Tiger Guards

Chapter 186: Planning for the Distance
Just before the night curfew, Zhao Ji returned to the camp.

Inside the barracks, he took off his helmet and carefully observed the dent on the back of the helmet, feeling terrified.

With the help of several guards, he took off his armor. He was wearing a layer of silver-gilt chain mail inside his gilt Ming Guang armor.

This soft armor came from the Western Regions and is very suitable for wearing close to the body.

Inside the chain mail, there is another layer of armor made of more than a dozen layers of silk.

This way of wearing double heavy armor can only last for about half a month. As the weather gets hot in May, wearing it like this after the sun rises will definitely cause heatstroke.

After the double-layer armor and armor were removed, the heavy boots and foot bindings were also removed.

When Han Shu came to see him, he saw Zhao Ji soaking his feet in hot water, but still holding his helmet and thinking.

"Minister, the list of thieves executed today has been compiled."

Han Shu presented a scroll, which was a relatively important list and had to be destroyed after use.

After the quick handling, many people in Taiyuan may have vague memories and not know the truth.

"Okay, put it aside for now."

Zhao Ji showed him his helmet. "Look, they're firing crossbows from their arms, the closest one about twenty paces away from me. With the power of the crossbow arrows, at such a close distance, even if my helmet was covered in a layer of thirty-fold steel plates, it should have pierced through them."

Han Shu looked closer and saw Zhao Ji's fingers simulate the flight trajectory of a crossbow arrow, which bounced off the helmet after hitting it.

Han Shu couldn't see anything, but Zhao Ji said, "The angle is wrong. If I had lowered my head, the angle would have been right."

Zhao Ji looked puzzled. He now remembered clearly that when he saw the other party's servant taking the crossbow, he entered a kind of "bullet time" state.

Looking back, I can even clearly remember every person I killed, every move and order.

But that state faded quickly, and now he couldn't even remember how many times he had stabbed Wang Rou.

The vision during the explosion seemed to have broken through the eyes, and one could look at the memories of that time from the perspective of an observer, as if in a dream.

Moreover, the picture is very delicate, as if it is in a subtle state.

It's not that I have gained a special perspective, but that my potential was unleashed at that time, and I imagined and rendered everything that my eyes observed, as well as the details that I didn't observe.

There is a price to pay, which is that the memory only covers a few dozen steps around you at that time, and it is the scene within a fan-shaped area.

Even as I sit here and reminisce, the details of my memory become blurry with every recollection.

The memory is obviously compressed and the details are collapsing.

Just like the memories of previous battles, even the most thrilling moments are now blurred, even if I think about them carefully.

The brain only confirms that such a thing exists, but does not have a specific picture.

Han Shu didn't understand what the angle was, so he lowered his voice and said, "Minister, we are inexperienced and not cautious enough. Next time, we will conduct a thorough inspection and prevent outsiders from approaching with vehicles or gifts."

"Well, experience can be gained slowly, and I won't die that easily."

Zhao Ji handed the helmet to Han Shu and said, "Remove the steel plate and repair it. I suspect the old armor plate inside is also deformed. It's time to replace it."

There is a fine felt padding inside the helmet, connected by rivets inside and outside. Zhao Ji is not sure about the details.

Anyway, he had a spare helmet, so he added, "You must be careful next time. If there is a heavy crossbow on a cart, you and I will be seriously injured if we are wearing three layers of armor."

"Here."

Han Shu agreed, still speaking in a low voice: "Wang Rou's men unloaded the tribute from the ship. The vehicles were borrowed from various households in Zhongdu."

Zhao Ji just reached out and picked up the silk scroll. Upon hearing this, he looked at Han Shu and asked, "What do you want to say?"

"The crossbow was placed inside the car, which was covered with a red cloth."

Han Shu continued in a low voice, "Most of the witnesses have been executed. I don't know if Sun Zi knew about it when he went to greet him. Even if he didn't, common sense suggests he's a suspect. If someone brings this up in the future, I'm afraid he'll be cornered and threatened."

Han Shu pointed at the scroll and said, "There are also descendants of the Zhongdu Sun family in the list, but only three. If we investigate those who are related to the Sun family, there will probably be more."

"Don't talk nonsense, I'll handle this matter."

"Here."

Seeing that Zhao Ji had no other instructions, Han Shu left with the helmet and asked the military blacksmith to disassemble and repair it.

Seeing that he was about to leave the tent, Zhao Ji said again: "Please invite the general of the imperial guards."

"Here."

Han Shu responded and then left the tent.

Zhao Ji flipped through the scroll, which was one foot and one inch wide and was a piece of cloth split in half.

Zhao Ji flipped through it quickly, then took out a scroll of the list he had compiled from a previous investigation, picked up a pen and began to mark the names.

Putting a √ under the list means that the other party is finished.

It was soon discovered that Wang Chen, who was ranked fourth, and Wen Hui, who was ranked sixth, had escaped.

He kept marking the death list, and only when he reached the last thirty or so names did he find someone who had escaped the disaster. Zhao Ji checked the names of the first hundred people and found that thirteen were missing.

The details will depend on the arrests in the five counties of Zhongdu tomorrow. The key is Wang Ling’s brother Wang Chen.

