Tiger Guards

Chapter 205: Concerns about Gains and Losses
About 50,000 young and strong people of all kinds gathered in the east of Jinyang City to participate in building the city.

Among them were people of all kinds of status. Every time the fleet sailed north from Pingyang, it would transport more than 2,000 young and strong men to dilute the number of people from Taiyuan.

Even if these transported Hedong people were to perform labor, they could strengthen control over Jinyang.

The men and women who were released and redeemed from the five tribes of the Right Royal Court under the control of Qubei were initially settled in the five counties of Pingyang.

Now, in the subsequent redemption, the population redeemed from the Shanyu Royal Court and the Zuobu Royal Court are all resettled in Jinyang and the Fen River Basin, and are implemented as civilian and official settlements.

There were too many exorbitant taxes and levies, and the "one tax in thirty" was just a legend. At the end of the Han Dynasty, the court's finances were exhausted, and even the people had to pay a small tax for wearing good shoes.

When implementing the official settlement system, the redeemed common people and hidden households of wealthy families who had no land were converted into official tenants.

Reducing middleman exploitation and lowering tax collection costs will naturally benefit government warehouse savings and also allow those below to breathe a sigh of relief.

Therefore, the two fleets were constantly traveling back and forth on the Fen River.

The main transport fleet was commanded by Xiangli Bao, who was responsible for transporting grain from Taiyuan to Pingyang and Jiangyi, then transporting it from Jiangyi to Tongxiang for loading, and then transporting the supplies to Anyi and Puban on the front line via Sushui.

The people of Hedong have been starving for two years, and gold is useless.

The grain that Zhao Ji obtained from Taiyuan is the real thing!
The second small fleet was responsible for transporting food to Jinyang to feed more than 80,000 men, women, young and old.

With the coming and going of fleets, the population here is still growing.

By building cities, Zhao Ji was also training his ability to govern and command his team.

This is not the front line, so it is relatively safe to cultivate the military and officer team's ability to collaborate.

In order to have a stable diet, Zhao Ji further increased the scale of the Xiongnu militia.

He could only select the best and reorganize them. The various Xiongnu tribes on the east bank of Pingyang now called themselves the Zhao tribe.

There were originally 3,000 volunteers who followed him north and were the main force in the battle of Jinyang.

After the routine rewards after the war, Zhao Ji reduced the scale of conscription, leaving only two teams of a thousand men.

After incorporating all of Wang Rou's Yicong Camp, he also assigned troops from the Chanyu Royal Court and the Zuobu Royal Court to form a Xiongnu Yicong Camp.

The Shanyu royal court and the Zuobu royal court each sent a team of a thousand people, and they also arrived one after another.

A total of five thousand-man teams were stationed on the east bank of the Fen River in Jinyang, where they camped and trained their troops while the horses grazed and rested.

The number of Hedong Tiger Infantry Army heading north has also increased from the initial 5,000 to the current 12,000.

Among them, those who had made meritorious service and were rewarded with horses were also assigned to Xu Huang, bringing Xu Huang's Hedong Knight Camp to more than 2,300 cavalrymen.

In order to facilitate horse grazing, the Hedong Knight Camp was stationed in Beiyangqu County.

The three batches of new and old county soldiers in Taiyuan were also strictly selected. Zhao Ji only retained 3,000 people as county soldiers and placed them in a closed camp for training south of Jinyang Lake.

In addition, more than 4,000 immigrants from the north of the county rose up in response. Zhao Ji left 2,000 of them in Jinyang and trained with the county troops.

The entire Taiyuan County army currently has a strength of 5,000 soldiers.

More than a thousand other volunteers from the northern part of the county who were laid off went south to join Zhang Yang; Zhao Ji also selected a group of people from other places from among the captives and also supplied them to Zhang Yang.

These captives from other places, like the volunteers from the north of the county, were more like Zhang Yang's own troops and his own soldiers.

