Chapter 266: Loyal Minister?
Jizhou, Yecheng.

More than ten days after Tuoba Yuqing led more than 10,000 cavalrymen to attack Yecheng in vain, Jizhou Governor Zhao Yi finally led the victorious army back to the capital Yecheng after wiping out the bandits.

His brother Zhao Jiong, who served as the governor of Wei County and the magistrate of Yecheng, led the officials, soldiers, gentry, and common people in the city to line up to welcome him.

The tall and strong Zhao Da dismounted from his horse after arriving at the city gate, greeted everyone with a smile, accepted their congratulations, and followed them into the city.

After returning to the Governor's Mansion, he entered the hall with a group of his trusted followers, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared.

Zhao Da sat in the main seat, then glanced around, finally landing on his second brother Zhao Jiong: "This time thanks to Erlang's alertness, otherwise Yecheng would be in danger."

Zhao Er said modestly: "It was just luck. If a hunter in the mountains hadn't discovered the Bingzhou Army's vanguard at Fukou Pass in advance, and hadn't happened to meet Sanlang on his way to the mountains to hunt, and told Sanlang, I would never have thought that the Bingzhou Army would have such a plan. Later, Sanlang ran all the way back and told me about the Bingzhou Army's movements in Fukou. I always thought there must be an insider, so I used a little trick to find out that the city gate captain and the wealthy Wang family in the city had unusual movements, so I arrested and executed them, and set up an ambush at the west gate city wall."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Da and several of his confidants looked at Zhao Chi, also known as Zhao Sanlang, who was standing aside.

Zhao Chi laughed dryly a few times, feeling a little embarrassed. Because this time he was lucky. In the past, he was always scolded by his elder brother for doing nothing, and was told to "learn more from your second brother".

After listening to his second brother's narration, Zhao Da pondered for a moment and said, "Tuoba Yuqing's actions this time are definitely not a whim. He is a shrewd man who helped Liang Shuren start an uprising. Now that Liang Shuren has been defeated, he has accepted an official position in Chang'an and attacked Jizhou. It seems that he wants to plot against Hebei. His ambitions are not small. Since he has invaded my territory, I want to raise an army to fight him. What do you think?"

Currently in Zhao Da's court, there are the chief historian Zhou Pu, who followed him in Yuzhou to resist Wagang, and the military officer Wang Ya.

There were also local powerful families in Jizhou who came to seek refuge after he took office in Jizhou.

Among them were Li Kuan of the Zhaojun Li family, Cui Huaizhi and Cui Chuyi of the Qinghe Cui family.

There were also many local powerful families in the Jizhou army, such as the Su family father and son, Su Yong and his son Su Dingbian, who had just led their army back to Jizhou.

In general, the Zhao family has established a firm foothold in Jizhou. Local aristocratic families and powerful clans have chosen to establish cooperative relationships with the Zhao family and send their sons to serve as officials.

As for raising troops to conquer Bingzhou, representatives of the two powerful families, the Zhaojun Li family and the Qinghe Cui family, did not say anything, only saying that they would leave it to the commander-in-chief to decide.

Chief Secretary Zhou Pu expressed his clear support.

"General, you are right. We cannot let Tuoba Yuqing go if he invades our prefectures and counties. However, it is almost the end of the year. We should wait until the spring plowing season next year before launching an expedition. At the same time, we should closely guard Fukou Pass. If Tuoba Yuqing fails to strike him, he may raise troops again. Bingzhou has many cavalrymen, thousands of them, and they come and go quickly. We must be on guard."

Zhao Yi nodded and said, "What Zhou Changshi said makes a lot of sense. We can send 3,000 light cavalry to patrol the area around Fukouxing."

From beginning to end, Li Cui and others did not say anything about it. After the meeting, they left quickly.

Only a few trusted aides and the Zhao brothers participated in this meeting. In fact, it was also a test to see what the attitudes of the Li, Cui and other big families were.

But now it seems that there is neither support nor opposition.

After everyone left, only the three Zhao brothers remained in the hall.

Zhao Er opened his mouth and said sarcastically: "The Zhaojun Li family and Qinghe Cui family are indeed famous and prestigious families, high and mighty."

