Tiger Guards

Chapter 195 People are divided
A campfire was burning in the southeast of Jinyang City.

Most people cut reeds, tie them into bundles and build huts to sleep in at night.

There were not enough military tents, but fortunately we could take turns to keep watch at night so we didn't have to sleep in the wild.

On the east bank of the Fen River, the Shang clan occupied a village with houses to live in.

But before they arrived, the people here had already retreated into Jinyang City or gone to remote areas nearby to stay with relatives.

Even the well water was blocked by Xu Huang's men. Fortunately, by digging a few holes on both sides of the Fen River, they could find the water veins, making drinking water easy.

Xu Huang and Zhao Ji both observed that they had different opinions, and this internal conflict reached its extreme tonight.

The Shang family is not ruled by a single branch, but rather developed by multiple branches together, with many elders.

However, because of the monopoly of the smelting business, the Shang family as a whole became wealthy and powerful, but was not loved by other families in the county.

Therefore, whether the county was recruiting county officials or selecting disciples for famous scholars, the Shang family would be suppressed... After all, the Shang family was truly arrogant, and their children's daily behavior was not liked by the villagers, so they had a bad reputation.

This meant that the Shang family could only encroach on Daling County with their in-laws, and their influence could not spread to the county or higher levels.

In other words, the mine itself is a violent asset, otherwise it would have been taken down by others and the county government long ago.

Against this backdrop, the elders of the Shang clan were conservative and stubborn, and hated their children for being naughty and useless; while the new generation of young and middle-aged Shang clan members were constrained by their fathers and grandfathers, and even if they had some ideas and insights, they found it difficult to display them.

"Alas! Self-destruction!"

After a dull meeting, several young men from the Shang family left together. As they walked away, one of them punched the inner wall of the plank building hard.

The loess debris flew everywhere, and the two companions who were accompanying him stopped in silence, not knowing how to persuade him, and they were also angry.

At this point, the elders of the clan were still thinking of defeating the Hedong soldiers in a field battle, intimidating them, and then heading north to rescue the Linghu and Guo families.

Have we forgotten the past conflicts with these prominent families?
It can be called a conflict, but it was more about the suppression and humiliation of the Shang family by the prominent families in the county.

Now it seemed as if the Shang family could hold their heads high and stand tall after defeating the Hedong soldiers and rescuing the other families.

Most of the elders swore that the Hedong soldiers were a mob, and the Xiongnu servants were opportunists who were only interested in profit.

As long as the enemy is defeated in a field battle, the Hedong troops will be disintegrated.

The Shang family showed favor to all families, and from then on they would intermarry with each other, and would become one of the most prestigious families in the county.

But what if we can’t win the battle in the field?
Many young and middle-aged people also hope to defeat the Hedong soldiers and become a prominent family in the county... After all, if they defeat the Hedong soldiers, they can directly serve the imperial court. The benefits of this are more than just being a prominent family in the county.

Most people are trying to gamble their lives, and no reason is useful at this time.

Even if there is evidence to show that the Pingyang Zhao Hou can shoot arrows 200 steps away, and the arrows are like rain, and a thousand people cannot get close to him... I am afraid it is useless. Most people want to take a gamble.

If you defeat the Hedong troops, you will immediately gain command of the Xi'an County troops and Pingtao's powerful people.

It seems that losing is just as simple as death.

Faced with the gambler, Shang Xian was angry and helpless.

He wished he could set fire to all the idiots in the room.

His anger subsided slightly, and he said to his younger brother and cousin who were following behind him, "No more hesitation, take mother, elder sister and the others and leave immediately."

His brother asked, "Where else can we go now?"

"You can go anywhere, but you can't be with them."

Shang Xian said to them, "I've been to Hedong. The three Houmo brothers were no incompetents, but they were easily defeated by the Marquis of Zhao. The Xiongnu, though weak, were also unruly and unruly, yet they were able to be used by him. Chanyu Huchuquan's position was precarious, and he coerced him into paying a visit to the emperor and refusing to return. How could we possibly defeat the Wang family? How could we possibly be a match for the Marquis of Zhao?"

His cousin Shang Yao asked, "What if the clan elder uncle forces us to stay?"

"If we leave without inciting others, will they still attack us?"

Shang Xian said decisively, "They dared to kill us to enforce military discipline, and I admire their decisiveness. These elders are still living in the past, just like the old ministers that Zhao Hou mentioned, they are no longer useful!"

Upon seeing this, the two younger brothers went to look for their wives, children, subordinates and partners.

Nearing midnight, Shang Xian and his hundred-plus men walked in the dark and were discovered by his uncle from the same clan who was patrolling outside.

