Chapter 367 Guo Jia's Evaluation and Comparison

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 began comparing 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 the lack of law enforcement, the Han Dynasty declined. Zhang Tong reinforces his laws 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 grand commander again. Still, his action in Liyang and the duel at Hulao Gate shows that he lacked patience. Meanwhile, Cao Cao has faith with his men. He has discerning eyes when it comes to talented people, and he promotes a meritocracy system. Similar 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 welcomed all critics from his strategists, and he was decisive when it was necessary. It's questionable and illogical how Zhang Tong has become so successful 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 scholar. 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 it comes to corruption and embezzlement. All officers with tainted hands are weeded out, and all his men are honest workers. Cao Cao is similar when it comes 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 bipolar 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 overcome many small battles, but he has no experience in commanding a largescale battle. Zhang Tong wins in military might.'

Guo Jia tried to compare 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.

.

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- Military Might

- Righteousness

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- Tolerance

- Strategy

- Virtue

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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 direct combat or declare war against him! However, he's weak in politics and long-term strategies. Now that Zhang Tong bestowed Cao Cao a title and accepted 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 the last 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 Palace, all locals believed that this was their new capital city. Merchants, scholars, and migrating civilians flocked to Ye from all over the country, boosting the population and economy.

As the population grew, the order and laws 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.

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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 palace treasury.

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

After the ambassador confirmed that he had completed 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've come 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 plain."

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, scholars, merchants, and even commoners 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 accepted 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 any laborer 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 relaxed, 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 clapped 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, clapping for the zither band.

As the girls had not expected applause 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 clapping.

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!"

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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 façade 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 plain 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 cabinet officers and the city planners. Find an available land 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.