Tiger Guards

Chapter 129 Veteran Instruction
Zhao Ji had some impression of Sun Zi, but it was not a good impression.

But after all, he came to see him with Jia Kui's silk letter, so he had to give Jia Kui face.

Zhao Ji then changed to a chariot covered with a green umbrella and invited Sun Zi to the military camp for a detailed discussion.

Sun Zi was calm and composed. He sat in the chariot and observed the route. He saw that soldiers had already started training in the manor.

They formed teams of 50 people on various flat grounds to conduct queue training. In recent years, Hedong has also restored the capital examination system on its own.

During the slack season, county soldiers would be sent to train young and strong people from the countryside, so that they could generally hear military orders, line up in formation, and use spears and halberds.

Even Zhao Ji's personal spear and halberd fighting skills were initially learned from the county soldiers.

It’s just that at this moment we focus on strengthening queue training in order to strengthen obedience.

In terms of physical strength, the Huns were not much stronger; in terms of ferocity, they were all men struggling to survive on the brink of death, and no one was weaker than the other.

As for equipment, the Huns took advantage of the chaos to loot and buy a lot, and the two sides were roughly evenly matched.

Zhao Ji did not consider himself a tactical genius, but he had much richer experience in game tactical simulation than his peers, and had heard many explanations of classic battles.

Even though his tactics and military strategies are not systematic, after encountering a battle situation, he will form a judgment intuition similar to experience instinct.

Even Xu Huang always lacked the opportunity to act independently. Even though he had the talent to command and train soldiers, the environment of the Baibo Army restricted Xu Huang's growth.

Therefore, the current Xu Huang is by no means his complete form; with Zhao Ji's support, Xu Huang may be able to break through to his own 'complete form'.

Overall, when the emperor personally led the army, morale was high, and the ranks and obedience were strengthened... Even if the Xiongnu could not be defeated in the first encounter, the front line had to be kept stable and opportunities had to be sought.

Compared with physical training, queue training consumes less energy.

Even if they ate as much as they wanted now, many soldiers would not be able to digest it.

The only option at present is to only conduct drill training to fatten up the soldiers and enhance their endurance and military discipline.

Simply training formations is very demanding during the training process.

The old county soldiers or disabled veterans who came to search cherished the opportunity they had now. They used fresh willow branches to whip and scold people very hard.

The chariot stopped in front of the gate. On both sides of the gate were the family records accumulated by generations of Beiguo family, but Zhao Ji didn't even look at them.

He fixed his eyes on a team of fifty men in training nearby. The lame old county soldier was spitting and cursing at them almost face to face.

If the scolded Tiger Step Sergeant showed the slightest resistance, he would be whipped on his buttocks and thighs with willow branches.

They would never hit the face or hands, not even the exposed calves. They would only hit the thickest parts of the flesh through the clothes.

Zhao Ji discovered that these impoverished old county soldiers who were temporarily recruited seemed to have interests highly consistent with his own.

Even if you ask Lao Zhao to train the soldiers, he won't be so attentive.

These old guys are really dedicated and are not afraid of retaliation at all.

It was not Zhao Ji's idea to find old soldiers to train new recruits. This was the tradition of the Han army.

He wanted to train soldiers, so his subordinates gathered veterans nearby. It was that simple.

No matter how crooked the teachings of veterans who have survived hundreds of battles are, they will still help them survive on the battlefield.

In this chaotic world, even young soldiers and military officers have begun to suffer contempt and hostility from mainstream public opinion; not to mention retired veterans and disabled soldiers.

The fact that these people can survive this winter is a reflection of Hedong's strength.

Sun Zi was also watching the military training and always felt that these veterans were too crazy. It was also the first time for him to see veterans training new recruits up close.

Even those who were just listening were infuriated by the vulgar and humiliating words and wanted to beat and teach these vicious veterans a lesson.

But Zhao Ji was not in a hurry to get off the car, and was quite interested in observing the military training scene.

Sun Zi then spoke up, "Minister Zhao, if this old soldier humiliates and abuses the soldiers in this way, aren't you afraid that they will get angry and kill you?"

"Even the old soldier is not afraid, so what is Mr. Sun afraid of?"

Zhao Ji said calmly, "We have no grudges against each other. Only by beating and scolding the soldiers and strictly training them can they survive. Currently, there's no better way. Unlike the Tiger Guards, who have been taught by their fathers and brothers since childhood and studied martial arts and trained their bodies before enlisting, the Tiger Infantry, though they come from the county troops and clan bandits, have neglected their training on a daily basis. Now we're simply making up for what they've lacked."

Zhao Ji turned to look at Han Shu, who was riding beside the carriage, and said, "Write this down. The monthly salary for the instructor will be increased to 700 coins, and an additional 2 dan of grain will be given each month."

"Here."

Han Shu agreed and asked someone to tell Zhang Zan, who was in charge of camp affairs and military supplies, that Zhang Zan had just left the north gate to join Zhao Ji after the curfew was lifted.

There are only so many people in the official residence, and arson would offend everyone.

Fortunately, there are still some powerful people in the city who are dissatisfied with the Langguan. In the past few days, these Langguan have come to eat and drink, been flattered, and enjoyed the service of their concubines and maids.

The powerful in the city were helpless. The Wei and Fan families had both been suppressed by the court, and they were likely to be the next. The high-ranking families entertained the nobles, while the ordinary ones entertained the imperial officials.