Zhao Da sighed, then shook his head and said, "After all, they are famous families in the world. My brother wants to live in Hebei for a long time. Without the support of these powerful families, it will be extremely difficult. If I hadn't contributed a lot in the war against the Xiongnu two years ago, do you think they would be nice to me?"

As a powerful Han clan that entered the country from the Murong Xianbei, the Zhao family had a good working relationship with the Xianbei nobles, but they were incompatible with the Han aristocratic families. After all, as a Han Chinese, the Zhao family could only be considered powerful, and could not even be called a poor family.

After the Xianbei Murong entered the Central Plains, he tried to win over the powerful families in the Central Plains and listed the ten major clans, including Qinghe Cui, Zhaojun Li, and Xingyang Zheng, as the ten famous surnames.

He even looked down upon military meritorious service from a powerful family like the Zhao family.

Although it is a turbulent time, if you want to gain a foothold in Hebei, or even achieve greater success, it would be impossible without the help of these people.

Therefore, Zhao Da did not find it unacceptable that Li Cui and the others did not express their opinions. He was even very pleased that these people were willing to salute him before leaving.
The next day, after the armies had settled down, Zhao Da summoned all the generals again.

His trusted generals Wang Yun, Han Duo, Shi Yanchao, Li Chengxun, Liu Tingrang, as well as Su Yong and Su Dingbian, the father and son of the Su family who were recruited after he returned to Jizhou, were all present in the hall.

Zhao Da ordered the Tiger Guards Han Duo and Wang Yun to lead 2,000 cavalrymen each to patrol north and south of the Zhang River to prevent the Bingzhou cavalry from invading Jizhou again. He also ordered Li Chengxun and Liu Tingrang to patrol the defenses of Zhaojun and Weijun respectively, and the fierce general Shi Yanchao was responsible for the defense and night patrols of Yecheng.
After assigning the tasks, General Zhao kept the Su family father and son and had a heart-to-heart talk with them.

After the Su father and son withdrew from the battlefield in Yuzhou and returned to their hometown in Xiangguo, Su Yong prepared to disband the team. After all, everyone was homesick, and now that they were back home, with such a large army, it was natural for them to let them go home separately.

His son Su Dingbian persuaded his father to let them return home to visit their families first, and not to disband them, as they could be assembled into an army if necessary.

As a result, not long after, Jizhou Governor Zhao Yi personally came to Xiangguo to invite the Su father and son to come out of retirement.

After receiving such courtesy, Su Yong naturally complied with his request and regrouped his troops with his son to serve the Jizhou Military Governor's Office.

When the volunteers heard that they would serve in Jizhou and would not have to be too far away from home, they naturally had no objections and regrouped.

Zhao Da allowed the Su father and son to continue to lead these tribes, and asked the court to grant Su Yong the title of Julu Taishou and General Po Lu, and his son Su Dingbian the title of Huben Lang Jiang.

This was even greater than the courtesy shown by Mr. Lou at the beginning, so the father and son of the Su family were deeply grateful for Zhao Da's kindness. Not long ago, when they fought against the bandits, the father and son of the Su family were invincible in battle.

Su Dingbian's bravery was no less than that of Shi Yanchao, a brave general under Zhao Da, which made Zhao Da treat him even better.

After leaving the Governor's Mansion, Su Dingbian prepared to send his father out of the city. As the prefect of Julu, Su Yong must return to the county seat to guard it.

As the father and son walked down the street, leading their horses, Su Yong sighed and said, "Zhao Jizhou is brave and resolute, and has heroic ambitions, but the wealthy families like Li and Cui are arrogant and unwilling to help. Otherwise, his foundation would never be limited to Jizhou."

Su Dingbian was puzzled and said, "In this chaotic world, if you can control a state and protect the people, what else can you not be satisfied with? Do you want to be the emperor?"

Su Yong glanced at him and said, "Be careful with your words."

Su Dingbian smiled and said, "Father, you don't have to be too cautious. There are already four emperors today, Cao and Murong. It would not be surprising if there were another emperor of Zhao in a few days."

Su Yong frowned upon hearing this, and then asked in a puzzled voice: "Are you saying that Zhao Jizhou wants to be the emperor?"

"Does father think Zhao Jizhou is a loyal minister?"

(End of this chapter)