Chapter 61 – Tian Feng
November 7th. Nan Pi City.
Feng Ji received the letter from Tong. It had simple messages.
"Return my father and give me one million gold. Or else, Wen Chou and Yan Liang will never return."
Feng Ji ripped the letter scroll to pieces as he screamed in frustration. Everything he had planned was perfect. He did not understand how the entire ploy of his went south.
"Can someone tell me, how in the blue world has Zhang Tong won that battle!?"
The intelligent officers kept their head down in shame. They, too, were also baffled by the result. Even though Zhang Tong raised his force to 5,000 in numbers, it was impossible for them to handle the 20,000 men of the coalition forces.
As Feng Ji failed to comprehend the battle result, he tossed around the furniture and wine cups. His face was reddened and distorted that it resembled a mad beast instead of human.
Then, another messenger came in. A message from Yuan Shao himself arrived. In the scroll, Yuan Shao was discontent with Feng Ji's decisions. He had told Feng Ji to befriend with Zhang Tong, and he should have dispatched the family forces to repel Han Fu Army.
However, Feng Ji disobeyed Yuan Shao's order and caused him to lose a trade partner. Thus, the messages were as followed;
"By the order of the head of the family, Feng Ji will no longer be entitled as the Nan Pi house butler. He will be grounded in Nan Pi house until I give further instruction. A new person has already been assigned to the city, and he will takeover Feng Ji's duty as of today."
Feng Ji plummeted down on his butt in despair. Because he failed his duty and fell into the temptation of his own greed, all of his achievements and hard works were destroyed by just one letter. His power and his prestige were all gone.
Two soldiers stepped toward Feng Ji. They carried him up by his underarm and dragged him away to the designated residents for punished servants.
A young scholar in black robe watched over them as Feng Ji was carried away. His hair was tied and kempt. His clothes were without the slightest wrinkle as if they were just ironed. His way of walking and his eloquence were calm and smooth like a flowing river. His eyes were sharp as if he could see through the world. Even a child could tell that his man had been through a strict education and cultured.
"A foolish bastard. He can't even see the grand picture. How could he oversee the entire family branch and the family's wealth?"
The man glanced at the intel agents in the hall, and he gave out his first command.
"Refuse Zhang Tong's demand. And call Gao Lan over. I want to talk to him about the army situation."
The agents bowed and accepted the order. Before they left, one of them asked back.
"My Lord, what can we address you?"
The neat man glanced back and answered.
"My name is Tian Feng. Since I've just resigned from my post in Luo Yang, I have no noble status. You can call me butler Tian or whatever you want."
"Yes, butler Tian."
…
Tian Feng, courtesy name as Yuanhao, was one of the best advisors of Yuan Shao alongside with Ju Shou in the history. Initially, in his life, he worked at Luo Yang as a minor official. But he was disillusion by the political in-fighting between the eunuchs and the royalty faction. Thus, he quit his job and returned to Nan Pi, his hometown, and ultimately joined Yuan Shao in 190.
He advised Yuan Shao to attack Cao Cao in 195 when Cao Cao was squiring with Lu Bu and Liu Bei. However, Yuan Shao refused the idea because his son was sick. Tian Feng lamented later that the golden opportunity was missed. There might not be any chance for Yuan Shao again.
Later in the year 200, he was the subject of envy by Feng Ji. As a consequence of the rivalry, Tian Feng was framed by Feng Ji, resulted in unjust death by execution.
In this world, he was hired in urgent by Yuan Shao because of the insubordination of Feng Ji. Yuan Shao wanted someone capable enough to oversee the situation in Nan Pi branch family, so he hired the young Tian Feng when he noticed his talent.
Being young and ambitious, Tian Feng was enticed by the background and the prosperity of the Yuan family, so he decided to quit his career as an official to join Yuan Shao as his butler.
…
All of the agents and servants had left Tian Feng alone in the main hall of Yuan Manor. Tian Feng studied the records of all activities that Feng Ji had been doing up until now. He closed his eyes and sighed after he was done reading through all of them.
"What a mess. Just because of a simple soap recipe and that new wine, he created a formidable enemy for the family."
