Ma Chao actually also knew that his situation within the Liu Bei Group was not good. To put it harshly, he was actually half an outsider.
There was nothing he could do about it. He came to vote as a prince who was defeated and was in dire straits.
Ma Chao has his own team, and these people will not listen to Liu Bei, but only Ma Chao.
Coupled with Ma Chao's natural appeal in Liangzhou, it would be strange if Liu Bei did not guard against himself.
Although Liu Bei also needs Ma Chao's reputation to guard against the Qianghu in northern Yizhou, Liu Bei is definitely not that stupid to completely trust Ma Chao. Liu Bei has never given Ma Chao an army that he can directly command. This is a clear proof.
In fact, you can't blame Liu Bei, after all, Liu Bei has been here almost for the first half of his life.
Regardless of whether Liu Bei defected to Yuan Shao or Cao Cao, both of them welcomed Liu Bei very much, because Liu Bei was indeed a hero of the world. Taking Liu Bei in would gain a lot of political capital and popularity, but neither of them would be stupid enough to give Liu Bei real support. Authority is also because Liu Bei has his own team and reputation. Once it loses control, it will be a big problem.
Even during this Northern Expedition, Ma Chao was anxious and worried whether Liu Bei would give him a chance to fight back to Liangzhou, or he could still only guard the northern part of Yizhou, watching the Qiang Hu people in the direction of Didao, and silently guard this place slowly. Aging slowly.
Fortunately, Liu Bei was quite kind in this regard and did not intend to let himself die in Yizhou, so Ma Chao had the opportunity to lead his troops out of Didao this time.
In fact, Ma Chao is no longer the same Ma Chao as before. Since being tricked and driven out of Liangzhou by the Liangzhou people, Ma Chao has reflected on many things.
Today's world has changed. It is no longer the era of great chaos and separatist rule in the late Han Dynasty, and Ma Chao is no longer the reckless man from Liangzhou who was in his twenties and thirties and felt that the world could be controlled.
Ma Chao is forty-five years old this year. Although he is not old, he is still young and understands many things more clearly than when he was young.
Even if Liangzhou himself could come back, it would be impossible for him to separate himself from one side.
Therefore, Ma Chao only has two goals when he returns to Liangzhou this time.
One is to seek a position as the governor of Liangzhou and restore the ancestral glory of the Ma family.
The other is to return to Liangzhou to take revenge and kill the Zhao family.
But the first goal became a little hopeless after Ma Chao failed to arrive in time for the decisive battle in Liangzhou, rushed to the battlefield after being scolded by the King of Hanzhong, and did not leave Guo Huai behind in the end.
But now, there are still people who want to block the second goal. This Ma Chao really can't bear it.
If he hadn't known that Zhang Xi was a confidant of Liu Bei's group, although his official position was not high, he was more important to Liu Bei than himself. Ma Chao would not have asked anyone to send greetings to Zhang Xi, and would have directly pushed Jiang Wei away and rushed into the Zhao Mansion. That's it.
Anyway, Ma Chao is justified in avenging his wife and children, and no one has any reason to stop him.
Therefore, when he met Zhang Xi, Ma Chao immediately questioned Zhang Xi and said, "Do you want to stop me from taking revenge?!"
Zhang Xi was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Ma Chao to ask so directly at the door of the Zhao Mansion on the street.
What to do? !
Say yes, this answer will not only offend Ma Chao, but it doesn't seem to be very reasonable. After all, the etiquette system these days is like this. Even Confucians who are not Gongyang sect believe that when encountering such a thing, one should "repay kindness with kindness, and return kindness with kindness." Just complain."
If Zhang Xi admitted in the street that he wanted to stop Ma Chao from taking revenge, it would be inconsistent with the mainstream values of this era.
But that’s not the case. You can’t just watch Ma Chao fight in, right? !
Then what did you do? !
After secretly glaring at the guilty Jiang Wei, Zhang Xi could only continue to wipe the Tianshui Qilin'er's butt, and said to Ma Chao, "Xi is not an unreasonable person. It's just Zhao's business. General Zuo, please think twice."
