Tiger Guards

Chapter 217 Huang Lao's Military Strategy

In the eastern suburbs of Jinyang, Gao Rou, dressed in coarse mourning clothes, led a donkey and came to the military market.

This military market served the Yicong Camp on the east bank of the Fen River, which had no shortage of Xiongnu nobles who were conscripted for military service.

The Xiongnu nobles were relatively satisfied with their current life in the military camp. The only thing they were not satisfied with was the extremely hot weather after entering June.

At the same time, Zhao Ji did not give them a holiday. The Lishi Royal Court was holding the Xiongnu June Festival, which was a very important gathering for the scattered nomadic Xiongnu people.

Commercial activities, various competitions, blue sky and green grass, fat cattle and horses, even the women in each family can eat their fill and look plump.

However, because the Chanyu was replaced at the beginning of the year, and the current Chanyu was forced to stay in Zhongdu to accompany the emperor, the June event in the Lishi Royal Court was much duller.

In the Yicong Army camp, they will be given brand new uniforms; even equipment and armor will be distributed uniformly.

After the conscription, they were allowed to bring armor and equipment back to the tribe... For the Xiongnu nobles, these weapons and armor were certainly not lacking, but for the Xiongnu herdsmen who applied for the conscription, this was extremely important.

With the common service experience, returning to the tribe wearing the same military uniforms, and having excellent equipment and armor, the Yizong followers can naturally improve their status by uniting with each other.

Daily status in the Xiongnu tribe is very important. The higher the status, the better the pasture allocated, the less exploitation, the more economic savings, and the better future development.

They can give birth to more children and raise more of them, and ordinary herders can also strengthen their families and expand into small tribes.

All of this is the stable order provided by Zhao Ji. Under this distribution order, those who respond to the call for justice will naturally benefit.

Since they have all become conscripts, they naturally need to clearly recognize the changes in their status.

Yicong should have considered himself as the minions of Marquis Zhao; after returning to his headquarters, the people around him would not like him anyway.

Ordinary Xiongnu herdsmen had good prospects after being recruited, and the nobles naturally had broader prospects.

I can also endure the boring closed camp life. After training for more than a month, I can finally have a five-day break and relax.

I heard that in another month, they will be given a three-day-off management system.

Therefore, these Xiongnu nobles, who were used to being lax, were able to restrain themselves and endure.

Closed-camp training itself contains the essence of military training; by adapting to this training process, these Xiongnu nobles who already have command and management experience can more easily figure out some of the tricks.

Even the laziest Xiongnu nobles would persevere if they could learn the valuable Zhao family's military training methods.

What's more, the army gathered here in Jinyang has formed a suppressing and adsorption effect. No one dares to escape easily or fight against the Jinyang army.

In this huge collective, everyone with an identity will protect this collective, especially when they can have enough food to eat.

So when Gao Rou led his donkey into the military market, he saw that the Xiongnu volunteers, who should have been scattered, were purchasing supplies together and were generally generous with their money.

If a dispute occurred, patrol officers would immediately come over to mediate, and they would usually punish both parties together.

Gao Rou immediately noticed the difference in this military market. There were few women there, and even if there were, they were village women setting up stalls to sell groceries and doing small business.

He was walking in the military market with his donkey, and was being watched by a crossbow-wielding soldier on a watchtower.

Gao Rou saw a stall selling letters, and when he walked over, he saw Wen Hui, wearing a half-worn short coat and a bamboo hat, sitting at a low table, sharpening bamboo slips.

Bamboo and wood debris covered Wen Hui's knees and was about to submerge his straw sandals.

Gao Rou lowered her eyes and saw that Wen Hui was only wearing gray-black straw sandals. His feet were not very clean and he was not wearing socks.

He had only met Wen Hui once, so he thought he had made a mistake and looked at him more closely: "But is it Wen Manji?"

"It used to be, but it's not anymore."

Wen Hui answered casually, looking up at Gao Rou. He didn't recognize her for a moment and was a little surprised: "Who are you?"

In his opinion, the coarse mourning clothes on Gao Rou should be a disguise.

Wen Hui is now eighteen years old, and Gao Rou is twenty-two years old.

Gao Rou was also a child prodigy. When Cao Cao entered Yanzhou, Gao Rou advised his fellow villagers that Cao Cao was not a man who was solely focused on protecting the country and the people, and that he would inevitably expand outward; and that Zhang Miao, the prefect of Chenliu County, was not a man who would stay under someone else's command for long, and that the two of them would sooner or later turn against each other and fight, so he advised his relatives and friends in the village to migrate together to avoid the invasion.

Gao Rou was young at the time and had not yet undergone the coming-of-age ceremony. His father was only the commander of Shu County, a branch of the Gao family of Chenliu.

The villagers disagreed and retorted that Cao Cao and Zhang Miao were like brothers, and thought Gao Rou was overly worried.

When Gao Gan gained a foothold in Hebei, Gao Rou immediately took his clansmen to the north to join Gao Gan. As a result, Cao Cao killed Bian Rang first, and then Yanzhou was in chaos. The scholars of Chenliu actively resisted Cao Cao because of the killing of their fellow villager Bian Rang, and were generally massacred.

Seeing Wen Hui's expression unchanged, Gao Rou bowed and said, "I am Gao Rou, Gao Wenhui from Chenliu. I met you once when I came to Taiyuan with my brother."

His courtesy name was Wenhui, the same as Wen Hui's, and as soon as he opened his mouth it immediately evoked Wen Hui's memory.

