Chapter 367


    Chapter 367 – Guo Jia’s Evaluation and Comparison


    February, 189 A . D .


    The moon shone in the dark night . Guo Jia sat in his private tent, reading a message, sent by Cao Cao .


    It told Guo Jia about Cao Cao’s promotion as the Marquis of Wei and the hostage Cao Ang . The message scroll also included the details about Tong’s first edict, which forced Cao Cao to be at odd with Yuan Shao .


    Guo Jia clicked his tongue and burned the message scroll .


    ’Without a sacrifice, chess pieces won’t advance forward . Cao Ang might die in the future, but that’s a necessary move . ’


    Guo Jia closed his eyes, recalling all details he had researched about Tong and all otherworlders . He beganparing Cao Cao and Tong .


    ’Zhang Tong and Cao Cao don’t like a formality . They are a bunch of rowdy immature lords, so nobody wins in principle . ’


    ’Zhang Tong has the Han Empire’s authority and respect while Cao Cao used underhanded tricks to gain supremacy in the past, Zhang Tong wins Cao Cao in righteousness . ’


    ’Because of theck ofw enforcement, the Han Dynasty declined . Zhang Tong reinforces hisws and order even though he promotes internal conflicts . His administrative abilities are dubious, yet his cities stabilize . Cao Cao has stern disciplinary with his followers, and his cities improved step-by-step . I have to give it another tie in management . ’


    ’Zhang Tong appoints people base on abilities and specialties . He even forgives that undisciplined Lu Bu and reinstated him into a grandmander again . Still, his action in Liyang and the duel at Ho Gate shows that hecked patience . Meanwhile, Cao Cao has faith with his men . He has discerning eyes when ites to talented people, and he promotes a meritocracy system . Simr to Zhang Tong, Cao Cao did not care about the past of his officers . His policy and development used a slow and steady approach, but Zhang Tong always expanded rapidly and stopped to stabilize . In term of tolerance, Cao Cao is a bit higher, so Cao Cao wins . ’


    ’Zhang Tong rarely listened to his advisors, and his strategic and policy decision always came from himself . He had many strategists, but he sent them away to support others instead of utilizing them . Cao Cao always brainstormed before he made any significant move . He weed all critics from his strategists, and he was decisive when it was necessary . It’s questionable and illogical how Zhang Tong has be so sessful with this mindset . Maybe it’s a fluke and his immortal power advantage? I’ll give Cao Cao a win in strategies . ’


    ’Zhang Tong has a peasant origin, and his past shows that he did not care about his face value or reputation . He cried and bowed to his soldiers in his wives’ funeral . That’s a good example of a pretender right there . He is not very sincere with his subordinates if he used this kind of approach to seduce followers . Cao Cao is more honest when he recruited me . Although he bribed me, I have to give him credit since I’m a mere schr . In terms of virtue and honesty, I’ll give Cao Cao another win . ’


    ’In benevolence ... It’s a tie, hands down . Zhang Tong never abandoned hungry civilians and refugees, but so did Cao Cao . No winner here . ’


    ’Zhang Tong is strict when ites to corruption and embezzlement . All officers with tainted hands are weeded out, and all his men are honest workers . Cao Cao is simr when ites to how he dealt with crooked officers . A tie for them in wisdom . ’


    ’Zhang Tong was sometimes evil but sometimes benevolence . He might punish crooks, but he can be a hypocrite sometimes . His bipr attitude is unpredictable, and his governance is full of controversy . Meanwhile, Cao Cao dipped his hands in the empress conning . Now that the false empress is with Zhang Tong, Cao Cao cannot use the dirty trick . Although he can discern right and wrong, the past incident left him a bad mark . Both are tied in culture . ’


    ’In terms of war exploit, Zhang Tong is clearly more superior . Cao Cao may be talented and he had ovee many small battles, but he has no experience inmanding argescale battle . Zhang Tong wins in military might . ’


    Guo Jia tried topare both powerhouses to find Tong and Cao Cao’s weaknesses and advantageous . Upon getting a closer look, Guo Jia had to reevaluate them many times .


    In the end, he scored both lords by specialties .


    .


    >


    - Military Might


    - Righteousness


    >


    - Tolerance


    - Strategy


    - Virtue


    .


    Looking at their advantages, Guo Jia had a clear idea of how he could defeat Tong with Cao Cao .


    ’We can’t fight Zhang Tong in directbat or dere war against him! However, he’s weak in politics and long-term strategies . Now that Zhang Tong bestowed Cao Cao a title and epted the deal, he can’t invade us for a while . If he does, he will lose his righteousness and benevolence image he has been building . Then, we can start poaching his trusted generals to our side . ’


    Pondering for a while, Guo Jia shook away his thought .


    ’No need to concern about Zhang Tong for now . I’ll devour Yuan Shao from the inside!’


    ...