As a result, Zhao Ji launched an army to attack the former ministers and detained them. The officials lost their power and could not fulfill their promises. Naturally, he made enemies throughout the city.

Not to mention arson, it was also common to be dragged into an alley and beaten while shopping.

It's not that the Langguan are collectively that bad. The powerful people are desperate and have to come up to curry favor with the Langguan. The Langguan have been hungry for a long time, so it's inevitable that their principles will be a little loose.

After arriving at the house, it is reasonable to enjoy a little more after having a good meal and a few drinks.

Zhang Zan was no exception. There were also officials in the city who had broken their promises and made enemies. It was not surprising that he used Zhao Yan's connections to get a job outside the city.

Other Langguan would also seek to be transferred to other places, or serve as envoys to distant places.

In short, they will be safer only if they leave Anyi.

Leading Sun Zi into the house, Zhao Ji took off his helmet and sat in the main seat without removing his armor.

As Sun Zi sat down, he looked around the room and saw newly moved-in bookshelves on both sides of the living room. On the bookshelves were bamboo slips wrapped in silk bags, several piles of neatly arranged paper books, and various scrolls.

These are the foundation of the Beiguo family, and now they have fallen into Zhao Ji's hands.

Sun Zi secretly sighed that the books in Beiguo's collection were more than those in his own family, especially the paper books, which were smaller in size and recorded more content.

I also saw two stacks of paper books on Zhao Ji's desk, with bookmarks between them.

A mounted slave offered him a bowl of coarsely brewed sweet rice wine. Zhao Ji took a sip before asking, "Sir, since Brother Liang Dao invited you to help me, I'm sure you have some insights."

"Don't dare."

Sun Zi put down his drink, bowed, and asked, "May I ask what the Minister's ambition is?"

"ambition?"

Zhao Ji swirled the wine in his glass, reminiscing briefly. "At first, I just wanted my family to live a stable life. Later, I enlisted in the Tiger Guards, and was given the opportunity to serve my country. I sacrificed my life to kill the enemy and defend the emperor. Later, I met my great-grandfather in the midst of the chaos, and only then did I realize how difficult the country was."

"Later, we executed the Baibo generals and forced the traitors Wei and Fan to surrender. When we were camped with the Xiongnu at the Wei manor, we discovered the Wei family's treasury and realized the source of the unrest."

Zhao Ji looked at Sun Zi and said, "I seized the pots and stoves, cooked the meal, and brought it to the nobles, yet they still waited for me to feed them. As you know, the nobles want to kill all the powerful and clan traitors in Hedong, so they took the rebels captive. The powerful from all over Hedong are about to unite, and the situation is critical. That's why I'm rebelling against the nobles. Now, even if I want to retreat, there's a cliff behind me."

The premise for cooperation lies here, whether Zhao Ji has room to retreat.

If you don't agree with this point of view, there is no need to have a deep discussion with each other.

Sun Zi nodded slowly. "As the Minister said, the safety of Hedong rests on his shoulders. If you burden yourself with empty fame, you will surely face real disaster. This is not just the Minister's responsibility."

He bowed, "I have come here at the invitation of Liang Dao, and also to see the Minister. The news of the Wei family's treasury is about to spread far and wide, and the wealthy and powerful families in various places will undoubtedly covet it. I am worried that after the rebel army of Li and Guo breaks through Hedong, they will move up the Fen River to attack Taiyuan. I have come to help the Minister, and also to protect the peace of my hometown."

The severe drought that spread throughout the north included Taiyuan, but the locust plague was less severe than elsewhere.

Relatively speaking, it was richer, which was enough to provoke Li Jue and Guo Si to launch an expedition.

If they really defeated Zhao Ji, recaptured the emperor and the court, and took the emperor north with them, the captives would swarm like locusts and Taiyuan would be finished.

Zhao Ji listened and nodded slowly, then said, "Brother Liang, since you are able to come today, I will assist you in handling various matters. If you have any meritorious service, I will also report it to the court, and the court will use your talents accordingly."

"Just as the Minister said."

Sun Zi stood up and saluted, then changed to a stiff sitting position.

Zhao Ji asked, "I am inside the chess game, and you are outside. Do you have any advice for me?"

Sun Zi thought of Zhao Ji's speech yesterday and asked, "The Minister of the Interior swore an oath with the heroes of Hedong yesterday. Is it possible to unite the heroes of Hedong?"

"I had no choice but to make this oath, and the hero had no choice but to obey."

Zhao Ji showed no sign of complacency or humiliation. He took a sip from his wine cup and said, "The exact outcome will depend on the battlefield. If the defeat is crushing, what good will our friendship do? If I can lead the royal army to defeat the enemy, we can bridge the rift and unite to face the national crisis."

"Minister, you will understand. I have no more words to say to you."

Sun Zi bowed and said, "I was worried that the Minister was inexperienced and might be deceived by the clan thieves. I was afraid that I would disappoint Liang Dao's invitation, so I came to see him. Now that I know that the Minister is wise, I have no more worries."

In terms of the general stance of being vigilant against clan traitors, everyone is the same and is looking at it from the perspective of the imperial court.

But how do we distinguish between clan thieves and the poor and the rich?
Those who serve in the imperial court are naturally not clan traitors, and this is easy to identify.

If you are not a palace official or a county magistrate, it is certainly not a proper official career.

County officials, county officials, military officials, etc., are more or less not counted.

Therefore, Sun Zi's Zhongdu Sun family was between a clan traitor and a poor family, swinging back and forth.

(End of this chapter)