Tiger Guards

Chapter 167 Ready to go
Chenguan Pass is the southernmost passage among the Eight Passes of Taihang Mountains.

It connects Henei from Hedong, and its western starting point is Yicheng, upstream of the Huishui River.

A rare mountain drizzle moistened the wild vegetation, and more than 3,000 Henei soldiers who came to protect the emperor marched after the rain.

South of Yicheng, at the pass at the eastern foot of Zijin Mountain.

There are mountain trails that lead from the south of Zijin Mountain to Wenxi, but they are only suitable for mountain people to hike.

If you are riding a horse, the horse will often stumble and fall.

If this is the case for horses, it is even less suitable for the passage of military baggage vehicles.

Therefore, the exit of Chenguanxing is the narrow pass in the east of Zijin Mountain, which is also called Ekou by the locals.

Zhao Ji did not set up defenses at Ekou, so the troops from Henei could pass through unimpeded.

To express goodwill, Zhao Ji also sent Guanqiu Yi to greet him.

This was not the first time that Zhang Yang had passed through the Chenguan Pass. At this moment, Zhang Yang had given up the idea of taking advantage of others.

The same was true of the troops under his command, resulting in low morale and a lack of energy among the officers and soldiers.

Zhao Gongshi led the Hedong soldiers to fight against the Huns. In the first two days alone, they killed no less than 3,000 Huns.

This number is equal to the number of Henei soldiers who came to protect the emperor.

Not to mention that Zhao Ji has now annexed the Xiongnu and reorganized the powerful Ma Shi clan and four other refugee leaders.

Just sending these newly joined troops to attack them would be enough to wear down the Henei troops.

The road conditions at Chenguanxing are poor. If they are defeated and cannot stop the pursuing troops from Hedong, then these 3,000 Henei soldiers will inevitably be wiped out.

Even so, Zhang Yang still led his troops decisively across Ekou and headed towards Jiangyi where the emperor was.

Although he had allied with Yuan Shao, he always stayed in Henei County, never expanded outward, and obeyed the imperial edicts.

As a county magistrate who was responsible for protecting the country and the people, no one from the imperial court to Zhao Ji had any reason to punish him.

Compared to Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, Zhang Yang is embodied with the word "loyalty and righteousness".

When you bypass Ekou and enter the Yicheng area.

Seeing the wasteland on both sides of the Hui River being reclaimed, Zhang Yang sighed inexplicably, "Minister Zhao is truly a hero of the time."

He also wanted to be a soldier, but he never had the opportunity to do so in recent years.

In order to raise military funds, when the heroes in Guandong rose up in rebellion, he also thought about killing the big families in the county, but due to the mediation of scholars from all sides, he failed.

I couldn't kill him then, and I can't kill him now.

Yuan Shao even stationed his troops in Henei for a long time, drawing money and food from it, and Henei's potential had long been destroyed.

Zhang Yang was born in Yunzhong County, so he was naturally familiar with the old practice of garrisoning troops on the border, but he really lacked the opportunity to promote it.

He was too close to Yuan Shao. Over the years, various Black Mountain Army units broke away from Zhang Yan from time to time and frequently crossed through Hanoi to join forces with Yuan Shao and Cao Cao or to attack each other. There was no safe land in the entire Hanoi.

If his military settlements were effective, he didn't think he could keep these things.

So I have been living in a muddle these years, but compared to a series of county governors who lost their lives or wiped out their families, it is still the best choice.

Hedong is different, it is a place with beautiful mountains and rivers.

As long as Zhao Ji deployed troops at various passes, he could rest assured that his troops would be stationed there.

What really surprised Zhang Yang was Zhao Ji's decisiveness. Before he had completely controlled the Xiongnu, he allowed Qubei to lead his troops to wipe out the small Xiongnu tribe outside Luliang Mountain.

Then the military settlements began openly. Perhaps it was because the official positions in the imperial court attracted many talents, and also because the imperial court's prestige suppressed the military and civilians, making them obedient and cooperative.

Of course, it is also possible that it was the Wei family's treasury, which allowed Zhao Ji to stimulate the enthusiasm of the military and civilians to settle and reclaim land by spending money.

There is also military confidence. The military and civilians who are now settling in the settlements are confident that they can keep the benefits of the settlements.

While Zhang Yang was sighing, he was also observing the soldiers working in the fields by the roadside.

More than twenty sets of simple armor were hung on the wooden racks on the ridge of the field, including wooden armor.

Judging from the empty cross nearby, there should normally be about fifty or sixty suits of armor here.

Armor, spears, halberds and all kinds of weapons were placed on the racks on the ridges of the fields. These young and strong men, whose identities as soldiers or civilians could not be clearly identified, pulled the plows with horsepower and sowed the seeds with their hands.

The trades were in decline, and there was no time to manufacture seed drills. Even the plows were old, or wooden plows made from newly chopped logs that had been hardened by fire.

I can barely plow the land and plant a crop of wheat and beans.

Guanqiu Yi reined in his horse near Zhang Yang and pointed to the piles of armor stacked near the fields. "Since Minister Zhao defeated and surrendered the Xiongnu, I have requested this report to the court. From now on, the soldiers and civilians of Hedong will be able to withstand powerful crossbows. Each family can prepare a set of light armor."

Perhaps worried that Zhang Yang wouldn't understand, Guanqiu Yi added, "Earlier, when the Wei family's treasury was seized, Minister Zhao petitioned on behalf of the people of Hedong, exempting them from the head tax for ten years. Now, if a household lacks light armor, the head tax will be five times higher. Therefore, the people, in a hurry, often sew bamboo strips onto leather clothing to make armor, or drill holes in wooden boards and weave them together with thin ropes."

