu Army only had tens of thousands of people, so even if they broke through Tongguan, it was impossible to enter the border from the east alone and go to Chang'an to fight against Huang Chao without the coordination of the other va.s.sal states.
It was very important to make achievements in the chaotic world, but self-preservation was the basic requirement.
But the situation was different now because Dengzhou was captured, and Zhu Wen also asked Zhou Ji to meet him, which was clear to tie him to the same boat and not to give him any chance to hesitate and wait and see.
”What did you see?” asked Zhou Ji.
Yang Fuguang made no secret of it. ”I'm sure you have noticed that there are more and more Taoists in the city recently. As the arrival of Zhu Wen's messenger, the city is filled with a tense atmosphere like dark clouds overwhelming the city. As I sniff, I can smell the blood.”
Zhou Ji didn't say anything. As the commissioner, he knew these things.
Yang Fuguang said coldly, ”What's more, I have learned that when Zhu Wen was still attacking Dengzhou, the arrogant Qin Zongquan, who was the Inspector General of Caizhou and who always disobeyed your orders, had already sent a messenger to contact Zhu Wen.”
”Qin Zongquan, this old guy! His wild ambition is hateful!” Zhou Ji was irritated at the mention of Qin Zongquan. Caizhou was the affiliated state of Zhongwu, but Qin Zongquan was not satisfied with Zhou Ji. When Huang Chao pa.s.sed through the border, he took the initiative to go out of the city and meet with him. He took the opportunity to recruit troops and seemed to rival Zhou Ji.
Yang Fuguang stared at Zhou Ji and said, ”You must know clearly what Qin Zongquan wants to do. He isn't satisfied with you. This time, if he turns to Zhu Wen, it is really hard to say what will happen in the future. You should know I helped you to this position, so if Zhu Wen wants to control Zhongwu... Zhu Wen is not easy to deal with!”
Yang Fuguang didn't say it clearly, but Zhou Ji understood what he meant.
Every new emperor would bring his own courtiers, therefore, if Zhu Wen wanted Zhongwu to be obedient to him and become his own force completely, he was likely to support Qin Zongquan to be the commissioner. However, Caizhou had a well-trained and powerful army, so Zhou Ji dared not to send troops to attack it easily. He didn't have few and weak soldiers, but if Qin Zongquan was stationed in the city to guard it, because of his management of the city defense in Caizhou, Zhou Ji might not break through it in a short time, so it would give other people a chance.
It was not only Qin Zongquan who eyed covetously at the position of the commissioner. Many people wanted to make some achievements in the troubled world. You never knew when a lot of heroes would appear, and the force of the Taoist sect of Zhongnan Mountain was also everywhere...
In all fairness, Qin Zongquan's ability was superior to Zhou Ji's, otherwise, Zhou Ji would not be so pa.s.sive and could do nothing to him. It might be said that Zhou Ji's situation would be worse without Yang Fuguang.
Zhou Ji's eyes reddened and he clenched his fists. The situation was indeed difficult, so it wasn't easy to protect himself, to say nothing of making achievements. No one was safe in the turbulent world. Many times, if someone stepped forward, he might succeed or get in beyond redemption, but if he stepped backward, he might die.
Yang Fuguang took in Zhou Ji's expression. He was expressionless on his face, but in his heart, he knew what he said worked. And now he only needed a real heavyweight to make Zhou Ji listen to him obediently.
Yang Fuguang said slowly, ”My old friend in Bianzhou just wrote to me that the commissioner of Pinglu led one hundred thousand troops to go down along the Ji River and would soon arrive at Bianzhou. I think they're almost there.”
At first hearing the news, Zhou Ji was shocked all over.
This was a bombsh.e.l.l. As the situation in the Central Plains was in a stalemate, he could imagine what an impact the one hundred thousand troops would have on the situation. It might also cause the catfish effect.
Of course, Zhou Ji didn't know about the catfish effect, but he still could understand the situation. He said in shock, ”The commissioner of Pinglu, Your Highness Prince An?”