Ma Chao narrowed his eyes, tightened his grip on his sword, looked at Zhang Xi, and said a few words through his teeth, "Please advise?!"
There is no other way, things have reached this point, Zhang Xi bites the bullet, he has to go.
"Zhao Ang is to blame for what happened in the past. If the general wants revenge, killing Zhao Ang alone is enough. Why involve the entire Zhao family?!" Zhang Xi gritted his teeth and stated the reason he had thought about all the way, "Furthermore, Although Zhao Ang rebelled against the king's army, it is still unclear whether the Zhao clan will join the rebellion. When Xi entered the city more than ten days ago, he also promised the Zhao clan that the crime of the Zhao clan would be decided by the king. I also asked General Zuo to take a look. On the thin side of the stream, forgive me for a few days."
To put it bluntly, Zhang Xi has tried his best. He risked his life for Zhao, and it all depends on whether Ma Chao will give him this face.
But before Ma Chao could speak, Pang De spoke first.
"General, what you said is too much!" Pang De suddenly stood up and said to Zhang Xi, "General, what happened in the past is just hearsay, how can you believe it?! The Zhao clan colluded with Cao Cao and rebelled against him. This is the common practice of the whole world. How come there is no final conclusion about something you know?!”
What about General White Horse? I respect you as a man and won’t argue with you.
Otherwise, if you insist on digging deeper into what you are saying, then I have to ask you whose fault it was that Zhao created.
Don't think that you are involved with Cao Cao. What Ma Chao did back then was just. After all, you were just warlords who ignored the Han Dynasty and divided the country. Whether the Zhao family opposed Ma Chao or not, they had something to do with the King of Hanzhong. what relationship? !
Zhang Xi ignored Pang De's question and just looked at Ma Chao, hoping that Ma Chao would give him an answer.
And Ma Chao is very angry now, very angry.
Zhang Xi's words actually separated Zhao Ang from the Zhao family and put all the blame on Zhao Ang.
But in fact, Ma Chao knew very well that the entire Zhao family was inseparable from the person who killed his wife and children in Ji County.
The order may have been given by Zhao Ang, but the person who actually took action was Zhao Ang's younger brother Zhao Qu. It would be too shameless for you to say that Zhao is innocent.
But the question now is not to discuss who is the real culprit who killed Ma Chao's wife and children, but Zhang Xi asked Ma Chao if he would give him face and let Zhao live a few more days.
In fact, Zhang Xi did not say anything to death, because this kind of deep hatred and hatred could not be persuaded by Zhang Xi, an outsider with no business, in just one or two words.
But Zhang Xi did promise the Zhao family after entering the city. Zhao's crimes will be judged by the King of Hanzhong. So Zhang Xi's blocking of Ma Chao now means that a gentleman keeps his promise. There is a good reason and it is in line with the Confucian values of this era.
Moreover, Zhang Xi also said that he did not want to stop Ma Chao from taking revenge.
As long as Ma Chao can convince the King of Hanzhong and let the King of Hanzhong decide that the Zhao family is a treasonous and unforgivable crime, then Ma Chao can legitimately take revenge, and Zhang Xi will not break his promise, so he gets the best of both worlds.
But Ma Chao was just unhappy.
In this matter, he is obviously absolutely reasonable. Zhang Xi actually insisted on jumping out to confront him and replaced Ma Chao eight years ago. I'm afraid he has already fallen out.
But now, although Ma Chao is very angry, he is no longer the brainless Ma Chao he was eight years ago.
It was difficult to live under someone else's roof. Even if Ma Chao didn't grow up his brain, eight years of idle time was enough for Ma Chao to recognize some reality.
Some people can offend themselves, but some people should try not to offend themselves as much as possible.
Although Ma Chao's temper is still explosive, he can only endure it for a while instead of forever. Ma Chao decided to endure it for the time being.