If Wang Chen wasn't caught, the situation would be serious.

As for Wen Hui, Zhao Ji did not really want to kill him. Wen Hui's way of handling his business was worth promoting.

Although Wen Hui was famous for a while, the Wen family basically fell apart after he divided the property and made a profit.

This favor was so great that every branch of the Wen family would have to repay it with their lives; Wen Hui's uncles and clan elders were actually very embarrassed.

In the past few hundred years in Taiyuan, how many people like Wen Hui have emerged?

Who doesn’t know who else privately?

There is no way to bully orphans like this. Wen Hui unfortunately died of illness, which preserved the dignity of the main body.

But now, the radiance emanating from the eighteen-year-old Wen Hui made the elders and uncles look like rats and cockroaches.

If each branch forcefully returns the property to Wen Hui, the Wen family's reputation and cohesion will undergo a qualitative change.

But they didn't do that, so Wen Hui, who was in an awkward situation, posed no threat to him.

When Han Shu brought Guanqiu Yi to see Zhao Ji, Zhao Ji had already started wearing another set of leather armor, and he still wore armor and chain mail underneath.

Guanqiu Yi stood inside the tent, watching several young warriors from his hometown put armor on Zhao Ji.

After finishing all these, and the young men from the same hometown left, Zhao Ji invited Guanqiu Yi to sit down.

Guanqiu Yi was calm and composed, showing no signs of embarrassment.

Only young people would feel embarrassed. At his age, he is not only thick-skinned, but also can easily figure out many things.

Zhao Ji asked, "If I ask my uncle to cross the river tomorrow, can we be sure of conquering the county troops?"

"The soldiers of Taiyuan County are called county soldiers, but they are actually soldiers of various families."

Guanqiu Yi did not refuse, but said: "If we can get the Chanyu's help, it will not be difficult to subdue the county troops."

Seeing that he did not refuse, Zhao Ji said, "Tomorrow morning I will invite the Chanyu to cross the river to pay homage to the emperor. If the Chanyu leaves his sons and daughters as hostages, will you be willing to cross the river?"

"If that's the case, I'll serve you."

Guanqiu Yi then asked, "Taiyuan is far richer than any other prefecture. I see the ministers are considering staying here. What do you think, Minister?"

"If we give Taiyuan to them, what will we eat?"

Zhao Ji asked gently, "This year, we must extract three million dan of grain from Taiyuan, so that the men and women of Hedong can have a safe winter. Many things cannot be determined solely by Taiyuan, but there cannot be any other variables in Taiyuan. The most variable in the world is the imperial court. Even a hunter like me, if I encounter the imperial court, can soar to the sky. In this world, there must be only one Zhao Ji, and there cannot be another."

Guanqiu Yi nodded, picked up the sweet vinegar from Taiyuan on the table and took a sip, but still frowned: "What's so good about this?"

"Sun Zi's thoughtful gift. This is a good thing. It can invigorate the blood circulation and is very beneficial to the body. It is better than alcohol."

Zhao Ji replied simply, then took a sip from the lacquer cup and swallowed it expressionlessly, "If I brew vinegar with honey, I think it would taste even better."

"Mead wine is precious, so who would be willing to use honey to make vinegar? Isn't that like throwing a pearl into the dark?"

Guanqiu Yi jokingly asked, "Ah Xing, are you still going to Luodu with the imperial court?"

"Luodu is dangerous, I can't bear to let Ah Xing go."

Zhao Ji took a lacquer cup and sniffed it. "After he has served in various government offices, in half a month, he will be sent to Jinyang as a minister. I don't trust Jinyang to anyone else."

Since Jinyang was changed from a county to a marquisate, the seat of Taiyuan County had to be moved. Zhao Ji felt that Zhongdu was a good choice.

It is very close to Pingyang and is surrounded by rich resources, making it very suitable for direct management.

If Guanqiu Xing's career is arranged well, Guanqiu Yi will naturally work hard.

No matter the emperor, the ministers, or Pei Mao, they would not trust Guanqiu Yi.

It’s not that he has a good relationship with Guanqiu family, but Guanqiu Yi is too slippery and no one would take him as a trusted member of the gang.

After a brief silence, Zhao Ji continued, "Zhang Yang is organizing an anti-Yuan-Cao alliance. My uncle has a history with Guan Yu, a general under the governor of Xuzhou. Could you please provide a handwritten letter so I can pass it on to Zhang Yang?"

Zhao Ji remembered clearly that time was running out for Lu Bu to capture Xuzhou.

Before that, Lu Bu’s official identity as the governor of Yuzhou must be confirmed.

The court is relatively obedient now, but when famous scholars and intellectuals from all sides enter the court one after another to enrich it, it will not be so easy to talk to anymore.

Lu Bu was promoted, given a temporary title of Grand Marshal, and given the extremely high treatment of being the Grand Marshal... Especially this Grand Marshal, this had a special meaning in life for Lu Bu, who was born in a border county.

If you send the horse to Lu Bu again, there is a high probability that a flying general with blood-red lightning and fighting spirit wrapped all over his body will suddenly appear and beat Cao Cao to death.

If they hadn't gotten involved in the mess in Xuzhou, Lu Bu's group wouldn't have fallen so quickly.

(End of this chapter)