Tiger Guards

Chapter 213 Chickens and dogs ascend to heaven
The weather was hot and dry, so Zhao Lian took a boat upstream against the Su River and arrived in Anyi.

The military alert in Guanzhong was lifted, and the 3,000 county soldiers stationed in Puban would be rotated, which made him feel very disappointed.

A new batch of garrison troops sailed from Jinyang down the Fen River, straight into the Yellow River, and arrived at Puban.

This was also the first time that the Fenshui fleet passed through the Yellow River and entered the Sushui River, transporting grain directly to Anyi.

The process of unloading in Beijiang, transporting by land to Tongxiang and then transferring to water transportation is eliminated.

This time, the main fleet went south and brought with it three thousand Tiger Infantrymen from Hedong.

They were sent to Fenyin, Puban and Anyi respectively. The county soldiers in these places could not be laid off. Given the drought this year, laying off the enemy would be tantamount to starving them to death.

In order to save waste during the transportation of grain, the soldiers of Hedong County will go to Pingyang and Jinyang in batches to participate in the construction work.

Those who performed well were retained to serve as county soldiers, while those who performed averagely were dismissed as civilians or organized into military settlements before the next spring plowing season.

Guanzhong was already out of food, so they were very afraid of Zhao Ji.

In Hedong, which they feared, ordinary young and strong people would die of hunger if they did not serve as county soldiers and refused to be conscripted.

There is only one locust swarm, and after a while the people who catch locusts have a lot of fun, they can only go to the mountains to dig for food or work in the fields.

The fundamental logic behind the operation of the entire Hedong and Taiyuan region lies in the fact that Zhao Ji is willing to distribute grain, unlike others who, fearing another drought next year, hold the grain tightly in their hands.

I would rather let it go moldy than give it to the army.

For example, Yuan Shu was hunting down beauties on a large scale and enjoying himself with wine and feasts all day long... Note that Yuan Shu was not enjoying himself alone. The scholars who took refuge in Huainan could at least get some wine and meat.

However, he did not distribute food to the soldiers. They could only pick mulberry seeds and river clams to fill their stomachs, or plunder the people on orders to be self-sufficient. Although he owned the Huainan Shaobi National Water Conservancy Project and the largest grain-producing land in Xuhuai, Yuan Shu lived a miserable life.

The fundamental logic behind all the developments here at Zhao Ji is based on the fact that Zhao Ji dares to distribute food and dares to rob food.

Anyone with a discerning eye knows that Zhao Ji is betting that the climate will return to normal next year.

If there is still drought and locust plague, if Zhao Ji does not want to be finished, he can only mobilize all his forces to expedition to the Central Plains or Hebei and become another bandit group with millions of people.

At that time, the officials and people under Zhao Ji had no choice but to grit their teeth and follow him, grabbing all the way, and still have a hope of survival.

If you stay where you are, you will probably starve to death.

The army in Hedong can have enough food, which is a huge advantage that the other armies in Guanzhong cannot match.

Duan Wei has food, but he can only guarantee that most people will not starve to death. He needs to supply food at the minimum level. He needs to save enough food to deal with other natural disasters or man-made disasters. Only a few hundred warriors can be fed and they exist as the pillar of military force.

People like Li Jue and Guo Si actually had stored grain, but they did not dare to squander it like Zhao Ji.

Holding on to the stored grain tightly is the only way for Li Jue and Guo Si to control the army and hold back the external forces.

Whoever dares to take action will be burned by them.

Tying food to their own lives and kidnapping all military officers, this is the current survival strategy of Li Jue and Guo Si.

They did not capture the Su family manor, and they did not want their family to be destroyed, so they had no choice but to resort to this hateful method.

Most soldiers have families. In this situation, any soldier whose relatives or friends starve to death will accumulate hatred.

But Li and Guo had no choice. If they didn't do something, they would be finished immediately.

As for distributing food to win over the soldiers, if you distribute too little, it won’t work, but if you distribute too much, the other side will just run away.

Their credibility and prestige were bankrupt. Li Jue and Guo Si were already dead. The only difference was that their heads were still on their necks and they could eat.

As June approached, the 30,000 infantry and cavalry troops that Zhao Ji gathered in Jinyang and trained day and night were enough to make Shangjun and Beidijun break away from Li Jue, and even the more remote Anding County sent envoys to the court.

In this situation, Zhao Yan began to use his connections.

He served as magistrate in various counties in northern Taiyuan and Yanmen, and also as prefect in the small border county of Dingxiang.

