Tiger Guards

Chapter 15 Five Caos and Seven Villages
Xiangling Team, small camp.

They were allocated six barracks and a larger open space to serve as stables, and almost everyone had a horse.

Although the migration of the Southern Xiongnu had its disadvantages, it also had its advantages.

The scattered invasions and looting by Xiongnu bandits forced the common people in the counties around Pingyang to rely on the powerful and gather together to resist the Xiongnu's robbery and plundering.

The normal commercial exchanges between the powerful and the Xiongnu tribes allowed these powerful people to accumulate followers and tenants, as well as many horses.

A five-foot-high plank wall separated the inside and outside. Jia Kui looked calm, as if he had anticipated this change.

Wei Gu, Pei Xiu and Guanqiu Xing stood before him, all looking very harmonious.

Guanqiu Xing's father, Guanqiu Yi, was a general under the command of General He Jin. He had made great contributions in many battles. After the Luoyang coup, he moved to Guanzhong with the Beijing Camp and the Imperial Guards. This time, he escorted the emperor on his eastward journey and was one of the few remaining orthodox Beijing Camp generals around the emperor.

There is no need to elaborate on Pei Xiu. His uncle Pei Mao is very active now. It is all thanks to Pei Mao's mediation that Yang Feng, Li Le and other former generals of the Baibo Army from Hedong were stabilized, and then other warlords were stabilized.

Although Wei Gu is the second son in the family, he now represents the number one family in Hedong.

Wei Gu briefly explained his purpose. He and Pei Xiu had already formulated a reorganization plan for the twenty counties in Hedong.

Jia Kui's plan was not completely rejected. Instead, the plan was organized into seven villages based on the distance between the regions, with two, three or four counties in one village, and mixed personnel were mixed within the villages.

When the opportunity is right, we will fully remix them.

The largest group was the First Garrison, consisting of Anyi, Wenxi, and the two counties of North and South Jiang; the second group was the Second Garrison, consisting of Jiexian, Puban, and Yishi, three counties in the lower reaches of the Sushui River; and the third group was the Longmen, Pishi, and Linfen counties in the lower reaches of the Fenshui River.

The soldiers who volunteered to serve in the northern counties brought a large number of horses with them and formed a cavalry team and a pack transport team.

The two counties south of Zhongtiao Mountain formed one team, and the counties in the area around Chenguanxing, which is the mountainous area in the southeast of the county, formed another team.

After hearing this, Jia Kui asked, "If the army is organized like this, will the scouts and cavalry go ahead during the march?"

Wei Gu shook his head. "Scouts must naturally be selected from the elite of each team. If the cavalry is in the front and is attacked, they won't be able to react quickly, and the horses will be frightened and unfavorable in battle. Unless there are unexpected events, the cavalry and pack team will march in the middle."

Jia Kui asked again, "If something unexpected happens today, where will Wang Sima be placed?"

"Today's affairs are up to me, not him."

Wei Gu stared at Jia Kui's thin face. "Liang Daoli should have discussed this matter with us first, and shouldn't have made a decision with Wang Zhi alone. The food, fodder, and war equipment allocated by the county are said to be from the county, but weren't they donated by various families?"

Jia Kui did not argue, but continued, "If each garrison elected its own garrison commander and troop officer, how would we behave?"

Wei Gu turned his head to look at Pei Xiu, who replied, "From the position of Sima Wang down, we should select the virtuous and capable and establish various departments to assist in military affairs. I suggest establishing a Cavalry Department, an Infantry Department, a Warehouse Department, a Archery Department, and a Law Department. The Cavalry Department and the Warehouse Department can be filled by men from the northern part of the county."

The formation of the Five Caos and Seven Tuns naturally marginalized Wang Zhi.

While Jia Kui was hesitating, the representative of the Linfen team, who had arrived with the Wenxi team, also came over and had just heard something through the wall.

The man said, "Why hesitate? Even without Wang Zhi, we can still defend the emperor!"

