Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 93 Zhang Liao Joins the Gang
Mayi, wine house.

In a secluded private room, Zhang Liao warmly invited Zhang Yu and Zhong Yao to sit down and said, "Plenty of wine and meat, and plenty of money!"

"Good Le!"

Seeing that he was a big customer, the store owner took personal care of him, wiped the table several times, and replaced the chopsticks and bowls with high-quality ones.

"Brother, you got married not long ago. Are you returning home and visiting Mayi to find me?" Zhang Liao said with a smile.

"I have come here specifically to look for Wenyuan!" Zhang Yu said with a smile.

"Oh?"

Zhang Liao suddenly became interested and asked, "Could it be that brother encountered difficulties in Mayi?"

Zhang Yu smiled and shook his head, saying, "Wenyuan, do you remember what position you were appointed to?"

"Deputy Captain of the Xiongnu Guard!"

"Of course!"

Zhang Yu did not intend to keep the secret, and said truthfully: "Since the prosperity of the Xianbei, the Xiongnu in Yanmen and Dingxiang counties have been displaced, and General Zuonan's army has been declining. I asked the court for permission to garrison Yanmen, gather the Xiongnu in the two counties, contact Budugen, and prevent Qianman from plundering the south."

"Congratulations, brother!"

Zhang Liao was delighted to hear the news and said with a smile, "Brother, you have just been married and you have been appointed to an important position. This is a double blessing."

As he spoke, Zhang Liao poured wine for Zhang Yu and Zhong Yao.

"please!"

"I am now at Yanmen to take up my post. The court has allowed me to recruit 700 soldiers and appoint Sima, Gongcao, Zhubu and other subordinate officials to serve as the Protector General of the Xiongnu."

Zhang Yu put down the wine jar and said nostalgically: "When Yu accepted the position, he thought of Wenyuan and Yu chasing horses and hunting Hu. When the generals and cavalry went south to fight, they all missed Wenyuan and wished they could fight side by side with Wenyuan."

"Now Yu can recruit soldiers and conscript brave men as officers, so I want to appoint Wenyuan as a cavalry commander. I wonder if you are willing to ride on the battlefield with Yu and make achievements?"

During the Han Dynasty, the military rank systems of infantry and cavalry were different, and the number of soldiers and horses led by officials with the same rank would be different.

For example, a cavalry lieutenant commanded about 700 men, and with his subordinates, the number of men could reach 800. An infantry lieutenant could normally command 1,000 or even 2,000 men.

The rank of Cavalry Captain and above was a Cavalry Commander, commanding more than 2,000 cavalrymen. The Cavalry Commander, now given to Zhang Liao, was a subordinate rank to the Colonel, commanding no more than 200 cavalrymen.

Now Zhang Yu can recruit 700 cavalrymen, so the military system under his command can appoint one military commander and three cavalry generals. In order to recruit Zhang Liao, Zhang Yu let him take charge of 200 cavalrymen, which is a very high salary.

Seeing Zhang Yu appointing him as a cavalry general, Zhang Liao jumped up from the table with joy. He said in a tone of joy with a little fear, "I have long wanted to follow you to fight, but I was afraid that you would think I was stupid, so I didn't dare to ask for it easily. Now that I can fight with you, I am satisfied and don't dare to ask for the position of cavalry general."

At the age of 18, Zhang Liao was only a county official, not yet a famous general in history. However, Zhang Yu had already made a name for himself, and the two had known each other for many years, so Zhang Liao often respectfully called Zhang Yu "brother". It is no exaggeration to say that perhaps Zhang Liao had long wanted to get along with Zhang Yu.

Now that Zhang Yu was able to recruit soldiers and horses and appointed him as a cavalry commander, how could Zhang Liao not be tempted? As expected, Zhang Liao did not hesitate too much and agreed immediately. He even felt nervous because he had just taken office and was commanding 200 cavalrymen.

"Ha ha!"

Zhang Yu laughed a few times and said, "Although I have appointed you as the cavalry commander, I have no cavalry to hand over to Wen Yuan. Regardless of whether Wen Yuan is willing to be the cavalry commander or not, you must recruit 200 warriors from Yanmen for me."

Including 100 officers, Zhang Yu had 800 soldiers and officials. Even if he incorporated all the soldiers and horses in Chanhewu into the camp, it would still not be enough. So Zhang Yu only planned to send 100 Han and Hu cavalrymen from Chanhewu and recruit hundreds of Han and Hu warriors from Bingzhou to make up a camp of 800 people.

Seeing that Zhang Yu had conditions to let him serve as a cavalry commander, Zhang Liao felt relieved and said with a smile: "Brother, your words make me feel relieved. I wonder what your requirements are for the 200 men you have recruited?"

Zhang Yu said without hesitation: "The best soldiers are those who are physically fit and good at archery."

"promise!"

Zhang Liao's joining made Zhang Yu happy for several days. He had been in the Eastern Han Dynasty for many years and had socialized with many celebrities, but the only one who truly became his subordinate was Hao Zhao. Now he finally had Zhang Liao.

Now with Hao Zhao and Zhang Liao in his hands, and Shi Yi under his command, Zhang Yu has a rough outline of the structure of his troops. The above three people are cavalry generals arranged by Zhang Yu.

The seven cavalry commanders (one hundred cavalrymen) below the three will directly command the one hundred cavalrymen. In addition to being selected from the participating cavalrymen, these cavalry commanders will also be selected from the recruited soldiers.