    It was almost a year since thest battle at Luoyang . All forces were busy licking their wounds, recovering from their losses .


    Civilians benefitted from this calm period the most since they could restore their farms and their businesses .


    In Ye City, every corner of the street was buzzing as ever . As Tong resided in Ye Pce, all locals believed that this was their new capital city . Merchants, schrs, and migrating civilians flocked to Ye from all over the country, boosting the poption and economy .


    As the poption grew, the order andws became an issue . Sima Fang had to transfer the graduated policemen from Julu to Ye again, reinforcing the total police officers to 30,000 men .


    .


    May 5th, 189 A . D .


    The first tribute ambassador from Cao Cao arrived . They kept their promises, 50,000 gold nuggets, and a million tons of provision filled the pce treasury .


    The leader of this tribute group was an elder schr and an expert in guqin, a traditional zither with seven strings .


    After the ambassador confirmed that he hadpleted his job, he sought an audience with Tong .


    In the throne room, Tong allowed the convoy leader and his entourage to see him .


    The ambassador and his followers kowtowed to Tong, "Your majesty, I have finished my job, so I’vee here to report you . "


    Tong nodded, "Good work . Tell Cao Mengde that I appreciate his gifts . I hope that he can maintain the order in the central in . "


    The elder bowed again, "I will tell him that . But first, I wish to give you another gift . This is not from lord Cao Cao, but it is from me . "


    Tong raised his eyebrows . The corner of his mouth curved downward as he did not have a good impression of this elder anymore .


    After the coronation ceremony, many officials, schrs, merchants, and evenmoners wished to see him . They offered many gifts, aka bribery, to Tong, hoping that they could obtain a noble title or an official rank in return .


    Tong refused their tributes and turned down many offers so far . He only epted gifts from merchants, who came here to ask for Tong’s permission to open a shop here .


    Now, the elder seemed to be one of the opportunists . As Tong did not know what the gifts were, he began inspecting the ambassador’s followers to discern his purpose .


    The followers were a group of female performers, mostly zither artists . As Tong inspected further, he found that they did not bring anyborer here .


    From Tong’s experience, he guessed that the ambassador would offer his daughter or a girl to be his concubine in exchange for an official post .


    ’Another pimp ... I should chase him out after hearing him . ’


    The elder gestured his followers, and they prepared their zithers . Betraying Tong’s expectation, the girls performed a song instead of showing their beauty .


    The officers in the throne room rxed, listening to the guqin performers . The string music soothed their heart, and the mood in the room became pleasant .


    The song ended after 10 minutes of group performance, which Tong pped by instinct .


    Xun Yu, who was monitoring the visitor by Tong’s side, was surprised by Tong’s reaction . He thought that Tong liked the performers .


    ’Someone actually moved his majesty’s heart? This is rare . ’


    All officials in the room followed suit, pping for the zither band .


    As the girls had not expected apuse or an ovation, they blushed and flustered in embarrassment .


    The ambassador was surprised as well . He directed his proud smile at one of the girls, "Well performed, Wenji . "


    "Thank you, father . "


    The father turned to Tong, who had just realized that he gestured something impropriate and might lead to a misunderstanding . He should have only nodded in acknowledgment and chased them away, not pping .


    Tong coughed, "It was a good song . "


    "Thank you, your majesty . This is my gift to you . "


    "You’re not going to give me one of those girls, right?"


    "Haha! You jest, your majesty . I only wanted them to show their skills to you . I’m not one of those crooked fathers who sell their daughters!"


    "Oh?"


    Tong was surprised once again, "You’re not offering me one of them? Ah, excuse me . Your type is rare these days . Everybody is busy trying to force concubines on me against my will . "


    "Haha! I understand that very well . I served emperor Ling for years, and I’ve seen many greedy officials trying to sell their daughters . Well, that’s another story if you desire them, though . "


    Tong patted his forehead, "Spare me . One concubine is enough for now . Now, you should be honest and tell me what you want in exchange for that song . No more fa?ade this time . "


    "Then, I’ll be direct, your majesty . We wish to open an art school that teaches calligraphy, zithers, poetry, and other arts . The central in has been in chaos recently, and we hope that you can allow us to settle here . "


    "Oh, that’s simple . You should have told me this earlier . Wenruo, coordinate with the cab officers and the city nners . Find an avablend within the inner city to build an art school and rent it to this person . Oh, wait, I haven’t asked your name . "


    "Ah, my deepest apologies, your majesty . I’ve grown old that I forgot my manner . My name is Cai Yong . You can call me by my style name, Bojie . "


    Tong’s smiling face froze . He ran into another historical figure again .


    As Tong knew about Cai Yong’s name, he was also aware of his famous daughter’s name, Cai Yan or Cai Wenji . Because of the sudden awareness, Tong’s eyes glued at the center of the band, where Cai Wenji was .