Jia Kui looked back at the young men in the county and saw that none of them clearly opposed it, nor were any of them emotionally excited.

Then he turned around and looked at Wei Gu: "I am good at planning and counting, so I will take charge of all the affairs of the warehouse."

"With Liang Dao's help, I can't think of anything that can stop us!"

Wei Gu stretched out his hand, Jia Kui also stretched out his hand, and outside the wall, Pei Xiu and Guanqiu Xing also stretched out their hands, and these hands were tightly clasped together.

The Tiger Guards of Linfen Team outside the wall waved their arms to the people inside the wall. Several acquaintances from Xiangling did not wait for the door to open and nimbly climbed over the wall to get out.

Jia Kui wanted to go out through the main gate, but his fellow villagers lifted his legs and pushed him out. Outside, Wei Gu and Pei Xiu worked together to pull Jia Kui out.

As for Wang Zhi, who completely lost control of the army after waking up from a sleep... who cares?

The Xiangling and Linfen teams arrived at the parade ground with their escorts. At this time, the door of Wang Zhi's barracks close to the parade ground was tightly closed. Wang Zhi's guards stood in the yard with spears and halberds in their hands. They didn't even dare to shout, but just quietly looked at the more than 200 people outside the wall.

Zhao Ji saw the crowd being pushed aside, turned around and saw Pei Xiu, Guanqiu Xing, Wei Gu, and Jia Kui approaching. He and Wei Xing hurried over and bowed, "Seventh Brother."

Pei Xiu took two quick steps, extended his arms, and introduced them: "Brother Zhongjian, Brother Liangdao, this is my brother Zhao Aji, exceptionally brave and the best in the county in boxing, kicking, and swordsmanship. This is Wei Ziang, the best in the county in horseback archery. Aji, Ziang, why don't you pay your respects to Wei Zhongjian of Anyi and Jia Liangdao of Xiangling?"

Zhao Ji and Wei Xing bowed deeply to Wei Gu and Jia Kui, "Greetings, Brother Zhongjian and Brother Liang Dao."

Wei Gu quickly stepped forward to support Zhao Ji and said with a smile, "I've heard of Aji's name before. Seeing him today, I can see he's truly a strong athlete!"

Jia Kui also supported Wei Xing and looked at Zhao Ji with a little curiosity. He had never heard of such a person in Wenxi before.

But Zhao Ji was only an inch shorter than Wei Xing. Because he knocked Wei Xing unconscious in a wrestling accident yesterday, Wei Xing was unable to lift his head, which made Zhao Ji look even more imposing.

In terms of appearance, Wei Gu had the most handsome face, but he had an average build.

When these people stood together, Zhao Ji, with a scab on his left cheek and bruises on his face, was the most eye-catching because of his appearance and figure.

If we count backwards, Jia Kui and Guanqiu Xing would compete for first place. Appearance is determined by the heart, and it wasn't just Jia Kui; many of the Tiger Guards who met Zhao Ji for the first time also felt that following him was not a grievance.

As he was speaking, Wei Gu came to the earthen platform in the middle of the training ground. He felt that what he said would cause trouble for his father and brother at home, so he looked at Pei Xiu.

Pei Xiu also strode onto the stage, raised his arms and waved them gently, and the noisy discussions in the training ground stopped.

Pei Xiu said loudly: "The country has nurtured scholars for four hundred years. We have been enjoying the Han Dynasty's salary for generations, and we have always had the heart to serve our country! Now that traitors have risen up, the country is in turmoil, and the emperor is in disgrace. We have enlisted as tiger soldiers to protect the emperor and stabilize the country!"

Looking around at the pairs of fiery eyes, Pei Xiu's voice became more and more passionate: "As you all know, the journey to Luo to protect the emperor is difficult and full of bandits! Moreover, there are treacherous ministers and rebel troops who will hinder us. Therefore, after much discussion, we have decided to reorganize the troops. We will set up five divisions and seven garrisons, with the men from Anyi, Wenxi, Beijiang, and Nanjiang as the first garrison!"

