Tiger Guards

Chapter 178: The Plan to Capture the King
On April 22, there was a strong south wind and the fleet set sail from Jiangyi Dujin.

The flagship is decorated with five-colored flags and sails forward with full sails.

The emperor stood on the bird room, looking at the more than a hundred sailing ships behind him, holding the railing with his hand.

With the help of the strong south wind, three thousand Tiger Infantry soldiers traveled by boat.

The Hedong Knight Battalion led by Xu Huang also traveled by boat. Including the more than a thousand volunteer knights traveling by land, Zhao Ji sent out 6,000 troops this time.

On the walls of Jiangyi, Empress Fushou watched the army march north.

The wind was blowing so hard that it felt as if a force was trying to push her off the city wall.

She raised her hand to hold the parapet and watched the fleet set sail one after another and sailed in a line.

I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Whether I would go to Luodu in the future or not would only be known after the inspection of Taiyuan was completed.

Two or three months is enough to prove their innocence.

At Pingyang Ferry upstream, Jia Kui was waiting at the ferry.

The men, women and children redeemed from various Xiongnu tribes were migrating to the five counties of Pingyang. Theoretically, they were the troops redeemed by Zhao Ji.

Young men who master practical skills are important assets to the Xiongnu tribes and will not be released directly.

What Jia Kui had to do was to redistribute these people and let them cultivate the best fields in the five counties; collect population information and dig back the detained technical population.

The five counties of Pingyang are like a blank land, and there is no obstacle to governance.

At this moment, looking at the huge fleet pushing towards downstream, Jia Kui had already realized what Zhao Ji wanted to do.

But he was powerless to stop it, nor did he want to stop it.

This is the fastest way to resolve the dispute between Hedong and Taiyuan. The people of Taiyuan have been dissatisfied with the people of Hedong for a long time.

A small fleet arrived at Pingyangjin. Zhao Ji disembarked and bowed to Jia Xu, saying, "Mr. Wenhe, please come aboard."

"it is good."

Jia Xu agreed and said goodbye to Jia Kui who came to see him off. Zhao Ji helped him board the ship.

Jia Xu was in good health and just enjoyed being supported by Zhao Ji. Then came the other five ministers.

Originally, we wanted to keep them in Pingyang to repair the mausoleum of Emperor Yao, but in order to set up a big net in Taiyuan, we still need these people to come forward and fish out as many old guys as possible.

The five ministers have been practicing Buddhism at the Mausoleum of Emperor Yao during this period. They are in very good spirits now and don't even breathe hard when walking.

He didn't even need Zhao Ji's help and could quickly board the boat by stepping on the wooden planks.

Zhao Ji said goodbye to Jia Kui, standing very close to him. Zhao Ji gave detailed instructions: "Brother Liang Dao, most of the Xiongnu in the Luliang Mountains have surrendered. The Right Wise King has occupied Puzi City. In June, he will offer sacrifices to heaven and re-establish the Right King's court here. Therefore, I would like to trouble Brother Liang Dao again to send people to restore the two counties of Puzi and Beiqu. If we do not manage them, in a few decades, this place will become the ancestral homeland of the Xiongnu."

On the fifteenth day, Zhao Ji hastily completed the ceremony of coming of age, took the name Yuansi, and was granted the title of Marquis of Pingyang, with a fief of 7,000 households.

Pingyang County was changed to Pingyang Marquisate. Jia Kui had now left the Huben system and was appointed as the Prime Minister of Pingyang State. Pei Xiu also completed the coming-of-age ceremony, took the name Wenli, and became the Lieutenant of Pingyang State.

The two of them left the Huben system, but the two-bar and four-star pattern was still embroidered on the arms of their clothes.

Jia Kui was responsible for the resettlement of people in the five counties surrounding Pingyang. The people redeemed by Zhao Ji were still personal slaves and followers; while Ma Wan, Cheng Yin and Cheng Yi, who were to move 5,000 households of people to Pingyang, had a new identity as Pingyang citizens.

No matter how small Pingyang State is, it must clearly distinguish between public and private affairs.

Pei Xiu was responsible for the military settlements in the five counties of Pingyang and the resettlement of various Xiongnu tribes.

Apart from the two of them, Zhao Ji couldn't find a third person to replace him.

With Qubei's successful expulsion of the Tuge Xiongnu from Puzi City, Jia Kui and Pei Xiu expanded their jurisdiction to seven counties.

In fact, Zhao Xu, the magistrate of Jiangyi County, has been promoted to the governor of Hedong County. After the emperor leaves, the military and political affairs of Jiangyi will also be under the management of Jia Kui and Pei Xiu.

Pi County, located downstream of the Fen River, will soon be incorporated into their management.

Most of the northern counties in the traditional sense of Hedong will be brought under the management of Jia Kui and Pei Xiu.

During the Western Han Dynasty, there were two counties on the north bank of the Fen River, and there was also a prosperous county on the Puzi side near the Yellow River ferry.

Due to the invasions of the Hu tribes and the invasion of the Eastern Qiang in the Later Han Dynasty, the population continued to decline, and these three counties were abolished.