Wooden armor is still armor. Once the economy becomes more prosperous, the styles of armor will surely be standardized, bringing common armor closer to standardization. In the fields and roadsides, men often wear short shirts and work together, with a few women helping out.

These men and women adopted a wait-and-see and vigilant attitude towards the Hanoi soldiers marching on the road. They gathered together and watched them pass by quietly.

Among the more than 3,000 Hanoi soldiers, there were only more than 300 knights and more than 200 carriages.

The soldiers were concerned about the horsepower, so they would push the vehicles behind them when marching; in addition, there were about three or four hundred wheelbarrows.

If the Hedong soldiers and the Xiongnu were to suffer losses on both sides, the Henei soldiers, as fresh troops, would naturally be able to take advantage.

At this moment, there is no need to use the Tiger Infantry Army or the County Soldiers. Only the 3,000 Xiongnu cavalrymen in Zhao Ji's hands can defeat the Henei soldiers!

In this situation, the more than 3,000 Henei soldiers were a model of the king's army. They walked on the road without causing any harm.

As dusk fell, the Henei soldiers entered Tang City and stayed overnight.

Zhang Yang washed and changed his clothes, and sent his trusted men to give gifts to Zhao Ji to express his close and friendly attitude.

It was also at night, in a small military camp on the banks of the Huishui River, south of Jiangyi, a group of five officials, all tanned to a tan, were enjoying a hot bath.

They only lasted two days of fasting. Zhao Ji was worried that these guys would do something bad to the horses, so he arranged for them to participate in the military settlement and be responsible for measuring and calculating the acres of land.

After taking a hot bath, someone would comb and wash their hair, and then give them new robes, hats, shoes and socks.

After putting on the soft brocade robe again, Yang Biao felt refreshed and all his tiredness disappeared.

Yang Qi sat by the fish oil lamp and looked at the rushes: "As expected, the Henei troops are coming."

Upon hearing this, Yang Biao looked at Yang Qi weakly. Anyway, Yang Biao didn't want to do anything now and didn't want to provoke Zhao Ji again.

It was not because he was afraid that Zhao Ji would kill him. The emperor sent Zhao Rui to check on their health. During the chat, he learned about Zhong Yao's death. Although it was said that he died of shame and anger for his nephew Guo Yuan joining the bandits, the person was already dead, so there was no point in investigating the cause of death.

What is meaningful is that Zhong Yao, who was half a step away from becoming a noble, killed people without hesitation, proving that Zhao Ji and Zhao Yan would never hesitate to take ruthless action.

Once Duan Wei turned against him and joined Hedong, Yang Xiu would be in danger.

What was even more embarrassing was that the next generation of leaders, such as Yang Xiu and Yang Liang, could not escape.

You refused to follow the emperor when he moved east, but now you have run away. How will the villagers view you?

Once they run away, the Hongnong Yang family's appeal among their fellow villagers and scholars in Xizhou will be greatly damaged.

The physical labor during this period cut off their communication with the outside world, and the five old men became obviously mentally dull and tended to be conservative and steady.

They even felt that if they continued to toil like slaves and field clerks for a few more months, they would really become old farmers and clerks.

Seeing that no one responded, Yang Qi took the initiative to say, "Minister Zhao has kept us here, and there will naturally be a day when we will be of use to him."

Several people went to see Zhao Wen, who nodded and said, "Even if we are useless, he will not be stained with our blood."

During the battle, he also questioned the wounded, interviewed military officers, and wrote an article of more than a thousand words "Ode to the Conquest of the Xiongnu". Zhao Wen had a relatively comprehensive grasp of external information.

Before, he wanted to spit at Zhao Ji at any opportunity, but now he felt that spitting was a bit too much.

After all, this is a national hero like Guanjun Hou, so it is normal for him to have a bad temper.

There are very few people who can command the army to engage in farming right after a war.

Now, stockpiling crops is basically a race against time.

If one's own sons and nephews had the same knowledge and ability as Zhao Ji, it would be understandable even if they had a bad temper.

In any case, Ding Chong is finished, and Huan Dian had his leg broken by Zhao Ji himself, which means that he is really beyond saving and is finished in the future.

If Huan Dian had been sensible, he would have committed suicide out of shame after hearing the news that Zhao Ji had defeated the Xiongnu and rescued hundreds of thousands of abducted men and women in Hedong, Taiyuan and Xihe. In this way, he would have taken the blame on himself and preserved his family's reputation.

The fact that they are still alive shows that they are still useful to the court and the country.

Since Zhao Ji felt that they still had value, why would they take the initiative to cut themselves off from the Zhao family?

As the five old men were discussing this in low voices, Han Shu came to meet them, holding a torch and appearing at the door. He said, "Gentlemen, Minister Zhao has invited you to a banquet, and the carriages and horses are waiting outside."

Hearing this, Yang Qi stood up and asked calmly, "May I ask what's going on?"

"The Minister is busy with military affairs, how can I know?"

Han Shu answered unhappily. He also followed her everywhere. He didn't know whether he gained any knowledge or not. He just felt very tired, even more tired than fighting in a war.

Seeing Han Shu's impatience, Zhang Xi and Zhou Zhong, who were originally sitting steadily, jumped up.

Feeling out of place again, Zhang Xi said, "Since the Minister is busy, you must not wait. Lord Ziqi, please don't ask any more questions. The Minister will explain himself after we meet."

Zhou Zhong even reached out and pulled Zhao Wen up. Zhao Wen's legs were numb from sitting, and he was a little unsteady. Zhou Zhong urged him, "Hurry up and go. After the banquet, you should go to bed early to avoid delaying the important military affairs."

(End of this chapter)