Tian Feng shook his head. Afterward, he read the records of the Zhang family members.
"… Zhang Tong, is it? A very interesting way to gain popularity and authority, I see. Zhang Jiao, aside from his persuasion, commerce, and his Taoist knowledge, there is nothing to worry about. Zhang Bao is the same as Zhang Jiao, but he is more inferior. Zhang Liang is a muscle brain, so another one to overlook."
Then he looked at the records of Hua Shi. Tian Feng frowned.
"Zhang family cannot thrive without Zhang Tong. That's for certain. But Hua Shi is suspicious. At first glance, she is just a simple pretty daughter of a physician with medical skills. But why was there a rumor about 'Goddess of Death' showing up in the last battle? Is she Zhang Tong's hidden chess piece?"
Tian Feng took out a blank scroll, after which he wrote down instruction for the intelligence agencies of the Yuan family.
"Get more information about Hua Shi and Zhang Tong. Record everything no matter how absurd it is. I want every rumor and details about the two!"
…
…
Meanwhile, Ningjin County.
Tong and everybody returned to the Zhang family hometown, including the escorted prisoners of war. Tong left 200 men in Anping Fortress to repair the damages from the battle and to keep it safe from the looters.
Tong found out that Zhang Manor was in a mess because the officials and guards ransacked the place. All servants quit the job and ran away.
Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang were furious at the sight. Tong appeased their anger and promised them that they would get a better place once they took Julu City.
Hua Shi helped Tong in the remuneration for the family of the dead soldiers and the handicapped soldiers. Their family members broke into tears in sadness because of the loss, and gratefulness for Tong's generosity.
The reputation of Tong, Hua Shi, and the Zhang family rose.
A few days after their return, many strong men in the nearby villages approached Tong and his family members. Because they were enticed by the remuneration and the generosity that Tong and his family had displayed, they asked if they could join the family as servants or soldiers too.
Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang were happy about this development as their troops were crippled from the last battle. They needed new bloods to replace the dead and the injured.
Tong did not bother recruiting the villagers. He focused his attention on the 500 soldiers of Guo Dian. After some difficulty, the 500 soldiers agreed to join Tong as his private soldiers.
Wen Chou, Yan Liang, and their 300 ex-cavalries were different. They would not join Tong no matter what. Therefore, Tong confiscated the warhorses, their weapons, and armors. So he could recycle these for his troops later.
…
November 30th. Zhang Manor.
People kept spreading rumors about the servant recruitment of Tong and his family and their generosity. Many farmers who had finished harvesting their crops were tempted, after which they traveled far from home to offer their services to Tong.
Another rumor was also spreading among the civilians which also contributed to the temptation to join Tong forces. Guo Dian unjustly attacked Zhang Family and was defeated. Furthermore, it was a fight with 20,000 troops against the Zhang 5,000 men, and the Zhang won!
People loved gossiping and dramatic stories. The story about a humble family with 5,000 men defeating the overwhelming adversary of 20,000 imperial soldiers interested everyone.
As a result, some rumors were exaggerated, as it said that Tong transformed into a beast and killed over 10,000 men himself. Some said that Hua Shi was a real goddess that she could fire a hundred arrows of light that would never miss a target with a fickle of a finger. Some said that Tong was a genius tactician that defeated Guo Dian army with his miracle stratagems.
Tong and Hua Shi felt like they were celebrities in the 21st century. Every time they went out of the Zhang Manor, they would be swarmed by fans, admirers and Tong's servant wannabes.
A dozen of rich and handsome cliché young masters of wealthy merchants and nobles also appeared to seduce Hua Shi. Several young girls also offer themselves to be Tong's concubine or wanted to bear his child. Both of them could not handle these people, so they avoided them like plague.
Although it was inconvenient in a lot of ways, yet Tong was happy about this occasion. From the remaining 800 good soldiers that his family had, it increased to 6,000 within a month and the number still had not stopped increasing. Good reputation could bring miracles like this, which was the reason why nobles deemed it as more valuable than gold.
The time to counter-attack to claim Julu County into his own was sooner than he had expected.