Wen Hui had a good memory, so he just remembered Gao Rou, who was just one of the many attendants around Gao Gan at that time.

At that time, Gao Gan had not yet been appointed as the governor of Bingzhou by Yuan Shao, but in order to win over the people of Taiyuan, he visited various families in Taiyuan.

However, Wen Hui was in mourning at the time, and Wang Ling had dragged him to meet Gao Gan and his group of Central Plains heroes. Meeting again, Gao Rou didn't want to be the one wearing mourning clothes.

Wen Hui stood up and bowed, "Brother Wenhui, why are you dressed like this?"

"My father died of illness in Shuzhong. I will go there to attend the funeral."

Gao Rou replied simply, and as Wen Hui pointed out, he sat down on the ground with him, continuing to look at Wen Hui: "I heard that many people in your county have been killed. How did you survive? And how did you survive here?"

"I have no possessions, no money, and am alone, so I am not among those targeted by the Marquis of Zhao."

Wen Hui calmly replied, "The military officers here also know me. I have changed my name to Wenman."

Seeing Gao Rou was alone, Wen Hui asked, "Shu is far away, Brother Wenhui, are you going alone?"

"I am not alone. After paying my respects to General Yang, I will follow the imperial envoy into Shu."

Gao Rou also breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to communicate too much with the wanted criminal. He was a commoner now and was just passing by here. He didn't want to commit any taboos.

Gao Rou then asked, "Given your talents and abilities, why haven't you been promoted by the Duke of Zhao?"

"I have the honor of meeting Marquis Zhao. He asked me to think carefully about whether to enter the government."

Wen Hui didn't want to have much contact with Gao Rou, so he said, "Jinyang is a strategic location where the Marquis of Zhao has his troops stationed. Brother Wenhui shouldn't stay here for long. If you wish to pay a visit to the Marquis of Zhao, please send your invitation early to avoid any misunderstandings."

"As you can see, I came to Jinyang to deliver a letter for my brother. If I can resolve the misunderstanding between the two families and put an end to the war, it would be a good deed."

Gao Rou sensed Wen Hui's distant attitude and forced a smile: "The Marquis of Zhao is good at training his troops. Looking at the Xiongnu people who follow him, I know the rumors are true."

Wen Hui was just being polite and smiling. Gao Rou also felt embarrassed, so she asked again, "Wang Yanyun and the others?"

"They have all been executed, their property confiscated by the government, and have become a thing of the past, no longer existing."

Wen Hui looked up at the sky as he spoke. Seeing someone coming to the stall to watch, Wen Hui apologized to Gao Rou and said, "Lord Zhao is decisive. Brother Wenhui, please go to your business and cross the river quickly."

"Okay, see you someday."

Gao Rou stood up, and Wen Hui also stood up and walked a few steps with her. Then he returned to his shabby low table, brushed off the sawdust on his sleeve, opened the ink cartridge, took out a pen and moistened it with ink, and asked the man kneeling in front of him: "Do you want to write a letter home, or a certificate?"

The man pulled out a scroll of bamboo slips from his bosom and handed it over. "I am a hunter from the mountains. I heard that the Lord Zhao has collected a collection of wild books. I would like to ask you to take a look at this scroll and see if I can exchange it for some money or food from the Lord Zhao."

The bamboo slips are old, but they are well preserved.

Wen Hui took it with both hands, untied the thin leather rope, spread out the bamboo slips and read, his eyes quickly scanning them: "This is a fragment of a text about state governance and administration, from the teachings of Huang Lao. This fragment is not worth much. If you can send me the whole text... the more the better, perhaps you can exchange it for a good horse."

Wen Hui rolled up the bamboo slips, tied them up carefully, and handed them back: "If you are willing, I can copy a copy for you, and you can sell it for a good price later."

The man smiled bitterly, "You are too proud of me. I am poor, how can I support my children to study the classics?"

"The teachings of Huang-Lao are quite compatible with the governance of the Marquis of Zhao. If you trust me, please allow me to make a copy first, and you can hand over the original. When I have more money, I will make another copy for you."

Wen Hui continued to persuade him: "The Marquis of Zhao governs with love for the people. Passing down this Huang-Lao scripture into the family will be an opportunity in the future."

The man hesitated and nodded. "Then I will come to look for you in three days... May I ask you, what is written on this scroll?"

"It's the Art of War."

Wen Hui's tone was calm, but it startled the man: "The art of war?"

Seeing his hands shaking, Wen Hui turned to comfort him: "This is not a method of selecting and deploying soldiers. It is a fragment related to the yin and yang of soldiers and the terrain. Ordinary people can't understand it. Come see me in three days. This is a treasure that can be passed down to the family."

"Yes, I will come here to meet you in three days."

The man stuffed the bamboo slips into his arms and bowed. Wen Hui smiled and watched him leave.

The Huang-Lao school of thought encompasses many of the essences of various schools of thought, so it is normal that it is mixed with military strategies.

Some later generations also used the name of Huang Lao to compile what they learned.

This fragment belongs to the latter, because it was the first time Wen Hui read it.

After watching the man leave quickly, Wen Hui also stood up and packed up his stall.

He didn't have that much free time to copy the bamboo slips, and it wasn't easy to gather them all at once, so he planned to borrow some cloth from someone.

As for serving as an official under Zhao Ji, one must pay attention to one's influence.

It is not right for Wang Ling and others to take up official posts now when their bodies are still warm.

Even if he took office, Zhao Ji would not trust him and he would be looked down upon by the public.

Given Jinyang's current development momentum, Wen Hui is really not in a hurry.

(End of this chapter)