The other party stood there holding a torch, and Shang Yao wanted to go forward and plead for mercy.

But seeing the other party holding a fire to lead the patrol troops to change direction, Shang Xian immediately breathed a sigh of relief: "Let's go."

Before he had gone more than a hundred steps, he heard the sound of brisk hooves behind him. Several other Shang clan members were coming alone, marching with open arms. They caught up with Shang Xian and stared at each other, neither of them feeling comfortable speaking.

Shang Xian waved his hand: "If you are not here to arrest me, put out the torch and leave together."

The leader stepped forward and asked dryly, "Where else can we go? Food is scarce, Hebei is far away, and the people in the north of the county are rebellious. If we flee like this, we will surely be killed by the common people."

In order to obtain supplies, the defeated army would plunder and kill all the civilians they could.

Scattered fleeing soldiers would also steal, assassinate, and set fires; conversely, civilians near the battlefield would unite to surround, hunt, or use traps to deal with the fleeing soldiers.

When an army is on a long expedition and is defeated, it is unfamiliar with the area and loses supplies, so it either starves to death or is killed by the local people in the conflict. Only a very small number of people can return home in groups, or they may become bandits in the mountains.

By besieging and killing the defeated soldiers, you can obtain various relatively valuable supplies; by chopping off the enemy's heads, you can exchange them for rewards from the victorious army.

They are from Daling County, but this is Jinyang.

When the organization is lost and the army collapses, the people in the mountains will not show mercy.

Even nearby bandits would come to the battlefield to hunt defeated soldiers in order to gain benefits from the victorious side.

"Let's go into the mountains. There are more than a hundred of us, and no one dares to act rashly."

Shang Xian had made up his mind and said to several of his brothers who had caught up with him, "If we leave now, we still have a chance of survival. If we stay here, our troops, relatives, women and children will survive, but we will not."

The Shang family members around were silent, and they didn't really want to rebel.

However, Xu Huang acted too swiftly in Jinyang and wiped out the Wang family of Jinyang. Even though the Shang family was suppressed by the prominent families in the county, it still had a close in-law relationship with the Wang family of Jinyang.

The Jinyang Wang family only suddenly rose to prominence during Wang Rou's generation, but before that, there was no essential difference between them and the Shang family.

For example, Shang Xian’s mother was from the Wang family of Jinyang.

He had no intention of avenging his uncles, he just wanted to stay alive.

Ancestral assets and the like are not worth mentioning at this moment.

Unable to think of any reliable way forward, the five Shang clan members who had caught up with them extinguished their torches, dismounted, and walked, leading their horses forward.

They were also familiar with the terrain of Jinyang and headed north along the Chidao Road.

When the men and horses were exhausted, it was already four o'clock in the morning and they could only vaguely see things.

The entire team left the northbound road and headed towards Luliang Mountain along the Fen River which turned west.

As long as you go to the mountains, no matter how difficult the conditions are, at least you can survive.

At this time, Han Shu, Wei Xing and their fleet had already set out from Gengyangjin.

On the east bank of the Fen River, Zhao Ji checked his chariot, drum chariot, flag chariot and spare vehicles before boarding the chariot.

Without saying anything, he just glanced at Gao Yanglong on the flag car behind him. Zhao Ji suspected that this guy could be two meters tall.

Gao Yanglong waved the flag, and the 1,200 knights under Zhao Ji's command mounted their horses and advanced northward along the road.

The morning breeze blows, and the armor is on.

They all rode spare horses. Before going into battle, they would walk twenty miles and change horses; after walking another ten miles, they would feed the horses and change horses.

The warhorse will not be changed until the battle is about to begin.

As for the three teams of Pei Xiu, Han Shu and Wei Xing, they only had 40% of spare horses.

Before the battle, people must be assigned to look after the horses.

The Shang clan's troops were not short of armor and sophisticated equipment, but what was the point?
If the Shang family was really strong, they wouldn't have been suppressed until now.

So either the Shang family is not good enough, or the rumors from outside are distorted, or the clan is just unlucky and has repeatedly missed opportunities for development.

No matter which factor caused the Shang family to become bloated and fail to take off, it is easy to deal with.

Zhao Ji was not afraid of this battle. The people who participated in leading the team and commanding the troops were all fellow villagers, and they were not very afraid of the Shang family.

In terms of strength, the Shang family is only three times that of the Hou family, and at most four times the size of the Hou family.

With the power they possess now, if they don’t even dare to fight the Shang family, how can they deter the Xiongnu and maintain stability and peace in the counties?
(End of this chapter)