As for Li Song, Zhang Yu intended to arrange him to serve as Sima and Zhubu. Meng Ningzhi was good at walking but not riding, which made Zhang Yu unsure about what to do, and he could only wait and see the subsequent personnel planning.

While Hao Zhao and Zhang Liao were recruiting soldiers, Li Song led a hundred cavalrymen to Mayi to meet up with Zhang Yu.

With people around him to call upon, Zhang Yu led everyone south to Jinyang to meet Zhang Yi, the governor of Bingzhou, in order to obtain a school of armor and weapons.

Because he had received the imperial decree, Zhang Yi did not make things difficult for Zhang Yu, and asked Zhang Yu to go to the Jinyang armory to collect the equipment for a school of soldiers and horses. As for the supply of food and grain, since Zhang Yu was stationed in Yanmen, Zhang Yi asked Zhang Yu to ask Wang Ze for approval. When the armor, weapons and equipment were transported to Yanmen, it was already September. When they arrived at Yanmen, Zhang Liao came forward, and with the request of Wang Rou, Yanmen County provided all the food and grain.

In September in Daidi, the weather was a bit cold and the grass and trees were withered.

More than half a month had passed since the recruitment, and the results were not satisfactory. Only about 400 people were recruited, including 100 cavalrymen, totaling about 500 people. The reason for the poor recruitment results was that, in addition to the harsh selection process, the salary and food provided were not enough.

When Zhang Yu went to Jinyang to collect the expenses, he told Zhang Yi that the money for recruiting soldiers was insufficient and he was afraid that he would not be able to recruit brave warriors. However, Zhang Yi said that the state had no money either and even said that Bingzhou could continue to operate thanks to the financial transfer from Jizhou. The chief official of the state said so, so Zhang Yu could not continue to ask for money.

In fact, Zhang Yu could understand the current financial situation of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The Northwest rebels continued to rebel, and a lot of money needed to be invested. The population of Bing and You states was small, and maintaining the frontier defense system required a lot of money and grain investment. If the two states were not backed by Hebei and the capital, the Eastern Han Dynasty would be afraid that the cost of transportation would be difficult to bear.

Although he understood it, the lack of money and food to recruit soldiers really made Zhang Yu feel awkward. There were 800 soldiers and 500 soldiers, and he couldn't just throw money in the money himself.

Zhang Yu strolled around the camp, then returned to the tent and asked, "It's getting colder today, how are your winter clothes?"

Li Song flipped through the bamboo slips and said, "The winter clothes distributed from the government treasury are not many, only a hundred or so. The soldiers in the camp need to wear their own winter clothes."

"Bosong should take some time to go to Yinguan to urge them. A country as big as Yanmen should be able to gather five or six hundred sets of winter clothes." Zhang Yu said with a frown.

"promise!"

Li Song said: "Except for winter clothes, all the food and fodder have been delivered."

"Finally, something reliable." Zhang Yu complained.

As he was talking, Zhang Liao, wearing leather armor and holding a sword, entered the tent and asked, "Brother, the troops are well trained now. Should we continue to recruit troops or head north to the south?"

"There are not enough soldiers!" Li Song said, "It's better to recruit more, so that we don't run out of soldiers when we get to Daibei."

"How about lowering your requirements?"

Zhang Liao said: "There is no need to recruit brave warriors. Anyone who is healthy can join the camp."

"If they don't know how to fight, I'm afraid they will be harmed when they reach Daibei," said Zhang Yu.

Li Song had an idea and said, "Jian, there are many Xiongnu people in Dingxiang, why not recruit more Xiongnu people?"

Hearing this, Zhang Yu remembered something and asked, "I remember that my mother-in-law was a noblewoman of the Xiongnu. But was she from the Xiongnu tribe of Dingxiang?"

Li Song nodded and said, "My mother is from the Xiongnu Lan clan, Guduhou. This tribe moved to Dingxiang. Because the Xianbei repeatedly raided the south, their strength is not as strong as before. If Ji'an is interested, I think you can recruit more Xiongnu people from the Lan clan to help protect the Lan clan in the future."

“Too much is not good!”

Zhang Yu thought for a moment and said, "Bosong and Shiyi will go to the Lan clan to recruit about 200 people, and try to speak Chinese. The remaining 100 people will be recruited in Yanmen, and some will be selected to be skilled in martial arts."

"What about the winter clothes?" Li Song asked.

"I will personally visit Wang Yanmen and try my best to get more winter clothes." Zhang Yu said.

As he spoke, Zhang Yu looked at Zhong Yao and asked, "What do you think, Yuan Chang?"

Zhong Yao stroked his beard slightly and said, "Jian's plan is meticulous, and I have no other opinion."

After a pause, Zhong Yao asked, "Now that Ji'an is setting up a camp to recruit soldiers, what name should be used to call this camp?"

"Yanmen Camp?" Zhang Yu asked.

“I’m afraid it’s too mediocre!”

Zhong Yao was very interested and said, "Ji'an came from Yunzhong, so why not call ourselves the Yunzhong Yicong?"

Yicong does not refer only to Gongsun Zan's Baima Yicong, but many frontier troops would use Yicong as a suffix, such as Huangzhong Yicong from Hehuang, Liangzhou Yicong in Liangzhou, or Xiongnu Yicong from the Xiongnu tribe.

"Yunzhong Yicong?"

"Of course!"

"Yunzhong is where the cloud god lives. It means that the soldiers in the camp are braver than ordinary people. This is consistent with Ji'an's hometown." Zhong Yao said.

"Let me think about it!" Zhang Yu said.

(End of this chapter)