Pei Xiu finished speaking and turned to look at Wei Gu. Wei Gu stepped forward and shouted, "We are selecting garrison commanders and team officers to lead the charge and lead the troops. If they disobey orders, the left and right team officers will kill them and the team officers will take over! If a team officer dares not fight, the squad leader will kill him! All the men in our four counties who are interested in running for garrison commander, please step forward!"

As the voice fell, several people who were interested in the generals came forward one after another, there were eight of them in total.

They are all prestigious representatives in the county. If they are not good enough, others are even less capable.

Among the eight people, Ximen Jian of Nanjiang raised his arm. Seeing everyone looking at him, he said, "We, the two Jiangs, North and South, have a brotherly relationship. We are two counties in name only, but in reality we are one."

Pei Xiu smiled and asked, "What do you want?"

"Beijiang will compete with Wenxi, and Nanjiang will compete with Anyi. The winner will then compete for the title of garrison commander!"

Ximen Jian said this and turned to look at Bei Jiang and the other person, who also nodded.

Pei Xiu added, "I'm not boasting, but Wenxi and Anyi have always been strong. If we follow your proposal, Nanjiang and Beijiang will lose in the first round."

Ximen Jian looked around at his companions and replied, "Even if we lose, it doesn't matter. We two counties don't fight among ourselves."

"Very good."

Pei Xiusui said, "Then you can fight each other on your own. Only fists and kicks are allowed. No weapons are allowed."

As soon as the words fell, Zhao Ji and Wei Xing tacitly turned slightly to the side, turning their backs to each other.

Wei Xing shouted, "Who wants to fight me?"

"Wei Ziang, I'm going to fight you!"

A man from Beijiang had rolled up his sleeves and was waving his finger at Wei Xing with a provocative look on his face. It seemed that they also had an old grudge against each other.

Wei Xing immediately stepped forward to fight, while another person came to find Zhao Ji.

The two men did not know each other before, so neither dared to be careless or attack first.

While they were observing each other, the two men from Nanjiang also wrestled with the two men from Anyi.

The man opposite Zhao Ji shouted in a low voice: "Here I come!"

Just as he lunged forward, Zhao Ji also moved. This time, unlike before, they grabbed each other's arms and began to compete in waist strength.

Almost at the moment of the fight, Zhao Ji lifted his opponent up like pulling an onion and threw him to the side.

The opponent was knocked down and his hands were weak, so Zhao Ji let go and stepped back. He did not step forward to kick him, but waited for the opponent to stand up.

After getting up, the man rubbed his arms that were hurt from being grabbed, carefully sized up Zhao Ji's lower body, and decided to use the Xiongnu pounce method: "Here I come~!"

Zhao Ji noticed the change in the other person's eyes and saw that he was leaning forward, so he jumped off the ground.

With the increase in explosive power, he leaped over the opponent's head.

When Zhao Ji turned around, the other party was filled with shame and anger, his face flushed red, and without even taking a breath, he pounced on Zhao Ji and grabbed him.

Zhao Ji's strength increased by 30%, which almost overwhelmed the slight difference in skills.

There was no suspense at all. The moment they started fighting, Zhao Ji threw him over his shoulder and he became completely obedient.

Seeing the other person lying on the ground gasping for breath, Zhao Ji stepped forward and reached out to pull him.

The man was pulled up, dusted off, and looking at the wrestling Wei Xing, he said to Zhao Ji: "My name is Wang Cheng."

"Zhao Ji."

After more than ten breaths, Wei Xing's mouth corner was broken and he barely won.

What remained in front of them was the Nanjiang team, which also had a hard time winning.

Wei Gu on the stage didn't look very good, but there was nothing he could do about it. The scholars in Anyi lived in a better environment, and even though they were physically strong, they lacked some fierceness and toughness.

Ximen Jian half-closed his eyes, his gaze passed over Wei Xing and stopped at Zhao Ji, sighing, "What a miscalculation."

(End of this chapter)