Tiger Guards

Chapter 160: Pupa Transforms into Butterfly
The horses were gathered at noon, and the Xiongnu envoys followed closely behind them across the river.

Outside the north gate of the military camp, there was the original Fenshui ferry crossing.

Zhao Ji sat at the head of the table, looking down at the two messengers. "For matters of this magnitude, let your king come. I have already sent messengers to summon the Black Wolf and Qiangqu tribes. If you hesitate, don't blame me for wiping out your land and leaving no survivors."

"Here."

The two envoys looked at each other and agreed. When they were about to retreat, they saw a dozen tiger soldiers holding spears blocking their retreat.

The two men turned to look at Zhao Ji again, with an embarrassed look on their faces: "General, what do you mean?"

"Just one person is enough to deliver my message."

Zhao Ji looked at the two men expressionlessly. The envoys, who originally belonged to two different tribal camps, were suddenly shocked. When the slow-reacting one turned around and became alert, the other one reacted very quickly and drew his sword while turning to the right.

The blade flashed, and the messenger, who was about to turn around, was cut across the neck by the blade, and blood gushed out immediately.

The successful envoy wiped the knife clean, trembling with fear, sheathed it, and bowed to Zhao Ji: "I will go and inform the leaders of each tribe."

"Go ahead and wait for your good news."

Zhao Ji watched the other party leave, then turned around and looked at Bei: "Wise King, am I a little cruel?"

"The Minister's strategy is to sow discord. This envoy is from the Dasha Division and returned alone. The two divisions on the north bank are suspicious of each other and it's difficult for them to work together."

Qubei praised him in a tone of voice, and did not forget to signal his two followers to take the initiative to drag the corpse.

Zhao Ji smiled and watched the boat leave the shore. "Killing one man can save hundreds or even thousands of casualties, so he should be killed. Let's not talk about that anymore. How do you want to divide the four Xiongnu tribes, the North Bank and Xingcheng?"

"I dare not. The prince is willing to follow the minister's arrangements."

Qubei stood up and bowed to Zhao Ji. "My king and the King of Qiangqu have a deep blood feud. If it weren't for the Minister, how could I have avenged this? My wish has been fulfilled, how could I dare to ask for more?"

Xu Huang and Jia Xu sat opposite each other, both watching Qu Bei's performance calmly.

The nearby Hu Ben also had a similar attitude. With the situation reversed, the importance of Qu Bei was greatly reduced.

Zhao Ji waved his hand. "At the Wei family manor, the virtuous king and I swore an oath to heaven and earth. We must not break that oath. Please sit down, virtuous king. There is no need for such pretense."

"Xiao Wang obeys orders."

Qubei returned to his seat. Although the air was hot, he felt a chill down his spine.

At this moment, it is even more dangerous than when charging into the battle.

Life and death, wealth and honor, all depend on Zhao Ji's thoughts.

Zhao Ji thought for a moment and then asked, "What is the name of the virtuous king's army, and how many settlements are there?"

Qubei knelt upright, twisted his waist, and bowed his hands to answer: "To the Minister, my own tribe is the Dugu tribe. When I raised my army to support the king, there were more than 300 tribes."

A settlement is a nomadic production unit with different sizes of population and herds, and basically has more than a dozen strong male and female laborers.

As the population multiplies, they will split up and form multiple settlements; under one paternal line, this is a small tribe.

A small tribe will grow and become a large tribe, and then it will split and multiply, or it will be destroyed and all adult males will be killed, or even all males, big and small, will be eliminated.

Zhao Ji thought for a moment and said, "I have heard a little about the affairs of the Qiangqu tribe. The virtuous king's younger brother will be in charge. Considering his young age, the affairs of the Qiangqu tribe will be supervised by the virtuous king. The virtuous king's Dugu tribe will be replenished after this battle, with a limit of 1,000 tribes."

"I will dispatch Sima and Changshi to each tribe, who will be in charge of selecting volunteers, conducting population inspections, and mediating lawsuits. Each tribe will be limited to a thousand people."

"Yes, Xiao Wang understands."

Qubei quickly agreed and was able to give him two thousand falls, which was a regular mobilization force of five thousand.

In autumn, two thousand tribes can mobilize more than ten thousand infantry and cavalry.

After calming himself down a bit, Qu Bei asked, "May I ask, Minister, are the Black Wolf, Dalou, and He Lai tribes also based on the Thousand Falls?"

"The specific details will depend on their performance."

Zhao Ji basically did not discuss how to distribute the funds with people around him, as he kept the initiative in his own hands.

Not to mention Jia Xu, Xu Huang and others, even the imperial court could not intervene.

Even if they intervened forcibly, the Huben and Hubu troops might not listen, and the Huns might not take them seriously.

Qubei was terrified, fearing that if he said something wrong, his head would be chopped off in an instant.

Others also have concerns in this regard, but they still have to work together to defeat the enemy, and they can restrain any conflicts they have.

Things are really different now. Anyone who dares to infringe upon Zhao Ji's power, even if it is an unintentional offense, will be retaliated.

If you can't bear it, you will die suddenly.

While they were chatting, King Helai and King Dalou from the north bank each led their smaller kings and chiefs across by boat.

The two groups were wary of each other. After crossing the ferry to the south bank, they threw away their swords and knives and came wearing only leather clothes and felt clothes. More than a hundred people knelt on the ground according to their status.