As his status rose rapidly, his former officials came to join him, and his power grew stronger.

But some key positions must still be held by our own people.

For example, Zhao Lian. In all aspects, in terms of comprehensive qualities, Zhao Lian meets all the qualities of an excellent county magistrate.

He doesn't need to do anything. He just needs to defend a key city and win over some local powerful people.

There was no need for Zhao Lian to manipulate the situation to win over all the powerful. He could just win over a few and then keep them there until reinforcements arrived, and then Zhao Lian wouldn't have to worry about the rest. But Zhao Lian didn't know this. Two days ago, he was the commander of 3,000 troops and the commander of the southern part of Hedong.

However, an imperial edict was delivered to remove him from his post as captain; the younger generation Xiang Libao even led the fleet through Puban and changed guard in front of him.

The original 3,000 county soldiers did not have much attachment to him. For the sake of food, they stayed in Puban obediently and waited for the fleet to return.

Zhao Lian didn't even have many followers, but he followed the fleet upstream through the muddy water and arrived at the unfamiliar Anyi.

At the Sushui Wharf, Zhao Lian saw that the Locust Temple was about to take shape, and there was an uncomfortable smell in the air.

More than a thousand people are working on the Anyi Imperial College construction site. The main school building has been completed and the wall is now being built.

Zhao Lian thought he was good to the 3,000 county soldiers, but now he had an lingering feeling of being abandoned.

In this mood, he drove into Anyi and came to Zhao Yan's Jinyang Marquis Mansion.

The mansion is still the original one and has not been expanded. The only difference is that there are twelve "Jinyang soldiers" holding spears guarding the door.

There were servants in the mansion to lead Zhao Lian to wash and change into new clothes.

In the height of summer, she liked to wear red clothes, and the clothes brought by her servants were crimson and purple.

Zhao Lian was not unfamiliar with the color purple.

There was cheap purple dye in Guanzhong and Hedong, and it was common to wear red and purple clothing.

But purple is different from purple, crimson is different from crimson, and the effect of the combination of crimson and purple is also very different.

After Zhao Lian put on this crimson and purple brocade robe, he felt awkward, like a monkey wearing a human body.

He didn't have to wait long before he heard the servant come and announce, "Sir, the Lord has returned."

The word "Young Master" made Zhao Lian stand there in a daze.

After calming down, Zhao Lian put on clogs, hung a sword on his waist, and followed his servants to the backyard.

In the backyard, Zhao Yan took off his Diao Chan crown and official robe, put on a short shirt and sat in the shade of a tree, soaking his feet in a basin of water.

Two young maids of the clan were squatting on the ground, scrubbing Zhao Yan's feet, and the old man was very pleased.

Zhao Lian stepped forward and bowed deeply: "Nephew greets Zhongfu."

"I heard you were unhappy when you left Puban?"

"I dare not. I don't understand why you suddenly transferred me away and never let anyone know about it before."

Zhao Lian also felt aggrieved, as if his military power was taken away. The envoy came with the imperial edict from Anyi to remove him from office, and Xiangli Bao's fleet came with the army to replace him, making him very embarrassed.

Zhao Yan waved his hand and the two little maids retreated.

Zhao Yan pointed to his feet and said, "You come and wash them. I'll tell you."

"Yes."

Zhao Lian rolled up his sleeves and squatted in front of the basin to scrub Zhao Yan's feet, which had already been washed clean.

With Zhao Yan's current lifestyle, he is not contaminated by any dust.

Enjoying Zhao Lian's scrubbing, Zhao Yan wanted to tell the story calmly and slowly, but inexplicable anger lingered in his heart.

Suppressing his displeasure, he asked, "You've been in Puban for over a month. What have you done?"

"My nephew has strengthened the construction of Puban and has also trained the soldiers. We dare not be careless day or night."

"But you've only been focused on the city of Puban. Have you mobilized the men and women of the surrounding villages? And the locust extermination, others don't know about it, but don't you know what the firewood piles are used for? The people of Puban were unaware, and now they've suffered huge losses. They only blame you."

Zhao Yan's tone was calm. In comparison, it cannot be said that Zhao Lian did not do well here, but only that the gap was too obvious.

Sometimes I even imagine that if Zhao Ji had been sent to Puban, he might have taken Li Jue's head in more than a month.

The more Zhao Yan thought about it, the less he wanted to enjoy this kind of service. He said, "I have discussed with the officials of the Ministry of Personnel and have recommended you to be the acting prefect. You will set off tomorrow to take up your post."

(End of this chapter)