Jia Kui listened to Zhao Ji's plan and asked, "Recently, I've heard people say that the court wants to establish Pingyang County." Seeing Jia Kui's serious expression, Zhao Ji denied it, saying, "This is just a rumor. I won't agree to it."

The people in the north of the county had finally risen up and suppressed the people in Anyi, so how could they be easily driven out of Hedong?
Only then did Jia Kui feel relieved. Although establishing another Pingyang County would provide more quotas for filial and honest officials, it would directly divide the scholars in Hedong and cause internal friction and disputes.

Seeing that Jia Kui had no objection to taking charge of the troublesome matters of Puzi and Beiqu, Zhao Ji instructed: "The clan bandits are rampant. Brother Liang Dao must not act alone, and the guards on both sides must not be negligent or slack."

"Lord, be kind..."

Jia Kui was about to say something but Zhao Ji stopped him and corrected him, "Brother Liang Dao will be a marquis sooner or later and serve as my minister in the same palace. Right now, you and Brother Qi are just helping me with trivial matters. Don't belittle yourselves. Just call me the heir."

"No, if the name is not right, then the words will not flow. Now that I have accepted the position of Prime Minister of Pingyang, I should accept the Marquis of Zhao as my king."

Jia Kui said sternly, "I only hope that the world will be settled soon. Being granted a title of nobility is not my original intention."

Seeing that he spoke in a high-sounding manner, Zhao Ji glanced at the officials of the marquisate, most of whom were injured and disabled tiger soldiers, and said, "I don't want to be granted a title of nobility, but I hope the storm will subside."

"I never thought Yuan Si could write poetry."

Jia Kui smiled. Few people studied Han Fu in depth anymore, and the five-character regulated verse became popular in modern times.

Jia Kui didn't think Zhao Ji's impromptu poem was any good, so he pointed at the fleet heading north and asked, "Could Yuan Si compose a poem about this situation?"

Zhao Ji turned his head and looked at the rows of transport ships sailing in with full sails. He frowned and thought, recalling the three hundred nursery rhymes, and immediately muttered: "When drawing a bow, use a strong one; when using an arrow, use a long one; when shooting a man, shoot the horse first; when capturing a thief, capture the leader first."

The disabled soldiers around him could also understand what was said. Jia Kui nodded, indicating that he completely understood the true purpose of Zhao Ji's visit. He then asked, "Is there anything else?"

"Not for now, I'll continue when I come back."

Zhao Ji cupped his hands and said, "Brother Liang, everyone, take care."

Jia Kui bowed deeply and said, "Take care, my lord."

The disabled Tiger Guards bowed and said, "Take care, my lord."

Zhao Ji also bowed to the guards on both sides of Jia Kui, took two steps back, turned around and walked away quickly.

He quickly followed the wooden board into the small door on the side of the cabin. As he entered the cabin, the sergeant inside pulled back the wooden board and closed the door.

The sails were slowly raised, the sailor at the stern rowed the oars, and the transport ship slowly accelerated and left the dock.

On the deck, Yang Qi heard the two short poems written by Zhao Ji and suddenly understood.

He sighed to the old men around him, "The essence of military tactics is nothing more than this. I've said before that the Marquis of Pingyang was born with this knowledge. The art of war is something few in the secular world can match."

Yang Biao also nodded slowly, agreeing with his cousin's words.

Zhao Wen and Zhou Zhong, who were relatively knowledgeable about military affairs, also nodded, and Zhang Xi could only nod in response, all of them feeling deeply moved.

Jia Xu also heard it and was quite surprised.

Being able to write five-character short poems is not a rare talent. What is rare is that Zhao Ji wrote it on the spot and revealed the secret of how to deal with the Huns and Xianbei people.

The impression given to the world by the various Hu people is that their armies mobilized very quickly, but in fact they did not mobilize very quickly and were far less prepared than the Han border troops.

If the border troops are always elite enough and have good generals to lead them, without any pre-war mobilization or preparation, and they attack the royal courts in various places directly, the small population of the various Hu royal courts will not be able to stop them at all!
This is a shortcoming determined by the production and lifestyle of the Hu people, and it cannot be prevented by vigilance alone.

This short poem appears to be written against the left wing of the Xiongnu, but in fact the target group is the Taiyuan clan bandits.

After completing this task, Jia Xu can rest assured.

I didn't want to get involved at first because I was afraid that Zhao Ji was young and inexperienced, and if he failed, it would be troublesome.

As a last resort, Jia Xu had to intervene personally and strive to achieve perfection.

In other words, Li Jue, Guo Si and others were incompetent, otherwise Jia Xu would have instigated the Xiongnu and the Qiang people to wipe out the Wang family of Taiyuan.

Why is it necessary to cooperate with Zhao Ji and kill all the powerful people in Taiyuan on a large scale?

This is the only opportunity in troubled times to deal with the powerful people in a county or a region at a time.

The next time the emperor goes on tour, local tyrants will treat him and the court as thieves and will no longer have a chance to succeed.

Even if someone else were to escort the emperor on tour, this effect would not be achieved.

(End of this chapter)