Some people were very unconvinced and lowered their heads in grief and anger.

After Qubei stood up and introduced the Xiongnu nobles and leaders one by one, Zhao Ji said, "Wait a little longer until the Qiangqu and Black Wolf tribes arrive, then we can discuss this. I don't like repeating the same thing over and over again. If they don't come, I will take you with me and hunt them down."

"Yes." More than a hundred people bowed and just sat quietly waiting.

At this moment, on the northern city wall of Jiangyi.

Fu Wan was watching and saw the leaders of the various Xiongnu tribes coming from the north bank sitting on the ground, seemingly negotiating calmly with Zhao Ji. He was suddenly at a loss, but his expression remained calm.

These Huns are really not like Huns at all. How can they be so weak and helpless just because they have no horses?
He looked around and suddenly lost sight of Pei Mao, who was following him. He asked, "Where is Minister Pei?"

A eunuch replied, "Sir, Minister Pei just stumbled on the steps and is lame, so he has left the city to seek a military doctor."

"That's fine. Minister Zhao is the best at treating leg and foot diseases."

Fu Wan looked around and found Guanqiu Yi was gone. He asked, "Where is the General of the Imperial Guards?"

"Mr. Fu, General Guanqiu has taken Minister Pei to seek medical treatment."

Fu Wan laughed after hearing this. After all, how bad could the situation be?
The emperor testified that Zhao Ji was the son-in-law of the Fu family of Langya.

He had helped Zhao Yan, so no matter how bad the situation was for him, it wasn't that bad either.

The ones who are suffering now are Yang and other nobles, including the newly arrived Sima and the foreign relatives Dong.

You are in me and I am in you. As the son-in-law of Emperor Huan, Fu Wan really looked down on Pei Mao and Guanqiu Yi.

These two people lack the key qualities of top aristocrats, that is, the ability to bend and stretch, and to put pressure on others!
Pei Mao could not let go of his pride as the governor of his county, and Guanqiu Yi questioned Zhao Ji's military ability.

It may be that Guanqiu Yi had fought many bad battles and understood military affairs, so he questioned Zhao Ji.

It is also possible that Guanqiu Yi lacked self-confidence and blindly followed Pei Mao.

As for Guanqiu Yi and his son, did they come to the court to serve as Zhao Ji's eyes and ears?

Maybe Zhao Ji would reluctantly believe it, but Fu Wan didn't believe it anyway.

Just treat it as a play. To Fu Wan, who has seen big scenes, this sudden change is actually nothing.

As for the departure of Pei Mao and Guanqiu Yi, it was definitely not to directly rely on Zhao Ji, but purely to avoid Fu Wan.

He was afraid that Fu Wan would assign him some difficult task to interfere with Zhao Ji.

Like a chrysalis transforming into a butterfly, this moment is the critical moment of Zhao Ji's transformation.

Not to mention Pei Mao and Guanqiu Yi, even if Pei Xiu and Guanqiu Xing ran over, they would be severely punished by Zhao Ji!
For most people, how many chances do they have to transform into a butterfly in their lifetime?
Anyone who dares to interfere at this moment will be killed, and it will be difficult to relieve the hatred in my heart!

Even Fu Wan only hoped that Zhao Ji could handle these things smoothly.

Otherwise, things will get chaotic and everything will be over.

Compared with Zhang Yang in Hanoi and Dong Cheng who rebuilt Luoyang, he actually liked Zhao Ji more.

At least he didn't cross the line, Zhao Ji wouldn't kill him or break his legs.

However, Zhang Yang and Dong Cheng would take the initiative to find fault and try to kill him.

这是本质区别。

As Fu Wan watched, more than a hundred Xiongnu leaders of all ranks from Xingcheng rode their horses and gathered in front of Zhao Ji.

The four major groups are roughly divided into four groups, and they sit in order according to their status.

In terms of order and customs, the Xiongnu and the Han were highly consistent.

Even the aesthetics were the same. Many Xiongnu leaders were covered in dust and dirt, but after sitting down, they saw the handsome face and heroic aura of the host Zhao Ji.

Suddenly, the resistance and hostility in my heart dissipated a lot.

Even if I lose to such a heroic man, I won’t lose any points.

Of course, there was a head on each end of the table in front of Zhao Ji, one was the Black Wolf King Tai Ahou, the other was the Qiangqu King Liu Cheng.

As for the little king Liu something who was killed by the Huben a month ago, he was no longer qualified to be counted on Zhao Ji.

Even Qu Bei, who was sitting next to Zhao Ji, began to look taller at this moment.

He was no longer a stray dog or a loyal henchman of the Han army, but a royal pride who knew the times.

Zhao Ji also examined these Xiongnu nobles. The nomadic life was not good. Even among the nobles, most of them were ugly, but there were also some who were mutated and handsome.

It's just that they generally have better etiquette... More than half of the Xiongnu nobles present, the older ones, have studied abroad at the Imperial Academy, and their attainments in etiquette and Chinese studies are far higher than Zhao Ji's.

It is even common for people to have a fashionable Chinese name or courtesy name.

Those with profound talents and attainments can also write Hanfu and short songs, which is better than most of the children of powerful families.

At least, they really did study in Luoyang Imperial College.

Therefore, when these people knelt in front of him, Zhao Ji had a strange feeling, as if a civil war was going on.

(End of this chapter)