Give this boy some face and leave the Zhao clan alone for the time being. When Liu Bei comes to Ji County, you can convince Liu Bei to take revenge.
But there is one thing.
"General Zhang has made a promise, so we can wait a few more days." Ma Chao suppressed his anger and said, "It's just that Zhao Ang rebelled against the king's army. His guilt is confirmed and he has a big grudge against me. Why? How about asking General Zhang to hand this person and his family over to Chao?!"
The Zhao family let go of each other first, but this Zhao Ang, Ma Chao is sure to kill him today.
If even Zhang Xi wants to stop him, then Ma Chao will really fall out with Zhang Xi.
Zhang Xi didn't have any objections to this matter. Zhao Ang's family was originally the one thrown out by Zhao to calm Ma Chao's anger. Even their own family didn't care about it anymore. Why did Zhang Xi stop them?
On the other hand, Jiang Wei's expression changed for a long time, and he seemed to want to say something. Zhang Xi quickly glared back at this guy.
What does their Zhao family have to do with you, Jiang Wei? !
I haven’t even told you about falsely passing military orders. If it weren’t for you being Jiang Wei, just for today’s matter, I would have loved you even if you didn’t lose your head.
When Jiang Wei was glared at by Zhang Xi, he immediately breathed out and said nothing.
Zhang Xi ignored the boy and turned around to tell Ma Chao where Zhao Ang's family was being held. Zhang Xi would not be involved in what happened next.
After Ma Chao learned where Zhao Ang was being held, he nodded slightly to Zhang Xi, glanced at Jiang Wei, and finally led Ma Dai, Pang De, and three hundred personal guards away.
No need to ask, this is to seek revenge on Zhao Ang.
Zhang Xi also sighed slightly, looked at Jiang Wei, turned cold, and said, "What are you still doing standing here? Follow me back to the government office to discuss matters!"
He said it was a matter of discussion, but in fact, Jiang Wei also knew that this was Zhang Xi's euphemism. In fact, he needed to give Zhang Xi an explanation.
Explain, why military orders are passed down from family to protect the Zhao family? !
How to explain it? This really needs a reason.
As for the real reason, Jiang Wei was a little hard to explain. It was just purely personal feelings that affected his behavior.
After all, Zhao Ang's daughter Zhao Ying and Jiang Wei were childhood sweethearts. In fact, Jiang Wei wanted to save Zhao Ang's family as well, but this was too difficult, so Jiang Wei could only settle for the next best thing. The Zhao family can be considered as living up to their childhood friends.
Back at the government office, facing Zhang Xi's question, Jiang Wei could only make up an excuse, saying that the Jiang family and the Zhao family both had common surnames in Liangzhou. Although Ma Chao did it for revenge, if he did not stop him, it would be rumored. Going out will inevitably worry other wealthy families in Liangzhou, which will be very detrimental to the subsequent Liu Bei Group's occupation of Liangzhou.
Needless to say, this reason is quite practical, and it is indeed an issue that needs to be considered by the Liu Bei Group.
At the beginning, Liangzhou's wealthy families joined forces to trick Ma Chao. Although Zhao went too far by killing Ma Chao's wife, children and the whole family, if he allowed Ma Chao to take revenge, what if other Liangzhou wealthy families misunderstood and thought Ma Chao could take advantage of him? Killing powerful people in Liangzhou at will under the banner of revenge, thereby resisting Liu Bei's group's rule of Liangzhou. That is also a troublesome thing.
When Zhang Xi heard what Jiang Wei said, he immediately smiled and nodded, and then asked his personal guards to drag Jiang Wei down and punish the twenty-big board. Who the hell is this little kid fighting with? !
I hope everyone will be careful, wash hands frequently, wear masks, and catch the disease as late as possible. This is definitely not a big cold. When I had a cold, my mind was a little confused, and I could still type. But these days, I was lying in bed and couldn't move at all. The first three days were the most difficult. After I got over it, I got better. Now I can get out of bed, and I started to Try to type as much as possible, otherwise the saved manuscript will be gone soon.
(End of chapter)