As a reward, the number of troops under Zhang Yang's command was expanded to 5,000.

The two thousand men who were supplied to Zhang Yang in succession had special significance for Zhang Yang himself. He finally had the confidence to suppress the various armies in Hanoi.

Before this, he was more like the leader of the various armies in Hanoi. Although he could command the Hanoi soldiers, he lacked sufficient prestige and his behavior was restricted.

Things are different now. Zhang Yang has strengthened his control over Hanoi.

Of the more than 12,000 Hedong soldiers, Zhao Ji only kept 8,000 Tiger Infantrymen, who were stationed in the city construction site for training.

The extra 4,000 people, together with the Hedong people who arrived later and the redeemed people from Hedong, Xihe, Taiyuan or other border counties, stayed at the construction site to participate in building the city.

Therefore, on both sides of the Fen River in Jinyang, 5,000 Xiongnu volunteers on the east bank, 8,000 Tiger Infantry soldiers in Xincheng, and 5,000 county soldiers in the north of the city closed the camp for training.

In addition, more than 20,000 captives, strong men, hired laborers, as well as 20,000 able-bodied women, young and old participated in the construction of the city.

The organizational strength of the entire army was growing, and the craftsmen seized from various families were gathered at the smelting site in the north of Daling County, where they forged tools and farm implements.

Even if the more than 80,000 people in Jinyang City are deducted, it will not affect the summer and autumn harvests in various parts of Taiyuan.

He spared no expense in building a new city in Jinyang, training the army, and preparing equipment, which had a great impact on the outside world.

The nearby Xiongnu immediately became much more obedient. Faced with Zhao Ji's military service assignment, the Chanyu Royal Court, whose Chanyu was detained, and the relatively weak and unstable Zuobu Royal Court also met their quotas. They also reluctantly accepted the ransom and released some of the abducted border men and women.

When Hedong was on the rise, internal personnel conflicts decreased rapidly.

The four refugee leaders Liang Xing, Li Kan, Cheng Yi and Cheng Yin were also employed by Zhao Ji. Even the clan leader Ma Wan got the opportunity and brought a dozen people to Jinyang to serve.

While preparing the army, Zhao Ji also discovered that he had a unique talent in this area.

Perhaps it cannot be called a talent. He himself had mathematical ability far beyond his time, and he also had extremely high military prestige. In addition, there was a system of delegating the Tiger Guards to the Tiger Step Hundred Teams, and all the officers and soldiers in the army had the hope of accumulating merits and being promoted to county magistrates.

Even disabled military officers would be taken in by Zhao Ji and settled in the Marquisates of Pingyang and Jinyang; he would spare no effort to rescue the wounded. Compared with other parties, this was worth the officers' and soldiers' lifelong dedication and fighting.

Even though he captured Jinyang and many wealthy and powerful women, Zhao Ji refused to accept them. Instead, he organized them to do collective weaving and make uniforms, shoes and socks for the army.

His daily routine was very fixed, traveling between the three military camps or inspecting construction sites.

Not to mention the army, even the captured coolies can work with peace of mind.

For no other reason, they can eat and work.

Zhao Ji just wanted to wait for the locusts to appear this year, put an end to the plague, and preserve the summer harvest before considering the next step.

The next steps are in two directions: either march armed to Xihe County and unite with the three Xiongnu kings to intimidate and kill the Xiongnu; or go to Shangdang and give Gao Gan a hammer.

Originally, the Han and Hu tyrants in Dai County still supported the county magistrate Wang Ze. Now that the coalition forces of Dai County had not yet had time to move south, Wang Ze realized that the atmosphere was not good, so he abandoned the army and fled to join Gao Gan.

Zhao Ji would not feel at ease unless he killed Wang Ze.

Attacking Gao Gan can also eliminate hidden dangers on the flanks and indirectly deter the Huns from slaughtering them.

As for the Central Plains Operation, the weather is too hot now and it is not suitable for military deployment.

Moreover, he did not wait for Lu Bu's response. Everything had to be negotiated before he could lead the troops to escort the court to Luo. Then, he would follow the court's righteous troops out of Hulao, meet up with Lu Bu, and reconnect Lu Bu's broken leg.

At this time when Jinyang was undergoing a transformation and was bustling with activity, the envoy Zhao Yan brought a letter.

With Xu Huang away, Zhao Ji first asked Pei Xiu, "I've heard of Zang Hong's reputation. He's been besieged in Dongwuyang City since August of last year. I imagine it's become a cannibalistic situation. The men and women in the city are sworn to follow him to the death, which shows that Zang Hong is truly an extraordinary person. If I were to send troops, I'm afraid the roads would be difficult to navigate."

Rather than saving Zang Hong, he wanted to fight against high-ranking officials.

There are too many benefits in this regard. It can clip Yuan Shao's wings, enhance the prestige of the court, and deter the Han and Hu tyrants in Tuge Xiongnu, Yanmen, and Daijun at the same time.

At the same time, it can also indirectly involve Yuan Shao's military forces, which may allow Yuan Shao to withdraw the siege of Dongwu City. It can also motivate Gongsun Zan and make friends with Zhang Yan.

This is determined by geography. As long as the offensive is fierce enough, if Yuan Shao wants to save his nephew, he must rescue Gao Gan.

Pei Xiu didn't dwell on it, simply saying, "The Central Plains are suffering from drought, and Dongjun is in dire straits. The fall of Dongwuyang City is imminent. Even if Yuan Shao withdraws most of his troops, Zang Ziyuan's strength will make it difficult to break the siege. Given his character, he certainly won't abandon the city and betray its people."

Pei Xiu walked and talked, but suddenly stopped and looked at Zhao Ji seriously. "Aji is not well-known in Guandong. Rescuing Zang Ziyuan is like Liu Xuande saving Kong Wenju and Tao Gongzu in the past. This is an act that promotes justice to the world. Why hesitate?"

Seeing Zhao Ji pause in deep thought, Pei Xiu continued, "Given the strategic location of the Jingxing Road, Li Kan's 3,000 soldiers are more than enough to hold off Gao Gan's army of over 10,000. Furthermore, Xu Gongming should be left to guard Yuci as Li Kan's rearguard. Gao Gan will cross Jingxing and attack. With Xu Gongming's fortitude and courage, even if he can't completely defeat him, he'll certainly be able to drive him away."

As for staying behind in Jinyang, Pei Xiu is the only one responsible.

Zhang Yang was to lead 5,000 men to escort the imperial court to Luo. If he wanted to rush to rescue Dongwuyang City without mobilizing the Tiger Infantry, the best way would be to lead the knights to attack.

As long as Zhao Ji promises to lift restrictions on looting within Yuan Shao's territory, he can mobilize an additional group of Huns with his current winning rate.

Not to mention the five major tribes of the right royal court of Qubei, it is very likely that Tuge Xiongnu will also want to send people to test the waters.

As long as the winning rate is guaranteed, it is really easy to draw troops from the Huns.

But Zhao Ji was still worried about the loss of Taiyuan. It might not be lost to foreign enemies, but it would also be lost if it was taken away by the imperial court.

Without responding to Pei Xiu, the two men walked to Jia Xu and consulted him in person.

This was no longer just Zhao Ji's business, it also concerned the imperial court and the surrounding counties.

This is how it is in troubled times, internal plans will always be interfered with by external factors.

What Zhao Ji was worried about was that he would repeat Liu Bei's mistake of losing Xuzhou, although Liu Bei had not lost it yet.

But he couldn't keep Lu Bu under control. Once Lu Bu took action, Liu Bei would not be able to keep Xuzhou.

Liu Bei was similar to himself, and he didn't have that many reliable and experienced people to take charge.

He swallowed the big with the small, and he himself suffered from indigestion, and Liu Bei was not much better off.

(End of this chapter)